Part 2

After his father's death, George continued to keep house with his mother, sister, and brother, and we are told that the wild ways of her two boys gave the thrifty, serious Mrs. Cruikshank a great deal of anxiety. She is reported to have chastised George with her own hands when he came home tipsy o' nights, and she was accustomed to say, with more than maternal candour, "Take the pencil out of my sons' hands, and they are no better than two boobies." However, it was probably owing to their familiarity with "the haunts of dissipation" that they became acquainted with Pierce Egan (1772-1849), the pet of peers and pugilists, an accomplished professor of Cockney slang, and the greatest living authority on questions relating to boxing, bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and all such "manly sports." Pierce, who handled a pen much as he might have handled a quarter-staff, had already won fame as a sporting reporter, and as the author of _Boxiana, or Sketches of Modern Pugilists_, published in 1818. In 1821 he conceived, or had suggested to him, the idea of a book on Life in London as seen by a young man about town, and he engaged the brothers Cruikshank to illustrate it. It has been claimed that the idea originated with Robert Cruikshank, who drew the characters of Corinthian Tom, Jerry Hawthorn, and Bob Logic, from himself, his brother, and Pierce Egan. George IV. gave permission for the proposed work to be dedicated to himself, and in July 1821 it began to appear in monthly numbers, under the title of _Life in London; or the Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom, accompanied by Bob Logic the Oxonian, in their Rambles and Sprees through the Metropolis_. The work was illustrated by fifty-six hand-coloured etchings by the two Cruikshanks, as well as numerous engravings on wood. The very first number took the town by storm, and the colourists were unable to keep pace with the demand. Scenes from the tale were painted on fans, screens, and tea-trays, numerous imitations were put forth, even before the book was issued in volume form, and more than one dramatised version appeared on the stage. Every street broil was transformed into a "Tom and Jerry row," the Methodists distributed tracts at the doors of the theatres in which the piece was played, and it was declared that Egan had turned the period into an Age of Flash. But all protests were speedily drowned in a general chorus of admiration, to which the _European Magazine_ put the climax with its public declaration that "Corinthian Tom gives finished portraits; with all the delicacy and precision of Gerard Douw, he unites the boldness of Rubens with the intimate knowledge of Teniers!" Thackeray, in a charming essay, has recalled his early delight in the book, in those far-off days when every schoolboy believed that the three heroes were types of the most elegant and fashionable young fellows the town afforded, and thought their occupations and amusements those of all high-bred English gentlemen. Twenty years later, Thackeray describes how he went to the British Museum to renew his acquaintance with his old favourite, and was disillusioned by the letterpress, which he found a little vulgar, "but the pictures," he exclaims, "the pictures are noble still!"

[Illustration: DEATH'S DANCE]

[Illustration: HUNTING THE SLIPPER]

DAVID CAREY

The earliest imitation of _Life in London_ was called _Real Life in London, or the Rambles and Adventures of Bob Tallyho, Esq., and his Cousin the Hon. Tom Dashall. By an Amateur._ This book, which some have supposed to be the work of Egan in rivalry with himself, was illustrated by Rowlandson, Alken, and Dighton. A year later, in 1822, came _Life in Paris, Comprising the Rambles, Sprees, and Amours of Dick Wildfire and Squire Jenkins_, by David Carey; while _The English Spy_, by Bernard Blackmantle, appeared in 1824. David Carey (1782-1824) was a young Scotchman, son of a manufacturer at Arbroath, who began his career in Constable's publishing house in Edinburgh but presently came south, and devoted himself to literary journalism. He attracted some attention by means of a satire, called the _The Ins and Outs_, and also wrote some long-forgotten novels and sketches. In 1822 he went to Paris, where he wrote his account of life in that city; and then, his health breaking down, returned to his native town to die of consumption. It was claimed for the illustrations to his book, which were from the pencil of George Cruikshank, that "To accuracy of local delineation is added a happy exhibition of whatever is ludicrous and grotesque in character." Now George had never been in France, and therefore was obliged to take his local colour from the "views" of other artists, but the ludicrous and grotesque side of French life and character came only too easily to his John Bullish imagination. To him, as Thackeray points out, all Frenchmen were either barbers or dancing-masters, with "spindle shanks, pig-tails, outstretched hands, shrugging shoulders, and queer hair and moustaches." In his regenerate days, George was wont to assert, _a propos_ of _Life in London_, that, finding the book was a guide to, rather than a warning against, the vicious haunts and amusements of the Metropolis, he had retired from the alliance with Egan, leaving about two-thirds of the plates to be executed by his brother Robert. If this be true, he showed some inconsistency in consenting to illustrate Carey's book, which is a frank imitation of Egan's, though in a French setting.

