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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by 
+William Powell Frith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1
+
+Author: William Powell Frith
+
+Release Date: July 8, 2011 [EBook #36663]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marius Masi, Chris Curnow and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  JOHN LEECH
+
+  His Life and Work
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+  JOHN LEECH
+
+  His Life and Work
+
+  BY
+  WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  _WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_
+
+  IN TWO VOLUMES
+  VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+  LONDON
+  RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON
+  Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen
+  1891
+
+  [_All rights reserved_]
+
+
+  I Dedicate this Book
+  TO
+  CHARLES F. ADAMS,
+
+  LEECH'S EARLIEST, WARMEST, AND MOST CONSTANT FRIEND;
+  WITH MY GRATEFUL THANKS
+  FOR THE INTEREST HE HAS TAKEN IN MY WORK,
+  AND FOR THE VALUABLE ASSISTANCE AFFORDED
+  IN THE EXECUTION OF IT.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+I am very conscious of the many sins of commission and omission of which
+I have been guilty in my attempt to write the "Life and Work of John
+Leech"; but, that ingratitude may not figure amongst my shortcomings, I
+take advantage of the usual preface to acknowledge my obligations to
+friends and strangers from whom I have received assistance, and to
+express my warmest thanks for their kindness.
+
+The time that has elapsed since Leech's death has terribly thinned the
+ranks of his friends and contemporaries; but the leveller has spared and
+dealt tenderly with one of his earliest and most constant friends, Mr.
+Charles F. Adams, whose store of Leech's letters, together with many
+pleasing reminiscences, have been placed unreservedly at my disposal.
+From Mr. Kitton's memoir of Leech I have derived, through the author's
+kindness, much advantage; and to Mr. Thornber, a well-known collector of
+Leech's works, I owe the opportunity of selecting some of the best
+illustrations that grace the book.
+
+I also desire to express my gratitude to the proprietors of _Punch_,
+who, though unable to comply with my unreasonable demand to the full
+extent of it, have given me most important help in my endeavours to do
+honour to the genius who was such an honour to _Punch_. I owe to those
+gentlemen no less than eight of the full-page illustrations, to say
+nothing of numbers of small cuts.
+
+I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Grego, my neighbour Mr.
+McKenzie, Mr. Willert Beale, and Mr. Maitland for their help in various
+ways; not forgetting the Eton boy, whose anonymity I preserve according
+to his desire.
+
+To Sir John Millais, Mr. Ashby Sterry, Mr. Horsley, Mr. Holman Hunt, and
+Mr. Cholmondeley Pennel I also offer my warmest acknowledgment for the
+papers they have so kindly contributed.
+
+In conclusion, I permit myself a few words in explanation of that which
+I know will be laid to my charge, namely, that my book tells too little
+of Leech and too much of his work, and that it is chronologically
+deficient. In excuse I plead that the life of Leech as I knew it from
+its early days was, like that of most artists, entirely devoid of such
+incidents as would interest the public; and that from the difficulty of
+acquiring certain information, and the varying times at which it was
+supplied, chronological accuracy was impossible.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+        PROLOGUE                                                1
+
+     I. EARLY DAYS                                              3
+
+    II. EARLY WORK                                             20
+
+   III. MR. PERCIVAL LEIGH AND LEECH                           75
+
+    IV. MEETING OF MULREADY AND LEECH                          95
+
+     V. "THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EVENING PARTIES," BY ALBERT SMITH  104
+
+    VI. JOHN LEECH AND THE ETON BOY                           130
+
+   VII. MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR                            137
+
+  VIII. "THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS," BY ALBERT SMITH    151
+
+    IX. "THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS"--CONTINUED          163
+
+     X. "A MAN MADE OF MONEY," BY DOUGLAS JERROLD             178
+
+    XI. ALBERT SMITH AND LEECH                                206
+
+   XII. MR. ADAMS AND LEECH                                   233
+
+  XIII. "COMIC GRAMMAR" AND "COMIC HISTORY"      255
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  PORTRAIT OF JOHN LEECH                                  _Frontispiece_
+
+  HERCULES RETURNING FROM A FANCY BALL                    _To face p._ 3
+
+  PHYSICIAN AND GENERAL PRACTITIONER                                  27
+
+  "WHERE 'AVE WE BIN? WHY, TO SEE THE COVE 'UNG, TO BE SURE!"         29
+
+  AN EYE TO BUSINESS                                                  31
+
+  BUT AUGUSTUS'S HEART WAS TOO FULL TO SPEAK                          33
+
+  "SIR! PLEASE, MR.! SIR! YOU'VE FORGOT THE DOOR-KEY!"                38
+
+  ETON BOY (_loq._): "Come, governor! just one toast--'The Ladies'!"  39
+
+  THE RETURN FROM THE DERBY                                           43
+
+  THE DERBY EPIDEMIC                                                  44
+
+  SOMETHING LIKE A HOLIDAY                                            46
+
+  ALARMING SYMPTOMS ON EATING BOILED BEEF AND GOOSEBERRY-PIE          47
+
+  "SO YOU HAVE TAKEN ALL YOUR STUFF, AND DON'T FEEL ANY BETTER, EH?"  50
+
+  AWFUL APPARITION TO A GENTLEMAN WHILST SHAVING IN THE EDGWARE ROAD,
+    SEPTEMBER 29, 1846.                                               51
+
+  "A HOLDER AND A THINNER WINE"                                       53
+
+  "HOLLO! HI! HERE, SOMEBODY! I'VE TURNED ON THE HOT WATER, AND I
+    CAN'T TURN IT OFF AGAIN!"                                         54
+
+  SYMPTOMS OF A MASQUERADE                                            55
+
+  THE RISING GENERATION                                               57
+
+  THE IRREPRESSIBLE JUVENILE                                          58
+
+  THE RISING GENERATION                                               59
+
+  SERVANT-GAL-ISM                                                     63
+
+  THE RISING GENERATION                                               65
+
+  SPECIAL CONSTABLE: "Now mind, you know--if I kill you, it's
+    nothing; but if you kill me, by Jove! it's murder!"               67
+
+  RECREATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY                                      69
+
+  CABMAN IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN A WRONG TURNING, THAT'S ALL        70
+
+  MR. BRIGGS DOES A LITTLE SHOOTING                                   73
+
+  "FIDDLE-FADDLE" FASHIONS                                            90
+
+  "FIDDLE-FADDLE" FASHIONS                                            91
+
+  THE MULREADY ENVELOPE                                               96
+
+  FORES'S COMIC ENVELOPE                                              97
+
+  MAMMA AND THE GIRLS                                                106
+
+  TWO RUDE YOUNG MEN                                                 107
+
+  THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE                                              108
+
+  AN OLIVE-BRANCH                                                    109
+
+  TWO "GANGLING" YOUNG MEN                                           110
+
+  PREPARING FOR THE BALL                                             111
+
+  THE ASSISTANT-WAITER                                               112
+
+  THE BAND                                                           112
+
+  WALLFLOWERS                                                        114
+
+  MR. LEDBURY                                                        115
+
+  MR. LEDBURY AND MISS HAMILTON                                      116
+
+  THE WALTZ                                                          118
+
+  IN THE CONSERVATORY                                                119
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE EVENING                                           120
+
+  MR. LEDBURY'S HAT                                                  121
+
+  MR. PERCIVAL JENKS                                                 123
+
+  CLOWN: "Oh, see what I've found!"                                  127
+
+  MISS CINTHIA SINGS                                                 128
+
+  DREADFUL FOR YOUNG OXFORD                                          131
+
+  MISS LUCY AND MR. SPONGE                                           149
+
+  LE PREMIER PAS                                        _To face p._ 160
+
+  DEATH OF ST. CROIX                                         "       172
+
+  A FAMILY PICTURE                                                   189
+
+  AND THERE STOOD JERICHO                                            203
+
+  MR. SIMMONS'S ATTEMPT AT REFORM                                    215
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE MONTH--AUGUST--TAKING A "CONSTITUTIONAL" IN
+    KENSINGTON GARDENS. TIME, 8 A.M.                                 221
+
+  THE BALCONY NUISANCE                                               223
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE MONTH--NOVEMBER--"IN DISTRESS OFF A
+    LEE-SHORE--BRIGHTON PIER"                                        229
+
+  "NOW, JACK, MY BOY! THERE'S NO TIME TO LOSE! WE'VE TEN MILES TO
+    GO TO COVER"                                                     245
+
+  EFFECTS OF A FALL                                                  253
+
+  BILLY TAYLOR                                                       256
+
+  "WHERE GOT'S THOU THAT GOOSE? LOOK!"                               257
+
+  QUEEN ELEANOR AND FAIR ROSAMOND                                    261
+
+  KING EDWARD INTRODUCING HIS SON AS PRINCE OF WALES TO HIS
+    NEWLY-ACQUIRED SUBJECTS                                          262
+
+  UNSEEMLY CONDUCT OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES                         263
+
+  THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER GOES INTO MOURNING FOR HIS LITTLE NEPHEWS   264
+
+  MARY'S ELOPEMENT                                                   266
+
+
+
+
+JOHN LEECH:
+
+_HIS LIFE AND WORK_
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+
+_"'Leech' (spelt 'leich') is an old Saxon word for 'surgeon,'" writes a
+friend to me. "Hence, as you know, the employment of the word 'leech' as
+a term applied in former times to doctors."_
+
+_Though Leech is not a common name, I have met with several bearers of
+it under every variety of spelling that the word was capable of--Leech,
+Lietch, Leich, Leeche, Leitch, etc. Only two of the owners of these
+names became known to fame--John, of immortal memory, and, longo
+intervallo, William Leitch, a Scottish artist, and landscape-painter of
+considerable merit, whose pictures, generally of a classic character,
+found favour amongst a certain class of buyers. A large subject of much
+beauty was engraved, and, I think, formed the prize-engraving for the
+year for the Art Union of London. I have no doubt William Leitch was
+frequently asked if he were related to John. The sound of the names was
+similar, and few inquirers knew of the difference in the spelling.
+Whether William was asked the question or not I cannot speak to with
+certainty; but that John was I am sure, because he told me so himself,
+and, as well as I can recall them, in the following words:_
+
+_"I was asked the other day if I were related to a man of the same
+name--a Scotchman--a landscape-painter. He spells his name L-e-i-t-c-h,
+you know. I said, 'No; the Scotch gentleman's name is spelt in the
+Scotch way, with the 'itch in it.' Not bad, eh? I hope nobody will tell
+him!"_
+
+_I met William Leitch several times (he died long ago), and was always
+charmed by his refined and gentle manner; but we never became intimate,
+so I cannot say I had the following anecdote from himself; but it was
+told me by an intimate friend of the artist, who assured me that he had
+it from Leitch direct._
+
+_Leitch had a considerable practice as a drawing-master, chiefly amongst
+the higher classes. He taught the very highest, for he gave lessons to
+the Queen herself. I have never had the honour of seeing any of her
+Majesty's drawings, but I have had the advantage of her criticism, and I
+can well believe in the reports of the excellence of her work._
+
+_The story goes that one day, in the course of a lesson, the Queen let
+her pencil fall to the ground. Both master and pupil stooped to pick it
+up; and, to the horror of Leitch, there was a collision--the master's
+head struck that of his royal pupil! and before he could stammer an
+apology, the Queen said, smiling:_
+
+_"Well, Mr. Leitch, if we bring our heads together in this way, I
+ought to improve rapidly."_
+
+[Illustration: _"Hercules" returning from a Fancy Bail._
+
+_R. E. & S. 1888._]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+EARLY DAYS.
+
+
+On the 29th of August, 1817, a boy was born in London gifted with a
+genius which, in the short time allowed for its development, delighted
+and astonished the world. The child's name was Leech, and he was
+christened John. The Leech family was of Irish extraction. From
+information received, it appears that the father of Leech, also called
+John, was possessed of an uncle who had made a large fortune as the
+owner of the London Coffee-House, Ludgate Hill. With this fortune he
+retired, leaving his nephew to reign in his stead at the Coffee-House,
+not without a reasonable hope and expectation that the nephew would
+follow in the uncle's prosperous footsteps. But times had changed. Clubs
+were being formed, and the customers of the Ludgate Hill place of
+entertainment preferred to be enrolled as members of the novel
+institutions rather than subject themselves to the somewhat mixed
+company at the Coffee-House. Leech's establishment, however, struggled
+on into my early time, for I can well remember being advised, if I
+wished for a good and wonderfully cheap dinner, consisting--as per
+advertisement--of quite startling varieties of dishes, my desire might
+be gratified by payment of eighteen-pence to the authorities at the
+London Coffee-House, Ludgate Hill.
+
+I do not know the precise time at which the doors of the Coffee-House
+were finally closed and the father Leech, with his large family, was
+thrown upon the world; but it must have been some years after the
+subject of this memoir had been enrolled amongst the Charterhouse
+scholars, an event that took place when he was seven years old. Previous
+to this by about four years, some feeble buds of the genius that
+blossomed so abundantly afterwards are said to have shown themselves,
+and to have been observed by Flaxman as the child sat with pencil and
+paper on his mother's knee. The great sculptor is reported to have said:
+
+"This drawing is wonderful. Do not let him be cramped by
+drawing-lessons; let his genius follow its own bent. He will astonish
+the world."
+
+I venture to think that for this story a grain of salt would be by no
+means sufficient. No drawing done by a child of three years old, however
+gifted, could be "wonderful" in the estimation of Flaxman; and that such
+an artist as he was should have said anything so foolish as what is
+tantamount to advising a parent against "learning to draw" I take the
+liberty of disbelieving. Flaxman was a friend of the Leeches, and in
+after years, while John Leech was still a youth, the sculptor again
+examined some of his sketches, and, after looking well at them, he very
+likely said, as is reported:
+
+"That boy must be an artist; he will be nothing else."
+
+A child of seven seems almost cruelly young to be subjected to the
+hardships of a public school.
+
+"I thought," wrote John's father, "that I was not wrong in sending him
+thus early, as Dr. Russell, the head-master, had a son of the same age
+in the school, and John was in the same form with him."
+
+No doubt the elder Leech felt much the parting from his little son, but
+to Mrs. Leech the boy's leaving home was a severe blow; the mother's
+heart would no doubt realize and exaggerate the perils to mind and body
+arising from contact with something like six hundred fellow-pupils,
+scarcely one so young, and none so loving and lovable as her little boy.
+John was boarded at a house close by the Charterhouse, and only allowed
+to go home at rare intervals. The fond mother, however, could not live
+without seeing him, and to enable her to gratify her longing, a room was
+hired in a house overlooking the boy's playground, from which, carefully
+hidden, she could see her little son as he walked and talked with the
+form-fellow, "the particular friend" to whom a sympathetic nature had
+attached him; or watch him as he joined heart and soul in some game--not
+too rough--for a fall from his pony, by which his arm had been broken
+and was still far from strong, made such rough sports as are common to
+schoolboys too dangerous to be indulged in.
+
+The Charterhouse rejoiced in a drawing-master named Burgess. Upon what
+principles that master proceeded to train the youth of Charterhouse I am
+unable to speak; they were most likely those in vogue at the time of
+young Leech's sojourn. If they were of that description, it was
+fortunate that Leech paid--as is said--little or no attention to them,
+finding a difficulty, no doubt, in applying them to the sketches that
+constantly fell from him on to the pages of his school-books.
+
+It may be urged that when Flaxman warned the boy's mother against
+teaching as being sure to cramp her son's genius, he alluded to the
+Burgess method. That may have been so. But a man like Flaxman, who had
+possessed himself by severest study as a young man of the means by which
+his powers were developed, would, I think, have been sure to warn Mrs.
+Leech of the difference between the teaching that would be mischievous,
+and that which is proved to be indispensable by the universal practice
+of the greatest painters. I am aware I shall be confronted with the case
+of John Leech, who was, so to speak, entirely self-taught; but Leech was
+not a painter, and certainly never could have become a good one without
+training; besides, he was altogether exceptional--unique, in fact. In my
+opinion, we are as likely to see another Shakespeare or Dickens as
+another Leech.
+
+This is a digression, for which I apologize. I cannot find that my
+hero--I may call him such, for he was ever a hero to me--paid much
+attention to classical knowledge. Latin verses were impossible to him,
+but they had to be done; so, as he said, he "got somebody to do them for
+him." In spite of his weak arm, he fenced with Angelo, the school
+fencing-master; but, beyond the advantage of the exercise, the
+accomplishment was of no use to him.
+
+Here I cannot resist an anecdote of which the fencing reminds me.
+
+Some years before Leech's death the editor of a newspaper, who was
+remarkable for the severity of his criticisms and for his extreme
+personal ugliness, had made some caustic remarks on Leech's work in
+general, and on some special drawings in particular.
+
+"If that chap," said Leech to me, "doesn't mind what he is about, I will
+_draw_ and defend myself"--an idle threat, for nothing could have
+provoked that gentle, noble nature into personality, no trace of which
+is to be found in the long list of his admirable works.
+
+Several letters, delightfully boyish, written by Leech to his father
+from the Charterhouse, are in my possession. Some of them, I think, may
+appropriately appear in this place.
+
+
+  "Septr 19 1826
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+ "I hope you are quite well. I beg you will let me come out to see you
+for I am so dull here, and I am always fretting about, because I wrote
+to you yesterday and you would not let me come out. I will fag hard if
+you will let me come out, and will you write to me, and the letter that
+you write put in when you are going to Esex and when you return for I
+want to very particularly
+
+"How is Mamma, Brother and Sisters
+
+"I hope Ester is quite well,
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH
+
+"I am very sorry that I stayed away from School with ---- but I promise
+never to do it again and I beg you will let me come out on Sunday."
+
+
+  "Charter House October 2 _1826_
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"You told me to write to you when the reports where made out, they are
+made out now, and mine is, does his Best. I hope you are quite well, and
+Mamma the same. I hope Tom Mary Caroline, and Ester are quite well. I
+have not spoken to Mr Chapman yet about the tuter, and drawing Master,
+because I had not an oppertunity, send me a cake as soon as it is
+convenient
+
+  "Your affectionate son
+    "J LEECH."
+
+
+  [_No date._]
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"I write this note to know how poor little Polly is I hope she is better
+to day pray write to me before the day is over and tell me how she is. I
+hope you and Mamma Tom and Fanny are all well since I left you last
+night.
+
+"I am happy to say I am at the very top off the Form
+
+"Tell Mamma not to forget to come and see me on Wenesday as she said she
+would. I would write to Polly now only I have not time pray give Polly a
+1000 kiss for me and Fanny and Tom the same. As I said before I hope
+poor little Polly is better.
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA,
+
+"My report was made out yesterday but I forgot to write to you
+therefore I tell you to-day, it was (generally attentive) If any
+afternoon or morning that you have time I should be very happy to see
+you. You can see me in the morning from 12 to half-past two and in the
+evening from 4 till 9.
+
+"Send me another suit of clothes if you please and a cap. Mind the
+gloves. I hope Polly continues to get better and I hope you and Mamma
+Brother and sisters are quite well. Send me a penknife if you please. I
+remain
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+"Will you let me come out to see you once before my sisters go to
+school, for I feel quite unhappy here and miserable. I am afraid I shall
+not be able to get promoted yet, therefore I am afraid I shant be able
+to come out. But you promised me that if I did not get promoted you
+would let me come out. I try as much as I can to get promoted. Do let me
+come out once before my Sisters go to School.
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH
+
+"Tell Mamma to send me a cake as soon as she can
+
+"Send me some money as soon as you can."
+
+
+
+  "September 14 1827
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"I am happy to say that Mr Baliscombe says that for my Holiday Task I
+deserve promotion and says it is very well done indeed. Come and see me
+as soon as you can. I think I shall get promoted when Dr Russell sees my
+Holiday Task--In fact Mr Baliscombe is going to ask him to put me up. I
+hope you and Mamma are quite well. Springett went to the play he tells
+me and did not come back till the morning. I hope dear old Camello and
+the dear little Baby Bunning are quite well, would you mind sending Mrs
+Jeffkins some partridges for I know she would like some. Tell Mamma to
+write to me as soon as she possibly can.
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH
+
+"P.S. I would not send the porter only I have got neither wafer nor
+seal'wax."
+
+
+  "Sepr 16th 1827
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"I am very happy indeed to say that I am promoted for I know it makes
+you happy. Let me come out next Saturday and come and see me to-morrow.
+I have no sealing wax or would not send the porter.
+
+"I hope you are quite well and Mamma and Old Camello and the little Baby
+Bunning the same
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+"As I am rather short of money and want to keep my money I've got, I
+should be much obliged if you would give my ambassador 18 pence or so as
+I've promised a boy at school one of those small bladders to make
+balloons of, if you remember you bought me one once. I hope you are all
+well
+
+  "I remain
+    "Your affectionate son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+"Will you be so kind as to send me half a crown by the porter and
+allowence me every week
+
+"I was obliged to send the porter
+
+"I hope you Mamma Brothers and sisters are quite well.
+
+  "Your affectionate son
+    "J LEECH."
+
+
+  [_No date._]
+
+  "MY DEAR MAMMA
+
+"I understand that you came to see me yesterday, and me being in the
+green, you did not see me, so that made me still more unhappy, I beg you
+will come and see me on Saturday for I am very unhappy.
+
+"I want to see you or Papa very much indeed.
+
+  "Your affectionate son
+    "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"You desired me to send you my report I have not had it since the last
+one. I went into be examined by Dr Russell yesterday but I did not get
+promoted but I did not lose more than one or two places. I will send you
+my next report. I hope you are quite well.
+
+"Mamma and Brother and sisters the Same
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH.
+
+"I would have written to you sooner but _I had not time_."
+
+
+Leech made no way at the Charterhouse; never approaching the position
+held by Thackeray, who was four years his senior: indeed, I doubt that
+they saw, or cared to see, much of each other, little dreaming that they
+would ultimately become dear and fast friends till death separated them,
+only to meet again, as we believe, after the sad, short interval that
+elapsed between the deaths of each.
+
+I cannot say I believe in inherited talent, but the fact that the elder
+Leech was said to be a remarkable draughtsman seems to strengthen the
+theory held by some people. I have never seen any specimens of the
+father's drawing, nor did I ever hear the son speak of it. Anyway, Leech
+_p�re_ had no faith in the practice of art as a means of livelihood for
+his son, for he informed the youth, after a nine years' attendance at
+the Charterhouse, that he was destined for the medical profession. There
+is no record of any objection on the part of Leech to his father's
+decision, at which I feel surprise; for the flame which burnt so
+brilliantly in after-life must have been always well alight, and very
+antagonistic to the kind of work required from the embryo surgeon.
+Leech's gentle yielding nature influenced him then as always; and he
+went to St. Bartholomew's, where under Mr. Stanley, the surgeon of the
+hospital, he worked hard and delighted his master by his excellent
+anatomical drawings. From these studies may be traced, I think, much of
+the knowledge of the human form, and above all of _proportion_, always
+displayed in his work; for in those wonderful drawings, whether a figure
+is tall or short, fat or thin, whether he deals with a child or a giant,
+with a dog or a horse, no disproportion can be found.
+
+It appears that the elder Leech's affairs were already in such an
+embarrassed condition, that an intention to place his son with Sir
+George Ballingall, an eminent Scottish doctor, was abandoned, and after
+a time he was placed with a Mr. Whittle, a very remarkable person, who
+figures under the name of Rawkins in a novel written by Albert Smith and
+illustrated by Leech. Smith's work, with the title of "The Adventures of
+Mr. Ledbury and his Friend Jack Johnson," was first published in
+_Bentley's Miscellany_.
+
+"Mr. Rawkins," says Albert Smith, "was so extraordinary a person for a
+medical practitioner that, had we only read of him instead of having
+known him, we should at once have put him down as the far-fetched
+creation of the author's brain. He was about eight-and-thirty years old,
+and of herculean build except his legs, which were small in comparison
+with the rest of his body. But he thought that he was modelled after the
+statues of antiquity, and, indeed, in respect of his nose, which was
+broken, he was not far wrong in his idea--that feature having been
+damaged in some hospital skirmish when he was a student. His face was
+adorned with a luxuriant fringe of black whiskers, meeting under his
+chin, whilst his hair, of a similar hue, was cut rather short about his
+head, and worn without the least regard to any particular style or
+direction. But it was also his class of pursuits that made him so
+singular a character. Every available apartment in his house not
+actually in use by human beings was appropriated to the conserving of
+innumerable rabbits, guinea-pigs, and ferrets. His areas were filled
+with poultry, bird-cages hung at every window, and the whole of his roof
+had been converted into one enormous pigeon-trap. It was one of his most
+favourite occupations to sit, on fine afternoons, with brandy-and-water
+and a pipe, and catch his neighbours' birds. He had very little private
+practice; the butcher, the baker, and the tobacconist were his chief
+patients, who employed him more especially with the intention of working
+out their accounts. He derived his principal income from the retail of
+his shop, his appointments of medical man to the police force and parish
+poor, and breeding fancy rabbits. These various avocations pretty well
+filled up his time, and when at home he passed his spare minutes in
+practising gymnastics--balancing himself upon one hand and laying hold
+of staples, thus keeping himself at right angles to the wall, with other
+feats of strength, the acquisition of which he thought necessary in
+enabling him to support the character of Hercules--his favourite
+impersonation--with due effect."
+
+It is not to be wondered at that Mr. Whittle, _alias_ Rawkins, should
+find that stealing his neighbours' pigeons, together with his other
+unprofitable accomplishments, to say nothing of the sparseness of paying
+patients, could have only one termination--bankruptcy. Mr. Whittle ended
+his career in a public-house, of which he became proprietor after
+marrying the widow who kept it. Here he put off his coat to his work,
+and in his shirt-sleeves served his customers with beer. Leech and
+Albert Smith, and others of his pupils took his beer readily, though
+they had always declined to take his pills. It is said that he was
+originally a Quaker, and that he died a missionary at the Antipodes.
+
+Leech stayed but a short time with the pigeon-fancying Whittle, whom
+he left to be placed under Dr. John Cockle, afterwards Physician to the
+Royal Free Hospital. Leech seems to have been a pretty regular attendant
+at anatomical and other lectures, and it goes without saying that his
+notes were garnished with sketches, for which his fellow-students sat
+unconsciously; and plenty of them remain to prove the impossibility of
+checking an inclination so strongly implanted in such a genuine artist
+as John Leech.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EARLY WORK.
+
+
+It was at St. Bartholomew's that Leech made acquaintance, which soon
+ripened into friendship, with Albert Smith, Percival Leigh (a future
+comrade on the _Punch_ Staff, and author of the "Comic Latin Grammar,"
+"Pips' Diary," etc.), Gilbert � Beckett and many others, all or most of
+whom served as models for that unerring pencil.
+
+The impecunious condition of Leech senior before John had reached his
+eighteenth year was such as to make his chances of getting a living by
+medicine or surgery, even if successful, so remote as to place them
+beyond consideration. No doubt the elder Leech's misfortunes were
+"blessings in disguise," for we owe to them the necessity that compelled
+the younger man to devote himself to art.
+
+The art of drawing upon wood, to which Leech in his later years almost
+entirely confined himself, dates back from very early times.
+Lithography, or drawing upon stone, is a comparatively modern invention,
+and, until the introduction of photography, was used for varieties of
+artistic reproduction. It was to that process we owe the first published
+work of Leech. The artist was eighteen years old when "Etchings and
+Sketchings," by A. Pen, Esq., price 2s. plain, 3s. coloured, was offered
+tremblingly to the public. The work was in the shape of four quarto
+sheets, which were covered with sketches, more or less caricatures, of
+cabmen, policemen, street musicians, hackney coachmen with their
+vehicles and the peculiar breed of animal attached to them, and other
+varieties of life and character common to the streets of London. This
+work is now very rarely to be met with; it consisted chiefly, I believe,
+of characteristic heads and half-length figures. To "Etchings and
+Sketchings" the young artist added some political caricatures, also in
+lithography, of considerable merit. With these, or, rather, with the
+heavy stones on which they were drawn, we may imagine the weary
+wanderings from publisher to publisher; the painful anxiety with which
+the verdict, on which so much depended, was waited for; the hopes that
+brightened at a word of commendation, only to be scattered by a few
+stereotyped phrases, such as, "Ah, very clever, but these sort of things
+are not in our way, you see; there is no demand," and so on.
+
+1836, when Leech was still a boy, saw the production of works called
+"The Boy's Own Series," "Studies from Nature," "Amateur Originals," "The
+Ups and Downs of Life; or, The Vicissitudes of a Swell," etc.
+
+The delicate touch and the grasp of character peculiar to the artist are
+recognised at once in many examples.
+
+Leech's struggle for bread for himself and others must have been
+terrible at this time; indeed, up to the establishment of Rowland Hill's
+penny post, when, by what may be called a brilliant opportunity, Leech
+attracted for the first time the public attention, which never deserted
+him.
+
+The title of this book is "The Life and _Work_ of John Leech." Of the
+former, as I have shown, there is little to tell; on the latter,
+volumes, critical, descriptive, appreciative, might be written. An
+artist is destined to immortality or speedy oblivion according to his
+work, and it was my earnest hope, on undertaking this memoir, that I
+should be able to prove, by the finest examples of Leech's genius, that
+an indisputable claim to immortality was established for him. To a great
+extent I have been permitted to do so; but the law of copyright has
+debarred me from the selection of many brilliant pictures of life and
+character on which my, perhaps unreasonably covetous, eyes had rested.
+The proprietors of _Punch_ and also of the copyright of most of Leech's
+other works are, no doubt, properly careful of their interests, and I
+can imagine their surprise at the extent of my first demands upon their
+good-nature. In my ignorance I had thought that as my object was the
+honour and glory of John Leech--a feeling, no doubt, shared by them--the
+treasures of _Punch_ would be spread before me, with a request that I
+would help myself. I do not in the least complain that I found myself
+mistaken. There are, no doubt, good reasons for the limits to which I
+was restricted, though I am unable to see them; and, granting the
+existence of those reasons, I should be ungrateful if I did not express
+my thanks for the small number of illustrations from _Punch_ and other
+sources which I am allowed to use. I confess I was delighted to find
+that the first few years of the existence of _Punch_ were free by lapse
+of time from copyright protection, and as some of Leech's best work
+appears in the volumes between 1841 and 1849, I am able to show my
+readers further proofs of the justice of the artist's claim to be
+remembered for all time.
+
+Leech's hatred of organ-grinding began very early in his career.
+
+  "WANTED, BY AN AGED LADY OF VERY NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT, A PROFESSOR, WHO
+  WILL UNDERTAKE TO MESMERIZE ALL THE ORGANS IN HER STREET. SALARY, SO
+  MUCH PER ORGAN."
+
+The drawing which appeared in _Punch_ in 1843, with the above title, was
+the first of the humorous series that continued almost unbroken for more
+than twenty years. It is pitiable to think of the long martyrdom that
+Leech suffered from an abnormal nervous organization, which ultimately
+made street-noises absolute agony to him. In the illustration the
+singular difference of dress in the organ-grinder of fifty years ago and
+him of the present time is noticeable, as also are the perfect
+expressions of the small audience. Leech's chief contributions to
+_Punch_ at this time were the large cuts, in which Peel, Brougham, the
+great Duke of Wellington, and others, play political parts in matters
+that would be of little interest to the reader of to-day, nor are the
+drawings of exceptional merit.
+
+In 1844 there appeared an irresistible little cut, the precursor of so
+many admirable variations of skating and sliding incidents.
+
+  "NOW, LOBSTER, KEEP THE POT A-BILING."
+
+What could surpass the impudence of the vigorous youngster, or the
+expression of the guardsman of amused wonder as he looks down upon the
+audacious imp, as Goliath might have looked upon David?
+
+The sensation created by the first appearance of the dwarf Tom Thumb
+remains vividly in my memory. I saw him in all his impersonations; that
+of Napoleon, in which he was dressed in exact imitation of the Emperor,
+was very droll. The little creature was at Waterloo, taking quantities
+of snuff from his waistcoat pocket, giving his orders for the final
+charge which decided his fate; and when he saw that all was lost, his
+distress was terrible: he wrung his little hands and wept copiously,
+amidst the uproarious applause and laughter of the audience. Then he was
+at St. Helena, and, standing on an imaginary rock, he folded his arms,
+and gazed wistfully in the direction of his beloved France. After a
+long, lingering look, he shook his little head, and with a sigh so loud
+as to astonish us, he dashed the tears from his eyes, and made his bow
+to the audience, some of whom affected to be shocked by the laughter of
+the unthinking, and loudly expressed their sympathy with the great man
+in his fall. I well remember the great Duke going to see the amusing
+dwarf, but why Leech should have represented him in the dancing
+attitude, as shown in the illustration, seems strange. Surely a more
+serious imitation of a Napoleonic attitude would have been more telling
+and more comic.
+
+The next print illustrates a paper in _Punch_ called "Physicians and
+General Practitioners."
+
+"The physician almost invariably dresses in black," says the writer,
+"and wears a white neck-cloth. He also often affects smalls and gaiters,
+likewise shirt-frills" (fancy a physician in these days thus dressed!).
+He appears, no doubt very properly, in perpetual mourning. The general
+practitioner more frequently sports coloured clothes, as drab trousers
+and a figured waistcoat. With respect to features, the Roman nose, we
+think, is more characteristic of physicians; while among general
+practitioners, we should say, the more common of the two was the snub.
+
+The general practitioner and the physician often meet professionally,
+on which occasion their interests as well as their opinions are very apt
+to clash; whereupon an altercation ensues, which ends by the physician
+telling the general practitioner that he is an "impudent quack," and the
+general practitioner's replying to the physician that he is "a
+contemptible humbug."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+How perfectly Leech has realized the scene for us the drawing
+abundantly shows. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that he never
+surpassed in drawing, expression, and character, these two admirable
+figures; full of contempt for each other, the emotion is expressed
+naturally, and with due regard to the peculiarities, widely varying, of
+each of the disputants.
+
+More years ago than I care to remember, I met at dinner Mr. Gibson, the
+Newgate surgeon. At that time an agitation was afoot respecting public
+executions, the advocates maintaining that the sight of a
+fellow-creature done to death acted as a deterrent on any of the
+sight-seers who were disposed to risk a similar fate, the objectors
+declaring that the exhibition only made brutes more brutal, and was in
+no way a deterrent. As Mr. Gibson had had a long experience of criminals
+and their ways, it was thought worth while to ask his opinion of the
+matter in dispute. The surgeon said that, feeling strongly on the
+subject of public hanging, he had made a point of asking persons under
+sentence of death if they had ever attended executions, and he found
+that over three-fourths--he told us the exact number, but I cannot trust
+my memory on the point--had witnessed the finishing of the law. So much
+for the deterrent effect. The disgraceful scenes that took place at the
+execution of the Mannings produced a powerful letter to the press from
+Dickens, and an equally powerful article in the _Daily News_, by Mr.
+Parkinson. Parliament was aroused, and public executions ceased.
+
+[Illustration: "WHERE 'AVE WE BIN? WHY, TO SEE THE COVE 'UNG, TO BE
+SURE!"]
+
+The Leech drawing which follows appeared in 1845, some years before the
+Manning murder, and a considerable time previous to the agitation on the
+subject of hanging in public. If ever a moral lesson was inculcated by a
+work of art, this powerful drawing is an example. Who knows how much it
+may have done towards hastening the time when those horrible exhibitions
+ceased?
+
+Is this squalid group, with debauchery and criminality in evidence in
+each figure, likely to be morally impressed by the sight of a public
+hanging? What are they but types of a class that always frequented such
+scenes? The dreadful woman has carried her child with her; the little
+creature's attenuated limbs point to the neglect and ill-usage sure to
+be met with from such parents.
+
+To those unacquainted with the "Caudle Lectures" by Douglas Jerrold,
+which appeared at this time in _Punch_, I recommend the perusal of those
+inimitable papers. One of their merits is their having given occasion
+for an admirable drawing by Leech. Lord Brougham was, in the eyes of
+_Punch_ and many others, a firebrand in the House of Lords. He was
+irrepressible, contentious, and brilliant on all occasions, quarrelsome
+in the extreme, and a thorn in the side of whatever Government was in
+power unless he was a member of it. The Woolsack, more especially the
+object of his ambition, was made a very uneasy seat to any occupant.
+Behold him, then, as Mrs. Caudle--an excellent likeness--making night
+hideous for the unhappy Caudle, whose part is played by the Lord
+Chancellor--Lyndhurst--while the Caudle pillow is changed into the
+Woolsack.
+
+  "THE MRS. CAUDLE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS."
+
+  "What do you say? _Thank heaven! you are going to enjoy the recess,
+  and you'll be rid of me for some months?_ Never mind. Depend upon it,
+  when you come back, you shall have it again. No, I don't raise the
+  House and set everybody by the ears; but I'm not going to give up
+  every little privilege, though it's seldom I open my lips, goodness
+  knows!"--"Caudle Lectures" (improved).
+
+[Illustration: "AN EYE TO BUSINESS."]
+
+Whether such a scene as the following ever took place may be doubted;
+but that it might have happened, and may happen again, there is no
+doubt. One meets with strange seaside objects, and to bathe at the same
+time as one's tailor is within the bounds of possibility. Leech
+evidently thought so, hence this delightful little cut, wherein we see
+the creditor--evidently a tailor--improving the occasion to remind his
+fellow-swimmer of his little bill. See the businesslike aspect of the
+one and the astonishment and alarm of the other, who in the next few
+vigorous strokes will place himself beyond the reach of his creditor.
+
+Full of sympathy, as Leech was, for human suffering, and frequently as
+he dealt with sea-sickness, he certainly never showed the least pity for
+the sufferers by that miserable malady. Its ludicrous aspect was
+irresistible to him, as numbers of illustrations sufficiently prove, and
+none more perfectly than the one introduced in this place, with the
+title of "Love on the Ocean," representing a couple evidently married on
+the morning of this tempestuous day. "Why, oh why," I can hear the
+unhappy bridegroom say to himself, "did we not arrange to pass our
+honeymoon in some pleasant place in England, and so have avoided
+crossing this dreadful sea?" To be ill in the dear presence of--oh,
+horror! And the lady is so unconscious, so serenely unconscious, of the
+impending catastrophe! She enjoys the sea, and, being of a poetical
+turn, she thus improves the occasion:
+
+"Oh, is there not something, dear Augustus, truly sublime in the
+warring of the elements?"
+
+[Illustration: "BUT AUGUSTUS'S HEART WAS TOO FULL TO SPEAK."]
+
+Let anyone who suffers at sea fancy what it is to be spoken to at all,
+when the fearful sensations, the awful precursors of the inevitable,
+have full possession of him, and then to suffer in the very presence of
+the dear creature from whom every human weakness has been hitherto
+carefully hidden! The drawing is followed by a poem, in which the
+position of the unhappy Augustus is described. He could not speak in
+reply to his bride's appeal; in the words of the poet:
+
+  "She gazed upon the wave,
+     Sublime she declared it;
+   But no reply he gave--
+     He could not have dared it.
+
+  "Oh, then, 'Steward!' he cried,
+     With deepest emotion;
+   Then tottered to the side,
+     And leant o'er the ocean."
+
+Poor miserable Augustus! his face is pale as death, his treasured locks
+blown out of shape; his eyeglass swings in the wind; the distant steamer
+is making mad plunges into the heaving wave; the rain falls, and let us
+hope the romantic bride turns away as her young husband "leans o'er the
+ocean."
+
+Only those who have passed from the tableland of life can recollect the
+passion for speculation in railways that took possession of the public
+in 1845 and the two or three following years. I myself caught the
+disease, and, acting on the advice of "one who knew," I bought a number
+of shares in one of the new lines; these were �25 shares, on which �8
+each had been paid. I was assured by my adviser that I should receive
+interest at the rate of eight per cent. till the year 1850; after that
+time the line would pay ten. I awoke one morning to find that a panic
+was in full blast, and all railway property depreciated. My feelings may
+be imagined, for I certainly cannot describe them, when I found, on
+reference to the _Times_, that my �8 shares--�17 being still due upon
+each--were quoted at half a crown apiece! My friend had the courage of
+his opinions, for he had invested the whole of his property in railway
+stocks. He was completely ruined in mind and body, and died miserably
+before the panic was over.
+
+Multiply these examples by thousands, and you will arrive at a clear
+idea of the nature of a panic, which seems to mystify the young
+gentleman immortalized by Leech in the drawing illustrating the
+following dialogue:
+
+  "I SAY, JIM, WHAT'S A PANIC?"
+
+  "BLOWED IF I KNOW; BUT THERE IS VON TO BE SEEN IN THE CITY."
+
+It has been my fate in the course of a long life to attend several
+fancy-dress balls, but I can scarcely call to mind a single example of
+the successful assumption of an historical character, or, indeed, of any
+character that could disguise the very modern young lady or gentleman
+who was masquerading in it. My first acquaintance with Mark Lemon, so
+long the esteemed editor of _Punch_, began in the Hanover Square Rooms,
+at a fancy-dress ball given by a society--chiefly, I think, composed of
+the better class of tradespeople--called the Gothics. On that occasion
+might have been seen a young gentleman in the dress of one of Charles
+II.'s courtiers, and looking about as unlike his prototype as
+possible--in earnest conversation with another courtier, of the time of
+George II. I was of the Charles' period, Lemon of that of the Georges.
+Those who remember Lemon's figure later in life would have been
+surprised by the change that time had made in it, if they could have
+witnessed the interview between the two young men, one scarcely stouter
+than the other. In proof of my idea that the greater number of guests
+were in trade, I might give scraps of conversation between Mary Queen of
+Scots and Guy Fawkes, or between Henry VIII. and Edward the Black
+Prince, that would leave no doubt on the subject; nay, later in the
+evening I had convincing proof of the correctness of my surmise, as you
+shall hear. I danced with a Marie Antoinette of surpassing beauty, with
+whom I fell incontinently in love. More than once I danced with her, and
+when supper was announced, my earnest appeal to be allowed to conduct
+her to the banquet was successful. My lovely friend was full of the
+curiosity peculiar to her sex, which showed itself in her anxiety to
+know who and what I was. To tell the truth, I was equally curious to
+know who she was, and what her friends were.
+
+"Well," said I, "if you will tell me who you are, I will tell you who I
+am and what I am."
+
+"Oh," was the reply, "I think I know what you are; but what's your
+name?"
+
+"You know what I am?" said I, surprised; "what am I?"
+
+"Well, you are in the same line that we are, I fancy."
+
+"And what line is that?"
+
+"The army tailoring. Am I right?"
+
+In the illustration that accompanies these remarks Leech has succeeded
+in presenting to us a Norman knight completely characteristic, a
+Crusader more real, I think, than any modern could have rendered him.
+The lady he escorts, in a dress a few hundred years after Crusading
+times, is very lovely. The capital little Marchioness, with the big
+door-key, the four-wheeler, and the laughing crowd, make up a scene of
+inimitable humour.
+
+We now come to the first of those precocious youths in whose mannish
+ways, whose delightful impertinence to their elders, whose early
+susceptibility to the passion of love for ladies three times older than
+themselves, are shown by Leech in many a scene I should have given to my
+readers, but over them the Copyright Act stands guard. "'Tis true, 'tis
+pity, pity 'tis, 'tis true," that in a book intended solely to do honour
+to Leech's genius, so many of the most perfect examples of it are denied
+to us.
+
+[Illustration: "SIR! PLEASE, MR.! SIR! YOU'VE FORGOT THE DOOR-KEY!"]
+
+Well may the governor stare with open-mouthed astonishment at such a
+proposal from such a creature! Look at him as he throws his little arm
+over his chair in the swaggering attitude he has so often observed in
+his elders, and raises a full glass of claret! "Just as the twig is bent
+the tree's inclined;" but that we know that in this instance the twig is
+indulging in a harmless freak, one might be inclined to dread the tree's
+inclining.
+
+[Illustration: ETON BOY (_loq._): "Come, governor! just one toast--'The
+Ladies'!"]
+
+The political opinions of the writer of this book are of no consequence
+to himself or anybody else. It would perhaps be pretty near the truth if
+he were to admit that he had no political opinions worth speaking of. To
+those, however, who were interested in the struggle for Free Trade,
+which in the year 1846 raged with great fury, the question was, and
+still is, one of vital interest. The landed interest, headed by most of
+the aristocracy on the one side, and the manufacturing interest,
+championed by Cobden and Bright, on the other, raised a storm in which
+language the reverse of parliamentary was tossed from side to side. Peel
+was Prime Minister, and his ultimate conversion to the principles of
+Free Trade, and consequent advocacy of the repeal of the Corn Laws,
+horrified his supporters--by whom, notably by Disraeli, he became the
+object of envenomed attack--but led to a settlement of the question, and
+gave Leech an opportunity for the production of drawings of the victor
+and the vanquished, entitled, Cobden's "Bee's Wing" and Richmond's
+"Black Draught," two of the most successful of the political cartoons.
+
+"The Brook Green Volunteer" gave Leech the opportunity for many
+illustrations which, to my mind, are nearer approaching caricature than
+most of his work; nor have they, as a rule, the beauty or human interest
+that so many of his drawings show. I fear I must charge the volunteer
+himself with being in possession of an impossible face and a no less
+impossible figure; his action also is exaggerated. In compensation we
+have a delightful family group. The mother with that naked baby
+perambulating her person is beyond all praise. Women do strange things,
+but I deny the possibility of such a woman as Leech has drawn ever
+finding it in her heart to marry that volunteer. The little thing
+standing on tip-toe to dabble in baby's basin for the benefit of her
+doll, the delighted lookers-on, not forgetting the warrior riding his
+umbrella into action, are invested with the charm that Leech, and Leech
+only, could give them.
+
+The year 1846 gave birth to the first fruit from a field in which Leech
+found such a bountiful harvest. The racecourse gave opportunities for
+the exhibition of life and character of which the great artist took
+advantage in numberless delightful examples. Pen and pencil record
+adventures by road and rail. Whether the excursionist is going to the
+Derby or returning from it, whether he is high or low, a Duke or a
+costermonger, that unerring hand is ready to note his follies or his
+excesses, always with a kindly touch, or to point a moral if a graver
+opportunity presents itself.
+
+A madman, they say, thinks all the world mad but himself; and it is not
+uncommon for a drunken man to imagine himself to be the only sober
+person in the company. That some feeling of this kind possesses the
+rider in the drawing opposite, as he addresses the stolid postboy, is
+evident enough; his drunken smile, his battered hat, and his dishevelled
+dress, are eloquent of his proceedings on the course; and if his return
+from the Derby is not signalized by a fall from his horse, he will be
+more fortunate than he deserves to be. In works of art the value of
+contrast is well known, and a better example than the face of the
+postboy offers to that of his questioner could not be imagined. He
+drunk, indeed! not a bit of it.
+
+A pretty creature in the background must not be overlooked. She is a
+perfect specimen of Leech's power of creating beauty by a few
+pencil-marks. Her beauty has evidently attracted notice, and caused
+complimentary remarks from passers-by, which are resented by the old
+lady in charge, who tells the speaker to "_go on with his imperdence_!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE RETURN FROM THE DERBY."
+
+  SMITH: "Hollo! Poster, ain't you precious drunk, rather?"
+
+  POSTBOY: "Drunk! not a bit of it!"]
+
+I cannot resist presenting my readers with another Derby sketch. It
+is more than probable that if either of these young gentlemen had asked
+for leave of absence from his official duties for the purpose of going
+to the Derby, he would have met with stern denial. The attraction,
+however, is irresistible, and though the subterfuge by which it is
+achieved is not to be defended, who is there that is not glad that the
+wicked boy is penning that audacious letter, as it is the cause of our
+having a picture that is a joy for ever? As a work of art, whether as a
+composition of lines and light and shadow, in addition to perfect
+character and expression, this drawing takes rank amongst the best of
+Leech's works. Note the admirable action of the youth who is putting on
+his coat--a momentary movement caught with consummate skill.
+
+[Illustration: "THE DERBY EPIDEMIC."]
+
+  "GENTLEMEN,
+
+"Owing to sudden and very severe indisposition, I regret to say that I
+shall not be able to attend the office to-day. I hope, however, to be
+able to resume my duties to-morrow.
+
+  "I am, gentlemen,
+    "Yours very obediently,
+      "PHILLIP COX."
+
+Doctors differ, as everybody knows; and in no opinion do they differ
+more than in the way children should be treated. One of the faculty will
+tell you that a healthy child should be allowed to eat as much as he or
+she likes; another advises that as grown-up people are disposed to eat a
+great deal more than is good for them, a boy is pretty sure to do the
+same unless a wholesome check is imposed upon his unruly appetite. A
+great authority is reported to have said that as many people are killed
+by over-eating as by over-drinking; "in fact," said he, "they dig their
+graves with their teeth." If that be so, the young gentleman in
+"Something like a Holiday" is destined for an early tomb.
+
+Comment on this wonderful youth is needless. We can only share the
+alarm and astonishment so admirably expressed in the pastrycook's face.
+That this awful juvenile's memory should serve him so perfectly when he
+has taken such pains to cloud it, as well as every other faculty, is
+also surprising.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  PASTRYCOOK: "What have you had, sir?"
+
+  BOY: "I've had two jellies; seven of those, and eleven of these; and
+  six of those, and four bath-buns; a sausage-roll, ten almond-cakes,
+  and a bottle of ginger-beer."]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "ALARMING SYMPTOMS ON EATING BOILED BEEF AND GOOSEBERRY-PIE."
+
+  LITTLE BOY: "Oh lor, ma! I feel just exactly as if my jacket was
+  buttoned."]
+
+If "a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind," the boy in the following
+drawing would have delighted in the society of the _gourmet_ at the
+pastrycook's. Boiled beef and gooseberry-pie are good things enough in
+their way, but one may have too much of a good thing, with the
+inevitable result of the tightening of the jacket. This greedy-boy
+drawing appeared in 1846, and created a great sensation in the youth of
+that day, and many days since. Careful parents have been known to use
+this terrible example of over-eating as a warning to their offspring
+that a fit of apoplexy frequently followed the tightening of the jacket.
+
+I think my married reader of the rougher sex will agree with me when I
+say that there are few more uncomfortable, not to say alarming, moments
+than those spent in the awful interview with the parents of his beloved,
+during which he has to prove beyond all doubt that he is in every
+respect an individual to whom the happiness of a "dear child" can be
+safely entrusted. What a bad quarter of an hour that is before the
+meeting, when he has grave doubts as to the sufficiency of his income!
+Will it, with other future possibilities, be considered sufficient to
+assure to "my daughter, sir, the comforts to which she has been
+accustomed"? This he will have to answer satisfactorily, together with a
+few score more questions more or less agonizing. Leech drew a scene of
+common application when he produced the picture that follows, which he
+calls "Rather Alarming"--"On Horror's Head, Horrors accumulate." Look at
+that terrible female and prospective mother-in-law!--think of satisfying
+such a woman that you are worthy of admission into her family! How
+sincerely one pities that poor little Corydon, and how heartily one
+wishes him success!
+
+  "RATHER ALARMING."
+
+  LADY: "You wished, sir, I believe, to see me respecting the state of
+  my daughter's affections with a view to a matrimonial alliance with
+  that young lady. If you will walk into the library, my husband and I
+  will discuss the matter with you."
+
+  YOUNG CORYDON: "Oh, gracious!"
+
+Leech treats--how admirably!--another greedy boy, or, rather, two greedy
+boys.
+
+  JACKY: "Hallo, Tommy! what 'ave you got there?"
+
+  TOMMY: "Hoyster!"
+
+  JACKY: "Oh, give us a bit!"
+
+A Calais oyster, no doubt--large enough for both; but Tommy will not
+share his happiness. Intensity of expression pervades him from his open
+mouth to his fingers' ends. Jacky's face and figure are no less
+expressive of eagerness to join in the banquet.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "SO YOU HAVE TAKEN ALL YOUR STUFF, AND DON'T FEEL ANY BETTER, EH?
+  WELL, THEN, WE MUST ALTER THE TREATMENT. YOU MUST GET YOUR HEAD
+  SHAVED; AND IF YOU WILL CALL HERE TO-MORROW MORNING ABOUT ELEVEN, MY
+  PUPIL WILL PUT A SETON IN THE BACK OF YOUR NECK."]
+
+If ever man suffered from _embarras de richesse_, I am that individual
+in making a selection from the early drawings of Leech; where all, or
+nearly all, are so perfect, choice becomes difficult indeed. I cannot
+resist, however, the one that follows this remark. For perfection of
+character and richness of humour, it seems to me unsurpassable. The
+doctor's attitude as he contemplates his victim--who seems to have
+brought with her the huge empty physic-bottles to prove that she has
+taken all her "stuff"--to say nothing of his startling individuality, is
+Nature itself; and that immortal pupil with the big knife, smiling in
+anticipation of the operation "to-morrow about eleven"! One can read on
+the face of the patient a dull realization of the doctor's announcement
+that only a seton in the back of her neck--whatever that may mean to
+her--will be of any service now; and to render the operation successful,
+she must have her head shaved.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "AWFUL APPARITION TO A GENTLEMAN WHILST SHAVING IN THE EDGWARE ROAD,
+  SEPTEMBER 29, 1846."]
+
+The statue of the Duke of Wellington, which so long disgraced Hyde Park
+Corner, has disappeared, to the satisfaction of the world in general,
+though there were, I believe, a few dissentients who saw, or said they
+saw, beauty in one of the most hideous objects ever perpetrated by the
+hand of man; yet the "ayes had it," and the monster has departed.
+
+The effigy was manufactured in a studio near Paddington Green, and it
+was on its journey through the Edgware Road to the arch now on
+Constitution Hill that the gentleman in Leech's cartoon was startled by
+a very remarkable object, to say the least of it.
+
+Speaking from my own experience, I have always found a difficulty in
+giving the effect of wind in a picture; the action of it on drapery,
+trees, skies, etc., is--from the almost momentary nature of the
+gusts--far from an easy task. No one who ever handled a brush or a
+pencil has been so successful as Leech in conveying the action of wind
+on every object, and never did he succeed more completely than in an
+"Awful Scene on the Chain Pier at Brighton," which is, no doubt,
+somewhat farcical; but how intensely funny! Master Charley has gone, and
+his ma's parasol has accompanied him. The horror-struck nursemaid is
+almost blown off her feet; and Charley's brother, also terror-stricken,
+will be down on his back in a moment; whilst his little sister maintains
+her equilibrium with great difficulty. The flying hat, and the couple
+staggering against the blast in the distance, all help to realize for us
+the exact effect of a wind-storm.
+
+  NURSEMAID: "Lawk! there goes Charley, and he's took his ma's parasol!
+  What _will_ missus say?"
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  WAITER: "Gent in No. 4 likes a holder and a thinner wine, does he? I
+  wonder how he'll like this bin!"]
+
+As there is no condition in life that has not proved food for Leech's
+pencil, that of the waiter was fruitful in many never-to-be-forgotten
+scenes. I introduce one which is very humorous, and scarcely an
+exaggeration. It is called "How to Suit the Taste." A guest seems to
+have found his port too new and strong.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "HOLLO! HI! HERE, SOMEBODY! I'VE TURNED ON THE HOT WATER, AND I CAN'T
+  TURN IT OFF AGAIN!"]
+
+One of the peculiarities of Leech's art is that "time cannot wither it,
+nor custom stale its infinite variety." I defy the most serious
+Scotchman to look at the sketch below without laughing at it. As the
+gentleman who is on the highroad to being parboiled is in one of the
+sketches of 1846, many of my readers may see him for the first time. I
+envy that man; but though I am very familiar with the wonderful little
+drawing, a renewed acquaintance is always a delight to me. We know the
+bather can jump out of the scalding water when he likes, but there he
+is, with clouds of steam rising about him, screaming in deadly terror
+for "somebody" to come to his rescue.
+
+[Illustration: "SYMPTOMS OF A MASQUERADE."
+
+  BETTER-HALF (_loq._): "Is this what you call sitting up with a sick
+  friend, Mr. Wilkins?"]
+
+Here follows a drawing of a different character, opening up very
+appreciable possibilities, and not very pleasant consequences for the
+hero of the piece. Mr. Wilkins left the domestic hearth to sit up with a
+sick friend. "Yes, my dear," I can hear him say to his spouse, "I may be
+late; for if I find I can comfort the poor fellow by my conversation, I
+cannot find it in my heart to hurry away from him." Wicked Mr. Wilkins!
+What was there wrong in going to a masquerade? and if it was criminal to
+do so, why leave the evidence of your guilt where Mrs. W. could find it?
+Was that a _lady's_ mask? In the eyes of the outraged wife I dare say it
+was, though it may only have been used to cover the homely features of
+the deceiver, whose pale face and empty soda-water bottle plainly prove
+that the evening's entertainment will not bear the morning's
+reflections.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  JUVENILE: "I say, Charley, that's a jeuced fine gurl talking to young
+  Fipps! I should like to catch her under the mistletoe."]
+
+The first drawings of "The Rising Generation," in which are portrayed
+the premature affections and the amusing affectations of the manners and
+sayings of their elders that, according to Leech, distinguished the
+_jeunesse dor�_ of England, appeared in 1846, and have been so admirably
+described by Dickens elsewhere as to leave me only the task of placing
+some of the drawings before the reader, carefully avoiding those the
+great writer has noticed so felicitously. The young gentleman in the
+drawing introduced here would like to catch the pretty creature talking
+to the fascinating young man under the mistletoe, no doubt! We know his
+wicked intentions; but how would he carry them out? He is not tall
+enough to reach the lady's elbow; but love in such passionate natures
+laughs at difficulties, and he will find a way; and he calls a man old
+enough to be his father _young_ Fipps! Delightful little dog! and no
+less delightful is his friend Charley, who smiles encouragement, and
+would do likewise. These works of Leech possess what it is not too much
+to call an historical interest, as they chronicle truly the dresses of
+the time. In the object of our young friend's admiration, I fancy I see
+the approach of crinoline, while her ringlets afford a striking contrast
+to the fringes of the present day. An old lady would now create a
+sensation indeed if she appeared in a turban like that which bedecks the
+sitting figure.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  JUVENILE: "Uncle!"
+
+  UNCLE: "Now, then, what is it? This is the fourth time you've woke me
+  up, sir."
+
+  JUVENILE: "Oh! just put a few coals on the fire and pass the wine,
+  that's a good old chap!"]
+
+Again the irrepressible juvenile, under different conditions. Behold him
+practising upon a very testy old gentleman, who has been so rude, in the
+estimation of his young nephew, as to go to sleep after dinner.
+
+[Illustration: "THE RISING GENERATION."
+
+  JUVENILE: "Ah, it's all very well! Love may do for boys and gals; but
+  we, as men of the world, know 'ow 'ollow it is."]
+
+In his notices of the freaks of the rising generation Leech did not
+confine himself to juveniles of the higher and middle ranks, but
+occasionally he shows us the young snob, of whom he makes--with
+modifications--the same mannish and amusingly vain creature as his
+confr�res, the little swells. As an illustration, I present my reader
+with a scene in a coffee-house, in which two friends are refreshing
+themselves, and exchanging philosophical reflections on the vanities of
+human life. These lads look like shop-boys, but--in their own
+estimation--with souls far above their positions in life. The spokesman
+has found the truth of the poet's description of the course of true love
+in the conduct of some barmaid who has jilted him, hence his bitterness.
+
+In the year 1847 Leech produced much of his best work, and in
+justification of this dictum I advise the study of a drawing full of
+character, humour, and beauty. Thousands of heads of households could
+vouch for the truth of the situation depicted there, and where is the
+mistress whose mind has not misgiven her when a request from her pretty
+servant has been urged that she might "go to chapel this evening"?
+"Chapel, indeed!" one can hear her mutter to herself; "I've not the
+least doubt the baker's man is waiting for her round the corner!" I am
+loath to find fault with such a work as this, but I _do_ think that
+perfect maid deserved a more presentable lover than the pudding-faced,
+knock-kneed soldier who is personating the "bit of ribbin." The artist
+appears to me to charge his story-telling maid with very bad taste
+indeed. Would the drawing have lost, or gained, if Leech had given us a
+handsome young guardsman instead of this ugly fellow? He would, at any
+rate, have made the little fib a little more pardonable. The other
+figures deserve careful attention--notably, the youth absorbed in the
+study of natural history.
+
+  SERVANT-MAID: "If you please, mem, could I go out for half an hour to
+  buy a bit of ribbin, mem?"
+
+If there be amongst my readers any who are unfamiliar with Cruikshank's
+illustrations of "Oliver Twist," I advise them to turn to them, where
+they will find a drawing of Fagin in the condemned cell at Newgate, one
+of the most awful renderings of agonized despair ever depicted by the
+hand of an artist. This great work is travestied by Leech in a manner so
+admirable as to make the travesty take rank with the original. Instead
+of Fagin, see King Louis Philippe smarting under the failure of his
+schemes and the impending fall of his dynasty. By the Spanish marriages
+the veteran trickster destroyed the power which he sought to
+consolidate.
+
+Domestic troubles and misadventures were represented by Leech in many
+examples, with a sympathetic humour that never wearies. A party may be
+assembled for a dinner which is strangely delayed; conversation flags
+into silence. The host and hostess become uneasy, when a button-boy
+appears with the ominous "Oh, if you please, 'm, cook's very sorry, 'm,
+could she speak to you for a moment?" Something has happened; but we are
+left in uncertainty as to what it was.
+
+Or the dinner is served, when an alarming announcement is made:
+
+  SERVANT (_rushing in_): "Oh, goodness gracious, master! There's the
+  kitchen chimley afire, and two parish ingins a-knocking at the street
+  door."
+
+One of the happiest of the servant-gal-isms appears this year--the
+precursor of many excellent tunes on the same string--delightfully
+illustrative of the vanity which we all share, more or less, with our
+maids. In the picture that follows, the sight of the old lady's new
+bonnet and a convenient looking-glass have provided an opportunity that
+the pretty servant could not resist. She must see how she looks in
+it--and behold the result!
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  DOMESTIC (_soliloquizing_): "Well, I'm sure, missis had better give
+  this new bonnet to me, instead of sticking such a young-looking thing
+  upon her old shoulders." (The impudent minx has immediate warning.)]
+
+I must refer my readers to _Punch's_ almanac for 1848, copiously
+illustrated by Leech, for many admirable examples of his many-sided
+powers. Alas! my space forbids the reproduction of any of them. Amongst
+the rest there is one of a gentleman suffering from influenza, which, by
+the way, seems to have been as prevalent in 1848 as it has been
+recently, though not so fatal in its effects. Our sufferer is visited by
+a condoling friend: he sits with his feet in hot water, and, with his
+hand on the bell-pull, he says, "This is really very kind of you to
+call. Can I offer you anything? A basin of gruel, or a glass of cough
+mixture? Don't say no!"
+
+Another of a rich old lady, who stands before a pyramid of
+oyster-barrels, all sent to her at Christmas by her poor relations.
+Another--but I must pause, and again refer my reader to the almanac.
+
+I find yet one more of the "Rising Generation" series quite
+irresistible. The two little bucks are perfect, and the idea of such a
+report as that one of them was engaged to the magnificent woman--whose
+face we long to see--is so ludicrous as almost to reach the sublime of
+absurdity. Look at the eagerness with which the precocious youth
+impresses upon his friend the necessity of contradicting the rumour, and
+the well-bred and considerate way in which the friend receives a
+communication which does not surprise him. He does not smile at it.
+There is nothing astonishing in a man's being in love with such a fine
+woman, and he will certainly contradict anyone who repeats the report,
+as his friend desires. If the creatures had been six feet high instead
+of not so many more inches, they could not have conducted themselves
+more naturally.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  JUVENILE: "Oh, Charley, if you hear a report that I am going to be
+  married to that girl in black, you can contradict it. There's nothing
+  in it."]
+
+1848 witnessed the fall of the French throne and the tottering of
+others in Europe. It was a terrible time, and though the English throne
+was safe enough, a great deal of vague alarm existed in this country.
+The Chartists met in their thousands, and prepared a bill of grievances
+with signatures, making a document, it was said, some miles long. This
+petition they announced their intention of presenting to Parliament,
+accompanied by a procession, which was really to be some miles long; but
+they reckoned without their host--of opponents. Special constables were
+enrolled (amongst whom was Louis Napoleon), soldiers were at hand,
+skilfully hidden by the great Duke, and the Chartist procession was
+peacefully stopped long before it got to Westminster.
+
+There were firebrands then as now, and a meeting was called by one of
+them to be held in Trafalgar Square--see how history repeats
+itself!--where a ragamuffin assembly appeared; so did the police, and
+nothing came of it except a few broken heads and the inimitable drawings
+by Leech. How admirable they are!
+
+The person who wanted more liberty, equality, and fraternity than was
+good for him or anybody else, was a Mr. Cochran, and his adherents were
+called Cochranites.
+
+  COCHRANITE: "Hooray! Veeve ler liberty!! Harm yourselves!! To the
+  palis!! Down with heverythink!!!!"
+
+In the second picture the Cochranite has collapsed. A stalwart
+policeman has taken him in hand, and he cries, "Oh, sir--please, sir--it
+ain't me, sir. I'm for God save the Queen and Rule Britannier.
+Boo-hoo!--oh dear! oh dear!" (bursts into tears).
+
+
+Below we have another result of the agitation, touched in Leech's
+happiest manner. A special constable endeavours to arrest an agitator,
+who evidently objects, and prepares for resistance.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  SPECIAL CONSTABLE: "Now mind, you know--if I kill you, it's nothing;
+  but if you kill me, by Jove! it's murder!"]
+
+A certain Master Jackey was a great favourite of Leech's. In an
+elaborate work this youth's pranks are chronicled under the heading of
+"Home for the Holidays." Whether the hero of those adventures is the
+same as he who is pictured in the work I present to my readers I know
+not. In all probability the taste for practical joking which flourished
+so vigorously in the holiday scenes began, as we see, in the nursery.
+Master Jackey has been to the play, where he has witnessed the
+performances of a contortionist, and, emulous of rivalling the
+professor, he perils the limbs and lives of his brothers and sisters in
+his operations. We know of the tendency to imitate in all children, but
+when the propensity shows itself in the imitation of tricks that require
+long practice before they can be performed with safety, the game, though
+amusing to the players, may be very dangerous to the played upon. It is
+to be hoped that the rush of the terrified mother in this capital scene
+may be in time to save the baby from a perilous fall. The little
+brothers have already tasted the consequence of Master Jackey's
+imitation.
+
+The accompanying drawing was suggested by myself during an after-dinner
+conversation at a friend's house. The talk had turned on the difficulty
+that the pronunciation of certain words would prove to one who had dined
+not wisely but too well, when it occurred to me that "Plesiosaurus" or
+"Ichthyosaurus" would be troublesome, and I said so. Leech smiled, and
+said nothing, but in _Punch_ of the week following his idea of the
+difficulty appeared.
+
+[Illustration: "RECREATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY."
+
+  FIRST NATURALIST: "What, the s-s-she-sherpent a-an (hic!)
+  Ich-(hic!)-thyosaurus! Nonshence!"
+
+  SECOND NATURALIST: "Who said Ich-(hic!)-Ichthy-o-saurus? I said
+  Plesi-o-(hic!)-saurus plainenuff."]
+
+The cabman who doesn't know his way about London is exceptional, but he
+is met with occasionally, and very provoking he is; but to have his
+little trap-door knocked off its hinges because he takes a wrong turning
+is a punishment in excess of his fault. The young gentleman passenger is
+of an impatient turn, and he will find that his impatience will have to
+be paid for unless the cabman is more good-natured than he looks.
+
+[Illustration: "CABMAN IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN A WRONG TURNING, THAT'S
+ALL."]
+
+Flunkeiana cannot be omitted in this short summary of Leech's work,
+more especially as the first of a long series is one of the best.
+Nothing can be conceived more perfect than the man and the maid at the
+seaside--the girl, French from top to toe; the flunkey, a most perfect
+type of the class.
+
+  FRENCH MAID: "You like--a--ze--seaside--M'sieu Jean Thomas?"
+
+  JOHN THOMAS: "Par bokhoo, mamzelle--par bokhoo. I've--aw--been so
+  accustomed to--aw--gaiety in town, that I'm--aw--a'most killed with
+  arnwee down here."
+
+The immortal Briggs made his first appearance in _Punch_ in the year
+1849, and with one or two records of his career I regret to say I must
+close my selected list of Leech's early works. To say I regret this is
+to say little, for I am obliged to forego numberless delightful works,
+many as good as, and some perhaps better than, those I have presented to
+my readers. Mr. Briggs first appears with newspaper in hand in his snug
+breakfast-room, listening to a complaint from the housemaid that a slate
+is off the roof, and the servant's bedroom in danger of being flooded.
+Mr. Briggs replies that the sooner it is put to rights the better,
+before it goes any further--and he will see about it. Mr. Briggs does
+see about it; he sees the builder, who tells him that "a little compo"
+is all that is wanted. The drawings show that eight or ten men are
+required to manage the little compo, much to Mr. Briggs' astonishment.
+
+In the next scene a huge scaffolding is raised, and a small army of
+labourers are at work on Mr. Briggs's roof. A noise enough to wake the
+dead has awoke Mr. Briggs at the unpleasant hour of five in the morning.
+Flower-pots and bricks fall past his dressing-room window. He finds "no
+time has been lost, and that the workpeople have already commenced
+putting the roof to rights." The builder would not be true to his craft
+if he did not improve the occasion and show his employer how easy, now
+that the workpeople were about, it would be to make certain additions in
+the shape of a conservatory, etc., to the house. Briggs weakly listens
+to the voice of the charmer; walls are battered down to enlarge the
+dining-room, and the entrance-hall is enlarged. Mr. Briggs's health
+gives way, and he calls in the doctor, who prescribes horse exercise.
+
+I think it was at one of those never-to-be-forgotten dinners at Egg's
+that, the talk having turned upon shooting experiences, Dickens said
+that the sudden rising of a cock-pheasant under one's nose was like a
+firework let off in that uncongenial locality. The following week Leech
+subjected Mr. Briggs to the startling experience so admirably recorded
+in the drawing which faces this page.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+For a further acquaintance with Mr. Briggs's performances on
+horseback, as well as his escapades with gun and fishing-rod, I must
+content myself with referring those curious on the matters to the pages
+of _Punch_, where they will find entertainment that is inexhaustible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MR. PERCIVAL LEIGH AND LEECH.
+
+
+In the death of Mr. Percival Leigh, which took place a short time ago,
+the last member of the original staff of _Punch_ passed away. Mr. Leigh
+never married, and died at a very advanced age. I frequently met him in
+society, where his refined and gentle manners, and his quaintly humorous
+conversation, were what might have been anticipated from the author of
+"Pips his Diary," the "Comic Grammars," and other contributions to the
+paper to which he was so long and so faithfully attached. From the days
+of their fellow-studentship at St. Bartholomew's (with a short
+interval), to the time of Leech's death, a firm friendship existed
+between these two distinguished men.
+
+Much alike in their sense of humour, they also resembled each other in
+numberless amiable qualities of heart and mind. Leigh's pen was as free
+from personality, and as conspicuous for the gentleness with which it
+dealt with folly, as Leech's pencil. In early and late days, when Leech
+was in trouble, Leigh's was the hand--amongst others--ever ready to
+help; and to those who can read between the lines in the paper which Mr.
+Leigh has contributed to this book, there will be little difficulty in
+discovering the "friend" who found purchasers for work that the producer
+was barred (in a double sense) from selling for himself.
+
+I see little or no reason for weakening my assertion that Leech arrived
+at his supreme eminence without any art education; for the slight
+mechanical knowledge of the art of drawing upon wood which he acquired
+from Mr. Orrin Smith, a wood-engraver, is no more worthy the name of
+art-teaching, than the few lessons in etching given to Leech by George
+Cruikshank can be called art-education. Following the example of Sir
+John Millais, Mr. Percival Leigh (to whom, it will be remembered,
+Millais recommended my predecessor, Mr. Evans, to apply) furnished the
+following remarks for this memoir.
+
+Said Mr. Leigh: "Orrin Smith has been dead many years. How long Leech
+was with him I cannot say precisely. Perhaps a twelvemonth or
+thereabouts. Smith was a sociable and rather a clever man, but according
+to Leech, occasionally so economical that he would now and then try to
+get a little gratuitous work out of him. On one occasion Smith asked him
+to introduce a few figures, so as to put a touch of action into a
+drawing on wood, meant to illustrate a serious little book, the work of
+a clergyman. The scene represented was a quiet churchyard. Leech
+improved it with a group of little boys larking and boxing.
+
+"Of course these embellishments, on discovery, were objected to as
+painfully incongruous, and had to be cancelled. I forget whether or no
+they had been actually engraven before they were taken out."
+
+Thus far Mr. Leigh. I think I can interpret the incongruity. I fancy I
+can hear Leech say, after previous unrequited sketches, "Oh, hang it!
+this is too bad. Well, here goes; he shall have a few figures, and I
+hope he'll like 'em."
+
+Mr. Leigh continues: "The post-office envelope was one of Leech's
+successes; so were the 'Comic Histories' of England and Rome, and the
+'Comic Blackstone'; but his growth in popularity was gradual. He had
+previously illustrated 'Jack Brag' for Bentley, and subsequently various
+articles for _Bentley's Miscellany_, particularly the 'Ingoldsby
+Legends,' as well as other ephemeral works of the same publisher;
+amongst them the 'Comic Latin' and 'English' Grammars, and the 'Children
+of the Mobility,' a travesty of the 'Children of the Nobility,' long
+since out of print. He also furnished coloured illustrations to the
+'Fiddle-Faddle Fashion-book,' a whimsical satire on the fopperies and
+literary absurdities of the period, also out of print."
+
+I venture again to interrupt the current of Mr. Leigh's narrative with a
+word or two on the "Fiddle-Faddle" book. A copy of it, date 1840, has
+been lent to me. The literary portion, consisting mainly of a thrilling
+story of brigand life, the blood-curdling tenor of which may be imagined
+from the title, "Grabalotti the Bandit; or, The Emerald Monster of the
+Deep Dell," is the work of Mr. Leigh. The story opens thus:
+
+"Italia! oh, Italia! blooming birthplace of beauty! land of lazzaroni
+and loveliness! clime of complines and cruelty, of susceptibility and
+sacrilege, of roses and revenge! thy bright, blue, boundless skies
+serene I love; thy verdant vales, volcanoes, vines, and virgins! Thy
+virgins? ay, thy bright-eyed, dark-haired virgins. I love them--how I
+love them, though mine, alas! they ne'er can be! And there was one who,
+in earlier, happier hours, before these locks were--no matter. Let me
+proceed with the calmness becoming a narrator with my tale."
+
+And he proceeds "with a vengeance" to let us know that the spokesman of
+the above is an artist who had "halted in a deep ravine in the Abruzzi
+(where, on each side, the cliffs frowned like fiends upon the quailing
+traveller) to transfer to my portable sketch-book a slight souvenir of
+the celestial scene. Absorbed in my enthralling occupation, I heeded not
+the approach of a visitant; it was therefore with surprise, not
+unmingled with alarm, that I was aroused by a tap upon the shoulders,
+accompanied by the following sarcastic greeting:
+
+"'Is thy maternal parent, young man, aware of thine absence from home?'
+
+"'Quite so,' I replied, in a tremulous tone, anxiously glancing round to
+behold the speaker.
+
+"My acquaintance with literature--to say nothing of my constant
+attendance at the opera--at once convinced me that I was in the hands of
+a brigand."
+
+Had there been "any possible doubt whatever," it would have been
+instantly dispelled; for after "smiling in demoniacal derision," the
+disturber of the sketcher said, "deliberately and tranquilly, as he
+levelled a pistol at my head:
+
+"'Thy wealth or thy existence!'
+
+"My sole remaining ducat was offered in vain. At the shrill sound of his
+whistle the crags bristled with bandits, and fifty carbines were pointed
+at my person. Blue with boiling agony, I made as a last resource the
+Masonic sign. It succeeded. At another signal every carbine was lowered,
+and breathless expectation brooded over the heart of its bearer."
+
+The bandits, however, were not so easily satisfied; for "a murmur of
+impatience, mingled with discontent, arose, like the billows of emotion,
+amongst the troop, and some twenty weapons again kissed with their
+stocks as many manly shoulders.
+
+"'Back, slaves, for your lives!' shouted the infuriated Grabalotti,
+throwing himself in front of me. 'One moment more, and, by the
+blood-stained power of the thundering Avalanche, the foremost of you
+dies!'
+
+"Cowering in cream-like humility, each individual reversed his
+implement of death--all but one. A ball from the pistol of Grabalotti
+instantly crashed through his brain. For a moment he writhed in sable
+pangs; then all was over, and darkness mantled over his impetuosity for
+ever. Then, turning towards me, the brigand chief gave me a civil
+invitation to spend the day with him, which, under existing
+circumstances, I thought it best to accept. On our way I took the
+opportunity thus furnished me to survey my lawless companion. He was at
+least six feet and a half, independent of the coverings of his feet, in
+height; his air was stern and commanding; raven ringlets clustered down
+to his shoulders. Premature intensity glowed in his volcanic eyes; his
+nose was Roman, and he wore mustachios. The lines in the lower part of
+his face were indicative of death-fraught concentration; and the teeth,
+frequently disclosed by his smile of pervading bitterness, were
+remarkably white. The gloom of his conical hat was mocked by gay
+ribands. He wore a jacket of green velvet (an expensive article),
+lustrously gemmed with gold buttons; and those portions of his dress for
+which our language has no proper appellation were richly meandered with
+superior lace. His legs were variously swathed in the manner so
+characteristic of his profession. The carbine that slept in a snowy belt
+at his back; the pistols bickering in his girdle; and the stiletto
+reposing, like candid innocence, in its silver sheath, with its ivory
+handle protruding from his sash, were all of the most ornamental and
+valuable description."
+
+This extraordinary robber and the artist arrive at "the dwelling of the
+bandit, which was eligibly situate among the most romantic scenery."
+
+Signor Grabalotti conducted his visitor to a "table groaning with fruit,
+and supporting six sacramental chalices filled with the richest wine."
+
+The brigand has made a great haul of prisoners, whose friends have not
+shown the alacrity in rescuing them required by their captor, who, by
+way of entertaining his guest, orders them all, to the amount of a
+dozen, into his presence, and, arranging them in a row "along a trench
+in the background," with the assistance of twelve of his men, has them
+all shot.
+
+"Almost ere the smoke had cleared away, the earth was shovelled over the
+bodies.
+
+"'And now,' said the chief, 'for a dance in honour of our guest.'
+
+"Four-and-twenty brisk young bandits, clad in jackets, green array, were
+instantly joined by as many maidens, each wearing the square _coiffure_,
+short dress, and _petite_ apron, and otherwise fully attired in the
+costume of the country. Each robber provided himself with a partner, and
+a festive dance was performed with great spirit to a popular air.
+
+"Their gaiety was at its height, when suddenly the sound of a distant
+bell stole with milky gentleness on the ear. In an instant all present
+fell on their knees, and, with their arms devoutly crossed upon their
+breasts, raised, in heavenly unison, their hymn of votive praise to the
+Virgin."
+
+Here endeth the first chapter of the "Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell."
+
+As "a satire on the literary absurdities of the day," to quote its
+author, this capital fooling could not be surpassed; indeed, to those
+who remember, as the present writer can distinctly, the effusions in
+prose and verse--or, as Jerrold called it, "prose and worse"--that more
+or less filled the pages of the Keepsakes, the Books of Gems and Beauty
+of a long bygone time, the "Monster of the Deep Dell" is scarcely a
+caricature.
+
+But I have not yet done with him. The second chapter is devoted to an
+account in Grabalotti language of the early life and loves of the
+interesting bandit:
+
+"Rino Grabalotti is my name," he says. "Italy is my nation; the Deep
+Dell is my dwelling-place, and--but no! never shall monkish cant pollute
+the lips to baleful imprecation attuned for ever. Let the blue and
+hideous glare of the lightning, and the ghastly gleam of the hag-ridden
+meteor, illumine the deeds of my doing. Growl, ye thunders! Roar, ye
+tempests! Yell, ye fiends, and howl in hideous harmony a prelude to my
+tale!"
+
+He then proceeds to inform the artist (who, with an eye for copy,
+ventures to hint "that an outline of his history would be interesting")
+that he was the son of a priest, and born in Naples; and naturally much
+annoyed by the scandalous irregularity of his birth, he devotes his life
+to robbing and murdering as many of his fellow-creatures as good fortune
+places in his hands in the practice of his profession.
+
+But I anticipate. Grabalotti declines to say much about his infancy; he
+seems to have been pretty often reminded of the scandal of his birth,
+and as often he registered a vow that, sooner or later, he would close
+for ever the mouths of the slanderers.
+
+"It was in my sixteenth summer," he continues, "that I really began to
+live. Though in years a boy, I was in all else a man. Passion hurtled in
+my darkening eye, and plunged my heart in lava. I loved; what Italian at
+my age does not? Yes; I--the ruthless, the scathed, the smouldering, the
+sanguinary, the Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell--I, even I, gasped with
+tortuous anguish in the maddening transports of Cupid."
+
+
+Giulia is the name of the fair creature who has caused the eruption of
+this volcanic passion; and on what the bandit-lover calls "an evening of
+rosy gladness," he seeks his fair enslaver's window, guitar in hand. But
+the voice, "which was the best at a barcarole of any in Naples," had
+raised a very few love notes, when a rough voice exclaims:
+
+"'What dost thou here, spurious offspring of sacrilege?' accompanying
+the inquiry by an equally rough salutation from behind (oh,
+madness!)--'begone!'
+
+"Confusion simmered in my brain. Frenzied, I turned; one stroke of my
+stiletto, and my wounded honour was salved--with gore. It was that of
+Giulia's father!"
+
+This sudden death of the author of her being offended Giulia, and she
+solemnly renounced young Grabalotti for ever. This intimation, conveyed
+in a mixture of "indignation mingled with scorn," had an extraordinary
+effect. Says the lover:
+
+"Twisting in bitterness awhile I lingered, then rushed distracted from
+the spot, and fled hissing with desperation to the mountains."
+
+The beauties of the Deep Dell produced no soothing effect on the
+desperate bitterness that twisted the soul of Grabalotti; he issued from
+the Dell to "soak and steep his heart in blood."
+
+"The dewy wail of infancy, the piercing zest of female innocence, and
+the tremulous pleading of piping feebleness, all mocked at the radiance
+of the crimson steel, have poured their bootless incense o'er my
+breast.... Ha, ha! The nun, her dove-like innocence devastated, has
+broiled like a chestnut amid the ashes of her convent," etc.
+
+More "copy" in the style of the above is imparted to the artist. But an
+interruption takes place. A brigand enters, and so irritates the monster
+by the abruptness of his appearance that, had not the pistol with which
+his impatient master received him missed fire, his brains would have
+been scattered to the winds of heaven.
+
+"'Ha! dost thou dare to break in upon my mood?' roared Grabalotti.
+
+"'Come to tell you,' said the robber (speaking in the greatest possible
+haste), 'that the nun who escaped the sacking of the convent has been
+taken.'
+
+"'Do as you list with her, and chop her head off! Stay, I would fain see
+it when it is done; and here, take this purse for the risk thou hast
+encountered.'"
+
+Yet another interruption--this time in the person of a brigand spy
+disguised as a peasant. The chief anticipates startling and perhaps
+unpleasant news, and saying: "'Excuse me, signor, for a few moments,' he
+retires with his emissary."
+
+Grabalotti was absent some little time, during which the artist "added
+another sketch to his small collection," when the monster returned, and
+informed his guest "in a lively tone" that they were about to have "some
+fun."
+
+"'Of what description?' inquired the artist.
+
+"'In an hour's time we shall be attacked by the military,'" to whom he
+promises a warm reception; and in the event of the robbers being
+overpowered by numbers, "a train communicates with the magazine below."
+
+"Here the head of the unfortunate nun made its appearance on a silver
+dish. Its loveliness, even in death, was intensely overpowering. With a
+grin of fiendish malice, Grabalotti seized it by the hair, but no sooner
+did the features meet his eye, than he relinquished his hold and fell,
+senseless, backwards, faintly gasping, like a dying echo, ''Tis she!
+'Tis Giulia!!'"
+
+Unless the artist guest was possessed of courage uncommon among our
+fraternity, he could not have contemplated being blown into the air with
+the robbers, or being shot by the soldiers, with equanimity; and he must
+have been much relieved in any case by Grabalotti, who, when "the
+violence of frantic ferocity" had given way to "the calm profundity of
+despair," muttered in a low and suppressed tone: "Nay, thou shalt live
+to tell the world my story!" and to enable his guest to do this
+eventually, "in a tone of sweetest melancholy" he said:
+
+"Stranger, hence! thy further stay is perilous. Yon by-path will conduct
+thee to the valleys."
+
+Rising from "the valleys" was a crag, to the summit of which half an
+hour's walk would take the artist, and from thence he was assured that
+"if he turned his gaze backwards he should see something worth seeing."
+
+The narrator tells us that he reached the crag in twenty-nine minutes
+exactly.
+
+"For one minute I gazed in the direction of the Brigands' Haunt, from
+which, precisely at the expiration of that time, a vivid flash of flame,
+shooting into the air, accompanied by a dense column of smoke, and
+followed by a terrific explosion, proclaimed too plainly the last
+achievement of the Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell."
+
+Mr. Percival Leigh contributes a second story to the "Fiddle-Faddle
+Fashion-book," in which the novel of fashionable life, not uncommon
+fifty years ago, is satirized under the title of "Belleville: a Tale of
+Fashionable Life," not less happily than the sanguinary and terribly
+romantic writers are treated in the burlesque of Grabalotti. The "Clara
+Matilda poets" of the Keepsake time are also amusingly parodied in some
+short poems, which, with comic advertisements, occasionally very
+humorous, fill up the literary portion of the "Fiddle-Faddle
+Fashion-book."
+
+This book is not the only one in which Leech's powers have been
+enlisted--I was nearly saying prostituted--in publications devoted to
+eccentricities in dress and the caprices of fashion. In illustrations by
+him of the tale of fashionable life, or of Grabalotti, the genius of
+that great artist would have had full play; but as the draughtsman of
+fashion-plates it was, in my opinion, degraded. In vindication of my
+judgment I present my readers with two plates from the "Fiddle-Faddle"
+book, in which Leech portrays--no doubt under direction--caprices of
+fashion which could only have existed in his own imagination, and
+produced with a feeling of caricature that is so conspicuous by its
+absence in his usual work.
+
+I now return to the paper which Mr. Leigh wrote with a view to this
+memoir.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+That Leigh and Leech first met as students at St. Bartholomew's
+Hospital, I have noted elsewhere; and the details of his apprenticeship
+to the eccentric surgeon, which Mr. Leigh heard from Leech himself, I
+have also given, with the exception of one incident of which I was
+ignorant.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"In his dispensary," says Mr. Leigh, "the doctor had one drawer amongst
+his boxes, in which there were pills of gentle efficacy, intended to be
+served out (they were made, I believe, of bread and soap) to the
+generality of his customers. This receptacle bore the label of 'Pil.
+Hum.,'--abbreviation of humbug--or, as their concoctor used to call
+them, 'Humbugeraneous Pills.' The Dr. Cockle to whom, Mr. Leigh says,
+Leech went after he left Mr. Whittle, was the son of the inventor of
+Cockle's Pills.
+
+"No sooner had he become of age," continues Mr. Leigh, "than he was
+induced, in order to meet difficulties for which he was not responsible,
+to accept an accommodation bill, which the drawer of, when it fell due,
+failed to supply the means of meeting. Leech was consequently arrested
+for debt at the suit of this discounter, and lodged in a sponging-house
+kept by a sheriff's officer, a Jew, by name (I think) of Levi, in Newman
+Street. There he remained about a fortnight, supporting himself in the
+meanwhile by drawing cartoons and caricatures. He lithographed them on
+stone for Spooner, in the Strand, at a guinea each, a _friend_ having
+negotiated their sale.
+
+"At last, an advance of money on a projected publication sufficient to
+discharge the debt having been obtained, he was liberated. But not long
+after, a second scrape--a repetition of the first--cost him another
+temporary sojourn with another Jew in another sponging-house in Cursitor
+Street. This detention, however, lasted but a few days. _From that
+period to the close of his life_ he remained subject to repeated demands
+for pecuniary assistance under continued pressure, which, as at the
+outset, he could not withstand. The deficits he had to defray were
+always heavy; the last of them, as I understand, a thousand pounds. It
+cost him very hard work to make it good. Excess of generosity was his
+greatest failing."
+
+I have no means of knowing, nor do I desire to know, who the borrowers
+were to whom Percival Leigh alludes; but his revelations make the fact
+of Leech having died a comparatively poor man comprehensible enough. If
+ever man was killed by overwork, Leech was that man, and this must be a
+painful reflection for those whose incessant demands upon him made it
+only possible for him to meet them by the incessant exertions which
+destroyed him.
+
+Mr. Leigh's paper concludes with the anecdote that follows:
+
+"Leech and Albert Smith worked together very harmoniously as illustrator
+and writer in several books--'Ledbury,' 'Brinvilliers,' and many
+others--and one day when they were leaving Smith's house together, a
+street-boy stepped up to them, and scoffing at the inscription on
+Smith's large brass door-plate, cried:
+
+"'Oh yes! Mr. Albert Smith, M.R.C.S., Surgeon-Dentist.'
+
+"'Good boy!' said Leech, putting a penny into the boy's hand; 'now go
+and insult somebody else.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MEETING OF MULREADY AND LEECH.
+
+
+Mr. Mulready, R.A., was commissioned by the authorities to design a
+postal envelope for general use, a penny stamp affixed insuring free
+delivery of letters all over England. The design, which should have been
+of a simple character, was far too ornate and elaborate. At the top
+Britannia was represented in the act of despatching winged messengers
+with letters to all parts of the world, and down the sides of the
+envelope were the recipients of letters which had conveyed
+heart-breaking news to one side, and good tidings to the other. As a
+work of art the Mulready envelope has, in my opinion, great merit, but
+it was ludicrously inappropriate to the purposes for which it was
+intended. Leech saw and seized the opportunity, with the result
+appended.
+
+The signature of the bottled leech, so familiar afterwards, is used
+here as Mulready's signature, and "thereby hangs a tale," which, though
+the burden of it deals with a future time, I venture to introduce in
+this place.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: FORES'S COMIC ENVELOPES N^o. 1]
+
+My friend Augustus Egg, R.A., who lived in a charming house in Queen's
+Road, Bayswater, was not only well known as an excellent artist, but
+also as being the Amphitryon whose hospitality was famous, and whose
+dinners were still more famous by reason of the guests who were wont to
+surround his table. Where is the hungry man who would not have been
+enchanted to meet Dickens and Leech, Mark Lemon and John Forster
+(Dickens's biographer), Hawkins, Q.C. (now the judge), Landseer,
+Mulready, Webster, and other artists less famous? Of these dinners I
+shall have something to say by-and-by; at present I confine myself to
+one special occasion.
+
+It was on one day during the year 1847 that Egg said to me:
+
+"You know Mulready better than I do; I wish you would go and get him to
+fix a day to dine here--any day next week will suit me. Leech wants to
+meet him; and, somehow or other, though both have dined here frequently,
+they have never met."
+
+"Good," said I; "I will do your bidding."
+
+And on the following Sunday I called upon Mulready.
+
+"Egg will be pleased if you will dine with him any day next week, sir,
+that you may be disengaged. He expects the usual set--Dickens, Landseer,
+Leech, and the rest. You have never met Leech, I think; he is very
+desirous to make your acquaintance."
+
+"Ah, is he? Well, I don't care about knowing Leech."
+
+"Really, sir" (it was always the Johnsonian _sir_ to the old gentleman),
+said I, when I had recovered from my surprise, "may I ask why you won't
+meet Leech?"
+
+"Yes, you may," said the old painter, "and I will tell you. Of course
+you remember that unfortunate postal envelope that I designed? Well,
+Leech caricatured it. You needn't look so surprised--you don't think I
+am such a fool as to mind being caricatured; but I do mind being
+represented as a _blood-sucker_! What else can he mean by using that
+infernal little leech in a bottle in the front of his caricature as my
+signature? You know well enough, Frith, that I have never asked
+monstrous prices for my pictures. You fellows get better paid for your
+work than I ever did, and you wouldn't like to be called blood-suckers,
+I expect."
+
+Mr. Mulready was an Irishman, and rather a peppery one; and I am happy
+to say that I overcame my disposition to laugh in his face mainly
+through a feeling of astonishment that my old friend could be ignorant
+of the ordinary way in which Leech signed his drawings.
+
+"Do you happen to have a number of _Punch_ by you, Mr. Mulready?" said
+I.
+
+"No; as a languid swell said when he was asked that same question, 'I am
+no bookworm; I never see _Punch_.'"
+
+As I could not give my angry friend ocular proof of his mistake by
+producing the usual signature to _Punch_ drawings, I set to work to
+explain how the little leech came into the bottle, and, without much
+difficulty, convinced my old friend that an insult to him was not
+intended.
+
+The two artists met; and it was delightful to watch Leech's handsome
+face as Mulready himself told of his misconception. First there was a
+serious, almost pained, expression, which, no doubt, arose in that
+tender heart from being the innocent cause of pain to another; the
+serious look passed off, to give place to a smile, which broadened into
+a roar of laughter. From that moment Leech and Mulready were fast
+friends.
+
+With an apology for the interruption, I return to my narrative.
+
+Alas! I can well remember the appearance of the "Sketches by Boz," to
+be so quickly followed by the "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club."
+None but those who witnessed it can conceive the enthusiasm with which
+that immortal work was received by an eager public, who welcomed each
+number as it appeared, month after month, with hearty appreciation. Of
+course, there were carping critics, one of whom is reported to have said
+the author would "go up like a rocket and come down like a stick." That
+prophet, a man of much literary ability, drank himself into a debtors'
+prison, where, I was told, he died of delirium tremens.
+
+There is, I think, a vein of melancholy unusually developed in the
+nature of almost all humorists. As an instance, I may give the actor
+Liston, whose humour on the stage was to me unparalleled; off it, he was
+gloom personified. Gillray, the caricaturist, died melancholy mad; and
+poor Seymour, the first illustrator of "Pickwick," committed suicide. I
+may remark in this place the surprise with which I heard Leech say that
+he could see no fun in any of Seymour's sketches.
+
+In a walk that we took together, I tried to convert him by naming
+several examples of what appeared to me humorous work.
+
+"No," said Leech; "the only drawing I ever saw by Seymour that appeared
+funny to me was one in which two cockneys were represented out shooting.
+They are about to load their guns, when one says to the other:
+
+"'I say, which do you put in first--powder or shot?'
+
+"'Why, powder, to be sure,' said his friend.
+
+"'Do you?' was the reply. 'Then I don't!'"
+
+I can vividly recall the shock occasioned by Seymour's death. He was
+fairly prosperous, I believe. His engagement to illustrate "Pickwick"
+was a lucrative one, and he was much employed in other work. In spite of
+all these advantages, the humorist's melancholy was fatal to him.
+
+I was present at the banquet at the Royal Academy when Thackeray, in
+returning thanks for literature--Dickens being present--told us how, on
+finding there was a vacancy for an illustrator of "Pickwick," he took a
+parcel of drawings to the author and applied for the place. From my own
+knowledge of Thackeray's limited powers as an artist, I should have been
+sure of the failure of his application. Very different would have been
+the fate of Leech, who was also anxious to supply Seymour's place; but
+he was too late, for Dickens had already chosen Hablot K. Browne, who,
+under the sobriquet of "Phiz," worked in harmony with his author for
+very many years. There was no doubt a disposition on the part of "Phiz"
+to exaggeration in his illustration of Dickens' characters (already
+fully charged, so to speak, by their author), sometimes to the verge of
+caricature, and even beyond it; this fault Leech would have avoided, as
+his exquisite etchings in Dickens' Christmas books fully prove.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+"THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EVENING PARTIES," BY ALBERT SMITH.
