The works of James Gillray, the caricaturist; with the history of his life and times

Introduction

Williatn, Duke of Cumberland, abandoning Hanoyer. From a caricature published in the year of Gillray’s birth.

The records of 1757 are of absorbing interest to the historian.

In that year there were many indications of the changes which were so soon to alter the attitudes of the ditferent European powers.

English interests were sacrificed in Germany, while the consideration of our advancement at home was treated as a matter of secondary importance. The whole energy of the Government was directed to the preservation of the “ turnip field,” as the Electorate of Hanover was derisively styled. The Continent was one scene of ruin, — the horrors of the “Seven Years’ War” had already commenced.

The Avorks of nature, the industry of man, and the achievements of civilization, were regarded as but so many fragments of a gigantic and reckless campaign. Cities, rivers, the forest, the pasture, and the mountain pass, were esteemed only as they might afford strategic facilities ; and the fairest capitals represented strongholds to be alternately besieged, defended, or destroyed, regardless of the sacrifice of life and property.

The martial spirit of Frederick the Great was shaping the foundations of an Empire Avhose growth had distanced the boldest calculations of his neighbours. The subsidies paid by England in support of these campaigns materially increased our burdens, whilst Frederick prudently avoided saddling his youthful kingdom with the incubus of a national debt.

i757> f^te of “the Protestant Hero,” and the stability of his empire, appeared to tremble on the verge of destruction ; the ruins of his ambition threatened to crumble on every side before the force of overwhelming combinations. The Courts of Versailles, Vienna, and St. Petersburg, then flourishing in the fulness of their reputation, were uniting to crush the dangerous rival growing up in their midst. Our sovereign, the Second George — brave, decisive, and clear-sighted by nature — choleric, boorish, and, above all, devotedly German — tranquilly holding the title and power of King of Great Britain — directed his aspirations, and poured out the resources of the kingdom he had acquired, to maintain his dignity as Elector of Hanover, and to support his German relations.

Our naval supremacy was made subordinate to the necessity of raising constant levies of men and money to protect the Electorate, and to furnish subsidies for the assistance of Frederick. The Duke of Cumberland, by a disastrous campaign terminating in the disgraceful convention of Closter-seven, left Hanover in possession of the French, and exposed the harassed forces of the Prussian monarch to the unchecked advances of his enemies.

The same year witnessed the triumph of the hard-pressed Frederick over the Austrian forces at Lissa. France already exhibited indications of the passions which a few years were to develop into the ferocities of the Revolution. Damiens, who was evidently of unsound mind, attempted the assassination of Louis XV.; and the barbarities inflicted on the wretched madman, the craving for blood, and the

B diabolical impulses exhibited on that occasion, were prophetic of the frenzy and butchery so soon destined to degrade the nation Avhich has ever claimed the palm for refinement.

In 1757 Clive was assuring our Indian Empire by a series of brilliant victories. In America our successes Avere reversed ; Montcalm, aided by his savage allies, and our own mismanagement, had inflicted a series of disasters, Avhich Avere shortly to be redeemed in the glories of Quebec.

At home a concession had been made to the popular vmice in the employment of Secretary Pitt, who enjoyed the confidence of the people. George the Second — occupied in court routine, and practising a by no means austere morality — delighted in revieAving his troops and chatting in his native language, in happy unconsciousness of the apoplectic stroke Avhich Avas shortly to terminate the anxieties of the Electorship.

His grandson, the heir apparent, “ashy youth of dull parts,” Avas pursuing a narrow-minded training under the auspices of his inflexible mother, assisted by her Groom of the Stole — Lord Bute, the unpopular “ Lothario,” Avho deserved so ill of his country. The fruits of this education — altogether unsuited to the requirements of a constitutional prince — Avere fated to bring mortifications on the Avelldisposed pupil, Avho, until the moment of his accession to the throne, Avas kept in complete ignorance of practical statecraft.

We have thus briefly recapitulated the events which in 1757 were occupying the universal theatre, shortly to become the scene of some of the most thrilling political dramas and the bloodiest tragedies Avhich history is likely to chronicle.

In this same year Avas registered the birth of James Gilleaa’, Avhose name was destined to become familiar as household Avords in his OAvn country and in foreign courts, whose Avorks were to have a significance of their OAvn during the most critical period of our annals.

