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diff --git a/2646-h/2646-h.htm b/2646-h/2646-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2da3953 --- /dev/null +++ b/2646-h/2646-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,924 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="us-ascii"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + John Leech's Pictures of Life and Character, by William Makepeace + Thackeray + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech's Pictures of Life and Character, by +William Makepeace Thackeray + +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's Pictures of Life and Character + +Author: William Makepeace Thackeray + +Release Date: May 21, 2006 [EBook #2646] +Last Updated: December 17, 2012 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH'S PICTURES OF *** + + + + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h1> + JOHN LEECH'S PICTURES OF LIFE AND CHARACTER + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By William Makepeace Thackeray + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h4> + * Reprinted from the Quarterly Review, No. 191, Dec. 1854, <br /> by + permission of Mr. John Murray. + </h4> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <p> + We, who can recall the consulship of Plancus, and quite respectable, + old-fogyfied times, remember amongst other amusements which we had as + children the pictures at which we were permitted to look. There was + Boydell's Shakspeare, black and ghastly gallery of murky Opies, glum + Northcotes, straddling Fuselis! there were Lear, Oberon, Hamlet, with + starting muscles, rolling eyeballs, and long pointing quivering fingers; + there was little Prince Arthur (Northcote) crying, in white satin, and + bidding good Hubert not put out his eyes; there was Hubert crying; there + was little Rutland being run through the poor little body by bloody + Clifford; there was Cardinal Beaufort (Reynolds) gnashing his teeth, and + grinning and howling demoniacally on his death-bed (a picture frightful to + the present day); there was Lady Hamilton (Romney) waving a torch, and + dancing before a black background,—a melancholy museum indeed. + Smirke's delightful "Seven Ages" only fitfully relieved its general gloom. + We did not like to inspect it unless the elders were present, and plenty + of lights and company were in the room. + </p> + <p> + Cheerful relatives used to treat us to Miss Linwood's. Let the children of + the present generation thank their stars THAT tragedy is put out of their + way. Miss Linwood's was worsted-work. Your grandmother or grandaunts took + you there and said the pictures were admirable. You saw "the Woodman" in + worsted, with his axe and dog, trampling through the snow; the snow bitter + cold to look at, the woodman's pipe wonderful: a gloomy piece, that made + you shudder. There were large dingy pictures of woollen martyrs, and + scowling warriors with limbs strongly knitted; there was especially, at + the end of a black passage, a den of lions, that would frighten any boy + not born in Africa, or Exeter 'Change, and accustomed to them. + </p> + <p> + Another exhibition used to be West's Gallery, where the pleasing figures + of Lazarus in his grave-clothes, and Death on the pale horse, used to + impress us children. The tombs of Westminster Abbey, the vaults at St. + Paul's, the men in armor at the Tower, frowning ferociously out of their + helmets, and wielding their dreadful swords; that superhuman Queen + Elizabeth at the end of the room, a livid sovereign with glass eyes, a + ruff, and a dirty satin petticoat, riding a horse covered with steel: who + does not remember these sights in London in the consulship of Plancus? and + the wax-work in Fleet Street, not like that of Madame Tussaud's, whose + chamber of death is gay and brilliant; but a nice old gloomy wax-work, + full of murderers; and as a chief attraction, the Dead Baby and the + Princess Charlotte lying in state? + </p> + <p> + Our story-books had no pictures in them for the most part. Frank (dear old + Frank!) had none; nor the "Parent's Assistant;" nor the "Evenings at + Home;" nor our copy of the "Ami des Enfans:" there were a few just at the + end of the Spelling-Book; besides the allegory at the beginning, of + Education leading up Youth to the temple of Industry, where Dr. Dilworth + and Professor Walkinghame stood with crowns of laurel. There were, we say, + just a few pictures at the end of the Spelling-Book, little oval gray + woodcuts of Bewick's, mostly of the Wolf and the Lamb, the Dog and the + Shadow, and Brown, Jones, and Robinson with long ringlets and little + tights; but for pictures, so to speak, what had we? The rough old + wood-blocks in the old harlequin-backed fairy-books had served hundreds of + years; before OUR Plancus, in the time of Priscus Plancus—in Queen + Anne's time, who knows? We were flogged at school; we were fifty boys in + our boarding-house, and had to wash in a leaden trough, under a cistern, + with lumps of fat yellow soap floating about in the ice and water. Are OUR + sons ever flogged? Have they not dressing-rooms, hair-oil, hip-baths, and + Baden towels? And what picture-books the young villains have! What have + these children done that they should be so much happier than we were? + </p> + <p> + We had the "Arabian Nights" and Walter Scott, to be sure. Smirke's + illustrations to the former are very fine. We did not know how good they + were then; but we doubt whether we did not prefer the little old + "Miniature Library Nights" with frontispieces by Uwins; for THESE books + the pictures don't count. Every boy of imagination does his own pictures + to Scott and the "Arabian Nights" best. + </p> + <p> + Of funny pictures there were none especially intended for us children. + There was Rowlandson's "Doctor Syntax": Doctor Syntax in a fuzz-wig, on a + horse with legs like sausages, riding races, making love, frolicking with + rosy exuberant damsels. Those pictures were very funny, and that + aquatinting and the gay-colored plates very pleasant to witness; but if we + could not read the poem in those days, could we digest it in this? + Nevertheless, apart from the text which we could not master, we remember + Doctor Syntax pleasantly, like those cheerful painted hieroglyphics in the + Nineveh Court at Sydenham. What matter for the arrow-head, illegible + stuff? give us the placid grinning kings, twanging their jolly bows over + their rident horses, wounding those good-humored enemies, who tumble gayly + off the towers, or drown, smiling, in the dimpling waters, amidst the + anerithmon gelasma of the fish. + </p> + <p> + After Doctor Syntax, the apparition of Corinthian Tom, Jerry Hawthorn, and + the facetious Bob Logic must be recorded—a wondrous history indeed + theirs was! When the future student of our manners comes to look over the + pictures and the writing of these queer volumes, what will he think of our + society, customs, and language in the consulship of Plancus? "Corinthian," + it appears, was the phrase applied to men of fashion and ton in Plancus's + time: they were the brilliant predecessors of the "swell" of the present + period—brilliant, but somewhat barbarous, it must be confessed. The + Corinthians were in the habit of drinking a great deal too much in Tom + Cribb's parlor: they used to go and see "life" in the gin-shops; of + nights, walking home (as well as they could), they used to knock down + "Charleys," poor harmless old watchmen with lanterns, guardians of the + streets of Rome, Planco Consule. They perpetrated a vast deal of boxing; + they put on the "mufflers" in Jackson's rooms; they "sported their prads" + in the Ring in the Park; they attended cock-fights, and were enlightened + patrons of dogs and destroyers of rats. Besides these sports, the + delassemens of gentlemen mixing with the people, our patricians, of + course, occasionally enjoyed the society of their own class. What a + wonderful picture that used to be of Corinthian Tom dancing with + Corinthian Kate at Almack's! What a prodigious dress Kate wore! With what + graceful ABANDON the pair flung their arms about as they swept through the + mazy quadrille, with all the noblemen standing round in their stars and + uniforms! You may still, doubtless, see the pictures at the British + Museum, or find the volumes in the corner of some old country-house + library. You are led to suppose that the English aristocracy of 1820 DID + dance and caper in that way, and box and drink at Tom Cribb's, and knock + down watchmen; and the children of to-day, turning to their elders, may + say "Grandmamma, did you wear such a dress as that, when you danced at + Almack's? There was very little of it, grandmamma. Did grandpapa kill many + watchmen when he was a young man, and frequent thieves' gin-shops, + cock-fights, and the ring, before you married him? Did he use to talk the + extraordinary slang and jargon which is printed in this book? He is very + much changed. He seems a