+
+
+I have already spoken of the extreme difficulty of collecting material
+for this book, and to difficulty must be added the expense which is
+incurred by my publisher. I bear the latter affliction with the
+equanimity common to those who escape it; indeed, there is a kind of
+satisfaction in finding that books which are perfectly worthless as
+literary productions are so highly valued on account of the prints which
+illustrate them. I venture to give an instance in a very little book
+called "The Physiology of Evening Parties," written by Albert Smith. My
+reader will be able to judge by the extracts given in explanation of the
+drawings, of the merits of Mr. Smith's part in the "Physiology." This
+work, published at 2s. 6d. when clean and new, costs 18s. 6d. when well
+"worn on the edge of time," yellow, dirty, and unbound. The "Physiology"
+first saw the light in 1840. I plead again for forgiveness for
+chronological shortcomings, which my difficulties make unavoidable.
+
+My first illustration represents a mamma and her two daughters in the
+serious business of selecting guests for an evening party.
+
+"It is evening," says Mr. Albert Smith; "mamma and her two daughters are
+seated at a table arranging the names of the visitors upon the back of
+an old letter, having turned out the dusty record of the card-basket
+before them in order that no one of importance may be forgotten.
+
+"ELLEN (_loc_.): 'I am sure I don't see why we should invite the
+Harveys, mamma. They have been here twice, and never asked us back
+again.'
+
+"FANNY: 'And we shall see those dreadful silver poplins again; they must
+be intimately acquainted with the cane-work of all the rout-seats in
+London.'
+
+"ELLEN: 'And William Harvey is so exceedingly disagreeable; he always
+looks at the ciphers on the plate to see if it is borrowed or not.'
+
+"FANNY: 'And last year he declared the pine-apple ice was full of
+little square pieces of raw potato; and when Mr. Edwards broke a tumbler
+at supper he told him "not to mind, for they were only tenpence apiece
+in Tottenham Court Road." The low wretch! he thought he had made a
+capital joke.'
+
+"MAMMA: 'Well, my dears, I think your papa will be annoyed if they are
+left out; but never mind him--we won't ask them.'"
+
+[Illustration: "MAMMA AND THE GIRLS."]
+
+The discussion respecting the guests goes on, opinion as to eligibility
+widely differing. Mamma proposes Mr. and Mrs. Howard and the four girls,
+to which Miss Ellen says:
+
+"All dressed alike, and standing up in every quadrille. I declare I
+will get George Conway to put an ice in Harriet's chair for her to sit
+down upon, in revenge for her waltzing last year, when she brushed down
+the Joan of Arc, and knocked its head off."
+
+This refined conversation continues till Miss Ellen speaks of her
+brother's disposition to interfere with the invitation-list; she says:
+
+"'We must tell Tom not to overdo us so much with his own friends. I
+declare last year I did not know half the young men in the room; and it
+was so very awkward when you had to introduce them.'
+
+[Illustration: "TWO RUDE YOUNG MEN."]
+
+"FANNY: 'And they were not nice persons. Two of them were in the pit of
+the Lyceum the next night, and, seeing us in Mr. Arnold's box, would
+stare us out of countenance. With a single glass, too!'"
+
+"And in this style," says our author, "the list is arranged, the hostess
+gradually becoming a prey to isinglass and acute mental inquietude,
+which gradually increases as the day draws nearer, until upon the
+morning of its arrival her very brain is almost turned to blancmange
+from the intensity of her anxiety!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE."]
+
+The whole house is, of course, turned topsy-turvy; and Leech gives us a
+picture of the master of the mansion surrounded by some of the
+consequences of giving an evening party.
+
+"This state of things," says the chronicler, "much delights the
+olive-branches of the family, who, left entirely alone, and quite
+overlooked in the general _m�l�e_, divert themselves by poking their
+little puddy fingers into the creams, and scooping out the insides of
+divers patties with a doll's leg," etc., etc.
+
+[Illustration: "AN OLIVE-BRANCH."]
+
+The ball begins under sundry difficulties. A most desirable person,
+"_one_ for whom the party was almost given, sends a melancholy statement
+of the very acute attack of influenza under which _they_ are labouring,"
+which they extremely regret will prevent their accepting, etc. Then one
+of the intended _belles_ of the evening is obliged to go suddenly into
+the country, to see a sick aunt, but "she sends her two brothers--tall,
+_gangling_, awkward young men who wear pumps and long black stocks, and
+throw their legs about when they are dancing everywhere but over their
+shoulders," etc., etc., says the author. Here is what Leech thinks of
+the two brothers.
+
+[Illustration: "TWO 'GANGLING' YOUNG MEN."]
+
+I have never met with the word "gangling" before; is it an invention of
+Mr. Albert Smith's? I can speak to the truth of the dress of these long
+brothers, for I who write have worn the long black stock and the
+peculiarly cut coat and waistcoats at many an evening party.
+
+The numerous illustrations of "The Physiology" are such perfect examples
+of Leech's earlier work, and in themselves so good, that I am induced to
+produce several more of them. I don't know whether the fascinating
+person under the hands of the hair-dresser is Miss Ellen or Miss Fanny.
+I confess I can scarcely believe she would talk like either of them;
+happy barber! perfect you are as you ply your vocation; and in that
+vocation--insomuch as you have that sweet creature to contemplate--to be
+envied indeed!
+
+[Illustration: "PREPARING FOR THE BALL."]
+
+Then we have the greengrocer, "who is to assist in waiting.... He wears
+white cotton gloves with very long fingers, and was never known to
+announce a name correctly, so the astonished visitor is ushered into the
+room under any other appellation than his own."
+
+[Illustration: "THE ASSISTANT-WAITER."]
+
+[Illustration: "THE BAND."]
+
+The band must not be forgotten. "The music arrives," says the writer,
+"sometimes in the shape of a single pianist of untiring fingers and
+unclosing eyes; sometimes as a harp, piano, and cornopean, who are
+immediately installed in a corner of the room with two chairs, a
+music-stool, and a bottle of marsala."
+
+I ask my reader to note the individuality in the four faces in this
+drawing--and in the figures no less than in the heads--each a
+strongly-marked personality precisely appropriate to the instrument upon
+which he performs. How admirable is the cornet-a-piston gentleman
+contrasted with the pianoforte player!
+
+The mistress of the house is described as making "uphill attempts at
+conversation" pending the arrival of a sufficient number of guests to
+make up a quadrille. Two old ladies, however, have already put in an
+appearance, and have taken possession of the best seats to "see the
+dancing," from which all attempts to move them to the card-room are
+successfully resisted. There they sit, poor old wallflowers! with all
+the advantage that "false hair and turbans" can give them. Though the
+execution of this drawing lacks the perfection of workmanship of Leech's
+later manner, he never surpassed it in expression and character.
+
+The music "strikes up," the lady of the house throws a comprehensive
+_coup d'oeil_ over her assembled visitors, and at last pitches upon a
+tall young man--_whom some of you may have met before_--with short hair,
+spectacles, and turned-up wristbands, as if he was about to wash his
+hands with his coat on. His fate is sealed, and she advances towards
+him, blandly exclaiming:
+
+[Illustration: "WALLFLOWERS."]
+
+"_Mr. Ledbury_, allow me to introduce you to a partner."
+
+My own readers have heard of Mr. Ledbury; but as I think they are
+unacquainted with his personal appearance, I propose to introduce him to
+them, and here he is--
+
+[Illustration: "MR. LEDBURY."]
+
+Mr. Ledbury is "presented to a bouquet with a young lady attached to
+it"--a Miss Hamilton--who freezes him completely. A quadrille is formed.
+Mr. Ledbury cudgels his brains for five minutes. The young partner seems
+to be "searching after some imaginary object amongst the petals of her
+bouquet." The mountainous Ledbury brain is in labour. Behold the
+production!
+
+"MR. L. 'Have you been to many parties this season?'
+
+"MISS H. 'Not a great many.'
+
+Miss Hamilton continues the bouquet investigation. The gentleman invents
+another sentence.
+
+"MR. L. 'What do you think of Alfred Tennyson?'
+
+"MISS H. 'I am sorry to say I have not heard his poetry. Have you?'
+
+[Illustration: "MR. LEDBURY AND MISS HAMILTON."]
+
+"MR. L. 'Oh yes! several times."
+
+Mr. Ledbury waits to be asked about "Mariana" and "Locksley Hall." No
+inquiry, so he "rubs up an idea upon another tack":
+
+"MR. L. 'What do you think of our _vis-�-vis_?'
+
+"MISS H. 'Which one?'
+
+"MR. L. 'The lady with that strange head-dress. Do you know her?'
+
+"MISS H. 'It is Miss Brown--my cousin.'"
+
+Mr. Ledbury wishes he could fall through a trap in the floor.
+
+The quadrille continues, with occasional attempts on the part of the
+brilliant couple to make conversation. The acme of imbecility seems to
+be reached when the lady asks if Mr. L. plays any instrument? He replies
+that he plays the flute a little. Does she admire it?
+
+"Oh, so very much!" she says.
+
+A waltz is proposed, but that form of dancing is, says our author,
+"never established without a prolonged desire on the part of everybody
+to relinquish the honour of commencing it. At last the example is set by
+one daring pair, timidly followed by another couple, and then by
+another, who get out of step at the end of the first round, and after
+treading severely upon the advanced toes of the old lady in a very
+flowery cap and plum-coloured satin (one of our faded wallflowers), who
+is sitting out at the top of the room, and who from that instant
+deprecates waltzing as an amusement not at all consistent with her ideas
+of feminine decorum."
+
+[Illustration: "THE WALTZ."]
+
+The young lady in this drawing has much of Leech's charm; but I should
+scarcely have selected it were it not for the figure of the gentleman,
+which exactly resembles that of Leech himself as I first knew him. If
+conservatories, or even staircases, could speak, what flirtations they
+could chronicle, what love-tales they could tell! Mr. Smith says "you
+will have to confess your inability to imagine what on earth the
+gentleman with the long hair, who is carefully balancing himself on one
+leg against the flowerpot-stand, and the pretty girl with the bouquet,
+can find to talk about so long, so earnestly."
+
+I for one beg Mr. Albert Smith's pardon. I can easily imagine what they
+are talking about.
+
+[Illustration: "IN THE CONSERVATORY."]
+
+It would be a grave omission if "The Belle of the Evening" were left
+out of these extracts from the "Physiology of Evening Parties." Let me
+present her, then. Now listen to the flourish with which the author
+introduces her:
+
+"Room for beauty! The belle of the evening claims our next attention,
+the lovely dark-eyed girl so plainly yet so elegantly dressed, who wears
+her hair in simple bands over her fair forehead, unencumbered by flower
+or ornament of any kind, and moves in the light of her own beauty as the
+presiding goddess of the room, imparting fragrance to the enamoured air
+that plays around her!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE BELLE OF THE EVENING."]
+
+Rather tall talk, this, but excusable, perhaps, as applied to the lovely
+creature Leech has drawn for us.
+
+I feel I cannot close these extracts more appropriately than by
+allowing Mr. Ledbury to appear again at the moment of his departure from
+a scene in which he has so distinguished himself by his conversational,
+as well as by his terpsichorean, powers. He was destined to be guilty of
+one more folly--that of thinking he had but to ask for his hat to get
+it.
+
+[Illustration: "MR. LEDBURY'S HAT."]
+
+"He walks downstairs," says Mr. Smith, "under the insane expectation of
+finding his own hat, or madly deeming that the ticket pinned upon it
+corresponds with the one in his waistcoat pocket."
+
+Here I take my leave of "The Physiology of Evening Parties" in
+presenting my reader with this charming little drawing, in which one
+scarcely knows which to admire most--the bewildered expression of Mr.
+Ledbury as he ruefully contemplates the rim of his hat, or the
+sympathetic, half-laughing face of the perfect little maid. The artistic
+qualities of this illustration are excellent. I say good-bye to "Evening
+Parties" only to meet Mr. Albert Smith again in a work by him called
+"Comic Tales and Pictures of Life," published, I think, about the time
+of the "Evening Parties," or perhaps earlier, for the illustrations are,
+on the whole, inferior to those in the latter production. The work under
+notice is composed of a series of short stories, in which love, comedy,
+and deep tragedy play alternate parts. Leech's attention is mainly
+devoted to the comic scenes.
+
+We are told of a Mr. Percival Jenks, whose frequent visits to the
+theatre have led to the loss of his heart to a beauteous ballet-girl.
+"The third ballet-girl from the left-hand stage-box, with the golden
+belt and green wreath, in the Pas des Guirlandes, or lyres, or
+umbrellas, or something of the kind, had enslaved his susceptible
+affections."
+
+[Illustration: "MR. PERCIVAL JENKS."]
+
+No one knew who Mr. Jenks was, or what he was. Even his landlady's
+information about him was confined to the idea that he was "something in
+a house in the City." That idea proved to be well founded, for Mr. J.
+was discovered by the head-clerk at the house in the City, spoiling
+blotting-paper by drawing little opera-dancers all over it; thus
+neglecting his accounts, which he had to "stay two hours after time to
+make up. At half price, nevertheless, he was at the play again, his
+whole existence centred on an airy compound of clear muslin and white
+satin that was twirling about the stage." Mr. Jenks burned to know his
+enslaver's name with a view to an introduction; and for that purpose he
+haunted the stage-door, but utterly failed to recognise, amongst the
+faded cloaks, and drabby bonnets that issued from that portal, the
+angelic form of his charmer. He then took to haunting the places where
+minor actors and other employ�s of the theatre most do congregate for
+the purpose of social intercourse and refreshment; here at last he is
+rewarded.
+
+"Do you know the young lady," he says to a habitu�, "who dances in the
+ballet with a green wreath round her head?"
+
+"And a gilt belt round her waist?" asked the friend in turn. "Oh, it's
+Miss--Miss--I shall forget my own name next."
+
+Percival was about to suggest Rosi�re, C�leste, Amad�e, and other pretty
+cognomens, when his companion caught the name, and exclaimed:
+
+"Miss Jukes; I thought I should recollect it."
+
+The name certainly was not what Percival had expected; still, what was
+in a name? Jenks was not poetical, and Jukes was something like it.
+
+"Could you favour me with an introduction to her?" he asked.
+
+"In a minute, if you wish it," replied his companion.
+
+"You know her intimately then?"
+
+"Very; I buy all my green-grocery of her."
+
+The introduction takes place. Gracious powers! how a minute broke the
+enchantment of many weeks! "The nymph of the Danube was habited in a
+faded green cloak and straw bonnet, with limp and half-bleached pink
+ribbons clinging to its form. Her pallid and almost doughy face was
+deeply pitted with smallpox; her skin was rough from the constant layers
+of red and white paint it had to endure," etc., etc. He fell back with a
+convulsive start.
+
+From internal evidence I find the date of "Comic Tales," etc., to be
+1841, contemporary, therefore, with the establishment of _Punch_. There
+is a drawing of so pretty a conceit as to warrant my selecting it,
+though artistically it is inferior to Leech's work even at that time.
+The drawing heads a paper entitled "Speculations on Marriage and Young
+Ladies," and as it tells its own story, quotation from Mr. Smith is
+needless.
+
+In one amusing paper in "Comic Tales," the author treats us to "an Act
+for amending the representation of certain public sights, termed
+equestrian spectacles, in the habit of being represented at a favourite
+place of resort, termed the Royal Amphitheatre, Westminster Bridge." The
+paper is framed in the form of an Act of Parliament, and the author
+forbids the use of ancient jokes or stereotyped phrases in a very
+humorous manner.
+
+"Be it enacted," he announces, after condemning a variety of
+objectionable practices, "that the clown shall not, after the first
+equestrian feat, exclaim: 'Now I'll have a turn to myself!' previous to
+his toppling like a coach-wheel round the ring; nor shall he fall flat
+on his face, and then collecting some sawdust in his hand, drop it down
+from the level of his head, and say his nose bleeds; nor shall he
+attempt to make the rope-dancers' balance-pole stand on its end by
+propping it up with the said sawdust; nor shall he, after chalking the
+performers' shoes, conclude by chalking his own nose, to prevent his
+foot slipping when he treads upon it; nor shall he pick up a small piece
+of straw, for fear he should fall over it, and afterwards balance the
+said straw on his chin as he runs about; neither shall the master of the
+ring say to the clown, when they are leaving the circus: 'I never follow
+the fool, sir!' nor shall the fool reply: 'Then I do!' and walk out
+after him."
+
+I would draw attention to the figure of the clown in this cut, which is
+simply perfect in expression and character. The affected strut of the
+ring-master also is admirably caught.
+
+A paper on Christmas pantomimes is illustrated by such a perfect clown
+that I cannot resist my inclination to present him to my readers.
+
+[Illustration: CLOWN: "Oh, see what I've found!"]
+
+"Comic Tales and Pictures of Life" contains, at least, one drawing that
+is equal to Leech at his best. The cut illustrates an article on
+"Delightful People," a short essay, amusing enough.
+
+[Illustration: "MISS CINTHIA SINGS."]
+
+Music, whether performed by the band or by musical guests, is an
+important factor in an evening party. Mr. Albert Smith tells us that "a
+lady of his acquaintance" had secured those "Delightful People, the
+Lawsons," for a large evening party she was about to give; and after
+lauding the charming qualities of Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, she put a final
+touch to the Lawson attractions by informing her friend that their
+daughter, Miss Cinthia Lawson, was not only a delightful girl, but that
+"she sings better than anyone you ever heard in private." In the
+interval of dancing Cinthia sings. "The young lady now dressed in plain
+white robes, with her hair smoothed very flat round her head _� la
+Grisi_, whom she thought she resembled both in style of singing and
+features, and consequently studied all her attitudes from the clever
+Italian's impersonation of Norma.... At last the lady begun a _bravura_
+upon such a high note, and so powerful, that some impudent fellows in
+the square, who were passing at the moment, sang out 'Vari-e-ty' in
+reply. Presently, a young gentleman, who was standing at her side,
+chanced to turn over too soon, whereupon she gave him _such_ a look,
+that, if he had entertained any thoughts of proposing, would effectually
+have stopped any such rash proceeding; but her equanimity was soon
+restored, and she went through the aria in most dashing style until she
+came to the last note, whose appearance she heralded with a _roulade_ of
+wonderful execution."
+
+I remember Grisi, and I cannot share Miss Lawson's conviction of her
+resemblance to that great singer--personal resemblance, I mean--and, in
+all probability, she had as feeble a claim to an equality of genius; but
+that she had a powerful voice, and that she gave it full effect, is
+evident by Leech's perfect rendering of that wonderful mouth, from which
+one can almost hear the _roulade_. All the lines of the figure, with the
+movement of the hands, and the backward action of the singer, are true
+to Nature. The assistant at the music-book and the stolid old gentleman
+are also excellent.
+
+With this, the best of the drawings in "Comic Tales," I take my leave
+of the book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JOHN LEECH AND THE ETON BOY.
+
+
+I had been told that a friend whose acquaintance I made many years ago
+was in possession of some correspondence with Leech of considerable
+interest. I wrote to him on the subject, and received the following
+reply:
+
+  "DEAR MR. FRITH,
+
+"I had intended waiting till my return to town to see whether I could
+find John Leech's letters before writing to you; but as you ask for the
+story, here it is, to the best of my recollection, and it is heartily at
+your service. When I was a boy at Eton I sent to _Punch_ an incident
+which happened at a dance. Young Oxford complaining to his partner of
+the dearth of 'female society' at the University, she retorts, 'What a
+pity you didn't go to a girls' school instead!' Its appearance beneath
+an illustration of Leech's caused great excitement in our house at Eton,
+and as great tales of Mr. Punch's liberality were current--as, for
+example, that the sender of the advice 'To persons about to
+marry--_don't_,' had received �100--I began to look anxiously for some
+tip for my contribution. An enterprising pal said, 'It's a beastly
+shame; and if you'll go halves, I'll write to _Punch_ and wake 'em up.'
+This speedily resulted in the receipt of a post-office order for two
+guineas from John Leech, accompanied by a rather dry note, to the effect
+that Mr. Punch considered that he had already done enough in providing
+an original illustration to my joke. I was indignant, and wrote back to
+Leech returning the money, but he would not hear of this. He told me I
+could buy gloves with the money for the young lady if I liked--which I
+am afraid I didn't. Several kind letters from him followed, with an
+invitation, gladly accepted, to call and see him in the holidays, and a
+present, which I still treasure, of two volumes of his 'Life and
+Character.'
+
+[Illustration: "DREADFUL FOR YOUNG OXFORD."
+
+  LADY: "Are you at Eton?"
+
+  YOUNG OXFORD: "Aw, no! I'm at Oxford."
+
+  LADY: "Oxford! Rather a nice place, is it not?"
+
+  YOUNG OXFORD: "Hum!--haw! pretty well; but then I can't get on without
+  female society!"
+
+  LADY: "Dear! dear! pity you don't go to a girls' school, then!"]
+
+  "At the time I remember my schoolfellows considered me a born
+  caricaturist, an opinion I naturally shared. Leech was most indulgent
+  to my early efforts--gave me some wood-blocks to work upon, and
+  encouraged me to persevere, which, alas! I have not done, etc.
+
+  "Yours truly."
+
+Here follows Leech's "dry note":
+
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square, London,
+  "June 6, 1859.
+
+  "DEAR SIR,
+
+"The editor of _Punch_ is the person who should be addressed upon all
+money matters connected with that periodical. However, in the present
+instance, perhaps it will answer every purpose if I adopt the suggestion
+of your 'great _friend_ and _confidant_,' and '_do the handsome_ and
+send a _tip direct_,' which I do in the shape of a post-office order for
+one guinea; or, as your 'entirely _disinterested_' young friend is to
+have half of what you get, it will be even better if I make the order
+for two guineas instead, as I do, only you must not look upon this as a
+precedent. I am afraid Mr. Punch would have considered that the trouble
+and expense he was at to have an original design made to your few lines
+would have been ample recompense. In future send to the editor your
+notion of what you expect for any contribution, and he will accept or
+reject accordingly, I dare say.
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+The Eton boy was "indignant, and wrote back to Leech returning the
+money," to which Leech replied as follows:
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square,
+  "November 8, 1859.
+
+  "DEAR SIR,
+
+"No, no; it must be as it is; besides, the order is made out in your
+name, and can be used by no one else. After all, your contribution was
+very amusing, and pray consider yourself as quite entitled to the sum
+offered. If you have any doubt as to how you should spend the money,
+why, then, buy some gloves for the young lady who said the smart thing
+to the Oxford man. As to my being offended, dismiss the notion from your
+mind at once. Your first note I consider perfectly good-natured, and
+your second as frank and gentleman-like. I hope you will do me the
+favour to accept two volumes of my sketches, in which I hope you will
+find some amusement.
+
+"I will direct the volumes to be sent to you this afternoon.
+
+  "Believe me, dear sir,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+Encouraged by Leech's kindness, and being, as he says, "a born
+caricaturist in the opinion of his friends," the Eton boy sent some
+sketches for Leech's opinion. To this application he received the
+following reply:
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square,
+  "June 11, 1859.
+
+  "MY DEAR SIR,
+
+"I am very busy, so you must excuse a rather short note. Your sketches I
+have looked at carefully, however, and I have no hesitation in saying
+that they show a great perception of humour on your part. They seem to
+me to be altogether very good; and I have no doubt that with practice
+you might make your talent available in _Punch_ and elsewhere. I don't
+know about your taking lessons, except from Nature, and learn from her
+as much as possible. Try your hand at some initial letters--if drawn on
+the wood clearly, so much the better--and I will, with great pleasure,
+hand them to the editor of _Punch_. 'The Pleasures of Eton' is capital;
+the style, I take it, founded a little upon Doyle's works. I would not
+do that too much. You have quite cleverness enough to strike out a path
+of your own, and with my best wishes for your success,
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+In sending these letters the Eton boy of old says he is "sure that
+nothing would more thoroughly exemplify Leech's genial wit and courteous
+kindliness than these replies to an unknown schoolboy." I suppose the
+letter in which my friend was invited to call upon Leech "in the
+holidays" is not to be found. But that he did call and received a
+present of "wood-blocks to work upon," accompanied by "encouragement to
+persevere," which, alas! he has not done, we have from himself.
+
+This incident is especially delightful, as it reflects perfectly the
+quality of heart and mind so characteristic of Leech.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR.
+
+
+Mr. Surtees, the writer of the sporting novels, possessed considerable
+powers of invention, which he indulged--amongst other vagaries--in
+giving names to most of the characters in his books, which served to
+enlighten his readers as to their physical and mental peculiarities, and
+never more happily than when he christened the hero of this sporting
+tour Mr. Soapy Sponge. "Mr. Sponge," says our author, "wished to be a
+gentleman without knowing how;" but what Mr. Sponge did know was how to
+sponge upon everybody with whom he could force an acquaintance, and this
+he effected with surprising success. Hunting and good hunting quarters
+were the objects of Mr. Sponge's machinations, and upon a half-hearted
+invitation from a Mr. Jawleyford, of Jawleyford Court, an invitation
+given without an idea that it would be accepted (as sometimes happens),
+Mr. Sponge found himself installed in the ancestral mansion of the
+Jawleyfords. Mr. Jawleyford was "one of the rather numerous race of
+paper-booted, pen-and-ink landowners," says Mr. Surtees, "whose
+communications with his tenantry were chiefly confined to dining with
+them twice a year in the great entrance-hall after the steward, _Mr.
+Screwemtight_, had eased them of their rents." Then Mr. Jawleyford would
+shine forth the very impersonification of what a landlord ought to be.
+Dressed in the height of fashion, he would declare that the only really
+happy moments of his life were those when he was surrounded by his
+tenantry.
+
+In the background of this admirable drawing we see Mr. Jawleyford's
+portrait, flanked by his ancestors, on canvas and in armour, hanging on
+the panelled walls of his gorgeous home. The variety of character in the
+"chawbacons," each a marked individuality, contrasts effectually with
+his _quasi_ fashionable landlord. For the first banquet at Jawleyford
+Court, "Mr. Sponge," says the author, "made himself an uncommon swell."
+His dress is minutely described, and faithfully depicted by Leech, in
+the etching in which we see the sponger conducting a very portly Mrs.
+Jawleyford, followed by her daughters, to the dining-room. The young
+ladies who have entered the drawing-room "in the full fervour of
+sisterly animosity," according to the author, seem--in the lovely group
+that Leech makes of them--to have speedily made up their quarrel, as
+their entwined arms and pretty, happy faces prove. The solemn butler,
+who looks with awe at his aristocratic master, is in Leech's truest
+vein, while Mr. Jawleyford himself is simply perfect. In the footmen and
+page the illustration is less successful; they seem to approach, if not
+to reach, caricature.
+
+When Mr. Sponge found himself in good quarters, no hint however strong,
+no looks however cold, no manner however unpleasant, would move him,
+until he had provided himself with others to his liking. Under the
+impression that he was rich, the Misses Jawleyford set their caps at
+him. Amelia and Emily rivalled each other in tender attentions to the
+adventurer, who, after hesitating as to which of them he should throw
+the handkerchief to, fixed upon Miss Amelia, who found her sister "in
+the act of playing the agreeable" with Mr. Sponge as she "sailed" into
+the drawing-room before dinner; then, "with a haughty sort of sneer and
+toss of the head to her sister, as much as to say, 'What are you doing
+with my man?'--a sneer that suddenly changed into a sweet smile as her
+eye encountered Sponge's--she just motioned him off to a sofa, where she
+commenced a _sotto-voce_ conversation in the engaged-couple style."
+
+During his stay at Jawleyford Court, Mr. Sponge's time was passed in
+hunting, smoking all over the house--a habit the owner detested--and in
+making love to Miss Amelia; taking care, however, not to commit himself
+until he had discovered from papa what the settlements were to be. We
+who are behind the scenes know that Jawleyford Court is "mortgaged up to
+the chimney-pots," and that Mr. J. is over head and ears in debt
+besides. We know also that Mr. Sponge is impecunious, his hunters are
+hired; he is, in fact, as his author describes him, "a vulgar humbug."
+"Jawleyford began to suspect that Sponge might not be the great 'catch'
+he was represented," says the author. No doubt in finding himself
+baffled in his attempts to sound his host upon the subject of
+settlements, Mr. Sponge also "began to suspect" that neither of the
+Misses Jawleyford would be the "catch" that he wanted. Still, he held on
+to his quarters in defiance of the attempts to get rid of him. He was
+removed from the best bedroom to one in which it was impossible to light
+a fire, or, rather, to endure it when it was alight, because of an
+incurable smoky chimney. He was given poor food and corked wine, still
+he stayed, until he had provided himself with a temporary home at the
+house of a hunting gentleman named Puffington.
+
+Mr. Puffington, who made Sponge's acquaintance at the covert-side where
+Lord Scamperdale's hounds met, "got it into his head" that Mr. Sponge
+was a literary man, whose brilliant pen was about to be employed in the
+interest of fox-hunting in general, and of certain runs of Mr.
+Puffington's hounds in particular. Mr. Puffington "was the son of a
+great starch-maker at Stepney." Puffington, senior, made a large
+fortune, which enabled his son to become the owner of Hanby House, and
+of the "Mangeysterne--now Hanby-Hounds," because he thought they would
+give him consequence. Our author says, Mr. Puffington "had no natural
+inclination for hunting," but he seems to have become M.F.H. so that he
+might entertain some of the sporting friends he had made at college,
+such "dashing young sparks as Lord Firebrand, Lord Mudlark, Lord
+Deuceace, Sir Harry Blueun, Lord Legbail, now Earl of Loosefish," and so
+on.
+
+My space, or, rather, the want of it, prevents my telling how it was
+that Mr. Sponge "awoke and found himself famous" as an author. In
+conjunction with a friend, who steered him through the spelling and
+grammar, he concocted an article for the _Swillingford Patriot_--Grimes,
+editor--which "appeared in the middle of the third sheet, and was
+headed, 'Splendid Run with Mr. Puffington's Hounds.'" Mr. Grimes was
+ably assisted in his editorial duties by "his eldest daughter, Lucy--a
+young lady of a certain age, say liberal thirty--an ardent Bloomer, with
+a considerable taste for sentimental poetry, with which she generally
+filled the Poet's Corner."
+
+As Mr. Puffington quite expected to be immortalized in some work of
+general circulation, his indignation knew no bounds when he found
+himself relegated to a corner of the county paper, and all his hopes of
+his doings being read by "the Lords Loosefish, the Sir Toms and Sir
+Harrys of former days" grievously disappointed. Never, surely, were
+disgust, disappointment, and rage more perfectly expressed than in the
+second portrait of Mr. Puffington: not only the face, but the whole
+figure--one can fancy how the hand in the pocket of the dressing-gown is
+clenched--denotes the surprise and exasperation of the miserable man.
+
+Mr. Sponge's literary effort has "done for him" with Mr. Puffington. He
+must go. Easier said than done.
+
+"Couldn't you manage to get him to go?" asked Mr. Puffington of his
+valet.
+
+"Don't know, sir. I could try, sir--believe he's bad to move, sir," said
+the valet.
+
+Driven to despair, the host "scrawled a miserable-looking note,
+explaining how very ill he was, how he regretted being deprived of Mr.
+Sponge's agreeable society--hoped he would come another time," and so
+on. Even the "sponger" felt the difficulty of parrying such a palpable
+notice to quit. "He went to bed sorely perplexed," and in his waking
+moments trying to remember "what sportsmen had held out the hand of good
+fellowship and hinted at hoping to have the pleasure of seeing him"; he
+could think of no one to whom he could volunteer a visit. But Fortune
+favours the brave sponger, as she often does unworthy people, and in Mr.
+Jogglebury Crowdey, an eccentric individual whose acquaintance Sponge
+had made in the hunting-field, he found another host. At the suggestion
+of Mrs. Jogglebury, who, without the slightest reason, had taken it into
+her head that Mr. Sponge was a wealthy man, and would make a
+satisfactory godfather to one of her children, Mr. Jogglebury called on
+Mr. Sponge at the Puffington mansion, and invited him to "pay us a
+visit."
+
+No sooner does our hero grasp the situation than he says:
+
+"Well, you're a devilish good fellow, and I'll tell you what, as I am
+sure you mean what you say, I'll take you at your word and go at once."
+
+And in this determination he persists, though Mr. J. pleads for some
+delay, as Mrs. Jogglebury Crowdey requires some little time for
+preparation in receiving so distinguished a guest.
+
+The visit to Puddingpote Bower, as the Jogglebury dwelling was called,
+proved as unfortunate as the previous visits; the more people saw of Mr.
+Sponge the less they liked him, and this time the dislike was mutual.
+"Jog and Sponge," says the author, "were soon most heartily sick of each
+other." Mr. Sponge soon began to think that it was not worth while
+staying at Puddingpote Bower for the mere sake of his keep, "seeing
+there was no hunting to be had from it."
+
+Within twelve or thirteen miles from the Bower there lived Sir Harry
+Scattercash, a very fast young gentleman indeed. He kept "an
+ill-supported pack of hounds, that were not kept upon any fixed
+principles; their management was only of the scrimmaging order," but Mr.
+Sponge, scenting an invitation, determined to make one amongst the
+field.
+
+In his attempt to "go it," my lord "was ably assisted by Lady
+Scattercash, late the lovely and elegant Miss Glitters, of the Theatre
+Royal, Sadler's Wells. Lady Scattercash could ride--indeed, she used to
+do scenes in the circle (two horses and a flag), and she could drive,
+and smoke, and sing, and was possessed of many other accomplishments."
+
+What a winning creature Leech has made of her, and the scarcely less
+delightful little tiger behind her, may be seen in the illustration
+which the law of copyright prevents me from introducing, as it also
+prohibits the appearance here of Sir Harry, her husband, the happy
+possessor of the charming Lady Scattercash.
+
+"Sometimes," says the author of "Sponge," "Sir Harry would drink
+straight on end for a week!" Mr. Sponge made desperate efforts to take
+up his abode at Nonsuch House, but Sir Harry was surrounded by congenial
+spirits, who, one and all, had taken prejudice against that worthy; so,
+beyond a hunting dinner, at which everybody, including the ladies, took
+more wine than was good for them, Mr. Sponge and Nonsuch House were
+strangers to each other for a time. But, as the hunting-field is open to
+all and sundry, Mr. Sponge, not easily daunted, put in a frequent
+appearance, in the sure and certain hope that admission to free quarters
+at Sir Harry's was only delayed. Beyond what is elegantly called "peck
+and perch," Nonsuch House contained a very powerful attraction in the
+form of Miss Lucy Glitters, sister to Lady Scattercash. Miss Lucy was a
+lovely person, and her charms were increased in Mr. Sponge's eyes
+because he persuaded himself that the sister-in-law of a baronet must
+necessarily be a rich woman. Miss Lucy had also the conviction that Mr.
+Sponge was a rich man; how else could he spend his time in the sports of
+the field, with all their expensive accompaniments? Miss Glitters was a
+bold rider, and that accomplishment also endeared her to the gentleman
+in whom the passion of love burned suddenly, and with a very furious
+flame indeed; till on one fateful hunting day the amorous couple found
+themselves "in at the death": they had distanced the field, they were
+alone. Mr. Sponge secured the brush, and said:
+
+"We'll put this in your hat, alongside the cock's feathers."
+
+I now quote my author: "The fair lady leant towards him, and as he
+adjusted it becomingly in her hat, looking at her bewitching eyes, her
+lovely face, and feeling the sweet fragrance of her breath, a something
+shot through Mr. Sponge's pull-devil pull-baker coat, his corduroy
+waistcoat, his Eureka shirt, angola vest, and penetrated to the very
+cockles of his heart. He gave her such a series of smacking kisses as
+startled her horse and astonished a poacher who happened to be hid in
+the adjoining hedge."
+
+On the return of the happy pair Lucy rushes to her sister with the good
+news. Lady Scattercash was delighted, because "Mr. Sponge was such a
+nice man, _and so rich_! She was sure he was rich--couldn't hunt if he
+wasn't. Would advise Lucy to have a good settlement, in case he broke
+his neck." On further inquiry, however, her ladyship had good reason to
+suspect that a red coat and two or three hunters were not satisfactory
+proofs of wealth; and in reply to one who knew, she retorted, "Well,
+never mind, if he has nothing, she has nothing, and nothing can be
+nicer." With the conviction that nothing could be nicer, "Lady
+Scattercash warmly espoused Mr. Sponge's cause," the consequence being
+his instalment in splendid quarters at Nonsuch House, where he made
+himself thoroughly at home. "It was very soon 'my hounds,' 'my horses,'
+and 'my whips,' etc., being untroubled by his total inability to keep
+the angel who had ridden herself into his affections, for he made no
+doubt that something would turn up." If it were not for the introduction
+of a delightful drawing by Leech, I should take no note of a
+"Steeplechase," in which Mr. Sponge comes before us for the last time.
+This function is not a favourite with Mr. Surtees, nor is it looked upon
+without much anxiety by Miss Lucy. "She has made Mr. Sponge a white silk
+jacket to ride in, and a cap of the same colour. Altogether, he is a
+great swell, and very like a bridegroom," says the author.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+If this drawing suffered in the hands of the wood-engraver, it must
+have been beyond imagination beautiful, for, as it is, it shows us Leech
+in his full strength. Nothing, it seems to me, could surpass the figure of
+Lucy, whose expression of loving fear for the safety of the bold Sponge is
+shown to us in one of the prettiest faces conceivable. Sponge himself is
+no less successfully rendered as he smiles reassuringly at his beloved.
+The race--admirably described by the author--is run, and won by Mr.
+Sponge. "And now for the hero and heroine of our tale. The Sponges--for
+our friend married Lucy shortly after the steeplechase--stayed at Nonsuch
+House till the bailiffs walked in. Sir Harry then bolted to Boulogne,
+where he afterwards died. Being at length starved out of Nonsuch House,"
+says the historian, "he--Sponge--arrived at his old quarters, the Bantam,
+in Bond Street, where he turned his attention very seriously to providing
+for Lucy and the little Sponge, who had now issued its prospectus. He
+thought over all the ways and means of making money without capital....
+Professional steeplechasing Lucy decried, declaring she would rather
+return to her flag exercises at Astley's as soon as she was able than have
+her dear Sponge risking his neck that way. Our friend at length began to
+fear fortune-making was not so easy as he thought; indeed he was soon sure
+of it." Something had to be done; "accordingly, after due consultation
+with Lucy, he invested his all in fitting up and decorating the splendid
+establishment in Jermyn Street, St. James's, now known as the SPONGE CIGAR
+AND BETTING ROOMS, where noblemen, gentlemen, and officers in the
+Household troops may be accommodated with loans on their personal security
+to any amount." We see by Mr. Sponge's last advertisement that he has
+�116,000 to lend at 3� per cent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS," BY ALBERT SMITH.
+
+
+  "December 20, 1844.
+
+  "MY DEAR SIR,
+
+"Here we are at the 20th of the month, and I have only four pages of
+Smith's new story--no incident. Really, it is too much to expect that I
+can throw myself at a moment's notice into the seventeenth century, with
+all its difficulties of costume, etc., etc. What am I to do? There is a
+great want of system somewhere. I received a note from Mr. Marsh last
+night, stating for the first time that there would be _two_
+illustrations to 'The Marchioness of Brinvilliers,' and also urging me
+to be very early with the plates, it being Christmas and all that! But,
+as I said before, I have not the matter to illustrate. _What am I to
+do?_ Added to all this, I must be engaged one day in the early part of
+next week on the melancholy occasion of the funeral of a poor little
+sister of mine. Pray, my dear sir, do what you can to expedite matters,
+and
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "---- MORGAN, ESQ."
+
+
+The above is one of the many letters that might be quoted to show the
+aggravating delays and difficulties under which so much of Leech's work
+was produced. I take Mr. Morgan to have been one of the officials of Mr.
+Richard Bentley's establishment, whose patience must have been sorely
+tried again and again by the pranks of that _genus irritabile_, the
+writer. Judging from the humorous character of Albert Smith's "Ledbury"
+and other works, one is hardly prepared for the horrors that make us
+shudder over the pages of "The Marchioness of Brinvilliers"--horrors in
+which the writer seems to revel with a zest as keen as that he takes in
+the fun and frolic of Ledbury.
+
+The "shilling shocker" of the present day is a mild production indeed,
+in comparison with the history of the poisoner and adulteress,
+Brinvilliers, in which "on horror's head horrors accumulate." The
+authors of the modern productions are, for the most part, inventors of
+the blood-and-murder scenes that adorn their books. Not so Mr. Albert
+Smith, whose pages describe but too truly the career of the most
+notorious of the many criminals that flourished in the most profligate
+period of French history. Louis XIV. set an example in debauchery to his
+subjects which the highest of them eagerly followed; but the most
+fearful factor of this terrible time was poison, by which the possessors
+of estates who "lagged superfluous on the scene" were made to give place
+to greedy heirs; husbands, inconveniently in the way, were put out of it
+by their wives, whose affections had been disposed of elsewhere; state
+officers, whose positions were desired by aspirants unwilling to wait
+for them, were struck by sudden and mysterious illness, speedily
+followed by death, for which the faculty of the time could in no way
+account.
+
+Marie, Marchioness of Brinvilliers, lived with her husband in the Rue
+des Cordeliers in Paris. The Marquis was a man of easy morals, and the
+Marchioness was a woman of still easier morals, for she had many lovers;
+she also amused her leisure hours by the study of the nature and
+properties of a great variety of deadly poisons; thinking, no doubt, as
+she was of a jealous disposition, that the time might arrive when her
+knowledge would be useful in depriving her lover of the temptation which
+had led him to forget his duty to her. The Marchioness was a very
+beautiful woman; she had eyes of a tender blue; her complexion was of
+dazzling whiteness, with cheeks of a delicate carnation; her expression
+was angelic, and she wore her hair of pale gold in bushy ringlets, in
+obedience to the fashion of the time. We first become acquainted with
+the Marchioness under painful circumstances, for she made--and kept--an
+appointment with one lover without being sufficiently careful to
+disguise her doings from another. That other was the Chevalier Gaudin de
+Sainte-Croix, who proceeded to the lodgings of his rival, M. Camille
+Theria.
+
+"'The Marchioness of Brinvilliers is here, I believe,' said Gaudin to
+the grisette at the door. 'Will you tell her she is wanted on pressing
+business?'
+
+"The Marchioness appeared. A stifled scream of fear and surprise, yet
+sufficiently intense to show her emotion at the sight of Gaudin, broke
+from her lips as she recognised him. But she immediately recovered her
+impassibility of features--that wonderful calmness and innocent
+expression which afterwards was so severely put to the proof without
+being shaken--and she asked, with apparent unconcern:
+
+"'Well, monsieur, what do you want with me?'
+
+"'Marie!' exclaimed Gaudin, 'let me ask your business here at this hour'
+(it was rather late) 'unattended, and in the apartment of a scholar of
+the H�tel Dieu?'
+
+"'You are mad, Sainte-Croix,' said the Marchioness. 'Am I to be
+accountable to you for all my actions? M. Theria is not here, and I came
+to see his wife on my own affairs.'
+
+"'Liar!' cried Gaudin."
+
+The lady had not told the truth, for M. Theria had no wife, and he was
+so near by that he heard the angry voice of M. Sainte-Croix, who so
+convinced the Marchioness of her perfidy that "in an instant the
+accustomed firmness of the Marchioness deserted her, and she fell upon
+her knees at his feet on the cold, damp floor of the landing."
+
+In this powerful etching nothing could surpass the beauty of the face
+and figure of the Marchioness; she exactly realizes our ideal. But the
+Chevalier, though full of passion, is, to my mind, verging on the
+theatrical.
+
+Finding that her entreaties to the Chevalier to "go away" have no
+effect, she threatens suicide.
+
+"There is but one resource left," she says, as she "springs up from her
+position of supplication."
+
+"Where are you going?" asked Sainte-Croix, as she rushed to the top of
+the flight of stairs.
+
+"Hinder me not!" returned Marie. "To the river!"
+
+But before she could reach the river--to which she would no doubt have
+given a very wide berth--she fainted, or pretended to faint, in the
+courtyard at the bottom of the staircase. Here the pair were overtaken
+by M. Theria.
+
+"A few hot and hurried words passed on either side, and the next instant
+their swords were drawn and crossed. The fight was short, and ended in
+Sainte-Croix thrusting his rapier completely through the fleshy part of
+the sword-arm of the student, whose weapon fell to the ground.
+
+"'I have it!' cried Camille. 'A peace, monsieur! I have it!' he
+continued, smiling, as he felt that his wound, though slight, was too
+serious to have been received in so unworthy a cause.
+
+"As he was speaking, Marie opened her eyes and looked around. But the
+instant she saw the two rivals, she shuddered convulsively, and again
+relapsed into insensibility.
+
+"'She is a clever actress,' continued Camille, smiling.
+
+"'We have each been duped,' answered Gaudin.
+
+"'She will play me no longer. As far as I am concerned,' said Theria,
+'you are welcome to all her affections, and I shall reckon you as one of
+my best friends for your visit this evening.'"
+
+The visit was destined to have an unexpected end, however, for the
+attention of the Guet Royal, or night-guard, had been called to the
+clashing of swords.
+
+"Some young men, who had come up with the guard as they were returning
+from their orgies, pressed forward with curiosity to ascertain the cause
+of the tumult. But from one of them a fearful cry of surprise was heard
+as he recognised the persons before him. Sainte-Croix raised his eyes,
+and found himself face to face with Antoine, Marquis of Brinvilliers!"
+
+The late combatants threw dust in the eyes of the lady's husband
+cleverly enough by pretending that Sainte-Croix had rescued her from the
+unwelcome attentions of Theria, who had mistaken her in the uncertain
+light for a lady with whom he had an appointment. The cloak which the
+Marchioness wore, together with the darkness of the night, had prevented
+his discovering that she was not the person he expected until her cries
+had brought in Sainte-Croix, who was passing, as he said himself, "to
+his lodgings in the Rue des Bernardins."
+
+The lady went home with her husband, and Sainte-Croix retired to his
+lodgings, there to meditate on the perfidy of his mistress. The
+Chevalier de Sainte-Croix was even more learned in poisons, and less
+scrupulous in the use of them, than his mistress; and in his first gusts
+of passion, on discovering her treachery, he was inclined--in the hate
+of her that took temporary possession of him--to subject her to their
+effect; but reflection produced demoniacal results. She should be spared
+to kill those who ought to be near and dear to her!
+
+"'I will be her bane--her curse!' he exclaimed. 'I will be her bad
+angel!... And I will triumph over that besotted fool, her husband,' etc.
+
+"He opened a small, iron-clamped box, and brought from it a small
+packet, carefully sealed, and a phial of clear, colourless fluid.
+
+"'I have it! It is here--the source, not of life, but of death!'
+
+"Almost as he speaks, he is summoned by the _femme de chambre_ of the
+Marchioness to an interview at her residence at her father's house, the
+H�tel d'Aubray. The Chevalier found the enchantress in studied disarray.
+She might have been made up after one of Guido's Magdalens," says the
+author, "so beautiful were her rounded shoulders, so dishevelled her
+light hair," etc.
+
+The lovers were speedily reconciled, but the lady had an important
+communication to make--no less than the discovery of their intimacy by
+her husband, whom she felt sure had revealed the fact to her father, M.
+d'Aubray. A long pause, broken by Sainte-Croix:
+
+"'Marie,' he said, 'they must die, or our happiness is impossible.'"
+
+The Marchioness was not yet hardened enough to receive this announcement
+with equanimity; and the lovers were still discussing the _pros_ and
+_cons_ of it, when they were surprised by Monsieur d'Aubray, who,
+entering by a secret door, "stood looking on the scene before him." Any
+doubts of guilty intimacy, if he had any, were dispelled; and, after
+ordering his daughter to her chamber, he turned to Sainte-Croix, and
+said:
+
+"'Monsieur de Sainte-Croix, I will provide you with a lodging where you
+will run no risk of compromising the honour of a noble family.'"
+
+And so saying, he produced a _lettre de cachet_, armed with which the
+exempts, who were waiting for him, speedily deposited M. de Sainte-Croix
+at the Bastille. The Marchioness, separated from her children and her
+husband, was exiled to Offremont, a family place some distance from
+Paris. Here she lived with her father, who so entirely believed in her
+repentance and determination to lead a new life that he proposed a
+speedy return to Paris.
+
+"'I have no wish to go, _mon p�re_,' replied the hypocrite; 'I would
+sooner remain here with you--for ever!'"
+
+After much talk and reiterated professions of sorrow for the past, the
+Marchioness says, in reply to her father's order that "she shall never
+speak to Sainte-Croix--who had been released from the Bastille--or
+recognise him again:
+
+"'You shall be obeyed, monsieur--too willingly.'"
+
+The words had not long left her lips when she placed a lamp in the
+window of the room, to guide her lover to a prearranged assignation.
+
+The awful interview that followed is described in Mr. Smith's book.
+
+The greater villain ran the risk of interruption in his lengthened
+arguments in favour of parricide; but hearing approaching footsteps,
+Sainte-Croix hurried away.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+M. d'Aubray had gone to bed. A servant suggested the night-drink.
+
+"'I will give it to him myself, Jervais,' said the Marchioness."
+
+Taking a jug from the man, she poured the contents into an old cup of
+thin silver; then, "with a hurried glance round the room, she broke the
+seals of the packet Sainte-Croix had left in her hands, and shook a few
+grains of its contents into the beverage. No change was visible; a few
+bubbles rose and broke upon the surface, but this was all."
+
+Sleep had surprised M. d'Aubray. His daughter touched him lightly, and
+he "awoke with the exclamation of surprise attendant upon being suddenly
+disturbed from sleep.
+
+"'I have brought your wine, _mon p�re_,' said the murderess.
+
+"'Thanks, thanks, my good girl,' said the old man, as he raised himself
+up in bed, and took the cup from the Marchioness. He drank off the
+contents, and then, once more bestowing a benediction upon his daughter,
+turned again to his pillow."
+
+Let those who desire to see how beauty can be retained, though
+disfigured by devilish passion, study the face of the Marchioness in
+this drawing. For skilful arrangement of light and shade, and of the
+objects that go to make up the _mise en sc�ne_, and for natural action
+in the figures; this drawing takes the lead of all the admirable
+illustrations in the "Marchioness of Brinvilliers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+"THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS" (_continued_).
+
+
+A great reception was given at Versailles by the King. M. d'Aubray was
+"suffering from a sudden and fearful indisposition, but he insisted upon
+his daughter accepting an invitation, were it only to establish her
+_entr�e_ into society."
+
+There, amongst the trees in the gardens, the Marchioness encounters
+Sainte-Croix. "His face looked ghastly in the moonbeams, and his eyes
+gleamed with a light that conscience made demoniac in the eyes of the
+Marchioness."
+
+"'You here!' she exclaimed.
+
+"'Where should I be but in the place of rejoicing just now?' replied
+Gaudin through his set teeth, and with a sardonic smile. 'I am this
+moment from Paris. We are free!'
+
+"'My father?' cried the Marchioness, as a terrible expression
+overspread her countenance.
+
+"'He is dead,' returned Sainte-Croix, 'and we are free!'"
+
+There was a pause, and they looked at each other for nearly a minute.
+
+"'Come,' at length said the Marchioness, 'come to the ball.'"
+
+A prominent and very interesting figure in Mr. Smith's book is Louise
+Gauthier, a girl of comparatively humble birth, who had the misfortune
+to love Sainte-Croix with the intense self-sacrificing love that good
+women so often show for bad men, who return their affection with
+coldness and neglect. This girl, who had become the friend of Marotte
+Dupr�, one of the actresses in the plays of Moli�re which were part of
+the attraction at the Versailles f�te, accompanied the actress to
+Versailles, where she accidentally overheard a conversation between the
+Marchioness of Brinvilliers and M. de Sainte-Croix, which not only
+convinced her that the love for her that Sainte-Croix had once professed
+was given to another, but that some fearful tie existed between the two,
+caused by actions which had destroyed their happiness here and their
+hopes of it hereafter.
+
+She came from her concealment, and was received with jealous fury by
+the Marchioness, who believed, or affected to believe, that the girl was
+at "the grotto" by appointment with Sainte-Croix. She bestowed what is
+commonly called "a piece of her mind" upon her lover, and concluded her
+rhapsody by informing him that from henceforth "we meet no more."
+Louise, however, convinced the passionate Marchioness that she had made
+no appointment, but was at "the grotto" by, "perhaps, a dispensation of
+Providence," in order that she might, having overheard their guilty
+conversation, so act upon their consciences as to "save them both."
+
+The first result of her good intentions is a declaration to the
+Marchioness by Sainte-Croix that, though there had been some
+love-passages between him and the girl, they were "madness,
+infatuation--call it what name you will; but you are the only one I ever
+loved." Thus the ruffian speaks in the presence of the woman he had
+betrayed; but her love, though crushed, still urges her to become the
+man's good angel, and, seizing his arm, she cries:
+
+"'Hear me, Gaudin. By the recollection of what we once were to each
+other--although you scorn me now, and the shadowy remembrance of old
+times--before these terrible circumstances, whatever they may be, had
+thus turned your heart from me and from your God, there is still time to
+make amends for all that has occurred. I do not speak for myself, for
+all those feelings have passed, but for you alone. Repent and be happy,
+for happy now you are not!'"
+
+"Gaudin made no reply, but his bosom heaved rapidly, betraying his
+emotion.
+
+"'This is idle talk,' said the Marchioness.... 'Will you not come with
+me, Gaudin?'
+
+"'Marie!' cried Gaudin faintly, 'take me where you list. In life or
+after it, on earth or in hell, I am yours--yours only!'
+
+"A flush of triumph passed over her face as she led Sainte-Croix from
+the grotto," etc.
+
+By the death of her father the Marchioness hoped, not only to have freed
+herself and her lover from an ever-recurring obstacle to their
+intercourse, but also to have inherited a much-needed sum of money--no
+less than "one hundred and fifty thousand livres were to have been the
+legacy to his daughter, Madame de Brinvilliers--and, what was more, her
+absolute freedom to act as she pleased. The money had passed to her
+brothers, in trust for her, and she was left entirely under their
+surveillance.
+
+"'This must be altered,' said the Chevalier Sainte-Croix in an
+interview with the _alter ego_ of an Italian vendor of poisons named
+Exili.'"
+
+This man undertakes the "alteration," or, in other words, the murder, of
+the two brothers for a "consideration" in the form of "one-fifth of
+whatever may fall to the Marchioness thereupon.
+
+"'Of course, there is a barrier between the brothers of Madame de
+Brinvilliers and myself,' said Sainte-Croix to his accomplice, 'that
+must for ever prevent our meeting. I will provide the means, and you
+their application.'"
+
+Sainte-Croix had the right to claim the merit of this scheme for
+enriching the Marchioness, and at the same time relieving her from a
+guardianship that was impenetrable by her lover. The murder of her
+brothers seemed a trifling affair after the poisoning of her father, and
+she readily consented to assist in procuring a situation for the
+poisoner's assistant--a man named Lechauss�e--in the household of her
+brothers, who happened, very fortunately, to be in want of a servant at
+the moment. How this wretch administered the poison to the two brothers,
+who died instantly from its effect, the curious reader may
+ascertain--together with the other dramatic particulars--by consulting
+Mr. Albert Smith's book, in which the incidents are told with great
+force and skill.
+
+By eavesdropping in somewhat improbable places--notably at a grand f�te
+at the H�tel de Cluny, given by the Marquis de Lauzan, the Italian
+poisoner Exili becomes master of the guilty pair's secrets. The
+Marchioness's jealousy had been aroused during the evening by
+Sainte-Croix's attention to an actress; and she left the great _salon_,
+and retired with her friend to a cabinet, in which, after the usual
+denial and reconciliation, secure, as they thought, from interruption,
+they discussed their demoniacal schemes. As they were about to pass from
+the room, "a portion of a large bookcase, masking a door, was thrown
+open, and Exili stood before them."
+
+The somewhat theatrical character that Leech gives to the figure of
+Sainte-Croix is much less apparent in this powerful drawing; and in the
+figures of Exili and the Marchioness there is not a trace of it. Though
+the Brinvilliers is masked according to a habit of the time, we feel
+that the mask conceals a beautiful face, distorted by fear, no doubt,
+but still lovely. The Italian is altogether excellent.
+
+Exili loses no time in turning his information to account, and in reply
+to Sainte-Croix, who asks him what he wants, he replies that his trade
+as a sorcerer is failing, and as a poisoner he is in "a yet worse
+position, thanks to the Lieutenant of Police, M. de la Regnie.
+
+"'I must have money,' he adds, 'to enable me to retire and die elsewhere
+than on the Gr�ve.'"
+
+He ends by extorting from Sainte-Croix an undertaking to share with him
+the wealth obtained through the murder of the brothers. But if Exili
+relied upon the bond as a security of value, he displayed a degree of
+ignorance of the human nature of such individuals as Sainte-Croix that
+was surprising in so astute a person.
+
+"To elude the payment of Exili's bond," says the author, "he had
+determined upon destroying him, running the risk of whatever might
+happen subsequently through the physician's knowledge of the murders."
+And he had, therefore, ordered a body of the "Guard Royal to attend,
+when they would receive sufficient proof of the trade Exili was driving
+in his capacity of alchemist."
+
+Sainte-Croix visited the Italian with excuses for the non-payment of
+the money early in the evening of the day on which the arrest was
+planned to take place later. To those excuses the poisoner listened
+angrily; he discovered some valuable jewels which Sainte-Croix wore. He
+had purposely brushed his hand against Sainte-Croix's cloak, and in the
+pocket of it he felt some weighty substance. The chink assured him it
+was gold.
+
+"'You cannot have that,' said Gaudin confusedly; 'it is going with me to
+the gaming-table to-night.'
+
+"'You have rich jewels, too, about you,' continued Exili, peering at him
+with a fearful expression. 'The carcanet becomes you well. That diamond
+clasp is a fortune in itself.'
+
+"'Not one of them is mine,' said Sainte-Croix. 'They belong to the
+Marchioness of Brinvilliers.'"
+
+The Italian affected to be satisfied with the assurance that the money
+should be paid next day, and Sainte-Croix's doom was sealed. The
+alchemist "turned to the furnace to superintend the progress of some
+preparation that was evaporating over the fire.
+
+"'What have you there?' asked Gaudin, who was anxious to prolong the
+interview till the guard could arrive.
+
+"'A venom more deadly than any we have yet known--that will kill like
+lightning, and leave no trace of its presence to the most subtle tests.'
+
+"'You will give me the secret?' asked Gaudin.
+
+"'As soon as it is finished, and the time is coming on apace. You have
+arrived opportunely to assist me.'
+
+"He took a mask with glass eyes, and tied it round his face.
+
+"'If you would see the preparation completed, you must wear one as
+well.'
+
+"Exili took another visor, and, under pretence of rearranging the
+string, he broke it from the mask; and then, fixing it back with some
+resinous compound that would be melted by the heat of the furnace, he
+cautiously fixed it to Sainte-Croix's face.
+
+"'I will mind the furnace whilst you go,' said Gaudin, in reply to the
+alchemist, who said he must fetch some drugs required for further
+operations.
+
+"At that moment Sainte-Croix heard an adjacent bell sound the hour at
+which he had appointed the guard to arrive.
+
+"'There is no danger in this mask, you say?'
+
+"'None,' said Exili.
+
+"Anxious to become acquainted with the new poison, and in the hope that
+as soon as he had acquired the secret of its manufacture the guard would
+arrive, Gaudin bent over the furnace. Exili had left the apartment, but
+as soon as his footfall was beyond Sainte-Croix's hearing he returned,
+treading as stealthily as a tiger, and took up his place at the door to
+watch his prey. As Gaudin bent his head to watch the preparation more
+closely, the heat of the furnace melted the resin with which the string
+had been fastened. It gave way, and the mask fell on the floor, whilst
+the vapour of the poison rose full in his face almost before, in his
+eager attention, he was aware of the accident.
+
+"One terrible scream--a cry which, once heard, could never be
+forgotten--not that of agony, or terror, or surprise, but a shrill and
+violent indrawing of the breath, resembling rather the screech of some
+huge, hoarse bird of prey irritated to madness, than the sound of a
+human voice--broke from Gaudin's lips. Every muscle of his face was
+contorted into the most frightful form; he remained a second, and no
+more, wavering at the side of the furnace, and then fell heavily on the
+floor. He was dead."
+
+This terrible death-scene has found a perfect illustrator in John Leech.
+How admirable is the fiendish expression of the poisoner as he gloats
+over the body of his victim, which is drawn with a power and
+truthfulness altogether perfect! Every detail of the laboratory how
+skilfully introduced, how effectively rendered!
+
+The alchemist behaved on the occasion as might be expected.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"He darted at the dead body like a beast of prey; and drew forth the
+bag of money, which he transferred to his own pouch. He next tore away
+every ornament of any value that adorned Gaudin's costly dress...."
+
+While at this congenial occupation, "the bristling halberts of the guard
+appeared.
+
+"'Back!' screamed Exili. 'Keep off, or I will slay you and myself, so
+that not one shall live to tell the tale! Your lives are in my hands,'
+continued the physician, 'and if you move one step forward they are
+forfeited.'
+
+"He darted through a doorway at the end of the room as he spoke, and
+disappeared. The guard pressed forward; but, as Exili passed out at the
+arch, a mass of timber descended like a portcullis and opposed their
+further progress. A loud and fiendish laugh sounded in the _souterrain_,
+which grew fainter and fainter, till they heard it no more."
+
+The poisoner escaped--for a time. He was captured afterwards, tried,
+and, of course, condemned to death--a merciful death compared with that
+which befell him on his way to execution at the hands of the infuriated
+people, by whom his guards were overpowered, and after being almost torn
+to pieces, he was thrown into the Seine.
+
+The toils were now closing round the miserable Marchioness de
+Brinvilliers. The wretched woman had reached the inconceivable condition
+of degradation said to be common to successful murderers when impunity
+has followed their first crimes--that of killing for killing's sake. She
+put on the clothes of a _religeuse_, attended the hospitals, and
+poisoned the patients. Their dying cries were music to her, their
+agonies afforded her the keenest pleasure. To the student of French
+criminal history this is no news. I note it here so that the historian
+of the woman's crimes should not be thought to have invented incidents
+that existed only in his imagination. Mr. Smith had the best authority
+for all the murders with which he charges Madame de Brinvilliers.
+
+The death of Sainte-Croix was followed by the usual police regulation
+where foul play is suspected. Seals were affixed to his effects, amongst
+which poisons were discovered that were proved to be the property of the
+Marchioness of Brinvilliers. The murderess, terror-stricken, fled from
+Paris; and, though hotly pursued, she escaped into Belgium, and sought
+refuge in a religious house, where she took "sanctuary." The pursuers
+were so near that, as she jumped from her carriage at the convent-door,
+she left her cloak in the hands of the exempt. She turned upon him, says
+the author, "with a smile of triumph that threw an expression of
+demoniac beauty over her features, and cried:
+
+"'You dare not touch me, or you are lost body and soul!'"
+
+I must again refer my reader to Mr. Albert Smith's book if he wishes to
+learn how the exempt, disguised as an abb�, beguiled the Marchioness
+from her sanctuary, and content myself with showing--or rather in
+letting Leech show--how she looked when the police-officer dropped his
+disguise and she found herself seized by his men.
+
+The details given by Mr. Albert Smith of the last hours of Madame de
+Brinvilliers are, though painful reading, very remarkable. The Docteur
+Pirot, who passed nearly the whole of his time at the Conciergerie, has
+left records of which the author has availed himself, as well as from
+the letters of Madame de S�vign�. Those who wish to "sup full of
+horrors" can satisfy themselves by reading the account of the torture by
+water which was inflicted upon the miserable woman to induce her to
+betray her accomplices. But there were none to betray. Her only
+accomplice was dead. Her sufferings on the rack very nearly cheated the
+headsman, for, as they culminated "in a piercing cry of agony, after
+which all was still, the graffier, fearing that the punishment had been
+carried too far, gave orders that she should be unbound." On her way to
+execution, she was attended by the constant Pirot. The tumbrel stopped
+before the door of N�tre Dame, and a paper was put into her hands, from
+which she read, in a firm voice, a confession of her crimes. The tumbrel
+again advanced with difficulty through the dense crowds, portions of
+which, "slipping between the horses of the troops who surrounded it,
+launched some brutal remark at Marie with terrible distinctness and
+meaning; but she never gave the least sign of having heard them, only
+keeping her eyes intently fixed upon the crucifix which Pirot held up
+before her."
+
+In this drawing Leech's power over individual character may be noted in
+the diversity of type amongst the hooting crowd round the tumbrel. The
+shrinking form of the prisoner is very beautiful.
+
+When the Place de Gr�ve was reached the execrations of the mob had
+ceased, and "a deep and awful silence" prevailed, "so perfect that the
+voices of the executioner and Pirot could be plainly heard," says the
+chroniclers. I pass over harrowing details. The beautiful head of the
+poisoner was struck off by a single sword-stroke, and the executioner,
+turning to Pirot, said:
+
+"'It was well done, monsieur, and I hope madame has left me a trifle,
+for I deserve it.'"
+
+He then "calmly took a bottle from his pocket and refreshed himself with
+its contents."
+
+If the short extracts from the history of this great criminal have
+enabled my readers more clearly to understand and enjoy Leech's
+illustrations, my object in selecting them has been realized.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"A MAN MADE OF MONEY."--DOUGLAS JERROLD.
+
+
+Knowing that this extraordinary book was illustrated by John Leech, and
+hearing that it contained some of his best work, it became my duty to
+make a sufficient acquaintance with the book to enable me to criticise
+and explain the drawings to my readers. I tried "skimming," but the
+power of the book, and the brilliancy of the wit in it, so attracted me
+that I read the whole of it.
+
+It is not my province, and it is certainly not in my power, to pose as
+a critic of literary work; and the hero--the man made of money, with a
+heart made of bank-notes instead of flesh and blood, containing within
+himself a bank that could be drawn upon to any amount--is so wonderful a
+being as to place him out of the category of human creatures, and
+altogether beyond criticism. This gentleman's name was Jericho. He had
+waited till he was forty, and then he married a widow with three
+children; two of them were girls, the third a young gentleman of whom
+those who knew him best said, "He was born for billiards." There was no
+love lost between Mr. Jericho and his step-children; in fact, they
+cordially hated him, and he returned the compliment. Their name was
+Pennibacker, inherited from their father, Captain Pennibacker, whose
+loving wife "was made a widow at two-and-twenty by an East Indian
+bullet." Mr. Jericho was one of that large class which, though really
+needy, manoeuvres successfully to be considered wealthy. His
+step-children considered him as "a rich plum-cake, to be sliced openly
+or by stealth among them." The widow Pennibacker was first attracted to
+him by "a whispered announcement that he was a City gentleman. Hence
+Jericho appeared to the imagination of the widow with an indescribable
+glory of money about him."
+
+Mrs. Jericho desired to make a few purchases, and she approached her
+husband with a cry familiar to most of us:
+
+"'Mr. Jericho, when can you let me have some money?'"
+
+The lady's confidence in her husband's wealth ought to have been shaken
+by what followed her application. Mr. Jericho turned a deaf ear to the
+appeal, which was repeated in every variety of tone and accent.
+
+At length, "waving her right hand before her husband's face with a
+significant and snaky motion," she reiterated her demand with a terrible
+calmness:
+
+"'When can I have some money?'
+
+"'Woman!' cried Jericho vehemently, as though at once and for ever he
+emptied his heart of the sex; and, rushing from the room, he felt
+himself in the flattering vivacity of the moment a single man. 'I'm
+sure, after all, I do my best to love the woman,' thought Jericho, 'and
+yet she will ask me for money.'"
+
+Disgusted with these unreasonable demands for money, Mr. Jericho
+determines to revenge himself by taking a day's pleasure with three
+special friends, to be ended by "a quiet banquet at which the human
+heart would expand in good fellowship, and where the wine was above
+doubt."
+
+The dinner was a great success. It was very late--or rather somewhat
+early, as the sparrows were twittering from the eaves--when Mr. Jericho
+sought the marital couch, in which, too, his "wife Sabilla" was
+evidently "in a sound, deep, sweet sleep."
+
+"Untucking the bed-clothes, and making himself the thinnest slice of a
+man, Jericho slides between the sheets; and there he lies feloniously
+still, and he thinks to himself--Being asleep, she cannot tell how late
+I came to bed. At all events, it is open to dispute, and that is
+something.
+
+"'Mr. Jericho, when can you let me have some money?'
+
+"With open eyes, and clearly ringing every word upon the morning air,
+did Mrs. Jericho repeat this primal question.
+
+"And what said Jericho? With a sudden qualm at the heart, and with a
+stammering tongue, he answered:
+
+"'Why, my dear, I thought you were sound asleep.'"
+
+Here follows a dialogue in the vein of the "Caudle Lectures," in which
+Jerrold gives his wit and humour full play. To the perusal of the
+"give-and-take" passage of arms I cordially commend my readers. The
+dialogue closes with these words:
+
+"'I'm sure it's painful enough to my feelings, and I feel degraded by
+the question, nevertheless I must and will ask you--_When will you let
+me have some money?_'"
+
+This was the last straw, and Jericho groaned out:
+
+"'I WISH TO HEAVEN I WAS MADE OF MONEY!'"
+
+To which Mrs. Jericho retorted, "in a low, deep, earnest voice:
+
+"'I wish to Heaven you were!'"
+
+Silence came at last, and in the midst of it Jericho "subsided into
+muddled sleep; snoring heavily, contemptuously, at the loneliness of his
+spouse."
+
+And now _two fleas_--an elder and younger flea--come upon the scene, and
+proceed to dine, or sup, upon Mr. Jericho's brow.
+
+A long conversation ensues between these interesting creatures, in which
+the elder flea describes to his son how a man's heart was changed into
+inexhaustible bank-notes.
+
+"'Miserable race!' said the father flea, with his beautiful bright eye
+shining pitifully upon Jericho; 'miserable, craving race, you hear, my
+son! Man in his greed never knows when he has wherewithal. He gorges to
+gluttony; he drinks to drunkenness; and you heard this wretched fool who
+prayed to Heaven to turn him--heart, brain, and all--into a lump of
+money.'"
+
+How the operation was effected may be learnt from Mr. Jerrold's book.
+One result of it was a most troubled and miserable night to the dreamer
+Jericho, whose complaints to his wife when he awoke met with no
+sympathy.
+
+"'If I were to live a thousand years, I shouldn't forget last night!'
+groaned Jericho.
+
+"'Very likely not,' said Mrs. Jericho; 'I've no doubt you deserve to
+remember it. I shouldn't wonder----'"
+
+Mrs. Jericho's want of money is intensified by the wants of her son
+Basil, whose luck at billiards may have failed him just when his
+creditors were most pressing.
+
+"'Well, what does the old fellow say, the scaly old griffin? What's he
+got to answer for himself?'" This was "the sudden question put to Mrs.
+Jericho on her return to the drawing-room, after the interview with her
+husband. 'Come, what is it? Will he give me some money? In a word,'
+asked young hopeful, 'will he go into the melting-pot, like a man and a
+father?'
+
+"'My dear Basil, you mustn't ask me,' replied Mrs. Jericho.
+
+"'Oh, mustn't I, though!' cried Basil. 'Ha, you don't know the lot of
+people that's asking me; bless you, they ask a hundred times to my
+once!'"
+
+The Jerichos have some rich friends, the Carraways, who live in a
+mansion called Jogtrot Hall, "the one central grandeur, the boast and
+the comfort of the village of Marigolds." To a f�te at the Hall comes an
+invitation to the Jerichos. It had always been Mrs. Jericho's ambition
+that her girls should--"in her own nervous words"--make a blow in
+marriage, and she felt that perhaps the time had come. But the girls'
+dresses--the "war-paint," as Mr. Basil put it--there was the difficulty,
+only to be surmounted by Mr. Jericho's yielding to the repeated cry,
+"When will you let me have some money?"
+
+With but faint hopes of success, Mrs. Jericho seeks her husband in his
+study. In a long colloquy, she urges the importance of her daughters'
+appearance at this "grand party," and the necessity for an advance to
+enable them to do so properly. Mr. Jericho turns a deaf ear to her
+appeal, till suddenly a wonderful change comes over him.
+
+"Quite a new look of satisfaction gleamed from his eyes, and his mouth
+had such a strange smile of compliance! What could ail him?"
+
+The charm was working, the marvellous change was in operation. Mrs.
+Jericho fears for her husband's sanity. "'He doesn't look mad,' thought
+Mrs. Jericho, a little anxious.
+
+"'I feel as if I had got new blood, new flesh, new bones, new brain!
+Wonderful!' Jericho trod up and down the room and snapt his fingers.
+'Something's going to happen,' said he."
+
+And something did indeed happen. The transformation was complete; the
+hard heart had given place to illimitable money.
+
+"'You will let me have the money?' repeated Mrs. Jericho.
+
+"Jericho answered not a word, but withdrew his hand from his breast.
+Between his finger and his thumb he held in silver purity a virgin Bank
+of England note for a hundred pounds. Mrs. Jericho ran delightedly off
+with the money.
+
+"And Jericho sat with his heart beating faster. Again he placed his hand
+to his breast, again drew forth another bank-note. He jumped to his
+feet, tore away his dress, and, running to a mirror, saw therein
+reflected, not human flesh, but over the region of the heart a loose
+skin of bank-paper, veined with marks of ink. He touched it, and still
+in his hand lay another note. His thoughtless wish had been wrought into
+reality. Solomon Jericho was in very truth a Man made of Money."
+
+The f�te at Jogtrot Hall was a great success. The guests were many, and
+some of them distinguished. The Honourable Mr. Candytuft, Colonel Bones,
+Commissioner Thrush, and Dr. Mizzlemist, of Doctors' Commons, must be
+noted, as they have to be dealt with pictorially by Leech hereafter.
+After a variety of entertainments, some twenty or thirty hungry guests
+graced a table under a long, wide tent, on which "there were the most
+delicious proofs of the earth's goodness, with every kitchen mystery."
+The host, Mr. Carraway, took the head of the table; Mr. Jericho,
+"dignified and taciturn, graced the board." The orator on the occasion
+was Dr. Mizzlemist, who had been seized with a passion to drink
+everybody's health. For the third time he rose to give "the health of
+Solomon Jericho, Esquire, an honour to his country."
+
+"In the course of his speech the Doctor delivered himself with so much
+energy that at the same time he stuck the fork, which had served him in
+emphasizing the Jericho virtues, between the bones of Mr. Jericho's
+right hand, pinning it where it lay.
+
+"'It is nothing,' said the philosophic Jericho."
+
+The change in Mr. Jericho's appearance, from the full-faced,
+healthy-looking individual of Leech's first drawing, to the spare,
+hollow-cheeked man at the banquet, is to be accounted for by the fact
+that, after each application to the strange bank established in Mr.
+Jericho's breast, his whole form shrinks; he becomes thinner and
+thinner, to the alarm of his tailor, who "says, as he measures the
+changed man:
+
+"'Six inches less round the body, as I'm a sinner! Six inches less, Mr.
+Jericho, and I last took your measure six weeks ago.'"
+
+At the Carraway f�te the Misses Jericho made, and improved, the
+acquaintance of the Hon. Mr. Candytuft, and of an incredible idiot, Sir
+Arthur Homadod. The idiot was as beautiful as he was foolish; he was
+therefore handsome beyond the dreams of beauty. Whatever had taken the
+place of the mind in the baronet was impressed by Miss Agatha
+Pennibacker, and that virgin's heart being free, she lost it to Sir
+Arthur. The Hon. Mr. Candytuft, having an eye to the enormous fortune
+supposed to be possessed by Mr. Jericho, and being desirous to secure
+the portion of it that would of course fall to his step-daughter, made
+love to Miss Monica with considerable success.
+
+In the meantime the ladies wish to go to Court; in this they are
+encouraged by Candytuft; and, to enable them to make a proper figure
+there, costly jewels are required. To Candytuft and Jericho enter Mrs.
+J., "with a magnificent suite of jewels.
+
+"'Aren't they beautiful, my dear Solomon?' said she....
+
+"'You know, my dear,' said Mrs. Jericho, in her sweetest, most
+convincing voice, 'it would be impossible to go to Court without
+diamonds. One isn't dressed without diamonds.'
+
+"'Court!' Jericho opened his eyes, and a wan smile broke on his thin,
+blank cheek. 'Are you going to Court?'
+
+"'Why, of course--are we not, dear Mr. Candytuft? What would be thought
+of us if we did not pay our homage to----'
+
+"The sentence was broken by the sudden appearance of Monica and Agatha,
+each bearing a jewel-case, and looking radiant with the possession.
+
+"'Thank you, dear papa,' said Monica, curtseying and smiling her best to
+Jericho.
+
+"'They're beautiful. Thank you--dear, dearest papa,' cried the more
+impulsive Agatha.
+
+"'Look!' said Monica, and she exhibited her treasure.
+
+"'Look!' cried Agatha, and she half dropped upon one knee, on the other
+side, to show her jewels.
+
+"'Beautiful!' cried Candytuft. 'Pray, ladies, don't stir.'
+
+"The girls, with pretty wonder on their faces, kept their positions on
+either side of Jericho.
+
+"'My dear madam'--and Candytuft appealed to Mrs. Jericho--'is not this
+a delightful group--an exquisite family picture? It ought to be
+painted.'"
+
+[Illustration: _A Family Picture._]
+
+Mr. Candytuft is right. The graceful figures of the girls, the
+attenuated figure of papa, in whose hopeless expression one sees the
+dread of further attenuation, together with his own perfect presentment,
+would make--indeed, does make--an admirable picture. The jewels cost one
+thousand pounds: ten calls have to be made upon the supernatural bank.
+They are made, and the jeweller is paid. And the result! For some
+minutes after the departure of the tradesman Jericho sat motionless--all
+but breathless. He would, however, know his fate. He took out the silk
+lace with which an hour ago he had measured his chest. Again he passed
+it round his body. He had drawn upon the bank, and he had shrunk an
+inch.
+
+Truly he was a man made of money--money was the principle of his being,
+for with every note he paid away a portion of his life.
+
+Poor Mr. Carraway was ruined through no fault of his own. Jogtrot Hall
+was sold, and Jericho bought it. Thirty thousand pounds' worth of flesh
+had he sacrificed to buy to himself a country mansion. He had become a
+member of Parliament, and at the same time become so thin that his
+tailor declared, "It's like measuring a penknife for a sheath." "Why,"
+said the tailor to his wife, "he isn't a man at all, but a cotton-pod.
+He can't have no more stomach than a 'bacco-pipe." In fact, it was the
+growing belief of a large circle that Jericho was no flesh, no man, at
+all. "He was made up of coats," ran the rumour, "like an onion."
+
+The insolence that is sometimes the accompaniment of great riches took
+full possession of Mr. Jericho, and he found an occasion to treat
+Colonel Bones to a specimen of it. Almost without provocation the
+Colonel was called "a toad-eater! a bone-picking pauper!" etc. For this
+insult the Colonel declared he would have Mr. Jericho's blood, and in
+pursuance of that object he sent the millionaire a challenge. Jericho
+fought very hard to avoid fighting, but his second, Mr. Candytuft,
+prevailed, and the belligerents met in Battersea Fields. Mr.
+Commissioner Thrush waited upon the angry Colonel, and the celebrated
+Dr. Dodo was there to attend to the wounded. The seconds confer; the men
+are placed. Candytuft looked at them with an eye of admiration. The
+signal was given.
+
+"Colonel Bones fires, and his ball goes clear through Jericho's bosom,
+knocking off a button in its passage, and striking itself flat against a
+pile of bricks."
+
+"'A dead man!' cried the doctor, running to Jericho.
+
+"'My friend,' exclaimed Candytuft, 'have you made your will?'
+
+"'Eh? What's the matter?' said Jericho.
+
+"'Matter!' exclaimed Dr. Dodo, and he pointed his cane to the hole in
+the front of Jericho's coat, immediately over the region of his heart.
+'Matter! It's the first time I ever heard a man with a bullet clean
+through his breast ask--What's the matter!'"
+
+The Colonel's ball had passed through Jericho's bank-note-paper breast,
+and Jericho lived and moved and was none the worse for it. Jericho fired
+in the air.
+
+An ugly atmosphere was collecting about Mr. Jericho, and he was aware of
+it. "His own family saw in him a man of mysterious attributes. Monica
+turned pale at the smallest courtesy of her parent, and Agatha, suddenly
+meeting him on the staircase, squealed and ran away as from a fiend.
+
+"Mr. Jericho went on a rejoicing conqueror. His huge town mansion,
+burning with gold--massive, rich, and gorgeous; for the Man of Money was
+far the most substantial, the most potent development of his creed,
+whereby to awe and oppress his worshippers----"
+
+Mrs. Jericho had made up her mind that it was time her daughters were
+"settled in life, and she said as much to her husband."
+
+"'Your girls, my dear, have my free permission to settle when and where
+they like,' said the husband.
+
+"But in sounding Mr. Jericho as to his intentions in the matter of
+settlements, she could make no way whatever. At last she put the
+point-blank question:
+
+"'What do you propose to give the dear child?' (alluding to Monica, for
+whose hand Candytuft was about to ask).
+
+"'Give! I'll give a magnificent party on the occasion.'
+
+"'But the dowry; what dowry do you give?'
+
+"'Dowry! I thought, my dear, you observed marriage was no bargain? Why,
+you're making it quite a ready-money transaction!'"
+
+At this point the conversation was interrupted by Mr. Candytuft, who,
+before advocating his own case, warmly espoused that of his foolish
+friend, Sir Arthur Homadod, the accepted of Agatha.
+
+"'He's as bashful as--as--upon my life I am at a loss for a simile. And
+as he and I are old friends, and as he knew that I should see you--in
+fact, he's in the house at this moment, and came along with me--he
+desired me to inform you that Miss Agatha had consented to fix
+the--the--what d'ye call it--the happy day.'
+
+"'Wish them joy,' said Jericho.
+
+"'As to the young lady's dowry?' hesitated Candytuft.
+
+"'I can't give a farthing; can't afford it, my dear Candytuft.'"
+
+The ambassador then speaks for himself:
+
+"'You may have remarked my affection for Miss Monica? You must have
+remarked it?'
+
+"'I beg a thousand pardons,' said the wag Jericho, 'but it has quite
+escaped me.'
+
+"Candytuft wanly smiled.
+
+"'In a word, my dear sir, we have come to the sweet conclusion that we
+were made for one another.'
+
+"'Dear me! Well, how lucky you should have met!'"
+
+Mr. Candytuft beats about the bush for awhile, but at last comes
+abruptly to the point, saying:
+
+"'I _must_ ask--you force me to be plain--what will you give with the
+young lady?'
+
+"'Not a farthing!' cried Jericho. 'Not one farthing!' said the man of
+money with determined emphasis.
+
+
+"'What is the matter?' said Mrs. Jericho, who entered the room at this
+juncture.
+
+"'Pooh! you know well enough,' cried Jericho. 'Mr. Candytuft wants to
+marry rich; but that's not all--he wants to be handsomely paid for the
+trouble.'"
+
+After awhile Jericho affects to agree to dower his step-daughter, and he
+says:
+
+"'Let us settle the sum, eh! Well, then, what sum would satisfy you?'"
+
+It was a delicate question to put thus nakedly.
+
+"'Come, name a figure. Say five thousand pounds.'"
+
+Candytuft looked blankly at Jericho, moving not a muscle.
+
+"'What do you say to seven?'
+
+"Candytuft gently lifted his eyebrows, deprecating the amount.
+
+"'Come, then, we'll advance to ten?'
+
+"The lover's face began to thaw, and he showed some signs of kindly
+animation.
+
+"'At a word, then,' cried Jericho with affected heartiness, 'will you
+take fifteen thousand?'
+
+"'From you--yes,' cried Candytuft; and he seized Jericho's hand.
+
+"The man of money looked at Candytuft with a contemptuous sneer, and
+with a wrench twisted his hand away. He then dropped into a chair, and a
+strange, diabolical scowl possessed his countenance. The man of money
+looked like a devil.
+
+"'And where--where do you think this money is to come from? Where?'
+asked Jericho, and he rose from his chair, and it seemed as though the
+demon possessing him would compel the wretch to talk--would compel him
+to make terrible revelations. Each word he uttered was born of agony.
+But there he stood, forced to give utterances that tortured him. 'I will
+tell you,' roared Jericho, 'what this money is. Look about you! What do
+you see?--fine pictures, fine everything. Why, you see me--tortured,
+torn, worked up, changed. The walls are hung with my flesh--my flesh you
+walk upon. I am worn piecemeal by a hundred thieves, but I'll be shared
+among them no longer.'"
+
+By this time the girls and Sir Arthur Homadod, alarmed by the cries of
+Jericho, had entered the room.
+
+"'And you had a fine feast, had you not?' cried the possessed man of
+money, writhing with misery and howling his confession. 'And what did
+you eat?--my flesh. What did you drink?--my blood!'"
+
+It would be impossible to imagine a more satisfactory realization of
+this powerful scene than Leech's rendering of it. The shrinking figure
+of Candytuft as he retreats before the fury of the moneyed man; the
+awful passion of the shrivelled Jericho; above all, the vacuous
+expression of Sir Arthur, all are done to perfection and without
+exaggeration. Beyond the endeavour to make the meaning of the
+illustrations in the "Man made of Money" clear to my readers, I have
+little or nothing to do with the story. I may note, however, that young
+Basil Pennibacker falls in love with Bessy, the pretty daughter of the
+ruined merchant Carraway, and that bold bankrupt, who is about to seek a
+new fortune at the Antipodes, calls upon Jericho to ask his consent to
+his stepson's marriage. How the announcement of the engagement was
+received may be imagined, or if my reader be not satisfied with his idea
+of what may have taken place, he can read in Mr. Jerrold's book how Mr.
+Carraway was met by his old friend. He will also find an illustration of
+an interview between "The Pauper and the Man of Money," but as I do not
+think it quite worthy of Leech, I do not reproduce it. I may as well add
+that Basil--who turns out to be a very good fellow--does marry Bessy,
+and the happy pair, with the parent pair of Carraways, depart for
+Australia in the good ship _Halcyon_.
+
+Mr. Jericho's explosion, and his unpleasant conduct
+generally--especially regarding Monica's dowry--had altered Mr.
+Candytuft's matrimonial intentions for the present: there were delays.
+"He had suddenly discovered some dormant right to some long-forgotten
+property, and he meant to secure that, and lay it as an offering at the
+feet of his bride." How the foolish Sir Arthur agreed to marry Agatha
+without a dowry, to the intense delight of Jericho--how splendid
+preparations for the wedding were made--how the wedding-party, Jericho
+included, waited at the church for the bridegroom, who never came (he
+had overslept himself in consequence of an overdose of medicine taken to
+steady his nerves)--for these details my reader is again referred to Mr.
+Jerrold, who describes the whole most enjoyably. Leech draws the baronet
+awakened by his servant, but too late: the canonical hour has passed. A
+report was spread that Sir Arthur had taken poison to avoid the Jericho
+connection.
+
+Just at this time Mr. Jericho was offered a most satisfactory
+mortgage--so any way there was land for his money--no less than
+five-and-forty thousand pounds, by his friend the Duke of St. George.
+
+Jericho lent the money, in the hope of climbing into the House of Lords
+with the assistance of the Duke; but this last drain upon his resources,
+with its penalty of attenuation, had left very little of him to go
+anywhere.
+
+"He had shrunk," says the author. "How horribly he had dwindled, how
+wretchedly small he had become! Ay, how small! He would measure himself,
+he would know the exact waste. Whereupon Jericho took the silken cord
+and passed it round his breast. Why, it would twice encircle him--twice!
+and a piece to spare. With horror and loathing he flung the cord into
+the fire. He would never again take damning evidence against himself."
+
+It became evident to Jericho that, if he desired to retain enough of his
+person to enable his friends and relations to recognise him, the drain
+upon the chest notes must cease.
+
+"He would, therefore, not draw another note--no, not another. He would
+live upon what he had. He would turn the foolish superfluities about him
+into hard, tangible money."
+
+Bent upon turning everything belonging not only to himself, but to his
+wife and daughters, into cash, he sent for Mrs. Jericho.
+
+"The trembling wife had scarcely power to meet the eyes of her
+helpmate. In two days twenty years seemed to have gathered upon him. His
+face looked brown, thin, and withered as last year's leaf. His whole
+body bent and swayed like a piece of paper moved by the air. As he held
+his hand aloof, the light shone through it. It was plain there was some
+horrid compact between her lord and the infernal powers, or--it was all
+as one--the tyranny of conscience had worn him to his present condition.
+
+"'Mrs. Jericho, madam, you will instantly bring me all your
+diamonds--jewellery--all. Give like orders to your daughters, the
+mincing harpies that eat me.'"
+
+The terrified woman remonstrated, asked for an explanation, offered to
+send for the doctor.
+
+"'Away with you! do as I command. Bring me all your treasures--all. And
+your minxes! See that they obey me too, and instantly.'
+
+"'Yes, my love, to be sure,' said Mrs. Jericho, for she was all but
+convinced that Solomon's reason was gone or going. It was best to humour
+him. 'And why, my love, do you wish for these things? Of course you
+shall have them, but why?'
+
+"'To turn them into money, madam,' cried Jericho, rubbing his hands.
+'We have had enough of the tomfoolery of wealth--I now begin to hunger
+for the substance. I'll do without fashion. I'll have power,
+madam--power!'"
+
+The conversation continued, and Mrs. Jericho became more and more
+convinced that her husband was mad.
+
+"'Oh that Dr. Stubbs would make a morning call!' silently prayed the
+wife."
+
+The man of money, having determined to dismantle his house and send his
+wife and daughters adrift, retired with one servant, all the rest being
+discharged, into "one of his garrets, a den of a place," where the
+scullion had slept. The servant was the pauper grandfather of one of his
+footmen, an old man of "congenial weakness with Jericho. Indeed, there
+looked between them a strange similitude, twin brethren damned to the
+like sordidness, the like rapacity."
+
+Jericho had nicknamed the old man Plutus. Jericho and Plutus were in
+face and expression as like as two snakes.
+
+Mrs. Jericho, assured of her husband's madness, took counsel with her
+friends. Drs. Stubbs and Mizzlemist, Colonel Bones, Commissioner Thrush,
+and Candytuft met in conclave and listened to Mrs. Jericho's account of
+her husband's ravings; but she failed to convince the doctors that what
+a jury would consider insanity, was apparent in anything that the man of
+money had said or done. As Dr. Mizzlemist delivered this opinion, a
+crash was heard in an adjoining room--another, and another, and then a
+loud triumphant laugh from the throat of Jericho.
+
+Wife and daughters, with jury of friends, started to their feet.
+Candytuft, ere he was aware--for had he reflected "a moment, he would as
+soon have unbarred a lion's cage--opened the doors. And there stood
+Jericho, laden with spoil."
+
+Though Mr. Jericho was voted sane by the doctors, his conduct displayed
+a brutality for which madness would be the only excuse. The Jews were
+coming, everything was to be sold.
+
+"'Why stay you here?' cried the man of money to his wife. 'Why will you
+not be warned? In a few hours there will not be a bed for your fine
+costly bones to lie upon. Now will you depart?'"
+
+The Jews wandered about the rooms, appraising everything. Jericho was
+anxious to avoid a "public hubbub," as he called a sale.
+
+"'I want,' said he to the brokers, 'at a thought, to melt all you see,
+and have seen, into ready money. Take counsel together, I say, and make
+me an offer, a lumping offer, for the whole--eh?'"
+
+[Illustration: "_And there stood Jericho._"]
+
+The man of money ascended to his garret and awaited the Jews' offer,
+which was promised for the evening. He was alone, "evening closed in,
+and the moon rose and looked reproachfully at the miser."
+
+The garret door opened, and Plutus appeared.
+
+"'Well, has it come?' cried the master.
+
+"'Here it is,' answered the servant, as he laid a letter upon the table.
+
+"'Well, now for their conscience!' exclaimed the man of money."
+
+Light was required; there was a candle upon the table, and paper
+prepared to light it.
+
+"Most precious paper--the heart's flesh and blood of the man of money!
+For the devilish serving-man had folded a note (how obtained can it
+matter?)--a note peeled from the breast of his master, a piece of money,
+a part of the damned Jericho sympathizing with him.
+
+"The man of money took the paper--the devil, with his ear upturned,
+crept closer to the door--and thrust it amidst the dying coals. A
+moment, and the garret is rent as with a lightning flash.
+
+"Yelling, and all on fire, the man of money falls prostrate with hell
+in his face. Then his lips move, but not a sound is heard. And the fire
+communicated by the sympathy of the living note--the flesh of his
+flesh--like a snake of flame glides up his limbs, devouring them. And so
+he is consumed: a minute, and the man of money is a thin black paper
+ash. Now the night wind stirs it, and now a sudden breeze carries the
+cinereous corpse away, fluttering it to dust impalpable."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+ALBERT SMITH AND LEECH.
+
+
+In July, 1851, a new work appeared, under the name and title of the
+_Month_: "a View of Passing Subjects and Manners, Home and Foreign,
+Social and General, by Albert Smith and John Leech." The publication was
+a serial one--monthly, in fact; and as it contained many amusing skits
+by Albert Smith, and much of Leech's best work, notice of it is
+incumbent upon a writer of Leech's life.
+
+Eighteen fifty-one, as everybody knows, was the year of the Great
+Crystal Palace Exhibition in Hyde Park. I well remember visiting the
+huge glass building in February, 1851, in company with Dickens and Sir
+Joseph Paxton. Dickens was wrapped in furs, and we shivered through the
+place, which was only partially roofed; and seemed altogether so far
+from completion as to cause great doubts in our minds of the possibility
+of its being ready for its contents by the first of May.
+
+I put the question to Paxton, and his reply was:
+
+"I _think_ it will; but, mind, I don't _say_ it will."
+
+Paxton's thought was justified; for the Exhibition was opened by the
+Queen in great state at the date fixed, though many of its intended
+exhibits were still to come.
+
+I confess I shared the foolish dread that the opening would be so
+crowded as to be very uncomfortable, if not dangerous, to sight-seers;
+and I therefore declined to accompany my brother, who was braver than I;
+and sorry enough I was when I found that the panic had been so universal
+as to enable the few courageous visitors to have the show, as my brother
+expressed it, "all to themselves."
+
+The first number of the _Month_ appeared in July, 1851, and the last
+was issued towards the close of that year. It seems to have been the
+intention of the authors to have taken typical young ladies, and, under
+the heading of "Belles of the Month," have used them as prefixes to each
+monthly part. Unfortunately, I think this idea was only partially
+carried out. True, we have Belles of the Park, and Belles of the Ball,
+and one or two Belles of the Month, so charmingly done by Leech as to
+make it a matter of surprise that such great attractions were not more
+frequently admitted to the paper.
+
+The literary portion which begins the _Month_ is very Albert Smithian
+indeed. In proof, I quote some of his description of "The Hyde Park
+Belle":
+
+"The charming young lady introduced to me," says Mr. Smith, "was of
+middling stature, with oval face, chestnut hair, dark eyes, and very
+white and regular teeth. She had on a white transparent bonnet, and
+light muslin dress all _en suite_. In answer to my questions, she
+replied as follows:
+
+"'I shall be nineteen in August, and have been out two years and a
+half. Have I ever been engaged? Only once, and that was broken off
+because I went on a drag to Richmond with the officers of the --th. Lady
+Banner was inside--it was all perfectly proper. She is a very nice
+woman--always ready to chaperone anybody anywhere if her share is paid.
+Only sometimes she bores one dreadfully. Edmund went to India. I don't
+know where he is now; I have not heard. I dare say he is somewhere. He
+bored me dreadfully at last. I work very hard--oh, very hard
+indeed!--that is, in the season. My maid always sits up to make tea for
+me when I come home. Her hours are very regular, considering. She goes
+to bed every morning about four; but, then, she doesn't have to dance
+half the night. Yes; I like the Crystal Palace. Oh! I get so tired
+there--walking, and walking, and walking, you can't think how far! I
+know the Crystal Palace fountain and Dent's clock, and the stuffed
+animals and the envelope-machine. I don't think I have seen anything
+else; I have never been out of the nave and the transept--nobody goes
+anywhere else. I did not know that there was anything to see upstairs,
+except large carpets. I am sure they would bore me dreadfully. We are
+engaged every night.... We had scarcely time to dress for the Grapnels'
+dinner-party; and then we went to Mrs. Crutchley's, to meet the Lapland
+Ambassador. We could not get into the room, and stood for two hours on
+the landing. Old Mr. Tawley was there, and would keep talking to me; he
+always bores me dreadfully. He is going to take mamma and me to see some
+pictures somewhere. I hate seeing pictures; they bore me dreadfully.
