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OF 


fit  f  ifentro  mb 


BY  THOMAS\VRIGHT,  ESQo,  M.A.,  F.S.A., 

//««.  M.R.S.L.,  &c. ; 

Corrtfponding  Member  of  the  Imperial  Inftitute  of  France 
(^dcademie  da  Infer  if  tions  et  Belles  Lett  res). 


WITH 

ILLUSTRATIONS  FROM  VARIOUS  SOURCES, 

DRAWN   AND    ENGRAVED    BY 

F.    W.    FAIR  HOLT,    Esa.,    F.S.A. 


VIRTUE  BROTHERS  &  CO.,  i,  AMEN  CORNER, 

PATERNOSTER    ROW. 


\ 


\ 


PREFACE. 


T  HAVE  felt  fome  difficulty  in  fele&ing  a  title  for 
^-  the  contents  of  the  following  pages,  in  which  it 
was,  in  fact,  my  defign  to  give,  as  far  as  may  be  done 
within  fuch  moderate  limits,  and  in  as  popular  a  manner 
as  fuch  information  can  eafily  be  imparted,  a  general 
view  of  the  Hiftory  of  Comic  Literature  and  Art.  Yet 
the  word  comic  feems  to  me  hardly  to  exprefs  all  the 
parts  of  the  fubjed:  which  I  have  fought  to  bring 
together  in  my  book.  Moreover,  the  field  of  this 
hiftory  is  very  large,  and,  though  I  have  only  taken  as 
my  theme  one  part  of  it,  it  was  neceffary  to  circum- 
fcribe  even  that,  in  fome  degree ;  and  my  plan,  there- 
fore, is  to  follow  it  chiefly  through  thofe  branches 
which  have  contributed  moft  towards  the  formation 
of  modern  comic  and  fatiric  literature  and  art  in  our 
own  ifland. 

Thus, 


vi  Preface. 

Thus,  as  the  comic  literature  of  the  middle  ages  to 
a  very  great  extent,  and  comic  art  in  a  confiderable 
degree  alfo,  were  founded  upon,  or  rather  arofe  out  of, 
thofe  of  the  Romans  which   had  preceded   them,   it 
feemed  defirable   to  give  a  comprehenfive  hiftory  of 
this  branch  of  literature  and  art  as  it  was  cultivated 
among  the  peoples  of  antiquity.     Literature  and  art  in 
the  middle  ages  prefented  a  certain  unity  of  general 
character,  arifing,  probably,  from  the  uniformity  of  the 
influence  of  the  Roman  element  of  fociety,  modified 
only  by  its  lower  degree  of  intenfity  at  a  greater  diftance 
from  the  centre,  and  by  fecondary  caufes  attendant  upon 
it.     To  underftand  the  literature  of  any  one  country 

i 

in  Weftern  Europe,  efpeeially  during  what  we  may 
term  the  feudal  period — and  the  remark  applies  to  art 
equally — it  is  neceflary  to  make  ourfelves  acquainted 
with  the  whole  hiftory  of  literature  in  Weftern 
Europe  during  that  time.  The  peculiarities  in  dif- 
ferent countries  naturally  became  more  marked  in  the 
progrefs  of  fociety,  and  more  ftrongly  individualifed  ; 
but  it  was  not  till  towards  the  clofe  of  the  feudal  period 
that  the  literature  of  each  of  thefe  different  countries 
was  becoming  more  entirely  its  own.  At  that  period 
the  plan  I  have  formed  reftri&s  itfelf,  according  to  the 

view 


Preface.  vii 

view  ftated  above.  Thus,  the  fatirical  literature  of  the 
Reformation  and  pictorial  caricature  had  their  cradle 
in  Germany,  and,  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  fixteenth 
century,  carried  their  influence  largely  into  France  and 
England ;  but  from  that  time  any  influence  of  German 
literature  on  thefe  two  countries  ceafes.  Modern 
fatirical  literature  has  its  models  in  France  during 
the  fixteenth  century,  and  the  direct  influence  of  this 
literature  in  France  upon  Englifh  literature  continued 
during  that  and  the  fucceeding  century,  but  no  further. 
Political  caricature  rofe  to  importance  in  France  in  the 
fixteenth  century,  and  was  tranfplanted  to  Holland  in 
the  feventeenth  century,  and  until  the  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth  century  England  owed  its  caricature, 
indirectly  or  directly,  to  the  French  and  the  Dutch; 
but  after  that  time  a  purely  Englifh  fchool  of  cari- 
cature was  formed,  which  was  entirely  independent  of 
Continental  caricaturifts. 

There  are  two  fenfes  in  which  the  word  hiftory 
may  be  taken  in  regard  to  literature  and  art.  It  has 
been  ufually  employed  to  fignify  a  chronological  account 
of  authors  or  artifts  and  their  works,  though  this  comes 
more  properly  under  the  title  of  biography  and  biblio- 
graphy. But  there  is  another  and  a  very  different 

application 


viii  Preface. 

application  of  the  word,  and  this  is  the  meaning  which 
I  attach  to  it  in  the  prefent  volume.  During  the  middle 
ages,  and  for  fome  period  after  (in  fpecial  branches), 
literature — I  mean  poetry,  fatire,  and  popular  literature 
of  all  kinds — belonged  to  fociety,  and  not  to  the 
individual  authors,  who  were  but  workmen  who  gained 
a  living  by  fatisfying  fociety's  wants  ;  and  its  changes 
in  form  or  character  depended  all  upon  the  varying 
progrefs,  and  therefore  changing  neceffities,  of  fociety 
itfelf.  This  is  the  reafon  why,  efpecially  in  the  earlier 
periods,  nearly  the  whole  mafs  of  the  popular — I  may, 
perhaps,  be  allowed  to  call  it  the  focial  literature  of  the 
middle  ages,  is  anonymous;  and  it  was  only  at  rare 
intervals  that  fome  individual  rofe  and  made  himfelf  a 
great  name  by  the  fuperiority  of  his  talents.  A  certain 
number  of  writers  of  fabliaux  put  their  names  to  their 
compofitions,  probably  becaufe  they  were  names  of 
writers  who  had  gained  the  reputation  of  telling  better 
or  racier  ftories  than  many  of  their  fellows.  In  fome 
branches  of  literature — as  in  the  fatirical  literature  of  the 
fixteenth  century — fociety  ftill  exercifed  this  kind  of 
influence  over  it;  and  although  its  great  monuments 
owe  everything  to  the  peculiar  genius  of  their  authors, 
they  were  produced  under  the  preflure  of  focial  cir- 

cumftances. 


Preface.  ix 

cumftances.  To  trace  all  thefe  variations  in  literature 
connected  with  fociety,  to  defcribe  the  influences  of 
fociety  upon  literature  and  of  literature  upon  fociety, 
during  the  progrefs  of  the  latter,  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  true  meaning  of  the  word  hiftory,  and  it  is  in  this 
fenfe  that  I  take  it. 

This  will  explain  why  my  hiftory  of  the  different 
branches  of  popular  literature  and  art  ends  at  very 
different  periods.  The  grotefque  and  fatirical  fculpture, 
which  adorned  the  eccleiiaftical  buildings,  ceafed  with 
the  middle  ages.  The  ftory-books,  as  a  part  of  this 
focial  literature,  came  down  to  the  fixteenth  century, 
and  the  hiftory  of  the  j eft-books  which  arofe  out  of 
them  cannot  be  confidered  to  extend  further  than  the 
beginning  of  the  feventeenth  ;  for,  to  give  a  lift  of  jeft- 
books  fince  that  time  would  be  to  compile  a  catalogue 
of  books  made  by  bookfellers  for  fale,  copied  from 
one  another,  and,  till  recently,  each  more  contemptible 
than  its  predeceffor.  The  fchool  of  fatirical  literature 
in  France,  at  all  events  as  far  as  it  had  any  influence  in 
England,  lafted  no  longer  than  the  earlier  part  of  the 
feventeenth  century.  England  can  hardly  be  faid  to 
have  had  a  fchool  of  fatirical  literature,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  its  comedy,  which  belongs  properly  to  the 

°  feventeenth 


x  Preface. 

feventeenth  century;  and  its  caricature  belongs  efpecially 
to  the  laft  century  and  to  the  earlier  part  of  the  prefent, 
beyond  which  it  is  not  a  part  of  my  plan  to  carry  it. 

Thefe  few  remarks  will  perhaps  ferve  to  explain 
what  fome  may  conlider  to  be  defects  in  my  book ; 
and  with  them  I  venture  to  truft  it  to  the  indulgence 
of  its  readers.  It  is  a  fubjecl:  which  will  have  fome 
novelty  for  the  Englifh  reader,  for  I  am  not  aware  that 
we  have  any  previous  book  devoted  to  it.  At  all 
events,  it  is  not  a  mere  compilation  from  other  people's 
labours. 

In  conclufion,  I  ought,  perhaps,  to  ftate  that  the 
chapters  on  the  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque  in 
Art  were  firft  printed  in  the  Art-Journal  during  the 
two  paft  years,  but  they  only  form  a  portion  of  the 
prefent  volume,  and  they  have  been  conliderably 
modified  and  enlarged. 

THOMAS  WRIGHT. 

Sydney  Street,  Brompton, 
Dec.  1864. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN  OF  CARICATURE  AND  GROTESQUE — SPIRIT  OF  CARICATURE  IN 
EGYPT — MONSTERS:  PYTHON  AND  GORGON — GREECE — THE  DIO- 
NYSIAC  CEREMONIES,  AND  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DRAMA — THE  OLD 
COMEDY — LOVE  OF  PARODY — PARODIES  ON  SUBJECTS  TAKEN 
FROM  GRECIAN  MYTHOLOGY:  THE  VISIT  TO  THE  LOVER;  APOLLO 
AT  DELPHI — THE  PARTIALITY  FOR  PARODY  CONTINUED  AMONG 
THE  ROMANS  :  THE  FLIGHT  OF  .33NEAS 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  STAGE  IN  ROME — USES  OF  THE  MASK  AMONG  THE 
ROMANS — SCENES  FROM  ROMAN  COMEDY — THE  SANNIO  AND  MIMUS 
— THE  ROMAN  DRAMA  —  THE  ROMAN  SATIRISTS  —  CARICATURE — 
ANIMALS  INTRODUCED  IN  THE  CHARACTERS  OF  MEN — THE  PIGMIES, 
AND  THEIR  INTRODUCTION  INTO  CARICATURE;  THE  FARM  -  YARD J 
THE  PAINTER'S  STUDIO;  THE  PROCESSION — POLITICAL  CARICATURE 

IN  POMPEnj   THE   GRAFFITI 


23 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION  FROM  ANTIQUITY  TO  THE  MIDDLE  AGES — 
THE  ROMAN  MTMT  CONTINUED  TO  EXIST — THE  TEUTONIC  AFTER- 
DINNER  ENTERTAINMENTS — CLERICAL  SATIRES:  ARCHBISHOP  HE- 
RIGER  AND  THE  DREAMER ',  THE  SUPPER  OF  THE  SAINTS — TRAN- 
SITION FROM  ANCIENT  TO  MEDL33VAL  ART — TASTE  FOR  MONSTROUS 
ANIMALS,  DRAGONS,  ETC.  ;  CHURCH  OF  SAN  FEDELE,  AT  COMO — 
SPIRIT  OF  CARICATURE  AND  LOVE  OF  GROTESQUE  AMONG  THE 
ANGLO-SAXONS — GROTESQUE  FIGURES  OF  DEMONS — NATURAL  TEN- 
DENCY OF  THE  EARLY  MEDL3EVAL  ARTISTS  TO  DRAW  IN  CARI- 
CATURE — EXAMPLES  FROM  EARLY  MANUSCRIPTS  AND  SCULPTURES  . 


10 


xii  Contents. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PASK 
THE  DIABOLICAL  IN  CARICATURE— MEDLEVAL  LOVE  OF  THE  LUDICROUS 

CAUSES  WHICH  MADE  IT  INFLUENCE  THE  NOTIONS  OF  DEMONS — 

STORIES    OF  THE    PIOUS   PAINTER  AND   THE  ERRING  MONK-^J1ARE>__ 
KEB1   jmi>   TTfiTTTCESS  CARICATURED — THE  DEMONS  IN  THE  MIRACLE 
PLAYS — THE  DEMON  OF  NOTRE  DAME 61 

CHAPTER  V. 

EMPLOYMENT  OF  ANIMALS  IN  MEDIEVAL  SATIRE — POPULARITY  OF 
FABLES  ;  ODO  DE  CIRINGTON — REYNARD  THE  FOX — BURNELLUS  AND 
FAUVEL — THE  CHARIVARI — LE  MONDE  BESTORNE — ENCAUSTIC  TILES 
— SHOEING  THE  GOOSE,  AND  FEEDING  PIGS  WITH  ROSES—  fl  A  TTTUf!  ATi. 
^IGNgJ  THE  MUSTARD  MAKER 75 

CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    MONKEY    IN    BURLESQUE    AND    CARICATURE — TOURNAMENTS   AND 

SINGLE   COMBATS — MONSTROUS    COMBINATIONS    OF  ANIMAL  FORMS — 

__OARICATURES     ON     COSTUME  —  THE     HAT — THE     HELMET — LADIES' 


HEAD-DRESSES — THE  GOWN.   AND  ITS  LONG   SLEEVES    ....        95 

CHAPTER  VII. 

PRESERVATION  OF  THE  CHARACTER  OF  THE  MTMUS  AFTER  THE 
FALL  OF  THE  EMPIRE— THE  MINSTREL  AND  JOGELOUR — HISTORY 
OF  POPULAR  STORIES — THE  FABLIAUX — ACCOUNT  OF  THEM — THE 
CONTES  DEVOTS 106 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

CARICATURES  OF  DOMESTIC  LIFE — STATE  OF  DOMESTIC  LIFE  IN  THE 
MIDDLE  AGES — EXAMPLES  OF  DOMESTIC  CARICATURE  FROM  THE 
CARVINGS  OF  THE  MISERERES — KITCHEN  SCENES — DOMESTIC  BRAWLS 
— THE  FIGHT  FOR  THE  BREECHES — THE  JUDICIAL  DUEL  BETWEEN 
MAN  AND  WIFE  AMONG  THE  OKBMATva — AT.T.TT.^Tmsra  TO  WITCH- 
_CRAFT— SATIRES  ON  THE  TRADES:  THE  BAKER,  THE  MILLER,  THE 
WINE-PEDLAR  AND  TAVERN  KEEPER,  THE  ALE-WIFE,  ETC.  .  .  118 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GROTESQUE  FACES  AND  FIGURES~-JP_REVAJLENCE_^F  THE  TASTE  FOR 
UGLY  AND  GROTESQUE  FACES — SOME  OF  THE  POPULAR  FORMS 
DERIVED  FROM  ANTIQUITY:  THE  TONGUE  LOLLING  OUT,  AND  THE 


Contents.  xiii 


PAGE 
DISTORTED  MOUTH — HORRIBLE  SUBJECTS  :   THE  MAN  AND  THE   SER- 

P-RTSTTS— ^AT.T.T-.OORIGAL  FIGURES  :  GLUTTONY  AND  LUXURY — OTHER 
REPRESENTATIONS  OF  ^CLERICAL  GLUTTONY  AND  DRUNKENNESS — 
GROTESQUE  FIGURES  OF  INDIVIDUALS,  AND  GROTESQUE  GROUPS — 
ORNAMENTS  OF  THE  BORDERS  OF  BOOKS — UNINTENTIONAL  CARI- 
CATURE J  THE  MOTE  AND  THE  BEAM .  .  144 

CHAPTER  X. 

SATIRICAL  LITERATURE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES — JOHN  DE  HAUTEVTLLE 
AND  ALAN  DE  LILLE — GOLIAS  AND  THE  GOLIARDS — THE  GOLIARDIO 
POETRY — TASTE  FOR  PARODY — PARODIES  ON  RELIGIOUS  SUBJECTS — 
POLITICAL  CARICATURE  IN  THE  MIDDLE  AGES — THE  JEWS  OF  NOR- 
WICH— CARICATURE  REPRESENTATIONS  OF  COUNTRIES — LOCAL  SA- 
TIRE—POLITICAL SONGS  AND  POEMS  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .159 

CHAPTER  XI. 

MINSTRELSY  A  SUBJECT  OF  BURLESQUE  AND  CARICATURE — CHARACTER 
OF  THE  MINSTRELS — THEIR  JOKES  UPON  THEMSELVES  AND  UPON 
ONE  ANOTHER — VARIOUS  MUSICAL  INSTRUMENTS  REPRESENTED  IN 
THE  SCULPTURES  OF  THE  MEDIEVAL  ARTISTS  —  SIR  MATTHEW 
GOURNAY  AND  THE  KING  OF  PORTUGAL — DISCREDIT  OF  THE  TABOR 
AND  BAGPIPES — MERMAIDS 188 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  COURT  FOOL — THE  NORMANS    AND    THEIR  GABS — EARLY  HISTORY 


OF  COURT  rOOTifl— TTTTTR  OTBTVTtfgr  ^^PVT^"61  IN  THE  CORNISH 
CHURCHES — THE  BURLESQUE  SOCIETIES  OF  THE  MIDDLE  AGES — 
THE  FEASTS  OEJuqgii'gJ  ATirr>  nl?  TOnT.S— TTTRTB.  LICENCE — THE  T.F.ADEN 
MONEY  OF  THE  FOOLS — THE  BISHOP'S  BLESSING 200 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE  DANCE  OF  DEATH — THE  PAINTINGS  IN  THE  CHURCH  OF  LA  CHAISE 
DIEU — THE  REIGN  OF  FOLLY — SEBASTIAN  BRANDT  J  THE  SHIP  OF 
FOOLS — DISTURBERS  OF  CHURCH  SERVICE — TROUBLESOME  BEGGARS 
— GEILER'S  SERMONS — BADIUS,  AND  HIS  SHIP  OF  FOOLISH  WOMEN 
— THE  PLEASURES  OF  SMELL — ERASMUS;  THE  PRAISE  OF  FOLLY  .  214 


xiv  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

PAGE 

POPULAR  LITERATURE  AND  ITS  HEROES;  BROTHER  RUSH,  TYLL 
EULENSPIEGEL,  THE  WISE  MEN  OF  GOTHAM — STORIES  AND  JEST- 
BOOKS — SKELTON,  SCOGIN,  TARLTON,  PEELE 228 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    AGE    OF    THE    REFORMATION — THOMAS    MURNERJ     HIS    GENERAL 

SATIRES — FRUITFULNESS  OF   FOLLY — HANS    SACHS — TTTR   TRAP    FOR 

r  FOOLS  —ATTACKS     ON    LUTHER — THE     POPE     AS    ANTICHRIST — THE 

POPE-ASS    AND    THE  MONK-CALF  —  OTHER     CARICATURES     AGAINST 

THE  POPE — THE  GOOD  AND  BAD   SHEPHERDS  ' 244 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

ORIGIN  OF    MEDLEVAL   FARCE    AND  MODERN    COMEDY — HROTSVITHA — 
MEDLEVAL  NOTIONS  OF  TERENCE — THE  EARLY  RELIGIOUS  PLAYS —      ' 
MYSTERIES    AND    MIRACLE    PLAYS — THE    FARCES — THE    DRAMA    IN 
THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY 264 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

DIABLERIE  IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY — EARLY  TYPES  OF  THE  DIA- 
BOLICAL FORMS — ST.  ANTHONY — ST.  GUTHLAC — REVIVAL  OF  THE 
TASTE  FOR  SUCH  SUBJECTS  IN  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH 
CENTURY  —  THE  FLEMISH  SCHOOL  OF  BREUGHEL — THE  FRENCH 
AND  ITALIAN  SCHOOLS — CALLOT,  SALVATOR  ROSA 288 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CALLOT  AND  HIS  SCHOOL — CALLOT' S  ROMANTIC  HISTORY — HIS  "  CA- 
PRICI,"  AND  OTHER  BURLESQUE  "WORKS — THE  "  BALLI "  AND  THE 
BEGGARS — IMITATORS  OF  CALLOT;  DELLA  BELLA — EXAMPLES  OF 
DELLA  BELLA — ROMAIN  DE  HOOGHE OQQ 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  SATIRICAL  LITERATURE  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY — PASQUTL 
— MACARONIC  POETRY — THE  EPISTOL^l  OBSCURORUM  VIRORUM — 
R  A  BET.  ATS — COURT  OF  THE  QUEEN  OF  NAVARRE,  AND  ITS  LITE- 
RARY CIRCLE;  BONAVENTURE  DBS  PERIERS — HENRI  ETIENNE — 

THE  LIGUE,   AND  ITS   SATIRE:   THE   "  SATYRE  .MENIPPEE "  .         .         .      312 


Contents. 


xv 


CHAPTER  XX. 

POLITICAL    CARICATURE    IN    ITS    INFANCY — THE   REVERS   DU    JEU  DES 
SUYSSES — CARICATURE    IN    FRANCE — THE    THREE    ORDERS — PERIOD 

OF  THE  LIGTJE;  CARICATURES  AGAINST  HENRI  ni. — CARICATURES 

AGAINST  THE  LIGTJE — CARICATURE  IN  FRANCE  IN  THE  SEVEN- 
TEENTH CENTURY — GENERAL  GALAS — THE  QUARREL  OF  AMBAS- 
SADORS— CARICATURE  AGAINST  LOUIS  XTV.  J  "WILLIAM  OF  FURS- 
TEMBERO  ...... 


347 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

EARLY  POLITICAL  CARICATURE  IN  ENGLAND — THE  SATIRICAL  •WHITINGS 
AND  PICTURES  OF  THE  COMMONWEALTH  PERIOD — SATIRES  AGAINST 
THE  BISHOPS;  BISHOP  WILLIAMS  —  CARICATURES  ON  THE  CAVA- 
LIERS; SIR  JOHN  SUCKLING THE  ROARING  BOYS;  VIOLENCE  OP 

THE  ROYALIST  SOLDIERS — CONTEST  BETWEEN  THE  PRESBYTERIANS 
AND  INDEPENDENTS — GRINDING  THE  KING'S  NOSE — PLAYING-CARDS 
USED  AS  THE  MEDIUM  FOR  CARICATURE;  HASELRIGGE  AND  LAM- 
BERT— SHROVETIDE 


360 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

ENGLISH  COMEDY — BEN  JONSON — THE  OTHER  WRITERS  OF  HIS  SCHOOL 

— INTERRUPTION    OF    DRAMATIC    PERFORMANCES — i.COMEDY    AFTER 

THE     RESTORATION  —  THE     HOWARDS     BROTHERS:     THE" DUJ^E     OF 

BUCKINGHAM ;    THE    •R.'B'.Tni'.A'R.HAT.— — WR.TX'F'.Ra    nr'noyp'.'nv    iy    THE 

_T.ATvriBVR^PA^T   my  TTTP.   aTy.VEJgTTR-RNT-FC  (TENTPBY— jNDEOENny  OF  TTTR 

-STAGE — COLLEY  GIBBER — ^FOOTE 375 


\ 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 


CARICATURE  IN  HOLLAND — ROMAIN  DE  HOOGHE — THE  ENGLISH  REVO- 
LUTION— CARICATURES  ON  LOUIS  XIV.  AND  JAMES  II. — DR.  SACHE- 
VERELL  —  CARICATURE  BROUGHT  FROM  HOLLAND  TO  ENGLAND — 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  WORD  "  CARICATURE  " — MISSISSIPPI  AND  THE  SOUTH 
SEA  J  THE  YEAR  OF  BUBBLES 


406 


xvi  Contents. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

PAGE 

ENGLISH    CARICATURE  IN   THE   AGE    OF    GEOEGE    II. — ENGLISH    PRINT- 
SELLERS — ARTISTS    EMPLOYED    BY    THEM — SIR    ROBERT    WALPOLE'S 
LONG    MINISTRY — THE    WAR    WITH    FRANCE — THE    NEWCASTLE    AD- 
MINISTRATION— OPERA  INTRIGUES — ACCESSION  OF  GEORGE  HI.,  AND 
LORD  BTTTE  IN  POWER 420 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

HOGARTH — HIS  EARLY  HISTORY — HIS  SETS  OF  PICTURES — THE  HARLOT'S 
PROGRESS — THE  RAKF.'S  PROGRESS — THE  MARRIAGE  A  LA  MODE — 
HIS  OTHER  PRINTS — THE  ANALYSIS  OF  BEAUTY,  AND  THE  PERSECU- 
TION ARISING  OUT  OF  IT — HIS  PATRONAGE  BY  LORD  BUTE — CARICA- 
TURE OF  THE  TIMES — ATTACKS  TO  WHICH  HE  WAS  EXPOSED  BY  IT, 
AND  WHICH  HASTENED  HIS  DEATH 431 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE    LESSER    CARICATURISTS   OF    THE    REIGN    OF    GEORGE     m. — PAUL 

SANDBY — COLLET:  THE  DISASTER,  AND  FATHER  PAUL  IN  HIS  CUPS 

— JAMES  BAYER  :  HIS  CARICATURES  IN  SUPPORT  OF  PITT,  AND  HIS 
REWARD — CARLO  KHAN'S  TRIUMPH — BUNBURY'S:  HIS  CARICATURES 
ON  HORSEMANSHIP — WOODWARD  :  GENERAL  COMPLAINT — ROWLAND- 
SON'S  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  STYLE  OF  THOSE  WHOSE  DESIGNS  HE 
ETCHED — JOHN  KAY  OF  EDINBURGH:  LOOKING  A  ROCK  IN  THE 
FACE .  .  '  .  I 450 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

GILLRAY — HIS  FIRST  ATTEMPTS — HIS  CARICATURES  BEGIN  WITH  THE 
SHELBURNE  MINISTRY  —  IMPEACHMENT  OF  WARREN  HASTINGS — 
CARICATURES  ON  THE  KING  J  NEW  WAY  TO  PAY  THE  NATIONAL 
DEBT — ALLEGED  REASON  FOR  GLLLRAY'S  HOSTILITY  TO  THE  KING 
— THE  KING  AND  THE  APPLE -DUMPLINGS — GILLRAY'S  LATER  LA- 
BOURS— HIS  EDIOTCY  AND  DEATH 464 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

GILLRAY'S  CARICATURES  ON  SOCIAL  LIFE — THOMAS  ROWLANDSON — HIS 
EARLY  LIFE — HE  BECOMES  A  CARICATURIST — HIS  STYLE  AND  WORKS 
— HIS  DRAWINGS — THE  CRUIKSHANKS 480 


CARICATURE    AND    GROTESQUE    IN 
LITERATURE  AND  ART. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ORIGIN   OF    CARICATURE  AND  GROTESftUE. SPIRIT  OF    CARICATURE  IN 

EGYPT. MONSTERS  :    PYTHON  AND   GORGON. GREECE. THE   DIONY- 

SIAC  CEREMONIES,  AND   ORIGIN   OF  THE   DRAMA. THE   OLD   COMEDY. 

LOVE  OF  PARODY. PARODIES  ON  SUBJECTS  TAKEN  FROM  GRECIAN 

MYTHOLOGY:  THE  VISIT  TO  THE  LOVER:  APOLLO  AT  DELPHT. — THE 
PARTIALITY  FOR  PARODY  CONTINUED  AMONG  THE  ROMANS  :  THE 
FLIGHT  OF  /ENEAS. 

IT  is  not  my  intention  in  the  following  pages  to  difcufs  the  queftion 
what  conftitutes  the  comic  or  the  laughable,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
enter  into  the  philofophy  of  the  fubje6t;  I  defign  only  to  trace  the  hiftory 
of  its  outward  development,  the  various  forms  it  has  aflumed,  and  its 
focial  influence.  Laughter  appears  to  be  almoft  a  neceflity  of  human 
nature,  in  all  conditions  of  man's  exiftence,  however  rude  or  however  cul- 
tivated j  and  fome  cf  the  greateft  men  of  all  ages,  men  of  the  moft  refined 
intellects,  fuch  as  Cicero  in  the  ages  of  antiquity,  and  Erafmus  among 
the  moderns,  have  been  celebrated  for  their  indulgence  in  it.  The  former 
was  fometimes  called  by  his  opponents  fcurra  confularis,  the  "confular 
jefter  j"  and  the  latter,  who  has  been  fpoken  of  as  the  "mocking-bird,"  is 
faid  to  have  laughed  fo  immoderately  over  the  well-known  "  Ep'ftolae 
Obfcurorum  Virorum,"  that  he  brought  upon  himfelf  a  ferious  fit  of 
illnefs.  The  greateft  of  comic  writers,  Ariftophanes,  has  always  been  looked 
upon  as  a  model  of  literary  perfection.  An  epigram  in  the  Greek  Antho- 

B  logy, 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


logy,  written  by  the  divine  Plato,  tells  us  how,  when  the  Graces  fought 
a  temple  which  would  not  fall,  they  found  the  foul  of  Ariftophanes  :  — 


Al  \apirtc  r*/itvoc  Tt  Xa/JeTv  OTrtp  oi>xl  iriffiir 
fiv  ivpov  'Apiffro<f>avov(;. 


On  the  other  hand,  the  men  who  never  laughed,  the  ayc'Xaorot,  were 
looked  upon  as  the  leafl  refpectable  of  mortals. 

A  tendency  to  burlefque  and  caricature  appears,  indeed,  to  beji  feeling 
deeply  fmplanted  in  human  nature,  and  it  is  one  of  the  earlieft  talents 
difplayed  by  people  in  a  rude  ftate  lof^fociety.  An  appreciation  of,  and 
fenfitivenefs  to,  ridicule,  and  a  love  of  that  which  is  humorous,  are  found 
even  among  favages,  and  enter  largely  into  their  relations  with  their 
fellow  men.  When,  before  people  cultivated  either  literature  or  art, 
the  chieftain  fat  in  his  rude  hall  furrounded  by  his  warriors,  they  amufed 
themfelves  by  turning  their  enemies  and  opponents  into  mockery,  by 
laughing  at  their  weaknefies,  joking  on  their  defects,  whether  phyfical  or 
mental,  and  giving  them  nicknames  in  accordance  therewith,  —  in  fact, 
caricaturing  them  in  words,  or  by  telling  ftcries  which  were  calculated  to 
excite  laughter.  When  the  agricultural  ilaves  (for  the  tillers  of  the  land 
'were  then  flaves)  were  indulged  with  a  day  of  relief  from  their  labours, 
they  fpent  it  in  unreflrained  mirth.  And  when  thefe  fame  people  began 
to  erect  permanent  buildings,  and  to  ornament  them,  the  favourite  fub- 
jects  of  their  ornamentation  were  fuch  as  prefented  ludicrous  ideas.  The 
warrior,  too,  who  caricatured  his  enemy  in  his  fpeeches  over  the  feftive 
board,  foon  fought  to  give  a  more  permanent  form  to  his  ridicule,  which 
he  endeavoured  to  do  by  rude  delineations  on  the  bare  rock,  or  on  any 
other  convenient  furface  which  prefented  itfelf  to  his  hand.  Thus 
originated  caricature  and  the  grotefque  in  art.  In  fact,  art  itfelf,  in  its 
earlieft  forms,  is  caricature  j  for  it  is  only  by  that  exaggeration  of  features 
which  belongs  to  caricature,  that  unikilful  draughtfmen  could  make 
themfelves  underftood. 

Although  we  might,  perhaps,  find  in  different  countries  examples  of 
thefe  principles  in  different  flates  of  development,  we  cannot  in  any  one 
country  trace  the  entire  courfe  of  the  development  itfelf:  for  in  all  the  highly 

civilifed 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


civilifed  races  of  mankind,  we  firft  become  acquainted  with  their  hiftory 
when  they  had  already  reached  a  confiderable  degree  of  refinement ;  and 
even  at  that  period  of  their  progrefs,  our  knowledge  is  almoft  confined  to 
their  religious,  and  to  their  more  feverely  historical,  monuments.  Such 
is  efpecially  the  cafe  with  Egypt,  the  hiftory  of  which  country,  as  repre- 
fented  by  its  monuments  of  art,  carries  us  back  to  the  remoteft  ages  of 
antiquity.  Egyptian  art  generally  prefents  itfelf  in  a  fombre  and  maffive 
character,  with  little  of  gaiety  or  joviality  in  its  defigns  or  forms.  Yet,  as 
Sir  Gardner  Wilkinfon  has  remarked  in  his  valuable  work  on  the 
"Manners  and  Cuftoms  of  the  Ancient  Egyptians,"  the  early  Egyptian 
artifts  cannot  always  conceal  their  natural  tendency  to  the  humorous, 
which  creeps  out  in  a  variety  of  little  incidents.  Thus,  in  a  feries  of 
grave  hiftorical  pictures  on  one  of  the  great  monuments  at  Thebes,  we 
find  a  reprefentation  of  a  wine  party,  where  the  company  confifts  of  both 
fexes,  and  which  evidently  mows  that  the  ladies  were  not  reftricted  in  the 


No.  I.     An  Egyptian  Lady  at  a  Feaft. 

ufe  of  the  juice  of  the  grape  in  their  entertainments;  and,  as  he  adds,  "the 
painters,  in  illuftrating  this  fact,  have  fometimes  facrificed  their  gallantry 
to  a  love  of  caricature."  Among  the  females,  evidently  of  rank,  repre- 
fented  in  this  fcene,  "  fome  call  the  fervants  to  fupport  them  as  they  fit, 
others  with  difficulty  prevent  themfelves  from  falling  on  thofe  behind 

them, 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


them,  and  the  faded  flower,  which  is  ready  to  drop  from  their  heated 
hands,  is  intended  to  be  charaderiftic  of  their  own  fenfations."  One 
group,  a  lady  whofe  excels  has  been  carried  too  far,  and  her  fervant  who 
comes  to  her  afliftance,  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  I.  Sir  Gardner 
obferves  that  "  many  fimilar  inftances  of  a  talent  for  caricature  are 
obfervable  in  the  compofitions  of  the  Egyptian  artills,  who  executed  the 
paintings  of  the  tombs"  at  Thebes,  which  belong  to  a  very  early  period 
of  the  Egyptian  annals.  Nor  is  the  application  of  this  talent  reftri6ted 
always  to  fecular  fubje&s,  but  we  fee  it  at  times  intruding  into  the  moft 
facred  myfteries  of  their  religion.  I  give  as  a  curious  example,  taken  from 
one  of  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinfon's  engravings,  a  fcene  in  the  reprefentation 
of  a  funeral  proceflion  croffing  the  Lake  of  the  Dead  (No.  2),  that 


No.  2.     Cataftrophe  in  a  Funeral  Procejfion. 

appears  in  one  of  theie  early  paintings  at  Thebes,  in  which  "  the  love  of 
caricature  common  to  the  Egyptians  is  mown  to  have  been  indulged 
even  in  this  ferious  fubjeft;  and  the  retrograde  movement  of  the  large 
boat,  which  has  grounded  and  is  puflied  off  the  bank,  ftriking  the  fmaller 
one  with  its  rudder,  has  overturned  a  large  table  loaded  with  cakes  and 
other  things,  upon  the  rowers  feated  below,  in  fpite  of  all  the  efforts  of 
the  prowman,  and  the  earneft  vociferations  of  the  alarmed  fteerfman." 
The  accident  which  thus  overthrows  and  fcatters  the  provifions  intended 
for  the  funeral  feaft,  and  the  confufion  attendant  upon  it,  form  a  ludicrous 

fcene 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


fcene  in  the  midft  of  a  folemn  picture,  that  would  be  worthy  of  the 
imagination  of  a  Rowlandfon. 

Another  cut  (No.  3),  taken  from  one  of  the  fame  feries  of  paintings, 
belongs  to  a  clafs  of  caricatures  which  dates  from  a  very  remote  period. 
One  of  the  moft  natural  ideas  among  all  people  would  be  to  compare 
men  with  the  animals  whofe  y<trticular  qualities  they  poflelfed.  Thus, 
one  might  be  as  bold  as  a  lior,  another  ~s  faithful  as  a  dog,  or  as  cunning 
as  a  fox,  or  as  fwinifh  as  a  hog.  The  aame  of  the  animal  would  thus 
often  be  given  as  a  nickname  to  the  Kian,  and  in  the  fequel  he  would  be 
reprefented  piftorially  under  the  form  of  the  animal.  It  was  partly  out 
of  this  kind  of  caricature,  no  doubt,  that  the  fingular  clafs  of  apologues 
which  have  been  fince  diftinguiflied  by  the  name  of  fables  arofe. 
Connected  with  it  was  the  belief  in  the  metempfychofis,  or  tranfmiifion 
of  the  foul  into  the  bodies  of  animals  after  death,  which  formed  a  part  of 
feveral  of  the  primitive  religions.  The  earlieft  examples  of  this  clafs 


No    3.     A.n  Unfortunate  Soul. 

of  caricature  of  mankind  are  found  on  the  Egyptian  monuments,  as 
in  the  inftance  juft  referred  to,  which  reprefents  "  a  foul  condemned  to 
return  to  earth  under  the  form  of  a  pig,  having  been  weighed  in  the 
fcales  before  Ofiris  and  been  found  wanting.  Being  placed  in  a  boat, 
and  accompanied  by  two  monkeys,  it  is  difmifled  the  facred  precincV* 
The  latter  animals,  it  may  be  remarked,  as  they  are  here  reprefented,  are 
the  cynocephali,  or  dog-headed  monkeys  (the  Jimia  inuus),  which  were 
facred  animals  among  the  Egyptians,  and  the  peculiar  cbarafteriftic  of 
which — the  dog-ihaped  head — is,  as  ufual,  exaggerated  by  the  artift. 
The  reprefentation  of  this  return  of  a  condemned  foul  under  the 

repulfive 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


repulfive  form  of  a  pig,  is  painted  on  the  left  fide  wall  of  the  long 
entrance-gallery  to  the  tomb  of  King  Ramefes  V.,  in  the  valley  of  royal 
catacombs  known  as  the  Biban-el-Molook,  at  Thebes.  Wilkinfon  gives 
the  date  of  the  acceffion  of  this  monarch  to  the  throne  as  1185,  B.C. 
In  the  original  picture,  Ofiris  is  feated  on  his  throne  at  fome  diftance  from 
the  item  of  the  boat,  and  is  difmiffing  it  from  his  prefence  by  a  wave 
of  the  hand.  This  tomb  was  open  in  the  time  of  the  Romans,  and 
termed  by  them  the  "  Tomb  of  Momnon  j"  it  was  greatly  admired,  and 
is  covered  with  laudatory  infcriptions  by  Greek  and  Roman  vifitors.  One 
of  the  moft  interefling  is  placed  beneath  this  picture,  recording  the  name 
of  a  daduchus,  or  torch-bearer  in  the  Eleufinian  myfteries,  who  vifited  this 
tomb  in  the  reign  of  Conftantine. 

The  practice  having  been  once  introduced  of  reprefenting  men  under 
th^_chara^er_"of"^nTi'lialb,  was  Iboii'  developed  into  otheF~applications 


,Y  .  4.     The  Cat  and  the  Geefe. 

of  the  fame  idea — fuch  as  that  of  figuring  animals  employed  in  the 
various  Ottiupatiora  of  mankmd^jUKTthat  of  reverimg  the  pofitiorToTm^n 
"and  the  Infenorjujimals.  and  reprefentmg  the  latter  as  treating  their 

human 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


human  tyrant  in  the  fame  manner  as  they  are  ufually  treated  by  him. 
The  latter  idea  became  a  very  favourite  one  at  a  later  period,  but  the 
other  is  met  with  not  unfrequently  among  the  works  of  art  which  have 
been  faved  from  the  wrecks  of  antiquity.  Among  the  treafures  of  the 
Britifh  Mufeum,  there  is  a  long  Egyptian  pifture  on  papyrus,  originally 
forming  a  roll,  confifting  of  reprefentations  of  this  defcription,  from  which 
I  give  three  curious  examples.  The  firft  (fee  cut  No.  4)  reprefents  a  cat 
in  charge  of  a  drove  of  geefe.  It  will  be  obferved  that  the  cat  holds  in 
her  hand  the  fame  fort  of  rod,  with  a  hook  at  the  end,  with  which  the 


No.  5.      The  Fox  turned  Pifer. 

monkeys  are  furnifhed  in  the  preceding  pifture.  The  fecond  (No.  5) 
reprefents  a  fox  carrying  a  bafket  by  means  of  a  pole  fupported  on  his 
fhoulder  (a  method  of  carrying  burthens  frequently  reprefented  on  the 
monuments  of  ancient  art),  and  playing  on  the  well-known  double  flute, 
or  pipe.  The  fox  foon  became  a  %ourite__peiIbBaga  in  this  HaiL-Of. 
caricatures,  and  WQ  ir^Jg!^  ?  prnrpinpnt  part  hp  afterwards-played  in 
jnedjaacaJUatire.^-Perhaps,  however,  the  moft  popular  of  all  animals  in 
this  clafs  of  drolleries  was  the  monkey,  which  appears  natural  enough 

when 


Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


when  we  conlider  its  fingular  aptitude  to  mimic  the  a&ions  of  man. 
The  ancient  naturalifts  tell  us  fome  curious,  though  not  very  credible, 
ftories  of  the  manner  in  which  this  chara&eriflic  of  the  monkey  tribes  was 
taken  advantage  of  to  entrap  them,  and  Pliny  (Hift.  Na,..,  lib.  viii.  c.  80) 
quotes  an  older  writer,  who  aflerted  that  they  had  even  been  taught 
to  play  at  draughts.  Our  third  fubje6t  from  the  Egyptian  papyrus  of  the 
Britifh  Mufeum  (No.  6)  reprefents  a  fcene  in  which  the  game  of  draughts 
— or,  more  properly  (peaking,  the  game  which  the  Romans  called  the 


No.  6.      The  Lion  and  the  Unicorn. 

ludus  latrunculorinn,  and  which  is  believed  to  have  refembled  our  draughts 
— is  played  by  two  animals  well  known  to  modem  heraldry,  the  lion  and 
the  unicorn.  The  lion  has  evidently  gained  the  victory,  and  is  fingering 
the  money;  and  his  bold  air  of  fwaggering  fuperiority,  as  well  as  the  look 
of  furprife  and  difappointment  of  his  vanquifhed  opponent,  are  by  no 
means  ill  pictured.  This  feries  of  caricatures,  though  Egyptian,  belongs 
to  the  Roman  period. 

The  monftrous  is  clofely  allied  to  the  grotefque,  and  both  come  within 
the  province  of  caricature,  when  we  take  this  term  in  its  wideft  fenfe. 

The 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


The  Greeks,  efpecially,  were  partial  to  reprefentations  of  monfters,  and 
monitrous  forms  are  continually  met  with  among  their  ornaments  and  works 
of  art.  The  type  of  the  Egyptian  monfler  is  reprefented  in  the  accompany- 
ing cut  (No.  7),  taken  from  the  work  of  Sir  Gardner  Wilkinfon  before 
quoted,  and  is  faid  to  be  the  figure  of  the  god  Typhon.  It  occurs  frequently 
on  Egyptian  monuments,  with  fome  variation  in  its  forms,  but  always 


No.  7.     Typhon. 

charafterifed  by  the  broad,  coarfe,  and  frightful  face,  and  by  the  large 
tongue  lolling  out.  It  is  interefting  to  us,  becaufe  it  is  the  apparent 
origin  of  a  long  feries  of  faces,  or  maflb,  of  this  form  and  charafter,  which 
are  continually  recurring  in  the  grotefque  ornamentation,  not  only  of  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  but  of  the  middle  ages.  It  appears  to  have  been 
fometimes  given  by  the  Romans  to  the  reprefentations  of  people  whom 
they  hated  or  defpifed  ;  and  Pliny,  in  a  curious  paflage  of  his  "  Natural 

c  Hiftory," 


10 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


History,"*  informs  us  that  at  one  time,  among  the  pictures  exhibited  in 
the  Forum  at  Rome,  there  was  one  in  which  a  Gaul  was  reprefented, 
"  thrufting  out  his  tongue  in  a  very  unbecoming  manner."  The  Egyptian 
Typhons  had  their  exact  reprefentations  in  ancient  Greece  in  a  figure  of 
frequent  occurrence,  to  which  antiquaries  have,  1  know  not  why,  given 
the  name  of  Gorgon.  The  example  in  our  cut  No.  8,  is  a  figure  in  terra* 
cotta,  now  in  the  collection  of  the  Royal  Mufeum  at  Berlin,  f 


No.  8.      Gvrgirn. 

In  Greece,  however,  the  fpirit  of  caricature  and  burlefque  repre- 
fentation  had  aflumed  a  more  regular  form  than  in  other  countries,  for  it 
was  inherent  in  the  fpirit  of  Grecian  fociety.  'Among  the  population  of 
Greece,  the  worship  of  Dionyfus,  or  Bacchus,  had  taken  deep  root  from 


*  Plin.  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xxxv.  c.  8. 

f  Panofka  Terracotten  des  Museums  Berlin,  pi.  Ixi.  p.  154. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 1 


a  very  early  period — earlier  than  we  can  trace  back — and  it  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  popular  religion  and  fuperftitions,  the  cradle  of  poetry  and 
the  drama.  The  moft  popular  celebrations  of  the  people  of  Greece,  were 
the  Dionyfiac  feftivals,  and  the  phallic  rites  and  proceffions  which  accom- 
panied them,  in  which  the  chief  adtors  aflumed  the  difguife  of  fatyrs  and 
fawns,  covering  themfelves  with  goat-fkins,  and  disfiguring  their  faces  by 
rubbing  them  over  with  the  lees  of  wine.  Thus,  in  the  guife  of  noify 
bacchanals,  they  difplayed  an  unreftrained  licentioufnefs  of  gefture  and 
language,  uttering  indecent  jefts  and  abufive  fpeeches,  in  which  they 
fpared  nobody.  This  portion  of  the  ceremony  was  the  efpecial  attribute 
of  a  part  of  the  performers,  who  accompanied  the  proceffion  in  waggons, 
and  a6ted  fomething  like  dramatic  performances,  in  which  they  uttered  an 
abundance  of  loofe  extempore  fatire  on  thofe  who  pafled  or  who  accom 
panied  the  proceffion,  a  little  in  the  ftyle  of  the  modern  carnivals.  It  be 
came  thus  the  occafion  for  an  unreftrained  publication  of  coarfe  pafquinades. 
In  the  time  of  Pififtratus,  thefe  performances  are  aflumed  to  have  been 
reduced  to  a  little  more  order  by  an  individual  named  Thefpis,  who  is 
faid  to  have  invented  mafks  as  a  better  difguife  than  dirty  faces,  and  is 
looked  upon  as  the  father  of  the  Grecian  drama.  There  can  be  no 
doubt,  indeed,  that  the  drama  arofe  out  of  thefe  popular  ceremonies,  and 
it  long  bore  the  unmiftakable  marks  of  its  origin.  Even  the  name  of 
tragedy  has  nothing  tragic  in  its  derivation,  for  it  is  formed  from  the 
Greek  word  tragos  (rpayoc),  a  goat,  in  the  {kins  of  which  animal  the 
fatyrs  clothed  themfelves,  and  hence  the  name  was  given  alfo  to  thofe  who 
perfonated  the  fatyrs  in  the  proceffions.  A  tragodus  (rpayydog)  was  the 
finger,  whofe  words  accompanied  the  movements  of  a  chorus  of  fatyrs, 
and  the  term  tragodia  was  applied  to  his  performance.  In  the  fame 
manner,  a  comodus  (KW/XW^OC)  was  one  who  accompanied  fimilarly,  with 
chants  of  an  abufive  or  fatirical  character,  a  comus  (*rw/ioc),  or  band  of 
revellers,  in  the  more  riotous  and  licentious  portion  of  the  performances 
in  the  Bacchic  feftivals.  The  Greek  drama  always  betrayed  its  origin  by 
the  circumftance  that  the  performances  took  place  annually,  only  at  the 
yearly  feitivals  in  honour  of  Bacchus,  of  which  in  fa£t  they  conftituted 
a  part.  Moreover,  as  the  Greek  drama  became  perfected,  it  Hill  retained 


1 2  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


from  its  origin  a  triple  divifion,  into  tragedy,  comedy,  and  the  fatiric 
drama  j  and,  being  ftill  performed  at  the  Dionyfiac  feflival  in  Athens, 
each  dramatic  author  was  expe6ted  to  produce  what  was  called  a  trilogy, 
that  is,  a  tragedy,  a  fatirical  play,  and  a  comedy.  So  completely  was  all 
this  identified  in  the  popular  mind  with  the  worlhip  of  Bacchus,  that, 
long  afterwards,  when  even  a  tragedy  did  not  pleafe  the  audience 
by  its  fubjecl:,  the  common  form  of  difapproval  was,  ri  ravra  irpog  TOV 
— "What  has  this  to  do  with  Bacchus?"  and,  ovSev  irpoe  rbv 

"  This  has  nothing  to  do  with  Bacchus." 
We  have  no  perfect  remains  of  the  Greek  fatiric  drama,  which  was, 
perhaps,  of  a  temporary  character,  and  lefs  frequently  preferved  j  but  the 
early  Greek  comedy  is  preferved  in  a  certain  number  of  the  plays  of 
Ariftophanes,  in  which  we  can  contemplate  it  in  all  its  freedom  of 
character.  It  represented  the  waggon-jefting,  of  the  age  of  Thefpis, 
in  its  full  development.  In  its  form  it  was  burlefque  to  a  wanton  degree 
of  extravagance,  and  its  eflence  was  perfonal  vilification,  as  well  as  general 
fatire.  Individuals  were  not  oiuy  attacked  by  the  application  to  them  of 
abufive  epithets,  but  they  were  reprefented  perfonally  on  the  llage  as 
performing  every  kind  of  contemptible  adion,  and  as  frittering  all  forts  of 
ludicrous  and  difgraceful  treatment.  The  drama  thus  bore  marks  of 
its  origin  in  its  extraordinary  licentioufnefs^pf  language  and  coftume,  and 
in  the  conftant  ufe  of  the  maflt.  One  of  its  moft  favourite  inftruments 
of  fatire  was  parody,  which  was  employed  unfparingly  on  everything 
which  fociety  in  its  folermi  moments  refpeded — againft  everything  that 
the  fatirift  confidered  worthy  of  being  held  up  to  public  derifion  or  fcorn. 
Religion  itfelf,  philofophy,  focial  manners  and  inftitutions — even  poetry — 
were  all  parodied  in  their  turn.  The  comedies  of  Ariftophanes  are  full 
of  parodies  on  the  poetry  of  the  tragic  and  other  writers  of  his  age.  He 
is  efpecially  happy  in  parodying  the  poetry  of  the  tragic  dramatift 
Euripides.  The  old  comedy  of  Greece  has  thus  been  correctly  defcribed 
as  the  comedy  of  caricature  j  and  the  fpirit,  and  even  the  fcenes,  of  this 
comedy,  being  transferred  to  pidorial  reprefentattons,  became  entirely 
identical  with  that  branch  of  art  to  which  we  give  the  name  of  caricature 
in  modern  times.  Under  the  cover  of  bacchanalian  buffoonery,  a  ferious 

purpofe. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 3 

purpofe,  it  is  true,  was  aimed  at ;  but  the  general  fatire  was  chiefly 
implied  in  the  violent  perfonal  attacks  on  individuals,  and  thU  became  fo 
offenlive  that  when  fuch  perfons  obtained  greater  power  in  Athens  than 
the  populace  the  old  comedy  was  abolifhed. 

Ariftophanes  was  the  greateft  and  moft  perfect  poet  of  the  Old 
Comedy,  and  his  remaining  comedies  are  as  ftrongly  marked  reprefenta- 
tions  of  the  hoftility  of  political  and  focial  parties  in  his  time,  as  the 
caricatures  of  Gillray  are  of  party  in  the  reign  of  our  George  III.,  and,  we 
may  add,  even  more  minute.  They  range  through  the  memorable  period 
of  the  Peloponnefian  war,  and  the  earlier  ones  give  us  the  regular  annual 
feries  of  thefe  performances,  as  far  as  Ariftophanes  contributed  them,  during 
feveral  years.  The  firft  of  them,  "  The  Acharnians,"  was  performed  at  the 
Lenaean  feaft  of  Bacchus  in  the  fixth  year  of  the  Peloponnefian  war,  the 
year  425  B.C.,  when  it  gained  the  firft  prize.  It  is  a  bold  attack  on 
the  factious  prolongation  of  the  war  through  the  influence  of  the  Athenian 
demagogues.  The  next,  "The  Knights,"  brought  out  in  B.C.  424,  is  a 
direft  attack  upon  Cleon,  the  chief  of  thefe  demagogues,  although  he  is 
not  mentioned  by  name ;  and  it  is  recorded  that,  finding  nobody  who  had 
courage  enough  to  make  a  maik  reprefenting  Cleon,  or  to  play  the  cha- 
racter, Ariftophanes  was  obliged  to  perform  it  himfelf,  and  that  he  fmeared 
his  face  with  lees  of  wine,  in  order  to  reprefent  the  flufhed  and  bloated 
countenance  of  the  great  demagogue,  thus  returning  to  the  original  mode 
of  acting  of  the  predeceflbrs  of  Thefpis.  This,  too,  was  the  firft  of  the 
comedies  of  Ariftophanes  which  he  publifhed  in  his  own  name.  "  The 
Clouds,"  publilhed  in  423,  is  aimed  at  Socrates  and  the  philofophers. 
The  fourth,  "  The  Wafps,"  publifhed  in  B.C.  422,  prefents  a  fatire  on  the 
litigious  fpirit  of  tne  Athenians.  The  fifth,  entitled  "  Peace  "  ("Etpjjvj/), 
appeared  in  the  year  following,  at  the  time  of  the  peace  of  Nicias,  and  is 
another  fatire  on  the  bellicofe  fpirit  of  the  Athenian  democracy.  The 
next  in  the  lift  of  extant  plays  comes  after  an  interval  of  feveraJ  years, 
having  been  publiihed  in  B.C.  414,  the  firft  year  of  the  Sicilian  war,  a^d 
relates  to  an  irreligious  movement  in  Athens,  which  had  caufed  a  great 
fenfation.  Two  Athenians  are  repreiented  as  leaving  Athens,  in  difguft 
at  the  vices  and  follies  of  their  fellow  citizens,  and  feekir.g  the  kingdom 

of 


14  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


of  the  birds,  where  they  form  a  new  ftate,  by  which  the  communication 
between  the  mortals  and  the  immortals  is  cut  off,  and  is  only  opened 
again  by  an  arrangement  between  all  the  parties.  In  the  "  Lyfiftrata,'' 
believed  to  have  been  brought  out  in  411,  when  the  war  was  ftill  at  its 
height,  the  women  of  Athens  are  reprefented  as  engaging  in  a  cunning 
and  fuccefsful  plot,  by  which  they  gain  poflefiion  of  the  government  of  the 
Hate,  and  compel  their  hulbands  to  make  peace.  "The  Thefmo- 
phoriazufae,"  appears  to  have  been  publiftied  in  B.C.  410 ;  it  is  a  fatire 
upon  Euripides,  whofe  writings  were  remarkable  for  their  bitter  attacks 
on  the  character  of  the  female  fex,  who,  in  this  comedy,  confpire  againft 
him  to  fecure  his  puniihment.  The  comedy  of  "The  Frogs  "  was  brought 
out  in  the  year  405  B.C.,  and  is  a  fatire  on  the  literature  of  the  day ;  it  is 
aimed  efpecially  at  Euripides,  and  was  perhaps  written  foon  after  his  death, 
its  real  fubje6t  being  the  decline  of  the  tragic  drama,  which  Euripides 
was  accufed  of  having  promoted.  It  is  perhaps  the  moft  witty  of  the 
plays  of  Ariftophanes  which  have  been  preferved.  "The  Ecclefiazufae," 
publifhed  in  392,  is  a  burlefque  upon  the  theories  of  republican  govern- 
ment, which  were  then  ftarted  among  the  philofophers,  fome  of  which 
differed  little  from  our  modern  communifm.  The  ladies  again,  by  a  clever 
confpiracy,  gain  the  maftery  in  the  eftate,  and  they  decree  a  community 
of  goods  and  women,  with  fome  laws  very  peculiar  to  that  ftate  of  things. 
The  humour  of  the  piece,  which  is  extremely  broad,  curns  upon  the 
difputes  and  embarraffments  refulting  from  this  ftate  of  things.  The 
laft  of  his  comedies  extant,  "  Plutus,"  appears  to  be  a  work  of  the 
concluding  years  of  the  aftive  life  of  Ariftophanes ;  it  is  the  leaft  ftriking 
of  them  all,  and  is  rather  a  moral  than  a  political  fatire. 

In  a  comedy  brought  out  in  426,  the  year  before  "The  Archarnians," 
under  the  title  of  "The  Babylonians,"  Ariftophanes  appears  to  have  given 
great  offence  to  the  democratic  party,  a  circumftance  to  which  he  alludes 
more  than  once  in  the  former  play.  However,  his  talents  and  popularity 
feem  to  have  carried  him  over  the  danger,  and  certainly  nothing  can  have 
exceeded  the  bitternefs  of  fatire  employed  in  his  fubfequent  comedies. 
Thofe  who  followed  him  were  lefs  fortunate. 

One  of  the  lateft  writers  of  the  Old  Comedy  was  Anaximandrides, 

who 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  § 


who  caft  a  refle&ion  on  the  ftate  of  Athens  in  parodying  a  line  of  Euripides- 
This  poet  had  faid,  — 

»}  0v<rie  l[3ov\tO'  fj  vofidiv  ovSiv  piXti 
(Nature  has  commanded,  which  cares  nothing  for  the-  laws); 

which  Anaximandrides  changed  to  — 


s/3ov\«0'  r\  vofjiwv  ovSfv  [liXti 
(The  state  has  commanded,  which  cares  nothing  for  the  laws). 

Nowhere  is  oppreflion  exercifed  with  greater  harfhnefs  than  under  demo- 
cratic governments  ;  and  Anaximandrides  was  profecuted  for  this  joke  as 
a  crime  againft  the  ftate,  and  condemned  to  death.  As  may  be  fuppofed, 
liberty  of  fpeech  ceafed  to  exift  in  Athens.  We  are  well  acquainted  with 
the  character  of  the  Old  Comedy,  in  its  greateft  freedom,  through  the 
writings  of  Ariftophanes.  What  was  called  the  Middle  Comedy,  in 
which  political  fatire  was  prohibited,  lafted  from  this  time  until  the  age 
of  Philip  of  Macedon,  when  the  old  liberty  of  Greece  was  finally  crufhed. 
The  laft  form  of  Greek  comedy  followed,  which  is  known  as  the 
New  Comedy,  and  was  reprefented  by  fuch  names  as  Epicharmus  and 
Menander.  In  the  New  Comedy  all  caricature  and  parody,  and  all 
perfonal  allufions,  were  entirely  profcribed  ;  it  was  changed  entirely  into 
a  comedy  of  manners  and  domeftic  life,  a  picture  of  contemporary  fociety 
under  conventional  names  and  characters.  From  this  New  Comedy  was 
taken  the  Roman  comedy,  fuch  as  we  now  have  it  in  the  plays  of  Plautus 
and  Terence,  who  were  profefled  imitators  of  Menander  and  the  other 
writers  of  the  new  comedy  of  the  Greeks. 

Pictorial  caricature  was,  of  courfe,  rarely  to  be  feen  on  the  public 
monuments  of  Greece  or  Rome,  but  muft  have  been  configned  to  objects 
of  a  more  popular  character  and  to  articles  of  common  ufe  j  and,  accord- 
ingly, modern  antiquarian  refearch  has  brought  it  to  light  fomewhat 
abundantly  on  the  pottery  of  Greece  and  Etruna,  and  on  the  wall-paint- 
ings of  domeftic  buildings  in  Herculaneum  and  Pompeii.  The  former 
contains  comic  fcenes,  efpecially  parodies,  which  are  evidently  transferred 
to  them  from  the  ftage,  and  which  preferve  the  mafks  and  other  attributes 
—  ibme  of  which  I  have  neceflarily^mitted  —  proving  the  model  from 

which 


1 6  Hlftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

which  they  were  taken.  The  Greeks,  as  we  know  from  many  fources, 
were  extremely  fond  of  parodies  of  ever)'  defcription,  whether  literary  or 
pictorial.  The  fubje6t  of  our  cut  No.  9  is  a  good  example  of  the  parodies 


No.  9.     A  Greek  Parody. 


found  on  the  Greek  pottery ;  it  is  taken  from  a  fine  Etrufcan  vafe,*  and 
has  been  fuppofed  to  be  a  parody  on  the  vifit  of  Jupiter  to  Alcmena. 
This  appears  rather  doubtful,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  it  is  a 
burlefque  reprefentation  of  the  vifit  of  a  lover  to  the  object  of  his  afpira- 
tions.  The  lover,  in  the  comic  mafk  and  coftume,  mounts  by  a  ladder  to 
the  window  at  which  the  lady  prefents  herfelf,  who,  it  muft  be  confefied, 
prefents  the  appearance  of  giving  her  admirer  a  very  cold  reception.  He 
tries  to  conciliate  her  by  a  prefent  of  what  feem  to  be  apples,  inftead  of 

gold, 

*  Given  in  Panofka,  "  Antiques  du  Cabinet  Pourtal&s,"  pi.  x. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1  7 


,  but  without  much  effed.  He  is  attended  by  his  fervant  with  a 
torch,  to  give  him  light  on  the  way,  which  mows  that  it  is  a  night 
adventure.  Both  matter  and  fervant  have  wreaths  round  their  heads,  and 
the  latter  carries  a  third  in  his  hand,  which,  with  the  contents  of  his 
bafket,  are  alfo  probably  intended  as  prefents  to  the  lady. 

A  more  unmiftakable  burlefque  on  the  vilit  of  Jupiter  to  Alcmena 
is  publifhed  by  Winckelmann  from  a  vafe,  formerly  in  the  library  of  the 
Vatican,  and  now  at  St.  Peterfburg.  The  treatment  of  the  fubject  is 
not  unlike  the  picture  juft  defcribed.  Alcmena  appears  juft  in  the  fame 
pofture  at  her  chamber  window,  and  Jupiter  is  carrying  his  ladder  to 
mount  up  to  her,  but  has  not  yet  placed  it  againft  the  wall.  His 
companion  is  identified  with  Mercury  by  the  well-known  caduceus  he 
carries  in  his  left  hand,  while  with  his  right  hand  he  holds  a  lamp  up 
to  the  window,  in  order  to  enable  Jupiter  to  fee  the  object  of  his  amour. 

It  is  aftonilhing  with  how  much  boldnefs  the  Greeks  parodied  and 
ridiculed  facred  fubjects.  The  Chriftian  father,  Arnobius,  m  writing 
againft  his  heathen  opponents,  reproached  them  with  this  circumftance. 
The  laws,  he  fays,  were  made  to  protect  the  characters  of  men  from 
flander  and  libel,  but  there  was  no  fuch  protection  for  the  characters  of 
the  gods,  which  were  treated  with  the  greateft  difrefpect.*  This  was 
efpecially  the  cafe  in  their  pictorial  reprefentations. 

Pliny  informs  us  that  Ctefilochus,  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Apelles, 
painted  a  burlefque  picture  of  Jupiter  giving  birth  to  Bacchus,  in  which 
the  god  was  reprelented  in  a  very  ridiculous  pofture.  f  Ancient  writers 
intimate  that  fimilar  examples  were  not  uncommon,  and  mention  the 
names  of  feveral  comic  painters,  whofe  works  of  this  clafs  were  in  repute. 
Some  of  thefe  were  bitter  perfonal  caricatures,  like  a  celebrated  work  of  a 

painter 

*  Arnobius  (contra  Gentes\  lib.  iv..p.  150.  Carmen  malum  conscribere,  quo  fama 
alterius  coinquinatur  et  vita,  decemviralibus  scitis  evadere  noluistis  impune  :  ac  ne 
vestras  aures  convitio  aliquis  petulantiore  pulsaret,  de  atrocibus  formulas  consti- 
tuistis  injuriis.  Soli  dii  sunt  apud  vos  super!  inhonorati,  contemtibiles,  viles  :  in 
quos  jus  est  vobis  datum  quae  quisque  voluerit  dicere  turpitudinem,  jacere  quas 
libido  confinxerit  atque  excogitaverit  formas. 

t  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xxxv.  c.  40. 