CHARLES MOLLOY WESTMACOTT

A more ambitious book in the same genre was _The English Spy; an Original Work, Characteristic, Satirical, and Humorous, comprising Scenes and Sketches in every Rank of Society, being Portraits of the Illustrious, Eminent, Eccentric, and Notorious_. The author, Charles Molloy Westmacott, _alias_ Bernard Blackmantle, editor of _The Age_, has been described as a typical editor of the rowdy school of journalism. He claimed to be the son of Sir Richard Westmacott, the Royal Academician, by a certain Widow Molloy, who kept the King's Arms at Kensington. The system of journalistic blackmail was brought to a higher degree of perfection by Westmacott than by any other free lance of the time. For the _pieces justificatives_ relating to a certain scandalous intrigue in which various exalted personages were implicated, Westmacott is said to have received nearly L5000. With his ill-gotten gains he fitted up a villa near Richmond, where for a time he lived in luxury, though not, it would appear, in security. In 1830 he was soundly horsewhipped by Charles Kemble for an insulting allusion to his daughter Fanny in _The Age_, and he was threatened with the same punishment by Bulwer Lytton. In his portrait by Daniel Maclise he is represented with a heavy dog-whip, probably a necessary weapon of defence. In his later days Westmacott took refuge in Paris, where he died in 1868.

In 1823, Westmacott published his _Points of Misery_, illustrated by George Cruikshank, and in 1825 he brought out a _roman a clef_ called _Fitzalleyne of Berkeley_, in which various scandals relating to the Berkeley family were introduced. The book was eagerly bought and read, and Westmacott, who had vainly tried to extort money for its suppression, must have made a handsome sum by its publication. _The English Spy_ was brought out in two volumes, and contained seventy-two large coloured plates as well as numerous vignettes on wood, the majority being from the designs of Robert Cruikshank, who figures in the book under the pseudonym of "Robert Transit." Two of the coloured plates were contributed by Thomas Rowlandson, notably a sketch of the Life Academy at Somerset House, with the R.A.'s of the period busily engaged in drawing from a female model. Most of the social celebrities of the time are introduced into the book, Beau Brummell, Colonel Berkeley, Pierce Egan, Charles Matthews, "Pea-green" Hayne, and "Golden" Ball; while life at the University, in sporting and fashionable London, and at the popular watering-places, is vividly described. On the last page is an interesting little vignette representing the author and artist in the act of handing the second volume of their work to an eagerly expectant bookseller. The success of this book, and of many other imitations of _Life in London_, induced Egan to compose a sequel to his work, which appeared in 1828 under the title of _The Finish to the Adventures of Tom, Jerry, and Logic, in their Pursuits through Life in and out of London_, illustrated by Robert Cruikshank. In this curious book an attempt is made to propitiate the Nonconformist conscience of that day by bringing the majority of the characters to a bad end. Corinthian Tom breaks his neck in a steeplechase, Corinthian Kate dies in misery, Bob Logic is also killed off, and Splendid Jem becomes a convict; but Jerry Hawthorn reforms, marries Mary Rosebud, a virtuous country maiden, and settles down at Hawthorn Hall as a Justice of the Peace and model landlord.