+After Lady Crutchley's, we went to Mrs. Croley's amateur concert, which
+was nearly over. She had only classical music. I don't know what
+classical music is; I only know it bores me dreadfully. Ashton Howard
+says the same people who like classical music buy old china and wear
+false hair. I wish people would give up classical music. It never amuses
+anybody--that is, anybody worth amusing. I don't know whether "The
+Huguenots" is classical music or not; I only know that when they give it
+at the Royal Italian Opera nobody seems bored _then_. I don't know that
+I am exactly.'"
+
+Whether in these boxes full of beauties one amongst them is intended by
+Leech to personate Mr. Smith's "dreadfully bored" young lady, I cannot
+say. Certainly there is not one who seems in the condition described as
+not being "exactly bored."
+
+The Belle of Hyde Park continues:
+
+"'I go into the Park every day with mamma, but it bores me dreadfully.
+I see nothing but the same people, and I know all the trees and rails by
+heart. I ride sometimes; I like it better than the carriage. But papa
+don't ride very often; and if he don't I can't, except with the
+Pevenseys and their brothers. John Pevensey is very stupid, and talks to
+me about farming. I get very tired; but I am obliged to go, because the
+Pevenseys know so many receivable people. But they bore me dreadfully;
+in fact, I don't know who or what does not. I long for the season to be
+over; and when I go into the country, I long for it to begin again. I
+wish I could do as I pleased, like Marshall--that's my maid--when she
+has a holiday. She is going to marry the man at the hairdresser's; and
+last Sunday they went down all by themselves to Gravesend. I see mamma's
+face if Ashton Howard was to propose to take me to Gravesend next
+Sunday, and without Lady Banner! I wish sometimes I was Marshall. Now
+and then I would give a good deal for a good cry. I can't tell you
+why--I don't know; only that everything is a trouble, and bores me
+dreadfully.'"
+
+In reply to further inquiries from Mr. Smith, the young lady tells him
+what she pays for her satin shoes, which are worn out after two parties.
+Does she have her gloves cleaned?
+
+"'Certainly; but not for evening parties--the men's coats blacken them
+in an instant. They do very well for the opera and evening
+concerts--nothing else. The Pevenseys wear cleaned gloves. Everybody
+knows it; and Ashton Howard always asks out loud if a camphine-lamp has
+gone out when they come into the room. You can get a nice bouquet for
+five or six shillings. Old Mr. Rigby, in the Regent's Park, told me I
+might cut any flowers from his conservatory. But I don't care for
+that--I would sooner buy them; he bores me dreadfully.'"
+
+It cannot be denied that ugliness has reached its climax in men's dress
+of the present day. It would be extremely difficult to find a garment
+more hideous than a dress-coat; and it is impossible for any
+head-covering to exceed the stove-pipe hat in ugliness, to say nothing
+of inconvenience and detestable uncomfortableness.
+
+These sentiments were fully shared by one of the _Month's_
+correspondents, a gentleman named Simmons, who "emerged from his
+residence at Islington" on the day of the opening of the Great
+Exhibition with the intention of showing to the multitudes who were
+expected to attend that ceremony the kind of hat that should depose, at
+once and for ever, the detestable chimney-pot.
+
+"It was, in fact," says the bold reformer, "merely a wide-brimmed,
+flat-crowned wideawake, to which I thought a feather--in these days of
+foreign immigration--would not be an out-of-the-way addition. I had
+contemplated my own features beneath it in as much variety of light and
+shadow as I could obtain from my shaving-glass for half an hour
+preceding my departure, and had arrived at such a satisfactory
+conclusion as to its effect, that I regarded myself as a sort of modern
+William Tell, about to release my country, by a bold example, from an
+oppressive and degrading subjection to a detested hat."
+
+A love of change is said to be inherent in human nature; but attacks
+upon custom--indeed, innovations of all kinds--are usually futile unless
+very special conditions attend the attempts. If the famous hat invented
+by a Royal Prince was received with overwhelming ridicule, as my older
+readers will remember that it was; a less melancholy fate could scarcely
+be expected for the wideawake and feather of the little gentleman from
+Islington.
+
+"My appearance in the street certainly created a sensation," says Mr.
+Simmons; "but it was one exceedingly mortifying to my feelings. Omnibus
+drivers winked at each other, and pointed at me with their whips.
+Occasionally a stray boy would indulge in personal observations, or a
+grown-up ragamuffin would sputter out an oath, and burst into a horse
+laugh, which to my mind appeared totally unwarranted by the
+circumstances of the case."
+
+The managers of the _Month_ very wisely placed this etching in the front
+of their first number. In all respects Leech is here seen at his best.
+The figure of the poor little victim of reform, the street-boys and
+their surroundings, are all unsurpassable; while to an artist the
+composition of the figures and the arrangement of light and shadow are
+excellent.
+
+After escaping from the attentions of Leech's inimitable Arabs, Mr.
+Simmons reaches Hyde Park to find fresh troubles. The feathered
+wideawake creates a sensation, but not of the kind that its wearer
+expected; he was asked where "he bought it," and "if he would sell it";
+"if he made it himself"; and if he had "another at home like it to spare
+for a friend," and so on. The "air of unconsciousness" that the reformer
+assumed irritated his assailants, whose "offensive remarks and insolent
+mirth" were soon exchanged for attentions more uncomfortable.
+
+[Illustration: _Mr. Simmons's attempt at Reform._]
+
+Says Mr. Simmons: "A bright flash of practical jocularity suddenly
+illumined the mind of an original genius, who at once carried it into
+effect by casting at my decided article of costume a large tuft of
+grass, which struck me on the back of my neck, broke into dry dirt, and
+raised a perfect roar of delight at my expense." Instead of patiently
+enduring this assault, as a prudent man would have done when surrounded
+by enemies, the valiant Simmons turned upon his assailant, "and struck
+the wit a severe blow in the face." That was a death-blow to the
+picturesque hat, which "afforded some slight sport as a football for a
+few moments, and then vanished and was seen no more."
+
+It will be seen by the quotations that the literary portion of the
+_Month_ is of the slight character--though sometimes clever and
+amusing--to which so much of Leech's work has been allied. A sketch,
+entitled "Home from the Party," gives occasion for the accompanying
+drawing by Leech of a young gentleman who has "danced all night till the
+broad daylight," "and gone home" by himself "in the morning." On his
+journey a brougham overtakes him, containing "the handsome dark girl
+with the clematis and fuchsia wreath, looking pale and pretty, with a
+pocket-handkerchief over her head cornerwise, held together at the chin.
+We think about that brougham-girl till she is out of sight, and wonder
+if we appeared to the best advantage as she passed. We don't much think
+we did. One of the springs of our hat was out of order, and we were
+carrying our gloves in our hand, crumpled up to the size of a walnut, as
+though we were going to conjure with them; and we were blinking as we
+met the sun at the corner, and holding a seedy bouquet in our hand,
+which evidently she had not given us."
+
+The remarks, conversations, comments, and so forth, that generally
+accompany Leech's drawings were invariably his own composition, and in
+their humorous aptness are almost as admirable as the drawings they
+explain. In illustration I note a design under the heading of "Moral
+Courage."
+
+  "SCENE--_A Station of the Shoeblack Brigade_.
+
+  "FIRST BOY: 'Here's another swell, Bill, a-coming to be blacked.'
+
+  "SECOND BOY: 'Ooray!'
+
+  "THIRD BOY: 'Ain't his boots thin neither?'
+
+  "FOURTH BOY: 'Wouldn't they pinch my toes if I had 'em? Oh my!'
+
+  "FIFTH BOY: 'They don't pinch his'n.'
+
+  "SIXTH BOY: 'Yes, they do.'
+
+  "FIRST BOY: 'Go easy, Blacky; mind his corns.' (_Swell winces_.) 'That
+  was a nasty one.'
+
+  "(_The comments are extended from the swell's boots to his costume and
+  appearance generally. And all this for a penny_)."
+
+Mr. Thackeray's "Four Georges" are, no doubt, familiar to my readers,
+some of whom may also remember his delivery of them in the form of
+lectures to large audiences. In that great writer's early time he wrote
+many essays, art-criticisms, etc., under the name of "Michael Angelo
+Titmarsh," and it is under that title that he is represented in the
+drawing by his friend Leech, as he appeared at Willis's Rooms "in his
+celebrated character of Mr. Thackeray."
+
+In the _Month_, Mr. Albert Smith makes Leech's drawing a peg upon which
+he hangs some justly complimentary remarks on the Thackeray lectures
+which took the town by storm forty years ago.
+
+Whether the "Belle of Hyde Park" or the "Belle of the Ball" is to be
+considered the belle of the _Month's_ July issue is left in doubt; but
+there is no doubt whatever about the claim of the pretty creature (who,
+accompanied by an extremely plain and dissolute-looking cavalier in the
+costume of Charles II.'s time, enters an imaginary ball-room) to a
+loveliness that it would be difficult to surpass, as the drawing amply
+proves.
+
+This cut is accompanied by some verses which appear to me quite
+unreadable; I therefore spare my readers from the infliction of any of
+them.
+
+The frontispiece to the _Month_ for August is an etching by Leech of
+singular beauty, called "Charade Acting." I have looked in vain through
+the letter-press for any explanation of this charade, so I suppose the
+meaning is purposely left for discovery to the intelligence of the
+observer. It represents the clever performance of Mr. Smiley and Miss
+Corgy.
+
+Mr. Smiley evidently represents a valorous knight--else why that
+dish-cover shield, that saucepan helmet, that long surcoat of nightshirt
+in the place of mail? The knight has armed himself further with sword
+and lance (sword of any period, lance a roasting-spit). Those warlike
+preparations must have been made in defence of that delicious girl
+leaning over the back of the ancient chair. Is she supposed to be a
+distressed damsel leaning from her prison-window and listening to Mr.
+Smiley's vows of liberating her or dying in the attempt? If so, where is
+the word that will express as much? Not in the brain of the stout old
+gentleman who is fast asleep amongst the audience, nor in that of the
+pretty little girl who sits in front of him apparently wondering why
+people should be "so silly." The lady who tries to hide a yawn with her
+fan has evidently "given it up," and the two lovely women near her are
+much in the same condition.
+
+Now we come to the belle of the month of August, who is riding with her
+papa in Kensington Gardens. An attempt was made--later, I think, than
+the Exhibition year--to extend Rotten Row into Kensington Gardens, and
+thus deprive pedestrians--notably children and nursemaids--of their
+promenades amongst the trees. For some months the equestrian habitu�s of
+Rotten Row careered in the Gardens, to the terror and danger of
+children, and the disturbance of many groups of soldiers and nursemaids.
+This usurpation created very strong opposition.
+
+I lived in the neighbourhood, and I accompanied a deputation to Sir
+Cornewall Lewis--then in power--with a view of impressing upon that
+Minister the desirability of rescinding the objectionable privilege
+which had been granted to the riders. We had some eloquent talkers, but
+their oratory seemed to me to make no impression upon Sir C. Lewis, who
+may have listened, but during the harangues he was always writing
+letters, and no sooner was one finished than he began another; and we
+left him without an intimation of our success or failure. But what is
+certain is, that within a week of our interview the equestrians
+disappeared--I hope for ever--from Kensington Gardens. Leech being a
+constant rider, both spoke and drew in favour of the new ride. Drawings
+may be found in the _Punch_ series in which he laughs at the opponents
+of the horses in the Gardens, and I remember his indignation when I told
+him of our deputation and its successful issue.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELLE OF THE MONTH--AUGUST--TAKING A "CONSTITUTIONAL"
+IN KENSINGTON GARDENS. TIME, 8 A.M.]
+
+Leech was never happier than in the infinite variety of his pictures
+of life at the seaside; his invention was inexhaustible, as numberless
+groups of seaside visitors engaged in the search of health or
+pleasure--from the small digger on the sands to the valetudinarian at
+the Spa--sufficiently prove. Never was he more delightful than in
+dealing with the charming lady bathers, one of whom plays the part of
+the _Month's_ "Belle of September."
+
+I think this picture might have inspired the poet of the _Month_, but
+his lyre is silent.
+
+"The Balcony Nuisance!" Without some explanation the drawing that
+follows this title would be perfectly incomprehensible. How, in the name
+of common-sense, of propriety, or of justice, can the word "nuisance" be
+applicable to the occupants of that balcony? Well, it is in this wise: A
+correspondent of the _Month_, who signs himself "Narcissus," lives in a
+suburban square, from which he indites a remarkable letter. According to
+"Narcissus," suburban squares are famous for the production of vast
+numbers of "single ladies." He calls his square a "realm of girldom,"
+the proportion of the belles being very great over the marriageable
+young men, and therefore they watch with keen eyes for any new
+flirtations. "And now," said he, "comes my complaint. I cannot call at
+any house where there are daughters but, the instant I knock, every
+balcony near me is filled with waves of rustling muslin, and a dozen
+pairs of bright eyes are on the _qui vive_ for every movement or
+expression. I need not say how annoying this is."
+
+[Illustration: THE BALCONY NUISANCE.]
+
+I see no trace of annoyance in the simpering buck who is the cynosure of
+all eyes in the drawing. Leech evidently saw through the affectation of
+annoyance, and depicted the Narcissus mind in its real condition of
+gratified conceit.
+
+The _Month's_ October issue contains a good deal of Leech's work. The
+number contains a "Belle of the Month," but she is so inferior in
+attractiveness to her sisters that I am ungallant enough to pass her by.
+I find, however, a pretty musical group entitled "Pestal." In 1851 Mr.
+Albert Smith says that Pestal, who was a Russian officer, was imprisoned
+for marrying without the consent of his Sovereign, and "cast for death."
+Of course, though, according to Mr. Smith, this unfortunate man may have
+been a "Pestal-ent person," we are not expected to believe the crime for
+which he was executed was only that of neglecting to ask the Czar's
+consent to his marriage. "On the eve of his execution, as he lay
+_ironed_, awaiting the next morning's _mangling_," continues the
+inveterate punster, "in a happy moment of enthusiasm, he composed the
+waltz that bears his name."
+
+The pretty music seems to have sentimentalized the handsome youth, and
+drawn him closer to the performer, who is one of those sweet creatures
+with whom the artist has made us so familiar. I cannot refrain from
+presenting my readers with an example of the _poetry_ that adorns the
+_Month_, so that they may be convinced of the propriety of giving them
+as little of it as possible. Forty-one verses, of which the two
+following are fair examples, accompany the drawing called Pestal:
+
+  "In London, as usual, last season I spent,
+     To Pocklington Square my notes were addressed all,
+   And wherever I rambled or wandered or went,
+     I was pestered with that horrid pest of a 'Pestal.'
+
+  "I thought this mysterious, moreover, and queer,
+     'Tis better at once that the truth be confest all--
+   That all through the city one word should appear,
+     And that word the incomprehensible 'Pestal.'"
+
+"The Great Dinner-Bell Nuisance" not only gives occasion for a capital
+drawing by Leech, but the title also heads a capital paper, in which the
+absurdity of the function, when there is not the least necessity for it,
+is well satirized. A retired lawyer named Watkins Brown lives in a
+village which contains at most 347 people, "in a comfortable sort of
+house in the Italian style, which he christened Somerford Villa." He has
+no children, and his establishment consists of five persons, Mrs. W. B.,
+Betsy, the cook, etc., including Buttons, the page. This boy, armed with
+a bell, is a nuisance to the neighbourhood; he performs upon it three
+times a day. "Now," says the indignant writer, "why does Buttons do
+this? Is it to echo back the sound that comes at the same hours from Sir
+Marmaduke Hamilton's, of Somerford Hall, and to impress people that
+Brown and Sir Marmaduke are the only gentlemen in the neighbourhood? It
+can't be to let Brown and his wife know that luncheon or dinner is
+ready, for in nine cases out of ten they are in the room when the cloth
+is laid. Again I ask, why does Buttons do this? If he is of opinion that
+his master is unaware it is time to dress for dinner, why doesn't he
+tell him so at once when he is in the room, instead of using such an
+absurd system of information? However, by six o'clock Brown and his wife
+are in the drawing-room, and Buttons seeing them there, and perceiving
+that they are just about to go to the dining-room, rushes out to the
+little court-yard, and then to the door of the miniature conservatory,
+and again commits the offence he had committed half an hour before. In
+the baby courtyard there are two dogs chained, and two other sporting
+dogs in a model of a kennel. Well, Buttons appears in the presence of
+the dogs with his great bell, and the sensible brutes, conscious of the
+pain they are about to endure, immediately set up a howl of quadruple
+agony, to which the bell tolls its awful accompaniment."
+
+Exactly fifty years ago I went on a portrait-painting tour into the
+country. Some sitters were promised to me, and I had hope, subsequently
+justified, that they would be the precursors of others. Amongst my
+patrons was a clergyman of aristocratic lineage; who, though he had
+inherited little in the shape of money, was possessed of certain tastes
+common to the upper ten, in which he could not afford to indulge; but
+amongst them was the dinner-bell, in which he did indulge, to the great
+annoyance of his neighbours. The Vicarage was an unpretending house with
+a small garden about it, in a small village; the inhabitants were
+chiefly Methodists, and the congregation at church was the smallest I
+ever saw.
+
+The Vicar was not popular; the villagers disliked what they called "his
+airs and graces," and they detested his dinner-bell. After sittings from
+the Vicar, he and I took occasional walks together, and one day, as we
+were passing a cobbler's shop, the proprietor of it, "a detestable
+little Radical Methodist," as the Vicar called him, appeared at his door
+with a huge bell in his hand; he stepped into the middle of the road,
+and, affecting not to see us, he rang it furiously.
+
+"Man! man!" cried the Vicar, "stop that! What are you making that
+dreadful noise for?"
+
+"Well, ye see," replied the cobbler, in the language of the county,
+"it's ma dinner-time, and aase joust ringin' mysen in, to a bit of berry
+pudden."
+
+I was so vividly reminded by the _Month's_ "Dinner-Bell Nuisance" of my
+early experience, that I could not resist my inclination to introduce it
+into what purports to be the life of John Leech, in which it has no
+business whatever to appear. Once more I apologize, and hope I may not
+be tempted to "do it again."
+
+Of all the Belles of the Month, the belle of the month November is
+perhaps the most lovable. There she stands on Brighton Pier--stands,
+that is to say, as well as she can on those pretty feet of hers, against
+a wind that is so boisterously rude to her and to her mother, whose
+figure, blown out of shape, makes a striking contrast to her daughter's.
+The little dog declines to face the gale, which seems likely to carry
+him away altogether, as well as the struggling child behind. The touches
+of cloud and sea, together with the screaming gulls, are indicated with
+the facile skill peculiar to Leech.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELLE OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER "IN DISTRESS OFF A
+LEE-SHORE--BRIGHTON PIER."]
+
+In a paper headed "Hotels," Mr. Smith expatiates somewhat tediously on
+the "old-established house" of the "old coaching days." He says "the
+inmates of the coffee-room were mostly commercial travellers." Those
+gentlemen may have been permitted to use the coffee-room; but my
+recollection of such places tells me that the commercials always had a
+room of their own, specially provided for them.
+
+The writer goes on to tell us that "the commercial gents," on the
+occasion of his discovery of them in the coffee-room, "pulled off their
+boots--not a very delicate performance--before everybody; and then,
+after sitting over the fire, and drinking hot brown brandy and water
+until they were nearly at red heat, ordered 'a pan of coals,' and went
+to bed."
+
+Yes; and provided an excellent subject for Leech, worthy of being
+reproduced here, or anywhere, if only for that inimitable old
+chambermaid, who has lighted commercial gents to bed any time these
+forty years.
+
+Judging from the twist of the commercial's necktie as he follows, or
+rather staggers, after the ancient maid, the brown brandy has done its
+work; and it is ten to one against his carrying that box of patterns
+safely upstairs.
+
+One boot is successfully removed from commercial number two, and it
+will evidently not be the fault of the man who is struggling with the
+other if it does not follow suit.
+
+Let the observer note the marked difference in character in all these
+figures, as well as the skill and truth with which the details in the
+room are rendered.
+
+In 1851 Bloomerism was in full bloom, or rather the attempts of few
+foolish people to make it prevail amongst us were so persistent as to
+bring upon them attacks by pen and pencil.
+
+As I have already drawn attention to the craze, and to some examples of
+the way Leech dealt with it, I should have made no further allusion to
+the subject had I not found in the pages of the _Month_ drawings of such
+charm that, in justice to the magazine and my readers, I felt I must
+notice them.
+
+First, then, we have a Bloomer whip "tooling" her friends down to the
+races. If Bloomerism prevailed, this is the sight that Epsom might have
+seen in the year 1851, to say nothing of equestrian bloomers of whose
+horsewomanship Leech shows us examples.
+
+I think in my last selection from the _Month_ I might claim for myself
+a position resembling that of the pyrotechnic artist whose display of
+fireworks culminates in a glorious blaze in the last scene of his
+entertainment, if I were permitted to introduce it.
+
+My firework takes the form of a bouquet of young ladies at some
+"ancestral home" in the country, who have just received a box of books
+from London--perhaps from Mudie. What a bevy of beauties!--two of them
+already absorbed in the last new novel, while another makes off with an
+armful of treasures.
+
+When I say that this drawing--whether we regard it as a composition of
+figures and of light and shade, or as an example of Leech's supreme
+power over grace of action and beauty--is worthy of admiration for
+itself, and of our gratitude to the _Month_ for the opportunity of
+reproducing it, I fear no contradiction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MR. ADAMS AND LEECH.
+
+
+In the pursuit of material for this memoir, I have had the good fortune
+to make the acquaintance of one of Leech's earliest and most constant
+friends, Mr. Charles F. Adams, of Barkway, Hertfordshire. This gentleman
+is the beau-id�al of a country squire--handsome, hale and hearty, though
+far past middle age.
+
+The letters I am privileged to publish show the terms on which the
+friends lived, and prove beyond a doubt that many of the hunting scenes
+which sparkle so brilliantly and so frequently in the pages of "Life and
+Character" owe their origin to the opportunities afforded to the artist
+by his friend.
+
+This long-continued intimacy commenced when the men were both young;
+and the very first development of Leech's taste for horses began with
+his acquaintance with Mr. Adams. It is told of that gentleman that,
+being the possessor of two horses, and being at that early time employed
+in business in London during the day, the night served him and Leech for
+a wild career, Adams driving his horses tandem-fashion far into the
+country, rousing sleepy toll-keepers and terrifying belated wayfarers,
+while Leech's watchful eye noted incidents for future illustration.
+
+That Leech could sing, and sing well, I know, for I have often heard him
+troll forth in a deep voice his favourite song of "King Death"; but that
+he had ever performed in public I was unaware till enlightened by Mr.
+Adams, who told me that it was a favourite and not infrequent prank of
+these two spirits to disguise themselves in imitation of
+street-musicians, and, with the assistance of a young fellow named
+Milburn, as wild as themselves, descend upon the London streets, and by
+singing glees make "a lot of money."
+
+"Leech used to go round with the hat," said Adams; "but we never could
+make the fellow look common enough. Still, he collected a good deal,
+though he failed on one occasion; for, on presenting his hat to a
+bystander, who had been an attentive listener, the man claimed exemption
+as being in 'the profession,' in proof of which he produced a fiddle
+from behind him."
+
+Barkway is in the heart of a hunting country, and the meets of the
+"Puckeridge" frequently took place near Mr. Adams' house, or at an easy
+distance from it. The house itself--a large mass of red brick, ivy,
+gables, and twisted chimneys--is one of those old places which have been
+enlarged to suit modern convenience without any sacrifice of the
+original design and quaint character.
+
+"Ah," said my host, as he showed me into his dining-room, "what happy
+times we have had in this room, when Leech, Millais, Lemon--editor of
+_Punch_, you know, long ago--Tenniel, and others, found themselves round
+that table!"
+
+The following letters, with their too few characteristic sketches, prove
+the affectionate intimacy between Leech and his friend.
+
+  "TO CHARLES F. ADAMS, ESQ.
+
+  "August 9, 1847.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"You will be glad to hear that I have got a little daughter, and that
+both mother and child are doing well. Mrs. Leech was taken ill,
+unfortunately, at the end of our trip to Liverpool--where, as perhaps
+you are aware, Dickens and some of us had been acting for Leigh Hunt's
+benefit--and she was confined at the Victoria Hotel, Euston Square,
+where she is now. I thought you would like to hear the news, so send off
+these few lines. Give my kindest regards to Mrs. Adams, and believe me,
+old boy,
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+In a letter written to Mr. Adams a week later, Leech recommends a young
+gentleman to the care of his friend, in the hope that if Mr. Adams has
+"the opportunity, he will give the applicant something to do in his
+profession." The letter closes by this announcement:
+
+"You will be glad to hear, I am sure, that Mrs. Leech, _and my
+daughter_! are both 'going on' famously.
+
+  "Ever, my dear Charley,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+"Given up hunting? Not a bit of it."
+
+
+  "January --, 1847.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"Mark (Lemon) and I were talking only the other day about beating up
+your quarters towards the end of this month; and, with your permission,
+if the frost goes, we intend to do so. We thought of riding down--I on
+the old mare; and he on a 'seven-and-sixpenny.'...
+
+"Is there anything in the shape of a good cob that could hunt if wanted
+down in your parts? Possibly I could get rid of the mare in the way of a
+chop. I have been riding a nearly thoroughbred mare for the last week on
+trial. A very nice thing, but too much in this way.
+
+"I want something more of this kind--a good one to go, and pleasant to
+ride.
+
+  "Yours ever faithfully,
+    "J. L."
+
+
+  "April 17, 1848.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+".... Old Mark and I were special constables on Monday last. You would
+have laughed to see us on duty, trying the area gates, etc., Mark
+continually finding excuses for taking a small glass of ale or brandy
+and water. Policeman's duty is no joke. I had to patrol about from ten
+at night till one in the morning, and heartily sick of it I was. It was
+only my loyalty and extreme love of peace and order that made me stand
+it....
+
+  "Ever yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+My elderly readers will bear in mind April 10, 1848, and the monster
+petition of the Chartists, which they were not allowed to present to
+Parliament in the threatening form they had arranged, with other
+alarming signs of that troubled time--the flight of Louis Philippe,
+Continental thrones tottering, and the rest of it.
+
+In his correspondence with Mr. Adams, Leech constantly reminds his
+friend of his objection to high-spirited horses. Under date February 18,
+1849, he asks Mr. Adams if he can hire "an 'unter from Ware."
+
+
+"I should prefer," he adds, "something like the old brown horse Mark
+had last year. If he comes, of course he must have the same nag he had
+when he was at Barkway; _but, mind_, I won't have a beast that pulls, or
+bolts, or any nonsense of the kind. I come out for pleasure, and not to
+be worried. Tell Mrs. Adams I shall not be half such an objectionable
+visitor as I have been heretofore, seeing that I have left off
+SMOKING!...
+
+"My very kind regards to Mrs. Adams, your little ones, and my good
+friends in your neighbourhood.
+
+  "Believe me, old fellow,
+    "Yours ever faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+  "February 7, 1850.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I am longing to see you, and have a ride across country with you. Do
+you think I could have the horse Mark Lemon had when he was down at
+Barkway? Or if I couldn't have that one, do you know of any other that
+would be equally TEMPERATE and WELL-BEHAVED? I have no horse at present.
+The last I had came down; and I am rather particular in consequence.
+
+"Give me a line, old fellow, and let me know when the hounds meet near
+you....
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+One of Mr. Adams' daughters, Charlotte, surnamed Chatty--then a small
+child, now a lady whose age is borne so well as to make it difficult to
+believe that she lived so long ago as 1850--whose acquaintance I had the
+pleasure of making the other day, told me of her frequent visits to the
+Leeches, and of the never-ceasing care and tenderness of Leech.
+
+In a letter from Broadstairs, written in the autumn of 1850 to Mr.
+Adams, Leech says:
+
+"You will be glad to hear that Chatty is as well as possible, and is now
+going to have a long day's work (!) on the sands."
+
+Again, after a good deal of horsy talk:
+
+"Mrs. Leech and Chatty with her will return for good to Notting Hill on
+Saturday, when we shall be glad to have her with us as long as you can
+spare her. Apropos of dear Chatty, I am sure her mamma will be glad to
+hear that she has been uninterruptedly cheerful and well, and has
+certainly proved herself one of the best-tempered, best-hearted little
+creatures possible. She desires me to send you all her best love and
+kisses....
+
+  "Ever faithfully,
+    "J. L."
+
+
+  "31, Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "February 18, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"It will give me the greatest pleasure to come and see you. Mark (Lemon)
+says he will accompany me at the end of this month. Will that suit Mrs.
+Adams? I want much to SEE some hunting, as I want some materials for the
+work I am illustrating--indeed, I was going to propose a run down to you
+myself. Will you let us know when the hounds meet near you? Is the horse
+I had before still alive, I wonder? or could you, if I came, get me a
+horse 'in every way suitable for a timid, elderly gentleman'?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I was very glad to hear from you, old boy. In great haste, but with our
+united best regards to Mrs. Adams and yourself.
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Ever yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "_Punch_ Office, 85, Fleet Street,
+  "Saturday, February 28, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"'The change in the administration' so upset our arrangements that I
+could not settle what day to come down to you. I propose now to come
+down to-morrow (Sunday) evening, so if you can get me a rocking-horse,
+or a clothes-horse, or any horse excessively quiet and accommodating, I
+will go out with you on Monday. Mark, having an appointment early on
+Monday with 'her Majesty,' or somebody, will come on Tuesday, to hunt on
+Wednesday, and back again on Thursday morning. All this, of course, if
+it suits your convenience. At any rate, I will come to-morrow, and then
+if there is any difficulty, we can send up to town. With kindest regards
+to Mrs. Adams,
+
+  "Believe me always,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+  "31, Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "Wednesday, March 17, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I had almost made up my mind to come down on Friday evening to hunt on
+Saturday; but it would suit me infinitely better to come at the end of
+the week following, as I am just now in the agonies of my periodical
+work; so let me know when the meets are, and in the meantime I will peg
+away and get my business done so as to have a comfortable day with you.
+If I came on Friday, I should have to work day and night before I went,
+and come back directly to work day and night again, which is not a
+pleasant state of things; I hope, therefore, that we shall be able to
+see the hounds next week. I don't think Lemon would be able to come, as
+he is busy moving; but I will ask him. I will make you the sketch of the
+house, or of anything else you like, when I come.
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Ever yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ.
+
+"Look in this week's _Punch_ for a sketch on the Royston Hills."
+
+
+  "31, Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "Wednesday, July 7, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I congratulate both of you most heartily and cordially. Mrs. Adams I
+hope is well, and will keep so, I trust. I will take upon myself to say
+that I don't know any man more thoroughly capable of understanding and
+enjoying domestic happiness than yourself; and, moreover, I don't know
+any man who more thoroughly deserves to have it. You wish it had been a
+boy, do you? Well, never mind; the son and heir will make his appearance
+in good time, I dare say. For my part, my unhappy experience makes me
+love little girls.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Pray give my kindest regards to Mrs. Adams, and my love to Chatty, who
+is to kiss the baby for me, and
+
+  "Believe me, my dear Charley,
+    "Always yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "Barlow, Derbyshire,
+  "July 31, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"You will see from the above address that I am still rusticating. I
+expect to be in rooms soon after the 12th of August, and then, after I
+have done my month's work, I am your man. You say where ... Don't make
+yourself uncomfortable about the quantity of sport; I shall be quite
+satisfied with what you offer me....
+
+  "Yours always faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+Here follows an admirable sketch of Mr. Adams waking up Leech with,
+"Now, Jack, my boy! There's no time to lose; we've ten miles to go to
+cover."
+
+
+[Illustration: "Now, Jack, my boy! There's no time to lose. We've ten
+miles to go to cover!"]
+
+  "Tuesday, December 14, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY BOY,
+
+"Hip! hip! hurrah! The almanack is finished, and now for a day with the
+Puckeridge.
+
+"I shall come down if you will take me in on Friday evening, to hunt on
+Saturday and Monday, I hope. Mark talked of coming. I wish he would. He
+says he should not ride, but that's all nonsense. Do you think Pattison
+has got a horse that would carry him? Oh, I have had a rare benefit of
+work! I have been positively at it ever since I saw you. I want
+freshening up, I assure you.... Lots of fresh work, old fellow, so I
+think I may manage a _real_ horse soon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "With kindest regards.
+    "Ever faithfully yours,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+  "Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "January 26, 1853.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"If you could ride my horse to-morrow (Thursday), pray do; it would save
+your own, and do her good. And the meet is close to you--Langley Green.
+I should have written before, but I have been harassed with work beyond
+measure. And as it is, the first number of 'Handley Cross' cannot come
+out until March. Mind you have the mare well worked, there's a good
+fellow, as I don't want, like our friend Briggs, to find her
+disagreeably fresh.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "Believe me always yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "Saturday, February 26, 1853.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I suppose the frost has departed in the country, and that you have now
+what is called 'open weather.' It is very disagreeable here--wet, cold,
+and boisterous.
+
+"However, if you can spare time (after riding your own, of course), I
+wish you would give the mare a benefit. I expect she will otherwise be a
+great deal too much for me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "I am, my dear Charley,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square,
+  "Saturday, January 21, 1854.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"Thank you for your note. I _can't_ come down to-morrow, but I hope
+after next week to make up for lost time. I have got through some work
+that has been fidgeting me. I shall have a little more leisure. The meet
+on Monday is Dassett's, I see, so pray give it the mare; I have been so
+queer myself that I shall want her particularly 'tranquil.' I have
+sacrificed the moustaches for fear of frightening the horses in the
+field. They were getting too tremendous.
+
+"_If_, _if_ I can get away next week at all, depend upon it I will, for
+I want fresh air and a little horse exercise.
+
+"With kindest regards, old fellow,
+
+  "Believe me always yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "Saturday, December 22, 1855.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"How is the country? I suppose no hunting as yet, for I have not
+received any card. The weather here to-day is mild and wet. I am working
+away in the hope of getting a day or two by-and-by comfortably. In the
+meantime, if there is anything going on, give my horse a turn across
+country, that's a good fellow.
+
+"With kindest regards, believe me,
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "J. L.
+
+"If you can't spare time to hunt the mare, would it not be a good thing
+to send her to Patmore, and make him ride her? But do you attend to her
+if you can manage it."
+
+
+  "8, St. Nicholas Cliff, Scarbro',
+  "August 30, 1858.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"Your note was forwarded here, and I only found it on my return from
+Ireland, where I have been for the last three weeks. The consequence is
+that I am, of course, in rather a muddle with my work, and I am afraid I
+must forego the pleasure of shooting with you--at any rate, for the
+early part of the season; so pray do not deprive other friends of sport
+on my account. I shall hope to have a day or two with you before the
+season is over. I am not a very greedy sportsman, you know, and as long
+as I get a good walk am pretty well satisfied. I am sorry you have been
+so unwell--you should really give yourself a holiday. The bow should be
+unstrung sometimes. I know I find it must. I wish you could have seen me
+catch a _salmon_ in Ireland--a regular salmon! When I say catch, I
+should say hook, rather, for he was too much for me, and after ten
+minutes' struggle he bolted with my tackle. It was really a tremendous
+sensation....
+
+  "Believe me always,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "White Horse, Baldock,
+  "Friday evening, ----, 1858.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"For the present I have arranged with Little to make this place my
+headquarters, it is so handy to the train, and I can come so much
+quicker and later to Hitchin. The slow railway journeys take it out of
+me, so that my pleasure is almost destroyed by the fatigue of travelling
+and bother to get off. I hope, nevertheless, that we shall have many
+evenings together to talk over the _tremendous runs_ that we hope to
+have. I have bought a horse and brought it down here. I hope you will be
+out to-morrow to see it. I like it very much; it is a most excellent
+hackney, and sufficiently good-looking, although not perfect, I suppose;
+and it is represented to me as being a temperate hunter in addition to
+his other qualities. Well, we shall see. The black mare I shall send to
+Tattersall's next week. She was as fresh as could be last Saturday, and
+I was quite glad I had not sold her; but, alas! she was as lame in the
+afternoon as possible, and next morning was a pretty spectacle! She
+would not do at all. So much for horseflesh.
+
+  "With kindest regards,
+    "Yours always,
+      "J. L."
+
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square, W.C.,
+  "November 20, 1862.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"If you _ever_ have the time--which I never have--I should feel so glad
+if you would go some day and see how the 'party' at Kensington has done
+his work. I suppose 'that little form' of paying the bill must very soon
+be gone through, and I should like to know from a competent authority
+that the work has been well and properly done.
+
+"How about the hunting? I am continually tormented here by noble
+sportsmen going by my window in full fig.
+
+  "Yours always,
+    "J. L."
+
+
+  "6, The Terrace, Kensington,
+  "November 27, 1862.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I am obliged to go to St. Leonards to-night, but I should be very glad
+if you would to-morrow, Friday (as you propose), look at my new house.
+In the corner of one of the new rooms I see it looks a little damp,
+although they considered it dry before they papered. I must say I am
+pleased with the new residence, and I think by degrees I shall be able
+to make it pretty comfortable. We shall hardly get in here, I expect,
+much before Christmas. There is yet so much to do. I shall be very glad
+of any hints about improvements that may occur to you.
+
+  "Kind regards, and believe me,
+    "Always yours,
+      "J. L."
+
+There is amongst the pictures of "Life and Character" a drawing of a
+sportsman who has been thrown from his horse. He has fallen upon his
+head, and as he raises it, stunned and bewildered, and but half
+conscious, the sensations that must have possessed him are realized for
+us in a manner so marvellous, so wonderful in its originality and truth,
+as to convince one that the accident must have happened to the man who
+drew the picture; and this was the case, for the fallen man was Leech
+himself, says Mr. Adams, who in charging a fence was thrown, his horse
+falling at the same time. If I had been told that the sensations
+inevitable under the circumstances were required to be reproduced by
+pencil and paper, I should have said such a feat was beyond the reach of
+art; but there they are! As the prostrate man looks up, he sees sparks
+of fire, horse's head, legs, hoofs mingled together in a whirl of
+confusion round his prostrate figure.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+No doubt the work he undertook for _Bell's Life in London_, a
+long-established and long-discontinued paper, in which sport of all
+kinds was the most prominent feature--and which occupied much of Leech's
+time in his youthful days--contributed to the creation of a taste and
+love for field sports that always distinguished him. Quite a band of
+comic artists, including Cruikshank, Kenny Meadows, "Phiz," Seymour, and
+Leech, contributed sketches illustrative of a variety of subjects by a
+variety of authors; Leech's work being easily distinguishable from that
+of his brethren of the pencil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+"COMIC GRAMMAR" AND "COMIC HISTORY."
+
+
+The friendship, begun in their student-days at St. Bartholomew's,
+between Leech and Percival Leigh flourished in renewed strength by the
+discovery of similarity of taste--Leigh unable to draw, but possessing a
+truly humorous pen; so the friends "laid their heads together," the
+result being the production of the "Comic Latin Grammar," letter-press
+by Leigh, illustrations by Leech. The first intention of the authors was
+that this should be a mere skit, a trifling brochure, consisting of a
+few pages; but, as so often happens, the work grew under their hands,
+and when published in 1840 it had assumed somewhat formidable
+proportions, and was followed by a work of similar character, with the
+title of "The Comic English Grammar."
+
+The "Comic English Grammar" was a work full of pleasant humour,
+charmingly illustrated by Leech "with upwards of fifty characteristic
+woodcuts." It is curious to observe in these drawings the contrast that
+they afford to the artist's later and more perfect work. There is a
+timidity, and what we call a hardness, from which the sketches in
+"Pictures of Life and Character" are entirely free; the general drawing,
+too, is faulty, but the humour and character are all there.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The first illustration, given above, is from a ballad called "Billy
+Taylor," popular in my young days, in which Billy's true love--with the
+reluctance to part from him common to persons suffering from that
+passion--disguises herself as a man before the mast, and shares the
+dangers of the sea with her sailor-lover:
+
+  "Ven as the Captain comed for to hear on't,
+   Wery much applauded vot she'd done."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The verb "applauded" has here no nominative case, whereas it ought to
+have been governed by the pronoun "he." "He very much applauded," etc.,
+says the writer of the "Comic Grammar" for our instruction. The second
+example, given above, seems to me capital fooling, and an excellent
+proof of the necessity for care in punctuation and accent.
+
+"Imagine," says the writer, "an actor commencing Hamlet's famous
+soliloquy thus:
+
+  "'To be or not to be; that is. The question,' etc.
+
+Or saying, in the person of Duncan in 'Macbeth':
+
+  "'This castle hath a pleasant seat, the air.'
+
+Or, as the usurper himself, exclaiming:
+
+  "'The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!
+    Where got's thou that goose? Look!'"
+
+Here we have the fault of _hardness_ that I speak of, and something of
+feeble drawing, but the humour is perfect.
+
+After the publication of the "Comic Grammar," written by Gilbert �
+Beckett, one of the _Punch_ staff, a somewhat similar experiment upon
+the public and on a larger scale was tried by the same author in the
+issue of a "Comic History of England." This venture was warmly opposed
+at its inception by Jerrold, whose wrath at the idea of burlesquing
+historical personages was expressed with vehemence. Gilbert � Beckett
+persisted, however, and the history appeared, with over three hundred
+illustrations on wood and steel by John Leech. The book is, as might be
+expected, very light reading, containing many puns and much play upon
+words. Leech's work seems to me to be slight, hurried, and even
+careless, compared with that of his later time; but the spirit of
+rollicking fun with which grave historical incidents are treated, and
+the humorous satire that the principal personages receive at the hands
+of the illustrator, make the "Comic History of England" amusing enough.
+The following extract, with the drawing that illustrates it, will show
+the truth of my estimate of both.
+
+"A story is told of a certain Fair Rosamond, and, though there is no
+doubt of its being a story from beginning to end, it is impossible to
+pass it over in English history. Henry, it was alleged, was enamoured of
+a certain Miss Clifford--if she can be called a certain Miss Clifford,
+when she was really a very doubtful character. She was the daughter of a
+baron on the banks of the Wye, when, without a why or a wherefore, the
+King took her away, and transplanted the Flower of Hereford, as she well
+deserved to be called, to the Bower of Woodstock. In this bower he
+constructed a labyrinth something like the Maze at Rosherville, and as
+there was no man stationed on an elevation in the centre to direct the
+sovereign which way to go, nor exclaim, 'Right, if you please!'
+'Straight on!' 'You're right now, sir!' 'Left!' 'Right again!' etc.,
+etc., his Majesty had adopted the plan of dragging one of Rosamond's
+reels of silk along with him when he left the spot, so that it formed a
+guide for him on his way back again. This tale of silk is indeed a most
+precious piece of entanglement, but it was perhaps necessary for the
+winding up of the story. While we cannot receive it as part of the
+thread of history, we accept it as a means of accounting for Eleanor's
+having got a clue to the retreat of Rosamond.
+
+"The Queen, hearing of the silk, resolved naturally enough to unravel
+it. She accordingly started for Woodstock one afternoon, and, suspecting
+something wrong, took a large bowl of poison in one hand and a stout
+dagger in the other. Having found Fair Rosamond, she held the poniard to
+the heart and the bowl to the lips of that unfortunate young person,
+who, it is said, preferred the black draught to the steel medicine."
+
+Later on in the history we have another good example of Leech's humour.
+King Edward, having subdued the Welsh, "endeavoured to propitiate his
+newly acquired subjects by becoming a resident in the conquered country.
+His wife Eleanor gave birth to a son in the castle of Caernarvon, and he
+availed himself of the circumstance to introduce the infant as a native
+production, giving him the title of Prince of Wales, which has ever
+since been held by the eldest son of the British sovereign."
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ELEANOR AND FAIR ROSAMOND.]
+
+[Illustration: KING EDWARD INTRODUCING HIS SON AS PRINCE OF WALES TO HIS
+NEWLY-ACQUIRED SUBJECTS.]
+
+A well-known historical scene is parodied as follows: Henry IV. being
+ill, "the Prince of Wales was sitting up with him in the temporary
+capacity of nurse," says Mr. � Becket. "The son, however, seemed rather
+to be waiting for his father's death than hoping for the prolongation of
+his life; and the King having gone off in a fit, the Prince, instead of
+calling for assistance or giving any aid himself, heartlessly took that
+opportunity to see how he should look in the crown, which always hung on
+a peg in the royal bedchamber. Young Henry was figuring away before a
+cheval glass with the regal bauble on his head, and was exclaiming,
+'Just the thing, upon my honour!' when the elder Henry, happening to
+recover, sat up in bed and saw the conduct of his offspring.
+
+[Illustration: UNSEEMLY CONDUCT OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES.]
+
+[Illustration: THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER GOES INTO MOURNING FOR HIS LITTLE
+NEPHEWS.]
+
+"'Hallo!' cried the King, 'who gave you leave to put that on? I think
+you might have left it alone till I've done with it.'"
+
+The savage and hypocritical character of Richard III. afforded Leech an
+opportunity for satire in his design of that monarch, when still Duke of
+Gloucester, in the shape of a crocodile shedding tears for the death of
+the two Princes in the Tower.
+
+"Richard," says the chronicler, "by whom the outward decencies of life
+were very scrupulously observed, in order to make up for the inner
+deficiencies of his mind, determined to go into mourning for the young
+Princes, and repaired to the same _maison de deuil_ which he had
+honoured with his presence on a former occasion when requiring the
+'trappings of woe' for himself and his retainers on the death of his
+dear brother."
+
+With the escape of Mary, Queen of Scots, I must close the extracts from
+the "Comic History of England."
+
+"When the Queen was imprisoned at Lochleven, a certain George Douglas,"
+says the historian, "with the sentimentality peculiar to seventeen, fell
+sheepishly in love with the handsome Mary. She gave some encouragement
+to the gawky youth, but rather with a view of getting him to aid her in
+her escape than out of any regard to the over-sensitive stripling. Going
+to his brother's bedroom in the night, the boy took the keys from the
+basket in which they were deposited, and, letting Mary out, he handed
+her to a skiff and took her for a row, without thinking of the row his
+conduct was leading to."
+
+[Illustration: MARY'S ELOPEMENT.]
+
+A considerable interval of time elapsed between the publication of �
+Beckett's "Comic English Grammar" and the same writer's "Comic History
+of England," the former being produced in 1840, and the latter seven
+years afterwards; but as there is little or no appreciable difference
+between the two works, either as regards the literary or artistic merit,
+I have thought it well to introduce them in this place.
+
+These efforts show but one side of Leech's many-sided power. It was in
+"The Children of the _Mo_bility," a satire on a production just then
+published, in which the children of the _no_bility were put before the
+world in all the splendour of their aristocratic surroundings, that
+Leech's genius had full play, the little Duke affording an instructive
+contrast to the street arab, and the shivering, half-naked beggar-girl
+becoming infinitely pathetic in her rags. This work was executed in
+lithography, consisting of seven prints; and though, as works of art,
+they bear no comparison to the wood-drawings of a later time--they are
+not even so good as the "Fly-Leaves" published at the _Punch_ Office
+later on--still, comparatively imperfectly as they are rendered, they
+show the artist's intense sympathy with suffering childhood, as well as
+enjoyment in the games and "larks" by which the sufferings are for a
+time at least forgotten.
+
+I now approach the period when the establishment of a comic newspaper
+was destined to afford Leech opportunities for the display of his
+powers, opportunities of which he availed himself with a prodigality
+almost as marvellous as the powers.
+
+
+  END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+  BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.
+
+  _J. D. & Co._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by 
+William Powell Frith
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36663-8.txt or 36663-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/3/6/6/6/36663/
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+
+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by 
+William Powell Frith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1
+
+Author: William Powell Frith
+
+Release Date: July 8, 2011 [EBook #36663]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marius Masi, Chris Curnow and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:358px; height:600px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="pt2">&nbsp;</p>
+
+<p class="center fo">JOHN LEECH</p>
+
+<p class="center fo f90">His Life and Work</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:470px; height:600px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img005.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="center ptb1 sc" style="color: #c11B17; font-size: 250%;">JOHN LEECH</p>
+
+<p class="pt1 center fo">His Life and Work</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 center f80">BY</p>
+<p class="center f120">WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A.</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:150px; height:174px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img006.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="center f90"><i>WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS</i></p>
+
+<p class="center pt2 f90">IN TWO VOLUMES<br />
+VOL. I.</p>
+
+<p class="center pt2"><span class="f90">LONDON</span><br />
+<span style="letter-spacing: 0.3em;">RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON</span><br />
+<span class="f80 fo">Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen</span><br />
+<span class="f80">1891
+[<i>All rights reserved</i>]</span></p>
+
+<p class="pt2 center f90 fo">I Dedicate this Book</p>
+<p class="center f80">TO</p>
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 0.3em;">CHARLES F. ADAMS,</p>
+<p class="center f80">LEECH&rsquo;S EARLIEST, WARMEST, AND MOST CONSTANT FRIEND;</p>
+<p class="center f80">WITH MY GRATEFUL THANKS</p>
+<p class="center f80">FOR THE INTEREST HE HAS TAKEN IN MY WORK,</p>
+<p class="center f80">AND FOR THE VALUABLE ASSISTANCE AFFORDED</p>
+<p class="center f80">IN THE EXECUTION OF IT.</p>
+
+<hr class="art" />
+
+<p class="chap2 center">PREFACE</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">I am</span> very conscious of the many sins of commission
+and omission of which I have been guilty in my
+attempt to write the &ldquo;Life and Work of John
+Leech&rdquo;; but, that ingratitude may not figure
+amongst my shortcomings, I take advantage of the
+usual preface to acknowledge my obligations to
+friends and strangers from whom I have received
+assistance, and to express my warmest thanks for
+their kindness.</p>
+
+<p>The time that has elapsed since Leech&rsquo;s death
+has terribly thinned the ranks of his friends and contemporaries;
+but the leveller has spared and dealt
+tenderly with one of his earliest and most constant
+friends, Mr. Charles F. Adams, whose store of
+Leech&rsquo;s letters, together with many pleasing reminiscences,
+have been placed unreservedly at my disposal.
+From Mr. Kitton&rsquo;s memoir of Leech I have
+derived, through the author&rsquo;s kindness, much advantage;
+and to Mr. Thornber, a well-known collector
+of Leech&rsquo;s works, I owe the opportunity of
+selecting some of the best illustrations that grace
+the book.</p>
+
+<p>I also desire to express my gratitude to the proprietors
+of <i>Punch</i>, who, though unable to comply
+with my unreasonable demand to the full extent of
+it, have given me most important help in my
+endeavours to do honour to the genius who was
+such an honour to <i>Punch</i>. I owe to those gentlemen
+no less than eight of the full-page illustrations,
+to say nothing of numbers of small cuts.</p>
+
+<p>I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Grego,
+my neighbour Mr. McKenzie, Mr. Willert Beale, and
+Mr. Maitland for their help in various ways; not
+forgetting the Eton boy, whose anonymity I preserve
+according to his desire.</p>
+
+<p>To Sir John Millais, Mr. Ashby Sterry, Mr.
+Horsley, Mr. Holman Hunt, and Mr. Cholmondeley
+Pennel I also offer my warmest acknowledgment for
+the papers they have so kindly contributed.</p>
+
+<p>In conclusion, I permit myself a few words in explanation
+of that which I know will be laid to my
+charge, namely, that my book tells too little of Leech
+and too much of his work, and that it is chronologically
+deficient. In excuse I plead that the life of
+Leech as I knew it from its early days was, like that
+of most artists, entirely devoid of such incidents as
+would interest the public; and that from the difficulty
+of acquiring certain information, and the varying
+times at which it was supplied, chronological
+accuracy was impossible.</p>
+
+<hr class="art" />
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CONTENTS OF VOL. I.</p>
+
+<table class="pic" width="90%" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td class="tcr f80">CHAPTER</td> <td>&nbsp;</td> <td class="tcr f80">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">&nbsp;</td> <td class="tcla scs">PROLOGUE</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page1">1</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">I.</td> <td class="tcla scs">EARLY DAYS</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page3">3</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">II.</td> <td class="tcla scs">EARLY WORK</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page20">20</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">III.</td> <td class="tcla scs">MR. PERCIVAL LEIGH AND LEECH</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page75">75</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">IV.</td> <td class="tcla scs">MEETING OF MULREADY AND LEECH</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page95">95</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">V.</td> <td class="tcla scs">&ldquo;THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EVENING PARTIES,&rdquo; BY ALBERT SMITH</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page104">104</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">VI.</td> <td class="tcla scs">JOHN LEECH AND THE ETON BOY</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page130">130</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">VII.</td> <td class="tcla scs">MR. SPONGE&rsquo;S SPORTING TOUR</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page137">137</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">VIII.</td> <td class="tcla scs">&ldquo;THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS,&rdquo; BY ALBERT SMITH</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page151">151</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">IX.</td> <td class="tcla scs">&ldquo;THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS&rdquo;&mdash;CONTINUED</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page163">163</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">X.</td> <td class="tcla scs">&ldquo;A MAN MADE OF MONEY,&rdquo; BY DOUGLAS JERROLD</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page178">178</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">XI.</td> <td class="tcla scs">ALBERT SMITH AND LEECH</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page206">206</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">XII.</td> <td class="tcla scs">MR. ADAMS AND LEECH</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page233">233</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcr">XIII.</td> <td class="tcla scs">&ldquo;COMIC GRAMMAR&rdquo; AND &ldquo;COMIC HISTORY&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page255">255</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<hr class="art" />
+
+<p class="chap2 center">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</p>
+
+<table class="pic" width="90%" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td>&nbsp;</td> <td class="tcr f80">PAGE</td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Portrait of John Leech</td> <td class="tcr" style="width: 6em;"><span class="f80"><i>Frontispiece</i></span></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Hercules returning from a Fancy Ball</td> <td class="tcr"><span class="f80"><i>To face p.</i></span> <a href="#page3">3</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Physician and General Practitioner</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page27">27</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;Where &rsquo;ave we bin? Why, to see the Cove &rsquo;ung, to
+be sure!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page29">29</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">An Eye to Business</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page31">31</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">But Augustus&rsquo;s Heart was too full to speak</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page33">33</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;Sir! Please, Mr.! Sir! you&rsquo;ve forgot the Door-key!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page38">38</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla"><span class="sc">Eton Boy</span> (<i>loq.</i>): &ldquo;Come, governor! just one toast&mdash;&lsquo;The
+Ladies&rsquo;!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page39">39</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Return from the Derby</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page43">43</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Derby Epidemic</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page43">44</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Something like a Holiday</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page46">46</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Alarming Symptoms on eating Boiled Beef and Gooseberry-pie</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page47">47</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;So you have taken all your Stuff, and don&rsquo;t feel
+any better, eh?&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page50">50</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Awful Apparition to a Gentleman whilst Shaving in
+  the Edgware Road, September 29, 1846.</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page51">51</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;A Holder and a Thinner Wine&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page53">53</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;Hollo! Hi! here, Somebody! I&rsquo;ve turned on the
+  Hot Water, and I can&rsquo;t turn it off again!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page54">54</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Symptoms of a Masquerade</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page55">55</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Rising Generation</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page57">57</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Irrepressible Juvenile</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page58">58</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Rising Generation</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page59">59</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Servant-gal-ism</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page63">63</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Rising Generation</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page65">65</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla"><span class="sc">Special Constable</span>: &ldquo;Now mind, you know&mdash;if I kill you,
+  it&rsquo;s nothing; but if you kill me, by Jove! it&rsquo;s murder!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page67">67</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Recreations in Natural History</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page69">69</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Cabman is supposed to have taken a Wrong Turning,
+that&rsquo;s all</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page70">70</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mr. Briggs does a little Shooting</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page73">73</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&rdquo;Fiddle-Faddle&rdquo; Fashions</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page90">90</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&rdquo;Fiddle-Faddle&rdquo; Fashions</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page91">91</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Mulready Envelope</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page96">96</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Fores&rsquo;s Comic Envelope</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page97">97</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mamma and the Girls</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page106">106</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Two Rude Young Men</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page107">107</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Head of the House</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page108">108</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">An Olive-Branch</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page109">109</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Two &ldquo;Gangling&rdquo; Young Men</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page110">110</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Preparing for the Ball</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page111">111</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Assistant-Waiter</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page112">112</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Band</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page112">112</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Wallflowers</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page114">114</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mr. Ledbury</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page115">115</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mr. Ledbury and Miss Hamilton</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page116">116</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Waltz</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page118">118</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">In the Conservatory</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page119">119</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Belle of the Evening</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page120">120</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mr. Ledbury&rsquo;s Hat</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page121">121</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mr. Percival Jenks</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page123">123</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla"><span class="sc">Clown</span>: &ldquo;Oh, see what I&rsquo;ve found!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page127">127</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Miss Cinthia Sings</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page128">128</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Dreadful for Young Oxford</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page131">131</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Miss Lucy and Mr. Sponge</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page149">149</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Le Premier Pas</td> <td class="tcr"><i><span class="f80">To face p.</span></i> <a href="#page160">160</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Death of St. Croix</td> <td class="tcr"><span class="f80">&rdquo;</span> &emsp; <a href="#page172">172</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">A Family Picture</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page189">189</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">And there stood Jericho</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page203">203</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mr. Simmons&rsquo;s Attempt at Reform</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page215">215</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Belle of the Month&mdash;August&mdash;taking a &ldquo;Constitutional&rdquo;
+  in Kensington Gardens. Time, 8 a.m.</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page221">221</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Balcony Nuisance</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page223">223</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Belle of the Month&mdash;November&mdash;&ldquo;in Distress
+off a Lee-shore&mdash;Brighton Pier&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page229">229</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;Now, Jack, my Boy! There&rsquo;s no Time to lose! we&rsquo;ve
+Ten Miles to go to Cover&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page245">245</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Effects of a Fall</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page253">253</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Billy Taylor</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page256">256</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">&ldquo;Where got&rsquo;s Thou that Goose? Look!&rdquo;</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page257">257</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page261">261</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">King Edward introducing his Son as Prince of
+  Wales to his Newly-acquired Subjects</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page262">262</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Unseemly Conduct of Henry, Prince of Wales</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page263">263</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">The Duke of Gloucester goes into Mourning for
+  his Little Nephews</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page264">264</a></td></tr>
+
+<tr><td class="tcla sc">Mary&rsquo;s Elopement</td> <td class="tcr"><a href="#page266">266</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page1" id="page1"></a>1</span></p>
+
+<p class="center pt1 sc" style="color: #c11B17; font-size: 170%;">JOHN LEECH:</p>
+
+<p class="center sc" style="color: #c11B17; font-size: 120%;"><i>HIS LIFE AND WORK</i></p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">PROLOGUE.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1"><i>&ldquo;&lsquo;Leech&rsquo;</i></span> <i>(spelt &lsquo;leich&rsquo;) is an old Saxon word for
+&lsquo;surgeon,&rsquo;&rdquo; writes a friend to me. &ldquo;Hence, as you
+know, the employment of the word &lsquo;leech&rsquo; as a term
+applied in former times to doctors.&rdquo;</i></p>
+
+<p><i>Though Leech is not a common name, I have met
+with several bearers of it under every variety of spelling
+that the word was capable of&mdash;Leech, Lietch,
+Leich, Leeche, Leitch, etc. Only two of the owners
+of these names became known to fame&mdash;John, of
+immortal memory, and, longo intervallo, William
+Leitch, a Scottish artist, and landscape-painter of
+considerable merit, whose pictures, generally of a
+classic character, found favour amongst a certain
+class of buyers. A large subject of much beauty was
+engraved, and, I think, formed the prize-engraving
+for the year for the Art Union of London. I have
+no doubt William Leitch was frequently asked if he
+were related to John. The sound of the names was
+similar, and few inquirers knew of the difference in</i>
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page2" id="page2"></a>2</span>
+<i>the spelling. Whether William was asked the question
+or not I cannot speak to with certainty; but that
+John was I am sure, because he told me so himself,
+and, as well as I can recall them, in the following
+words:</i></p>
+
+<p><i>&rdquo;I was asked the other day if I were related to a
+man of the same name&mdash;a Scotchman&mdash;a landscape-painter.
+He spells his name L-e-i-t-c-h, you know.
+I said, &lsquo;No; the Scotch gentleman&rsquo;s name is spelt in
+the Scotch way, with the &rsquo;itch in it.&rsquo; Not bad, eh?
+I hope nobody will tell him!&rdquo;</i></p>
+
+<p><i>I met William Leitch several times (he died long
+ago), and was always charmed by his refined and
+gentle manner; but we never became intimate, so I
+cannot say I had the following anecdote from himself;
+but it was told me by an intimate friend of the artist,
+who assured me that he had it from Leitch direct.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>Leitch had a considerable practice as a drawing-master,
+chiefly amongst the higher classes. He taught
+the very highest, for he gave lessons to the Queen herself.
+I have never had the honour of seeing any of
+her Majesty&rsquo;s drawings, but I have had the advantage
+of her criticism, and I can well believe in the reports
+of the excellence of her work.</i></p>
+
+<p><i>The story goes that one day, in the course of a
+lesson, the Queen let her pencil fall to the ground.
+Both master and pupil stooped to pick it up; and, to
+the horror of Leitch, there was a collision&mdash;the master&rsquo;s
+head struck that of his royal pupil! and before he
+could stammer an apology, the Queen said, smiling:</i></p>
+
+<p><i>&rdquo;Well, Mr. Leitch, if we bring our heads together
+in this way, I ought to improve rapidly.&rdquo;</i></p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:566px; height:700px" src="images/img021.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption"><i>&rdquo;Hercules&rdquo; returning from a Fancy Bail.</i><br />
+<span class="f80"><i>R. E. &amp; S. 1888.</i></span></td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page3" id="page3"></a>3</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER I.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">EARLY DAYS.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">On</span> the 29th of August, 1817, a boy was born in
+London gifted with a genius which, in the short
+time allowed for its development, delighted and
+astonished the world. The child&rsquo;s name was Leech,
+and he was christened John. The Leech family
+was of Irish extraction. From information received,
+it appears that the father of Leech, also called John,
+was possessed of an uncle who had made a large
+fortune as the owner of the London Coffee-House,
+Ludgate Hill. With this fortune he retired, leaving
+his nephew to reign in his stead at the Coffee-House,
+not without a reasonable hope and expectation that
+the nephew would follow in the uncle&rsquo;s prosperous
+footsteps. But times had changed. Clubs were
+being formed, and the customers of the Ludgate Hill
+place of entertainment preferred to be enrolled as
+members of the novel institutions rather than subject
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page4" id="page4"></a>4</span>
+themselves to the somewhat mixed company at
+the Coffee-House. Leech&rsquo;s establishment, however,
+struggled on into my early time, for I can well
+remember being advised, if I wished for a good and
+wonderfully cheap dinner, consisting&mdash;as per advertisement&mdash;of
+quite startling varieties of dishes, my
+desire might be gratified by payment of eighteen-pence
+to the authorities at the London Coffee-House,
+Ludgate Hill.</p>
+
+<p>I do not know the precise time at which the
+doors of the Coffee-House were finally closed and the
+father Leech, with his large family, was thrown
+upon the world; but it must have been some years
+after the subject of this memoir had been enrolled
+amongst the Charterhouse scholars, an event that
+took place when he was seven years old. Previous
+to this by about four years, some feeble buds of the
+genius that blossomed so abundantly afterwards are
+said to have shown themselves, and to have been
+observed by Flaxman as the child sat with pencil
+and paper on his mother&rsquo;s knee. The great sculptor
+is reported to have said:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This drawing is wonderful. Do not let him be
+cramped by drawing-lessons; let his genius follow
+its own bent. He will astonish the world.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I venture to think that for this story a grain of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page5" id="page5"></a>5</span>
+salt would be by no means sufficient. No drawing
+done by a child of three years old, however gifted,
+could be &ldquo;wonderful&rdquo; in the estimation of Flaxman;
+and that such an artist as he was should have said
+anything so foolish as what is tantamount to advising
+a parent against &ldquo;learning to draw&rdquo; I take the
+liberty of disbelieving. Flaxman was a friend of
+the Leeches, and in after years, while John Leech
+was still a youth, the sculptor again examined some
+of his sketches, and, after looking well at them, he
+very likely said, as is reported:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;That boy must be an artist; he will be nothing
+else.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A child of seven seems almost cruelly young to
+be subjected to the hardships of a public school.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I thought,&rdquo; wrote John&rsquo;s father, &ldquo;that I was not
+wrong in sending him thus early, as Dr. Russell,
+the head-master, had a son of the same age in
+the school, and John was in the same form with
+him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No doubt the elder Leech felt much the parting
+from his little son, but to Mrs. Leech the boy&rsquo;s
+leaving home was a severe blow; the mother&rsquo;s
+heart would no doubt realize and exaggerate the
+perils to mind and body arising from contact with
+something like six hundred fellow-pupils, scarcely
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page6" id="page6"></a>6</span>
+one so young, and none so loving and lovable as her
+little boy. John was boarded at a house close by
+the Charterhouse, and only allowed to go home
+at rare intervals. The fond mother, however, could
+not live without seeing him, and to enable her to
+gratify her longing, a room was hired in a house
+overlooking the boy&rsquo;s playground, from which, carefully
+hidden, she could see her little son as he
+walked and talked with the form-fellow, &ldquo;the particular
+friend&rdquo; to whom a sympathetic nature had
+attached him; or watch him as he joined heart and
+soul in some game&mdash;not too rough&mdash;for a fall from
+his pony, by which his arm had been broken and was
+still far from strong, made such rough sports as are
+common to schoolboys too dangerous to be indulged
+in.</p>
+
+<p>The Charterhouse rejoiced in a drawing-master
+named Burgess. Upon what principles that master
+proceeded to train the youth of Charterhouse I am
+unable to speak; they were most likely those in
+vogue at the time of young Leech&rsquo;s sojourn. If
+they were of that description, it was fortunate that
+Leech paid&mdash;as is said&mdash;little or no attention to
+them, finding a difficulty, no doubt, in applying
+them to the sketches that constantly fell from him
+on to the pages of his school-books.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page7" id="page7"></a>7</span></p>
+
+<p>It may be urged that when Flaxman warned the
+boy&rsquo;s mother against teaching as being sure to cramp
+her son&rsquo;s genius, he alluded to the Burgess method.
+That may have been so. But a man like Flaxman,
+who had possessed himself by severest study as a
+young man of the means by which his powers were
+developed, would, I think, have been sure to warn
+Mrs. Leech of the difference between the teaching
+that would be mischievous, and that which is
+proved to be indispensable by the universal practice
+of the greatest painters. I am aware I shall be
+confronted with the case of John Leech, who was, so
+to speak, entirely self-taught; but Leech was not a
+painter, and certainly never could have become a
+good one without training; besides, he was altogether
+exceptional&mdash;unique, in fact. In my opinion,
+we are as likely to see another Shakespeare or
+Dickens as another Leech.</p>
+
+<p>This is a digression, for which I apologize. I
+cannot find that my hero&mdash;I may call him such, for
+he was ever a hero to me&mdash;paid much attention to
+classical knowledge. Latin verses were impossible
+to him, but they had to be done; so, as he said, he
+&ldquo;got somebody to do them for him.&rdquo; In spite of
+his weak arm, he fenced with Angelo, the school
+fencing-master; but, beyond the advantage of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page8" id="page8"></a>8</span>
+exercise, the accomplishment was of no use to
+him.</p>
+
+<p>Here I cannot resist an anecdote of which the
+fencing reminds me.</p>
+
+<p>Some years before Leech&rsquo;s death the editor of a
+newspaper, who was remarkable for the severity of
+his criticisms and for his extreme personal ugliness,
+had made some caustic remarks on Leech&rsquo;s work in
+general, and on some special drawings in particular.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;If that chap,&rdquo; said Leech to me, &ldquo;doesn&rsquo;t mind
+what he is about, I will <i>draw</i> and defend myself&rdquo;&mdash;an
+idle threat, for nothing could have provoked that
+gentle, noble nature into personality, no trace of
+which is to be found in the long list of his admirable
+works.</p>
+
+<p>Several letters, delightfully boyish, written by
+Leech to his father from the Charterhouse, are in
+my possession. Some of them, I think, may appropriately
+appear in this place.</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;Septr 19 1826</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Dear Papa</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I hope you are quite well. I beg you will
+let me come out to see you for I am so dull here,
+and I am always fretting about, because I wrote to
+you yesterday and you would not let me come out.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page9" id="page9"></a>9</span>
+I will fag hard if you will let me come out, and will
+you write to me, and the letter that you write put in
+when you are going to Esex and when you return
+for I want to very particularly</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How is Mamma, Brother and Sisters</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I hope Ester is quite well,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I am very sorry that I stayed away from School
+with &mdash;&mdash; but I promise never to do it again and I
+beg you will let me come out on Sunday.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;Charter House October 2 <span class="un">1826</span></p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Papa.</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;You told me to write to you when the reports
+where made out, they are made out now,
+and mine is, does his Best. I hope you are quite
+well, and Mamma the same. I hope Tom Mary
+Caroline, and Ester are quite well. I have not
+spoken to Mr Chapman yet about the tuter, and
+drawing Master, because I had not an oppertunity,
+send me a cake as soon as it is convenient</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1 sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page10" id="page10"></a>10</span></p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="rgt f80">[<i>No date.</i>]</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Papa.</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I write this note to know how poor little
+Polly is I hope she is better to day pray write to me
+before the day is over and tell me how she is. I
+hope you and Mamma Tom and Fanny are all well
+since I left you last night.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I am happy to say I am at the very top off the
+Form</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tell Mamma not to forget to come and see me
+on Wenesday as she said she would. I would write
+to Polly now only I have not time pray give Polly a
+1000 kiss for me and Fanny and Tom the same.
+As I said before I hope poor little Polly is better.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My Dear Papa,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;My report was made out yesterday but I
+forgot to write to you therefore I tell you to-day,
+it was (generally attentive) If any afternoon or
+morning that you have time I should be very happy
+to see you. You can see me in the morning from
+12 to half-past two and in the evening from 4
+till 9.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page11" id="page11"></a>11</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Send me another suit of clothes if you please
+and a cap. Mind the gloves. I hope Polly continues
+to get better and I hope you and Mamma
+Brother and sisters are quite well. Send me a
+penknife if you please. I remain</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Dear Papa</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Will you let me come out to see you once
+before my sisters go to school, for I feel quite unhappy
+here and miserable. I am afraid I shall not
+be able to get promoted yet, therefore I am afraid I
+shant be able to come out. But you promised me
+that if I did not get promoted you would let me
+come out. I try as much as I can to get promoted.
+Do let me come out once before my Sisters go to
+School.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Tell Mamma to send me a cake as soon as she
+can</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Send me some money as soon as you can.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page12" id="page12"></a>12</span></p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;September 14 1827</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My Dear Papa.</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I am happy to say that Mr Baliscombe says
+that for my Holiday Task I deserve promotion and
+says it is very well done indeed. Come and see me
+as soon as you can. I think I shall get promoted
+when Dr Russell sees my Holiday Task&mdash;In fact
+Mr Baliscombe is going to ask him to put me up.
+I hope you and Mamma are quite well. Springett
+went to the play he tells me and did not come back
+till the morning. I hope dear old Camello and the
+dear little Baby Bunning are quite well, would you
+mind sending Mrs Jeffkins some partridges for I
+know she would like some. Tell Mamma to write
+to me as soon as she possibly can.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;P.S. I would not send the porter only I have
+got neither wafer nor seal&rsquo;wax.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;Sepr 16th 1827</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Papa.</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I am very happy indeed to say that I am
+promoted for I know it makes you happy. Let me
+come out next Saturday and come and see me to-morrow.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page13" id="page13"></a>13</span>
+I have no sealing wax or would not send
+the porter.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I hope you are quite well and Mamma and Old
+Camello and the little Baby Bunning the same</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Dear Papa</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;As I am rather short of money and want to
+keep my money I&rsquo;ve got, I should be much obliged
+if you would give my ambassador 18 pence or so as
+I&rsquo;ve promised a boy at school one of those small
+bladders to make balloons of, if you remember you
+bought me one once. I hope you are all well</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;I remain</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Dear Papa</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Will you be so kind as to send me half a
+crown by the porter and allowence me every week</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I was obliged to send the porter</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I hope you Mamma Brothers and sisters are
+quite well.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page14" id="page14"></a>14</span></p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="rgt f80">[<i>No date.</i>]</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Mamma</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I understand that you came to see me yesterday,
+and me being in the green, you did not see
+me, so that made me still more unhappy, I beg you
+will come and see me on Saturday for I am very
+unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I want to see you or Papa very much indeed.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate son</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;J Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<hr class="short" />
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Papa.</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;You desired me to send you my report I
+have not had it since the last one. I went into be
+examined by Dr Russell yesterday but I did not get
+promoted but I did not lose more than one or two
+places. I will send you my next report. I hope
+you are quite well.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mamma and Brother and sisters the Same</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Your affectionate<br />
+&ldquo;Son</p>
+
+<p class="sc rgt">&ldquo;J Leech.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I would have written to you sooner but <i>I had
+not time</i>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page15" id="page15"></a>15</span></p>
+
+<p class="pt1">Leech made no way at the Charterhouse; never
+approaching the position held by Thackeray, who
+was four years his senior: indeed, I doubt that they
+saw, or cared to see, much of each other, little
+dreaming that they would ultimately become dear
+and fast friends till death separated them, only to
+meet again, as we believe, after the sad, short
+interval that elapsed between the deaths of each.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot say I believe in inherited talent, but the
+fact that the elder Leech was said to be a remarkable
+draughtsman seems to strengthen the theory held by
+some people. I have never seen any specimens of
+the father&rsquo;s drawing, nor did I ever hear the son
+speak of it. Anyway, Leech <i>p�re</i> had no faith in the
+practice of art as a means of livelihood for his son,
+for he informed the youth, after a nine years&rsquo; attendance
+at the Charterhouse, that he was destined
+for the medical profession. There is no record of
+any objection on the part of Leech to his father&rsquo;s
+decision, at which I feel surprise; for the flame
+which burnt so brilliantly in after-life must have been
+always well alight, and very antagonistic to the kind
+of work required from the embryo surgeon. Leech&rsquo;s
+gentle yielding nature influenced him then as always;
+and he went to St. Bartholomew&rsquo;s, where under
+Mr. Stanley, the surgeon of the hospital, he worked
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page16" id="page16"></a>16</span>
+hard and delighted his master by his excellent
+anatomical drawings. From these studies may be
+traced, I think, much of the knowledge of the human
+form, and above all of <i>proportion</i>, always displayed
+in his work; for in those wonderful drawings, whether
+a figure is tall or short, fat or thin, whether he deals
+with a child or a giant, with a dog or a horse, no
+disproportion can be found.</p>
+
+<p>It appears that the elder Leech&rsquo;s affairs were
+already in such an embarrassed condition, that an
+intention to place his son with Sir George Ballingall,
+an eminent Scottish doctor, was abandoned, and
+after a time he was placed with a Mr. Whittle, a
+very remarkable person, who figures under the name
+of Rawkins in a novel written by Albert Smith and
+illustrated by Leech. Smith&rsquo;s work, with the title of
+&ldquo;The Adventures of Mr. Ledbury and his Friend
+Jack Johnson,&rdquo; was first published in <i>Bentley&rsquo;s
+Miscellany</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mr. Rawkins,&rdquo; says Albert Smith, &ldquo;was so
+extraordinary a person for a medical practitioner
+that, had we only read of him instead of having
+known him, we should at once have put him down
+as the far-fetched creation of the author&rsquo;s brain.
+He was about eight-and-thirty years old, and of
+herculean build except his legs, which were small
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page17" id="page17"></a>17</span>
+in comparison with the rest of his body. But he
+thought that he was modelled after the statues of
+antiquity, and, indeed, in respect of his nose, which
+was broken, he was not far wrong in his idea&mdash;that
+feature having been damaged in some hospital
+skirmish when he was a student. His face was
+adorned with a luxuriant fringe of black whiskers,
+meeting under his chin, whilst his hair, of a similar
+hue, was cut rather short about his head, and worn
+without the least regard to any particular style or
+direction. But it was also his class of pursuits
+that made him so singular a character. Every
+available apartment in his house not actually in use
+by human beings was appropriated to the conserving
+of innumerable rabbits, guinea-pigs, and ferrets.
+His areas were filled with poultry, bird-cages hung
+at every window, and the whole of his roof had
+been converted into one enormous pigeon-trap. It
+was one of his most favourite occupations to sit, on
+fine afternoons, with brandy-and-water and a pipe,
+and catch his neighbours&rsquo; birds. He had very
+little private practice; the butcher, the baker, and
+the tobacconist were his chief patients, who employed
+him more especially with the intention of
+working out their accounts. He derived his principal
+income from the retail of his shop, his appointments
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page18" id="page18"></a>18</span>
+of medical man to the police force and
+parish poor, and breeding fancy rabbits. These
+various avocations pretty well filled up his time,
+and when at home he passed his spare minutes in
+practising gymnastics&mdash;balancing himself upon one
+hand and laying hold of staples, thus keeping himself
+at right angles to the wall, with other feats
+of strength, the acquisition of which he thought
+necessary in enabling him to support the character
+of Hercules&mdash;his favourite impersonation&mdash;with
+due effect.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It is not to be wondered at that Mr. Whittle, <i>alias</i>
+Rawkins, should find that stealing his neighbours&rsquo;
+pigeons, together with his other unprofitable accomplishments,
+to say nothing of the sparseness of paying
+patients, could have only one termination&mdash;bankruptcy.
+Mr. Whittle ended his career in a public-house,
+of which he became proprietor after marrying
+the widow who kept it. Here he put off his coat to
+his work, and in his shirt-sleeves served his customers
+with beer. Leech and Albert Smith, and others of
+his pupils took his beer readily, though they had
+always declined to take his pills. It is said that he
+was originally a Quaker, and that he died a missionary
+at the Antipodes.</p>
+
+<p>Leech stayed but a short time with the pigeon-fancying
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page19" id="page19"></a>19</span>
+Whittle, whom he left to be placed under
+Dr. John Cockle, afterwards Physician to the Royal
+Free Hospital. Leech seems to have been a pretty
+regular attendant at anatomical and other lectures,
+and it goes without saying that his notes were
+garnished with sketches, for which his fellow-students
+sat unconsciously; and plenty of them remain to
+prove the impossibility of checking an inclination so
+strongly implanted in such a genuine artist as John
+Leech.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page20" id="page20"></a>20</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER II.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">EARLY WORK.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">It</span> was at St. Bartholomew&rsquo;s that Leech made
+acquaintance, which soon ripened into friendship,
+with Albert Smith, Percival Leigh (a future comrade
+on the <i>Punch</i> Staff, and author of the &ldquo;Comic
+Latin Grammar,&rdquo; &ldquo;Pips&rsquo; Diary,&rdquo; etc.), Gilbert �
+Beckett and many others, all or most of whom
+served as models for that unerring pencil.</p>
+
+<p>The impecunious condition of Leech senior before
+John had reached his eighteenth year was such as to
+make his chances of getting a living by medicine or
+surgery, even if successful, so remote as to place
+them beyond consideration. No doubt the elder
+Leech&rsquo;s misfortunes were &ldquo;blessings in disguise,&rdquo;
+for we owe to them the necessity that compelled the
+younger man to devote himself to art.</p>
+
+<p>The art of drawing upon wood, to which Leech in
+his later years almost entirely confined himself, dates
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page21" id="page21"></a>21</span>
+back from very early times. Lithography, or drawing
+upon stone, is a comparatively modern invention,
+and, until the introduction of photography, was used
+for varieties of artistic reproduction. It was to that
+process we owe the first published work of Leech.
+The artist was eighteen years old when &ldquo;Etchings
+and Sketchings,&rdquo; by A. Pen, Esq., price 2s. plain, 3s.
+coloured, was offered tremblingly to the public. The
+work was in the shape of four quarto sheets, which
+were covered with sketches, more or less caricatures,
+of cabmen, policemen, street musicians, hackney
+coachmen with their vehicles and the peculiar breed
+of animal attached to them, and other varieties of
+life and character common to the streets of London.
+This work is now very rarely to be met with; it consisted
+chiefly, I believe, of characteristic heads and half-length
+figures. To &ldquo;Etchings and Sketchings&rdquo; the
+young artist added some political caricatures, also in
+lithography, of considerable merit. With these, or,
+rather, with the heavy stones on which they were
+drawn, we may imagine the weary wanderings from
+publisher to publisher; the painful anxiety with
+which the verdict, on which so much depended,
+was waited for; the hopes that brightened at a word
+of commendation, only to be scattered by a few
+stereotyped phrases, such as, &ldquo;Ah, very clever, but
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page22" id="page22"></a>22</span>
+these sort of things are not in our way, you see;
+there is no demand,&rdquo; and so on.</p>
+
+<p>1836, when Leech was still a boy, saw the production
+of works called &ldquo;The Boy&rsquo;s Own Series,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Studies from Nature,&rdquo; &ldquo;Amateur Originals,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;The Ups and Downs of Life; or, The Vicissitudes
+of a Swell,&rdquo; etc.</p>
+
+<p>The delicate touch and the grasp of character
+peculiar to the artist are recognised at once in many
+examples.</p>
+
+<p>Leech&rsquo;s struggle for bread for himself and others
+must have been terrible at this time; indeed, up to the
+establishment of Rowland Hill&rsquo;s penny post, when,
+by what may be called a brilliant opportunity, Leech
+attracted for the first time the public attention, which
+never deserted him.</p>
+
+<p>The title of this book is &ldquo;The Life and <i>Work</i> of
+John Leech.&rdquo; Of the former, as I have shown, there
+is little to tell; on the latter, volumes, critical, descriptive,
+appreciative, might be written. An artist is
+destined to immortality or speedy oblivion according
+to his work, and it was my earnest hope, on
+undertaking this memoir, that I should be able to
+prove, by the finest examples of Leech&rsquo;s genius, that
+an indisputable claim to immortality was established
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page23" id="page23"></a>23</span>
+for him. To a great extent I have been permitted
+to do so; but the law of copyright has debarred me
+from the selection of many brilliant pictures of life
+and character on which my, perhaps unreasonably
+covetous, eyes had rested. The proprietors of <i>Punch</i>
+and also of the copyright of most of Leech&rsquo;s other
+works are, no doubt, properly careful of their
+interests, and I can imagine their surprise at the
+extent of my first demands upon their good-nature.
+In my ignorance I had thought that as my object
+was the honour and glory of John Leech&mdash;a feeling,
+no doubt, shared by them&mdash;the treasures of <i>Punch</i>
+would be spread before me, with a request that
+I would help myself. I do not in the least complain
+that I found myself mistaken. There are, no
+doubt, good reasons for the limits to which I was
+restricted, though I am unable to see them; and,
+granting the existence of those reasons, I should be
+ungrateful if I did not express my thanks for the small
+number of illustrations from <i>Punch</i> and other sources
+which I am allowed to use. I confess I was delighted
+to find that the first few years of the existence
+of <i>Punch</i> were free by lapse of time from
+copyright protection, and as some of Leech&rsquo;s best
+work appears in the volumes between 1841 and
+1849, I am able to show my readers further proofs
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page24" id="page24"></a>24</span>
+of the justice of the artist&rsquo;s claim to be remembered
+for all time.</p>
+
+<p>Leech&rsquo;s hatred of organ-grinding began very early
+in his career.</p>
+
+<div class="condensed list">
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Wanted, by an aged Lady of very Nervous Temperament,
+a Professor, who will undertake to mesmerize
+all the Organs in her Street. Salary, so much per
+Organ.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The drawing which appeared in <i>Punch</i> in 1843,
+with the above title, was the first of the humorous
+series that continued almost unbroken for more than
+twenty years. It is pitiable to think of the long
+martyrdom that Leech suffered from an abnormal
+nervous organization, which ultimately made street-noises
+absolute agony to him. In the illustration
+the singular difference of dress in the organ-grinder
+of fifty years ago and him of the present time is
+noticeable, as also are the perfect expressions of
+the small audience. Leech&rsquo;s chief contributions to
+<i>Punch</i> at this time were the large cuts, in which
+Peel, Brougham, the great Duke of Wellington, and
+others, play political parts in matters that would be
+of little interest to the reader of to-day, nor are the
+drawings of exceptional merit.</p>
+
+<p>In 1844 there appeared an irresistible little cut,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page25" id="page25"></a>25</span>
+the precursor of so many admirable variations of
+skating and sliding incidents.</p>
+
+<p class="ptb1 sc center f90">&ldquo;Now, Lobster, keep the Pot a-biling.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What could surpass the impudence of the vigorous
+youngster, or the expression of the guardsman of
+amused wonder as he looks down upon the audacious
+imp, as Goliath might have looked upon David?</p>
+
+<p>The sensation created by the first appearance of
+the dwarf Tom Thumb remains vividly in my
+memory. I saw him in all his impersonations; that
+of Napoleon, in which he was dressed in exact
+imitation of the Emperor, was very droll. The
+little creature was at Waterloo, taking quantities of
+snuff from his waistcoat pocket, giving his orders
+for the final charge which decided his fate; and when
+he saw that all was lost, his distress was terrible:
+he wrung his little hands and wept copiously, amidst
+the uproarious applause and laughter of the audience.
+Then he was at St. Helena, and, standing on an
+imaginary rock, he folded his arms, and gazed wistfully
+in the direction of his beloved France. After
+a long, lingering look, he shook his little head, and
+with a sigh so loud as to astonish us, he dashed the
+tears from his eyes, and made his bow to the audience,
+some of whom affected to be shocked by the
+laughter of the unthinking, and loudly expressed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page26" id="page26"></a>26</span>
+their sympathy with the great man in his fall. I
+well remember the great Duke going to see the
+amusing dwarf, but why Leech should have represented
+him in the dancing attitude, as shown in the
+illustration, seems strange. Surely a more serious
+imitation of a Napoleonic attitude would have been
+more telling and more comic.</p>
+
+<p>The next print illustrates a paper in <i>Punch</i> called
+&ldquo;Physicians and General Practitioners.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The physician almost invariably dresses in
+black,&rdquo; says the writer, &ldquo;and wears a white neck-cloth.
+He also often affects smalls and gaiters,
+likewise shirt-frills&rdquo; (fancy a physician in these
+days thus dressed!). He appears, no doubt very
+properly, in perpetual mourning. The general practitioner
+more frequently sports coloured clothes, as
+drab trousers and a figured waistcoat. With respect
+to features, the Roman nose, we think, is more
+characteristic of physicians; while among general
+practitioners, we should say, the more common of
+the two was the snub.</p>
+
+<p>The general practitioner and the physician often
+meet professionally, on which occasion their interests
+as well as their opinions are very apt to clash;
+whereupon an altercation ensues, which ends by the
+physician telling the general practitioner that he is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page27" id="page27"></a>27</span>
+an &ldquo;impudent quack,&rdquo; and the general practitioner&rsquo;s
+replying to the physician that he is &ldquo;a contemptible
+humbug.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:421px; height:550px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img046.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>How perfectly Leech has realized the scene for
+us the drawing abundantly shows. It is, perhaps,
+not too much to say that he never surpassed in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page28" id="page28"></a>28</span>
+drawing, expression, and character, these two admirable
+figures; full of contempt for each other, the
+emotion is expressed naturally, and with due regard
+to the peculiarities, widely varying, of each of the
+disputants.</p>
+
+<p>More years ago than I care to remember, I met
+at dinner Mr. Gibson, the Newgate surgeon. At
+that time an agitation was afoot respecting public
+executions, the advocates maintaining that the sight
+of a fellow-creature done to death acted as a deterrent
+on any of the sight-seers who were disposed to
+risk a similar fate, the objectors declaring that the
+exhibition only made brutes more brutal, and was in
+no way a deterrent. As Mr. Gibson had had a long
+experience of criminals and their ways, it was thought
+worth while to ask his opinion of the matter in dispute.
+The surgeon said that, feeling strongly on
+the subject of public hanging, he had made a point
+of asking persons under sentence of death if they
+had ever attended executions, and he found that
+over three-fourths&mdash;he told us the exact number,
+but I cannot trust my memory on the point&mdash;had
+witnessed the finishing of the law. So much for the
+deterrent effect. The disgraceful scenes that took
+place at the execution of the Mannings produced a
+powerful letter to the press from Dickens, and an
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page29" id="page29"></a>29</span>
+equally powerful article in the <i>Daily News</i>, by Mr.
+Parkinson. Parliament was aroused, and public
+executions ceased.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:550px; height:500px" src="images/img048.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">Where &rsquo;ave we bin? Why, to see the Cove &rsquo;ung, to be
+sure!&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The Leech drawing which follows appeared in
+1845, some years before the Manning murder, and
+a considerable time previous to the agitation on the
+subject of hanging in public. If ever a moral lesson
+was inculcated by a work of art, this powerful drawing
+is an example. Who knows how much it may
+have done towards hastening the time when those
+horrible exhibitions ceased?</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page30" id="page30"></a>30</span></p>
+
+<p>Is this squalid group, with debauchery and criminality
+in evidence in each figure, likely to be morally
+impressed by the sight of a public hanging? What
+are they but types of a class that always frequented
+such scenes? The dreadful woman has carried her
+child with her; the little creature&rsquo;s attenuated limbs
+point to the neglect and ill-usage sure to be met
+with from such parents.</p>
+
+<p>To those unacquainted with the &ldquo;Caudle Lectures&rdquo;
+by Douglas Jerrold, which appeared at this time in
+<i>Punch</i>, I recommend the perusal of those inimitable
+papers. One of their merits is their having given
+occasion for an admirable drawing by Leech. Lord
+Brougham was, in the eyes of <i>Punch</i> and many
+others, a firebrand in the House of Lords. He was
+irrepressible, contentious, and brilliant on all occasions,
+quarrelsome in the extreme, and a thorn in
+the side of whatever Government was in power
+unless he was a member of it. The Woolsack, more
+especially the object of his ambition, was made a
+very uneasy seat to any occupant. Behold him,
+then, as Mrs. Caudle&mdash;an excellent likeness&mdash;making
+night hideous for the unhappy Caudle,
+whose part is played by the Lord Chancellor&mdash;Lyndhurst&mdash;while
+the Caudle pillow is changed into
+the Woolsack.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page31" id="page31"></a>31</span></p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p class="center sc">&ldquo;The Mrs. Caudle of the House of Lords.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;What do you say? <i>Thank heaven! you are going to enjoy the
+recess, and you&rsquo;ll be rid of me for some months?</i> Never mind.
+Depend upon it, when you come back, you shall have it again.
+No, I don&rsquo;t raise the House and set everybody by the ears; but
+I&rsquo;m not going to give up every little privilege, though it&rsquo;s seldom
+I open my lips, goodness knows!&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;Caudle Lectures&rdquo; (improved).</p>
+</div>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:609px; height:500px" src="images/img050.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;An Eye to Business.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Whether such a scene as the following ever took
+place may be doubted; but that it might have
+happened, and may happen again, there is no doubt.
+One meets with strange seaside objects, and to
+bathe at the same time as one&rsquo;s tailor is within the
+bounds of possibility. Leech evidently thought so,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page32" id="page32"></a>32</span>
+hence this delightful little cut, wherein we see the
+creditor&mdash;evidently a tailor&mdash;improving the occasion
+to remind his fellow-swimmer of his little bill. See
+the businesslike aspect of the one and the astonishment
+and alarm of the other, who in the next few
+vigorous strokes will place himself beyond the reach
+of his creditor.</p>
+
+<p>Full of sympathy, as Leech was, for human suffering,
+and frequently as he dealt with sea-sickness, he
+certainly never showed the least pity for the sufferers
+by that miserable malady. Its ludicrous aspect was
+irresistible to him, as numbers of illustrations sufficiently
+prove, and none more perfectly than the one
+introduced in this place, with the title of &ldquo;Love on
+the Ocean,&rdquo; representing a couple evidently married
+on the morning of this tempestuous day. &ldquo;Why, oh
+why,&rdquo; I can hear the unhappy bridegroom say to himself,
+&ldquo;did we not arrange to pass our honeymoon in
+some pleasant place in England, and so have avoided
+crossing this dreadful sea?&rdquo; To be ill in the dear
+presence of&mdash;oh, horror! And the lady is so unconscious,
+so serenely unconscious, of the impending
+catastrophe! She enjoys the sea, and, being of
+a poetical turn, she thus improves the occasion:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, is there not something, dear Augustus, truly
+sublime in the warring of the elements?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page33" id="page33"></a>33</span></p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:463px; height:550px" src="images/img052.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;But Augustus&rsquo;s Heart was too full to speak.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Let anyone who suffers at sea fancy what it is to
+be spoken to at all, when the fearful sensations, the
+awful precursors of the inevitable, have full possession
+of him, and then to suffer in the very presence
+of the dear creature from whom every human weakness
+has been hitherto carefully hidden! The drawing
+is followed by a poem, in which the position of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page34" id="page34"></a>34</span>
+the unhappy Augustus is described. He could not
+speak in reply to his bride&rsquo;s appeal; in the words of
+the poet:</p>
+
+<table class="reg" summary="poem f90"><tr><td> <div class="poemr">
+<p>&ldquo;She gazed upon the wave,</p>
+  <p class="i2">Sublime she declared it;</p>
+<p class="i05">But no reply he gave&mdash;</p>
+  <p class="i2">He could not have dared it.</p>
+
+<p class="s">&ldquo;Oh, then, &lsquo;Steward!&rsquo; he cried,</p>
+  <p class="i2">With deepest emotion;</p>
+<p class="i05">Then tottered to the side,</p>
+  <p class="i2">And leant o&rsquo;er the ocean.&rdquo;</p>
+</div> </td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Poor miserable Augustus! his face is pale as
+death, his treasured locks blown out of shape; his
+eyeglass swings in the wind; the distant steamer is
+making mad plunges into the heaving wave; the
+rain falls, and let us hope the romantic bride turns
+away as her young husband &ldquo;leans o&rsquo;er the ocean.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Only those who have passed from the tableland of
+life can recollect the passion for speculation in railways
+that took possession of the public in 1845 and
+the two or three following years. I myself caught
+the disease, and, acting on the advice of &ldquo;one who
+knew,&rdquo; I bought a number of shares in one of the
+new lines; these were �25 shares, on which �8
+each had been paid. I was assured by my adviser
+that I should receive interest at the rate of eight per
+cent. till the year 1850; after that time the line would
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page35" id="page35"></a>35</span>
+pay ten. I awoke one morning to find that a panic
+was in full blast, and all railway property depreciated.
+My feelings may be imagined, for I certainly cannot
+describe them, when I found, on reference to the
+<i>Times</i>, that my �8 shares&mdash;�17 being still due
+upon each&mdash;were quoted at half a crown apiece!
+My friend had the courage of his opinions, for he
+had invested the whole of his property in railway
+stocks. He was completely ruined in mind and
+body, and died miserably before the panic was
+over.</p>
+
+<p>Multiply these examples by thousands, and you
+will arrive at a clear idea of the nature of a panic,
+which seems to mystify the young gentleman
+immortalized by Leech in the drawing illustrating
+the following dialogue:</p>
+
+<div class="condensed sc">
+<p>&ldquo;I say, Jim, what&rsquo;s a Panic?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Blowed if I know; but there is von to be seen in the
+City.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>It has been my fate in the course of a long life to
+attend several fancy-dress balls, but I can scarcely
+call to mind a single example of the successful
+assumption of an historical character, or, indeed, of
+any character that could disguise the very modern
+young lady or gentleman who was masquerading in
+it. My first acquaintance with Mark Lemon, so
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page36" id="page36"></a>36</span>
+long the esteemed editor of <i>Punch</i>, began in the
+Hanover Square Rooms, at a fancy-dress ball given
+by a society&mdash;chiefly, I think, composed of the better
+class of tradespeople&mdash;called the Gothics. On that
+occasion might have been seen a young gentleman
+in the dress of one of Charles II.&rsquo;s courtiers, and
+looking about as unlike his prototype as possible&mdash;in
+earnest conversation with another courtier, of the
+time of George II. I was of the Charles&rsquo; period,
+Lemon of that of the Georges. Those who remember
+Lemon&rsquo;s figure later in life would have been
+surprised by the change that time had made in it,
+if they could have witnessed the interview between
+the two young men, one scarcely stouter than the
+other. In proof of my idea that the greater number
+of guests were in trade, I might give scraps of conversation
+between Mary Queen of Scots and Guy
+Fawkes, or between Henry VIII. and Edward the
+Black Prince, that would leave no doubt on the
+subject; nay, later in the evening I had convincing
+proof of the correctness of my surmise, as you shall
+hear. I danced with a Marie Antoinette of surpassing
+beauty, with whom I fell incontinently in love.