1 8  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

painter  named  Cteficles,  defcribed  alfo  by  Pliny.  It  appears  that  Stra- 
tonice,  the  queen  of  Seleucus  Nicator,  had  received  this  painter  ill  when 
he  vifited  her  court,  and  in  revenge  he  executed  a  picture  in  which  ihe 
was  reprefented,  according  to  a  current  fcandal,  as  engaged  in  an  amour 
with  a  common  fimerman,  which  he  exhibited  in  the  harbour  of  Ephefus, 
and  then  made  his  efcape  on  ftiip-board.  Pliny  adds  that  the  queen 
admired  the  beauty  and  accuracy  of  the  painting  more  than  {he  felt  the 
infult,  and  that  me  forbade  the  removal  of  the  picture.* 

The  fubject  of  our  fecond  example  of  the  Greek  caricature  is  better 
known.  It  is  taken  from  an  oxybaphon  which  was  brought  from  the 
Continent  to  England,  where  it  pafled  into  the  collection  of  Mr.  William 
Hope.f  The  oxybaphon  (6£vfia<j)ov),  or,  as  it  was  called  by  the  Romans, 
acetalulum,  was  a  large  veflel  for  holding  vinegar,  which  formed  one  of 
the  important  ornaments  of  the  table,  and  was  therefore  very  fufceptible 
of  piftorial  embellifhment  of  this  defcription.  It  is  one  of  the  moft  remark- 
able Greek  caricatures  of  this  kind  yet  known,  and  reprefents  a  parody  on 
one  of  the  moft  interefting  ftories  of  the  Grecian  mythology,  that  of  the 
arrival  of  Apollo  at  Delphi.  The  artift,  in  his  love  of  burlefque,  has 
fpared  none  of  the  perfonages  who  belonged  to  the  ftory.  The  Hyper- 
borean Apollo  himfelf  appears  in  the  character  of  a  quack  doctor,  on  his 
temporary  ftage,  covered  by  a  fort  of  roof,  and  approached  by  wooden 
fteps.  On  the  ftage  lies  Apollo's  luggage,  confifting  of  a  bag,  a  bow,  and 
his  Scythian  cap.  Chiron  (XlPQN)  is  reprefented  as  labouring  under 
the  effects  of  age  and  blindnefs,  and  fupporting  himfelf  by  the  aid  of  a 
crooked  ftaff,  as  he  repairs  to  the  Delphian  quack-doctor  for  relief.  The 
figure  of  the  centaur  is  made  to  afcend  by  the  aid  of  a  companion,  both 
being  furnilhed  with  the  mafks  and  other  attributes  of  the  comic  per- 
formers. Above  are  the  mountains,  and  on  them  the  nymphs  of  Par- 
naflus  (NYM<J>AI),  who,  like  all  the  other  actors  in  the  fcene,  are  difguifed 
with  malks,  and  thofe  of  a  very  grotefque  character.  On  the  right-hand 

fide 

*  Pliny,  Hist.  Nat.,  lib.  xxxv.  c.  40. 

t  Engraved  by  Ch.  Lenormant  et  J.  de  Witt,  "Elite  des  Monuments  Ceramo- 
graphiques,"  pi.  xciv. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


fide  ftands  a  figure  which  is  confidered  as  reprefenting  the  epoptes,  the 
infpe&or  or  overfeer  of  the  performance,  who  alone  wears  no  malk. 
Even  a  pun  is  employed  to  heighten  the  drollery  of  the  fcene,  for  inftead 
of  IIY6IAS,  the  Pythian,  placed  over  the  head  of  the  burlefque  Apollo, 
it  feems  evident  that  the  artift  had  written  HEI6IA2,  the  confoler,  in 
allufion,  perhaps,  to  the  confolation  which  the  quack-do6tor  is  adminifter- 
ing  to  his  blind  and  aged  vifitor. 

The  Greek  fpirit  of  parody,  applied  even  to  the  moft  facred  fubjeds, 


No.  10.     Apollo  at  Delphi. 

however  it  may  have  declined  in  Greece,  was  revived  at  Rome,  and  we  find 
examples  of  it  on  the  walls  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum."  They  mow 
the  fame  readinefs  to  turn  into  burlefque  the  moft  facred  and  popular 
legends  of  the  Roman  mythology.  The  example  given  (cut  No.  u), 
from  one  of  the  wall-paintings,  is  peculiarly  interefting,  both  from 
circumftances  in  the  drawing  itfelf,  and  becaufe  it  is  a  parody  on  one  of 
the  favourite  national  legends  of  the  Roman  people,  who  prided  them- 

felves 


20 


Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


felves  on  their  defcent  from  vEneas.  Virgil  has  told,  with  great  effect, 
the  ftory  of  his  hero's  elcape  from  the  deftru6tion  of  Troy — or  rather  has 
put  the  llory  into  his  hero's  mouth.  When  the  devoted  city  was  already 


n o o n n  n o o  n n r. o  no 


No.  II.      The  PKgh.  of  Mneas  from  Troy. 

in  flames,  ^Eneas  took  his  father,  Anchifes,  on  his  moulder,  and  his  boy, 
lulus,  or,  as  he  was  otherwife  called,  Afcanius,  by  the  hand,  and  thus  fled 
from  his  home,  followed  by  his  wife — 


Ergo  age,  care  pater,  cer-vici  imponere  nofirtf  ,• 

Ipfefubibo  humeris,  nee  me  labor  ifte  gra-vablt. 

Quo  ret  cumque  cadent,  unum  et  commune  perklum, 

Unafalus  ambobus  em.      AfiAi  parvus  lulus 

Sit  «»;«,  et  longejer-vat  vefllgla  conjux.—Virg.  JEn.,  lib.  ii.  L  707. 


Thus 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


21 


Thus  they  hurried  on,  the  child  holding  by  his  father's  right  hand,  and 
dragging  after  with  "  unequal  fteps," — 

dextrte  fe  par-vus  lulus 
Implicuit  fequiturque  patrem  non  pajjlbus  eequis. — Virg.  lEm.,  lib.  ii.  1.  723. 

And  thus  ./Eneas  bore  away  both  father  and  fon,  and  the  penates,  or 
houfehold  gods,  of  his  family,  which  were  to  be  transferred  to  another 
country,  and  become  the  future  guardians  of  Rome — 

j4fcanium,  Anchifemque  patrem,  Tencrofque  penates. — Ib.,  L  747. 

In   this  cale  we  know  that  the  delign  is  intended  to  be  a  parody, 
or   burlefque,  upon   a   pi6ture   which   appears   to   have   been   celebrated 


No.  12.      The  Flight  of  Mneas. 

at  the  time,  and  of  which  at  leaft  two  different  copies  are  found  upon 
ancient  intaglios.     Tt  is  the  only  cafe  I  know  in  which  both  the  original 

and 


22  Hi II or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

and  the  parody  have  been  preferred  from  this  remote  period,  and  this  is 
fo  curious  a  circumftance,  that  I  give  in  the  cut  on  the  preceding  page  a 
copy  of  one  of  the  intaglios.*  It  reprefented  literally  Virgil's  account  of 
the  ftory,  and  the  only  difference  between  the  defign  on  the  intaglios  and 
the  one  given  in  our  firft  cut  is,  that  in  the  latter  the  perfonages  are  repre- 
fented under  the  forms  of  monkeys.  ./Eneas,  perfonified  by  the  ftrong  and 
vigorous  animal,  carrying  the  old  monkey,  Anchifes,  on  his  left  (boulder, 
hurries  forward,  and  at  the  fame  time  looks  back  on  the  burning  city.  With 
his  right  hand  he  drags  along  the  boy  lulus,  or  Afcanius,  who  is  evidently 
proceeding  non  pajffilus  cequis,  and  with  difficulty  keeps  up  with  his 
father's  pace.  The  boy  wears  a  Phrygian  bonnet,  and  holds  in  his  right 
hand  the  inftrument  of  play  which  we  fhould  now  call  a  "  bandy  " 
— the  pedun.  Anchifes  has  charge  of  the  box,  which  contains  the  facred 
penates.  It  is  a  curious  circumftance  that  the  monkeys  in  this  picture  are 
the  fame  dog-headed  animals,  or  cynocephali,  which  are  found  on 
the  Egyptian  monuments. 


*  These  intaglios  are  engraved  in  the  Museum  Florentinum  of  Gorius,  vol.  ii. 
pi.  30      On  one  of  them  the  figures  are  reversed. 


When  this  chapter  was  already  given  tor  press,  I  first  became  acquainted  with 
an  interesting  paper,  by  Panofka,  on  the  "  Parodieen  und  Karikaturen  auf  Werken 
der  Klassischen  Kunst,"  in  the  "  Abhandlungen  der  Akademie  der  Wissenschaften 
zu  Berlin,"  for  the  year  1854,  ar>d  I  can  only  now  refer  my  readers  to  it. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  23 


CHAPTER  II. 

ORIGIN  OF    THE    STAGE    IN    ROME. USES  OF    THE    MASK  AMONG   THE 

ROMANS. SCENES  FROM  ROMAN  COMEDY. THE  SANNIO  AND  MIMUS. 

THE     ROMAN    DRAMA. THE     ROMAN    SATIRISTS. CARICATURE. — 

ANIMALS  INTRODUCED  IN  THE  CHARACTERS  OF  MEN. THE  PIGMIES, 

AND  THEIR  INTRODUCTION  INTO  CARICATURE  ;  THE  FARM-YARD  ;  THE 
PAINTER'S  STUDIO;  THE  PROCESSION. — POLITICAL  CARICATURE  IN 
POMPEII  J  THE  GRAFFITI. 

THE  Romans  appear  to  have  never  had  any  real  tafte  for  the  regular 
drama,  which  they  merely  copied  from  the  Greeks,  and  from  the 
earlieft  period  of  their  hiftory  we  find  them  borrowing  all  their  arts  of 
this  defcription  from  their  neighbours.  In  Italy,  as  in  Greece,  the  firft 
germs  of  comic  literature  may  be  traced  in  the  religious  feftivals,  which 
prefented  a  mixture  of  religious  worfhip  and  riotous  feftivity,  where  the 
feafters  danced  and  fung,  and,  as  they  became  excited  with  wine  and  enthu- 
fiafm,  indulged  in  mutual  reproaches  and  abufe.  The  oldeft  poetry  of  the 
Romans,  which  was  compofed  in  irregular  meafure,  was  reprefented  by  the 
verfus  faturnini,  faid  to  have  been  fo  called  from  their  antiquity  (for  things 
of  remote  antiquity  were  believed  to  belong  to  the  age  of  Saturn).  Naevius, 
one  of  the  oldeft  of  Latin  poets,  is  faid  to  have  written  in  this  verfe.  Next 
in  order  of  time  came  the  Fefcennine  verfes,  which  appear  to  have  been 
diftinguifhed  chiefly  by  .their  licenfe,  and  received  their  name  becaufe 
they  were  brought  from  Fefcennia,  in  Etruria,  where  they  were  employed 
originally  in  the  feftivals  of  Ceres  and  Bacchus.  In  the  year  391  of 
Rome,  or  361  B.C.,  the  city  was  vifited  by  a  dreadful  plague,  and  the 
citizens  hit  upon  what  will  appear  to  us  the  rather  ftrange  expedient  of 
fending  for  performers  (ludiones)  from  Etruria,  hoping,  by  employing 
them,  to  appeafe  the  anger  of  the  gods.  Any  performer  of  this  kind 
appears  to  have  been  fo  little  known  to  the  Romans  before  this,  that 

there 


24  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

there  was  not  even  a  name  for  him  in  the  language,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  adopt  the  Tufcan  word,  and  call  him  a  hiflrio,  becaufe  hifter  in 
that  language  meant  a  player  or  pantomimift.  This  word,  we  know, 
remained  in  the  Latin  language.  Thefe  firft  Etrurian  performers  appear 
indeed  to  have  been  mere  pantomimifts,  who  accompanied  the  flute  with 
all  forts  of  mountebank  tricks,  geftures,  dances,  gefticulations,  and  the 
like,  mixed  with  fatirical  fongs,  and  fometimes  with  the  performance  of 
coarfe  farces.  The  Romans  had  alfo  a  clafs  of  performances  rather  more 
dramatic  in  character,  confifting  of  ftories  which  were  named  Faluloe 
AtdlancB,  becaufe  thefe  performers  were  brought  from  Atella,  a  city  of 
the  Ofci. 

A  confiderable  advance  was  made  in  dramatic  Art  in  Rome  about  the 
middle  of  the  third  century  before  Chrift.  It  is  afcribed  to  a  freedman 
named  Livius  Andronicus,  a  Greet-  by  birth,  who  is  faid  to  have  brought 
out,  in  the  year  240  B.C.,  the  firft  regular  comedy  ever  performed  in 
Rome.  Thus  we  trace  not  only  the  Roman  comedy,  but  the  very  rudi- 
ments of  dramatic  art  in  Rome,  either  direct  to  the  Greeks,  or  to  the 
Grecian  colonies  in  Italy.  With  the  Romans,  as  well  as  with  the  Greeks, 
the  theatre  was  a  popular  inftitution,  open  to  the  public,  and  the  Hate  or 
a  wealthy  individual  paid  for  the  performance  ;  and  therefore  the  building 
itfelf  was  neceflarily  of  very  great  extent,  and,  in  both  countries  open  to 
the  fky,  except  that  the  Romans  provided  for  throwing  an  awning  over 
it.  As  the  Roman  comedy  was  copied  from  the  new  comedy  of  the 
Greeks,  and  therefore  did  not  admit  of  the  introduction  of  caricature  and 
burlefque  on  the  ftage,  thefe  were  left  especially  to  the  province  of  the 
pantomime  and  farce,  which  the  Romans,  as  juft  ftated,  had  received 
from  a  ftill  earlier  period. 

Whether  the  Romans  borrowed  the  malk  from  the  Greeks,  or  not,  is 
rather  uncertain,  but  it  was  ufed  as  generally  in  the  Roman  theatres, 
whether  in  comedy  or  tragedy,  as  among  the  Greeks.  The  Greek  adors 
performed  upon  ftilts,  in  order  to  magnify  their  figures,  as  the  area  of  the 
theatre  was  very  large  and  uncovered,  and  without  this  help  they  were 
not  fo  well  feen  at  a  diftance ;  and  one  object  of  utility  aimed  at  by  the 
mafk  is  faid  to  have  been  to  make  the  head  appear  proportionate  in  fize 

to 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


25 


to  the  artificial  height  of  the  body.  It  may  be  remarked  that  the  malk 
feems  generally  to  have  been  made  to  cover  the  whole  head,  reprefenting 
the  hair  as  well  as  the  face,  fo  that  the  character  of  age  or  complexion 
might  be  given  complete.  Among  the  Romans  the  ftilts  were  certainly 
not  in  general  ufe,  but  ftill  the  malk,  befides  its  comic  or  tragic  character, 
is  fuppofed  to  have  ferved  ufeful  purpofes.  The  firft  improvement  upon 
its  original  ftru6ture  is  faid  to  have  been  the  making  it  of  brafs,  or  fome 


No.  13.      si  Scene  from  Ten  nee. 

other  fonorous  metal, or  at  leaft  lining  the  mouth  with  it,fo  as  to  reverberate, 
and  give  force  to  the  voice,  and  alfo  to  the  mouth  of  the  malk  fomethingof 
the  charafter  of  a  fpeaking-trumpet.*  All  thefe  acceflbries  could  not  fail  to 
detraa  much  from  the  effecT:  of  the  ading,  which  muft  in  general  have 
been  very  meafured  and  formal,  and  have  received  moft  of  its  importance 
from  the  excellence  of  the  poetry,  and  the  declamatory  talents  of  the 
a6lors.  We  have  pictures  in  which  fcenes  from  the  Roman  ftage  are 

accurately 

*  It  is  said  to  have  received  its  Latin  name  from  this  circumstance,  ferfona,  u 
pcrjonando.     See  Aulus  Gellius,  Noct    Alt.,  lib.  v.  C.  7- 


26 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


accurately  reprefented.  Several  rather  early  manufcripts  of  Terence  have 
been  preferved,  illuftrated  with  drawings  of  the  fcenes  as  reprefented  on 
the  ftage,  and  thefe,  though  belonging  to  a  period  long  fubfequent  to  the 
age  in  which  the  Roman  ftage  exifted  in  its  original  character,  are,  no 
doubt,  copied  from  drawings  of  an  earlier  date.  A  German  antiquary  of 
the  laft  century,  Henry  Berger,  publifhed  in  a  quarto  volume  a  feries  of 
fuch  illuftrations  from  a  manufcript  of  Terence  in  the  library  of  the 
Vatican  at  Rome,  from  which  two  examples  are  ielec\ed,  as  fhowing  the 


No.  14.      Geta  and  Demea. 


ufual  ftyle  of  Roman  comic  ading,  and  the  ufe  of  the  mafk.  The  firil 
(No.  13)  is  the  opening  fcene  in  the  Andria.  On  the  right,  two  fervants 
have  brought  provifions,  and  on  the  left  appear  Simo,  the  matter  of  the 
houfehold,  and  his  freedman,  Sofia,  who  feems  to  be  entrufted  with  the 
charge  of  his  domeftic  affairs.  Simo  tells  his  fervants  to  go  away  with 
the  provifions,  while  he  beckons  Sofia  to  confer  with  him  in  private  :— 

Si.  Vos  ijlac  intro  auferte  ;  abite,  Sofia, 
Adejdum  ;  faucis  te  -volo.  So.  Difium  futa 
Netffx  ut  curentur  refie  h<ec.  Si.  Imo  aliud. 

Terent  Andr.,  Actus  i.,  Scena  1. 

When 


in  Literature  and  Art 


27 


When  we  compare  thefe  words  with  the  pi6ture,  we  cannot  but  feel  that 
in  the  latter  there  is  an  unneceflary  degree  of  energy  put  into  the  pofe 
of  the  figures ;  which  is  perhaps  lefs  the  cafe  in  the  other  (No.  14),  an 
illuftration  of  the  fixth  fcene  of  the  fifth  att  of  the  Adelphi  of  Terence.  It 
reprefents  the  meeting  of  Geta,  a  rather  talkative  and  conceited  fervant, 
and  Demea,  a  countryfied  and  churlifh  old  man,  his  acquaintance,  and  of 
courfe  fuperior.  To  Geta's  falutation,  Demea  afks  churliflily,  as  not  at 
firft  knowing  him,  "Who  are  you?"  but  when  he  finds  that  it  is  Geta, 
he  changes  fuddenly  to  an  almoft  fawning  tone : — 

G Sed  ecc urn  Demeam.      Sal-vus  fief 

D.    OA,  qui  -vocare  ?     G.   Geta.     D.  Geta,  hominem  maximi 
Pretii  ejje  te  kodie  judica-vi  animo  met. 

That  thefe  reprefentations  are  truthful,  the  fcenes  in  the  wall-paintings 
of  Pompeii  leave  us  no  room  to  doubt.  One  of  thefe  is  produced  in  our 
cut  No.  15,  which  is  no  doubt  taken  from  a  comedy  now  loft,  and  we 


No.  15.     Comic  Scene  from  Pomf,eii. 


are  ignorant  whom  the  charaders  are  intended  to  reprefent.     The  pofe 
given  to  the  two  comic  figures,  compared  with  the  example  given  from 

Berger, 


28 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Berger,  would  lead  us  to  fuppofe   that  this  over-energetic  action  was 
confidered  as  part  of  the  character  of  comic  acting. 

The  fubject  of  the  Roman  mafks  is  the  more  interefting,  becaufe  they 
were  probably  the  origin  of  many  of  the  grotefque  faces  fo  often  met 
with  in  mediaeval  fculpture.  The  comic  maflc  was,  indeed,  a  very  popular 
object  among  the  Romans,  and  appears  to  have  been  taken  as  fymbolical 
of  everything  that  was  droll  and  burlefque.  From  the  comic  fcenes  of 
the  theatre,  to  which  it  was  firft  appropriated,  it  pafied  to  the  popular 
feftivals  of  a  public  character,  fuch  as  the  Lupercalia,  with  which,  no 
doubt,  it  was  carried  into  the  carnival  of  the  middle  ages,  and  to  our 
mafquerades.  Among  the  Romans,  alfo,  the  ufe  of  the  maik  foon  pafied 
from  the  public  feftivals  to  private  fupper  parties.  Its  ufe  was  fo  common 
that  it  became  a  plaything  among  children,  and  was  fometimes  ufed  as  a 
bugbear  to  frighten  them.  Our  cut  No.  16,  taken  from  a  painting  at 


No.  1 6.      Cupidi  at  Play. 

Refina,  reprefents  two  cupids  playing  with  a  malk,  and  ufing  it  for  this 
latter  purpofe,  that  is,  to  frighten  one  another ;  and  it  is  curious  that  the 
mediaeval  glofs  of  Ugutio  explains  larva,  a  malk,  as  being  an  image, 
"which  was  put  over  the  face  to  frighten  children."*  The  maik  thus 
became  a  favourite  ornament,  efpecially  on  lamps,  and  on  the  antefixa 
and 

"  Simulacrum quod  opponitur  faciei  ad  terrendos  parvos."     (Ugutio,  ap. 

Ducange,  v.  Mafia.) 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


29 


and  gargoyls  of  Roman  buildings,  to  which  were  often  given  the  form  of 
grotefque  malks,  monftrous  faces,  with  great  mouths  wide  open,  and 
other  figures,  like  thofe  of  the  gargoyls  of  the  mediaeval  architects. 

While  the  comic  malk  was  ufed  generally  in  the  burlefque  entertain- 
ments, it  alfo  became  diftinctive  of  particular  characters.  One  of  thefe 
was  the  fannio,  or  buffoon,  whofe  name  was  derived  from  the  Greek  word 
oarvoQ,  "a  fool,"  and  who  was  employed  in  performing  burlefque  dances, 
making  grimaces,  and  in  other  a6ts  calculated  to  excite  the  mirth  of  the 
lpe£tator.  A  reprefentation  of  the  fannio  is  given  in  our  cut  No.  17, 


No.  17.      The  Roman  Sannio,  or  Buffoon. 

copied  from  one  of  the  engravings  in  the  "DiHertatio  de  Larvis  Scenicis," 
by  the  Italian  antiquary  Ficoroni,  who  took  it  from  an  engraved  gem. 
The  fannio  holds  in  his  hand  what  is  fuppofed  to  be  a  brafs  rod,  and  he  has 

probably 


3° 


Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


probably  another  in  the  other  hand,  fo  that  he  could  ftrike  them  together. 
He  wears  the  foccus,  or  low  fhoe  peculiar  to  the  comic  a&ors.  This 
buffoon  was  a  favourite  character  among  the  Romans,  who  introduced 
him  conftantly  into  their  feafts  and  fupper  parties.  The  manducus  was 
another  character  of  this  defcription,  reprefented  with  a  grotefque  mafk, 
prefenting  a  wide  mouth  and  tongue  lolling  out,  and  laid  to  have  been 
peculiar  to  the  Atellane  plays.  A  character  in  Plautus  (Rud.,  ii.  6,  51) 
talks  of  hiring  himfelf  as  a  manducus  in  the  plays. 

"  S}mdji  aliquo  ad  ludos  me  pro  manduco  locem  /"' 

The  mediaeval  glofles  interpret  manducus  by  joculator,  "  a  jogelor,"  and 
add  that  the  charadteriftic  from  which  he  took  his  name  was  the  practice 
of  making  grimaces  like  a  man  gobbling  up  his  food  in  a  vulgar  and 
gluttonous  manner. 

Ficoroni  gives,  from  an  engraved  onyx,  a  figure  of  another  burlefque 
performer,  copied  in  our   cut  No.   18,  and  which  he  compares  to    the 


No.  1 8.     Roman  Tom  Fool. 

Catanian  dancer  of  his  time  (his  book  was  publilhed  in  1754),  who  was 
called  a  giangurgolo.  This  is  confidered  to  reprefent  the  Roman  mimus, 
a  clafs  of  performers  who  told  with  mimicry  and  action  fcenes  taken  from 

common 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3 1 

common  life,  and  more  efpecially  fcandalous  and  indecent  anecdotes,  like 
the  jogelors  and  performers  of  farces  in  the  middle  ages.  The  Romans 
were  very  much  attached  to  thefe  performances,  fo  much  fo,  that  they 
even  had  them  at  their  funeral  proceffions  and  at  their  funeral  feafts.  In 
our  figure,  the  mimus  is  reprefented  naked,  malked  (with  an  exaggerated 
nofe),  and  wearing  what  is  perhaps  intended  as  a  caricature  of  the 
Phrygian  bonnet.  In  his  right  hand  he  holds  a  bag,  or  purfe,  full  of 
objects  which  rattle  and  make  a  noife  when  fliaken,  while  the  other  holds 
the  crotalum,  or  caflanets,  an  inftrument  in  common  ufe  among  the 
ancients.  One  of  the  ftatues  in  the  Barberini  Palace  reprefents  a  youth 
in  a  Phrygian  cap  playing  on  the  crotalum.  We  learn,  from  an  early 
authority,  that  it  was  an  inftrument  efpecially  ufed  in  the  fatirical  and 
burlefque  dances  which  were  fo  popular  among  the  Romans. 

As  I  have  remarked  before,  the  Romans  had  no  tafte  for  the  regular 
drama,  but  they  retained  to  the  laft  their  love  for  the  performances  of 
the  popular  mimi,  or  comeedi  (as  they  were  often  called),  the  players 
of  farces,  and  the  dancers.  Thefe  performed  on  the  ftage,  in  the  public 
feftivals,  in  the  ftreets,  and  were  ufually  introduced  at  private  parties.* 
Suetonius  tells  us  that  on  one  occafion,  the  emperor  Caligula  ordered  a 
poet  who  compofed  the  Atellanes  (Atellance  poetam)  to  be  burnt  in 
the  middle  of  the  amphitheatre,  for  a  pun.  A  more  regular  comedy, 
however,  did  flourifh,  to  a  certain  degree,  at  the  fame  time  with  thefe 
more  popular  compofitions.  Of  the  works  of  the  earlieft  of  the  Roman 
comic  writers,  Livius  Andronicus  and  Naevius,  we  know  only  one  or  two 
titles,  and  a  few  fragments  quoted  in  the  works  of  the  later  Roman 
writers.  They  were  followed  by  Plautus,  who  died  B.C.  184,  and  nineteen 
of  whofe  comedies  are  preferved  and  well  known ;  by  feveral  other 
writers,  whofe  names  are  almoft  forgotten,  and  whofe  comedies  are  all 
loft;  and  by  Terence,  fix  of  whofe  comedies  are  preferved.  Terence 
died  about  the  year  159  B.C.  About  the  fame  time  with  Terence  lived 

Lucius 


*  See,  for  allusions  to  the  private  employment  of  these  performances,  Pliny, 
Epi«it.  i.  15,  and  ix.  36. 


32  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Lucius  Afranius  and  Quin&ius  Atta,  who  appear  to  clofe  the  lift  of  the 
Roman  writers  of  comedy. 

But  another  branch  of  comic  literature  had  fprung  out  of  the  fatire  of 
the  religious  feftivities.  A  year  after  Livius  Andronicus  produced  the 
firft  drama  at  Rome,  in  the  year  239  B.C.,  the  poet  Ennius  was  born  at 
Rudiae,  in  Magna  Graecia.  The  fatirical  verfe,  whether  Saturnine  or 
Fefcennine,  had  been  gradually  improving  in  its  form,  although  ftill  very 
rude,  but  Ennius  is  faid  to  have  given  at  leaft  a  new  polifti,  and  perhaps 
a  new  metrical  (hape,  to  it.  The  verfe  was  ftill  irregular,  but  it 
appears  to  have  been  no  longer  intended  for  recitation,  accompanied  by 
the  flute.  The  Romans  looked  upon  Ennius  not  only  as  their  earlieft  epic 
poet,  but  as  the  father  of  fatire,  a  clafs  of  literary  compofition  which 
appears  to  have  originated  with  them,  and  which  they  claimed  as  their 
own.*  Ennius  had  an  imitator  in  M.  Terentius  Varro.  The  fatires  ot 
thefe  firft  writers  are  faid  to  have  been  very  irregular  compofitions,  mixing 
profe  with  verfe,  and  fometimes  even  Greek  with  Latin ;  and  to  have 
been  rather  general  in  their  aim  than  perfonal.  But  foon  after  this 
period,  and  rather  more  than  a  century  before  Chrift,  came  Caius 
Lucilius,  who  raifed  Roman  fatirical  literature  to  its  perfection.  Lucilius, 
we  are  told,  was  the  firft  who  wrote  fatires  in  heroic  verfe,  or  hexameters, 
mixing  with  them  now  and  then,  though  rarely,  an  iambic  or  trochaic 
line.  He  was  more  refined,  more  pointed,  and  more  perfonal,  than  his 
predeceflbrs,  and  he  had  refcued  fatire  from  the  ftreet  performer  to  make 
it  a  clafs  of  literature  which  was  to  be  read  by  the  educated,  and  not 
merely  liftened  to  by  the  vulgar.  Lucilius  is  faid  to  have  written  thirty 
books  of  fatires,  of  which,  unfortunately,  only  fome  fcattered  lines 
remain. 

Lucilius  had  imitators,  the  very  names  of  moft  of  whom  are  now  for- 
gotten, but  about  forty  years  after  his  death,  and  fixty-five  years  before 
the  birth  of  Chrift,  was  born  Quintus  Horatius  Flaccus,  the  oldeft  of  the 
fetirifts  whofe  works  we  now  poflefs,  and  the  moft  polifhed  of  Roman 

poets. 

*  Quintilian  says,  "  Satira  quidem  rota  nojtra  eft."    De  Instir.  Orator.,  lib.  x.  c.  i. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3  3 


poets.  In  the  time  of  Horace,  the  fatire  of  the  Romans  had  reached  its 
higheft  degree  of  perfection.  Of  the  two  other  great  fatirifts  whofe  works 
are  preferred,  Juvenal  was  born  about  the  year  40  of  the  Chriftian  era, 
and  Perfius  in  43.  During  the  period  through  which  thefe  writers 
flourished,  Rome  faw  a  confiderable  number  of  other  fatirifts  of  the 
fame  clafs,  whofe  works  have  periftied. 

In  the  time  of  Juvenal  another  variety  of  the  fame  clafs  of  literature  had 
already  fprung  up,  more  artificial  and  fomewhat  more  indirect  than  the 
other,  the  profe  fatiric  romance.  Three  celebrated  writers  reprefent  this 
fchool.  Petronius,  who,  born  about  the  commencement  of  our  era, 
died  in  A.D.  65,  is  the  earlieft  and  moft  remarkable  of  them.  He 
compiled  a  romance,  defigned  as  a  fatire  on  the  vices  of  the  age  of  Nero, 
in  which  real  perfons  are  fuppofed  to  be  aimed  at  under  fictitious  names, 
and  which  rivals  in  licenfe,  at  leaft,  anything  that  could  have  been  uttered 
in  the  Atellanes  or  other  farces  of  the  mirni.  Lucian,  of  Samofata,  who 
died  an  old  man  in  the  year  200,  and  who,  though  he  wrote  in  Greek, 
may  be  confidered  as  belonging  to  the  Roman  fchool,  compofed  feveral 
fatires  of  this  kind,  in  one  of  the  moft  remarkable  of  which,  entitled 
"  Lucius,  or  the  Afs,"  the  author  defcribes  himfelf  as  changed  by  forcer)' 
into  the  form  of  that  animal,  under  which  he  paries  through  a  number 
of  adventures  which  illuftrate  the  vices  and  weaknefles  of  contemporary 
fociety.  Apuleius,  who  was  considerably  the  junior  of  Lucian,  made  this 
novel  the  groundwork  of  his  "  Golden  Afs,"  a  much  larger  and  more 
elaborate  work,  written  in  Latin.  This  work  of  Apuleius  was  very 
popular  through  fubfequent  ages. 

Let  us  return  to  Roman  caricature,  one  form  of  which  feems  to  have 
been  efpecially  a  favourite  among  the  people.  It  is  difficult  to 'imagine 
how  the  ftory  of  the  pigmies  and  of  their  wars  with  the  cranes  originated, 
but  it  is  certainly  of  great  antiquity,  as  it  is  fpoken  of  in  Homer,  and  it 
was  a  very  popular  legend  among  the  Romans,  who  eagerly  fought  and 
purchafed  dwarfs  to  make  domeftic  pets  of  them.  The  pigmies  and 
cranes  occur  frequently  among  the  piftorial  ornamentations  of  the  houfes 
of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  ;  and  the  painters  of  Pompeii  not  only 
reprefented  them  in  their  proper  charaaer,but  they  made  ufe  of  them  for 

F  the 


34 


Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


the  purpofe  of  caricaturing  the  various  occupations  of  life — domeftic 
and  focial  fcenes,  grave  conferences,  and  many  other  fubjects,  and 
even  perfonal  character.  In  this  clafs  of  caricatures  they  gave  to  the 
pigmies,  or  dwarfs,  very  large  heads,  and  very  fmall  legs  and  arms.  I 
need  hardly  remark  that  this  is  a  clafs  of  caricature  which  is  very  common 
in  modern  times.  Our  firft  group  of  thefe  pigmy  caricatures  (No.  19)  is 


The  Farm-yard  in  Burlefque. 

taken  from  a  painting  on  the  walls  of  the  Temple  of  Venus,  at  Pompeii, 
and  reprefents  the  interior  of  a  farm-yard  in  burlefque.     The  ftructure  in 
the  background  is  perhaps  intended  for  a  hayrick.     In  front  of  it,  one  of 
the  farm  fervants  is  attending  on  the  poultry.     The  more  important- 
looking  perfonage  with  the  paftoral  ftaff  is  poflibly  the  overfeer  of  the 
farm,  who  is  vifiting  the  labourers,  and  this 
probably  is  the  caufe  why  their  movements 
have  aflumed  fo  much  activity.     The  labourer 
on  the  right  is  ufing  the  qfilla,  a  wooden  yoke 
or  pole,  which  was  carried  over  the  moulder, 
with   the  corlis,  or  bafket,  fufpended  at  each 
end.    This  was  a  common  method  of  carrying, 
and  is  not  unfrequently  reprefented  on  Roman 
works   of  art.      Several   examples    might   be 
quoted  from  the  antiquities  of  Pompeii.     Our 
cut   No.  20,  from   a  gem   in   the   Florentine 

Mufeum,  and  illuftratirig  another  clafs  of  caricature,  that  of  introducing 
animals  performing  the  actions  and  duties  of  men,  reprefents  a  grafshopper 
carrying  the  qfilla  and  the  carles. 

A  private 


No.  20.     An  Afilla-Bearer. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


35 


A  private  houfe  in  Pompeii  furnifhed  another  example  of  this  ftyle  of 
caricature,  which  is  given  in  our  cut  No.  21.  It  reprefents  the  interior  of 
a  painter's  fludio,  and  is  extremely  curious  on  account  of  the  numerous 
details  of  his  method  of  operation  with  which  it  furnifhes  us.  The 


No.  21.     A.  Painttr^i  Studio. 

painter,  who  is,  like  mod  of  the  figures  in  thefe  pigmy  caricatures,  very 
fcantily  clothed,  is  occupied  with  the  portrait  of  another,  who,  by  the 
rather  exaggerated  fulnefs  of  the  gathering  of  his  toga,  is  evidently 
intended  for  a  darning  and  fafliionable  patrician,  though  he  is  feated  as 
bare-legged  and  bare-breeched  as  the  artifl  himfelf.  Both  are  diftinguifhed 
by  a  large  allowance  of  nofe.  The  eafel  here  employed  refembles  greatly 
the  fame  article  now  in  ufe,  and  might  belong  to  the  fludio  of  a 
modern  painter.  Before  it  is  a  fmall  table,  probably  formed  of  a  flab 
of  (lone,  which  ferves  for  a  palette,  on  which  the  painter  fpreads  and 
mixes  his  colours.  To  the  right  a  fervant,  who  fills  the  office  of  colour- 
grinder,  is  feated  by  the  fide  of  a  veflel  placed  over  hot  coals,  and  appears 
to  be  preparing  colours,  mixed,  according  to  the  directions  given  in  old 
writers,  with  punic  wax  and  oil.  In  the  background  is  feated  a  ftudent, 
whofe  attention  is  taken  from  his  drawing  by  what  is  going  on  at  the 
other  fide  of  the  room,  where  two  fmall  perfonages  are  entering,  who 
look  as  if  they  were  amateurs,  and  who  appear  to  be  talking  about  the 
portrait.  Behind  them  flands  a  bird,  and  when  the  painting  was  firft 

uncovered 


36  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

uncovered  there  were  two.  Mazois,  who  made  the  drawing  from  which 
our  cut  is  taken,  before  the  original  had  periflied — for  it  was  found  in  a 
(late  of  decay— imagined  that  the  birds  typified  fome  well-known 
fingers  or  muficians,  but  they  are,  perhaps,  merely  intended  for  cranes, 
birds  fo  generally  aflbciated  with  the  pigmies. 

According  to  an  ancient  writer,  combats  of  pigmies  were  favourite 
reprefentations  on  the  walls  of  taverns  and  (hops  ;*  and,  curioufly  enough, 
the  walls  of  a  (hop  in  Pompeii  have  furniflied  the  picture  reprefented  in 
our  cut  No.  22,  which  has  evidently  been  intended  for  a  caricature, 


No.  22.      Part  of  a  Triumphal  Procejjion. 

probably  a  parody.  All  the  pigmies  in  this  picture  are  crowned  with 
laurel,  as  though  the  painter  intended  to  turn  to  ridicule  fome  over- 
pompous  triumph,  or  fome  public,  perhaps  religious,  ceremony.  The  two 
figures  to  the  left,  who  are  clothed  in  yellow  and  green  garments,  appear 
to  be  difputing  the  poflefiion  of  a  bowl  containing  a  liquid.  One  of 
thefe,  like  the  two  figures  on  the  right,  has  a  hoop  thrown  over  his 
fhoulder.  The  firft  of  the  latter  perfonages  wears  a  violet  drels,  and 
holds  in  his  right  hand  a  rod,  and  in  his  left  a  ftatuette,  apparently  ot  a 

deity, 

*  liri  riav  KairT}\in>v.     Problem.  Aristotelic      Sec.  x.  7. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


37 


deity,  but  its  attributes  are  not  diftinguifliable.  The  laft  figure  to  the 
right  has  a  robe,  or  mantle,  of  two  colours,  red  and  green,  and  holds  in 
his  hand  a  branch  of  a  lily,  or  fome  fimilar  plant ;  the  reft  of  the  picture 
is  loft.  Behind  the  other  figure  Hands  a  fifth,  who  appears  younger  and 
more  refined  in  character  than  the  others,  and  feems  to  be  ordering  or 
directing  them.  His  drels  is  red. 

We  can  have  no  doubt  that  political  and  perlbnal  caricature  flourifhed 
among  the  Romans,  as  we  have  fome  examples  of  it  on  their  works  of 
art,  chiefly  on  engraved  ftones,  though  thefe  are  moftly  of  a  character  we 
could  not  here  conveniently  introduce ;  but  the  fame  rich  mine  of  Roman 
art  and  antiquities,  Pompeii,  has  furnifhed  us  with  one  fample  of  what 
may  be  properly  confidered  as  a  political  caricature.  In  the  year  59  of  the 
Chriftian  era,  at  a  gladiatorial  exhibition  in  the  amphitheatre  of  Pompeii, 
where  the  people  of  Nuceria  were  prefent,  the  latter  exprefied  themfelves 
in  fuch  fcornful  terms  towards  the  Pompeians,  as  led  to  a  violent  quarrel, 
which  was  followed  by  a  pitched  battle  between  the  inhabitants  of  the 
two  towns,  and  the  Nucerians,  being  defeated,  carried  their  complaints 
before  the  reigning  emperor,  Nero,  who  gave  judgment  in  their  favour, 
and  condemned  the  people  of  Pompeii  to  fufpenfion  from  all  theatrical 
amufements  for  ten  years.  The  feelings  of  the  Pompeians  on  this  occafion 
are  difplayed  in  the  rude  drawing  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  23,  which 
is  fcratched  on  the  plafter  of  the  external  wall  of  a  houfe  in  the  ftreet  to 
which  the  Italian  antiquarians  have  given  the  name  of  the  ftreet  oi 
Mercury.  A  figure,  completely  armed,  his  head  covered  with  what  might 
be  taken  for  a  mediaeval  helmet,  is  defcending  what  appear  to  be  intended 
for  the  fteps  of  the  amphitheatre.  He  carries  in  his  hand  a  palm-branch, 
the  emblem  of  victory.  Another  palm-branch  ftands  ere6t  by  his  fide, 
and  underneath  is  the  infcription,  in  rather  ruftic  Latin,  "  CAMPANI 
VICTORIA  VNA  CVM  NVCER1NIS  PERISTIS  "— "O  Campa- 
nians,  you  perifhed  in  the  viftory  together  with  the  Nucerians."  The 
other  fide  cf  the  picture  is  more  rudely  and  haftily  drawn.  It  has  been 
fuppofed  to  reprefent  one  of  the  vidors  dragging  a  prifoner,  with  his  arms 
bound,  up  a  ladder  to  a  ftage  or  platform,  on  which  he  was  perhaps  to  be 
exhibited  to  the  jeers  of  the  populace.  Four  years  after  this  event, 

Pompeii 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Pompeii  was  greatly  damaged  by  an  earthquake,  and  fixteen  years  later 
came  the  eruption  of  Vefuvius,  which  buried  the  town,  and  lef".  it  in  the 
condition  in  which  it  is  now  found. 

This  curious  caricature  belongs  to  a  clafs  of  monuments  to  which 
archaeologifts  have  given  technically  the  Italian  name  of  graffiti,  fcratches 
or  fcrawls,  of  which  a  great  number,  confifting  chiefly  of  writing,  have 
been  found  on  the  walls  of  Pompeii.  They  alfo  occur  among  the  remains 
on  other  Roman  fites,  and  one  found  in  Rome  itfelf  is  efpecially  intereft- 


A  Popular  Caricature. 


ing.  During  the  alterations  and  extenfions  which  were  made  from  time 
to  time  in  the  palace  of  the  Caefars,  it  had  been  found  necefTary  to  build 
acrols  a  narrow  ftreet  which  interfered  the  Palatine,  and,  in  order  to  give 
fupport  to  the  ftru&ure  above,  a  portion  of  the  ftreet  was  walled  off,  and 
remained  thus  hermetically  fealed  until  about  the  year  1857,  when  fome 
excavations  on  the  fpot  brought  it  to  view.  The  walls  of  the  flreet  were 
found  to  be  covered  with  thefe  graffiti,  among  which  one  attracted  efpecial 
attention,  and,  having  been  carefully  removed,  is  now  preferved  in  the 
mufeum  of  the  Collegio  Romano.  It  is  a  caricature  upon  a  Chriftian 

named 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


39 


named  Alexamenos,  by  fome  pagan  who  defpifed  Chriftianity.  The 
Saviour  is  reprefented  under  the  form  of  a  man  with  the  head  of  an  als, 
extended  upon  a  crofs,  the  Chriftian,  Alexamenos,  ftanding  on  one  fide  in 
the  attitude  of  worftiip  of  that  period.  Underneath  we  read  the  infcrip- 


-OEQ' 

No.  24.     Early  Caricature  upon  a  Chriftian, 

tion,  AAEBAMENO2  CEBETE  (for  ffejSe-a-)  ©EON,  "Alexamenos 
wormips  God."  This  curious  figure,  which  may  be  placed  among  the 
moft  interefting  as  well  as  early  evidences  of  the  truth  of  Gofpel  hiftory, 
is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  24.  It  was  drawn  when  the  prevailing  religion 
at  Rome  was  ftill  pagan,  and  a  Chriftian  was  an  object  of  contempt. 


40  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  PERIOD  OF  TRANSITION  FROM  ANTIftUITY  TO  THE  MIDDLE  AGES. 
THE  ROMAN  MIMI  CONTINUED  TO  EXIST. THE  TEUTONIC  AFTER- 
DINNER  ENTERTAINMENTS. CLERICAL  SATIRE.?  ,  ARCHBISHOP  HE- 

RI6ER  AND  THE  DREAMER  ;  THE  SUPPER  OF  THE  SAINTS. TRANSI- 
TION FROM  ANCIENT  TO  MEDIAEVAL  ART. TASTE  FOR  MONSTROUS 

ANIMALS,  DRAGONS,  ETC.  j  CHURCH  OF  SAN  FEDELE,  AT  COMO.— - 
SPIRIT  OF  CARICATURE  AND  LOVE  OF  GROTESQUE  AMONG  THE 
ANGLO-SAXONS. —  GROTESQUE  FIGURES  OF  DEMONS. NATURAL  TEN- 
DENCY OF  THE  EARLY  MEDIAEVAL  ARTISTS  TO  DRAW  IN  CARICATURE. 
EXAMPLES  FROM  EARLY  MANUSCRIPTS  AND  SCULPTURES. 

THE  tranfition  from  antiquity  to  what  we  ufually  underftand  by  the 
name  of  the  middle  ages  was  long  and  flow ;  it  was  a  period  during 
which  much  of  the  texture  of  the  old  fociety  was  deftroyed,  while  at  the  fame 
time  a  new  life  was  gradually  given  to  that  which  remained.  We  know  very 
little  of  the  comic  literature  of  this  period  of  tranfition  ;  its  literary  remains 
confift  chiefly  of  a  mafs  of  heavy  theology  and  of  lives  of  faints.  The 
ftage  in  its  perfectly  dramatic  form — theatre  and  amphitheatre — had  dis- 
appeared. The  pure  drama,  indeed,  appears  never  to  have  had  great 
vitality  among  the  Romans,  whofe  taftes  lay  far  more  among  the  vulgar 
performances  of  the  mimics  and  jeflers,  and  among  the  favage  fcenes  of 
the  amphitheatre.  While  probably  the  performance  of  comedies,  fuch 
as  thofe  of  Plautus  and  Terence,  foon  went  out  of  fafliion,  and  tragedies, 
like  thofe  of  Seneca,  were  only  written  as  literary  compofitions,  imitations 
of  the  iimilar  works  which  formed  fo  remarkable  a  feature  in  the  litera- 
ture of  Greece,  the  Romans  of  all  ranks  loved  to  witnefs  the  loofe  atti- 
tudes of  their  mimi,  or  Men  to  their  equally  loofe  fongs  and  ftories.  The 
theatre  and  the  amphitheatre  were  ftate  inftitutions,  kept  up  at  the 
national  expenfe,  and,  as  juft  ftated,  they  perilhed  with  the  overthrow  of 
the  weftern  empire  j  and  the  fanguinary  performances  of  the  amphitheatre, 

if 


in  Literature  and  Art.  4 1 


if  the  amphitheatre  itfelf  continued  to  be  ufed  (which  was  perhaps  the 
cafe  in  fome  parts  of  weftern  Europe),  and  they  gave  place  to  the  more 
harmlefs  exhibitions  of  dancing  bears  and  other  tamed  animals,*  for 
deliberate  cruelty  was  not  a  chara&eriftic  of  the  Teutonic  race.  But  the 
mimi,  the  performers  who  fung  fongs  and  told  ftories,  accompanied  with 
dancing  and  mufic,  furvived  the  fall  of  the  empire,  and  continued  to  be 
as  popular  as  ever.  St.  Auguftine,  in  the  fourth  century,  calls  thefe 
things  nefaria,  deteflable  things,  and  fays  that  they  were  performed  at 
night.f  We  trace  in  the  capitularies  the  continuous  exiftence  of  thefe 
performances  during  the  ages  which  followed  the  empire,  and,  as  in  the 
time  of  St.  Auguftine,  they  ftill  formed  the  amufement  of  no6turnal 
aflemblies.  The  capitulary  of  Childebert  profcribes  thofe  who  pafled 
their  nights  with  drunkennefs,  jefting,  and  fongs.  %  The  council  of 
Narbonne,  in  the  year  589,  forbade  people  to  fpend  their  nights  "with 
dancings  and  filthy  fongs."  §  The  council  of  Maye-nce,  in  813,  calls  thefe 
fongs  "filthy  and  licentious  "  (turpia  atque  luocuriofa) ;  and  that  of  Paris 
fpeaks  of  them  as  "obfcene  and  filthy"  (obfccena  et  turpia);  while  in 
another  they  are  called  "frivolous  and  diabolic."  From  the  bitternefs 
with  which  the  ecclefiaftical  ordinances  are  exprefied,  it  is  probable 
that  thefe  performances  continued  to  preferve  much  of  their  old 
paganifm  j  yet  it  is  curious  that  they  are  fpoken  of  in  thefe  capitularies 
and  a6ts  of  the  councils  as  being  ftill  praftifed  in  the  religious  feftivals, 
and  even  in  the  churches,  fo  tenacioufly  did  the  old  fentirnents  of  the 
race  keep  their  pofleflion  of  the  minds  of  the  populace,  long  after  they 
had  embraced  Chriftianity.  Thefe  "fongs,"  as  they  are  called,  continued 
alfo  to  confift  not  only  of  general,  but  of  perfonal  fatire,  and  contained 

fcandalous 


*  On  this  subject,  see  my  "  History  of  Domestic  Manners  and  Sentiments," 
p.  65.  The  dancing -bear  appears  to  have  been  a  favourite  performer  among  the 
Germans  at  a  very  early  period. 

f  Per  totam  noctem  cantabantur  hie  nefaria  et  a  cantaforibus  saltabatur. 
Augustini  Serm.  311,  part  v. 

t  Noctes  pervigiles  cum  ebrietate,  scurrilitate,  vel  canticis.  See  the  Capitulary 
in  Labbei  Concil-,  vol.  v. 

§  Ut  populi saltationibus  et  turpibus  invigilant  canticis. 

tt 


42  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

fcandalous  ftories  of  perfons  living,  and  well  known  to  thofe  who  heard 
them.  A  capitulary  of  the  Frankifh  king  Childeric  III.,  publifhed  in 
the  year  744,  is  directed  againft  tbofe  who  compofe  and  fing  fongs  in 
defamation  of  others  (in  blafphemiam  allerius,  to  ufe  the  rather  energetic 
language  of  the  original) ;  and  it  is  evident  that  this  offence  was  a  very 
common  one,  for  it  is  not  unfrequently  repeated  in  later  records  of  this 
character  in  the  fame  words  or  in  words  to  the  fame  purpofe.  Thus  one 
refult  of  the  overthrow  of  the  Roman  empire  was  to  leave  comic  literature 
almoft  in  the  fame  condition  in  which  it  was  found  by  Thefpis  in  Greece 
and  by  Livius  Andronicus  in  Rome.  There  was  nothing  in  it  which 
would  be  contrary  to  the  feelings  of  the  new  races  who  had  now  planted 
themfelves  in  the  Roman  provinces. 

The  Teutonic  and  Scandinavian  nations  had  no  doubt  their  popular 
feftivals,  in  which  mirth  and  frolic  bore  fway,  though  we  know  little 
about  them ;  but  there  were  circumftances  in  their  domeftic  manners 
which  implied  a  neceffity  for  amufement.  After  the  comparatively  early 
meal,  the  hall  of  the  primitive  Teuton  was  the  fcene — efpecially  in  the 
darker  months  of  winter — of  long  fittings  over  the  feftive  board,  in  which 
there  was  much  drinking  and  much  talking,  and,  as  we  all  know,  fuch 
talking  could  not  preferve  long  a  very  ferious  tone.  From  Bede's  account 
of  the  poet  Caedmon,  we  learn  that  it  was  the  praftice  of  the  Anglo-Saxons 
in  the  feventh  century,  at  their  entertainments,  for  all  thofe  prefent 
to  fing  in  their  turns,  each  accompanying  himfelf  with  a  mufical 
inftrument.  From  the  fequel  of  the  ftory  we  are  led  to  fuppofe  that 
thefe  fongs  were  extemporary  effufions,  probably  mythic  legends,  ftories 
of  perfonal  adventure,  praife  of  themfelves,  or  vituperation  of  their 
enemies.  In  the  chieftain's  houfehold  there  appears  to  have  been 
ufually  fome  individual  who  afted  the  part  of  the  fatirift,  or,  as  we  ihould 
perhaps  now  fay,  the  comedian.  Hunferth  appears  as  holding  fome  fuch 
pofition  in  Beowulf ;  in  the  later  romances,  Sir  Kay  held  a  fimilar  pofition 
at  the  court  of  king  Arthur.  At  a  flill  later  period,  the  place  of  thefe 
heroes  was  occupied  by  the  court  fool.  The  Roman  mimus  muft  have  been 
a  welcome  addition  to  the  entertainments  of  the  Teutonic  hall,  and  there 
is  every  reafon  to  think  that  he  was  cordially  received.  The  performances 

of 


in  Literature  and  Art.  43 

of  the  hall  were  foon  delegated  from  the  gueils  to  fuch  hired  a£tors,  and 
we  have  reprefentations  of  them  m  the  illuminations  of  Anglo-Saxon 
manufcripts.*  Among  the  earlieft  amufements  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  table 
were  riddles,  which  in  every  form  prefent  fome  of  the  features  of  the 
comic,  and  are  capable  of  being  made  the  fource  of  much  laughter.  The 
faintly  Aldhelm  condefcended  to  write  fuch  riddles  in  Latin  verfe,  which 
were,  of  courfe,  intended  for  the  tables  of  the  clergy.  In  primitive 
fociety,  verfe  was  the  ordinary  form  of  conveying  ideas.  A  large  portion 
of  the  celebrated  collection  of  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  known  as  the 
"Exeter  Book,"  confifts  of  riddles,  and  this  tafte  for  riddles  has  continued 
to  exift  down  to  our  own  times.  But  other  forms  of  entertainment,  if 
they  did  net  already  exift,  were  foon  introduced.  In  a  curious  Latin  poem, 
older  than  the  twelfth  century,  of  which  fragments  only  are  preferred, 
and  have  been  publifhed  under  the  title  of  "  Ruodlieb,"  and  which 
appears  to  have  been  a  tranflation  of  a  much  earlier  German  romance, 
we  have  a  curious  defcription  of  the  poft-prandial  entertainments  after 
the  dinner  of  a  great  Teutonic  chieftain,  or  king.  In  the  firtt  place  there 
was  a  grand  diftribution  of  rich  prefents,  and  then  were  mown  ftrange 
animals,  and  among  the  reft  came  bears.  Thefe  bears  flood  upon  their 
hind  legs,  and  performed  fome  of  the  offices  of  a  man ;  and  when  the 
minttrels  (mimi)  came  in,  and  played  upon  their  mufical  instruments,  thefe 
animals  danced  to  the  mufic,  and  performed  all  forts  of  ftrange  tricks. 

Et  parties  urjl 

£}ui  vas  tollebant,  ut  homo,  bipedefque  gerebant. 
Afimi  quandojides  diglth  tangunt  modularity, 
llli  faltatant,  neumas  pedibut  variabant. 
Inter  dum  faliunt,  fefeque  fuper  jaciebant, 
Alterutrum  dorjo  Je  portabant  refidendo, 
Amplexando  fe,  lufJando  defduntfe. 

Then  followed  dancing-girls,  and  exhibitions  of  other  kinds.! 

Although 

*  The  reader  is  referred,  for  further  information  on  this  subject,  to  my  "  History 
of  Domestic  Manners  and  Sentiments,"  pp.  33-39- 

f  This  curious  Latin  poem  was  printed  by  Grimm  and  Schmeller,  in  their 
Lateinische  Gedichte  des  x.  und  xi.  Jh.,  p.  129. 


44  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Although  thefe  performances  were  profcribed  by  the  ecclefiaftical 
laws,  they  were  not  difcountenanced  by  the  ecclefiaftics  themfelves,  who, 
on  the  contrary,  indulged  as  much  in  after-dinner  amufements  as  any- 
body. The  laws  againft  the  profane  fongs  are  often  directed  efpecially 
at  the  clergy ;  and  it  is  evident  that  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  as  well 
as  on  the  Continent,  not  only  the  priefts  and  monks,  but  the  nuns  alfo, 
in  their  love  of  fuch  amufements,  far  tranfgrefied  the  bounds  of  decency.* 
Thefe  entertainments  were  the  cradle  of  comic  literature,  but,  as  this 
literature  in  the  early  ages  of  its  hiftory  was  rarely  committed  to  writing, 
it  has  almoft  entirely  perifhed.  But,  at  the  tables  of  the  ecclefiaftics, 
thefe  ftories  were  fometimes  told  in  Latin  verfe,  and  as  Latin  was  not 
fo  eafily  carried  in  the  memory  as  the  vernacular  tongue,  in  this  lan- 
guage they  were  fometimes  committed  to  writing,  and  thus  a  few 
examples  of  early  comic  literature  have  fortunately  been  preferred.  Thefe 
confift  chiefly  of  popular  ftories,  which  were  among  the  favourite  amufe- 
ments of  mediaeval  fociety — ftories  many  of  which  are  derived  from  the 
earlieft  period  of  the  hiftory  of  our  race,  and  are  ftill  cherifhed  among 
our  peafantry.  Such  are  the  ftories  of  the  Child  of  Snow,  and  of 
the  Mendacious  Hunter,  preferved  in  a  manufcript  of  the  eleventh 
century. f  The  firft  of  thefe  was  a  very  popular  ftory  in  the  middle 
ages.  According  to  this  early  veriion,  a  merchant  of  Conftance,  in 
Switzerland,  was  detained  abroad  for  feveral  years,  during  which  time 
his  wife  made  other  acquaintance,  and  bore  a  child.  On  his' return,  me 
excufed  her  fault  by  telling  him  that  on  a  cold  wintry  day  me  had 
fwallowed  fnow,  by  which  fhe  had  conceived ;  and,  in  revenge,  the 
buiband  carried  away  the  child,  and  fold  it  into  flavery,  and  returning, 

told 


*  On  the  character  of  the  nuns  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  indeed  of  the 
inmates  of  the  monastic  houses  generally,  I  would  refer  my  readers  to  the  excellent 
and  interesting  volume  by  Mr.  John  Thrupp,  "  The  Anglo-Saxon  Home :  a 
History  of  the  Domestic  Institutions  and  Customs  of  England  from  the  fifth  to  the 
eleventh  century."  London,  1862. 

f  These  will  be  found  in  M.  Ed61estand  du  Meril's  Po&ies  Populaires  Latines 
ant6rieures  au  douzieme  siecle,  pp.  275,  276. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  45 

told  its  mother,  that  the  infant  which  had  originated  in  fnow,  had  melted 
away  under  a  hotter  fun.  Some  of  thefe  ftories  originated  in  the 
different  collections  of  fables,  which  were  part  of  the  favourite  literature 
of  the  later  Roman  period.  Another  is  rather  a  ridiculous  ftory  of  an 
afs  belonging  to  two  fitters  in  a  nunnery,  which  was  devoured  by  a 
wolf.*  It  is  curious  how  foon  the  mediaeval  clergy  began  to  imitate 
their  pagan  predeceffors  in  parodying  religious  fubjeds  and  forms,  of 
which  we  have  one  or  two  very  curious  examples.  Vifits  to  purgatory, 
hell,  and  paradife,  in  body  or  fpirit,  were  greatly  in  famion  during  the 
earlier  part  of  the  middle  ages,  and  afforded  extremely  good  material 
for  fatire.  In  a  metrical  Latin  ftory,  preferred  in  a  manufcript  of  the 
eleventh  century,  we  are  told  how  a  "  prophet,"  or  vifionary,  went  to 
Heriger,  archbilhop  of  Mayence  from  912  to  926,  and  told  him  that 
he  had  been  carried  in  a  vilion  to  the  regions  below,  and  defcribed  them 
as  a  place  furrounded  by  thick  woods.  It  was  the  Teutonic  notion  of 
hell,  and  indeed  of  all  fettlements  of  peoples  ;  and  Heriger  replied 
with  a  fneer  that  he  would  fend  his  herdfmen  there  with  his  lean  fwine 
to  fatten  them.  Each  "  mark,"  or  land  of  a  family  or  clan,  in  the 
early  Teutonic  fettlements,  was  furrounded  by  woodland,  which  was 
common  to  all  members  of  the  clan  for  fattening  their  fwine  and 
hunting.  The  falfe  dreamer  added,  that  he  was  afterwards  carried  to 
heaven,  where  he  faw  Chrift  fitting  at  the  table  and  eating.  John  the 
Baptift  was  butler,  and  ferved  excellent  wine  round  to  the  faints,  who 
were  the  Lord's  guefts.  St.  Peter  was  the  chief  cook.  After  fome 
remarks  on  the  appointments  to  thefe  two  offices,  archbilhop  Heriger 
alked  the  informant  how  he  was  received  in  the  heavenly  hall,  where  he 
fat,  and  what  he  eat.  He  replied  that  he  fat  in  a  corner,  and  ftole  from 
the  cooks  a  piece  of  liver,  which  he  eat,  and  then  departed.  Inftead  of 
rewarding  him  for  his  information,  Heriger  took  him  on  his  own  confeffion 
for 

*  This,  and  the  metrical  story  next  referred  to,  were  printed  in  the  "  Altdeutsche 
Blatter,"  edited  by  Moriz  Haupt  and  Heinrich  Hoffmann,  vol.  i.  pp.  390,  392,  to 
whom  I  communicated  them  from  a  manuscript  in  the  University  Library  at 
Cambridge. 


46  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

for  the  theft,  and  ordered  him  to  be  bound  to  a  ftake  and  flogged, 
which,  for  the  offence,  was  rather  a  light  punifhment. 

Herlger  ilium 
juffit  ad  f  alum 
lorit  ligarlf 
Jcoplfque  cedi, 
fermone  dura 
hunc  arguendo. 

Thefe  lines  will  ferve  as  a  fpecimen  of  the  popular  Latin  verfe  in  which 
thefe  monkifh  after-dinner  ftories  were  written  j  but  the  moft  remarkable 
of  thefe  early  parodies  on  religious  fubje6ts,  is  one  which  may  be  defcribed 
as  the  fupper  of  the  faints  ;  its  title  is  fimply  Ccena.  It  is  falfely  afcribed 
to  St.  Cyprian,  who  lived  in  the  third  century]  but  it  is  as  old  as  the  tenth 
century,  as  a  copy  was  printed  by  profeffor  Endlicher  from  a  manufcript 
of  that  period  at  Vienna.  It  was  fo  popular,  that  it  is  found  and  known 
to  have  exifted  in  different  forms  in  verfe  and  in  profe.  It  is  a  sort  of 
drollery,  founded  upon  the  wedding  feaft  at  which  the  Saviour  changed 
water  into  wine,  though  that  miracle  is  not  at  all  introduced  into  it.  It 
was  a  great  king  of  the  Eaft,  named  Zoel,  who  held  his  nuptial  feaft  at 
Cana  of  Galilee.  The  perfonages  invited  are  all  fcriptural,  beginning  with 
Adam.  Before  the  feaft,  they  wafh  in  the  river  Jordan,  and  the  number 
of  the  guefts  was  fo  great,  that  feats  could  not  be  provided  for  them, 
and  they  took  their  places  as  they  could.  Adam  took  the  firft  place,  and 
feated  himfelf  in  the  middle  of  the  aflembly,  and  next  to  him  Eve  fat 
upon  leaves  (fuper  folia), — fig-leaves,  we  may  fuppofe.  Cain  fat  on  a 
plough,  Abel  on  a  milk-pail,  Noah  on  an  ark,  Japhet  on  tiles,  Abraham 
on  a  tree,  Ifaac  on  an  altar,  Lot  near  the  door,  and  fo  with  a  long  lift  of 
others.  Two  were  obliged  to  ftand — Paul,  who  bore  it  patiently,  and 
Efau,  who  grumbled — while  Job  lamented  bitterly  becaufe  he  was  obliged 
to  fit  on  a  dunghill.  Mofes,  and  others,  who  came  late,  were  obliged  to 
find  feats  out  of  doors.  When  the  king  faw  that  all  his  guefls  had  arrived, 
he  took  them  into  his  wardrobe,  and  there,  in  the  fpirit  of  mediaeval 
generality,  diftributed  to  them  drefies,  which  had  all  fome  burlefque 
allufion  to  their  particular  characters.  Before  they  were  allowed  to  fit 

down 


in  Literature  and  Art.  47 

down  to  the  feaft,  they  were  obliged  to  go  through  other  ceremonies, 
which,  as  well  as  the  eating,  are  defcribed  in  the  fame  ftyle  of  cari- 
cature. The  wines,  of  which  there  was  great  variety,  were  ferved  to 
the  guefts  with  the  fame  allufions  to  their  individual  characters;  but 
fome  of  them  complained  that  they  were  badly  mixed,  although  Jonah  was 
the  butler.  In  the  fame  manner  are  defcribed  the  proceedings  which 
followed  the  dinner,  the  warning  of  hands,  and  the  deffert,  to  the 
latter  of  which  Adam  contributed  apples,  Samfon  honey;  while  David 
played  on  the  harp  and  Mary  on  the  tabor;  Judith  led  the  round  dance; 
Jubal  played  on  the  pfalter;  Afael  fung  fongs,  and  Herodias  aded  the 
part  of  the  dancing-girl  :  — 

Tune  Adam  poma  miniftrat,  Samjonfa-vi  dulcia. 
David  cytharum  percu]]itt  et  Maria  tympana. 
Judith  choreas  ducebat,  et  Jubal  pfalteria. 
metra  canebat,  faltabat  Herodias. 