gentlemanly old boy enough now." + </p> + <p> + In the above-named consulate, when WE had grandfathers alive, there would + be in the old gentleman's library in the country two or three old mottled + portfolios, or great swollen scrap-books of blue paper, full of the comic + prints of grandpapa's time, ere Plancus ever had the fasces borne before + him. These prints were signed Gilray, Bunbury, Rowlandson, Woodward, and + some actually George Cruikshank—for George is a veteran now, and he + took the etching needle in hand as a child. He caricatured "Boney," + borrowing not a little from Gilray in his first puerile efforts. He drew + Louis XVIII. trying on Boney's boots. Before the century was actually in + its teens we believe that George Cruikshank was amusing the public. + </p> + <p> + In those great colored prints in our grandfathers' portfolios in the + library, and in some other apartments of the house, where the caricatures + used to be pasted in those days, we found things quite beyond our + comprehension. Boney was represented as a fierce dwarf, with goggle eyes, + a huge laced hat and tricolored plume, a crooked sabre, reeking with + blood: a little demon revelling in lust, murder, massacre. John Bull was + shown kicking him a good deal: indeed he was prodigiously kicked all + through that series of pictures; by Sidney Smith and our brave allies the + gallant Turks; by the excellent and patriotic Spaniards; by the amiable + and indignant Russians,—all nations had boots at the service of poor + Master Boney. How Pitt used to defy him! How good old George, King of + Brobdingnag, laughed at Gulliver-Boney, sailing about in his tank to make + sport for their Majesties! This little fiend, this beggar's brat, + cowardly, murderous, and atheistic as he was (we remember, in those old + portfolios, pictures representing Boney and his family in rags, gnawing + raw bones in a Corsican hut; Boney murdering the sick at Jaffa; Boney with + a hookah and a large turban, having adopted the Turkish religion, &c.)—this + Corsican monster, nevertheless, had some devoted friends in England, + according to the Gilray chronicle,—a set of villains who loved + atheism, tyranny, plunder, and wickedness in general, like their French + friend. In the pictures these men were all represented as dwarfs, like + their ally. The miscreants got into power at one time, and, if we remember + right, were called the Broad-backed Administration. One with shaggy + eyebrows and a bristly beard, the hirsute ringleader of the rascals, was, + it appears, called Charles James Fox; another miscreant, with a blotched + countenance, was a certain Sheridan; other imps were hight Erskine, + Norfolk (Jockey of), Moira, Henry Petty. As in our childish, innocence we + used to look at these demons, now sprawling and tipsy in their cups; now + scaling heaven, from which the angelic Pitt hurled them down; now cursing + the light (their atrocious ringleader Fox was represented with hairy + cloven feet, and a tail and horns); now kissing Boney's boot, but + inevitably discomfited by Pitt and the other good angels: we hated these + vicious wretches, as good children should; we were on the side of Virtue + and Pitt and Grandpapa. But if our sisters wanted to look at the + portfolios, the good old grandfather used to hesitate. There were some + prints among them very odd indeed; some that girls could not understand; + some that boys, indeed, had best not see. We swiftly turn over those + prohibited pages. How many of them there were in the wild, coarse, + reckless, ribald, generous book of old English humor! + </p> + <p> + How savage the satire was—how fierce the assault—what garbage + hurled at opponents—what foul blows were hit—what language of + Billingsgate flung! Fancy a party in a country-house now looking over + Woodward's facetiae or some of the Gilray comicalities, or the slatternly + Saturnalia of Rowlandson! Whilst we live we must laugh, and have folks to + make us laugh. We cannot afford to lose Satyr with his pipe and dances and + gambols. But we have washed, combed, clothed, and taught the rogue good + manners: or rather, let us say, he has learned them himself; for he is of + nature soft and kindly, and he has put aside his mad pranks and tipsy + habits; and, frolicsome always, has become gentle and harmless, smitten + into shame by he pure presence of our women and the sweet confiding smiles + of our children. Among the veterans, the old pictorial satirists, we have + mentioned the famous name of