+More than once I danced with her, and when
+supper was announced, my earnest appeal to be
+allowed to conduct her to the banquet was successful.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page37" id="page37"></a>37</span>
+My lovely friend was full of the curiosity
+peculiar to her sex, which showed itself in her
+anxiety to know who and what I was. To tell the
+truth, I was equally curious to know who she was,
+and what her friends were.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well,&rdquo; said I, &ldquo;if you will tell me who you are, I
+will tell you who I am and what I am.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh,&rdquo; was the reply, &ldquo;I think I know what you
+are; but what&rsquo;s your name?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know what I am?&rdquo; said I, surprised; &ldquo;what
+am I?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, you are in the same line that we are, I
+fancy.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And what line is that?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The army tailoring. Am I right?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In the illustration that accompanies these remarks
+Leech has succeeded in presenting to
+us a Norman knight completely characteristic, a
+Crusader more real, I think, than any modern
+could have rendered him. The lady he escorts, in
+a dress a few hundred years after Crusading times,
+is very lovely. The capital little Marchioness,
+with the big door-key, the four-wheeler, and the
+laughing crowd, make up a scene of inimitable
+humour.</p>
+
+<p>We now come to the first of those precocious
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page38" id="page38"></a>38</span>
+youths in whose mannish ways, whose delightful
+impertinence to their elders, whose early susceptibility
+to the passion of love for ladies three times
+older than themselves, are shown by Leech in
+many a scene I should have given to my readers,
+but over them the Copyright Act stands guard.
+&ldquo;&rsquo;Tis true, &rsquo;tis pity, pity &rsquo;tis, &rsquo;tis true,&rdquo; that in a
+book intended solely to do honour to Leech&rsquo;s
+genius, so many of the most perfect examples
+of it are denied to us.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:520px; height:500px" src="images/img057.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Sir! Please, Mr.! Sir! you&rsquo;ve forgot the Door-key!&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Well may the governor stare with open-mouthed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page39" id="page39"></a>39</span>
+astonishment at such a proposal from such a creature!
+Look at him as he throws his little arm over his
+chair in the swaggering attitude he has so often
+observed in his elders, and raises a full glass of
+claret! &ldquo;Just as the twig is bent the tree&rsquo;s inclined;&rdquo;
+but that we know that in this instance the
+twig is indulging in a harmless freak, one might be
+inclined to dread the tree&rsquo;s inclining.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:569px; height:400px" src="images/img058.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption"><span class="sc">Eton Boy</span> (<i>loq.</i>): &ldquo;Come, governor! just one toast&mdash;&lsquo;The
+Ladies&rsquo;!&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The political opinions of the writer of this book
+are of no consequence to himself or anybody else.
+It would perhaps be pretty near the truth if he were
+to admit that he had no political opinions worth
+speaking of. To those, however, who were interested
+in the struggle for Free Trade, which in the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page40" id="page40"></a>40</span>
+year 1846 raged with great fury, the question was,
+and still is, one of vital interest. The landed interest,
+headed by most of the aristocracy on the one side,
+and the manufacturing interest, championed by
+Cobden and Bright, on the other, raised a storm in
+which language the reverse of parliamentary was
+tossed from side to side. Peel was Prime Minister,
+and his ultimate conversion to the principles of Free
+Trade, and consequent advocacy of the repeal of
+the Corn Laws, horrified his supporters&mdash;by whom,
+notably by Disraeli, he became the object of envenomed
+attack&mdash;but led to a settlement of the
+question, and gave Leech an opportunity for the
+production of drawings of the victor and the vanquished,
+entitled, Cobden&rsquo;s &ldquo;Bee&rsquo;s Wing&rdquo; and Richmond&rsquo;s
+&ldquo;Black Draught,&rdquo; two of the most successful
+of the political cartoons.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Brook Green Volunteer&rdquo; gave Leech the
+opportunity for many illustrations which, to my
+mind, are nearer approaching caricature than most
+of his work; nor have they, as a rule, the beauty or
+human interest that so many of his drawings show.
+I fear I must charge the volunteer himself with
+being in possession of an impossible face and a no
+less impossible figure; his action also is exaggerated.
+In compensation we have a delightful family group.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page41" id="page41"></a>41</span>
+The mother with that naked baby perambulating
+her person is beyond all praise. Women do strange
+things, but I deny the possibility of such a woman
+as Leech has drawn ever finding it in her heart to
+marry that volunteer. The little thing standing on
+tip-toe to dabble in baby&rsquo;s basin for the benefit of
+her doll, the delighted lookers-on, not forgetting the
+warrior riding his umbrella into action, are invested
+with the charm that Leech, and Leech only, could
+give them.</p>
+
+<p>The year 1846 gave birth to the first fruit from a
+field in which Leech found such a bountiful harvest.
+The racecourse gave opportunities for the exhibition
+of life and character of which the great artist took
+advantage in numberless delightful examples. Pen
+and pencil record adventures by road and rail.
+Whether the excursionist is going to the Derby or
+returning from it, whether he is high or low, a Duke
+or a costermonger, that unerring hand is ready to
+note his follies or his excesses, always with a kindly
+touch, or to point a moral if a graver opportunity
+presents itself.</p>
+
+<p>A madman, they say, thinks all the world mad but
+himself; and it is not uncommon for a drunken man
+to imagine himself to be the only sober person in the
+company. That some feeling of this kind possesses
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page42" id="page42"></a>42</span>
+the rider in the drawing opposite, as he addresses
+the stolid postboy, is evident enough; his drunken
+smile, his battered hat, and his dishevelled dress, are
+eloquent of his proceedings on the course; and if his
+return from the Derby is not signalized by a fall
+from his horse, he will be more fortunate than he
+deserves to be. In works of art the value of contrast
+is well known, and a better example than the
+face of the postboy offers to that of his questioner
+could not be imagined. He drunk, indeed! not a
+bit of it.</p>
+
+<p>A pretty creature in the background must not be
+overlooked. She is a perfect specimen of Leech&rsquo;s
+power of creating beauty by a few pencil-marks.
+Her beauty has evidently attracted notice, and
+caused complimentary remarks from passers-by,
+which are resented by the old lady in charge,
+who tells the speaker to &ldquo;<i>go on with his imperdence</i>!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:820px; height:454px" src="images/img062.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Return from the Derby.&rdquo;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcl f90"><span class="sc">Smith</span>: &ldquo;Hollo! Poster, ain&rsquo;t you precious drunk, rather?&rdquo;</td></tr>
+<tr><td class="tcl f90"><span class="sc">Postboy</span>: &ldquo;Drunk! not a bit of it!&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p class="pt2">I cannot resist presenting my readers with another
+Derby sketch. It is more than probable that if
+either of these young gentlemen had asked for leave
+of absence from his official duties for the purpose
+of going to the Derby, he would have met with
+stern denial. The attraction, however, is irresistible,
+and though the subterfuge by which it is achieved is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page43" id="page43"></a>43<br />44</span>
+not to be defended, who is there that is not glad that
+the wicked boy is penning that audacious letter, as it
+is the cause of our having a picture that is a joy
+for ever? As a work of art, whether as a composition
+of lines and light and shadow, in addition to
+perfect character and expression, this drawing takes
+rank amongst the best of Leech&rsquo;s works. Note the
+admirable action of the youth who is putting on his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page45" id="page45"></a>45</span>
+coat&mdash;a momentary movement caught with consummate
+skill.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:447px; height:500px" src="images/img063.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Derby Epidemic.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p class="pt2">&ldquo;<span class="sc">Gentlemen</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Owing to sudden and very severe indisposition,
+I regret to say that I shall not be able to
+attend the office to-day. I hope, however, to be
+able to resume my duties to-morrow.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;I am, gentlemen,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours very obediently,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;Phillip Cox.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">Doctors differ, as everybody knows; and in no
+opinion do they differ more than in the way children
+should be treated. One of the faculty will tell you
+that a healthy child should be allowed to eat as
+much as he or she likes; another advises that as
+grown-up people are disposed to eat a great deal
+more than is good for them, a boy is pretty sure to
+do the same unless a wholesome check is imposed
+upon his unruly appetite. A great authority is
+reported to have said that as many people are killed
+by over-eating as by over-drinking; &ldquo;in fact,&rdquo; said
+he, &ldquo;they dig their graves with their teeth.&rdquo; If
+that be so, the young gentleman in &ldquo;Something
+like a Holiday&rdquo; is destined for an early tomb.</p>
+
+<p>Comment on this wonderful youth is needless.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page46" id="page46"></a>46</span>
+We can only share the alarm and astonishment so
+admirably expressed in the pastrycook&rsquo;s face. That
+this awful juvenile&rsquo;s memory should serve him so
+perfectly when he has taken such pains to cloud it,
+as well as every other faculty, is also surprising.</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:443px; height:500px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img065.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Pastrycook</span>: &ldquo;What have you had, sir?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Boy</span>: &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve had two jellies; seven of those, and eleven of
+these; and six of those, and four bath-buns; a sausage-roll, ten
+almond-cakes, and a bottle of ginger-beer.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page47" id="page47"></a>47</span></p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:514px; height:520px" src="images/img066.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Alarming Symptoms on eating Boiled Beef and
+Gooseberry-Pie.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Little Boy</span>: &ldquo;Oh lor, ma! I feel just exactly as if my jacket
+was buttoned.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>If &ldquo;a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind,&rdquo; the
+boy in the following drawing would have delighted
+in the society of the <i>gourmet</i> at the pastrycook&rsquo;s.
+Boiled beef and gooseberry-pie are good things
+enough in their way, but one may have too much
+of a good thing, with the inevitable result of the
+tightening of the jacket. This greedy-boy drawing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page48" id="page48"></a>48</span>
+appeared in 1846, and created a great sensation in
+the youth of that day, and many days since. Careful
+parents have been known to use this terrible
+example of over-eating as a warning to their offspring
+that a fit of apoplexy frequently followed the
+tightening of the jacket.</p>
+
+<p>I think my married reader of the rougher sex
+will agree with me when I say that there are few
+more uncomfortable, not to say alarming, moments
+than those spent in the awful interview with the
+parents of his beloved, during which he has to
+prove beyond all doubt that he is in every respect
+an individual to whom the happiness of a &ldquo;dear
+child&rdquo; can be safely entrusted. What a bad quarter
+of an hour that is before the meeting, when he has
+grave doubts as to the sufficiency of his income!
+Will it, with other future possibilities, be considered
+sufficient to assure to &ldquo;my daughter, sir, the comforts
+to which she has been accustomed&rdquo;? This he
+will have to answer satisfactorily, together with a
+few score more questions more or less agonizing.
+Leech drew a scene of common application when
+he produced the picture that follows, which he calls
+&ldquo;Rather Alarming&rdquo;&mdash;&ldquo;On Horror&rsquo;s Head, Horrors
+accumulate.&rdquo; Look at that terrible female and prospective
+mother-in-law!&mdash;think of satisfying such a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page49" id="page49"></a>49</span>
+woman that you are worthy of admission into her
+family! How sincerely one pities that poor little
+Corydon, and how heartily one wishes him success!</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p class="center sc">&ldquo;Rather Alarming.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Lady</span>: &ldquo;You wished, sir, I believe, to see me respecting the
+state of my daughter&rsquo;s affections with a view to a matrimonial
+alliance with that young lady. If you will walk into the library,
+my husband and I will discuss the matter with you.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Young Corydon</span>: &ldquo;Oh, gracious!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Leech treats&mdash;how admirably!&mdash;another greedy
+boy, or, rather, two greedy boys.</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p><span class="sc">Jacky</span>: &ldquo;Hallo, Tommy! what &rsquo;ave you got there?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Tommy</span>: &ldquo;Hoyster!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Jacky</span>: &ldquo;Oh, give us a bit!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>A Calais oyster, no doubt&mdash;large enough for
+both; but Tommy will not share his happiness.
+Intensity of expression pervades him from his open
+mouth to his fingers&rsquo; ends. Jacky&rsquo;s face and figure
+are no less expressive of eagerness to join in the
+banquet.</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:430px; height:530px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img069.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1 list">
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">So you have taken all your Stuff, and don&rsquo;t feel any
+better, eh? Well, then, we must alter the Treatment.
+You must get your Head shaved; and if you
+will call here to-morrow Morning about eleven, my
+Pupil will put a Seton in the back of your Neck.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>If ever man suffered from <i>embarras de richesse</i>, I
+am that individual in making a selection from the
+early drawings of Leech; where all, or nearly all,
+are so perfect, choice becomes difficult indeed. I
+cannot resist, however, the one that follows this
+remark. For perfection of character and richness
+of humour, it seems to me unsurpassable. The
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page50" id="page50"></a>50</span>
+doctor&rsquo;s attitude as he contemplates his victim&mdash;who
+seems to have brought with her the huge empty
+physic-bottles to prove that she has taken all her
+&ldquo;stuff&rdquo;&mdash;to say nothing of his startling individuality,
+is Nature itself; and that immortal pupil with the
+big knife, smiling in anticipation of the operation
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page51" id="page51"></a>51</span>
+&ldquo;to-morrow about eleven&rdquo;! One can read on the
+face of the patient a dull realization of the doctor&rsquo;s
+announcement that only a seton in the back of her
+neck&mdash;whatever that may mean to her&mdash;will be of
+any service now; and to render the operation
+successful, she must have her head shaved.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:440px; height:550px" src="images/img070.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Awful Apparition to a Gentleman whilst Shaving in
+the Edgware Road, September 29, 1846.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The statue of the Duke of Wellington, which so
+long disgraced Hyde Park Corner, has disappeared,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page52" id="page52"></a>52</span>
+to the satisfaction of the world in general, though
+there were, I believe, a few dissentients who saw,
+or said they saw, beauty in one of the most hideous
+objects ever perpetrated by the hand of man; yet
+the &ldquo;ayes had it,&rdquo; and the monster has departed.</p>
+
+<p>The effigy was manufactured in a studio near
+Paddington Green, and it was on its journey
+through the Edgware Road to the arch now on
+Constitution Hill that the gentleman in Leech&rsquo;s
+cartoon was startled by a very remarkable object, to
+say the least of it.</p>
+
+<p>Speaking from my own experience, I have always
+found a difficulty in giving the effect of wind in a
+picture; the action of it on drapery, trees, skies,
+etc., is&mdash;from the almost momentary nature of the
+gusts&mdash;far from an easy task. No one who ever
+handled a brush or a pencil has been so successful
+as Leech in conveying the action of wind on every
+object, and never did he succeed more completely
+than in an &ldquo;Awful Scene on the Chain Pier at
+Brighton,&rdquo; which is, no doubt, somewhat farcical;
+but how intensely funny! Master Charley has
+gone, and his ma&rsquo;s parasol has accompanied him.
+The horror-struck nursemaid is almost blown off her
+feet; and Charley&rsquo;s brother, also terror-stricken, will
+be down on his back in a moment; whilst his little
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page53" id="page53"></a>53</span>
+sister maintains her equilibrium with great difficulty.
+The flying hat, and the couple staggering against
+the blast in the distance, all help to realize for us the
+exact effect of a wind-storm.</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p><span class="sc">Nursemaid</span>: &ldquo;Lawk! there goes Charley, and he&rsquo;s took his
+ma&rsquo;s parasol! What <i>will</i> missus say?&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:601px; height:530px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img072.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Waiter</span>: &ldquo;Gent in No. 4 likes a holder and a thinner wine,
+does he? I wonder how he&rsquo;ll like this bin!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>As there is no condition in life that has not
+proved food for Leech&rsquo;s pencil, that of the waiter
+was fruitful in many never-to-be-forgotten scenes.
+I introduce one which is very humorous, and scarcely
+an exaggeration. It is called &ldquo;How to Suit the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page54" id="page54"></a>54</span>
+Taste.&rdquo; A guest seems to have found his port too
+new and strong.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:667px; height:470px" src="images/img073.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Hollo! Hi! here, Somebody! I&rsquo;ve turned on the Hot
+Water, and I can&rsquo;t turn it off again!&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>One of the peculiarities of Leech&rsquo;s art is that
+&ldquo;time cannot wither it, nor custom stale its infinite
+variety.&rdquo; I defy the most serious Scotchman to
+look at the sketch below without laughing at it.
+As the gentleman who is on the highroad to being
+parboiled is in one of the sketches of 1846, many
+of my readers may see him for the first time. I
+envy that man; but though I am very familiar with
+the wonderful little drawing, a renewed acquaintance
+is always a delight to me. We know the bather
+can jump out of the scalding water when he likes,
+but there he is, with clouds of steam rising about
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page55" id="page55"></a>55</span>
+him, screaming in deadly terror for &ldquo;somebody&rdquo; to
+come to his rescue.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:600px; height:622px" src="images/img074.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption">&ldquo;Symptoms of a Masquerade.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Better-Half</span> (<i>loq.</i>): &ldquo;Is this what you call sitting up with a
+sick friend, Mr. Wilkins?&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Here follows a drawing of a different character,
+opening up very appreciable possibilities, and not
+very pleasant consequences for the hero of the
+piece. Mr. Wilkins left the domestic hearth to sit
+up with a sick friend. &ldquo;Yes, my dear,&rdquo; I can hear
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page56" id="page56"></a>56</span>
+him say to his spouse, &ldquo;I may be late; for if I find
+I can comfort the poor fellow by my conversation, I
+cannot find it in my heart to hurry away from him.&rdquo;
+Wicked Mr. Wilkins! What was there wrong in
+going to a masquerade? and if it was criminal to
+do so, why leave the evidence of your guilt where
+Mrs. W. could find it? Was that a <i>lady&rsquo;s</i> mask?
+In the eyes of the outraged wife I dare say it was,
+though it may only have been used to cover the
+homely features of the deceiver, whose pale face
+and empty soda-water bottle plainly prove that the
+evening&rsquo;s entertainment will not bear the morning&rsquo;s
+reflections.</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:600px; height:507px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img076.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Juvenile</span>: &ldquo;I say, Charley, that&rsquo;s a jeuced fine gurl talking to
+young Fipps! I should like to catch her under the mistletoe.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The first drawings of &ldquo;The Rising Generation,&rdquo;
+in which are portrayed the premature affections and
+the amusing affectations of the manners and sayings
+of their elders that, according to Leech, distinguished
+the <i>jeunesse dor�</i> of England, appeared in 1846, and
+have been so admirably described by Dickens elsewhere
+as to leave me only the task of placing some
+of the drawings before the reader, carefully avoiding
+those the great writer has noticed so felicitously.
+The young gentleman in the drawing introduced
+here would like to catch the pretty creature talking
+to the fascinating young man under the mistletoe, no
+doubt! We know his wicked intentions; but how
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page57" id="page57"></a>57</span>
+would he carry them out? He is not tall enough
+to reach the lady&rsquo;s elbow; but love in such passionate
+natures laughs at difficulties, and he will find a
+way; and he calls a man old enough to be his father
+<i>young</i> Fipps! Delightful little dog! and no less
+delightful is his friend Charley, who smiles encouragement,
+and would do likewise. These works
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page58" id="page58"></a>58</span>
+of Leech possess what it is not too much to call an
+historical interest, as they chronicle truly the dresses
+of the time. In the object of our young friend&rsquo;s
+admiration, I fancy I see the approach of crinoline,
+while her ringlets afford a striking contrast to the
+fringes of the present day. An old lady would now
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page59" id="page59"></a>59</span>
+create a sensation indeed if she appeared in a turban
+like that which bedecks the sitting figure.</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:550px; height:527px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img077.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Juvenile:</span> &ldquo;Uncle!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Uncle:</span> &ldquo;Now, then, what is it? This is the fourth time
+you&rsquo;ve woke me up, sir.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Juvenile:</span> &ldquo;Oh! just put a few coals on the fire and pass the
+wine, that&rsquo;s a good old chap!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Again the irrepressible juvenile, under different
+conditions. Behold him practising upon a very
+testy old gentleman, who has been so rude, in the
+estimation of his young nephew, as to go to sleep
+after dinner.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:550px; height:485px" src="images/img078.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Rising Generation.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Juvenile</span>: &ldquo;Ah, it&rsquo;s all very well! Love may do for boys and
+gals; but we, as men of the world, know &rsquo;ow &rsquo;ollow it is.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In his notices of the freaks of the rising generation
+Leech did not confine himself to juveniles of
+the higher and middle ranks, but occasionally he
+shows us the young snob, of whom he makes&mdash;with
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page60" id="page60"></a>60</span>
+modifications&mdash;the same mannish and amusingly vain
+creature as his confr�res, the little swells. As an
+illustration, I present my reader with a scene in a
+coffee-house, in which two friends are refreshing
+themselves, and exchanging philosophical reflections
+on the vanities of human life. These lads look like
+shop-boys, but&mdash;in their own estimation&mdash;with souls
+far above their positions in life. The spokesman
+has found the truth of the poet&rsquo;s description of the
+course of true love in the conduct of some barmaid
+who has jilted him, hence his bitterness.</p>
+
+<p>In the year 1847 Leech produced much of his
+best work, and in justification of this dictum I advise
+the study of a drawing full of character, humour, and
+beauty. Thousands of heads of households could
+vouch for the truth of the situation depicted there,
+and where is the mistress whose mind has not misgiven
+her when a request from her pretty servant
+has been urged that she might &ldquo;go to chapel this
+evening&rdquo;? &ldquo;Chapel, indeed!&rdquo; one can hear her
+mutter to herself; &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve not the least doubt the
+baker&rsquo;s man is waiting for her round the corner!&rdquo;
+I am loath to find fault with such a work as this,
+but I <i>do</i> think that perfect maid deserved a more
+presentable lover than the pudding-faced, knock-kneed
+soldier who is personating the &ldquo;bit of ribbin.&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page61" id="page61"></a>61</span>
+The artist appears to me to charge his story-telling
+maid with very bad taste indeed. Would the drawing
+have lost, or gained, if Leech had given us a
+handsome young guardsman instead of this ugly
+fellow? He would, at any rate, have made the little
+fib a little more pardonable. The other figures deserve
+careful attention&mdash;notably, the youth absorbed
+in the study of natural history.</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p><span class="sc">Servant-Maid</span>: &ldquo;If you please, mem, could I go out for half
+an hour to buy a bit of ribbin, mem?&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>If there be amongst my readers any who are
+unfamiliar with Cruikshank&rsquo;s illustrations of &ldquo;Oliver
+Twist,&rdquo; I advise them to turn to them, where they
+will find a drawing of Fagin in the condemned cell
+at Newgate, one of the most awful renderings of
+agonized despair ever depicted by the hand of an
+artist. This great work is travestied by Leech in a
+manner so admirable as to make the travesty take
+rank with the original. Instead of Fagin, see King
+Louis Philippe smarting under the failure of his
+schemes and the impending fall of his dynasty. By
+the Spanish marriages the veteran trickster destroyed
+the power which he sought to consolidate.</p>
+
+<p>Domestic troubles and misadventures were represented
+by Leech in many examples, with a sympathetic
+humour that never wearies. A party may
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page62" id="page62"></a>62</span>
+be assembled for a dinner which is strangely delayed;
+conversation flags into silence. The host and
+hostess become uneasy, when a button-boy appears
+with the ominous &ldquo;Oh, if you please, &rsquo;m, cook&rsquo;s very
+sorry, &rsquo;m, could she speak to you for a moment?&rdquo;
+Something has happened; but we are left in uncertainty
+as to what it was.</p>
+
+<p>Or the dinner is served, when an alarming announcement
+is made:</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p><span class="sc">Servant</span> (<i>rushing in</i>): &ldquo;Oh, goodness gracious, master!
+There&rsquo;s the kitchen chimley afire, and two parish ingins a-knocking
+at the street door.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>One of the happiest of the servant-gal-isms appears
+this year&mdash;the precursor of many excellent tunes on
+the same string&mdash;delightfully illustrative of the
+vanity which we all share, more or less, with our
+maids. In the picture that follows, the sight of the
+old lady&rsquo;s new bonnet and a convenient looking-glass
+have provided an opportunity that the pretty
+servant could not resist. She must see how she
+looks in it&mdash;and behold the result!</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:650px; height:539px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img082.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Domestic</span> (<i>soliloquizing</i>): &ldquo;Well, I&rsquo;m sure, missis had better
+give this new bonnet to me, instead of sticking such a young-looking
+thing upon her old shoulders.&rdquo; (The impudent minx has
+immediate warning.)</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>I must refer my readers to <i>Punch&rsquo;s</i> almanac for
+1848, copiously illustrated by Leech, for many
+admirable examples of his many-sided powers.
+Alas! my space forbids the reproduction of any of
+them. Amongst the rest there is one of a gentleman
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page63" id="page63"></a>63</span>
+suffering from influenza, which, by the way,
+seems to have been as prevalent in 1848 as it has
+been recently, though not so fatal in its effects.
+Our sufferer is visited by a condoling friend: he
+sits with his feet in hot water, and, with his hand on
+the bell-pull, he says, &ldquo;This is really very kind of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page64" id="page64"></a>64</span>
+you to call. Can I offer you anything? A basin
+of gruel, or a glass of cough mixture? Don&rsquo;t say
+no!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Another of a rich old lady, who stands before a
+pyramid of oyster-barrels, all sent to her at Christmas
+by her poor relations. Another&mdash;but I must
+pause, and again refer my reader to the almanac.</p>
+
+<p>I find yet one more of the &ldquo;Rising Generation&rdquo;
+series quite irresistible. The two little bucks are
+perfect, and the idea of such a report as that one of
+them was engaged to the magnificent woman&mdash;whose
+face we long to see&mdash;is so ludicrous as almost to reach
+the sublime of absurdity. Look at the eagerness
+with which the precocious youth impresses upon his
+friend the necessity of contradicting the rumour,
+and the well-bred and considerate way in which the
+friend receives a communication which does not
+surprise him. He does not smile at it. There is
+nothing astonishing in a man&rsquo;s being in love with
+such a fine woman, and he will certainly contradict
+anyone who repeats the report, as his friend desires.
+If the creatures had been six feet high instead of
+not so many more inches, they could not have
+conducted themselves more naturally.</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:630px; height:525px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img084.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Juvenile</span>: &ldquo;Oh, Charley, if you hear a report that I am going
+to be married to that girl in black, you can contradict it. There&rsquo;s
+nothing in it.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>1848 witnessed the fall of the French throne and
+the tottering of others in Europe. It was a terrible
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page65" id="page65"></a>65</span>
+time, and though the English throne was safe
+enough, a great deal of vague alarm existed in this
+country. The Chartists met in their thousands, and
+prepared a bill of grievances with signatures, making
+a document, it was said, some miles long. This
+petition they announced their intention of presenting
+to Parliament, accompanied by a procession, which
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page66" id="page66"></a>66</span>
+was really to be some miles long; but they reckoned
+without their host&mdash;of opponents. Special constables
+were enrolled (amongst whom was Louis Napoleon),
+soldiers were at hand, skilfully hidden by the great
+Duke, and the Chartist procession was peacefully
+stopped long before it got to Westminster.</p>
+
+<p>There were firebrands then as now, and a meeting
+was called by one of them to be held in Trafalgar
+Square&mdash;see how history repeats itself!&mdash;where a
+ragamuffin assembly appeared; so did the police,
+and nothing came of it except a few broken heads
+and the inimitable drawings by Leech. How admirable
+they are!</p>
+
+<p>The person who wanted more liberty, equality,
+and fraternity than was good for him or anybody
+else, was a Mr. Cochran, and his adherents were
+called Cochranites.</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p><span class="sc">Cochranite</span>: &ldquo;Hooray! Veeve ler liberty!! Harm yourselves!!
+To the palis!! Down with heverythink!!!!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>In the second picture the Cochranite has collapsed.
+A stalwart policeman has taken him in
+hand, and he cries, &ldquo;Oh, sir&mdash;please, sir&mdash;it ain&rsquo;t
+me, sir. I&rsquo;m for God save the Queen and Rule
+Britannier. Boo-hoo!&mdash;oh dear! oh dear!&rdquo; (bursts
+into tears).</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page67" id="page67"></a>67</span></p>
+
+<p>Below we have another result of the agitation,
+touched in Leech&rsquo;s happiest manner. A special
+constable endeavours to arrest an agitator, who
+evidently objects, and prepares for resistance.</p>
+
+<div class="center pt2"><img style="width:630px; height:523px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img086.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Special Constable</span>: &ldquo;Now mind, you know&mdash;if I kill you,
+it&rsquo;s nothing; but if you kill me, by Jove! it&rsquo;s murder!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>A certain Master Jackey was a great favourite of
+Leech&rsquo;s. In an elaborate work this youth&rsquo;s pranks
+are chronicled under the heading of &ldquo;Home for the
+Holidays.&rdquo; Whether the hero of those adventures
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page68" id="page68"></a>68</span>
+is the same as he who is pictured in the work I
+present to my readers I know not. In all probability
+the taste for practical joking which flourished
+so vigorously in the holiday scenes began, as we
+see, in the nursery. Master Jackey has been to the
+play, where he has witnessed the performances of a
+contortionist, and, emulous of rivalling the professor,
+he perils the limbs and lives of his brothers and
+sisters in his operations. We know of the tendency
+to imitate in all children, but when the propensity
+shows itself in the imitation of tricks that require
+long practice before they can be performed with
+safety, the game, though amusing to the players,
+may be very dangerous to the played upon. It is to
+be hoped that the rush of the terrified mother in
+this capital scene may be in time to save the baby
+from a perilous fall. The little brothers have already
+tasted the consequence of Master Jackey&rsquo;s imitation.</p>
+
+<p>The accompanying drawing was suggested by myself
+during an after-dinner conversation at a friend&rsquo;s
+house. The talk had turned on the difficulty that the
+pronunciation of certain words would prove to one
+who had dined not wisely but too well, when it occurred
+to me that &ldquo;Plesiosaurus&rdquo; or &ldquo;Ichthyosaurus&rdquo; would
+be troublesome, and I said so. Leech smiled, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page69" id="page69"></a>69</span>
+said nothing, but in <i>Punch</i> of the week following his
+idea of the difficulty appeared.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:520px; height:623px" src="images/img088.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Recreations in Natural History.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">First Naturalist</span>: &ldquo;What, the s-s-she-sherpent a-an (hic!)
+Ich-(hic!)-thyosaurus! Nonshence!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Second Naturalist</span>: &ldquo;Who said Ich-(hic!)-Ichthy-o-saurus?
+I said Plesi-o-(hic!)-saurus plainenuff.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The cabman who doesn&rsquo;t know his way about
+London is exceptional, but he is met with occasionally,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page70" id="page70"></a>70</span>
+and very provoking he is; but to have his little
+trap-door knocked off its hinges because he takes a
+wrong turning is a punishment in excess of his fault.
+The young gentleman passenger is of an impatient
+turn, and he will find that his impatience will have
+to be paid for unless the cabman is more good-natured
+than he looks.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:470px; height:535px" src="images/img089.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Cabman is supposed to have taken a Wrong Turning,
+that&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Flunkeiana cannot be omitted in this short
+summary of Leech&rsquo;s work, more especially as the
+first of a long series is one of the best. Nothing
+can be conceived more perfect than the man and the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page71" id="page71"></a>71</span>
+maid at the seaside&mdash;the girl, French from top
+to toe; the flunkey, a most perfect type of the
+class.</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p><span class="sc">French Maid</span>: &ldquo;You like&mdash;a&mdash;ze&mdash;seaside&mdash;M&rsquo;sieu Jean
+Thomas?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">John Thomas</span>: &ldquo;Par bokhoo, mamzelle&mdash;par bokhoo. I&rsquo;ve&mdash;aw&mdash;been
+so accustomed to&mdash;aw&mdash;gaiety in town, that I&rsquo;m&mdash;aw&mdash;a&rsquo;most
+killed with arnwee down here.&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>The immortal Briggs made his first appearance in
+<i>Punch</i> in the year 1849, and with one or two records
+of his career I regret to say I must close my selected
+list of Leech&rsquo;s early works. To say I regret this is
+to say little, for I am obliged to forego numberless
+delightful works, many as good as, and some perhaps
+better than, those I have presented to my readers.
+Mr. Briggs first appears with newspaper in hand in
+his snug breakfast-room, listening to a complaint
+from the housemaid that a slate is off the roof, and
+the servant&rsquo;s bedroom in danger of being flooded.
+Mr. Briggs replies that the sooner it is put to rights
+the better, before it goes any further&mdash;and he will see
+about it. Mr. Briggs does see about it; he sees the
+builder, who tells him that &ldquo;a little compo&rdquo; is all
+that is wanted. The drawings show that eight or
+ten men are required to manage the little compo,
+much to Mr. Briggs&rsquo; astonishment.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page72" id="page72"></a>72</span></p>
+
+<p>In the next scene a huge scaffolding is raised, and
+a small army of labourers are at work on Mr. Briggs&rsquo;s
+roof. A noise enough to wake the dead has awoke
+Mr. Briggs at the unpleasant hour of five in the
+morning. Flower-pots and bricks fall past his
+dressing-room window. He finds &ldquo;no time has
+been lost, and that the workpeople have already
+commenced putting the roof to rights.&rdquo; The builder
+would not be true to his craft if he did not improve
+the occasion and show his employer how easy, now
+that the workpeople were about, it would be to make
+certain additions in the shape of a conservatory, etc.,
+to the house. Briggs weakly listens to the voice of
+the charmer; walls are battered down to enlarge the
+dining-room, and the entrance-hall is enlarged. Mr.
+Briggs&rsquo;s health gives way, and he calls in the doctor,
+who prescribes horse exercise.</p>
+
+<p>I think it was at one of those never-to-be-forgotten
+dinners at Egg&rsquo;s that, the talk having turned
+upon shooting experiences, Dickens said that the
+sudden rising of a cock-pheasant under one&rsquo;s nose
+was like a firework let off in that uncongenial
+locality. The following week Leech subjected
+Mr. Briggs to the startling experience so admirably
+recorded in the drawing which faces this page.</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:830px; height:550px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img092.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>For a further acquaintance with Mr. Briggs&rsquo;s performances
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page73" id="page73"></a>73<br />74</span>
+on horseback, as well as his escapades
+with gun and fishing-rod, I must content myself with
+referring those curious on the matters to the pages
+of <i>Punch</i>, where they will find entertainment that is
+inexhaustible.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page75" id="page75"></a>75</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER III.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">MR. PERCIVAL LEIGH AND LEECH.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">In</span> the death of Mr. Percival Leigh, which took
+place a short time ago, the last member of the
+original staff of <i>Punch</i> passed away. Mr. Leigh
+never married, and died at a very advanced age. I
+frequently met him in society, where his refined and
+gentle manners, and his quaintly humorous conversation,
+were what might have been anticipated
+from the author of &ldquo;Pips his Diary,&rdquo; the &ldquo;Comic
+Grammars,&rdquo; and other contributions to the paper to
+which he was so long and so faithfully attached.
+From the days of their fellow-studentship at
+St. Bartholomew&rsquo;s (with a short interval), to the
+time of Leech&rsquo;s death, a firm friendship existed
+between these two distinguished men.</p>
+
+<p>Much alike in their sense of humour, they also
+resembled each other in numberless amiable qualities
+of heart and mind. Leigh&rsquo;s pen was as free from
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page76" id="page76"></a>76</span>
+personality, and as conspicuous for the gentleness
+with which it dealt with folly, as Leech&rsquo;s pencil. In
+early and late days, when Leech was in trouble,
+Leigh&rsquo;s was the hand&mdash;amongst others&mdash;ever ready
+to help; and to those who can read between the lines
+in the paper which Mr. Leigh has contributed to
+this book, there will be little difficulty in discovering
+the &ldquo;friend&rdquo; who found purchasers for work that
+the producer was barred (in a double sense) from
+selling for himself.</p>
+
+<p>I see little or no reason for weakening my assertion
+that Leech arrived at his supreme eminence
+without any art education; for the slight mechanical
+knowledge of the art of drawing upon wood which
+he acquired from Mr. Orrin Smith, a wood-engraver,
+is no more worthy the name of art-teaching, than the
+few lessons in etching given to Leech by George
+Cruikshank can be called art-education. Following
+the example of Sir John Millais, Mr. Percival Leigh
+(to whom, it will be remembered, Millais recommended
+my predecessor, Mr. Evans, to apply) furnished
+the following remarks for this memoir.</p>
+
+<p>Said Mr. Leigh: &ldquo;Orrin Smith has been dead
+many years. How long Leech was with him I
+cannot say precisely. Perhaps a twelvemonth or
+thereabouts. Smith was a sociable and rather a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page77" id="page77"></a>77</span>
+clever man, but according to Leech, occasionally so
+economical that he would now and then try to get a
+little gratuitous work out of him. On one occasion
+Smith asked him to introduce a few figures, so as to
+put a touch of action into a drawing on wood, meant
+to illustrate a serious little book, the work of a
+clergyman. The scene represented was a quiet
+churchyard. Leech improved it with a group of
+little boys larking and boxing.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Of course these embellishments, on discovery,
+were objected to as painfully incongruous, and had
+to be cancelled. I forget whether or no they
+had been actually engraven before they were taken
+out.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Thus far Mr. Leigh. I think I can interpret the
+incongruity. I fancy I can hear Leech say, after
+previous unrequited sketches, &ldquo;Oh, hang it! this is
+too bad. Well, here goes; he shall have a few
+figures, and I hope he&rsquo;ll like &rsquo;em.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Leigh continues: &ldquo;The post-office envelope
+was one of Leech&rsquo;s successes; so were the &lsquo;Comic
+Histories&rsquo; of England and Rome, and the &lsquo;Comic
+Blackstone&rsquo;; but his growth in popularity was
+gradual. He had previously illustrated &lsquo;Jack Brag&rsquo;
+for Bentley, and subsequently various articles for
+<i>Bentley&rsquo;s Miscellany</i>, particularly the &lsquo;Ingoldsby
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page78" id="page78"></a>78</span>
+Legends,&rsquo; as well as other ephemeral works of the
+same publisher; amongst them the &lsquo;Comic Latin&rsquo;
+and &lsquo;English&rsquo; Grammars, and the &lsquo;Children of the
+Mobility,&rsquo; a travesty of the &lsquo;Children of the Nobility,&rsquo;
+long since out of print. He also furnished coloured
+illustrations to the &lsquo;Fiddle-Faddle Fashion-book,&rsquo; a
+whimsical satire on the fopperies and literary
+absurdities of the period, also out of print.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I venture again to interrupt the current of
+Mr. Leigh&rsquo;s narrative with a word or two on the
+&ldquo;Fiddle-Faddle&rdquo; book. A copy of it, date 1840,
+has been lent to me. The literary portion, consisting
+mainly of a thrilling story of brigand life, the
+blood-curdling tenor of which may be imagined from
+the title, &ldquo;Grabalotti the Bandit; or, The Emerald
+Monster of the Deep Dell,&rdquo; is the work of Mr.
+Leigh. The story opens thus:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Italia! oh, Italia! blooming birthplace of
+beauty! land of lazzaroni and loveliness! clime
+of complines and cruelty, of susceptibility and sacrilege,
+of roses and revenge! thy bright, blue,
+boundless skies serene I love; thy verdant vales,
+volcanoes, vines, and virgins! Thy virgins? ay,
+thy bright-eyed, dark-haired virgins. I love them&mdash;how
+I love them, though mine, alas! they ne&rsquo;er
+can be! And there was one who, in earlier, happier
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page79" id="page79"></a>79</span>
+hours, before these locks were&mdash;no matter. Let
+me proceed with the calmness becoming a narrator
+with my tale.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And he proceeds &ldquo;with a vengeance&rdquo; to let us
+know that the spokesman of the above is an artist
+who had &ldquo;halted in a deep ravine in the Abruzzi
+(where, on each side, the cliffs frowned like fiends
+upon the quailing traveller) to transfer to my portable
+sketch-book a slight souvenir of the celestial
+scene. Absorbed in my enthralling occupation, I
+heeded not the approach of a visitant; it was therefore
+with surprise, not unmingled with alarm, that I
+was aroused by a tap upon the shoulders, accompanied
+by the following sarcastic greeting:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Is thy maternal parent, young man, aware of
+thine absence from home?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Quite so,&rsquo; I replied, in a tremulous tone,
+anxiously glancing round to behold the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My acquaintance with literature&mdash;to say nothing
+of my constant attendance at the opera&mdash;at once convinced
+me that I was in the hands of a brigand.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Had there been &ldquo;any possible doubt whatever,&rdquo;
+it would have been instantly dispelled; for after
+&ldquo;smiling in demoniacal derision,&rdquo; the disturber of
+the sketcher said, &ldquo;deliberately and tranquilly, as
+he levelled a pistol at my head:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page80" id="page80"></a>80</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Thy wealth or thy existence!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My sole remaining ducat was offered in vain.
+At the shrill sound of his whistle the crags bristled
+with bandits, and fifty carbines were pointed at my
+person. Blue with boiling agony, I made as a last
+resource the Masonic sign. It succeeded. At another
+signal every carbine was lowered, and breathless
+expectation brooded over the heart of its bearer.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The bandits, however, were not so easily satisfied;
+for &ldquo;a murmur of impatience, mingled with discontent,
+arose, like the billows of emotion, amongst
+the troop, and some twenty weapons again kissed
+with their stocks as many manly shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Back, slaves, for your lives!&rsquo; shouted the
+infuriated Grabalotti, throwing himself in front of
+me. &lsquo;One moment more, and, by the blood-stained
+power of the thundering Avalanche, the foremost of
+you dies!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Cowering in cream-like humility, each individual
+reversed his implement of death&mdash;all but one. A
+ball from the pistol of Grabalotti instantly crashed
+through his brain. For a moment he writhed in
+sable pangs; then all was over, and darkness
+mantled over his impetuosity for ever. Then,
+turning towards me, the brigand chief gave me a
+civil invitation to spend the day with him, which,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page81" id="page81"></a>81</span>
+under existing circumstances, I thought it best to
+accept. On our way I took the opportunity thus
+furnished me to survey my lawless companion. He
+was at least six feet and a half, independent of the
+coverings of his feet, in height; his air was stern
+and commanding; raven ringlets clustered down to
+his shoulders. Premature intensity glowed in his
+volcanic eyes; his nose was Roman, and he wore
+mustachios. The lines in the lower part of his face
+were indicative of death-fraught concentration;
+and the teeth, frequently disclosed by his smile of
+pervading bitterness, were remarkably white. The
+gloom of his conical hat was mocked by gay
+ribands. He wore a jacket of green velvet (an
+expensive article), lustrously gemmed with gold
+buttons; and those portions of his dress for which
+our language has no proper appellation were richly
+meandered with superior lace. His legs were
+variously swathed in the manner so characteristic
+of his profession. The carbine that slept in a
+snowy belt at his back; the pistols bickering in
+his girdle; and the stiletto reposing, like candid
+innocence, in its silver sheath, with its ivory handle
+protruding from his sash, were all of the most
+ornamental and valuable description.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This extraordinary robber and the artist arrive at
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page82" id="page82"></a>82</span>
+&ldquo;the dwelling of the bandit, which was eligibly
+situate among the most romantic scenery.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Signor Grabalotti conducted his visitor to a
+&ldquo;table groaning with fruit, and supporting six
+sacramental chalices filled with the richest wine.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The brigand has made a great haul of prisoners,
+whose friends have not shown the alacrity in
+rescuing them required by their captor, who, by
+way of entertaining his guest, orders them all, to
+the amount of a dozen, into his presence, and,
+arranging them in a row &ldquo;along a trench in the
+background,&rdquo; with the assistance of twelve of his
+men, has them all shot.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Almost ere the smoke had cleared away, the
+earth was shovelled over the bodies.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;And now,&rsquo; said the chief, &lsquo;for a dance in
+honour of our guest.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Four-and-twenty brisk young bandits, clad in
+jackets, green array, were instantly joined by as
+many maidens, each wearing the square <i>coiffure</i>,
+short dress, and <i>petite</i> apron, and otherwise fully
+attired in the costume of the country. Each robber
+provided himself with a partner, and a festive dance
+was performed with great spirit to a popular air.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Their gaiety was at its height, when suddenly
+the sound of a distant bell stole with milky gentleness
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page83" id="page83"></a>83</span>
+on the ear. In an instant all present fell on
+their knees, and, with their arms devoutly crossed
+upon their breasts, raised, in heavenly unison, their
+hymn of votive praise to the Virgin.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Here endeth the first chapter of the &ldquo;Emerald
+Monster of the Deep Dell.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As &ldquo;a satire on the literary absurdities of the
+day,&rdquo; to quote its author, this capital fooling could
+not be surpassed; indeed, to those who remember,
+as the present writer can distinctly, the effusions in
+prose and verse&mdash;or, as Jerrold called it, &ldquo;prose
+and worse&rdquo;&mdash;that more or less filled the pages of
+the Keepsakes, the Books of Gems and Beauty of
+a long bygone time, the &ldquo;Monster of the Deep
+Dell&rdquo; is scarcely a caricature.</p>
+
+<p>But I have not yet done with him. The second
+chapter is devoted to an account in Grabalotti
+language of the early life and loves of the interesting
+bandit:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Rino Grabalotti is my name,&rdquo; he says. &ldquo;Italy
+is my nation; the Deep Dell is my dwelling-place,
+and&mdash;but no! never shall monkish cant pollute the
+lips to baleful imprecation attuned for ever. Let
+the blue and hideous glare of the lightning, and
+the ghastly gleam of the hag-ridden meteor, illumine
+the deeds of my doing. Growl, ye thunders!
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page84" id="page84"></a>84</span>
+Roar, ye tempests! Yell, ye fiends, and howl in
+hideous harmony a prelude to my tale!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He then proceeds to inform the artist (who, with
+an eye for copy, ventures to hint &ldquo;that an outline
+of his history would be interesting&rdquo;) that he was
+the son of a priest, and born in Naples; and
+naturally much annoyed by the scandalous irregularity
+of his birth, he devotes his life to robbing
+and murdering as many of his fellow-creatures as
+good fortune places in his hands in the practice of
+his profession.</p>
+
+<p>But I anticipate. Grabalotti declines to say much
+about his infancy; he seems to have been pretty
+often reminded of the scandal of his birth, and as
+often he registered a vow that, sooner or later,
+he would close for ever the mouths of the slanderers.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It was in my sixteenth summer,&rdquo; he continues,
+&ldquo;that I really began to live. Though in years a
+boy, I was in all else a man. Passion hurtled in
+my darkening eye, and plunged my heart in lava.
+I loved; what Italian at my age does not? Yes;
+I&mdash;the ruthless, the scathed, the smouldering, the
+sanguinary, the Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell&mdash;I,
+even I, gasped with tortuous anguish in the
+maddening transports of Cupid.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page85" id="page85"></a>85</span></p>
+
+<p>Giulia is the name of the fair creature who has
+caused the eruption of this volcanic passion; and on
+what the bandit-lover calls &ldquo;an evening of rosy
+gladness,&rdquo; he seeks his fair enslaver&rsquo;s window,
+guitar in hand. But the voice, &ldquo;which was the
+best at a barcarole of any in Naples,&rdquo; had raised
+a very few love notes, when a rough voice exclaims:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;What dost thou here, spurious offspring of
+sacrilege?&rsquo; accompanying the inquiry by an equally
+rough salutation from behind (oh, madness!)&mdash;&lsquo;begone!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Confusion simmered in my brain. Frenzied, I
+turned; one stroke of my stiletto, and my wounded
+honour was salved&mdash;with gore. It was that of
+Giulia&rsquo;s father!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This sudden death of the author of her being
+offended Giulia, and she solemnly renounced young
+Grabalotti for ever. This intimation, conveyed in
+a mixture of &ldquo;indignation mingled with scorn,&rdquo; had
+an extraordinary effect. Says the lover:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Twisting in bitterness awhile I lingered, then
+rushed distracted from the spot, and fled hissing
+with desperation to the mountains.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The beauties of the Deep Dell produced no
+soothing effect on the desperate bitterness that
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page86" id="page86"></a>86</span>
+twisted the soul of Grabalotti; he issued from the
+Dell to &ldquo;soak and steep his heart in blood.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The dewy wail of infancy, the piercing zest of
+female innocence, and the tremulous pleading of
+piping feebleness, all mocked at the radiance of the
+crimson steel, have poured their bootless incense
+o&rsquo;er my breast.... Ha, ha! The nun, her dove-like
+innocence devastated, has broiled like a chestnut
+amid the ashes of her convent,&rdquo; etc.</p>
+
+<p>More &ldquo;copy&rdquo; in the style of the above is imparted
+to the artist. But an interruption takes
+place. A brigand enters, and so irritates the
+monster by the abruptness of his appearance that,
+had not the pistol with which his impatient master
+received him missed fire, his brains would have
+been scattered to the winds of heaven.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Ha! dost thou dare to break in upon my
+mood?&rsquo; roared Grabalotti.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Come to tell you,&rsquo; said the robber (speaking
+in the greatest possible haste), &lsquo;that the nun who
+escaped the sacking of the convent has been taken.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Do as you list with her, and chop her head off!
+Stay, I would fain see it when it is done; and here,
+take this purse for the risk thou hast encountered.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yet another interruption&mdash;this time in the person
+of a brigand spy disguised as a peasant. The chief
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page87" id="page87"></a>87</span>
+anticipates startling and perhaps unpleasant news,
+and saying: &ldquo;&lsquo;Excuse me, signor, for a few moments,&rsquo;
+he retires with his emissary.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Grabalotti was absent some little time, during
+which the artist &ldquo;added another sketch to his small
+collection,&rdquo; when the monster returned, and informed
+his guest &ldquo;in a lively tone&rdquo; that they were about to
+have &ldquo;some fun.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Of what description?&rsquo; inquired the artist.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;In an hour&rsquo;s time we shall be attacked by the
+military,&rsquo;&rdquo; to whom he promises a warm reception;
+and in the event of the robbers being overpowered
+by numbers, &ldquo;a train communicates with the magazine
+below.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Here the head of the unfortunate nun made its
+appearance on a silver dish. Its loveliness, even in
+death, was intensely overpowering. With a grin of
+fiendish malice, Grabalotti seized it by the hair, but
+no sooner did the features meet his eye, than he
+relinquished his hold and fell, senseless, backwards,
+faintly gasping, like a dying echo, &lsquo;&rsquo;Tis she! &rsquo;Tis
+Giulia!!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Unless the artist guest was possessed of courage
+uncommon among our fraternity, he could not have
+contemplated being blown into the air with the
+robbers, or being shot by the soldiers, with equanimity;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page88" id="page88"></a>88</span>
+and he must have been much relieved in
+any case by Grabalotti, who, when &ldquo;the violence of
+frantic ferocity&rdquo; had given way to &ldquo;the calm profundity
+of despair,&rdquo; muttered in a low and suppressed
+tone: &ldquo;Nay, thou shalt live to tell the world my
+story!&rdquo; and to enable his guest to do this eventually,
+&ldquo;in a tone of sweetest melancholy&rdquo; he said:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Stranger, hence! thy further stay is perilous.
+Yon by-path will conduct thee to the valleys.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Rising from &ldquo;the valleys&rdquo; was a crag, to the
+summit of which half an hour&rsquo;s walk would take
+the artist, and from thence he was assured that &ldquo;if
+he turned his gaze backwards he should see something
+worth seeing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The narrator tells us that he reached the crag in
+twenty-nine minutes exactly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;For one minute I gazed in the direction of the
+Brigands&rsquo; Haunt, from which, precisely at the expiration
+of that time, a vivid flash of flame, shooting into
+the air, accompanied by a dense column of smoke,
+and followed by a terrific explosion, proclaimed too
+plainly the last achievement of the Emerald Monster
+of the Deep Dell.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">Mr. Percival Leigh contributes a second story to
+the &ldquo;Fiddle-Faddle Fashion-book,&rdquo; in which the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page89" id="page89"></a>89</span>
+novel of fashionable life, not uncommon fifty years
+ago, is satirized under the title of &ldquo;Belleville: a
+Tale of Fashionable Life,&rdquo; not less happily than the
+sanguinary and terribly romantic writers are treated
+in the burlesque of Grabalotti. The &ldquo;Clara Matilda
+poets&rdquo; of the Keepsake time are also amusingly
+parodied in some short poems, which, with comic advertisements,
+occasionally very humorous, fill up the
+literary portion of the &ldquo;Fiddle-Faddle Fashion-book.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This book is not the only one in which Leech&rsquo;s
+powers have been enlisted&mdash;I was nearly saying
+prostituted&mdash;in publications devoted to eccentricities
+in dress and the caprices of fashion. In illustrations
+by him of the tale of fashionable life, or of Grabalotti,
+the genius of that great artist would have had
+full play; but as the draughtsman of fashion-plates
+it was, in my opinion, degraded. In vindication of
+my judgment I present my readers with two plates
+from the &ldquo;Fiddle-Faddle&rdquo; book, in which Leech
+portrays&mdash;no doubt under direction&mdash;caprices of
+fashion which could only have existed in his own
+imagination, and produced with a feeling of caricature
+that is so conspicuous by its absence in his
+usual work.</p>
+
+<p>I now return to the paper which Mr. Leigh wrote
+with a view to this memoir.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page90" id="page90"></a>90</span></p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:341px; height:650px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img109.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>That Leigh and Leech first met as students at
+St. Bartholomew&rsquo;s Hospital, I have noted elsewhere;
+and the details of his apprenticeship to the eccentric
+surgeon, which Mr. Leigh heard from Leech himself,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page91" id="page91"></a>91<br />92</span>
+I have also given, with the exception of one
+incident of which I was ignorant.</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:407px; height:700px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img110.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In his dispensary,&rdquo; says Mr. Leigh, &ldquo;the doctor
+had one drawer amongst his boxes, in which there
+were pills of gentle efficacy, intended to be served
+out (they were made, I believe, of bread and soap)
+to the generality of his customers. This receptacle
+bore the label of &lsquo;Pil. Hum.,&rsquo;&mdash;abbreviation of humbug&mdash;or,
+as their concoctor used to call them, &lsquo;Humbugeraneous
+Pills.&rsquo; The Dr. Cockle to whom, Mr.
+Leigh says, Leech went after he left Mr. Whittle,
+was the son of the inventor of Cockle&rsquo;s Pills.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No sooner had he become of age,&rdquo; continues
+Mr. Leigh, &ldquo;than he was induced, in order to meet
+difficulties for which he was not responsible, to
+accept an accommodation bill, which the drawer of,
+when it fell due, failed to supply the means of
+meeting. Leech was consequently arrested for
+debt at the suit of this discounter, and lodged in
+a sponging-house kept by a sheriff&rsquo;s officer, a Jew,
+by name (I think) of Levi, in Newman Street.
+There he remained about a fortnight, supporting
+himself in the meanwhile by drawing cartoons and
+caricatures. He lithographed them on stone for
+Spooner, in the Strand, at a guinea each, a <i>friend</i>
+having negotiated their sale.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page93" id="page93"></a>93</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At last, an advance of money on a projected
+publication sufficient to discharge the debt having
+been obtained, he was liberated. But not long after,
+a second scrape&mdash;a repetition of the first&mdash;cost him
+another temporary sojourn with another Jew in
+another sponging-house in Cursitor Street. This
+detention, however, lasted but a few days. <i>From
+that period to the close of his life</i> he remained subject
+to repeated demands for pecuniary assistance under
+continued pressure, which, as at the outset, he could
+not withstand. The deficits he had to defray were
+always heavy; the last of them, as I understand,
+a thousand pounds. It cost him very hard work
+to make it good. Excess of generosity was his
+greatest failing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I have no means of knowing, nor do I desire to
+know, who the borrowers were to whom Percival
+Leigh alludes; but his revelations make the fact of
+Leech having died a comparatively poor man comprehensible
+enough. If ever man was killed by
+overwork, Leech was that man, and this must be a
+painful reflection for those whose incessant demands
+upon him made it only possible for him to meet them
+by the incessant exertions which destroyed him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Leigh&rsquo;s paper concludes with the anecdote
+that follows:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page94" id="page94"></a>94</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Leech and Albert Smith worked together very
+harmoniously as illustrator and writer in several
+books&mdash;&lsquo;Ledbury,&rsquo; &lsquo;Brinvilliers,&rsquo; and many others&mdash;and
+one day when they were leaving Smith&rsquo;s house
+together, a street-boy stepped up to them, and
+scoffing at the inscription on Smith&rsquo;s large brass
+door-plate, cried:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh yes! Mr. Albert Smith, M.R.C.S., Surgeon-Dentist.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Good boy!&rsquo; said Leech, putting a penny into
+the boy&rsquo;s hand; &lsquo;now go and insult somebody
+else.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page95" id="page95"></a>95</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER IV.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">MEETING OF MULREADY AND LEECH.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">Mr. Mulready</span>, R.A., was commissioned by the
+authorities to design a postal envelope for general
+use, a penny stamp affixed insuring free delivery of
+letters all over England. The design, which should
+have been of a simple character, was far too ornate
+and elaborate. At the top Britannia was represented
+in the act of despatching winged messengers with
+letters to all parts of the world, and down the sides
+of the envelope were the recipients of letters which
+had conveyed heart-breaking news to one side,
+and good tidings to the other. As a work of
+art the Mulready envelope has, in my opinion,
+great merit, but it was ludicrously inappropriate
+to the purposes for which it was intended. Leech
+saw and seized the opportunity, with the result
+appended.</p>
+
+<p>The signature of the bottled leech, so familiar
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page96" id="page96"></a>96</span>
+afterwards, is used here as Mulready&rsquo;s signature, and
+&ldquo;thereby hangs a tale,&rdquo; which, though the burden
+of it deals with a future time, I venture to introduce
+in this place.</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:700px; height:576px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img115.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page97" id="page97"></a>97</span></p>
+
+<p class="center f90 pt2">FORES&rsquo;S COMIC ENVELOPES N<span class="sp">o</span>. 1</p>
+
+<div class="center pb2"><img style="width:850px; height:560px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img116.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page98" id="page98"></a>98</span></p>
+
+<p>My friend Augustus Egg, R.A., who lived in a
+charming house in Queen&rsquo;s Road, Bayswater, was
+not only well known as an excellent artist, but also
+as being the Amphitryon whose hospitality was
+famous, and whose dinners were still more famous
+by reason of the guests who were wont to surround
+his table. Where is the hungry man who would
+not have been enchanted to meet Dickens and
+Leech, Mark Lemon and John Forster (Dickens&rsquo;s
+biographer), Hawkins, Q.C. (now the judge), Landseer,
+Mulready, Webster, and other artists less
+famous? Of these dinners I shall have something
+to say by-and-by; at present I confine myself to one
+special occasion.</p>
+
+<p>It was on one day during the year 1847 that Egg
+said to me:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know Mulready better than I do; I wish
+you would go and get him to fix a day to dine here&mdash;any
+day next week will suit me. Leech wants to
+meet him; and, somehow or other, though both have
+dined here frequently, they have never met.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Good,&rdquo; said I; &ldquo;I will do your bidding.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And on the following Sunday I called upon
+Mulready.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Egg will be pleased if you will dine with him any
+day next week, sir, that you may be disengaged.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page99" id="page99"></a>99</span>
+He expects the usual set&mdash;Dickens, Landseer,
+Leech, and the rest. You have never met Leech, I
+think; he is very desirous to make your acquaintance.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah, is he? Well, I don&rsquo;t care about knowing
+Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Really, sir&rdquo; (it was always the Johnsonian <i>sir</i> to
+the old gentleman), said I, when I had recovered
+from my surprise, &ldquo;may I ask why you won&rsquo;t meet
+Leech?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yes, you may,&rdquo; said the old painter, &ldquo;and I will
+tell you. Of course you remember that unfortunate
+postal envelope that I designed? Well, Leech
+caricatured it. You needn&rsquo;t look so surprised&mdash;you
+don&rsquo;t think I am such a fool as to mind being caricatured;
+but I do mind being represented as a <i>blood-sucker</i>!
+What else can he mean by using that
+infernal little leech in a bottle in the front of his
+caricature as my signature? You know well enough,
+Frith, that I have never asked monstrous prices for
+my pictures. You fellows get better paid for your
+work than I ever did, and you wouldn&rsquo;t like to be
+called blood-suckers, I expect.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Mulready was an Irishman, and rather a
+peppery one; and I am happy to say that I overcame
+my disposition to laugh in his face mainly
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page100" id="page100"></a>100</span>
+through a feeling of astonishment that my old friend
+could be ignorant of the ordinary way in which
+Leech signed his drawings.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you happen to have a number of <i>Punch</i> by
+you, Mr. Mulready?&rdquo; said I.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No; as a languid swell said when he was asked
+that same question, &lsquo;I am no bookworm; I never
+see <i>Punch</i>.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As I could not give my angry friend ocular proof
+of his mistake by producing the usual signature to
+<i>Punch</i> drawings, I set to work to explain how the
+little leech came into the bottle, and, without much
+difficulty, convinced my old friend that an insult to
+him was not intended.</p>
+
+<p>The two artists met; and it was delightful to
+watch Leech&rsquo;s handsome face as Mulready himself
+told of his misconception. First there was a serious,
+almost pained, expression, which, no doubt, arose in
+that tender heart from being the innocent cause of
+pain to another; the serious look passed off, to give
+place to a smile, which broadened into a roar of
+laughter. From that moment Leech and Mulready
+were fast friends.</p>
+
+<p>With an apology for the interruption, I return to
+my narrative.</p>
+
+<p>Alas! I can well remember the appearance of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page101" id="page101"></a>101</span>
+&ldquo;Sketches by Boz,&rdquo; to be so quickly followed by the
+&ldquo;Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club.&rdquo; None
+but those who witnessed it can conceive the enthusiasm
+with which that immortal work was received
+by an eager public, who welcomed each number as
+it appeared, month after month, with hearty appreciation.
+Of course, there were carping critics, one
+of whom is reported to have said the author would
+&ldquo;go up like a rocket and come down like a stick.&rdquo;
+That prophet, a man of much literary ability, drank
+himself into a debtors&rsquo; prison, where, I was told, he
+died of delirium tremens.</p>
+
+<p>There is, I think, a vein of melancholy unusually
+developed in the nature of almost all humorists.
+As an instance, I may give the actor Liston, whose
+humour on the stage was to me unparalleled; off it,
+he was gloom personified. Gillray, the caricaturist,
+died melancholy mad; and poor Seymour, the first
+illustrator of &ldquo;Pickwick,&rdquo; committed suicide. I may
+remark in this place the surprise with which I heard
+Leech say that he could see no fun in any of Seymour&rsquo;s
+sketches.</p>
+
+<p>In a walk that we took together, I tried to convert
+him by naming several examples of what appeared
+to me humorous work.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;No,&rdquo; said Leech; &ldquo;the only drawing I ever saw
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page102" id="page102"></a>102</span>
+by Seymour that appeared funny to me was one
+in which two cockneys were represented out shooting.
+They are about to load their guns, when one
+says to the other:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I say, which do you put in first&mdash;powder or
+shot?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, powder, to be sure,&rsquo; said his friend.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Do you?&rsquo; was the reply. &lsquo;Then I don&rsquo;t!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I can vividly recall the shock occasioned by
+Seymour&rsquo;s death. He was fairly prosperous, I
+believe. His engagement to illustrate &ldquo;Pickwick&rdquo;
+was a lucrative one, and he was much employed in
+other work. In spite of all these advantages, the
+humorist&rsquo;s melancholy was fatal to him.</p>
+
+<p>I was present at the banquet at the Royal
+Academy when Thackeray, in returning thanks for
+literature&mdash;Dickens being present&mdash;told us how,
+on finding there was a vacancy for an illustrator of
+&ldquo;Pickwick,&rdquo; he took a parcel of drawings to the
+author and applied for the place. From my own
+knowledge of Thackeray&rsquo;s limited powers as an
+artist, I should have been sure of the failure of his
+application. Very different would have been the
+fate of Leech, who was also anxious to supply
+Seymour&rsquo;s place; but he was too late, for Dickens
+had already chosen Hablot K. Browne, who, under
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page103" id="page103"></a>103</span>
+the sobriquet of &ldquo;Phiz,&rdquo; worked in harmony with
+his author for very many years. There was no
+doubt a disposition on the part of &ldquo;Phiz&rdquo; to exaggeration
+in his illustration of Dickens&rsquo; characters
+(already fully charged, so to speak, by their author),
+sometimes to the verge of caricature, and even
+beyond it; this fault Leech would have avoided, as
+his exquisite etchings in Dickens&rsquo; Christmas books
+fully prove.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page104" id="page104"></a>104</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER V.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">&ldquo;THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EVENING PARTIES,&rdquo;
+BY ALBERT SMITH.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">I have</span> already spoken of the extreme difficulty
+of collecting material for this book, and to difficulty
+must be added the expense which is incurred by
+my publisher. I bear the latter affliction with the
+equanimity common to those who escape it; indeed,
+there is a kind of satisfaction in finding that books
+which are perfectly worthless as literary productions
+are so highly valued on account of the prints which
+illustrate them. I venture to give an instance in a
+very little book called &ldquo;The Physiology of Evening
+Parties,&rdquo; written by Albert Smith. My reader will
+be able to judge by the extracts given in explanation
+of the drawings, of the merits of Mr. Smith&rsquo;s
+part in the &ldquo;Physiology.&rdquo; This work, published at
+2s. 6d. when clean and new, costs 18s. 6d. when
+well &ldquo;worn on the edge of time,&rdquo; yellow, dirty, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page105" id="page105"></a>105</span>
+unbound. The &ldquo;Physiology&rdquo; first saw the light
+in 1840. I plead again for forgiveness for chronological
+shortcomings, which my difficulties make
+unavoidable.</p>
+
+<p>My first illustration represents a mamma and her
+two daughters in the serious business of selecting
+guests for an evening party.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It is evening,&rdquo; says Mr. Albert Smith;
+&ldquo;mamma and her two daughters are seated at a
+table arranging the names of the visitors upon the
+back of an old letter, having turned out the dusty
+record of the card-basket before them in order that
+no one of importance may be forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Ellen</span> (<i>loc</i>.): &lsquo;I am sure I don&rsquo;t see why we
+should invite the Harveys, mamma. They have
+been here twice, and never asked us back again.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Fanny</span>: &lsquo;And we shall see those dreadful silver
+poplins again; they must be intimately acquainted
+with the cane-work of all the rout-seats in London.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Ellen</span>: &lsquo;And William Harvey is so exceedingly
+disagreeable; he always looks at the ciphers on the
+plate to see if it is borrowed or not.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Fanny</span>: &lsquo;And last year he declared the pine-apple
+ice was full of little square pieces of raw
+potato; and when Mr. Edwards broke a tumbler
+at supper he told him &ldquo;not to mind, for they were
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page106" id="page106"></a>106</span>
+only tenpence apiece in Tottenham Court Road.&rdquo;
+The low wretch! he thought he had made a capital
+joke.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Mamma</span>: &lsquo;Well, my dears, I think your papa
+will be annoyed if they are left out; but never mind
+him&mdash;we won&rsquo;t ask them.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:600px; height:500px" src="images/img125.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Mamma and the Girls.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The discussion respecting the guests goes on,
+opinion as to eligibility widely differing. Mamma
+proposes Mr. and Mrs. Howard and the four girls,
+to which Miss Ellen says:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;All dressed alike, and standing up in every
+quadrille. I declare I will get George Conway to
+put an ice in Harriet&rsquo;s chair for her to sit down
+upon, in revenge for her waltzing last year, when
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page107" id="page107"></a>107</span>
+she brushed down the Joan of Arc, and knocked its
+head off.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This refined conversation continues till Miss
+Ellen speaks of her brother&rsquo;s disposition to interfere
+with the invitation-list; she says:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;We must tell Tom not to overdo us so much
+with his own friends. I declare last year I did not
+know half the young men in the room; and it was
+so very awkward when you had to introduce them.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:345px; height:500px" src="images/img126.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Two Rude Young Men.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Fanny</span>: &lsquo;And they were not nice persons.
+Two of them were in the pit of the Lyceum the
+next night, and, seeing us in Mr. Arnold&rsquo;s box,
+would stare us out of countenance. With a single
+glass, too!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page108" id="page108"></a>108</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And in this style,&rdquo; says our author, &ldquo;the list
+is arranged, the hostess gradually becoming a prey
+to isinglass and acute mental inquietude, which
+gradually increases as the day draws nearer, until
+upon the morning of its arrival her very brain is
+almost turned to blancmange from the intensity of
+her anxiety!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:409px; height:500px" src="images/img127.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Head of the House.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The whole house is, of course, turned topsy-turvy;
+and Leech gives us a picture of the master
+of the mansion surrounded by some of the consequences
+of giving an evening party.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;This state of things,&rdquo; says the chronicler,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page109" id="page109"></a>109</span>
+&ldquo;much delights the olive-branches of the family,
+who, left entirely alone, and quite overlooked in the
+general <i>m�l�e</i>, divert themselves by poking their
+little puddy fingers into the creams, and scooping
+out the insides of divers patties with a doll&rsquo;s leg,&rdquo;
+etc., etc.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:450px; height:461px" src="images/img128.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;An Olive-Branch.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The ball begins under sundry difficulties. A
+most desirable person, &ldquo;<i>one</i> for whom the party was
+almost given, sends a melancholy statement of the
+very acute attack of influenza under which <i>they</i> are
+labouring,&rdquo; which they extremely regret will prevent
+their accepting, etc. Then one of the intended
+<i>belles</i> of the evening is obliged to go suddenly into
+the country, to see a sick aunt, but &ldquo;she sends her
+two brothers&mdash;tall, <i>gangling</i>, awkward young men
+who wear pumps and long black stocks, and throw
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page110" id="page110"></a>110</span>
+their legs about when they are dancing everywhere
+but over their shoulders,&rdquo; etc., etc., says the author.
+Here is what Leech thinks of the two brothers.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:318px; height:700px" src="images/img129.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Two &lsquo;Gangling&rsquo; Young Men.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>I have never met with the word &ldquo;gangling&rdquo;
+before; is it an invention of Mr. Albert Smith&rsquo;s?
+I can speak to the truth of the dress of these long
+brothers, for I who write have worn the long black
+stock and the peculiarly cut coat and waistcoats at
+many an evening party.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page111" id="page111"></a>111</span></p>
+
+<p>The numerous illustrations of &ldquo;The Physiology&rdquo;
+are such perfect examples of Leech&rsquo;s earlier work,
+and in themselves so good, that I am induced to
+produce several more of them. I don&rsquo;t know whether
+the fascinating person under the hands of the hair-dresser
+is Miss Ellen or Miss Fanny. I confess
+I can scarcely believe she would talk like either of
+them; happy barber! perfect you are as you ply
+your vocation; and in that vocation&mdash;insomuch as
+you have that sweet creature to contemplate&mdash;to be
+envied indeed!</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:430px" src="images/img130.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Preparing for the Ball.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Then we have the greengrocer, &ldquo;who is to
+assist in waiting.... He wears white cotton
+gloves with very long fingers, and was never known
+to announce a name correctly, so the astonished
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page112" id="page112"></a>112</span>
+visitor is ushered into the room under any other
+appellation than his own.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:300px; height:391px" src="images/img131a.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Assistant-Waiter.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:550px; height:455px" src="images/img131b.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Band.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The band must not be forgotten. &ldquo;The music
+arrives,&rdquo; says the writer, &ldquo;sometimes in the shape of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page113" id="page113"></a>113</span>
+a single pianist of untiring fingers and unclosing
+eyes; sometimes as a harp, piano, and cornopean,
+who are immediately installed in a corner of the
+room with two chairs, a music-stool, and a bottle of
+marsala.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I ask my reader to note the individuality in the
+four faces in this drawing&mdash;and in the figures no less
+than in the heads&mdash;each a strongly-marked personality
+precisely appropriate to the instrument upon
+which he performs. How admirable is the cornet-a-piston
+gentleman contrasted with the pianoforte
+player!</p>
+
+<p>The mistress of the house is described as making
+&ldquo;uphill attempts at conversation&rdquo; pending the
+arrival of a sufficient number of guests to make
+up a quadrille. Two old ladies, however, have
+already put in an appearance, and have taken possession
+of the best seats to &ldquo;see the dancing,&rdquo; from
+which all attempts to move them to the card-room
+are successfully resisted. There they sit, poor old
+wallflowers! with all the advantage that &ldquo;false hair
+and turbans&rdquo; can give them. Though the execution
+of this drawing lacks the perfection of workmanship
+of Leech&rsquo;s later manner, he never surpassed it
+in expression and character.</p>
+
+<p>The music &ldquo;strikes up,&rdquo; the lady of the house
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page114" id="page114"></a>114</span>
+throws a comprehensive <i>coup d&rsquo;&oelig;il</i> over her assembled
+visitors, and at last pitches upon a tall young man&mdash;<i>whom
+some of you may have met before</i>&mdash;with short
+hair, spectacles, and turned-up wristbands, as if he
+was about to wash his hands with his coat on. His
+fate is sealed, and she advances towards him, blandly
+exclaiming:</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:593px" src="images/img133.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Wallflowers.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<i>Mr. Ledbury</i>, allow me to introduce you to a
+partner.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>My own readers have heard of Mr. Ledbury;
+but as I think they are unacquainted with his personal
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page115" id="page115"></a>115</span>
+appearance, I propose to introduce him to
+them, and here he is&mdash;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:308px; height:450px" src="images/img134.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Mr. Ledbury.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Mr. Ledbury is &ldquo;presented to a bouquet with a
+young lady attached to it&rdquo;&mdash;a Miss Hamilton&mdash;who
+freezes him completely. A quadrille is formed.
+Mr. Ledbury cudgels his brains for five minutes.
+The young partner seems to be &ldquo;searching after
+some imaginary object amongst the petals of her
+bouquet.&rdquo; The mountainous Ledbury brain is in
+labour. Behold the production!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Mr. L.</span> &lsquo;Have you been to many parties this
+season?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Miss H.</span> &lsquo;Not a great many.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page116" id="page116"></a>116</span></p>
+
+<p>Miss Hamilton continues the bouquet investigation.
+The gentleman invents another sentence.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Mr. L.</span> &lsquo;What do you think of Alfred Tennyson?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Miss H.</span> &lsquo;I am sorry to say I have not heard his
+poetry. Have you?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:383px; height:500px" src="images/img135.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Mr. Ledbury and Miss Hamilton.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Mr. L.</span> &lsquo;Oh yes! several times.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ledbury waits to be asked about &ldquo;Mariana&rdquo;
+and &ldquo;Locksley Hall.&rdquo; No inquiry, so he &ldquo;rubs up
+an idea upon another tack&rdquo;:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Mr. L.</span> &lsquo;What do you think of our <i>vis-�-vis</i>?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Miss H.</span> &lsquo;Which one?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page117" id="page117"></a>117</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Mr. L.</span> &lsquo;The lady with that strange head-dress.
+Do you know her?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Miss H.</span> &lsquo;It is Miss Brown&mdash;my cousin.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ledbury wishes he could fall through a trap
+in the floor.</p>
+
+<p>The quadrille continues, with occasional attempts
+on the part of the brilliant couple to make conversation.
+The acme of imbecility seems to be reached
+when the lady asks if Mr. L. plays any instrument?
+He replies that he plays the flute a little. Does she
+admire it?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Oh, so very much!&rdquo; she says.</p>
+
+<p>A waltz is proposed, but that form of dancing is,
+says our author, &ldquo;never established without a prolonged
+desire on the part of everybody to relinquish
+the honour of commencing it. At last the example
+is set by one daring pair, timidly followed by another
+couple, and then by another, who get out of step at
+the end of the first round, and after treading severely
+upon the advanced toes of the old lady in a very
+flowery cap and plum-coloured satin (one of our
+faded wallflowers), who is sitting out at the top
+of the room, and who from that instant deprecates
+waltzing as an amusement not at all consistent with
+her ideas of feminine decorum.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:450px; height:656px" src="images/img137.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Waltz.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>The young lady in this drawing has much of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page118" id="page118"></a>118</span>
+Leech&rsquo;s charm; but I should scarcely have selected
+it were it not for the figure of the gentleman, which
+exactly resembles that of Leech himself as I first
+knew him. If conservatories, or even staircases,
+could speak, what flirtations they could chronicle,
+what love-tales they could tell! Mr. Smith says
+&ldquo;you will have to confess your inability to imagine
+what on earth the gentleman with the long hair, who
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page119" id="page119"></a>119</span>
+is carefully balancing himself on one leg against the
+flowerpot-stand, and the pretty girl with the bouquet,
+can find to talk about so long, so earnestly.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I for one beg Mr. Albert Smith&rsquo;s pardon. I can
+easily imagine what they are talking about.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:612px" src="images/img138.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;In the Conservatory.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>It would be a grave omission if &ldquo;The Belle of the
+Evening&rdquo; were left out of these extracts from the
+&ldquo;Physiology of Evening Parties.&rdquo; Let me present
+her, then. Now listen to the flourish with which
+the author introduces her:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page120" id="page120"></a>120</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Room for beauty! The belle of the evening
+claims our next attention, the lovely dark-eyed girl
+so plainly yet so elegantly dressed, who wears her
+hair in simple bands over her fair forehead, unencumbered
+by flower or ornament of any kind, and
+moves in the light of her own beauty as the presiding
+goddess of the room, imparting fragrance to the
+enamoured air that plays around her!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:380px; height:630px" src="images/img139.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;The Belle of the Evening.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Rather tall talk, this, but excusable, perhaps, as
+applied to the lovely creature Leech has drawn for
+us.</p>
+
+<p>I feel I cannot close these extracts more appropriately
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page121" id="page121"></a>121</span>
+than by allowing Mr. Ledbury to appear again
+at the moment of his departure from a scene in
+which he has so distinguished himself by his conversational,
+as well as by his terpsichorean, powers.
+He was destined to be guilty of one more folly&mdash;that
+of thinking he had but to ask for his hat to
+get it.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:600px; height:505px" src="images/img140.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Mr. Ledbury&rsquo;s Hat.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He walks downstairs,&rdquo; says Mr. Smith, &ldquo;under
+the insane expectation of finding his own hat, or
+madly deeming that the ticket pinned upon it corresponds
+with the one in his waistcoat pocket.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Here I take my leave of &ldquo;The Physiology of
+Evening Parties&rdquo; in presenting my reader with this
+charming little drawing, in which one scarcely knows
+which to admire most&mdash;the bewildered expression of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page122" id="page122"></a>122</span>
+Mr. Ledbury as he ruefully contemplates the rim of
+his hat, or the sympathetic, half-laughing face of the
+perfect little maid. The artistic qualities of this
+illustration are excellent. I say good-bye to
+&ldquo;Evening Parties&rdquo; only to meet Mr. Albert Smith
+again in a work by him called &ldquo;Comic Tales and
+Pictures of Life,&rdquo; published, I think, about the time
+of the &ldquo;Evening Parties,&rdquo; or perhaps earlier, for the
+illustrations are, on the whole, inferior to those in the
+latter production. The work under notice is composed
+of a series of short stories, in which love,
+comedy, and deep tragedy play alternate parts.
+Leech&rsquo;s attention is mainly devoted to the comic
+scenes.</p>
+
+<p>We are told of a Mr. Percival Jenks, whose
+frequent visits to the theatre have led to the loss
+of his heart to a beauteous ballet-girl. &ldquo;The third
+ballet-girl from the left-hand stage-box, with the
+golden belt and green wreath, in the Pas des Guirlandes,
+or lyres, or umbrellas, or something of the
+kind, had enslaved his susceptible affections.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:325px; height:600px" src="images/img142.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption">&ldquo;Mr. Percival Jenks.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>No one knew who Mr. Jenks was, or what he
+was. Even his landlady&rsquo;s information about him
+was confined to the idea that he was &ldquo;something in
+a house in the City.&rdquo; That idea proved to be well
+founded, for Mr. J. was discovered by the head-clerk
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page123" id="page123"></a>123</span>
+at the house in the City, spoiling blotting-paper by
+drawing little opera-dancers all over it; thus neglecting
+his accounts, which he had to &ldquo;stay two
+hours after time to make up. At half price, nevertheless,
+he was at the play again, his whole existence
+centred on an airy compound of clear muslin and
+white satin that was twirling about the stage.&rdquo;
+Mr. Jenks burned to know his enslaver&rsquo;s name
+with a view to an introduction; and for that purpose
+he haunted the stage-door, but utterly failed to
+recognise, amongst the faded cloaks, and drabby
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page124" id="page124"></a>124</span>
+bonnets that issued from that portal, the angelic
+form of his charmer. He then took to haunting
+the places where minor actors and other employ�s
+of the theatre most do congregate for the purpose of
+social intercourse and refreshment; here at last he is
+rewarded.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Do you know the young lady,&rdquo; he says to a
+habitu�, &ldquo;who dances in the ballet with a green
+wreath round her head?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And a gilt belt round her waist?&rdquo; asked the
+friend in turn. &ldquo;Oh, it&rsquo;s Miss&mdash;Miss&mdash;I shall forget
+my own name next.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Percival was about to suggest Rosi�re, C�leste,
+Amad�e, and other pretty cognomens, when his
+companion caught the name, and exclaimed:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Miss Jukes; I thought I should recollect
+it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The name certainly was not what Percival had
+expected; still, what was in a name? Jenks was
+not poetical, and Jukes was something like it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Could you favour me with an introduction to
+her?&rdquo; he asked.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In a minute, if you wish it,&rdquo; replied his companion.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You know her intimately then?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Very; I buy all my green-grocery of her.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page125" id="page125"></a>125</span></p>
+
+<p>The introduction takes place. Gracious powers!
+how a minute broke the enchantment of many
+weeks! &ldquo;The nymph of the Danube was habited
+in a faded green cloak and straw bonnet, with limp
+and half-bleached pink ribbons clinging to its form.
+Her pallid and almost doughy face was deeply
+pitted with smallpox; her skin was rough from the
+constant layers of red and white paint it had to
+endure,&rdquo; etc., etc. He fell back with a convulsive
+start.</p>
+
+<p>From internal evidence I find the date of &ldquo;Comic
+Tales,&rdquo; etc., to be 1841, contemporary, therefore,
+with the establishment of <i>Punch</i>. There is a
+drawing of so pretty a conceit as to warrant my
+selecting it, though artistically it is inferior to Leech&rsquo;s
+work even at that time. The drawing heads a paper
+entitled &ldquo;Speculations on Marriage and Young
+Ladies,&rdquo; and as it tells its own story, quotation from
+Mr. Smith is needless.</p>
+
+<p>In one amusing paper in &ldquo;Comic Tales,&rdquo; the author
+treats us to &ldquo;an Act for amending the representation
+of certain public sights, termed equestrian spectacles,
+in the habit of being represented at a favourite
+place of resort, termed the Royal Amphitheatre,
+Westminster Bridge.&rdquo; The paper is framed in the
+form of an Act of Parliament, and the author forbids
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page126" id="page126"></a>126</span>
+the use of ancient jokes or stereotyped phrases in a
+very humorous manner.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Be it enacted,&rdquo; he announces, after condemning
+a variety of objectionable practices, &ldquo;that the clown
+shall not, after the first equestrian feat, exclaim:
+&lsquo;Now I&rsquo;ll have a turn to myself!&rsquo; previous to his
+toppling like a coach-wheel round the ring; nor
+shall he fall flat on his face, and then collecting some
+sawdust in his hand, drop it down from the level of
+his head, and say his nose bleeds; nor shall he
+attempt to make the rope-dancers&rsquo; balance-pole stand
+on its end by propping it up with the said sawdust;
+nor shall he, after chalking the performers&rsquo; shoes,
+conclude by chalking his own nose, to prevent his
+foot slipping when he treads upon it; nor shall he
+pick up a small piece of straw, for fear he should fall
+over it, and afterwards balance the said straw on
+his chin as he runs about; neither shall the master
+of the ring say to the clown, when they are leaving
+the circus: &lsquo;I never follow the fool, sir!&rsquo; nor shall the
+fool reply: &lsquo;Then I do!&rsquo; and walk out after him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I would draw attention to the figure of the clown
+in this cut, which is simply perfect in expression
+and character. The affected strut of the ring-master
+also is admirably caught.</p>
+
+<p>A paper on Christmas pantomimes is illustrated
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page127" id="page127"></a>127</span>
+by such a perfect clown that I cannot resist my
+inclination to present him to my readers.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:418px; height:600px" src="images/img146.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption"><span class="sc">Clown:</span> &ldquo;Oh, see what I&rsquo;ve found!&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Comic Tales and Pictures of Life&rdquo; contains, at
+least, one drawing that is equal to Leech at his best.
+The cut illustrates an article on &ldquo;Delightful People,&rdquo;
+a short essay, amusing enough.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:600px; height:621px" src="images/img147.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Miss Cinthia Sings.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Music, whether performed by the band or by
+musical guests, is an important factor in an evening
+party. Mr. Albert Smith tells us that &ldquo;a lady of his
+acquaintance&rdquo; had secured those &ldquo;Delightful People,
+the Lawsons,&rdquo; for a large evening party she was
+about to give; and after lauding the charming qualities
+of Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, she put a final touch
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page128" id="page128"></a>128</span>
+to the Lawson attractions by informing her friend
+that their daughter, Miss Cinthia Lawson, was not
+only a delightful girl, but that &ldquo;she sings better
+than anyone you ever heard in private.&rdquo; In the
+interval of dancing Cinthia sings. &ldquo;The young lady
+now dressed in plain white robes, with her hair
+smoothed very flat round her head <i>� la Grisi</i>, whom
+she thought she resembled both in style of singing
+and features, and consequently studied all her attitudes
+from the clever Italian&rsquo;s impersonation of
+Norma.... At last the lady begun a <i>bravura</i> upon
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page129" id="page129"></a>129</span>
+such a high note, and so powerful, that some impudent
+fellows in the square, who were passing at the
+moment, sang out &lsquo;Vari-e-ty&rsquo; in reply. Presently,
+a young gentleman, who was standing at her side,
+chanced to turn over too soon, whereupon she gave
+him <i>such</i> a look, that, if he had entertained any
+thoughts of proposing, would effectually have stopped
+any such rash proceeding; but her equanimity was
+soon restored, and she went through the aria in
+most dashing style until she came to the last note,
+whose appearance she heralded with a <i>roulade</i> of
+wonderful execution.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I remember Grisi, and I cannot share Miss Lawson&rsquo;s
+conviction of her resemblance to that great
+singer&mdash;personal resemblance, I mean&mdash;and, in all
+probability, she had as feeble a claim to an equality
+of genius; but that she had a powerful voice, and
+that she gave it full effect, is evident by Leech&rsquo;s
+perfect rendering of that wonderful mouth, from
+which one can almost hear the <i>roulade</i>. All the
+lines of the figure, with the movement of the hands,
+and the backward action of the singer, are true to
+Nature. The assistant at the music-book and the
+stolid old gentleman are also excellent.</p>
+
+<p>With this, the best of the drawings in &ldquo;Comic
+Tales,&rdquo; I take my leave of the book.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page130" id="page130"></a>130</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER VI.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">JOHN LEECH AND THE ETON BOY.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">I had</span> been told that a friend whose acquaintance
+I made many years ago was in possession of some
+correspondence with Leech of considerable interest.
+I wrote to him on the subject, and received the
+following reply:</p>
+
+<p class="pt1 sc">&ldquo;Dear Mr. Frith,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I had intended waiting till my return to
+town to see whether I could find John Leech&rsquo;s
+letters before writing to you; but as you ask for the
+story, here it is, to the best of my recollection, and it
+is heartily at your service. When I was a boy at
+Eton I sent to <i>Punch</i> an incident which happened
+at a dance. Young Oxford complaining to his
+partner of the dearth of &lsquo;female society&rsquo; at the University,
+she retorts, &lsquo;What a pity you didn&rsquo;t go to a
+girls&rsquo; school instead!&rsquo; Its appearance beneath an
+illustration of Leech&rsquo;s caused great excitement in our
+house at Eton, and as great tales of Mr. Punch&rsquo;s
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page131" id="page131"></a>131<br />132</span>
+liberality were current&mdash;as, for example, that the
+sender of the advice &lsquo;To persons about to marry&mdash;<i>don&rsquo;t</i>,&rsquo;
+had received �100&mdash;I began to look anxiously
+for some tip for my contribution. An enterprising
+pal said, &lsquo;It&rsquo;s a beastly shame; and if you&rsquo;ll go
+halves, I&rsquo;ll write to <i>Punch</i> and wake &rsquo;em up.&rsquo; This
+speedily resulted in the receipt of a post-office order
+for two guineas from John Leech, accompanied by
+a rather dry note, to the effect that Mr. Punch considered
+that he had already done enough in providing
+an original illustration to my joke. I was indignant,
+and wrote back to Leech returning the money, but
+he would not hear of this. He told me I could buy
+gloves with the money for the young lady if I liked&mdash;which
+I am afraid I didn&rsquo;t. Several kind letters
+from him followed, with an invitation, gladly accepted,
+to call and see him in the holidays, and a
+present, which I still treasure, of two volumes of
+his &lsquo;Life and Character.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:520px; height:627px" src="images/img150.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">&ldquo;Dreadful for Young Oxford.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="condensed1">
+<p><span class="sc">Lady</span>: &ldquo;Are you at Eton?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Young Oxford</span>: &ldquo;Aw, no! I&rsquo;m at Oxford.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Lady</span>: &ldquo;Oxford! Rather a nice place, is it not?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Young Oxford</span>: &ldquo;Hum!&mdash;haw! pretty well; but then I can&rsquo;t
+get on without female society!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="sc">Lady</span>: &ldquo;Dear! dear! pity you don&rsquo;t go to a girls&rsquo; school, then!&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At the time I remember my schoolfellows considered
+me a born caricaturist, an opinion I naturally
+shared. Leech was most indulgent to my early
+efforts&mdash;gave me some wood-blocks to work upon,
+and encouraged me to persevere, which, alas! I
+have not done, etc.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours truly.&rdquo;</p>
+
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page133" id="page133"></a>133</span></p>
+
+<p>Here follows Leech&rsquo;s &ldquo;dry note&rdquo;:</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 f80 rgt">&ldquo;32, Brunswick Square, London, &emsp;<br />
+&ldquo;June 6, 1859.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Dear Sir,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;The editor of <i>Punch</i> is the person who
+should be addressed upon all money matters connected
+with that periodical. However, in the present
+instance, perhaps it will answer every purpose
+if I adopt the suggestion of your &lsquo;great <i>friend</i> and
+<i>confidant</i>,&rsquo; and &lsquo;<i>do the handsome</i> and send a <i>tip
+direct</i>,&rsquo; which I do in the shape of a post-office order
+for one guinea; or, as your &lsquo;entirely <i>disinterested</i>&rsquo;
+young friend is to have half of what you get, it will
+be even better if I make the order for two guineas
+instead, as I do, only you must not look upon this as
+a precedent. I am afraid Mr. Punch would have
+considered that the trouble and expense he was at
+to have an original design made to your few lines
+would have been ample recompense. In future send
+to the editor your notion of what you expect for any
+contribution, and he will accept or reject accordingly,
+I dare say.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;John Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">The Eton boy was &ldquo;indignant, and wrote back to
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page134" id="page134"></a>134</span>
+Leech returning the money,&rdquo; to which Leech replied
+as follows:</p>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;32, Brunswick Square, &emsp;<br />
+&ldquo;November 8, 1859.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;Dear Sir,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;No, no; it must be as it is; besides, the
+order is made out in your name, and can be used by
+no one else. After all, your contribution was very
+amusing, and pray consider yourself as quite entitled
+to the sum offered. If you have any doubt as to
+how you should spend the money, why, then, buy
+some gloves for the young lady who said the smart
+thing to the Oxford man. As to my being offended,
+dismiss the notion from your mind at once. Your
+first note I consider perfectly good-natured, and
+your second as frank and gentleman-like. I hope
+you will do me the favour to accept two volumes of
+my sketches, in which I hope you will find some
+amusement.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I will direct the volumes to be sent to you this
+afternoon.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me, dear sir,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">Encouraged by Leech&rsquo;s kindness, and being, as
+he says, &ldquo;a born caricaturist in the opinion of his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page135" id="page135"></a>135</span>
+friends,&rdquo; the Eton boy sent some sketches for
+Leech&rsquo;s opinion. To this application he received
+the following reply:</p>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;32, Brunswick Square, &emsp;<br />
+&ldquo;June 11, 1859.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I am very busy, so you must excuse a
+rather short note. Your sketches I have looked at
+carefully, however, and I have no hesitation in saying
+that they show a great perception of humour on
+your part. They seem to me to be altogether very
+good; and I have no doubt that with practice you
+might make your talent available in <i>Punch</i> and elsewhere.
+I don&rsquo;t know about your taking lessons,
+except from Nature, and learn from her as much as
+possible. Try your hand at some initial letters&mdash;if
+drawn on the wood clearly, so much the better&mdash;and
+I will, with great pleasure, hand them to the editor
+of <i>Punch</i>. &lsquo;The Pleasures of Eton&rsquo; is capital; the
+style, I take it, founded a little upon Doyle&rsquo;s works.
+I would not do that too much. You have quite
+cleverness enough to strike out a path of your own,
+and with my best wishes for your success,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech</span>.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page136" id="page136"></a>136</span></p>
+
+<p class="pt2">In sending these letters the Eton boy of old says
+he is &ldquo;sure that nothing would more thoroughly
+exemplify Leech&rsquo;s genial wit and courteous kindliness
+than these replies to an unknown schoolboy.&rdquo; I
+suppose the letter in which my friend was invited to
+call upon Leech &ldquo;in the holidays&rdquo; is not to be
+found. But that he did call and received a present
+of &ldquo;wood-blocks to work upon,&rdquo; accompanied by
+&ldquo;encouragement to persevere,&rdquo; which, alas! he has
+not done, we have from himself.</p>
+
+<p>This incident is especially delightful, as it reflects
+perfectly the quality of heart and mind so characteristic
+of Leech.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page137" id="page137"></a>137</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER VII.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">MR. SPONGE&rsquo;S SPORTING TOUR.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">Mr. Surtees</span>, the writer of the sporting novels,
+possessed considerable powers of invention, which
+he indulged&mdash;amongst other vagaries&mdash;in giving
+names to most of the characters in his books, which
+served to enlighten his readers as to their physical
+and mental peculiarities, and never more happily
+than when he christened the hero of this sporting
+tour Mr. Soapy Sponge. &ldquo;Mr. Sponge,&rdquo; says our
+author, &ldquo;wished to be a gentleman without knowing
+how;&rdquo; but what Mr. Sponge did know was how to
+sponge upon everybody with whom he could force
+an acquaintance, and this he effected with surprising
+success. Hunting and good hunting
+quarters were the objects of Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s machinations,
+and upon a half-hearted invitation from a
+Mr. Jawleyford, of Jawleyford Court, an invitation
+given without an idea that it would be accepted
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page138" id="page138"></a>138</span>
+(as sometimes happens), Mr. Sponge found himself
+installed in the ancestral mansion of the Jawleyfords.