At the period of our history Avhen England occupied her proudest position — Avhen her senators rivalled, in ability and eloquence, the greatest examples bequeathed to us by antiquity ; Avhen her commerce Avas unrivalled, Avhile the combined fleets of the world were unable to humble her proud supremacy on the sea ; Avhen her seamen Avere like lions, Avhom no poAver but death could subdue ; Avhen, disturbed by bitter faction at home, it Avas reserved for her firm attitude to resist, with equal success, the encroachments which Avere threatened from the throne, and the revolutionary and subAmrsive principles Avhich Avere advocated by the advanced party among the people ; Avhen her steady perseAmrance and exhaustless financial resources Avere eventually to control the confusions of an entire continent, and to retrieve the disasters of her allies ; Avhen, as army after army Avas SAvept aAvay, she alone Avas destined to ride mistress of the storm, and finally to impose a limit to the career of the greatest conqueror of any age ; — at the period of our most critical dangers — Avhen revolution and invasion threatened us hand-in-hand at home, Avhile the coalitions, Avhich the energetic diplomacy of Pitt had built up at uncounted sacrifices, dissolved like phantoms before the name and daring of Bonaparte, and became incorporated Avith his strength — it was reserved for this unknoAvn James Gillray to afford us by his genius the most graphic records of these contests ; his pencil was to trace a life-like reflection of our attitude, Avhich should render the eventful panorama then unrolling before him almost as familiar to succeeding times as it was to the actual performers.

The art of caricature has been extravagantly praised, though at the same time its tendencies have not escaped the strictures of adverse criticism. But practical exemplification has proved that the preservation of the feelings excited at the moment Avhen an event occurred is invaluable to a proper realization of its actual importance. It falls to the province of caricature to embalm, not only events, but those Avho direct them, Avith a familiarity of expression which is tangible eAudence of their existence. If the caricature Avere simply unlike in resemblance and unfaithful in spirit, it would perish, from want of popularity, in its OAvn day ; the designer would obtain no encouragement, the artist and his Avorks Avould be lost in oblivion. Those creations which survive owe their vitality to the truthful libel, to the grotesque life-like presentment AA'hich animates them.

We knoAV that there is some truth on the side of the caricaturists ; Ave find, for example, the fidelity of the resemblances of Gillray’s caricatures fully confirmed by the Avorks of the greatest contemporary painters. In the canvases of Reynolds Ave realize the living, originals, and the portraits

INTRODUCTION.

his pencil has preserved for us confirm the likenesses traced by Gillray’s etching-needle. If we turn from the works of Sir Joshua, or those of his most successful rivals, and consider the files of mediocrity, the galleries of rigid convention, the stereotyped portraits, from which our descendants will gather such lifeless, actionless ideas of the public men of our days, we must congratulate the encouragers of caricature for bequeathing to future generations, in the cartoons of Punch, and similar sources, a healthier impression of our times. When it was proposed to erect a statue of Sir Robert Peel, the portrait selected as most characteristic in its resemblance, as most distinctly preserving his natural expression, was found in a humorous cartoon by John Leech, published in Punch; and from this likeness the head Avas accordingly modelled.

That caricature is a dangerous weapon, susceptible of easy perversion, is admissible, but its action will of necessity be limited by public opinion ; trespassing beyond reasonable restrictions, it rebounds cn itself, and injures rather than promotes the object it would advocate ; its A'^ery A'iolence provokes sympathy for its victim, if its licence exceeds decent freedom.

The uses of caricature are now AA’^ell recognised and appreciated — it is unnecessary either to extol or to deprecate its action. When the Avork is meritorious, Ave haAm the encouraging assurance that time will give both value and importance to even the mere trifles elicited by the follies of the hour, if they throw any light on social changes, habits, or history.

Those writers who in future times may find it Avorth their labour to trace the political tendencies of the present reign, or to illustrate the careers of men Avdiose reputations Avere established under its influence, Avill find their task facilitated and animated by the glimpses of the politicians in their every-day aspect furnished in the caricatures by HB (Lieut. John Doyle), by John Leech (most genial of humorists), by John Tenniel, and by the many active pencils wLich illustrate and familiarize us with every event of our day.