Mambres  entertained  the  company  with  his  magical  performances  ;  and 
the  other  incidents  of  a  mediaeval  feftival  followed,  throughout  which  the 
fame  tone  of  burlefque  is  continued  ;  and  fo  the  ftory  continues,  to  the 
end.*  We  mall  find  thefe  incipient  forms  of  mediaeval  comic  literature 
largely  developed  as  we  go  on. 

The  period  between  antiquity  and  the  middle  ages  was  one  of  fuch 
great  and  general  deftru6tion,  that  the  gulf  between  ancient  and  mediaeval 
art  feems  to  us  greater  and  more  abrupt  than  it  really  was.  The  want 
of  monuments,  no  doubt,  prevents  our  feeing  the  gradual  change  of  one 
into  the  other,  but  neverthelefs  enough  of  fa£ts  remain  to  convince  us 
that  it  was  not  a  fudden  change.  It  is  now  indeed  generally  underftood 
that  the  knowledge  and  practice  of  the  arts  and  manufactures  of  the 
Romans  were  handed  onward  from  matter  to  pupil  after  the  empire  had 
fallen  ;  and  this  took  place  efpecially  in  the  towns,  fo  that  the  workman- 

____  {hip 

*  The  text  of  this  singular  composition,  with  a  full  account  of  the  various  forms 
in  which  it  was  published,  will  be  found  in  M.  du  Mfiril's  "  Ponies  Populates 
Latines  ant6rieures  au  douzieme  siecle,"  p-  193- 


48 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Jhip  which  had  been  declining  in  character  during  the  later  periods  of 
the  empire,  only  continued  in  the  courfe  of  degradation  afterwards. 
Thus,  in  the  firft  Chriftian  edifices,  the  builders  who  were  employed,  or 
at  leaft  many  of  them,  muft  have  been  pagans,  and  they  would  follow 
their  old  models  of  ornamentation,  introducing  the  fame  grotefque 


No.  15.      Saturn  Devouring  /in  Child. 

figures,  the  fame  mafks  and  monftrous  faces,  and  even  fometimes  the 
fame  fubjecls  from  the  old  mythology,  to  which  they  had  been  accuftomed. 
It  is  to  be  obferved,  too,  that  this  kind  of  iconographical  ornamentation 
had  been  encroaching  more  and  more  upon  the  old  architedural  purity 
during  the  latter  ages  of  the  empire,  and  that  it  was  employed  more 
profufely  in  the  later  works,  from  which  this  tafte  was  transferred  to  the 

ecclefiaftical 


in  Literature  and  Art.  40 

ecclefiaftical  and  to  the  domeftic  architecture  of  the  middle  ages.  After 
the  workmen  themfelves  had  become  Chriftians,  they  Hill  found  pagan 
emblems  and  figures  in  their  models,  and  ftill  went  on  imitating  them, 
fometimes  merely  copying,  and  at  others  turning  them  to  caricature  or 
burlefque.  And  this  tendency  continued  fo  long,  that,  at  a  much  later 
date,  where  there  ftill  exifted  remains  of  Roman  buildings,  the  mediaeval 
architects  adopted  them  as  models,  and  did  not  hefitate  to  copy  the 
fculpture,  although  it  might  be  evidently  pagan  in  character.  The 
accompanying  cut  (No.  25)  reprefents  a  bracket  iti  the  church  of  Mont 
Majour,  near  Nifmes,  built  in  the  tenth  century.  The  fubjecl:  is  a 
monftrous  head  eating  a  child,  and  we  can  hardly  doubt  that  it  was  really 
intended  for  a  caricature  on  Saturn  devouring  one  of  his  children. 

Sometimes  the  mediaeval  fculptors  miftook  the  emblematical  defigns 
of  the  Romans,  and  mifapplied  them,  and  gave  an  allegorical  meaning  to 
that  which  was  not  intended  to  be  emblematical  or  allegorical,  until  the 
fubjefts  themfelves  became  extremely  confufed.  They  readily  employed 
that  clafs  of  parody  of  the  ancients  in  which  animals  were  reprefented 
performing  the  aftions  of  men,  and  they  had  a  great  tafte  for  monfters 
of  every  defcription,  efpecially  thofe  which  were  made  up  of  portions  of 
incongruous  animals  joined  together,  in  contradiction  to  the  precept  of 
Horace : — 

Humano  capiti  cervicem  piflor  equinam 
Jungerejl  -velit,  et  varias  inducere  plumas, 
Undicjue  collatis  membris,  ut  turpiter  atrum 
Dejinet  in  pijcem  mulier  formofa  Juperne  ,- 
Speflatum  admijfi  rifum  teneatis,  amid  ? 

The  mediaeval  architects  loved  fuch  reprefentations,  always  and  in  all 
parts,  and  examples  are  abundant.  At  Como,  in  Italy,  there  is  a  very 
ancient  and  remarkable  church  dedicated  to  San  Fedele  (Saint  Fidelis) ;  it 
has  been  confidered  to  be  of  fo  early  a  date  as  the  fifth  century.  The- 
fculptures  that  adorn  the  doorway,  which  is  triangular-headed,  are 
efpecially  interefting.  On  one  of  thefe,  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  26, 
in  a  compartment  to  the  left,  appears  a  figure  of  an  angel,  holding  in  one 
hand  a  dwarf  figure,  probably  intended  for  a  child,  by  a  lock  of  his  hair, 

H  and 


No.  a6.     Sculpture  from  San  Fedele,  at  C^mo. 


Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque.  5 1 

and  with  the  other  hand  dire6ting  his  attention  to  a  feated  figure  in  the 
compartment  below.  This  latter  figure  has  apparently  the  head  of  a 
fheep,  and  as  the  head  is  furrounded  with  a  large  nimbus,  and  the  right  hand 
is  held  out  in  the  attitude  of  benedidtion,  it  may  be  intended  to  reprefent 
the  Lamb.  This  perfonage  is  feated  on  fomething  which  is  difficult  to  make 
out,  but  which  looks  fomewhat  like  a  crab-filh.  The  boy  in  the  com- 
partment above  carries  a  large  bafin  in  his  arms.  The  adjoining  compart- 
ment to  the  right  contains  the  reprefentation  of  a  conflict  between  a 
dragon,  a  winged  ferpent,  and  a  winged  fox.  On  the  oppofite  fide  of  the 
door,  two  winged  monfters  are  reprefented  devouring  a  lamb's  head.  I 
owe  the  drawing  from  which  this  and  the  preceding  engraving  were  made 
to  my  friend  Mr.  John  Robinfon,  the  architect,  who  made  the  (ketches 
while  travelling  with  the  medal  of  the  Royal  Academy.  Figures  of 
dragons,  as  ornaments,  were  great  favourites  with  the  peoples  of  the 
Teutonic  race ;  they  were  creatures  intimately  wrapped  up  in  their 
national  mythology  and  romance,  and  they  are  found  on  all  their  artiftic 
monuments  mingled  together  in  grotefque  forms  and  groups.  When  the 
Anglo-Saxons  began  to  ornament  their  books,  the  dragon  was  continually 
introduced  for  ornamental  borders  and  in  forming  initial  letters.  One  of 
the  latter,  from  an  Anglo-Saxon  manufcript  of  the  tenth  century  (the 
well-known  manufcript  of  Caedmon,  where  it  is  given  as  an  initial  V),  is 
reprefented  in  our  cut  on  the  next  page,  No.  27. 

Cqriratnrp.  anH  hnrlp.fqnp!  are  naturally  intended  to  be  heard  and  feen_ 
publiclj^jmd  would  therefore  be  figured  on  fuch  monuments  as  were 
moft  expofed  to  popular  gaze.  Such  was  the  cafe,  in  the  earlier  periods 
of  the  middle  ages,  chiefly  with  ecclefiaftical  buildings,  which  explains 
how  they  became  the  grand  receptacles  of  this  clals  of  Art.  We  have 
few  traces  of  what  may  be  termed  comic  literature  among  our  Anglo- 
Saxon  forefathers,  but  this  is  fully  explained  by  the  circumftance  that 
very  little  of  the  popular  Anglo-Saxon  literature  has  been  preferred.  In 
their  feftive  hours  the  Anglo-Saxons  feem  to  have  efpecially  amufed 
themfelves  in  boafting  of  what  they  had  done,  and  what  they  could  do; 
and  thefe  boafts  were  perhaps  often  of  a  burlefque  character,  like  the 
gals  of  the  French  and  Anglo-Norman  romancers  of  a  later  date,  or  fo 

extravagant 


Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


extravagant  as  to  produce  laughter.  The  chieftains  appear  alfo  to  have 
encouraged  men  who  could  make  jokes,  and  fatirife  and  caricature  others ; 
for  the  company  of  fuch  men  feems  to  have  been  cherifhed,  and  they  are 
not  unfrequently  introduced  in  the  ftories.  Such  a  perfonage,  as  I  have 
remarked  before,  is  Hunferth  in  Beowulf ;  fuch  was  the  Sir  Kay  of  the 
later  Arthurian  romances ;  and  fuch  too  was  the  Norman  minftrel  in  the 
hiftory  of  Hereward,  who  amufed  the  Norman  foldiers  at  their  feafts  by 
mimicry  of  the  manners  of  their  Anglo-Saxon  opponents.  The  too 
perfonal  fatire  of  thefe  wits  often  led  to  quarrels,  which  ended  iu 


No.  27.     Anglo-Saxon  Dragons. 

fanguinary  brawls.  The  Anglo-Saxon  love  of  caricature  is  fhown  largely 
in  their  proper  names,  which  were  moftly  lignificant  of  perfonal  qualities 
their  parents  hoped  they  would  poflefs ;  and  in  thefe  we  remark  the 
pronenefs  of  the  Teutonic  race,  as  well  as  the  peoples  of  antiquity,  to 
reprefent  thefe  qualities  by  the  animals  fuppofed  to  poflefs  them,  the 
animals  moft  popular  being  the  wolf  and  the  bear.  But  it  is  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  hopes  of  the  parents  in  giving  the  name  would  always 
be  fulfilled,  and  it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  find  individuals  lofing 
their  original  names  to  receive  in  their  place  nicknames,  or  names  which 

probably 


in  Literature  and  Art.  5  3 

probably  exprefied  qualities  they  did  pofiefs,  and  which  were  given  to 
them  by  their  acquaintances.  Thefe  names,  though  often  not  very 
complimentary,  and  even  fometimes  very  much  the  contrary,  completely 
fuperfeded  the  original  name,  and  were  even  accepted  by  the  individuals 
to  whom  they  applied.  The  fecond  names  were  indeed  fo  generally 
acknowledged,  that  they  were  ufed  in  figning  legal  documents.  An 
Anglo-Saxon  abbefs  of  rank,  whofe  real  name  was  Hrodwaru,  but  who 
was  known  univerfally  by  the  name  Bugga,  the  Bug,  wrote  this  latter 
name  in  figning  charters.  We  can  hardly  doubt  that  fuch  a  name  was 
intended  to  afcribe  to  her  qualities  of  a  not  agreeable  character,  and 
very  different  to  thofe  implied  by  the  original  name,  which  perhaps 
meant,  a  dweller  in  heaven.  Another  lady  gained  the  name  of  the 
Crow.  It  is  well  known  that  furnames  did  not  come  into  ufe  till  long 
after  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  but  appellatives,  like  thefe  nicknames, 
were  often  added  to  the  name  for  the  purpofe  of  diftinftion,  or  at 
pleafure,  and  thefe,  too,  being  given  by  other  people,  were  frequently 
fatirical.  Thus,  one  Harold,  for  his  fwiftnefs,  was  called  Hare-foot  j  a 
well-known  Edith,  for  the  elegant  form  of  her  neck,  was  called  Swan- 
neck  ;  and  a  Thurcyl,  for  a  form  of  his  head,  which  can  hardly  have  been 
called  beautiful,  was  named  Mare's-head.  Among  many  other  names, 
quite  as  fatirical  as  the  laft-mentioned,  we  find  Flat-nofe,  the  Ugly, 
Squint-eye,  Hawk-nofe,  £c. 

Of  Anglo-Saxon  fculpture  we  have  little  left,  but  we  have  a  few 
illuminated  manufcripts  which  prefent  here  and  there  an  attempt  at 
caricature,  though  they  are  rare.  It  would  feem,  however,  that  the  two 
favourite  fubjeds  of  caricature  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  were  the  clergy 
and  the  evil  one.  We  have  .abundant  evidence  that,  from  the  eighth 
century  downwards,  neither  the  Anglo-Saxon  clergy  nor  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  nuns  were  generally  objeds  of  much  refpeft  among  the  people ; 
and  their  character  and  the  manner  of  their  lives  fufHciently  account  for 
it.  Perhaps,  alfo,  it  was  increafed  by  the  hoftility  between  the  old  clergy 
and  the  new  reformers  of  Dunftan's  party,  who  would  no  doubt 
caricature  each  other.  A  manufcript  pfalter,  in  the  Univerfity  Library, 
Cambridge  (Ff.  i,  23),  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  period,  and  apparently  of  the 

tenth 


54  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

tenth  century,  illuftrated  with  rather  grotefque  initial  letters,  furnimes  us 
with  the  figure  of  a  jolly  Anglo-Saxon  monk,  given  in  our  cut  No.  28, 
and  which  it  is  hardly  neceflary  to  Hate  reprefents  the  letter  Q.  As  we 
proceed,  we  fhall  fee  the  clergy  continuing  to  furnifti  a  butt  for  the  fhafts 
of  fatire  through  all  the  middle  ages. 

The  inclination  to  give  to  the  demons  (the  middle  ages  always  looked 
upon  them  as  innumerable)  monftrous  forms,  which  eafily  ran  into  the 


No.  28.     A  Jolly  Monk. 

grotefque,  was  natural,  and  the  painter,  indeed,  prided  himfelf  on  drawing 
them  ugly ;  but  he  was  no  doubt  influenced  in  fo  generally  caricaturing 
them,  by  mixing  up  this  idea  with  thofe  furnimed  by  the  popular  fuper- 
ftitions  of  the  Teutonic  race,  who  believed  in  multitudes  of  fpirits,  repre- 
fentatives  of  the  ancient  fatyrs,  who  were  of  a  playfully  malicious 
defcription,  and  went  about  plaguing  mankind  in  a  very  droll  manner, 
and  fometimes  appeared  to  them  in  equally  droll  forms.  They  were  the 
Pucks  and  Robin  Goodfellows  of  later  times;  but  the  Chriftian  miflionaries 
to  the  weft  taught  their  converts  to  believe,  and  probably  believed  them- 
felves,  that  all  thefe  imaginary  beings  were  real  demons,  who  wandered 
over  the  earth  for  people's  ruin  and  deftruction.  Thus  the  grotefque 
imagination  of  the  converted  people  was  introduced  into  the  Chriftian 
fyftem  of  demonology.  It  is  a  part  of  the  fubjed  to  which  we  ihall 
return  in  our  next  chapter ;  but  I  will  here  introduce  two  examples  of 

die 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


55 


the  Anglo-Saxon  demons.  To  explain  the  firfl.  of  thefe,  it  will  be 
neceflary  to  ftate  that,  according  to  the  mediaeval  notions,  Satan,  the  arch 
demon,  who  had  fallen  from  heaven  for  his  rebellion  againft  the  Almighty, 
was  not  a  free  agent  who  went  about  tempting  mankind,  but  he  was 
himfelf  plunged  in  the  abyfs,  where  he  was  held  in  bonds,  and  tormented 
by  the  demons  who  peopled  the  infernal  regions,  and  alfo  iflued  thence 
to  feek  their  prey  upon  God's  neweft  creation,  the  earth.  The  hiftory  of 
Satan's  fall,  and  the  defcription  of  his  pofition  (No.  29),  form  the  fubjeft 
of  the  earlier  part  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  poetry  afcribed  to  Caedmon, 
and  it  is  one  of  the  illuminations  to  the  manufcript  of  Caedmon  (which 
is  now  preferred  at  Oxford),  which  has  furnilhed  us  with  our  cut, 


No.  29.      Satan  in  Bonds. 

reprefenting  Satan  in  his  bonds.  The  fiend  is  here  pictured  bound  to 
flakes,  over  what  appears  to  be  a  gridiron,  while  one  of  the  demons, 
rifing  out  of  a  fiery  furnace,  and  holding  in  his  hand  an  inftrument  of 
punimment,  feems  to  be  exulting  over  him,  and  at  the  fame  time  urging 
on  the  troop  of  grotefque  imps  who  are  fwarming  round  and  tormenting 
their  vicYtm.  The  next  cut,  No.  30,  is  alfo  taken  from  an  Anglo-Saxon 

manufcript 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


manuicript,  preferred  in  the  Britifh  Mufeum  (MS.  Cotton.,  Tiberius, 
C.  vi.),  which  belongs  to  the  earlier  half  of  the  eleventh  century,  and 
contains  a  copy  of  the  pfalter.  It  gives  us  the  Anglo-Saxon  notion  of  the 
demon  under  another  form,  equally  characteristic,  wearing  only  a  girdle 
of  flames,  but  in  this  cafe  the  efpecial  fingularity 
of  the  defign  confifts  in  the  eyes  in  the  fiend's 
wings. 

Another  circumftance  had  no  doubt  an  in- 
fluence on  the  mediaeval  tafte  for  grotefque  and 
caricature — the  natural  rudenels  of  early  mediaeval 
art.  The  wn'ers  of  antiquity  tell  us  of  a  remote 
period  of  Grecian  art  when  it  was  neceflary  to 
write  under  each  figure  of  a  picture  the  name  of 
what  it  was  intended  to  reprefent,  in  order  to 
make  the  whole  intelligible — "  this  is  a  horfe," 
"this  is  a  man,"  "this  is  a  tree."  Without  being 
quite  fo  rude  as  this,  the  early  mediaeval  artifts, 
through  ignorance  of  perfpective,  want  of  know- 
ledge of  proportion,  and  of  fkill  in  drawing, 
found  great  difficulty  in  reprefenting  a  fcene  in 
which  there  was  more  than  one  figure,  and  in 
which  it  was  neceflary  to  diftinguifh  them  from 
each  other;  and  they  were  continually  trying  to 
help  themfelves  by  adopting  conventional  forms 
or  conventional  pofitions,  and  by  fometimes  adding 
fymbols  that  did  not  exactly  reprefent  what  they 
meant.  The  exaggeration  in  form  confifted 
chiefly  in  giving  an  undue  prominence  to  fome  characteriftic  feature, 
which  anfwered  the  fame  purpofe  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  nickname  and  dif- 
tinctive  name,  and  which  is,  in  fact,  one  of  the  firft  principles  of  all  cari- 
cature. Conventional  pofitions  partook  much  of  the  character  of 
conventional  forms,  but  gave  ftill  greater  room  for  grotefque.  Thus  the 
very  firft  characteristics  of  mediaeval  art  implied  the  exiftence  of  caricature, 
and  no.  doubt  led  to  the  tafte  for  the  grotefque.  The  effect  of  this 

influence 


No.  30       Satan. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


57 


influence  is  apparent  everywhere,  and  in  innumerable  cafes  ferious 
pictures  of  the  graveft  and  moft  important  fubjefts  are  (imply  and 
abfolutely  caricatures.  Anglo-Saxon  art  ran  much  into  this  ftyle,  and 
is  often  very  grotefque  in  charader.  The  firft  example  we  give 
(cut  No.  31)  is  taken  from  one  of  the  illuftrations  to  Alfric's  Anglo- 


ffo.  31.      The  Temptation. 

Saxon  verfion  of  the  Pentateuch,  in  the  profufely  illuminated  manufcript 
in  the  Britifti  Mufeum  (MS.  Cotton.,  Claudius  B  iv.),  which  was  written 
at  the  end  of  the  tenth,  or  beginning  of  the  eleventh,  century.  It 
reprefents  the  temptation  and  fall  of  man ;  and  the  fubjecl:  is  treated,  as 
will  be  feen,  in  a  rather  grotefque  manner.  Eve  is  evidently  dictating 
to  her  hufband,  who,  in  obeying  her,  {hows  a  mixture  of  eagernefs  and 
trepidation  Adam  is  no  lefs  evidently  going  to  fwallow  the  apple  whole, 
which  is,  perhaps,  in  accordance  with  the  mediaeval  legend,  according  to 
which  the  fruit  ftuck  in  his  throat.  It  is  hardly  neceflary  to  remark  that 
the  tree  is  entirely  a  conventional  one ;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to 
imagine  how  it  came  to  bear  apples  at  all.  The  mediaeval  artifts  were 
extremely  unfkilful  in  drawing  trees  j  to  thefe  they  ufually  gave  the 
forms  of  cabbages,  or  fome  fuch  plants,  of  which  the  form  was  fimple,  or 
often  of  a  mere  bunch  of  leaves.  Our  next  example  (cut  No.  32)  is  alfo 

i  Anglo- 


Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Anglo-Saxon,  and  is  furnifhed  by  the  manufcript'in  the  Britifh  Mufeum 
already  mentioned  (MS.  Cotton.,  Tiberius  C  vi.)  It  probably  reprefents 
young  David  killing  the  lion,  and  is  remarkable  not  only  for  the  ftrange 
pofture  and  bad  proportions  of  the  man,  but  for  the  tranquillity  of  the 
animal  and  the  exaggerated  and  violent  action  of  its  flayer.  This  is  very 
commonly  the  cafe  in  the  mediaeval  drawings  and  fculptures,  the  artifts 
apparently  poffefling  far  lefs  fkill  in  reprefenting  action  in  an  animal  than 
in  man,  and  therefore  more  rarely  attempting  it.  Thefe  illustrations  are 


No.  32       Da-vid  and  tht  Lion. 

both  taken  from  illuminated  manufcripts.  The  two  which  follow  are 
furnifhed  by  fculptures,  and  are  of  a  rather  later  date  than  the  preceding. 
The  abbey  of  St.  George  of  Bofcherville,  in  the  diocefe  of  Auxerre  (in 
Normandy),  was  founded  by  Ralph  de  Tancarville,  one  of  the  minifters 
of  William  the  Conqueror,  and  therefore  in  the  latter  half  of  the  eleventh 
century.  A  hiflory  of  this  religious  houfe  was  publiihed  by  a  clever  local 
antiquary— M.  Achille  Deville— from  whofe  work  we  take  our  cut  No.  33, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


59 


one  of  a  few  rude  fculptures  on  the  abbey  church,  which  no  doubt 
belonged  to  the  original  fabric.  It  is  not  difficult  to  recognife  the  fubjecl: 
as  Jofeph  taking  the  Virgin  Mary  with  her  Child  into  Egypt  j  but  there 
is  fomething  exceedingly  droll  m  the  unintentional  caricature  of  the 
faces,  as  well  as  in  the  whole  defign.  The  Virgin  Mary  appears  without 
a  nimbus,  while  the  nimbus  of  the  Infant  Jefus  is  made  to  look  very  like 
a  bonnet.  It  may  be  remarked  that  this  fubjecl:  of  the  flight  into  Egypt 
is  by  no  means  an  uncommon  one  in  mediaeval  art  j  and  a  drawing  of 


No.  33.      The  Flight  into  Egypt. 

the  fame  fubjeft,  copied  in  my  "  Hiftory  of  Domeftic  Manners  and 
Sentiments"  (p.  115),  prefents  a  remarkable  illuftration  of  the  contraft 
of  the  fkill  of  a  Norman  fculptor  and  of  an  almoft  contemporary  Anglo- 
Norman  illuminator.  Our  cut  alfo  furnifhes  us  with  evidence  of  the 
error  of  the  old  opinion  that  ladies  rode  aftride  in  the  middle  ages.  Even 
one,  who  by  his  ftyle  of  art  muft  have  been  an  obfcure  local  carver  on 
ftone,  when  he  reprefented  a  female  on  horfeback,  placed  her  in  the 
pofition  which  has  always  been  confidered  fuitable  to  the  fex. 

For 


60  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


For  the  drawing  of  the  other  fculpture  to  which  I  allude,  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  Robinfon.  It  is  one  of  the  fubje6ts  carved  on  the 
fagade  of  the  church  of  St.  Gilles,.  near  Nifmes,  and  is  a  work  of  the 
twelfth  century.  It  appears  to  reprefent  the  young  David  flaying 
the  giant  GoliaJi,  the  latter  fully  armed  in  fcale  armour,  and  with  (hield 


No.  34.     Druid  and  Goliah. 


and  fpear,  like  a  Norman  knight ;  while  to  David  the  artift  has  given  a 
figure  which  is  feminine  in  its  forms.  What  we  might  take  at  firft  fight 
for  a  balket  of  apples,  appears  to  be  meant  for  a  fupply  of  Hones  for  the 
fling  which  the  young  hero  carries  fufpended  from  his  neck.  He  has 
flain  the  giant  with  one  of  thefe,  and  is  cutting  off  his  head  with  his  own 
fword. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  6 1 


CHAPTER   IV. 

THE  DIABOLICAL   IN   CARICATURE. MEDIAEVAL  LOVE   OF  THE   LUDICROUS. 

CAUSES   WHICH    MADE    IT    INFLUENCE    THE    NOTIONS    OF    DEMONS. 

STORIES    OF    THE    PIOUS    PAINTER  AND  THE   ERRING    MONK. DARKNESS 

AND    UGLINESS    CARICATURED. —  THE    DEMONS    IN   THE    MIRACLE    PLAYS. 
THE    DEMON    OF    NOTRE    DAME. 

AS  I  have  already  ftated  in  the  laft  chapter,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  whole  fyftem  of  the  demonology  of  the  middle  ages  was  derived 
from  the  older  pagan  mythology.  The  demons  of  the  monkiih  legends 
were  fimply  the  elves  and  hobgoblins  of  our  forefathers,  who  haunted 
woods,  and  fields,  and  waters,  and  delighted  in  mifleading  or  plaguing 
mankind,  though  their  mifchief  was  ufuallyof  a  rather  mirthful  character. 
They  were  reprefented  in  claflical  mythology  by  the  fauns  and  latyrs, 
who  had,  as  we  have  feen,  much  to  do  with  the  birth  of  comic  literature 
among  the  Greeks  and  Romans  j  but  thefe  Teutonic  elves  were  more 
ubiquitous  than  the  fatyrs,  as  they  even  haunted  men's  houfes,  and  played 
tricks,  not  only  of  a  mifchievous,  but  of  a  very  familiar  character.  The 
Chriftian  clergy  did  not  look  upon  the  perfonages  of  the  popular  fuper- 
flitions  as  fabulous  beings,  but  they  taught  that  they  were  all  diabolical, 
and  that  they  were  fo  many  agents  of  the  evil  one,  conftantly  employed 
in  enticing  and  entrapping  mankind.  Hence,  in  the  mediaeval  legends, 
we  frequently  find  demons  prefenting  themfelves  under  ludicrous  forms 
or  in  ludicrous  fituations  ;  or  performing  atts,  fuch  as  eating  and  drinking, 
which  are  not  in  accordance  with  their  real  character;  or  at  times  even 
letting  themfelves  be  outwitted  or  entrapped  by  mortals  in  a  very 
undignified  manner.  Although  they  affumed  any  form  they  pleafed, 
their  natural  form  was  remarkable  chiefly  for  being  extremely  ugly;  one 
of  them,  which  appeared  in  a  wild  wood,  is  defcribed  by  Giraldus 
Cambrenfis,  who  wrote  at  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century,  as  being  hairy, 

flaggy. 


62 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


lhaggy,  and  rough,  and  monftroufly  deformed.*  According  to  a  mediaeval 
ftory,  which  was  told  in  different  forms,  a  great  man's  cellar  was  once 
haunted  by  thefe  demons,  who  drank  all  his  wine,  while  the  owner  was 
totally  at  a  lofs  to  account  for  its  rapid  difappearance.  After  many 
unfuccefsful  attempts  to  difcover  the  depredators,  fome  one,  probably 
fufpe&ing  the  truth,  fuggefted  that  he  fhould  mark  one  of  the  barrels 
with  holy  water,  and  next  morning  a  demon,  much  refembling  the 
defcription  given  by  Giraldus,  was  found  ftuck  faft  to  the  barrel.  It  is 
told  alfo  of  Edward  the  Confefibr,  that  he  once  went  to  fee  the  tribute 


No.  35.      The  Demon  of  the  Trcafure. 


called  the  Danegeld,  and  it  was  fliown  to  him  all  packed  up  in  great 
barrels  ready  to  be  fent  away — for  this  appears  to  have  been  the  ufual 
mode  of  tranfporting  large  quantities  of  money.  The  faintly  king  had 
the  faculty  of  being  able  to  fee  fpiritual  beings— a  fort  of  fpiritual  fecond- 
fight 

*  "  Formam  quandam   viliosam,   hispidam,   et  hirsutam,  adeoque   enormiter 
deformem."     Girald.  Camb.,  Itiner.  Camb.,  lib.  i.  c.  5. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  63 

fight — and  he  beheld  feated  on  the  largeft  barrel,  a  devil,  who  was  "  black 
and  hideous." 

Vit  un  deable  faer  defut 

Le  trefor,  noir  et  hidus. — Life  of  S.  Edward,  1.  944. 

An  early  illuminator,  in  a  manufcnpt  preferred  in  the  library  of  Trinity 
College,  Cambridge  (MS.  Trin.  Col.,  B  x.  2),  has  left  us  a  pi&orial 
reprefentation  of  this  fcene,  from  which  I  copy  his  notion  of  the  form  of 
the  demon  in  cut  No.  35.  The  general  idea  is  evidently  taken  from  the 
figure  of  the  goat,  and  the  relationship  between  the  demon  and  the 
claffical  fatyr  is  very  evident. 

{Tglinpfe  was  an  pflfcnfja]  rharacteriftic  of  the  demons,  and,  moreover, 
<lheir  features_have  ufually  a  mirthful  caft.  as  though  fhpy  grgatly  enjoyed 
Jhejr  occupation^  There  is  a  mediaeval  flory  of  a  young  monk,  who  was 
facriftan  to  an  abbey,  and  had  the  directions  of  the  building  and  orna- 
mentation. The  carvers  of  ftone  were  making  admirable  reprefentations 
of  hell  and  paradife,  in  the  former  of  which  the  demons  "  feemed  to  take 
great  delight  in  well  tormenting  their  victims  " — 

Qui  par  femblant  ft  delitoit 
En  ce  que  bien  Us  tormentolt. 

The  facriftan,  who  watched  the  fculptors  every  day,  was  at  laft  moved  by 
pious  zeal  to  try  and  imitate  them,  and  he  fet  to  work  to  make  a  devil 
himfelf,  with  fuch  fuccefs,  that  his  fiend  was  fo  black  and  ugly  that 
nobody  could  look  at  it  without  terror. 

Tant  qu'un  deable  a  fere  emfrijl  ; 
Sf  /  miftfa  polne  et  fa  cure, 
Que  la  forme  fuji  of  cure 
Etji  /aide,  que  cil  doutafl 
Que  entre  deus  oik  refgardaj}. 

The  facriftan,  encouraged  by  his  fuccefs — for  it  muft  be  underftood  that 
his  art  was  a  fudden  infpiration  (as  he  had  not  been  an  artift  before) — 
continued  his  work  till  it  was  completed,  and  then  "  it  was  fo  horrible 
and  fo  ugly,  that  all  who  faw  it  affirmed  upon  their  oaths  that  they  had 


64  '  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

never  feen  fo  ugly  a  figure  either  in  fculpture  or  in  painting,  or  one  which 
had  fo  repulfive  an  appearance,  or  a  devil  which  was  a  better  likenefs 
than  the  one  this  monk  had  made  for  them  "- 

Si  horribles  fu  etji  lez, 

Que  treftou-z  celi  que  le  •vcoicnt 

Seur  leur  ferement  afermoient 

C'onquei  mesji  laide  figure, 

Ne  en  faille  ne  en  peinture, 

N^avolent  a  nul  jor  -veue, 

Qulji  cuft  lalde  veue, 

Ne  deable  miex  contrefet 

<$ue  ell  moines  leur  etvoit  fet. — Meon's  Fabliaux,  torn.  ii.  p.  414. 

The  demon  himfelf  now  took  offence  at  the  affront  which  had  been  put 
upon  him,  and  appearing  the  night  following  to  the  facriftan,  reproached 
him  with  having  made  him  fo  ugly,  and  enjoined  him  to  break  the 
fculpture,  and  execute  anothei  reprefenting  him  better  looking,  on  pain 
of  very  fevere  puniftiment  j  but,  although  this  vifit  was  repeated  thrice, 
the  pious  monk  refufed  to  comply.  The  evil  one  now  began  to  work  in 
another  way,  and,  by  his  cunning,  he  drew  the  facriftan  into  a  difgraceful 
amour  with  a  lady  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  they  plotted  not  only  to 
elope  together  by  night,  but  to  rob  the  monaftery  of  its  treafure,  which 
was  of  courfe  in  the  keeping  of  the  facriftan.  They  were  difcovered,  and 
caught  in  their  flight,  laden  with  the  treafure,  and  the  unfaithful  facriftan 
was  thrown  into  prifon.  The  fiend  now  appeared  to  him,  and  promifed 
to  clear  him  out  of  all  his  trouble  on  the  mere  condition  that  he  fliould 
break  his  ugly  ftatue,  and  make  another  reprefenting  him  as  looking 
handfome — a  bargain  to  which  the  facriftan  acceded  without  further 
hefitation.  It  would  thus  appear  that  the  demons  did  not  like  to  be 
reprefented  ugly.  In  this  cafe,  the  fiend  immediately  took  the  form  and 
place  of  the  facriftan,  while  the  latter  went  to  his  bed  as  if  nothing  had 
happened.  When  the  other  monks  found  him  there  next  morning,  and 
heard  him  difclaim  all  knowledge  of  the  robbery  or  of  the  prifon,  they 
hurried  to  the  latter  place,  and  found  the  devil  in  chains-,  who,  when  they 
attempted  to  exorcife  him,  behaved  in  a  very  turbulent  manner,  and 

difappeared 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


difappeared  from  their  fight.  The  monks  believed  that  it  was  all  a 
deception  of  the  evil  one,  while  thfe  facriftan,  who  was  not  inclined  to 
brave  his  difpleafure  a  fecond  time,  performed  faithfully  his  part  of  the 
contract,  and  made  a  devil  who  did  not  look  ugly.  In  another  verfion  ol 
the  ftory,  however,  it  ends  differently.  After  the  third  warning,  the 
monk  went  in  defiance  of  the  devil,  and  made  his  picture  uglier  than 
ever;  in  revenge  for  which  the  demon  came  unexpectedly  and  broke  the 
ladder  on  which  he  was  mounted  at  his  work,  whereby  the  monk  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  killed.  But  the  Virgin,  to  whom  he  was  much 
devoted,  came  to  his  afMance,  and,  feizing  him  with  her  hand,  and 
holding  him  in  the  air,  difappointed  the  devil  of  his  purpofe.  It  is  this 
latter  denouement  which  is  reprefented  in  the  cut  No.  36,  taken  from  the 


No.  36.      The  Pious  Sculptor. 

celebrated  manufcript  in  the  Britifh  Mufeum  known  as  "  Queen  Mary's 
Pfalter  "  (MS.  Reg.  2  B  vii.).  The  two  demons  employed  here  prefent, 
well  defined,  the  air  of  mirthful  jollity  which  was  evidently  derived  from 
the  popular  hobgoblins. 

There  was  another  popular  ftory,  which  alfo  was  told  under  feveral 

K  forms. 


66 


Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


forms.  The  old  Norman  hiftorians  tell  it  of  their  duke  Richard  Sanf- 
Peur.  There  was  a  monk  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Ouen,  who  alfo  held  the 
office  of  facriftan,  but,  neglecting  the  duties  of  his  pofition,  entered  into 
an  intrigue  with  a  lady  who  dwelt  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  was  accuf- 
tomed  at  night  to  leave  the  abbey  fecretly,  and  repair  to  her.  His  place 
as  facriftan  enabled  him  thus  to  leave  the  houfe  unknown  to  the  other 
brethren.  On  his  way,  he  had  to  pafs  the  little  river  Robec,  by  means 
of  a  plank  or  wooden  bridge,  and  one  night  the  demons,  who  had  been 
watching  him  on  his  errand  of  fin,  caught  him  on  the  bridge,  and  threw 
him  over  into  the  water,  where  he  was  drowned.  One  devil  feized  his 
foul,  and  would  have  carried  it  away,  but  an  angel  came  to  claim  him  on 
account  of  his  good  actions,  and  the  difpute  ran  fo  high,  that  duke 
Richard,  whofe  piety  was  as  great  as  his  courage,  was  called  in  to  decide 
it.  The  fame  manufcript  from  which  our  laft  cut  was  taken  has  furniftied 
our  cut  No.  37,  which  reprefents  two  demons  tripping  up  the  monk,  and 


No.  37.      The  Monk" i  Difafter. 

: 

throwing  him  very  unceremonioufly  into  the  river.  The  body  of  one  of 
the  demons  here  affumes  the  form  of  an  animal,  inftead  of  taking, 
like  the  other,  that  of  a  man,  and  he  is,  moreover,  furnifhed  with  a 
dragon's  wings.  There  was  one  verfion  of  this  ftory,  in  which  it  found 
its  place  among  the  legends  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  inftead  of  thofe  of  duke 
Richard.  The  monk,  in  fpite  of  his  failings,  had  been  a  conftant 

worlhipper 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


worlhipper  of  the  Virgin,  and,  as  he  was  falling  from  the  bridge  into  the 
river,  me  ftepped  forward  to  protect  him  from  his  perfecutors,  and  taking 
hold  of  him  with  her  hand,  faved  him  from  death.  One  of  the  compart- 
ments of  the  rather  early  wall-paintings  in  Winchefter  Cathedral  reprefents 
the  icene  according  to  this  verfion  of  the  ftory,  and  is  copied  in  our  cut 
No.  38.  The  fiends  here  take  more  fantaftic  Ihapes  than  we  have 


Nn,  38.      The  Demons  Dif appointed. 

previously  feen  given  to  them.  They  remind  us  already  of  the  infinitely 
varied  grotefque  forms  which  the  painters  of  the  age  of  the  Renaifiance 
crowded  together  in  fuch  fubjects  as  "  The  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony." 
In  fact  these  ftrange  notions  of  the  forms  of  the  demons  were  not  only 
preferved  through  the  whole  period  of  the  middle  ages,  but  are  ftill 
hardly  extinct.  They  appear  in  almoft  exaggerated  forms  in  the  illuftrations 
to  books  of  a  popular  religious  character  which  appeared  in  the  firft  ages 
of  printing.  I  may  quote,  as  an  example,  one  of  the  cuts  of  an  early  and 
very  rare  block-book,  entitled  the  Ars ^ Moriendi,  or  "Art  of  Dying,"  or, 
in  a  fecond  title,  De  Tentationilus  Morientium,  on  the  temptations  to 
which  dying  men  are  expofed.  The  fcene,  of  which  a  part  is  given  in 

the 


68 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


the  annexed  cut  (No.  39),  is  in  the  room  of  the  dying  man,  whofe  bed  is  fur- 
rounded  by  three  demons,  who  are  come  to  tempt  him,  while  his  relatives 
of  both  fexes  are  looking  on  quite  unconfcious  of  their  prefence.  VThe 
figures  of  thefe  demons  are  particujarj^-gqrtefaue^juid-thf  ir  "gl.v  features 


betray  a  degree  of  vulgar  cunningj^hichjulds  not  a  little  to  this  effecl.. 
The  one  leaning  over  the  dying  man  fuggeils  to  him  the  words  exprefied 
in  the  label  iffuing  from  his  mouth,  Provideas  amicis,  "  provide  for  your 
friends  •"  while  the  one  whofe  heajd  appears  to  the  left  whifpers  to  him, 


No.  39.      A  Med'nt-val  Death-  bed. 

Yntende  thefauro,  "think   of  your   treafure."     The   dying   man    feems 
grievoufly  perplexed  with  the  various  thoughts  thus  fuggefted  to  him. 
Why  did  the  mediaeval  nhr^flians  think  it  neceffary  to  make  the 


black  and  ugly  ?  The  firft  reply  to  this  queftion  which  prefents  itfelf  is, 
that  the  rhqrafteriftirs  i  ntgadedLXoJbe  repreJeJited_were__the.,bia€knefe-aBd 
uglinefs  of  fin.  This,  however,  is  only  partially  the  explanation  of  the 
facl:  ;  for  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  notion  was  a  popular  one,  and 
that  it  had  previoufly  exifled  in  the  popular  mythology  ;  and,  as  has  been 
already  remarked,  the  uglinefs  exhibited  bv  them  is  a  vnlgai-j  mirthful 
which  makes  you  laugh  inftead  of  fliudder.  Another  fcene, 

from 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


from  the  interefting  drawings  at  the  foot  of  the  pages  in  "  Queen  Mary's 
Pfalter,"  is  given  in  our  cut  No.  40.  It  reprefents  that  moft  popular 
of  mediaeval  pi&ures,  and,  at  the  fame  time,  moft  remarkable  of 
literal  interpretations,  hell  mouth.  The  entrance  to  the  infernal  regions 
was  always  reprefented  pidorially  as  the  mouth  of  a  monftrous  animal, 
where  the  demons  appeared  leaving  and  returning.  Here  they  are  feen 
bringing  the  finful  fouls  to  their  laft  deftination,  and  it  cannot  be  denied 
that  they  are  doing  the  work  right  merrily  and  jovially.  In  our  cut 


No.  40.      Condemned  Souls  carried  to  their  Place  of  Punifhment. 

No.  41,  from  the  manufcript  in  the  library  of  Trinity  College,  Cambridge, 
which  furnifhed  a  former  fubje<5t,  three  demons,  who  appear  to  be  the 
guardians  of  the  entrance  to  the  regions  below — for  it  is  upon  the  -brow 
above  the  monftrous  mouth  that  they  are  ftanding — prefent  varieties  of 
the  diabolical  form.  The  one  in  the  middle  is  the  moft  remarkable,  for 
he  has  wings  not  only  on  his  fhoulders,  but  alfo  on  his  knees  and  heels. 
All  three  have  horns  ;  in  fact,  the  three  fpecial  charadteriftics  of  mediaeval 
demons  were  horns,  hoofs — or,  at  leaft,  the  feet  of  beafts, — and  tails, 
which  fufficiently  indicate  the  fource  from  which  the  popular  notions  of 
thefe  beings  were  derived.  In  the  cathedral  of  Treves,  there  is  a  mural 
painting  by  William  of  Cologne,  a  painter  of  the  fifteenth-  century,  which 

reprefents 


yo  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

reprefents  the  entrance  to  the  fhades,  the  monftrous  mouth,  with  its 
keepers,  in  ftill  more  grotefque  forms.  Our  cut  No.  42  gives  but  a 
fmall  portion  of  this  pidure,  in  which  the  porter  of  the  regions  of  punifh- 
ment  is  fitting  aftride  the  fnout  of  the  monftrous  mouth,  and  is  founding 
with  a  trumpet  what  may  be  fuppofed  to  be  the  call  for  thofe  who  are 
condemned.  Another  minftrel  of  the  fame  ftamp,  fpurred,  though  not 
booted,  fits  aftride  the  tube  of  the  trumpet,  playing  on  the  bagpipes;  and 
the  found  which  iffues  from  the  former  inftrument  is  reprefented  by  a 
hoft  of  fmaller  imps  who  are  fcattering  themfelves  about. 

It  muft  not  be  fuppofed  that,  in  fubjedts  like  thefe,  the  drollery  of  the 
fcene  was  accidental ;    but,  on  the  contrary,  the  mediaeval  artifts  and 


No.  41 .     The  Guardlam  of  Hell  Mouth. 

popular  writers  gave  them  this  character  purpofely.  The  demons  and 
the  executioners — the  latter  of  whom  were  called  in  Latin  for/ores,  and 
in  popular  old  Englifh  phrafeology  the  "  tormentours  " — were  the  comic 
characters  of  the  time,  and  the  fcenes  in  the  old  myfteries  or  religious 
plays  in  which  they  were  introduced  were  the  comic  fcenes,  or  farce,  of 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


the  piece.  The  love  of  burlefque  and  caricature  was,  indeed,  fo  deeply 
planted  in  the  popular  mind,  that  it  was  found  necefiary  to  introduce 
them  even  in  pious  works,  in  which  fuch  fcenes  as  the  flaughter  of  the 
innocents,  where  the  "  knights  "  and  the  women  abufed  each  other  in 
vulgar  language,  the  treatment  of  Chritt  at  the  time  of  His  trial,  fome 
parts  of  the  fcene  of  the  crucifixion,  and  the  day  of  judgment,  were 
eflentially  comic.  The  laft  of  thefe  fubjects,  efpecially,  was  a  fcene  of 
mirth,  becaufe  it  often  confitted  throughout  of  a  coarfe  fatire  on  the  vices 


No   42.      The  Trumpeter  of  Evil. 


of  the  age,  efpecially  on  thofe  which  were  moft  obnoxious  to  the  populace, 
fuch  as  the  pride  and  vanity  of  the  higher  ranks,  and  the  extortions  and 
frauds  of  ufurers,  bakers,  taverners,  and  others.  In  the  play  of  "  Juditium," 
or  the  day  of  doom,  in  the  "  Towneley  Myfteries,"  one  of  the  earlieft 
collections  of  myfteries  in  the  Englifh  language,  the  whole  converfation 
among  the  demons  is  exactly  of  that  joking  kind  which  we  might  expect 
from  their  countenances  in  the  pictures.  When  one  of  them  appears 
carrying  a  bag  full  of  different  offences,  another,  his  companion,  is  fo 
joyful  at  this  circumftance,  that  he  fays  it  makes  him  laugh  till  he  is  out 

of 


J2.  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

of  breath,  or,  in  other  words,  till  he  is  ready  to  burft ;  and,  while  alking 
if  anger  be  not  among  the  fins  he  had  colle&ed,  propofes  to  treat  him 
with  fomething  to  drink — 

Primus  daemon.     Peafese,  I  fray  tne,  be  ftllle  ,•  I laghe  that  I  kynke. 
Is  oghte  ire  in  thl  bille?  and  then  falle  thou  drynke, — Towneley  Mysteries,  p.  309. 

And  in  the  continuation  of  the  converfation,  one  telling  of  the  events 
which  had  preceded  the  announcement  of  Doomfday  says,  rather  jeeringly, 
and  fomewhat  exultingly,  "  Souls  came  fo  thick  now  of  late  to  hell,  that 
our  porter  at  hell  gate  is  ever  held  fo  clofe  at  work,  up  early  and  down 
late,  that  he  never  refts" — 

Battles  cam  fo  thyk  ncno  late  unto  hellet 

As  ever 

Oure  porter  at  helle  gate 
Is  halden  fo  flrate, 
Up  erly  and  doivne  late, 

He  ryftys  never. —  Ib.,  p.  314. 

With  fuch  popular  notions  on  the  fubjeft,  we  have  no  reafon  to  be 
furprifed  that  the  artifts  of  the  middle  ages  frequently  chofe  the  figures  of 
demons  as  objects  on  which  to  exercife  their  fkill  in  burlefque  and  carica- 
ture, that  they  often  introduced  grotefque  figures  of  their  heads  and  bodies 
in  the  fculptured  ornamentation  of  building,  and  that  they  prefented  them 
in  ludicrous  fituations  and  attitudes  in  their  pictures.  They  are  often 
brought  in  as  fecondary  actors  in  a  picture  in  a  very  fingular  manner,  of 
which  an  excellent  example  is  furnifhed  by  the  beautifully  illuminated 
manufcript  known  as  "  Queen  Mary's  Pfalter,"  which  is  copied  in  our  cut 
No.  43.  Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  in  this  inftance  the  intention 
of  the  artift  was  perfectly  ferious.  Eve,  under  the  influence  of  a  rather 
fingularly  formed  ferpent,  having  the  head  of  a  beautiful  woman  and  the 
body  of  a  dragon,  is  plucking  the  apples  and  offering  them  to  Adam,  who 
is  preparing  to  eat  one,  with  evident  hefitation  and  reluctance.  But  three 
demons,  downright  hobgoblins,  appear  as  fecondary  actors  in  the  fcene, 
who  exercife  an  influence  upon  the  principals.  One  is  patting  Eve  on 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


73 


the  ftioulder,  with  an  air  of  approval  and  encouragement,  while  a  fecond, 
with  wings,  is  urging  on  Adam,  and  apparently  laughing  at  his  appre- 
henfions  ;  and  a  third,  in  a  very  ludicrous  manner,  is  preventing  him  from 
drawing  back  from  the  trial. 

In  all  the  delineations  of  demons  we  have  yet  feen,  the  ludicrous  is 
the  fpirit  which  chiefly  predominates,  and  in  no  one  inftance  have  we 
had  a  figure  which  is  really  demoniacal.  The  devils  are  droll  but  not 
frightful  5  they  provoke  laughter,  or  at  leaft  excite  a  fmile,  but  they 


No.  43.      The  Fall  of  Man. 

create  no  horror.  Indeed,  they  torment  their  victims  fo  good-humouredly, 
that  we  hardly  feel  for  them.  There  is,  however,  one  well-known 
inftance  in  which  the  mediaeval  artift  has  mown  himfelf  fully  fuccefsful 
in  reprefenting  the  features  of  the  fpirit  of  evil.  On  the  parapet  of  the 
external  gallery  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Notre  Dame  in  Paris,  there  is 
a  figure  in  ftone,  of  the  ordinary  flature  of  a  man,  reprefenting  the  demon, 
apparently  looking  with  fatisfa&ion  upon  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  as 
they  were  everywhere  indulging  in  fin  and  wickednefs.  We  give  a 
Jketch  of  this  figure  in  our  cut  No.  44.  The  unmixed  evil — horrible  in 

i.  its 


74  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


its  expreffion  in  this  countenance — is  marvelloufly  portrayed.  It  is  an 
abfolute  Mephiftophiles,  carrying  in  his  features  a  ftrange  mixture  of 
hateful  qualities — malice,  pride,  envy — in  fa£t,  all  the  deadly  fins  combined 
in  one  diabolical  whole. 


No.  44.      The  Spirit  of  Evil. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  75 


CHAPTER  V. 

EMPLOYMENT      OF      ANIMALS      IN     MEDIEVAL      SATIKE. POPULARITY      OP 

FABLES  ;      ODO      DE      CIRINGTON. REYNARD      THE      FOX. BURNELLUS 

AND    FAUVEL. THE    CHARIVARI. LE    MONDE    BESTORNE. ENCAUSTIC 

TILES. SHOEING     THE     GOOSE,    AND     FEEDING     PIGS    WITH     ROSES. 

SATIRICAL    SIGNS  J     THE    MUSTARD    MAKER. 

THE  people  of  the  middle  ages  appear  to  have  been  great  admirers 
of  animals,  to  have  obferved  clofely  their  various  characters  and 
peculiarities,  and  to  have  been  fond  01  domefticating  them.  Thgy-feon- 
began  to  employ  their_p£jculiaritin  m  mr?1^  yf  rcif.irifing  and  caricaturinfc- 
Jrnankind ;  and  among  the  literature  bequeathed  to  them  by  the  Romans, 
they  received  no  book  more  eagerly  than  the  "  Fables  of  JEfop,"  and 
the  other  collections  of  fables  which  were  publilhed  under  the  empire. 
We  find  no  traces  of  fables  among  the  original  literature  of  the  German 
race ;  but  the  tribes  who  took  poffeffion  of  the  Roman  provinces  no 
fooner  became  acquainted  with  the  fables  of  the  ancients,  than  they 
began  to  imitate  them,  and  ftories  in  which  animals  afted  the  part  of 
men  were  multiplied  immenfely,  and  became  a  very  important  branch 
of  mediaeval  fiction. 

Among  the  Teutonic  peoples  efpecially,  thefe  fables  often  affumed  very 
grotefque  forms,  and  the  fatire  they  convey  is  very  amufing.  One  of  the 
earlieft  of  thefe  collections  of  original  fables  was  compofed  by  an  Englilh 
ecclefiaftic  named  Odo  de  Cirington,  who  lived  in  the  time  of  Henry  II. 
and  Richard  I.  In  Odo's  fables,  we  find  the  animals  figuring  under  the 
fame  popular  names  by  which  they  were  afterwards  fo  well  known,  fuch 
as  Reynard  for  the  fox,  Ifengrin  for  the  wolf,  Teburg  for  the  cat,  and 
the  like.  Thus  the  fubjeft  of  one  of  them  is  "  Ifengrin  made  Monk  " 
(de  Ifengrino  monacho).  "Once,"  we  are  told,  "  Ifengrin  defired  to  be  a 
monk.  By  dint  of  fervent  fupplications,  he  obtained  the  confent  of  the 

chapter, 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


chapter,  and  received  the  tonfure,  the  cowl,  and  the  other  infignia  of 
monachifm.  At  length  they  put  him  to  fchool,  and  he  was  to  learn  the 
'  Paternofter,'  but  he  always  replied,  '  lamb  '  (agnus)  or  'ram'  (dries). 
The  monks  taught  him  that  he  ought  to  look  upon  the  crucifix  and  upon 
the  facrament,  but  he  ever  direfted  his  eyes  to  the  lambs  and  rams."  The 
fable  is  droll  enough,  but  the  moral,  or  application  is  ftill  more  grotefque. 
"  Such  is  the  conduct  of  many  of  the  monks,  whofe  only  cry  is  '  aries,' 
that  is,  good  wine,  and  who  have  their  eyes  always  fixed  on  fat  flefh  and 
their  platter  ;  whence  the  faying  in  "Englifh  — 

They  thou  the  vulf  hart  Thwgh  thou  the  hoary  iuolf 

hod  to  preftet  conjecratc  to  a  frieft, 

they  thou  him  to  fkole  fette  though  thou  put  him  to  fchool 

falmes  to  lerne,  to  learn  Pfalmt, 

hevere  bet  hife  gerei  ever  are  his  ears  turned 

to  the  grove  grene"  to  the  green  grove. 

Thefe  lines  are  in  the  alliterative  verfe  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  (how 
that  fuch  fables  had  already  found  their  place  in  the  popular  poetry  of  the 
Englifh  people.  Another  of  thefe  fables  is  entitled  "  Of  the  Beetle 
(fcralo)  and  his  Wife."  "  A  beetle,  flying  through  the  land,  palled 
among  moft  beautiful  blooming  trees,  through  orchards  and  among  rofes 
and  lilies,  in  the  moft  lovely  places,  and  at  length  threw  himfelf  upon  a 
dunghill  among  the  dung  of  horfes,  and  found  there  his  wife,  who  alked 
him  whence  he  came.  And  the  beetle  faid,  '  I  have  flown  all  round  the 
earth  and  through  it  ;  I  have  feen  the  flowers  of  almonds,  and  lilies,  and 
rofes,  but  I  have  feen  no  place  fo  pleafant  as  this,'  pointing  to  the  dung- 
hill." The  application  is  equally  droll  with  the  former  and  equally  un- 
complimentary to  the  religious  part  of  the  community.  Odo  de  Cirington 
tells  us  that,  "  Thus  many  of  the  clergy,  monks,  and  laymen  liflen  to  the 
lives  of  the  fathers,  pafs  among  the  lilies  of  the  virgins,  among  the  rofes 
of  the  martyrs,  and  among  the  violets  of  the  confeflbrs,  yet  nothing  ever 
appears  fo  pleafant  and  agreeable  as  a  ftrumpet,  or  the  tavern,  or  a  finging 
party,  though  it  is  but  a  flunking  dunghill  and  congregation  of  finners." 

Popular  fculpture  and  painting  were  but  the  tranflation  of  popular 
literature,  and  nothing  was  more  common  to  reprefent,  in  pictures  and 

carvings, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  77 

carvings,  than  individual  men  under  the  forms  of  the  animals  who  difplayed 
fimilar  characters  or  fimilar  propenfities.  Cunning,,  treachery,  and 
intrigue  were  the  prevailing  vices  of  the  middle  ages,  and  they  were  thofe 
alfo  of  the  fox,  who  hence  became  a  favourite  character  in  fatire.  The 
victory  of  craft  over  force  always  provoked  mirth.  The  fabulifts,  or,  we 
fhould  perhaps  rather  fay,  the  fatirifts,  foon  began  to  extend  their  canvas 
and  enlarge  their  picture,  and,  inftead  of  fingle  examples  of  fraud  or 
injuftice,  they  introduced  a  variety  of  characters,  not  only  foxes,  but 
wolves,  and  fheep,  and  bears,  with  birds  alfo,  as  the  eagle,  the  cock,  and 
the  crow,  and  mixed  them  up  together  in  long  narratives,  which  thus 
formed  general  fatires  on  the  vices  of  contemporary  fociety.  In  this 
manner  originated  the  celebrated  romance  of  "  Reynard  the  Fox,"  which 
in  various  forms,  from  the  twelfth  century  to  the  eighteenth,  has  enjoyed 
a  popularity  which  was  granted  probably  to  no  other  book.  The  plot  of 
this  remarkable  fatire  turns  chiefly  on  the  long  ftruggle  between  the 
brute  force  of  Ifengrin  the  Wolf,  poflefled  only  with  a  fmall  amount  of 
intelligence,  which  is  eafily  deceived — under  which  character  is  prefented 
the  powerful  feudal  baron — and  the  craftinefs  of  Reynard  the  Fox,  who 
reprefents  the  intelligent  portion  of  fociety,  which  had  to  hold  its  ground 
by  its  wits,  and  thefe  were  continually  abufed  to  evil  purpofes.  Reynard 
is  fwayed  by  a  conflant  impulfe  to  deceive  and  vidimife  everybody, 
whether  friends  or  enemies,  but  efpecially  his  uncle  Ifengrin.  It  was 
fomewhat  the  relationfhip  between  the  ecclefiaflical  and  baronial 
ariftocracy.  Reynard  was  educated  in  the  fchools,  and  intended  for 
the  clerical  order ;  and  at  different  times  he  is  reprefented  as  a&ing 
under  the  difguife  of  a  prieft,  of  a  monk,  of  a  pilgrim,  or  even  of  a 
prelate  of  the  church.  Though  frequently  reduced  to  the  greateft 
ftraits  by  the  power  of  Ifengrin,  Reynard  has  generally  the  better  of  it 
in  the  end :  he  robs  and  defrauds  Ifengrin  continually,  outrages  his 
wife,  who  is  half  in  alliance  with  him,  and  draws  him  into  all  forts  of 
dangers  and  fufferings,  for  which  the  latter  never  fucceeds  in  obtaining 
juftice.  The  old  fculptors  and  artifts  appear  to  have  preferred  exhibiting 
Reynard  in  his  ecclefiaftical  difguifes,  and  in  thefe  he  appears  often  in  the 
ornamentation  of  mediaeval  architectural  fculpture,  in  wood-carvings,  in 

the 


Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefaue 


the  illuminations  of  manufcripts,  and  in  other  objefts  of  art.  The  popular 
feeling  againft  the  clergy  was  llrong  in  the  middle  ages,  and  no  caricature 
was  received  with  more  favour  than  thofe  which  expofed  the  immorality 
or  difhonefty  of  a  monk  or  a  pried.  Our  cut  No.  45  is  taken  from  a 

fculpture  in  the  church  of  Chriftchurch,  in 
Hampmire,  for  the  drawing  of  which  I  am 
indebted  to  my  friend,  Mr.  Llewellynn 
Jewitt.  It  reprefents  Reynard  in  the  pulpit 
preaching  ;  behind,  or  rather  perhaps  befide 
him,  a  diminutive  cock  ftands  upon  a  ftool 
— in  modern  times  we  fhould  be  inclined 
to  fay  he  was  acting  as  clerk.  Reynard's 
coftume  confifls  merely  of  the  ecclefiatlical 
hood  or  cowl.  Such  fubje6ts  are  frequently 
found  on  the  carved  feats,  or  mifereres,  in 
the  ftalls  of  the  old  cathedrals  and  collegiate 
churches.  The  painted  glafs  of  the  great 
window  of  the  north  crofs-aifle  of  St.  Martin's 
church  in  Leicefter,  which  was  deftroyed  in 
the  laft  century,  reprefented  the  fox,  in  the 
character  of  an  ecclefiaftic,  preaching  to  a 
congregation  of  geefe,  and  addreffing  them  in  the  words — Teftis  eft  mihi 
Deus,  quam  cupiam  vos  omnes  vifceribus  meis  (God  is  witnefs,  how  I 
defire  you  all  in  my  bowels),  a  parody  on  the  words  of  the  New 
Teflament.*  Our  cut  No.  46  is  taken  from  one  of  the  mifereres  in  the 
church  of  St.  Mary,  at  Beverley,  in  Yorkftiire.  Two  foxes  are  reprefented 
in  the  difguife  of  ecclefiaftics,  each  furniihed  with  a  paftoral  ftaff,  and 
they  appear  to  be  receiving  inftructions  from  a  prelate  or  perfonage  of 
rank — perhaps  they  are  undertaking  a  pilgrimage  of  penance.  But  their 
fmcerity  is  rendered  fomewhat  doubtful  by  the  geefe  concealed  in  their 

hoods. 


No.  45.      The  Fox  in  the  Fulfil. 


*  An  engraving  of  thi<=  scene,  modernised  in  character,  is  given  in  Nichols's 
"  Leicestershire,"  vol.  i.  plate  43. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


79 


hoods.     In  one  of  the  incidents  of  the  romance  of  Reynard,  the  hero 
enters  a  monaftery  and  becomes  a  monk,  in  order  to  efcape  the  wrath  of 


No.  46.     Ecclefiaftical  Sincerity. 

King  Noble,  the   lion.     For  fome  time  he  made  an  outward  Ihow  of 

fan&ity  and  felf-privation,  but  unknown  to  his  brethren  he  fecretly  helped 

himfelf  freely  to  the  good  things  of  the 

monaftery.     One  day  he  obferved,  with 

longing  lips,  a  meflenger  who  brought 

four  fat  capons  as  a  prefent  from  a  lay 

neighbour  to  the  abbot.     That   night, 

when  all  the  monks  had  retired  to  reft, 

Reynard  obtained  admifiion  to  the  larder, 

regaled  himfelf  with  one  of  the  capons, 

and  as  foon  as  he  had  eaten  it,  trufled 

the   three  others  on  his  back,  efcaped 

fecretly  from  the  abbey,  and,  throwing 

away    his    monadic    garment,    hurried 

home  with  his  prey.     We  might  almoft 

imagine  our  cut  No.  47,  taken  from  one 

of  the  flails  of  the  church  of  Nantwich, 

in  Chelhire,  to  have  been  intended  to          No-  47-    R*i*ard  turned  Mont. 

reprefent  this  incident,  or,  at  leaft,  a  fimilar  one.     Our  next  cut,  No.  48, 


8o 


Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


is  taken  from  a  ftall  in  the  church  of  Bofton,  in  Lincolnftiire.  A  prelate, 
equally  falfe,  is  feated  in  his  chair,  with  a  mitre  on  his  head,  and  the 
paftoral  ftaff  in  his  right  hand.  His  flock  are  reprefented  by  a  cock  and 
hens,  the  former  of  which  he  holds  fecurely  with  his  right  hand,  while 
he  appears  to  be  preaching  to  them. 

Another  mediaeval  fculpture  has  furnifhed  events  for  a  rather  curious 
hiftory,  at  the  fame  time  that  it  is  a  good  illuftration  of  our  fubjeft. 
Odo  de  Cirington,  the  fabulift,  tells  us  how,  one  day,  the  wolf  died,  and 
the  lion  called  the  animals  together  to  celebrate  his  exequies.  The  hare 
carried  the  holy  water,  hedgehogs  bore  the  candles,  the  goats  rang  the 


No   48.      The  Prelate  and  his  Flock. 

bells,  the  moles  dug  the  grave,  the  foxes  carried  the  corpfe  on  the  bier. 
Berengarius,  the  bear,  celebrated  mafs,  the  ox  read  the  gofpel,  and  the 
afs  the  epiflle.  When  the  mafs  was  concluded,  and  Ifengrin  buried,  the 
animals  made  a  fplendid  feaft  out  of  his  goods,  and  wifhed  for  fuch 
another  funeral.  Our  fatirical  ecclefiaftic  makes  an  application  of  this 
ftory  which  tells  little  to  the  credit  of  the  monks  of  his  time.  "  So  it 
frequently  happens,"  he  fays,  "  that  when  fome  rich  man,  an  extortionifl 
or  a  ufurer,  dies,  the  abbot  or  prior  of  a  convent  of  beads,  i.e.  of  men 
living  like  beafls.  caufes  them  to  aflemble.  For  it  commonly  happens 
that  in  a  great  convent  of  black  or  white  monks  (Benediftines  or 

Auguftinians) 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


81 


Auguftinians)  there  are  none  but  beafts— lions  by  their  pride,  foxes  by 
their  craftinefs,  bears  by  their  voracity,  flinking  goats  by  their  incontinence, 
affes  by  their  fluggifhnefs,  hedgehogs  by  their  afperity,  hares  by  their 
timidity,  becaufe  they  were  cowardly  where  there  was  no  fear,  and  oxen 
by  their  laborious  cultivation  of  their  land."  * 

A  fcene  clofely  refembling  that  here  defcribed  by  Odo,  differing  only 
in  the  distribution  of  the  characters,  was  tranflated  from  fome  fuch 
written  ftory  into  the  pi&orial  language  of  the  ancient  fculptured  ornamen- 
tation of  Straiburg  Cathedral,  where  it  formed,  apparently,  two  fides  of 
the  capital  or  entablature  of  a  column  near  the  chancel.  The  deceafed  in 
this  pi&ure  appears  to  be  a  fox,  which  was  probably  the  animal  intended 
to  be  reprefented  in  the  original,  although,  in  the  copy  of  it  preferred,  it 
looks  more  like  a  fquirrel.  The  bier  is  carried  by  the  goat  and  the  boar, 


No.  49.     The  Funeral  of  the  Fo*. 


while  a  little  dog  underneath  is  taking  liberties  with  the  tail  of  the  latter. 
Immediately  before  the  bier,  the  hare  carries  the  lighted  taper,  preceded 
by  the  wolf,  who  carries  the  crofs,  and  the  bear,  who  holds  in  one  hand 
the  holy-water  veflel  and  in  the  other  the  afperfoir.  This  forms  the 
firft  divifion  of  the  fubje6t,  and  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  49.  In  the 

next 

*  The  Latin  text  of  this  and  some  others  of  the  fables  of  Odo  de  Cirington 
will  be  found  in  my  "  Selection  of  Latin  Stories,"  pp,  50-52,  55-58>  and  80. 