[Illustration: TOM AND JERRY, IN THE SALOON AT COVENT GARDEN]

PIERCE EGAN AND THEODORE LANE

In 1824, Egan had started a weekly newspaper called _Pierce Egan's Life in London_, which, being sold to a Mr. Bell, enjoyed a long period of popularity as _Bell's Life in London_. In the same year Pierce published his _Life of an Actor_, dedicated to Edmund Kean, and illustrated by Theodore Lane. Lane, who was born at Isleworth in 1800, was the son of a drawing-master in poor circumstances. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to John Barrow, an artist and colourer of prints, who was living in St. Pancras. Thanks to the encouragement of his master, Lane early came into notice as a miniaturist and painter in water-colours, and he exhibited works of that class at the Academy between 1819 and 1826. But his real talent lay in the direction of the quaint and the humorous. In 1825 he made a series of thirty-six designs representing scenes in the life of an actor, which he took to Egan and begged that popular author to write the letterpress. After some hesitation, Egan undertook the task, chiefly, as he says, with the idea of introducing a meritorious young artist to the public. For his designs Lane received L150 from the publisher, and the book really proved a stepping-stone, not to fortune, but to regular employment. His work was praised by the two Cruikshanks, and a writer in _The Monthly Critical Gazette_ declared that his designs would not discredit the pencil of Hogarth. Lane illustrated Egan's _Anecdotes Original and Selected of the Turf, the Chase, the Ring, and the Stage_ in 1827, and also published two or series of humorous designs. In 1825 the young artist, though left-handed, took up oil-painting with success, and attracted favourable notice by his pictures _The Christmas Presents_ and _Disturbed by Nightmare_, which were exhibited at the Academy in 1827 and 1828. His best work, however, was _The Enthusiast_--a gouty angler fishing in a tub of water--which is now in the National Gallery. On 21st May 1828 poor Lane's promising career was cut short in most tragical fashion. While waiting for a friend at the Horse Repository in the Gray's Inn Road, he stepped upon a skylight, and, falling through, his brains were dashed out upon the pavement below. He left a widow and two children, for whose benefit Egan published a little work in verse called _The Show Folks_, with illustrations by Lane, as well as a short memoir of the unfortunate artist. Of Egan's numerous other works it is only necessary to mention his _Book of Sports and Mirror of Life_ (1832), and _The Pilgrims of the Thames in Search of the National_ (1838), illustrated by his son, and dedicated by express permission to the young Queen Victoria. "The Fancy's darling child," as he has been aptly named, died at his house in Pentonville in 1849, "respected by all who knew him"--_vide Bell's Life_.

GEORGE CRUIKSHANK

To return to George Cruikshank, who was now in the full tide of success and overwhelmed with commissions. It would be impossible here to give a complete list of his productions, but mention may be made of his illustrations to _Peter Schlemihl, the Man without a Shadow_, and to Grimm's _Popular Stories_ (1824), which were so much admired by Ruskin; of his Illustrations of _Phrenology_ (1826), which marks his first appearance as an independent author; the famous _Mornings at Bow Street_ (1815); the _Comic Almanac_, which began in 1835; the series of etchings for the _Sketches by Boz_ (1836), and those for _Oliver Twist_ in _Bentley's Miscellany_ (1839), which led to his claim that he had originated the story--a claim that naturally put an end to his connection with Dickens. In 1839 began a long series of illustrations for the novels of Harrison Ainsworth (1805-82), the editor of _Bentley's Miscellany_. Ainsworth was born at Manchester, and bred up to "the law," but on coming to London to finish his legal studies, he neglected his law books for literature. He attained his first success with _Rookwood_ in 1834, and in 1839 became editor of _Bentley's Miscellany_, in which his novel _Jack Sheppard_, with illustrations by Cruikshank, first appeared. In 1842 he started _Ainsworth's Magazine_, and engaged Cruikshank, who had quarrelled with Bentley, as illustrator-in-chief, at a salary of L40 a month. The engagement proved a fortunate one, resulting in the excellent designs to _The Tower of London_, _The Miser's Daughter_, _Windsor Castle_, and other novels, which Cruikshank himself described as "a hundred and forty-four of the very best designs and etchings I ever produced." The connection came to an end with the usual quarrel, Cruikshank claiming to have suggested the plot and characters of both _The Miser's Daughter_ and _The Tower of London_.