Numerous traces of the satirist’s talent are discoverable in the traditions of antiquity, but the skill was feeble and undeveloped — art was in so early a state, that the remains Avhich ha\'e reached us are insufficient to throAV much light on the intimate history of the times; although the moralist may find plentiful materials for reflection in the pictured records of society preserved on the Avails of certain ruined cities of antiquity.

William Hogarth was the first caricaturist of eminence, and his Avorks, regarded as instances of representative art, are to this day Avithout an equal for Avhat may be considered a peculiar individuality of healthy John BuU humour, founded on a basis of strong sense, Hogarth did not, hoAVOA’^er, produce much which can be claimed as political caricature ; his qualifications were not altogether of the order necessary for success in that peculiar branch. The well-known series of the “ Times,” Avithout gaining much for the cause they AA'ere intended to promote, involved the last years of the honest painter’s life in bitter persecutions, Avhich so afiected his peace of mind as, it is believed, to hasten his death.

Paul Sandby, the rival and antagonist of Hogarth, is best represented by the series he produced to ridicule “ Pug” Hogarth* for his unlucky literary venture, “ The Analysis of Beauty.” The political caricatures of Sayer have thrown considerable light on the history of the earlier part of George III.’s reign ; his works occupied the attention of the public during Gillray’s boyhood, and they stimulated the energy of the youthful aspirant. Gillray cannot be considered to have looked upon the Avorks of Sayer with jealousy, although, for certain reasons, he may have been glad to let the juvenile productions of his etching-point pass for the works of the better-knoAvn satirist. Sayer’s cartoons enjoyed considerable popularity in their day, although with the progress of art their inferiority became apparent. Feeble draAving, timid etching, and conceptions not ahvays of an elevated standard of invention, Avere the short-comings which prevented a multitude of contemporary Avorks from enjoying a lasting reputation. But Gillray’s genius soon secured popular attention, and Sayer worked on in opposition to his more inventive and popular rival.

Gillray found political caricature in its struggling infancy ; he brought the art to the fullest maturity.

* The sixteen caricatures published by Paul Sandby — in burlesque — of Hogarth, are distinguished l>y a certain neatness and dexterity which place them rather aboA^e contemiiorary Avorks.

B 2

JAMES GILLRAV, THE CARICATURIST.

carried it far above the beads of tbe crowd, and soared to such heights, that we regard his bolder flights with an apprehension which qualifies the admiration that his dexterity must always excite.

It is the intention of this book to offer as complete an insight into the works and times of James Gillray as may be consistent with the limits of one volume, considered in relation to the immense amount of interesting matter presented by the subject — bearing constantly in mind the necessity of compressing the most important results of a prolific career within a restricted space, regarding the difificiilties of condensing the selection of valuable materials, political and social, which the productions of that era present in profusion ; and, finally, not losing sight of the responsibility of rejecting such subjects and matters as, after consideration, seem either too ephemeral and uninteresting to deserve preservation, or too boldly coloured with the coarseness of an age which did not hesitate, in its most polished circles, to treat of subjects that modern refinement has decided to pass over in silence.

The works of Gillray preserve an entire social revolution ; they form the link uniting the habits, fashions, and manners of the past, with the later generation which inaugurated our present ways of life. His pencil registers the gradual extinction of our ancestry of the Georgian era — of a quaint picturesque generation, clad in bright-hued coats of costly material, embroidered waistcoats, silk stockings, and buckle-shoes ; wigs formed after every fashion, and of every shade and size ; powder and pigtails, stars and garters, sedan-chairs and linkmen. His drawings usher in the birth of the innovating younger generation which elected to wear its own hair, which adopted buttoned-up coats of sober cloth, which clad its nether man in topboots, and finally in pantaloons ; which rejected flap-hats, either laced, cocked, or carried under the arm, and substituted a creation of beaver, the progenitor of the tall hat of our own day ; which cashiered the lumbering coaches of its fathers, and instituted tandems, phaetons, and fast-flying four-in-hands. These daring social revolutions — which were in part the offspring of new systems having their birth in France — remove far back into the past of fashion the gay, demonstrative society which held its own in Vanity Fair till the dawning of the present century.