82 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


next  divifion  (cut  No.  50),  the  flag  is  reprefented  celebrating  mafs,  and 
the  afs  reads  the  Gofpel  from  a  book  which  the  cat  fupports  with 
its  head. 

This  curious  fculpture  is  faid  to  have  been  of  the  thirteenth  century. 


No.  50.     The  Mafs  for  the  Pox. 


In  the  fifteenth  century  it  attracted  the  attention  of  the  reformers,  who 
looked  upon  it  as  an  ancient  proteft  againft  the  corruptions  of  the  mafs, 
and  one  of  the  more  diftinguifhed  of  them,  John  Fifchart,  had  it  copied 
and  engraved  on  wood,  and  publifhed  it  about  the  year  1580,  with  fome 
verfes  of  his  own,  in  which  it  was  interpreted  as  a  fatire  upon  the  papacy. 
This  publication  gave  fuch  dire  offence  to  the  ecclefiaftical  authorities  of 
Stralburg,  that  the  Lutheran  bookfeller  who  had  ventured  to  publifh  it, 
was  compelled  to  make  a  public  apology  in  the  church,  and  the  wood- 
engraving  and  all  the  impreffions  were  feized  and  burnt  by  the  common 
hangman.  A  few  years  later,  however,  in  1608,  another  engraving  was 
made,  and  publifhed  in  a  large  folio  with  Fifchart's  verfes ;  and  it  is  from 
the  diminifhed  copy  of  this  fecond  edition — given  in  Flb'gelV'Gefchichte 
des  Komifches  Literatur" — that  our  cuts  are  taken.  The  original 
fculpture  was  ftill  more  unfortunate.  Its  publication  and  explanation  by 
Fifchart  was  the  caufe  of  no  little  fcandal  among  the  Catholics,  who  tried 
to  retort  upon  their  opponents  by  afferting  that  the  figures  in  this  funeral 
celebration  were  intended  to  reprefent  the  ignorance  of  the  Proteftant 
preachers ;  and  the  fculpture  in  the  church  continued  to  be  regarded 
by  the  ecclefiaflical  authorities  with  diflatisfaclion  until  the  year  1685, 

when 


in  Literature  and  Art.  8  3 

when,    to    take   away   all   further   ground    of  fcandal,    it    was   entirely 
defaced. 

Reynard's  mediaeval  celebrity  dates  certainly  from  a  rather  early  period. 
Montflaucon  has  given  an  alphabet  of  ornamental  initial  letters,  formed 
chiefly  of  figures  of  men  and  animals,  from  a  manufcript  which  he 
afcrtbes  to  the  ninth  century,  among  which  is  the  one 
copied  in  our  cut  No.  51,  reprefenting  a  fox  walking 
upon  his  hind  legs,  and  carrying  two  frnall  cocks, 
fufpended  at  the  ends  of  a  crofs  ftarF.  It  is  hardly 
neceflary  to  fay  that  this  group  forms  the  letter  T. 
Long  before  this,  the  Frankiih  hiftorian  Fredegarius, 
who  wrote  about  the  middle  of  the  feventh  century, 
introduces  a  fable  in  which  the  fox  figures  at  the  court 
of  the  lion.  The  fame  fable  is  repeated  by  a  monkifh 
writer  of  Bavaria,  named  Fromond,  who  flourifhed  in  No.  51-  The  Fox 

Provided. 

the  tenth  century,  and  by  another  named  Aimomus, 
who  lived  about  the  year  1,000.  At  length,  in  the  twelfth  century, 
Guibert  de  Nogent,  who  died  about  the  year  1124,  and  who  has  left  us 
bis  autobiography  (de  Vita  Jua),  relates  an  anecdote  in  that  work,  in 
explanation  of  which  he  tells  us  that  the  wolf  was  then  popularly 
defignated  by  the  name  of  Ifengrin  j  and  in  the  fables  of  Odo,  as  we 
have  already  feen,  this  name  is  commonly  given  to  the  wolf,  Reynard  to 
the  fox,  Teburg  to  the  cat,  and  fo  on  with  the  others.  This  only  Ihows 
that  in  the  fables  of  the  twelfth  century  the  various  animals  were  known 
by  thefe  names,  but  it  does  not  prove  that  what  we  know  as  the  romance 
of  Reynard  exifted.  Jacob  Grimm  argued  from  the  derivation  and  forms 
of  thefe  names,  that  the  fables  themfelves,  and  the  romance,  originated 
with  the  Teutonic  peoples,  and  were  indigenous  to  them  ;  but  his  reafons 
appear  to  me  to  be  more  fpecious  than  conclufive,  and  I  certainly  lean  to 
the  opinion  of  my  friend  Paulin  Paris,  that  the  romance  of  Reynard  was 
native  of  France,*  and  that  it  was  partly  founded  upon  old  Latin  legends, 

perhaps 

*  Sec  the  dissertation  by  M-  Paulin  Paris,  published  in  his  nice  popular  modern 
abridgment  of  the  French  romance,  published  in  1861,  under  the  title  "  Les  Aven- 


84  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

perhaps  poems.  Its  character  is  altogether  feudal,  and  it  is  ftrictly  a 
picture  of  fociety,  in  France  primarily,  and  fecondly  in  England  and  the 
other  nations  of  feudalifm,  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  earlieft  form  in 
which  this  romance  is  known  is  in  the  French  poem — or  rather  poems, 
for  it  coniifts  of  feveral  branches  or  continuations — and  is  fuppofed  to  date 
from  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  It  foon  became  fo 
popular,  that  it  appeared  in  different  forms  in  all  the  languages  of  Weftern 
Europe,  except  in  England,  where  there  appears  to  have  exifted  no  edition 
of  the  romance  of  Reynard  the  Fox  until  Caxton  printed  his  profe 
Englifh  verfion  of  the  ftory.  From  that  time  it  became,  if  poffible,  more 
popular  in  England  than  elfewhere,  and  that  popularity  had  hardly 
diminiflied  down  to  the  commencement  of  the  prefent  century. 

The  popularity  of  the  ftory  of  Reynard  caufed  it  to  be  imitated  in  a 
variety  of  fhapes,  and  this  form  of  fatire,  in  which  animals  acted  the  part 
of  men,  became  altogether  popular.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  twelfth 
century,  an  Anglo-Latin  poet,  named  Nigellus  Wireker,  compofed  a  very 
fevere  fatire  in  elegiac  verfe,  under  the  title  of  Speculum  Stultorum,  the 
"  Mirror  of  Fools."  It  is  not  a  wife  animal  like  the  fox,  but  a  fimple 
animal,  the  afs,  who,  under  the  name  of  Brunellus,  pafles  among  the 
various  ranks  and  clafles  of  fociety,  and  notes  their  crimes  and  vices.  A 
profe  introduction  to  this  poem  informs  us  that  its  hero  is  the  reprefenta- 
tive  of  the  monks  in  general,  who  were  always  longing  for  fome  new 
acquifition  which  was  inconfiftent  with  their  profeflion.  In  fact,  Brunellus 
is  abforbed  with  the  notion  that  his  tail  was  too  fhort,  and  his  great 
ambition  is  to  get  it  lengthened.  For  this  purpofe  he  confults  a  phyfician, 
who,  after  reprefenting  to  him  in  vain  the  folly  of  his  purfuit,  gives  him 
a  receipt  to  make  his  tail  grow  longer,  and  fends  him  to  the  celebrated 
medical  fchool  of  Salerno  to  obtain  the  ingredients.  After  various 
adventures,  in  the  courfe  of  which  he  lofes  a  part  of  his  tail  inftead  of  its 
being  lengthened,  Brunellus  proceeds  to  the  Univerfity  of  Paris  to  ftudy 

and 

tures  de  Maitre  Renart  et  d'Ysengrin  son  compere."  On  the  debated  question  of 
the  origin  of  the  Romance,  see  the  learned  and  able  work  by  Jonckbloet,  8vo., 
Groningue,  1863. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  85 


and  obtain  knowledge  ;  and  we  are  treated  with  a  moft  amufingly  fatirical 
account  of  the  condition  and  manners  of  the  fcholars  of  that  time.  Soon 
convinced  of  his  incapacity  for  learning,  Brunellus  abandons  the  univerfity 
in  delpair,  and  he  refolves  to  enter  one  of  the  monaftic  orders,  the 
character  of  all  which  he  pafles  in  review.  The  greater  part  of  the  poem 
confifts  of  a  very  bitter  fatire  on  the  corruptions  of  the  fnonkifh  orders 
and  of  the  Church  in  general.  While  ftill  hefitating  which  order  to 
choofe,  Brunellus  falls  into  the  hands  of  his  old  matter,  from  whom  he 
had  run  away  in  order  to  feek  his  fortune  in  the  world,  and  he  is 
compelled  to  pafs  the  reft  of  his  days  in  the  fame  humble  and  fervile 
condition  in  which  he  had  begun  them. 

A  more  dire6t  imitation  of  "  Reynard  the  Fox  "  is  found  in  the  early 
French  romance  of"  Fauvel,"  the  hero  of  which  is  neither  a  fox  nor  an  afs, 
but  a  horfe.  People  of  all  ranks  and  clafles  repair  to  the  court  of  Fauvel, 
the  horfe,  and  furnifh  abundant  matter  for  fatire  on  the  moral,  political, 
and  religious  hypocrify  which  pervaded  the  whole  frame  of  fociety.  At 
length  the  hero  refolves  to  marry,  and,  in  a  finely  illuminated  manufcript 
of  this  romance,  preferred  in  the  Imperial  Library  in  Paris,  this  marriage 
furnifties  the  fubjecl:  of  a  picture,  which  gives  the  only  reprefentation  I 
have  met  with  of  one  of  the  popular  ourlefque  ceremonies  which  were  fo 
common  in  the  middle  ages. 

Among  other  fuch  ceremonies,  it  was  cuftomary  with  the  populace, 
on  the  occalion  of  a  man's  or  woman's  fecond  marriage,  or  an  ill-forted 
match,  or  on  the  efpoufals  of  people  who  were  obnoxious  to  their 
neigh bours>  to  aflemble  outfide  the  houfe,  and  greet  them  with  difcordant 
mufic.  This  cuftom  is  faid  to  have  been  praftifed  efpecially  in  France, 
and  it  was  called  a  charivari.  There  is  ftill  a  laft  remnant  of  it  in  our 
country  in  the  mufic  of  marrow-bones  and  cleavers,  with  which  the 
marriages  of  butchers  are  popularly  celebrated ;  but  the  derivation  of  the 
French  name  appears  not  to  be  known.  It  occurs  in  old  Latin  documents, 
for  it  gave  rife  to  fuch  fcandalous  fcenes  of  riot  and  licentiousnefs,  that 
the  Church  did  all  it  could,  though  in  vain,  to  fupprefs  it.  The  earlieft 
mention  of  this  cuftom,  furnilhed  in  the  Gloffhrium  of  Ducange,  is 
contained  in  the  fy nodal  ftatutes  of  the  church  of  Avignon,  pafled  in  the 

year 


86 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


year  1337,  from  which  we  learn  that  when  fuch  marriages  occurred, 
people  forced  their  way  into  the  houfes  of  the  married  couple,  and  carried 
away  their  goods,  which  they  were  obliged  to  pay  a  ranfom  for  before 
they  were  returned,  and  the  money  thus  raifed  was  fpent  in  getting  up 
what  is  called  in  the  ftatute  relating  to  it  a  Chalvaricum.  It  appears  from 
this  flatute,  that  the  individuals  who  performed  the  charirari  accompanied 
the  happy  couple  to  the  church,  and  returned  with  them  to  their 
refidence,  with  coarfe  and  indecent  geftures  and  difcordant  mufic,  and 


No.  52.     A  Medittval  Charivari. 


uttering  fcurrilous  and  indecent  abufe,  and  that  they  ended  with  feafting. 
In  the  ftatutes  of  Meaux,  in  1365,  and  in  thofe  of  Hugh,  biftiop  of 
Beziers,  in  1368,  the  fame  practice  is  forbidden,  under  the  name  of 
Charavallium ;  and  it  is  mentioned  in  a  document  of  the  year  13/2,  alfo 
quoted  by  Ducange,  under  that  of  Carivarium,  as  then  exifting  at  Nimes. 
Again,  in  1445,  the  Council  of  Tours  made  a  decree,  forbidding,  under 
pain  of  excommunication,  "  the  infolences,  clamours,  founds,  and  other 
tumults  pra&ifed  at  fecond  and  third  nuptials,  called  by  the  vulgar  a 

Charh-anum, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


Charivarium,  on  account  of  the  many  and  grave  evils  arifing  out  of 
them."*  It  will  be  obferved  that  thefe  early  allufions  to  the  charivari 
are  found  almoft  folely  in  documents  coming  from  the  Roman  towns  in 
the  fouth  of  France,  fo  that  this  practice  was  probably  one  of  the  many 
popular  cuftoms  derived  directly  from  the  Romans.  When  Cotgrave's 
"Dictionary  "  was  publifhed  (that  is,  in  1632)  the  practice  of  the  charivari 
appears  to  have  become  more  general  in  its  exiftence,  as  well  as  its 
application  ;  for  he  defcribes  it  as  "  a  public  defamation,  or  traducing  of; 


No.  53.      Continuation  of  the  Chari-vari. 


a  foule  noife  made,  blacke  fantus  rung,  to  the  fhame  and  difgrace  of 
another^  hence  an  infamous  (or  infaming)  ballad  fung,  by  an  armed 
troupe,  under  the  window  of  an  old  dotard,  married  the  day  before  unto 
a  yong  wanton,  in  mockerie  of  them  both."  And,  again,  a  charivaris  de 

poelles 

*  "  Insultationes,  clamores,  sonos,  et  alios  tumultus,  in  secundis  et  tenth's  quo- 
rundam  nuptiis,  quos  charivarium  vulgo  appellant,  propter  multa  et  gravia  incom- 
moda,  prohibemus  sub  pcena  excommunicationis."—  Ducange,  v.  Charivarium. 


88  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

poelles  is  explained  as  "  the  carting  of  an  infamous  perfon,  graced  with 
the  harmonic  of  tinging  kettles  and  frying-pan  muficke."*  The  word  is 
now  generally  ufed  in  the  fenfe  of  a  great  tumult  of  difcordant  rrmfic, 
produced  often  by  a  number  of  perfons  playing  different  tunes  on 
different  inftruments  at  the  fame  time. 

As  I  have  ftated  above,  the  manufcript  of  the  romance  of  "Fauvel  " 
is  in  the  Imperial  Library  in  Paris.  A  copy  of  this  illumination  is 
engraved  in  Jaime's  "  Mufee  de  la  Caricature,"  from  which  our  cuts 
Nos.  52  and  53  are  taken.  It  is  divided  into  three  compartments,  one 
above  another,  in  the  uppermoft  of  which  Fauvel  is  feen  entering  the 
nuptial  chamber  to  his  young  wife,  who  is  already  in  bed.  The  fcene  in 
the  compartment  below,  which  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  52,  reprefents 
the  flreet  outfide,  and  the  mock  revellers  performing  the  charivari; 
and  this  is  continued  in  the  third,  or  loweft,  compartment,  which 
is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  53.  Down  each  fide  of  the  original 
illumination  is  a  frame-work  of  windows,  from  which  people,  who 
have  been  difturbed  by  the  noife,  are  looking  out  upon  the  tumult. 
It  will  be  feen  that  all  the  performers  wear  malks,  and  that  they  are 
drefled  in  burlefque  coftume.  In  confirmation  of  the  ftatement  of  the 
ecclefiaftical  fynods  as  to  the  licerltioufnefs  of  thefe  exhibitions,  we 
fee  one  of  the  performers  here  difguifed  as  a  woman,  who  lifts  up  his 
drefs  to  expofe  his  perfon  while  dancing.  The  mufical  inftruments 
are  no  lefs  grotefque  than  the  coftumes,  for  they  confift  chiefly  of  kitchen 
utenfils,  fuch  as  frying-pans,  mortars,  faucepans,  and  the  like. 

There  was  another  feries  of  fubje£ts  in  which_animals  wej^e.  introduced 
as  the  inftrumrpti  of  fntirr^  —  This  fatirc  coofiifed  in  reverfing^  the-pofilion 
n  thg  animalfLpver  wh'^  ^  r-H  ^»fn  accuflomed 


_tp  ^rgnnifeijQ_jh^Ji£_3Kas--fab}€^e4-ta-llie^fame  treatment  from  the 
animals  which,  in  his  a6tual  pofition,  he  uies  towards  them.  .This  change 
Qf~reTative  pofition  was  railed  ii-|  old  French  anrl  Anf;ln  Nprmatij  L> 

jnonde  leftorni^  which  was  equivalent  to  the  Englifh  phrafe,  "  the  world 

lurngd  upfide  down."     It  forms  the  fubjecl:  of  rather  old  verfes,  I  believe, 

__  both 

*  Cotgrave's  Dictionarie,  v.  Chari-var'u. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


both  in  French  and  Englifh,  and  individual  fcenes  from  it  are  met  with 
in  pi&orial  reprefentation  at  a  rather  early  date.  During  the  year  J  862, 
in  the  courfe  of  accidental  excavations  on  the  lite  of  the  Friary,  at 
Derby,  a  number  of  encauftic  tiles,  fuch  as  were  ufed  for  the  floors 
of  the  interiors  of  churches  and  large  buildings,  were  found.*  The 
ornamentation  of  thefe  tiles,  efpecially  of  the  earlier  ones,  is,  like  ail 


No.  54       I'he  Tablet  Turned. 

mediaeval  ornamentations,  extremely  varied,  and  even  thefe  tiles  Ibnu- 
times  prefent  fubje&s  of  a  burlefque  and  fatirical  character,  though  they 
are  more  frequently  adorned  with  the  arms  and  badges  of  benefactors  to 
the  church  or  convent.  The  tiles  found  on  the  fite  of  the  priory  at 
Derby  are  believed  to  be  of  the  thirteenth  century,  and  one  pattern,  a 
diminished  copy  of  which  is  given  in  our  cut  No.  54,  prefents  a  fubject 

taken 

*  Mr  Llewellynn  Jewitt,  in  his  excellent  publication,  the  Reliquary,  [or  O<  tober, 
1861,  has  given  an  interesting  paper  on  the  encaustic  tiles  found  on  this  occasion, 
and  on  the  conventual  house  to  which  they  belonged. 


9° 


Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


taken  from  the  monde  be/lorn^.  The  hare,  matter  of  his  old  enemy,  the 
dog,  has  become  hunter  himfelf,  and  feated  upon  the  dog's  back  he  rides 
vigoroufly  to  the  chace,  blowing  his  horn  as  he  goes.  The  defign  is 
fpiritedly  executed,  and  its  fatirical  intention  is  fhown  by  the  monflrous 
and  mirthful  face,  with  the  tongue  lolling  out,  figured  on  the  outer 
corner  of  the  tile.  It  will  be  feen  that  four  of  thefe  tiles  are  intended  to 
be  joined  together  to  make  the  complete  piece.  In  an  illumination 
in  a  manufcript  of  the  fourteenth  century  in  the  Britifli  Mufeum 
(MS.  Reg.  10  E  iv.),  the  hares  are  taking  a  ftill  more  fevere  vengeance 


No.  55.     Juftice  in  the  Hands  of  the  Perfccuted. 

on  their  old  enemy.  The  dog  has  been  caught,  brought  to  trial  for  his 
numerous  murders,  and  condemned,  and  they  are  reprefented  here 
(cut  No.  55)  conducting  him  in  the  criminal's  cart  to  the  gallows.  Our 
cut  No.  56,  the  fubjed  of  which  is  furnimed  by  one  of  the  carved  flails 
in  Sherborne  Minfter  (it  is  here  copied  from  the  engraving  in  Carter's 
"  Specimens  of  Ancient  Sculpture  "),  reprefents  another  execution  fcene, 
fimilar  in  fpirit  to  the  former.  The  geefe  have  feized  their  old  enemy, 
Reynard,  and  are  hanging  him  on  a  gallows,  while  two  monks,  who 
attend  the  execution,  appear  to  be  amufed  at  the  energetic  manner  in 

which 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


9l 


which  the  geefe  perform  their  talk.  Mr.  Jewitt  mentions  two  other 
fubjeds  belonging  to  this  feries,  one  of  them  taken  from  an  illuminated 
manufcript ;  they  are,  the  moufe  chafing  the  cat,  and  the  horfe  driving 


No.  56.     Reynard  brought  to  Account  at  Loft. 

the  cart — the  former  human  carter  in  this  cafe  taking  the  place  of  the 
horfe  between  the  lhafts. 

"The  World  turned  upfide  down;  or,  the  Folly  of  Man,"  has 
continued  amongft  us  to  be  a  popular  chap-book  and  child's  book  till 
within  a  very  few  years,  and  I  have  now  a  copy  before  me  printed  in 
London  about  the  year  1790.  It  confifts  of  a  feries  of  rude  woodcuts, 
with  a  few  doggrel  verfes  under  each.  One  of  thefe,  entitled  "  The  Ox 
turned  Farmer,"  reprelents  two  men  drawing  the  plough,  driven  by  an 
ox.  In  the  next,  a  rabbit  is  feen  turning  the  fpit  on  which  a  man  is 
roalling,  while  a  cock  holds  a  ladle  and  baftes.  In  a  third,  we  fee  a 
tournament,  in  which  the  horfes  are  armed  and  ride  upon  the  men. 
Another  reprelents  the  ox  killing  the  butcher.  In  others  we  have  birds 
netting  men  and  women ;  the  als,  turned  miller,  employing  the  man- 
miller  to  carry  his  facks ;  the  horfe  turned  groom,  and  currying  the  man  ; 
and  the  fifties  angling  for  men  and  catching  them. 

In  a  cleverly  fculptured  ornament  in  Beverley  Minfter,  represented  in 
our  cut  No.  57,  the  goofe  herfelf  is  reprefented  in  a  grotefque  fituation, 

which 


92 


Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


which   might  almoft  give  her  a  place   in  "  The  World  turned  upfide 
down,"  although  it  is  a  mere  burlefque,  without  any  apparent  fatirical 


No.  57.     Shoeing  the  Goofe. 

aim.     The  goofe  has  here  taken  the  place  of  the  horl'e  at  the  black fmith's, 

who  is  vigoroufly  nailing  the  fhoe  on  her  webbed  foot. 

Burlefque  fubje&s  of  this  defcription  are  not  uncommon,  eipecially 

among  architectural  iculpture  and 
wood-carving,  and,  at  a  rather 
later  period,  on  all  ornamental 
objects.  The  field  for  fuch  fubje6ts 
was  fo  extenfive,  that  the  artift 
had  an  almoft  unlimited  choice, 
and  therefore  his  fubjeds  might  be 
almoft  infinitely  varied,  though  we 


No,  58.      Food  for  Sivinc. 


ufually  find  them  running  on  par- 
ticular clafles.  The  old  popular 
proverbs,  for  inftance,  furnilhed  a  fruitful  fource  for  drollery,  and  are  at 
times  delineated  in  an  amufingly  literal  or  practical  manner.  Pidorial 

proverbs 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


93 


proverbs  and  popular  fayings  are  fometimes  met  with  on  the  carved 
mifereres.  For  example,  in  one  of  thofe  at  Rouen,  in  Normandy, 
reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  58,  the  carver  has  intended  to  reprefent 
the  idea  of  the  old  faying,  in  allufion  to  mifplaced  bounty,  of  throwing 
pearls  to  fwine,  and  has  given  it  a  much  more  pi6turefque  and  pidtorially 
intelligible  form,  by  introducing  a  rather  dafliing  female  feeding  her 
fwine  with  rofes,  or  rather  offering  them  rofes  for  food,  for  the  fwine 
difplay  no  eagernefs  to  feed  upon  them. 

We  meet  with  fuch  fubje£ts  as  thefe  fcattered  over  all  mediaeval 
works  of  art,  and  at  a  fomewhat  later  period  they  were  transferred  to 
other  obje£ts,  liich  as  the  (igns  of  houfes.  The  cuftorn  of  placing  figns 


No.  59.      The  Induftriout  Sew. 

over  the  doors  of  (hops  and  taverns,  was  well  known  to  the  ancients,  as  is 
abundantly  manifefted  by  their  frequent  occurrence  in  the  ruins  of 
Pompeii;  but  in  the  middle  ages,  the  ufe  of  figns  and  badges  was 
univerfal,  and  as — contrary  to  the  apparent  practice  in  Pompeii,  where 
certain  badges  were  appropriatt  d  to  certain  trades  and  profeffions — every 
individual  was  free  to  choofe  his  own  fign,  the  variety  was  unlimited. 
Many  ftill  had  reference,  no  doubt,  to  the  particular  calling  of  thofe  to 
whom  they  belonged,  while  others  were  of  a  religious  character,  and 
indicated  the  faint  under  whofe  protection  the  houfeholder  had  placed 
himfelf.  Some  people  took  animals  for  their  figns,  others  monftrous 
or  burlefque  figures  ;  and,  in  fa6t,  there  were  hardly  any  of  the  fubje&s  of 

caricature 


94 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefaue 


caricature  or  burlefque  familiar  to  the  mediaeval  fculptor  and  illuminator 
which  did  not  from  time  to  time  appear  on  thefe  popular  figns.  A  few 
of  the  old  figns  ftill  preferved,  efpecially  in  the  quaint  old  towns  of 
France,  Germany,  and  the  Netherlands,  mow  us  how  frequently  they 

were  made  the  inftruments  of  popular  fatire. 
A  fign  not  uncommon  in  France  was  La 
Truie  qui  Jile  (the  fow  fpinning).  Our  cut 
No.  59  reprefents  this  fubjedt  as  treated  on 
an  old  fign,  a  carving  in  baf-relief  of  the 
fixteenth  century,  on  a  houfe  in  the  Rue 
du  March  e-aux-Poirees,  in  Rouen.  The  fow 
appears  here  in  the  character  of  the  induftrious 
houfewife,  employing  herfelf  in  fpinning  at 
the  fame  time  that  me  is  attending  to  the 
wants  of  her  children.  There  is  a  fingularly 
fatirical  fign  at  Beauvais,  on  a  houfe  which 
was  formerly  occupied  by  an  epicier-moutardier, 
or  grocer  who  made  muftard,  in  the  Rue  du 
Chatel.  In  front  of  this  fign,  which  is  repre- 
fented  in  our  cut  No.  60,  appears  a  large 
muftard-mill,  on  one  fide  of  which  ftands 

Folly  with  a  ftaff  in  her  hand,  with  which 

No.  60.    Aauiicrathn.          fa  }s  flilTjng   ^    muftard,  while   an    ape, 

with  a  fort  of  fardonic  grin,  throws  in  a  feafoning,  which  may  be 
conje£tured  by  his  pofture.*  The  trade-mark  of  the  individual  who 
adopted  this  ftrange  device,  is  carved  below. 


*  See  an  interesting  little  book  on  this  subject  by  M.  Ed.  de  la  Queriere, 
entitled  "  Recherches  sur  les  Enseignes  des  Maisons  Particulieres,"  8vo.,  Rouen, 
1852,  from  which  both  the  above  examples  are  laken. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  95 


CHAFrER   VJ. 

THE     MONKEY      IN     BURLESftUE    AND     CARICATURE. TOURNAMENTS     ANI> 

SINGLE    COMBATS. MONSTROUS    COMBINATIONS    OF    ANIMAL    FORMS. — - 

CARICATURES      ON      COSTUME. THE      HAT. THE      HELMET. —  LADIES* 

HEAD-DRESSES. THE    GOWN,    AND    ITS    LONG    SLEEVES. 

THE   fox^the   wolf,   and    their    companions,   were   introduced   as 
inftruments  of  fatire,  on  account  of  their^  peculiar  characters |  but 
there\vere  other  animals^  whicti  were  alfo  favourites  with  the  fatirift, 
becaufe  they  difplayed  an  innateTnciination  to  imitate  ;  they  formedTas 
u  were,  natural  pa 


the  prindpaljfld_moft^r^||parkahl^^a^f^  r^pnlg^j  This  animal  muft 
have  been  known  to  our  Anglo-Saxon  forefathers  from  a  remote  period, 
for  they  had  a  word  for  it  in  their  own  language — apa,  our  ape.  Monkey 
is  a  more  modern  name,  and  feems  to  be  equivalent  with  maniken,  or  a 
little  man.  The  earlieft  Bejliaries,  or  popular  treatifes  on  natural  hiftory, 
give  anecdotes  illuftrative  of  the  aptnefe  of  this  animal  for  imitating  the 
actions  of  men,  and  afcribe  to  it  a  degree  of  underftanding  which  would 
almoft  raife  it  above  the  level  of  the  brute  creation.  Philip  de  Thaun., 
an  Anglo-Norman  poet  of  the  reign  of  Henry  1.,  in  his  Be/iiary,  tells  us 
that  "the  monkey,  by  imitation,  as  books  fay,  counterfeits  what  it  fees, 
and  mocks  people  :" — 

Li  Jingc  par  figure,  Ji  cum  nit  efcrifture, 
Ceo  que  II  vait  contrefait,  de  gent  efcar  halt,* 

He 

*  See  my  "  Popular  Treatises  on  Science  written  during  the  Middle  Ages," 
p.  107. 


q  6  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

He  goes  on  to  inform  us,  as  a  proof  of  the  extraordinary  inftinct  of  this 
animal,  that  it  has  more  affection  for  fome  of  its  cubs  than  for  others, 
and  that,  when  running  away,  it  carried  thofe  which  it  liked  before  it, 
and  thofe  it  difliked  behind  its  back.  The  fketch  from  the  illuminated 
manufcript  of  the  Romance  of  the  Comte 

!\A         j^^  d' Artois,  of  the  fifteenth  century,  which  forms 

our  cut  No.  61,  reprefents  the  monkey,  carry- 
ing, of  courfe,  its  favourite  child  before  it  in 
its  flight,  and  what  is  more,  it  is  taking  that 
flight  mounted  on  a  donkey.  A  monkey 
on  horfeback  appears  not  to  have  been  a 
novelty,  as  we  (hall  fee  in  the  fequel. 
No.  61.  A  Monkey  Alexander  Neckam,  a  very  celebrated 

Mounted.  Englifh    fcholar   of    the    latter    part  of    the 

twelfth  century,  and  one  of  the  moil  interesting  of  the  early  mediaeval 
writers  on  natural  hiitory,  gives  us  many  anecdotes,  which  fhow  us 
how  much  attached  our  mediaeval  forefathers  were  to  domefticated 
animals,  and  how  common  a  practice  it  was  to  keep  them  in 
their  houfes.  The  baronial  caftle  appears  often  to  have  prefented  the 
appearance  of  a  menagerie  of  animals,  among  which  fome  were  of  that 
ftrong  and  ferocious  character  that  rendered  it  neceflary  to  keep  them  in 
clofe  confinement,  while  others,  fuch  as  monkeys,  roamed  about  the 
buildings  at  will.  One  of  Neckam's  ftories  is  very  curious  in  regard  to 
our  fubject,  for  it  (hows  that  the  people  in  thofe  days  exercifed  their 
tamed  animals  in  practically  caricaturing  contemporary  weaknefles  and 
fafhions.  This  writer  remarks  that  "  the  nature  of  the  ape  is'fo  ready  at 
acting,  by  ridiculous  gefticulations,  the  reprefentations  of  things  it  has 
feen,  and  thus  gratifying  the  vain  curiofity  of  worldly  men  in  public 
exhibitions,  that  it  will  even  dare  to  imitate  a  military  conflict.  A 
jougleur  (hi/trio)  was  in  the  habit  of  conftantly  taking  two  monkeys  to 
the  military  exercifes  which  are  commonly  called  tournaments,  that  the 
labour  of  teaching  might  be  diminished  by  frequent  infpection.  He 
afterwards  taught  two  dogs  to  carry  thefe  apes,  who  fat  on  their  backs, 
furnifhed  with  proper  arms.  Nor  did  they  want  fpurs,  with  which  they 

flrenuoufly 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


97 


ftrenuoufly  urged  on  the  dogs.  Having  broken  their  lances,  they  drew 
out  their  fwords,  with  which  they  fpent  many  blows  on  each  other's 
fhields.  Who  at  this  fight  could  refrain  from  laughter  ?"* 

Such  contemporary  caricatures  of  the  mediaeval  tournament,  which 
was  in  its  greateft  famion  during  the  period  from  the  twelfth  to  the 
fourteenth  century,  appear  to  have  been  extremely  popular,  and  are  not 
unfrequently  reprefented  in  the  borders  of  illuminated  manufcripts. 
The  manufcript  now  fo  well  known  as  "  Queen  Mary's  Pfalter " 
(MS.  Reg.  2  B  vii.),  and  written  and  illuminated  very  early  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  contains  not  a  few  illuftrations  of  this  defcription. 
One  of  thefe,  which  forms  our  cut  No.  62,  reprefents  a  tournament 


Ns.  62.     A  Tournament, 

not  much  unlike  that  defcribed  by  Alexander  Neckam,  except  that 
the  monkeys  are  here  riding  upon  other  monkeys,  and  not  upon 
dogs.  In  fact,  all  the  individuals  here  engaged  are  monkeys,  and 
the  parody  is  completed  by  the  introduction  of  the  trumpeter  on 
one  fide,  and  of  minftrelfy,  reprefented  by  a  monkey  playing  on  the 
tabor,  on  the  other ;  or,  perhaps,  the  two  monkeys  are  fimply 
playing  on  the  pipe  and  tabor,  which  were  looked  upon  as  the  loweft 
defcription  of  minftrelfy,  and  are  therefore  the  more  aptly  introduced 
into  the  fcene. 

The  fame  manufcript  has  furnifhed  us  with  the  cut  No.  63.     Here 
the 

*  Alexander  Neckam,  De  Naturis  Rerum,  lib.  ii.  c.  129. 
o 


Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


the  combat  takes  place  between  a  monkey  and  a  flag,  the  latter  having 
the  claws  of  a  griffin.  They  are  mounted,  too,  on  rather  nondefcript 
animals — one  having  the  head  and  body  of  a  lion,  with  the  forefeet  of 
an  eagle ;  the  other  having  a  head  fomewhat  like  that  of  a  lion,  on  a 
lion's  body,  with  the  hind  parts  of  a  bear.  This  fubje6t  may,  perhaps,  be 
intended  as  a  burlefque  on  the  mediaeval  romances,  filled  with  combats 
between  the  Chriflians  and  the  Saracens ;  for  the  ape — who,  in  the 
moralifations  which  accompany  the  Be/liaries,  is  faid  to  reprefent  the  devil 


No.  63.     A  Feat  affirms. 

— is  here  armed  with  what  are  evidently  intended  for  the  fabre  and 
Ihield  of  a  Saracen,  while  the  flag  carries  the  fhield  and  lance  of  a 
Chriftian  knight. 

The  love  of  the  mediaeval  artifts  for  monfirous  figures  of  animals,  and 
for  mixtures  of  animals  and  men,  has  been  alluded  to  in  a  former  chapter. 
The  combatants  in  the  accompanying  cut  (No.  64),  taken  from  the  fame 
manufcript,  prefent  a  fort  of  combination  of  the  rider  and  the  animal,  and 
they  again  feem  to  be  intended  for  a  Saracen  and  a  Chriftian.  The 
figure  to  the  right,  which  is  compofed  of  the  body  of  a  fatyr,  with  the 
feet  of  a  goofe  and  the  wings  of  a  dragon,  is  armed  with  a  fimilar 
Saracenic  fabre ;  while  that  to  the  left,  which  is  on  the  whole  lefs 
monftrous,  wields  a  Norman  fword.  F"th  have  human  faces  below  the_ 

idca  in  the  grotefque  of  the 
middle 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


99 


agea^    Our  mediaeval  forefathers  appear  to  have  had  a  decided 
tafte  for  monftrofities  of  every  defcription,  and  efpecially  for  mixtures  of 


No.  64.     A  Terrible  Combat. 

different  kinds  of  animals,  and  of  animals  and  men.     There  is  no  doubt, 

to    judge    by   the    anecdotes    recorded    by   fuch   writers    as    Giraldus 

Cambrenfis,  that  a  belief  in  the  exiftence  of  fuch 

unnatural  creatures  was  widely  entertained.     In  his 

account  of  Ireland,  this  writer  tells  us  of  animals 

which  were  half__ox  and  half  man,  half  flag  and 

half  cow,  and  half  dog  and  half  monkey.*     It  is 

certain    that   there    was   a   general    belief  in    fuch 

animals,  and  nobody  could  be  more  credulous  than 

Giraldus  himfelf. 

The  defign  to  caricature,  which  is  tolerably  evident 
in  the  fubjefts  juft  given,  is  ftill  more  apparent  in 
other  grotefques  that  adorn  the  borders  of  the 
mediaeval  manufcripts,  as  well  as  in  fome  of  the 
mediaeval  carvings  and  fculpture.  Thus,  in  our  cut  N°  65  Fa/bioaaMe  Dnf* 
No.  65,  taken  from  one  of  the  borders  in  the  Romance  of  the  Comte 

d'Artois, 


*  See  Girald.  Cambr.,  Topog.  Hibernie,  dist.  ii.  cc.  21,  22 ;  and  the  Itinerary 
of  Wales,  lib.  ii.  e.  n. 


I  oo  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

d'Artois,  a  manufcript  of  the  fifteenth  century,  we  cannot  fail  to 
recognife  an  attempt  at  turning  to  ridicule  the  contemporary  fafhions  in 
drefs.  The  hat  is  only  an  exaggerated  form  of  one  which  appears  to 
have  been  commonly  ufed  in  France  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  which  appears  frequently  in  illuminated  manufcripts 
executed  in  Burgundy ;  and  the  boot  alfo  belongs  to  the  fame  period. 
The  latter  reappeared  at  different  times,  until  at  length  it  became 
developed  into  the  modern  top-boots.  In  cut  No.  66,  from  the  fame 


No.  66.     Heads  and  Hati, 

manufcript,  where  it  forms  the  letter  T,  we  have  the  fame  form  of 
hat,  ftill  more  exaggerated,  and  combined  at  the  fame  time  with 
grotefque  faces. 

Caricatures  on  coftume  are  by  no  means  uncommon  among  the 
artiflic  remains  of  the  middle  ages,  and  are  not  confined  to  illuminated 
manufcripts.  The  famionable  drefles  of  thofe  days  went  into  far  more 
ridiculous  excefies  of  fhape  than  anything  we  fee  in  our  times — at  leaft, 
fo  far  as  we  can  believe  the  drawings  in  the  manufcripts ;  but  thefe, 
however  ferioufly  intended,  were  conftantly  degenerating  into  caricature, 
from  circumftances  which  are  eafily  explained,  and  which  have,  in  fad, 
been  explained  already  in  their  influence  on  other  parts  of  our  fubjecl. 
The  mediaeval  artifts  in  general  were  not  very  good  delineators  of  form, 
and  their  outlines  are  much  inferior  to  their  finifh.  Confcious  of  this, 
though  perhaps  unknowingly,  they  fought  to  remedy  the  defect  in  a  fpirit 
which  has  always  been  adopted  in  the  early  ftages  of  art-progrefs — they 
aimed  at  making  themfelves  underftood  by  giving  a  fpecial  prominence  to 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art.  i  o  I 


the  peculiar  characteriftics  of  the  objects  they  wiftied  to  reprefent.  Thefe 
were  the  points  which  naturally  attracted  people's  firft  attention,  and 
the  refemblance  was  felt  moft  by  people  in  general  when  thefe  points 
were  put  forward  in  exceffive  prominence  in  the  picture.  The  dreffes, 
perhaps,  hardly  exifled  in  the  exact  forms  in  which  we  fee  them  in  the 
illuminations,  or  at  leaft  thofe  were  only  exceptions  to  the  generally 
more  moderate  forms ;  and  hence,  in  ufing  thefe  pictorial  records  as 
materials  for  the  hiftory  of  coftume,  we  ought  to  make  a  certain  allowance 
for  exaggeration — we  ought,  indeed,  to  treat  them  almoft  as  caricatures. 
In  fact,  much  of  what  we  now  call  caricature,  was  then  characteriftic  of 
ferious  art,  and  of  what  was  confidered  its  high  development.  Many  of 
the  attempts  which  have  been  made  of  late  years  to  introduce  ancient 
coftume  on  the  ftage,  would  probably  be  regarded  by  the  people  who 
lived  in  the  age  which  they  were  intended  to  reprefent,  as  a  mere  defign 
to  turn  them  into  ridicule.  Neverthelels,  the  fafliions  in  drefs  were, 
efpecially  from  the  twelfth  century  to  the  fixteenth,  carried  to  a  great 
degree  of  extravagance,  and  were  not  only  the  objects  of  fatire  and 
caricature,  but  drew  forth  the  indignant  declamations  of  the  Church,  and 
furnilhed  a  continuous  theme  to  the  preachers.  The  contemporary 
chronicles  abound  with  bitter  reflections  on  the  extravagance  in  coftume, 
which  was  confidered  as  one  of  the  outward  figns  of  the  great  corruption 
of  particular  periods ;  and  they  give  us  not  unfrequent  examples  of  the 
coarfe  manner  in  which  the  clergy  difcufled  them  in  their  fermons.  The 
readers  of  Chaucer  will  remember  the  manner  in  which  this  fubject  is 
treated  in  the  "  Parfon's  Tale."  In  this  refpect  the  fatirifts  of  the 
Church  went  hand  in  hand  with  the  pictorial  caricaturifts  of  the  illumi- 
nated manufcripts,  and  of  the  fculptures  with  which  we  fometimes  meet 
in  contemporary  architectural  ornamentation.  In  the  latter,  this  clafe 
of  caricature  is  perhaps  lefs  frequent,  but  it  is  fometimes  very  expreflive. 
The  very  curious  mifereres  in  the  church  of  Ludlow,  in  Shropfhire,  prefent 
the  caricature  reproduced  in  our  cut  No.  67.  It  reprefent^. an  ugly^ 
and,  to  judge  by  the  expreflion  of  the  countenance,  an  ill-tempered  old 
jwoman,  wearing  the  fafhionable  head-dref^f  the_ earlier  half  of  the^ 
.fifteenth,  century,  wjiich_,feems  to  have  been  carried  to  its  preateft 

extravagance 


IO2  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grot efque 


extravagance  in  the  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.  -Itos-lheJlvle 
jpf  coiffurejcpnwn  efpprially  as  the  horned  head-drefs,  aqd  the  very  nam^ 
carries  with  it  a  fort  of  relationfhip  to  an  individual jwho  was  notorioufly 


No.  67.     A  Fafhionable  Beauty, 

\\]f>  fpjrit  of  evil.     This  dafhing  dame  of  the  olden  time  appears 
to  have  ftruck  terror  into  two  unfortunates  who  have  fallen  within  her 

influence,  one  of  whom,  as  though  he 
took  her  for  a  new  Gorgon,  is  attempt- 
ing to  cover  himfelf  with  his  buckler, 
while  the  other,  apprehending  danger  of 
another  kind,  is  prepared  to  defend  him- 
felf with  his  fword.  The  details  of  the 
head-drefs  in  this  figure  are  interefling 
for  the  hiftory  of  coftume. 

Our  next  cut,  No.  68,  is  taken  from 
a  manufcript  in  private  pofTeflion,  which 
is  now  rather  well  known  among  anti- 
quaries by  the  name  of  the  "  Luttrell 
Pfalter,"  and  which  belongs  to  the  four- 
teenth century.  It  feems  to  involve  a 
fatire  on  the  ariftocratic  order  of  fociety 
— on  the  knight  who  was  diftinguifhed 

by  his  helmet,  his  fhield,  and  his  armour.     The  individual  here  repre- 
fented  prefents  a  type  which  is  anything  but  ariftocratic.    While  he  holds 

a  helmet 


Ac.  68.     A  Man  of  War. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


103 


a  helmet  in  his  hand  to  fhow  the  meaning  of  the  fatire,  his  own  helmet, 
which  he  wears  on  his  head,  is  fimply  a  bellows.  He  may  be  a  knight 
of  the  kitchen,  or  perhaps  a  mere  quijlron,  or  kitchen  lad. 

We  have  juft  feen  a  caricature  of  one  of  the  ladies'  head-drefles  of  the 
earlier  half  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  our  cut  No.  69,  from  an  illuminated 
manufcript  in  the  Britifh  Mufeum  of  the  latter  half  of 
the  fame  century  (MS.  Harl.,  No.  4379),  furnifhes 
us  with  a  caricature  of  a  head-drefs  of  a  different 
character,  which  came  into  fafhion  'Q.jftp  rp'5n  "f_p™- 

Edward  TV, The  horned  head-drefs  of  the  previous 

generation  had  been  entirely  laid  afide,  and  the 
ladies  adopted  in  its  place  a  fort  of  fteeple-fhaped 
.head-drefs,j3r  rather  of  the  form  of  a  fpire,  made  by 
rolling  a  piece"  of  linen  into  the  tomToT  a  long  cone. 
Over  this  lofty  cap  wasthrown  a_ 
muflinTwhich  delcended  almoft  to  the  ground,  and 
formed,  as  it  were,  two  wings.  A  fhort  tranfparent 
veil  was  thrown  over  the  face,  and  reached  not  quite 
to  the  chin,  refembling  rather  clofely  the  veils  in  ufe 
among  our  ladies  of  the  prefent  day  (1864).  The 
whole  head-drefs,  indeed,  has  been  preferved  by  the 
Norman  peafantry ;  for  it  may  be  obferved  that, 
during  the  feudal  ages,  the  fafhions  in  France  and 
England  were  always  identical.  Thefe  fteeple  head-drefles  greatly  pro- 
voked the  indignation  of  the  clergy,  and  zealous  preachers  attacked  them 
roughly  in  their  fermons.  A  French  monk,  named  Thomas  Conecte, 
diftinguifhed  himfelf  efpecially  in  this  crufade,  and  inveighed  againft 
the  head-drefs  with  fuch  effect,  that  we  are  aflured  that  many  of  the 
women  threw  down  their  head-drefles  in  the  middle  of  the  fermon,  and 
made  a  bonfire  of  them  at  its  conclufion.  The  zeal  of  the  preacher  foon 
extended  itfelf  to  the  populace,  and,  for  a  while,  when  ladies  appeared  in 
this  head-drefs  in  public,  they  were  expofed  to  be  pelted  by  the  rabble. 
Under  fuch  a  double  perfecution  it  difappeared  for  a  moment,  but  when 
the  preacher  was  no  longer  prefent,  it  returned  again,  and,  to  ufe  the 

words 


No.  69.     A  Lady's 
Head-drejs. 


104  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


words  of  the  old  writer  who  has  preferred  this  anecdote,  "  the  women 
who,  like  fnails  in  a  fright,  had  drawn  in  their  horns,  fhot  them  out  again 
as  foon  as  the  danger  was  over."  The  caricaturift  would  hardly  overlook 
fo  extravagant  a  fafliion,  and  accordingly  the  manufcript  in  the  Britifh 
Mufeum,  juft  mentioned,  furnifhes  us  with  the  fubjeft  of  our  cut  No.  69. 
In  thofe  times,  when  the  paflions  were  fubjedted  to  no  reftraint,  the  fine 
ladies  indulged  in  fuch  luxury  and  licentioufnefs,  that  the  caricaturift  has 
chofen  as  their  fit  reprefentaHve  n  fmv,\vhn  •ivr'nn  tho  rtbjfftionnbl"  bp=H- 

.jlrefs  in  full  fafhion.  The  original  forms  one  of  the  illuftrations  of  a 
copy  of  the  hiftorian  Froifiart,  and  was,  therefore,  executed  in  France, 
or,  more  probably,  in  Burgundy. 

^rhe^fermons  and  fatires  againft  extravagance  in  coftume  began  at  an 
early  period.  The  Anglo-Norman  ladies,  in  the  earlier  part  of  the 
twelfth  century,  firft  brought  in  vogue  in  our  ifland  this  extravagance  in 

.fafhionj.jwhich  quickly  fell  under  the  lafh  of  fatirift  and  caricaturift.  It 
was  firft  exhibited  in  the  robes  rather  than  in  the  head-drefs.  Thefe 
Anglo-Norman  ladies  are  underftood  to  have  firft  introduced  ftays,  in 
order  to  give  an  artificial  appearance  of  flendernefs  to  their  waifts ;  but 
the  greateft  extravagance  appeared  in  the  forms  of  their  fleeves.  The 
robe,  or  gown,  inftead  of  being  loofe,  as  among  the  Anglo-Saxons,  was 
laced  clofe  round  the  body,  and  the  fleeves,  which  fitted  the  arm  tightly 
till  they  reached  the  elbows,  or  fometimes  nearly  to  the  wrift,  then 
fuddenly  became  larger,  and  hung  down  to  an  extravagant  length,  often 
trailing  on  the  ground,  and  fometimes  fhortened  by  means  of  a  knot. 
The  gown,  alfo,  was  itfelf  worn  very  long.  The  clergy  preached  againft 
thefe  extravagances  in  faftiion,  and  at  times,  it  is  faid,  with  effecl: ;  and 
they  fell  under  the  vigorous  lafh  of  the  fatirift.  In  a  clafs  of  fatires  which 
became  extremely  popular  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  which  produced 
in  the  thirteenth  the  immortal  poem  of  Dante — the  vifions  of  purgatory 
and  of  hell — thefe  contemporary  extravagances  in  fafhion  are  held  up  to 
public  deteftation,  and  are  made  the  fubjeft  of  fevere  punifhment. 
They  werp  Innlr^d  yiprm  gs  among  fhp  nnjwp™1  *>"-mr  nf  prirlg  It  arofe, 
no  doubt,  from  this  tafte — from  the  darker  fhade  which  fpread  over  men's 
minds  in  the  twelfth  century — that  demons,  inftead  of  animals,  were 

introduced 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


105 


introduced  to  perfonify  the  evil-doers  of  the  time.  Such  is  the  figure 
(cut  No.  70)  which  we  take  from  a  very  interefting  manufcript  in  the 
Britifh  Mufeum  (MS.  Cotton.  Nero,  C  iv.).  The  demon  is  here  drefled 
in  the  fafhionable  gown  with  its  long  fleeves,  of  which  one  appears  to  have 
been  ufaally  much  longer  than  the  other.  Both  the  gown  and  fleeve  are 
ihortened  by  means  of  knots,  while  the  former  is  brought  clofe  round 


No.  70.      Sin  in  Satins. 

the  waift  by  tight  lacing.     It  is  a  picture  of  the  ufe  of  ftays  made  at  the 
time  of  their  firft  introduction. 

This  fuperfluity  of  length  in  the  different  parts  of  the  drefs  was  a 
fubject  of  complaint  and  fatire  at  various  and  very  diftant  periods,  and 
contemporary  illuminations  of  a  perfectly  ferious  character  {how  that 
tliefe  complaints  were  not  without  foundation. 


106  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


CHAPTER   VII. 

• 

PRESERVATION    OF    THE    CHARACTER    OF    THE    M1MUS    AFTER   THE    FALL    OF 

1  .     THE  EMPIRE. THE  MINSTREL   AND   JOGELOUR. HISTORY   OF    POPULAR 

STORIES. THE  FABLIAUX. ACCOUNT  OF  THEM. THE  CONTES  DEVOTS. 

I  HAVE  already  remarked  that,  upon  the  fall  of  the  Roman  empire, 
the  popular  inftitutions  of  the  Romans  were  more  generally 
preferved  to  the  middle  ages  than  thofe  of  a  higher  and  more  refined 
chara&er.  This  is  underftood  without  difficulty,  when  we  confider  that 
the  lower  clafs  of  the  population — in  the  towns,  what  we  might  perhaps 
call  the  lower  and  middle  clafles — continued  to  exift  much  the  fame  as 
before,  while  the  barbarian  conquerors  came  in  and  took  the  place  of  the 
ruling  clafles.  The  drama,  which  had  never  much  hold  upon  the  love 
of  the  Roman  populace,  was  loft,  and  the  theatres  and  the  amphitheatres, 
which  had  been  fupported  only  by  the  wealth  of  the  imperial  court  and 
of  the  ruling  clafs,  were  abandoned  and  fell  into  ruin ;  but  the  mimus, 
who  furnimed  mirth  to  the  people,  continued  to  exift,  and  probably 
underwent  no  immediate  change  in  his  character.  It  will  be  well  to 
ftate  again  the  chief  chara&eriftics  of  the  ancient  mimus,  before  we 
proceed  to  defcribe  his  mediaeval  reprefentative. 

The  grand  aim  of  the  mimus  was  to  make  people  laugh,  and  he 
employed  generally  every  means  he  knew  of  for  effecting  this  purpofe, 
by  language,  by  geftures  or  motions  of  the  body,  or  by  drefs.  Thus  he 
carried,  (trapped  over  his  loins,  a  wooden  fword,  which  was  called 
gladius  hiftricus  and  clunaculum,  and  wore  fometimes  a  garment  made  of 
a  great  number  of  fmall  pieces  of  cloth  of  different  colours,  which  was 
hence  called  centunculus,  or  the  hundred-patched  drefs.*  Thefe  two 

chara&eriftics 

*  "Uti  me  consuesse  tragoedi  syrmate,  histrionis  crotalone  ad  trieterica  orgia,  aut 
mimi  centunculo." — Apuleius,  Apolog. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  07 

character!  ftics  have  been  preferred  in  the  modern  harlequin.  Other 
peculiarities  of  coftume  may  conveniently  be  left  undefcribed  j  the  female 
mimae  fometimes  exhibited  themfelves  unreftri6ted  by  drefs.  They 
danced  and  fung ;  repeated  jokes  and  told  merry  ftories  ;  recited  or  a&ed 
farces  and  fcandalous  anecdotes ;  performed  what  we  now  call  mimicry, 
a  word  derived  from  the  name  of  mimus ;  and  they  put  themfelves  in 
ftrange  poftures,  and  made  frightful  faces.  They  fometimes  a6ted  the 
part  of  a  fool  or  zany  (morio),  or  of  a  madman.  They  added  to  thefe 
performances  that  of  the  conjurer  or  juggler  (prcejligiator),  and  played 
tricks  of  fleight  of  hand.  The  mimi  performed  in  the  ftreets  and  public 
places,  or  in  the  theatres,  and  efpecially  at  feftivals,  and  they  were  often 
employed  at  private  parties,  to  entertain  the  guefts  at  a  fupper. 

"We  trace  the  exiilence  of  this  clafs  of  performers  during  the  earlier 
period  of  the  middle  ages  by  the  expreffions  of  hoftility  towards  them 
ufed  from  time  to  time  by  the  ecclefiaftical  writers,  and  the  denunciations 
of  fynods  and  councils,  which  have  been  quoted  in  a  former  chapter.* 
Neverthelefs,  i  is  evident  from  many  allufions  to  them,  that  they  found 
their  way  into  the  monaftic  houfes,  and  were  in  great  favour  not  only 
among  the  monks,  but  among  the  nuns  alfo;  that  they  were  introduced 
into  the  religious  feftivalsj  and  that  they  were  tolerated  even  in  the 
churches.  It  is  probable  that  they  long  continued  to  be  known  in  Italy 
and  the  countries  near  the  centre  of  Roman  influence,  and  where  the 
Latin  language  was  continued,  by  their  old  name  of  mimus.  The 
writers  of  the  mediaeval  vocabularies  appear  all  to  have  been  much  better 
acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  this  word  than  of  moft  of  the  Latin 
words  of  the  fame  clafs,  and  they  evidently  had  a  clafs  of  performers 
exifting  in  their  own  times  to  whom  they  confidered  that  the  name 
applied.  The  Anglo-Saxon  vocabularies  interpret  the  Latin  mimus  by 
glig-mon,  a  gleeman.  In  Anglo-Saxon,  glig  or  gliu  meant  mirth  and 
game  of  every  defcription,  and  as  the  Anglo-Saxon  teachers  who  compiled 
the  vocabularies  give,  as  fynonyms  of  mimus,  the  words  fcurra,  jocifta, 
and  pantomimus,  it  is  evident  that  all  thefe  were  included  in  the  character 
of 

*  See  before,  p.  41  of  the  present  volume. 


io8  Hijiory  oj  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

of  the  gleeman,  and  that  the  latter  was  quite  identical  with  his  Roman 
type.  It  was  the  Roman  mimus  introduced  into  Saxon  England.  We 
have  no  traces  of  the  exiftence  of  fuch  a  cla£s  of  performers  among  the 
Teutonic  race  before  they  became  acquainted  with  the  civilifation  of 
imperial  Rome.  We  know  from  drawings  in  contemporary  illuminated 
manufcripts  that  the  performances  of  the  gleeman  did  include  mufic, 
finging,  and  dancing,  and  alfo  the  tricks  of  mountebanks  and  jugglers, 
fuch  as  throwing  up  and  catching  knives  and  balls,  and  performing  with 
tamed  bears,  &c.* 

But  even  among  the  peoples  who  preferred  the  Latin  language, 
the  word  mimus  was  gradually  exchanged  for  others  employed  to  fignify 
the  fame  thing.  The  word  jocus  had  been  ufed  in  the  fignification 
of  a  jeft,  playfulnefs,  jocari  fignified  to  jell,  and  joculator  was  a  word 
for  a  jefterj  but,  in  the  debafement  of  the  language^'ocMS  was  taken  in 
the  fignification  of  everything  which  created  mirth.  It  became,  in 
the  courfe  of  time  the  French  word  jeu,  and  the  Italian  gioco,  or 
giuoco.  People  introduced  a  form  of  the  verb,  jocare,  which  became  the 
French  juer,  to  play  or  perform.  Joculator  was  then  ufed  in  -the 
fenfe  of  mimus.  In  French  the  word  became  jogleor,  or  jougleor,  and 
in  its  later  form  jongleur.  I  may  remark  that,  in  mediaeval  manu- 
fcripts, it  is  almoft  impoffible  to  diftinguifh  between  the  u  and  the  n,  and 
that  modern  writers  have  mifread  this  laft  word  as  jongleur,  and  thus 
introduced  into  the  language  a  word  which  never  exifted,  and  which 
ought  to  be  abandoned.  In  old  Englifh,  as  we  fee  in  Chaucer,  the  ufual 
form  was  jogelere.  The  mediaeval  joculator,  or  jougleur,  embraced  all 
the  attributes  of  the  Roman  mimus,^  and  perhaps  more.  In  the  firft 
place 

*  See  examples  of  these  illuminations  in  my  "  History  of  Domestic  Manners 
and  Sentiments,"  pp.  34,  35,  37,  65. 

t  People  in   the  middle  ages  were  so  fully  conscious  of  the  identity  of  the 
mediaeval  jougleur  with  the  Roman  mimus,  that  the  Latin  writers  often  use  mimus 
to  signify  a  jougleur,  and  the  one  is  interpreted  by  the  others  in  the  vocabularies. 
Thus,  in  Latin-English  vocabularies  of  the  fifteenth  century,  we  have — 
Hie  joculator, 
Hie  mimus, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  109 


place  he  was  very  often  a  poet  himfelf,  and  compofed  the  pieces  which  it 
was  one  of  his  duties  to  ling  or  recite.  Thefe  were  chiefly  fongs,  or 
(lories,  the  latter  ufually  told  in  verfe,  and  fo  many  of  them  are  preferred 
in  manufcripts  that  they  form  a  very  numerous  and  important  clafs  of 
mediaeval  literature.  The  fongs  were  commonly  fatirical  and  abufive, 
and  they  were  made  ufe  of  for  purpofes  of  general  or  perfonal 
vituperation.  Out  of  them,  indeed,  grew  the  political  fongs  of  a  later 
period.  There  were  female  jougleurs,  and  both  fexes  danced,  and,  to 
create  mirth  among  thofe  who  encouraged  them,  they  pra&ifed  a  variety  ^ 
of  performances,  fuch  as  mimicking  people,  making  wry  and  ugly  faces, ; 
diftorting  their  bodies  into  ftrange  poftures,  often  expofing  their  perfons  in 
a  very  unbecoming  manner,  and  performing  many  vulgar  and  indecent 
ads,  which  it  is  not  neceflary  to  defcribe  more  particularly.  They 
carried  about  with  them  for  exhibition  tame  bears,  monkeys,  and  other 
animals,  taught  to  perform  the  actions  of  men.  As  early  as  the 
thirteenth  century,  we  find  them  including  among  their  other  accom- 
plifhments  that  of  dancing  upon  the  tight-rope.  Finally,  the  jougleurs 
performed  tricks  of  fleight  of  hand,  and  were  often  conjurers  and 
magicians.  As,  in  modern  times,  the  jougleurs  of  the  middle  ages 
gradually  palTed  away,  fleight  of  hand  appears  to  have  become  their 
principal  accomplimment,  and  the  name  only  was  left  in  the  modern 
word  juggler.  The  jougleurs  of  the  middle  ages,  like  the  mimi  of 
antiquity,  wandered  about  from  place  to  place,  and  often  from  country 
to  country,  fometimes  fingly  and  at  others  in  companies,  exhibited  their 
performances  in  the  roads  and  flreets,  repaired  to  all  great  feftivals,  and 
were  employed  efpecially  in  the  baronial  hall,  where,  by  their  fongs, 
llories,  and  other  performances,  they  created  mirth  after  dinner. 

This  clafs  of  fociety  had  become  known  by  another  name,  the  origin 
of  which  is  not  fo  eafily  explained.  The  primary  meaning  of  the  Latin 
word  mini/ler  was  a  fervant,  one  who  minifters  to  another,  either  in  his 
wants  or  in  his  pleafures  and  amufements.  It  was  applied  particularly  to 
the  cup-bearer.  In  low  Latinity,  a  diminutive  of  this  word  was  formed, 
minefiellus,  or  mini/trellus,  a  petty  fervant,  or  minifter.  When  we  firfl 
meet  with  this  word,  which  is  not  at  a  very  early  date,  it  is  ufed  as 

perfedly 


1 1  o  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

perfectly  fynonymous  w\thjoculator,  and,  as  the  word  is  certainly  of  Latin 
derivation,  it  is  clear  that  it  was  from  it  the  middle  ages  derived  the 
French  word  meneftrel  (the  modern  menetrier),  and  the  Englifh  minftrel. 
The  mimi  or  jougleurs  were  perhaps  considered  as  the  petty  minifters  to 
the  amufements  of  their  lord,  or  of  him  who  for  the  time  employed  them. 
Until  the  clofe  of  the  middle  ages,  the  minftrel  and  the  jougleur  were 
abfolutely  identical.  Poflibly  the  former  may  have  been  confidered  the 
more  courtly  of  the  two  names.  But  in  England,  as  the  middle  ages 
difappeared,  and  loft  their  influence  on  fociety  fooner  than  in  France,  the 
word  minftrel  remained  attached  only  to  the  mufical  part  of  the  functions 
of  the  old  mimus,  while,  as  juft  obferved,  the  juggler  took  the  fleight  of 
hand  and  the  mountebank  tricks.  In  modern  French,  except  where 
employed  technically  by  the  antiquary,  the  word  menetrier  means 
a  fiddler. 