one humorous designer who is still alive and + at work. Did we not see, by his own hand, his own portrait of his own + famous face, and whiskers, in the Illustrated London News the other day? + There was a print in that paper of an assemblage of Teetotalers in + "Sadler's Wells Theatre," and we straightway recognized the old Roman hand—the + old Roman's of the time of Plancus—George Cruikshank's. There were + the old bonnets and droll faces and shoes, and short trousers, and figures + of 1820 sure enough. And there was George (who has taken to the + water-doctrine, as all the world knows) handing some teetotal cresses over + a plank to the table where the pledge was being administered. How often + has George drawn that picture of Cruikshank! Where haven't we seen it? How + fine it was, facing the effigy of Mr. Ainsworth in Ainsworth's Magazine + when George illustrated that periodical! How grand and severe he stands in + that design in G. C.'s "Omnibus," where he represents himself tonged like + St. Dunstan, and tweaking a wretch of a publisher by the nose! The + collectors of George's etchings—oh the charming etchings!—oh + the dear old "German Popular Tales!"—the capital "Points of Humor"—the + delightful "Phrenology" and "Scrap-books," of the good time, OUR time—Plancus's + in fact!—the collectors of the Georgian etchings, we say, have at + least a hundred pictures of the artist. Why, we remember him in his + favorite Hessian boots in "Tom and Jerry" itself; and in woodcuts as far + back as the Queen's trial. He has rather deserted satire and comedy of + late years, having turned his attention to the serious, and warlike, and + sublime. Having confessed our age and prejudices, we prefer the comic and + fanciful to the historic, romantic, and at present didactic George. May + respect, and length of days, and comfortable repose attend the brave, + honest, kindly, pure-minded artist, humorist, moralist! It was he first + who brought English pictorial humor and children acquainted. Our young + people and their fathers and mothers owe him many a pleasant hour and + harmless laugh. Is there no way in which the country could acknowledge the + long services and brave career of such a friend and benefactor? + </p> + <p> + Since George's time humor has been converted. Comus and his wicked satyrs + and leering fauns have disappeared, and fled into the lowest haunts; and + Comus's lady (if she had a taste for humor, which may be doubted) might + take up our funny picture-books without the slightest precautionary + squeamishness. What can be purer than the charming fancies of Richard + Doyle? In all Mr. Punch's huge galleries can't we walk as safely as + through Miss Pinkerton's schoolrooms? And as we look at Mr. Punch's + pictures, at the Illustrated News pictures, at all the pictures in the + book-shop windows at this Christmas season, as oldsters, we feel a certain + pang of envy against the youngsters—they are too well off. Why + hadn't WE picture-books? Why were we flogged so? A plague on the lictors + and their rods in the time of Plancus! + </p> + <p> + And now, after this rambling preface, we are arrived at the subject in + hand—Mr. John Leech and his "Pictures of Life and Character," in the + collection of Mr. Punch. This book is better than plum-cake at Christmas. + It is an enduring plum-cake, which you may eat and which you may slice and + deliver to your friends; and to which, having cut it, you may come again + and welcome, from year's end to year's end. In the frontispiece you see + Mr. Punch examining the pictures in his gallery—a portly, + well-dressed, middle-aged, respectable gentleman, in a white neck-cloth, + and a polite evening costume—smiling in a very bland and agreeable + manner upon one of his pleasant drawings, taken out of one of his handsome + portfolios. Mr. Punch has very good reason to smile at the work and be + satisfied with the artist. Mr. Leech, his chief contributor, and some + kindred humorists, with pencil and pen have served Mr. Punch admirably. + Time was, if we remember Mr. P.'s history rightly, that he did not wear + silk stockings nor well-made clothes (the little dorsal irregularity in + his figure is almost an ornament now, so excellent a tailor has he). He + was of humble beginnings. It is said he kept a ragged little booth, which + he put up at corners of streets; associated with beadles, policemen, his + own ugly wife (whom he treated most scandalously), and persons in a low + station of life; earning a precarious livelihood