[Illustration: ADVENTURES IN A WHISKEY PARLOUR]

In 1847, Cruikshank was converted to teetotalism, and thenceforward laboured in the cause with almost fanatic zeal. It was in this year that he executed his famous group of eight designs called _The Bottle_, which was reproduced in glyphography, and circulated at a cheap price by temperance societies. In 1850 he was employed to illustrate the second edition of Smedley's successful novel _Frank Fairlegh_. Frank Smedley was born at Great Marlow in 1818, and, being crippled by a malformation of the feet, he was educated at a private tutor's instead of at a public school. He contributed his first story, _The Life of a Private Pupil_, to _Sharpe's Magazine_ in 1846-48, and a couple of years later it was published under the title of _Frank Fairlegh_. The book, in which Smedley's love of open-air life and sympathy with outdoor sports are strongly manifested, made a decided hit, and was followed during the next few years by _Lewis Arundel_ and _Harry Coverdale's Courtship_. Smedley has left an amusing account of his first interview with George Cruikshank, who, on seeing a cripple in a wheeled chair, could not conceal his wonder, but kept exclaiming, "Good God! I thought you could gallop about on horses." Smedley, who died of apoplexy in 1864, was editor of the ill-fated _Cruikshank's Magazine_, started in 1853, which only reached its second number.

George Cruikshank's last years were taken up in great measure with his work in the cause of temperance reform, and though he still occupied himself in book-illustration, it became increasingly evident that he had outlived his public. His large oil-painting, _The Triumph of Bacchus_, did not attract the multitude when exhibited at Exeter Hall in 1863, though he had devoted three years to its execution. Thanks to the kindness of his friends, and the grant of two small pensions, actual poverty was kept from his door, and he lived to a green old age, bright-eyed and alert, the best of good company over his glass of cold water, dancing a hornpipe at past eighty, or dressing up and singing _The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman_, which he had illustrated in 1839. He was taken ill early in 1878, and died on 1st February, finding his final resting-place in the crypt of St. Paul's Cathedral.

George Cruikshank, his biographer Blanchard Jerrold tells us, always worked with great care and deliberation, thinking out his subject thoroughly before beginning to realise his conception. "He made, to begin with, a careful design upon paper, trying doubtful points upon the margin. The design was heightened by vigorous touches of colour. Then a careful tracing was made, and laid, pencil side down, upon the steel plate. This was carried to the printer, who, having placed it between damp paper and passed it through the press, returned it, the black-lead outline distinctly appearing on the etching ground. And then the work was straightforward to the artist's firm hand."

III

HENRY ALKEN

The books illustrated in colour at the end of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century may be classed under certain well-defined headings--narrative, topography, costume, and sport, the last being by no means the least important. Although neither Gillray nor Rowlandson ignored the sport of kings, it was Bunbury who, drawing upon his own personal experiences, set the fashion for hunting and "horsey" books, which were most commonly conceived in a vein of broad humour. Of such was Bunbury's _Geoffry Gambado, or the Academy for Grown Horsemen_, of which several editions appeared between 1788 and 1808. The most distinguished of Bunbury's immediate successors was Henry Alken, an artist whose origin seems wrapped in mystery. It has been rumoured that he began his career as stud-groom or trainer to the Duke of Beaufort in the opening years of the nineteenth century. His early drawings were produced under the pseudonym of "Ben Tallyho," and the first work to which he signed his own name seems to have been _The Beauties and Defects in the Figure of the Horse, comparatively Delineated_, which appeared in 1816. This was followed by some sets of humorous etchings in frank imitation of Bunbury, such as _Specimens of Riding_, _Symptoms of being Amazed_, _A Touch at the Fine Arts_, and, in 1821, by a folio volume, _The National Sports of Great Britain_. In 1824 we find a most complimentary allusion to Alken's work in an article on the fine arts in _Blackwood's Magazine_, probably written by Christopher North. The writer, after observing that George Cruikshank failed in one subject only--the gentlemen of England--proceeds: "Where Cruikshank fails, there, happily for England and for art, Henry Alken shines, and shines like a star of the first magnitude. He has filled up the great blank that was left by the disappearance of Bunbury. He is a gentleman--he has lived with gentlemen--he understands their nature both in its strength and its weakness.... In this work [_A Touch at the Fine Arts_] there is a freedom of handling that is really delightful. Yet I am not sure but I give the preference to my older favourite, _The Symptoms_. The shooting