The merry crowd of laced, starched, and powdered beaux, which paid its adoration to the flounced, painted, patched, and be-cushioned belles of Gillray’s childhood, had grown into mature men and women when his etching-needle first preserved their effigies, for their own entertainment. They carried on the business of their lives, their pleasures and their profit, while the intrigues and ambitions of their existence were being recorded on Gillray’s copper-plates for the enlightenment of a posterity about whom the joyous souls never troubled their heads; yet they once occupied the little spots in life on which our own parts are now being played out — on which another generation will one day walk, and doubtless, in its turn, examine the method of our lives with a similar antiquarian interest.

The age of Gillray was highly realistic. A great man was known by his exterior. The social grades were distinctly represented ; state and show, strangely blended with slovenly carelessness and with a freedom which often descended to vulgarity, were the most striking characteristics of the outdoor world. George HI., one of the most homely of men, was as king the most exacting in regard to court ceremonials. Dukes and nobles endeavoured to show themselves worthy of their lofty stations by a reckless extravagance. The retainers of great houses formed quite a court in themselves. Not unfrequently noble lords wore their blue ribbons, their stars, and insignia in every-day intercourse. Bishops were venerable in lawn and horse-hair ; judges were solemn in robes and perukes; officers of the Army and Navy busied themselves about their private concerns clad in the uniforms of their respective services.

Gillray saw all this outside display abandoned by progressive stages, until its final disappearance altered the aspect of the times more than the lapse of years would have warranted any one in imagining.

Even the vices of the day, which were frankly practised under the flimsiest pretences of decency, were quite different from the indulgences of our time. Gambling was the absorbing passion ; its excesses were beyond all reason, until the disasters it brought in its train finally subdued the evil.

Dissipation of every degree was exhibited in public without any disguise. That husbands should be faithless, that the fair must be frail, were recognised axioms ; that vice should be easy of access, and

INTRODUCTION.

in no degree abashed, excited slight comment. Drunkenness was common in every grade of society. These features are sufficient to show that the times were at least out-spoken ; and perhaps such characteristics may be prudently dismissed to obscurity. It is, however, comforting to' be able to assert that, deplorable as our generation may be, it is modest in comparison with the lives led by the celebrities of the Third George’s reign ; whose manners may, however, be held to offer a shade of refinement which elevates them above the low level marking the eras of the earlier Georges, — these, again, being modest in contrast with the times of the “ Merry Monarch.”

The man who has bequeathed such admirable materials for the reconstruction of his contemporaries, strange as it may appear, was treated by the chroniclers of his own times with so much reserve, that it is difficult to seize on the satirist as he may have presented himself personally to the world.

The life of an artist, and especially of one who produced so large an amount of elaborate work in but a short space of time, is chiefly recorded in his labours. His existence is intimately bound up with his craft,

Avhich must greatly influence, not only his actions, but the very current of his thoughts. The intervals of recreation are limited, and even they are encroached upon by the requirements of his profession ; the man becomes absorbed in the pursuit of his art, in its pleasures, its difficulties, and the constant demands it makes upon his attention.

We have carefully collected all available information in relation to our first caricaturist, and we shall frankly record all we have been able to learn, insufficient as it is, lest, by hastening from the consideration of the artist to that of his wmrks, it should be deemed that there is good cause for silence regarding his personal career.

Gillray in no degree resembled the hireling stabber who, hiding in dark obscurity, sends forth his poisoned barbs, only venturing out stealthily to collect fresh materials for his venom, and feasting, with ghoul-like enjoyment, on the lacerated reputations of his unprepared victims.

Our artist lived among the subjects of his satire, almost within sight of the palace, whose inmate was aware of the proximity of this Georgian Juvenal ; he mixed with the men who possessed the power of suspending his freedom, and was himself as easy of recognition as he had made the faces and figures of those whose caricatures he drew.

The artist was shy and reserved ; his mind was creative and imaginative, and its inventive powers were sufficient to absorb his entire energy ; his occupation was necessarily retired, sedentary, and solitary. In all his works we recognise the humorist as clearly as we do the bitter satirist.