by the cracking of wild + jokes, the singing of ribald songs, and halfpence extorted from + passers-by. He is the Satyric genius we spoke of anon: he cracks his jokes + still, for satire must live; but he is combed, washed, neatly clothed, and + perfectly presentable. He goes into the very best company; he keeps a stud + at Melton; he has a moor in Scotland; he rides in the Park; has his stall + at the Opera; is constantly dining out at clubs and in private society; + and goes every night in the season to balls and parties, where you see the + most beautiful women possible. He is welcomed amongst his new friends the + great; though, like the good old English gentleman of the song, he does + not forget the small. He pats the heads of street boys and girls; relishes + the jokes of Jack the costermonger and Bob the dustman; good-naturedly + spies out Molly the cook flirting with policeman X, or Mary the nursemaid + as she listens to the fascinating guardsman. He used rather to laugh at + guardsmen, "plungers," and other military men; and was until latter days + very contemptuous in his behavior towards Frenchmen. He has a natural + antipathy to pomp, and swagger, and fierce demeanor. But now that the + guardsmen are gone to war, and the dandies of "The Rag"—dandies no + more—are battling like heroes at Balaklava and Inkermann* by the + side of their heroic allies, Mr. Punch's laughter is changed to hearty + respect and enthusiasm. It is not against courage and honor he wars: but + this great moralist—must it be owned?—has some popular British + prejudices, and these led him in peace time to laugh at soldiers and + Frenchmen. If those hulking footmen who accompanied the carriages to the + opening of Parliament the other day, would form a plush brigade, wear only + gunpowder in their hair, and strike with their great canes on the enemy, + Mr. Punch would leave off laughing at Jeames, who meanwhile remains among + us, to all outward appearance regardless of satire, and calmly consuming + his five meals per diem. Against lawyers, beadles, bishops and clergy, and + authorities, Mr. Punch is still rather bitter. At the time of the Papal + aggression he was prodigiously angry; and one of the chief misfortunes + which happened to him at that period was that, through the violent + opinions which he expressed regarding the Roman Catholic hierarchy, he + lost the invaluable services, the graceful pencil, the harmless wit, the + charming fancy of Mr. Doyle. Another member of Mr. Punch's cabinet, the + biographer of Jeames, the author of the "Snob Papers," resigned his + functions on account of Mr. Punch's assaults upon the present Emperor of + the French nation, whose anger Jeames thought it was unpatriotic to + arouse. Mr. Punch parted with these contributors: he filled their places + with others as good. The boys at the railroad stations cried Punch just as + cheerily, and sold just as many numbers, after these events as before. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + * This was written in 1854. +</pre> + <p> + There is no blinking the fact that in Mr. Punch's cabinet John Leech is + the right-hand man. Fancy a number of Punch without Leech's pictures! What + would you give for it? The learned gentlemen who write the work must feel + that, without him, it were as well left alone. Look at the rivals whom the + popularity of Punch has brought into the field; the direct imitators of + Mr. Leech's manner—the artists with a manner of their own—how + inferior their pencils are to his in humor, in depicting the public + manners, in arresting, amusing the nation. The truth, the strength, the + free vigor, the kind humor, the John Bull pluck and spirit of that hand + are approached by no competitor. With what dexterity he draws a horse, a + woman, a child! He feels them all, so to speak, like a man. What plump + young beauties those are with which Mr. Punch's chief contributor supplies + the old gentleman's pictorial harem! What famous thews and sinews Mr. + Punch's horses have, and how Briggs, on the back of them, scampers across + country! You see youth, strength, enjoyment, manliness in those drawings, + and in none more so, to our thinking, than in the hundred pictures of + children which this artist loves to design. Like a brave, hearty, + good-natured Briton, he becomes quite soft and tender with the little + creatures, pats gently their little golden heads, and watches with + unfailing pleasure their ways, their sports, their jokes, laughter, + caresses. Enfans