+Mr. Jawleyford was &ldquo;one of the rather numerous
+race of paper-booted, pen-and-ink landowners,&rdquo; says
+Mr. Surtees, &ldquo;whose communications with his
+tenantry were chiefly confined to dining with them
+twice a year in the great entrance-hall after the
+steward, <i>Mr. Screwemtight</i>, had eased them of their
+rents.&rdquo; Then Mr. Jawleyford would shine forth the
+very impersonification of what a landlord ought to
+be. Dressed in the height of fashion, he would
+declare that the only really happy moments of his
+life were those when he was surrounded by his
+tenantry.</p>
+
+<p>In the background of this admirable drawing we
+see Mr. Jawleyford&rsquo;s portrait, flanked by his ancestors,
+on canvas and in armour, hanging on the panelled
+walls of his gorgeous home. The variety of character
+in the &ldquo;chawbacons,&rdquo; each a marked individuality,
+contrasts effectually with his <i>quasi</i> fashionable landlord.
+For the first banquet at Jawleyford Court,
+&ldquo;Mr. Sponge,&rdquo; says the author, &ldquo;made himself an
+uncommon swell.&rdquo; His dress is minutely described,
+and faithfully depicted by Leech, in the etching in
+which we see the sponger conducting a very portly
+Mrs. Jawleyford, followed by her daughters, to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page139" id="page139"></a>139</span>
+dining-room. The young ladies who have entered
+the drawing-room &ldquo;in the full fervour of sisterly
+animosity,&rdquo; according to the author, seem&mdash;in the
+lovely group that Leech makes of them&mdash;to have
+speedily made up their quarrel, as their entwined
+arms and pretty, happy faces prove. The solemn
+butler, who looks with awe at his aristocratic master,
+is in Leech&rsquo;s truest vein, while Mr. Jawleyford himself
+is simply perfect. In the footmen and page the
+illustration is less successful; they seem to approach,
+if not to reach, caricature.</p>
+
+<p>When Mr. Sponge found himself in good quarters,
+no hint however strong, no looks however cold, no
+manner however unpleasant, would move him, until
+he had provided himself with others to his liking.
+Under the impression that he was rich, the Misses
+Jawleyford set their caps at him. Amelia and Emily
+rivalled each other in tender attentions to the
+adventurer, who, after hesitating as to which of them
+he should throw the handkerchief to, fixed upon Miss
+Amelia, who found her sister &ldquo;in the act of playing
+the agreeable&rdquo; with Mr. Sponge as she &ldquo;sailed&rdquo;
+into the drawing-room before dinner; then, &ldquo;with a
+haughty sort of sneer and toss of the head to her
+sister, as much as to say, &lsquo;What are you doing with
+my man?&rsquo;&mdash;a sneer that suddenly changed into a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page140" id="page140"></a>140</span>
+sweet smile as her eye encountered Sponge&rsquo;s&mdash;she just
+motioned him off to a sofa, where she commenced
+a <i>sotto-voce</i> conversation in the engaged-couple
+style.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>During his stay at Jawleyford Court, Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s
+time was passed in hunting, smoking all over the
+house&mdash;a habit the owner detested&mdash;and in making
+love to Miss Amelia; taking care, however, not to
+commit himself until he had discovered from papa
+what the settlements were to be. We who are
+behind the scenes know that Jawleyford Court is
+&ldquo;mortgaged up to the chimney-pots,&rdquo; and that Mr. J.
+is over head and ears in debt besides. We know
+also that Mr. Sponge is impecunious, his hunters
+are hired; he is, in fact, as his author describes him,
+&ldquo;a vulgar humbug.&rdquo; &ldquo;Jawleyford began to suspect
+that Sponge might not be the great &lsquo;catch&rsquo; he was
+represented,&rdquo; says the author. No doubt in finding
+himself baffled in his attempts to sound his host
+upon the subject of settlements, Mr. Sponge also
+&ldquo;began to suspect&rdquo; that neither of the Misses
+Jawleyford would be the &ldquo;catch&rdquo; that he wanted.
+Still, he held on to his quarters in defiance of the
+attempts to get rid of him. He was removed from
+the best bedroom to one in which it was impossible
+to light a fire, or, rather, to endure it when it was
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page141" id="page141"></a>141</span>
+alight, because of an incurable smoky chimney. He
+was given poor food and corked wine, still he stayed,
+until he had provided himself with a temporary
+home at the house of a hunting gentleman named
+Puffington.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Puffington, who made Sponge&rsquo;s acquaintance
+at the covert-side where Lord Scamperdale&rsquo;s hounds
+met, &ldquo;got it into his head&rdquo; that Mr. Sponge was a
+literary man, whose brilliant pen was about to be
+employed in the interest of fox-hunting in general,
+and of certain runs of Mr. Puffington&rsquo;s hounds in
+particular. Mr. Puffington &ldquo;was the son of a great
+starch-maker at Stepney.&rdquo; Puffington, senior, made
+a large fortune, which enabled his son to become
+the owner of Hanby House, and of the &ldquo;Mangeysterne&mdash;now
+Hanby-Hounds,&rdquo; because he thought
+they would give him consequence. Our author
+says, Mr. Puffington &ldquo;had no natural inclination for
+hunting,&rdquo; but he seems to have become M.F.H. so
+that he might entertain some of the sporting friends
+he had made at college, such &ldquo;dashing young sparks
+as Lord Firebrand, Lord Mudlark, Lord Deuceace,
+Sir Harry Blueun, Lord Legbail, now Earl of
+Loosefish,&rdquo; and so on.</p>
+
+<p>My space, or, rather, the want of it, prevents my
+telling how it was that Mr. Sponge &ldquo;awoke and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page142" id="page142"></a>142</span>
+found himself famous&rdquo; as an author. In conjunction
+with a friend, who steered him through the
+spelling and grammar, he concocted an article for
+the <i>Swillingford Patriot</i>&mdash;Grimes, editor&mdash;which
+&ldquo;appeared in the middle of the third sheet, and
+was headed, &lsquo;Splendid Run with Mr. Puffington&rsquo;s
+Hounds.&rsquo;&rdquo; Mr. Grimes was ably assisted in his
+editorial duties by &ldquo;his eldest daughter, Lucy&mdash;a
+young lady of a certain age, say liberal thirty&mdash;an
+ardent Bloomer, with a considerable taste for sentimental
+poetry, with which she generally filled the
+Poet&rsquo;s Corner.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>As Mr. Puffington quite expected to be immortalized
+in some work of general circulation, his
+indignation knew no bounds when he found himself
+relegated to a corner of the county paper,
+and all his hopes of his doings being read by &ldquo;the
+Lords Loosefish, the Sir Toms and Sir Harrys of
+former days&rdquo; grievously disappointed. Never,
+surely, were disgust, disappointment, and rage more
+perfectly expressed than in the second portrait of
+Mr. Puffington: not only the face, but the whole
+figure&mdash;one can fancy how the hand in the pocket
+of the dressing-gown is clenched&mdash;denotes the
+surprise and exasperation of the miserable man.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s literary effort has &ldquo;done for him&rdquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page143" id="page143"></a>143</span>
+with Mr. Puffington. He must go. Easier said
+than done.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Couldn&rsquo;t you manage to get him to go?&rdquo; asked
+Mr. Puffington of his valet.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t know, sir. I could try, sir&mdash;believe he&rsquo;s
+bad to move, sir,&rdquo; said the valet.</p>
+
+<p>Driven to despair, the host &ldquo;scrawled a miserable-looking
+note, explaining how very ill he was,
+how he regretted being deprived of Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s
+agreeable society&mdash;hoped he would come another
+time,&rdquo; and so on. Even the &ldquo;sponger&rdquo; felt the
+difficulty of parrying such a palpable notice to quit.
+&ldquo;He went to bed sorely perplexed,&rdquo; and in his
+waking moments trying to remember &ldquo;what sportsmen
+had held out the hand of good fellowship and
+hinted at hoping to have the pleasure of seeing
+him&rdquo;; he could think of no one to whom he could
+volunteer a visit. But Fortune favours the brave
+sponger, as she often does unworthy people, and
+in Mr. Jogglebury Crowdey, an eccentric individual
+whose acquaintance Sponge had made in the
+hunting-field, he found another host. At the suggestion
+of Mrs. Jogglebury, who, without the
+slightest reason, had taken it into her head that
+Mr. Sponge was a wealthy man, and would make
+a satisfactory godfather to one of her children,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page144" id="page144"></a>144</span>
+Mr. Jogglebury called on Mr. Sponge at the Puffington
+mansion, and invited him to &ldquo;pay us a
+visit.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>No sooner does our hero grasp the situation than
+he says:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, you&rsquo;re a devilish good fellow, and I&rsquo;ll tell
+you what, as I am sure you mean what you say,
+I&rsquo;ll take you at your word and go at once.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And in this determination he persists, though
+Mr. J. pleads for some delay, as Mrs. Jogglebury
+Crowdey requires some little time for preparation
+in receiving so distinguished a guest.</p>
+
+<p>The visit to Puddingpote Bower, as the Jogglebury
+dwelling was called, proved as unfortunate as
+the previous visits; the more people saw of Mr.
+Sponge the less they liked him, and this time the
+dislike was mutual. &ldquo;Jog and Sponge,&rdquo; says the
+author, &ldquo;were soon most heartily sick of each
+other.&rdquo; Mr. Sponge soon began to think that it
+was not worth while staying at Puddingpote Bower
+for the mere sake of his keep, &ldquo;seeing there was
+no hunting to be had from it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Within twelve or thirteen miles from the Bower
+there lived Sir Harry Scattercash, a very fast young
+gentleman indeed. He kept &ldquo;an ill-supported
+pack of hounds, that were not kept upon any fixed
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page145" id="page145"></a>145</span>
+principles; their management was only of the
+scrimmaging order,&rdquo; but Mr. Sponge, scenting an
+invitation, determined to make one amongst the
+field.</p>
+
+<p>In his attempt to &ldquo;go it,&rdquo; my lord &ldquo;was ably
+assisted by Lady Scattercash, late the lovely and
+elegant Miss Glitters, of the Theatre Royal, Sadler&rsquo;s
+Wells. Lady Scattercash could ride&mdash;indeed, she
+used to do scenes in the circle (two horses and a
+flag), and she could drive, and smoke, and sing, and
+was possessed of many other accomplishments.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>What a winning creature Leech has made of
+her, and the scarcely less delightful little tiger
+behind her, may be seen in the illustration which
+the law of copyright prevents me from introducing,
+as it also prohibits the appearance here of Sir Harry,
+her husband, the happy possessor of the charming
+Lady Scattercash.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Sometimes,&rdquo; says the author of &ldquo;Sponge,&rdquo;
+&ldquo;Sir Harry would drink straight on end for a
+week!&rdquo; Mr. Sponge made desperate efforts to
+take up his abode at Nonsuch House, but Sir
+Harry was surrounded by congenial spirits, who,
+one and all, had taken prejudice against that
+worthy; so, beyond a hunting dinner, at which
+everybody, including the ladies, took more wine
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page146" id="page146"></a>146</span>
+than was good for them, Mr. Sponge and Nonsuch
+House were strangers to each other for a time.
+But, as the hunting-field is open to all and sundry,
+Mr. Sponge, not easily daunted, put in a frequent
+appearance, in the sure and certain hope that
+admission to free quarters at Sir Harry&rsquo;s was only
+delayed. Beyond what is elegantly called &ldquo;peck
+and perch,&rdquo; Nonsuch House contained a very
+powerful attraction in the form of Miss Lucy
+Glitters, sister to Lady Scattercash. Miss Lucy
+was a lovely person, and her charms were increased
+in Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s eyes because he persuaded himself
+that the sister-in-law of a baronet must necessarily
+be a rich woman. Miss Lucy had also the conviction
+that Mr. Sponge was a rich man; how else
+could he spend his time in the sports of the field,
+with all their expensive accompaniments? Miss
+Glitters was a bold rider, and that accomplishment
+also endeared her to the gentleman in whom the
+passion of love burned suddenly, and with a very
+furious flame indeed; till on one fateful hunting
+day the amorous couple found themselves &ldquo;in at
+the death&rdquo;: they had distanced the field, they were
+alone. Mr. Sponge secured the brush, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;We&rsquo;ll put this in your hat, alongside the cock&rsquo;s
+feathers.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page147" id="page147"></a>147</span></p>
+
+<p>I now quote my author: &ldquo;The fair lady leant
+towards him, and as he adjusted it becomingly
+in her hat, looking at her bewitching eyes, her
+lovely face, and feeling the sweet fragrance of her
+breath, a something shot through Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s
+pull-devil pull-baker coat, his corduroy waistcoat,
+his Eureka shirt, angola vest, and penetrated to
+the very cockles of his heart. He gave her such a
+series of smacking kisses as startled her horse and
+astonished a poacher who happened to be hid in
+the adjoining hedge.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>On the return of the happy pair Lucy rushes to
+her sister with the good news. Lady Scattercash
+was delighted, because &ldquo;Mr. Sponge was such a
+nice man, <i>and so rich</i>! She was sure he was rich&mdash;couldn&rsquo;t
+hunt if he wasn&rsquo;t. Would advise Lucy to
+have a good settlement, in case he broke his neck.&rdquo;
+On further inquiry, however, her ladyship had good
+reason to suspect that a red coat and two or three
+hunters were not satisfactory proofs of wealth; and
+in reply to one who knew, she retorted, &ldquo;Well,
+never mind, if he has nothing, she has nothing, and
+nothing can be nicer.&rdquo; With the conviction that
+nothing could be nicer, &ldquo;Lady Scattercash warmly
+espoused Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s cause,&rdquo; the consequence being
+his instalment in splendid quarters at Nonsuch
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page148" id="page148"></a>148</span>
+House, where he made himself thoroughly at home.
+&ldquo;It was very soon &lsquo;my hounds,&rsquo; &lsquo;my horses,&rsquo; and
+&lsquo;my whips,&rsquo; etc., being untroubled by his total
+inability to keep the angel who had ridden herself
+into his affections, for he made no doubt that something
+would turn up.&rdquo; If it were not for the introduction
+of a delightful drawing by Leech, I should
+take no note of a &ldquo;Steeplechase,&rdquo; in which
+Mr. Sponge comes before us for the last time.
+This function is not a favourite with Mr. Surtees,
+nor is it looked upon without much anxiety by
+Miss Lucy. &ldquo;She has made Mr. Sponge a white
+silk jacket to ride in, and a cap of the same colour.
+Altogether, he is a great swell, and very like a
+bridegroom,&rdquo; says the author.</p>
+
+<div class="center"><img style="width:600px; height:526px" src="images/img168.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>If this drawing suffered in the hands of the wood-engraver,
+it must have been beyond imagination
+beautiful, for, as it is, it shows us Leech in his full
+strength. Nothing, it seems to me, could surpass
+the figure of Lucy, whose expression of loving fear
+for the safety of the bold Sponge is shown to us in
+one of the prettiest faces conceivable. Sponge
+himself is no less successfully rendered as he smiles
+reassuringly at his beloved. The race&mdash;admirably
+described by the author&mdash;is run, and won by
+Mr. Sponge. &ldquo;And now for the hero and heroine
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page149" id="page149"></a>149</span>
+of our tale. The Sponges&mdash;for our friend married
+Lucy shortly after the steeplechase&mdash;stayed at
+Nonsuch House till the bailiffs walked in. Sir
+Harry then bolted to Boulogne, where he afterwards
+died. Being at length starved out of Nonsuch
+House,&rdquo; says the historian, &ldquo;he&mdash;Sponge&mdash;arrived
+at his old quarters, the Bantam, in Bond Street,
+where he turned his attention very seriously to
+providing for Lucy and the little Sponge, who had
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page150" id="page150"></a>150</span>
+now issued its prospectus. He thought over all the
+ways and means of making money without capital....
+Professional steeplechasing Lucy decried,
+declaring she would rather return to her flag
+exercises at Astley&rsquo;s as soon as she was able than
+have her dear Sponge risking his neck that way. Our
+friend at length began to fear fortune-making was
+not so easy as he thought; indeed he was soon sure
+of it.&rdquo; Something had to be done; &ldquo;accordingly,
+after due consultation with Lucy, he invested his all
+in fitting up and decorating the splendid establishment
+in Jermyn Street, St. James&rsquo;s, now known as
+the <span class="sc">Sponge Cigar and Betting Rooms</span>, where noblemen,
+gentlemen, and officers in the Household troops
+may be accommodated with loans on their personal
+security to any amount.&rdquo; We see by Mr. Sponge&rsquo;s
+last advertisement that he has �116,000 to lend
+at 3� per cent.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page151" id="page151"></a>151</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER VIII.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">&ldquo;THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS,&rdquo;
+BY ALBERT SMITH.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;December 20, 1844.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Sir,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Here we are at the 20th of the month,
+and I have only four pages of Smith&rsquo;s new story&mdash;no
+incident. Really, it is too much to expect that
+I can throw myself at a moment&rsquo;s notice into the
+seventeenth century, with all its difficulties of
+costume, etc., etc. What am I to do? There is a
+great want of system somewhere. I received a note
+from Mr. Marsh last night, stating for the first time
+that there would be <i>two</i> illustrations to &lsquo;The Marchioness
+of Brinvilliers,&rsquo; and also urging me to be
+very early with the plates, it being Christmas and
+all that! But, as I said before, I have not the
+matter to illustrate. <i>What am I to do?</i> Added to
+all this, I must be engaged one day in the early part
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page152" id="page152"></a>152</span>
+of next week on the melancholy occasion of the
+funeral of a poor little sister of mine. Pray, my
+dear sir, do what you can to expedite matters, and</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span></p>
+
+<p class="f80">&ldquo;&mdash;&mdash; <span class="sc">Morgan, Esq.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">The above is one of the many letters that might
+be quoted to show the aggravating delays and difficulties
+under which so much of Leech&rsquo;s work was
+produced. I take Mr. Morgan to have been one of
+the officials of Mr. Richard Bentley&rsquo;s establishment,
+whose patience must have been sorely tried again
+and again by the pranks of that <i>genus irritabile</i>,
+the writer. Judging from the humorous character
+of Albert Smith&rsquo;s &ldquo;Ledbury&rdquo; and other works, one
+is hardly prepared for the horrors that make us
+shudder over the pages of &ldquo;The Marchioness of
+Brinvilliers&rdquo;&mdash;horrors in which the writer seems to
+revel with a zest as keen as that he takes in the
+fun and frolic of Ledbury.</p>
+
+<p>The &ldquo;shilling shocker&rdquo; of the present day is a
+mild production indeed, in comparison with the
+history of the poisoner and adulteress, Brinvilliers,
+in which &ldquo;on horror&rsquo;s head horrors accumulate.&rdquo;
+The authors of the modern productions are, for the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page153" id="page153"></a>153</span>
+most part, inventors of the blood-and-murder scenes
+that adorn their books. Not so Mr. Albert Smith,
+whose pages describe but too truly the career of the
+most notorious of the many criminals that flourished
+in the most profligate period of French history.
+Louis XIV. set an example in debauchery to his
+subjects which the highest of them eagerly followed;
+but the most fearful factor of this terrible time was
+poison, by which the possessors of estates who
+&ldquo;lagged superfluous on the scene&rdquo; were made to
+give place to greedy heirs; husbands, inconveniently
+in the way, were put out of it by their wives, whose
+affections had been disposed of elsewhere; state
+officers, whose positions were desired by aspirants
+unwilling to wait for them, were struck by sudden
+and mysterious illness, speedily followed by death,
+for which the faculty of the time could in no way
+account.</p>
+
+<p>Marie, Marchioness of Brinvilliers, lived with her
+husband in the Rue des Cordeliers in Paris. The
+Marquis was a man of easy morals, and the Marchioness
+was a woman of still easier morals, for she
+had many lovers; she also amused her leisure hours
+by the study of the nature and properties of a great
+variety of deadly poisons; thinking, no doubt, as she
+was of a jealous disposition, that the time might
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page154" id="page154"></a>154</span>
+arrive when her knowledge would be useful in
+depriving her lover of the temptation which had
+led him to forget his duty to her. The Marchioness
+was a very beautiful woman; she had eyes of a
+tender blue; her complexion was of dazzling whiteness,
+with cheeks of a delicate carnation; her expression
+was angelic, and she wore her hair of
+pale gold in bushy ringlets, in obedience to the
+fashion of the time. We first become acquainted
+with the Marchioness under painful circumstances,
+for she made&mdash;and kept&mdash;an appointment with one
+lover without being sufficiently careful to disguise
+her doings from another. That other was the
+Chevalier Gaudin de Sainte-Croix, who proceeded
+to the lodgings of his rival, M. Camille Theria.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;The Marchioness of Brinvilliers is here, I
+believe,&rsquo; said Gaudin to the grisette at the door.
+&lsquo;Will you tell her she is wanted on pressing
+business?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Marchioness appeared. A stifled scream
+of fear and surprise, yet sufficiently intense to show
+her emotion at the sight of Gaudin, broke from her
+lips as she recognised him. But she immediately
+recovered her impassibility of features&mdash;that wonderful
+calmness and innocent expression which afterwards
+was so severely put to the proof without
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page155" id="page155"></a>155</span>
+being shaken&mdash;and she asked, with apparent unconcern:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Well, monsieur, what do you want with me?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Marie!&rsquo; exclaimed Gaudin, &lsquo;let me ask your
+business here at this hour&rsquo; (it was rather late)
+&lsquo;unattended, and in the apartment of a scholar of the
+H�tel Dieu?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You are mad, Sainte-Croix,&rsquo; said the Marchioness.
+&lsquo;Am I to be accountable to you for all
+my actions? M. Theria is not here, and I came to
+see his wife on my own affairs.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Liar!&rsquo; cried Gaudin.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The lady had not told the truth, for M. Theria
+had no wife, and he was so near by that he heard
+the angry voice of M. Sainte-Croix, who so convinced
+the Marchioness of her perfidy that &ldquo;in an
+instant the accustomed firmness of the Marchioness
+deserted her, and she fell upon her knees at his feet
+on the cold, damp floor of the landing.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In this powerful etching nothing could surpass the
+beauty of the face and figure of the Marchioness;
+she exactly realizes our ideal. But the Chevalier,
+though full of passion, is, to my mind, verging on the
+theatrical.</p>
+
+<p>Finding that her entreaties to the Chevalier to
+&ldquo;go away&rdquo; have no effect, she threatens suicide.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page156" id="page156"></a>156</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;There is but one resource left,&rdquo; she says,
+as she &ldquo;springs up from her position of supplication.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Where are you going?&rdquo; asked Sainte-Croix, as
+she rushed to the top of the flight of stairs.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Hinder me not!&rdquo; returned Marie. &ldquo;To the
+river!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>But before she could reach the river&mdash;to which
+she would no doubt have given a very wide berth&mdash;she
+fainted, or pretended to faint, in the courtyard at
+the bottom of the staircase. Here the pair were
+overtaken by M. Theria.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A few hot and hurried words passed on either
+side, and the next instant their swords were drawn
+and crossed. The fight was short, and ended in
+Sainte-Croix thrusting his rapier completely through
+the fleshy part of the sword-arm of the student,
+whose weapon fell to the ground.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I have it!&rsquo; cried Camille. &lsquo;A peace, monsieur!
+I have it!&rsquo; he continued, smiling, as he felt that his
+wound, though slight, was too serious to have been
+received in so unworthy a cause.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;As he was speaking, Marie opened her eyes
+and looked around. But the instant she saw the
+two rivals, she shuddered convulsively, and again
+relapsed into insensibility.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page157" id="page157"></a>157</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;She is a clever actress,&rsquo; continued Camille,
+smiling.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;We have each been duped,&rsquo; answered Gaudin.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;She will play me no longer. As far as I am
+concerned,&rsquo; said Theria, &lsquo;you are welcome to all her
+affections, and I shall reckon you as one of my best
+friends for your visit this evening.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The visit was destined to have an unexpected
+end, however, for the attention of the Guet Royal,
+or night-guard, had been called to the clashing of
+swords.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Some young men, who had come up with the
+guard as they were returning from their orgies,
+pressed forward with curiosity to ascertain the cause
+of the tumult. But from one of them a fearful cry of
+surprise was heard as he recognised the persons
+before him. Sainte-Croix raised his eyes, and found
+himself face to face with Antoine, Marquis of Brinvilliers!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The late combatants threw dust in the eyes of the
+lady&rsquo;s husband cleverly enough by pretending that
+Sainte-Croix had rescued her from the unwelcome
+attentions of Theria, who had mistaken her in the
+uncertain light for a lady with whom he had an
+appointment. The cloak which the Marchioness
+wore, together with the darkness of the night, had
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page158" id="page158"></a>158</span>
+prevented his discovering that she was not the
+person he expected until her cries had brought in
+Sainte-Croix, who was passing, as he said himself,
+&ldquo;to his lodgings in the Rue des Bernardins.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The lady went home with her husband, and
+Sainte-Croix retired to his lodgings, there to meditate
+on the perfidy of his mistress. The Chevalier
+de Sainte-Croix was even more learned in poisons,
+and less scrupulous in the use of them, than his
+mistress; and in his first gusts of passion, on discovering
+her treachery, he was inclined&mdash;in the hate
+of her that took temporary possession of him&mdash;to
+subject her to their effect; but reflection produced
+demoniacal results. She should be spared to kill
+those who ought to be near and dear to her!</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I will be her bane&mdash;her curse!&rsquo; he exclaimed.
+&lsquo;I will be her bad angel!... And I will triumph
+over that besotted fool, her husband,&rsquo; etc.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He opened a small, iron-clamped box, and
+brought from it a small packet, carefully sealed, and
+a phial of clear, colourless fluid.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I have it! It is here&mdash;the source, not of life,
+but of death!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Almost as he speaks, he is summoned by the
+<i>femme de chambre</i> of the Marchioness to an interview
+at her residence at her father&rsquo;s house, the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page159" id="page159"></a>159</span>
+H�tel d&rsquo;Aubray. The Chevalier found the enchantress
+in studied disarray. She might have
+been made up after one of Guido&rsquo;s Magdalens,&rdquo;
+says the author, &ldquo;so beautiful were her rounded
+shoulders, so dishevelled her light hair,&rdquo; etc.</p>
+
+<p>The lovers were speedily reconciled, but the lady
+had an important communication to make&mdash;no less
+than the discovery of their intimacy by her husband,
+whom she felt sure had revealed the fact to her
+father, M. d&rsquo;Aubray. A long pause, broken by
+Sainte-Croix:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Marie,&rsquo; he said, &lsquo;they must die, or our happiness
+is impossible.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Marchioness was not yet hardened enough
+to receive this announcement with equanimity; and
+the lovers were still discussing the <i>pros</i> and <i>cons</i> of
+it, when they were surprised by Monsieur d&rsquo;Aubray,
+who, entering by a secret door, &ldquo;stood looking on
+the scene before him.&rdquo; Any doubts of guilty
+intimacy, if he had any, were dispelled; and, after
+ordering his daughter to her chamber, he turned to
+Sainte-Croix, and said:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Monsieur de Sainte-Croix, I will provide you
+with a lodging where you will run no risk of compromising
+the honour of a noble family.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And so saying, he produced a <i>lettre de cachet</i>,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page160" id="page160"></a>160</span>
+armed with which the exempts, who were waiting
+for him, speedily deposited M. de Sainte-Croix at
+the Bastille. The Marchioness, separated from her
+children and her husband, was exiled to Offremont,
+a family place some distance from Paris. Here she
+lived with her father, who so entirely believed in her
+repentance and determination to lead a new life that
+he proposed a speedy return to Paris.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I have no wish to go, <i>mon p�re</i>,&rsquo; replied the
+hypocrite; &lsquo;I would sooner remain here with you&mdash;for
+ever!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>After much talk and reiterated professions of
+sorrow for the past, the Marchioness says, in reply
+to her father&rsquo;s order that &ldquo;she shall never speak to
+Sainte-Croix&mdash;who had been released from the Bastille&mdash;or
+recognise him again:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You shall be obeyed, monsieur&mdash;too willingly.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The words had not long left her lips when she
+placed a lamp in the window of the room, to guide
+her lover to a prearranged assignation.</p>
+
+<p>The awful interview that followed is described in
+Mr. Smith&rsquo;s book.</p>
+
+<p>The greater villain ran the risk of interruption in
+his lengthened arguments in favour of parricide; but
+hearing approaching footsteps, Sainte-Croix hurried
+away.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page161" id="page161"></a>161</span></p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:630px; height:815px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img180.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>M. d&rsquo;Aubray had gone to bed. A servant
+suggested the night-drink.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I will give it to him myself, Jervais,&rsquo; said the
+Marchioness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Taking a jug from the man, she poured the contents
+into an old cup of thin silver; then, &ldquo;with a
+hurried glance round the room, she broke the seals
+of the packet Sainte-Croix had left in her hands, and
+shook a few grains of its contents into the beverage.
+No change was visible; a few bubbles rose and
+broke upon the surface, but this was all.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sleep had surprised M. d&rsquo;Aubray. His daughter
+touched him lightly, and he &ldquo;awoke with the exclamation
+of surprise attendant upon being suddenly
+disturbed from sleep.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I have brought your wine, <i>mon p�re</i>,&rsquo; said the
+murderess.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Thanks, thanks, my good girl,&rsquo; said the old
+man, as he raised himself up in bed, and took the
+cup from the Marchioness. He drank off the
+contents, and then, once more bestowing a benediction
+upon his daughter, turned again to his
+pillow.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Let those who desire to see how beauty can be
+retained, though disfigured by devilish passion,
+study the face of the Marchioness in this drawing.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page162" id="page162"></a>162</span>
+For skilful arrangement of light and shade, and of
+the objects that go to make up the <i>mise en sc�ne</i>,
+and for natural action in the figures; this drawing
+takes the lead of all the admirable illustrations in
+the &ldquo;Marchioness of Brinvilliers.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page163" id="page163"></a>163</span></p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER IX.</p>
+
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<span class="scs">THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS</span>&rdquo; (<i>continued</i>).</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">A great</span> reception was given at Versailles by the
+King. M. d&rsquo;Aubray was &ldquo;suffering from a sudden
+and fearful indisposition, but he insisted upon his
+daughter accepting an invitation, were it only to
+establish her <i>entr�e</i> into society.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There, amongst the trees in the gardens, the
+Marchioness encounters Sainte-Croix. &ldquo;His face
+looked ghastly in the moonbeams, and his eyes
+gleamed with a light that conscience made demoniac
+in the eyes of the Marchioness.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You here!&rsquo; she exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Where should I be but in the place of rejoicing
+just now?&rsquo; replied Gaudin through his set teeth, and
+with a sardonic smile. &lsquo;I am this moment from
+Paris. We are free!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;My father?&rsquo; cried the Marchioness, as a terrible
+expression overspread her countenance.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page164" id="page164"></a>164</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;He is dead,&rsquo; returned Sainte-Croix, &lsquo;and we
+are free!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>There was a pause, and they looked at each other
+for nearly a minute.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Come,&rsquo; at length said the Marchioness, &lsquo;come
+to the ball.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A prominent and very interesting figure in Mr.
+Smith&rsquo;s book is Louise Gauthier, a girl of comparatively
+humble birth, who had the misfortune to love
+Sainte-Croix with the intense self-sacrificing love
+that good women so often show for bad men, who
+return their affection with coldness and neglect.
+This girl, who had become the friend of Marotte
+Dupr�, one of the actresses in the plays of Moli�re
+which were part of the attraction at the Versailles
+f�te, accompanied the actress to Versailles, where
+she accidentally overheard a conversation between
+the Marchioness of Brinvilliers and M. de Sainte-Croix,
+which not only convinced her that the love
+for her that Sainte-Croix had once professed was
+given to another, but that some fearful tie existed
+between the two, caused by actions which had
+destroyed their happiness here and their hopes of it
+hereafter.</p>
+
+<p>She came from her concealment, and was received
+with jealous fury by the Marchioness, who
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page165" id="page165"></a>165</span>
+believed, or affected to believe, that the girl was
+at &ldquo;the grotto&rdquo; by appointment with Sainte-Croix.
+She bestowed what is commonly called &ldquo;a
+piece of her mind&rdquo; upon her lover, and concluded
+her rhapsody by informing him that from henceforth
+&ldquo;we meet no more.&rdquo; Louise, however, convinced
+the passionate Marchioness that she had made no
+appointment, but was at &ldquo;the grotto&rdquo; by, &ldquo;perhaps,
+a dispensation of Providence,&rdquo; in order that she
+might, having overheard their guilty conversation,
+so act upon their consciences as to &ldquo;save them
+both.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The first result of her good intentions is a declaration
+to the Marchioness by Sainte-Croix that,
+though there had been some love-passages between
+him and the girl, they were &ldquo;madness, infatuation&mdash;call
+it what name you will; but you are the only one
+I ever loved.&rdquo; Thus the ruffian speaks in the
+presence of the woman he had betrayed; but her
+love, though crushed, still urges her to become the
+man&rsquo;s good angel, and, seizing his arm, she cries:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Hear me, Gaudin. By the recollection of what
+we once were to each other&mdash;although you scorn me
+now, and the shadowy remembrance of old times&mdash;before
+these terrible circumstances, whatever they
+may be, had thus turned your heart from me and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page166" id="page166"></a>166</span>
+from your God, there is still time to make amends
+for all that has occurred. I do not speak for myself,
+for all those feelings have passed, but for you alone.
+Repent and be happy, for happy now you are not!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Gaudin made no reply, but his bosom heaved
+rapidly, betraying his emotion.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;This is idle talk,&rsquo; said the Marchioness....
+&lsquo;Will you not come with me, Gaudin?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Marie!&rsquo; cried Gaudin faintly, &lsquo;take me where
+you list. In life or after it, on earth or in hell, I am
+yours&mdash;yours only!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A flush of triumph passed over her face as she
+led Sainte-Croix from the grotto,&rdquo; etc.</p>
+
+<p>By the death of her father the Marchioness hoped,
+not only to have freed herself and her lover from an
+ever-recurring obstacle to their intercourse, but also
+to have inherited a much-needed sum of money&mdash;no
+less than &ldquo;one hundred and fifty thousand livres
+were to have been the legacy to his daughter,
+Madame de Brinvilliers&mdash;and, what was more, her
+absolute freedom to act as she pleased. The money
+had passed to her brothers, in trust for her, and she
+was left entirely under their surveillance.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;This must be altered,&rsquo; said the Chevalier Sainte-Croix
+in an interview with the <i>alter ego</i> of an Italian
+vendor of poisons named Exili.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page167" id="page167"></a>167</span></p>
+
+<p>This man undertakes the &ldquo;alteration,&rdquo; or, in
+other words, the murder, of the two brothers for a
+&ldquo;consideration&rdquo; in the form of &ldquo;one-fifth of whatever
+may fall to the Marchioness thereupon.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Of course, there is a barrier between the
+brothers of Madame de Brinvilliers and myself,&rsquo; said
+Sainte-Croix to his accomplice, &lsquo;that must for ever
+prevent our meeting. I will provide the means, and
+you their application.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sainte-Croix had the right to claim the merit of
+this scheme for enriching the Marchioness, and at
+the same time relieving her from a guardianship that
+was impenetrable by her lover. The murder of her
+brothers seemed a trifling affair after the poisoning
+of her father, and she readily consented to assist in
+procuring a situation for the poisoner&rsquo;s assistant&mdash;a
+man named Lechauss�e&mdash;in the household of her
+brothers, who happened, very fortunately, to be in
+want of a servant at the moment. How this wretch
+administered the poison to the two brothers, who
+died instantly from its effect, the curious reader may
+ascertain&mdash;together with the other dramatic particulars&mdash;by
+consulting Mr. Albert Smith&rsquo;s book, in
+which the incidents are told with great force and
+skill.</p>
+
+<p>By eavesdropping in somewhat improbable places&mdash;notably
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page168" id="page168"></a>168</span>
+at a grand f�te at the H�tel de Cluny,
+given by the Marquis de Lauzan, the Italian poisoner
+Exili becomes master of the guilty pair&rsquo;s secrets.
+The Marchioness&rsquo;s jealousy had been aroused during
+the evening by Sainte-Croix&rsquo;s attention to an actress;
+and she left the great <i>salon</i>, and retired with her
+friend to a cabinet, in which, after the usual denial
+and reconciliation, secure, as they thought, from
+interruption, they discussed their demoniacal schemes.
+As they were about to pass from the room, &ldquo;a
+portion of a large bookcase, masking a door, was
+thrown open, and Exili stood before them.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The somewhat theatrical character that Leech
+gives to the figure of Sainte-Croix is much less
+apparent in this powerful drawing; and in the figures
+of Exili and the Marchioness there is not a trace of
+it. Though the Brinvilliers is masked according to
+a habit of the time, we feel that the mask conceals a
+beautiful face, distorted by fear, no doubt, but still
+lovely. The Italian is altogether excellent.</p>
+
+<p>Exili loses no time in turning his information to
+account, and in reply to Sainte-Croix, who asks him
+what he wants, he replies that his trade as a sorcerer
+is failing, and as a poisoner he is in &ldquo;a yet worse
+position, thanks to the Lieutenant of Police, M. de la
+Regnie.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page169" id="page169"></a>169</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I must have money,&rsquo; he adds, &lsquo;to enable me to
+retire and die elsewhere than on the Gr�ve.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He ends by extorting from Sainte-Croix an
+undertaking to share with him the wealth obtained
+through the murder of the brothers. But if Exili
+relied upon the bond as a security of value, he
+displayed a degree of ignorance of the human nature
+of such individuals as Sainte-Croix that was surprising
+in so astute a person.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;To elude the payment of Exili&rsquo;s bond,&rdquo; says the
+author, &ldquo;he had determined upon destroying him,
+running the risk of whatever might happen subsequently
+through the physician&rsquo;s knowledge of the
+murders.&rdquo; And he had, therefore, ordered a body
+of the &ldquo;Guard Royal to attend, when they would
+receive sufficient proof of the trade Exili was driving
+in his capacity of alchemist.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Sainte-Croix visited the Italian with excuses for
+the non-payment of the money early in the evening
+of the day on which the arrest was planned to take
+place later. To those excuses the poisoner listened
+angrily; he discovered some valuable jewels which
+Sainte-Croix wore. He had purposely brushed his
+hand against Sainte-Croix&rsquo;s cloak, and in the pocket
+of it he felt some weighty substance. The chink
+assured him it was gold.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page170" id="page170"></a>170</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You cannot have that,&rsquo; said Gaudin confusedly;
+&lsquo;it is going with me to the gaming-table to-night.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You have rich jewels, too, about you,&rsquo; continued
+Exili, peering at him with a fearful expression.
+&lsquo;The carcanet becomes you well. That diamond
+clasp is a fortune in itself.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Not one of them is mine,&rsquo; said Sainte-Croix.
+&lsquo;They belong to the Marchioness of Brinvilliers.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Italian affected to be satisfied with the assurance
+that the money should be paid next day, and
+Sainte-Croix&rsquo;s doom was sealed. The alchemist
+&ldquo;turned to the furnace to superintend the progress
+of some preparation that was evaporating over the
+fire.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;What have you there?&rsquo; asked Gaudin, who was
+anxious to prolong the interview till the guard could
+arrive.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;A venom more deadly than any we have yet
+known&mdash;that will kill like lightning, and leave no
+trace of its presence to the most subtle tests.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You will give me the secret?&rsquo; asked Gaudin.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;As soon as it is finished, and the time is coming
+on apace. You have arrived opportunely to assist
+me.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He took a mask with glass eyes, and tied it
+round his face.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page171" id="page171"></a>171</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;If you would see the preparation completed,
+you must wear one as well.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Exili took another visor, and, under pretence of
+rearranging the string, he broke it from the mask;
+and then, fixing it back with some resinous compound
+that would be melted by the heat of the
+furnace, he cautiously fixed it to Sainte-Croix&rsquo;s
+face.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I will mind the furnace whilst you go,&rsquo; said
+Gaudin, in reply to the alchemist, who said he must
+fetch some drugs required for further operations.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;At that moment Sainte-Croix heard an adjacent
+bell sound the hour at which he had appointed the
+guard to arrive.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;There is no danger in this mask, you say?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;None,&rsquo; said Exili.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Anxious to become acquainted with the new
+poison, and in the hope that as soon as he had
+acquired the secret of its manufacture the guard
+would arrive, Gaudin bent over the furnace. Exili
+had left the apartment, but as soon as his footfall
+was beyond Sainte-Croix&rsquo;s hearing he returned,
+treading as stealthily as a tiger, and took up his
+place at the door to watch his prey. As Gaudin
+bent his head to watch the preparation more closely,
+the heat of the furnace melted the resin with which
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page172" id="page172"></a>172</span>
+the string had been fastened. It gave way, and the
+mask fell on the floor, whilst the vapour of the
+poison rose full in his face almost before, in his
+eager attention, he was aware of the accident.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;One terrible scream&mdash;a cry which, once heard,
+could never be forgotten&mdash;not that of agony, or
+terror, or surprise, but a shrill and violent indrawing
+of the breath, resembling rather the screech of some
+huge, hoarse bird of prey irritated to madness, than
+the sound of a human voice&mdash;broke from Gaudin&rsquo;s
+lips. Every muscle of his face was contorted into the
+most frightful form; he remained a second, and
+no more, wavering at the side of the furnace, and
+then fell heavily on the floor. He was dead.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This terrible death-scene has found a perfect illustrator
+in John Leech. How admirable is the fiendish
+expression of the poisoner as he gloats over the body
+of his victim, which is drawn with a power and
+truthfulness altogether perfect! Every detail of
+the laboratory how skilfully introduced, how effectively
+rendered!</p>
+
+<p>The alchemist behaved on the occasion as might
+be expected.</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:600px; height:749px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img194.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He darted at the dead body like a beast of prey;
+and drew forth the bag of money, which he transferred
+to his own pouch. He next tore away every
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page173" id="page173"></a>173</span>
+ornament of any value that adorned Gaudin&rsquo;s costly
+dress....&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>While at this congenial occupation, &ldquo;the bristling
+halberts of the guard appeared.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Back!&rsquo; screamed Exili. &lsquo;Keep off, or I will
+slay you and myself, so that not one shall live to tell
+the tale! Your lives are in my hands,&rsquo; continued
+the physician, &lsquo;and if you move one step forward
+they are forfeited.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He darted through a doorway at the end of the
+room as he spoke, and disappeared. The guard
+pressed forward; but, as Exili passed out at the
+arch, a mass of timber descended like a portcullis
+and opposed their further progress. A loud and
+fiendish laugh sounded in the <i>souterrain</i>, which
+grew fainter and fainter, till they heard it no
+more.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The poisoner escaped&mdash;for a time. He was captured
+afterwards, tried, and, of course, condemned to
+death&mdash;a merciful death compared with that which
+befell him on his way to execution at the hands of
+the infuriated people, by whom his guards were
+overpowered, and after being almost torn to pieces,
+he was thrown into the Seine.</p>
+
+<p>The toils were now closing round the miserable
+Marchioness de Brinvilliers. The wretched woman
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page174" id="page174"></a>174</span>
+had reached the inconceivable condition of degradation
+said to be common to successful murderers
+when impunity has followed their first crimes&mdash;that
+of killing for killing&rsquo;s sake. She put on the clothes
+of a <i>religeuse</i>, attended the hospitals, and poisoned
+the patients. Their dying cries were music to her,
+their agonies afforded her the keenest pleasure. To
+the student of French criminal history this is no
+news. I note it here so that the historian of the
+woman&rsquo;s crimes should not be thought to have
+invented incidents that existed only in his imagination.
+Mr. Smith had the best authority for all
+the murders with which he charges Madame de
+Brinvilliers.</p>
+
+<p>The death of Sainte-Croix was followed by the
+usual police regulation where foul play is suspected.
+Seals were affixed to his effects, amongst which
+poisons were discovered that were proved to be the
+property of the Marchioness of Brinvilliers. The
+murderess, terror-stricken, fled from Paris; and,
+though hotly pursued, she escaped into Belgium,
+and sought refuge in a religious house, where she
+took &ldquo;sanctuary.&rdquo; The pursuers were so near that,
+as she jumped from her carriage at the convent-door,
+she left her cloak in the hands of the exempt.
+She turned upon him, says the author, &ldquo;with a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page175" id="page175"></a>175</span>
+smile of triumph that threw an expression of
+demoniac beauty over her features, and cried:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You dare not touch me, or you are lost body
+and soul!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I must again refer my reader to Mr. Albert
+Smith&rsquo;s book if he wishes to learn how the exempt,
+disguised as an abb�, beguiled the Marchioness from
+her sanctuary, and content myself with showing&mdash;or
+rather in letting Leech show&mdash;how she looked when
+the police-officer dropped his disguise and she found
+herself seized by his men.</p>
+
+<p>The details given by Mr. Albert Smith of the last
+hours of Madame de Brinvilliers are, though painful
+reading, very remarkable. The Docteur Pirot, who
+passed nearly the whole of his time at the Conciergerie,
+has left records of which the author
+has availed himself, as well as from the letters of
+Madame de S�vign�. Those who wish to &ldquo;sup
+full of horrors&rdquo; can satisfy themselves by reading
+the account of the torture by water which was
+inflicted upon the miserable woman to induce her to
+betray her accomplices. But there were none to
+betray. Her only accomplice was dead. Her
+sufferings on the rack very nearly cheated the
+headsman, for, as they culminated &ldquo;in a piercing
+cry of agony, after which all was still, the graffier,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page176" id="page176"></a>176</span>
+fearing that the punishment had been carried too far,
+gave orders that she should be unbound.&rdquo; On her
+way to execution, she was attended by the constant
+Pirot. The tumbrel stopped before the door of
+N�tre Dame, and a paper was put into her hands,
+from which she read, in a firm voice, a confession of
+her crimes. The tumbrel again advanced with difficulty
+through the dense crowds, portions of which,
+&ldquo;slipping between the horses of the troops who
+surrounded it, launched some brutal remark at Marie
+with terrible distinctness and meaning; but she never
+gave the least sign of having heard them, only keeping
+her eyes intently fixed upon the crucifix which
+Pirot held up before her.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In this drawing Leech&rsquo;s power over individual
+character may be noted in the diversity of type
+amongst the hooting crowd round the tumbrel. The
+shrinking form of the prisoner is very beautiful.</p>
+
+<p>When the Place de Gr�ve was reached the
+execrations of the mob had ceased, and &ldquo;a deep
+and awful silence&rdquo; prevailed, &ldquo;so perfect that the
+voices of the executioner and Pirot could be plainly
+heard,&rdquo; says the chroniclers. I pass over harrowing
+details. The beautiful head of the poisoner was
+struck off by a single sword-stroke, and the executioner,
+turning to Pirot, said:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page177" id="page177"></a>177</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;It was well done, monsieur, and I hope madame
+has left me a trifle, for I deserve it.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>He then &ldquo;calmly took a bottle from his pocket
+and refreshed himself with its contents.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>If the short extracts from the history of this great
+criminal have enabled my readers more clearly to
+understand and enjoy Leech&rsquo;s illustrations, my object
+in selecting them has been realized.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page178" id="page178"></a>178</span></p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER X.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">&ldquo;A MAN MADE OF MONEY.&rdquo;&mdash;DOUGLAS JERROLD.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">Knowing</span> that this extraordinary book was illustrated
+by John Leech, and hearing that it contained
+some of his best work, it became my duty to make a
+sufficient acquaintance with the book to enable me
+to criticise and explain the drawings to my readers.
+I tried &ldquo;skimming,&rdquo; but the power of the book,
+and the brilliancy of the wit in it, so attracted me
+that I read the whole of it.</p>
+
+<p>It is not my province, and it is certainly not in my
+power, to pose as a critic of literary work; and the
+hero&mdash;the man made of money, with a heart made
+of bank-notes instead of flesh and blood, containing
+within himself a bank that could be drawn upon to
+any amount&mdash;is so wonderful a being as to place
+him out of the category of human creatures, and altogether
+beyond criticism. This gentleman&rsquo;s name
+was Jericho. He had waited till he was forty, and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page179" id="page179"></a>179</span>
+then he married a widow with three children; two
+of them were girls, the third a young gentleman of
+whom those who knew him best said, &ldquo;He was born
+for billiards.&rdquo; There was no love lost between Mr.
+Jericho and his step-children; in fact, they cordially
+hated him, and he returned the compliment. Their
+name was Pennibacker, inherited from their father,
+Captain Pennibacker, whose loving wife &ldquo;was made a
+widow at two-and-twenty by an East Indian bullet.&rdquo;
+Mr. Jericho was one of that large class which, though
+really needy, man&oelig;uvres successfully to be considered
+wealthy. His step-children considered him
+as &ldquo;a rich plum-cake, to be sliced openly or by stealth
+among them.&rdquo; The widow Pennibacker was first
+attracted to him by &ldquo;a whispered announcement
+that he was a City gentleman. Hence Jericho
+appeared to the imagination of the widow with an
+indescribable glory of money about him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Jericho desired to make a few purchases, and
+she approached her husband with a cry familiar to
+most of us:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Mr. Jericho, when can you let me have some
+money?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The lady&rsquo;s confidence in her husband&rsquo;s wealth
+ought to have been shaken by what followed her
+application. Mr. Jericho turned a deaf ear to the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page180" id="page180"></a>180</span>
+appeal, which was repeated in every variety of tone
+and accent.</p>
+
+<p>At length, &ldquo;waving her right hand before her
+husband&rsquo;s face with a significant and snaky motion,&rdquo;
+she reiterated her demand with a terrible calmness:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;When can I have some money?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Woman!&rsquo; cried Jericho vehemently, as though
+at once and for ever he emptied his heart of the
+sex; and, rushing from the room, he felt himself in
+the flattering vivacity of the moment a single man.
+&lsquo;I&rsquo;m sure, after all, I do my best to love the woman,&rsquo;
+thought Jericho, &lsquo;and yet she will ask me for
+money.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Disgusted with these unreasonable demands for
+money, Mr. Jericho determines to revenge himself
+by taking a day&rsquo;s pleasure with three special friends,
+to be ended by &ldquo;a quiet banquet at which the
+human heart would expand in good fellowship, and
+where the wine was above doubt.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The dinner was a great success. It was very late&mdash;or
+rather somewhat early, as the sparrows were
+twittering from the eaves&mdash;when Mr. Jericho sought
+the marital couch, in which, too, his &ldquo;wife Sabilla&rdquo;
+was evidently &ldquo;in a sound, deep, sweet sleep.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Untucking the bed-clothes, and making himself
+the thinnest slice of a man, Jericho slides between
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page181" id="page181"></a>181</span>
+the sheets; and there he lies feloniously still, and he
+thinks to himself&mdash;Being asleep, she cannot tell how
+late I came to bed. At all events, it is open to
+dispute, and that is something.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Mr. Jericho, when can you let me have some
+money?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;With open eyes, and clearly ringing every word
+upon the morning air, did Mrs. Jericho repeat this
+primal question.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And what said Jericho? With a sudden qualm
+at the heart, and with a stammering tongue, he
+answered:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, my dear, I thought you were sound
+asleep.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Here follows a dialogue in the vein of the
+&ldquo;Caudle Lectures,&rdquo; in which Jerrold gives his wit
+and humour full play. To the perusal of the &ldquo;give-and-take&rdquo;
+passage of arms I cordially commend my
+readers. The dialogue closes with these words:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I&rsquo;m sure it&rsquo;s painful enough to my feelings, and
+I feel degraded by the question, nevertheless I must
+and will ask you&mdash;<i>When will you let me have some
+money?</i>&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>This was the last straw, and Jericho groaned
+out:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;<span class="sc">I wish to Heaven I was made of money!</span>&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page182" id="page182"></a>182</span></p>
+
+<p>To which Mrs. Jericho retorted, &ldquo;in a low, deep,
+earnest voice:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I wish to Heaven you were!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Silence came at last, and in the midst of it Jericho
+&ldquo;subsided into muddled sleep; snoring heavily,
+contemptuously, at the loneliness of his spouse.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>And now <i>two fleas</i>&mdash;an elder and younger flea&mdash;come
+upon the scene, and proceed to dine, or sup,
+upon Mr. Jericho&rsquo;s brow.</p>
+
+<p>A long conversation ensues between these interesting
+creatures, in which the elder flea describes
+to his son how a man&rsquo;s heart was changed into
+inexhaustible bank-notes.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Miserable race!&rsquo; said the father flea, with his
+beautiful bright eye shining pitifully upon Jericho;
+&lsquo;miserable, craving race, you hear, my son! Man
+in his greed never knows when he has wherewithal.
+He gorges to gluttony; he drinks to drunkenness;
+and you heard this wretched fool who prayed to
+Heaven to turn him&mdash;heart, brain, and all&mdash;into a
+lump of money.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>How the operation was effected may be learnt
+from Mr. Jerrold&rsquo;s book. One result of it was a
+most troubled and miserable night to the dreamer
+Jericho, whose complaints to his wife when he awoke
+met with no sympathy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page183" id="page183"></a>183</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;If I were to live a thousand years, I shouldn&rsquo;t
+forget last night!&rsquo; groaned Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Very likely not,&rsquo; said Mrs. Jericho; &lsquo;I&rsquo;ve no
+doubt you deserve to remember it. I shouldn&rsquo;t
+wonder&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Jericho&rsquo;s want of money is intensified by the
+wants of her son Basil, whose luck at billiards may
+have failed him just when his creditors were most
+pressing.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Well, what does the old fellow say, the scaly
+old griffin? What&rsquo;s he got to answer for himself?&rsquo;&rdquo;
+This was &ldquo;the sudden question put to Mrs. Jericho
+on her return to the drawing-room, after the interview
+with her husband. &lsquo;Come, what is it? Will
+he give me some money? In a word,&rsquo; asked young
+hopeful, &lsquo;will he go into the melting-pot, like a man
+and a father?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;My dear Basil, you mustn&rsquo;t ask me,&rsquo; replied
+Mrs. Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh, mustn&rsquo;t I, though!&rsquo; cried Basil. &lsquo;Ha, you
+don&rsquo;t know the lot of people that&rsquo;s asking me; bless
+you, they ask a hundred times to my once!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Jerichos have some rich friends, the Carraways,
+who live in a mansion called Jogtrot Hall,
+&ldquo;the one central grandeur, the boast and the comfort
+of the village of Marigolds.&rdquo; To a f�te at the Hall
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page184" id="page184"></a>184</span>
+comes an invitation to the Jerichos. It had always
+been Mrs. Jericho&rsquo;s ambition that her girls should&mdash;&ldquo;in
+her own nervous words&rdquo;&mdash;make a blow in
+marriage, and she felt that perhaps the time had
+come. But the girls&rsquo; dresses&mdash;the &ldquo;war-paint,&rdquo; as
+Mr. Basil put it&mdash;there was the difficulty, only to be
+surmounted by Mr. Jericho&rsquo;s yielding to the repeated
+cry, &ldquo;When will you let me have some money?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>With but faint hopes of success, Mrs. Jericho
+seeks her husband in his study. In a long colloquy,
+she urges the importance of her daughters&rsquo; appearance
+at this &ldquo;grand party,&rdquo; and the necessity for an
+advance to enable them to do so properly. Mr.
+Jericho turns a deaf ear to her appeal, till suddenly
+a wonderful change comes over him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Quite a new look of satisfaction gleamed from
+his eyes, and his mouth had such a strange smile of
+compliance! What could ail him?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The charm was working, the marvellous change
+was in operation. Mrs. Jericho fears for her husband&rsquo;s
+sanity. &ldquo;&lsquo;He doesn&rsquo;t look mad,&rsquo; thought
+Mrs. Jericho, a little anxious.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I feel as if I had got new blood, new flesh, new
+bones, new brain! Wonderful!&rsquo; Jericho trod up
+and down the room and snapt his fingers. &lsquo;Something&rsquo;s
+going to happen,&rsquo; said he.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page185" id="page185"></a>185</span></p>
+
+<p>And something did indeed happen. The transformation
+was complete; the hard heart had given
+place to illimitable money.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You will let me have the money?&rsquo; repeated
+Mrs. Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Jericho answered not a word, but withdrew his
+hand from his breast. Between his finger and his
+thumb he held in silver purity a virgin Bank of
+England note for a hundred pounds. Mrs. Jericho
+ran delightedly off with the money.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;And Jericho sat with his heart beating faster.
+Again he placed his hand to his breast, again drew
+forth another bank-note. He jumped to his feet,
+tore away his dress, and, running to a mirror, saw
+therein reflected, not human flesh, but over the
+region of the heart a loose skin of bank-paper,
+veined with marks of ink. He touched it, and still
+in his hand lay another note. His thoughtless wish
+had been wrought into reality. Solomon Jericho
+was in very truth a Man made of Money.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The f�te at Jogtrot Hall was a great success.
+The guests were many, and some of them distinguished.
+The Honourable Mr. Candytuft, Colonel
+Bones, Commissioner Thrush, and Dr. Mizzlemist, of
+Doctors&rsquo; Commons, must be noted, as they have to
+be dealt with pictorially by Leech hereafter. After
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page186" id="page186"></a>186</span>
+a variety of entertainments, some twenty or thirty
+hungry guests graced a table under a long, wide
+tent, on which &ldquo;there were the most delicious proofs
+of the earth&rsquo;s goodness, with every kitchen mystery.&rdquo;
+The host, Mr. Carraway, took the head of the
+table; Mr. Jericho, &ldquo;dignified and taciturn, graced
+the board.&rdquo; The orator on the occasion was Dr.
+Mizzlemist, who had been seized with a passion to
+drink everybody&rsquo;s health. For the third time he
+rose to give &ldquo;the health of Solomon Jericho,
+Esquire, an honour to his country.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;In the course of his speech the Doctor delivered
+himself with so much energy that at the same time
+he stuck the fork, which had served him in emphasizing
+the Jericho virtues, between the bones of Mr.
+Jericho&rsquo;s right hand, pinning it where it lay.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;It is nothing,&rsquo; said the philosophic Jericho.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The change in Mr. Jericho&rsquo;s appearance, from the
+full-faced, healthy-looking individual of Leech&rsquo;s first
+drawing, to the spare, hollow-cheeked man at the
+banquet, is to be accounted for by the fact that,
+after each application to the strange bank established
+in Mr. Jericho&rsquo;s breast, his whole form shrinks;
+he becomes thinner and thinner, to the alarm of his
+tailor, who &ldquo;says, as he measures the changed
+man:</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page187" id="page187"></a>187</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Six inches less round the body, as I&rsquo;m a sinner!
+Six inches less, Mr. Jericho, and I last took your
+measure six weeks ago.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At the Carraway f�te the Misses Jericho made,
+and improved, the acquaintance of the Hon. Mr.
+Candytuft, and of an incredible idiot, Sir Arthur
+Homadod. The idiot was as beautiful as he was
+foolish; he was therefore handsome beyond the
+dreams of beauty. Whatever had taken the place
+of the mind in the baronet was impressed by Miss
+Agatha Pennibacker, and that virgin&rsquo;s heart being
+free, she lost it to Sir Arthur. The Hon. Mr.
+Candytuft, having an eye to the enormous fortune
+supposed to be possessed by Mr. Jericho, and being
+desirous to secure the portion of it that would of
+course fall to his step-daughter, made love to Miss
+Monica with considerable success.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the ladies wish to go to Court;
+in this they are encouraged by Candytuft; and, to
+enable them to make a proper figure there, costly
+jewels are required. To Candytuft and Jericho
+enter Mrs. J., &ldquo;with a magnificent suite of jewels.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Aren&rsquo;t they beautiful, my dear Solomon?&rsquo; said
+she....</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You know, my dear,&rsquo; said Mrs. Jericho, in
+her sweetest, most convincing voice, &lsquo;it would be
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page188" id="page188"></a>188</span>
+impossible to go to Court without diamonds. One
+isn&rsquo;t dressed without diamonds.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Court!&rsquo; Jericho opened his eyes, and a wan
+smile broke on his thin, blank cheek. &lsquo;Are you
+going to Court?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Why, of course&mdash;are we not, dear Mr. Candytuft?
+What would be thought of us if we did not
+pay our homage to&mdash;&mdash;&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The sentence was broken by the sudden appearance
+of Monica and Agatha, each bearing a jewel-case,
+and looking radiant with the possession.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Thank you, dear papa,&rsquo; said Monica, curtseying
+and smiling her best to Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;They&rsquo;re beautiful. Thank you&mdash;dear, dearest
+papa,&rsquo; cried the more impulsive Agatha.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Look!&rsquo; said Monica, and she exhibited her
+treasure.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Look!&rsquo; cried Agatha, and she half dropped upon
+one knee, on the other side, to show her jewels.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Beautiful!&rsquo; cried Candytuft. &lsquo;Pray, ladies, don&rsquo;t
+stir.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The girls, with pretty wonder on their faces,
+kept their positions on either side of Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;My dear madam&rsquo;&mdash;and Candytuft appealed to
+Mrs. Jericho&mdash;&lsquo;is not this a delightful group&mdash;an
+exquisite family picture? It ought to be painted.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page189" id="page189"></a>189</span></p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:550px; height:726px" src="images/img212.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption"><i>A Family Picture.</i></td></tr></table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page190" id="page190"></a>190</span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Candytuft is right. The graceful figures of
+the girls, the attenuated figure of papa, in whose
+hopeless expression one sees the dread of further
+attenuation, together with his own perfect presentment,
+would make&mdash;indeed, does make&mdash;an admirable
+picture. The jewels cost one thousand pounds: ten
+calls have to be made upon the supernatural bank.
+They are made, and the jeweller is paid. And the
+result! For some minutes after the departure of
+the tradesman Jericho sat motionless&mdash;all but
+breathless. He would, however, know his fate.
+He took out the silk lace with which an hour ago he
+had measured his chest. Again he passed it round
+his body. He had drawn upon the bank, and he
+had shrunk an inch.</p>
+
+<p>Truly he was a man made of money&mdash;money was
+the principle of his being, for with every note he
+paid away a portion of his life.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Mr. Carraway was ruined through no fault
+of his own. Jogtrot Hall was sold, and Jericho
+bought it. Thirty thousand pounds&rsquo; worth of flesh
+had he sacrificed to buy to himself a country
+mansion. He had become a member of Parliament,
+and at the same time become so thin that his tailor
+declared, &ldquo;It&rsquo;s like measuring a penknife for a
+sheath.&rdquo; &ldquo;Why,&rdquo; said the tailor to his wife, &ldquo;he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page191" id="page191"></a>191</span>
+isn&rsquo;t a man at all, but a cotton-pod. He can&rsquo;t
+have no more stomach than a &rsquo;bacco-pipe.&rdquo; In fact,
+it was the growing belief of a large circle that
+Jericho was no flesh, no man, at all. &ldquo;He was
+made up of coats,&rdquo; ran the rumour, &ldquo;like an
+onion.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The insolence that is sometimes the accompaniment
+of great riches took full possession of Mr.
+Jericho, and he found an occasion to treat Colonel
+Bones to a specimen of it. Almost without provocation
+the Colonel was called &ldquo;a toad-eater! a bone-picking
+pauper!&rdquo; etc. For this insult the Colonel
+declared he would have Mr. Jericho&rsquo;s blood, and in
+pursuance of that object he sent the millionaire a
+challenge. Jericho fought very hard to avoid
+fighting, but his second, Mr. Candytuft, prevailed,
+and the belligerents met in Battersea Fields. Mr.
+Commissioner Thrush waited upon the angry Colonel,
+and the celebrated Dr. Dodo was there to attend to
+the wounded. The seconds confer; the men are
+placed. Candytuft looked at them with an eye of
+admiration. The signal was given.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Colonel Bones fires, and his ball goes clear
+through Jericho&rsquo;s bosom, knocking off a button in
+its passage, and striking itself flat against a pile of
+bricks.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page192" id="page192"></a>192</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;A dead man!&rsquo; cried the doctor, running to
+Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;My friend,&rsquo; exclaimed Candytuft, &lsquo;have you
+made your will?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Eh? What&rsquo;s the matter?&rsquo; said Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Matter!&rsquo; exclaimed Dr. Dodo, and he pointed
+his cane to the hole in the front of Jericho&rsquo;s coat,
+immediately over the region of his heart. &lsquo;Matter!
+It&rsquo;s the first time I ever heard a man with a bullet
+clean through his breast ask&mdash;What&rsquo;s the matter!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Colonel&rsquo;s ball had passed through Jericho&rsquo;s
+bank-note-paper breast, and Jericho lived and moved
+and was none the worse for it. Jericho fired in the
+air.</p>
+
+<p>An ugly atmosphere was collecting about Mr.
+Jericho, and he was aware of it. &ldquo;His own
+family saw in him a man of mysterious attributes.
+Monica turned pale at the smallest courtesy of her
+parent, and Agatha, suddenly meeting him on the
+staircase, squealed and ran away as from a fiend.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Mr. Jericho went on a rejoicing conqueror. His
+huge town mansion, burning with gold&mdash;massive,
+rich, and gorgeous; for the Man of Money was far
+the most substantial, the most potent development
+of his creed, whereby to awe and oppress his
+worshippers&mdash;&mdash;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page193" id="page193"></a>193</span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Jericho had made up her mind that it was
+time her daughters were &ldquo;settled in life, and she
+said as much to her husband.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Your girls, my dear, have my free permission
+to settle when and where they like,&rsquo; said the husband.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;But in sounding Mr. Jericho as to his intentions
+in the matter of settlements, she could make no way
+whatever. At last she put the point-blank question:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;What do you propose to give the dear child?&rsquo;
+(alluding to Monica, for whose hand Candytuft was
+about to ask).</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Give! I&rsquo;ll give a magnificent party on the
+occasion.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;But the dowry; what dowry do you give?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Dowry! I thought, my dear, you observed
+marriage was no bargain? Why, you&rsquo;re making it
+quite a ready-money transaction!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>At this point the conversation was interrupted
+by Mr. Candytuft, who, before advocating his own
+case, warmly espoused that of his foolish friend, Sir
+Arthur Homadod, the accepted of Agatha.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;He&rsquo;s as bashful as&mdash;as&mdash;upon my life I am at
+a loss for a simile. And as he and I are old friends,
+and as he knew that I should see you&mdash;in fact, he&rsquo;s
+in the house at this moment, and came along with me&mdash;he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page194" id="page194"></a>194</span>
+desired me to inform you that Miss Agatha had
+consented to fix the&mdash;the&mdash;what d&rsquo;ye call it&mdash;the
+happy day.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Wish them joy,&rsquo; said Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;As to the young lady&rsquo;s dowry?&rsquo; hesitated Candytuft.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I can&rsquo;t give a farthing; can&rsquo;t afford it, my dear
+Candytuft.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The ambassador then speaks for himself:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;You may have remarked my affection for Miss
+Monica? You must have remarked it?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I beg a thousand pardons,&rsquo; said the wag Jericho,
+&lsquo;but it has quite escaped me.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Candytuft wanly smiled.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;In a word, my dear sir, we have come to
+the sweet conclusion that we were made for one
+another.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Dear me! Well, how lucky you should have
+met!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Candytuft beats about the bush for awhile, but
+at last comes abruptly to the point, saying:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I <i>must</i> ask&mdash;you force me to be plain&mdash;what
+will you give with the young lady?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Not a farthing!&rsquo; cried Jericho. &lsquo;Not one
+farthing!&rsquo; said the man of money with determined
+emphasis.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page195" id="page195"></a>195</span></p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;What is the matter?&rsquo; said Mrs. Jericho, who
+entered the room at this juncture.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Pooh! you know well enough,&rsquo; cried Jericho.
+&lsquo;Mr. Candytuft wants to marry rich; but that&rsquo;s
+not all&mdash;he wants to be handsomely paid for the
+trouble.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>After awhile Jericho affects to agree to dower his
+step-daughter, and he says:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Let us settle the sum, eh! Well, then, what
+sum would satisfy you?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It was a delicate question to put thus nakedly.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Come, name a figure. Say five thousand
+pounds.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Candytuft looked blankly at Jericho, moving not a
+muscle.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;What do you say to seven?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Candytuft gently lifted his eyebrows, deprecating
+the amount.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Come, then, we&rsquo;ll advance to ten?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The lover&rsquo;s face began to thaw, and he showed
+some signs of kindly animation.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;At a word, then,&rsquo; cried Jericho with affected
+heartiness, &lsquo;will you take fifteen thousand?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;From you&mdash;yes,&rsquo; cried Candytuft; and he seized
+Jericho&rsquo;s hand.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The man of money looked at Candytuft with a
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page196" id="page196"></a>196</span>
+contemptuous sneer, and with a wrench twisted his
+hand away. He then dropped into a chair, and a
+strange, diabolical scowl possessed his countenance.
+The man of money looked like a devil.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;And where&mdash;where do you think this money is
+to come from? Where?&rsquo; asked Jericho, and he rose
+from his chair, and it seemed as though the demon
+possessing him would compel the wretch to talk&mdash;would
+compel him to make terrible revelations. Each
+word he uttered was born of agony. But there he
+stood, forced to give utterances that tortured him.
+&lsquo;I will tell you,&rsquo; roared Jericho, &lsquo;what this money is.
+Look about you! What do you see?&mdash;fine pictures,
+fine everything. Why, you see me&mdash;tortured, torn,
+worked up, changed. The walls are hung with my
+flesh&mdash;my flesh you walk upon. I am worn piecemeal
+by a hundred thieves, but I&rsquo;ll be shared among
+them no longer.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>By this time the girls and Sir Arthur Homadod,
+alarmed by the cries of Jericho, had entered the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;And you had a fine feast, had you not?&rsquo; cried
+the possessed man of money, writhing with misery
+and howling his confession. &lsquo;And what did you
+eat?&mdash;my flesh. What did you drink?&mdash;my blood!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It would be impossible to imagine a more satisfactory
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page197" id="page197"></a>197</span>
+realization of this powerful scene than Leech&rsquo;s
+rendering of it. The shrinking figure of Candytuft
+as he retreats before the fury of the moneyed man;
+the awful passion of the shrivelled Jericho; above all,
+the vacuous expression of Sir Arthur, all are done to
+perfection and without exaggeration. Beyond the
+endeavour to make the meaning of the illustrations
+in the &ldquo;Man made of Money&rdquo; clear to my readers, I
+have little or nothing to do with the story. I may
+note, however, that young Basil Pennibacker falls in
+love with Bessy, the pretty daughter of the ruined
+merchant Carraway, and that bold bankrupt, who
+is about to seek a new fortune at the Antipodes, calls
+upon Jericho to ask his consent to his stepson&rsquo;s
+marriage. How the announcement of the engagement
+was received may be imagined, or if my reader
+be not satisfied with his idea of what may have taken
+place, he can read in Mr. Jerrold&rsquo;s book how Mr.
+Carraway was met by his old friend. He will
+also find an illustration of an interview between
+&ldquo;The Pauper and the Man of Money,&rdquo; but as I do
+not think it quite worthy of Leech, I do not reproduce
+it. I may as well add that Basil&mdash;who turns out to
+be a very good fellow&mdash;does marry Bessy, and the
+happy pair, with the parent pair of Carraways, depart
+for Australia in the good ship <i>Halcyon</i>.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page198" id="page198"></a>198</span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Jericho&rsquo;s explosion, and his unpleasant conduct
+generally&mdash;especially regarding Monica&rsquo;s dowry&mdash;had
+altered Mr. Candytuft&rsquo;s matrimonial intentions
+for the present: there were delays. &ldquo;He had suddenly
+discovered some dormant right to some long-forgotten
+property, and he meant to secure that, and
+lay it as an offering at the feet of his bride.&rdquo; How
+the foolish Sir Arthur agreed to marry Agatha without
+a dowry, to the intense delight of Jericho&mdash;how
+splendid preparations for the wedding were made&mdash;how
+the wedding-party, Jericho included, waited
+at the church for the bridegroom, who never came
+(he had overslept himself in consequence of an overdose
+of medicine taken to steady his nerves)&mdash;for
+these details my reader is again referred to Mr.
+Jerrold, who describes the whole most enjoyably.
+Leech draws the baronet awakened by his servant,
+but too late: the canonical hour has passed. A report
+was spread that Sir Arthur had taken poison to
+avoid the Jericho connection.</p>
+
+<p>Just at this time Mr. Jericho was offered a most
+satisfactory mortgage&mdash;so any way there was land
+for his money&mdash;no less than five-and-forty thousand
+pounds, by his friend the Duke of St. George.</p>
+
+<p>Jericho lent the money, in the hope of climbing
+into the House of Lords with the assistance of the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page199" id="page199"></a>199</span>
+Duke; but this last drain upon his resources, with
+its penalty of attenuation, had left very little of him
+to go anywhere.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He had shrunk,&rdquo; says the author. &ldquo;How
+horribly he had dwindled, how wretchedly small he
+had become! Ay, how small! He would measure
+himself, he would know the exact waste. Whereupon
+Jericho took the silken cord and passed it
+round his breast. Why, it would twice encircle him&mdash;twice!
+and a piece to spare. With horror and
+loathing he flung the cord into the fire. He would
+never again take damning evidence against himself.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It became evident to Jericho that, if he desired to
+retain enough of his person to enable his friends and
+relations to recognise him, the drain upon the chest
+notes must cease.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;He would, therefore, not draw another note&mdash;no,
+not another. He would live upon what he had.
+He would turn the foolish superfluities about him
+into hard, tangible money.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Bent upon turning everything belonging not only
+to himself, but to his wife and daughters, into cash,
+he sent for Mrs. Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The trembling wife had scarcely power to meet
+the eyes of her helpmate. In two days twenty years
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page200" id="page200"></a>200</span>
+seemed to have gathered upon him. His face
+looked brown, thin, and withered as last year&rsquo;s leaf.
+His whole body bent and swayed like a piece of
+paper moved by the air. As he held his hand
+aloof, the light shone through it. It was plain there
+was some horrid compact between her lord and
+the infernal powers, or&mdash;it was all as one&mdash;the
+tyranny of conscience had worn him to his present
+condition.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Mrs. Jericho, madam, you will instantly bring
+me all your diamonds&mdash;jewellery&mdash;all. Give like
+orders to your daughters, the mincing harpies that
+eat me.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The terrified woman remonstrated, asked for an
+explanation, offered to send for the doctor.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Away with you! do as I command. Bring me
+all your treasures&mdash;all. And your minxes! See
+that they obey me too, and instantly.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Yes, my love, to be sure,&rsquo; said Mrs. Jericho, for
+she was all but convinced that Solomon&rsquo;s reason was
+gone or going. It was best to humour him. &lsquo;And
+why, my love, do you wish for these things? Of
+course you shall have them, but why?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;To turn them into money, madam,&rsquo; cried
+Jericho, rubbing his hands. &lsquo;We have had enough
+of the tomfoolery of wealth&mdash;I now begin to hunger
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page201" id="page201"></a>201</span>
+for the substance. I&rsquo;ll do without fashion. I&rsquo;ll have
+power, madam&mdash;power!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The conversation continued, and Mrs. Jericho
+became more and more convinced that her husband
+was mad.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Oh that Dr. Stubbs would make a morning
+call!&rsquo; silently prayed the wife.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The man of money, having determined to dismantle
+his house and send his wife and daughters
+adrift, retired with one servant, all the rest being
+discharged, into &ldquo;one of his garrets, a den of a
+place,&rdquo; where the scullion had slept. The servant
+was the pauper grandfather of one of his footmen,
+an old man of &ldquo;congenial weakness with Jericho.
+Indeed, there looked between them a strange
+similitude, twin brethren damned to the like sordidness,
+the like rapacity.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Jericho had nicknamed the old man Plutus.
+Jericho and Plutus were in face and expression as
+like as two snakes.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Jericho, assured of her husband&rsquo;s madness,
+took counsel with her friends. Drs. Stubbs and
+Mizzlemist, Colonel Bones, Commissioner Thrush,
+and Candytuft met in conclave and listened to Mrs.
+Jericho&rsquo;s account of her husband&rsquo;s ravings; but she
+failed to convince the doctors that what a jury would
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page202" id="page202"></a>202</span>
+consider insanity, was apparent in anything that the
+man of money had said or done. As Dr.
+Mizzlemist delivered this opinion, a crash was heard
+in an adjoining room&mdash;another, and another, and
+then a loud triumphant laugh from the throat of
+Jericho.</p>
+
+<p>Wife and daughters, with jury of friends, started
+to their feet. Candytuft, ere he was aware&mdash;for had
+he reflected &ldquo;a moment, he would as soon have
+unbarred a lion&rsquo;s cage&mdash;opened the doors. And
+there stood Jericho, laden with spoil.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Though Mr. Jericho was voted sane by the
+doctors, his conduct displayed a brutality for which
+madness would be the only excuse. The Jews were
+coming, everything was to be sold.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Why stay you here?&rsquo; cried the man of money
+to his wife. &lsquo;Why will you not be warned? In a
+few hours there will not be a bed for your fine costly
+bones to lie upon. Now will you depart?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Jews wandered about the rooms, appraising
+everything. Jericho was anxious to avoid a &ldquo;public
+hubbub,&rdquo; as he called a sale.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I want,&rsquo; said he to the brokers, &lsquo;at a thought,
+to melt all you see, and have seen, into ready
+money. Take counsel together, I say, and make
+me an offer, a lumping offer, for the whole&mdash;eh?&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page203" id="page203"></a>203</span></p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:700px; height:538px" src="images/img226.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption">&ldquo;<i>And there stood Jericho.</i>&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page204" id="page204"></a>204</span></p>
+
+<p>The man of money ascended to his garret and
+awaited the Jews&rsquo; offer, which was promised for the
+evening. He was alone, &ldquo;evening closed in, and
+the moon rose and looked reproachfully at the
+miser.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The garret door opened, and Plutus appeared.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Well, has it come?&rsquo; cried the master.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Here it is,&rsquo; answered the servant, as he laid a
+letter upon the table.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Well, now for their conscience!&rsquo; exclaimed the
+man of money.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Light was required; there was a candle upon the
+table, and paper prepared to light it.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Most precious paper&mdash;the heart&rsquo;s flesh and
+blood of the man of money! For the devilish
+serving-man had folded a note (how obtained can
+it matter?)&mdash;a note peeled from the breast of his
+master, a piece of money, a part of the damned
+Jericho sympathizing with him.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The man of money took the paper&mdash;the devil,
+with his ear upturned, crept closer to the door&mdash;and
+thrust it amidst the dying coals. A moment, and
+the garret is rent as with a lightning flash.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Yelling, and all on fire, the man of money falls
+prostrate with hell in his face. Then his lips move,
+but not a sound is heard. And the fire communicated
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page205" id="page205"></a>205</span>
+by the sympathy of the living note&mdash;the
+flesh of his flesh&mdash;like a snake of flame glides up his
+limbs, devouring them. And so he is consumed: a
+minute, and the man of money is a thin black paper
+ash. Now the night wind stirs it, and now a
+sudden breeze carries the cinereous corpse away,
+fluttering it to dust impalpable.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page206" id="page206"></a>206</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER XI.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">ALBERT SMITH AND LEECH.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">In</span> July, 1851, a new work appeared, under the
+name and title of the <i>Month</i>: &ldquo;a View of Passing
+Subjects and Manners, Home and Foreign, Social
+and General, by Albert Smith and John Leech.&rdquo;
+The publication was a serial one&mdash;monthly, in
+fact; and as it contained many amusing skits
+by Albert Smith, and much of Leech&rsquo;s best work,
+notice of it is incumbent upon a writer of Leech&rsquo;s
+life.</p>
+
+<p>Eighteen fifty-one, as everybody knows, was the
+year of the Great Crystal Palace Exhibition in
+Hyde Park. I well remember visiting the huge
+glass building in February, 1851, in company with
+Dickens and Sir Joseph Paxton. Dickens was
+wrapped in furs, and we shivered through the
+place, which was only partially roofed; and seemed
+altogether so far from completion as to cause great
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page207" id="page207"></a>207</span>
+doubts in our minds of the possibility of its being
+ready for its contents by the first of May.</p>
+
+<p>I put the question to Paxton, and his reply
+was:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I <i>think</i> it will; but, mind, I don&rsquo;t <i>say</i> it will.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Paxton&rsquo;s thought was justified; for the Exhibition
+was opened by the Queen in great state at the date
+fixed, though many of its intended exhibits were still
+to come.</p>
+
+<p>I confess I shared the foolish dread that the
+opening would be so crowded as to be very uncomfortable,
+if not dangerous, to sight-seers; and
+I therefore declined to accompany my brother, who
+was braver than I; and sorry enough I was when
+I found that the panic had been so universal as to
+enable the few courageous visitors to have the
+show, as my brother expressed it, &ldquo;all to themselves.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The first number of the <i>Month</i> appeared in
+July, 1851, and the last was issued towards the
+close of that year. It seems to have been the
+intention of the authors to have taken typical
+young ladies, and, under the heading of &ldquo;Belles of
+the Month,&rdquo; have used them as prefixes to each
+monthly part. Unfortunately, I think this idea was
+only partially carried out. True, we have Belles of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page208" id="page208"></a>208</span>
+the Park, and Belles of the Ball, and one or two
+Belles of the Month, so charmingly done by Leech
+as to make it a matter of surprise that such great
+attractions were not more frequently admitted to the
+paper.</p>
+
+<p>The literary portion which begins the <i>Month</i> is
+very Albert Smithian indeed. In proof, I quote
+some of his description of &ldquo;The Hyde Park
+Belle&rdquo;:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The charming young lady introduced to me,&rdquo;
+says Mr. Smith, &ldquo;was of middling stature, with
+oval face, chestnut hair, dark eyes, and very white
+and regular teeth. She had on a white transparent
+bonnet, and light muslin dress all <i>en suite</i>. In
+answer to my questions, she replied as follows:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I shall be nineteen in August, and have been
+out two years and a half. Have I ever been
+engaged? Only once, and that was broken off
+because I went on a drag to Richmond with the
+officers of the &mdash;th. Lady Banner was inside&mdash;it
+was all perfectly proper. She is a very nice woman&mdash;always
+ready to chaperone anybody anywhere if
+her share is paid. Only sometimes she bores one
+dreadfully. Edmund went to India. I don&rsquo;t know
+where he is now; I have not heard. I dare say he
+is somewhere. He bored me dreadfully at last.
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page209" id="page209"></a>209</span>
+I work very hard&mdash;oh, very hard indeed!&mdash;that is,
+in the season. My maid always sits up to make
+tea for me when I come home. Her hours are
+very regular, considering. She goes to bed every
+morning about four; but, then, she doesn&rsquo;t have to
+dance half the night. Yes; I like the Crystal
+Palace. Oh! I get so tired there&mdash;walking, and
+walking, and walking, you can&rsquo;t think how far! I
+know the Crystal Palace fountain and Dent&rsquo;s clock,
+and the stuffed animals and the envelope-machine.
+I don&rsquo;t think I have seen anything else; I have
+never been out of the nave and the transept&mdash;nobody
+goes anywhere else. I did not know that
+there was anything to see upstairs, except large
+carpets. I am sure they would bore me dreadfully.
+We are engaged every night.... We had scarcely
+time to dress for the Grapnels&rsquo; dinner-party; and
+then we went to Mrs. Crutchley&rsquo;s, to meet the
+Lapland Ambassador. We could not get into the
+room, and stood for two hours on the landing.
+Old Mr. Tawley was there, and would keep talking
+to me; he always bores me dreadfully. He is
+going to take mamma and me to see some pictures
+somewhere. I hate seeing pictures; they bore me
+dreadfully. After Lady Crutchley&rsquo;s, we went to
+Mrs. Croley&rsquo;s amateur concert, which was nearly
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page210" id="page210"></a>210</span>
+over. She had only classical music. I don&rsquo;t know
+what classical music is; I only know it bores me
+dreadfully. Ashton Howard says the same people
+who like classical music buy old china and wear
+false hair. I wish people would give up classical
+music. It never amuses anybody&mdash;that is, anybody
+worth amusing. I don&rsquo;t know whether &ldquo;The
+Huguenots&rdquo; is classical music or not; I only know
+that when they give it at the Royal Italian Opera
+nobody seems bored <i>then</i>. I don&rsquo;t know that I am
+exactly.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Whether in these boxes full of beauties one
+amongst them is intended by Leech to personate
+Mr. Smith&rsquo;s &ldquo;dreadfully bored&rdquo; young lady, I
+cannot say. Certainly there is not one who seems
+in the condition described as not being &ldquo;exactly
+bored.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The Belle of Hyde Park continues:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;I go into the Park every day with mamma,
+but it bores me dreadfully. I see nothing but the
+same people, and I know all the trees and rails by
+heart. I ride sometimes; I like it better than the
+carriage. But papa don&rsquo;t ride very often; and if
+he don&rsquo;t I can&rsquo;t, except with the Pevenseys and
+their brothers. John Pevensey is very stupid, and
+talks to me about farming. I get very tired; but
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page211" id="page211"></a>211</span>
+I am obliged to go, because the Pevenseys know
+so many receivable people. But they bore me
+dreadfully; in fact, I don&rsquo;t know who or what does
+not. I long for the season to be over; and when
+I go into the country, I long for it to begin again.
+I wish I could do as I pleased, like Marshall&mdash;that&rsquo;s
+my maid&mdash;when she has a holiday. She is going
+to marry the man at the hairdresser&rsquo;s; and last
+Sunday they went down all by themselves to
+Gravesend. I see mamma&rsquo;s face if Ashton Howard
+was to propose to take me to Gravesend next
+Sunday, and without Lady Banner! I wish sometimes
+I was Marshall. Now and then I would give
+a good deal for a good cry. I can&rsquo;t tell you why&mdash;I
+don&rsquo;t know; only that everything is a trouble, and
+bores me dreadfully.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In reply to further inquiries from Mr. Smith, the
+young lady tells him what she pays for her satin
+shoes, which are worn out after two parties. Does
+she have her gloves cleaned?</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Certainly; but not for evening parties&mdash;the
+men&rsquo;s coats blacken them in an instant. They do
+very well for the opera and evening concerts&mdash;nothing
+else. The Pevenseys wear cleaned gloves.
+Everybody knows it; and Ashton Howard always
+asks out loud if a camphine-lamp has gone out
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page212" id="page212"></a>212</span>
+when they come into the room. You can get a
+nice bouquet for five or six shillings. Old Mr.
+Rigby, in the Regent&rsquo;s Park, told me I might cut
+any flowers from his conservatory. But I don&rsquo;t
+care for that&mdash;I would sooner buy them; he bores
+me dreadfully.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It cannot be denied that ugliness has reached its
+climax in men&rsquo;s dress of the present day. It
+would be extremely difficult to find a garment more
+hideous than a dress-coat; and it is impossible for
+any head-covering to exceed the stove-pipe hat in
+ugliness, to say nothing of inconvenience and
+detestable uncomfortableness.</p>
+
+<p>These sentiments were fully shared by one of
+the <i>Month&rsquo;s</i> correspondents, a gentleman named
+Simmons, who &ldquo;emerged from his residence at
+Islington&rdquo; on the day of the opening of the Great
+Exhibition with the intention of showing to the
+multitudes who were expected to attend that ceremony
+the kind of hat that should depose, at once
+and for ever, the detestable chimney-pot.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;It was, in fact,&rdquo; says the bold reformer, &ldquo;merely
+a wide-brimmed, flat-crowned wideawake, to which
+I thought a feather&mdash;in these days of foreign immigration&mdash;would
+not be an out-of-the-way addition.
+I had contemplated my own features beneath it in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page213" id="page213"></a>213</span>
+as much variety of light and shadow as I could
+obtain from my shaving-glass for half an hour preceding
+my departure, and had arrived at such a
+satisfactory conclusion as to its effect, that I regarded
+myself as a sort of modern William Tell,
+about to release my country, by a bold example,
+from an oppressive and degrading subjection to a
+detested hat.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>A love of change is said to be inherent in human
+nature; but attacks upon custom&mdash;indeed, innovations
+of all kinds&mdash;are usually futile unless very
+special conditions attend the attempts. If the
+famous hat invented by a Royal Prince was received
+with overwhelming ridicule, as my older readers will
+remember that it was; a less melancholy fate could
+scarcely be expected for the wideawake and feather
+of the little gentleman from Islington.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My appearance in the street certainly created a
+sensation,&rdquo; says Mr. Simmons; &ldquo;but it was one
+exceedingly mortifying to my feelings. Omnibus
+drivers winked at each other, and pointed at me
+with their whips. Occasionally a stray boy would
+indulge in personal observations, or a grown-up
+ragamuffin would sputter out an oath, and burst
+into a horse laugh, which to my mind appeared
+totally unwarranted by the circumstances of the case.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page214" id="page214"></a>214</span></p>
+
+<p>The managers of the <i>Month</i> very wisely placed
+this etching in the front of their first number. In
+all respects Leech is here seen at his best. The
+figure of the poor little victim of reform, the street-boys
+and their surroundings, are all unsurpassable;
+while to an artist the composition of the figures and
+the arrangement of light and shadow are excellent.</p>
+
+<p>After escaping from the attentions of Leech&rsquo;s
+inimitable Arabs, Mr. Simmons reaches Hyde Park
+to find fresh troubles. The feathered wideawake
+creates a sensation, but not of the kind that its
+wearer expected; he was asked where &ldquo;he bought
+it,&rdquo; and &ldquo;if he would sell it&rdquo;; &ldquo;if he made it himself&rdquo;;
+and if he had &ldquo;another at home like it to spare for a
+friend,&rdquo; and so on. The &ldquo;air of unconsciousness&rdquo;
+that the reformer assumed irritated his assailants,
+whose &ldquo;offensive remarks and insolent mirth&rdquo; were
+soon exchanged for attentions more uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:600px; height:770px" src="images/img238.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption"><i>Mr. Simmons&rsquo;s attempt at Reform.</i></td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Says Mr. Simmons: &ldquo;A bright flash of practical
+jocularity suddenly illumined the mind of an original
+genius, who at once carried it into effect by casting
+at my decided article of costume a large tuft of grass,
+which struck me on the back of my neck, broke into
+dry dirt, and raised a perfect roar of delight at my
+expense.&rdquo; Instead of patiently enduring this assault,
+as a prudent man would have done when surrounded
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page215" id="page215"></a>215<br />216</span>
+by enemies, the valiant Simmons turned upon his
+assailant, &ldquo;and struck the wit a severe blow in the
+face.&rdquo; That was a death-blow to the picturesque
+hat, which &ldquo;afforded some slight sport as a football
+for a few moments, and then vanished and was
+seen no more.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>It will be seen by the quotations that the literary
+portion of the <i>Month</i> is of the slight character&mdash;though
+sometimes clever and amusing&mdash;to which so
+much of Leech&rsquo;s work has been allied. A sketch,
+entitled &ldquo;Home from the Party,&rdquo; gives occasion for
+the accompanying drawing by Leech of a young
+gentleman who has &ldquo;danced all night till the broad
+daylight,&rdquo; &ldquo;and gone home&rdquo; by himself &ldquo;in the
+morning.&rdquo; On his journey a brougham overtakes
+him, containing &ldquo;the handsome dark girl with the
+clematis and fuchsia wreath, looking pale and pretty,
+with a pocket-handkerchief over her head cornerwise,
+held together at the chin. We think about
+that brougham-girl till she is out of sight, and
+wonder if we appeared to the best advantage as
+she passed. We don&rsquo;t much think we did. One
+of the springs of our hat was out of order, and we
+were carrying our gloves in our hand, crumpled up
+to the size of a walnut, as though we were going to
+conjure with them; and we were blinking as we met
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page217" id="page217"></a>217</span>
+the sun at the corner, and holding a seedy bouquet
+in our hand, which evidently she had not given
+us.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The remarks, conversations, comments, and so
+forth, that generally accompany Leech&rsquo;s drawings
+were invariably his own composition, and in their
+humorous aptness are almost as admirable as the
+drawings they explain. In illustration I note a
+design under the heading of &ldquo;Moral Courage.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<div class="condensed">
+<p class="center">&ldquo;<span class="sc">Scene</span>&mdash;<i>A Station of the Shoeblack Brigade</i>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">First Boy</span>: &lsquo;Here&rsquo;s another swell, Bill, a-coming to be
+blacked.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Second Boy</span>: &lsquo;Ooray!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Third Boy</span>: &lsquo;Ain&rsquo;t his boots thin neither?&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Fourth Boy</span>: &lsquo;Wouldn&rsquo;t they pinch my toes if I had &rsquo;em?
+Oh my!&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Fifth Boy</span>: &lsquo;They don&rsquo;t pinch his&rsquo;n.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">Sixth Boy</span>: &lsquo;Yes, they do.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">First Boy</span>: &lsquo;Go easy, Blacky; mind his corns.&rsquo; (<i>Swell winces</i>.)
+&lsquo;That was a nasty one.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;(<i>The comments are extended from the swell&rsquo;s boots to his costume
+and appearance generally. And all this for a penny</i>).&rdquo;</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Mr. Thackeray&rsquo;s &ldquo;Four Georges&rdquo; are, no doubt,
+familiar to my readers, some of whom may also
+remember his delivery of them in the form of lectures
+to large audiences. In that great writer&rsquo;s early
+time he wrote many essays, art-criticisms, etc., under
+the name of &ldquo;Michael Angelo Titmarsh,&rdquo; and it is
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page218" id="page218"></a>218</span>
+under that title that he is represented in the drawing
+by his friend Leech, as he appeared at Willis&rsquo;s Rooms
+&ldquo;in his celebrated character of Mr. Thackeray.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>In the <i>Month</i>, Mr. Albert Smith makes Leech&rsquo;s
+drawing a peg upon which he hangs some justly
+complimentary remarks on the Thackeray lectures
+which took the town by storm forty years ago.</p>
+
+<p>Whether the &ldquo;Belle of Hyde Park&rdquo; or the &ldquo;Belle
+of the Ball&rdquo; is to be considered the belle of the
+<i>Month&rsquo;s</i> July issue is left in doubt; but there is no
+doubt whatever about the claim of the pretty creature
+(who, accompanied by an extremely plain and dissolute-looking
+cavalier in the costume of Charles II.&rsquo;s
+time, enters an imaginary ball-room) to a loveliness
+that it would be difficult to surpass, as the drawing
+amply proves.</p>
+
+<p>This cut is accompanied by some verses which
+appear to me quite unreadable; I therefore spare my
+readers from the infliction of any of them.</p>
+
+<p>The frontispiece to the <i>Month</i> for August is an
+etching by Leech of singular beauty, called &ldquo;Charade
+Acting.&rdquo; I have looked in vain through the letter-press
+for any explanation of this charade, so I suppose
+the meaning is purposely left for discovery to the
+intelligence of the observer. It represents the
+clever performance of Mr. Smiley and Miss Corgy.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page219" id="page219"></a>219</span></p>
+
+<p>Mr. Smiley evidently represents a valorous knight&mdash;else
+why that dish-cover shield, that saucepan
+helmet, that long surcoat of nightshirt in the place of
+mail? The knight has armed himself further with
+sword and lance (sword of any period, lance a roasting-spit).
+Those warlike preparations must have
+been made in defence of that delicious girl leaning
+over the back of the ancient chair. Is she supposed
+to be a distressed damsel leaning from her prison-window
+and listening to Mr. Smiley&rsquo;s vows of
+liberating her or dying in the attempt? If so,
+where is the word that will express as much? Not
+in the brain of the stout old gentleman who is fast
+asleep amongst the audience, nor in that of the
+pretty little girl who sits in front of him apparently
+wondering why people should be &ldquo;so silly.&rdquo; The
+lady who tries to hide a yawn with her fan has
+evidently &ldquo;given it up,&rdquo; and the two lovely women
+near her are much in the same condition.</p>
+
+<p>Now we come to the belle of the month of
+August, who is riding with her papa in Kensington
+Gardens. An attempt was made&mdash;later, I think,
+than the Exhibition year&mdash;to extend Rotten Row
+into Kensington Gardens, and thus deprive pedestrians&mdash;notably
+children and nursemaids&mdash;of their
+promenades amongst the trees. For some months
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page220" id="page220"></a>220</span>
+the equestrian habitu�s of Rotten Row careered in
+the Gardens, to the terror and danger of children,
+and the disturbance of many groups of soldiers and
+nursemaids. This usurpation created very strong
+opposition.</p>
+
+<p>I lived in the neighbourhood, and I accompanied
+a deputation to Sir Cornewall Lewis&mdash;then
+in power&mdash;with a view of impressing upon that
+Minister the desirability of rescinding the objectionable
+privilege which had been granted to the riders.