There is a droll compound of jest and earnest, of fun and fury, tempering the vengeance of his most slashing assaults. His eye was quick to detect the weakest point of the best-armed champion ; but the stab was more often playful than cruel. The same quiver furnished shafts for friend and foe alike. Gillray stood alone, and lent his aid to the side which had the greatest need of his weapon. Strengthening and satirizing both factions in turn, to neither side was he a servile champion ; his own misfortunes, his gratitude, his necessities, and his weaknesses, were all powerless to confine his satire

JAMES GILLRAY, THE CARICATURIST.

to the object of mere party advancement. No curb could control his irony, Hie works are, however, stamped with one attribute — popularity — which is indispensable to lasting success amidst the fluctuations of opinion. ' His intuitive knov/ledge of human nature had convinced him of the expediency of securing this advantage ; and by recognising the force of public opinion, he, it may be unconsciously, assumed to a large degree, as his works abundantly prove, the responsibility of shaping and directing it ; so far, that is, as the popular voice is subject to individual expression. Gillray and his caricat\ires enjoyed in their day — allowing for a little excess of colouring to suit the age — the position that the Times and Punch now fill. His satire has a speciality: it is often heroic, elevating its object far above the heads of his fellow men (as in “ The Giant Factotum,” “Phceton Alarmed,” &c.) in the semblance of a demi-god, dignified and commanding, even when associated with the attributes of burlesque.

The opinions attributed in his day to the eminent subjects of his satire, which are given in the course of this work, are excellent testimonies to his talent. We find the good-natured Colossus, Charles James Fox, quite appreciative ; Sheridan, won by the congenial humour and daring of the artist, chuckled over the drolleries of his own pictured figure ; Burke treated the satirist with distant respect ; Pitt was forbearing and patronizing — the “heaven-sent” minister commanded his indignation when the ends for which he incessantly strove were promoted by a more persuasive eloquence. Canning, who created his most inveterate personal foes by the pungency of his own ill-controlled irony, is said to have had his feelings so sharply stung by Gillray’s satire, that the daring wit of the Anti- Jacobin called on the caricaturist to remonstrate with him. If this be true. Canning’s organization must have been peculiarly sensitive, for it will be found that Gillray generally dignified, rather than degraded, the author of the “ Knife-Grinder,” which poem was circulated with a spirited illustration by the caricaturist. The two satirists fought under one banner, and, so far as Gillray’s impulses would acknowledge obedience, they may have been colleagues. How far the King appreciated the licence of the caricaturist may be conceived from the anecdotes preserved of the royal feelings. The opinion of the monarch, who disliked abuse and enjoyed drollery, much as did his honest subjects, may be considered representative. When the laugh was at his expense, the King looked grave ; when his person appeared in undignified and contemptible attitudes, he threatened ; if some royal eccentricity was turned into good-natured fuu, he joined in the smile. Gillray in opposition was “ a very poor artist,” according to great George’s taste ; but when Gillray and the people chose to stand by their sovereign, when exposure was made of the contumacious Prince of Wales, when the Opposition were painted in their worst colours and the Administration received some humorous distinction, when his enemies were degraded and the sovereign was magnified, his opinions changed ; Gillray became a truthful and commendable humorist in the royal sight when the mighty Napoleon appeared dwarfed to a very pigmy in the hand of the tallest and stoutest of regal giants.

The circumstantial records of the artist’s private life are, as we have hinted, very restricted. Biographies, lives of painters, and similar works, rarely include any reference to the name of Gillray. The edition of “ Bryan’s Dictionary of Painters” prepared by George Stanley, alone contains a notice of the caricaturist, and this article appears to be the most important authority appealed to by subsequent writers in elucidation of his career.

A selection from the caricatures of Gillray was published in parts by Messrs. Miller, Eodwell and Martin, and Blackwood, of Edinburgh, about i8i8. The subjects were copied in a reduced form, and some of the original spirit was necessarily sacrificed. The undertaking, which may have been projected with the intention of reproducing the entire series in smaller plates, came to an end -with Part IX. These selections were accompanied by comments written with the familiarity of personal chat ; and the descriptions afford us a few contemporary anecdotes, which in some cases throw a ray of light on the artist. The elucidator, even at that date, complains of the difficulties attending the subject, from the absence of individual reminiscences. He compares the task of writing on Gillray to the toil “ of bondsmen commanded to make bricks without straw,” and is severe on the artist’s contemporaries : —

“ It is a scandal upon all the cold-hearted scribblers in the land to allow such a genius as Gillray to go to the grave unnoticed ; and a burning shame that so many of his works should have become ambi-

INTRODUCTION.

guous for the want of a commentator. The political squiba have already lost half of their point for want of a glossary, and many of the humorous traits of private life so characteristic of men and manners are become oblivious to ninety-nine hundredths of those who perambulate the streets of this mighty town.”