The  jougleurs,  or  minftrels,  formed  a  very  numerous  and  important, 
though  a  low  and  defpifed,  clafs  of  mediaeval  fociety.  The  duliiefs  of 
every-day  life  in  a  feudal  caftle  or  manfion  required  fomething  more  than 
ordinary  excitement  in  the  way  of  amufement,  and  the  old  family  bard, 
who  continually  repeated  to  the  Teutonic  chief  the  praifes  of  himfelf  and 
his  anceftors,  was  foon  felt  to  be  a  wearifome  companion.  The  mediaeval 
knights  and  their  ladies  wanted  to  laugh,  and  to  make  them  laugh 
fufHciently  it  required  that  the  jokes,  or  tales,  or  comic  performances, 
mould  be  broad,  coarfe,  and  racy,  with  a  good  fpicing  of  violence  and  of 
the  wonderful.  Hence  the  jougleur  was  always  welcome  to  the  feudal 
manfion,  and  he  feldom  went  away  diflatisfied.  But  the  fubject  of  the 
prefent  chapter  is  rather  the  literature  of  the  jougleur  than  his  perfonal 
hiftory,  and,  having  traced  his  origin  to  the  Roman  mimus,  we  will  now 
proceed  to  one  clals  of  his  performances. 

It  has  been  ftated  that  the  mimus  and  the  jougleurs  told  ftories.  Of 
thofe  of  the  former,  unfortunately,  none  are  preferved,  except,  perhaps,  in 
a  few  anecdotes  fcattered  in  the  pages  of  fuch  writers  as  Apuleius  and 
Lucian,  and  we  are  obliged  to  guefs  at  their  character,  but  of  the  ftories 
of  the  jougleurs  a  confiderable  number  has  been  preferved.  It  becomes 
an  interefting  queftion  how  far  thefe  ftories  have  been  derived  from  the 

mimi, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 1 1 


mimi,  handed  down  traditionally  from  mimus  to  jougleur,  how  far  they 
are  native  in  our  race,  or  how  far  they  were  derived  at  a  later  date  from 
other  fources.  And  in  confidering  this  queftion,  we  muft  not  forget  that 
the  mediaeval  jougleurs  were  not  the  only  reprefentatives  of  the  mimi, 
for  among  the  Arabs  of  the  Eaft  alfo  there  had  originated  from  them, 
modified  under  different  circumftances,  a  very  important  clafs  of  minftrels 
and  ftory-tellers,  and  with  thefe  the  jougleurs  of  the  weft  were  brought 
into  communication  at  the  commencement  of  the  crufades.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  a  very  large  number  of  the  ftories  of  the  jougleurs 
were  borrowed  from  the  Eaft,  for  the  evidence  is  furnifhed  by  the  ftories 
themfelves ;  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  alfo  that  the  jougleurs 
improved  themfelves,  and  underwent  fome  modification,  by  their  inter- 
courfe  with  Eaftern  performers  of  the  fame  clafs. 

On  the  other  hand,  we  have  traces  of  the  exiftence  of  thefe  popular 
ftories  before  the  jougleurs  can  have  had  communication  with  the  Eaft. 
Thus,  as  already  mentioned,  we  find,  compofed  in  Germany,  apparently 
in  the  tenth  century,  in  rhythmical  Latin,  the  well-known  ftory  of  the 
wife  of  a  merchant  who  bore  a  child  during  the  long  abfence  of  her 
hufband,  and  who  excufed  herfelf  by  ftating  that  her  pregnancy  had  been 
the  refult  of  fwallowing  a  flake  of  fnow  in  a  fnow-ftorm.  This,  and 
another  of  the  fame  kind,  were  evidently  intended  to  be  fung.  Another 
poem  in  popular  Latin  verfe,  which  Grimm  and  Schmeller,  who  edited 
it,*  believe  may  be  of  the  eleventh  century,  relates  a  very  amufing 
ftory  of  an  adventurer  named  Ujiibos,  who,  continually  caught  in 
his  own  fnares,  finiihes  by  getting  the  better  of  all  his  enemies,  and 
becoming  rich,  by  mere  ingenious  cunning  and  good  fortune.  This  ftory 
is  not  met  with  among  thofe  of  the  jougleurs,  as  far  as  they  are  yet 
known,  but.  curioufly  enough,  Lover  found  it  exifting  orally  among  the 
Irifh  peafantry,  and  inferted  the  Irifh  ftory  among  his  "  Legends  of 
Ireland."  It  is  a  curious  illuftration  of  the  pertinacity  with  which  the 
popular  ftories  defcend  along  with  peoples  through  generations  from  the 

remoteft 

*  In  a  volume  entitled  "Lateinische  Gedichte  des  x.  und  xi.  Ih."  8vo. 
Gottingen,  1838. 


112  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

remoteft  ages  of  antiquity.     The  lame  ftory  is  found  in  an  oriental  form 
among  the  tales  of  the  Tartars  published  in  French  by  Guenlette. 

The  people  of  the  middle  ages,  who  took  their  word  fable  from  the 
Latin  fal-ula,  which  they  appear  to  have  underftood  as  a  mere  term  for 
any  fhort  narration,  included  under  it  the  ftories  told  by  the  mimi  and 
jougleurs ;  but,  in  the  fondnefs  of  the  middle  ages  for  diminutives,  by 
which  they  intended  to  exprefs  familiarity  and  attachment,  applied  to 
them  more  particularly  the  Latin  falella,  which  in  the  old  French 
became  Jallel,  or,  more  ufua\\y,fo.l-liau.  The  fabliaux  of  the  jougleurs 
form  a  moft  important  clafs  of  the  comic  literature  of  the  middle  ages. 
They  muft  have  been  wonderfully  numerous,  for  a  very  large  quantity  of 
them  ftill  remain,  and  thefe  are  only  the  fmall  portion  of  what  once 
exifted,  which  have  efcaped  perifhing  like  the  others  by  the  accident  of 
being  written  in  manufcripts  which  have  had  the  fortune  to  furvive; 
while  manufcripts  containing  others  have  no  doubt  perifhed,  and  it  is 
probable  that  many  were  only  preferred  orally,  and  never  written  down 
at  all.*  The  recital  of  thefe  fabliaux  appears  to  have  been  the  favourite 
employment  of  the  jougleurs,  and  they  became  fo  popular  that  the 
mediaeval  preachers  turned  them  into  fhort  ftories  in  Latin  profe,  and 
made  ufe  of  them  as  illuftrations  in  their  fermons.  Many  collections  of 
thefe  fhort  Latin  ftories  are  found  in  manufcripts  which  had  ferved  as 
note-books  to  the  preachers,f  and  out  of  them  was  originally  compiled 
that  celebrated  mediaeval  book  called  the  "  Gefta  Romanorum." 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  fubjects  and  language  of  a  large  portion 
of  thefe  fabliaux  are  fuch  as  to  make  it  impoffible  to  prefent  them  before 
modern  readers,  for  they  furnifh  fingularly  interefting  and  minute  pictures 
of  mediaeval  life  in  all  clafles  of  fociety.  Domeftic  fcenes  are  among 
thofe  moft  frequent,  and  they  reprefent  the  interior  of  the  mediaeval 

houfehold 


*  Many  of  the  Fabliaux  have  been  printed,  but  the  two  principal  collertions, 
and  to  which  I  shall  chiefly  refer  in  the  text,  are  those  of  Barhazan,  re-edited 
and  much  enlarged  by  M6on,  4  vols.  8vo.,  1808,  and  of  Meon,  a  vols.  8vo.,  1823. 

t  A  collection  of  these  short  Latin  stories  was  edited  by  the  author  of  the 
present  work,  in  a  volume  printed  for  the  Percy  Society  in  1842. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  \  3 

houfehold  in  no  favourable  point  of  view.  The  majority  of  thefe  tell 
loofe  ftories  of  hufbands  deceived  by  their  fair  fpoufes,  or  of  tricks  played 
upon  unfufpe&ing  damfels.  In  fome  inftances  the  treatment  of  the 
hufband  is  perhaps  what  may  be  called  of  a  lefs  objectionable  character, 
as  in  the  fabliau  of  La  Vilain  Mire  (the  clown  dodtor),  printed  in 
Barbazan  (iii.  i),  which  was  the  origin  of  Moliere's  well-known  comedy 
of"  Le  Medecin  malgre  lui."  A  rich  peafant  married  the  daughter  of  a 
poor  knight ;  it  was  of  courfe  a  marriage  of  ambition  on  his  part,  and  of 
intereft  on  hers — one  of  thofe  ill-forted  matches  which,  according  to  feudal 
fentiments,  could  never  be  happy,  and  in  which  the  wife  was  confidered 
as  privileged  to  treat  her  hulband  with  all  poflible  contempt.  In  this 
inflance  the  lady  hit  upon  an  ingenious  mode  of  puniihing  her  hufband 
for  his  want  of  fubmitfion  to  her  ill-treatment.  Meflengers  from  the 
king  parted  that  way,  feeking  a  (kilful  do6tor  to  cure  the  king's  daughter 
of  a  dangerous  malady.  The  lady  fecretly  informed  thefe  mefiengers 
that  her  hulband  was  a  phyfician  of  extraordinary  talent,  but  of  an 
eccentric  temper,  for  he  would  never  acknowledge  or  exercife  his  art 
until  firft  fubjeded  to  a  fevere  beating.  The  hulband  is  feized,  bound, 
and  carried  by  force  to  the  king's  court,  where,  of  courfe,  he  denies  all 
knowledge  of  the  healing  art,  but  a  fevere  beating  obliges  him  to  com- 
pliance, and  he  is  fuccefsful  by  a  combination  of  impudence  and  chance. 
This  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  poor  man's  miferies.  Inftead  of  being 
allowed  to  go  home,  his  fame  has  become  fo  great  that  he  is  retained  at 
court  for  the  public  good,  and,  with  a  rapid  fucceffion  of  patients,  fearful 
of  the  refults  of  his  confcious  ignorance,  he  refufes  them  all,  and  is 
fubje6ted  in  every  cafe  to  the  fame  ill-treatment  to  force  his  compliance. 
The  examples  in  which  the  hulband,  on  the  other  hand,  outwits  the  wife 
are  few.  A  fabliau  by  a  poet  who  gives  himfelf  the  name  of  Cortebarbe, 
printed  alfo  by  Barbazan  (iii.  398),  relates  how  three  blind  beggars  were 
deceived  by  a  clerc,  or  fcholar,  of  Paris,  who  met  them  on  the  road  near 
Compiegne.  The  clerk  pretended  to  give  the  three  beggars  a  bezant, 
which  was  then  a  good  fum  of  money,  and  they  haftened  joyfully  to  the 
next  tavern,  where  they  ordered  a  plentiful  fupper,  and  feafted  to  their 
hearts'  content.  But,  in  fad,  the  clerk  had  not  given  them  a  bezant  at 

a  nil, 


i  1 4  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

all,  although,  as  he  faid  'he  did  fo,  and  they  could  only  judge  by  their 
hearing,  they  imagined  that  they  had  the  coin,  and  each  thought  that  it 
was  in  the  keeping  of  one  of  his  companions.  Thus,  when  the  time  of 
paying  came,  and  the  money  was  not  forthcoming,  in  the  common  belief 
that  one  of  the  three  had  received  the  bezant  and  intended  to  keep  it 
and  cheat  the  others,  they  quarrelled  violently,  and  from  abufe  foon 
came  to  blows.  The  landlord,  drawn  to  the  fpot  by  the  uproar,  and 
informed  of  the  ftate  of  the  cafe,  accufed  the  three  blind  men  of  a 
confpiracy  to  cheat  him,  and  demanded  payment  with  great  threats. 
The  clerk  of  Paris,  who  had  followed  them  to  the  inn,  and  taken  his 
lodging  there  in  order  to  witnefs  the  refult,  delivered  the  blind  men  by 
an  equally  ingenious  trick  which  he  plays  upon  the  landlord  and  the 
prieft  of  the  parifh. 

Some  of  thefe  ftories  have  for  their  fubje6t  tricks  played  among 
thieves.  In  one  printed  by  Me"on  (i.  124),  we  have  the  ftory  of  a  rich 
but  fimple  villan,  or  countryman,  named  Brifaut,  who  is  robbed  at 
market  by  a  cunning  fharper,  and  feverely  corrected  by  his  wife  for  his 
carelefihefs.  Robbery,  both  by  force  and  by  fleight  of  hand  and  craft, 
prevailed  to  an  extraordinary  degree  during  the  middle  ages.  The  plot 
of  the  fabliau  of  Barat  and  Hairnet,  by  Jean  de  Boves  (Barbazan,  iv.  233), 
turns  upon  a  trial  of  {kill  among  three  robbers  to  determine  who  (hall 
commit  the  clevereft  a6t  of  thievery,  and  the  refult  is,  at  leaft,  an 
extremely  amufing  ftory.  It  may  be  mentioned  as  an  example  of  the 
numerous  ftories  which  the  jougleurs  certainly  obtained  from  the  Eaft, 
that  the  well-known  flory  of  the  Hunchback  in  the  "  Arabian  Nights  " 
appears  among  them  in  two  or  three  different  forms. 

The  focial  vices  of  the  middle  ages,  their  general  licentioufnels,  the 
prevalence  of  injuftice  and  extortion,  are  very  fully  expofed  to  view  in 
thefe  competitions,  in  which  no  clafs  of  fbciety  is  fpared.  The  villan,  or 
peafant,  is  always  treated  very  contemptuoufly  ;  he  formed  the  clafs  from 
which  the  jougleur  received  leaft  benefit.  But  the  ariftocracy,  the  great 
barons,  the  lords  of  the  foil,  come  in  for  their  full  fhare  of  fatire,  and  they 
no  doubt  enjoyed  the  ridiculous  piftures  of  their  own  order.  I  will  not 
venture  to  introduce  the  reader  to  female  life  in  the  baronial  caftle,  as  it 

appears 


in  Literature  and  Art.  115 

appears  in  many  of  thefe  ftories,  and  as  it  is  no  doubt  truly  painted, 
although,  of  courfe,  in  many  inftances,  much  exaggerated.  We  have  already 
feen  how  in  the  flory  of  Reynard,  the  character  of  mediaeval  fociety  was 
reprefented  by  the  long  ftruggle  between  brute  force  reprefented  by  the 
wolf,  the  emblem  of  the  ariftocratic  clafs,  and  the  low  aftutenefs  of  the 
fox,  or  the  unariftocratic  clafs.  The  fuccefs  of  the  craft  of  the  human  fox 
over  the  force  of  his  lordly  antagonift  is  often  told  in  the  fabliaux  in 
ludicrous  colours.  In  that  of  Trubert,  printed  by  Meon  (i.  192),  the 
"  duke  "  of  a  country,  with  his  wife  and  family,  become  repeatedly  the 
dupes  of  the  grofs  deceptions  of  a  poor  but  impudent  peafant.  Thefe 
fatires  upon  the  ariftocracy  were  no  doubt  greatly  enjoyed  by  the  good 
lourgeoifie,  who,  in  their  turn,  furnifhed  abundance  of  ftories,  of  the 
drolleft  defcription,  to  provoke  the  mirth  of  the  lords  of  the  foil,  between 
whom  and  themfelves  there  was  a  kind  of  natural  antipathy.  Nor  are 
the  clergy  fpared.  The  prieft  is  ufually  defcribed  as  living  with  a 
concubine — his  order  forbade  marrying — and  both  are  confidered  as 
fair  game  to  the  community  j  while  the  monk  figures  more  frequently 
as  the  hero  of  gallant  adventures.  Both  prieft  and  monk  are  ufually 
diftinguifhed  by  their  felfifhnefs  and  love  of  indulgence.  In  the  fabliau 
Du  Bouchier  d' Abbeville,  in  Barbazan  (iv.  i),  a  butcher,  on  his  way 
home  from  the  fair,  feeks  a  night's  lodging  at  the  houfe  of  an  inhofpitable 
prieft,  who  refufes  it.  But  when  the  former  returns,  and  offers,  in 
exchange  for  his  hofpitality,  one  of  his  fat  fheep  which  he  has  purchafed 
at  the  fair,  and  not  only  to  kill  it  for  their  fupper,  but  to  give  all  the 
meat  they  do  not  eat  to  his  hoft,  he  is  willingly  received  into  the  houfe, 
and  they  make  an  excellent  fupper.  By  the  promife  of  the  fkin  of  the 
fheep,  the  gueft  fucceeds  in  feducing  both  the  concubine  and  the  maid- 
fervant,  and  it  is  only  after  his  departure  the  following  morning,  in 
the  middle  of  a  domeftic  uproar  caufed  by  the  conflicting  claims  of  the 
prieft,  the  concubine,  and  the  maid,  to  the  pofleflion  of  the  fkin,  that  it 
is  difcovered  that  the  butcher  had  ftolen  the  fheep  from  the  prieft's  own 
flock. 

The  fabliaux,  as  remarked  before,  form  the  moft  important  clafs  of 
the  extenfive  mafs  of  the  popular  literature  of  the  middle  ages,  and  the 

writers, 


1 1 6  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

writers,  confident  in  their  ftrong  hold  upon  public  favour,  fometimes  turn 
round  and  burlefque  the  literature  of  other  clafies,  efpecially  the  long 
heavy  monotony  of  ftyle  of  the  great  romances  of  chivalry  and  the 
extravagant  adventures  they  contained,  as  though  confcious  that  they 
were  gradually  undermining  the  popularity  of  the  romance  writers. 
One  of  thele  poems,  entitled  "  De  Audigier,"  and  printed  in  Barbazan 
(iv.  217),  is  a  parody  on  the  romance  writers  and  on  their  ftyle,  not 
at  all  wanting  in  fpirit  or  wit,  but  the  fatire  is  coarfe  and  vulgar. 
Another  printed  in  Barbazan  (iv.  287),  under  the  title  "De  Berengier," 
is  a  fatire  upon  a  fort  of  knight-errantry  which  had  found  its  way  into 
mediaeval  chivalry.  Berengier  was  a  knight  of  Lombardy,  much  given  to 
boafting,  who  had  a  beautiful  lady  for  his  wife.  He  ufed  to  leave  her 
alone  in  his  caftle,  under  pretext  of  fallying  forth  in  fearch  of  chivalrous 
adventures,  and,  after  a  while,  having  well  hacked  his  fword  and  fhield, 
he  returned  to  vaunt  the  defperate  exploits  he  had  performed.  But  the 
lady  was  fhrewd  as  well  as  handfome,  and,  having  fome  fufpicions  of  his 
truthfulnefs  as  well  as  of  his  courage,  Ihe  determined  to  make  trial  of 
both.  One  morning,  when  her  hufband  rode  forth  as  ufual,  {he  haftily 
difguifed  herfelf  in  a  fuit  of  armour,  mounted  a  good  fteed,  and  hurrying 
round  by  a  different  way,  met  the  boaftful  knight  in  the  middle  of  a 
wood,  where  he  no  fooner  faw  that  he  had  to  encounter  a  real  aflailant, 
than  he  difplayed  the  moft  abjecl:  cowardice,  and  his  opponent  exa&ed 
from  him  an  ignominious  condition  as  the  price  of  his  efcape.  On  his 
return  home  at  night,  boafting  as  ufual  of  his  fuccefs,  he  found  his  lady 
taking  her  revenge  upon  him  in  a  ftill  lefs  refpeclful  manner,  but  he  was 
filenced  by  her  ridicule. 

The  Irouv&res,  or  poets,  who  wrote  the  fabliaux — I  need  hardly 
remark  that  trouvere  is  the  fame  word  as  trolador,  but  in  the  northern 
dialeft  of  the  French  language — appear  to  have  flourifhed  chiefly  from 
the  clofe  of  the  twelfth  century  to  the  earlier  part  of  the  fourteenth. 
They  all  compofed  in  French,  which  was  a  language  then  common  to 
England  and  France,  but  fome  of  their  compofitions  bear  internal 
evidence  of  having  been  compofed  in  England,  and  others  are  found  in 
contemporary  manufcripts  written  in  this  ifland.  The  fcene  of  a  fabliau, 

printed 


in  Literature  and  Art.  117 

printed  by  Meon  (i.  113),  is  laid  at  Colchefter;  and  that  of  La  Male 
Honte,  printed  in  Barbazan  (iii.  204),  is  laid  in  Kent.  The  latter, 
however,  was  written  by  a  trouvere  named  Hugues  de  Cambrai.  No 
obje&ion  appears  to  have  been  entertained  to  the  recital  of  thefe 
licentious  fames  before  the  ladies  of  the  caftle  or  of  the  domeftic  circle, 
and  their  general  popularity  was  fo  great,  that  the  more  pious  clergy 
feem  to  have  thought  neceflary  to  find  Something  to  take  their  place  in 
the  poft-prandial  fociety  of  the  monaflery,  and  efpecially  of  the  nunnery; 
and  religious  ftories  were  written  in  the  fame  form  and  metre  as  the 
fabliaux.  Some  of  thefe  have  been  publiflied  under  the  title  of"  Contes 
Devots,"  and,  from  their  general  dulnefs,  it  may  be  doubted  if  they 
anfwered  their  purpofe  of  furnilhing  amufement  fo  well  as  the  others. 


1 1 8  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

CARICATURES    OF     DOMESTIC    LIFE. STATE    OF     DOMESTIC    LIFE    IN    THE 

MIDDLE     AGES. EXAMPLES      OF      DOMESTIC     CARICATURE      FROM      THE 

CARVINGS       OF       THE       MISERERES. KITCHEN       SCENES. DOMESTIC 

BRAWLS. THE     FIGHT     FOR     THE     BREECHES. THE     JUDICIAL     DUEL 

BETWEEN     MAN     AND     WIFE     AMONG     THE     GERMANS. ALLUSIONS     TO 

WITCHCRAFT. SATIRES    ON    THE    TRADES  ;    THE    BAKER,    THE    MILLER, 

THE  WINE-PEDLAR    AND    TAVERN-KEEPER,    THE    ALE-WIFE,    ETC. 

THE  influence  of  the  jougleurs  over  people's  minds  generally,  with 
their  ftories  and  fatirical  pieces,  their  grimaces,  their  poftures,  and 
their  wonderful  performances,  was  very  confiderable,  and  may  be  eafily 
traced  in  mediaeval  manners  and  fentiments.  This  influence  would 
naturally  be  exerted  upon  inventive  art,  and  when  a  painter  had  to  adorn 
the  margin  of  a  book,  or  the  fculptor  to  decorate  the  ornamental  parts  of 
a  building,  we  might  expect  the  ideas  which  would  firfl.  prefent  themfelves 
to  him  to  be  thofe  fuggefted  by  the  jougleur's  performance,  for  the  fame 
tafte  had  to  be  indulged  in  the  one  as  in  the  other.  The  fame  wit  or 
fatire  would  pervade  them  both. 

Among  the  moft  popular  fubjefts  of  fatire  during  the  middle  ages, 
were  domeftic  fcenes.  Domeflic  life  at  that  period  appears  to  have  been 
in  its  general  character  coarfe,  turbulent,  and,  I  fhould  fay,  anything 
but  happy.  In  all  its  points  of  view,  it  prefented  abundant  fubje&s  for 
ieft  and  burlefque.  There  is  little  room  for  doubt  that  the  Romifh 
Church,  as  it  exifted  in  the  middle  ages,  was  extremely  hoftile  to 
domeftic  happinefs  among  the  middle  and  lower  clafies,  and  that  the 
interference  of  the  prieft  in  the  family  was  only  a  fource  of  domeftic 
trouble.  The  fatirical  writings  of  the  period,  the  popular  tales,  the 
difcourfes  of  thofe  who  fought  reform,  even  the  pictures  in  the 

manufcripts 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


119 


manufcripts  and  the  fculptures  on  the  walls  invariably  reprefent 
the  female  portion  of  the  family  as  entirely  under  the  influence  of  the 
priefts,  and  that  influence  as  exercifed  for  the  worft  of  purpofes.  They 
encouraged  faith  leflhels  as  well  as  difobedience  in  wives,  and  undermined 
the  virtue  of  daughters,  and  were  confequently  regarded  with  anything 
but  kindly  feeling  by  the  male  portion  of  the  population.  The  prieft, 
the  wife,  and  the  hufband,  form  the  ufual  leading  characters  in  a 
mediaeval  farce.  Subjects  of  this  kind  are  not  very  unfrequent  in  the 
illuminations  of  manufcripts,  and  more  efpecially  in  the  fculptures  of 
buildings,  and  thofe  chiefly  ecclefiaftical,  in  which  monks  or  priefts  are 


No.  71.     A  Mediaeval  Kitchen  Sune. 


introduced  in  very  equivocal  fituations.  This  part  of  the  fubje6t,  however, 
is  one  into  which  we  fliall  not  here  venture,  as  we  find  the  mediaeval 
caricaturifts  drawing  plenty  of  materials  from  the  lefs  vicious  fhades  of 
contemporary  life  ;  and,  in  fa£t,  fome  of  their  moft  amufing  pictures  are 
taken  from  the  droll,  rather  than  from  the  vicious,  fcenes  of  the  interior 
of  the  houfehold.  Such  fcenes  are  very  frequent  on  the  mifereres  of  the 
old  cathedrals  and  collegiate  churches.  Thus,  in  the  ftalls  at  Worcefler 
Cathedral,  there  is  a  droll  figure  of  a  man  feated  before  a  fire  in  a 

kitchen 


I2O  Hlftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


No.  72.     An  Old  Lady 
and  her  Friends. 


kitchen  well  ftored  with  flitches  of  bacon,  he  himfelf  occupied  in 
attending  to  the  boiling  pot,  while  he  warms  his  feet,  for  which  purpofe 
he  has  taken  off  his  fhoes.  In  a  fimilar  carving 
in  Hereford  Cathedral,  a  man,  alfo  in  the  kitchen, 
is  feen  attempting  to  take  liberties  with  the 
cook  maid,  who  throws  a  platter  at  his  head.  A 
copy  of  this  curious  fubje6t  is  given  in  cut  No.  71, 
and  the  cut  No.  72  is  taken  from  a  fimilar  mife- 
rere  in  Minfter  Church,  in  the  Ifle  of  Thanet.  It 
reprefents  an  old  lady  feated,  occupied  induftrioufly 
in  fpinning,  and  accompanied  by  her  cats. 

We  might  eafily  add  other  examples  of 
fimilar  fubje&s  from  the  fame  fources,  fuch  as 
the  fcene  in  our  cut  No.  73,  taken  from  one  of 
the  ftalls  of  Winchefter  Cathedral,  which  feems  to  be  intended  to 
reprefent  a  witch  riding  away  upon  her  cat,  an  enormous  animal,  whofe 

jovial  look  is  only  outdone  by  that  of 
its  miftrels.  The  latter  has  carried  her 
diftaff  with  her,  and  is  diligently 
employed  in  fpinning.  A  ftall  in  Sher- 
borne  Minfter,  given  in  our  cut  No.  74, 
reprefents  a  fcene  in  a  fchool,  in  which 
an  unfortunate  fcholar  is  experiencing 
punifhment  of  a  rather  fevere  defcrip- 
tion,  to  the  great  alarm  of  his  com- 
panions, on  whom  his  difgrace  is  evi- 
dently a6ting  as  a  warning.  The  flog- 
ging fcene  at  fchool  appears  to  have 
been  rather  a  favourite  fubje6t  among 
the  early  caricaturifts,  for  the  fcourge 
was  looked  upon  in  the  middle  ages  as  the  grand  ftimulant  to  fcholarfhip. 
In  thofe  good  old  times,  when  a  man  recalled  to  memory  his  fchoolboy 
days,  he  did  not  fay,  "  When  I  was  at  fchool,"  but,  "  When  I  was  under 
the  rod." 

An 


No.  73.      The  Lady  and  her  Cat. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


121 


An  extenfive  field  for  the  ftudy  of  this  interefting  part  of  our  fubjed 
will  be  found  in  the  architedural  gallery  in  the  Kenfington  Mufeum, 
which  contains  a  large  number  of  cafts  from  flails  and  other  fculptures, 


No.  74.     Scholaftk  Difdpline. 

chiefly  felefted  from  the  French  cathedrals.  One  of  theie,  engraved  in 
our  cut  No.  75,  reprefents  a  couple  of  females,  feated  before  the  kitchen 
fire.  The  date  of  this  fculpture  is  ftated  to  be  1382.  To  judge  by  their 


No.  75.     A  Point  in  Difpute. 

looks  and  attitude,  there  is  a  difagreement  between  them,  and  the  object 
in  difpute  feems  to  be  a  piece  of  meat,  which  one  has  taken  out  of  the 
pot  and  placed  on  a  dim.  This  lady  wields  her  ladle  as  though  (he  wore 

E  prepared 


122  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

prepared  to  ufe  it  as  a  weapon,  while  her  opponent  is  armed  with  tne 
bellows.  The  ale-pot  was  not  unfrequently  the  fubject  of  pictures  of  a 
turbulent  character,  and  among  the  grotefque  and  monftrous  figures  in 
the  margins  of  the  noble  manufcript  of  the  fourteenth  century,  known  as 
the  "  Luttrell  Pfalter,"  one  reprefents  two  perfonages  not  only  quarrelling 
over  their  pots,  which  they  appear  to  have  emptied,  but  actually  fighting 


No.  76.      Want  of  Harmony  aver  the  Pot. 

with    them.     One   of    them    has    literally   broken    his    pot    over    his 
companion's  head.     The  fcene  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  76. 

It  muft  be  ftated,  however,  that  the  more  common  fubjects  of  thefe 
homely  fcenes  are  domeftic  quarrels,  and  that  the  man,  or  his  wife, 
enjoying  their  firefide,  or  limilar  bits  of  domeftic  comfort,  only  make 
their  appearance  ar  rare  intervals.  Domeftic  quarrels  and  combats 
are  much  more  frequent.  We  have  already  feen,  in  the  cut  No.  75, 
two  dames  of  the  kitchen  evidently  beginning  to  quarrel  over  their 
cookery.  A  flail  in  the  church  of  Stratford-upon-Avon  gives  us  the 
group  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  77.  The  battle  has  here  become 
defperate,  but  whether  the  male  combatant  be  an  opprefled  hufband  or 

an 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


123 


an  impertinent  intruder,  is  not  clear.     The  quarrel  would  feem  to  have 

arifen  during  the  procefs  of  cooking,  as  the  female,  who  has  feized  her 

opponent  by  the    beard,  has   evidently 

fnatched  up  the    ladle    as  the    readieft 

weapon  at  hand.     The  anger  appears  to 

be  mainly  on  her  fide,  and  the  rather 

tame    countenance    of    her    antagonift 

contrails   flrangely    with    her    inflamed 

features.     Our    next    cut,    No.    78,    is 

taken  from  the  fculpture  of  a  column 

in  Ely  Cathedral,  here  copied  from  an 

engraving    in    Carter's   "  Specimens   of 

Ancient  Sculpture."     A  man  and  wife, 

apparently,  are  ftruggling  for   the  pof- 

feffion  of  a  ftafF,  which  is  perhaps  in- 

No.  77.     Domeftic  Strife. 

tended  to  be  the  emblem  of  maflery. 

As  is  generally  reprefented  to  be  the  cafe  in  thefe  fcenes  of  domeflic 


No.  78.     A  Struggle  for  the  Maflery. 

ftrife,    the   woman    mows   more   energy    and    more    Itrength    than    her 

opponent, 


124  Hsftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


opponent,  and  me  is  evidently  overcoming  him.  The  mattery  of  the 
wife  over  the  hufband  feems  to  have  been  a  univerfally  acknowledged 
ftate  of  things.  A  flail  in  Sherborne  Minfter,  in  Dorfet,  which  has 


No.  79.     The  Wife  in  the  AJcendant. 

furniftied  the  fubjeft  of  our  cut  No.  79,  might  almoft  be  taken  as  the 
fequel  of  the  laft  cut.  The  lady  has  pofleired  herfelf  of  the  ttaftj  has 
overthrown  her  huiband,  and  is  even  flriking  him  on  the  head  with  it 


No.  80.     Violence  Refjttd. 

when  he  is  down.  In  our  next  cut,  No.  80,  which  is  taken  from  one  of 
the  cafts  of  ftalls  in  the  French  cathedrals  exhibited  in  the  Kenfmgton 
Mufeum,  it  is  not  quite  clear  which  of  the  two  is  the  offender,  but, 

perhaps, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  125 

perhaps,  in  this  cafe,  the  archer,  as  his  profeflion  is  indicated  by  his  bow 
and  arrows,  has  made  a  gallant  aflault,  which,  although  fhe  does  not  look 
much  difpleafed  at  it,  the  offended  dame  certainly  refifts  with  fpirit. 

One  idea  connected  with  this  picture  of  domeftic  antagonifm  appears 
to  have  been  very  popular  from  a  rather  early  period.  There  is  a 
proverbial  phrafe  to  fignify  that  the  wife  is  matter  in  the  houfehold,  by 
which  it  is  intimated  that  "fhe  wears  the  breeches."  The  phrafe  is,  it 
muft  be  confefled,  an  odd  one,  and  is  only  half  underftood  by  modem 
explanations ;  but  in  mediaeval  flory  we  learn  how  "fhe"  firft  put  in 
her  claim  to  wear  this  particular  article  of  drefs,  how  it  was  firft  difputed 
and  contefted,  how  fhe  was  at  times  defeated,  but  how,  as  a  general  rule, 
the  claim  was  enforced.  There  was  a  French  poet  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  Hugues  Piaucelles,  two  of  whofe  falliaux,  or  metrical  tales, 
entitled  the  "  Fabliau  d'Eftourmi,"  and  the  "  Fabliau  de  Sire  Hains  et  de 
Dame  Anieufe,"  are  preferved  in  manufcript,  and  have  been  printed 
in  the  collection  of  Barbazan.  The  fecond  of  thefe  relates  fome  of  the 
adventures  of  a  mediaeval  couple,  whofe  houfehold  was  not  the  beft 
regulated  in  the  world.  The  name  of  the  heroine  of  this  ftory,  Anieufe, 
is  fimply  an  old  form  of  the  French  word  ennuyeufe,  and  certainly  dame 
Anieufe  was  fufficiently  "ennuyeufe"  to  her  lord  and  hufband.  "  Sire 
Hains,"  her  hufband,  was,  it  appears,  a  maker  of  "  cottes  "  and  mantles, 
and  we  fhould  judge  alfo,  by  the  point  on  which  the  quarrel  turned,  that 
he  was  partial  to  a  good  dinner.  Dame  Anieufe  was  of  that  difagreeable 
temper,  that  whenever  Sire  Hains  told  her  of  fome  particularly  nice 
thing  which  he  wifhed  her  to  buy  for  his  meal,  fhe  bought  inftead  fbme- 
thing  which  fhe  knew  was  difagreeable  to  him.  If  he  ordered  boiled 
meat,  fhe  invariably  roafted  it,  and  further  contrived  that  it  fhould  be  fo 
covered  with  cinders  and  allies  that  he  could  not  eat  it.  This  would 
fhow  that  people  in  the  middle  ages  (except,  perhaps,  profeflional  cooks) 
were  very  unapt  at  roafting  meat.  This  Hate  of  things  had  gone  on  for 
fome  time,  when  one  day  Sire  Hains  gave  orders  to  his  wife  to  buy  him 
fifh  for  his  dinner.  The  difobedient  wife,  inftead  of  buying  fifh,  provided 
nothing  for  his  meal  but  a  difli  of  fpinage,  telling  him  falfely  that  all  the 
fifh  flank.  This  leads  to  a  violent  quarrel,  in  which,  after  fome  fierce 

wrangling, 


126  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


wrangling,  efpecially  on  the  part  of  the  lady,  Sire  Hains  propofes  to 
decide  their  difference  in  a  novel  manner.  "  Early  in  the  morning,"  he 
faid,  "  I  will  take  off  my  breeches  and  lay  them  down  in  the  middle  of 
the  court,  and  the  one  who  can  win  them  (hall  be  acknowledged  to  be 
matter  or  miftrefs  of  the  houfe." 

Le  tnatinet,  fans  contredlret 
Voudrai  met  traits  defcfiaucicr, 
Et  enmt  noftre  cort  couchier  ; 
Et  qui  conquerre  lei  porra, 
Par  bone  refon  miiufterra 
S^il  ertjtre  ou  dame  du  noftre. 

Barbazan,  Fabliaux,  tome  iii.  p.  383. 

Dame  Anieufe  accepted  the  challenge  with  eagernefs,  and  each  prepared 
for  the  ftruggle.  After  due  preparation,  two  neighbours,  friend  Symori 
and  Dame  Aupais,  having  been  called  in  as  witnefies,  and  the  obje6t  of 
difpute,  the  breeches,  having  been  placed  on  the  pavement  of  the  court, 
the  battle  began,  with  fome  flight  parody  on  the  formalities  of  the 
judicial  combat.  The  firft  blow  was  given  by  the  dame,  who  was  fo 
eager  for  the  fray  that  fhe  ftruck  her  hulband  before  he  had  put  himfelf 
on  his  guard  ;  and  the  war  of  tongues,  in  which  at  leaft  Dame  Anieufe 
had  the  beft  of  it,  went  on  at  the  fame  time  as  the  other  battle.  Sire 
Hains  ventured  a  flight  expoftulation  on  her  eagernefs  for  the  fray,  in 
anfwer  to  which  fhe  only  threw  in  his  teeth  a  fierce  defiance  to  do  his 
worft.  Provoked  at  this,  Sire  Hains  ftruck  at  her,  and  hit  her  over  the 
eyebrows,  fo  effectively,  that  the  fkin  was  difcolou  ed ;  and,  over-confident 
in  the  effeft  of  this  firft  blow,  he  began  rather  too  foon  to  exult  over  his 
wife's  defeat.  But  Dame  Anieufe  was  lefs  difconcerted  than  he  expe&ed, 
and  recovering  quickly  from  the  effect  of  the  blow,  (he  turned  upon  him 
and  ftruck  him  on  the  fame  part  of  his  face  with  fuch  force,  that  fhe 
nearly  knocked  him  over  the  fheepfold.  Dame  Anieufe,  in  her  turn, 
now  fneered  over  him,  and  while  he  was  recovering  from  his  confufion, 
her  eyes  fell  upon  the  objeft  of  contention,  and  fhe  rufhed  to  it,  and  laid 
her  hands  upon  it  to  carry  it  away.  This  movement  roufed  Sire  Hains, 
who  inftandy  feized  another  part  of  the  article  of  his  drefs  of  which  he 

was 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  27 

was  thus  in  danger  of  being  deprived,  and  began  a  ftruggle  for  poflefiion, 
in  which  the  faid  article  underwent  confiderable  dilapidation,  and 
fragments  of  it  were  fcattered  over  the  court.  In  the  mid  it  of  this 
ftruggle  the  adtual  fight  recommenced,  by  the  hufband  giving  his  wife  fo 
heavy  a  blow  on  the  teeth  that  her  mouth  was  filled  with  blood.  The 
effeft  was  fuch  that  Sire  Hains  already  reckoned  on  the  victory,  and 
proclaimed  himfelf  lord  of  the  breeches. 

Hains  Jiert  fa  fame  enmi  les  den* 
Tel  cop,  que  la  bouche  dedenx 
Li  a  toute  em f  lie  dejancx. 
"  Tien  ore"  dift  Sire  Hains,  "  anc, 
ye  cult  que  je  fai  Hen  atainte, 
Or  t'ai-je  de  deux  colors  tainte — 
yaurai  let  braies  toutes  -voies" 

But  the  immediate  effect  on  Dame  Anieufe  was  only  to  render  her  more 
defperate.  She  quitted  her  bold  on  the  difputed  garment,  and  fell  upon 
her  hufband  with  fuch  a  fliower  of  blows  that  he  hardly  knew  which  way 
to  turn.  She  was  thus,  however,  unconfcioufly  exhaufting  herfelf,  and 
Sire  Hains  foon  recovered.  The  battle  now  became  fiercer  than  ever,  and 
the  lady  feemed  to  be  gaining  the  upper  hand,  when  Sire  Hains  gave  her 
a  Ikilful  blow  in  the  ribs,  which  nearly  broke  one  of  them,  and  confider- 
ably  checked  her  ardour.  Friend  Symon  here  interpofed,  with  the  praife- 
worthy  aim  of  reftoring  peace  before  further  harm  might  be  done,  but  in 
vain,  for  the  lady  was  only  rendered  more  obftinate  by  her  mifhap;  and  he 
agreed  that  it  was  ufelefs  to  interfere  until  one  had  got  a  more  decided 
advantage  over  the  other.  The  fight  therefore  went  on,  the  two  com- 
batants having  now  feized  each  other  by  the  hair  of  the  head,  a  mode  of 
combat  in  which  the  advantages  were  rather  on  the  fide  of  the  male. 
At  this  moment,  one  of  the  judges,  Dame  Aupais,  fympathifing  too  much 
with  Dame  Anieufe,  ventured  fome  words  of  encouragement,  which 
drew  upon  her  a  fevere  rebuke  from  her  colleague,  Symon,  who  intimated 
that  if  (he  interfered  again  there  might  be  two  pairs  of  combatants 
inftead  of  one.  Meanwhile  Dame  Auieufe  was  becoming  exhaufted.  and 
was  evidently  getting  the  worft  of  the  conteft,  until  at  length,  daggering 

from 


128  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

from  a  vigorous  pufh,  Ihe  fell  back  into  a  large  balket  which  lay  behind 
her.  Sire  Hains  flood  over  her  exultingly,  and  Symon,  as  umpire, 
pronounced  him  victorious.  He  thereupon  took  poffeflion  of  the  difputed 
article  of  raiment,  and  again  inverted  himfelf  with  it,  while  the  lady 
accepted  faithfully  the  conditions  impofed  upon  her,  and  we  are  affured 
by  the  poet  that  me  was  a  good  and  obedient  wife  during  the  reft  of  net 
life.  In  this  ftory,  which  affords  a  curious  picture  of  mediaeval  life,  we 
learn  the  origin  of  the  proverb  relating  to  the  pofleffion  and  wearing  of 
the  breeches.  Hugues  Piaucelles  concludes  hisfal-liau  by  recommending 
every  man  who  has  a  difobedient  wife  to  treat  her  in  the  fame  manner  j 
and  mediaeval  hulbands  appear  to  have  followed  his  advice,  without  fear 
of  laws  againft  the  ill-treatment  of  women. 

A  fubjecl:  like  this  was  well  fitted  for  the  burlefques  on  the  ftalls,  and 
accordingly  we  find  on  one  of  thofe  in  the  cathedral  at  Rouen,  the  group 
given  in  our  cut  No.  81,  which  feems  to  reprefent  the  part  of  the  ftory 


No.  8l.      The  Fight  for  the  Breeches. 

in  which  both  combatants  feize  hold  of  the  difputed  garment,  and 
ftruggle  for  pofieffion  of  it.  The  hufband  here  grafps  a  knife  in  his 
hand,  with  which  he  feems  to  be  threatening  to  cut  it  to  pieces  rather 
than  give  it  up.  The  fabliau  gives  the  victory  to  the  hufband,  but  the 
wife  was  generally  confidered  as  in  a  majority  of  cafes  carrying  off  the 
prize.  In  an  extremely  rare  engraving  by  the  Flemifh  artift  Van  Mecken, 
dated  in  1480,  of  which  I  give  a  copy  in  our  cut  No.  82,  the  lady,  while 

putting 


in  Literature  and  Art.  120 

putting  on  the  breeches,  of  which  fhe  has  juft  become  poflefled,  mows 
an  inclination  to  lord  it  rather  tyrannically  over  her  other  half,  whom  (lie 
has  condemned  to  perform  the  domeftic  drudgery  of  the  manfion. 


No.  82.      The  Breeches  Won. 

In  Germany,  where  there  was  ftill  more  roughnefs  in  mediaeval  life, 
what  was  told  in  England  and  France  as  a  good  ftory  of  domeftic  doings, 
was  actually  carried  into  practice  under  the  authority  of  the  laws.  The 
judicial  duel  was  there  adopted  by  the  legal  authorities  as  a  mode  of 
fettling  the  differences  between  hulband  and  wife.  Curious  particulars  on 
this  fubject  are  given  in  an  interefling  paper  entitled  "  Some  obfervations 
on  Judicial  Duels  as  practifed  in  Germany,"  published  in  the  twenty- 
ninth  volume  of  the  Archaeologia  of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  (p.  348). 
Thefe  obfervations  are  chiefly  taken  from  a  volume  of  directions,  accom- 
panied with  drawings,  for  the  various  modes  of  attack  and  defence, 
compiled  by  Paulus  Kail,  a  celebrated  teacher  of  defence  at  the  court  of 
Bavaria  about  the  year  1400.  Among  thefe  drawings  we  have  one 
reprefenting  the  mode  of  combat  between  hufband  and  wife.  The  only 
weapon  allowed  the  female,  but  that  a  very  formidable  one,  was, 
according  to  thefe  directions,  a  heavy  ftone  wrapped  up  in  an  elongation 
of  her  chemife,  while  her  opponent  had  only  a  fhort  ftaff,  and  he  was 
placed  up  to  the  waift  in  a  pit  formed  in  the  ground.  The  following 


130  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

is  a  literal  tranflation  of  the  directions  given  in  the  manufcript,  and 
our  cut  No.  83  is  a  copy  of  the  drawing  which  illuftrates  it : — 
"  The  woman  muft  be  fo  prepared,  that  a  fleeve  of  her  chemife  extend 
a  fmall  ell  beyond  her  hand,  like  a  little  fack ;  there  indeed  is  put 
a  ftone  weighing  three  pounds ;  and  fhe  has  nothing  elfe  but  her 


No.  83.     A  Legal  Combat. 

chemife,  and  that  is  bound  together  between  the  legs  with  a  lace. 
Then  the  man  makes  himfelf  ready  in  the  pit  over  againft  his  wife. 
He  is  buried  therein  up  to  the  girdle,  and  one  hand  is  bound  at 
the  elbow  to  the  fide."  At  this  time  the  practice  of  fuch  combats  in 
Germany  feems  to  have  been  long  known,  for  it  is  ftated  that  in  the 
year  1200  a  man  and  his  wife  fought  under  the  fan&ion  of  the  civic 
authorities  at  Bale,  in  Switzerland.  In  a  picture  of  a  combat  between 
man  and  wife,  from  a  manufcript  refembling  that  of  Paulus  Kail, 
but  executed  nearly  a  century  later,  the  man  is  placed  in  a  tub  inftead 
of  a  pit,  with  his  left  arm  tied  to  his  fide  as  before,  and  his  right  holding 
a  fliort  heavy  rtaff;  while  the  woman  is  drefled,  and  not  ftripped  to  the 

chemife, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  3 


chemife,  as  in  the  former  cafe.  The  man  appears  to  be  holding  the 
flick  in  fuch  a  manner  that  the  fling  in  which  the  ftone  was  contained 
would  twift  round  it,  and  the  woman  would  thus  be  at  the  mercy  of  her 
opponent.  'In  an  ancient  manufcript  on  the  fcience  of  defence  in  the 
library  at  Gotha,  the  man  in  the  tub  is  reprefented  as  the  conqueror 
of  his  wife,  having  thus  dragged  her  head-foremoft  into  the  tub,  where 
fhe  appears  with  her  legs  kicking  up  in  the  air. 

This  was  the  orthodox  mode  of  combat  between  man  and  wife, 
but  it  was  fometimes  prattifed  under  more  fanguinary  forms.  In 
one  picture  given  from  thefe  old  books  on  the  fcience  of  defence  by 
the  writer  of  the  paper  on  the  fubjeft  in  the  Archaeologia,  the  two 
combatants,  naked  down  to  the  waift,  are  reprefented  fighting  with 
fharp  knives,  and  inflicting  upon  each  other's  bodies  frightful  gafhes. 

A  feries  of  flail  carvings  at  Corbeil,  near  Paris,  of  which  more  will 
be  faid  a  little  farther  on  in  this  chapter,  has  furniflied  the  curious  group 
reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  84,  which  is  one  of  the  rather  rare  pidoriai 


No.  84.      The  If  itch  and  the  Demon. 

allcfions  to  the  fubje6t  of  witchcraft.  It  reprefents  a  woman  who  rnult, 
by  her  occupation,  be  a  witch,  for  fhe  has  ib  far  got  the  mattery  of  the 
demon  that  fhe  is  fawmg  off  his  head  with  a  very  uncomfortable  looking 

inftrument. 


1 3  2  Hi  ftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


inftrument.  Another  ftory  of  witchcraft  is  told  in  the  fculpture  of  a 
ftone  panel  at  the  entrance  of  the  cathedral  of  Lyons,  which  is  repre- 
fented  in  our  cut  No.  85.  One  power,  fuppofed  to  be  poflefled  by 
witches,  was  that  of  transforming  people  to  animals  at  will.  William  of 
Malmefbury,  in  his  Chronicle,  tells  a  ftory  of  two  witches  in  the 


No,  85.      The  Witch  and  her  ViEtlm. 

neighbourhood  of  Rome,  who  ufed  to  allure  travellers  into  their  cottage, 
and  there  transform  them  into  horfes,  pigs,  or  other  animals,  which  they 
fold,  and  feafted  themfelves  with  the  money.  One  day  a  young  man, 
who  lived  by  the  profeflion  of  a  jougleur,  fought  a  night's  lodging  at 
their  cottage,  and  was  received,  but  they  turned  him  into  an  afs,  and,  as 
he  retained  his  understanding  and  his  power  of  a£ting,  they  gained  much 
money  by  exhibiting  him.  At  length  a  rich  man  of  the  neighbourhood, 
who  wanted  him  for  his  private  amufement,  offered  the  two  women  a 
large  fum  for  him,  which  they  accepted,  but  they  warned  the  new 
pofleifor  of  the  afs  that  he  Ihould  carefully  reftrain  him  from  going  into 
the  water,  as  that  would  deprive  him  of  his  power  of  performing.  The 
man  who  had  purchafed  the  afs  afted  upon  this  advice,  and  carefully  kept 
him  from  water,  but  one  day,  through  the  negligence  of  his  keeper,  the 

afs 


in  Literature  and  Art.  133 

afs  efcaped  from  his  ftable,  and,  rulhing  to  a  pond  at  no  great  diftance, 
threw  himfelf  into  it.  Water — and  running  water  efpecially — was 
believed  to  deftroy  the  power  of  witchcraft  or  magic ;  and  no  fooner  was 
the  als  immerfed  in  the  water,  than  he  recovered  his  original  form  of  a 
young  man.  He  told  his  ftory,  which  foon  reached  the  ears  of  the  pope, 
and  the  two  women  were  feized,  and  confeffed  their  crimes.  The 
carving  from  Lyons  Cathedral  appears  to  reprefent  fbme  fuch  fcene  of 
forcery.  The  naked  woman,  evidently  a  witch,  is,  perhaps,  feated  on  a 
man  whom  fhe  has  transformed  into  a  goat,  and  me  feems  to  be 
whirling  the  cat  over  him  in  fuch  a  manner  that  it  may  tear  his  face 
with  its  claws. 

There  was  (till  another  clafs  of  fubjefts  for  fatire  and  caricature  which 
belongs  to  this  part  of  our  fubjecl: — I  mean  that  of  the  trader  and 
manufacturer.  We  muft  not  fuppofe  that  fraudulent  trading,  that 
deceptive  and  imperfect  workmanfhip,  that  adulteration  of  everything 
that  could  be  adulterated,  are  peculiar  to  modern  times.  On  the 
contrary,  there  was  no  period  in  the  world's  hiftory  in  which  diflioneft 
dealing  was  carried  on  to  fuch  an  extraordinary  extent,  in  which  there 
was  fo  much  deception  ufed  in  manufactures,  or  in  which  adulteration 
was  praftifed  on  lo  mamelefs  a  fcale,  as  during  the  middle  ages.  Thefe 
vices,  or,  as  we  may,  perhaps,  more  properly  defcribe  them,  thefe  crimes, 
are  often  mentioned  in  the  mediaeval  writers,  but  they  were  not 
eafily  reprefented  pi6torially,  and  therefore  we  rarely  meet  with  direct 
allufions  to  them,  either  in  fculpture,  on  ftone  or  wood,  or  in  the  paintings 
of  illuminated  manufcripts.  Reprefentations  of  the  trades  themfelves 
are  not  fo  rare,  and  are  fometimes  droll  and  almoft  burlefque.  A 
curious  feries  of  fuch  reprefentations  of  arts  and  trades  was  carved 
on  the  mifereres  of  the  church  of  St.  Spire,  at  Corbeil,  near  Paris, 
which  only  exifl  now  in  Millin's  engravings,  but  they  feem  to  have 
been  works  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Among  them  the  firft  place 
is  given  to  the  various  occupations  neceffary  for  the  production  of  bread, 
that  article  fo  important  to  the  fupport  of  life.  Thus  we  fee,  in  thefe 
carvings  at  Corbeil,  the  labours  of  the  reaper,  cutting  the  wheat  and 
forming  it  into  (heaves,  the  miller  carrying  it  away  to  be  ground  into 

meal, 


1 34          Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


meal,  and  the  baker  thrufting  it  into  the  oven,  and  drawing  it  out  in  the 
lhape  of  loaves.  Our  cut  No.  86,  taken  from  one  of  thefe  fculptures, 
reprefents  the  baker  either  putting  in  or  taking  out  the  bread  with  his 


No.  86.     A  Baker  of  the  Fifteenth  Century. 

peel ;  by  the  earneft  manner  in  which  he  looks  at  it,  we  may  fuppofe 
that  it  is  the  latter,  and  that  he  is  afcertaining  if  it  be  fufficiently  baked. 
We  have  an  earlier  reprefentation  of  a  mediaeval  oven  in  our  cut  No.  87, 

taken  from  the  celebrated  illu- 
minated manufcript  of  the  "Ro- 
mance of  Alexandre,"  in  the 
Bodleian  Library  at  Oxford, 
which  appears  to  belong  to  an 
early  period  of  the  fourteenth 
century.  Here  the  baker  is  evi- 
dently going  to  take  a  loaf  out 
of  the  oven,  for  his  companion 

holds  a  difh  for  the  purpofe  of 
No.  87.     A  Mediaeval  Baker. 

receiving  it. 

In  nothing  was  fraud  and  adulteration  pradifed  to  fo  great  an  extent 


in  Literature  and  Art.  135 

as  in  the  important  article  of  bread,  and  the  two  occupations  efpecially 
employed  in  making  it  were  objects  of  very  great  diflike  and  of  fcornful 
fatire.  The  miller  was  proverbially  a  thief.  Every  reader  of  Chaucer 
will  remember  his  charafter  fo  admirably  drawn  in  that  of  the  miller  of 
Trumpington,  who,  though  he  was  as  proud  and  gay  "  as  eny  pecok," 
was  neverthelefs  eminently  difhoneft. 

A  theef  he  -was  for  foth  of  corn  and  male, 

And  that  ajleigh  (sly),  and  ujyng  (practised)  for  toftele. 

Chaucer's  Beeves  Tale. 

This  practice  included  a  large  college  then  exifting  in  Cambridge,  but 
now  forgotten,  the  Soler  Hall,  which  fuffered  greatly  by  his  depredations. 

And  on  a  day  it  happed  in  a  ftounde, 

Syk  lay  the  mauncyple  on  a  maledye, 

Men  luenden  wijly  that  he  Jchulde  dye  ,• 

For  "which  this  meller  Jtal  hot  he  mele  and  corn 

A  thoufend  part  more  than  byforn. 

For  ther  biforn  he  Jlal  but  curteyjly  ; 

But  ncnu  he  is  a  theef  outrageously . 

For  which  the  ivardeyn  chidde  and  made  fare, 

But  theroffette  the  meller  not  a  tare  ; 

He  crakked  boojt,  andfwor  it  -was  natfo. 

Two  of  the  fcholars  of  this  college  refolved  to  go  with  the  corn  to  the 
mill,  and  by  their  watchfulnefs  prevent  his  depredations.  Thofe  who  are 
acquainted  with  the  ftory  know  how  the  fcholars  fucceeded,  or  rather 
how  they  failed ;  how  the  miller  ftole  half  a  bumel  of  their  flour  and 
caufed  his  wife  to  make  a  cake  of  it ;  and  how  the  victims  had  their 
revenge  and  recovered  the  cake. 

As  already  ftated,  the  baker  had  in  thefe  good  old  times  no  better 
character  than  the  miller,  if  not  worfe.  There  was  an  old  faying,  that  if 
three  perfons  of  three  obnoxious  profeffions  were  put  together  in  a  fack 
and  fhaken  up,  the  firft  who  came  out  would  certainly  be  a  rogue,  and 
one  of  thefe  was  a  baker.  Moreover,  the  opinion  concerning  the  baker 
was  fo  ftrong  that,  as  in  the  phrafe  taken  from  the  old  legends  of  the 
witches,  who  in  their  feftivals  fat  thirteen  at  a  table,  this  number  was 

popularly 


136  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

popularly  called  a  devil's  dozen,  and  was  believed  to  be  unlucky — fo, 
when  the  devil's  name  was  abandoned,  perhaps  for  the  fake  of  euphony, 
the  name  fubftituted  for  it  was  that  of  the  baker,  and  the  number 
thirteen  was  called  "  a  baker's  dozen."  The  makers  of  nearly  all  forts 
of  provifions  for  fale  were,  in  the  middle  ages,  tainted  with  the  fame 
vice,  and  there  was  nothing  from  which  fociety  in  general,  efpecially  in 
the  towns  where  few  made  bread  for  themfelves,  fuffered  fo  much. 
This  evil  is  alluded  to  more  than  once  in  that  curious  educational  treatife, 
the  "  Dictionarius  "  of  John  de  Garlande,  printed  in  my  "  Volume  of 
Vocabularies."  This  writer,  who  wrote  in  the  earlier  half  of  the  thirteenth 
century,  insinuates  that  the  makers  of  pies  (pajiillarii) ,  an  article  of  food 
which  was  greatly  in  repute  during  the  middle  ages,  often  made  ufe  of 
bad  eggs.  The  cooks,  he  fays  further,  fold,  efpecially  in  Paris  to  the 
fcholars  of  the  univerfity,  cooked  meats,  faufages,  and  fuch  things, 
which  were  not  fit  to  eatj  while  the  butchers  furnimed  the  meat  of 
animals  which  had  died  of  difeafe.  Even  the  fpices  and  drugs  fold  by 
the  apothecaries,  or  epiders,  were  not,  he  fays,  to  be  trailed.  John  de 
Garlande  had  evidently  an  inclination  to  fatire,  and  he  gives  way  to  it 
not  unfrequently  in  the  little  book  of  which  I  am  fpeaking.  He  fays 
that  the  glovers  of  Paris  cheated  the  fcholars  of  the  univerfity,  by  felling 
them  gloves  made  of  bad  materials ;  that  the  women  who  gained  their 
living  by  winding  thread  (devacuatrices,  in  the  Latin  of  the  time),  not  only 
emptied  the  fcholars'  purfes,  but  wafted  their  bodies  alfo  (it  is  intended  as 
a  pun  upon  the  Latin  word) ;  and  the  huckflers  fold  them  unripe  fruit 
for  ripe.  The  drapers,  he  fays,  cheated  people  not  only  by  felling  bad 
materials,  but  by  meafuring  them  with  falfe  meafures ;  while  the  hawkers, 
who  went  about  from  houfe  to  houfe,  robbed  as  well  as  cheated. 

M.  Jubinal  has  publilhed  in  his  curious  volume  entitled  "Jongleurs 
et  Trouveres,"  a  rather  jocular  poem  on  the  bakers,  written  in  French  of, 
perhaps,  the  thirteenth  century,  in  which  their  art  is  lauded  as  much 
better  and  more  ufeful  than  that  of  the  goldfmith's.  The  millers' 
depredations  on  the  corn  fent  to  be  ground  at  the  mill,  are  laid  to  the 
charge  of  the  rats,  which  attack  it  by  night,  and  the  hens,  which  find 
their  way  to  it  by  day ;  and  he  explains  the  diminution  the  bakings 

experienced 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 3  7 


experienced  in  the  hands  of  the  baker  as  ariling  out  of  the  charity  of  the 
latter  towards  the  poor  and  needy,  to  whom  they  gave  the  meal  and 
pafte  before  it  had  even  been  put  into  the  oven.  The  celebrated  Englifh 
poet,  John  Lydgate,  in  a  fhort  poem  preferved  in  a  manufcript  in  the 
Harleian  Library  in  the  Britiih  Mufeum  (MS.  Harl.  No.  2,255, 
fol.  157,  v°),  defcribes  the  pillory,  which  he  calls  their  Baflile,  as 
the  proper  heritage  of  the  miller  and  the  baker : — 

Put  out  hh  hed,  lyfl  not  for  to  dare, 

But  lyk  a  man  upon  that  tour  to  abyde. 
For  cafl  of  eggys  -wil  not  oonysfpare, 

Tyl  he  be  quallyd  body,  bak,  andfyde. 

His  heed  endooryd,  and  of-verray  pryde 
Put  out  hit  armys,  Jhetvith  abroad  his  face  ; 

The  fenejlrallys  be  made  for  hym  fo  nayde, 
Claymyth  to  been  a  capteyn  of  that  place. 

The  bajiyle  longith  of  iierray  dewe  ryght 

To  fah  bakerys,  it  is  trewe  herytage 
Severalle  to  them,  this  hnoweth  every  ivyghtt 

Be  kynde  ajjygnedfor  ther  frtyngftage  ; 

Wheer  they  may  freely  Jkewe  out  ther  >vifaget 
Whan  they  tak  oonys  their  pojjejflioun, 

Oivthir  in  youthe  or  in  myddyl  age  ; 
Men  doon  hem  ivrong  yifthey  take  hym  down. 

Let  mellerys  and  bakerys  gadre  hem  a  gildet 

dnd  alle  of  ajjent  make  a  fraternite', 
Undir  the  pillory  a  letil  chapelle  bylde, 

The  place  amorteyfe,  and  purchaje  lybcrte", 

For  alle  thos  that  of  ther  noumbre  be  ; 
What  e-vir  it  cooft  afftir  that  they  loende, 

They  may  claymc,  be  juft  aufiorite, 
Upon  that  baflile  to  make  an  ende. 

The  wine-dealer  and  the  publican  formed  another  clals  in  mediaeval 
fociety  who  lived  by  fraud  and  dimonefty,  and  were  the  obje£ts  of  fatire. 
The  latter  gave  both  bad  wine  and  bad  meafure,  and  he  often  alfo  adted 
as  a  pawnbroker,  and  when  people  had  drunk  more  than  they  could  pay 
for,  he  would  take  their  clothes  as  pledges  for  their  money.  The  tavern, 
in  the  middle  ages,  was  the  refort  of  very  mifcellaneous  company} 

T  gamblers 


138  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


gamblers  and  loofe  women  were  always  on  the  watch  there  to  lead  more 
honeft  people  into  ruin,  and  the  tavern-keeper  profited  largely  by  their 
gains ;  and  the  more  vulgar  minftrel  and  "  jogelour  "  found  employment 
there  ;  for  the  middle  clafles  of  fociety,  and  even  their  betters,  frequented 
the  tavern  much  more  generally  than  at  the  prefent  day.  In  the  carved 
ftalls  of  the  church  of  Corbeil,  the  liquor  merchant  is  reprefented  by  the 
figure  of  a  man  wheeling  a  hogfhead  in  a  barrow,  as  fhown  in  our  cut 
No.  88.  The  gravenefi  and  air  of  importance  with  which  he  regards  it 


No.  88.     The  Wine  Dealer. 

would  lead  us  to  fuppofe  that  the  barrel  contains  wine  ;  and  the  cup  and 
jug  on  the  ihelf  above  (how  that  it  was  to  be  fold  retail.  The  wine- 
fellers  called  out  their  wines  from  their  doors,  and  -boafted  of  their 
qualities,  in  order  to  tempt  people  in  ;  and  John  de  Garlande  aflures  us 
that  when  they  entered,  they  were  ferved  with  wine  which  was  not 
worth  drinking.  "The  criers  of  wine,"  he  fays,  "proclaim  with 
extended  throat  the  diluted  wine  they  have  in  their  taverns,  offering 
it  at  four  pennies,  at  fix,  at  eight,  and  at  twelve,  frefli  poured  out 
from  the  gallon  calk  into  the  cup,  to  tempt  people."  ("Volume  of 
Vocabularies/'  p.  126.)  The  ale-wife  was  an  efpecial  fubje6t  of  jeft 

and 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


and    fatire,    and    is    not    unfrequently    reprefented    on    the     pidorial 
monuments  of  our  forefathers.     Our  cut  No.  89  is  taken  from  one  of  the 


A**.  89.      The  Ale-Wife. 

mifereres  in  the  church  of  Wellingborough,  in  Northamptonfhire  ;  the 
ale-wife  is  pouring  her  liquor  from  her  jug 
into  a  cup  to  ferve  a  ruftic,  who  appears 
to  be  waiting  for  it  with  impatience. 