+We had some eloquent talkers, but their oratory
+seemed to me to make no impression upon Sir C.
+Lewis, who may have listened, but during the
+harangues he was always writing letters, and no
+sooner was one finished than he began another; and
+we left him without an intimation of our success or
+failure. But what is certain is, that within a week
+of our interview the equestrians disappeared&mdash;I hope
+for ever&mdash;from Kensington Gardens. Leech being
+a constant rider, both spoke and drew in favour of
+the new ride. Drawings may be found in the <i>Punch</i>
+series in which he laughs at the opponents of the
+horses in the Gardens, and I remember his indignation
+when I told him of our deputation and its
+successful issue.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:630px; height:492px" src="images/img244.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">The Belle of the Month&mdash;August&mdash;taking a &ldquo;Constitutional&rdquo; in
+Kensington Gardens. Time, 8 <span class="f90">A.M.</span></td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Leech was never happier than in the infinite
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page221" id="page221"></a>221<br />222</span>
+variety of his pictures of life at the seaside; his
+invention was inexhaustible, as numberless groups
+of seaside visitors engaged in the search of
+health or pleasure&mdash;from the small digger on
+the sands to the valetudinarian at the Spa&mdash;sufficiently
+prove. Never was he more delightful
+than in dealing with the charming lady bathers,
+one of whom plays the part of the <i>Month&rsquo;s</i> &ldquo;Belle
+of September.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I think this picture might have inspired the poet
+of the <i>Month</i>, but his lyre is silent.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Balcony Nuisance!&rdquo; Without some explanation
+the drawing that follows this title would be
+perfectly incomprehensible. How, in the name of
+common-sense, of propriety, or of justice, can the
+word &ldquo;nuisance&rdquo; be applicable to the occupants of
+that balcony? Well, it is in this wise: A correspondent
+of the <i>Month</i>, who signs himself &ldquo;Narcissus,&rdquo;
+lives in a suburban square, from which he
+indites a remarkable letter. According to &ldquo;Narcissus,&rdquo;
+suburban squares are famous for the production
+of vast numbers of &ldquo;single ladies.&rdquo; He
+calls his square a &ldquo;realm of girldom,&rdquo; the proportion
+of the belles being very great over the marriageable
+young men, and therefore they watch with keen
+eyes for any new flirtations. &ldquo;And now,&rdquo; said he,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page223" id="page223"></a>223</span>
+&ldquo;comes my complaint. I cannot call at any house
+where there are daughters but, the instant I knock,
+every balcony near me is filled with waves of rustling
+muslin, and a dozen pairs of bright eyes are on the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page224" id="page224"></a>224</span>
+<i>qui vive</i> for every movement or expression. I need
+not say how annoying this is.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:621px" src="images/img246.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">The Balcony Nuisance.</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>I see no trace of annoyance in the simpering
+buck who is the cynosure of all eyes in the drawing.
+Leech evidently saw through the affectation of
+annoyance, and depicted the Narcissus mind in its
+real condition of gratified conceit.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Month&rsquo;s</i> October issue contains a good deal
+of Leech&rsquo;s work. The number contains a &ldquo;Belle of
+the Month,&rdquo; but she is so inferior in attractiveness
+to her sisters that I am ungallant enough to pass
+her by. I find, however, a pretty musical group
+entitled &ldquo;Pestal.&rdquo; In 1851 Mr. Albert Smith says
+that Pestal, who was a Russian officer, was imprisoned
+for marrying without the consent of his Sovereign,
+and &ldquo;cast for death.&rdquo; Of course, though, according
+to Mr. Smith, this unfortunate man may have
+been a &ldquo;Pestal-ent person,&rdquo; we are not expected to
+believe the crime for which he was executed was
+only that of neglecting to ask the Czar&rsquo;s consent to
+his marriage. &ldquo;On the eve of his execution, as he
+lay <i>ironed</i>, awaiting the next morning&rsquo;s <i>mangling</i>,&rdquo;
+continues the inveterate punster, &ldquo;in a happy
+moment of enthusiasm, he composed the waltz that
+bears his name.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The pretty music seems to have sentimentalized
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page225" id="page225"></a>225</span>
+the handsome youth, and drawn him closer to the
+performer, who is one of those sweet creatures with
+whom the artist has made us so familiar. I cannot
+refrain from presenting my readers with an example
+of the <i>poetry</i> that adorns the <i>Month</i>, so that they may
+be convinced of the propriety of giving them as little
+of it as possible. Forty-one verses, of which the
+two following are fair examples, accompany the
+drawing called Pestal:</p>
+
+<table class="reg f90" summary="poem"><tr><td> <div class="poemr">
+<p>&ldquo;In London, as usual, last season I spent,</p>
+  <p class="i2">To Pocklington Square my notes were addressed all,</p>
+<p class="i05">And wherever I rambled or wandered or went,</p>
+  <p class="i2">I was pestered with that horrid pest of a &lsquo;Pestal.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p class="s">&ldquo;I thought this mysterious, moreover, and queer,</p>
+  <p class="i2">&rsquo;Tis better at once that the truth be confest all&mdash;</p>
+<p class="i05">That all through the city one word should appear,</p>
+  <p class="i2">And that word the incomprehensible &lsquo;Pestal.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+</div> </td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Great Dinner-Bell Nuisance&rdquo; not only
+gives occasion for a capital drawing by Leech, but
+the title also heads a capital paper, in which the
+absurdity of the function, when there is not the least
+necessity for it, is well satirized. A retired lawyer
+named Watkins Brown lives in a village which
+contains at most 347 people, &ldquo;in a comfortable sort
+of house in the Italian style, which he christened
+Somerford Villa.&rdquo; He has no children, and his
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page226" id="page226"></a>226</span>
+establishment consists of five persons, Mrs. W. B.,
+Betsy, the cook, etc., including Buttons, the page.
+This boy, armed with a bell, is a nuisance to the
+neighbourhood; he performs upon it three times a
+day. &ldquo;Now,&rdquo; says the indignant writer, &ldquo;why does
+Buttons do this? Is it to echo back the sound that
+comes at the same hours from Sir Marmaduke
+Hamilton&rsquo;s, of Somerford Hall, and to impress
+people that Brown and Sir Marmaduke are the only
+gentlemen in the neighbourhood? It can&rsquo;t be to
+let Brown and his wife know that luncheon or dinner
+is ready, for in nine cases out of ten they are in the
+room when the cloth is laid. Again I ask, why
+does Buttons do this? If he is of opinion that his
+master is unaware it is time to dress for dinner, why
+doesn&rsquo;t he tell him so at once when he is in the
+room, instead of using such an absurd system of
+information? However, by six o&rsquo;clock Brown and
+his wife are in the drawing-room, and Buttons seeing
+them there, and perceiving that they are just about
+to go to the dining-room, rushes out to the little
+court-yard, and then to the door of the miniature
+conservatory, and again commits the offence he had
+committed half an hour before. In the baby courtyard
+there are two dogs chained, and two other
+sporting dogs in a model of a kennel. Well, Buttons
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page227" id="page227"></a>227</span>
+appears in the presence of the dogs with his great
+bell, and the sensible brutes, conscious of the pain
+they are about to endure, immediately set up a howl
+of quadruple agony, to which the bell tolls its awful
+accompaniment.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Exactly fifty years ago I went on a portrait-painting
+tour into the country. Some sitters were
+promised to me, and I had hope, subsequently
+justified, that they would be the precursors of others.
+Amongst my patrons was a clergyman of aristocratic
+lineage; who, though he had inherited little in the
+shape of money, was possessed of certain tastes
+common to the upper ten, in which he could not
+afford to indulge; but amongst them was the dinner-bell,
+in which he did indulge, to the great annoyance
+of his neighbours. The Vicarage was an unpretending
+house with a small garden about it, in a
+small village; the inhabitants were chiefly Methodists,
+and the congregation at church was the smallest
+I ever saw.</p>
+
+<p>The Vicar was not popular; the villagers disliked
+what they called &ldquo;his airs and graces,&rdquo;
+and they detested his dinner-bell. After sittings
+from the Vicar, he and I took occasional walks
+together, and one day, as we were passing a
+cobbler&rsquo;s shop, the proprietor of it, &ldquo;a detestable
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page228" id="page228"></a>228</span>
+little Radical Methodist,&rdquo; as the Vicar called him,
+appeared at his door with a huge bell in his hand;
+he stepped into the middle of the road, and, affecting
+not to see us, he rang it furiously.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Man! man!&rdquo; cried the Vicar, &ldquo;stop that! What
+are you making that dreadful noise for?&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Well, ye see,&rdquo; replied the cobbler, in the language
+of the county, &ldquo;it&rsquo;s ma dinner-time, and aase
+joust ringin&rsquo; mysen in, to a bit of berry pudden.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>I was so vividly reminded by the <i>Month&rsquo;s</i>
+&ldquo;Dinner-Bell Nuisance&rdquo; of my early experience,
+that I could not resist my inclination to introduce it
+into what purports to be the life of John Leech,
+in which it has no business whatever to appear.
+Once more I apologize, and hope I may not be
+tempted to &ldquo;do it again.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Of all the Belles of the Month, the belle of the
+month November is perhaps the most lovable.
+There she stands on Brighton Pier&mdash;stands, that
+is to say, as well as she can on those pretty feet of
+hers, against a wind that is so boisterously rude to
+her and to her mother, whose figure, blown out of
+shape, makes a striking contrast to her daughter&rsquo;s.
+The little dog declines to face the gale, which seems
+likely to carry him away altogether, as well as the
+struggling child behind. The touches of cloud and
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page229" id="page229"></a>229</span>
+sea, together with the screaming gulls, are indicated
+with the facile skill peculiar to Leech.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:536px; height:600px" src="images/img252.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">The Belle of the Month November &ldquo;in Distress off a
+Lee-shore&mdash;Brighton Pier.&rdquo;</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>In a paper headed &ldquo;Hotels,&rdquo; Mr. Smith expatiates
+somewhat tediously on the &ldquo;old-established
+house&rdquo; of the &ldquo;old coaching days.&rdquo; He says &ldquo;the
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page230" id="page230"></a>230</span>
+inmates of the coffee-room were mostly commercial
+travellers.&rdquo; Those gentlemen may have been permitted
+to use the coffee-room; but my recollection
+of such places tells me that the commercials always
+had a room of their own, specially provided for
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The writer goes on to tell us that &ldquo;the commercial
+gents,&rdquo; on the occasion of his discovery of
+them in the coffee-room, &ldquo;pulled off their boots&mdash;not
+a very delicate performance&mdash;before everybody;
+and then, after sitting over the fire, and drinking
+hot brown brandy and water until they were nearly
+at red heat, ordered &lsquo;a pan of coals,&rsquo; and went to
+bed.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Yes; and provided an excellent subject for Leech,
+worthy of being reproduced here, or anywhere, if
+only for that inimitable old chambermaid, who has
+lighted commercial gents to bed any time these
+forty years.</p>
+
+<p>Judging from the twist of the commercial&rsquo;s necktie
+as he follows, or rather staggers, after the ancient
+maid, the brown brandy has done its work; and it is
+ten to one against his carrying that box of patterns
+safely upstairs.</p>
+
+<p>One boot is successfully removed from commercial
+number two, and it will evidently not be the fault of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page231" id="page231"></a>231</span>
+the man who is struggling with the other if it does
+not follow suit.</p>
+
+<p>Let the observer note the marked difference in
+character in all these figures, as well as the skill
+and truth with which the details in the room are
+rendered.</p>
+
+<p>In 1851 Bloomerism was in full bloom, or rather
+the attempts of few foolish people to make it prevail
+amongst us were so persistent as to bring upon
+them attacks by pen and pencil.</p>
+
+<p>As I have already drawn attention to the craze,
+and to some examples of the way Leech dealt with
+it, I should have made no further allusion to the
+subject had I not found in the pages of the <i>Month</i>
+drawings of such charm that, in justice to the
+magazine and my readers, I felt I must notice
+them.</p>
+
+<p>First, then, we have a Bloomer whip &ldquo;tooling&rdquo;
+her friends down to the races. If Bloomerism prevailed,
+this is the sight that Epsom might have
+seen in the year 1851, to say nothing of equestrian
+bloomers of whose horsewomanship Leech shows us
+examples.</p>
+
+<p>I think in my last selection from the <i>Month</i> I
+might claim for myself a position resembling that of
+the pyrotechnic artist whose display of fireworks
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page232" id="page232"></a>232</span>
+culminates in a glorious blaze in the last scene of
+his entertainment, if I were permitted to introduce
+it.</p>
+
+<p>My firework takes the form of a bouquet of
+young ladies at some &ldquo;ancestral home&rdquo; in the
+country, who have just received a box of books
+from London&mdash;perhaps from Mudie. What a bevy
+of beauties!&mdash;two of them already absorbed in the
+last new novel, while another makes off with an
+armful of treasures.</p>
+
+<p>When I say that this drawing&mdash;whether we regard
+it as a composition of figures and of light and
+shade, or as an example of Leech&rsquo;s supreme power
+over grace of action and beauty&mdash;is worthy of admiration
+for itself, and of our gratitude to the
+<i>Month</i> for the opportunity of reproducing it, I fear
+no contradiction.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page233" id="page233"></a>233</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER XII.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">MR. ADAMS AND LEECH.</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">In</span> the pursuit of material for this memoir, I have
+had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of
+one of Leech&rsquo;s earliest and most constant friends,
+Mr. Charles F. Adams, of Barkway, Hertfordshire.
+This gentleman is the beau-id�al of a country
+squire&mdash;handsome, hale and hearty, though far
+past middle age.</p>
+
+<p>The letters I am privileged to publish show the
+terms on which the friends lived, and prove beyond
+a doubt that many of the hunting scenes which
+sparkle so brilliantly and so frequently in the
+pages of &ldquo;Life and Character&rdquo; owe their origin
+to the opportunities afforded to the artist by his
+friend.</p>
+
+<p>This long-continued intimacy commenced when
+the men were both young; and the very first development
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page234" id="page234"></a>234</span>
+of Leech&rsquo;s taste for horses began with his
+acquaintance with Mr. Adams. It is told of that
+gentleman that, being the possessor of two horses,
+and being at that early time employed in business
+in London during the day, the night served him and
+Leech for a wild career, Adams driving his horses
+tandem-fashion far into the country, rousing sleepy
+toll-keepers and terrifying belated wayfarers, while
+Leech&rsquo;s watchful eye noted incidents for future
+illustration.</p>
+
+<p>That Leech could sing, and sing well, I know, for
+I have often heard him troll forth in a deep voice his
+favourite song of &ldquo;King Death&rdquo;; but that he had
+ever performed in public I was unaware till enlightened
+by Mr. Adams, who told me that it was a
+favourite and not infrequent prank of these two
+spirits to disguise themselves in imitation of street-musicians,
+and, with the assistance of a young fellow
+named Milburn, as wild as themselves, descend upon
+the London streets, and by singing glees make &ldquo;a
+lot of money.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Leech used to go round with the hat,&rdquo; said
+Adams; &ldquo;but we never could make the fellow look
+common enough. Still, he collected a good deal,
+though he failed on one occasion; for, on presenting
+his hat to a bystander, who had been an attentive
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page235" id="page235"></a>235</span>
+listener, the man claimed exemption as being in &lsquo;the
+profession,&rsquo; in proof of which he produced a fiddle
+from behind him.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Barkway is in the heart of a hunting country, and
+the meets of the &ldquo;Puckeridge&rdquo; frequently took
+place near Mr. Adams&rsquo; house, or at an easy distance
+from it. The house itself&mdash;a large mass of red
+brick, ivy, gables, and twisted chimneys&mdash;is one of
+those old places which have been enlarged to suit
+modern convenience without any sacrifice of the
+original design and quaint character.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Ah,&rdquo; said my host, as he showed me into his
+dining-room, &ldquo;what happy times we have had in
+this room, when Leech, Millais, Lemon&mdash;editor of
+<i>Punch</i>, you know, long ago&mdash;Tenniel, and others,
+found themselves round that table!&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The following letters, with their too few characteristic
+sketches, prove the affectionate intimacy
+between Leech and his friend.</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 center sc">&ldquo;To Charles F. Adams, Esq.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;August 9, 1847.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Charley</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;You will be glad to hear that I have got a
+little daughter, and that both mother and child are
+doing well. Mrs. Leech was taken ill, unfortunately,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page236" id="page236"></a>236</span>
+at the end of our trip to Liverpool&mdash;where, as
+perhaps you are aware, Dickens and some of us had
+been acting for Leigh Hunt&rsquo;s benefit&mdash;and she was
+confined at the Victoria Hotel, Euston Square,
+where she is now. I thought you would like to hear
+the news, so send off these few lines. Give my
+kindest regards to Mrs. Adams, and believe me,
+old boy,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">In a letter written to Mr. Adams a week later,
+Leech recommends a young gentleman to the care
+of his friend, in the hope that if Mr. Adams has
+&ldquo;the opportunity, he will give the applicant something
+to do in his profession.&rdquo; The letter closes by
+this announcement:</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;You will be glad to hear, I am sure, that
+Mrs. Leech, <i>and my daughter</i>! are both &lsquo;going
+on&rsquo; famously.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Ever, my dear Charley,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech</span>.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Given up hunting? Not a bit of it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page237" id="page237"></a>237</span></p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;January &mdash;, 1847.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Charley</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Mark (Lemon) and I were talking only the
+other day about beating up your quarters towards
+the end of this month; and, with your permission,
+if the frost goes, we intend to do so. We thought
+of riding down&mdash;I on the old mare; and he on a
+&lsquo;seven-and-sixpenny.&rsquo;...</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Is there anything in the shape of a good cob
+that could hunt if wanted down in your parts?
+Possibly I could get rid of the mare in the way of
+a chop. I have been riding a nearly thoroughbred
+mare for the last week on trial. A very nice thing,
+but too much in this way.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I want something more of this kind&mdash;a good
+one to go, and pleasant to ride.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Yours ever faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;J. L.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;April 17, 1848.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Charley</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;.... Old Mark and I were special constables
+on Monday last. You would have laughed
+to see us on duty, trying the area gates, etc.,
+Mark continually finding excuses for taking a small
+glass of ale or brandy and water. Policeman&rsquo;s duty
+is no joke. I had to patrol about from ten at night
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page238" id="page238"></a>238</span>
+till one in the morning, and heartily sick of it I was.
+It was only my loyalty and extreme love of peace
+and order that made me stand it....</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Ever yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">My elderly readers will bear in mind April 10,
+1848, and the monster petition of the Chartists,
+which they were not allowed to present to Parliament
+in the threatening form they had arranged,
+with other alarming signs of that troubled time&mdash;the
+flight of Louis Philippe, Continental thrones
+tottering, and the rest of it.</p>
+
+<p>In his correspondence with Mr. Adams, Leech
+constantly reminds his friend of his objection to
+high-spirited horses. Under date February 18,
+1849, he asks Mr. Adams if he can hire &ldquo;an &rsquo;unter
+from Ware.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">&ldquo;I should prefer,&rdquo; he adds, &ldquo;something like the
+old brown horse Mark had last year. If he comes,
+of course he must have the same nag he had when
+he was at Barkway; <i>but, mind</i>, I won&rsquo;t have a beast
+that pulls, or bolts, or any nonsense of the kind.
+I come out for pleasure, and not to be worried.
+Tell Mrs. Adams I shall not be half such an
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page239" id="page239"></a>239</span>
+objectionable visitor as I have been heretofore,
+seeing that I have left off <span class="sc">SMOKING</span>!...</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;My very kind regards to Mrs. Adams, your
+little ones, and my good friends in your neighbourhood.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me, old fellow,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours ever faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;February 7, 1850.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I am longing to see you, and have a ride
+across country with you. Do you think I could
+have the horse Mark Lemon had when he was
+down at Barkway? Or if I couldn&rsquo;t have that one,
+do you know of any other that would be equally
+<span class="scs">TEMPERATE</span> and <span class="scs">WELL-BEHAVED</span>? I have no horse
+at present. The last I had came down; and I am
+rather particular in consequence.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Give me a line, old fellow, and let me know
+when the hounds meet near you....</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">One of Mr. Adams&rsquo; daughters, Charlotte, surnamed
+Chatty&mdash;then a small child, now a lady
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page240" id="page240"></a>240</span>
+whose age is borne so well as to make it difficult to
+believe that she lived so long ago as 1850&mdash;whose
+acquaintance I had the pleasure of making the
+other day, told me of her frequent visits to the
+Leeches, and of the never-ceasing care and tenderness
+of Leech.</p>
+
+<p>In a letter from Broadstairs, written in the
+autumn of 1850 to Mr. Adams, Leech says:</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">&ldquo;You will be glad to hear that Chatty is as well
+as possible, and is now going to have a long day&rsquo;s
+work (!) on the sands.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">Again, after a good deal of horsy talk:</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">&ldquo;Mrs. Leech and Chatty with her will return for
+good to Notting Hill on Saturday, when we shall
+be glad to have her with us as long as you can
+spare her. Apropos of dear Chatty, I am sure her
+mamma will be glad to hear that she has been
+uninterruptedly cheerful and well, and has certainly
+proved herself one of the best-tempered, best-hearted
+little creatures possible. She desires me
+to send you all her best love and kisses....</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Ever faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;J. L.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page241" id="page241"></a>241</span></p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;31, Notting Hill Terrace, &emsp;&emsp;<br />
+&ldquo;February 18, 1852.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;It will give me the greatest pleasure to
+come and see you. Mark (Lemon) says he will
+accompany me at the end of this month. Will that
+suit Mrs. Adams? I want much to <span class="sc">SEE</span> some
+hunting, as I want some materials for the work I
+am illustrating&mdash;indeed, I was going to propose a
+run down to you myself. Will you let us know
+when the hounds meet near you? Is the horse I
+had before still alive, I wonder? or could you, if I
+came, get me a horse &lsquo;in every way suitable for a
+timid, elderly gentleman&rsquo;?</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 5em;"> *****</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I was very glad to hear from you, old boy. In
+great haste, but with our united best regards to
+Mrs. Adams and yourself.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Ever yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span></p>
+
+<p class="sc f80">&ldquo;C. F. Adams, Esq.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;<i>Punch</i> Office, 85, Fleet Street, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;Saturday, February 28, 1852.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;&lsquo;The change in the administration&rsquo; so
+upset our arrangements that I could not settle
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page242" id="page242"></a>242</span>
+what day to come down to you. I propose now
+to come down to-morrow (Sunday) evening, so if
+you can get me a rocking-horse, or a clothes-horse,
+or any horse excessively quiet and accommodating,
+I will go out with you on Monday. Mark, having
+an appointment early on Monday with &lsquo;her Majesty,&rsquo;
+or somebody, will come on Tuesday, to hunt on
+Wednesday, and back again on Thursday morning.
+All this, of course, if it suits your convenience. At
+any rate, I will come to-morrow, and then if there is
+any difficulty, we can send up to town. With
+kindest regards to Mrs. Adams,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me always,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;31, Notting Hill Terrace, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;Wednesday, March 17, 1852.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I had almost made up my mind to come
+down on Friday evening to hunt on Saturday; but
+it would suit me infinitely better to come at the end
+of the week following, as I am just now in the
+agonies of my periodical work; so let me know
+when the meets are, and in the meantime I will peg
+away and get my business done so as to have a
+comfortable day with you. If I came on Friday, I
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page243" id="page243"></a>243</span>
+should have to work day and night before I went,
+and come back directly to work day and night again,
+which is not a pleasant state of things; I hope,
+therefore, that we shall be able to see the hounds
+next week. I don&rsquo;t think Lemon would be able to
+come, as he is busy moving; but I will ask him. I
+will make you the sketch of the house, or of anything
+else you like, when I come.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Ever yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;John Leech.</p>
+
+<p class="f80 sc">&ldquo;C. F. Adams, Esq.</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">&ldquo;Look in this week&rsquo;s <i>Punch</i> for a sketch on the
+Royston Hills.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;31, Notting Hill Terrace, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;Wednesday, July 7, 1852.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I congratulate both of you most heartily
+and cordially. Mrs. Adams I hope is well, and
+will keep so, I trust. I will take upon myself to say
+that I don&rsquo;t know any man more thoroughly capable
+of understanding and enjoying domestic happiness
+than yourself; and, moreover, I don&rsquo;t know any
+man who more thoroughly deserves to have it.
+You wish it had been a boy, do you? Well, never
+mind; the son and heir will make his appearance in
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page244" id="page244"></a>244</span>
+good time, I dare say. For my part, my unhappy
+experience makes me love little girls.</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 5em;"> *****</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Pray give my kindest regards to Mrs. Adams,
+and my love to Chatty, who is to kiss the baby for
+me, and</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me, my dear Charley,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Always yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;John Leech.</p>
+
+<p class="sc f80">&ldquo;C. F. Adams, Esq.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;Barlow, Derbyshire, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;July 31, 1852.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;You will see from the above address that I
+am still rusticating. I expect to be in rooms soon
+after the 12th of August, and then, after I have done
+my month&rsquo;s work, I am your man. You say where
+... Don&rsquo;t make yourself uncomfortable about the
+quantity of sport; I shall be quite satisfied with
+what you offer me....</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours always faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">Here follows an admirable sketch of Mr. Adams
+waking up Leech with, &ldquo;Now, Jack, my boy!
+There&rsquo;s no time to lose; we&rsquo;ve ten miles to go to
+cover.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page245" id="page245"></a>245</span></p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:550px; height:513px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img268.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p class="rgt f80">&ldquo;Tuesday, December 14, 1852.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Charley Boy</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Hip! hip! hurrah! The almanack is
+finished, and now for a day with the Puckeridge.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;I shall come down if you will take me in on
+Friday evening, to hunt on Saturday and Monday,
+I hope. Mark talked of coming. I wish he would.
+He says he should not ride, but that&rsquo;s all nonsense.
+Do you think Pattison has got a horse that would
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page246" id="page246"></a>246</span>
+carry him? Oh, I have had a rare benefit of work!
+I have been positively at it ever since I saw you.
+I want freshening up, I assure you.... Lots of
+fresh work, old fellow, so I think I may manage a
+<i>real</i> horse soon.</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 5em;"> *****</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;With kindest regards.</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;Ever faithfully yours,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;John Leech.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;Notting Hill Terrace, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;January 26, 1853.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;If you could ride my horse to-morrow
+(Thursday), pray do; it would save your own, and
+do her good. And the meet is close to you&mdash;Langley
+Green. I should have written before, but
+I have been harassed with work beyond measure.
+And as it is, the first number of &lsquo;Handley Cross&rsquo;
+cannot come out until March. Mind you have the
+mare well worked, there&rsquo;s a good fellow, as I don&rsquo;t
+want, like our friend Briggs, to find her disagreeably
+fresh.</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 5em;"> *****</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Believe me always yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;John Leech.</p>
+
+<p class="f80 sc">&ldquo;C. F. Adams, Esq.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page247" id="page247"></a>247</span></p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;Saturday, February 26, 1853.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I suppose the frost has departed in the
+country, and that you have now what is called &lsquo;open
+weather.&rsquo; It is very disagreeable here&mdash;wet, cold,
+and boisterous.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;However, if you can spare time (after riding
+your own, of course), I wish you would give the
+mare a benefit. I expect she will otherwise be a
+great deal too much for me.</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 5em;"> *****</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;I am, my dear Charley,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;John Leech.</p>
+
+<p class="f80 sc">&ldquo;C. F. Adams, Esq.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2 rgt f80">&ldquo;32, Brunswick Square,
+&ldquo;Saturday, January 21, 1854.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Thank you for your note. I <i>can&rsquo;t</i> come
+down to-morrow, but I hope after next week to
+make up for lost time. I have got through some
+work that has been fidgeting me. I shall have
+a little more leisure. The meet on Monday is
+Dassett&rsquo;s, I see, so pray give it the mare; I have
+been so queer myself that I shall want her particularly
+&lsquo;tranquil.&rsquo; I have sacrificed the moustaches
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page248" id="page248"></a>248</span>
+for fear of frightening the horses in the field. They
+were getting too tremendous.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;<i>If</i>, <i>if</i> I can get away next week at all, depend
+upon it I will, for I want fresh air and a little horse
+exercise.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;With kindest regards, old fellow,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me always yours faithfully,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt sc">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="f80">&ldquo;<span class="sc">C. F. Adams, Esq.</span>&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="f80 rgt pt2">&ldquo;Saturday, December 22, 1855.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Charley</span>,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;How is the country? I suppose no hunting
+as yet, for I have not received any card. The
+weather here to-day is mild and wet. I am working
+away in the hope of getting a day or two by-and-by
+comfortably. In the meantime, if there is anything
+going on, give my horse a turn across country, that&rsquo;s
+a good fellow.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;With kindest regards, believe me,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;J. L.</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">&ldquo;If you can&rsquo;t spare time to hunt the mare, would
+it not be a good thing to send her to Patmore, and
+make him ride her? But do you attend to her if
+you can manage it.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page249" id="page249"></a>249</span></p>
+
+<p class="rgt pt2 f80">&ldquo;8, St. Nicholas Cliff, Scarbro&rsquo;, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;August 30, 1858.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;Your note was forwarded here, and I only
+found it on my return from Ireland, where I have
+been for the last three weeks. The consequence is
+that I am, of course, in rather a muddle with my
+work, and I am afraid I must forego the pleasure of
+shooting with you&mdash;at any rate, for the early part of
+the season; so pray do not deprive other friends of
+sport on my account. I shall hope to have a day
+or two with you before the season is over. I am
+not a very greedy sportsman, you know, and as long
+as I get a good walk am pretty well satisfied. I am
+sorry you have been so unwell&mdash;you should really
+give yourself a holiday. The bow should be unstrung
+sometimes. I know I find it must. I wish
+you could have seen me catch a <i>salmon</i> in Ireland&mdash;a
+regular salmon! When I say catch, I should say
+hook, rather, for he was too much for me, and after
+ten minutes&rsquo; struggle he bolted with my tackle. It
+was really a tremendous sensation....</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Believe me always,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours faithfully,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;<span class="sc">John Leech.</span></p>
+
+<p class="f80 sc">&ldquo;C. F. Adams, Esq.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page250" id="page250"></a>250</span></p>
+
+<p class="rgt pt2 f80">&ldquo;White Horse, Baldock, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;Friday evening, &mdash;&mdash;, 1858.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;<span class="sc">My dear Charley</span>,</p>
+
+<p class="center" style="letter-spacing: 5em;"> *****</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;For the present I have arranged with Little
+to make this place my headquarters, it is so handy
+to the train, and I can come so much quicker and
+later to Hitchin. The slow railway journeys take
+it out of me, so that my pleasure is almost destroyed
+by the fatigue of travelling and bother to get off. I
+hope, nevertheless, that we shall have many evenings
+together to talk over the <i>tremendous runs</i> that we
+hope to have. I have bought a horse and brought
+it down here. I hope you will be out to-morrow to
+see it. I like it very much; it is a most excellent
+hackney, and sufficiently good-looking, although not
+perfect, I suppose; and it is represented to me as
+being a temperate hunter in addition to his other
+qualities. Well, we shall see. The black mare I
+shall send to Tattersall&rsquo;s next week. She was as
+fresh as could be last Saturday, and I was quite glad
+I had not sold her; but, alas! she was as lame in
+the afternoon as possible, and next morning was a
+pretty spectacle! She would not do at all. So much
+for horseflesh.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;With kindest regards,</p>
+<p class="rgt1">&ldquo;Yours always,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;J. L.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page251" id="page251"></a>251</span></p>
+
+<p class="rgt pt2 f80">&ldquo;32, Brunswick Square, W.C., &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;November 20, 1862.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;If you <i>ever</i> have the time&mdash;which I never
+have&mdash;I should feel so glad if you would go some
+day and see how the &lsquo;party&rsquo; at Kensington has
+done his work. I suppose &lsquo;that little form&rsquo; of paying
+the bill must very soon be gone through, and I
+should like to know from a competent authority that
+the work has been well and properly done.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;How about the hunting? I am continually
+tormented here by noble sportsmen going by my
+window in full fig.</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Yours always,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;J. L.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="rgt pt2 f80">&ldquo;6, The Terrace, Kensington, &emsp;&emsp; <br />
+&ldquo;November 27, 1862.</p>
+
+<p class="sc">&ldquo;My dear Charley,</p>
+
+<p> &emsp;&emsp; &ldquo;I am obliged to go to St. Leonards to-night,
+but I should be very glad if you would to-morrow,
+Friday (as you propose), look at my new
+house. In the corner of one of the new rooms I see
+it looks a little damp, although they considered it
+dry before they papered. I must say I am pleased
+with the new residence, and I think by degrees I
+shall be able to make it pretty comfortable. We
+shall hardly get in here, I expect, much before
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page252" id="page252"></a>252</span>
+Christmas. There is yet so much to do. I shall
+be very glad of any hints about improvements that
+may occur to you.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Kind regards, and believe me,</p>
+
+<p class="rgt2">&ldquo;Always yours,</p>
+<p class="rgt">&ldquo;J. L.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="pt2">There is amongst the pictures of &ldquo;Life and
+Character&rdquo; a drawing of a sportsman who has been
+thrown from his horse. He has fallen upon his
+head, and as he raises it, stunned and bewildered,
+and but half conscious, the sensations that must
+have possessed him are realized for us in a manner
+so marvellous, so wonderful in its originality and
+truth, as to convince one that the accident must
+have happened to the man who drew the picture;
+and this was the case, for the fallen man was Leech
+himself, says Mr. Adams, who in charging a fence
+was thrown, his horse falling at the same time. If I
+had been told that the sensations inevitable under
+the circumstances were required to be reproduced by
+pencil and paper, I should have said such a feat was
+beyond the reach of art; but there they are! As
+the prostrate man looks up, he sees sparks of fire,
+horse&rsquo;s head, legs, hoofs mingled together in a whirl
+of confusion round his prostrate figure.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page253" id="page253"></a>253</span></p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:850px; height:551px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img276.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page254" id="page254"></a>254</span></p>
+
+<p>No doubt the work he undertook for <i>Bell&rsquo;s Life
+in London</i>, a long-established and long-discontinued
+paper, in which sport of all kinds was the most
+prominent feature&mdash;and which occupied much of
+Leech&rsquo;s time in his youthful days&mdash;contributed to
+the creation of a taste and love for field sports that
+always distinguished him. Quite a band of comic
+artists, including Cruikshank, Kenny Meadows,
+&ldquo;Phiz,&rdquo; Seymour, and Leech, contributed sketches
+illustrative of a variety of subjects by a variety of
+authors; Leech&rsquo;s work being easily distinguishable
+from that of his brethren of the pencil.</p>
+
+<div class="center art1"><img style="width:150px; height:35px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img001.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page255" id="page255"></a>255</span></p>
+
+<p class="chap2 center">CHAPTER XIII.</p>
+
+<p class="center scs">&ldquo;COMIC GRAMMAR&rdquo; AND &ldquo;COMIC HISTORY.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p class="noind"><span class="sc chap1">The</span> friendship, begun in their student-days at
+St. Bartholomew&rsquo;s, between Leech and Percival
+Leigh flourished in renewed strength by the discovery
+of similarity of taste&mdash;Leigh unable to draw,
+but possessing a truly humorous pen; so the friends
+&ldquo;laid their heads together,&rdquo; the result being the
+production of the &ldquo;Comic Latin Grammar,&rdquo; letter-press
+by Leigh, illustrations by Leech. The first
+intention of the authors was that this should be a
+mere skit, a trifling brochure, consisting of a few
+pages; but, as so often happens, the work grew
+under their hands, and when published in 1840 it
+had assumed somewhat formidable proportions, and
+was followed by a work of similar character, with the
+title of &ldquo;The Comic English Grammar.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>The &ldquo;Comic English Grammar&rdquo; was a work full
+of pleasant humour, charmingly illustrated by Leech
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page256" id="page256"></a>256</span>
+&ldquo;with upwards of fifty characteristic woodcuts.&rdquo; It
+is curious to observe in these drawings the contrast
+that they afford to the artist&rsquo;s later and more perfect
+work. There is a timidity, and what we call a hardness,
+from which the sketches in &ldquo;Pictures of Life
+and Character&rdquo; are entirely free; the general drawing,
+too, is faulty, but the humour and character are
+all there.</p>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:500px; height:602px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img279.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>The first illustration, given above, is from a ballad
+called &ldquo;Billy Taylor,&rdquo; popular in my young days, in
+which Billy&rsquo;s true love&mdash;with the reluctance to part
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page257" id="page257"></a>257</span>
+from him common to persons suffering from that
+passion&mdash;disguises herself as a man before the mast,
+and shares the dangers of the sea with her sailor-lover:</p>
+
+<table class="reg f90" summary="poem"><tr><td> <div class="poemr">
+<p>&ldquo;Ven as the Captain comed for to hear on&rsquo;t,</p>
+<p class="i05">Wery much applauded vot she&rsquo;d done.&rdquo;</p>
+</div> </td></tr></table>
+
+<div class="center ptb2"><img style="width:500px; height:602px; vertical-align: middle;" src="images/img280.jpg" alt="" /></div>
+
+<p>The verb &ldquo;applauded&rdquo; has here no nominative
+case, whereas it ought to have been governed by the
+pronoun &ldquo;he.&rdquo; &ldquo;He very much applauded,&rdquo; etc.,
+says the writer of the &ldquo;Comic Grammar&rdquo; for our
+instruction. The second example, given above,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page258" id="page258"></a>258</span>
+seems to me capital fooling, and an excellent proof
+of the necessity for care in punctuation and accent.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Imagine,&rdquo; says the writer, &ldquo;an actor commencing
+Hamlet&rsquo;s famous soliloquy thus:</p>
+
+<p class="center f90">&ldquo;&lsquo;To be or not to be; that is. The question,&rsquo; etc.</p>
+
+<p class="noind">Or saying, in the person of Duncan in &lsquo;Macbeth&rsquo;:</p>
+
+<p class="center f90">&ldquo;&lsquo;This castle hath a pleasant seat, the air.&rsquo;</p>
+
+<p class="noind">Or, as the usurper himself, exclaiming:</p>
+
+<table class="reg f90" summary="poem"><tr><td> <div class="poemr">
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!</p>
+<p class="i05">Where got&rsquo;s thou that goose? Look!&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+</div> </td></tr></table>
+
+<p>Here we have the fault of <i>hardness</i> that I speak
+of, and something of feeble drawing, but the humour
+is perfect.</p>
+
+<p>After the publication of the &ldquo;Comic Grammar,&rdquo;
+written by Gilbert � Beckett, one of the <i>Punch</i> staff,
+a somewhat similar experiment upon the public
+and on a larger scale was tried by the same author
+in the issue of a &ldquo;Comic History of England.&rdquo;
+This venture was warmly opposed at its inception
+by Jerrold, whose wrath at the idea of burlesquing
+historical personages was expressed with vehemence.
+Gilbert � Beckett persisted, however, and the history
+appeared, with over three hundred illustrations on
+wood and steel by John Leech. The book is, as
+might be expected, very light reading, containing
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page259" id="page259"></a>259</span>
+many puns and much play upon words. Leech&rsquo;s
+work seems to me to be slight, hurried, and even
+careless, compared with that of his later time; but
+the spirit of rollicking fun with which grave historical
+incidents are treated, and the humorous satire
+that the principal personages receive at the hands of
+the illustrator, make the &ldquo;Comic History of England&rdquo;
+amusing enough. The following extract, with the
+drawing that illustrates it, will show the truth of my
+estimate of both.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;A story is told of a certain Fair Rosamond, and,
+though there is no doubt of its being a story from
+beginning to end, it is impossible to pass it over
+in English history. Henry, it was alleged, was
+enamoured of a certain Miss Clifford&mdash;if she can
+be called a certain Miss Clifford, when she was
+really a very doubtful character. She was the
+daughter of a baron on the banks of the Wye,
+when, without a why or a wherefore, the King took
+her away, and transplanted the Flower of Hereford,
+as she well deserved to be called, to the Bower of
+Woodstock. In this bower he constructed a labyrinth
+something like the Maze at Rosherville, and
+as there was no man stationed on an elevation in the
+centre to direct the sovereign which way to go, nor
+exclaim, &lsquo;Right, if you please!&rsquo; &lsquo;Straight on!&rsquo;
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page260" id="page260"></a>260</span>
+&lsquo;You&rsquo;re right now, sir!&rsquo; &lsquo;Left!&rsquo; &lsquo;Right again!&rsquo; etc.,
+etc., his Majesty had adopted the plan of dragging
+one of Rosamond&rsquo;s reels of silk along with him when
+he left the spot, so that it formed a guide for him on
+his way back again. This tale of silk is indeed
+a most precious piece of entanglement, but it was
+perhaps necessary for the winding up of the story.
+While we cannot receive it as part of the thread of
+history, we accept it as a means of accounting
+for Eleanor&rsquo;s having got a clue to the retreat of
+Rosamond.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;The Queen, hearing of the silk, resolved naturally
+enough to unravel it. She accordingly started for
+Woodstock one afternoon, and, suspecting something
+wrong, took a large bowl of poison in one
+hand and a stout dagger in the other. Having
+found Fair Rosamond, she held the poniard to the
+heart and the bowl to the lips of that unfortunate
+young person, who, it is said, preferred the black
+draught to the steel medicine.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>Later on in the history we have another good
+example of Leech&rsquo;s humour. King Edward, having
+subdued the Welsh, &ldquo;endeavoured to propitiate his
+newly acquired subjects by becoming a resident in
+the conquered country. His wife Eleanor gave
+birth to a son in the castle of Caernarvon, and he
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page261" id="page261"></a>261</span>
+availed himself of the circumstance to introduce the
+infant as a native production, giving him the title of
+Prince of Wales, which has ever since been held by
+the eldest son of the British sovereign.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:591px" src="images/img284.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond.</td></tr></table>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:591px" src="images/img285.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">King Edward introducing his Son as Prince of Wales to
+his Newly-acquired Subjects.</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>A well-known historical scene is parodied as
+follows: Henry IV. being ill, &ldquo;the Prince of Wales
+was sitting up with him in the temporary capacity of
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page262" id="page262"></a>262</span>
+nurse,&rdquo; says Mr. � Becket. &ldquo;The son, however,
+seemed rather to be waiting for his father&rsquo;s death
+than hoping for the prolongation of his life; and the
+King having gone off in a fit, the Prince, instead of
+calling for assistance or giving any aid himself,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page263" id="page263"></a>263</span>
+heartlessly took that opportunity to see how he
+should look in the crown, which always hung on
+a peg in the royal bedchamber. Young Henry was
+figuring away before a cheval glass with the regal
+bauble on his head, and was exclaiming, &lsquo;Just the
+thing, upon my honour!&rsquo; when the elder Henry,
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page264" id="page264"></a>264</span>
+happening to recover, sat up in bed and saw the
+conduct of his offspring.</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:500px; height:577px" src="images/img286.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">Unseemly Conduct of Henry, Prince of Wales.</td></tr></table>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:470px; height:592px" src="images/img287.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">The Duke of Gloucester goes into Mourning for his
+Little Nephews.</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>&ldquo;&lsquo;Hallo!&rsquo; cried the King, &lsquo;who gave you leave to
+put that on? I think you might have left it alone
+till I&rsquo;ve done with it.&rsquo;&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page265" id="page265"></a>265</span></p>
+
+<p>The savage and hypocritical character of Richard
+III. afforded Leech an opportunity for satire in
+his design of that monarch, when still Duke of
+Gloucester, in the shape of a crocodile shedding
+tears for the death of the two Princes in the Tower.</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;Richard,&rdquo; says the chronicler, &ldquo;by whom the
+outward decencies of life were very scrupulously
+observed, in order to make up for the inner deficiencies
+of his mind, determined to go into mourning
+for the young Princes, and repaired to the same
+<i>maison de deuil</i> which he had honoured with his
+presence on a former occasion when requiring the
+&lsquo;trappings of woe&rsquo; for himself and his retainers on
+the death of his dear brother.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>With the escape of Mary, Queen of Scots, I must
+close the extracts from the &ldquo;Comic History of
+England.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<p>&ldquo;When the Queen was imprisoned at Lochleven,
+a certain George Douglas,&rdquo; says the historian, &ldquo;with
+the sentimentality peculiar to seventeen, fell sheepishly
+in love with the handsome Mary. She gave
+some encouragement to the gawky youth, but rather
+with a view of getting him to aid her in her escape
+than out of any regard to the over-sensitive stripling.
+Going to his brother&rsquo;s bedroom in the night, the boy
+took the keys from the basket in which they were
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page266" id="page266"></a>266</span>
+deposited, and, letting Mary out, he handed her to a
+skiff and took her for a row, without thinking of the
+row his conduct was leading to.&rdquo;</p>
+
+<table class="nobctr" style="clear: both;" summary="Illustration">
+<tr><td class="figcenter"><img style="width:470px; height:607px" src="images/img289.jpg" alt="" /></td></tr>
+<tr><td class="caption sc">Mary&rsquo;s Elopement.</td></tr></table>
+
+<p>A considerable interval of time elapsed between
+the publication of � Beckett&rsquo;s &ldquo;Comic English
+<span class="pagenum"><a name="page267" id="page267"></a>267</span>
+Grammar&rdquo; and the same writer&rsquo;s &ldquo;Comic History
+of England,&rdquo; the former being produced in 1840,
+and the latter seven years afterwards; but as there
+is little or no appreciable difference between the two
+works, either as regards the literary or artistic merit,
+I have thought it well to introduce them in this
+place.</p>
+
+<p>These efforts show but one side of Leech&rsquo;s many-sided
+power. It was in &ldquo;The Children of the
+<i>Mo</i>bility,&rdquo; a satire on a production just then published,
+in which the children of the <i>no</i>bility were put
+before the world in all the splendour of their aristocratic
+surroundings, that Leech&rsquo;s genius had full
+play, the little Duke affording an instructive contrast
+to the street arab, and the shivering, half-naked
+beggar-girl becoming infinitely pathetic in her rags.
+This work was executed in lithography, consisting of
+seven prints; and though, as works of art, they
+bear no comparison to the wood-drawings of a later
+time&mdash;they are not even so good as the &ldquo;Fly-Leaves&rdquo;
+published at the <i>Punch</i> Office later on&mdash;still,
+comparatively imperfectly as they are rendered,
+they show the artist&rsquo;s intense sympathy with suffering
+childhood, as well as enjoyment in the games
+and &ldquo;larks&rdquo; by which the sufferings are for a time
+at least forgotten.</p>
+
+<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="page268" id="page268"></a>268</span></p>
+
+<p>I now approach the period when the establishment
+of a comic newspaper was destined to afford Leech
+opportunities for the display of his powers, opportunities
+of which he availed himself with a prodigality
+almost as marvellous as the powers.</p>
+
+<hr class="art" />
+<p class="center f80">END OF VOL. I.</p>
+
+<hr class="art" />
+
+<table class="reg f80" summary="poem"><tr><td> <div class="poemr">
+<p>BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.</p>
+<p class="i16"><i>J. D. &amp; Co.</i></p>
+
+</div> </td></tr></table>
+<div class="pt2">&nbsp;</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by 
+William Powell Frith
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+</pre>
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+</body>
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+
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@@ -0,0 +1,5998 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by
+William Powell Frith
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1
+
+Author: William Powell Frith
+
+Release Date: July 8, 2011 [EBook #36663]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Marius Masi, Chris Curnow and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  JOHN LEECH
+
+  His Life and Work
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+  JOHN LEECH
+
+  His Life and Work
+
+  BY
+  WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+  _WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS_
+
+  IN TWO VOLUMES
+  VOL. I.
+
+
+
+
+  LONDON
+  RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON
+  Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen
+  1891
+
+  [_All rights reserved_]
+
+
+  I Dedicate this Book
+  TO
+  CHARLES F. ADAMS,
+
+  LEECH'S EARLIEST, WARMEST, AND MOST CONSTANT FRIEND;
+  WITH MY GRATEFUL THANKS
+  FOR THE INTEREST HE HAS TAKEN IN MY WORK,
+  AND FOR THE VALUABLE ASSISTANCE AFFORDED
+  IN THE EXECUTION OF IT.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE
+
+
+I am very conscious of the many sins of commission and omission of which
+I have been guilty in my attempt to write the "Life and Work of John
+Leech"; but, that ingratitude may not figure amongst my shortcomings, I
+take advantage of the usual preface to acknowledge my obligations to
+friends and strangers from whom I have received assistance, and to
+express my warmest thanks for their kindness.
+
+The time that has elapsed since Leech's death has terribly thinned the
+ranks of his friends and contemporaries; but the leveller has spared and
+dealt tenderly with one of his earliest and most constant friends, Mr.
+Charles F. Adams, whose store of Leech's letters, together with many
+pleasing reminiscences, have been placed unreservedly at my disposal.
+From Mr. Kitton's memoir of Leech I have derived, through the author's
+kindness, much advantage; and to Mr. Thornber, a well-known collector of
+Leech's works, I owe the opportunity of selecting some of the best
+illustrations that grace the book.
+
+I also desire to express my gratitude to the proprietors of _Punch_,
+who, though unable to comply with my unreasonable demand to the full
+extent of it, have given me most important help in my endeavours to do
+honour to the genius who was such an honour to _Punch_. I owe to those
+gentlemen no less than eight of the full-page illustrations, to say
+nothing of numbers of small cuts.
+
+I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Grego, my neighbour Mr.
+McKenzie, Mr. Willert Beale, and Mr. Maitland for their help in various
+ways; not forgetting the Eton boy, whose anonymity I preserve according
+to his desire.
+
+To Sir John Millais, Mr. Ashby Sterry, Mr. Horsley, Mr. Holman Hunt, and
+Mr. Cholmondeley Pennel I also offer my warmest acknowledgment for the
+papers they have so kindly contributed.
+
+In conclusion, I permit myself a few words in explanation of that which
+I know will be laid to my charge, namely, that my book tells too little
+of Leech and too much of his work, and that it is chronologically
+deficient. In excuse I plead that the life of Leech as I knew it from
+its early days was, like that of most artists, entirely devoid of such
+incidents as would interest the public; and that from the difficulty of
+acquiring certain information, and the varying times at which it was
+supplied, chronological accuracy was impossible.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOL. I.
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                    PAGE
+
+        PROLOGUE                                                1
+
+     I. EARLY DAYS                                              3
+
+    II. EARLY WORK                                             20
+
+   III. MR. PERCIVAL LEIGH AND LEECH                           75
+
+    IV. MEETING OF MULREADY AND LEECH                          95
+
+     V. "THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EVENING PARTIES," BY ALBERT SMITH  104
+
+    VI. JOHN LEECH AND THE ETON BOY                           130
+
+   VII. MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR                            137
+
+  VIII. "THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS," BY ALBERT SMITH    151
+
+    IX. "THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS"--CONTINUED          163
+
+     X. "A MAN MADE OF MONEY," BY DOUGLAS JERROLD             178
+
+    XI. ALBERT SMITH AND LEECH                                206
+
+   XII. MR. ADAMS AND LEECH                                   233
+
+  XIII. "COMIC GRAMMAR" AND "COMIC HISTORY"      255
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+                                                                    PAGE
+
+  PORTRAIT OF JOHN LEECH                                  _Frontispiece_
+
+  HERCULES RETURNING FROM A FANCY BALL                    _To face p._ 3
+
+  PHYSICIAN AND GENERAL PRACTITIONER                                  27
+
+  "WHERE 'AVE WE BIN? WHY, TO SEE THE COVE 'UNG, TO BE SURE!"         29
+
+  AN EYE TO BUSINESS                                                  31
+
+  BUT AUGUSTUS'S HEART WAS TOO FULL TO SPEAK                          33
+
+  "SIR! PLEASE, MR.! SIR! YOU'VE FORGOT THE DOOR-KEY!"                38
+
+  ETON BOY (_loq._): "Come, governor! just one toast--'The Ladies'!"  39
+
+  THE RETURN FROM THE DERBY                                           43
+
+  THE DERBY EPIDEMIC                                                  44
+
+  SOMETHING LIKE A HOLIDAY                                            46
+
+  ALARMING SYMPTOMS ON EATING BOILED BEEF AND GOOSEBERRY-PIE          47
+
+  "SO YOU HAVE TAKEN ALL YOUR STUFF, AND DON'T FEEL ANY BETTER, EH?"  50
+
+  AWFUL APPARITION TO A GENTLEMAN WHILST SHAVING IN THE EDGWARE ROAD,
+    SEPTEMBER 29, 1846.                                               51
+
+  "A HOLDER AND A THINNER WINE"                                       53
+
+  "HOLLO! HI! HERE, SOMEBODY! I'VE TURNED ON THE HOT WATER, AND I
+    CAN'T TURN IT OFF AGAIN!"                                         54
+
+  SYMPTOMS OF A MASQUERADE                                            55
+
+  THE RISING GENERATION                                               57
+
+  THE IRREPRESSIBLE JUVENILE                                          58
+
+  THE RISING GENERATION                                               59
+
+  SERVANT-GAL-ISM                                                     63
+
+  THE RISING GENERATION                                               65
+
+  SPECIAL CONSTABLE: "Now mind, you know--if I kill you, it's
+    nothing; but if you kill me, by Jove! it's murder!"               67
+
+  RECREATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY                                      69
+
+  CABMAN IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN A WRONG TURNING, THAT'S ALL        70
+
+  MR. BRIGGS DOES A LITTLE SHOOTING                                   73
+
+  "FIDDLE-FADDLE" FASHIONS                                            90
+
+  "FIDDLE-FADDLE" FASHIONS                                            91
+
+  THE MULREADY ENVELOPE                                               96
+
+  FORES'S COMIC ENVELOPE                                              97
+
+  MAMMA AND THE GIRLS                                                106
+
+  TWO RUDE YOUNG MEN                                                 107
+
+  THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE                                              108
+
+  AN OLIVE-BRANCH                                                    109
+
+  TWO "GANGLING" YOUNG MEN                                           110
+
+  PREPARING FOR THE BALL                                             111
+
+  THE ASSISTANT-WAITER                                               112
+
+  THE BAND                                                           112
+
+  WALLFLOWERS                                                        114
+
+  MR. LEDBURY                                                        115
+
+  MR. LEDBURY AND MISS HAMILTON                                      116
+
+  THE WALTZ                                                          118
+
+  IN THE CONSERVATORY                                                119
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE EVENING                                           120
+
+  MR. LEDBURY'S HAT                                                  121
+
+  MR. PERCIVAL JENKS                                                 123
+
+  CLOWN: "Oh, see what I've found!"                                  127
+
+  MISS CINTHIA SINGS                                                 128
+
+  DREADFUL FOR YOUNG OXFORD                                          131
+
+  MISS LUCY AND MR. SPONGE                                           149
+
+  LE PREMIER PAS                                        _To face p._ 160
+
+  DEATH OF ST. CROIX                                         "       172
+
+  A FAMILY PICTURE                                                   189
+
+  AND THERE STOOD JERICHO                                            203
+
+  MR. SIMMONS'S ATTEMPT AT REFORM                                    215
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE MONTH--AUGUST--TAKING A "CONSTITUTIONAL" IN
+    KENSINGTON GARDENS. TIME, 8 A.M.                                 221
+
+  THE BALCONY NUISANCE                                               223
+
+  THE BELLE OF THE MONTH--NOVEMBER--"IN DISTRESS OFF A
+    LEE-SHORE--BRIGHTON PIER"                                        229
+
+  "NOW, JACK, MY BOY! THERE'S NO TIME TO LOSE! WE'VE TEN MILES TO
+    GO TO COVER"                                                     245
+
+  EFFECTS OF A FALL                                                  253
+
+  BILLY TAYLOR                                                       256
+
+  "WHERE GOT'S THOU THAT GOOSE? LOOK!"                               257
+
+  QUEEN ELEANOR AND FAIR ROSAMOND                                    261
+
+  KING EDWARD INTRODUCING HIS SON AS PRINCE OF WALES TO HIS
+    NEWLY-ACQUIRED SUBJECTS                                          262
+
+  UNSEEMLY CONDUCT OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES                         263
+
+  THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER GOES INTO MOURNING FOR HIS LITTLE NEPHEWS   264
+
+  MARY'S ELOPEMENT                                                   266
+
+
+
+
+JOHN LEECH:
+
+_HIS LIFE AND WORK_
+
+PROLOGUE.
+
+
+_"'Leech' (spelt 'leich') is an old Saxon word for 'surgeon,'" writes a
+friend to me. "Hence, as you know, the employment of the word 'leech' as
+a term applied in former times to doctors."_
+
+_Though Leech is not a common name, I have met with several bearers of
+it under every variety of spelling that the word was capable of--Leech,
+Lietch, Leich, Leeche, Leitch, etc. Only two of the owners of these
+names became known to fame--John, of immortal memory, and, longo
+intervallo, William Leitch, a Scottish artist, and landscape-painter of
+considerable merit, whose pictures, generally of a classic character,
+found favour amongst a certain class of buyers. A large subject of much
+beauty was engraved, and, I think, formed the prize-engraving for the
+year for the Art Union of London. I have no doubt William Leitch was
+frequently asked if he were related to John. The sound of the names was
+similar, and few inquirers knew of the difference in the spelling.
+Whether William was asked the question or not I cannot speak to with
+certainty; but that John was I am sure, because he told me so himself,
+and, as well as I can recall them, in the following words:_
+
+_"I was asked the other day if I were related to a man of the same
+name--a Scotchman--a landscape-painter. He spells his name L-e-i-t-c-h,
+you know. I said, 'No; the Scotch gentleman's name is spelt in the
+Scotch way, with the 'itch in it.' Not bad, eh? I hope nobody will tell
+him!"_
+
+_I met William Leitch several times (he died long ago), and was always
+charmed by his refined and gentle manner; but we never became intimate,
+so I cannot say I had the following anecdote from himself; but it was
+told me by an intimate friend of the artist, who assured me that he had
+it from Leitch direct._
+
+_Leitch had a considerable practice as a drawing-master, chiefly amongst
+the higher classes. He taught the very highest, for he gave lessons to
+the Queen herself. I have never had the honour of seeing any of her
+Majesty's drawings, but I have had the advantage of her criticism, and I
+can well believe in the reports of the excellence of her work._
+
+_The story goes that one day, in the course of a lesson, the Queen let
+her pencil fall to the ground. Both master and pupil stooped to pick it
+up; and, to the horror of Leitch, there was a collision--the master's
+head struck that of his royal pupil! and before he could stammer an
+apology, the Queen said, smiling:_
+
+_"Well, Mr. Leitch, if we bring our heads together in this way, I
+ought to improve rapidly."_
+
+[Illustration: _"Hercules" returning from a Fancy Bail._
+
+_R. E. & S. 1888._]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+EARLY DAYS.
+
+
+On the 29th of August, 1817, a boy was born in London gifted with a
+genius which, in the short time allowed for its development, delighted
+and astonished the world. The child's name was Leech, and he was
+christened John. The Leech family was of Irish extraction. From
+information received, it appears that the father of Leech, also called
+John, was possessed of an uncle who had made a large fortune as the
+owner of the London Coffee-House, Ludgate Hill. With this fortune he
+retired, leaving his nephew to reign in his stead at the Coffee-House,
+not without a reasonable hope and expectation that the nephew would
+follow in the uncle's prosperous footsteps. But times had changed. Clubs
+were being formed, and the customers of the Ludgate Hill place of
+entertainment preferred to be enrolled as members of the novel
+institutions rather than subject themselves to the somewhat mixed
+company at the Coffee-House. Leech's establishment, however, struggled
+on into my early time, for I can well remember being advised, if I
+wished for a good and wonderfully cheap dinner, consisting--as per
+advertisement--of quite startling varieties of dishes, my desire might
+be gratified by payment of eighteen-pence to the authorities at the
+London Coffee-House, Ludgate Hill.
+
+I do not know the precise time at which the doors of the Coffee-House
+were finally closed and the father Leech, with his large family, was
+thrown upon the world; but it must have been some years after the
+subject of this memoir had been enrolled amongst the Charterhouse
+scholars, an event that took place when he was seven years old. Previous
+to this by about four years, some feeble buds of the genius that
+blossomed so abundantly afterwards are said to have shown themselves,
+and to have been observed by Flaxman as the child sat with pencil and
+paper on his mother's knee. The great sculptor is reported to have said:
+
+"This drawing is wonderful. Do not let him be cramped by
+drawing-lessons; let his genius follow its own bent. He will astonish
+the world."
+
+I venture to think that for this story a grain of salt would be by no
+means sufficient. No drawing done by a child of three years old, however
+gifted, could be "wonderful" in the estimation of Flaxman; and that such
+an artist as he was should have said anything so foolish as what is
+tantamount to advising a parent against "learning to draw" I take the
+liberty of disbelieving. Flaxman was a friend of the Leeches, and in
+after years, while John Leech was still a youth, the sculptor again
+examined some of his sketches, and, after looking well at them, he very
+likely said, as is reported:
+
+"That boy must be an artist; he will be nothing else."
+
+A child of seven seems almost cruelly young to be subjected to the
+hardships of a public school.
+
+"I thought," wrote John's father, "that I was not wrong in sending him
+thus early, as Dr. Russell, the head-master, had a son of the same age
+in the school, and John was in the same form with him."
+
+No doubt the elder Leech felt much the parting from his little son, but
+to Mrs. Leech the boy's leaving home was a severe blow; the mother's
+heart would no doubt realize and exaggerate the perils to mind and body
+arising from contact with something like six hundred fellow-pupils,
+scarcely one so young, and none so loving and lovable as her little boy.
+John was boarded at a house close by the Charterhouse, and only allowed
+to go home at rare intervals. The fond mother, however, could not live
+without seeing him, and to enable her to gratify her longing, a room was
+hired in a house overlooking the boy's playground, from which, carefully
+hidden, she could see her little son as he walked and talked with the
+form-fellow, "the particular friend" to whom a sympathetic nature had
+attached him; or watch him as he joined heart and soul in some game--not
+too rough--for a fall from his pony, by which his arm had been broken
+and was still far from strong, made such rough sports as are common to
+schoolboys too dangerous to be indulged in.
+
+The Charterhouse rejoiced in a drawing-master named Burgess. Upon what
+principles that master proceeded to train the youth of Charterhouse I am
+unable to speak; they were most likely those in vogue at the time of
+young Leech's sojourn. If they were of that description, it was
+fortunate that Leech paid--as is said--little or no attention to them,
+finding a difficulty, no doubt, in applying them to the sketches that
+constantly fell from him on to the pages of his school-books.
+
+It may be urged that when Flaxman warned the boy's mother against
+teaching as being sure to cramp her son's genius, he alluded to the
+Burgess method. That may have been so. But a man like Flaxman, who had
+possessed himself by severest study as a young man of the means by which
+his powers were developed, would, I think, have been sure to warn Mrs.
+Leech of the difference between the teaching that would be mischievous,
+and that which is proved to be indispensable by the universal practice
+of the greatest painters. I am aware I shall be confronted with the case
+of John Leech, who was, so to speak, entirely self-taught; but Leech was
+not a painter, and certainly never could have become a good one without
+training; besides, he was altogether exceptional--unique, in fact. In my
+opinion, we are as likely to see another Shakespeare or Dickens as
+another Leech.
+
+This is a digression, for which I apologize. I cannot find that my
+hero--I may call him such, for he was ever a hero to me--paid much
+attention to classical knowledge. Latin verses were impossible to him,
+but they had to be done; so, as he said, he "got somebody to do them for
+him." In spite of his weak arm, he fenced with Angelo, the school
+fencing-master; but, beyond the advantage of the exercise, the
+accomplishment was of no use to him.
+
+Here I cannot resist an anecdote of which the fencing reminds me.
+
+Some years before Leech's death the editor of a newspaper, who was
+remarkable for the severity of his criticisms and for his extreme
+personal ugliness, had made some caustic remarks on Leech's work in
+general, and on some special drawings in particular.
+
+"If that chap," said Leech to me, "doesn't mind what he is about, I will
+_draw_ and defend myself"--an idle threat, for nothing could have
+provoked that gentle, noble nature into personality, no trace of which
+is to be found in the long list of his admirable works.
+
+Several letters, delightfully boyish, written by Leech to his father
+from the Charterhouse, are in my possession. Some of them, I think, may
+appropriately appear in this place.
+
+
+  "Septr 19 1826
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+ "I hope you are quite well. I beg you will let me come out to see you
+for I am so dull here, and I am always fretting about, because I wrote
+to you yesterday and you would not let me come out. I will fag hard if
+you will let me come out, and will you write to me, and the letter that
+you write put in when you are going to Esex and when you return for I
+want to very particularly
+
+"How is Mamma, Brother and Sisters
+
+"I hope Ester is quite well,
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH
+
+"I am very sorry that I stayed away from School with ---- but I promise
+never to do it again and I beg you will let me come out on Sunday."
+
+
+  "Charter House October 2 _1826_
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"You told me to write to you when the reports where made out, they are
+made out now, and mine is, does his Best. I hope you are quite well, and
+Mamma the same. I hope Tom Mary Caroline, and Ester are quite well. I
+have not spoken to Mr Chapman yet about the tuter, and drawing Master,
+because I had not an oppertunity, send me a cake as soon as it is
+convenient
+
+  "Your affectionate son
+    "J LEECH."
+
+
+  [_No date._]
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"I write this note to know how poor little Polly is I hope she is better
+to day pray write to me before the day is over and tell me how she is. I
+hope you and Mamma Tom and Fanny are all well since I left you last
+night.
+
+"I am happy to say I am at the very top off the Form
+
+"Tell Mamma not to forget to come and see me on Wenesday as she said she
+would. I would write to Polly now only I have not time pray give Polly a
+1000 kiss for me and Fanny and Tom the same. As I said before I hope
+poor little Polly is better.
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA,
+
+"My report was made out yesterday but I forgot to write to you
+therefore I tell you to-day, it was (generally attentive) If any
+afternoon or morning that you have time I should be very happy to see
+you. You can see me in the morning from 12 to half-past two and in the
+evening from 4 till 9.
+
+"Send me another suit of clothes if you please and a cap. Mind the
+gloves. I hope Polly continues to get better and I hope you and Mamma
+Brother and sisters are quite well. Send me a penknife if you please. I
+remain
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+"Will you let me come out to see you once before my sisters go to
+school, for I feel quite unhappy here and miserable. I am afraid I shall
+not be able to get promoted yet, therefore I am afraid I shant be able
+to come out. But you promised me that if I did not get promoted you
+would let me come out. I try as much as I can to get promoted. Do let me
+come out once before my Sisters go to School.
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH
+
+"Tell Mamma to send me a cake as soon as she can
+
+"Send me some money as soon as you can."
+
+
+
+  "September 14 1827
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"I am happy to say that Mr Baliscombe says that for my Holiday Task I
+deserve promotion and says it is very well done indeed. Come and see me
+as soon as you can. I think I shall get promoted when Dr Russell sees my
+Holiday Task--In fact Mr Baliscombe is going to ask him to put me up. I
+hope you and Mamma are quite well. Springett went to the play he tells
+me and did not come back till the morning. I hope dear old Camello and
+the dear little Baby Bunning are quite well, would you mind sending Mrs
+Jeffkins some partridges for I know she would like some. Tell Mamma to
+write to me as soon as she possibly can.
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH
+
+"P.S. I would not send the porter only I have got neither wafer nor
+seal'wax."
+
+
+  "Sepr 16th 1827
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"I am very happy indeed to say that I am promoted for I know it makes
+you happy. Let me come out next Saturday and come and see me to-morrow.
+I have no sealing wax or would not send the porter.
+
+"I hope you are quite well and Mamma and Old Camello and the little Baby
+Bunning the same
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+"As I am rather short of money and want to keep my money I've got, I
+should be much obliged if you would give my ambassador 18 pence or so as
+I've promised a boy at school one of those small bladders to make
+balloons of, if you remember you bought me one once. I hope you are all
+well
+
+  "I remain
+    "Your affectionate son
+      "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "DEAR PAPA
+
+"Will you be so kind as to send me half a crown by the porter and
+allowence me every week
+
+"I was obliged to send the porter
+
+"I hope you Mamma Brothers and sisters are quite well.
+
+  "Your affectionate son
+    "J LEECH."
+
+
+  [_No date._]
+
+  "MY DEAR MAMMA
+
+"I understand that you came to see me yesterday, and me being in the
+green, you did not see me, so that made me still more unhappy, I beg you
+will come and see me on Saturday for I am very unhappy.
+
+"I want to see you or Papa very much indeed.
+
+  "Your affectionate son
+    "J LEECH."
+
+
+  "MY DEAR PAPA.
+
+"You desired me to send you my report I have not had it since the last
+one. I went into be examined by Dr Russell yesterday but I did not get
+promoted but I did not lose more than one or two places. I will send you
+my next report. I hope you are quite well.
+
+"Mamma and Brother and sisters the Same
+
+  "Your affectionate
+    "Son
+      "J LEECH.
+
+"I would have written to you sooner but _I had not time_."
+
+
+Leech made no way at the Charterhouse; never approaching the position
+held by Thackeray, who was four years his senior: indeed, I doubt that
+they saw, or cared to see, much of each other, little dreaming that they
+would ultimately become dear and fast friends till death separated them,
+only to meet again, as we believe, after the sad, short interval that
+elapsed between the deaths of each.
+
+I cannot say I believe in inherited talent, but the fact that the elder
+Leech was said to be a remarkable draughtsman seems to strengthen the
+theory held by some people. I have never seen any specimens of the
+father's drawing, nor did I ever hear the son speak of it. Anyway, Leech
+_pere_ had no faith in the practice of art as a means of livelihood for
+his son, for he informed the youth, after a nine years' attendance at
+the Charterhouse, that he was destined for the medical profession. There
+is no record of any objection on the part of Leech to his father's
+decision, at which I feel surprise; for the flame which burnt so
+brilliantly in after-life must have been always well alight, and very
+antagonistic to the kind of work required from the embryo surgeon.
+Leech's gentle yielding nature influenced him then as always; and he
+went to St. Bartholomew's, where under Mr. Stanley, the surgeon of the
+hospital, he worked hard and delighted his master by his excellent
+anatomical drawings. From these studies may be traced, I think, much of
+the knowledge of the human form, and above all of _proportion_, always
+displayed in his work; for in those wonderful drawings, whether a figure
+is tall or short, fat or thin, whether he deals with a child or a giant,
+with a dog or a horse, no disproportion can be found.
+
+It appears that the elder Leech's affairs were already in such an
+embarrassed condition, that an intention to place his son with Sir
+George Ballingall, an eminent Scottish doctor, was abandoned, and after
+a time he was placed with a Mr. Whittle, a very remarkable person, who
+figures under the name of Rawkins in a novel written by Albert Smith and
+illustrated by Leech. Smith's work, with the title of "The Adventures of
+Mr. Ledbury and his Friend Jack Johnson," was first published in
+_Bentley's Miscellany_.
+
+"Mr. Rawkins," says Albert Smith, "was so extraordinary a person for a
+medical practitioner that, had we only read of him instead of having
+known him, we should at once have put him down as the far-fetched
+creation of the author's brain. He was about eight-and-thirty years old,
+and of herculean build except his legs, which were small in comparison
+with the rest of his body. But he thought that he was modelled after the
+statues of antiquity, and, indeed, in respect of his nose, which was
+broken, he was not far wrong in his idea--that feature having been
+damaged in some hospital skirmish when he was a student. His face was
+adorned with a luxuriant fringe of black whiskers, meeting under his
+chin, whilst his hair, of a similar hue, was cut rather short about his
+head, and worn without the least regard to any particular style or
+direction. But it was also his class of pursuits that made him so
+singular a character. Every available apartment in his house not
+actually in use by human beings was appropriated to the conserving of
+innumerable rabbits, guinea-pigs, and ferrets. His areas were filled
+with poultry, bird-cages hung at every window, and the whole of his roof
+had been converted into one enormous pigeon-trap. It was one of his most
+favourite occupations to sit, on fine afternoons, with brandy-and-water
+and a pipe, and catch his neighbours' birds. He had very little private
+practice; the butcher, the baker, and the tobacconist were his chief
+patients, who employed him more especially with the intention of working
+out their accounts. He derived his principal income from the retail of
+his shop, his appointments of medical man to the police force and parish
+poor, and breeding fancy rabbits. These various avocations pretty well
+filled up his time, and when at home he passed his spare minutes in
+practising gymnastics--balancing himself upon one hand and laying hold
+of staples, thus keeping himself at right angles to the wall, with other
+feats of strength, the acquisition of which he thought necessary in
+enabling him to support the character of Hercules--his favourite
+impersonation--with due effect."
+
+It is not to be wondered at that Mr. Whittle, _alias_ Rawkins, should
+find that stealing his neighbours' pigeons, together with his other
+unprofitable accomplishments, to say nothing of the sparseness of paying
+patients, could have only one termination--bankruptcy. Mr. Whittle ended
+his career in a public-house, of which he became proprietor after
+marrying the widow who kept it. Here he put off his coat to his work,
+and in his shirt-sleeves served his customers with beer. Leech and
+Albert Smith, and others of his pupils took his beer readily, though
+they had always declined to take his pills. It is said that he was
+originally a Quaker, and that he died a missionary at the Antipodes.
+
+Leech stayed but a short time with the pigeon-fancying Whittle, whom
+he left to be placed under Dr. John Cockle, afterwards Physician to the
+Royal Free Hospital. Leech seems to have been a pretty regular attendant
+at anatomical and other lectures, and it goes without saying that his
+notes were garnished with sketches, for which his fellow-students sat
+unconsciously; and plenty of them remain to prove the impossibility of
+checking an inclination so strongly implanted in such a genuine artist
+as John Leech.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+EARLY WORK.
+
+
+It was at St. Bartholomew's that Leech made acquaintance, which soon
+ripened into friendship, with Albert Smith, Percival Leigh (a future
+comrade on the _Punch_ Staff, and author of the "Comic Latin Grammar,"
+"Pips' Diary," etc.), Gilbert a Beckett and many others, all or most of
+whom served as models for that unerring pencil.
+
+The impecunious condition of Leech senior before John had reached his
+eighteenth year was such as to make his chances of getting a living by
+medicine or surgery, even if successful, so remote as to place them
+beyond consideration. No doubt the elder Leech's misfortunes were
+"blessings in disguise," for we owe to them the necessity that compelled
+the younger man to devote himself to art.
+
+The art of drawing upon wood, to which Leech in his later years almost
+entirely confined himself, dates back from very early times.
+Lithography, or drawing upon stone, is a comparatively modern invention,
+and, until the introduction of photography, was used for varieties of
+artistic reproduction. It was to that process we owe the first published
+work of Leech. The artist was eighteen years old when "Etchings and
+Sketchings," by A. Pen, Esq., price 2s. plain, 3s. coloured, was offered
+tremblingly to the public. The work was in the shape of four quarto
+sheets, which were covered with sketches, more or less caricatures, of
+cabmen, policemen, street musicians, hackney coachmen with their
+vehicles and the peculiar breed of animal attached to them, and other
+varieties of life and character common to the streets of London. This
+work is now very rarely to be met with; it consisted chiefly, I believe,
+of characteristic heads and half-length figures. To "Etchings and
+Sketchings" the young artist added some political caricatures, also in
+lithography, of considerable merit. With these, or, rather, with the
+heavy stones on which they were drawn, we may imagine the weary
+wanderings from publisher to publisher; the painful anxiety with which
+the verdict, on which so much depended, was waited for; the hopes that
+brightened at a word of commendation, only to be scattered by a few
+stereotyped phrases, such as, "Ah, very clever, but these sort of things
+are not in our way, you see; there is no demand," and so on.
+
+1836, when Leech was still a boy, saw the production of works called
+"The Boy's Own Series," "Studies from Nature," "Amateur Originals," "The
+Ups and Downs of Life; or, The Vicissitudes of a Swell," etc.
+
+The delicate touch and the grasp of character peculiar to the artist are
+recognised at once in many examples.
+
+Leech's struggle for bread for himself and others must have been
+terrible at this time; indeed, up to the establishment of Rowland Hill's
+penny post, when, by what may be called a brilliant opportunity, Leech
+attracted for the first time the public attention, which never deserted
+him.
+
+The title of this book is "The Life and _Work_ of John Leech." Of the
+former, as I have shown, there is little to tell; on the latter,
+volumes, critical, descriptive, appreciative, might be written. An
+artist is destined to immortality or speedy oblivion according to his
+work, and it was my earnest hope, on undertaking this memoir, that I
+should be able to prove, by the finest examples of Leech's genius, that
+an indisputable claim to immortality was established for him. To a great
+extent I have been permitted to do so; but the law of copyright has
+debarred me from the selection of many brilliant pictures of life and
+character on which my, perhaps unreasonably covetous, eyes had rested.
+The proprietors of _Punch_ and also of the copyright of most of Leech's
+other works are, no doubt, properly careful of their interests, and I
+can imagine their surprise at the extent of my first demands upon their
+good-nature. In my ignorance I had thought that as my object was the
+honour and glory of John Leech--a feeling, no doubt, shared by them--the
+treasures of _Punch_ would be spread before me, with a request that I
+would help myself. I do not in the least complain that I found myself
+mistaken. There are, no doubt, good reasons for the limits to which I
+was restricted, though I am unable to see them; and, granting the
+existence of those reasons, I should be ungrateful if I did not express
+my thanks for the small number of illustrations from _Punch_ and other
+sources which I am allowed to use. I confess I was delighted to find
+that the first few years of the existence of _Punch_ were free by lapse
+of time from copyright protection, and as some of Leech's best work
+appears in the volumes between 1841 and 1849, I am able to show my
+readers further proofs of the justice of the artist's claim to be
+remembered for all time.
+
+Leech's hatred of organ-grinding began very early in his career.
+
+  "WANTED, BY AN AGED LADY OF VERY NERVOUS TEMPERAMENT, A PROFESSOR, WHO
+  WILL UNDERTAKE TO MESMERIZE ALL THE ORGANS IN HER STREET. SALARY, SO
+  MUCH PER ORGAN."
+
+The drawing which appeared in _Punch_ in 1843, with the above title, was
+the first of the humorous series that continued almost unbroken for more
+than twenty years. It is pitiable to think of the long martyrdom that
+Leech suffered from an abnormal nervous organization, which ultimately
+made street-noises absolute agony to him. In the illustration the
+singular difference of dress in the organ-grinder of fifty years ago and
+him of the present time is noticeable, as also are the perfect
+expressions of the small audience. Leech's chief contributions to
+_Punch_ at this time were the large cuts, in which Peel, Brougham, the
+great Duke of Wellington, and others, play political parts in matters
+that would be of little interest to the reader of to-day, nor are the
+drawings of exceptional merit.
+
+In 1844 there appeared an irresistible little cut, the precursor of so
+many admirable variations of skating and sliding incidents.
+
+  "NOW, LOBSTER, KEEP THE POT A-BILING."
+
+What could surpass the impudence of the vigorous youngster, or the
+expression of the guardsman of amused wonder as he looks down upon the
+audacious imp, as Goliath might have looked upon David?
+
+The sensation created by the first appearance of the dwarf Tom Thumb
+remains vividly in my memory. I saw him in all his impersonations; that
+of Napoleon, in which he was dressed in exact imitation of the Emperor,
+was very droll. The little creature was at Waterloo, taking quantities
+of snuff from his waistcoat pocket, giving his orders for the final
+charge which decided his fate; and when he saw that all was lost, his
+distress was terrible: he wrung his little hands and wept copiously,
+amidst the uproarious applause and laughter of the audience. Then he was
+at St. Helena, and, standing on an imaginary rock, he folded his arms,
+and gazed wistfully in the direction of his beloved France. After a
+long, lingering look, he shook his little head, and with a sigh so loud
+as to astonish us, he dashed the tears from his eyes, and made his bow
+to the audience, some of whom affected to be shocked by the laughter of
+the unthinking, and loudly expressed their sympathy with the great man
+in his fall. I well remember the great Duke going to see the amusing
+dwarf, but why Leech should have represented him in the dancing
+attitude, as shown in the illustration, seems strange. Surely a more
+serious imitation of a Napoleonic attitude would have been more telling
+and more comic.
+
+The next print illustrates a paper in _Punch_ called "Physicians and
+General Practitioners."
+
+"The physician almost invariably dresses in black," says the writer,
+"and wears a white neck-cloth. He also often affects smalls and gaiters,
+likewise shirt-frills" (fancy a physician in these days thus dressed!).
+He appears, no doubt very properly, in perpetual mourning. The general
+practitioner more frequently sports coloured clothes, as drab trousers
+and a figured waistcoat. With respect to features, the Roman nose, we
+think, is more characteristic of physicians; while among general
+practitioners, we should say, the more common of the two was the snub.
+
+The general practitioner and the physician often meet professionally,
+on which occasion their interests as well as their opinions are very apt
+to clash; whereupon an altercation ensues, which ends by the physician
+telling the general practitioner that he is an "impudent quack," and the
+general practitioner's replying to the physician that he is "a
+contemptible humbug."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+How perfectly Leech has realized the scene for us the drawing
+abundantly shows. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that he never
+surpassed in drawing, expression, and character, these two admirable
+figures; full of contempt for each other, the emotion is expressed
+naturally, and with due regard to the peculiarities, widely varying, of
+each of the disputants.
+
+More years ago than I care to remember, I met at dinner Mr. Gibson, the
+Newgate surgeon. At that time an agitation was afoot respecting public
+executions, the advocates maintaining that the sight of a
+fellow-creature done to death acted as a deterrent on any of the
+sight-seers who were disposed to risk a similar fate, the objectors
+declaring that the exhibition only made brutes more brutal, and was in
+no way a deterrent. As Mr. Gibson had had a long experience of criminals
+and their ways, it was thought worth while to ask his opinion of the
+matter in dispute. The surgeon said that, feeling strongly on the
+subject of public hanging, he had made a point of asking persons under
+sentence of death if they had ever attended executions, and he found
+that over three-fourths--he told us the exact number, but I cannot trust
+my memory on the point--had witnessed the finishing of the law. So much
+for the deterrent effect. The disgraceful scenes that took place at the
+execution of the Mannings produced a powerful letter to the press from
+Dickens, and an equally powerful article in the _Daily News_, by Mr.
+Parkinson. Parliament was aroused, and public executions ceased.
+
+[Illustration: "WHERE 'AVE WE BIN? WHY, TO SEE THE COVE 'UNG, TO BE
+SURE!"]
+
+The Leech drawing which follows appeared in 1845, some years before the
+Manning murder, and a considerable time previous to the agitation on the
+subject of hanging in public. If ever a moral lesson was inculcated by a
+work of art, this powerful drawing is an example. Who knows how much it
+may have done towards hastening the time when those horrible exhibitions
+ceased?
+
+Is this squalid group, with debauchery and criminality in evidence in
+each figure, likely to be morally impressed by the sight of a public
+hanging? What are they but types of a class that always frequented such
+scenes? The dreadful woman has carried her child with her; the little
+creature's attenuated limbs point to the neglect and ill-usage sure to
+be met with from such parents.
+
+To those unacquainted with the "Caudle Lectures" by Douglas Jerrold,
+which appeared at this time in _Punch_, I recommend the perusal of those
+inimitable papers. One of their merits is their having given occasion
+for an admirable drawing by Leech. Lord Brougham was, in the eyes of
+_Punch_ and many others, a firebrand in the House of Lords. He was
+irrepressible, contentious, and brilliant on all occasions, quarrelsome
+in the extreme, and a thorn in the side of whatever Government was in
+power unless he was a member of it. The Woolsack, more especially the
+object of his ambition, was made a very uneasy seat to any occupant.
+Behold him, then, as Mrs. Caudle--an excellent likeness--making night
+hideous for the unhappy Caudle, whose part is played by the Lord
+Chancellor--Lyndhurst--while the Caudle pillow is changed into the
+Woolsack.
+
+  "THE MRS. CAUDLE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS."
+
+  "What do you say? _Thank heaven! you are going to enjoy the recess,
+  and you'll be rid of me for some months?_ Never mind. Depend upon it,
+  when you come back, you shall have it again. No, I don't raise the
+  House and set everybody by the ears; but I'm not going to give up
+  every little privilege, though it's seldom I open my lips, goodness
+  knows!"--"Caudle Lectures" (improved).
+
+[Illustration: "AN EYE TO BUSINESS."]
+
+Whether such a scene as the following ever took place may be doubted;
+but that it might have happened, and may happen again, there is no
+doubt. One meets with strange seaside objects, and to bathe at the same
+time as one's tailor is within the bounds of possibility. Leech
+evidently thought so, hence this delightful little cut, wherein we see
+the creditor--evidently a tailor--improving the occasion to remind his
+fellow-swimmer of his little bill. See the businesslike aspect of the
+one and the astonishment and alarm of the other, who in the next few
+vigorous strokes will place himself beyond the reach of his creditor.
+
+Full of sympathy, as Leech was, for human suffering, and frequently as
+he dealt with sea-sickness, he certainly never showed the least pity for
+the sufferers by that miserable malady. Its ludicrous aspect was
+irresistible to him, as numbers of illustrations sufficiently prove, and
+none more perfectly than the one introduced in this place, with the
+title of "Love on the Ocean," representing a couple evidently married on
+the morning of this tempestuous day. "Why, oh why," I can hear the
+unhappy bridegroom say to himself, "did we not arrange to pass our
+honeymoon in some pleasant place in England, and so have avoided
+crossing this dreadful sea?" To be ill in the dear presence of--oh,
+horror! And the lady is so unconscious, so serenely unconscious, of the
+impending catastrophe! She enjoys the sea, and, being of a poetical
+turn, she thus improves the occasion:
+
+"Oh, is there not something, dear Augustus, truly sublime in the
+warring of the elements?"
+
+[Illustration: "BUT AUGUSTUS'S HEART WAS TOO FULL TO SPEAK."]
+
+Let anyone who suffers at sea fancy what it is to be spoken to at all,
+when the fearful sensations, the awful precursors of the inevitable,
+have full possession of him, and then to suffer in the very presence of
+the dear creature from whom every human weakness has been hitherto
+carefully hidden! The drawing is followed by a poem, in which the
+position of the unhappy Augustus is described. He could not speak in
+reply to his bride's appeal; in the words of the poet:
+
+  "She gazed upon the wave,
+     Sublime she declared it;
+   But no reply he gave--
+     He could not have dared it.
+
+  "Oh, then, 'Steward!' he cried,
+     With deepest emotion;
+   Then tottered to the side,
+     And leant o'er the ocean."
+
+Poor miserable Augustus! his face is pale as death, his treasured locks
+blown out of shape; his eyeglass swings in the wind; the distant steamer
+is making mad plunges into the heaving wave; the rain falls, and let us
+hope the romantic bride turns away as her young husband "leans o'er the
+ocean."
+
+Only those who have passed from the tableland of life can recollect the
+passion for speculation in railways that took possession of the public
+in 1845 and the two or three following years. I myself caught the
+disease, and, acting on the advice of "one who knew," I bought a number
+of shares in one of the new lines; these were L25 shares, on which L8
+each had been paid. I was assured by my adviser that I should receive
+interest at the rate of eight per cent. till the year 1850; after that
+time the line would pay ten. I awoke one morning to find that a panic
+was in full blast, and all railway property depreciated. My feelings may
+be imagined, for I certainly cannot describe them, when I found, on
+reference to the _Times_, that my L8 shares--L17 being still due upon
+each--were quoted at half a crown apiece! My friend had the courage of
+his opinions, for he had invested the whole of his property in railway
+stocks. He was completely ruined in mind and body, and died miserably
+before the panic was over.
+
+Multiply these examples by thousands, and you will arrive at a clear
+idea of the nature of a panic, which seems to mystify the young
+gentleman immortalized by Leech in the drawing illustrating the
+following dialogue:
+
+  "I SAY, JIM, WHAT'S A PANIC?"
+
+  "BLOWED IF I KNOW; BUT THERE IS VON TO BE SEEN IN THE CITY."
+
+It has been my fate in the course of a long life to attend several
+fancy-dress balls, but I can scarcely call to mind a single example of
+the successful assumption of an historical character, or, indeed, of any
+character that could disguise the very modern young lady or gentleman
+who was masquerading in it. My first acquaintance with Mark Lemon, so
+long the esteemed editor of _Punch_, began in the Hanover Square Rooms,
+at a fancy-dress ball given by a society--chiefly, I think, composed of
+the better class of tradespeople--called the Gothics. On that occasion
+might have been seen a young gentleman in the dress of one of Charles
+II.'s courtiers, and looking about as unlike his prototype as
+possible--in earnest conversation with another courtier, of the time of
+George II. I was of the Charles' period, Lemon of that of the Georges.
+Those who remember Lemon's figure later in life would have been
+surprised by the change that time had made in it, if they could have
+witnessed the interview between the two young men, one scarcely stouter
+than the other. In proof of my idea that the greater number of guests
+were in trade, I might give scraps of conversation between Mary Queen of
+Scots and Guy Fawkes, or between Henry VIII. and Edward the Black
+Prince, that would leave no doubt on the subject; nay, later in the
+evening I had convincing proof of the correctness of my surmise, as you
+shall hear. I danced with a Marie Antoinette of surpassing beauty, with
+whom I fell incontinently in love. More than once I danced with her, and
+when supper was announced, my earnest appeal to be allowed to conduct
+her to the banquet was successful. My lovely friend was full of the
+curiosity peculiar to her sex, which showed itself in her anxiety to
+know who and what I was. To tell the truth, I was equally curious to
+know who she was, and what her friends were.
+
+"Well," said I, "if you will tell me who you are, I will tell you who I
+am and what I am."
+
+"Oh," was the reply, "I think I know what you are; but what's your
+name?"
+
+"You know what I am?" said I, surprised; "what am I?"
+
+"Well, you are in the same line that we are, I fancy."
+
+"And what line is that?"
+
+"The army tailoring. Am I right?"
+
+In the illustration that accompanies these remarks Leech has succeeded
+in presenting to us a Norman knight completely characteristic, a
+Crusader more real, I think, than any modern could have rendered him.
+The lady he escorts, in a dress a few hundred years after Crusading
+times, is very lovely. The capital little Marchioness, with the big
+door-key, the four-wheeler, and the laughing crowd, make up a scene of
+inimitable humour.
+
+We now come to the first of those precocious youths in whose mannish
+ways, whose delightful impertinence to their elders, whose early
+susceptibility to the passion of love for ladies three times older than
+themselves, are shown by Leech in many a scene I should have given to my
+readers, but over them the Copyright Act stands guard. "'Tis true, 'tis
+pity, pity 'tis, 'tis true," that in a book intended solely to do honour
+to Leech's genius, so many of the most perfect examples of it are denied
+to us.
+
+[Illustration: "SIR! PLEASE, MR.! SIR! YOU'VE FORGOT THE DOOR-KEY!"]
+
+Well may the governor stare with open-mouthed astonishment at such a
+proposal from such a creature! Look at him as he throws his little arm
+over his chair in the swaggering attitude he has so often observed in
+his elders, and raises a full glass of claret! "Just as the twig is bent
+the tree's inclined;" but that we know that in this instance the twig is
+indulging in a harmless freak, one might be inclined to dread the tree's
+inclining.
+
+[Illustration: ETON BOY (_loq._): "Come, governor! just one toast--'The
+Ladies'!"]
+
+The political opinions of the writer of this book are of no consequence
+to himself or anybody else. It would perhaps be pretty near the truth if
+he were to admit that he had no political opinions worth speaking of. To
+those, however, who were interested in the struggle for Free Trade,
+which in the year 1846 raged with great fury, the question was, and
+still is, one of vital interest. The landed interest, headed by most of
+the aristocracy on the one side, and the manufacturing interest,
+championed by Cobden and Bright, on the other, raised a storm in which
+language the reverse of parliamentary was tossed from side to side. Peel
+was Prime Minister, and his ultimate conversion to the principles of
+Free Trade, and consequent advocacy of the repeal of the Corn Laws,
+horrified his supporters--by whom, notably by Disraeli, he became the
+object of envenomed attack--but led to a settlement of the question, and
+gave Leech an opportunity for the production of drawings of the victor
+and the vanquished, entitled, Cobden's "Bee's Wing" and Richmond's
+"Black Draught," two of the most successful of the political cartoons.
+
+"The Brook Green Volunteer" gave Leech the opportunity for many
+illustrations which, to my mind, are nearer approaching caricature than
+most of his work; nor have they, as a rule, the beauty or human interest
+that so many of his drawings show. I fear I must charge the volunteer
+himself with being in possession of an impossible face and a no less
+impossible figure; his action also is exaggerated. In compensation we
+have a delightful family group. The mother with that naked baby
+perambulating her person is beyond all praise. Women do strange things,
+but I deny the possibility of such a woman as Leech has drawn ever
+finding it in her heart to marry that volunteer. The little thing
+standing on tip-toe to dabble in baby's basin for the benefit of her
+doll, the delighted lookers-on, not forgetting the warrior riding his
+umbrella into action, are invested with the charm that Leech, and Leech
+only, could give them.
+
+The year 1846 gave birth to the first fruit from a field in which Leech
+found such a bountiful harvest. The racecourse gave opportunities for
+the exhibition of life and character of which the great artist took
+advantage in numberless delightful examples. Pen and pencil record
+adventures by road and rail. Whether the excursionist is going to the
+Derby or returning from it, whether he is high or low, a Duke or a
+costermonger, that unerring hand is ready to note his follies or his
+excesses, always with a kindly touch, or to point a moral if a graver
+opportunity presents itself.
+
+A madman, they say, thinks all the world mad but himself; and it is not
+uncommon for a drunken man to imagine himself to be the only sober
+person in the company. That some feeling of this kind possesses the
+rider in the drawing opposite, as he addresses the stolid postboy, is
+evident enough; his drunken smile, his battered hat, and his dishevelled
+dress, are eloquent of his proceedings on the course; and if his return
+from the Derby is not signalized by a fall from his horse, he will be
+more fortunate than he deserves to be. In works of art the value of
+contrast is well known, and a better example than the face of the
+postboy offers to that of his questioner could not be imagined. He
+drunk, indeed! not a bit of it.
+
+A pretty creature in the background must not be overlooked. She is a
+perfect specimen of Leech's power of creating beauty by a few
+pencil-marks. Her beauty has evidently attracted notice, and caused
+complimentary remarks from passers-by, which are resented by the old
+lady in charge, who tells the speaker to "_go on with his imperdence_!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE RETURN FROM THE DERBY."
+
+  SMITH: "Hollo! Poster, ain't you precious drunk, rather?"
+
+  POSTBOY: "Drunk! not a bit of it!"]
+
+I cannot resist presenting my readers with another Derby sketch. It
+is more than probable that if either of these young gentlemen had asked
+for leave of absence from his official duties for the purpose of going
+to the Derby, he would have met with stern denial. The attraction,
+however, is irresistible, and though the subterfuge by which it is
+achieved is not to be defended, who is there that is not glad that the
+wicked boy is penning that audacious letter, as it is the cause of our
+having a picture that is a joy for ever? As a work of art, whether as a
+composition of lines and light and shadow, in addition to perfect
+character and expression, this drawing takes rank amongst the best of
+Leech's works. Note the admirable action of the youth who is putting on
+his coat--a momentary movement caught with consummate skill.
+
+[Illustration: "THE DERBY EPIDEMIC."]
+
+  "GENTLEMEN,
+
+"Owing to sudden and very severe indisposition, I regret to say that I
+shall not be able to attend the office to-day. I hope, however, to be
+able to resume my duties to-morrow.
+
+  "I am, gentlemen,
+    "Yours very obediently,
+      "PHILLIP COX."
+
+Doctors differ, as everybody knows; and in no opinion do they differ
+more than in the way children should be treated. One of the faculty will
+tell you that a healthy child should be allowed to eat as much as he or
+she likes; another advises that as grown-up people are disposed to eat a
+great deal more than is good for them, a boy is pretty sure to do the
+same unless a wholesome check is imposed upon his unruly appetite. A
+great authority is reported to have said that as many people are killed
+by over-eating as by over-drinking; "in fact," said he, "they dig their
+graves with their teeth." If that be so, the young gentleman in
+"Something like a Holiday" is destined for an early tomb.