Thomas M'Clean may be considered to have taken humorous illustration under his special protection — his gallery having formed the last and most popular stronghold of pictorial satire, anterior to. the publication of weekly comic journals, whose large circulation and low price have brought the best productions of caricature within the means of the multitude ; — he secured the original copper plates of a large proportion of Gillray’s works, and published them in a collected form in two volumes in 1830.

Mr. M'Clean compiled a key to his collected series, to which we are indebted for a few allusions which we considered would assist our readers in appreciating certain caricatures. These extracts we have presented in their original form, as they are an approximation to contemporary criticism.

In 1831 a review of James Gillray and his caricatures appeared in the AthenoBum^ commenting ungenerously on the artist’s private life, which provoked a reply from Mr. J. Landseer in a following number, vindicating the character of his friend the caricaturist, and furnishing certain details which we shall have occasion to quote.

Mr. Henry G. Bohn, having become the possessor of the original copper plates of the series published by Mrs. Humphrey, which had been reprinted in the edition of 1830, was fortunate enough to obtain several important large plates, chiefly published by Fores, of Piccadilly; and in 1851 the plates were rearranged in two divisions, and issued in one thick volume, the coarser subjects being collected in a supplementary form.

Mr. Bohn secured the co-operation of Mr. Thomas Wright, whose patient researches assist us to realize a perfect picture of our history from the accession of George I. to the downfall of Napoleon ; and, with the assistance of Mr. R. H. Evans, whose knowledge of all that concerned the Whig Club rendered his advice of great importance, an account of the caricatures was prepared in an octavo volume, to accompany the plates.

This preservation of Gillray’s works might at first sight be deemed sufiicient to render any fresh collection superfluous. Mr. M'Clean’s set, however, has become very scarce and costly, being frequently valued as high as twenty guineas, whilst Mr. Bohn’s edition is so heavy and awkward in size that consultation is a real labour. The price, too (more than loZ. for the set), is beyond the reach of the every-day reader. Another drawback to the folio series is the necessity of constant reference from the caricatures to the key ; it is also difficult, on account of their size, to arrange the volumes with other works.

The publisher of the present series was led to believe that a volume of great interest might be formed by condensing the finest works entire ; by presenting examples of wider selection than either of the published editions afford ; by preserving in many cases only the most pungent parts of certain caricatures ; by rejecting a mass of subjects which, from the circumstances of their merely local allusions, or ephemeral nature, are now uninteresting to the general reader ; and, more especially, by suppressing those subjects which, from their vulgarity, have injuriously reflected their coarseness upon the choicer examples of graphic humour by which they are accompanied.

This selection, gathered from the best public and private sources, is issued in combination with a summary of the events illustrated by the caricatures, and particulars regarding the personages depicted in them. In many cases the pen will describe the invention of the satirist, ■ where, from the secondary importance of the cartoon, it is deemed expedient to omit the original etching. This compound of pictorial satire and illustrative nari'ative is indispensable to an appreciation of the more intimate history of England’s grandest epoch ; it elucidates Gillray, it places the consideration of past times in an entertaining form, and it may be esteemed a useful guide to the works which preserve the cartoons in their original dimensions.

Having now made the reader acquainted with those sources of reference which are known to us, we will proceed with the caricaturist’s personal career.

JAMES GILLRAV, THE CARICATURIST.

James Gillray was of Scotch descent, but, in opposition to the reputation enjoyed by his compatriots for “ holding together” when away from home, we find that the independence of his understanding led him to form a very unfiattering opinion of Scotch factions, then in power at court, and of Scotch habits in their own country. The caricaturist may have been prejudiced in his view, or the northern race may have advanced in cultivation since his day.