The  figure  of  the  ale-drawer,  No.  90,  is 
taken  from  one  of  the  mifereres  in  the 
parifh  church  of  Ludlow,  in  Shropfhire. 
The  fize  of  his  jug  is  fomewhat  difpropor- 
tionate  to  that  of  the  barrel  from  which 
he  obtains  the  ale.  The  fame  mifereres 
of  Ludlow  Church  furnifh  the  next  fcene, 
cut  No.  91,  which  reprefents  the  end  of 
the  wicked  ale-wife.  The  day  of  judgment 
is  fuppcfed  to  have  arrived,  and  me  has 


No.  90.      The  Ale-Drawer. 


received  her  fentence.     A  demon,  feated  on  one  fide,  is  reading  a  lift  of 

the 


1 40  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

the  crimes  (he  has  committed,  which  the  magnitude  of  the  parchment 
fhows  to  be  a  rather  copious  one.  Another  demon  (whofe  head  has 
been  broken  off  in  the  original)  carries  on  his  back,  in  a  very  irreverent 
manner,  the  unfortunate  lady,  in  order  to  throw  her  into  hell- 
mouth,  on  the  other  fide  of  the  picture.  She  is  naked  with  the 
exception  of  the  fashionable  head-gear,  which  formed  one  of  her  vanities 


No.  91 .     The  Ale-Wfis  End. 

in  the  world,  and  the  carries  with  her  the  falie  meafure  with  which  (he 
cheated  her  cuftomers.  A  demon  bagpiper  welcomes  her  on  her  arrival. 
The  fcene  is  full  of  wit  and  humour. 

The  ruftic  clafles,  and  inftances  of  their  rufticity,  are  not  unfrequently 
met  with  in  thefe  interesting  carvings.  The  flails  of  Corbeil  prefent 
leveral  agricultural  fcenes.  Our  cut  No.  92  is  taken  from  thofe  of 
Gloucefter  cathedral,  of  an  earlier  date,  and  reprefents  the  three 
fhepherds,  aftonimed  at  the  appearance  of  the  ftar  which  announced  the 
birth  of  the  Saviour  of  mankind.  Like  the  three  kings,  the  Shepherds 
to  whom  this  revelation  was  made  were  always  in  the  middle  ages 
reprefented  as  three  in  number.  In  our  drawing  from  the  miferere  in 
Gloucefter  cathedral,  the  coftume  of  the  fhepherds  is  remarkably  well 

depi&ed 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


14.1 


depided,  even  to  the  details,  with  the  various  implements  appertaining 
to  their  profelfion,  moft  of  which  are  fufpended  to  their  girdles.  They 
are  drawn  with  much  fpirit,  and  even  the  dog  is  well  reprefented  as 
an  efpecially  active  partaker  in  the  fcene. 


No.  92.      The  Shepherd*  of  the  Eafl. 

Of  the  two  other  examples  we  feleft  from  the  mifereres  of  Corbeil, 
the  firft  reprefents  the  carpenter,  or,  as  he  was  commonly  called  by  our 
Anglo-Saxon  and  mediaeval  forefathers,  the  wright,  which  fignifies  fimply 
the  "maker."  The  application  of  this  higher  and  more  general  term — 
for  the  Almighty  himfelf  is  called,  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  poetry,  ealra 
gefcefta  wyrhta,  the  Maker,  or  Creator,  of  all  things — {hows  how 
important  an  art  that  of  the  carpenter  was  confidered  in  the  middle  ages. 
Everything  made  of  wood  came  within  his  province.  In  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  "  Colloquy"  of  archbifliop  Alfric,  where  feme  of  the  more  ufeful 
artifans  are  introduced  difputing  about  the  relative  value  of  their  feveral 
crafts,  the  "wright "  fays,  "Who  of  you  can  do  without  my  craft,  fince 
I  make  houfes  and  all  forts  of  veffels  (vafd),  and  mips  for  you  all?" 
("Volume  of  Vocabularies,"  p.  n.)  And  John  de  Garlande,  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  defcribes  the  carpenter  as  making,  among  other 
things,  tubs,  and  barrels,  and  wine-cades.  The  workmanlhip  of  thofe 
times  was  exercifed,  before  all  other  materials,  on  wood  and  metals,  and 

the 


142  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


the  wright,  or  worker  in  the  former  material,  was  diftinguifhed  by  this 


No.  93.      The  Carpenter. 

circumftance  from  the  fmith,  or  worker  in  metal.     The  carpenter  is  ftill 
called  a  wright  in  Scotland.     Our  laft  cut  (No.  94),  taken  alfo  from  one 

\ 


No.  94,      The  Shoemaker. 

of  the  mifereres  at  Corbeil,  reprefents  the  flioemaker,  or  as  he  was  then 

ufually 


in  Literature  and  Art.  143 


ufually  called,  the  cordwainer,  becaufe  the  leather  which  he  chiefly  ufed 
came  from  Coidova  in  Spain,  and  was  thence  called  cordewan,  or 
cordewaine.  Our  fhoemaker  is  engaged  in  cutting  a  fkin  of  leather  with 
an  inftrument  of  a  rather  fingular  form.  Shoes,  and  perhaps  forms  for 
making  (hoes,  are  fufpended  on  pegs  againfl.  the  wall. 


144  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


\ 


CHAPTER   IX. 

GROTESftUE     FACES     AND     FIGURES. PREVALENCE     OF     THE     TASTE     FOE 

UGLY      AND      GROTESftUE      FACES. SOME      OF      THE      POPULAR      FORMS 

DERIVED     FROM    ANTIQUITY  ;     THE     TONGUE     LOLLING    OUT,    AND    THE 

DISTORTED       MOUTH. HORRIBLE      SUBJECTS  :       THE      MAN      AND      THE 

SERPENTS. ALLEGORICAL      FIGURES   :       GLUTTONY      AND      LUXURY. 

OTHER     REPRESENTATIONS    OF     CLERICAL     GLUTTONY    AND     DRUNKEN- 
NESS.  GROTESaUE       FIGURES       OF       INDIVIDUALS,      AND       GROTESftUE 

GROUPS. ORNAMENTS   OF  THE    BORDERS   OF  BOOKS. — UNINTENTIONAL 

CARICATURE  ;     THE    MOTE    AND    THE    BEAM. 

THE  grimaces  and  ftrangeppftures  of  the  jougleurs  feem  to_jiaye  had 
great  attracYion»3or-thofe  whajwitneffed  thjno.  _Tg  unrefined  and 
uneducated  minds  no  object  conveys  fo  perfect  a  notion  of  mirth  asan 
ugly  and  diftorted  face.  Hence  it  is  that  among  the  common  peafantry 
at  a  country  fair  few  exhibitions  are  more  fatisfa6tory  than  that  of 
grinning  through  a  horfe-collar.  This  fentiment  is  largely  exemplified 
in  the  fculpture  efpecially  of  the  middle  ages,  a  long  period,  during 
which  the  general  character  of  fociety  prefented  that  want  of  refinement 
which  we  now  obferve  chiefly  in  its  leaft  cultivated  claffes.  Among  the 
moft  common  decorations  of  our  ancient  churches  and  other  mediaeval 
buildings,  are  grotefque  and  monftrous  heads  and  faces.  Antiquity,  which 
lent  us  the  types  of  many  of  thefe  nionftrofities,  faw  in  her  Typhons  and 
Gorgons  a  fignification  beyond  the  furface  of  the  pidure,  and  her 
grotefque  mafks  had  a  general  meaning,  and  were  in  a  manner  typical  of 
the  whole  field  of  comic  literature.  The  maik  was  lefs  an  individual 
grotefque  to  be  laughed  at  for  itfelf,  than  a  perfonification  of  comedy. 
In  the  middle  ages,  on  the  contrary,  although  in  ibme  cafes  certain  forms 
were  often  regarded  as  typical  of  certain  ideas,  in  general  the  defign 
extended  no  farther  than  the  forms  which  the  artift  had  given  to  it ;  the 

grotefbue 


in  Literature  and  Art.  145 

grotefqne  features,  like  the  grinning  through  the  horfe-collar,  gave 
fatisfadion  by  their  mere  uglinefs.  Even  the  applications,  when  fuch 
figures  were  intended  to  have  one,  were  coarfely  fatirical,  without  any 
intellectuality,  and,  where  they  had  a  meaning  beyond  the  plain  text  of 
the  fcuipture  or  drawing,  it  was  not  far-fetched,  but  plain  and  eafily 
underftood.  When  the  Anglo-Saxon  drew  the  face  of  a  bloated  and 
disfigured  monk,  he  no  doubt  intended  thereby  to  proclaim  the  popular 
notion  of  the  general  character  of  monaftic  life,  but  this  was  a  defign 
which  nobody  could  mifunderftand,  an  interpretation  which  everybody 
was  prepared  to  give  to  it.  We  have  already  feen  various  examples  of 
this  defcription  of  fatire,  fcattered  here  and  there  among  the  immcnfe 
mafs  of  grotefque  fcuipture  which  has  no  fuch  meaning.  A  great 
proportion,  indeed,  of  thefe  grotefque  fculptures  appears  to  prefent  mere 
variations  of  a  certain  number  of  diftinft  types  which  had  been  handed 
down  from  a  remote  period,  fome  of  them  borrowed,  perhaps  involuntarily, 
from  antiquity.  Hence  we  naturally  look  for  the  earlier  and  more 
curious  examples  of  this  elate  of  art  to  Italy  and  the  fouth  of  France, 
where  the  tranfition  from  claflical  to  mediaeval  was  more  gradual,  and 
the  continued  influence  of  claflical  forms  is  more  eafily  traced.  The 
early  Chriftian  mafons  appear  to  have  caricatured  under  the  form  of  fuch 
grotefques  the  perfonages  of  the  heathen  mythology,  and  to  this  practice 
we  perhaps  owe  fome  of  the  types  of  the  mediaeval  monfters.  We  have 
feen  in  a  former  chapter  a  grotefque  from  the  church  of  Monte  Majour, 
near  Nifmes,  the  original  type  of  which  had  evidently  been  fome 
burlefque  figure  of  Saturn  eating  one  of  his  children.  Theclafljcal 
malic  doubtlefs  furnilhed  the  type  for  thofe  figures,  fo  common  in 
mediaeval  fcuipture,  of  faces  with  difproportionately  large  mouths  -}  jult 
as  another  favourite  clafs  of  grotefque  faces,  thole  with  diflended  mouths 


and  tongues  lolling  out,  were  taken  originally  from  the  Typhous  and 
Gorgons  of  the  ancients.  Many  other  popular  types  of  faces  rendered 
artificially  ugly  are  mere  exaggerations  of  the  diftnrtTnns  procTticed  pn  ihe 
features  by  different  operations,  iuch,  iui'  illfUmce,  as  mat  of  blowing 
a  horn. 

—The  pradice  of  blowing  the  horn,  is,  indeed,  peculiarly  calculated  to 

u  exhibit 


1 46  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


exhibit  the  features  of  the  face  to  difadvantage,  and  was  not  overlooked 
by  the  defigners  of  the  mediaeval  decorative  fculpture.  One  of  the  large 
collection  of  cafts  of  fculptures  from  French  cathedrals  exhibited  in  the 
mufeum  at  South  Kenfington,  has  furnifhed  the  two  fubje&s  given  in  our 
cut  No.  93 .  The  firft  is  reprefented  as  blowing  a  horn,  but  he  is 


No.  95.      Grotejque  Monfters. 


producing  the  greateft  poffible  diftortion  in  his  features,  and  especially  in 
his  mouth,  by  drawing  the  horn  forcibly  on  one  fide  with  his  left  hand, 
while  he  pulls  his  beard  in  the  other  direction  with  the  right  hand.  The 
force  with  which  he  is  fuppofed  to  be  blowing  is  perhaps  reprefented  by 
the  form  given  to  his  eyes.  The  face  of  the  lower  figure  is  in  at  leaft 
comparative  repose.  The  defign  of  reprefenting  general  diftortion  in  the 
firft  is  further  fhown  by  thendiculoufly  unnatural  pofition  of  the  arms. 
Such  diftortion  of  the  memoers  was  not  unfrequently  introduced  to 
heighten  the.  effeft  of  the  grimace  in  the  face ;  and,  as  in  thefe 
examples,  it  was  not  uncommon  to  introduce  as  a  further  element  of 
grotefque,  the  bodies,  or  parts  of  the  bodies,  of  animals,  or  even  of 
demons. 

Another 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


H7 


Another  caft  in  the  Kenfington  Muleum  is  the  lubjeft  of  our  rut 
No.  96,  which  prefents  the  fame  idea  of  ftretching  the  mouth.  The 
lubjecl.  is  here  exhibited  by  another  rather  mirthful  looking  individual, 
but  whether  the  exhibitor  is  intended  to  be  a  goblin  or  demon,  or 


No.  96.     Diabolical  Mirth. 

whether  he  is  merely  furnimed  with  the  wings  and  claws  of  a  bat,  feems 
rather  uncertain.  The  bat  was  looked  upon  as  an  unpropitious  if  not  an 
unholy  animal ;  like  the  owl,  it  was  the  companion  of  the  witches,  and 
of  the  fpirits  of  darknefs.  The  group  in  our  cut  No.  97  is  taken  from 


No.  97.     Making  Facet. 

one  of  the  carved  flails  in  the  church  of  Stratford-upon-Avon,  and 
reprefents  a  trio  of  grimacers.  The  firft  of  thefe  three  grotefque  faces  is 
lolling  out  the  tongue  to  an  extravagant  length ;  the  fecond  is  fimply 
grinning;  while  the  third  has  taken  a  faufage  between  his  teeth  to 

render 


148  Hiflory  of  Caricature  a?id  Grotefque 

render  his  grimace  ftill  more  ridiculous.  The  number  and  variety  of 
fuch  grotefque  faces,  which  we  find  fcattered  over  the  architectural 
decoration  of  our  old  ecclefiaftical  buildings,  are  fo  great  that  I  will  not 
attempt  to  give  any  more  particular  claffification  of  them.  All  this 
church  decoration  was  calculated  efpecially  to  produce  its  efFed  upon  the 
middle  and  lower  clafles,  and  mediaeval  art  was,  perhaps  more  than  any- 
thing elfe,  fuited  to  mediaeval  fociety,  for  it  belonged  to  the  mafs  and  not 
to  the  individual.  The  man  who  could  enjoy  a  match  at  grinning 
through  horfe-collars,  muft  have  been  charmed  by  the  grotefque  works  of 
the  mediaeval  ftone  fculptor  and  wood  carver  ;  and  we  may  add  that  thefe 
difplay,  though  often  rather  rude,  a  very  high  degree  of  fldll  in  art,  a 
great  power  of  producing  ftriking  imagery. 

Theie_xnejiJLaeYal_artifts  loved  alfo  to  produce  horrible  objects  as  well  as 
laughable   ones,    thougheven    in    tEeir   horrors 


r  arming  into  the_grotgigue.  Among  the  arljvmffs.  fp  th^  fcuTptured 
figures,  we  fqmetimes  meet  with  inftruments  of  pain,  and  very  talented 
attempts  to  exhibirtnTTon  the  features  of  the  victims.  The  creed  of  the 
middle  ages  gave  great  fcope  for  the  indulgence  of  this  tafte  in  the 
infinitely  varied  terrors  of  purgatory  and  hell;  and,  not  to  fpeak  of 
the  more  crude  defcriptions  that  are  fo  common  in  mediaeval  popular 
literature,  the  account  to  which  thefe  defcriptions  might  be  turned  by  the 
poet  as  well  as  the  artift  are  well  known  to  the  reader  of  Dante.  Coils 
of  ferpents  and  dragons,  which  were  the  moft  ufual  inftruments  in  the 
tortures  of  the  infernal  regions,  were  always  favourite  objects  in  mediaeval 
ornamentation,  whether  fculptured  or  drawn,  in  the  details  of  architectural 
decoration,  or  in  the  initial  letters  and  margins  of  books.  They  are  often 
combined  in  forming  grotefque  tracery  with  the  bodies  of  animals  or  of 
human  beings,  and  their  movements  are  generally  hoftile  to  the  latter. 
We  have  already  feen,  in  previous  chapters,  examples  of  this  ufe  of 
ferpents  and  dragons,  dating  from  the  earlieft  periods  of  mediaeval  art  ; 
and  it  is  perhaps  the  moft  common  ftyle  of  ornamentation  in  the 
buildings  and  illuminated  manufcripts  in  our  ifland  from  the  earlier 
Saxon  times  to  the  thirteenth  century.  This  ornamentation  is  fometimes 
ftrikingly  bold  and  effective.  In  the  cathedral  of  Wells  there  is  a  feries 

of 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 49 

of  ornamental  bofles,  formed  by  faces  writhing  under  the  attacks  of 
numerous  dragons,  who  are  feizing  upon  the  lips;  eyes,  and  cheeks  of 
their  victims.  One  of  thele  bofles,  which  are  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  98.  A  large,  coarfely  featured  face  is  the 


No.  98.     Horror. 

victim  of  two  dragons,  one  of  which  attacks  his  mouth,  while  the  other  has 
feized  him  by  the  eye.     The  expreffion  of  the  face  is  ftrikingly  horrible. 

The  higher  mind  of  the  middle  ages  loved  to  fee  inner  meanings 
through  outward  forms ;  or,  at  leaft,  it  was  a  fafhion  which  manifefted 
itfelf  moft  ftrongly  in  the  latter  half  of  the  twelfth  century,  to  adapt 
thefe  outward  forms  to  inward  meanings  by  comparifons  and  moralifa- 
tions :  and  under  the  effeft  of  this  feeling  certain  figures  were  at  times 
adopted,  with  a  view  to  fome  other  purpofe  than  mere  ornament,  though 
this  was  probably  an  innovation  upon  mediaeval  art.  The  tongue  lolling 
out,  taken  originally,  as  we  have  feen,  from  the  imagery  of  claffic  times, 
was  accepted  rather  early  in  the  middle  ages  as  the  emblem  or  fymbol  of 
luxury ;  and,  when  we  find  ft  among  the  fculptured  ornaments  of  the 
architefture  efpecially  of  fome  of  the  larger  and  more  important  churches, 
it  implied  probably  an  allufion  to  that  vice — at  leaft  the  face  prefented  to 
us  was  intended  to  be  that  of  a  voluptuary.  Among  the  remarkable 

feries 


150  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


feries  of  fculptures  which  crown  the  battlements  of  the  cloifters  of 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  executed  a  very  few  years  after  the  middle  of 
the  fifteenth  century,  amid  many  figures  of  a  very  mifcellaneous  character, 
there  are  feveral  which  were  thus,  no  doubt,  intended  to  be  reprefen- 
tatives  of  vices,  if  not  of  virtues.  I  give  two  examples  of  thefe  curious 
fculptures. 


No.  99.     Gluttony. 


No.  loo.     Luxury. 


The  firft,  No.  99,  is  generally  confidered  to  reprefent  gluttony,  and  it 
is  a  remarkable  circumftance  that,  in  a  building  the  character  of  which 
was  partly  ecclefiaftical,  and  which  was  erected  at  the  expenfe  and  under 
the  directions  of  a  great  prelate,  Bifhop  Wainflete,  the  vice  of  gluttony, 
with  which  the  ecclefiaftical  order  was  efpecially  reproached,  mould  be 
reprefented  in  ecclefiaftical  coftume.  It  is  an  additional  proof  that  the 
detail  of  the  work  of  the  building  was  left  entirely  to  the  builders.  The 
coarie^bloated_  features  of  the  face,  and  the  "_vi}lainnng  "  Irm/  frrfhead^. 

are 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


are  chara6teriftically  executed ;  and  the  lolling  tongue  may  perhaps  be 
intended  to  intimate  that,  in  the  lives  of  the  clergy,  luxury  went  hand  in 
with  its  kindred  vice.  The  fecond  of  our  examples,  No.  100,  appears  by 
its  different  characteriftics  (fome  of  which  we  have  been  unable  to 
introduce  in  our  woodcut)  to  be  intended  to  reprefent  luxury  itfelf. 
Sometimes  qualities  of  the  individual  man,  or 
even  the  clafs  of  fociety,  are  reprefented  in 
a  manner  far  lefs  difguifed  by  allegorical 
clothing,  and  therefore  much  more  plainly  to 
the  underftanding  of  the  vulgar.  Thus  in  an 
illuminated  manufcript  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, in  the  Britifh  Mufeum  (MS.  Arundel, 
No.  91),  gluttony  is  reprefented  by  a  monk 


No-  IOI« 


G/utton^ 


devouring  a  pie  alone  and  in  fecret,  except  that  a  little  cloven-footed  imp 
holds  up  the  dim,  and  feems  to  enjoy  the  profped  of  monaftic  indulgence. 
This  picture  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  101.  Another  manufcript  of  the 
fame  date  (MS.  Sloane,  No.  2435)  contains  a  fcene,  copied  in  our  cut 


No.  lol.      The  Monaftic  Cellarer. 


No.  103.     Drunkenneft. 


No.  102,  reprefenting  drunkennefs  under  the  form  of  another  monk,  who 
has  obtained  the  keys  and  found  his  way  into  the  cellar  of  his  monaftery, 
and  is  there  indulging  his  love  for  good  ale  in  fimilar  fecrecy.  It  is  to  be 
remarked  that  here,  again,  the  vices  are  laid  to  the  charge  of  the  clergy. 
Our  cut  No.  103,  from  a  baf-relief  in  Ely  Cathedral,  given  in  Carter's 

"  Specimens 


152  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


"  Specimens  of  Ancient  Sculpture,"  reprefents  a  man  drinking  from  a 
horn,  and  evidently  enjoying  his  employment,  but  his  coftume  is  not 
fufficiently  chara&eriftic  to  betray  his  quality. 

The  fubjeft  of  grotefque  faces  and  heads  naturally  leads  us  to  that  of 
monftrous  and  grotefque  bodies  and  groups  of  bodies,  which  has  already 
been  p?rtly  _frrafr"l  in  ajjjrmer  chapter,  where  we  have  noticed  the 
great  love  fliown  in  the  middle  ae^es  for  monflfdui. 


not  only   monfters  of  one    nature,   but,  and  that  efpecially,  of  figures 
formed  by  joining  together  the  parts  of  different,  and  entirely  diflimilar, 


No.  104.     A  btrange  Monfter. 

animals,  of  fimilar  mixtures  between  animals  and  men.  This,  as  ftated 
above,  was  often  effeded  by  joining  the  body  of  fome  nondeicript  animal 
to  a  human  head  and  face ;  fo  that,  by  the  difproportionate  fize  of  the 
latter,  the  body,  as  a  fecondary  part  of  the  pifture,  became  only  an  adjunft 
to  fet  off  ftill  further  the  grotefque  charader  of  the  human  face.  More 
importance  was  fometimes  given  to  the  body  combined  with  fantaftic 
forms,  which  baffle  any  attempt  at  giving  an  intelligible  defcription. 
The  accompanying  cut,  No.  104,  reprefents  a  winged  monfter  of  this 

kind ; 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


'53 


kind  ;  it  is  taken  from  one  of  the  cafts  from  French  churches  exhibited 
in  the  Kenfington  Mufeum. 

Snmptin-.PS  tfrfi  rrWljg»v_alartift,  without  giving  any  unufual  form  to 
his  human  figures,  placed  them  in  itrange  poltures.  or  joined  them  In— 


Jingular  combinations.  Thefe  latter  are  commonly  of  a  playful  character. 
or  fometimes  they  reprefent  droll  feats  of  {kill,  or  puzzles,  or  other 
fubjects,  all  of  which  have  been  publiftied  pictorially  and  for  the  amufe- 
ment  of  children  down  to  very  recent  times.  There  were  a  few  of  thefe 
groups  which  ate  of  rather  frequent  occurrence,  and  they  were  evidently 
favourite  types.  One  of  thefe  is  given  in  the  annexed  cut,  No.  105.  It 


No.  105.     Rolling  Toffy  Tur-vy. 

is  taken  from  one  of  the  carved  mifereres  of  the  flails  in  Ely  cathedral,  as 
given  in  Carter,  and  reprefents  two  men  who  appear  to  be  rolling  over 
each  other.  The  upper  figure  exhibits  animal's  ears  on  his  cap,  which 
feem  to  proclaim  him  a  member  of  the  fraternity  of  fools :  the  ears  of 
the  lower  figure  are  concealed  from  view.  This  group  is  not  a  rare  one, 
efpecially  on  fimilar  monuments  in  France,  where  the  architectural 
antiquaries  have  a  technical  name  for  it ;  and  this  Ihows  us  how  even  the 
particular  forms  of  art  in  the  middle  ages  were  not  confined  to  any  par- 
ticular country,  but  more  or  lefs,  and  with  exceptions,  they  pervaded  all 

x  thofe 


154  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


thofe  which  acknowledged  the  ecclefiaftical  fupremacy  of  the  church  of 
Rome ;  whatever  peculiarity  of  ftyle  it  took  in  particular  countries,  the 

fame  forms  were  fpread  through 
all  weftern  Europe.  Our  next  cut, 
No.  1 06,  gives  another  of  thefe 
curious  groups,  confifting,  in  fad,  of 
two  individuals,  one  of  which  is 
evidently  an  ecclefiaftic.  It  will 
be  feen  that,  as  we  follow  this 
round,  we  obtain,  by  means  of  the 
two  heads,  four  different  figures  in  fo 

No.  106.    A  Continuous  Group.  many  totally  different  pofitions.  This 

group  is  taken  from  one  of  the  very  curious  feats  in  the  cathedral  of 
Rouen  in  Normandy,  which  were  engraved  and  publifhed  in  an 
interefting  volume  by  the  late  Monfieur  E.  H. 
Langlois. 

Among  the  moft  interefting  of  the  mediaeval 
burlefque  drawings  are  thofe  which  are  found  in 
fuch  abundance  in  the  borders  of  the  pages  of 
illuminated  manufcripts.  During  the  earlier 
periods  of  the  mediaeval  miniatures,  the  favourite 
objects  for  thefe  borders  were  monftrous  animals, 
efpecially  dragons,  which  could  eafily  be  twined 
into  grotefque  combinations.  In  courfe  of  time,  the 
fubjecls  thus  introduced  became  more  numerous, 
and  in  the  fifteenth  century  they  were  very  varied. 
Strange  animals  ftill  continued  to  be  favourites,  but 
they  were  more  light  and  elegant  in  their  forms, 
and  were  more  gracefully  defigned.  Our  cut 
No.  107,  taken  from  the  beautifully-illuminated 
manufcript  of  the  romance  of  the  "Com  te  d'Artois," 
of  the  fifteenth  century,  which  has  furnilhed  us 
previoufly  with  feveral  cuts,  will  illuftrate  my 
The  graceful  lightnefs  of  the  tracery  of  the  foliage  fhown  in 

this 


Nc.  107.   Bcrdcr  Ornament. 


meaning. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


'55 


this  defign  is  found  in  none  of  the  earlier  works  of  art  of  this  clafs. 
This,  of  courfe,  is  chiefly  to  be  afcribed  to  the  great  advance  which  had 
been  made  in  the  art  of  defign  fince  the  thirteenth  century.  But,  though 
fo  greatly  improved  in  the  ftyle  of  art,  the  fame  clafs  of  fubjefts  con- 
tinued to  be  introduced  in  this  border  ornamentation  long  after  the  art 
of  printing,  and  that  of  engraving,  which  accompanied  it,  had  been 
introduced.  The  revolution  in  the  ornamentation  of  the  borders  of  the 
pages  of  books  was  effefted  by  the  artifts  of  the  lixteenth  century,  at 
which  time  people  had  become  better  acquainted  with,  and  had  learnt  to 
appreciate,  ancient  art  and  Roman  antiquities,  and  they  drew  their 
infpiration  from  a  correct  knowledge  of  what  the  middle  ages  had  copied 
blindly,  but  had  not  underftood.  Among  the  fubje6ts  of  burlefque  which 
the  monuments  of  Roman  art  prefented  to  them,  the  ftumpy  figures  of 
the  pigmies  appear  to  have  gained  fpecial  favour,  and  they  are  employed 
in  a  manner  which  reminds  us  of  the  pictures  found  in  Pompeii.  Joft 
Amman,  the  well-known  artift,  who  exercifed  his  profeffion  at  Nurem- 
berg in  the  latter  half  of  the  fixteenth  century,  engraved  a  fet  of 


No.  1 08.     A   Triumphal  ProccJJhn. 

illuftrations  to  Ovid's  Metamorphofes,  which  were  printed  at  Lyons  in 
1574,  and  each  cut  and  page  of  which  is  enclofed  in  a  border  of  very 
fanciful  and  neatly-executed  burlefque.  The  pigmies  are  introduced  in 
thefe  borders  very  freely,  and  are  grouped  with  great  fpirit.  I  felecl:  as  an 
example,  cut  No.  108,  a  fcene  which  reprefents  a  triumphal  proceflion — 

fome 


156  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

fome  pigmy  Alexander  returning  from  his  conquefts.  The  hero  is  feated 
on  a  throne  carried  by  an  elephant,  and  before  him  a  bird,  perhaps  a 
vanquished  crane,  proclaims  loudly  his  praife.  Before  them  a  pigmy 
attendant  marches  proudly,  carrying  in  one  hand  the  olive  branch  of 
peace,  and  leading  in  the  other  a  ponderous  but  captive  oftrich,  as  a 
trophy  of  his  mailer's  victories.  Before  him  again  a  pigmy  warrior, 
heavily  armed  with  battle-axe  and  falchion,  is  mounting  the  fteps  of  a 
ftage,  on  which  a  nondefcript  animal,  partaking  fomewhat  of  the 
character  of  a  fow,  but  perhaps  intended  as  a  burlefque  on  the  ftrange 
animals  which,  in  mediaeval  romance,  Alexander  was  faid  to  have 
encountered  in  Egypt,  blows  a  horn,  to  celebrate  or  announce  the  return 
of  the  conqueror.  A  fnail,  alfo  advancing  flowly  up  the  ftage,  implies, 
perhaps,  a  fneer  at  the  whole  fcene. 

Neverthelefs,  thefe  old  German,  Flemifh,  and  Dutch  artifts  were  ftill 
much  influenced  by  the  mediaeval  fpirit,  which  they  difplayed  in  their 
coarfe  and  clumfy  imagination,  in  their  neglect  of  everything  like 
congruity  in  their  treatment  of  the  fubject  with  regard  to  time  and 
place,  and  their  naive  exaggerations  and  blunders.  Extreme  examples  of 
thefe  characterises  are  fpoken  of,  in  which  the  Ifraelites  croffing  the  Red 
Sea  are  armed  with  muikets,  and  all  the  other  accoutrements  of  modern 
foldiers,  and  in  which  Abraham  is  preparing  to  facrifice  his  fon  Ifaac  by 
mooting  him  with  a  matchlock.  In  delineating  fcriptural  fubjects,  an 
attempt  is  generally  made  to  clothe  the  figures  in  an  imaginary  ancient 
oriental  coftume,  but  the  landfcapes  are  filled  with  the  modem  caftles 
and  manfion  houfes,  churches,  and  monaileries  of  weftern  Europe. 
Thefe  half-mediaeval  artifts,  too,  like  their  more  ancient  predeceflbrs, 
often  fall  into  unintentional  caricature  by  the  exaggeration  or  fimplicity 
with  which  they  treat  their  fubjects.  There  was  one  fubject  which  the 
artifts  of  this  period  of  regeneration  of  art  feemed  to  have  agreed  to 
treat  in  a  very  unimaginative  manner.  In  the  beautiful  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  our  Saviour,  in  condemning  hafty  judgments  of  other  people's 
actions,  fays  (Matt.  vii.  3—5),  "And  why  beholdeft  thou  the  mote  that 
is  in  thy  brother's  eye,  but  confidereft  not  the  beam  that  is  in  thine 
own  eye  ?  Or  how  wilt  thou  fay  to  thy  brother,  Let  me  pull  out  the 

mote 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


'57 


mote  out  of  thine  eye,  and,  behold,  a  beam  is  in  thine  own  eye  ?  Thou 
hypocrite,  firft  caft  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  and  then  (halt 
thou  fee  clearly  to  caft  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's  eye."  What- 
ever be  the  exact  nature  of  the  beam  which  the  man  was  expected  to 
overlook  in  his  "  own  eye,"  it  certainly  was  not  a  large  beam  of  timber. 
Yet  fuch  was  the  conception  of  it  by  artifts  of  the  fixteenth  century. 
One  of  them,  named  Solomon  Bernard,  defigned  a  feries  of  woodcuts 
illuftrating  the  New  Teftament,  which  were  publifhed  at  Lyons  in  1553  j 
and  the  manner  in  which  he  treated  the  fubject  will  be  feen  in  our  cut 
No.  109,  taken  from  one  of  the  illuftrations  to  that  book.  The  individual 


No.  109.      The  Mote  and  the  Beam. 

feated  is  the  man  who  has  a  mote  in  his  eye,  which  the  other,  approach- 
ing him,  points  out ;  and  he  retorts  by  pointing  to  the  "  beam,"  which  is 
certainly  fuch  a  maffive  objea  as  could  not  eafily  have  been  overlooked. 
About  thirteen  years  before  this,  an  artift  of  Augfburg,  named  Daniel 
Hopfer,  had  publifhed  a  large  copper-plate  engraving  of  this  fame  fubjed, 
a  reduced  copy  of  which  is  given  in  the  cut  No.  no.  The  individual 
who  fees  the  mote  in  his  brother  s  eye,  is  evidently  treating  it  m  the 

character 


1 5  8  Htflory  of  Caricature  and  Crotefque 


chara£ter  of  a  phyfician  or  furgeon.  It  is  only  neceffary  to  add  that  the 
beam  in  his  own  eye  is  of  ftill  more  extraordinary  dimenfions  than  the 
former,  and  that,  though  it  feems  to  efcape  the  notice  both  of  himfelf 


Ac.  1 1  o.      The  Mote  and  the  Beam — Another  Treatment. 

and  his  patient,  it  is  evident  that  the  group  in  the  diftance  contemplate  it 
with  aftonimment.  The  building  accompanying  this  fcene  appears  to  be 
a  church,  with  paintings  of  faints  in  the  windows. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


CHAPTER   X. 

SATIRICAL    LITERATURE    IN    THE     MIDDLE    AGES. JOHN    DE    HAUTEVILLB 

AND    ALAN    DE    LILLE. GOLIAS  AND    THE    GOLIARDS. THE    GOLIAHDIC 

POETRY. TASTE    FOR     PARODY. PARODIES     ON    RELIGIOUS     SUBJECTS. 

POLITICAL      CARICATURE      IN     THE      MIDDLE     AGES. THE     JEWS      OF 

NORWICH. CARICATURE      REPRESENTATIONS     OF     COUNTRIES. LOCAL 

SATIRE. POLITICAL    SONGS    AND    POEMS. 

IN  a  previous  chapter  I  have  fpoken  of  a  clafe  of  fatirical  literature 
which  was  entirely  popular  in  its  character.  Not  that  on  this  account 
it  was  original  among  the  peoples  who  compofed  mediaeval  fociety,  for 
the  intellectual  development  of  the  middle  ages  came  almoft  all  from 
Rome  through  one  medium  or  other,  although  we  know  fo  little  of  the 
details  of  the  popular  literature  of  the  Romans  that  we  cannot  always 
trace  it.  The  mediaeval  literature  of  weftern  Europe  was  moftly  modelled 
upon  that  of  France,  which  was  received,  like  its  language,  from  Rome. 
But  when  the  great  univerfity  fyftem  became  eftablifhed,  towards  the  end 
of  the  eleventh  century,  the  fcholars  of  weftern  Europe  became  more 
directly  acquainted  with  the  models  of  literature  which  antiquity  had  left 
them  5  and  during  the  twelfth  century  thefe  found  imitators  fo  Ikilful  that 
fome  of  them  almoft  deceive  us  into  accepting  them  for  claflical  writers 
themfelves.  Among  the  firft  of  thefe  models  to  attract  the  attention  of 
mediaeval  fcholars,  were  the  Roman  fatirifls,  and  the  ftudy  of  them 
produced,  during  the  twelfth  century,  a  number  of  fatirical  writers  in 
Latin  profe  and  verfe,  who  are  remarkable  not  only  for  their  boldnefs  and 
poignancy,  but  for  the  elegance  of  their  ftvle.  I  mav  mention  among 
thofe  of  Englilh  birth,  John  of  Salisbury,  Walter  Mapes,  and  Giraldus 
Cambrenfis,  who  all  wrote  in  profe,  and  Nigellus  Wireker,  already 
mentioned  in  a  former  chapter,  and  John  de  Hauteville,  who  wrote  in 

verfe. 


160  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

verfe.  The  lirft  of  thefe,  in  his  "  Polycraticus,"  Walter  Mapes,  in  his 
book  "De  Nugis  Curialium,"  and  Giraldus.  in  his  "  Speculum  Ecclefiae," 
and  feveral  other  of  his  writings,  lay  the  lalh  on  the  corruptions  and  vices 
of  their  contemporaries  with  no  tender  hand.  The  two  moft  remarkable 
Englifh  fatirifts  of  the  twelfth  century  were  John  de  Hauteville  and 
Nigellus  Wireker.  The  former  wrote,  in  the  year  1184,  a  poem  in  nine 
books  of  Latin  hexameters,  entitled,  after  the  name  of  its  hero,  "  Archi- 
trenius,"  or  the  Arch-mourner.  Architrenius  is  reprefented  as  a  youth, 
arrived  at  years  of  maturity,  who  forrows  over  the  fpeftacle  of  human 
vices  and  weaknelfes,  until  he  refolves  to  go  on  a  pilgrimage  to  Dame 
Nature,  in  order  to  expoftulate  with  her  for  having  made  him  feeble  to 
refift  the  temptations  of  the  world,  and  to  entreat  her  afliftance.  On  his 
way,  he  arrives  fucceffively  at  the  court  of  Venus  and  at  the  abode  of 
Gluttony,  which  give  him  the  occafion  to  dwell  at  confiderable  length 
on  the  licenfe  and  luxury  which  prevailed  among  his  contemporaries. 
He  next  reaches  Paris,  and  vifits  the  famous  mediaeval  univerfity,  and  his 
fatire  on  the  manners  of  the  ftudents  and  the  fruitlefihefs  of  their  ftudies, 
forms  a  remarkable  and  interefting  picture  of  the  age.  The  pilgrim 
next  arrives  at  the  Mount  of  Ambition,  tempting  by  its  beauty  and  by  the 
ftately  palace  with  which  it  was  crowned,  and  here  we  are  prefented  with 
a  fatire  on  the  manners  and  corruptions  of  the  court.  Near  to  this  was 
the  Hill  of  Prefumption,  which  was  inhabited  by  ecclefiaftics  of  all  claffes, 
great  fcholaftic  do6tors  and  profeflbrs,  monks,  and  the  like.  It  is  a 
fatire  on  the  manners  of  the  clergy.  As  Architrenius  turns  from  this 
painful  fpeclacle,  he  encounters  a  gigantic  and  hideous  monfter  named 
Cupidity,  is  led  into  a  feries  of  reflections  upon  the  greedinefs  and 
avarice  of  the  prelates,  from  which  he  is  roufed  by  the  uproar  caufed  by 
a  fierce  combat  between  the  prodigals  and  the  mifers.  He  is  fubfequently 
carried  to  the  ifland  of  far-diilant  Thule,  which  he  finds  to  be  the  refting- 
place  of  the  philofophers  of  ancient  Greece,  and  he  liftens  to  their 
declamations  againft  the  vices  of  mankind.  After  this  vifit,  Architrenius 
reaches  the  end  of  his  pilgrimage.  He  finds  Nature  in  the  form  of  a 
beautiful  woman,  dwelling  with  a  hoft  of  attendants  in  the  midft  of  a 
flowery  plain,  and  meats  with  a  courteous  reception,  but  me  begins  by 

giving 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  6 


giving  him  a  long  ledure  on  natural  philofophy.  After  this  is  concluded, 
Dame  Nature  liftens  to  his  complaints,  and,  to  confole  him,  gives  him  a 
handfome  woman,  named  Moderation,  for  a  wife,  and  difmifles  him  with 
a  chapter  of  good  counfels  on  the  duties  of  married  life.  The  general 
moral  intended  to  be  inculcated  appears  to  be  that  the  retirement  of 
domeftic  happinefs  is  to  be  preferred  to  the  vain  and  heartlels  turmoils  of 
adive  life  in  all  its  phafes.  It  will  be  feen  that  the  kind  of  allegory 
which  fubfequently  produced  the  "  Pilgrim's  Progrefs/'  had  already  made 
its  appearance  in  mediaeval  literature. 

Another  of  the  celebrated  fatirifls  of  the  fcholaftic  ages  was  named 
Alanus  de  Infulis,  or  Alan  of  Lille,  becaufe  he  is  underftood  to  have  been 
born  at  Lille  in  Flanders.  He  occupied  the.  chair  of  theology  for  many 
years  in  the  univerfity  of  Paris  with  great  diftin£tion,  and  his  learning  was 
fo  extenfive  that  he  gained  the  name  of  doSlor  univerfalis,  the  univerfal 
doctor.  In  one  of  his  books,  which  is  an  imitation  of  that  favourite  book 
in  the  middle  ages  "Boethius  de  Confolatione  Philofophiae,"  Dame  Nature, 
in  the  place  of  Philofophy — not,  as  in  John  de  Hauteville,  as  the  referee, 
but  as  the  complainant — is  introduced  bitterly  lamenting  over  the  deep 
depravity  of  the  thirteenth  century,  efpecially  difplayed  in  the  prevalence 
of  vices  of  a  revolting  character.  This  work,  which,  like  Boethius,  confifts 
of  alternate  chapters  in  verfe  and  profe,  is  entitled  "  De  Planctu  Naturae," 
the  lamentation  of  nature.  I  will  not,  however,  go  on  here  to  give  a 
lift  of  the  graver  fatirical  writers,  but  we  will  proceed  to  another  clafs  of 
fatirifts  which  fprang  up  among  the  mediaeval  fcholars,  more  remarkable 
and  more  peculiar  in  their  character — I  mean  peculiar  to  the  middle  ages. 

The  fatires  of  the  time  fhow  us  that  the  ftudents  in  the  universities 
in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  who  enjoyed  a  great  amount 
of  independence  from  authority,  were  generally  wild  and  riotous,  and, 
among  the  vaft  number  of  youths  who  then  devoted  themfelves  to  a 
fcholaftic  life,  we  can  have  no  doubt  that  the  habit  of  diflipation  became 
permanent.  Among  thefe  wild  ftudents  there  exifled,  probably,  far  more 
wit  and  fatirical  talent  than  among  their  fteadier  and  more  laborious 
brethien,  and  this  wit,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  difplayed,  made 
its  pofleflbrs  welcome  guefts  at  the  luxurious  tables  of  the  higher  and 

Y  richer 


1 62  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


richer  clergy,  at  which  Latin  feems  to  have  been  the  language  in  ordinary 
ufe.  In  all  probability  it  was  from  this  circumftance  (in  allufion  to  the 
Latin  word  gula,  as  intimating  their  love  of  the  table)  that  thefe  merry 
fcholars,  who  difplayed  in  Latin  fome  of  the  accomplishments  which  the 
jougleurs  profeffed  in  the  vulgar  tongue,  took  or  received  the  name  of 
goliards  (in  the  Latin  of  that  time,  goliardi,  or  goliardenfcs)  *  The 
name  at  leaft  appears  to  have  been  adopted  towards  the  end  of  the 
twelfth  century.  In  the  year  1229,  during  the  minority  of  Louis  IX., 
and  while  the  government  of  France  was  in  the  hands  of  the  queen- 
mother,  troubles  arofe  in  the  univerfity  of  Paris  through  the  intrigues  of 
the  papal  legate,  and  the  turbulence  of  the  fcholars  led  to  their  difperfion 
and  to  the  temporary  clofing  of  the  fchools ;  and  the  contemporary 
hiftorian,  Matthew  Paris,  tells  us  how  "  fome  of  the  fervants  of  the 
departing  fcholars,  or  thofe  whom  we  ufed  to  call  goliardenfes,"  com- 
pofed  an  indecent  epigram  on  the  rumoured  familiarities  between  the 
legate  and  the  queen.  But  this  is  not  the  firft  mention  of  the  goliards, 
for  a  flatute  of  the  council  of  Treves,  in  1227,  forbade  "all  priefts  to 
permit  truants,  or  other  wandering  fcholars,  or  goliards,  to  fing  verfes  or 
Sanftus  and  Angelus  Dei  in  the  fervice  of  the  mafs."f  This  probably 
refers  to  parodies  on  the  religious  fervice,  fuch  as  thofe  of  which  I  fhall 
foon  have  to  fpeak.  From  this  time  the  goliards  are  frequently  mentioned. 
In  ecclefiaftical  ftatutes  publifhed  in  the  year  1289,  it  is  ordered  that  the 
clerks  or  clergy  (clerici,  that  is,  men  who  had  their  education  in  the 
univerfity)  fliould  not  be  jougleurs,  goliards,  or  buffoons  ;"  J  and  the  fame 
ftatute  proclaims  a  heavy  penalty  againft  thofe  clerici  "  who  perfift  in  the 

practice 


*  In  the  mediaeval  Latin,  the  word  goliardia  was  introduced  to  express  the  pro- 
fession of  the  goliard,  and  the  verb  g oliardizare,  to  signify  the  practice  of  it. 

t  "  Item,  praecipimus  ut  omnes  sacerdotes  non  permittant  trutannos  et  alios  vagos 
scholares,  aut  goliardos,  cantare  versus  super  Sanflus  et  Angelus  Dei  in  missis,"  etc- 
— Concil.  Trevir.,  an  1227,  ap.  Marten,  et  Durand.  Ampliss.  Coll.,  vii.  col.  117. 

J  "  Item,  praecipimus  quod  clerici  non  sint  joculatores,  goliardi,  seu  bufones." — 
Stat.  Synod.  Caduacensis,  Ruthenensis,  et  Tutelensis  Eccles.  ap.  Martene,  Thes. 
Anecd.,  iv.  col.  727. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  163 


pra&ice  of  goliardy  or  flage  performance  during  a  year,"*  which  fliows 
that  they  exercifed  more  of  the  functions  of  the  jougleur  than  the  mere 
finging  of  fongs. 

Thefe  vagabond  clerks  made  for  themfelves  an  imaginary  chieftain,  or 
prefident  of  their  order,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  Golias,  probably 
as  a  pun  on  the  name  of  the  giant  who  combated  againft  David,  and,  to 
fhow  further  their  defiance  of  the  exiiling  church  government,  they  made 
him  a  bifhop — Golias  epifcopus.  Bimop  Golias  was  the  burlefque  repre- 
fentative  of  the  clerical  order,  the  general  fatirift,  the  reformer  of 
eclefiaftical  and  all  other  corruptions.  If  he  was  not  a  doctor  of  divinity, 
he  was  a  mafter  of  arts,  for  he  is  fpoken  of  as  Magifter  Golias.  But 
above  all  he  was  the  father  of  the  Goliards,  the  "ribald  clerks,"  as  they 
are  called,  who  all  belonged  to  his  houfehold,f  and  they  are  fpoken  of  as 
his  children. 

Summa  falus  omnium,  Ji/ius  Marite, 
Pafcat,  fotat,  -veftiat  puerot  Golyce  !  J 

"  May  the  Saviour  of  all,  the  Son  of  Mary,  give  food,  drink,  and  clothes 
to  the  children  of  Golias!"  Still  the  name  was  clothed  in  fo  much 
myftery,  that  Giraldus  Cambrenfis,  who  flourimed  towards  the  latter  end 
of  the  twelfth  century,  believed  Golias  to  be  a  real  perfonage,  and  his 
contemporary.  It  may  be  added  that  Golias  not  only  boafts  of  the 
dignity  of  bifhop,  but  he  appears  fometimes  under  the  title  of  archipoeta, 
the  archpoet  or  poet-in-chief. 

Caefarius  of  Heifterbach,  who  completed  his  book  of  the  miracles  of 
his  time  in  the  year  1222,  tells  us  a  curious  anecdote  of  the  character  of 
the  wandering  clerk.  In  the  year  before  he  wrote,  he  tells  us,  "  It 
happened  at  Bonn,  in  the  diocefe  of  Cologne,  that  a  certain  wandering 

clerk, 


*  "  Cleric!  ....  si  in  goliardiavel  histrionatu  per  annum  fuerint."— Ib.  col.  729. 
In  one  of  the  editions  of  this  statute  it  is  added, "  after  they  have  been  warned  three 
times." 

f  "Clerici  ribaldi,  maxime  qui  vulgo  dicuntur  defamila  Goliai."— Concil.  Sen.  ap. 
Concil.,  torn.  ix.  p.  578. 

J  See  my  "  Poems  of  Walter  Mapes,"  p.  70. 


1 64  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

clerk,  named  Nicholas,  of  the  clafs  they  call  archpoet,  was  grievoufly  ill, 
and  when  he  fuppofed  that  he  was  dying,  he  obtained  from  our  abbot, 
through  his  own  pleading,  and  the  interceflion  of  the  canons  of  the  fame 
church,  admiflion  into  the  order.  What  more  ?  He  put  on  the  tunic, 
as  it  appeared  to  us,  with  much  contrition,  but,  when  the  danger  was 
paft,  he  took  it  off  immediately,  and,  throwing  it  down  with  derifion,  took 
to  flight."  We  learn  beft  the  character  of  the  goliards  from  their  own 
poetry,  a  considerable  quantity  of  which  is  preferred.  They  wandered 
about  from  manfion  to  manfion,  probably  from  monaftery  to  monaflery, 
juft  like  the  jougleurs,  but  they  feem  to  have  been  efpecially  welcome  at 
the  tables  of  the  prelates  of  the  church,  and,  like  the  jougleurs,  befides 
being  well  feafted,  they  received  gifts  of  clothing  and  other  articles.  In 
few  inftances  only  were  they  otherwife  than  welcome,  as  defcribed  in  the 
rhyming  epigram  printed  in  my  "  Latin  Poems  attributed  to  Walter 
Mapes."  "  I  come  uninvited,"  fays  the  goliard  to  the  bifhop,  "ready  for 
dinner;  fuch  is  my  fate,  never  to  dine  invited."  The  bilhop  replies,  "I 
care  not  for  vagabonds,  who  wander  among  the  fields,  and  cottages,  and 
villages  j  fuch  guefts  are  not  for  my  table.  I  do  not  invite  you,  for  I 
avoid  fuch  as  you ;  yet  without  my  will  you  may  eat  the  bread  you  afk. 
Warn,  wipe,  fit,  dine,  drink,  wipe,  and  depart." 

Goliardus. 

Non  in-vitatus  -venlo  p^andere  paratus  ; 
Sic  fum  fatatusy  nunquam  pranderc  "vocatus. 

Episcopus. 

Non  ego  euro  "vagos,  qul  rura,  mapalia,  pages 
Pcrluftranty  tales  nan  -vult  mea  menja  Jodalet. 
Te  nan  in-vitOy  tibi  confimilei  ego  vitc  ; 
Me  tamen  in-vlto  potieris  pane  fetito. 
dbluey  terge,  Jede,  prandet  bite,  terge,  recede. 

In  another  fimilar  epigram,  the  goliard  complains  of  the  bifliop  who 
had  given  him  as  his  reward  nothing  but  an  old  worn-out  mantle.  Moft 
of  the  writers  of  the  goliardic  poetry  complain  of  their  poverty,  and 
fome  of  them  admit  that  this  poverty  arofe  from  th<?  tavern  and  the 
love  of.  gambling.  One  of  them  alleges  as  his  claim  to  the  liberality  of 

his 


in  Literature  and  Art.  j6c 

his  hoft,  that,  as  he  was  a  fcholar,  he  had  not  learnt  to  labour,  that  his 
parents  were  knights,  but  he  had  no  tafle  for  fighting,  and  that,  in  a 
word,  he  preferred  poetry  to  any  occupation.  Another  fpeaks  ftill  more 
to  the  point,  and  complains  that  he  is  in  danger  of  being  obliged  to  fell 
his  clothes.  "  If  this  garment  of  vair  which  I  wear,"  he  fays,  "  be  fold 
for  money,  it  will  be  a  great  difgrace  to  me ;  I  would  rather  fuffer  a  long 
fart.  A  bimop,  who  is  the  mod  generous  of  all  generous  men,  gave  me 
this  cloak,  and  will  have  for  it  heaven,  a  greater  reward  than  St.  Martin 
has,  who  only  gave  half  of  his  cloak.  It  is  needful  now  that  the  poet's 
want  be  relieved  by  your  liberality  [addreffing  his  hearers]  ;  let  noble  men 
give  noble  gifts — gold,  and  robes,  and  the  like." 

Si  -vendatur  proffer  denarlum 

.  Indumentum  quod  for  to  -varlum, 

Grande  ml  hi  fet  opprobrium  ; 
Malo  diu  pati  jejunlum. 
LargiJJlmus  largorum  omnium 
Prceful  dedit  mihl  hoc  pallium) 
Majus  habens  In  calls  pramlum 
Quam  Martinus,  qul  dedit  medium. 
Nunc  eft  opus  ut  -veflra  copla 
Skblevetur  -vatis  Inopla  ; 
Dent  nobiles  dona  nobilia, — 
Aurum,  -ueftes,  et  hlijimllla. 

There  has  been  fome  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  country  to  which 
this  poetry  more  efpecially  belongs.  Giraldus  Cambrenfis,  writing  at  the 
end  of  the  twelfth  or  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  evidently 
thought  that  Golias  was  an  Englifhman  ;  and  at  a  later  date  the  goliardic 
poetry  was  almoft  all  afcribed  to  Giraldus's  contemporary  and  friend,  the 
celebrated  humourift,  Walter  Mapes.  This  was,  no  doubt,  an  error. 
Jacob  Grimm  feemed  inclined  to  claim  them  for  Germany ;  but  Grimm, 
on  this  occafion,  certainly  took  a  narrow  view  of  the  queftion.  We  mall 
probably  be  more  correct  in  faying  that  they  belonged  in  common  to  all 
the  countries  over  which  univerfity  learning  extended ;  that  in  whatever 
country  a  particular  poem  of  this  clafi  was  compofed,  it  became  the 
property  of  the  whole  body  of  thefe  fcholaftic  jougleurs,  and  that  it  was 

thus 


1 66  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotef^ue 

thus  carried  from  one  land  to  another,  receiving  fometimes  alterations  or 
additions  to  adapt  it  to  each.  Several  of  thefe  poems  are  found  in 
manufcripts  written  in  different  countries  with  fuch  alterations  and 
additions,  as,  for  inftance,  that  in  the  well-known  "  Confeffion,"  in  the 
Englifa  copies  of  which  we  have,  near  the  conclufion,  the  line — 

Praful  Coventrenjlum,  farce  confitenti  ; 

an  appeal  to  the  bifhop  of  Coventry,  which  is  changed,  in  a  copy  in  a 
German  manufcript,  to 

Elefle  Colonitf,  farce  penitent!, 

•'  O  eleft  of  Cologne,  fpare  me  penitent."  From  a  comparifon  of  what 
remains  of  this  poetry  in  manufcripts  written  in  different  countries,  it 
appears  probable  that  the  names  Golias  and  goliard  originated  in  the 
univerlity  of  Paris,  but  were  more  efpecially  popular  in  England,  while  the 
term  archipoeta  was  more  commonly  <ifed  in  Germany. 

In  1841  I  colle&ed  all  the  goliardic  poetry  which  I  could  then  find 
in  Englifti  manufcripts,  and  edited  it,  under  the  name  of  Walter  Mapes, 
as  one  of  the  publications  of  the  Camden  Society.*  At  a  rather  later 
date  I  gave  a  chapter  of  additional  matter  of  the  fame  defcription  in  my 
"  Anecdota  Literaria."f  All  the  poems  I  have  printed  in  thefe  two 
volumes  are  found  in  manufcripts  written  in  England,  and  fome  of  them 
are  certainly  the  compofitions  of  Englilh  writers.  They  are  diftinguifhed 
by  remarkable  facility  and  eafe  in  verfification  and  rhyme,  and  by  great 
pungency  of  fatire.  The  latter  is  directed  efpecially  againft  the  clerical 
order,  and  none  are  fpared,  from  the  pope  at  the  fummit  of  the  fcale 
down  to  the  loweft  of  the  clergy.  In  the  "  Apocalypfis  Goliae,"  or  Golias's 
Revelations,  which  appears  to  have  been  the  moft  popular  of  all  thefe 

poems, 

*  The  Latin  Poems  commonly  attributed  to  Walter  Mapes,  collected  and  edited 
by  Thomas  Wright,  Esq.,  410.,  London,  1841. 

t  "  Anecdota  Literaria  ;  a  Collection  of  Short  Poems  in  English,  Latin,  and 
French,  illustrative  of  the  Literature  and  History  of  England  in  the  Thirteenth 
Century."  Edited  by  Thomas  Wright,  Esq.  8vo.,  London,  1844. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  \  67 

poems,*  the  poet  defcribes  himfelf  as  carried  up  in  a  vifion  to  heaven, 
where  the  vices  and  diforders  of  the  various  claries  of  the  popifh  clergy  are 
fuccefiively  revealed  to  him.  The  pope  is  a  devouring  lion  ;  in  hiseager- 
nefs  for  pounds,  he  pawns  books ;  at  the  fight  of  a  mark  of  money,  he 
treats  Mark  the  Evangelift  with  disdain  ;  while  he  fails  aloft,  money  alone 
is  his  anchoring-place.  The  original  lines  will  ferve  as  a  fpecimen  of 
the  ftyle  of  thefe  curious  compofitions,  and  of  the  love  of  punning  which 
was  fo  characteriftic  of  the  liteiature  of  that  age  : — 

Eft  leo  pontifex  Jummus,  qm  dcvorat, 
Qui  libras  foiens,  librm  imfignorat  ; 
Marcam  refficict,  Marcum  dedccorat  } 
Infummis  navigans,  in  nummis  anchor  at. 

The  bifhop  is  in  hafte  to  intrude  himfelf  into  other  people's  paftures,  and 
fills  himfelf  with  other  people's  goods.  The  ravenous  archdeacon  is  com- 
pared to  an  eagle,  becaufe  he  has  (harp  eyes  to  fee  his  prey  afar  off,  and 
is  fwift  to  leize  upon  it.  The  dean  is  reprefented  by  an  animal  with  a 
man's  face,  full  of  filent  guile,  who  covers  fraud  with  the  form  of  juitice, 
and  by  the  Ihow  of  fimplicity  would  make  others  believe  him  to  be  pious. 
In  this  fpirit  the  faults  of  the  clergy,  of  all  degrees,  are  minutely  criticifed 
through  between  four  and  five  hundred  lines ;  and  it  muft  not  be  forgotten 
that  it  was  the  Englilh  clergy  whofe  character  was  thus  expofed. 

Tufcribes  etiam,  forma  Jed  alia, 
Septem  ecclefiit  qua  funt  in  Anglla. 

Others  of  thefe  pieces  are  termed  Sermons,  and  are  addrefied,  fome  to 
the  bifhops  and  dignitaries  of  the  church,  others  to  the  pope,  others  to 
the  monaflic  orders,  and  others  to  the  clergy  in  general.  The  court  of 
Rome,  we  are  told,  was  infamous  for  its  greedinefs ;  there  all  right  and 
juilice  were  put  up  for  fale,  and  no  favour  could  be  had  without  money. 
In  this  court  money  occupies  everybody's  thoughts  ;  its  crols — i.  e.  the  mark 

on 


*  In  my  edition  I  have  collated  no  less  than  sixteen  copies  which  occur  among 
the  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  and  in  the  libraries  at  Oxford  and  Cambridge, 
and  there  are,  no  doubt,  many  more. 


1 6  8  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


on  the  reverie  of  the  coin — its  roundnefs,  and  its  whiteneis,  all  pleafe  the 
Romans  ;  where  money  fpeaks  law  is  filent. 

Nummis  in  hoc  curia  non  eft  qui  nan  -vacet ; 
Crux  placet,  rotunditas,  et  albedo  placet, 
Et  cum  totum  placeat,  et  Romanis  placet, 
Ubi  numtnui  loquitur,  et  lex  omnis  facet. 

Perhaps  one  of  the  moft  curious  of  thefe  poems  is  the  "  Confeflion  of 
Golias,"  in  which  the  poet  is  made  to  fatirife  himfelf,  and  he  thus  gives 
us  a  curious  picture  of  the  goliard's  life.  He  complains  that  he  is  made 
of  light  material,  which  is  moved  by  every  wind  j  that  he  wanders  about 
irregularly,  like  the  fliip  on  the  fea  or  the  bird  in  the  air,  feeking  worth- 
lefs  companions  like  himfelf.  He  is  a  flave  to  the  charms  of  the  fair  fex. 
He  is  a  martyr  to  gambling,  which  often  turns  him  out  naked  to  the  cold, 
but  he  is  warmed  inwardly  by  the  infpiration  of  his  mind,  and  he  writes 
better  poetry  than  ever.  Lechery  and  gambling  are  two  of  his  vices,  and 
the  third  is  drinking.  "  The  tavern,"  he  fays,  "  I  never  defpifed,  nor 
mall  I  ever  defpife  it,  until  I  fee  the  holy  angels  coming  to  fing  the 
eternal  requiem  over  my  corpfe.  It  is  my  defign  to  die  in  the  tavern ;  let 
wine  be  placed  to  my  mouth  when  I  am  expiring,  that  when  the  choirs 
of  angels  come,  they  may  fay, '  Be  God  propitious  to  this  drinker ! '  The 
lamp  of  the  foul  is  lighted  with  cups ;  the  heart  fteeped  in  ne£tar  flies  up 
to  heaven ;  and  the  wine  in  the  tavern  has  for  me  a  better  flavour  than 
that  which  the  bifhop's  butler  mixes  with  water.  ....  Nature  gives  to 
every  one  his  peculiar  gift :  I  never  could  write  fading ;  a  boy  could  beat 
me  in  compofition  when  I  am  hungry ;  I  hate  thirft  and  failing  as  much 
as  death." 

Tertio  capitulo  memoro  tabernam  : 
Illam  nullo  tempore  fprevi,  neque  fpernam, 
Donee  Janflos  angelos  -venientes  cernam, 
Cantantes  pro  mortuo  requiem  aternam. 

Meum  eji  propofitum  in  taberna  mori ; 
Vmdumjit  appojitum  morientis  ori, 
Ut  dicant  cum  -venennt  angelorum  chori, 
'  Deusjit  prophiut  huic  potatori !  ' 

Poculit 


in  Literature  and  Art.  169 


PocuKs  accendltur  animi  lucerna  f 
Cor  imbutum  nefiare  volat  ad  fuperna  : 
Mlhi  fapit  dulcius  vinum  in  taberna, 
Quam  quod  aqua  mifcuit  prcejulif  pincerna. 

******* 
Unicuique  proprlum  dat  rtatura  munus  : 
Ego  nunquam  potui  fcribere  jejunus  ; 
Me  jejunum  -vincere  pojjet  puer  unus  ; 
Sitim  et  jejunium  odi  tanquam  Junus.* 

Another  of  the  more  popular  of  thefe  goliardic  poems  was  the  advice  of 
Golias  againft  marriage,  a  grofs  fatire  upon  the  female  fex.  Contrary  to 
what  we  might  perhaps  expect  from  their  being  written  in  Latin,  many 
of  thefe  metrical  fatires  are  directed  againft  the  vices  of  the  laity,  as  well 
as  againft  thofe  of  the  clergy. 

In  1844  the  celebrated  German  fcholar,  Jacob  Grimm,  publifhed  in 
the  "  Tranfactions  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Berlin  "  a  felection  of 
goliardic  verfes  from  manufcripts  in  Germany,  which  had  evidently  been 
written  by  Germans,  and  fome  of  them  containing  allufions  to  German 
affairs  in  the  thirteenth  century.f  They  prefent  the  fame  form  of  verfe 
and  the  fame  ftyle  of  fatire  as  thofe  found  in  England,  but  the  name  of 
Golias  is  exchanged  for  archipoeta,  the  archpoet.  Some  of  the  flanzas 
of  the  "  Confeffion  of  Golias  "  are  found  in  a  poem  in  which  the  archpoet 
addrefles  a  petition  to  the  arch  chancellor  for  afliftance  in  his  diftrefs,  and 
confefles  his  partiality  for  wine.  A  copy  of  the  Confeffion  itfelf  is  alfo  found 
in  this  German  collection,  under  the  citle  of  the  "  Poet's  Confeffion." 