+
+Comment on this wonderful youth is needless. We can only share the
+alarm and astonishment so admirably expressed in the pastrycook's face.
+That this awful juvenile's memory should serve him so perfectly when he
+has taken such pains to cloud it, as well as every other faculty, is
+also surprising.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  PASTRYCOOK: "What have you had, sir?"
+
+  BOY: "I've had two jellies; seven of those, and eleven of these; and
+  six of those, and four bath-buns; a sausage-roll, ten almond-cakes,
+  and a bottle of ginger-beer."]
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "ALARMING SYMPTOMS ON EATING BOILED BEEF AND GOOSEBERRY-PIE."
+
+  LITTLE BOY: "Oh lor, ma! I feel just exactly as if my jacket was
+  buttoned."]
+
+If "a fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind," the boy in the following
+drawing would have delighted in the society of the _gourmet_ at the
+pastrycook's. Boiled beef and gooseberry-pie are good things enough in
+their way, but one may have too much of a good thing, with the
+inevitable result of the tightening of the jacket. This greedy-boy
+drawing appeared in 1846, and created a great sensation in the youth of
+that day, and many days since. Careful parents have been known to use
+this terrible example of over-eating as a warning to their offspring
+that a fit of apoplexy frequently followed the tightening of the jacket.
+
+I think my married reader of the rougher sex will agree with me when I
+say that there are few more uncomfortable, not to say alarming, moments
+than those spent in the awful interview with the parents of his beloved,
+during which he has to prove beyond all doubt that he is in every
+respect an individual to whom the happiness of a "dear child" can be
+safely entrusted. What a bad quarter of an hour that is before the
+meeting, when he has grave doubts as to the sufficiency of his income!
+Will it, with other future possibilities, be considered sufficient to
+assure to "my daughter, sir, the comforts to which she has been
+accustomed"? This he will have to answer satisfactorily, together with a
+few score more questions more or less agonizing. Leech drew a scene of
+common application when he produced the picture that follows, which he
+calls "Rather Alarming"--"On Horror's Head, Horrors accumulate." Look at
+that terrible female and prospective mother-in-law!--think of satisfying
+such a woman that you are worthy of admission into her family! How
+sincerely one pities that poor little Corydon, and how heartily one
+wishes him success!
+
+  "RATHER ALARMING."
+
+  LADY: "You wished, sir, I believe, to see me respecting the state of
+  my daughter's affections with a view to a matrimonial alliance with
+  that young lady. If you will walk into the library, my husband and I
+  will discuss the matter with you."
+
+  YOUNG CORYDON: "Oh, gracious!"
+
+Leech treats--how admirably!--another greedy boy, or, rather, two greedy
+boys.
+
+  JACKY: "Hallo, Tommy! what 'ave you got there?"
+
+  TOMMY: "Hoyster!"
+
+  JACKY: "Oh, give us a bit!"
+
+A Calais oyster, no doubt--large enough for both; but Tommy will not
+share his happiness. Intensity of expression pervades him from his open
+mouth to his fingers' ends. Jacky's face and figure are no less
+expressive of eagerness to join in the banquet.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "SO YOU HAVE TAKEN ALL YOUR STUFF, AND DON'T FEEL ANY BETTER, EH?
+  WELL, THEN, WE MUST ALTER THE TREATMENT. YOU MUST GET YOUR HEAD
+  SHAVED; AND IF YOU WILL CALL HERE TO-MORROW MORNING ABOUT ELEVEN, MY
+  PUPIL WILL PUT A SETON IN THE BACK OF YOUR NECK."]
+
+If ever man suffered from _embarras de richesse_, I am that individual
+in making a selection from the early drawings of Leech; where all, or
+nearly all, are so perfect, choice becomes difficult indeed. I cannot
+resist, however, the one that follows this remark. For perfection of
+character and richness of humour, it seems to me unsurpassable. The
+doctor's attitude as he contemplates his victim--who seems to have
+brought with her the huge empty physic-bottles to prove that she has
+taken all her "stuff"--to say nothing of his startling individuality, is
+Nature itself; and that immortal pupil with the big knife, smiling in
+anticipation of the operation "to-morrow about eleven"! One can read on
+the face of the patient a dull realization of the doctor's announcement
+that only a seton in the back of her neck--whatever that may mean to
+her--will be of any service now; and to render the operation successful,
+she must have her head shaved.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "AWFUL APPARITION TO A GENTLEMAN WHILST SHAVING IN THE EDGWARE ROAD,
+  SEPTEMBER 29, 1846."]
+
+The statue of the Duke of Wellington, which so long disgraced Hyde Park
+Corner, has disappeared, to the satisfaction of the world in general,
+though there were, I believe, a few dissentients who saw, or said they
+saw, beauty in one of the most hideous objects ever perpetrated by the
+hand of man; yet the "ayes had it," and the monster has departed.
+
+The effigy was manufactured in a studio near Paddington Green, and it
+was on its journey through the Edgware Road to the arch now on
+Constitution Hill that the gentleman in Leech's cartoon was startled by
+a very remarkable object, to say the least of it.
+
+Speaking from my own experience, I have always found a difficulty in
+giving the effect of wind in a picture; the action of it on drapery,
+trees, skies, etc., is--from the almost momentary nature of the
+gusts--far from an easy task. No one who ever handled a brush or a
+pencil has been so successful as Leech in conveying the action of wind
+on every object, and never did he succeed more completely than in an
+"Awful Scene on the Chain Pier at Brighton," which is, no doubt,
+somewhat farcical; but how intensely funny! Master Charley has gone, and
+his ma's parasol has accompanied him. The horror-struck nursemaid is
+almost blown off her feet; and Charley's brother, also terror-stricken,
+will be down on his back in a moment; whilst his little sister maintains
+her equilibrium with great difficulty. The flying hat, and the couple
+staggering against the blast in the distance, all help to realize for us
+the exact effect of a wind-storm.
+
+  NURSEMAID: "Lawk! there goes Charley, and he's took his ma's parasol!
+  What _will_ missus say?"
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  WAITER: "Gent in No. 4 likes a holder and a thinner wine, does he? I
+  wonder how he'll like this bin!"]
+
+As there is no condition in life that has not proved food for Leech's
+pencil, that of the waiter was fruitful in many never-to-be-forgotten
+scenes. I introduce one which is very humorous, and scarcely an
+exaggeration. It is called "How to Suit the Taste." A guest seems to
+have found his port too new and strong.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  "HOLLO! HI! HERE, SOMEBODY! I'VE TURNED ON THE HOT WATER, AND I CAN'T
+  TURN IT OFF AGAIN!"]
+
+One of the peculiarities of Leech's art is that "time cannot wither it,
+nor custom stale its infinite variety." I defy the most serious
+Scotchman to look at the sketch below without laughing at it. As the
+gentleman who is on the highroad to being parboiled is in one of the
+sketches of 1846, many of my readers may see him for the first time. I
+envy that man; but though I am very familiar with the wonderful little
+drawing, a renewed acquaintance is always a delight to me. We know the
+bather can jump out of the scalding water when he likes, but there he
+is, with clouds of steam rising about him, screaming in deadly terror
+for "somebody" to come to his rescue.
+
+[Illustration: "SYMPTOMS OF A MASQUERADE."
+
+  BETTER-HALF (_loq._): "Is this what you call sitting up with a sick
+  friend, Mr. Wilkins?"]
+
+Here follows a drawing of a different character, opening up very
+appreciable possibilities, and not very pleasant consequences for the
+hero of the piece. Mr. Wilkins left the domestic hearth to sit up with a
+sick friend. "Yes, my dear," I can hear him say to his spouse, "I may be
+late; for if I find I can comfort the poor fellow by my conversation, I
+cannot find it in my heart to hurry away from him." Wicked Mr. Wilkins!
+What was there wrong in going to a masquerade? and if it was criminal to
+do so, why leave the evidence of your guilt where Mrs. W. could find it?
+Was that a _lady's_ mask? In the eyes of the outraged wife I dare say it
+was, though it may only have been used to cover the homely features of
+the deceiver, whose pale face and empty soda-water bottle plainly prove
+that the evening's entertainment will not bear the morning's
+reflections.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  JUVENILE: "I say, Charley, that's a jeuced fine gurl talking to young
+  Fipps! I should like to catch her under the mistletoe."]
+
+The first drawings of "The Rising Generation," in which are portrayed
+the premature affections and the amusing affectations of the manners and
+sayings of their elders that, according to Leech, distinguished the
+_jeunesse dore_ of England, appeared in 1846, and have been so admirably
+described by Dickens elsewhere as to leave me only the task of placing
+some of the drawings before the reader, carefully avoiding those the
+great writer has noticed so felicitously. The young gentleman in the
+drawing introduced here would like to catch the pretty creature talking
+to the fascinating young man under the mistletoe, no doubt! We know his
+wicked intentions; but how would he carry them out? He is not tall
+enough to reach the lady's elbow; but love in such passionate natures
+laughs at difficulties, and he will find a way; and he calls a man old
+enough to be his father _young_ Fipps! Delightful little dog! and no
+less delightful is his friend Charley, who smiles encouragement, and
+would do likewise. These works of Leech possess what it is not too much
+to call an historical interest, as they chronicle truly the dresses of
+the time. In the object of our young friend's admiration, I fancy I see
+the approach of crinoline, while her ringlets afford a striking contrast
+to the fringes of the present day. An old lady would now create a
+sensation indeed if she appeared in a turban like that which bedecks the
+sitting figure.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  JUVENILE: "Uncle!"
+
+  UNCLE: "Now, then, what is it? This is the fourth time you've woke me
+  up, sir."
+
+  JUVENILE: "Oh! just put a few coals on the fire and pass the wine,
+  that's a good old chap!"]
+
+Again the irrepressible juvenile, under different conditions. Behold him
+practising upon a very testy old gentleman, who has been so rude, in the
+estimation of his young nephew, as to go to sleep after dinner.
+
+[Illustration: "THE RISING GENERATION."
+
+  JUVENILE: "Ah, it's all very well! Love may do for boys and gals; but
+  we, as men of the world, know 'ow 'ollow it is."]
+
+In his notices of the freaks of the rising generation Leech did not
+confine himself to juveniles of the higher and middle ranks, but
+occasionally he shows us the young snob, of whom he makes--with
+modifications--the same mannish and amusingly vain creature as his
+confreres, the little swells. As an illustration, I present my reader
+with a scene in a coffee-house, in which two friends are refreshing
+themselves, and exchanging philosophical reflections on the vanities of
+human life. These lads look like shop-boys, but--in their own
+estimation--with souls far above their positions in life. The spokesman
+has found the truth of the poet's description of the course of true love
+in the conduct of some barmaid who has jilted him, hence his bitterness.
+
+In the year 1847 Leech produced much of his best work, and in
+justification of this dictum I advise the study of a drawing full of
+character, humour, and beauty. Thousands of heads of households could
+vouch for the truth of the situation depicted there, and where is the
+mistress whose mind has not misgiven her when a request from her pretty
+servant has been urged that she might "go to chapel this evening"?
+"Chapel, indeed!" one can hear her mutter to herself; "I've not the
+least doubt the baker's man is waiting for her round the corner!" I am
+loath to find fault with such a work as this, but I _do_ think that
+perfect maid deserved a more presentable lover than the pudding-faced,
+knock-kneed soldier who is personating the "bit of ribbin." The artist
+appears to me to charge his story-telling maid with very bad taste
+indeed. Would the drawing have lost, or gained, if Leech had given us a
+handsome young guardsman instead of this ugly fellow? He would, at any
+rate, have made the little fib a little more pardonable. The other
+figures deserve careful attention--notably, the youth absorbed in the
+study of natural history.
+
+  SERVANT-MAID: "If you please, mem, could I go out for half an hour to
+  buy a bit of ribbin, mem?"
+
+If there be amongst my readers any who are unfamiliar with Cruikshank's
+illustrations of "Oliver Twist," I advise them to turn to them, where
+they will find a drawing of Fagin in the condemned cell at Newgate, one
+of the most awful renderings of agonized despair ever depicted by the
+hand of an artist. This great work is travestied by Leech in a manner so
+admirable as to make the travesty take rank with the original. Instead
+of Fagin, see King Louis Philippe smarting under the failure of his
+schemes and the impending fall of his dynasty. By the Spanish marriages
+the veteran trickster destroyed the power which he sought to
+consolidate.
+
+Domestic troubles and misadventures were represented by Leech in many
+examples, with a sympathetic humour that never wearies. A party may be
+assembled for a dinner which is strangely delayed; conversation flags
+into silence. The host and hostess become uneasy, when a button-boy
+appears with the ominous "Oh, if you please, 'm, cook's very sorry, 'm,
+could she speak to you for a moment?" Something has happened; but we are
+left in uncertainty as to what it was.
+
+Or the dinner is served, when an alarming announcement is made:
+
+  SERVANT (_rushing in_): "Oh, goodness gracious, master! There's the
+  kitchen chimley afire, and two parish ingins a-knocking at the street
+  door."
+
+One of the happiest of the servant-gal-isms appears this year--the
+precursor of many excellent tunes on the same string--delightfully
+illustrative of the vanity which we all share, more or less, with our
+maids. In the picture that follows, the sight of the old lady's new
+bonnet and a convenient looking-glass have provided an opportunity that
+the pretty servant could not resist. She must see how she looks in
+it--and behold the result!
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  DOMESTIC (_soliloquizing_): "Well, I'm sure, missis had better give
+  this new bonnet to me, instead of sticking such a young-looking thing
+  upon her old shoulders." (The impudent minx has immediate warning.)]
+
+I must refer my readers to _Punch's_ almanac for 1848, copiously
+illustrated by Leech, for many admirable examples of his many-sided
+powers. Alas! my space forbids the reproduction of any of them. Amongst
+the rest there is one of a gentleman suffering from influenza, which, by
+the way, seems to have been as prevalent in 1848 as it has been
+recently, though not so fatal in its effects. Our sufferer is visited by
+a condoling friend: he sits with his feet in hot water, and, with his
+hand on the bell-pull, he says, "This is really very kind of you to
+call. Can I offer you anything? A basin of gruel, or a glass of cough
+mixture? Don't say no!"
+
+Another of a rich old lady, who stands before a pyramid of
+oyster-barrels, all sent to her at Christmas by her poor relations.
+Another--but I must pause, and again refer my reader to the almanac.
+
+I find yet one more of the "Rising Generation" series quite
+irresistible. The two little bucks are perfect, and the idea of such a
+report as that one of them was engaged to the magnificent woman--whose
+face we long to see--is so ludicrous as almost to reach the sublime of
+absurdity. Look at the eagerness with which the precocious youth
+impresses upon his friend the necessity of contradicting the rumour, and
+the well-bred and considerate way in which the friend receives a
+communication which does not surprise him. He does not smile at it.
+There is nothing astonishing in a man's being in love with such a fine
+woman, and he will certainly contradict anyone who repeats the report,
+as his friend desires. If the creatures had been six feet high instead
+of not so many more inches, they could not have conducted themselves
+more naturally.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  JUVENILE: "Oh, Charley, if you hear a report that I am going to be
+  married to that girl in black, you can contradict it. There's nothing
+  in it."]
+
+1848 witnessed the fall of the French throne and the tottering of
+others in Europe. It was a terrible time, and though the English throne
+was safe enough, a great deal of vague alarm existed in this country.
+The Chartists met in their thousands, and prepared a bill of grievances
+with signatures, making a document, it was said, some miles long. This
+petition they announced their intention of presenting to Parliament,
+accompanied by a procession, which was really to be some miles long; but
+they reckoned without their host--of opponents. Special constables were
+enrolled (amongst whom was Louis Napoleon), soldiers were at hand,
+skilfully hidden by the great Duke, and the Chartist procession was
+peacefully stopped long before it got to Westminster.
+
+There were firebrands then as now, and a meeting was called by one of
+them to be held in Trafalgar Square--see how history repeats
+itself!--where a ragamuffin assembly appeared; so did the police, and
+nothing came of it except a few broken heads and the inimitable drawings
+by Leech. How admirable they are!
+
+The person who wanted more liberty, equality, and fraternity than was
+good for him or anybody else, was a Mr. Cochran, and his adherents were
+called Cochranites.
+
+  COCHRANITE: "Hooray! Veeve ler liberty!! Harm yourselves!! To the
+  palis!! Down with heverythink!!!!"
+
+In the second picture the Cochranite has collapsed. A stalwart
+policeman has taken him in hand, and he cries, "Oh, sir--please, sir--it
+ain't me, sir. I'm for God save the Queen and Rule Britannier.
+Boo-hoo!--oh dear! oh dear!" (bursts into tears).
+
+
+Below we have another result of the agitation, touched in Leech's
+happiest manner. A special constable endeavours to arrest an agitator,
+who evidently objects, and prepares for resistance.
+
+[Illustration:
+
+  SPECIAL CONSTABLE: "Now mind, you know--if I kill you, it's nothing;
+  but if you kill me, by Jove! it's murder!"]
+
+A certain Master Jackey was a great favourite of Leech's. In an
+elaborate work this youth's pranks are chronicled under the heading of
+"Home for the Holidays." Whether the hero of those adventures is the
+same as he who is pictured in the work I present to my readers I know
+not. In all probability the taste for practical joking which flourished
+so vigorously in the holiday scenes began, as we see, in the nursery.
+Master Jackey has been to the play, where he has witnessed the
+performances of a contortionist, and, emulous of rivalling the
+professor, he perils the limbs and lives of his brothers and sisters in
+his operations. We know of the tendency to imitate in all children, but
+when the propensity shows itself in the imitation of tricks that require
+long practice before they can be performed with safety, the game, though
+amusing to the players, may be very dangerous to the played upon. It is
+to be hoped that the rush of the terrified mother in this capital scene
+may be in time to save the baby from a perilous fall. The little
+brothers have already tasted the consequence of Master Jackey's
+imitation.
+
+The accompanying drawing was suggested by myself during an after-dinner
+conversation at a friend's house. The talk had turned on the difficulty
+that the pronunciation of certain words would prove to one who had dined
+not wisely but too well, when it occurred to me that "Plesiosaurus" or
+"Ichthyosaurus" would be troublesome, and I said so. Leech smiled, and
+said nothing, but in _Punch_ of the week following his idea of the
+difficulty appeared.
+
+[Illustration: "RECREATIONS IN NATURAL HISTORY."
+
+  FIRST NATURALIST: "What, the s-s-she-sherpent a-an (hic!)
+  Ich-(hic!)-thyosaurus! Nonshence!"
+
+  SECOND NATURALIST: "Who said Ich-(hic!)-Ichthy-o-saurus? I said
+  Plesi-o-(hic!)-saurus plainenuff."]
+
+The cabman who doesn't know his way about London is exceptional, but he
+is met with occasionally, and very provoking he is; but to have his
+little trap-door knocked off its hinges because he takes a wrong turning
+is a punishment in excess of his fault. The young gentleman passenger is
+of an impatient turn, and he will find that his impatience will have to
+be paid for unless the cabman is more good-natured than he looks.
+
+[Illustration: "CABMAN IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE TAKEN A WRONG TURNING, THAT'S
+ALL."]
+
+Flunkeiana cannot be omitted in this short summary of Leech's work,
+more especially as the first of a long series is one of the best.
+Nothing can be conceived more perfect than the man and the maid at the
+seaside--the girl, French from top to toe; the flunkey, a most perfect
+type of the class.
+
+  FRENCH MAID: "You like--a--ze--seaside--M'sieu Jean Thomas?"
+
+  JOHN THOMAS: "Par bokhoo, mamzelle--par bokhoo. I've--aw--been so
+  accustomed to--aw--gaiety in town, that I'm--aw--a'most killed with
+  arnwee down here."
+
+The immortal Briggs made his first appearance in _Punch_ in the year
+1849, and with one or two records of his career I regret to say I must
+close my selected list of Leech's early works. To say I regret this is
+to say little, for I am obliged to forego numberless delightful works,
+many as good as, and some perhaps better than, those I have presented to
+my readers. Mr. Briggs first appears with newspaper in hand in his snug
+breakfast-room, listening to a complaint from the housemaid that a slate
+is off the roof, and the servant's bedroom in danger of being flooded.
+Mr. Briggs replies that the sooner it is put to rights the better,
+before it goes any further--and he will see about it. Mr. Briggs does
+see about it; he sees the builder, who tells him that "a little compo"
+is all that is wanted. The drawings show that eight or ten men are
+required to manage the little compo, much to Mr. Briggs' astonishment.
+
+In the next scene a huge scaffolding is raised, and a small army of
+labourers are at work on Mr. Briggs's roof. A noise enough to wake the
+dead has awoke Mr. Briggs at the unpleasant hour of five in the morning.
+Flower-pots and bricks fall past his dressing-room window. He finds "no
+time has been lost, and that the workpeople have already commenced
+putting the roof to rights." The builder would not be true to his craft
+if he did not improve the occasion and show his employer how easy, now
+that the workpeople were about, it would be to make certain additions in
+the shape of a conservatory, etc., to the house. Briggs weakly listens
+to the voice of the charmer; walls are battered down to enlarge the
+dining-room, and the entrance-hall is enlarged. Mr. Briggs's health
+gives way, and he calls in the doctor, who prescribes horse exercise.
+
+I think it was at one of those never-to-be-forgotten dinners at Egg's
+that, the talk having turned upon shooting experiences, Dickens said
+that the sudden rising of a cock-pheasant under one's nose was like a
+firework let off in that uncongenial locality. The following week Leech
+subjected Mr. Briggs to the startling experience so admirably recorded
+in the drawing which faces this page.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+For a further acquaintance with Mr. Briggs's performances on
+horseback, as well as his escapades with gun and fishing-rod, I must
+content myself with referring those curious on the matters to the pages
+of _Punch_, where they will find entertainment that is inexhaustible.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+MR. PERCIVAL LEIGH AND LEECH.
+
+
+In the death of Mr. Percival Leigh, which took place a short time ago,
+the last member of the original staff of _Punch_ passed away. Mr. Leigh
+never married, and died at a very advanced age. I frequently met him in
+society, where his refined and gentle manners, and his quaintly humorous
+conversation, were what might have been anticipated from the author of
+"Pips his Diary," the "Comic Grammars," and other contributions to the
+paper to which he was so long and so faithfully attached. From the days
+of their fellow-studentship at St. Bartholomew's (with a short
+interval), to the time of Leech's death, a firm friendship existed
+between these two distinguished men.
+
+Much alike in their sense of humour, they also resembled each other in
+numberless amiable qualities of heart and mind. Leigh's pen was as free
+from personality, and as conspicuous for the gentleness with which it
+dealt with folly, as Leech's pencil. In early and late days, when Leech
+was in trouble, Leigh's was the hand--amongst others--ever ready to
+help; and to those who can read between the lines in the paper which Mr.
+Leigh has contributed to this book, there will be little difficulty in
+discovering the "friend" who found purchasers for work that the producer
+was barred (in a double sense) from selling for himself.
+
+I see little or no reason for weakening my assertion that Leech arrived
+at his supreme eminence without any art education; for the slight
+mechanical knowledge of the art of drawing upon wood which he acquired
+from Mr. Orrin Smith, a wood-engraver, is no more worthy the name of
+art-teaching, than the few lessons in etching given to Leech by George
+Cruikshank can be called art-education. Following the example of Sir
+John Millais, Mr. Percival Leigh (to whom, it will be remembered,
+Millais recommended my predecessor, Mr. Evans, to apply) furnished the
+following remarks for this memoir.
+
+Said Mr. Leigh: "Orrin Smith has been dead many years. How long Leech
+was with him I cannot say precisely. Perhaps a twelvemonth or
+thereabouts. Smith was a sociable and rather a clever man, but according
+to Leech, occasionally so economical that he would now and then try to
+get a little gratuitous work out of him. On one occasion Smith asked him
+to introduce a few figures, so as to put a touch of action into a
+drawing on wood, meant to illustrate a serious little book, the work of
+a clergyman. The scene represented was a quiet churchyard. Leech
+improved it with a group of little boys larking and boxing.
+
+"Of course these embellishments, on discovery, were objected to as
+painfully incongruous, and had to be cancelled. I forget whether or no
+they had been actually engraven before they were taken out."
+
+Thus far Mr. Leigh. I think I can interpret the incongruity. I fancy I
+can hear Leech say, after previous unrequited sketches, "Oh, hang it!
+this is too bad. Well, here goes; he shall have a few figures, and I
+hope he'll like 'em."
+
+Mr. Leigh continues: "The post-office envelope was one of Leech's
+successes; so were the 'Comic Histories' of England and Rome, and the
+'Comic Blackstone'; but his growth in popularity was gradual. He had
+previously illustrated 'Jack Brag' for Bentley, and subsequently various
+articles for _Bentley's Miscellany_, particularly the 'Ingoldsby
+Legends,' as well as other ephemeral works of the same publisher;
+amongst them the 'Comic Latin' and 'English' Grammars, and the 'Children
+of the Mobility,' a travesty of the 'Children of the Nobility,' long
+since out of print. He also furnished coloured illustrations to the
+'Fiddle-Faddle Fashion-book,' a whimsical satire on the fopperies and
+literary absurdities of the period, also out of print."
+
+I venture again to interrupt the current of Mr. Leigh's narrative with a
+word or two on the "Fiddle-Faddle" book. A copy of it, date 1840, has
+been lent to me. The literary portion, consisting mainly of a thrilling
+story of brigand life, the blood-curdling tenor of which may be imagined
+from the title, "Grabalotti the Bandit; or, The Emerald Monster of the
+Deep Dell," is the work of Mr. Leigh. The story opens thus:
+
+"Italia! oh, Italia! blooming birthplace of beauty! land of lazzaroni
+and loveliness! clime of complines and cruelty, of susceptibility and
+sacrilege, of roses and revenge! thy bright, blue, boundless skies
+serene I love; thy verdant vales, volcanoes, vines, and virgins! Thy
+virgins? ay, thy bright-eyed, dark-haired virgins. I love them--how I
+love them, though mine, alas! they ne'er can be! And there was one who,
+in earlier, happier hours, before these locks were--no matter. Let me
+proceed with the calmness becoming a narrator with my tale."
+
+And he proceeds "with a vengeance" to let us know that the spokesman of
+the above is an artist who had "halted in a deep ravine in the Abruzzi
+(where, on each side, the cliffs frowned like fiends upon the quailing
+traveller) to transfer to my portable sketch-book a slight souvenir of
+the celestial scene. Absorbed in my enthralling occupation, I heeded not
+the approach of a visitant; it was therefore with surprise, not
+unmingled with alarm, that I was aroused by a tap upon the shoulders,
+accompanied by the following sarcastic greeting:
+
+"'Is thy maternal parent, young man, aware of thine absence from home?'
+
+"'Quite so,' I replied, in a tremulous tone, anxiously glancing round to
+behold the speaker.
+
+"My acquaintance with literature--to say nothing of my constant
+attendance at the opera--at once convinced me that I was in the hands of
+a brigand."
+
+Had there been "any possible doubt whatever," it would have been
+instantly dispelled; for after "smiling in demoniacal derision," the
+disturber of the sketcher said, "deliberately and tranquilly, as he
+levelled a pistol at my head:
+
+"'Thy wealth or thy existence!'
+
+"My sole remaining ducat was offered in vain. At the shrill sound of his
+whistle the crags bristled with bandits, and fifty carbines were pointed
+at my person. Blue with boiling agony, I made as a last resource the
+Masonic sign. It succeeded. At another signal every carbine was lowered,
+and breathless expectation brooded over the heart of its bearer."
+
+The bandits, however, were not so easily satisfied; for "a murmur of
+impatience, mingled with discontent, arose, like the billows of emotion,
+amongst the troop, and some twenty weapons again kissed with their
+stocks as many manly shoulders.
+
+"'Back, slaves, for your lives!' shouted the infuriated Grabalotti,
+throwing himself in front of me. 'One moment more, and, by the
+blood-stained power of the thundering Avalanche, the foremost of you
+dies!'
+
+"Cowering in cream-like humility, each individual reversed his
+implement of death--all but one. A ball from the pistol of Grabalotti
+instantly crashed through his brain. For a moment he writhed in sable
+pangs; then all was over, and darkness mantled over his impetuosity for
+ever. Then, turning towards me, the brigand chief gave me a civil
+invitation to spend the day with him, which, under existing
+circumstances, I thought it best to accept. On our way I took the
+opportunity thus furnished me to survey my lawless companion. He was at
+least six feet and a half, independent of the coverings of his feet, in
+height; his air was stern and commanding; raven ringlets clustered down
+to his shoulders. Premature intensity glowed in his volcanic eyes; his
+nose was Roman, and he wore mustachios. The lines in the lower part of
+his face were indicative of death-fraught concentration; and the teeth,
+frequently disclosed by his smile of pervading bitterness, were
+remarkably white. The gloom of his conical hat was mocked by gay
+ribands. He wore a jacket of green velvet (an expensive article),
+lustrously gemmed with gold buttons; and those portions of his dress for
+which our language has no proper appellation were richly meandered with
+superior lace. His legs were variously swathed in the manner so
+characteristic of his profession. The carbine that slept in a snowy belt
+at his back; the pistols bickering in his girdle; and the stiletto
+reposing, like candid innocence, in its silver sheath, with its ivory
+handle protruding from his sash, were all of the most ornamental and
+valuable description."
+
+This extraordinary robber and the artist arrive at "the dwelling of the
+bandit, which was eligibly situate among the most romantic scenery."
+
+Signor Grabalotti conducted his visitor to a "table groaning with fruit,
+and supporting six sacramental chalices filled with the richest wine."
+
+The brigand has made a great haul of prisoners, whose friends have not
+shown the alacrity in rescuing them required by their captor, who, by
+way of entertaining his guest, orders them all, to the amount of a
+dozen, into his presence, and, arranging them in a row "along a trench
+in the background," with the assistance of twelve of his men, has them
+all shot.
+
+"Almost ere the smoke had cleared away, the earth was shovelled over the
+bodies.
+
+"'And now,' said the chief, 'for a dance in honour of our guest.'
+
+"Four-and-twenty brisk young bandits, clad in jackets, green array, were
+instantly joined by as many maidens, each wearing the square _coiffure_,
+short dress, and _petite_ apron, and otherwise fully attired in the
+costume of the country. Each robber provided himself with a partner, and
+a festive dance was performed with great spirit to a popular air.
+
+"Their gaiety was at its height, when suddenly the sound of a distant
+bell stole with milky gentleness on the ear. In an instant all present
+fell on their knees, and, with their arms devoutly crossed upon their
+breasts, raised, in heavenly unison, their hymn of votive praise to the
+Virgin."
+
+Here endeth the first chapter of the "Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell."
+
+As "a satire on the literary absurdities of the day," to quote its
+author, this capital fooling could not be surpassed; indeed, to those
+who remember, as the present writer can distinctly, the effusions in
+prose and verse--or, as Jerrold called it, "prose and worse"--that more
+or less filled the pages of the Keepsakes, the Books of Gems and Beauty
+of a long bygone time, the "Monster of the Deep Dell" is scarcely a
+caricature.
+
+But I have not yet done with him. The second chapter is devoted to an
+account in Grabalotti language of the early life and loves of the
+interesting bandit:
+
+"Rino Grabalotti is my name," he says. "Italy is my nation; the Deep
+Dell is my dwelling-place, and--but no! never shall monkish cant pollute
+the lips to baleful imprecation attuned for ever. Let the blue and
+hideous glare of the lightning, and the ghastly gleam of the hag-ridden
+meteor, illumine the deeds of my doing. Growl, ye thunders! Roar, ye
+tempests! Yell, ye fiends, and howl in hideous harmony a prelude to my
+tale!"
+
+He then proceeds to inform the artist (who, with an eye for copy,
+ventures to hint "that an outline of his history would be interesting")
+that he was the son of a priest, and born in Naples; and naturally much
+annoyed by the scandalous irregularity of his birth, he devotes his life
+to robbing and murdering as many of his fellow-creatures as good fortune
+places in his hands in the practice of his profession.
+
+But I anticipate. Grabalotti declines to say much about his infancy; he
+seems to have been pretty often reminded of the scandal of his birth,
+and as often he registered a vow that, sooner or later, he would close
+for ever the mouths of the slanderers.
+
+"It was in my sixteenth summer," he continues, "that I really began to
+live. Though in years a boy, I was in all else a man. Passion hurtled in
+my darkening eye, and plunged my heart in lava. I loved; what Italian at
+my age does not? Yes; I--the ruthless, the scathed, the smouldering, the
+sanguinary, the Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell--I, even I, gasped with
+tortuous anguish in the maddening transports of Cupid."
+
+
+Giulia is the name of the fair creature who has caused the eruption of
+this volcanic passion; and on what the bandit-lover calls "an evening of
+rosy gladness," he seeks his fair enslaver's window, guitar in hand. But
+the voice, "which was the best at a barcarole of any in Naples," had
+raised a very few love notes, when a rough voice exclaims:
+
+"'What dost thou here, spurious offspring of sacrilege?' accompanying
+the inquiry by an equally rough salutation from behind (oh,
+madness!)--'begone!'
+
+"Confusion simmered in my brain. Frenzied, I turned; one stroke of my
+stiletto, and my wounded honour was salved--with gore. It was that of
+Giulia's father!"
+
+This sudden death of the author of her being offended Giulia, and she
+solemnly renounced young Grabalotti for ever. This intimation, conveyed
+in a mixture of "indignation mingled with scorn," had an extraordinary
+effect. Says the lover:
+
+"Twisting in bitterness awhile I lingered, then rushed distracted from
+the spot, and fled hissing with desperation to the mountains."
+
+The beauties of the Deep Dell produced no soothing effect on the
+desperate bitterness that twisted the soul of Grabalotti; he issued from
+the Dell to "soak and steep his heart in blood."
+
+"The dewy wail of infancy, the piercing zest of female innocence, and
+the tremulous pleading of piping feebleness, all mocked at the radiance
+of the crimson steel, have poured their bootless incense o'er my
+breast.... Ha, ha! The nun, her dove-like innocence devastated, has
+broiled like a chestnut amid the ashes of her convent," etc.
+
+More "copy" in the style of the above is imparted to the artist. But an
+interruption takes place. A brigand enters, and so irritates the monster
+by the abruptness of his appearance that, had not the pistol with which
+his impatient master received him missed fire, his brains would have
+been scattered to the winds of heaven.
+
+"'Ha! dost thou dare to break in upon my mood?' roared Grabalotti.
+
+"'Come to tell you,' said the robber (speaking in the greatest possible
+haste), 'that the nun who escaped the sacking of the convent has been
+taken.'
+
+"'Do as you list with her, and chop her head off! Stay, I would fain see
+it when it is done; and here, take this purse for the risk thou hast
+encountered.'"
+
+Yet another interruption--this time in the person of a brigand spy
+disguised as a peasant. The chief anticipates startling and perhaps
+unpleasant news, and saying: "'Excuse me, signor, for a few moments,' he
+retires with his emissary."
+
+Grabalotti was absent some little time, during which the artist "added
+another sketch to his small collection," when the monster returned, and
+informed his guest "in a lively tone" that they were about to have "some
+fun."
+
+"'Of what description?' inquired the artist.
+
+"'In an hour's time we shall be attacked by the military,'" to whom he
+promises a warm reception; and in the event of the robbers being
+overpowered by numbers, "a train communicates with the magazine below."
+
+"Here the head of the unfortunate nun made its appearance on a silver
+dish. Its loveliness, even in death, was intensely overpowering. With a
+grin of fiendish malice, Grabalotti seized it by the hair, but no sooner
+did the features meet his eye, than he relinquished his hold and fell,
+senseless, backwards, faintly gasping, like a dying echo, ''Tis she!
+'Tis Giulia!!'"
+
+Unless the artist guest was possessed of courage uncommon among our
+fraternity, he could not have contemplated being blown into the air with
+the robbers, or being shot by the soldiers, with equanimity; and he must
+have been much relieved in any case by Grabalotti, who, when "the
+violence of frantic ferocity" had given way to "the calm profundity of
+despair," muttered in a low and suppressed tone: "Nay, thou shalt live
+to tell the world my story!" and to enable his guest to do this
+eventually, "in a tone of sweetest melancholy" he said:
+
+"Stranger, hence! thy further stay is perilous. Yon by-path will conduct
+thee to the valleys."
+
+Rising from "the valleys" was a crag, to the summit of which half an
+hour's walk would take the artist, and from thence he was assured that
+"if he turned his gaze backwards he should see something worth seeing."
+
+The narrator tells us that he reached the crag in twenty-nine minutes
+exactly.
+
+"For one minute I gazed in the direction of the Brigands' Haunt, from
+which, precisely at the expiration of that time, a vivid flash of flame,
+shooting into the air, accompanied by a dense column of smoke, and
+followed by a terrific explosion, proclaimed too plainly the last
+achievement of the Emerald Monster of the Deep Dell."
+
+Mr. Percival Leigh contributes a second story to the "Fiddle-Faddle
+Fashion-book," in which the novel of fashionable life, not uncommon
+fifty years ago, is satirized under the title of "Belleville: a Tale of
+Fashionable Life," not less happily than the sanguinary and terribly
+romantic writers are treated in the burlesque of Grabalotti. The "Clara
+Matilda poets" of the Keepsake time are also amusingly parodied in some
+short poems, which, with comic advertisements, occasionally very
+humorous, fill up the literary portion of the "Fiddle-Faddle
+Fashion-book."
+
+This book is not the only one in which Leech's powers have been
+enlisted--I was nearly saying prostituted--in publications devoted to
+eccentricities in dress and the caprices of fashion. In illustrations by
+him of the tale of fashionable life, or of Grabalotti, the genius of
+that great artist would have had full play; but as the draughtsman of
+fashion-plates it was, in my opinion, degraded. In vindication of my
+judgment I present my readers with two plates from the "Fiddle-Faddle"
+book, in which Leech portrays--no doubt under direction--caprices of
+fashion which could only have existed in his own imagination, and
+produced with a feeling of caricature that is so conspicuous by its
+absence in his usual work.
+
+I now return to the paper which Mr. Leigh wrote with a view to this
+memoir.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+That Leigh and Leech first met as students at St. Bartholomew's
+Hospital, I have noted elsewhere; and the details of his apprenticeship
+to the eccentric surgeon, which Mr. Leigh heard from Leech himself, I
+have also given, with the exception of one incident of which I was
+ignorant.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"In his dispensary," says Mr. Leigh, "the doctor had one drawer amongst
+his boxes, in which there were pills of gentle efficacy, intended to be
+served out (they were made, I believe, of bread and soap) to the
+generality of his customers. This receptacle bore the label of 'Pil.
+Hum.,'--abbreviation of humbug--or, as their concoctor used to call
+them, 'Humbugeraneous Pills.' The Dr. Cockle to whom, Mr. Leigh says,
+Leech went after he left Mr. Whittle, was the son of the inventor of
+Cockle's Pills.
+
+"No sooner had he become of age," continues Mr. Leigh, "than he was
+induced, in order to meet difficulties for which he was not responsible,
+to accept an accommodation bill, which the drawer of, when it fell due,
+failed to supply the means of meeting. Leech was consequently arrested
+for debt at the suit of this discounter, and lodged in a sponging-house
+kept by a sheriff's officer, a Jew, by name (I think) of Levi, in Newman
+Street. There he remained about a fortnight, supporting himself in the
+meanwhile by drawing cartoons and caricatures. He lithographed them on
+stone for Spooner, in the Strand, at a guinea each, a _friend_ having
+negotiated their sale.
+
+"At last, an advance of money on a projected publication sufficient to
+discharge the debt having been obtained, he was liberated. But not long
+after, a second scrape--a repetition of the first--cost him another
+temporary sojourn with another Jew in another sponging-house in Cursitor
+Street. This detention, however, lasted but a few days. _From that
+period to the close of his life_ he remained subject to repeated demands
+for pecuniary assistance under continued pressure, which, as at the
+outset, he could not withstand. The deficits he had to defray were
+always heavy; the last of them, as I understand, a thousand pounds. It
+cost him very hard work to make it good. Excess of generosity was his
+greatest failing."
+
+I have no means of knowing, nor do I desire to know, who the borrowers
+were to whom Percival Leigh alludes; but his revelations make the fact
+of Leech having died a comparatively poor man comprehensible enough. If
+ever man was killed by overwork, Leech was that man, and this must be a
+painful reflection for those whose incessant demands upon him made it
+only possible for him to meet them by the incessant exertions which
+destroyed him.
+
+Mr. Leigh's paper concludes with the anecdote that follows:
+
+"Leech and Albert Smith worked together very harmoniously as illustrator
+and writer in several books--'Ledbury,' 'Brinvilliers,' and many
+others--and one day when they were leaving Smith's house together, a
+street-boy stepped up to them, and scoffing at the inscription on
+Smith's large brass door-plate, cried:
+
+"'Oh yes! Mr. Albert Smith, M.R.C.S., Surgeon-Dentist.'
+
+"'Good boy!' said Leech, putting a penny into the boy's hand; 'now go
+and insult somebody else.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MEETING OF MULREADY AND LEECH.
+
+
+Mr. Mulready, R.A., was commissioned by the authorities to design a
+postal envelope for general use, a penny stamp affixed insuring free
+delivery of letters all over England. The design, which should have been
+of a simple character, was far too ornate and elaborate. At the top
+Britannia was represented in the act of despatching winged messengers
+with letters to all parts of the world, and down the sides of the
+envelope were the recipients of letters which had conveyed
+heart-breaking news to one side, and good tidings to the other. As a
+work of art the Mulready envelope has, in my opinion, great merit, but
+it was ludicrously inappropriate to the purposes for which it was
+intended. Leech saw and seized the opportunity, with the result
+appended.
+
+The signature of the bottled leech, so familiar afterwards, is used
+here as Mulready's signature, and "thereby hangs a tale," which, though
+the burden of it deals with a future time, I venture to introduce in
+this place.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration: FORES'S COMIC ENVELOPES N^o. 1]
+
+My friend Augustus Egg, R.A., who lived in a charming house in Queen's
+Road, Bayswater, was not only well known as an excellent artist, but
+also as being the Amphitryon whose hospitality was famous, and whose
+dinners were still more famous by reason of the guests who were wont to
+surround his table. Where is the hungry man who would not have been
+enchanted to meet Dickens and Leech, Mark Lemon and John Forster
+(Dickens's biographer), Hawkins, Q.C. (now the judge), Landseer,
+Mulready, Webster, and other artists less famous? Of these dinners I
+shall have something to say by-and-by; at present I confine myself to
+one special occasion.
+
+It was on one day during the year 1847 that Egg said to me:
+
+"You know Mulready better than I do; I wish you would go and get him to
+fix a day to dine here--any day next week will suit me. Leech wants to
+meet him; and, somehow or other, though both have dined here frequently,
+they have never met."
+
+"Good," said I; "I will do your bidding."
+
+And on the following Sunday I called upon Mulready.
+
+"Egg will be pleased if you will dine with him any day next week, sir,
+that you may be disengaged. He expects the usual set--Dickens, Landseer,
+Leech, and the rest. You have never met Leech, I think; he is very
+desirous to make your acquaintance."
+
+"Ah, is he? Well, I don't care about knowing Leech."
+
+"Really, sir" (it was always the Johnsonian _sir_ to the old gentleman),
+said I, when I had recovered from my surprise, "may I ask why you won't
+meet Leech?"
+
+"Yes, you may," said the old painter, "and I will tell you. Of course
+you remember that unfortunate postal envelope that I designed? Well,
+Leech caricatured it. You needn't look so surprised--you don't think I
+am such a fool as to mind being caricatured; but I do mind being
+represented as a _blood-sucker_! What else can he mean by using that
+infernal little leech in a bottle in the front of his caricature as my
+signature? You know well enough, Frith, that I have never asked
+monstrous prices for my pictures. You fellows get better paid for your
+work than I ever did, and you wouldn't like to be called blood-suckers,
+I expect."
+
+Mr. Mulready was an Irishman, and rather a peppery one; and I am happy
+to say that I overcame my disposition to laugh in his face mainly
+through a feeling of astonishment that my old friend could be ignorant
+of the ordinary way in which Leech signed his drawings.
+
+"Do you happen to have a number of _Punch_ by you, Mr. Mulready?" said
+I.
+
+"No; as a languid swell said when he was asked that same question, 'I am
+no bookworm; I never see _Punch_.'"
+
+As I could not give my angry friend ocular proof of his mistake by
+producing the usual signature to _Punch_ drawings, I set to work to
+explain how the little leech came into the bottle, and, without much
+difficulty, convinced my old friend that an insult to him was not
+intended.
+
+The two artists met; and it was delightful to watch Leech's handsome
+face as Mulready himself told of his misconception. First there was a
+serious, almost pained, expression, which, no doubt, arose in that
+tender heart from being the innocent cause of pain to another; the
+serious look passed off, to give place to a smile, which broadened into
+a roar of laughter. From that moment Leech and Mulready were fast
+friends.
+
+With an apology for the interruption, I return to my narrative.
+
+Alas! I can well remember the appearance of the "Sketches by Boz," to
+be so quickly followed by the "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club."
+None but those who witnessed it can conceive the enthusiasm with which
+that immortal work was received by an eager public, who welcomed each
+number as it appeared, month after month, with hearty appreciation. Of
+course, there were carping critics, one of whom is reported to have said
+the author would "go up like a rocket and come down like a stick." That
+prophet, a man of much literary ability, drank himself into a debtors'
+prison, where, I was told, he died of delirium tremens.
+
+There is, I think, a vein of melancholy unusually developed in the
+nature of almost all humorists. As an instance, I may give the actor
+Liston, whose humour on the stage was to me unparalleled; off it, he was
+gloom personified. Gillray, the caricaturist, died melancholy mad; and
+poor Seymour, the first illustrator of "Pickwick," committed suicide. I
+may remark in this place the surprise with which I heard Leech say that
+he could see no fun in any of Seymour's sketches.
+
+In a walk that we took together, I tried to convert him by naming
+several examples of what appeared to me humorous work.
+
+"No," said Leech; "the only drawing I ever saw by Seymour that appeared
+funny to me was one in which two cockneys were represented out shooting.
+They are about to load their guns, when one says to the other:
+
+"'I say, which do you put in first--powder or shot?'
+
+"'Why, powder, to be sure,' said his friend.
+
+"'Do you?' was the reply. 'Then I don't!'"
+
+I can vividly recall the shock occasioned by Seymour's death. He was
+fairly prosperous, I believe. His engagement to illustrate "Pickwick"
+was a lucrative one, and he was much employed in other work. In spite of
+all these advantages, the humorist's melancholy was fatal to him.
+
+I was present at the banquet at the Royal Academy when Thackeray, in
+returning thanks for literature--Dickens being present--told us how, on
+finding there was a vacancy for an illustrator of "Pickwick," he took a
+parcel of drawings to the author and applied for the place. From my own
+knowledge of Thackeray's limited powers as an artist, I should have been
+sure of the failure of his application. Very different would have been
+the fate of Leech, who was also anxious to supply Seymour's place; but
+he was too late, for Dickens had already chosen Hablot K. Browne, who,
+under the sobriquet of "Phiz," worked in harmony with his author for
+very many years. There was no doubt a disposition on the part of "Phiz"
+to exaggeration in his illustration of Dickens' characters (already
+fully charged, so to speak, by their author), sometimes to the verge of
+caricature, and even beyond it; this fault Leech would have avoided, as
+his exquisite etchings in Dickens' Christmas books fully prove.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+"THE PHYSIOLOGY OF EVENING PARTIES," BY ALBERT SMITH.
+
+
+I have already spoken of the extreme difficulty of collecting material
+for this book, and to difficulty must be added the expense which is
+incurred by my publisher. I bear the latter affliction with the
+equanimity common to those who escape it; indeed, there is a kind of
+satisfaction in finding that books which are perfectly worthless as
+literary productions are so highly valued on account of the prints which
+illustrate them. I venture to give an instance in a very little book
+called "The Physiology of Evening Parties," written by Albert Smith. My
+reader will be able to judge by the extracts given in explanation of the
+drawings, of the merits of Mr. Smith's part in the "Physiology." This
+work, published at 2s. 6d. when clean and new, costs 18s. 6d. when well
+"worn on the edge of time," yellow, dirty, and unbound. The "Physiology"
+first saw the light in 1840. I plead again for forgiveness for
+chronological shortcomings, which my difficulties make unavoidable.
+
+My first illustration represents a mamma and her two daughters in the
+serious business of selecting guests for an evening party.
+
+"It is evening," says Mr. Albert Smith; "mamma and her two daughters are
+seated at a table arranging the names of the visitors upon the back of
+an old letter, having turned out the dusty record of the card-basket
+before them in order that no one of importance may be forgotten.
+
+"ELLEN (_loc_.): 'I am sure I don't see why we should invite the
+Harveys, mamma. They have been here twice, and never asked us back
+again.'
+
+"FANNY: 'And we shall see those dreadful silver poplins again; they must
+be intimately acquainted with the cane-work of all the rout-seats in
+London.'
+
+"ELLEN: 'And William Harvey is so exceedingly disagreeable; he always
+looks at the ciphers on the plate to see if it is borrowed or not.'
+
+"FANNY: 'And last year he declared the pine-apple ice was full of
+little square pieces of raw potato; and when Mr. Edwards broke a tumbler
+at supper he told him "not to mind, for they were only tenpence apiece
+in Tottenham Court Road." The low wretch! he thought he had made a
+capital joke.'
+
+"MAMMA: 'Well, my dears, I think your papa will be annoyed if they are
+left out; but never mind him--we won't ask them.'"
+
+[Illustration: "MAMMA AND THE GIRLS."]
+
+The discussion respecting the guests goes on, opinion as to eligibility
+widely differing. Mamma proposes Mr. and Mrs. Howard and the four girls,
+to which Miss Ellen says:
+
+"All dressed alike, and standing up in every quadrille. I declare I
+will get George Conway to put an ice in Harriet's chair for her to sit
+down upon, in revenge for her waltzing last year, when she brushed down
+the Joan of Arc, and knocked its head off."
+
+This refined conversation continues till Miss Ellen speaks of her
+brother's disposition to interfere with the invitation-list; she says:
+
+"'We must tell Tom not to overdo us so much with his own friends. I
+declare last year I did not know half the young men in the room; and it
+was so very awkward when you had to introduce them.'
+
+[Illustration: "TWO RUDE YOUNG MEN."]
+
+"FANNY: 'And they were not nice persons. Two of them were in the pit of
+the Lyceum the next night, and, seeing us in Mr. Arnold's box, would
+stare us out of countenance. With a single glass, too!'"
+
+"And in this style," says our author, "the list is arranged, the hostess
+gradually becoming a prey to isinglass and acute mental inquietude,
+which gradually increases as the day draws nearer, until upon the
+morning of its arrival her very brain is almost turned to blancmange
+from the intensity of her anxiety!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE HEAD OF THE HOUSE."]
+
+The whole house is, of course, turned topsy-turvy; and Leech gives us a
+picture of the master of the mansion surrounded by some of the
+consequences of giving an evening party.
+
+"This state of things," says the chronicler, "much delights the
+olive-branches of the family, who, left entirely alone, and quite
+overlooked in the general _melee_, divert themselves by poking their
+little puddy fingers into the creams, and scooping out the insides of
+divers patties with a doll's leg," etc., etc.
+
+[Illustration: "AN OLIVE-BRANCH."]
+
+The ball begins under sundry difficulties. A most desirable person,
+"_one_ for whom the party was almost given, sends a melancholy statement
+of the very acute attack of influenza under which _they_ are labouring,"
+which they extremely regret will prevent their accepting, etc. Then one
+of the intended _belles_ of the evening is obliged to go suddenly into
+the country, to see a sick aunt, but "she sends her two brothers--tall,
+_gangling_, awkward young men who wear pumps and long black stocks, and
+throw their legs about when they are dancing everywhere but over their
+shoulders," etc., etc., says the author. Here is what Leech thinks of
+the two brothers.
+
+[Illustration: "TWO 'GANGLING' YOUNG MEN."]
+
+I have never met with the word "gangling" before; is it an invention of
+Mr. Albert Smith's? I can speak to the truth of the dress of these long
+brothers, for I who write have worn the long black stock and the
+peculiarly cut coat and waistcoats at many an evening party.
+
+The numerous illustrations of "The Physiology" are such perfect examples
+of Leech's earlier work, and in themselves so good, that I am induced to
+produce several more of them. I don't know whether the fascinating
+person under the hands of the hair-dresser is Miss Ellen or Miss Fanny.
+I confess I can scarcely believe she would talk like either of them;
+happy barber! perfect you are as you ply your vocation; and in that
+vocation--insomuch as you have that sweet creature to contemplate--to be
+envied indeed!
+
+[Illustration: "PREPARING FOR THE BALL."]
+
+Then we have the greengrocer, "who is to assist in waiting.... He wears
+white cotton gloves with very long fingers, and was never known to
+announce a name correctly, so the astonished visitor is ushered into the
+room under any other appellation than his own."
+
+[Illustration: "THE ASSISTANT-WAITER."]
+
+[Illustration: "THE BAND."]
+
+The band must not be forgotten. "The music arrives," says the writer,
+"sometimes in the shape of a single pianist of untiring fingers and
+unclosing eyes; sometimes as a harp, piano, and cornopean, who are
+immediately installed in a corner of the room with two chairs, a
+music-stool, and a bottle of marsala."
+
+I ask my reader to note the individuality in the four faces in this
+drawing--and in the figures no less than in the heads--each a
+strongly-marked personality precisely appropriate to the instrument upon
+which he performs. How admirable is the cornet-a-piston gentleman
+contrasted with the pianoforte player!
+
+The mistress of the house is described as making "uphill attempts at
+conversation" pending the arrival of a sufficient number of guests to
+make up a quadrille. Two old ladies, however, have already put in an
+appearance, and have taken possession of the best seats to "see the
+dancing," from which all attempts to move them to the card-room are
+successfully resisted. There they sit, poor old wallflowers! with all
+the advantage that "false hair and turbans" can give them. Though the
+execution of this drawing lacks the perfection of workmanship of Leech's
+later manner, he never surpassed it in expression and character.
+
+The music "strikes up," the lady of the house throws a comprehensive
+_coup d'oeil_ over her assembled visitors, and at last pitches upon a
+tall young man--_whom some of you may have met before_--with short hair,
+spectacles, and turned-up wristbands, as if he was about to wash his
+hands with his coat on. His fate is sealed, and she advances towards
+him, blandly exclaiming:
+
+[Illustration: "WALLFLOWERS."]
+
+"_Mr. Ledbury_, allow me to introduce you to a partner."
+
+My own readers have heard of Mr. Ledbury; but as I think they are
+unacquainted with his personal appearance, I propose to introduce him to
+them, and here he is--
+
+[Illustration: "MR. LEDBURY."]
+
+Mr. Ledbury is "presented to a bouquet with a young lady attached to
+it"--a Miss Hamilton--who freezes him completely. A quadrille is formed.
+Mr. Ledbury cudgels his brains for five minutes. The young partner seems
+to be "searching after some imaginary object amongst the petals of her
+bouquet." The mountainous Ledbury brain is in labour. Behold the
+production!
+
+"MR. L. 'Have you been to many parties this season?'
+
+"MISS H. 'Not a great many.'
+
+Miss Hamilton continues the bouquet investigation. The gentleman invents
+another sentence.
+
+"MR. L. 'What do you think of Alfred Tennyson?'
+
+"MISS H. 'I am sorry to say I have not heard his poetry. Have you?'
+
+[Illustration: "MR. LEDBURY AND MISS HAMILTON."]
+
+"MR. L. 'Oh yes! several times."
+
+Mr. Ledbury waits to be asked about "Mariana" and "Locksley Hall." No
+inquiry, so he "rubs up an idea upon another tack":
+
+"MR. L. 'What do you think of our _vis-a-vis_?'
+
+"MISS H. 'Which one?'
+
+"MR. L. 'The lady with that strange head-dress. Do you know her?'
+
+"MISS H. 'It is Miss Brown--my cousin.'"
+
+Mr. Ledbury wishes he could fall through a trap in the floor.
+
+The quadrille continues, with occasional attempts on the part of the
+brilliant couple to make conversation. The acme of imbecility seems to
+be reached when the lady asks if Mr. L. plays any instrument? He replies
+that he plays the flute a little. Does she admire it?
+
+"Oh, so very much!" she says.
+
+A waltz is proposed, but that form of dancing is, says our author,
+"never established without a prolonged desire on the part of everybody
+to relinquish the honour of commencing it. At last the example is set by
+one daring pair, timidly followed by another couple, and then by
+another, who get out of step at the end of the first round, and after
+treading severely upon the advanced toes of the old lady in a very
+flowery cap and plum-coloured satin (one of our faded wallflowers), who
+is sitting out at the top of the room, and who from that instant
+deprecates waltzing as an amusement not at all consistent with her ideas
+of feminine decorum."
+
+[Illustration: "THE WALTZ."]
+
+The young lady in this drawing has much of Leech's charm; but I should
+scarcely have selected it were it not for the figure of the gentleman,
+which exactly resembles that of Leech himself as I first knew him. If
+conservatories, or even staircases, could speak, what flirtations they
+could chronicle, what love-tales they could tell! Mr. Smith says "you
+will have to confess your inability to imagine what on earth the
+gentleman with the long hair, who is carefully balancing himself on one
+leg against the flowerpot-stand, and the pretty girl with the bouquet,
+can find to talk about so long, so earnestly."
+
+I for one beg Mr. Albert Smith's pardon. I can easily imagine what they
+are talking about.
+
+[Illustration: "IN THE CONSERVATORY."]
+
+It would be a grave omission if "The Belle of the Evening" were left
+out of these extracts from the "Physiology of Evening Parties." Let me
+present her, then. Now listen to the flourish with which the author
+introduces her:
+
+"Room for beauty! The belle of the evening claims our next attention,
+the lovely dark-eyed girl so plainly yet so elegantly dressed, who wears
+her hair in simple bands over her fair forehead, unencumbered by flower
+or ornament of any kind, and moves in the light of her own beauty as the
+presiding goddess of the room, imparting fragrance to the enamoured air
+that plays around her!"
+
+[Illustration: "THE BELLE OF THE EVENING."]
+
+Rather tall talk, this, but excusable, perhaps, as applied to the lovely
+creature Leech has drawn for us.
+
+I feel I cannot close these extracts more appropriately than by
+allowing Mr. Ledbury to appear again at the moment of his departure from
+a scene in which he has so distinguished himself by his conversational,
+as well as by his terpsichorean, powers. He was destined to be guilty of
+one more folly--that of thinking he had but to ask for his hat to get
+it.
+
+[Illustration: "MR. LEDBURY'S HAT."]
+
+"He walks downstairs," says Mr. Smith, "under the insane expectation of
+finding his own hat, or madly deeming that the ticket pinned upon it
+corresponds with the one in his waistcoat pocket."
+
+Here I take my leave of "The Physiology of Evening Parties" in
+presenting my reader with this charming little drawing, in which one
+scarcely knows which to admire most--the bewildered expression of Mr.
+Ledbury as he ruefully contemplates the rim of his hat, or the
+sympathetic, half-laughing face of the perfect little maid. The artistic
+qualities of this illustration are excellent. I say good-bye to "Evening
+Parties" only to meet Mr. Albert Smith again in a work by him called
+"Comic Tales and Pictures of Life," published, I think, about the time
+of the "Evening Parties," or perhaps earlier, for the illustrations are,
+on the whole, inferior to those in the latter production. The work under
+notice is composed of a series of short stories, in which love, comedy,
+and deep tragedy play alternate parts. Leech's attention is mainly
+devoted to the comic scenes.
+
+We are told of a Mr. Percival Jenks, whose frequent visits to the
+theatre have led to the loss of his heart to a beauteous ballet-girl.
+"The third ballet-girl from the left-hand stage-box, with the golden
+belt and green wreath, in the Pas des Guirlandes, or lyres, or
+umbrellas, or something of the kind, had enslaved his susceptible
+affections."
+
+[Illustration: "MR. PERCIVAL JENKS."]
+
+No one knew who Mr. Jenks was, or what he was. Even his landlady's
+information about him was confined to the idea that he was "something in
+a house in the City." That idea proved to be well founded, for Mr. J.
+was discovered by the head-clerk at the house in the City, spoiling
+blotting-paper by drawing little opera-dancers all over it; thus
+neglecting his accounts, which he had to "stay two hours after time to
+make up. At half price, nevertheless, he was at the play again, his
+whole existence centred on an airy compound of clear muslin and white
+satin that was twirling about the stage." Mr. Jenks burned to know his
+enslaver's name with a view to an introduction; and for that purpose he
+haunted the stage-door, but utterly failed to recognise, amongst the
+faded cloaks, and drabby bonnets that issued from that portal, the
+angelic form of his charmer. He then took to haunting the places where
+minor actors and other employes of the theatre most do congregate for
+the purpose of social intercourse and refreshment; here at last he is
+rewarded.
+
+"Do you know the young lady," he says to a habitue, "who dances in the
+ballet with a green wreath round her head?"
+
+"And a gilt belt round her waist?" asked the friend in turn. "Oh, it's
+Miss--Miss--I shall forget my own name next."
+
+Percival was about to suggest Rosiere, Celeste, Amadee, and other pretty
+cognomens, when his companion caught the name, and exclaimed:
+
+"Miss Jukes; I thought I should recollect it."
+
+The name certainly was not what Percival had expected; still, what was
+in a name? Jenks was not poetical, and Jukes was something like it.
+
+"Could you favour me with an introduction to her?" he asked.
+
+"In a minute, if you wish it," replied his companion.
+
+"You know her intimately then?"
+
+"Very; I buy all my green-grocery of her."
+
+The introduction takes place. Gracious powers! how a minute broke the
+enchantment of many weeks! "The nymph of the Danube was habited in a
+faded green cloak and straw bonnet, with limp and half-bleached pink
+ribbons clinging to its form. Her pallid and almost doughy face was
+deeply pitted with smallpox; her skin was rough from the constant layers
+of red and white paint it had to endure," etc., etc. He fell back with a
+convulsive start.
+
+From internal evidence I find the date of "Comic Tales," etc., to be
+1841, contemporary, therefore, with the establishment of _Punch_. There
+is a drawing of so pretty a conceit as to warrant my selecting it,
+though artistically it is inferior to Leech's work even at that time.
+The drawing heads a paper entitled "Speculations on Marriage and Young
+Ladies," and as it tells its own story, quotation from Mr. Smith is
+needless.
+
+In one amusing paper in "Comic Tales," the author treats us to "an Act
+for amending the representation of certain public sights, termed
+equestrian spectacles, in the habit of being represented at a favourite
+place of resort, termed the Royal Amphitheatre, Westminster Bridge." The
+paper is framed in the form of an Act of Parliament, and the author
+forbids the use of ancient jokes or stereotyped phrases in a very
+humorous manner.
+
+"Be it enacted," he announces, after condemning a variety of
+objectionable practices, "that the clown shall not, after the first
+equestrian feat, exclaim: 'Now I'll have a turn to myself!' previous to
+his toppling like a coach-wheel round the ring; nor shall he fall flat
+on his face, and then collecting some sawdust in his hand, drop it down
+from the level of his head, and say his nose bleeds; nor shall he
+attempt to make the rope-dancers' balance-pole stand on its end by
+propping it up with the said sawdust; nor shall he, after chalking the
+performers' shoes, conclude by chalking his own nose, to prevent his
+foot slipping when he treads upon it; nor shall he pick up a small piece
+of straw, for fear he should fall over it, and afterwards balance the
+said straw on his chin as he runs about; neither shall the master of the
+ring say to the clown, when they are leaving the circus: 'I never follow
+the fool, sir!' nor shall the fool reply: 'Then I do!' and walk out
+after him."
+
+I would draw attention to the figure of the clown in this cut, which is
+simply perfect in expression and character. The affected strut of the
+ring-master also is admirably caught.
+
+A paper on Christmas pantomimes is illustrated by such a perfect clown
+that I cannot resist my inclination to present him to my readers.
+
+[Illustration: CLOWN: "Oh, see what I've found!"]
+
+"Comic Tales and Pictures of Life" contains, at least, one drawing that
+is equal to Leech at his best. The cut illustrates an article on
+"Delightful People," a short essay, amusing enough.
+
+[Illustration: "MISS CINTHIA SINGS."]
+
+Music, whether performed by the band or by musical guests, is an
+important factor in an evening party. Mr. Albert Smith tells us that "a
+lady of his acquaintance" had secured those "Delightful People, the
+Lawsons," for a large evening party she was about to give; and after
+lauding the charming qualities of Mr. and Mrs. Lawson, she put a final
+touch to the Lawson attractions by informing her friend that their
+daughter, Miss Cinthia Lawson, was not only a delightful girl, but that
+"she sings better than anyone you ever heard in private." In the
+interval of dancing Cinthia sings. "The young lady now dressed in plain
+white robes, with her hair smoothed very flat round her head _a la
+Grisi_, whom she thought she resembled both in style of singing and
+features, and consequently studied all her attitudes from the clever
+Italian's impersonation of Norma.... At last the lady begun a _bravura_
+upon such a high note, and so powerful, that some impudent fellows in
+the square, who were passing at the moment, sang out 'Vari-e-ty' in
+reply. Presently, a young gentleman, who was standing at her side,
+chanced to turn over too soon, whereupon she gave him _such_ a look,
+that, if he had entertained any thoughts of proposing, would effectually
+have stopped any such rash proceeding; but her equanimity was soon
+restored, and she went through the aria in most dashing style until she
+came to the last note, whose appearance she heralded with a _roulade_ of
+wonderful execution."
+
+I remember Grisi, and I cannot share Miss Lawson's conviction of her
+resemblance to that great singer--personal resemblance, I mean--and, in
+all probability, she had as feeble a claim to an equality of genius; but
+that she had a powerful voice, and that she gave it full effect, is
+evident by Leech's perfect rendering of that wonderful mouth, from which
+one can almost hear the _roulade_. All the lines of the figure, with the
+movement of the hands, and the backward action of the singer, are true
+to Nature. The assistant at the music-book and the stolid old gentleman
+are also excellent.
+
+With this, the best of the drawings in "Comic Tales," I take my leave
+of the book.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+JOHN LEECH AND THE ETON BOY.
+
+
+I had been told that a friend whose acquaintance I made many years ago
+was in possession of some correspondence with Leech of considerable
+interest. I wrote to him on the subject, and received the following
+reply:
+
+  "DEAR MR. FRITH,
+
+"I had intended waiting till my return to town to see whether I could
+find John Leech's letters before writing to you; but as you ask for the
+story, here it is, to the best of my recollection, and it is heartily at
+your service. When I was a boy at Eton I sent to _Punch_ an incident
+which happened at a dance. Young Oxford complaining to his partner of
+the dearth of 'female society' at the University, she retorts, 'What a
+pity you didn't go to a girls' school instead!' Its appearance beneath
+an illustration of Leech's caused great excitement in our house at Eton,
+and as great tales of Mr. Punch's liberality were current--as, for
+example, that the sender of the advice 'To persons about to
+marry--_don't_,' had received L100--I began to look anxiously for some
+tip for my contribution. An enterprising pal said, 'It's a beastly
+shame; and if you'll go halves, I'll write to _Punch_ and wake 'em up.'
+This speedily resulted in the receipt of a post-office order for two
+guineas from John Leech, accompanied by a rather dry note, to the effect
+that Mr. Punch considered that he had already done enough in providing
+an original illustration to my joke. I was indignant, and wrote back to
+Leech returning the money, but he would not hear of this. He told me I
+could buy gloves with the money for the young lady if I liked--which I
+am afraid I didn't. Several kind letters from him followed, with an
+invitation, gladly accepted, to call and see him in the holidays, and a
+present, which I still treasure, of two volumes of his 'Life and
+Character.'
+
+[Illustration: "DREADFUL FOR YOUNG OXFORD."
+
+  LADY: "Are you at Eton?"
+
+  YOUNG OXFORD: "Aw, no! I'm at Oxford."
+
+  LADY: "Oxford! Rather a nice place, is it not?"
+
+  YOUNG OXFORD: "Hum!--haw! pretty well; but then I can't get on without
+  female society!"
+
+  LADY: "Dear! dear! pity you don't go to a girls' school, then!"]
+
+  "At the time I remember my schoolfellows considered me a born
+  caricaturist, an opinion I naturally shared. Leech was most indulgent
+  to my early efforts--gave me some wood-blocks to work upon, and
+  encouraged me to persevere, which, alas! I have not done, etc.
+
+  "Yours truly."
+
+Here follows Leech's "dry note":
+
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square, London,
+  "June 6, 1859.
+
+  "DEAR SIR,
+
+"The editor of _Punch_ is the person who should be addressed upon all
+money matters connected with that periodical. However, in the present
+instance, perhaps it will answer every purpose if I adopt the suggestion
+of your 'great _friend_ and _confidant_,' and '_do the handsome_ and
+send a _tip direct_,' which I do in the shape of a post-office order for
+one guinea; or, as your 'entirely _disinterested_' young friend is to
+have half of what you get, it will be even better if I make the order
+for two guineas instead, as I do, only you must not look upon this as a
+precedent. I am afraid Mr. Punch would have considered that the trouble
+and expense he was at to have an original design made to your few lines
+would have been ample recompense. In future send to the editor your
+notion of what you expect for any contribution, and he will accept or
+reject accordingly, I dare say.
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+The Eton boy was "indignant, and wrote back to Leech returning the
+money," to which Leech replied as follows:
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square,
+  "November 8, 1859.
+
+  "DEAR SIR,
+
+"No, no; it must be as it is; besides, the order is made out in your
+name, and can be used by no one else. After all, your contribution was
+very amusing, and pray consider yourself as quite entitled to the sum
+offered. If you have any doubt as to how you should spend the money,
+why, then, buy some gloves for the young lady who said the smart thing
+to the Oxford man. As to my being offended, dismiss the notion from your
+mind at once. Your first note I consider perfectly good-natured, and
+your second as frank and gentleman-like. I hope you will do me the
+favour to accept two volumes of my sketches, in which I hope you will
+find some amusement.
+
+"I will direct the volumes to be sent to you this afternoon.
+
+  "Believe me, dear sir,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+Encouraged by Leech's kindness, and being, as he says, "a born
+caricaturist in the opinion of his friends," the Eton boy sent some
+sketches for Leech's opinion. To this application he received the
+following reply:
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square,
+  "June 11, 1859.
+
+  "MY DEAR SIR,
+
+"I am very busy, so you must excuse a rather short note. Your sketches I
+have looked at carefully, however, and I have no hesitation in saying
+that they show a great perception of humour on your part. They seem to
+me to be altogether very good; and I have no doubt that with practice
+you might make your talent available in _Punch_ and elsewhere. I don't
+know about your taking lessons, except from Nature, and learn from her
+as much as possible. Try your hand at some initial letters--if drawn on
+the wood clearly, so much the better--and I will, with great pleasure,
+hand them to the editor of _Punch_. 'The Pleasures of Eton' is capital;
+the style, I take it, founded a little upon Doyle's works. I would not
+do that too much. You have quite cleverness enough to strike out a path
+of your own, and with my best wishes for your success,
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+In sending these letters the Eton boy of old says he is "sure that
+nothing would more thoroughly exemplify Leech's genial wit and courteous
+kindliness than these replies to an unknown schoolboy." I suppose the
+letter in which my friend was invited to call upon Leech "in the
+holidays" is not to be found. But that he did call and received a
+present of "wood-blocks to work upon," accompanied by "encouragement to
+persevere," which, alas! he has not done, we have from himself.
+
+This incident is especially delightful, as it reflects perfectly the
+quality of heart and mind so characteristic of Leech.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MR. SPONGE'S SPORTING TOUR.
+
+
+Mr. Surtees, the writer of the sporting novels, possessed considerable
+powers of invention, which he indulged--amongst other vagaries--in
+giving names to most of the characters in his books, which served to
+enlighten his readers as to their physical and mental peculiarities, and
+never more happily than when he christened the hero of this sporting
+tour Mr. Soapy Sponge. "Mr. Sponge," says our author, "wished to be a
+gentleman without knowing how;" but what Mr. Sponge did know was how to
+sponge upon everybody with whom he could force an acquaintance, and this
+he effected with surprising success. Hunting and good hunting quarters
+were the objects of Mr. Sponge's machinations, and upon a half-hearted
+invitation from a Mr. Jawleyford, of Jawleyford Court, an invitation
+given without an idea that it would be accepted (as sometimes happens),
+Mr. Sponge found himself installed in the ancestral mansion of the
+Jawleyfords. Mr. Jawleyford was "one of the rather numerous race of
+paper-booted, pen-and-ink landowners," says Mr. Surtees, "whose
+communications with his tenantry were chiefly confined to dining with
+them twice a year in the great entrance-hall after the steward, _Mr.
+Screwemtight_, had eased them of their rents." Then Mr. Jawleyford would
+shine forth the very impersonification of what a landlord ought to be.
+Dressed in the height of fashion, he would declare that the only really
+happy moments of his life were those when he was surrounded by his
+tenantry.
+
+In the background of this admirable drawing we see Mr. Jawleyford's
+portrait, flanked by his ancestors, on canvas and in armour, hanging on
+the panelled walls of his gorgeous home. The variety of character in the
+"chawbacons," each a marked individuality, contrasts effectually with
+his _quasi_ fashionable landlord. For the first banquet at Jawleyford
+Court, "Mr. Sponge," says the author, "made himself an uncommon swell."
+His dress is minutely described, and faithfully depicted by Leech, in
+the etching in which we see the sponger conducting a very portly Mrs.
+Jawleyford, followed by her daughters, to the dining-room. The young
+ladies who have entered the drawing-room "in the full fervour of
+sisterly animosity," according to the author, seem--in the lovely group
+that Leech makes of them--to have speedily made up their quarrel, as
+their entwined arms and pretty, happy faces prove. The solemn butler,
+who looks with awe at his aristocratic master, is in Leech's truest
+vein, while Mr. Jawleyford himself is simply perfect. In the footmen and
+page the illustration is less successful; they seem to approach, if not
+to reach, caricature.
+
+When Mr. Sponge found himself in good quarters, no hint however strong,
+no looks however cold, no manner however unpleasant, would move him,
+until he had provided himself with others to his liking. Under the
+impression that he was rich, the Misses Jawleyford set their caps at
+him. Amelia and Emily rivalled each other in tender attentions to the
+adventurer, who, after hesitating as to which of them he should throw
+the handkerchief to, fixed upon Miss Amelia, who found her sister "in
+the act of playing the agreeable" with Mr. Sponge as she "sailed" into
+the drawing-room before dinner; then, "with a haughty sort of sneer and
+toss of the head to her sister, as much as to say, 'What are you doing
+with my man?'--a sneer that suddenly changed into a sweet smile as her
+eye encountered Sponge's--she just motioned him off to a sofa, where she
+commenced a _sotto-voce_ conversation in the engaged-couple style."
+
+During his stay at Jawleyford Court, Mr. Sponge's time was passed in
+hunting, smoking all over the house--a habit the owner detested--and in
+making love to Miss Amelia; taking care, however, not to commit himself
+until he had discovered from papa what the settlements were to be. We
+who are behind the scenes know that Jawleyford Court is "mortgaged up to
+the chimney-pots," and that Mr. J. is over head and ears in debt
+besides. We know also that Mr. Sponge is impecunious, his hunters are
+hired; he is, in fact, as his author describes him, "a vulgar humbug."
+"Jawleyford began to suspect that Sponge might not be the great 'catch'
+he was represented," says the author. No doubt in finding himself
+baffled in his attempts to sound his host upon the subject of
+settlements, Mr. Sponge also "began to suspect" that neither of the
+Misses Jawleyford would be the "catch" that he wanted. Still, he held on
+to his quarters in defiance of the attempts to get rid of him. He was
+removed from the best bedroom to one in which it was impossible to light
+a fire, or, rather, to endure it when it was alight, because of an
+incurable smoky chimney. He was given poor food and corked wine, still
+he stayed, until he had provided himself with a temporary home at the
+house of a hunting gentleman named Puffington.
+
+Mr. Puffington, who made Sponge's acquaintance at the covert-side where
+Lord Scamperdale's hounds met, "got it into his head" that Mr. Sponge
+was a literary man, whose brilliant pen was about to be employed in the
+interest of fox-hunting in general, and of certain runs of Mr.
+Puffington's hounds in particular. Mr. Puffington "was the son of a
+great starch-maker at Stepney." Puffington, senior, made a large
+fortune, which enabled his son to become the owner of Hanby House, and
+of the "Mangeysterne--now Hanby-Hounds," because he thought they would
+give him consequence. Our author says, Mr. Puffington "had no natural
+inclination for hunting," but he seems to have become M.F.H. so that he
+might entertain some of the sporting friends he had made at college,
+such "dashing young sparks as Lord Firebrand, Lord Mudlark, Lord
+Deuceace, Sir Harry Blueun, Lord Legbail, now Earl of Loosefish," and so
+on.
+
+My space, or, rather, the want of it, prevents my telling how it was
+that Mr. Sponge "awoke and found himself famous" as an author. In
+conjunction with a friend, who steered him through the spelling and
+grammar, he concocted an article for the _Swillingford Patriot_--Grimes,
+editor--which "appeared in the middle of the third sheet, and was
+headed, 'Splendid Run with Mr. Puffington's Hounds.'" Mr. Grimes was
+ably assisted in his editorial duties by "his eldest daughter, Lucy--a
+young lady of a certain age, say liberal thirty--an ardent Bloomer, with
+a considerable taste for sentimental poetry, with which she generally
+filled the Poet's Corner."
+
+As Mr. Puffington quite expected to be immortalized in some work of
+general circulation, his indignation knew no bounds when he found
+himself relegated to a corner of the county paper, and all his hopes of
+his doings being read by "the Lords Loosefish, the Sir Toms and Sir
+Harrys of former days" grievously disappointed. Never, surely, were
+disgust, disappointment, and rage more perfectly expressed than in the
+second portrait of Mr. Puffington: not only the face, but the whole
+figure--one can fancy how the hand in the pocket of the dressing-gown is
+clenched--denotes the surprise and exasperation of the miserable man.
+
+Mr. Sponge's literary effort has "done for him" with Mr. Puffington. He
+must go. Easier said than done.
+
+"Couldn't you manage to get him to go?" asked Mr. Puffington of his
+valet.
+
+"Don't know, sir. I could try, sir--believe he's bad to move, sir," said
+the valet.
+
+Driven to despair, the host "scrawled a miserable-looking note,
+explaining how very ill he was, how he regretted being deprived of Mr.
+Sponge's agreeable society--hoped he would come another time," and so
+on. Even the "sponger" felt the difficulty of parrying such a palpable
+notice to quit. "He went to bed sorely perplexed," and in his waking
+moments trying to remember "what sportsmen had held out the hand of good
+fellowship and hinted at hoping to have the pleasure of seeing him"; he
+could think of no one to whom he could volunteer a visit. But Fortune
+favours the brave sponger, as she often does unworthy people, and in Mr.
+Jogglebury Crowdey, an eccentric individual whose acquaintance Sponge
+had made in the hunting-field, he found another host. At the suggestion
+of Mrs. Jogglebury, who, without the slightest reason, had taken it into
+her head that Mr. Sponge was a wealthy man, and would make a
+satisfactory godfather to one of her children, Mr. Jogglebury called on
+Mr. Sponge at the Puffington mansion, and invited him to "pay us a
+visit."
+
+No sooner does our hero grasp the situation than he says:
+
+"Well, you're a devilish good fellow, and I'll tell you what, as I am
+sure you mean what you say, I'll take you at your word and go at once."
+
+And in this determination he persists, though Mr. J. pleads for some
+delay, as Mrs. Jogglebury Crowdey requires some little time for
+preparation in receiving so distinguished a guest.
+
+The visit to Puddingpote Bower, as the Jogglebury dwelling was called,
+proved as unfortunate as the previous visits; the more people saw of Mr.
+Sponge the less they liked him, and this time the dislike was mutual.
+"Jog and Sponge," says the author, "were soon most heartily sick of each
+other." Mr. Sponge soon began to think that it was not worth while
+staying at Puddingpote Bower for the mere sake of his keep, "seeing
+there was no hunting to be had from it."
+
+Within twelve or thirteen miles from the Bower there lived Sir Harry
+Scattercash, a very fast young gentleman indeed. He kept "an
+ill-supported pack of hounds, that were not kept upon any fixed
+principles; their management was only of the scrimmaging order," but Mr.
+Sponge, scenting an invitation, determined to make one amongst the
+field.
+
+In his attempt to "go it," my lord "was ably assisted by Lady
+Scattercash, late the lovely and elegant Miss Glitters, of the Theatre
+Royal, Sadler's Wells. Lady Scattercash could ride--indeed, she used to
+do scenes in the circle (two horses and a flag), and she could drive,
+and smoke, and sing, and was possessed of many other accomplishments."
+
+What a winning creature Leech has made of her, and the scarcely less
+delightful little tiger behind her, may be seen in the illustration
+which the law of copyright prevents me from introducing, as it also
+prohibits the appearance here of Sir Harry, her husband, the happy
+possessor of the charming Lady Scattercash.
+
+"Sometimes," says the author of "Sponge," "Sir Harry would drink
+straight on end for a week!" Mr. Sponge made desperate efforts to take
+up his abode at Nonsuch House, but Sir Harry was surrounded by congenial
+spirits, who, one and all, had taken prejudice against that worthy; so,
+beyond a hunting dinner, at which everybody, including the ladies, took
+more wine than was good for them, Mr. Sponge and Nonsuch House were
+strangers to each other for a time. But, as the hunting-field is open to
+all and sundry, Mr. Sponge, not easily daunted, put in a frequent
+appearance, in the sure and certain hope that admission to free quarters
+at Sir Harry's was only delayed. Beyond what is elegantly called "peck
+and perch," Nonsuch House contained a very powerful attraction in the
+form of Miss Lucy Glitters, sister to Lady Scattercash. Miss Lucy was a
+lovely person, and her charms were increased in Mr. Sponge's eyes
+because he persuaded himself that the sister-in-law of a baronet must
+necessarily be a rich woman. Miss Lucy had also the conviction that Mr.
+Sponge was a rich man; how else could he spend his time in the sports of
+the field, with all their expensive accompaniments? Miss Glitters was a
+bold rider, and that accomplishment also endeared her to the gentleman
+in whom the passion of love burned suddenly, and with a very furious
+flame indeed; till on one fateful hunting day the amorous couple found
+themselves "in at the death": they had distanced the field, they were
+alone. Mr. Sponge secured the brush, and said:
+
+"We'll put this in your hat, alongside the cock's feathers."
+
+I now quote my author: "The fair lady leant towards him, and as he
+adjusted it becomingly in her hat, looking at her bewitching eyes, her
+lovely face, and feeling the sweet fragrance of her breath, a something
+shot through Mr. Sponge's pull-devil pull-baker coat, his corduroy
+waistcoat, his Eureka shirt, angola vest, and penetrated to the very
+cockles of his heart. He gave her such a series of smacking kisses as
+startled her horse and astonished a poacher who happened to be hid in
+the adjoining hedge."
+
+On the return of the happy pair Lucy rushes to her sister with the good
+news. Lady Scattercash was delighted, because "Mr. Sponge was such a
+nice man, _and so rich_! She was sure he was rich--couldn't hunt if he
+wasn't. Would advise Lucy to have a good settlement, in case he broke
+his neck." On further inquiry, however, her ladyship had good reason to
+suspect that a red coat and two or three hunters were not satisfactory
+proofs of wealth; and in reply to one who knew, she retorted, "Well,
+never mind, if he has nothing, she has nothing, and nothing can be
+nicer." With the conviction that nothing could be nicer, "Lady
+Scattercash warmly espoused Mr. Sponge's cause," the consequence being
+his instalment in splendid quarters at Nonsuch House, where he made
+himself thoroughly at home. "It was very soon 'my hounds,' 'my horses,'
+and 'my whips,' etc., being untroubled by his total inability to keep
+the angel who had ridden herself into his affections, for he made no
+doubt that something would turn up." If it were not for the introduction
+of a delightful drawing by Leech, I should take no note of a
+"Steeplechase," in which Mr. Sponge comes before us for the last time.
+This function is not a favourite with Mr. Surtees, nor is it looked upon
+without much anxiety by Miss Lucy. "She has made Mr. Sponge a white silk
+jacket to ride in, and a cap of the same colour. Altogether, he is a
+great swell, and very like a bridegroom," says the author.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+If this drawing suffered in the hands of the wood-engraver, it must
+have been beyond imagination beautiful, for, as it is, it shows us Leech
+in his full strength. Nothing, it seems to me, could surpass the figure of
+Lucy, whose expression of loving fear for the safety of the bold Sponge is
+shown to us in one of the prettiest faces conceivable. Sponge himself is
+no less successfully rendered as he smiles reassuringly at his beloved.
+The race--admirably described by the author--is run, and won by Mr.
+Sponge. "And now for the hero and heroine of our tale. The Sponges--for
+our friend married Lucy shortly after the steeplechase--stayed at Nonsuch
+House till the bailiffs walked in. Sir Harry then bolted to Boulogne,
+where he afterwards died. Being at length starved out of Nonsuch House,"
+says the historian, "he--Sponge--arrived at his old quarters, the Bantam,
+in Bond Street, where he turned his attention very seriously to providing
+for Lucy and the little Sponge, who had now issued its prospectus. He
+thought over all the ways and means of making money without capital....
+Professional steeplechasing Lucy decried, declaring she would rather
+return to her flag exercises at Astley's as soon as she was able than have
+her dear Sponge risking his neck that way. Our friend at length began to
+fear fortune-making was not so easy as he thought; indeed he was soon sure
+of it." Something had to be done; "accordingly, after due consultation
+with Lucy, he invested his all in fitting up and decorating the splendid
+establishment in Jermyn Street, St. James's, now known as the SPONGE CIGAR
+AND BETTING ROOMS, where noblemen, gentlemen, and officers in the
+Household troops may be accommodated with loans on their personal security
+to any amount." We see by Mr. Sponge's last advertisement that he has
+L116,000 to lend at 31/2 per cent.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+"THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS," BY ALBERT SMITH.
+
+
+  "December 20, 1844.
+
+  "MY DEAR SIR,
+
+"Here we are at the 20th of the month, and I have only four pages of
+Smith's new story--no incident. Really, it is too much to expect that I
+can throw myself at a moment's notice into the seventeenth century, with
+all its difficulties of costume, etc., etc. What am I to do? There is a
+great want of system somewhere. I received a note from Mr. Marsh last
+night, stating for the first time that there would be _two_
+illustrations to 'The Marchioness of Brinvilliers,' and also urging me
+to be very early with the plates, it being Christmas and all that! But,
+as I said before, I have not the matter to illustrate. _What am I to
+do?_ Added to all this, I must be engaged one day in the early part of
+next week on the melancholy occasion of the funeral of a poor little
+sister of mine. Pray, my dear sir, do what you can to expedite matters,
+and
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "---- MORGAN, ESQ."
+
+
+The above is one of the many letters that might be quoted to show the
+aggravating delays and difficulties under which so much of Leech's work
+was produced. I take Mr. Morgan to have been one of the officials of Mr.
+Richard Bentley's establishment, whose patience must have been sorely
+tried again and again by the pranks of that _genus irritabile_, the
+writer. Judging from the humorous character of Albert Smith's "Ledbury"
+and other works, one is hardly prepared for the horrors that make us
+shudder over the pages of "The Marchioness of Brinvilliers"--horrors in
+which the writer seems to revel with a zest as keen as that he takes in
+the fun and frolic of Ledbury.
+
+The "shilling shocker" of the present day is a mild production indeed,
+in comparison with the history of the poisoner and adulteress,
+Brinvilliers, in which "on horror's head horrors accumulate." The
+authors of the modern productions are, for the most part, inventors of
+the blood-and-murder scenes that adorn their books. Not so Mr. Albert
+Smith, whose pages describe but too truly the career of the most
+notorious of the many criminals that flourished in the most profligate
+period of French history. Louis XIV. set an example in debauchery to his
+subjects which the highest of them eagerly followed; but the most
+fearful factor of this terrible time was poison, by which the possessors
+of estates who "lagged superfluous on the scene" were made to give place
+to greedy heirs; husbands, inconveniently in the way, were put out of it
+by their wives, whose affections had been disposed of elsewhere; state
+officers, whose positions were desired by aspirants unwilling to wait
+for them, were struck by sudden and mysterious illness, speedily
+followed by death, for which the faculty of the time could in no way
+account.
+
+Marie, Marchioness of Brinvilliers, lived with her husband in the Rue
+des Cordeliers in Paris. The Marquis was a man of easy morals, and the
+Marchioness was a woman of still easier morals, for she had many lovers;
+she also amused her leisure hours by the study of the nature and
+properties of a great variety of deadly poisons; thinking, no doubt, as
+she was of a jealous disposition, that the time might arrive when her
+knowledge would be useful in depriving her lover of the temptation which
+had led him to forget his duty to her. The Marchioness was a very
+beautiful woman; she had eyes of a tender blue; her complexion was of
+dazzling whiteness, with cheeks of a delicate carnation; her expression
+was angelic, and she wore her hair of pale gold in bushy ringlets, in
+obedience to the fashion of the time. We first become acquainted with
+the Marchioness under painful circumstances, for she made--and kept--an
+appointment with one lover without being sufficiently careful to
+disguise her doings from another. That other was the Chevalier Gaudin de
+Sainte-Croix, who proceeded to the lodgings of his rival, M. Camille
+Theria.
+
+"'The Marchioness of Brinvilliers is here, I believe,' said Gaudin to
+the grisette at the door. 'Will you tell her she is wanted on pressing
+business?'
+
+"The Marchioness appeared. A stifled scream of fear and surprise, yet
+sufficiently intense to show her emotion at the sight of Gaudin, broke
+from her lips as she recognised him. But she immediately recovered her
+impassibility of features--that wonderful calmness and innocent
+expression which afterwards was so severely put to the proof without
+being shaken--and she asked, with apparent unconcern:
+
+"'Well, monsieur, what do you want with me?'
+
+"'Marie!' exclaimed Gaudin, 'let me ask your business here at this hour'
+(it was rather late) 'unattended, and in the apartment of a scholar of
+the Hotel Dieu?'
+
+"'You are mad, Sainte-Croix,' said the Marchioness. 'Am I to be
+accountable to you for all my actions? M. Theria is not here, and I came
+to see his wife on my own affairs.'
+
+"'Liar!' cried Gaudin."
+
+The lady had not told the truth, for M. Theria had no wife, and he was
+so near by that he heard the angry voice of M. Sainte-Croix, who so
+convinced the Marchioness of her perfidy that "in an instant the
+accustomed firmness of the Marchioness deserted her, and she fell upon
+her knees at his feet on the cold, damp floor of the landing."
+
+In this powerful etching nothing could surpass the beauty of the face
+and figure of the Marchioness; she exactly realizes our ideal. But the
+Chevalier, though full of passion, is, to my mind, verging on the
+theatrical.
+
+Finding that her entreaties to the Chevalier to "go away" have no
+effect, she threatens suicide.
+
+"There is but one resource left," she says, as she "springs up from her
+position of supplication."
+
+"Where are you going?" asked Sainte-Croix, as she rushed to the top of
+the flight of stairs.
+
+"Hinder me not!" returned Marie. "To the river!"
+
+But before she could reach the river--to which she would no doubt have
+given a very wide berth--she fainted, or pretended to faint, in the
+courtyard at the bottom of the staircase. Here the pair were overtaken
+by M. Theria.
+
+"A few hot and hurried words passed on either side, and the next instant
+their swords were drawn and crossed. The fight was short, and ended in
+Sainte-Croix thrusting his rapier completely through the fleshy part of
+the sword-arm of the student, whose weapon fell to the ground.
+
+"'I have it!' cried Camille. 'A peace, monsieur! I have it!' he
+continued, smiling, as he felt that his wound, though slight, was too
+serious to have been received in so unworthy a cause.
+
+"As he was speaking, Marie opened her eyes and looked around. But the
+instant she saw the two rivals, she shuddered convulsively, and again
+relapsed into insensibility.
+
+"'She is a clever actress,' continued Camille, smiling.
+
+"'We have each been duped,' answered Gaudin.
+
+"'She will play me no longer. As far as I am concerned,' said Theria,
+'you are welcome to all her affections, and I shall reckon you as one of
+my best friends for your visit this evening.'"
+
+The visit was destined to have an unexpected end, however, for the
+attention of the Guet Royal, or night-guard, had been called to the
+clashing of swords.
+
+"Some young men, who had come up with the guard as they were returning
+from their orgies, pressed forward with curiosity to ascertain the cause
+of the tumult. But from one of them a fearful cry of surprise was heard
+as he recognised the persons before him. Sainte-Croix raised his eyes,
+and found himself face to face with Antoine, Marquis of Brinvilliers!"
+
+The late combatants threw dust in the eyes of the lady's husband
+cleverly enough by pretending that Sainte-Croix had rescued her from the
+unwelcome attentions of Theria, who had mistaken her in the uncertain
+light for a lady with whom he had an appointment. The cloak which the
+Marchioness wore, together with the darkness of the night, had prevented
+his discovering that she was not the person he expected until her cries
+had brought in Sainte-Croix, who was passing, as he said himself, "to
+his lodgings in the Rue des Bernardins."
+
+The lady went home with her husband, and Sainte-Croix retired to his
+lodgings, there to meditate on the perfidy of his mistress. The
+Chevalier de Sainte-Croix was even more learned in poisons, and less
+scrupulous in the use of them, than his mistress; and in his first gusts
+of passion, on discovering her treachery, he was inclined--in the hate
+of her that took temporary possession of him--to subject her to their
+effect; but reflection produced demoniacal results. She should be spared
+to kill those who ought to be near and dear to her!
+
+"'I will be her bane--her curse!' he exclaimed. 'I will be her bad
+angel!... And I will triumph over that besotted fool, her husband,' etc.
+
+"He opened a small, iron-clamped box, and brought from it a small
+packet, carefully sealed, and a phial of clear, colourless fluid.
+
+"'I have it! It is here--the source, not of life, but of death!'
+
+"Almost as he speaks, he is summoned by the _femme de chambre_ of the
+Marchioness to an interview at her residence at her father's house, the
+Hotel d'Aubray. The Chevalier found the enchantress in studied disarray.
+She might have been made up after one of Guido's Magdalens," says the
+author, "so beautiful were her rounded shoulders, so dishevelled her
+light hair," etc.
+
+The lovers were speedily reconciled, but the lady had an important
+communication to make--no less than the discovery of their intimacy by
+her husband, whom she felt sure had revealed the fact to her father, M.
+d'Aubray. A long pause, broken by Sainte-Croix:
+
+"'Marie,' he said, 'they must die, or our happiness is impossible.'"
+
+The Marchioness was not yet hardened enough to receive this announcement
+with equanimity; and the lovers were still discussing the _pros_ and
+_cons_ of it, when they were surprised by Monsieur d'Aubray, who,
+entering by a secret door, "stood looking on the scene before him." Any
+doubts of guilty intimacy, if he had any, were dispelled; and, after
+ordering his daughter to her chamber, he turned to Sainte-Croix, and
+said:
+
+"'Monsieur de Sainte-Croix, I will provide you with a lodging where you
+will run no risk of compromising the honour of a noble family.'"
+
+And so saying, he produced a _lettre de cachet_, armed with which the
+exempts, who were waiting for him, speedily deposited M. de Sainte-Croix
+at the Bastille. The Marchioness, separated from her children and her
+husband, was exiled to Offremont, a family place some distance from
+Paris. Here she lived with her father, who so entirely believed in her
+repentance and determination to lead a new life that he proposed a
+speedy return to Paris.
+
+"'I have no wish to go, _mon pere_,' replied the hypocrite; 'I would
+sooner remain here with you--for ever!'"
+
+After much talk and reiterated professions of sorrow for the past, the
+Marchioness says, in reply to her father's order that "she shall never
+speak to Sainte-Croix--who had been released from the Bastille--or
+recognise him again:
+
+"'You shall be obeyed, monsieur--too willingly.'"