terribles come home from Eton; young Miss practising her + first flirtation; poor little ragged Polly making dirt-pies in the gutter, + or staggering under the weight of Jacky, her nursechild, who is as big as + herself—all these little ones, patrician and plebeian, meet with + kindness from this kind heart, and are watched with curious nicety by this + amiable observer. + </p> + <p> + We remember, in one of those ancient Gilray portfolios, a print which used + to cause a sort of terror in us youthful spectators, and in which the + Prince of Wales (his Royal Highness was a Foxite then) was represented as + sitting alone in a magnificent hall after a voluptuous meal, and using a + great steel fork in the guise of a toothpick. Fancy the first young + gentleman living employing such a weapon in such a way! The most elegant + Prince of Europe engaged with a two-pronged iron fork—the heir of + Britannia with a BIDENT! The man of genius who drew that picture saw + little of the society which he satirized and amused. Gilray watched public + characters as they walked by the shop in St. James's Street, or passed + through the lobby of the House of Commons. His studio was a garret, or + little better; his place of amusement a tavern-parlor, where his club held + its nightly sittings over their pipes and sanded floor. You could not have + society represented by men to whom it was not familiar. When Gavarni came + to England a few years since—one of the wittiest of men, one of the + most brilliant and dexterous of draughtsmen—he published a book of + "Les Anglais," and his Anglais were all Frenchmen. The eye, so keen and so + long practised to observe Parisian life, could not perceive English + character. A social painter must be of the world which he depicts, and + native to the manners which he portrays. + </p> + <p> + Now, any one who looks over Mr. Leech's portfolio must see that the social + pictures which he gives us are authentic. What comfortable little + drawing-rooms and dining-rooms, what snug libraries we enter; what fine + young-gentlemanly wags they are, those beautiful little dandies who wake + up gouty old grandpapa to ring the bell; who decline aunt's pudding and + custards, saying that they will reserve themselves for an anchovy toast + with the claret; who talk together in ball-room doors, where Fred whispers + Charley—pointing to a dear little partner seven years old—"My + dear Charley, she has very much gone off; you should have seen that girl + last season!" Look well at everything appertaining to the economy of the + famous Mr. Briggs: how snug, quiet, appropriate all the appointments are! + What a comfortable, neat, clean, middle-class house Briggs's is (in the + Bayswater suburb of London, we should guess from the sketches of the + surrounding scenery)! What a good stable he has, with a loose box for + those celebrated hunters which he rides! How pleasant, clean, and warm his + breakfast-table looks! What a trim little maid brings in the top-boots + which horrify Mrs. B! What a snug dressing-room he has, complete in all + its appointments, and in which he appears trying on the delightful + hunting-cap which Mrs. Briggs flings into the fire! How cosy all the + Briggs party seem in their dining-room: Briggs reading a Treatise on + Dog-breaking by a lamp; Mamma and Grannie with their respective + needleworks; the children clustering round a great book of prints—a + great book of prints such as this before us, which, at this season, must + make thousands of children happy by as many firesides! The inner life of + all these people is represented: Leech draws them as naturally as Teniers + depicts Dutch boors, or Morland pigs and stables. It is your house and + mine: we are looking at everybody's family circle. Our boys coming from + school give themselves such airs, the young scapegraces! our girls, going + to parties, are so tricked out by fond mammas—a social history of + London in the middle of the nineteenth century. As such, future students—lucky + they to have a book so pleasant—will regard these pages: even the + mutations of fashion they may follow here if they be so inclined. Mr. + Leech has as fine an eye for tailory and millinery as for horse-flesh. How + they change those cloaks and bonnets. How we have to pay milliners' bills + from year to year! Where are those prodigious chatelaines of 1850 which no + lady could be without? Where those charming waistcoats, those "stunning" + waistcoats, which our young girls used to wear a few brief seasons back, + and which cause 'Gus, in the sweet little sketch of "La Mode," to ask + Ellen for her tailor's address. 