The  Royal  Library  at  Munich  contains  a  very  important  manufcript  of 
this  goliardic  Latin  poetry,  written  in  the  thirteenth  century.  It  belonged 
originally  to  one  of  the  great  Benedictine  abbeys  in  Bavaria,  where  it  appears 
to  have  been  very  carefully  preferved,  but  ftill  with  an  apparent  confciouf- 
nefs  that  it  was  not  exactly  a  book  for  a  religious  brotherhood,  which  led 
the 

*  Poems  attributed  to  Walter  Mapes,  p.  73.  The  stanzas  here  quoted,  with 
some  others,  were  afterwards  made  up  into  a  drinking  song,  which  was  rather 
popular  in  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries. 

f  "  Gedichte  des  Mittelalters  auf  Konig  Friedrich  I.  den  Staufar,  und  aus  seiner 
so  wie  der  nachstfolgenden  Zeit,"  4to.  Separate  copies  of  this  work  were  printed 
off  and  distributed  among  mediaeval  scholars 


170  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

the  monks  to  omit  it  in  the  catalogue  of  their  library,  no  doubt  as  a  book 
the  pofleffion  of  which  was  not  to  be  proclaimed  publicly.  When  written, 
it  was  evidently  intended  to  be  a  careful  felection  of  the  poetry  of  this  clafs 
then  current.  One  part  of  it  confifts  of  poetry  of  a  more  ferious  character, 
fuch  as  hymns,  moral  poems,  and  efpecially  fatirical  pieces.  In  this  clafs 
there  are  more  than  one  piece  which  are  alfo  found  in  the  manufcripts 
written  in  England.  A  very  large  portion  of  the  collection  confifts  of  love 
fongs,  which,  althougn  evidently  treafured  by  the  Benedictine  monks,  are 
fometimes  licentious  in  character.  A  third  clafs  confifts  of  drinking  and 
gambling  fongs  (potatoria  et  luforia).  The  general  character  of  this  poetry 
is  more  playful,  more  ingenious  and  intricate  in  its  metrical  ftructure,  in 
fact,  more  lyric  than  that  of  the  poetry  we  have  been  defcribing ;  yet  it 
came,  in  all  probability,  from  the  fame  clafs  of  poets — the  clerical  jougleurs. 
The  touches  of  fentiment,  the  defcriptions  of  female  beauty,  the  admiration 
of  nature,  are  fometimes  exprefled  with  remarkable  grace.  Thus,  the 
green  wood  fweetly  enlivened  by  the  joyous  voices  of  its  feathered  inhabi- 
tants, the  made  of  its  branches,  the  thorns  covered  with  flowers,  which, 
fays  the  poet,  are  emblematical  of  love,  which  pricks  like  a  thorn  and  then 
foothes  like  a  flower,  are  taftefully  defcribed  in  the  following  lines: — 

Cantu  nemui  a-viunt 

Lafcivla  canentium 

Suave  deliniturt 

Fronde  redimitur, 

Verna.nl  fptnce  florlbui 

Micantibiu, 

Venerem  Jig n art  tit  us 

S^uia  Jplna  fungit,  Jlot  tlanJitur. 

And  the  following  fcrap  of  the  defcription  of  a  beautiful  damfel  (hows  no 
fmall  command  of  language  and  verfification — 

Allicit  dulcibui 
ferbii  et  ofculis, 
Labellulis 

Caftigate  tumentibtu, 
Rojeo  nefiareus 
Odor  infufus  on  ; 
Pariter  eburneui 
Sedat  ordo  dentlum 
Par  n'rveo  candiri. 

The 


in  Literature  and  Art.  171 

The  whole  contents  of  this  manufcript  were  printed  in  1847,  in  an  o&avo 
volume,  iflued  by  the  Literary  Society  at  Stuttgard.*  I  had  already 
printed  fome  examples  of  fuch  amatory  Latin  lyric  poetry  in  1838,  in  a 
volume  of  "Early  Myfteries  and  Latin  Poems j"f  but  this  poetry  does 
not  belong  properly  to  the  fubjeft  of  the  prefent  volume,  and  I  pafs  on 
from  it. 

The  goliards  did  not  always  write  in  verfe,  for  we  have  fome  of  their 
profe  compofitions,  and  thefe  appear  efpecially  in  the  form  of  parodies. 
We  trace  a  great  love  for  parody  in  the  middle  ages,  which  fpared  not 
even  things  the  moft  facred,  and  the  examples  brought  forward  in  the 
celebrated  trial  of  William  Hone,  were  mild  in  comparifon  to  fome  which 
are  found  fcattered  here  and  there  in  mediaeval  manufcripts.  In  my 
Poems,  attributed  to  Walter  Mapes,J  I  have  printed  a  fatire  in  profe 
entitled  " Magijier  Golyas  de  quodam  ablate'  (i.e.,  Matter  Golias's  account 
of  a  certain  abbot),  which  has  fomewhat  the  character  of  a  parody  upon  a 
faint's  legend.  The  voluptuous  life  of  the  fuperior  of  a  monaftic  houfe  is 
here  defcribed  in  a  tone  of  banter  which  nothing  could  excel.  Several 
parodies,  more  dire6t  in  their  character,  are  printed  in  the  two  volumes  of 
the  "  Reliquas  Antiquae."§  One  of  thefe  (vol.  ii.  p.  208)  is  a  complete 
parody  on  the  fervice  of  the  mafs,  which  is  entitled  in  the  original, 
"  Miffa  de  Poiatoril-us,"  the  Mafs  of  the  Drunkard.  In  this  extraordinary 
compofition,  even  the  pater-nofler  is  parodied.  A  portion  of  this,  with 
great  variations,  is  found  in  the  German  collection  of  the  Carmina 
Burana,  under  the  title  of  Officium  Luforum,  the  Office  of  the  Gamblers. 

In 


*  "  Carmina  Burana.  Lateinische  und  Deutsche  Lieder  und  Gedichfe  einer 
Handschrift  des  XIII.  Jahrhunderts  aus  Benedictbeurn  auf  der  K.  Bibliothek  zu 
Munchen."  8vo.  Stuttgart,  1847. 

f  "  Early  Mysteries  and  other  Latin  Poems  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
Centuries,"  edited  by  Thomas  Wright,  Esq.  8vo.  London,  1838. 

I  Introduction,  p.  xl. 

§  "  Reliquiae  Antiquae.  Scraps  from  Ancient  Manuscripts,  illustrating  chiefly 
Early  English  Literature  and  the  English  Language."  Edited  by  Thomas 
Wright,  Esq.,  and  J.  O.  Halliwell,  Esq.  a  vols.  8vo.  Vol.  i.,  London,  1841; 
vol.  ii.,  1843. 


172  HI ftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

In  the  "  Reliquae  Antiquae"  (ii.  58)  we  have  a  parody  on  the  Gofpel  of 
St.  Luke,  beginning  with  the  words,  Initium  fallacis  Evangelii  fecundum 
Lupum,  this  laft  word  being,  of  courfe,  a  fort  of  pun  upon  Lucam.  Its 
fubjeft  alfo  is  Bacchus,  and  the  fcene  having  been  laid  in  a  tavern  in 
Oxford,  we  have  no  difficulty  in  afcribing  it  to  fome  fcholar  of  that 
univerfity  in  the  thirteenth  century.  Among  the  Carmina  Burana  we 
find  a  limilar  parody  on  the  Gofpel  of  St.  Mark,  which  has  evidently 
belonged  to  one  of  thefe  burlefques  on  the  church  fervice ;  and  as  it  is 
lefs  profane  than  the  others,  and  at  the  fame  time  pidures  the  mediaeval 
hatred  towards  the  church  of  Rome,  I  will  give  a  translation  of  it  as  an 
example  of  this  fingular  clafs  of  compofitions.  It  is  hardly  neceflary  to 
remind  the  reader  that  a  mark  was  a  coin  of  the  value  of  thirteen  Shillings 
and  fourpence : — 

"  The  beginning  of  the  holy  gospel  according  to  Marks  of  silver.  At  that  time 
the  pope  said  to  the  Romans  :  '  When  the  son  of  man  shall  come  to  the  seat  of 
our  majesty,  first  say,  Friend,  for  what  hast  thou  come  ?  But  if  he  should  persevere 
in  knocking  without  giving  you  anything,  cast  him  out  into  utter  darkness.'  And 
it  came  to  pass,  that  a  certain  poor  clerk  came  to  the  court  of  the  lord  the  pope,  and 
cried  out,  saying, '  Have  pity  on  me  at  least,  you  doorkeepers  of  the  pope,  for  the 
hand  of  poverty  has  touched  me.  For  I  am  needy  and  poor,  and  therefore  I  seek 
your  assistance  in  my  calamity  and  misery.'  But  they  hearing  this  were  highly 
indignant,  and  said  to  him  :  '  Friend,  thy  poverty  be  with  thee  in  perdition  ;  get 
thee  backward,  Satan,  for  thou  dost  not  savour  of  those  things  which  have  the 
savour  of  money.  Verily,  verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  Thou  shalt  not  enter  into  the  joy 
of  thy  lord,  until  thou  shalt  have  given  thy  last  farthing.* 

"  Then  the  poor  man  went  away,  and  sold  his  cloak  and  his  gown,  and  all  that 
he  had,  and  gave  it  to  the  cardinals,  and  to  the  doorkeepers,  and  to  the  chamberlains. 
But  they  said, '  And  what  is  this  among  so  many  ?'  And  they  cast  him  out  of  the 
gates,  and  going  out  he  wept  bitterly,  and  was  without  consolation.  After  him 
there  came  to  the  court  a  certain  clerk  who  was  rich,  and  gross,  and  fat,  and 
large,  and  who  in  a  tumult  had  committed  manslaughter.  He  gave  first  to  the 
doorkeeper,  secondly  to  the  chamberlain,  third  to  the  cardinals.  But  they  judged 
among  themselves,  that  they  were  to  receive  more.  Then  the  lord  the  pope,  hearing 
that  the  cardinals  and  officials  had  received  many  gifts  from  the  clerk,  became  sick 
unto  death.  But  the  rich  man  sent  him  an  electuary  of  gold  and  silver,  and  he  was 
immediately  made  whole.  Then  the  lord  the  pope  called  before  him  the  cardinals 
and  officials,  and  said  to  them  :  *  Brethren,  see  that  no  one  deceive  you  with  empty 
words.  For  I  give  you  an  example,  that,  as  I  take,  so  take  ye  also.'  " 

This  mediaeval  love  of  parody  was  not  unfrequently  difplayed  in  a 

more 


in  Literature  and  Art.  173 

more  popular  form,  and  in  the  language  of  the  people.  In  the  Reliance 
Antiques  (i.  82)  we  have  a  very  fingular  parody  in  Englim  on  the.fermons 
of  the  Catholic  priefthood,  a  good  part  of  which  is  fo  written  as  to  prefent 
no  confecutive  fenfe,  which  circumftance  itfelf  implies  a  fneer  at  the 
preachers.  Thus  our  burlefque  preacher,  in  the  middle  of  his  difcourfe, 
proceeds  to  narrate  as  follows  (I  modernife  the  Englim) : — 

"  Sirs,  what  time  that  God  and  St.  Peter  came  to  Rome,  Peter  asked  Adam  a 
full  great  doubtful  question,  and  said,  "  Adam,  Adam,  why  ate  thou  the  apple  un- 
pared  ?'  '  Forsooth,1  quod  he,  '  for  I  had  no  wardens  (pears)  fried.'  And  Peter 
saw  the  fire,  and  dread  him,  and  stepped  into  a  plum-tree  that  hanged  full  of  ripe 
red  cherries.  And  there  he  saw  all  the  parrots  in  the  sea.  There  he  saw  steeds 
and  stockfish  pricking '  swose '  (?)  in  the  water.  There  he  saw  hens  and  herrings  that 
hunted  after  harts  in  hedges.  There  he  saw  eels  roasting  larks.  There  he  saw 
haddocks  were  done  on  the  pillory  for  wrong  roasting  of  May  butter ;  and  there  he 
saw  how  bakers  baked  butter  to  grease  with  old  monks'  boots.  There  he  saw  how 
the  fox  preached,"  &c. 

The  fame  volume  contains  fome  rather  clever  parodies  on  the  old 
Englim  alliterative  romances.,  compofed  in  a  fimilar  flyle  of  confecutive 
nonfenfe.  It  is  a  clafs  of  parody  which  we  trace  to  a  rather  early  period, 
which  the  French  term  a  coq-a-l'dne,  and  which  became  fafhionable  in 
England  in  the  feventeenth  century  in  the  form  of  fongs  entitled 
"  Tom-a-Bedlams."  M.  Jubinal  has  printed  two  fuch  poems  in  French, 
perhaps  of  the  thirteenth  century,*  and  others  are  found  fcattered 
through  the  old  manufcripts.  There  is  generally  fo  much  coarfenefs  in 
them  that  it  is  not  eafy  to  feleft  a  portion  for  tranflation,  and  in  fa6t  their 
point  confifts  in  going  on  through  the  length  of  a  poem  of  this  kind 
without  imparting  a  lingle  clear  idea.  Thus,  in  the  fecond  of  thofe 
publifhed  by  Jubinal,  we  are  told  how,  "  The  fhadow  of  an  egg  carried 
the  new  year  upon  the  bottom  of  a  pot ;  two  old  new  combs  made  a  ball 
to  run  the  trot ;  when  it  came  to  paying  the  fcot,  I,  who  never  move 

rnyfelf, 

*  "  Achille  Jubinal,  Jongleurs  et  Trouveres."  8vo,,  Paris,  1835,  p.  34;  and 
"  Nouveau  Recueil  de  Contes,  Dits,  Fabliaux,"  &c.  8vo.,  Paris,  1842.  Vol.  ii. 
p.  208.  In  the  first  instance  M.  Jubinal  has  given  to  this  little  poem  the  title 
Ref-veries,  in  the  second,  Fatrajiet. 


1 74  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

myfelf,  cried  out,  without  faying  a  word,  '  Take  the  feather  of  an  ox,  and 
clothe  a  wife  fool  with  it.'  " — 

Li  ombres  d~"un  oef 

Portoit  Pan  reneuf 

Sur  la  fonts  tTun  pot  ; 

Deui  -vie*  pinges  neuf 

Firent  un  eftuef 

Pour  courre  le  trot } 

Qjtant  <vlnt  au  paler  fejcot^ 

ye,  qui  onques  ne  me  mueft 

Kfefcrlai^Ji  ne  dis  mot : — 

'  Prenes  la  plume  d'un  buef, 

S?en  -vejie*  unfagefot.'' — Jubinal,  Nonv.  Eec.,  ii.  217. 

The  fpirit  of  the  goliards  continued  to  exift  long  after  the  name  had 
been  forgotten ;  and  the  mals  of  bitter  fatire  which  they  had  left  behind 
them  againft  the  whole  papal  fyftem,  and  againft  the  corruptions  of  the 
papal  church  of  the  middle  ages,  were  a  perfect  godfend  to  the  reformers 
of  the  fixteenth  century,  who  could  point  to  them  triumphantly  as 
irrefiftible  evidence  in  their  favour.  Such  fcholars  as  Flacius  Illyricus, 
eagerly  examined  the  manufcripts  which  contained  this  goliardic  poetry, 
and  printed  it,  chiefly  as  good  and  effective  weapons  in  the  great  religious 
ftrife  which  was  then  convulfing  European  fociety.  To  us,  befides  their 
intereft  as  literary  compofitions,  they  have  alfo  a  hiftorical  value,  for  they 
introduce  us  to  a  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  character  of  the 
great  mental  ftruggle  for  emancipation  from  mediaeval  darknefs  which 
extended  efpecially  through  the  thirteenth  century,  and  which  was  only 
overcome  for  a  while  to  begin  more  ftrongly  and  more  fuccelsfully  at  a 
ter  period.  They  difplay  to  us  the  grofs  ignorance,  as  well  as  the 
corruption  of  manners,  of  the  great  mals  of  the  mediaeval  clergy. 
^  ^Nothing  can  be  more  amufing  than  the  fatire  which  fome  of  thefe  pieces 

3v^  throw  on  the  character  of  monkifh  Latin.  I  printed  in  the  "  Reliquae 
Antiquae,"  under  the  title  of  "The  Abbot  of  Gloucefter's  Feaft,"  a 
complaint  fuppofed  to  ifiue  from  the  mouth  of  one  of  the  common  herd 
of  the  monks,  againft  the  felfilhnefs  of  their  fuperiors,  in  which  all  the 
rules  of  Latin  grammar  are  entirely  fet  at  defiance.  The  abbot  and  prior 
of  Gloucefter,  with  their  whole  convent,  are  invited  to  a  feaft,  and  on 

their 


in  Literature  and  Art.  175 


their  arrival,  "  the  abbot/'  fays  the  complainant,  "  goes  to  fit  at  the  top, 
and  the  prior  next  to  him,  but  I  flood  always  in  the  back  place  among 
the  low  people." 

Abba*  ire  fede  furfum, 
Et  priori  s  juxta  ipjum  ,• 
Ego  femfer  _ftai>i  dorfum 

inter  rafcalilia. 

The  wine  was  ferved  liberally  to  the  prior  and  the  abbot,  but  "  nothing 
was  give  to  us  poor  folks — everything  was  for  the  rich." 

Vinum  venit  fanguinatis 
Ad  prioris  et  abbatis  ; 
N'Ml  nobis  paupertatis, 

fed  ad  dives  omnia. 

When  fome  diflatisfadion  was  difplayed  by  the  poor  monks,  which  the 
great  men  treated  with  contempt,  "faid  the  prior  to  the  abbot,  'They  have 
wine  enough ;  will  you  give  all  our  drink  to  the  poor  ?  What  does  their 
poverty  regard  us  ?  they  have  little,  and  that  is  enough,  fince  they  came 
uninvited  to  our  feaft.'  " 

Prior  dixit  ad  abbatis, 
'  Ipjt  habent  vinumfatis  ; 
Vultis  dare  paupertatis 

nofter  potus  omnia  ? 
f}uid  not  Jpeftat  paupertatis  ? 
Pojiquam  venit  non  vocatis 

ad  nofter  convivial 

Thus  through  feveral  pages  this  amufing  poem  goes  on  to  defcribe  the 
gluttony  and  drunkennefs  of  the  abbot  and  prior,  and  the  ill-treatment  of 
their  inferiors.  This  compofition  belongs  to  the  clofe  of  the  thirteenth 
century.  A  fong  very  fimilar  to  it  in  character,  but  much  fhorter,  is 
found  in  a  manufcript  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  printed 
with  the  other  contents  of  this  manufcript  in  a  little  volume  iflued  by  the 
Percy  Society.*  The  writer  complains  that  the  abbot  and  prior  drunk 
good 

*  "  Songs  and  Carols,  now  first  printed  from  a  Manuscript  of  the  Fifteenth 
Century.0     Edited  by  Thomas  Wright,  Esq.     8vo.,  London,  184.7,  p.  2. 


176  Uljlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


good  and  high-flavoured  wine,  while  nothing  but  inferior  fluff  was 
ufually  given  to  the  convent ;  "But,"  he  fays,  "it  is  better  to 
go  drink  good  wine  at  the  tavern,  where  the  wines  are  of  the  beft 
quality,  and  money  is  the  butler." 

Bonum  -vinum  cum  fa pore 
Bibit  abbas  cum  priore  ; 
Sed  cotrvcntus  de  pejore 

Jemper  folet  bibere. 
Bonum  vinum  in  taberna, 
Ubi  •vinajunt  -valarna  (for  Falerna), 
Ubi  nummui  eft  pincerna) 

Ibi  prodeft  bibere. 

Partly  out  of  the  earneft,  though  playful,  fatire  defcribed  in  this  chapter, 
arofe  political  fatire,  and  at  a  later  period  political  caricature.  I  have 
before  remarked  that  the  period  we  call  the  middle  ages  was  not  that  of 
political  or  perfonal  caricature,  becaufe  it  wanted  that  means  of  circulating 


No,  ill.     Caricature  upon  the  Jews  at  Kor-wich. 


quickly  and  largely  which  is  neceflary  for  it.  Yet,  no  doubt,  men  who 
could  draw,  did,  in  the  middle  ages,  fometimes  amufe  themfelves  in 
(ketching  caricatures,  which,  in  general,  have  periflied,  becaufe  nobody 
cared  to  preferve  them ;  but  the  fad  of  the  exiftence  of  fuch  works  is 

proved 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


177 


proved  by  a  very  curious  example,  which  has  been  preferved,  and  which 
is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  in.  It  is  a  caricature  on  the  Jews  of  Norwich, 
which  fome  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  king's  courts  in  the  thirteenth  century 
has  drawn  with  a  pen,  on  one  of  the  official  rolls  of  the  Pell  office,  where 
it  has  been  preferved.  Norwich,  as  it  is  well  known,  was  one  of  the 
principal  feats  of  the  Jews  in  England  at  this  early  period,  and  Ifaac  of 
Norwich,  the  crowned  Jew  with  three  faces,  who  towers  over  the  other 
figures,  was  no  doubt  fome  perfonage  of  great  importance  among  them. 
Dagon,  as  a  two-headed  demon,  occupies  a  tower,  which  a  party  of  demon 
knights  is  attacking.  Beneath  the  figure  of  Ifaac  there  is  a  lady,  whofe 
name  appears  to  be  Avezarden,  who  has  fome  relation  or  other  with  a 
male  figure  named  Nolle-Mokke,  in  which  another  demon,  named 
Colbif,  is  interfering.  As  this  latter  name  is 
written  in  capital  letters,  we  may  perhaps  con- 
clude that  he  is  the  rnoft  important  perfonage 
in  the  fcene ;  but,  without  any  knowledge  of 
the  circumftances  to  which  it  relates,  it  would 
be  in  vain  to  attempt  to  explain  this  curious 
and  rather  elaborate  caricature. 

Similar  attempts  at  caricature,  though  leli 
direct  and  elaborate,  are  found  in  others  of  our 
national  records.  One  of  thefe,  pointed  out  to 
me  by  an  excellent  and  refpecled  friend, 
the  Rev.  Lambert  B.  Larking,  is  peculiarly  in- 
terefling,  as  well  as  amufing.  It  belongs  to  the 
Treafury  of  the  Exchequer,  and  confifts  of  two 
volumes  of  vellum  called  Liber  A  and  Liber  B, 
forming  a  regifter  of  treaties,  marriages,  and 
fimilar  documents  of  the  reign  of  Edward  I., 
which  have  been  very  fully  ufed  by  Rymer. 
The  clerk  who  was  employed  in  writing  it, 
teems  to  have  been,  like  many  of  thefe  official 


No.  1 1 Z.      An  Irishman. 


clerks,  fomewhat  of  a   wag,   and   he    has  amufed   himfclf  by  drawing 
in  the  margin  figures  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  provinces  of  Edwanl's 

A  A  crown 


1 78  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

crown  to  which  the  documents  referred.  Some  of  thefe  are  evidently 
defigned  for  caricature.  Thus,  the  figure  given  in  our  cut  No.  112  was 
intended  to  reprefent  an  Irifhman.  One  trait,  at  leaft,  in  this  caricature 
is  well  known  from  the  defcription  given  by  Giraldus  Cambrenfis,  who 
fpeaks  with  a  fort  of  horror  of  the  formidable  axes  which  the  Irifh  were 
accuftomed  to  carry  about  with  them.  In  treating  of  the  manner  in 
which  Ireland  ought  to  be  governed  when  it  had  been  entirely  reduced 
to  fubje&ion,  he  recommends  that,  "  in  the  meantime,  they  ought  not 
to  be  allowed  in  time  of  peace,  on  any  pretence  or  in  any  place,  to  ufe 
that  deteftable  inftrument  of  deflrucYion,  which,  by  an  ancient  but  accurfed 
cuftom,  they  conftantly  carry  in  their  hands  inftead  of  a 
ftaff."  In  a  chapter  of  his  "Topography  of  Ireland," 
Giraldus  treats  of  this  "  ancient  and  wicked  cuftom  " 
of  always  carrying  in  their  hand  an  axe,  inftead  of  a 
ftaff,  to  the  danger  of  all  perfons  who  had  any  relations 
with  them.  Another  Irifhman,  from  a  drawing  in  the 
fame  manufcript,  given  in  our  cut  No.  113,  carries  his 
axe  in  the  fame  threatening  attitude.  The  coftume  of 
thefe  figures  anfwers  with  fufficient  accuracy  to  the  de- 
fcription given  by  Giraldus  Cambrenfis.  The  drawings 
exhibit  more  exadly  than  that  writer's  defcription  the 
"fmall  clofe-fitting  hoods,  hanging  a  cubit's  length 
(half-a-yard)  below  the  moulders,"  which,  he  tells  us, 
they  were  accuftomed  to  wear.  This  fmall  hood,  with  the  flat  cap 
attached  to  it,  is  mown  better  perhaps  in  the  fecond  figure  than  in  the 
firft.  The  "  breeches  and  hofe  of  one  piece,  or  hofe  and  breeches  joined 
together,"  are  alfo  exhibited  here  very  diftindly,  and  appear  to  be  tied 
over  the  heel,  but  the  feet  are  clearly  naked,  and  evidently  the  ufe 
of  the  "  brogues  "  was  not  yet  general  among  the  Irifh  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

If  the  Welfhman  of  this  period  was  fomewhat  more  Icantily  clothed 
than  the  Irifhman,  he  had  the  advantage  of  him,  to  judge  by  this 
manufcript,  in  wearing  at  leaft  one  fhoe.  Our  cut  No.  114,  taken  from 
it,  reprefents  a  Welfhman  armed  with  bow  and  arrow,  whofe  clothing 

confifts 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


179 


confifts  apparently  only  of  a  plain  tunic  and  a  light  mantle.  This  is 
quite  in  accordance  with  the  defcription  by  Giraldus  Cambrenfis,  who 
tells  us  that  in  all  feafons  their  drefs  was  the  fame,  and  that,  however 
fevere  the  weather,  "  they  defended  themfelves  from  the  cold  only  by  a 
thin  cloak  and  tunic."  Giraldus  fays  nothing  of  the  practice  of  the 
Welfh  in  wearing  but  one  fhoe,  yet  it  is  evident  that  at  the  time  of  this 
record  that  was  their  practice,  for  in  another  figure  of  a  Welfhman,  given 


Ac.  114.     A  Welfo  Archer. 


A7e.  115.     A  Weljbman  with  his  Spear, 


in  our  cut  No.  TI  j,  we  fee  the  fame  peculiarity,  and  in  both  cafes  the  fhoe 
is  worn  on  the  left  foot.  Giraldus  merely  fays  that  the  Welmmen  in 
general,  when  engaged  in  warfare,  "  either  walked  bare-footed,  or  made 
ufe  of  high  fhoes,  roughly  made  of  untanned  leather."  He  defcribes 
them  as  armed  fometimes  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  fometimes  with 
long  fpears  j  and  accordingly  our  firft  example  of  a  Welfhman  from  this 
manufcript  is  ufing  the  bow,  while  the  fecond  carries  the  fpear,  which 
he  apparently  refts  on  the  fingle  fhoe  of  his  left  foot,  while  he  brandifhes 
a  fword  in  his  left  hand.  Both  our  Welfhmen  prefent  a  fingularly 
grotefque  appearance. 

The 


1 80  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


The  Gafcon  is  reprefented  with  more  peaceful  attributes.  Gafcony 
was  the  country  of  vineyards,  from  whence  we  drew  our  great  fupply  of 
wines,  a  very  important  article  of  confumption  in  the  middle  ages. 

When  the  official  clerk  who  wrote  this 
manufcript  came  to  documents  relating  to 
Gafcony,  his  thoughts  wandered  naturally 
enough  to  its  rich  vineyards  and  the  wine 
they  fupplied  fo  plentifully,  and  to  which, 
according  to  old  reports,  clerks  feldom 
mowed  any  diflike,  and  accordingly,  in 
the  fketch,  which  we  copy  in  our  cut 
No.  1 1 6,  we  have  a  Gafcon  occupied 
diligently  in  pruning  his  vine-tree.  He, 
at  leaft,  wears  two  fhoes,  though  his 
clothing  is  of  the  lighted  defcription. 
He  is  perhaps  the  vinitor  of  the  mediaeval 
documents  on  this  fubject,  a  ferf  attached 
to  the  vineyard.  Our  fecond  Iketch,  cut  No.  117,  prefents  a  more 
enlarged  fcene,  and  introduces  us  to  the  whole  procefs  of  making  wine. 
Firft  we  fee  a  man  better  clothed,  with  fhoes  (or  boots)  of  much  fuperior 


No.  1 1 6.     A  Gafcon  at  hit  Vine. 


No.  117.      The  Wme  Manufafiurer. 


make,  and  a  hat  on  his  head,  carrying  away  the  grapes  from  the  vineyard 
to  the  place  where  another  man,  with  no  clothing  at  all,  is  treading  out 
the  juice  in  a  large  vat.  This  is  ttill  in  fome  of  the  wine  countries 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 8 1 


the  common  method  of  extracting  the  juice  from  the  grape.  Further  to 
the  left  is  the  large  calk  in  which  the  juice  is  put  when  turned  into  wine. 
Satires  on  the  people  of  particular  localities  were  not  uncommon 
during  the  middle  ages,  becaufe  local  rivalries  and  confequent  local  feuds 
prevailed  everywhere.  The  records  of  fuch  feuds  were  naturally  of  a 
temporary  character,  and  perifhed  when  the  feuds  and  rivalries  themfelves 
ceafed  to  exift,  but  a  few  curious  fatires  of  this  kind  have  been  preferved. 
A  monk  of  Peterborough,  who  lived  late  in  the  twelfth  or  early  in  the 
thirteenth  century,  and  for  fome  reafon  or  other  nourifhed  an  unfriendly 
feeling  to  the  people  of  Norfolk,  gave  vent  to  his  hoftility  in  a  Ihort 
Latin  poem  in  what  we  may  call  goliardic  verfe.  He  begins  by  abufing 
the  county  itfelf,  which,  he  fays,  was  as  bad  and  unfruitful  as  its 
inhabitants  were  vile ;  and  he  fuggefts  that  the  evil  one,  when  he  fled 
from  the  anger  of  the  Almighty,  had  parted  through  it  and  left  his 
pollution  upon  it.  Among  other  anecdotes  of  the  fimplicity  and  folly  of 
the  people  of  this  county,  which  clofely  refemble  the  ftories  of  the  wife 
men  of  Gotham  of  a  later  date,  he  informs  us  that.one  day  the  peafantry 
of  one  diftri6t  were  fo  grieved  by  the  oppreflions  of  their  feudal  lord,  that 
they  fubfcribed  together  and  bought  their  freedom,  which  he  fecured  to 
them  by  formal  deed,  ratified  with  a  ponderous  feal.  They  adjourned  to 
the  tavern,  and  celebrated  their  deliverance  by  feafting  and  drinking 
until  night  came  on,  and  then,  for  want  of  a  candle,  they  agreed  to  burn 
the  wax  of  the  feal.  Next  day  their  former  lord,  informed  of  what  had 
taken  place,  brought  them  before  a  court,  where  the  deed  was  judged  to 
be  void  for  want  of  the  feal,  and  they  loft  all  their  money,  were  reduced 
to  their  old  pofition  of  flavery,  and  treated  worfe  than  ever.  Other 
ftories,  ftill  more  ridiculous,  are  told  of  thefe  old  Norfolkians,  but  few  of 
them  are  worth  repeating.  Another  monk,  apparently,  who  calls  himfelf 
John  de  St.  Omer,  took  up  the  cudgels  for  the  people  of  Norfolk,  and  re- 
plied to  the  Peterborough  fatirift  in  fimilar  language.*  I  have  printed  in 

another 


*  Both  these  poems  are  printed  in  my  "  Early  Mysteries,  and  other  Latin  Poems 
of  the  Twelfth  an  I  Thirteenth  Centuries."     8vo.,  London,  1838. 


1 82  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

another  collection,*  a  fatirical  poem  againft  the  people  of  a  place  called 
Stockton  (perhaps  Stockton-on-Tees  in  Durham),  by  the  monk  of  a 
monaftic  houfe,  of  which  they  were  ferfs.  It  appeared  that  they  had 
rifen  againft  the  tyranny  of  their  lord,  but  had  been  unfuccefsful  in 
defending  their  caufe  in  a  court  of  law,  and  the  ecclefiaftical  fatirift 
exults  over  their  defeat  in  a  very  uncharitable  tone.  There  will  be  found 
in  the  "  Reliquae  Ar.tiquae,"t  a  very  curious  fatire  in  Latin  profe  directed 
againtt  the  inhabitants  of  Rochefter,  although  it  is  in  truth  aimed  againft 
Englishmen  in  general,  and  is  entitled  in  the  manufcript,  which  is  of  the 
fourteenth  century,  "  Proprietates  Anglicorum "  (the  Peculiarities  of 
Engliftimen).  In  the  firft  place,  we  are  told,  that  the  people  of  Rochefter 
had  tails,  and  the  queftion  is  difcufled,  very  fcholaftically,  what  fpecies 
of  animals  thefe  Roceftrians  were.  We  are  then  told  that  the  caufe  of 
their  deformity  arofe  from  the  infolent  manner  in  which  they  treated 
St.  Augulline,  when  he  came  to  preach  the  Gofpel  to  the  heathen  Englifh. 
After  vifiting  many  parts  of  England,  the  faint  came  to  Rochefter,  where 
the  people,  inftead  of  liflening  to  him,  hooted  at  him  through  the  ftreets, 
and,  in  derifion,  attached  tails  of  pigs  and  calves  to  his  veftments,  and 
fo  turned  him  out  of  the  city.  The  vengeance  of  Heaven  came  upon 
them,  and  all  who  inhabited  the  city  and  the  country  round  it,  and  their 
.defcendants  after  them,  were  condemned  to  bear  tails  exactly  like 
thofe  of  pigs.  This  ftory  of  the  tails  was  not  an  invention  of  the  author 
of  the  fatire,  but  was  a  popular  legend  connected  with  the  hiftory  of 
St.  Auguftine's  preaching,  though  the  fcene  of  the  legend  was  laid  in 
Dorfetftiire.  The  writer  of  this  fingular  compofition  goes  on  to  defcribe 
the  people  of  Rochefter  as  feducers  of  other  people,  as  men  without 
gratitude,  and  as  traitors.  He  proceeds  to  fhow  that  Rochefter  being 
fituated  in  England,  its  vices  had  tainted  the  whole  nation,  and  he 
illuftrates  the  bafenefs  of  the  Englifti  character  by  a  number  of  anecdotes 
of  worfe  than  doubtful  authenticity.  It  is,  in  fad,  a  fatire  on  the  Englifti 
compofed  in  France,  and  leads  us  into  the  domains  of  political  fatire. 
Political 

*  "  Anecdota  Literaria,"  p.  49.          t  "  Reliquae  Antiquae,"  vol.  ii.  p.  230. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 8  3 

Political  fatire  in  the  middle  ages  appeared  chiefly  in  the  form  of 
poetry  and  fong,  and  it  was  efpecially  in  England  that  it  flourifhed,  a  fure 
fign  that  there  was  in  our  country  a  more  advanced  feeling  of  popular 
independence,  and  greater  freedom  of  fpeech,  than  in  France  or 
Germany.*  M.  Leroux  de  Lincy,  who  undertook  to  make  a  collection  of 
this  poetry  for  France,  found  fo  little  during  the  mediaeval  period  that 
came  under  the  character  of  political,  that  he  was  obliged  to  fubftitute 
the  word  "hiftbrical"  in  the  title  of  his  book.f  Where  feudalifm  was 
fupreme,  indeed,  the  fongs  which  arofe  out  of  private  or  public  ftrife, 
which  then  were  almoft  infeparable  from  fociety,  contained  no  political 
fentiment,  but  confifted  chiefly  of  perfonal  attacks  on  the  opponents  of 
thofe  who  employed  them.  Such  are  the  four  fliort  fongs  written  in  the 
time  of  the  revolt  of  the  French  during  the  minority  of  St.  Louis,  which 
commenced  in  12265  they  are  all  of  a  political  character  which 
M.  Leroux  de  Lincy  has  been  able  to  collect  previous  to  the  year 
j 2 /o,  and  they  confift  merely  of  perfonal  taunts  againft  the  courtiers  by 
the  diflatisfied  barons  who  were  out  of  power.  We  trace  a  fimilar  feeling 
in  fome  of  the  popular  records  of  our  baronial  wars  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  III.,  efpecially  in  a  fong,  in  the  baronial  language  (Anglo-Norman), 
preferred  in  a  fmall  roll  of  vellum,  which  appears  to  have  belonged 
to  the  minftrel  who  chanted  it  in  the  halls  of  the  partifans  of  Simon  de 
Montfort.  The  fragment  which  remains  connfts  of  ftanzas  in  praife  of 
the  leaders  of  the  popular  party,  and  in  reproach  of  their  opponents. 
Thus  of  Roger  de  Clifford,  one  of  earl  Simon's  friends,  we  are  told  that 
"  the  good  Roger  de  Clifford  behaved  like  a  noble  baron,  and  exercifed 
great 

*  I  have  published  from  the  original  manuscripts  the  mass  of  the  political  poetry 
composed  in  England  during  the  middle  ages  in  my  three  volumes — "The  Political 
Songs  of  England,  from  the  Reign  of  John  to  that  of  Edward  II."  410.,  London, 
1839  (issued  by  the  Camden  Society)  ;  and  "  Political  Poems  and  Songs  relating  to 
English  History,  composed  during  the  Period  from  the  Accession  of  Edward  III. 
to  that  of 'Richard  III."  8vo.,  vol  i.,  London,  1859;  vol.  ii.,  1861  (published  by 
the  Treasury,  under  the  direction  of  the  Master  of  the  Rolls.) 

t  "  Receuil  de  Chants  Historiques  Fran9ais  depuis  le  xiie.  jusqu'au  xviii*. 
Siecle,  par  Leroux  de  Lincy  ....  Premiere  Serie,  xiie.,  xiiie.,  xive.,  et  xv*.,  Siecles." 
8vo.,  Paris,  1841. 


184  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefi/uc 

great  juftice ;  he  fuffered  none,  either  fmall  or  great,  or  fecretly  or 
openly,  to  do  any  wrong." 

Et  de  Cltjfort  ly  ton  Roger 
Se  contint  cum  noble  ber, 

Sifu  de  grant  juftice  ; 
Nefuffri  pat  petit  ne  grant, 
Ne  arere  ne  par  deviant. 

Fere  nul  mefpnj'e. 

On  the  other  hand,  one  of  Montfort's  opponents,  the  biftiop  of  Hereford, 
is  treated  rather  contemptuoufly.  We  are  told  that  he  "learnt  well  that 
the  earl  was  ftrong  when  he  took  the  matter  in  hand  ;  before  that  he 
(the  bifhop)  was  very  fierce,  and  thought  to  eat  tn  all  the  Englilh;  but 
now  be  is  reduced  to  ftraits." 

Ly  evejke  de  Herefort 

Sout  bien  que  ly  quern  fu  fort, 

Kant  il  prili  raffere  { 
De-vant  ce  efteit  mult  fert 
Lei  Englais  quida  tou-z  manger. 

Met  ore  nejet  que  fere. 

This  bifhop  was  Peter  de  Aigueblanche,  one  of  the  foreign  favourites,  who 
had  been  intruded  into  the  fee  of  Hereford,  to  the  exclufion  of  a  better 
man,  and  had  been  an  oppreflbr  of  thofe  who  were  under  his  rule.  The 
barons  feized  him,  threw  him  into  prifon,  and  plundered  his  poffefiions, 
and  at  the  time  this  fong  was  written,  he  was  fuffering  under  the  imprifon- 
ment  which  appears  to  have  fliortened  his  life. 

The  univerfities  and  the  clerical  body  in  general  were  deeply  involved 
in  thefe  political  movements  of  the  thirteenth  century ;  and  our  earlieft 
political  fongs  now  known  are  compofed  in  Latin,  and  in  that  form  and 
ftyle  of  verfe  which  feems  to  have  been  peculiar  to  the  goliards,  and 
which  I  venture  to  call  goliardic.  Such  is  a  forig  againft  the  three  bifhops 
who  fupported  king  John  in  his  quarrel  with  the  pope  about  the  prefen- 
tation  to  the  fee  of  Canterbury,  printed  in  my  Political  Songs.  Such,  too, 
is  the  fong  of  the  Welfh,  and  one  or  two  others,  in  the  fame  volume. 
And  fuch,  above  all,  is  that  remarkable  Latin  poem  in  which  a  partifan 

of 


in  Literature  and  Art.  185 


of  the  barons,  immediately  after  the  vi6tory  at  Lewes,  fet  forth  the 
political  tenets  of  his  party,  and  gave  the  principles  of  Englilh  liberty 
nearly  the  fame  broad  ban's  on  which  they  fland  at  the  prefent.  It  is  an 
evidence  of  the  extent  to  which  thefe  principles  were  now  acknowledged, 
that  in  this  great  baronial  ftruggle  our  political  fongs  began  to  be  written 
in  the  Englifh  language,  an  acknowledgment  that  they  concerned  the 
whole  Englifh  public. 

We  trace  little  of  this  clafs  of  literature  during  the  reign  of  Edward  I.j 
but,  when  the  popular  feelings  became  turbulent  again  under  the  reign  of 
his  fon  and  fucceflbr,  political  fongs  became  more  abundant,  and  their  fatire 
was  directed  more  even  than  formerly  againft  meafures  and  principles, 
and  was  lefs  an  inflrument  of  mere  perfonal  abufe.  One  fatirical  poem 
of  this  period,  which  I  had  printed  from  an  imperfect  copy  in  a  manu- 
fcript  at  Edinburgh,  but  of  which  a  more  complete  copy  was  fubfequently 
found  in  a  manufcript  in  the  library  of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge,* 
is  extremely  curious  as  being  the  earliefl  fatire  of  this  kind  written  in 
Englifh  that  we  poflefs.  It  appears  to  have  been  written  in  the  year 
1320.  The  writer  of  this  poem  begins  by  telling  us  that  his  objeft  is  to 
explain  the  caufe  of  the  war,  ruin,  and  manslaughter  which  then  prevailed 
throughout  the  land,  and  why  the  poor  were  fuffering  from  hunger  and 
want,  the  cattle  perifhed  in  the  field,  and  the  corn  was  dear.  Thefe  he 
afcribes  to  the  increafing  wickednefs  of  all  orders  of  fociety.  To  begin 
with  the  church,  Rome  was  the  head  of  all  corruptions,  at  the  papal 
court  falfehood  and  treachery  only  reigned,  and  the  door  of  the  pope's 
palace  was  fhut  againft  truth.  During  the  twelfth  and  following  centuries 
thefe  complaints,  in  terms  more  or  lefs  forcible,  againft  the  corruptions  of 
Rome,  are  continually  repeated,  and  fhow  that  the  evil  muft  have  been 
one  under  which  everybody  felt  opprefled.  The  old  charge  of  Romifh 
fimony  is  repeated  in  this  poem  in  very  ftrong  terms.  "  The  clerk's  voice 
mall  be  little  heard  at  the  court  of  Rome,  were  he  ever  fo  good,  unlefs 
he 

*  "  A  Poem  on  the  Times  of  Edward  III.,  from  a  MS.  preserved  in  the  Library 
of  St.  Peter's  College,  Cambridge."  Edited  by  the  Rev.  C.  Hard  wick.  8vo. 
London,  1849.  (One  of  the  publications  of  the  Percy  Society.) 

B    B 


1 86  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


he  bring  filver  with  him  j  though  he  were  the  holieft  man  that  ever  was 
born,  unlefs  he  bring  gold  or  filver,  all  his  time  and  anxiety  are  loft. 
Alas !  why  love  they  fo  much  that  which  is  periihable  ?  " 

Voyt  of  clerk  Jball  lytyl  be  heard  at  the  court  of  Rome, 
Were  he  never  fo  gode  a  clerk,  -without  Jilver  and  he  come  ; 
Though  he  -were  the  holy  ft  man  that  ever  yet  ivas  ibort, 
But  he  bryng  gold  or  fylver,  al  Ays  "while  is  for  lore 

And  his  thcfwght. 
Alias  !  vjhi  love  thei  that  fo  much  that  fchal  turne  to  novjght  f 

When,  on  the  contrary,  a  wicked  man  prefented  himfelf  at  the  pope's 
court,  he  had  only  to  carry  plenty  of  money  thither,  and  all  went  well 
with  him.  According  to  our  fatirift,  the  bifhops  were  "fools,"  and  the 
other  dignitaries  and  officials  of  the  church  were  influenced  chiefly  by  the 
love  of  money  and  felf-indulgence.  The  parfon  began  humbly,  when  he 
firft  obtained  his  benefice,  but  no  fooner  had  he  gathered  money  together, 
than  he  took  "  a  wenche "  to  live  with  him  as  his  wife,  and  rode  a 
hunting  with  hawks  and  hounds  like  a  gentleman.  The  priefts  were 
men  with  no  learning,  who  preached  by  rote  what  they  neither  under- 
ftood  nor  appreciated.  "Truely,"  he  fays,  "it  fares  by  our  unlearned 
priefts  as  by  a  jay  in  a  cage,  who  curfes  himfelf:  he  fpeaks  good  Englim, 
but  he  knows  not  what  it  means.  No  more  doe4  an  unlearned  prieft 
know  his  gofpel  that  he  reads  daily.  An  unlearned  prieft,  then,  is  no 
better  than  a  jay." 

Certes  atfo  hyt  fareth  by  a  preft  that  is  levjed, 
At  by  a  jay  in  a  cage  that  hymfelf  hath  bejhrevjed  : 
Gode  Englyfb  he  fpeketht  but  he  not  never  -what. 
No  more  -wot  a  Inved  preft  hys  gofpel  ivat  he  rat 

By  day. 
Than  is  a  levjed  preft  no  better  than  a  jay. 

Abbots  and  priors  were  remarkable  chiefly  for  their  pride  and  luxury,  and 
the  monks  naturally  followed  their  examples.  Thus  was  religion  debafed 
everywhere.  The  character  of  the  phyfician  is  treated  with  equal  feverity, 
and  his  various  tricks  to  obtain  money  are  amufingly  defcribed.  In  this 
manner  the  fongfter  prefents  to  view  the  failings  of  the  various  orders  of 
lay  fociety  alfo,  the  felfimnefs  and  opprefiive  bearing  of  the  knights  and 

ariftocracy 


in  Literature  and  Art.  1 87 


ariftocracy,  and  their  extravagance  in  dreis  and  living,  the  negleft  of 
juftice,  the  ill-management  of  the  wars,  the  weight  of  taxation,  and  all 
the  other  evils  which  then  affli6ted  the  ftate.  This  poem  marks  a  period 
in  our  focial  hiftory,  and  led  the  way  to  that  larger  work  of  the  fame 
character,  which  came  about  thirty  years  later,  the  well-known  "  Vifions 
of  Piers  Ploughman,"*  one  of  the  moft  remarkable  fatires,  as  well  as  one 
of  the  moft  remarkable  poems,  in  the  Englilh  language. 

We  will  do  no  more  than  glance  at  the  further  progrefs  of  political 
fatire  which  had  now  taken  a  permanent  footing  in  Englifh  literature. 
We  fee  lefs  of  it  during  the  reign  of  Edward  III.,  the  greater  part  of 
which  was  occupied  with  foreign  wars  and  triumphs,  but  there  appeared 
towards  the  clofe  of  his  reign,  a  very  remarkable  fatire,  which  I  have 
printed  in  my  "Political  Poems  and  Songs."  It  is  written  in  Latin,  and 
confifts  of  a  pretended  prophecy  in  verfe  by  an  infpired  monk  named 
John  of  Bridlington,  with  a  mock  commentary  in  profe — in  faft,  a  parody 
on  the  commentaries  in  which  the  fcholaftics  of  that  age  difplayed  their 
learning,  but  in  this  cafe  the  commentary  contains  a  bold  though  to  us 
rather  obfcure  criticifm  on  the  whole  policy  of  Edward's  reign.  The  reign 
of  Richard  II.  was  convulfed  by  the  great  ftruggle  for  religious  reform, 
by  the  infurreftions  of  the  lower  orders,  and  by  the  ambition  and  feuds  of 
the  nobles,  and  produced  a  vaft  quantity  of  political  and  religious  fatire, 
both  in  profe  and  verfe,  but  efpecially  the  latter.  We  muft  not  overlook 
our  great  poet  Chaucer,  as  one  of  the  powerful  fatirifts  of  this  period. 
Political  fong  next  makes  itfelf  heard  loudly  in  the  wars  of  the  Rofes. 
It  was  the  laft  ftruggle  of  feudalifm  in  England,  and  the  character  of  the 
fong  had  fallen  back  to  its  earlier  characteristics,  in  which  all  patriotic 
feelings  were  abandoned  to  make  place  for  perfonal  hatred. 


*  "The  Vision  and  the  Creed  of  Piers  Ploughman  ;"  with  Notes  and  a  Glossary 
by  Thomas  Wright.  2  vols.  izmo.  London,  1842.  Second  and  revised  edition, 
2  vols.  i2mo.  London,  1856. 


Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XI. 

MINSTRELSY   A   SUBJECT   OF   BURLESQUE    AND    CARICATURE. CHARACTER 

OF  THE   MINSTRELS. THEIR    JOKES  UPON  THEMSELVES  AND    UPON  ONE 

ANOTHER. VARIOUS     MUSICAL     INSTRUMENTS     REPRESENTED     IN     THE 

SCULPTURES    OF    THE    MEDIAEVAL    ARTISTS. SIR    MATTHEW     GOURNAY 

AND    THE    KING  OF    PORTUGAL. — DISCREDIT  OF    THE    TABOR    AND    BAG- 
PIPES.  MERMAIDS. 

ONE  of  the  principal  clafles  of  the  fatirifts  of  the  middle  ages,  the 
minftrels,  or  jougleurs,  were  far  from  being  unamenable  to  fatire 
themfelves.  They  belonged  generally  to  a  low  clafs  of  the  population, 
one  that  was  hardly  acknowledged  by  the  law,  which  merely  adminiftered 
to  the  pleasures  and  amufements  of  others,  and,  though  fometimes 
liberally  rewarded,  they  were  objects  rather  of  contempt  than  of  refpeft. 
Of  courfe  there  were  minftrels  belonging  to  a  clafs  more  refpeftable  than 
the  others,  but  thefe  were  comparatively  few ;  and  the  ordinary  minftrel 
feems  to  have  been  limply  an  unprincipled  vagabond,  who  hardly 
poflefled  any  fettled  refting-place,  who  wandered  about  from  place  to 
place,  and  was  not  too  nice  as  to  the  means  by  which  he  gained  his 
living — perhaps  fairly  reprefented  by  the  ftreet  minftrel,  or  mountebank, 
of  the  prefent  day.  One  of  his  talents  was  that  of  mocking  and  ridiculing 
others,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  therefore,  if  he  fometimes  became 
an  objedt  of  mockery  and  ridicule  himfelf.  One  of  the  well-known 
minftrels  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Rutebeuf,  was,  like  many  of  his 
fellows,  a  poet  alfo,  and  he  has  left  feveral  fhort  pieces  of  verfe  defcriptive 
of  himfelf  and  of  his  own  mode  of  life.  In  one  of  thefe  he  complains  of 
his  poverty,  and  tells  us  that  the  world  had  in  his  time — the  reign  of 
St.  Louis — become  fo  degenerate,  that  few  people  gave  anything  to  the 
unfortunate  minftrel.  According  to  his  own  account,  he  was  without 

food, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


food,  and  in  a  fair  way  towards  ftarvation,  expofed  to  the  cold  without 
fufficient  clothing,  and  with  nothing  but  ftraw  for  his  bed. 

Je  toux  defroit,  de  fain  baaille, 

Dont  je  fuis  mart  et  mauba\Ul%, 

Jefuisfanz  coutes  et  fans  liss  ; 

Waji  fwre  jufqtfa  Senlix. 

Sire,Ji  nefai  yue/  fart  aille  ; 

Met  cofteiz  connoit  le  pail/its, 

Et  lix  de  faille  it"  eft  fas  Hz, 

Et  en  man  lit  n"afors  la  faille. — CEuvrefl  de  Btrtebenf,  vol.  i.  p.  3. 

In  another  poem,  Rutebeuf  laments  that  he  has  rendered  his  condition 
ftill  more  miferable  by  marrying,  when  he  had  not  wherewith  to  keep  a 
wife  and  family.  In  a  third,  he  complains  that  in  the  midft  of  his 
poverty,  his  wife  has  brought  him  a  child  to  increafe  his  domeflic 
expenfes,  while  his  horfe,  on  which  he  was  accuftomed  to  travel  to  places 
where  he  might  exercife  bis  profeffion,  had  broken  its  leg,  and  his  nurfe 
was  dunning  him  for  money.  In  addition  to  all  thefe  caufes  of  grief,  he 
had  loft  the  ufe  of  one  of  his  eyes. 

Or  a  d' enfant  geu  ma  fame  } 
Man  cheval  a  brifie  la  jame 

A  une  lice  ; 

Or  veut  de  /' 'argent  ma  norricet 
S^ui  m'cn  deftraint  et  me  felice, 

For  r  enfant  feftre. 

Throughout  his  complaint,  although  he  laments  over  the  decline  of 
liberality  among  his  contemporaries,  he  nevertheless  turns  his  poverty  into 
a  joke.  In  feveral  other  pieces  of  verfe  he  fpeaks  in  the  fame  way,  half 
joking  and  half  lamenting  over  his  condition,  and  he  does  not  conceal  that 
the  love  of  gambling  was  one  of  the  caufes  of  it.  "  The  dice,"  he  fays, 
"  have  flripped  me  entirely  of  my  robe  j  the  dice  watch  and  fpy  me ;  it 
is  thefe  which  kill  me;  they  affault  and  ruin  me,  to  my  grief." 

Li  de  que  li  detier  ontfet, 
RTont  de  ma  robe  tout  desfet  ; 

Li  de  m" orient. 
Li  de  m'aguetent  et  effient ; 
Li  de  m'ajjaillent  et  deffient, 

Ce  foife  moi. — Ib.,  vol.  L  p.  27. 

And 


190  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

And  elfewhere  he  intimates  that  what  rfie  minftrels  fometimes  gained 
from  the  lavifh  generofity  of  their  hearers,  foon  paffed  away  at  the  tavern 
in  dice  and  drinking. 

One  of  Rutebeuf  s  contemporaries  in  the  fame  profeflion,  Colin  Mufet, 
indulges  in  fimilar  complaints,  and  fpeaks  bitterly  of  the  want  of  generofity 
difplayed  by  the  great  barons  of  his  time.  In  addrefling  one  of  them 
who  had  treated  him  ungeneroufly,  he  fays,  "Sir  Count,  I  have  riddled 
before  you  in  your  hoftel,  and  you  neither  gave  me  a  gift,  nor  paid 
me  my  wages.  It  is  difcreditable  behaviour.  By  the  duty  I  owe  to 
St.  Mary,  I  cannot  continue  in  your  fervice  at  this  rate.  My  purfe  is  ill 
furnifhed,  and  my  wallet  is  empty." 

Sire  quens,  j'ai  viele 
Devant  vos  en  voftre  oftel  ; 
Si  ne  m'avez  riens  donney 
Ne  ma  gages  acquitezy 

Ceft  -vilanie. 
Fol  que  doi  fainte  Marie, 
Enfi  ne  -vot  Jieurre-je  mie, 
M'aumofniere  eft  maj  gprniet 
Et  ma  male  mat  far/it. 

He  proceeds  to  ftate  that  when  iie  went  home  to  his  wife  (for  Colin 
Mufet  alfo  was  a  married  minftrel),  he  was  ill  received  if  his  purfe 
and  wallet  were  empty  ;  but  it  was  very  different  when  they  were  full.  His 
wife  then  fprang  forward  and  threw  her  arms  round  his  neck ;  fhe  took 
his  wallet  from  his  horfe  with  alacrity,  while  his  lad  conducted  the 
animal  cheerfully  to  the  liable,  and  his  maiden  killed  a  couple  of  capons, 
and  prepared  them  with  piquant  fauce.  His  daughter  brought  a  comb  for 
his  hair.  "Then,"  he  exclaims,  "I  am  matter  in  my  own  houfe." 

Ma  fame  'va  deftrofer 
Ma  male  Jam  demurer  ; 
Mon  garden  -va  abu-vrer 
Man  cheval  et  conreer  ; 
Ma  pucele  va  tuer 
Deux  chapons  for  deporter 

A  lajaufe  aillie. 
Ma  file  m'aforte  un  figne 
En  fa  main  par  cortoifie. 
Lorsfui  de  man  oftel  Jire. 

When 


in  Literature  and  Art.  191 

When  the  minftrels  could  thus  joke  upon  themfelves,  we  need  not  be 
furprifed  if  they  fatirifed  one  another.  In  a  poem  of  the  thirteenth, 
century,  entitled  "  Les  deux  Troveors  Ribauz,"  two  minftrels  are  introduced 
on  the  ftage  abufing  and  infulting  one  another,  and  while  indulging  in 
mutual  accufations  of  ignorance  in  their  art,  they  difplay  their  ignorance 
at  the  fame  time  by  mifquoting  the  titles  of  the  poems  which  they  profefs 
to  be  able  to  recite.  One  of  them  boafts  of  the  variety  of  inftruments  on 
which  he  could  perform  : — 

jfe  Ju'u  jugleres  de  <vielet 
Sijai  de  mufe  et  defreftele, 
Et  de  Aarfes  et  de  chifonie^ 
De  la  gigue,  de  rarmonie, 
De  rjalteire,  et  en  la  rote 
,  Sai-ge  bien  chanter  une  note. 

It  appears,  however,  that  among  all  thefe  inftruments,  the  viol,  or  fiddle, 
was  the  one  moft  generally  in  ufe. 

The  mediaeval  monuments  of  art  abound  with  burlefques  and  fatires 
on  the  minftrels,  whofe  inftruments  of  mufic  are 
placed  in  the  hands  fbmetimes  of  monfters,  and  at 
others  in  thofe  of  animals  of  a  not  very  refined  cha- 
racter. Our  cut  No.  118  is  taken  from  a  manufcript 
in  the  Britifti  Mufeum  (MS.  Cotton,  Domitian  A.  ii.), 
and  reprefents  a  female  minftrel  playing  on  the 
riddle ;  ihe  has  the  upper  part  of  a  lady,  and  the 
lower  parts  of  a  mare,  a  combination  which  appears 
to  have  been  rather  familiar  to  the  imagination  of  the 
mediaeval  artifts.  In  our  cut  No.  119,  which  is  taken 
from  a  copy  made  by  Carter  of  one  of  the  mifereres 
in  Ely  Cathedral,  it  is  not  quite  clear  whether  the  No-  1 1 8 -.-f.  Charmi"g 

J  Fiddler. 

performer  on  the  fiddle  be  a  monfter  or  merely  a 
cripple  3  but  perhaps  the  latter  was  intended.  The  inftrument,  too, 
aflumes  a*  rather  fingular  form.  Our  cut  No  120,  alfo  taken  from  Carter, 
was  furnifhed  by  a  fculpture  in  the  church  of  St.  John,  at  Cirencefter, 
and  reprefents  a  man  performing  on  an  inflrument  rather  clofely 
refembling  the  modern  hurdy-gurdy,  which  is  evidently  played  by 

turning 


192  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


turning  a  handle,  and  the  mufic  is  produced  by  ftriking  wires  or  firings 


No.   119.     A  Crippled  Minftrel. 

in  fide.     The  face  is  evidently  intended  to  be  that  of  a  jovial  companion. 


No.  120.      The  Hurdy-Gurdy. 

Gluttony  was  an  elpecial  charaderiftic  of  that  clafs  of  fociety  to  which 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


'93 


the  minftrcl  belonged,  and  perhaps  this  was  the  idea  intended  to  be  con- 


No.  121.     A  Swirsljh  Minftrel. 

veyed  in  the  next  pifture,  No.  121,  taken  from  one  of  the  ftalls  in  Win- 


No.  l^^.     A  Mufical  Mother. 

chefter  Cathedral,  in  which  a  pig  is  performing  on  the  fiddle,  and  appears 

c  c  to 


i  94          Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


to  be  accompanied  by  a  juvenile  of  the  fame  fpecies  of  animal.  One  of 
the  fame  flails,  copied  in  our  cut  No.  122,  reprefents  a  fow  performing 
on  another  fort  of  mufical  inftrument,  which  is  not  at  all  uncommon  in 
mediaeval  delineations.  It  is  the  double  pipe  or  flute,  which  was  evidently 
borrowed  from  the  ancients.  Minftrelfy  was  the  ufual  accompaniment 
of  the  mediaeval  meal,  and  perhaps  this  picture  is  intended  to  be  a 
burlefque  on  that  circumftance,  as  the  mother  is  playing  to  her  brood 
while  they  are  feeding.  They  all  feem  to  liften  quietly,  except  one,  who 
is  evidently  much  more  affected  by  the  mufic  than  his  companions.  The 
fame  inftrument  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  rather  jolly-looking  female  in 


No.  iaj.     The  Double  Flute. 

one  of  the  fculptures  of  St.  John's  Church  in  Cirencefter,  copied  in  our 
cut  No.  123. 

Although  this  inftrument  is  rather  frequently  reprefented  in  mediaeval 
works  of  art,  we  have  no  account  of  or  allufion  to  it  in  mediaeval  writers ; 
and  perhaps  it  was  not  held  in  very  high  eftimation,  and  was  ufed  only 
by  a  low  clafs  of  performers.  As  in  many  other  things,  the  employment 
jf  particular  mufical  inftruments  was  guided,  no  doubt,  by  fafhion,  new 
ones  coming  in  as  old  ones  went  out.  Such  was  the  cafe  with  the 

inftrument 


in  Literature  and  Art.  195 

inftrument  which  is  named  in  one  of  the  above  extracts,  and  in  fome 
other  mediaeval  writers,  a  chiffonie,  and  which  has  been  fuppofed  to  be 
the  dulcimer,  that  had  fallen  into  difcredit  in  the  fourteenth  century. 
This  inftrument  is  introduced  in  a  ftory  which  is  found  in  Cuvelier's 
metrical  hiftory  of  the  celebrated  warrior  Bertrand  du  Guefclin.  In  the 
courfe  of  the  war  for  the  expulfion  of  Pedro  the  Cruel  from  the  throne  of 
Caftile,  an  Englifh  knight,  Sir  Matthew  Gournay,  was  fent  as  a  fpecial 
ambaflador  to  the  court  of  Portugal.  The  Portuguefe  monarch  had  in  his 
fervice  two  minftrels  whofe  performances  he  vaunted  greatly,  and  on 
whom  he  fet  great  flore,  and  he  infifted  on  their  performing  in  the 
prefence  of  the  new  ambaflador.  It  turned  out  that  they  played  on  the 
inftrument  juft  mentioned,  and  Sir  Matthew  Gournay  could  not  refrain 
from  laughing  at  the  performance.  When  the  king  prefled  him  to  give 
his  opinion,  he  faid,  with  more  regard  for  truth  than  politenefs,  "  In 
France  and  Normandy,  the  inftruments  your  minftrels  play  upon  are 
regarded  with  contempt,  and  are  only  in  ufe  among  beggars  and  blind 
people,  fo  that  they  are  popularly  called  beggar's  inftruments."  The  king, 
we  are  told,  took  great  offence  at  the  bluntnefs  of  his  Englilh  gueft. 

The  fiddle  itfelf  appears  at  this  time  to  have  been  gradually  finking  in 
credit,  and  the  poets  complained  that  a  degraded  tafte  for  more  vulgar 
mufical  inftruments  was  introducing  itfelf.  Among  thefe  we  may  mention 
efpecially  the  pipe  and  tabor.  The  French  antiquary,  M.  Jubinal,  in  a 
very  valuable  collection  of  early  popular  poetry,  publifhed  under  the  title 
of  "Jongleurs  et  Trouveres,"  has  printed  a  curious  poem  of  the  thirteenth 
or  fourteenth  century,  intended  as  a  proteft  againft  the  ufe  of  the  tabor 
and  the  bagpipes,  which  he  chara&erifes  as  properly  the  mufical  inftru- 
ments of  the  peafantry.  Yet  people  then,  he  fays,  were  becoming  fo 
befotted  on  fuch  inftruments,  that  they  introduced  them  in  places  where 
better  minftrelfy  would  be  more  fuitable.  The  writer  thinks  that  the 
introduction  of  fo  vulgar  an  inftrument  as  the  tabor  into  grand  feftivals 
could  be  looked  upon  in  no  other  light  than  as  one  of  the  figns  which 
might  be  expected  to  be  the  precurfors  of  the  coming  of  Antichrift.  "  if 
fuch  people  are  to  come  to  grand  feflivals  as  carry  a  bufhel  [i.e.  a  tabor 
made  in  the  form  of  a  bufhel  meafure,  on  the  end  of  which  they  beat], 

and 


196  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefqne 


and  make  fuch  a  terrible  noife,  it  would  feem  that  Antichrift  muft  now  be 
being  born  ;  people  ought  to  break  the  head  of  each  of  them  with  a  ftafF." 

Deuffent  itlels  gen*  -venlr  a  belt  fefte 
£$ui  f  orient  un  boijfel,  qui  mainent  tel  tempefte, 
II  famble  que  Antecrift  dole  maintenant  neftre  ; 
I? en  duroit  d'un  bafton  chajcun  brifier  la  tefle. 