+
+The words had not long left her lips when she placed a lamp in the
+window of the room, to guide her lover to a prearranged assignation.
+
+The awful interview that followed is described in Mr. Smith's book.
+
+The greater villain ran the risk of interruption in his lengthened
+arguments in favour of parricide; but hearing approaching footsteps,
+Sainte-Croix hurried away.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+M. d'Aubray had gone to bed. A servant suggested the night-drink.
+
+"'I will give it to him myself, Jervais,' said the Marchioness."
+
+Taking a jug from the man, she poured the contents into an old cup of
+thin silver; then, "with a hurried glance round the room, she broke the
+seals of the packet Sainte-Croix had left in her hands, and shook a few
+grains of its contents into the beverage. No change was visible; a few
+bubbles rose and broke upon the surface, but this was all."
+
+Sleep had surprised M. d'Aubray. His daughter touched him lightly, and
+he "awoke with the exclamation of surprise attendant upon being suddenly
+disturbed from sleep.
+
+"'I have brought your wine, _mon pere_,' said the murderess.
+
+"'Thanks, thanks, my good girl,' said the old man, as he raised himself
+up in bed, and took the cup from the Marchioness. He drank off the
+contents, and then, once more bestowing a benediction upon his daughter,
+turned again to his pillow."
+
+Let those who desire to see how beauty can be retained, though
+disfigured by devilish passion, study the face of the Marchioness in
+this drawing. For skilful arrangement of light and shade, and of the
+objects that go to make up the _mise en scene_, and for natural action
+in the figures; this drawing takes the lead of all the admirable
+illustrations in the "Marchioness of Brinvilliers."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+"THE MARCHIONESS OF BRINVILLIERS" (_continued_).
+
+
+A great reception was given at Versailles by the King. M. d'Aubray was
+"suffering from a sudden and fearful indisposition, but he insisted upon
+his daughter accepting an invitation, were it only to establish her
+_entree_ into society."
+
+There, amongst the trees in the gardens, the Marchioness encounters
+Sainte-Croix. "His face looked ghastly in the moonbeams, and his eyes
+gleamed with a light that conscience made demoniac in the eyes of the
+Marchioness."
+
+"'You here!' she exclaimed.
+
+"'Where should I be but in the place of rejoicing just now?' replied
+Gaudin through his set teeth, and with a sardonic smile. 'I am this
+moment from Paris. We are free!'
+
+"'My father?' cried the Marchioness, as a terrible expression
+overspread her countenance.
+
+"'He is dead,' returned Sainte-Croix, 'and we are free!'"
+
+There was a pause, and they looked at each other for nearly a minute.
+
+"'Come,' at length said the Marchioness, 'come to the ball.'"
+
+A prominent and very interesting figure in Mr. Smith's book is Louise
+Gauthier, a girl of comparatively humble birth, who had the misfortune
+to love Sainte-Croix with the intense self-sacrificing love that good
+women so often show for bad men, who return their affection with
+coldness and neglect. This girl, who had become the friend of Marotte
+Dupre, one of the actresses in the plays of Moliere which were part of
+the attraction at the Versailles fete, accompanied the actress to
+Versailles, where she accidentally overheard a conversation between the
+Marchioness of Brinvilliers and M. de Sainte-Croix, which not only
+convinced her that the love for her that Sainte-Croix had once professed
+was given to another, but that some fearful tie existed between the two,
+caused by actions which had destroyed their happiness here and their
+hopes of it hereafter.
+
+She came from her concealment, and was received with jealous fury by
+the Marchioness, who believed, or affected to believe, that the girl was
+at "the grotto" by appointment with Sainte-Croix. She bestowed what is
+commonly called "a piece of her mind" upon her lover, and concluded her
+rhapsody by informing him that from henceforth "we meet no more."
+Louise, however, convinced the passionate Marchioness that she had made
+no appointment, but was at "the grotto" by, "perhaps, a dispensation of
+Providence," in order that she might, having overheard their guilty
+conversation, so act upon their consciences as to "save them both."
+
+The first result of her good intentions is a declaration to the
+Marchioness by Sainte-Croix that, though there had been some
+love-passages between him and the girl, they were "madness,
+infatuation--call it what name you will; but you are the only one I ever
+loved." Thus the ruffian speaks in the presence of the woman he had
+betrayed; but her love, though crushed, still urges her to become the
+man's good angel, and, seizing his arm, she cries:
+
+"'Hear me, Gaudin. By the recollection of what we once were to each
+other--although you scorn me now, and the shadowy remembrance of old
+times--before these terrible circumstances, whatever they may be, had
+thus turned your heart from me and from your God, there is still time to
+make amends for all that has occurred. I do not speak for myself, for
+all those feelings have passed, but for you alone. Repent and be happy,
+for happy now you are not!'"
+
+"Gaudin made no reply, but his bosom heaved rapidly, betraying his
+emotion.
+
+"'This is idle talk,' said the Marchioness.... 'Will you not come with
+me, Gaudin?'
+
+"'Marie!' cried Gaudin faintly, 'take me where you list. In life or
+after it, on earth or in hell, I am yours--yours only!'
+
+"A flush of triumph passed over her face as she led Sainte-Croix from
+the grotto," etc.
+
+By the death of her father the Marchioness hoped, not only to have freed
+herself and her lover from an ever-recurring obstacle to their
+intercourse, but also to have inherited a much-needed sum of money--no
+less than "one hundred and fifty thousand livres were to have been the
+legacy to his daughter, Madame de Brinvilliers--and, what was more, her
+absolute freedom to act as she pleased. The money had passed to her
+brothers, in trust for her, and she was left entirely under their
+surveillance.
+
+"'This must be altered,' said the Chevalier Sainte-Croix in an
+interview with the _alter ego_ of an Italian vendor of poisons named
+Exili.'"
+
+This man undertakes the "alteration," or, in other words, the murder, of
+the two brothers for a "consideration" in the form of "one-fifth of
+whatever may fall to the Marchioness thereupon.
+
+"'Of course, there is a barrier between the brothers of Madame de
+Brinvilliers and myself,' said Sainte-Croix to his accomplice, 'that
+must for ever prevent our meeting. I will provide the means, and you
+their application.'"
+
+Sainte-Croix had the right to claim the merit of this scheme for
+enriching the Marchioness, and at the same time relieving her from a
+guardianship that was impenetrable by her lover. The murder of her
+brothers seemed a trifling affair after the poisoning of her father, and
+she readily consented to assist in procuring a situation for the
+poisoner's assistant--a man named Lechaussee--in the household of her
+brothers, who happened, very fortunately, to be in want of a servant at
+the moment. How this wretch administered the poison to the two brothers,
+who died instantly from its effect, the curious reader may
+ascertain--together with the other dramatic particulars--by consulting
+Mr. Albert Smith's book, in which the incidents are told with great
+force and skill.
+
+By eavesdropping in somewhat improbable places--notably at a grand fete
+at the Hotel de Cluny, given by the Marquis de Lauzan, the Italian
+poisoner Exili becomes master of the guilty pair's secrets. The
+Marchioness's jealousy had been aroused during the evening by
+Sainte-Croix's attention to an actress; and she left the great _salon_,
+and retired with her friend to a cabinet, in which, after the usual
+denial and reconciliation, secure, as they thought, from interruption,
+they discussed their demoniacal schemes. As they were about to pass from
+the room, "a portion of a large bookcase, masking a door, was thrown
+open, and Exili stood before them."
+
+The somewhat theatrical character that Leech gives to the figure of
+Sainte-Croix is much less apparent in this powerful drawing; and in the
+figures of Exili and the Marchioness there is not a trace of it. Though
+the Brinvilliers is masked according to a habit of the time, we feel
+that the mask conceals a beautiful face, distorted by fear, no doubt,
+but still lovely. The Italian is altogether excellent.
+
+Exili loses no time in turning his information to account, and in reply
+to Sainte-Croix, who asks him what he wants, he replies that his trade
+as a sorcerer is failing, and as a poisoner he is in "a yet worse
+position, thanks to the Lieutenant of Police, M. de la Regnie.
+
+"'I must have money,' he adds, 'to enable me to retire and die elsewhere
+than on the Greve.'"
+
+He ends by extorting from Sainte-Croix an undertaking to share with him
+the wealth obtained through the murder of the brothers. But if Exili
+relied upon the bond as a security of value, he displayed a degree of
+ignorance of the human nature of such individuals as Sainte-Croix that
+was surprising in so astute a person.
+
+"To elude the payment of Exili's bond," says the author, "he had
+determined upon destroying him, running the risk of whatever might
+happen subsequently through the physician's knowledge of the murders."
+And he had, therefore, ordered a body of the "Guard Royal to attend,
+when they would receive sufficient proof of the trade Exili was driving
+in his capacity of alchemist."
+
+Sainte-Croix visited the Italian with excuses for the non-payment of
+the money early in the evening of the day on which the arrest was
+planned to take place later. To those excuses the poisoner listened
+angrily; he discovered some valuable jewels which Sainte-Croix wore. He
+had purposely brushed his hand against Sainte-Croix's cloak, and in the
+pocket of it he felt some weighty substance. The chink assured him it
+was gold.
+
+"'You cannot have that,' said Gaudin confusedly; 'it is going with me to
+the gaming-table to-night.'
+
+"'You have rich jewels, too, about you,' continued Exili, peering at him
+with a fearful expression. 'The carcanet becomes you well. That diamond
+clasp is a fortune in itself.'
+
+"'Not one of them is mine,' said Sainte-Croix. 'They belong to the
+Marchioness of Brinvilliers.'"
+
+The Italian affected to be satisfied with the assurance that the money
+should be paid next day, and Sainte-Croix's doom was sealed. The
+alchemist "turned to the furnace to superintend the progress of some
+preparation that was evaporating over the fire.
+
+"'What have you there?' asked Gaudin, who was anxious to prolong the
+interview till the guard could arrive.
+
+"'A venom more deadly than any we have yet known--that will kill like
+lightning, and leave no trace of its presence to the most subtle tests.'
+
+"'You will give me the secret?' asked Gaudin.
+
+"'As soon as it is finished, and the time is coming on apace. You have
+arrived opportunely to assist me.'
+
+"He took a mask with glass eyes, and tied it round his face.
+
+"'If you would see the preparation completed, you must wear one as
+well.'
+
+"Exili took another visor, and, under pretence of rearranging the
+string, he broke it from the mask; and then, fixing it back with some
+resinous compound that would be melted by the heat of the furnace, he
+cautiously fixed it to Sainte-Croix's face.
+
+"'I will mind the furnace whilst you go,' said Gaudin, in reply to the
+alchemist, who said he must fetch some drugs required for further
+operations.
+
+"At that moment Sainte-Croix heard an adjacent bell sound the hour at
+which he had appointed the guard to arrive.
+
+"'There is no danger in this mask, you say?'
+
+"'None,' said Exili.
+
+"Anxious to become acquainted with the new poison, and in the hope that
+as soon as he had acquired the secret of its manufacture the guard would
+arrive, Gaudin bent over the furnace. Exili had left the apartment, but
+as soon as his footfall was beyond Sainte-Croix's hearing he returned,
+treading as stealthily as a tiger, and took up his place at the door to
+watch his prey. As Gaudin bent his head to watch the preparation more
+closely, the heat of the furnace melted the resin with which the string
+had been fastened. It gave way, and the mask fell on the floor, whilst
+the vapour of the poison rose full in his face almost before, in his
+eager attention, he was aware of the accident.
+
+"One terrible scream--a cry which, once heard, could never be
+forgotten--not that of agony, or terror, or surprise, but a shrill and
+violent indrawing of the breath, resembling rather the screech of some
+huge, hoarse bird of prey irritated to madness, than the sound of a
+human voice--broke from Gaudin's lips. Every muscle of his face was
+contorted into the most frightful form; he remained a second, and no
+more, wavering at the side of the furnace, and then fell heavily on the
+floor. He was dead."
+
+This terrible death-scene has found a perfect illustrator in John Leech.
+How admirable is the fiendish expression of the poisoner as he gloats
+over the body of his victim, which is drawn with a power and
+truthfulness altogether perfect! Every detail of the laboratory how
+skilfully introduced, how effectively rendered!
+
+The alchemist behaved on the occasion as might be expected.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+"He darted at the dead body like a beast of prey; and drew forth the
+bag of money, which he transferred to his own pouch. He next tore away
+every ornament of any value that adorned Gaudin's costly dress...."
+
+While at this congenial occupation, "the bristling halberts of the guard
+appeared.
+
+"'Back!' screamed Exili. 'Keep off, or I will slay you and myself, so
+that not one shall live to tell the tale! Your lives are in my hands,'
+continued the physician, 'and if you move one step forward they are
+forfeited.'
+
+"He darted through a doorway at the end of the room as he spoke, and
+disappeared. The guard pressed forward; but, as Exili passed out at the
+arch, a mass of timber descended like a portcullis and opposed their
+further progress. A loud and fiendish laugh sounded in the _souterrain_,
+which grew fainter and fainter, till they heard it no more."
+
+The poisoner escaped--for a time. He was captured afterwards, tried,
+and, of course, condemned to death--a merciful death compared with that
+which befell him on his way to execution at the hands of the infuriated
+people, by whom his guards were overpowered, and after being almost torn
+to pieces, he was thrown into the Seine.
+
+The toils were now closing round the miserable Marchioness de
+Brinvilliers. The wretched woman had reached the inconceivable condition
+of degradation said to be common to successful murderers when impunity
+has followed their first crimes--that of killing for killing's sake. She
+put on the clothes of a _religeuse_, attended the hospitals, and
+poisoned the patients. Their dying cries were music to her, their
+agonies afforded her the keenest pleasure. To the student of French
+criminal history this is no news. I note it here so that the historian
+of the woman's crimes should not be thought to have invented incidents
+that existed only in his imagination. Mr. Smith had the best authority
+for all the murders with which he charges Madame de Brinvilliers.
+
+The death of Sainte-Croix was followed by the usual police regulation
+where foul play is suspected. Seals were affixed to his effects, amongst
+which poisons were discovered that were proved to be the property of the
+Marchioness of Brinvilliers. The murderess, terror-stricken, fled from
+Paris; and, though hotly pursued, she escaped into Belgium, and sought
+refuge in a religious house, where she took "sanctuary." The pursuers
+were so near that, as she jumped from her carriage at the convent-door,
+she left her cloak in the hands of the exempt. She turned upon him, says
+the author, "with a smile of triumph that threw an expression of
+demoniac beauty over her features, and cried:
+
+"'You dare not touch me, or you are lost body and soul!'"
+
+I must again refer my reader to Mr. Albert Smith's book if he wishes to
+learn how the exempt, disguised as an abbe, beguiled the Marchioness
+from her sanctuary, and content myself with showing--or rather in
+letting Leech show--how she looked when the police-officer dropped his
+disguise and she found herself seized by his men.
+
+The details given by Mr. Albert Smith of the last hours of Madame de
+Brinvilliers are, though painful reading, very remarkable. The Docteur
+Pirot, who passed nearly the whole of his time at the Conciergerie, has
+left records of which the author has availed himself, as well as from
+the letters of Madame de Sevigne. Those who wish to "sup full of
+horrors" can satisfy themselves by reading the account of the torture by
+water which was inflicted upon the miserable woman to induce her to
+betray her accomplices. But there were none to betray. Her only
+accomplice was dead. Her sufferings on the rack very nearly cheated the
+headsman, for, as they culminated "in a piercing cry of agony, after
+which all was still, the graffier, fearing that the punishment had been
+carried too far, gave orders that she should be unbound." On her way to
+execution, she was attended by the constant Pirot. The tumbrel stopped
+before the door of Notre Dame, and a paper was put into her hands, from
+which she read, in a firm voice, a confession of her crimes. The tumbrel
+again advanced with difficulty through the dense crowds, portions of
+which, "slipping between the horses of the troops who surrounded it,
+launched some brutal remark at Marie with terrible distinctness and
+meaning; but she never gave the least sign of having heard them, only
+keeping her eyes intently fixed upon the crucifix which Pirot held up
+before her."
+
+In this drawing Leech's power over individual character may be noted in
+the diversity of type amongst the hooting crowd round the tumbrel. The
+shrinking form of the prisoner is very beautiful.
+
+When the Place de Greve was reached the execrations of the mob had
+ceased, and "a deep and awful silence" prevailed, "so perfect that the
+voices of the executioner and Pirot could be plainly heard," says the
+chroniclers. I pass over harrowing details. The beautiful head of the
+poisoner was struck off by a single sword-stroke, and the executioner,
+turning to Pirot, said:
+
+"'It was well done, monsieur, and I hope madame has left me a trifle,
+for I deserve it.'"
+
+He then "calmly took a bottle from his pocket and refreshed himself with
+its contents."
+
+If the short extracts from the history of this great criminal have
+enabled my readers more clearly to understand and enjoy Leech's
+illustrations, my object in selecting them has been realized.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+"A MAN MADE OF MONEY."--DOUGLAS JERROLD.
+
+
+Knowing that this extraordinary book was illustrated by John Leech, and
+hearing that it contained some of his best work, it became my duty to
+make a sufficient acquaintance with the book to enable me to criticise
+and explain the drawings to my readers. I tried "skimming," but the
+power of the book, and the brilliancy of the wit in it, so attracted me
+that I read the whole of it.
+
+It is not my province, and it is certainly not in my power, to pose as
+a critic of literary work; and the hero--the man made of money, with a
+heart made of bank-notes instead of flesh and blood, containing within
+himself a bank that could be drawn upon to any amount--is so wonderful a
+being as to place him out of the category of human creatures, and
+altogether beyond criticism. This gentleman's name was Jericho. He had
+waited till he was forty, and then he married a widow with three
+children; two of them were girls, the third a young gentleman of whom
+those who knew him best said, "He was born for billiards." There was no
+love lost between Mr. Jericho and his step-children; in fact, they
+cordially hated him, and he returned the compliment. Their name was
+Pennibacker, inherited from their father, Captain Pennibacker, whose
+loving wife "was made a widow at two-and-twenty by an East Indian
+bullet." Mr. Jericho was one of that large class which, though really
+needy, manoeuvres successfully to be considered wealthy. His
+step-children considered him as "a rich plum-cake, to be sliced openly
+or by stealth among them." The widow Pennibacker was first attracted to
+him by "a whispered announcement that he was a City gentleman. Hence
+Jericho appeared to the imagination of the widow with an indescribable
+glory of money about him."
+
+Mrs. Jericho desired to make a few purchases, and she approached her
+husband with a cry familiar to most of us:
+
+"'Mr. Jericho, when can you let me have some money?'"
+
+The lady's confidence in her husband's wealth ought to have been shaken
+by what followed her application. Mr. Jericho turned a deaf ear to the
+appeal, which was repeated in every variety of tone and accent.
+
+At length, "waving her right hand before her husband's face with a
+significant and snaky motion," she reiterated her demand with a terrible
+calmness:
+
+"'When can I have some money?'
+
+"'Woman!' cried Jericho vehemently, as though at once and for ever he
+emptied his heart of the sex; and, rushing from the room, he felt
+himself in the flattering vivacity of the moment a single man. 'I'm
+sure, after all, I do my best to love the woman,' thought Jericho, 'and
+yet she will ask me for money.'"
+
+Disgusted with these unreasonable demands for money, Mr. Jericho
+determines to revenge himself by taking a day's pleasure with three
+special friends, to be ended by "a quiet banquet at which the human
+heart would expand in good fellowship, and where the wine was above
+doubt."
+
+The dinner was a great success. It was very late--or rather somewhat
+early, as the sparrows were twittering from the eaves--when Mr. Jericho
+sought the marital couch, in which, too, his "wife Sabilla" was
+evidently "in a sound, deep, sweet sleep."
+
+"Untucking the bed-clothes, and making himself the thinnest slice of a
+man, Jericho slides between the sheets; and there he lies feloniously
+still, and he thinks to himself--Being asleep, she cannot tell how late
+I came to bed. At all events, it is open to dispute, and that is
+something.
+
+"'Mr. Jericho, when can you let me have some money?'
+
+"With open eyes, and clearly ringing every word upon the morning air,
+did Mrs. Jericho repeat this primal question.
+
+"And what said Jericho? With a sudden qualm at the heart, and with a
+stammering tongue, he answered:
+
+"'Why, my dear, I thought you were sound asleep.'"
+
+Here follows a dialogue in the vein of the "Caudle Lectures," in which
+Jerrold gives his wit and humour full play. To the perusal of the
+"give-and-take" passage of arms I cordially commend my readers. The
+dialogue closes with these words:
+
+"'I'm sure it's painful enough to my feelings, and I feel degraded by
+the question, nevertheless I must and will ask you--_When will you let
+me have some money?_'"
+
+This was the last straw, and Jericho groaned out:
+
+"'I WISH TO HEAVEN I WAS MADE OF MONEY!'"
+
+To which Mrs. Jericho retorted, "in a low, deep, earnest voice:
+
+"'I wish to Heaven you were!'"
+
+Silence came at last, and in the midst of it Jericho "subsided into
+muddled sleep; snoring heavily, contemptuously, at the loneliness of his
+spouse."
+
+And now _two fleas_--an elder and younger flea--come upon the scene, and
+proceed to dine, or sup, upon Mr. Jericho's brow.
+
+A long conversation ensues between these interesting creatures, in which
+the elder flea describes to his son how a man's heart was changed into
+inexhaustible bank-notes.
+
+"'Miserable race!' said the father flea, with his beautiful bright eye
+shining pitifully upon Jericho; 'miserable, craving race, you hear, my
+son! Man in his greed never knows when he has wherewithal. He gorges to
+gluttony; he drinks to drunkenness; and you heard this wretched fool who
+prayed to Heaven to turn him--heart, brain, and all--into a lump of
+money.'"
+
+How the operation was effected may be learnt from Mr. Jerrold's book.
+One result of it was a most troubled and miserable night to the dreamer
+Jericho, whose complaints to his wife when he awoke met with no
+sympathy.
+
+"'If I were to live a thousand years, I shouldn't forget last night!'
+groaned Jericho.
+
+"'Very likely not,' said Mrs. Jericho; 'I've no doubt you deserve to
+remember it. I shouldn't wonder----'"
+
+Mrs. Jericho's want of money is intensified by the wants of her son
+Basil, whose luck at billiards may have failed him just when his
+creditors were most pressing.
+
+"'Well, what does the old fellow say, the scaly old griffin? What's he
+got to answer for himself?'" This was "the sudden question put to Mrs.
+Jericho on her return to the drawing-room, after the interview with her
+husband. 'Come, what is it? Will he give me some money? In a word,'
+asked young hopeful, 'will he go into the melting-pot, like a man and a
+father?'
+
+"'My dear Basil, you mustn't ask me,' replied Mrs. Jericho.
+
+"'Oh, mustn't I, though!' cried Basil. 'Ha, you don't know the lot of
+people that's asking me; bless you, they ask a hundred times to my
+once!'"
+
+The Jerichos have some rich friends, the Carraways, who live in a
+mansion called Jogtrot Hall, "the one central grandeur, the boast and
+the comfort of the village of Marigolds." To a fete at the Hall comes an
+invitation to the Jerichos. It had always been Mrs. Jericho's ambition
+that her girls should--"in her own nervous words"--make a blow in
+marriage, and she felt that perhaps the time had come. But the girls'
+dresses--the "war-paint," as Mr. Basil put it--there was the difficulty,
+only to be surmounted by Mr. Jericho's yielding to the repeated cry,
+"When will you let me have some money?"
+
+With but faint hopes of success, Mrs. Jericho seeks her husband in his
+study. In a long colloquy, she urges the importance of her daughters'
+appearance at this "grand party," and the necessity for an advance to
+enable them to do so properly. Mr. Jericho turns a deaf ear to her
+appeal, till suddenly a wonderful change comes over him.
+
+"Quite a new look of satisfaction gleamed from his eyes, and his mouth
+had such a strange smile of compliance! What could ail him?"
+
+The charm was working, the marvellous change was in operation. Mrs.
+Jericho fears for her husband's sanity. "'He doesn't look mad,' thought
+Mrs. Jericho, a little anxious.
+
+"'I feel as if I had got new blood, new flesh, new bones, new brain!
+Wonderful!' Jericho trod up and down the room and snapt his fingers.
+'Something's going to happen,' said he."
+
+And something did indeed happen. The transformation was complete; the
+hard heart had given place to illimitable money.
+
+"'You will let me have the money?' repeated Mrs. Jericho.
+
+"Jericho answered not a word, but withdrew his hand from his breast.
+Between his finger and his thumb he held in silver purity a virgin Bank
+of England note for a hundred pounds. Mrs. Jericho ran delightedly off
+with the money.
+
+"And Jericho sat with his heart beating faster. Again he placed his hand
+to his breast, again drew forth another bank-note. He jumped to his
+feet, tore away his dress, and, running to a mirror, saw therein
+reflected, not human flesh, but over the region of the heart a loose
+skin of bank-paper, veined with marks of ink. He touched it, and still
+in his hand lay another note. His thoughtless wish had been wrought into
+reality. Solomon Jericho was in very truth a Man made of Money."
+
+The fete at Jogtrot Hall was a great success. The guests were many, and
+some of them distinguished. The Honourable Mr. Candytuft, Colonel Bones,
+Commissioner Thrush, and Dr. Mizzlemist, of Doctors' Commons, must be
+noted, as they have to be dealt with pictorially by Leech hereafter.
+After a variety of entertainments, some twenty or thirty hungry guests
+graced a table under a long, wide tent, on which "there were the most
+delicious proofs of the earth's goodness, with every kitchen mystery."
+The host, Mr. Carraway, took the head of the table; Mr. Jericho,
+"dignified and taciturn, graced the board." The orator on the occasion
+was Dr. Mizzlemist, who had been seized with a passion to drink
+everybody's health. For the third time he rose to give "the health of
+Solomon Jericho, Esquire, an honour to his country."
+
+"In the course of his speech the Doctor delivered himself with so much
+energy that at the same time he stuck the fork, which had served him in
+emphasizing the Jericho virtues, between the bones of Mr. Jericho's
+right hand, pinning it where it lay.
+
+"'It is nothing,' said the philosophic Jericho."
+
+The change in Mr. Jericho's appearance, from the full-faced,
+healthy-looking individual of Leech's first drawing, to the spare,
+hollow-cheeked man at the banquet, is to be accounted for by the fact
+that, after each application to the strange bank established in Mr.
+Jericho's breast, his whole form shrinks; he becomes thinner and
+thinner, to the alarm of his tailor, who "says, as he measures the
+changed man:
+
+"'Six inches less round the body, as I'm a sinner! Six inches less, Mr.
+Jericho, and I last took your measure six weeks ago.'"
+
+At the Carraway fete the Misses Jericho made, and improved, the
+acquaintance of the Hon. Mr. Candytuft, and of an incredible idiot, Sir
+Arthur Homadod. The idiot was as beautiful as he was foolish; he was
+therefore handsome beyond the dreams of beauty. Whatever had taken the
+place of the mind in the baronet was impressed by Miss Agatha
+Pennibacker, and that virgin's heart being free, she lost it to Sir
+Arthur. The Hon. Mr. Candytuft, having an eye to the enormous fortune
+supposed to be possessed by Mr. Jericho, and being desirous to secure
+the portion of it that would of course fall to his step-daughter, made
+love to Miss Monica with considerable success.
+
+In the meantime the ladies wish to go to Court; in this they are
+encouraged by Candytuft; and, to enable them to make a proper figure
+there, costly jewels are required. To Candytuft and Jericho enter Mrs.
+J., "with a magnificent suite of jewels.
+
+"'Aren't they beautiful, my dear Solomon?' said she....
+
+"'You know, my dear,' said Mrs. Jericho, in her sweetest, most
+convincing voice, 'it would be impossible to go to Court without
+diamonds. One isn't dressed without diamonds.'
+
+"'Court!' Jericho opened his eyes, and a wan smile broke on his thin,
+blank cheek. 'Are you going to Court?'
+
+"'Why, of course--are we not, dear Mr. Candytuft? What would be thought
+of us if we did not pay our homage to----'
+
+"The sentence was broken by the sudden appearance of Monica and Agatha,
+each bearing a jewel-case, and looking radiant with the possession.
+
+"'Thank you, dear papa,' said Monica, curtseying and smiling her best to
+Jericho.
+
+"'They're beautiful. Thank you--dear, dearest papa,' cried the more
+impulsive Agatha.
+
+"'Look!' said Monica, and she exhibited her treasure.
+
+"'Look!' cried Agatha, and she half dropped upon one knee, on the other
+side, to show her jewels.
+
+"'Beautiful!' cried Candytuft. 'Pray, ladies, don't stir.'
+
+"The girls, with pretty wonder on their faces, kept their positions on
+either side of Jericho.
+
+"'My dear madam'--and Candytuft appealed to Mrs. Jericho--'is not this
+a delightful group--an exquisite family picture? It ought to be
+painted.'"
+
+[Illustration: _A Family Picture._]
+
+Mr. Candytuft is right. The graceful figures of the girls, the
+attenuated figure of papa, in whose hopeless expression one sees the
+dread of further attenuation, together with his own perfect presentment,
+would make--indeed, does make--an admirable picture. The jewels cost one
+thousand pounds: ten calls have to be made upon the supernatural bank.
+They are made, and the jeweller is paid. And the result! For some
+minutes after the departure of the tradesman Jericho sat motionless--all
+but breathless. He would, however, know his fate. He took out the silk
+lace with which an hour ago he had measured his chest. Again he passed
+it round his body. He had drawn upon the bank, and he had shrunk an
+inch.
+
+Truly he was a man made of money--money was the principle of his being,
+for with every note he paid away a portion of his life.
+
+Poor Mr. Carraway was ruined through no fault of his own. Jogtrot Hall
+was sold, and Jericho bought it. Thirty thousand pounds' worth of flesh
+had he sacrificed to buy to himself a country mansion. He had become a
+member of Parliament, and at the same time become so thin that his
+tailor declared, "It's like measuring a penknife for a sheath." "Why,"
+said the tailor to his wife, "he isn't a man at all, but a cotton-pod.
+He can't have no more stomach than a 'bacco-pipe." In fact, it was the
+growing belief of a large circle that Jericho was no flesh, no man, at
+all. "He was made up of coats," ran the rumour, "like an onion."
+
+The insolence that is sometimes the accompaniment of great riches took
+full possession of Mr. Jericho, and he found an occasion to treat
+Colonel Bones to a specimen of it. Almost without provocation the
+Colonel was called "a toad-eater! a bone-picking pauper!" etc. For this
+insult the Colonel declared he would have Mr. Jericho's blood, and in
+pursuance of that object he sent the millionaire a challenge. Jericho
+fought very hard to avoid fighting, but his second, Mr. Candytuft,
+prevailed, and the belligerents met in Battersea Fields. Mr.
+Commissioner Thrush waited upon the angry Colonel, and the celebrated
+Dr. Dodo was there to attend to the wounded. The seconds confer; the men
+are placed. Candytuft looked at them with an eye of admiration. The
+signal was given.
+
+"Colonel Bones fires, and his ball goes clear through Jericho's bosom,
+knocking off a button in its passage, and striking itself flat against a
+pile of bricks."
+
+"'A dead man!' cried the doctor, running to Jericho.
+
+"'My friend,' exclaimed Candytuft, 'have you made your will?'
+
+"'Eh? What's the matter?' said Jericho.
+
+"'Matter!' exclaimed Dr. Dodo, and he pointed his cane to the hole in
+the front of Jericho's coat, immediately over the region of his heart.
+'Matter! It's the first time I ever heard a man with a bullet clean
+through his breast ask--What's the matter!'"
+
+The Colonel's ball had passed through Jericho's bank-note-paper breast,
+and Jericho lived and moved and was none the worse for it. Jericho fired
+in the air.
+
+An ugly atmosphere was collecting about Mr. Jericho, and he was aware of
+it. "His own family saw in him a man of mysterious attributes. Monica
+turned pale at the smallest courtesy of her parent, and Agatha, suddenly
+meeting him on the staircase, squealed and ran away as from a fiend.
+
+"Mr. Jericho went on a rejoicing conqueror. His huge town mansion,
+burning with gold--massive, rich, and gorgeous; for the Man of Money was
+far the most substantial, the most potent development of his creed,
+whereby to awe and oppress his worshippers----"
+
+Mrs. Jericho had made up her mind that it was time her daughters were
+"settled in life, and she said as much to her husband."
+
+"'Your girls, my dear, have my free permission to settle when and where
+they like,' said the husband.
+
+"But in sounding Mr. Jericho as to his intentions in the matter of
+settlements, she could make no way whatever. At last she put the
+point-blank question:
+
+"'What do you propose to give the dear child?' (alluding to Monica, for
+whose hand Candytuft was about to ask).
+
+"'Give! I'll give a magnificent party on the occasion.'
+
+"'But the dowry; what dowry do you give?'
+
+"'Dowry! I thought, my dear, you observed marriage was no bargain? Why,
+you're making it quite a ready-money transaction!'"
+
+At this point the conversation was interrupted by Mr. Candytuft, who,
+before advocating his own case, warmly espoused that of his foolish
+friend, Sir Arthur Homadod, the accepted of Agatha.
+
+"'He's as bashful as--as--upon my life I am at a loss for a simile. And
+as he and I are old friends, and as he knew that I should see you--in
+fact, he's in the house at this moment, and came along with me--he
+desired me to inform you that Miss Agatha had consented to fix
+the--the--what d'ye call it--the happy day.'
+
+"'Wish them joy,' said Jericho.
+
+"'As to the young lady's dowry?' hesitated Candytuft.
+
+"'I can't give a farthing; can't afford it, my dear Candytuft.'"
+
+The ambassador then speaks for himself:
+
+"'You may have remarked my affection for Miss Monica? You must have
+remarked it?'
+
+"'I beg a thousand pardons,' said the wag Jericho, 'but it has quite
+escaped me.'
+
+"Candytuft wanly smiled.
+
+"'In a word, my dear sir, we have come to the sweet conclusion that we
+were made for one another.'
+
+"'Dear me! Well, how lucky you should have met!'"
+
+Mr. Candytuft beats about the bush for awhile, but at last comes
+abruptly to the point, saying:
+
+"'I _must_ ask--you force me to be plain--what will you give with the
+young lady?'
+
+"'Not a farthing!' cried Jericho. 'Not one farthing!' said the man of
+money with determined emphasis.
+
+
+"'What is the matter?' said Mrs. Jericho, who entered the room at this
+juncture.
+
+"'Pooh! you know well enough,' cried Jericho. 'Mr. Candytuft wants to
+marry rich; but that's not all--he wants to be handsomely paid for the
+trouble.'"
+
+After awhile Jericho affects to agree to dower his step-daughter, and he
+says:
+
+"'Let us settle the sum, eh! Well, then, what sum would satisfy you?'"
+
+It was a delicate question to put thus nakedly.
+
+"'Come, name a figure. Say five thousand pounds.'"
+
+Candytuft looked blankly at Jericho, moving not a muscle.
+
+"'What do you say to seven?'
+
+"Candytuft gently lifted his eyebrows, deprecating the amount.
+
+"'Come, then, we'll advance to ten?'
+
+"The lover's face began to thaw, and he showed some signs of kindly
+animation.
+
+"'At a word, then,' cried Jericho with affected heartiness, 'will you
+take fifteen thousand?'
+
+"'From you--yes,' cried Candytuft; and he seized Jericho's hand.
+
+"The man of money looked at Candytuft with a contemptuous sneer, and
+with a wrench twisted his hand away. He then dropped into a chair, and a
+strange, diabolical scowl possessed his countenance. The man of money
+looked like a devil.
+
+"'And where--where do you think this money is to come from? Where?'
+asked Jericho, and he rose from his chair, and it seemed as though the
+demon possessing him would compel the wretch to talk--would compel him
+to make terrible revelations. Each word he uttered was born of agony.
+But there he stood, forced to give utterances that tortured him. 'I will
+tell you,' roared Jericho, 'what this money is. Look about you! What do
+you see?--fine pictures, fine everything. Why, you see me--tortured,
+torn, worked up, changed. The walls are hung with my flesh--my flesh you
+walk upon. I am worn piecemeal by a hundred thieves, but I'll be shared
+among them no longer.'"
+
+By this time the girls and Sir Arthur Homadod, alarmed by the cries of
+Jericho, had entered the room.
+
+"'And you had a fine feast, had you not?' cried the possessed man of
+money, writhing with misery and howling his confession. 'And what did
+you eat?--my flesh. What did you drink?--my blood!'"
+
+It would be impossible to imagine a more satisfactory realization of
+this powerful scene than Leech's rendering of it. The shrinking figure
+of Candytuft as he retreats before the fury of the moneyed man; the
+awful passion of the shrivelled Jericho; above all, the vacuous
+expression of Sir Arthur, all are done to perfection and without
+exaggeration. Beyond the endeavour to make the meaning of the
+illustrations in the "Man made of Money" clear to my readers, I have
+little or nothing to do with the story. I may note, however, that young
+Basil Pennibacker falls in love with Bessy, the pretty daughter of the
+ruined merchant Carraway, and that bold bankrupt, who is about to seek a
+new fortune at the Antipodes, calls upon Jericho to ask his consent to
+his stepson's marriage. How the announcement of the engagement was
+received may be imagined, or if my reader be not satisfied with his idea
+of what may have taken place, he can read in Mr. Jerrold's book how Mr.
+Carraway was met by his old friend. He will also find an illustration of
+an interview between "The Pauper and the Man of Money," but as I do not
+think it quite worthy of Leech, I do not reproduce it. I may as well add
+that Basil--who turns out to be a very good fellow--does marry Bessy,
+and the happy pair, with the parent pair of Carraways, depart for
+Australia in the good ship _Halcyon_.
+
+Mr. Jericho's explosion, and his unpleasant conduct
+generally--especially regarding Monica's dowry--had altered Mr.
+Candytuft's matrimonial intentions for the present: there were delays.
+"He had suddenly discovered some dormant right to some long-forgotten
+property, and he meant to secure that, and lay it as an offering at the
+feet of his bride." How the foolish Sir Arthur agreed to marry Agatha
+without a dowry, to the intense delight of Jericho--how splendid
+preparations for the wedding were made--how the wedding-party, Jericho
+included, waited at the church for the bridegroom, who never came (he
+had overslept himself in consequence of an overdose of medicine taken to
+steady his nerves)--for these details my reader is again referred to Mr.
+Jerrold, who describes the whole most enjoyably. Leech draws the baronet
+awakened by his servant, but too late: the canonical hour has passed. A
+report was spread that Sir Arthur had taken poison to avoid the Jericho
+connection.
+
+Just at this time Mr. Jericho was offered a most satisfactory
+mortgage--so any way there was land for his money--no less than
+five-and-forty thousand pounds, by his friend the Duke of St. George.
+
+Jericho lent the money, in the hope of climbing into the House of Lords
+with the assistance of the Duke; but this last drain upon his resources,
+with its penalty of attenuation, had left very little of him to go
+anywhere.
+
+"He had shrunk," says the author. "How horribly he had dwindled, how
+wretchedly small he had become! Ay, how small! He would measure himself,
+he would know the exact waste. Whereupon Jericho took the silken cord
+and passed it round his breast. Why, it would twice encircle him--twice!
+and a piece to spare. With horror and loathing he flung the cord into
+the fire. He would never again take damning evidence against himself."
+
+It became evident to Jericho that, if he desired to retain enough of his
+person to enable his friends and relations to recognise him, the drain
+upon the chest notes must cease.
+
+"He would, therefore, not draw another note--no, not another. He would
+live upon what he had. He would turn the foolish superfluities about him
+into hard, tangible money."
+
+Bent upon turning everything belonging not only to himself, but to his
+wife and daughters, into cash, he sent for Mrs. Jericho.
+
+"The trembling wife had scarcely power to meet the eyes of her
+helpmate. In two days twenty years seemed to have gathered upon him. His
+face looked brown, thin, and withered as last year's leaf. His whole
+body bent and swayed like a piece of paper moved by the air. As he held
+his hand aloof, the light shone through it. It was plain there was some
+horrid compact between her lord and the infernal powers, or--it was all
+as one--the tyranny of conscience had worn him to his present condition.
+
+"'Mrs. Jericho, madam, you will instantly bring me all your
+diamonds--jewellery--all. Give like orders to your daughters, the
+mincing harpies that eat me.'"
+
+The terrified woman remonstrated, asked for an explanation, offered to
+send for the doctor.
+
+"'Away with you! do as I command. Bring me all your treasures--all. And
+your minxes! See that they obey me too, and instantly.'
+
+"'Yes, my love, to be sure,' said Mrs. Jericho, for she was all but
+convinced that Solomon's reason was gone or going. It was best to humour
+him. 'And why, my love, do you wish for these things? Of course you
+shall have them, but why?'
+
+"'To turn them into money, madam,' cried Jericho, rubbing his hands.
+'We have had enough of the tomfoolery of wealth--I now begin to hunger
+for the substance. I'll do without fashion. I'll have power,
+madam--power!'"
+
+The conversation continued, and Mrs. Jericho became more and more
+convinced that her husband was mad.
+
+"'Oh that Dr. Stubbs would make a morning call!' silently prayed the
+wife."
+
+The man of money, having determined to dismantle his house and send his
+wife and daughters adrift, retired with one servant, all the rest being
+discharged, into "one of his garrets, a den of a place," where the
+scullion had slept. The servant was the pauper grandfather of one of his
+footmen, an old man of "congenial weakness with Jericho. Indeed, there
+looked between them a strange similitude, twin brethren damned to the
+like sordidness, the like rapacity."
+
+Jericho had nicknamed the old man Plutus. Jericho and Plutus were in
+face and expression as like as two snakes.
+
+Mrs. Jericho, assured of her husband's madness, took counsel with her
+friends. Drs. Stubbs and Mizzlemist, Colonel Bones, Commissioner Thrush,
+and Candytuft met in conclave and listened to Mrs. Jericho's account of
+her husband's ravings; but she failed to convince the doctors that what
+a jury would consider insanity, was apparent in anything that the man of
+money had said or done. As Dr. Mizzlemist delivered this opinion, a
+crash was heard in an adjoining room--another, and another, and then a
+loud triumphant laugh from the throat of Jericho.
+
+Wife and daughters, with jury of friends, started to their feet.
+Candytuft, ere he was aware--for had he reflected "a moment, he would as
+soon have unbarred a lion's cage--opened the doors. And there stood
+Jericho, laden with spoil."
+
+Though Mr. Jericho was voted sane by the doctors, his conduct displayed
+a brutality for which madness would be the only excuse. The Jews were
+coming, everything was to be sold.
+
+"'Why stay you here?' cried the man of money to his wife. 'Why will you
+not be warned? In a few hours there will not be a bed for your fine
+costly bones to lie upon. Now will you depart?'"
+
+The Jews wandered about the rooms, appraising everything. Jericho was
+anxious to avoid a "public hubbub," as he called a sale.
+
+"'I want,' said he to the brokers, 'at a thought, to melt all you see,
+and have seen, into ready money. Take counsel together, I say, and make
+me an offer, a lumping offer, for the whole--eh?'"
+
+[Illustration: "_And there stood Jericho._"]
+
+The man of money ascended to his garret and awaited the Jews' offer,
+which was promised for the evening. He was alone, "evening closed in,
+and the moon rose and looked reproachfully at the miser."
+
+The garret door opened, and Plutus appeared.
+
+"'Well, has it come?' cried the master.
+
+"'Here it is,' answered the servant, as he laid a letter upon the table.
+
+"'Well, now for their conscience!' exclaimed the man of money."
+
+Light was required; there was a candle upon the table, and paper
+prepared to light it.
+
+"Most precious paper--the heart's flesh and blood of the man of money!
+For the devilish serving-man had folded a note (how obtained can it
+matter?)--a note peeled from the breast of his master, a piece of money,
+a part of the damned Jericho sympathizing with him.
+
+"The man of money took the paper--the devil, with his ear upturned,
+crept closer to the door--and thrust it amidst the dying coals. A
+moment, and the garret is rent as with a lightning flash.
+
+"Yelling, and all on fire, the man of money falls prostrate with hell
+in his face. Then his lips move, but not a sound is heard. And the fire
+communicated by the sympathy of the living note--the flesh of his
+flesh--like a snake of flame glides up his limbs, devouring them. And so
+he is consumed: a minute, and the man of money is a thin black paper
+ash. Now the night wind stirs it, and now a sudden breeze carries the
+cinereous corpse away, fluttering it to dust impalpable."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+ALBERT SMITH AND LEECH.
+
+
+In July, 1851, a new work appeared, under the name and title of the
+_Month_: "a View of Passing Subjects and Manners, Home and Foreign,
+Social and General, by Albert Smith and John Leech." The publication was
+a serial one--monthly, in fact; and as it contained many amusing skits
+by Albert Smith, and much of Leech's best work, notice of it is
+incumbent upon a writer of Leech's life.
+
+Eighteen fifty-one, as everybody knows, was the year of the Great
+Crystal Palace Exhibition in Hyde Park. I well remember visiting the
+huge glass building in February, 1851, in company with Dickens and Sir
+Joseph Paxton. Dickens was wrapped in furs, and we shivered through the
+place, which was only partially roofed; and seemed altogether so far
+from completion as to cause great doubts in our minds of the possibility
+of its being ready for its contents by the first of May.
+
+I put the question to Paxton, and his reply was:
+
+"I _think_ it will; but, mind, I don't _say_ it will."
+
+Paxton's thought was justified; for the Exhibition was opened by the
+Queen in great state at the date fixed, though many of its intended
+exhibits were still to come.
+
+I confess I shared the foolish dread that the opening would be so
+crowded as to be very uncomfortable, if not dangerous, to sight-seers;
+and I therefore declined to accompany my brother, who was braver than I;
+and sorry enough I was when I found that the panic had been so universal
+as to enable the few courageous visitors to have the show, as my brother
+expressed it, "all to themselves."
+
+The first number of the _Month_ appeared in July, 1851, and the last
+was issued towards the close of that year. It seems to have been the
+intention of the authors to have taken typical young ladies, and, under
+the heading of "Belles of the Month," have used them as prefixes to each
+monthly part. Unfortunately, I think this idea was only partially
+carried out. True, we have Belles of the Park, and Belles of the Ball,
+and one or two Belles of the Month, so charmingly done by Leech as to
+make it a matter of surprise that such great attractions were not more
+frequently admitted to the paper.
+
+The literary portion which begins the _Month_ is very Albert Smithian
+indeed. In proof, I quote some of his description of "The Hyde Park
+Belle":
+
+"The charming young lady introduced to me," says Mr. Smith, "was of
+middling stature, with oval face, chestnut hair, dark eyes, and very
+white and regular teeth. She had on a white transparent bonnet, and
+light muslin dress all _en suite_. In answer to my questions, she
+replied as follows:
+
+"'I shall be nineteen in August, and have been out two years and a
+half. Have I ever been engaged? Only once, and that was broken off
+because I went on a drag to Richmond with the officers of the --th. Lady
+Banner was inside--it was all perfectly proper. She is a very nice
+woman--always ready to chaperone anybody anywhere if her share is paid.
+Only sometimes she bores one dreadfully. Edmund went to India. I don't
+know where he is now; I have not heard. I dare say he is somewhere. He
+bored me dreadfully at last. I work very hard--oh, very hard
+indeed!--that is, in the season. My maid always sits up to make tea for
+me when I come home. Her hours are very regular, considering. She goes
+to bed every morning about four; but, then, she doesn't have to dance
+half the night. Yes; I like the Crystal Palace. Oh! I get so tired
+there--walking, and walking, and walking, you can't think how far! I
+know the Crystal Palace fountain and Dent's clock, and the stuffed
+animals and the envelope-machine. I don't think I have seen anything
+else; I have never been out of the nave and the transept--nobody goes
+anywhere else. I did not know that there was anything to see upstairs,
+except large carpets. I am sure they would bore me dreadfully. We are
+engaged every night.... We had scarcely time to dress for the Grapnels'
+dinner-party; and then we went to Mrs. Crutchley's, to meet the Lapland
+Ambassador. We could not get into the room, and stood for two hours on
+the landing. Old Mr. Tawley was there, and would keep talking to me; he
+always bores me dreadfully. He is going to take mamma and me to see some
+pictures somewhere. I hate seeing pictures; they bore me dreadfully.
+After Lady Crutchley's, we went to Mrs. Croley's amateur concert, which
+was nearly over. She had only classical music. I don't know what
+classical music is; I only know it bores me dreadfully. Ashton Howard
+says the same people who like classical music buy old china and wear
+false hair. I wish people would give up classical music. It never amuses
+anybody--that is, anybody worth amusing. I don't know whether "The
+Huguenots" is classical music or not; I only know that when they give it
+at the Royal Italian Opera nobody seems bored _then_. I don't know that
+I am exactly.'"
+
+Whether in these boxes full of beauties one amongst them is intended by
+Leech to personate Mr. Smith's "dreadfully bored" young lady, I cannot
+say. Certainly there is not one who seems in the condition described as
+not being "exactly bored."
+
+The Belle of Hyde Park continues:
+
+"'I go into the Park every day with mamma, but it bores me dreadfully.
+I see nothing but the same people, and I know all the trees and rails by
+heart. I ride sometimes; I like it better than the carriage. But papa
+don't ride very often; and if he don't I can't, except with the
+Pevenseys and their brothers. John Pevensey is very stupid, and talks to
+me about farming. I get very tired; but I am obliged to go, because the
+Pevenseys know so many receivable people. But they bore me dreadfully;
+in fact, I don't know who or what does not. I long for the season to be
+over; and when I go into the country, I long for it to begin again. I
+wish I could do as I pleased, like Marshall--that's my maid--when she
+has a holiday. She is going to marry the man at the hairdresser's; and
+last Sunday they went down all by themselves to Gravesend. I see mamma's
+face if Ashton Howard was to propose to take me to Gravesend next
+Sunday, and without Lady Banner! I wish sometimes I was Marshall. Now
+and then I would give a good deal for a good cry. I can't tell you
+why--I don't know; only that everything is a trouble, and bores me
+dreadfully.'"
+
+In reply to further inquiries from Mr. Smith, the young lady tells him
+what she pays for her satin shoes, which are worn out after two parties.
+Does she have her gloves cleaned?
+
+"'Certainly; but not for evening parties--the men's coats blacken them
+in an instant. They do very well for the opera and evening
+concerts--nothing else. The Pevenseys wear cleaned gloves. Everybody
+knows it; and Ashton Howard always asks out loud if a camphine-lamp has
+gone out when they come into the room. You can get a nice bouquet for
+five or six shillings. Old Mr. Rigby, in the Regent's Park, told me I
+might cut any flowers from his conservatory. But I don't care for
+that--I would sooner buy them; he bores me dreadfully.'"
+
+It cannot be denied that ugliness has reached its climax in men's dress
+of the present day. It would be extremely difficult to find a garment
+more hideous than a dress-coat; and it is impossible for any
+head-covering to exceed the stove-pipe hat in ugliness, to say nothing
+of inconvenience and detestable uncomfortableness.
+
+These sentiments were fully shared by one of the _Month's_
+correspondents, a gentleman named Simmons, who "emerged from his
+residence at Islington" on the day of the opening of the Great
+Exhibition with the intention of showing to the multitudes who were
+expected to attend that ceremony the kind of hat that should depose, at
+once and for ever, the detestable chimney-pot.
+
+"It was, in fact," says the bold reformer, "merely a wide-brimmed,
+flat-crowned wideawake, to which I thought a feather--in these days of
+foreign immigration--would not be an out-of-the-way addition. I had
+contemplated my own features beneath it in as much variety of light and
+shadow as I could obtain from my shaving-glass for half an hour
+preceding my departure, and had arrived at such a satisfactory
+conclusion as to its effect, that I regarded myself as a sort of modern
+William Tell, about to release my country, by a bold example, from an
+oppressive and degrading subjection to a detested hat."
+
+A love of change is said to be inherent in human nature; but attacks
+upon custom--indeed, innovations of all kinds--are usually futile unless
+very special conditions attend the attempts. If the famous hat invented
+by a Royal Prince was received with overwhelming ridicule, as my older
+readers will remember that it was; a less melancholy fate could scarcely
+be expected for the wideawake and feather of the little gentleman from
+Islington.
+
+"My appearance in the street certainly created a sensation," says Mr.
+Simmons; "but it was one exceedingly mortifying to my feelings. Omnibus
+drivers winked at each other, and pointed at me with their whips.
+Occasionally a stray boy would indulge in personal observations, or a
+grown-up ragamuffin would sputter out an oath, and burst into a horse
+laugh, which to my mind appeared totally unwarranted by the
+circumstances of the case."
+
+The managers of the _Month_ very wisely placed this etching in the front
+of their first number. In all respects Leech is here seen at his best.
+The figure of the poor little victim of reform, the street-boys and
+their surroundings, are all unsurpassable; while to an artist the
+composition of the figures and the arrangement of light and shadow are
+excellent.
+
+After escaping from the attentions of Leech's inimitable Arabs, Mr.
+Simmons reaches Hyde Park to find fresh troubles. The feathered
+wideawake creates a sensation, but not of the kind that its wearer
+expected; he was asked where "he bought it," and "if he would sell it";
+"if he made it himself"; and if he had "another at home like it to spare
+for a friend," and so on. The "air of unconsciousness" that the reformer
+assumed irritated his assailants, whose "offensive remarks and insolent
+mirth" were soon exchanged for attentions more uncomfortable.
+
+[Illustration: _Mr. Simmons's attempt at Reform._]
+
+Says Mr. Simmons: "A bright flash of practical jocularity suddenly
+illumined the mind of an original genius, who at once carried it into
+effect by casting at my decided article of costume a large tuft of
+grass, which struck me on the back of my neck, broke into dry dirt, and
+raised a perfect roar of delight at my expense." Instead of patiently
+enduring this assault, as a prudent man would have done when surrounded
+by enemies, the valiant Simmons turned upon his assailant, "and struck
+the wit a severe blow in the face." That was a death-blow to the
+picturesque hat, which "afforded some slight sport as a football for a
+few moments, and then vanished and was seen no more."
+
+It will be seen by the quotations that the literary portion of the
+_Month_ is of the slight character--though sometimes clever and
+amusing--to which so much of Leech's work has been allied. A sketch,
+entitled "Home from the Party," gives occasion for the accompanying
+drawing by Leech of a young gentleman who has "danced all night till the
+broad daylight," "and gone home" by himself "in the morning." On his
+journey a brougham overtakes him, containing "the handsome dark girl
+with the clematis and fuchsia wreath, looking pale and pretty, with a
+pocket-handkerchief over her head cornerwise, held together at the chin.
+We think about that brougham-girl till she is out of sight, and wonder
+if we appeared to the best advantage as she passed. We don't much think
+we did. One of the springs of our hat was out of order, and we were
+carrying our gloves in our hand, crumpled up to the size of a walnut, as
+though we were going to conjure with them; and we were blinking as we
+met the sun at the corner, and holding a seedy bouquet in our hand,
+which evidently she had not given us."
+
+The remarks, conversations, comments, and so forth, that generally
+accompany Leech's drawings were invariably his own composition, and in
+their humorous aptness are almost as admirable as the drawings they
+explain. In illustration I note a design under the heading of "Moral
+Courage."
+
+  "SCENE--_A Station of the Shoeblack Brigade_.
+
+  "FIRST BOY: 'Here's another swell, Bill, a-coming to be blacked.'
+
+  "SECOND BOY: 'Ooray!'
+
+  "THIRD BOY: 'Ain't his boots thin neither?'
+
+  "FOURTH BOY: 'Wouldn't they pinch my toes if I had 'em? Oh my!'
+
+  "FIFTH BOY: 'They don't pinch his'n.'
+
+  "SIXTH BOY: 'Yes, they do.'
+
+  "FIRST BOY: 'Go easy, Blacky; mind his corns.' (_Swell winces_.) 'That
+  was a nasty one.'
+
+  "(_The comments are extended from the swell's boots to his costume and
+  appearance generally. And all this for a penny_)."
+
+Mr. Thackeray's "Four Georges" are, no doubt, familiar to my readers,
+some of whom may also remember his delivery of them in the form of
+lectures to large audiences. In that great writer's early time he wrote
+many essays, art-criticisms, etc., under the name of "Michael Angelo
+Titmarsh," and it is under that title that he is represented in the
+drawing by his friend Leech, as he appeared at Willis's Rooms "in his
+celebrated character of Mr. Thackeray."
+
+In the _Month_, Mr. Albert Smith makes Leech's drawing a peg upon which
+he hangs some justly complimentary remarks on the Thackeray lectures
+which took the town by storm forty years ago.
+
+Whether the "Belle of Hyde Park" or the "Belle of the Ball" is to be
+considered the belle of the _Month's_ July issue is left in doubt; but
+there is no doubt whatever about the claim of the pretty creature (who,
+accompanied by an extremely plain and dissolute-looking cavalier in the
+costume of Charles II.'s time, enters an imaginary ball-room) to a
+loveliness that it would be difficult to surpass, as the drawing amply
+proves.
+
+This cut is accompanied by some verses which appear to me quite
+unreadable; I therefore spare my readers from the infliction of any of
+them.
+
+The frontispiece to the _Month_ for August is an etching by Leech of
+singular beauty, called "Charade Acting." I have looked in vain through
+the letter-press for any explanation of this charade, so I suppose the
+meaning is purposely left for discovery to the intelligence of the
+observer. It represents the clever performance of Mr. Smiley and Miss
+Corgy.
+
+Mr. Smiley evidently represents a valorous knight--else why that
+dish-cover shield, that saucepan helmet, that long surcoat of nightshirt
+in the place of mail? The knight has armed himself further with sword
+and lance (sword of any period, lance a roasting-spit). Those warlike
+preparations must have been made in defence of that delicious girl
+leaning over the back of the ancient chair. Is she supposed to be a
+distressed damsel leaning from her prison-window and listening to Mr.
+Smiley's vows of liberating her or dying in the attempt? If so, where is
+the word that will express as much? Not in the brain of the stout old
+gentleman who is fast asleep amongst the audience, nor in that of the
+pretty little girl who sits in front of him apparently wondering why
+people should be "so silly." The lady who tries to hide a yawn with her
+fan has evidently "given it up," and the two lovely women near her are
+much in the same condition.
+
+Now we come to the belle of the month of August, who is riding with her
+papa in Kensington Gardens. An attempt was made--later, I think, than
+the Exhibition year--to extend Rotten Row into Kensington Gardens, and
+thus deprive pedestrians--notably children and nursemaids--of their
+promenades amongst the trees. For some months the equestrian habitues of
+Rotten Row careered in the Gardens, to the terror and danger of
+children, and the disturbance of many groups of soldiers and nursemaids.
+This usurpation created very strong opposition.
+
+I lived in the neighbourhood, and I accompanied a deputation to Sir
+Cornewall Lewis--then in power--with a view of impressing upon that
+Minister the desirability of rescinding the objectionable privilege
+which had been granted to the riders. We had some eloquent talkers, but
+their oratory seemed to me to make no impression upon Sir C. Lewis, who
+may have listened, but during the harangues he was always writing
+letters, and no sooner was one finished than he began another; and we
+left him without an intimation of our success or failure. But what is
+certain is, that within a week of our interview the equestrians
+disappeared--I hope for ever--from Kensington Gardens. Leech being a
+constant rider, both spoke and drew in favour of the new ride. Drawings
+may be found in the _Punch_ series in which he laughs at the opponents
+of the horses in the Gardens, and I remember his indignation when I told
+him of our deputation and its successful issue.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELLE OF THE MONTH--AUGUST--TAKING A "CONSTITUTIONAL"
+IN KENSINGTON GARDENS. TIME, 8 A.M.]
+
+Leech was never happier than in the infinite variety of his pictures
+of life at the seaside; his invention was inexhaustible, as numberless
+groups of seaside visitors engaged in the search of health or
+pleasure--from the small digger on the sands to the valetudinarian at
+the Spa--sufficiently prove. Never was he more delightful than in
+dealing with the charming lady bathers, one of whom plays the part of
+the _Month's_ "Belle of September."
+
+I think this picture might have inspired the poet of the _Month_, but
+his lyre is silent.
+
+"The Balcony Nuisance!" Without some explanation the drawing that
+follows this title would be perfectly incomprehensible. How, in the name
+of common-sense, of propriety, or of justice, can the word "nuisance" be
+applicable to the occupants of that balcony? Well, it is in this wise: A
+correspondent of the _Month_, who signs himself "Narcissus," lives in a
+suburban square, from which he indites a remarkable letter. According to
+"Narcissus," suburban squares are famous for the production of vast
+numbers of "single ladies." He calls his square a "realm of girldom,"
+the proportion of the belles being very great over the marriageable
+young men, and therefore they watch with keen eyes for any new
+flirtations. "And now," said he, "comes my complaint. I cannot call at
+any house where there are daughters but, the instant I knock, every
+balcony near me is filled with waves of rustling muslin, and a dozen
+pairs of bright eyes are on the _qui vive_ for every movement or
+expression. I need not say how annoying this is."
+
+[Illustration: THE BALCONY NUISANCE.]
+
+I see no trace of annoyance in the simpering buck who is the cynosure of
+all eyes in the drawing. Leech evidently saw through the affectation of
+annoyance, and depicted the Narcissus mind in its real condition of
+gratified conceit.
+
+The _Month's_ October issue contains a good deal of Leech's work. The
+number contains a "Belle of the Month," but she is so inferior in
+attractiveness to her sisters that I am ungallant enough to pass her by.
+I find, however, a pretty musical group entitled "Pestal." In 1851 Mr.
+Albert Smith says that Pestal, who was a Russian officer, was imprisoned
+for marrying without the consent of his Sovereign, and "cast for death."
+Of course, though, according to Mr. Smith, this unfortunate man may have
+been a "Pestal-ent person," we are not expected to believe the crime for
+which he was executed was only that of neglecting to ask the Czar's
+consent to his marriage. "On the eve of his execution, as he lay
+_ironed_, awaiting the next morning's _mangling_," continues the
+inveterate punster, "in a happy moment of enthusiasm, he composed the
+waltz that bears his name."
+
+The pretty music seems to have sentimentalized the handsome youth, and
+drawn him closer to the performer, who is one of those sweet creatures
+with whom the artist has made us so familiar. I cannot refrain from
+presenting my readers with an example of the _poetry_ that adorns the
+_Month_, so that they may be convinced of the propriety of giving them
+as little of it as possible. Forty-one verses, of which the two
+following are fair examples, accompany the drawing called Pestal:
+
+  "In London, as usual, last season I spent,
+     To Pocklington Square my notes were addressed all,
+   And wherever I rambled or wandered or went,
+     I was pestered with that horrid pest of a 'Pestal.'
+
+  "I thought this mysterious, moreover, and queer,
+     'Tis better at once that the truth be confest all--
+   That all through the city one word should appear,
+     And that word the incomprehensible 'Pestal.'"
+
+"The Great Dinner-Bell Nuisance" not only gives occasion for a capital
+drawing by Leech, but the title also heads a capital paper, in which the
+absurdity of the function, when there is not the least necessity for it,
+is well satirized. A retired lawyer named Watkins Brown lives in a
+village which contains at most 347 people, "in a comfortable sort of
+house in the Italian style, which he christened Somerford Villa." He has
+no children, and his establishment consists of five persons, Mrs. W. B.,
+Betsy, the cook, etc., including Buttons, the page. This boy, armed with
+a bell, is a nuisance to the neighbourhood; he performs upon it three
+times a day. "Now," says the indignant writer, "why does Buttons do
+this? Is it to echo back the sound that comes at the same hours from Sir
+Marmaduke Hamilton's, of Somerford Hall, and to impress people that
+Brown and Sir Marmaduke are the only gentlemen in the neighbourhood? It
+can't be to let Brown and his wife know that luncheon or dinner is
+ready, for in nine cases out of ten they are in the room when the cloth
+is laid. Again I ask, why does Buttons do this? If he is of opinion that
+his master is unaware it is time to dress for dinner, why doesn't he
+tell him so at once when he is in the room, instead of using such an
+absurd system of information? However, by six o'clock Brown and his wife
+are in the drawing-room, and Buttons seeing them there, and perceiving
+that they are just about to go to the dining-room, rushes out to the
+little court-yard, and then to the door of the miniature conservatory,
+and again commits the offence he had committed half an hour before. In
+the baby courtyard there are two dogs chained, and two other sporting
+dogs in a model of a kennel. Well, Buttons appears in the presence of
+the dogs with his great bell, and the sensible brutes, conscious of the
+pain they are about to endure, immediately set up a howl of quadruple
+agony, to which the bell tolls its awful accompaniment."
+
+Exactly fifty years ago I went on a portrait-painting tour into the
+country. Some sitters were promised to me, and I had hope, subsequently
+justified, that they would be the precursors of others. Amongst my
+patrons was a clergyman of aristocratic lineage; who, though he had
+inherited little in the shape of money, was possessed of certain tastes
+common to the upper ten, in which he could not afford to indulge; but
+amongst them was the dinner-bell, in which he did indulge, to the great
+annoyance of his neighbours. The Vicarage was an unpretending house with
+a small garden about it, in a small village; the inhabitants were
+chiefly Methodists, and the congregation at church was the smallest I
+ever saw.
+
+The Vicar was not popular; the villagers disliked what they called "his
+airs and graces," and they detested his dinner-bell. After sittings from
+the Vicar, he and I took occasional walks together, and one day, as we
+were passing a cobbler's shop, the proprietor of it, "a detestable
+little Radical Methodist," as the Vicar called him, appeared at his door
+with a huge bell in his hand; he stepped into the middle of the road,
+and, affecting not to see us, he rang it furiously.
+
+"Man! man!" cried the Vicar, "stop that! What are you making that
+dreadful noise for?"
+
+"Well, ye see," replied the cobbler, in the language of the county,
+"it's ma dinner-time, and aase joust ringin' mysen in, to a bit of berry
+pudden."
+
+I was so vividly reminded by the _Month's_ "Dinner-Bell Nuisance" of my
+early experience, that I could not resist my inclination to introduce it
+into what purports to be the life of John Leech, in which it has no
+business whatever to appear. Once more I apologize, and hope I may not
+be tempted to "do it again."
+
+Of all the Belles of the Month, the belle of the month November is
+perhaps the most lovable. There she stands on Brighton Pier--stands,
+that is to say, as well as she can on those pretty feet of hers, against
+a wind that is so boisterously rude to her and to her mother, whose
+figure, blown out of shape, makes a striking contrast to her daughter's.
+The little dog declines to face the gale, which seems likely to carry
+him away altogether, as well as the struggling child behind. The touches
+of cloud and sea, together with the screaming gulls, are indicated with
+the facile skill peculiar to Leech.
+
+[Illustration: THE BELLE OF THE MONTH NOVEMBER "IN DISTRESS OFF A
+LEE-SHORE--BRIGHTON PIER."]
+
+In a paper headed "Hotels," Mr. Smith expatiates somewhat tediously on
+the "old-established house" of the "old coaching days." He says "the
+inmates of the coffee-room were mostly commercial travellers." Those
+gentlemen may have been permitted to use the coffee-room; but my
+recollection of such places tells me that the commercials always had a
+room of their own, specially provided for them.
+
+The writer goes on to tell us that "the commercial gents," on the
+occasion of his discovery of them in the coffee-room, "pulled off their
+boots--not a very delicate performance--before everybody; and then,
+after sitting over the fire, and drinking hot brown brandy and water
+until they were nearly at red heat, ordered 'a pan of coals,' and went
+to bed."
+
+Yes; and provided an excellent subject for Leech, worthy of being
+reproduced here, or anywhere, if only for that inimitable old
+chambermaid, who has lighted commercial gents to bed any time these
+forty years.
+
+Judging from the twist of the commercial's necktie as he follows, or
+rather staggers, after the ancient maid, the brown brandy has done its
+work; and it is ten to one against his carrying that box of patterns
+safely upstairs.
+
+One boot is successfully removed from commercial number two, and it
+will evidently not be the fault of the man who is struggling with the
+other if it does not follow suit.
+
+Let the observer note the marked difference in character in all these
+figures, as well as the skill and truth with which the details in the
+room are rendered.
+
+In 1851 Bloomerism was in full bloom, or rather the attempts of few
+foolish people to make it prevail amongst us were so persistent as to
+bring upon them attacks by pen and pencil.
+
+As I have already drawn attention to the craze, and to some examples of
+the way Leech dealt with it, I should have made no further allusion to
+the subject had I not found in the pages of the _Month_ drawings of such
+charm that, in justice to the magazine and my readers, I felt I must
+notice them.
+
+First, then, we have a Bloomer whip "tooling" her friends down to the
+races. If Bloomerism prevailed, this is the sight that Epsom might have
+seen in the year 1851, to say nothing of equestrian bloomers of whose
+horsewomanship Leech shows us examples.
+
+I think in my last selection from the _Month_ I might claim for myself
+a position resembling that of the pyrotechnic artist whose display of
+fireworks culminates in a glorious blaze in the last scene of his
+entertainment, if I were permitted to introduce it.
+
+My firework takes the form of a bouquet of young ladies at some
+"ancestral home" in the country, who have just received a box of books
+from London--perhaps from Mudie. What a bevy of beauties!--two of them
+already absorbed in the last new novel, while another makes off with an
+armful of treasures.
+
+When I say that this drawing--whether we regard it as a composition of
+figures and of light and shade, or as an example of Leech's supreme
+power over grace of action and beauty--is worthy of admiration for
+itself, and of our gratitude to the _Month_ for the opportunity of
+reproducing it, I fear no contradiction.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MR. ADAMS AND LEECH.
+
+
+In the pursuit of material for this memoir, I have had the good fortune
+to make the acquaintance of one of Leech's earliest and most constant
+friends, Mr. Charles F. Adams, of Barkway, Hertfordshire. This gentleman
+is the beau-ideal of a country squire--handsome, hale and hearty, though
+far past middle age.
+
+The letters I am privileged to publish show the terms on which the
+friends lived, and prove beyond a doubt that many of the hunting scenes
+which sparkle so brilliantly and so frequently in the pages of "Life and
+Character" owe their origin to the opportunities afforded to the artist
+by his friend.
+
+This long-continued intimacy commenced when the men were both young;
+and the very first development of Leech's taste for horses began with
+his acquaintance with Mr. Adams. It is told of that gentleman that,
+being the possessor of two horses, and being at that early time employed
+in business in London during the day, the night served him and Leech for
+a wild career, Adams driving his horses tandem-fashion far into the
+country, rousing sleepy toll-keepers and terrifying belated wayfarers,
+while Leech's watchful eye noted incidents for future illustration.
+
+That Leech could sing, and sing well, I know, for I have often heard him
+troll forth in a deep voice his favourite song of "King Death"; but that
+he had ever performed in public I was unaware till enlightened by Mr.
+Adams, who told me that it was a favourite and not infrequent prank of
+these two spirits to disguise themselves in imitation of
+street-musicians, and, with the assistance of a young fellow named
+Milburn, as wild as themselves, descend upon the London streets, and by
+singing glees make "a lot of money."
+
+"Leech used to go round with the hat," said Adams; "but we never could
+make the fellow look common enough. Still, he collected a good deal,
+though he failed on one occasion; for, on presenting his hat to a
+bystander, who had been an attentive listener, the man claimed exemption
+as being in 'the profession,' in proof of which he produced a fiddle
+from behind him."
+
+Barkway is in the heart of a hunting country, and the meets of the
+"Puckeridge" frequently took place near Mr. Adams' house, or at an easy
+distance from it. The house itself--a large mass of red brick, ivy,
+gables, and twisted chimneys--is one of those old places which have been
+enlarged to suit modern convenience without any sacrifice of the
+original design and quaint character.
+
+"Ah," said my host, as he showed me into his dining-room, "what happy
+times we have had in this room, when Leech, Millais, Lemon--editor of
+_Punch_, you know, long ago--Tenniel, and others, found themselves round
+that table!"
+
+The following letters, with their too few characteristic sketches, prove
+the affectionate intimacy between Leech and his friend.
+
+  "TO CHARLES F. ADAMS, ESQ.
+
+  "August 9, 1847.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"You will be glad to hear that I have got a little daughter, and that
+both mother and child are doing well. Mrs. Leech was taken ill,
+unfortunately, at the end of our trip to Liverpool--where, as perhaps
+you are aware, Dickens and some of us had been acting for Leigh Hunt's
+benefit--and she was confined at the Victoria Hotel, Euston Square,
+where she is now. I thought you would like to hear the news, so send off
+these few lines. Give my kindest regards to Mrs. Adams, and believe me,
+old boy,
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+In a letter written to Mr. Adams a week later, Leech recommends a young
+gentleman to the care of his friend, in the hope that if Mr. Adams has
+"the opportunity, he will give the applicant something to do in his
+profession." The letter closes by this announcement:
+
+"You will be glad to hear, I am sure, that Mrs. Leech, _and my
+daughter_! are both 'going on' famously.
+
+  "Ever, my dear Charley,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+"Given up hunting? Not a bit of it."
+
+
+  "January --, 1847.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"Mark (Lemon) and I were talking only the other day about beating up
+your quarters towards the end of this month; and, with your permission,
+if the frost goes, we intend to do so. We thought of riding down--I on
+the old mare; and he on a 'seven-and-sixpenny.'...
+
+"Is there anything in the shape of a good cob that could hunt if wanted
+down in your parts? Possibly I could get rid of the mare in the way of a
+chop. I have been riding a nearly thoroughbred mare for the last week on
+trial. A very nice thing, but too much in this way.
+
+"I want something more of this kind--a good one to go, and pleasant to
+ride.
+
+  "Yours ever faithfully,
+    "J. L."
+
+
+  "April 17, 1848.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+".... Old Mark and I were special constables on Monday last. You would
+have laughed to see us on duty, trying the area gates, etc., Mark
+continually finding excuses for taking a small glass of ale or brandy
+and water. Policeman's duty is no joke. I had to patrol about from ten
+at night till one in the morning, and heartily sick of it I was. It was
+only my loyalty and extreme love of peace and order that made me stand
+it....
+
+  "Ever yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+My elderly readers will bear in mind April 10, 1848, and the monster
+petition of the Chartists, which they were not allowed to present to
+Parliament in the threatening form they had arranged, with other
+alarming signs of that troubled time--the flight of Louis Philippe,
+Continental thrones tottering, and the rest of it.
+
+In his correspondence with Mr. Adams, Leech constantly reminds his
+friend of his objection to high-spirited horses. Under date February 18,
+1849, he asks Mr. Adams if he can hire "an 'unter from Ware."
+
+
+"I should prefer," he adds, "something like the old brown horse Mark
+had last year. If he comes, of course he must have the same nag he had
+when he was at Barkway; _but, mind_, I won't have a beast that pulls, or
+bolts, or any nonsense of the kind. I come out for pleasure, and not to
+be worried. Tell Mrs. Adams I shall not be half such an objectionable
+visitor as I have been heretofore, seeing that I have left off
+SMOKING!...
+
+"My very kind regards to Mrs. Adams, your little ones, and my good
+friends in your neighbourhood.
+
+  "Believe me, old fellow,
+    "Yours ever faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+  "February 7, 1850.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I am longing to see you, and have a ride across country with you. Do
+you think I could have the horse Mark Lemon had when he was down at
+Barkway? Or if I couldn't have that one, do you know of any other that
+would be equally TEMPERATE and WELL-BEHAVED? I have no horse at present.
+The last I had came down; and I am rather particular in consequence.
+
+"Give me a line, old fellow, and let me know when the hounds meet near
+you....
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+One of Mr. Adams' daughters, Charlotte, surnamed Chatty--then a small
+child, now a lady whose age is borne so well as to make it difficult to
+believe that she lived so long ago as 1850--whose acquaintance I had the
+pleasure of making the other day, told me of her frequent visits to the
+Leeches, and of the never-ceasing care and tenderness of Leech.
+
+In a letter from Broadstairs, written in the autumn of 1850 to Mr.
+Adams, Leech says:
+
+"You will be glad to hear that Chatty is as well as possible, and is now
+going to have a long day's work (!) on the sands."
+
+Again, after a good deal of horsy talk:
+
+"Mrs. Leech and Chatty with her will return for good to Notting Hill on
+Saturday, when we shall be glad to have her with us as long as you can
+spare her. Apropos of dear Chatty, I am sure her mamma will be glad to
+hear that she has been uninterruptedly cheerful and well, and has
+certainly proved herself one of the best-tempered, best-hearted little
+creatures possible. She desires me to send you all her best love and
+kisses....
+
+  "Ever faithfully,
+    "J. L."
+
+
+  "31, Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "February 18, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"It will give me the greatest pleasure to come and see you. Mark (Lemon)
+says he will accompany me at the end of this month. Will that suit Mrs.
+Adams? I want much to SEE some hunting, as I want some materials for the
+work I am illustrating--indeed, I was going to propose a run down to you
+myself. Will you let us know when the hounds meet near you? Is the horse
+I had before still alive, I wonder? or could you, if I came, get me a
+horse 'in every way suitable for a timid, elderly gentleman'?
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"I was very glad to hear from you, old boy. In great haste, but with our
+united best regards to Mrs. Adams and yourself.
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Ever yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "_Punch_ Office, 85, Fleet Street,
+  "Saturday, February 28, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"'The change in the administration' so upset our arrangements that I
+could not settle what day to come down to you. I propose now to come
+down to-morrow (Sunday) evening, so if you can get me a rocking-horse,
+or a clothes-horse, or any horse excessively quiet and accommodating, I
+will go out with you on Monday. Mark, having an appointment early on
+Monday with 'her Majesty,' or somebody, will come on Tuesday, to hunt on
+Wednesday, and back again on Thursday morning. All this, of course, if
+it suits your convenience. At any rate, I will come to-morrow, and then
+if there is any difficulty, we can send up to town. With kindest regards
+to Mrs. Adams,
+
+  "Believe me always,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+  "31, Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "Wednesday, March 17, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I had almost made up my mind to come down on Friday evening to hunt on
+Saturday; but it would suit me infinitely better to come at the end of
+the week following, as I am just now in the agonies of my periodical
+work; so let me know when the meets are, and in the meantime I will peg
+away and get my business done so as to have a comfortable day with you.
+If I came on Friday, I should have to work day and night before I went,
+and come back directly to work day and night again, which is not a
+pleasant state of things; I hope, therefore, that we shall be able to
+see the hounds next week. I don't think Lemon would be able to come, as
+he is busy moving; but I will ask him. I will make you the sketch of the
+house, or of anything else you like, when I come.
+
+  "Believe me,
+    "Ever yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ.
+
+"Look in this week's _Punch_ for a sketch on the Royston Hills."
+
+
+  "31, Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "Wednesday, July 7, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I congratulate both of you most heartily and cordially. Mrs. Adams I
+hope is well, and will keep so, I trust. I will take upon myself to say
+that I don't know any man more thoroughly capable of understanding and
+enjoying domestic happiness than yourself; and, moreover, I don't know
+any man who more thoroughly deserves to have it. You wish it had been a
+boy, do you? Well, never mind; the son and heir will make his appearance
+in good time, I dare say. For my part, my unhappy experience makes me
+love little girls.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Pray give my kindest regards to Mrs. Adams, and my love to Chatty, who
+is to kiss the baby for me, and
+
+  "Believe me, my dear Charley,
+    "Always yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "Barlow, Derbyshire,
+  "July 31, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"You will see from the above address that I am still rusticating. I
+expect to be in rooms soon after the 12th of August, and then, after I
+have done my month's work, I am your man. You say where ... Don't make
+yourself uncomfortable about the quantity of sport; I shall be quite
+satisfied with what you offer me....
+
+  "Yours always faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH."
+
+Here follows an admirable sketch of Mr. Adams waking up Leech with,
+"Now, Jack, my boy! There's no time to lose; we've ten miles to go to
+cover."
+
+
+[Illustration: "Now, Jack, my boy! There's no time to lose. We've ten
+miles to go to cover!"]
+
+  "Tuesday, December 14, 1852.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY BOY,
+
+"Hip! hip! hurrah! The almanack is finished, and now for a day with the
+Puckeridge.
+
+"I shall come down if you will take me in on Friday evening, to hunt on
+Saturday and Monday, I hope. Mark talked of coming. I wish he would. He
+says he should not ride, but that's all nonsense. Do you think Pattison
+has got a horse that would carry him? Oh, I have had a rare benefit of
+work! I have been positively at it ever since I saw you. I want
+freshening up, I assure you.... Lots of fresh work, old fellow, so I
+think I may manage a _real_ horse soon.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "With kindest regards.
+    "Ever faithfully yours,
+      "JOHN LEECH."
+
+
+  "Notting Hill Terrace,
+  "January 26, 1853.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"If you could ride my horse to-morrow (Thursday), pray do; it would save
+your own, and do her good. And the meet is close to you--Langley Green.
+I should have written before, but I have been harassed with work beyond
+measure. And as it is, the first number of 'Handley Cross' cannot come
+out until March. Mind you have the mare well worked, there's a good
+fellow, as I don't want, like our friend Briggs, to find her
+disagreeably fresh.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "Believe me always yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "Saturday, February 26, 1853.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I suppose the frost has departed in the country, and that you have now
+what is called 'open weather.' It is very disagreeable here--wet, cold,
+and boisterous.
+
+"However, if you can spare time (after riding your own, of course), I
+wish you would give the mare a benefit. I expect she will otherwise be a
+great deal too much for me.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  "I am, my dear Charley,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square,
+  "Saturday, January 21, 1854.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"Thank you for your note. I _can't_ come down to-morrow, but I hope
+after next week to make up for lost time. I have got through some work
+that has been fidgeting me. I shall have a little more leisure. The meet
+on Monday is Dassett's, I see, so pray give it the mare; I have been so
+queer myself that I shall want her particularly 'tranquil.' I have
+sacrificed the moustaches for fear of frightening the horses in the
+field. They were getting too tremendous.
+
+"_If_, _if_ I can get away next week at all, depend upon it I will, for
+I want fresh air and a little horse exercise.
+
+"With kindest regards, old fellow,
+
+  "Believe me always yours faithfully,
+    "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "Saturday, December 22, 1855.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"How is the country? I suppose no hunting as yet, for I have not
+received any card. The weather here to-day is mild and wet. I am working
+away in the hope of getting a day or two by-and-by comfortably. In the
+meantime, if there is anything going on, give my horse a turn across
+country, that's a good fellow.
+
+"With kindest regards, believe me,
+
+  "Yours faithfully,
+    "J. L.
+
+"If you can't spare time to hunt the mare, would it not be a good thing
+to send her to Patmore, and make him ride her? But do you attend to her
+if you can manage it."
+
+
+  "8, St. Nicholas Cliff, Scarbro',
+  "August 30, 1858.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"Your note was forwarded here, and I only found it on my return from
+Ireland, where I have been for the last three weeks. The consequence is
+that I am, of course, in rather a muddle with my work, and I am afraid I
+must forego the pleasure of shooting with you--at any rate, for the
+early part of the season; so pray do not deprive other friends of sport
+on my account. I shall hope to have a day or two with you before the
+season is over. I am not a very greedy sportsman, you know, and as long
+as I get a good walk am pretty well satisfied. I am sorry you have been
+so unwell--you should really give yourself a holiday. The bow should be
+unstrung sometimes. I know I find it must. I wish you could have seen me
+catch a _salmon_ in Ireland--a regular salmon! When I say catch, I
+should say hook, rather, for he was too much for me, and after ten
+minutes' struggle he bolted with my tackle. It was really a tremendous
+sensation....
+
+  "Believe me always,
+    "Yours faithfully,
+      "JOHN LEECH.
+
+  "C. F. ADAMS, ESQ."
+
+
+  "White Horse, Baldock,
+  "Friday evening, ----, 1858.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"For the present I have arranged with Little to make this place my
+headquarters, it is so handy to the train, and I can come so much
+quicker and later to Hitchin. The slow railway journeys take it out of
+me, so that my pleasure is almost destroyed by the fatigue of travelling
+and bother to get off. I hope, nevertheless, that we shall have many
+evenings together to talk over the _tremendous runs_ that we hope to
+have. I have bought a horse and brought it down here. I hope you will be
+out to-morrow to see it. I like it very much; it is a most excellent
+hackney, and sufficiently good-looking, although not perfect, I suppose;
+and it is represented to me as being a temperate hunter in addition to
+his other qualities. Well, we shall see. The black mare I shall send to
+Tattersall's next week. She was as fresh as could be last Saturday, and
+I was quite glad I had not sold her; but, alas! she was as lame in the
+afternoon as possible, and next morning was a pretty spectacle! She
+would not do at all. So much for horseflesh.
+
+  "With kindest regards,
+    "Yours always,
+      "J. L."
+
+
+  "32, Brunswick Square, W.C.,
+  "November 20, 1862.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"If you _ever_ have the time--which I never have--I should feel so glad
+if you would go some day and see how the 'party' at Kensington has done
+his work. I suppose 'that little form' of paying the bill must very soon
+be gone through, and I should like to know from a competent authority
+that the work has been well and properly done.
+
+"How about the hunting? I am continually tormented here by noble
+sportsmen going by my window in full fig.
+
+  "Yours always,
+    "J. L."
+
+
+  "6, The Terrace, Kensington,
+  "November 27, 1862.
+
+  "MY DEAR CHARLEY,
+
+"I am obliged to go to St. Leonards to-night, but I should be very glad
+if you would to-morrow, Friday (as you propose), look at my new house.
+In the corner of one of the new rooms I see it looks a little damp,
+although they considered it dry before they papered. I must say I am
+pleased with the new residence, and I think by degrees I shall be able
+to make it pretty comfortable. We shall hardly get in here, I expect,
+much before Christmas. There is yet so much to do. I shall be very glad
+of any hints about improvements that may occur to you.
+
+  "Kind regards, and believe me,
+    "Always yours,
+      "J. L."
+
+There is amongst the pictures of "Life and Character" a drawing of a
+sportsman who has been thrown from his horse. He has fallen upon his
+head, and as he raises it, stunned and bewildered, and but half
+conscious, the sensations that must have possessed him are realized for
+us in a manner so marvellous, so wonderful in its originality and truth,
+as to convince one that the accident must have happened to the man who
+drew the picture; and this was the case, for the fallen man was Leech
+himself, says Mr. Adams, who in charging a fence was thrown, his horse
+falling at the same time. If I had been told that the sensations
+inevitable under the circumstances were required to be reproduced by
+pencil and paper, I should have said such a feat was beyond the reach of
+art; but there they are! As the prostrate man looks up, he sees sparks
+of fire, horse's head, legs, hoofs mingled together in a whirl of
+confusion round his prostrate figure.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+No doubt the work he undertook for _Bell's Life in London_, a
+long-established and long-discontinued paper, in which sport of all
+kinds was the most prominent feature--and which occupied much of Leech's
+time in his youthful days--contributed to the creation of a taste and
+love for field sports that always distinguished him. Quite a band of
+comic artists, including Cruikshank, Kenny Meadows, "Phiz," Seymour, and
+Leech, contributed sketches illustrative of a variety of subjects by a
+variety of authors; Leech's work being easily distinguishable from that
+of his brethren of the pencil.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+"COMIC GRAMMAR" AND "COMIC HISTORY."
+
+
+The friendship, begun in their student-days at St. Bartholomew's,
+between Leech and Percival Leigh flourished in renewed strength by the
+discovery of similarity of taste--Leigh unable to draw, but possessing a
+truly humorous pen; so the friends "laid their heads together," the
+result being the production of the "Comic Latin Grammar," letter-press
+by Leigh, illustrations by Leech. The first intention of the authors was
+that this should be a mere skit, a trifling brochure, consisting of a
+few pages; but, as so often happens, the work grew under their hands,
+and when published in 1840 it had assumed somewhat formidable
+proportions, and was followed by a work of similar character, with the
+title of "The Comic English Grammar."
+
+The "Comic English Grammar" was a work full of pleasant humour,
+charmingly illustrated by Leech "with upwards of fifty characteristic
+woodcuts." It is curious to observe in these drawings the contrast that
+they afford to the artist's later and more perfect work. There is a
+timidity, and what we call a hardness, from which the sketches in
+"Pictures of Life and Character" are entirely free; the general drawing,
+too, is faulty, but the humour and character are all there.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The first illustration, given above, is from a ballad called "Billy
+Taylor," popular in my young days, in which Billy's true love--with the
+reluctance to part from him common to persons suffering from that
+passion--disguises herself as a man before the mast, and shares the
+dangers of the sea with her sailor-lover:
+
+  "Ven as the Captain comed for to hear on't,
+   Wery much applauded vot she'd done."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The verb "applauded" has here no nominative case, whereas it ought to
+have been governed by the pronoun "he." "He very much applauded," etc.,
+says the writer of the "Comic Grammar" for our instruction. The second
+example, given above, seems to me capital fooling, and an excellent
+proof of the necessity for care in punctuation and accent.
+
+"Imagine," says the writer, "an actor commencing Hamlet's famous
+soliloquy thus:
+
+  "'To be or not to be; that is. The question,' etc.
+
+Or saying, in the person of Duncan in 'Macbeth':
+
+  "'This castle hath a pleasant seat, the air.'
+
+Or, as the usurper himself, exclaiming:
+
+  "'The devil damn thee black, thou cream-faced loon!
+    Where got's thou that goose? Look!'"
+
+Here we have the fault of _hardness_ that I speak of, and something of
+feeble drawing, but the humour is perfect.
+
+After the publication of the "Comic Grammar," written by Gilbert a
+Beckett, one of the _Punch_ staff, a somewhat similar experiment upon
+the public and on a larger scale was tried by the same author in the
+issue of a "Comic History of England." This venture was warmly opposed
+at its inception by Jerrold, whose wrath at the idea of burlesquing
+historical personages was expressed with vehemence. Gilbert a Beckett
+persisted, however, and the history appeared, with over three hundred
+illustrations on wood and steel by John Leech. The book is, as might be
+expected, very light reading, containing many puns and much play upon
+words. Leech's work seems to me to be slight, hurried, and even
+careless, compared with that of his later time; but the spirit of
+rollicking fun with which grave historical incidents are treated, and
+the humorous satire that the principal personages receive at the hands
+of the illustrator, make the "Comic History of England" amusing enough.
+The following extract, with the drawing that illustrates it, will show
+the truth of my estimate of both.
+
+"A story is told of a certain Fair Rosamond, and, though there is no
+doubt of its being a story from beginning to end, it is impossible to
+pass it over in English history. Henry, it was alleged, was enamoured of
+a certain Miss Clifford--if she can be called a certain Miss Clifford,
+when she was really a very doubtful character. She was the daughter of a
+baron on the banks of the Wye, when, without a why or a wherefore, the
+King took her away, and transplanted the Flower of Hereford, as she well
+deserved to be called, to the Bower of Woodstock. In this bower he
+constructed a labyrinth something like the Maze at Rosherville, and as
+there was no man stationed on an elevation in the centre to direct the
+sovereign which way to go, nor exclaim, 'Right, if you please!'
+'Straight on!' 'You're right now, sir!' 'Left!' 'Right again!' etc.,
+etc., his Majesty had adopted the plan of dragging one of Rosamond's
+reels of silk along with him when he left the spot, so that it formed a
+guide for him on his way back again. This tale of silk is indeed a most
+precious piece of entanglement, but it was perhaps necessary for the
+winding up of the story. While we cannot receive it as part of the
+thread of history, we accept it as a means of accounting for Eleanor's
+having got a clue to the retreat of Rosamond.
+
+"The Queen, hearing of the silk, resolved naturally enough to unravel
+it. She accordingly started for Woodstock one afternoon, and, suspecting
+something wrong, took a large bowl of poison in one hand and a stout
+dagger in the other. Having found Fair Rosamond, she held the poniard to
+the heart and the bowl to the lips of that unfortunate young person,
+who, it is said, preferred the black draught to the steel medicine."
+
+Later on in the history we have another good example of Leech's humour.
+King Edward, having subdued the Welsh, "endeavoured to propitiate his
+newly acquired subjects by becoming a resident in the conquered country.
+His wife Eleanor gave birth to a son in the castle of Caernarvon, and he
+availed himself of the circumstance to introduce the infant as a native
+production, giving him the title of Prince of Wales, which has ever
+since been held by the eldest son of the British sovereign."
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN ELEANOR AND FAIR ROSAMOND.]
+
+[Illustration: KING EDWARD INTRODUCING HIS SON AS PRINCE OF WALES TO HIS
+NEWLY-ACQUIRED SUBJECTS.]
+
+A well-known historical scene is parodied as follows: Henry IV. being
+ill, "the Prince of Wales was sitting up with him in the temporary
+capacity of nurse," says Mr. a Becket. "The son, however, seemed rather
+to be waiting for his father's death than hoping for the prolongation of
+his life; and the King having gone off in a fit, the Prince, instead of
+calling for assistance or giving any aid himself, heartlessly took that
+opportunity to see how he should look in the crown, which always hung on
+a peg in the royal bedchamber. Young Henry was figuring away before a
+cheval glass with the regal bauble on his head, and was exclaiming,
+'Just the thing, upon my honour!' when the elder Henry, happening to
+recover, sat up in bed and saw the conduct of his offspring.
+
+[Illustration: UNSEEMLY CONDUCT OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES.]
+
+[Illustration: THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER GOES INTO MOURNING FOR HIS LITTLE
+NEPHEWS.]
+
+"'Hallo!' cried the King, 'who gave you leave to put that on? I think
+you might have left it alone till I've done with it.'"
+
+The savage and hypocritical character of Richard III. afforded Leech an
+opportunity for satire in his design of that monarch, when still Duke of
+Gloucester, in the shape of a crocodile shedding tears for the death of
+the two Princes in the Tower.
+
+"Richard," says the chronicler, "by whom the outward decencies of life
+were very scrupulously observed, in order to make up for the inner
+deficiencies of his mind, determined to go into mourning for the young
+Princes, and repaired to the same _maison de deuil_ which he had
+honoured with his presence on a former occasion when requiring the
+'trappings of woe' for himself and his retainers on the death of his
+dear brother."
+
+With the escape of Mary, Queen of Scots, I must close the extracts from
+the "Comic History of England."
+
+"When the Queen was imprisoned at Lochleven, a certain George Douglas,"
+says the historian, "with the sentimentality peculiar to seventeen, fell
+sheepishly in love with the handsome Mary. She gave some encouragement
+to the gawky youth, but rather with a view of getting him to aid her in
+her escape than out of any regard to the over-sensitive stripling. Going
+to his brother's bedroom in the night, the boy took the keys from the
+basket in which they were deposited, and, letting Mary out, he handed
+her to a skiff and took her for a row, without thinking of the row his
+conduct was leading to."
+
+[Illustration: MARY'S ELOPEMENT.]
+
+A considerable interval of time elapsed between the publication of a
+Beckett's "Comic English Grammar" and the same writer's "Comic History
+of England," the former being produced in 1840, and the latter seven
+years afterwards; but as there is little or no appreciable difference
+between the two works, either as regards the literary or artistic merit,
+I have thought it well to introduce them in this place.
+
+These efforts show but one side of Leech's many-sided power. It was in
+"The Children of the _Mo_bility," a satire on a production just then
+published, in which the children of the _no_bility were put before the
+world in all the splendour of their aristocratic surroundings, that
+Leech's genius had full play, the little Duke affording an instructive
+contrast to the street arab, and the shivering, half-naked beggar-girl
+becoming infinitely pathetic in her rags. This work was executed in
+lithography, consisting of seven prints; and though, as works of art,
+they bear no comparison to the wood-drawings of a later time--they are
+not even so good as the "Fly-Leaves" published at the _Punch_ Office
+later on--still, comparatively imperfectly as they are rendered, they
+show the artist's intense sympathy with suffering childhood, as well as
+enjoyment in the games and "larks" by which the sufferings are for a
+time at least forgotten.
+
+I now approach the period when the establishment of a comic newspaper
+was destined to afford Leech opportunities for the display of his
+powers, opportunities of which he availed himself with a prodigality
+almost as marvellous as the powers.
+
+
+  END OF VOL. I.
+
+
+  BILLING AND SONS, PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.
+
+  _J. D. & Co._
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by
+William Powell Frith
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH ***
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