'Gus is a young warrior by this time, very + likely facing the enemy at Inkerman; and pretty Ellen, and that love of a + sister of hers, are married and happy, let us hope, superintending one of + those delightful nursery scenes which our artist depicts with such tender + humor. Fortunate artist, indeed! You see he must have been bred at a good + public school; that he has ridden many a good horse in his day; paid, no + doubt, out of his own purse for the originals of some of those lovely caps + and bonnets; and watched paternally the ways, smiles, frolics, and + slumbers of his favorite little people. + </p> + <p> + As you look at the drawings, secrets come out of them,—private + jokes, as it were, imparted to you by the author for your special + delectation. How remarkably, for instance, has Mr. Leech observed the + hair-dressers of the present age! Look at "Mr. Tongs," whom that hideous + old bald woman, who ties on her bonnet at the glass, informs that "she has + used the whole bottle of Balm of California, but her hair comes off yet." + You can see the bear's-grease not only on Tongs's head but on his hands, + which he is clapping clammily together. Remark him who is telling his + client "there is cholera in the hair;" and that lucky rogue whom the young + lady bids to cut off "a long thick piece"—for somebody, doubtless. + All these men are different, and delightfully natural and absurd. Why + should hair-dressing be an absurd profession? + </p> + <p> + The amateur will remark what an excellent part hands play in Mr. Leech's + pieces: his admirable actors use them with perfect naturalness. Look at + Betty, putting the urn down; at cook, laying her hands on the kitchen + table, whilst her policeman grumbles at the cold meat. They are cook's and + housemaid's hands without mistake, and not without a certain beauty too. + The bald old lady, who is tying her bonnet at Tongs's, has hands which you + see are trembling. Watch the fingers of the two old harridans who are + talking scandal: for what long years past they have pointed out holes in + their neighbors' dresses and mud on their flounces. "Here's a go! I've + lost my diamond ring." As the dustman utters this pathetic cry, and looks + at his hand, you burst out laughing. These are among the little points of + humor. One could indicate hundreds of such as one turns over the pleasant + pages. + </p> + <p> + There is a little snob or gent, whom we all of us know, who wears little + tufts on his little chin, outrageous pins and pantaloons, smokes cigars on + tobacconists' counters, sucks his cane in the streets, struts about with + Mrs. Snob and the baby (Mrs. S. an immense woman, whom Snob nevertheless + bullies), who is a favorite abomination of Leech, and pursued by that + savage humorist into a thousand of his haunts. There he is, choosing + waistcoats at the tailor's—such waistcoats! Yonder he is giving a + shilling to the sweeper who calls him "Capting;" now he is offering a + paletot to a huge giant who is going out in the rain. They don't know + their own pictures, very likely; if they did, they would have a meeting, + and thirty or forty of them would be deputed to thrash Mr. Leech. One + feels a pity for the poor little bucks. In a minute or two, when we close + this discourse and walk the streets, we shall see a dozen such. + </p> + <p> + Ere we shut the desk up, just one word to point out to the unwary + specially to note the backgrounds of landscapes in Leech's drawings—homely + drawings of moor and wood, and seashore and London street—the scenes + of his little dramas. They are as excellently true to nature as the actors + themselves; our respect for the genius and humor which invented both + increases as we look and look again at the designs. May we have more of + them; more pleasant Christmas volumes, over which we and our children can + laugh together. Can we have too much of truth, and fun, and beauty, and + kindness? + </p> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech's Pictures of Life and +Character, by William Makepeace Thackeray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH'S PICTURES OF *** + +***** This file should be named 2646-h.htm or 2646-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/4/2646/ + +Produced by Donald Lainson; David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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