## parties--the driving parties--the overturning parties--the flirting

## parties--the fighting parties in that series are all and each of them

nearly divine. Positively you must buy a set of Alken's works--they are splendid things--no drawing-room is complete without them." Alken, it will be seen, had already made his mark, but it was his connection with Mr. Apperley, _alias_ "Nimrod," that was to bring him his largest meed of fame.

[Illustration: RACE HORSE]

CHARLES JAMES APPERLEY

Charles James Apperley was born at Plasgronow, Herefordshire, in 1778, and educated at Rugby. His father, a man of literary tastes, who corresponded with Dr. Johnson and read Greek before breakfast, had been tutor and bear-leader on the grand tour to Sir William Watkin Wynn. Young Apperley, who refused to be turned into a scholar, was gazetted cornet in 1798 in Sir W. Wynn's regiment of yeomanry, and served in Ireland during the Rebellion. On his return to England in 1801, he married a Miss Wynn, a cousin of Sir William's, and settled at Hinckley Hall in Leicestershire, where he hoped to add to his income by selling the hunters that he trained. Three years later he moved to Bilton Hall, near Rugby, once the property of Joseph Addison, where he hunted regularly with the Quorn and the Pytchley, till another move took him to Bitterly Court, in Shropshire, where he became intimate with that amazing character John Mytton, of Halston House, whose life and death he was afterwards to record in a book that made both subject and biographer famous. Here we may suppose that Apperley was witness of some of those escapades that are now familiar to every student of sporting literature: the midnight drive across country, when a sunk fence, a deep drain, and two quickset hedges were successfully negotiated; the attempt to leap a turnpike gate with a tandem, when leader and wheeler parted company; and the gallop over a rabbit warren to see whether the horse would fall, which it very naturally did, and rolled upon its rider. It was perhaps just as well for Apperley that he left this too exciting neighbourhood after a few years, and moved to Beaurepaire House, in Hampshire. The loss of money in farming operations brought him into difficulties, and at this time he seems to have conceived the idea of writing a book on hunting. He produced nothing, however, till some years later, when he was persuaded by Pittman, editor of the _Sporting Magazine_, to become a contributor, and his first article, on "Fox-Hunting in Leicestershire," appeared in 1822. This was followed by accounts of other hunting tours, which proved so popular that the circulation of the magazine was soon trebled. Apperley is said to have received L20 a page for his work,--the highest price ever paid to a journalist at that time,--but apparently this splendid remuneration had to cover his working expenses, which included a stud of hunters. "Nimrod" soon became a celebrity in the sporting world, and masters of hounds trembled at his nod. The news of his arrival in a country set every member of the local hunt in a flutter; the best horses were brought out, and the best covers drawn, in the hope of a favourable notice from the great man.

[Illustration: A NEW HUNTER--TALLYHO! TALLYHO!]

In 1830 the _Sporting Magazine_ came to grief, in consequence of the death of the editor, and Apperley, who had borrowed large sums of Pittman, was obliged to take refuge from his creditors at Calais, where he spent the next twelve years. Here, a year later, arrived John Mytton, also a fugitive, having run through a splendid property, and ruined a magnificent constitution by drink, before he was thirty-five. Apperley seems to have done his best for his old friend and comrade, who, having exchanged old port--of which his daily allowance had been from four to six bottles a day--for brandy, was rapidly drinking himself to death. Mytton, who seems to have been practically a madman in his last years, returned to London in 1833, and was promptly thrown into the King's Bench, where he died of delirium tremens in the following year.