This  fatirift  adds,  as  a  proof  of  the  contempt  in  which  the  Virgin  Mary 
held  fuch  inftruments,  that  fhe  never  loved  a  tabor,  or  confented  to  hear 
one,  and  that  no  tabor  was  introduced  among  the  minftrelfy  at  her 


No.  124.      The  Tabor,  or  Drum. 


efpoufals.  "  The  gentle  mother  of  God,"  he  fays,  "  loved  the  found  of 
the  fiddle,"  and  he  goes  on  to  prove  her  partiality  for  that  inftrument  by 
citing  fome  of  her  miracles. 

Onquet  le  nitre  Dieu,  qui  eft  -virge  honoree, 
Et  eft  a-voec  let  angles  hautement  coronet, 
N*ama  ontjues  tafaur,  ne  point  ne  It  agree, 
N'onyues  labour  n"i  ot  quant  el fu  ejpoufee. 
La  douce  mere  Dieu  ama  fan  de  wele. 

The 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


197 


The  artift  who  carved  the  curious  ftalls  in  Henry  VII. 's  Chapel  at 
Weftminfter,  feems  to  have  entered  fully  into  the  fpirit  difplayed  by  this 
fatirift,  for  in  one  of  them,  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  124,  he  has 
introduced  a  mafked  demon  playing  on  the  tabor,  with  an  expreffion 
apparently  of  derifion.  This  tabor  prefents  much  the  form  of  a  bufhel 
meafure,  or  rather,  perhaps,  of  a  modern  drum.  It  may  be  remarked 
that  the  drum  is,  in  fa6t,  the  fame  inftrument  as  the  tabor,  or,  at  leaft,  is 
derived  from  it,  and  they  were  called  by  the  fame  names,  tabor  or 
tamlour.  The  Engliih  name  drum,  which  has  equivalents  in  the  later 
forms  of  the  Teutonic  diale&s,  perhaps  means  limply  fomething  which 
makes  a  noife,  and  is  not,  as  far  as  I  know,  met  with  before  the  fixteenth 
century.  Another  carving  of  the  fame  feries  of  ftalls  at  Weftminfter, 
copied  in  our  cut  No.  125,  reprefents  a  tame  bear  playing  on  the 


No.  1*5.      Bruin  turned  Piper. 

bagpipes.  This  is  perhaps  intended  to  be  at  the  fame  time  a  fatire  on 
the  inftrument  itfelf,  and  upon  the  ftrange  exhibitions  of  animals 
domefticated  and  taught  various  fingular  performances,  which  were  then 
fo  popular. 

In 


1 98  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

In  our  cut  No.  126  we  come  to  the  fiddle  again,  which  long  fuftained 
its  place  in  the  higheft  rank  of  mufical  inftruments.  It  is  taken  from  one 
of  the  fculptures  on  the  porch  of  the  principal  entrance  to  the  Cathedral 
of  Lyons  in  France,  and  reprefents  a  mermaid  with  her  child,  liftening  to 
the  mufic  of  the  fiddle.  She  wears  a  crown,  and  is  intended,  no  doubt, 


No.  ia6.     Royal  Minftrelfy. 

to  be  one  of  the  queens  of  the  fea,  and  the  introduction  of  the  fiddle 
under  fuch  circumftances  can  leave  no  doubt  how  highly  it  was  eileemed. 
The  mermaid  is  a  creature  of  .the  imagination,  which  appears  to  have 
been  at  all  times  a  favourite  object  of  poetry  and  legend.  It  holds  an 
important  place  in  the  mediaeval  beftiaries,  or  popular  treatifes  on  natural 
hiftory,  and  it  has  only  been  expelled  from  the  domains  of  fcience  at  a 
comparatively  recent  date.  It  ftill  retains  its  place  in  popular  legends  of 
our  fea-coafts,  and  more  efpecially  in  the  remoter  parts  of  our  iflands. 
The  ftories  of  the  merrow,  or  Iri(b  fairy,  hold  a  prominent  place  among 
my  late  friend  Crofton  Croker's  "Fairy  Legends  of  the  South  of 
Ireland."  The  mermaid  is  alfo  introduced  not  unfrequently  in  mediaeval 

fculpture 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


199 


fculpture  and  carving.  Our  cut  No.  127,  reprefenting  a  mermaid  and  a 
merman,  is  copied  from  one  of  the  flails  of  Winchefter  Cathedral.  The 
ufual  attributes  of  the  mermaid  are  a  looking-glafs  and  comb,  by  the  aid 
of  which  fhe  is  drefiing  her  hair ;  but  here  (he  holds  the  comb  alone. 


No.  127.     Mermaids. 

Her  companion,  the  male,  holds  a  fifh,  which  he  appears  to  have  juft 
caught,  in  his  hand. 

While,  after  the  fifteenth  century  the  profeflion  of  the  minftrel 
became  entirely  degraded,  and  he  was  looked  upon  more  than  ever  as  a 
rogue  and  vagabond,  the  fiddle  accompanied  him,  and  it  long  remained, 
as  it  ftill  remains  in  Ireland,  the  favourite  inftrument  of  the  peafantry. 
The  blind  fiddler,  even  at  the  prefent  day,  is  not  unknown  in  our  rural 
diftri&s.  It  has  always  been  in  England  the  favourite  inftrument  of 
minftrelfy. 


2OO  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER   XII. 

THE    COURT    FOOL. THE    NORMANS    AND    THEIR    GABS. EARL'S    HISTORY 

OF     COURT     FOOLS. THEIR     COSTUME. CARVINGS     IN     THE     CORNISH 

CHURCHES. THE     BURLESdUE      SOCIETIES      OF     THE      MIDDLE    AGES. 

THE    .rFEASTS      OF      ASSES,      AND      OF      FOOLS. THEIR      LICENCE. THE 

LEADEN    MONEY    OF   THE    FOOLSs THE    BISHOP'S    BLESSING. 

FROM  the  employment  of  minftrels  attached  to  the  family,  probably 
arofe  another  and  well-known  character  of  later  times^-the  court 
jbpl,  who  took  the  place  of  fntirifl  *"  thf  great  Hnufehnlds.     T  do  not 
confider  what  we  underftand  by  the  court  fool  to  be  a  character  of  any 
great  antiquity. 

It  is  fomewhat  doubtful  whether  what  we  call  a  jeft,  was  really 
appreciated  in  the  middle  ages.  Puns  feem  to  have  been  confidered  as 
elegant  figures  of  fpeech  in  literary  compofition,  and  we  rarely  meet 
with  anything  like  a  quick  and  clever  repartee.  In  the  earlier  ages,  when 
a  party  of  warriors  would  be  merry,  their  mirth  appears  to  have  coniilled 
ufually  in  ridiculous  boafts,  or  in  rude  remarks,  or  in  fneers  at  enemies  or 
opponents.  Thefe  jefts  were  termed  by  the  French  and  Normans  gals 
(gabce,  in  mediaeval  Latin),  a  word  fuppofed  to  have  been  derived  from 
the  claffical  Latin  word  cavilla,  a  mock  or  taunt  j  and  a  Ihort  poem  in 
Anglo-Norman  has  been  preferved  which  furnifhes  a  curious  illuftration 
of  the  meaning  attached  to  it  in  the  twelfth  century.  This  poem  relates 
how  Charlemagne,  piqued  by  the  taunts  of  his  emprefs  on  the  fuperiority 
of  Hugh  the  Great,  emperor  of  Conftantinople,  went  to  Conftantinople, 
accompanied  by  his  douze  pairs  and  a  thoufand  knights,  to  verify  the  truth 
of  his  wife's  flory.  They  proceeded  firft  to  Jerufalem,  where,  when  Charle- 
magne and  his  twelve  peers  entered  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre, 
they  looked  fo  handfome  and  majeftic,  that  they  were  taken  at  firft  for 

Chrifl 


in  Literature  and  Art.  201 


Chrift  and  his  twelve  apoftles,  but  the  myftery  was  foon  cleared  up,  and 
they  were  treated  by  the  patriarch  with  great  hofpitality  during  four 
months.  They  then  continued  their  progress  till  they  reached  Conftanti- 
nople,  where  they  were  equally  well  received  by  the  the  emperor  Hugo. 
At  night  the  emperor  placed  his  guefts  in  a  chamber  furnifhed  with 
thirteen  fplendid  beds,  one  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  and  the  other 
twelve  diftributed  around  it,  and  illuminated  by  a  large  carbuncle,  which 
gave  a  light  as  bright  as  that  of  day.  When  Hugh  left  them  in  their 
quarters  for  the  night,  he  fent  them  wine  and  whatever  was  neceffary  to 
make  them  comfortable ;  and,  when  alone,  they  proceeded  to  amufe 
themfelves  with  gabs,  or  jokes,  each  being  expefted  to  fay  his  joke  in  his 
turn.  Charlemagne  took  the  lead,  and  boafled  that  if  the  emperor  Hugh 
would  place  before  him  his  ftrongeft  "  bachelor,"  in  full  armour,  and 
mounted  on  his  good  fteed,  he  would,  with  one  blow  of  his  fword,  cut 
him  through  from  the  head  downwards,  and  through  the  faddle  and 
horfe,  and  that  the  fword  fhould,  after  all  this,  fink  into  the  ground  to 
the  handle.  Charlemagne  then  called  upon  Roland  for  his  gal,  who 
boafted  that  his  breath  was  fo  ftrong,  that  if  the  emperor  Hugh  would 
lend  him  his  horn,  he  would  take  it  out  into  the  fields  and  blow  it  with 
fuch  force,  that  the  wind  and  noife  of  it  would  {hake  down  the  whole 
city  of  Constantinople.  Oliver,  whofe  turn  came  next,  boafted  of  exploits 
of  another  defcription  if  he  were  left  alone  with  the  beautiful  princefs, 
Hugh's  daughter.  The  reft  of  the  peers  indulged  in  fimilar  boafts,  and 
when  the  gabs  had  gone  round,  they  went  to  fleep.  Now  the  emperor 
of  Conftantinople  had  very  cunningly,  and  rather  treacheroufly,  made  a 
hole  through  the  wall,  by  which  all  that  pafled  infide  could  be  feen  and 
heard,  and  he  had  placed  a  fpy  on  the  outfide,  who  gave  a  full  account 
of  the  converfation  of  the  diflinguifhed  guefts  to  his  imperial  matter. 
Next  morning  Hugh  called  his  guefts  before  him,  told  them  what  he  had 
heard  by  his  fpy,  and  declared  that  each  of  them  fhould  perform  his  boaft, 
or,  if  he  failed,  be  put  to  death.  Charlemagne  expoftulated,  and  repre- 
fented  that  it  was  the  cuftom  in  France  when  people  retired  for  the  night 
to  amufe  themfelves  in  that  manner.  "  Such  is  the  cuftom  in  France," 
he  laid,  "  at  Paris,  and  at  Chartres,  when  the  French  are  in  bed  they 

D  D  amufe 


202  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


amufe  themfelves  and  make  jokes,  and  fay  things  both  of  wifdom  and 
of  folly." 

Si  eft  tel  cuftume  en  France,  a  Paris  e  a  Cartres, 
Quand  Franceis  font  culcAiex,  yuefe  giuunt  e  gabent, 
Eji  dient  ambure  e  fa-ver  e  folage. 

But  Charlemagne  expoftulated  in  vain,  and  they  were  only  faved  from 
the  confequence  of  their  imprudence  by  the  intervention  of  fo  many 
miracles  from  above.* 

In  fuch  trials  of  fkill  as  this,  an  individual  muft  continually  have  arifen 
who  excelled  in  fome  at  leart  of  the  qualities  needful  for  raifing  mirth  and 
making  him  a  good  companion,  by  mowing  himfelf  more  brilliant  in  wit, 
or  more  biting  in  farcafms,  or  more  impudent  in  his  jokes,  and  he  would  thus 
become  the  favourite  mirth-maker  of  the  court,  the  boon  companion  of 
the  chieftain  and  his  followers  in  their  hours  of  relaxation.  We  rind  fuch 
an  individual  not  unufually  introduced  in  the  early  romances  and  in  the 
mythology  of  nations,  and  he  fometimes  unites  the  character  of  court 
orator  with  the  other.  Such  a  perfonage  was  the  Sir  Kay  of  the  cycle  of 
the  romances  of  king  Arthur.  I  have  remarked  in  a  former  chapter  that 
Hunferth,  in  the  Anglo-Saxon  poem  of  Beowulf,  is  defcribed  as  holding 
a  fomewhat  fimilar  pofition  at  the  court  of  king  Hrothgar.  To  go 
farther  back  in  the  mythology  of  our  forefathers,  the  Loki  of  Scandinavian 
fable  appears  fometimes  to  have  performed  a  fimilar  character  in  the 
affembly  of  his  fellow  deities ;  and  we  know  that,  among  the  Greeks, 
Homer  on  one  occafion  introduces  Vulcan  a£ting  the  part  of  joker 
(•ytXwroTTotoc)  to  the  gods  of  Olympus.  But  all  thefe  have  no  relationlhip 
whatever  to  the  court-fool  of  modern  times. 

The  German  writer  Flogel,  in  his  "  Hiftory  of  Court  Fools,"f  has 

thrown  this  fubjeft  into  much  confufion  by  introducing  a  great  mafs  of 

irrelevant  matter ;  and  thofe  who  have  fince  compiled  from  Flb'gel,  have 

made  the  confufion  ftill  greater.     Much  of  this  confufion  has  arifen  from 

__ the 

*  "  Charlemagne,  an  Anglo-Norman  Poem  of  the  Twelfth  Century,  now  first 
published,  by  Francisque  Michel,"  izmo.,  8vo.,  London,  1836. 

f  "  Geschichte  der  Hofnarren,  von  Karl  Friedrich  Flogel,"  8vo.  Liegnitz  -ind 
Leipzig,  1789. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  203 

the  mifunderftanding  and  confounding  of  names  and  terms.  The  mimus, 
the  joculator,  the  miniftrel,  or  whatever  name  this  clafs  of  fociety 
went  by,  was  not  in  any  refpects  identical  with  what  we  underftand  by  a 
court  fool,  nor  does  any  fuch  character  as  the  latter  appear  in  the  feudal 
houfehold  before  the  fourteenth  century,  as  far  as  we  are  acquainted  with 
the  focial  manners  and  cuftoms  of  the  olden  time.  The  vaft  extent  of 
the  early  French  romans  de  gefte,  or  Carlovingian  romances,  which  are 
filled  with  pictures  of  courts  both  of  princes  and  barons,  in  which  the 
court  fool  muft  have  been  introduced  had  he  been  known  at  the  time 
they  were  compofed,  that  is,  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries, 
contains,  I  believe,  no  trace  of  fuch  perfonage ;  and  the  fame  may  be  faid 
of  the  numerous  other  romances,  fabliaux,  and  in  fact  all  the  literature  of 
that  period,  one  fo  rich  in  works  illuftrative  of  contemporary  manners  in 
their  moft  minute  detail.  From  thefe  facts  I  conclude  that  the  fingle 
brief  charter  publifhed  by  M.  Rigollot  from  a  manufcript  in  the 
Imperial  Library  in  Paris,  is  either  mifunderftood  or  it  prefents  a 
very  exceptional  cafe.  By  this  charter,  John,  king  of  England,  grants 
to  his  follus,  William  Picol,  or  Piculph  (as  he  is  called  at  the  clofe 
of  the  document),  an  eftate  in  Normandy  named  in  the  document 
Fons  Oflanae  (Menil-Ozenne  in  Mortain),  with  all  its  appurtenances, 
"  to  have  and  to  hold,  to  him  and  to  his  heirs,  by  doing  there-for  to 
us  once  a  year  the  fervice  of  one  follus,  as  long  as  he  lives  ;  and  after  his 
death  his  heirs  fhall  hold  it  of  us,  by  the  fervice  of  one  pair  of  gilt  fpurs 
to  be  rendered  annually  to  us."  *  The  fervice  (fervitium)  here  enjoined 
means  the  annual  payment  of  the  obligation  of  the  feudal  tenure,  and 

therefore 


*  The  words  of  this  charter,  as  given  by  Rigollot,  are  : — "  Joannes,  D.  G.,  etc. 
Sciatis  nos  dedisse  et  praesenti  charta  confirmasse  Willelmo  Picol,  folio  nostro, 
Fontem  Ossanae,  cum  omnibus  pertinenciis  suis,  habendum  et  tenendum  sibi  et 
haeredibus  suis,  faciendo  inde  nobis  annuatim  servitium  unius  folli  quoad  vixerit ; 
et  post  ejus  decessum  haeredes  sui  earn  tenebunt,  et  per  servifium  unius  paris  calca- 
rium  deauratorum  nobis  annuatim  reddendo.  Quare  volumus  et  firmiterpraecipimus 
quod  prxdictus  Piculphus  et  haeredes  sui  habeant  et  teneant  in  perpetuum,  bene  et 
in  pace,  libere  et  quiete,  praedictam  terram." — Rigollot,  Monnaies  inconnues  des 
Evdques  des  Innocens,  etc.,  8vo.,  Paris,  1837. 


204  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

therefore  if  follus  is  to  be  taken  as  fignifying  "a  fool,"  it  only  means 
that  Picol  was  to  perform  that  character  on  one  occafion  in  the  courfe 
of  the  year.  In  this  cafe,  he  may  have  been  fome  fool  whom  king 
John  had  taken  into  his  fpecial  favour ;  but  it  certainly  is  no  proof  that 
the  practice  of  keeping  court  fools  then  exifted.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  this  practice  was  firft  introduced  in  Germany,  for  Flogel  fpeaks, 
though  rather  doubtfully,  of  one  who  was  kept  at  the  court  of  the 
emperor  Rudolph  I.  (of  Hapfburg),  whofe  reign  lafted  from  1273  to  1292. 
It  is  more  certain,  however,  that  the  kings  of  France  poffefied  court  fools 
before  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century,  and  from  this  time  anecdotes 
relating  to  them  begin  to  be  common.  One  of  the  earliefl  and  moft 
curious  of  thefe  anecdotes,  if  it  be  true,  relates  to  the  celebrated  victory  of 
Sluys  gained  over  the  French  fleet  by  our  king  Edward  III.  in  the  year 
1340.  It  is  faid  that  no  one  dared  to  announce  this  difafter  to  the  French 
king,  Philippe  VI.,  until  a  court  fool  undertook  the  tafk.  Entering  the 
king's  chamber,  he  continued  muttering  to  himfelf,  but  loud  enough  to 
be  heard,  " Thofe  cowardly  Englifh!  the  chicken-hearted  Britons!" 
"How  ib,  coufin?"  the  king  inquired.  "Why,"  replied  the  fool, 
"  becaufe  they  have  not  courage  enough  to  jump  into  the  fea,  like  your 
French  foldiers,  who  went  over  headlong  from  their  {hips,  leaving  thofe 
to  the  enemy  who  fhowed  no  inclination  to  follow  them."  Philippe  thus 
became  aware  of  the  full  extent  of  his  calamity.  The  inftitution  of  the 
court  fool  was  carried  to  its  greateft.  degree  of  perfection  during  the 
fifteenth  century ;  it  only  expired  in  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 

It  was  apparently  with  the  court  fool  that  the  coftume  was  introduced 

which  has  ever  fince  been  confidered  as  the  chara&erillic  mark  ot  lolly. 
Some  parts  of  this  coflume,  at  leaft,  appear  to  have  been  borrowed  from 
an  earlier  dale.  The  gelotopoei  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  mimi  and  moriones 
ofthe  Romans,  ffiaved  their  heads ;  but  the  court  fools  perhaps  adopted 
this  fafliion  as  a  fatire  upon  the  clergy  and  monks.  ~^Some~writers  pro- 
fefied  to  doubt  whether  the  fools  borrowed  from-the  monks,  or  the  monks 
from  the  fools ;  and  Cornelius  Agrippa,  in  his  treatife  on  the  Vanity  of 
Sciences,  remarks  that  the  monks  had  their  heads  "all  Ihaven  like 
fools"  (rafo  toto  capite  ut  fatui).  The  cowl,  alfo,  was  perhaps  adopted 

in 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


205 


in  derifion  of  the  monks,  but  it  was  diftinguiihed  by _thg__adfl i ti oix_ofji 
pair  of  afles'  ears,  or  by  a  cock's  head  and  comb,  which  formed  its  termi- 
nation above,  or  by  both.  The  court  fool  was  alfo  furniihed  with  a  ftaff 
or  club,  which  became  eventually  his  bauble^  The  bells  were  another 
neceflary  article  in  the  equipment  of  a  court  fool,  perhaps  alfo  intended 
jt^a  fatire  on  the  cuftom  of  wearing  fmaUbells  jn_th^  Hrgfs,  whirh  JTTP. 


No.  127.     Court  Fools. 

vailed  largely  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries^-elpecially 
lunong  people  who  w?rfl  fnnf^  pf  rhilHifh  r»<jpntation.  The  fool  wore  alfo 
g^party-coloured,  or  motley,  garment,  probabjy^with  the  fame  aim  —  that 
of  fatirifing  one  of  the  ridiculous  fafhions  of  the  fourteenth  century. 


It  IS  in  the  fifteenth 


fhnf   lira   firft 


fnnl    in  full 


coftume 


206  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


coftume  in  the  illuminations  or  manufcripts,  and  towards  the  end  of  the 

century  this  coftume  appears  continually  in   engravings.     It   is  alfo  met 

with  at  this  time  among  the  fculptures  of  buildings  and  the  carvings  of 

wood-  work.    The  two  very  interefting  examples  given  in  our  cut  No.  127 

are    taken   from    carvings  of  the  fifteenth    century,  in    the    church  of 

St.  Levan,  in  Cornwall,  near  the  Land's  End.     They  reprefent  the  court 

^fool  inrtwo  varieties  of  coftume  ;  in  the  firft^ie  fool's  cowl,  or  cap,  ends 

_  iq  the  cock's  bead  ;  in  the  otherr  it  is  fitted  with  gflka'  Mrs  —  There  are 


variations  alfo  in  other  parts  of  the  drefs  ;  for  the  fecond  only  has  bells 
to  his  fleeves,  and  the  firft  carries  a  fingularly  formed  ftarT,  which  may 


No. 11$.     A  Fool  and  a  Grimace-maker. 


perhaps  be  intended  for  a  flrap  or  belt,  with  a  buckle  at  the  end;  while 
the  other  has  a  ladle  in  his  hand.  As  one  poffefles  a  beard,  and  prefects 
marks  of  age  in  his  countenance,  while  the  other  is  beardlefs  and  youthful, 
we  may  confider  the  pair  as  an  old  fool  and  a  young  fool. 

The  Cornilh  churches  are  rather  celebrated  for  their  early  carved 
wood-work,  chiefly  of  the  fifteenth  century,  of  which  two  examples  are 
given  in  our  cut,  No.  128,  taken  from  bench  pannels  in  the  church 
of  St.  Mullion,  on  the  Cornim  coaft,  a  little  to  the  north  of  the 

Lizard 


in  Literature  and  Art.  207 

Lizard  Point.  The  firft  has  bells  hanging  to  the  ileeves,  and  is  no  doubt 
intended  to  reprefent  folly  in  fome  form  ;  the  other  appears  to  be  intended 
for  the  head  of  a  woman  making  grimaces.* 

T-bft  fool  had  long  been  a  character  among  the  people  before  he  became 
a  court  fool,  for  Folly — or,  as  Ihe  was  then  called,  "Mother  Folly  " — was 
one  of  the  favourite  objects  of  popular  worfhip  in  the  middle  ages,  and, 
where  that  worihip  fprang  up  fpontaneoufly  among  the  people,  it  grew  with 
more  energy,  and  prefented  more  hearty  joyoufnefs  and  bolder  fatire  than 
under  the  patronage  of  the  great.  Our  forefathers  in  thofe  times  were 
accuftomed  to  form  themfelves  into  aflbciations  or  focieties  of  a  mirthful 
character,  pamHipg  nf  thofo  of  a  mntv  ^rin\is  defcriptian.  efpecially  eccle- 
.fiaftiral,  and  plpftpH  as  thmr  nfflrpra  mno^  popes,  cardinals,  archbifhops  and 
~bJJhopsr  kings,  &c.  They  held  periodical  feftivals,  riotous  and  licentious 
carnivals,  which  were  admitted  into  the  churches,  and  even  taken  under 
the  efpecial  patronage  of  the  clergy,  under  fuch  titles  as  "  the  feaft  of 
fools,"  "  the  feaft  of  the  afs,"  "  the  feaft  of  the  innocents,"  and  the  like. 
There  was  hardly  a  Continental  town  of  any  account  which  had  not  its 
"  company  of  fools,"  with  its  mock  ordinances  and  mock  ceremonies.  .In 
our  own  ifland  we  "had  our  abbots  of  mifrule  and  of  unreaibrr.  Aftheir 
public  feftivals  fatirical  fongs  were  fung  and  fatirical  mafks  and  drefles 
were  worn  ;  and  in  many  of  them,  efpecially  at  a  later  date,  brief  fatirical 
dramas  were  acted.  Thefe  fatires  afiumed  much  of  the  functions  of 
modern  caricature ;  the  caricature  of  the  pictorial  representations,  which 
were  moftly  permanent  monuments  and  deftined  for  future  generations, 
was  naturally  general  in  its  character,  but  in  the  reprefentations  of  which 
I  am  fpeaking,  which  were  temporary,  and  defigned  to  excite  the  mirth 
of  the  moment,  it  became  perfonal,  and,  often,  even  political,  and  it  was 
conftantly  directed  againft  the  ecclefiaftical  order.  The  fcandal  of  the 
day  furnifhed  it  with  abundant  materials.  A  fragment  of  one  of  their 

fongs 

*  For  the  drawings  of  these  interesting  carvings  from  the  Cornish  churches,  I 
am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  J.  T.  Blight,  the  author  of  an  extremely 
pleasing  and  useful  guide  to  the  beauties  of  a  well-known  district  of  Cornwall, 
entitled  "  A  Week  at  the  Land's  End." 


208  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


fongs  of  an  early  date,  fung  at  one  of  thefe  "feafts  "  at  Rouen,  has  been 
preferved,  and  contains  the  following  lines,  written  in  Latin  and 
French  : — 

De  afino  bono  nofiro, 
Meliori  et  optima, 

Debemus  faire  fete. 
En  revenant  de  Gra-vinaria, 
Un  gros  chardon  referit  in  -via, 
H  lui  coupa  la  tete. 

Vtr  mmachus  in  menfe  Julio 
Egrejfus  eft  e  monafterio, 

C'est  dom  de  la  Bucaille  ; 
EgreJJus  eftjine  licentia, . 
Pour  aller  voir  dona  Venissia, 

Et  faire  la  ripaille. 

TRANSLATION. 

For  our  good  aft, 

The  better  and  the  beft, 

IVe  ought  to  rejoice. 
•  In  returning  from  Gra-uiniere, 
*       A  great  thiftle  he  found  in  the  toayt 
He  cut  off  its  head. 

A  monk  in  the  month  of  July 
Went  out  of 'his  monaftery, 

It  is  dom  de  la  Bucaille  ; 
He  ivent  out  •without  Hcenfe, 
To  fay  a  -vifit  to  the  dame  de  Veniffe, 

jind  make  jovial  cheer. 

It  appears  that  De  la  Bucaille  was  the  prior  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Taurin, 
at  Rouen,  and  that  the  dame  de  Venifle  was  priorefs  of  St.  Saviour,  and 
thefe  lines,  no  doubt,  commemorate  fome  great  fcandal  of  the  day 
relating  to  the  private  relations  between  thefe  two  individuals. 

Thefe  mock  religious  ceremonies  are  fuppofed  to  have  been  derived 
from  the  Roman  Saturnalia;  they  were  evidently  of  great  antiquity  in  the 
mediaeval  church,  and  were  moil  prevalent  in  France  and  Italy.  Under 
the  name  of  "the  feaft  of  the  fub-deacons"  they  are  forbidden  by  the 
acts  of  the  council  of  Toledo,  in  633  ;  at  a  later  period,  the  French 
punned  on  the  word  fous-diacres,  and  called  them  Saouls-diacres  (Drunken 
Deacons),  words  which  had  nearly  the  fame  found.  The  "  fealt  of  the 

afs  " 


in  Literature  and  Art.  209 


afs  "  is  faid  to  be  traced  back  in  France  as  far  as  the  ninth  century.  It 
was  celebrated  in  moft  of  the  great  towns  in  that  country,  fuch  as  Rouen, 
Sens,  Douai,  &c.,  and  the  fervice  for  the  occafion  is  actually  preferred  in 
fome  of  the  old  church  books.  From  this  it  appears  that  the  afs  was  led 
in  procellion  to  a  place  in  the  middle  of  the  church,  which  had  been 
decked  out  to  receive  it,  and  that  the  proceflion  was  led  by  two  clerks, 
who  fung  a  Latin  fong  in  praife  of  the  animal.  This  fong  commences 
by  telling  us  how  "'  the  afs  came  from  the  eaft,  handfome  and  very  ftrong, 
and  moft  fit  for  carrying  burthens": — 

Orientis  partibus 
Advcnta-vlt  afinus, 
Pule  her  et  fortijfimur, 
Sarcinis  aptljfimus. 

The  refrain  or  burthen  of  the  fong  is  in  French,  and  exhorts  the  animal  to 
join  in  the  uproar — "Eh  !  sir  afs,  chant  now,  fair  mouth,  bray,  you  (hall 
have  hay  enough,  and  oats  in  abundance  :" — 

HeZjjlre  afrtes,  car  chant  f*t 
Belle  bouche,  rechtgnez, 
fous  aurez  dufoin  ajjez, 
Et  de  favoine  a  plantez. 

In  this  tone  the  chant  continues  through  nine  fimilar  ftanzas,  defcribing 
the  mode  of  life  and  food  of  the  afs.  When  the  proceffion  reached  the 
altar,  the  prieft  began  a  fervice  in  profe.  Beleth,  one  of  the  celebrated 
doctors  of  the  univerfity  of  Paris,  who  flourifhed  in  1182,  fpeaks  of  the 
"  feaft  of  fools  "  as  in  exiflence  in  his  time  3  and  the  a£ts  of  the  council 
of  Paris,  held  in  1212,  forbid  the  prefence  of  archbifhops  and  bifhops, 
and  more  efpecially  of  monks  and  nuns,  at  the  feafts  of  fools,  "in  which 
a  flaff  was  carried."*  We  know  the  proceedings  of  this  latter  feftival 
rather  minutely  from  the  accounts  given  in  the  ecclefiaftical  cenfures. 

It 


*  "  A  festis  follorum  ubi  baculus  accipitur  omnino  abstineatur.  ....  Idem  fortius 
monachis  et  monialibus  prohibemus." 

E   E 


2 1  o  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

It  was  in  the  cathedral  churches  that  they  elected  the  archbifhop  or  bifhop 
of  fools,  whofe  election  was  confirmed,  and  he  was  confecrated,  with  a 
multitude  of  buffooneries.  He  then  entered  upon  his  pontifical  duties, 
wearing  the  mitre  and  carrying  the  crofier  before  the  people,  on  whom 
he  beftowed  his  folemn  benediction.  In  the  exempt  churches,  or  thofe 
which  depended  immediately  upon  the  Holy  See,  they  elected  a  pope  of 
fools  (unum  papam  fatuorum),  who  wore  fimilarly  the  enfigns  of  the 
papacy.  Thefe  dignitaries  were  aflifled  by  an  equally  burlefque  and 
licentious  clergy,  who  uttered  and  performed  a  mixture  of  follies  and  im- 
pieties during  the  church  fervice  of  the  day,  which  they  attended  in 
difguifes  and  mafquerade  drefles.  Some  wore  malks,  or  had  their  faces 
painted,  and  others  were  drefled  in  women's  clothing,  or  in  ridiculous 
coflumes.  On  entering  the  choir,  they  danced  and  fang  licentious  fongs. 
The  deacons  and  fub-deacons  ate  black  puddings  and  faufages  on  the  altar 
while  the  prieft  was  celebrating ;  others  played  at  cards  or  dice  under  his 
eyes;  and  others  threw  bits  of  old  leather  into  the.  cenfer,in  order  to 
raife  a  difagreeable  fmell.  After  the  mafs  was  ended,  the  people  broke 
out  into  all  forts  of  riotous  behaviour  in  the  church,  leaping,  dancing,  and 
exhibiting  themfelves  in  indecent  poftures,  and  fome  went  as  far  as  to 
flrip  themfelves  naked,  and  in  this  condition  they  were  drawn  through 
the  ftreets  with  tubs  full  of  ordure  and  filth,  which  they  threw  about  at 
the  mob.  Every  now  and  then  they  halted,  when  they  exhibited 
immodeft  poftures  and  actions,  accompanied  with  fongs  and  fpeeches  of 
the  fame  character.  Many  of  the  laity  took  part  in  the  proceflion,  drefled 
as  monks  and  nuns.  Thefe  diforders  feem  to  have  been  carried  to  their 
greateft  degree  of  extravagance  during  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries.* 

Towards 

*  On  the  subject  of  all  these  burlesques  and  popular  feasts  and  ceremonies,  the 
reader  may  consult  Flogel's  "  Geschichte  des  Grotesk-Komischen,'"  of  which  a  new 
and  enlarged  edition  has  recently  been  given  by  Dr.  Friedrich  W.  Ebeling,  8vo., 
Leipzig,  1862  Much  interesting  information  on  the  subject  was  collected  by  Du 
Tilliot,  in  his  "  Memoires  pour  servir  a  THistoire  de  la  Fete  des  Fous,"  8vo., 
Lausanne,  1751.  See  also  Rigollot,  in  the  work  quoted  above,  and  a  popular  article 
on  the  same  subject  will  be  found  in  my  "  Archaeological  Album." 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


in 


21  I 


Towards  the  fifteenth  century,  lay  focieties,  having  apparently  no 
conneftion  with  the  clergy  or  the  church,  but  of  juft  the  fame  burlefque 
character,  arofe  in  France.  One  of  the  earlieft  of  thefe  was  formed  by 
the  clerks  of  the  Bazoche,  or  lawyers'  clerks  of  the  Palais  de  Juflice  in 
Paris,  whofe  president  was  a  fort  of  king  of  mifrule.  The  other 
principal  fociety  of  this  kind  in  Paris  took  the  rather  mirthful  name  of 
Enfans  fans  Souci  (Carelefs  Boys)  ;  it  confifted  of  young  men  of 
education,  who  gave  to  their  prefident'or  chieftain  the  title  of  Prince 
des  Sots  (the  Prince  of  Fools).  Both  thefe  focieties  compofed  and 
performed  farces,  and  other  fmall  dramatic  pieces.  Thefe  farces  were 
fatires  on  contemporary  fociety,  and  appear  to  have  been  often  very 
perfonal. 

Almoft  the  only  monuments  of  the  older  of  thefe  focieties  confift  of 
coins,  or  tokens,  flruck  in  lead,  and  fometimes  commemorating  the  names 
of  their  mock  dignitaries.  A  confiderable  number  of  thefe  have  been 
found  in  France,  and  an  account  of  them,  with  engravings,  was  publifhed 
by  Dr.  Rigollot  fome  years  ago.*  Our  cut  No.  129  will  ferve  as  an 


No.  129.     Money  of  the  Archbijhop  of  the  Innocents. 

example.  It  represents  a  leaden  token  of  the  Archbifhop  of  the 
Innocents  of  the  parifh  of  St.  Firmin,  at  Amiens,  and  is  curious  as  bearing 
a  date.  On  one  fide  the  archbifhop  of  the  Innocents  is  reprefented  in 
the  a6t  of  giving  his  blefling  to  his  flock,  furrounded  by  the  infcription, 
MONETA  •  ARCHIEPI  •  scTi  •  FiRMiNi.  On  the  other  fide  we  have  the 


"Monnaies  inconnues  dcs  Evdques  des  Innocens,  des  Fous,"  Sec.,  Paris, 
1837. 


2 1 2  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

name  of  the  individual  who  that  year  held  the  office  of  archbifhop, 
NICOLAVS  •  GAVDRAM  •  ARCHiEPVs  p  1520,  furrounding  a  group  confiding 
of  two  men,  one  of  whom  is  drafted  as  a  fool,  holding  between  them  a 
bird,  which  has  fomewhat  the  appearance  of  a  magpie.  Our  cut 
No.  130  is  ftill  more  curious  j  it  is  a  token  of  the  pope  of  fools.  On  one 


Money  of  the  Pope  of  fools . 


fide  appears  the  pope  with  his  tiara  and  double  crofe,  and  a  fool  in  full 
coftume,  who  approaches  his  bauble  to  the  pontifical  crofs.  It  is  certainly 
a  bitter  caricature  on  the  papacy,  whether  that  were  the  intention  or  not. 
Two  perfons  behind,  drefled  apparently  in  fcholaftic  coftume,  feem 
to  be  merely  fpe£tators.  The  infcription  is,  MONETA  •  NOVA  *  ADRIANI  • 
STVLTORV  [M]  •  PAPE  (the  laft  E  being  in  the  field  of  the  piece),  "new  money 
of  Adrian,  the  pope  of  fools."  The  infcription  on  the  other  fide  of  the 
token  is  one  frequently  repeated  on  thefe  leaden  medals,  STVLTORV  [M]  • 
INFINITVS  •  EST  '  NVMERVS,  "  the  number  of  fools  is  infinite."  In  the 
field  we  fee  Mother  Folly  holding  up  her  bauble,  and  before  her  a 
grotefque  figure  in  a  cardinal's  hat,  apparently  kneeling  to  her.  It  is 
rather  furprifing  that  we  find  fo  few  allufions  to  thefe  burlefque  focieties 
in  the  various  clafies  of  piftorial  records  from  which  the  fubje6t  of  thefe 
chapters  has  been  illuflrated  ;  but  we  have  evidence  that  they  were  not 
altogether  overlooked.  Until  the  latter  end  of  the  laft  century,  the 
mifereres  of  the  church  of  St.  Spire,  at  Corbeil,  near  Paris,  were 
remarkable  for  the  fingular  carvings  with  which  they  were  decorated,  and 
which  have  fince  been  deftroyed,  but  fortunately  they  were  engraved  by 

Millin. 


m  Literature  and  Art. 


213 


Millin.  One  of  them,  copied  in  our  cut  No.  131,  evidently  reprefents 
the  bifliop  of  fools  conferring  his  blefiing ;  the  fool's  bauble  occupies  the 
place  of  the  paftoral  ftaff. 


No.  131.      The  Bijbop  of  t'oolt. 


214  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE      DANCE      OF      DEATH. THE      PAINTINGS      IN     THE      CHURCH      OF     LA 

CHAISE     DIEU. THE     REIGN      OF     FOLLY. SEBASTIAN     BRANDT  ;     THE 

"SHIP    OF     FOOLS." DISTURBERS    OF     CHURCH     SERVICE. TROUBLE- 
SOME   BEGGARS. — GEILER'S    SERMONS. — BADIUS,    AND     HIS     SHIP    OF 

FOOLISH    WOMEN. THE    PLEASURES     OF    SMELL. ERASMUS  J    THE 

"PRAISE  OF  FOLLY." 

THERE  is  ftill  one  cycle  of  fatire  which  almoft  belongs  to  the  middle 
ages,  though  it  only  became  developed  at  their  clofe,  and  became 
moft  popular  after  they  were  paft.  There  exifted,  at  lead  as  early  as  the 
beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  a  legendary  ftory  of  an  interview 
between  three  living  and  three  dead  men,  which  is  ufually  told  in  French 
verfe,  and  appears  under  the  title  of  "Des  trois  vifs  et  des  trois  morts." 
According  to  fome  verfions  of  the  legend,  it  was  St.  Macarius,  the 
Egyptian  reclufe,  who  thus  introduced  the  living  to  the  dead.  The 
verfes  are  fometimes  accompanied  with  figures,  and  thefe  have  been 
found  both  fculptured  and  painted  on  ecclefiaftical  buildings.  At  a  later 
period,  apparently  early  in  the  fifteenth  century,  fome  one  extended  this 
idea  to  all  ranks  of  fociety,  and  pictured  a  Ikeleton,  the  emblem  of  death, 
or  even  more  than  one,  in  communication  with  an  individual  of  each 
dais;  and  this  extended  fcene,  from  the  manner  of  the  grouping — in 
which  the  dead  appeared  to  be  wildly  dancing  off  with  the  living— •- 
became  known  as  the  "  Dance  of  Death."  As  the  earlier  legend  of  the 
three  dead  and  the  three  living  was,  however,  ftill  often  introduced 
at  the  beginning  of  it,  the  whole  group  was  moft  generally  known — 
efpecially  during  the  fifteenth  century — as  the  "  Danfe  Macabre,"  or 

Dance 


in  Literature  and  Art.  215 


Dance  of  Macabre,  this  name  being  confidered  as  a  mere  corruption  of 
Macarius.  The  temper  of  the  age — in  which  death  in  every  form  was 
constantly  before  the  eyes  of  all,  and  in  which  people  fought  to  regard 
life  as  a  mere  tranfitory  moment  of  enjoyment — gave  to  this  grim  idea  of 
the  fellowfhip  of  death  and  life  great  popularity,  and  it  was  not  only 
painted  on  the  walls  of  churches,  but  it  was  fufpended  in  tapeflry  around 
people's  chambers.  Sometimes  they  even  attempted  to  reprefent  it  in 
mafquerade,  and  we  are  told  that  in  the  month  of  October,  1424,  the 
"  Danfe  Macabre  "  was  publicly  danced  by  living  people  in  the  cemetery 
of  the  Innocents,  in  Paris — a  fit  place  for  fo  lugubrious  a  performance — , 
in  the  prefence  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford  and  the  Duke  of  Burgundy,  who] 
came  to  Paris  after  the  battle  of  Verneuil.  During  the  reft  of  the  century 
we  find  not  unfrequently  allufions  to  the  "Danfe  Macabre.'1  The 
Englifh  poet  Lydgate  wrote  a  feries  of  ftanzas  to  accompany  the  figures, 
and  it  was  the  fubjeft  of  fbme  of  the  earlieft  engravings  on  wood.  In 
the  pofture  and  accompaniments  of  the  figures  reprefenting  the  different 
clafles  of  fociety,  and  in  the  greater  or  lefs  reluctance  with  which  the 
living  accept  their  not  very  attractive  partners,  fatire  is  ufually  implied, 
and  it  is  in  fome  cafes  accompanied  with  drollery.  The  figure  reprefent- 
ing death  has  almoft  always  a  grimly  mirthful  countenance,  and  appears 
to  be  dancing  with  good  will.  The  moft  remarkable  early  reprefentation 
of  the  "  Danfe  Macabre  "  now  preferred,  is  that  painted  on  the  wall  of 
the  church  of  La  Chaife  Dieu,  in  Auvergne,  a  beautiful  fac-fimile  of 
which  was  publilhed  a  few  years  ago  by  the  well-known  antiquary 
M.  Jubinal.  This  remarkable  pi6ture  begins  with  the  figures  of  Adam 
and  Eve,  who  are  introducing  death  into  the  world  in  the  form  of  a 
ferpent  with  a  death's  head.  The  dance  is  opened  by  an  ecclefiaftic 
preaching  from  a  pulpit,  towards  whom  death  is  leading  firft  in  the  dance 
the  pope,  for  each  individual  takes  his  precedence  ftri6tly  according  to  his 
clafs — alternately  an  ecclefiaftic  and  a  layman.  Thus  next  after  the  pope 
comes  the  emperor,  and  the  cardinal  is  followed  by  the  king.  The 
baron  is  followed  by  the  biftiop,  and  the  grim  partner  of  the  latter  appears 
to  pay  more  attention  to  the  layman  than  to  his  own  prieft,  fo  that  two 
dead  men  appear  to  have  the  former  in  charge.  The  group  thus  repre- 

fented 


216  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

fented  by  the  nobleman  and  the  two  deaths,  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  132, 
and  will  ferve  as  an  example  of  the  ftyle  and  grouping  of  this  remarkable 
painting.  After  a  few  other  figures,  perhaps  lefs  ftriking,  we  come  to 
the  merchant,  who  receives  the  advances  of  his  partner  with  a  thoughtful 
air 3  while  immediately  after  him  another  death  is  trying  to  make  him- 
felf  more  acceptable  to  the  bafhful  nun  by  throwing  a  cloak  over  his 
nakednels.  In  another  place  two  deaths  armed  with  bows  and  arrows  are 


No.  1 32.      The  Knight  in  the  Dance  of  Death. 

fcattering  their  (hafts  rather  dangeroufly.  Soon  follow  fome  of  the  more 
gay  and  youthful  members  of  fociety.  Our  cut  No.  133  reprefents  the 
mufician,  who  appears  allb  to  attraft  the  attentions  of  two  of  the  perfe- 
cutors.  In  his  difmay  he  is  treading  under  foot  his  own  viol.  The 
dance  clofes  with  the  lower  orders  of  fociety,  and  is  concluded  by  a  group 
which  is  not  fo  eafily  underftood.  Before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
there  had  appeared  in  Paris  feveral  editions  of  a  feries  of  bold  engravings 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


217 


on  wood,  in  a  fmall  folio  fize,  reprefenting  the  fame  dance,  though  fome- 
what  differently  treated.  France,  indeed,  appears  to  have  been  the 
native  country  of  the  "  Danfe  Macabre."  But  in  the  century  following 
the  beautiful  fet  of  drawings  by  the  great  artiftHans  Holbein,  firfl  publiftied 
at  Lyons  in  1538,  gave  to  the  Dance  of  Death  a  ftill  greater  and  wider 


No.  133.     The  Mufician  in  Death's  Hands. 


celebrity.  From  this  time  the  fubjects  of  this  dance  were  commonly 
introduced  in  initial  letters,  and  in  the  engraved  borders  of  pages, 
efpecially  in  books  of  a  religious  character. 

Death  may  truly  be  faid  to  have  mared  with  Folly  that  melancholy 
period — the  fifteenth  century.  As  fociety  then  prefented  itfelf  to  the 
eye,  people  might  eafily  fuppofe  that  the  world  was  running  mad,  and 
folly,  in  one  lhape  or  other,  feemed  to  be  the  principle  which  ruled  moft 
men's  actions.  The  jocular  focieties,  defcribed  in  my  laft  chapter,  which 
multiplied  in  France  during  the  fifteenth  century,  initiated  a  fort  of 
mock  worfhip  of  Folly.  That  fort  of  inauguration  of  death  which  was 

F  F  performed 


2 1 8  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

performed  in  the  "Danfe  Macabre,"  was  of  French  growth,  but  the 
grand  crufade  againft  folly  appears  to  have  originated  in  Germany. 
Sebaftian_Brandt  was  a  native  of  Strafburg,  born  in  1458.  He  ftudied 
in  that  city  and  in  Bale,  became  a  celebrated  profeflbr  in  both  thofe 
places,  and  died  at  the  former  in  1520.  The  "  Ship  of  Fools,"  which  has 
immortalifed  the  name  of  Sebaftian  Brandt,  is  believed  to  have  been  firft 
published  in  the  year  1494.  The  original  German  text  went  through 
numerous  editions  within  a  few  years ;  a  Latin  tranflation  was  equally 
popular,  and  it  was  afterwards  edited  and  enlarged  by  Jodocus  Badius 
Afcenfius.  A  French  text  was  no  lefs  fuccefsful ;  an  Englifh  tranflation 
was  printed  by  Richard  Pynfon  in  1509 ;  a  Dutch  verfion  appeared  in 
1519.  During  the  fixteenth  century,  Brandt's  "Ship  of  Fools"  was  the 
moft  popular  of  books.  Tt  coniifts  of  a  feries  of  bold  woodcuts,  which 
form  its  characleriftic  feature,  and  of  metrical  explanations,  written  by 
Brandt,  and  annexed  to  each  cut.  Taking  his  text  from  the  words  of  the 
preacher,  "  Stultorum  numerus  eft  infinitus,"  Brandt  expofes  to  the  eye,  in 
all  its  fhades  and  forms,  the  folly  of  his  contemporaries,  and  bares  to  view 
its  roots  and  caufes.  The  cuts  are  efpecially  interefting  as  ftriking  pictures 
of  contemporary  manners.  The  "  Ship  of  .Fools  -".  js  the .  grea£jbip_ofj!he 
world,  into  which  the  various  defcriptions  of  fatuity  are  pouring  from  all 
quarters  in  boat-loads.  The  firft  folly  is  that  of  men  who  collected  great 
quantities  of  books,  not  for  their  utility,  but  for  their  rarity,  or  beauty  of 
execution,  or  rich  bindings,  fo  that  we  fee  that  bibliomania  had  already  taken 
its  place  among  human  vanities.  The  fecond  clafs  of  fools  were  interefted 
and  partial  judges,  who  fold  juftice  for  money,  and  are  reprefented  under 
the  emblem  of  two  fools  throwing  a  boar  into  a  caldron,  according  to  the 
old  Latin  proverb,  Agere  aprum  in  lebetem.  Then  come  the  various  follies 
of  mifers,  fops,  dotards,  men  who  are  foolifhly  indulgent  to  their  children, 
mifchief-makers,  and  defpifers  of  good  advice;  of  nobles  and  men  in 
power;  of  the  profane  and  the  improvident;  of  foolilh  lovers;  of 
extravagant  eaters  and  drinkers,  &c.,  &c.  Foolifh  talking,  hypocrify, 
frivolous  purfuits,  ecclefiaftical  corruptions,  impudicity,  and  a  great 
number  of  other  vices  as  well  as  follies,  are  duly  pafled  in  review,  and  are 
reprefented  in  various  forms  of  fatirical  caricature,  and  fometimes  in 

fimple 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


219 


firapler  unadorned  pictures.  Thus  the  foolim  valuers  of  things  are  repre- 
fented  by  a  fool  holding  a  balance,  one  fcale  of  which  contains  the  fun, 
moon,  and  ftars,  to  reprefent  heaven  and  heavenly  things,  and  the  other  a 
caftle  and  fields,  to  reprefent  earthly  things,  the  latter  fcale  overweighing 
the  other  j  and  the  procr,aftinator  is  pictured  by  another  fool,  with  a  parrot 
perched  on  his  head,  and  a  magpie  on  each  hand,  all  repeating  eras,  eras, 
eras  (to-morrow).  Our  cut  No.  134  reprefents  a  group  of  difturbers  of 


No.  1 34.      Difturbers  of  Church  Service 

church  fervice.  It  was  a  common  practice  in  former  days  to  take  to 
church  hawks  (which  were  conftantly  carried  about  as  the  outward  enfign 
of  the  gentleman)  and  dogs.  The  fool  has  here  thrown  back  his  fool's-cap 
to  exhibit  more  fully  the  fafhionable  "  gent "  of  the  day ;  he  carries  his 
hawk  on  his  hand,  and  wears  not  only  a  fafliionable  pair  of  ftioes,  but  very 
fafhionable  clogs  allb.  Thefe  gentlemen  d.  la  mode,  turgentes  genere  et 
natalibus  altis,  we  are  told,  were  the  perlbns  who  difturbed  the  church 

fervice 


22O  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


fervice  by  the  creaking  of  their  fhoes  and  clogs,  the  noife  made  by  their 
birds,  the  barking  and  quarrelling  of  their  dogs,  by  their  own  whifperings, 
and  efpecially  with  immodeft  women,  whom  they  met  in  church  as  in  a 
convenient  place  of  affignation.  All  thefe  forms  of  the  offence  are 
exprefled  in  the  picture.  Our  fecond  example  cut  No.  135,  which  forms 


No.  135.     Mendicants  on  their  Travels. 

the  fifty-ninth  title  or  fubjed  in  the  "  Ship  of  Fools,"  reprefents  a  party 
of  the  beggars  with  which,  either  lay  or  ecclefiaftical,  the  country  was 
then  overrun.  In  the  explanation,  thefe  wicked  beggars  are  defcribed  as 
indulging  in  idlenefs,  in  eating,  drinking,  rioting,  and  fleep,  while  they 
levy  contributions  on  the  charitable  feelings  of  the  honeft  and  induftrious, 
and,  under  cover  of  begging,  commit  robbery  wherever  they  find  the 
opportunity.  The  beggar,  who  appears  to  be  only  a  deceptive  cripple, 
leads  his  donkey  laden  with  children,  whom  he  is  bringing  up  in  the  fame 
profeffion,  while  his  wife  lingers  behind  to  indulge  in  her  bibulous  pro- 

penfities. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  221 


penfities.  Thefe  cuts  will  give  a  tolerable  notion  of  the  general  character 
of  the  whole,  which  amount  in  number  to  a  hundred  and  twelve,  and 
therefore  prefent  a  great  variety  of  fubjecTs  relative  to  almoft  every  clafs 
and  profeifion  of  life. 

We  may  remark,  however,  that  after  Folly  had  thus  run  through  all 
the  ftages  of  fociety,  until  it  had  reached  the  lowed  of  all,  the  ranks  of 
mendicity,  the  gods  themfelves  became  alarmed,  the  more  fo  as  this  great 
movement  was  directed  efpecially  agaiuft  Minerva,  the  goddefs  of  wifdom, 
and  they  held  a  conclave  to  provide  againft  it.  The  refult  is  not  told, 
but  the  courfe  of  Folly  goes  on  as  vigorously  as  ever.  Ignorant  fools 
who  fet  up  for  phyficians,  fools  who  cannot  underftand  jokes,  unwife 
mathematicians,  aftrologers,  of  the  latter  of  which  the  moralifer  fays,  in  his 
Latin  verfe — 

Siqua  -voles  forth  presncfcere  damna  futurte, 

Et  -vltare  malum,  fol  tibifigna  dabit. 
Sed  tlbi,  fiultet  tul  cur  non  dedit  ille  furoris 

Signa  ?  aut,Ji  dederit,  cur  tanta  malafubis  ? 
Nondum  grammaticae  callis  prlmordia)  et  audes 

Vim  ccel'i  radio  fuppofuiffe  tuo. 

The  next  cut  is  a  very  curious  one,  and  appears  to  reprefent  a  difle6ting- 
houfe  of  this  early  period.  Among  other  chapters  which  afford  interefting 
pidures  of  that  time,  and  indeed  of  all  times,  we  may  inftance  thofe  of 
litigious  fools,  who  are  always  going  to  law,  and  who  confound  blind 
juftice,  or  rather  try  to  unbind  her  eyes ;  of  filthy-tongued  fools,  who 
glorify  the  race  of  fwine  5  of  ignorant  fcholars  ;  of  gamblers  5  of  bad  and 
thievifh  cooks ;  of  low  men  who  feek  to  be  high,  and  of  high  who  are 
defpifers  of  poverty  ;  of  men  who  forget  that  they  will  die  ;  of  irreligious 
men  and  blafphemers ;  of  the  ridiculous  indulgence  of  parents  to  children, 
and  the  ungrateful  return  which  was  made  to  them  foi  it ;  and  of  women's 
pride.  Another  title  defcribes  the  ruin  of  Chriftianity :  the  pope, 
emperor,  king,  cardinals,  &c.,  are  receiving  willingly  from  a  fuppliant  fool 
the  cap  of  Folly,  while  two  other  fools  are  looking  derifively  upon  them 
from  an  adjoining  wall.  It  need  hardly  be  faid  that  this  was  publifhed 
on  the  eve  of  the  Reformation. 

In  the  midft  of  the  popularity  which  greeted  the  appearance  of  the 

work 


222  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


work  of  Sebaftian  Brandt,  it  attra&ed  the  fpecial  attention  of  a  celebrated 
preacher  of  the  time  named  Johann  Geiler.  Geiler  was  born  at  Schaff- 
haufen,  in  Switzerland,  in  1445,  but  having  loft  his  father  when  only 
three  years  of  age,  he  was  educated  by  his  grandfather,  who  lived  at 
Keyferfberg,  in  Alface,  and  hence  he  was  commonly  called  Geiler  of 
Keyferfberg.  He  ftudied  in  Freiburg  and  Bale,  obtained  a  great  repu- 
tation for  learning,  was  efteemed  a  profound  theologian,  and  was  finally 
fettled  in  Strafburg,  where  he  continued  to  fhine  as  a  preacher  until  his 
death  in  1510.  He  was  a  bold  man,  too,  in  the  caufe  of  truth,  and  de- 
claimed with  earneft  zeal  againft  the  corruptions  of  the  church,  and  efpe- 
cially  againft  the  monkifh  orders,  for  he  compared  the  black  monks  to  the 
devil,  the  white  monks  to  his  dam,  and  the  others  he  faid  were  their 
chickens.  On  another  occafion  he  faid  that  the  qualities  of  a  good  monk 
were  an  almighty  belly,  an  afs's  back,  and  a  raven's  mouth.  He  told  his 
congregation  from  the  pulpit  that  a  great  reformation  was  at  hand,  that 
he  did  not  expect  to  live  to  fee  ':  himfelf,  but  that  many  of  thofe  who 
heard  him  would  live  to  fee  it.  As  may  be  fuppofed,  the  monks  hated 
him,  and  fpoke  of  him  with  contempt.  They  faid,  that  in  his  fermous  he 
took  his  texts,  not  from  the  Scriptures,  but  from  the  "  Ship  of  Fools  "  of 
Sebaftian  Brandt;  and,  in  fa6t,  during  the  year  1498,  Geiler  preached  at 
Strafburg  a  feries  of  fermons  on  the  follies  of  his  time,  which  were 
evidently  founded  upon  Brandt's  book,  for  the  various  follies  were  taken 
in  the  fame  order.  They  were  originally  compiled  in  German,  but  one 
of  Geiler's  fcholars,  Jacob  Other,  tranflated  them  into  Latin,  and 
publiftied  them,  in  ijjoi,  under  the  title  of  "  Navicula  five  Speculum 
Fatuorum  praeftantiflimi  facrarum  literarum  dottoris  Johannis  Geiler." 
Within  a  few  years  this  work  went  through  feveral  editions  both  in  Latin 
and  in  German,  fome  of  them  illuftrated  by  woodcuts.  The  ftyle  of 
preaching  is  quaint  and  curious,  full  of  fatirical  wit,  which  is  often  coarfe, 
according  to  the  manner  of  the  time,  fometimes  very  indelicate.  Each 
fermon  is  headed  by  the  motto,  "  Stultorum  infinitus  eft  numerus." 
Geiler  takes  for  his  theme  in  each  fermon  one  of  the  titles  of  Brandt's 
"  Ship  of  Fools,"  and  he  feparates  them  into  fubdivifions,  or  branches, 
which  he  calls  the  bells  (nolas)  from  the  fool's-cap. 

The 


in  Literature  and  Art.  223 

The  other  fcholar  who  did  moft  to  fpread  the  knowledge  of  Brandt's 
work,  was  Jodocus  Badius,  vho  afiumed  the  additional  name  of  Afcenfius 
becaufe  he  was  born  at  AfTen,  near  Bruflels,  in  1462.  He  was  a  very  diftin- 
guifhed  fcholar,  but  is  beft  known  for  having  eftablifhed  a  celebrated 
printing  eftablifhment  in  Paris,  where  he  died  in  1535.  I  have  already 
ftated  that  Badius  edited  the  Latin  tranflation  of  the  "  Ship  of  Fools  "  of 
Sebaftian  Brandt,  with  additional  explanations  of  his  own,  but  he  was  one 
of  the  firft  of  Brandt's  imitators.  He  feems  to  have  thought  that  Brandt's 
book  was  not  complete — that  the  weaker  fex  had  not  received  its  fair  {hare 
of  importance ;  and  apparently  in  1498,  while  Geiler  was  turning  the 
"  Stultifera  Navis  "  into  fermons,  Badius  compiled  a  fort  of  fupplement  to 
it  (additamentum) ,  to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  "  Stultiferae  naviculae,  feu 
Scaphae,  Fatuarum  Mulierum,"  the  Boats  of  Foolifh  Women.  As  far  as 
can  be  traced,  the  firft  edition  appears  to  have  been  printed  in  1^02.  The 
firft  cut  reprefents  the  (hip  carrying  Eve  alone  of  the  female  race,  whofe 
folly  involved  the  whole  world.  The  book  is  divided  into  five  chapters, 
according  to  the  number  of  the  five  fenfes,  each  fenfe  reprefented  by  a 
boat  carrying  its  particular  clafs  of  foolifti  women  to  the  great  fhip  of 
foolifh  women,  which  lies  off  at  anchor.  The  text  confifts  of  a  difiertation 
on  the  ufe  and  abufe  of  the  particular  fenfe  which  forms  the  fubftance  of 
the  chapter,  and  it  ends  with  Latin  verfes,  which  are  given  as  the  boat- 
man's celeufma,  or  boat  fong.  The  firft  of  thefe  boats  is  \hefcaphajlultce 
vifionis  ad  Jlultiferam  navem  perveniens — the  boat  of  foolilh  feeing  proceed- 
ing to  the  fhip  of  fools.  A  party  of  gay  ladies  are  taking  poflefllon  of  the 
boat,  carrying  with  them  their  combs,  looking-glafles,  and  all  other 
implements  neceflary  for  making  them  fair  to  be  looked  upon.  The 
fecond  boat  is  thefcapha  auditionis  fatuce,  the  boat  of  foolifh  hearing,  in 
which  the  ladies  are  playing  upon  mufical  inftruments.  The  third  is  the 
fcapha  olfaSiionis  Jlultce,  the  boat  of  foolifh  fmell,  and  the  pictorial  illuftra- 
tion  to  it  is  partly  copied  in  our  cut  No.  136.  In  the  original  fome  of  the 
ladies  are  gathering  fweet-fmelling  flowers  before  they  enter  the  boat, 
while  on  board  a  pedlar  is  vending  his  perfume.  Onefollejemme,  with 
her  fool's  cap  on  her  head,  is  buying  a  pomander,  or,  as  we  fhould  perhaps 
now  fay,  a  fcent-ball,  from  the  itinerant  dealer.  Figures  of  pomanders 

are 


224  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


are  extremely  rare,  and  this  is  an  interefting  example ;  in  fa6t,  it  is  only 
recently  that  our  Shakfpearian  critics  really  underftood  the  meaning  of  the 
word.  A  pomander  was  a  fmall  globular  vefiel,  perforated  with  holes, 
and  filled  with  ftrong  perfumes,  as  it  is  reprefented  in  our  woodcut.  The 


No.  1 36.      The  Boat  of  Plea/ant  Odours. 

fourth  of  thefe  boats  is  that  of  fooliih  tailing,  fcapha  guftaiionisfatuce, 
and  the  ladies  have  their  well-furniflied  table  on  board  the  boat,  and  are 
largely  indulging  in  eating  and  drinking.  In  the  laft  of  thefe  boats,  the 
fcapha  contaSlionis  fatute,  or  boat  of  foolifh  feeling,  the  women  have  men  on 
board,  and  are  proceeding  to  great  liberties  with  them ;  one  of  the  gentle 
damfels,  too,  is  picking  the  pocket  of  her  male  companion  in  a  very 
unlady-like  manner. 

Two  ideas  combined  in  this  peculiar  field  of  fatiric  literature,  that  of 
the  fhip  and  that  of  the  fools,  now  became  popular,  and  gave  rife  to  a  hoft 
of  imitators.  There  appeared  mips  of  health,  Ihips  of  penitence,  ihips  of 
all  forts  of  things,  on  the  one  hand  ;  and  on  the  other,  folly  was  a  favourite 
theme  of  fatire  from  many  quarters.  One  of  the  moft  remarkable  of  the 
perfonages  involved  in  this  latter  warfare,  was  the  great  fcholar  Defiderius 
Erafmus,  of  Rotterdam,  who  was  born  in  that  city  in  1467.  Like  moft 
of  thefe  fatififts,  Erafmus  was  ftrongly  imbued  with  the  fpirit  of  the 

Reformation 


in  Literature  and  Art.  225 

Reformation,  and  'he  was  the  acquaintance  and  friend  of  thofe  to  whom 
the  Reformation  owed  a  great  part  of  its  fuccefs.  In  1497,  when  the 
"  Ship  of  Fools"  of  Sebaftlan  Brandt  was  in  the  firft  full  flufh  of  its 
popularity,  Erafmus  came  to  England,  and  was  ib  well  received,  that 
from  that  time  forward  his  literary  life  feemed  more  identified  with  our 
illand  than  with  any  other  country.  His  name  is  ftill  a  fort  of  houfehold 
word  in  our  univerfities,  efpecially  in  that  of  Cambridge.  He  made  here 
the  friendly  acquaintance  of  the  great  Sir  Thomas  More,  himfelf  a  lover 
of  mirth,  and  one  of  thofe  whofe  names  are  celebrated  for  having  kept  a 
court  fool.  In  the  earlier  years  of  the  fixteenth  century,  Erafmus  vifited 
Italy,  and  pafled  two  or  three  years  there.  He  returned  thence  to  Eng- 
land, as  appears,  early  in  the  year  1508.  It  is  not  eafy  to  decide  whether 
his  experience  of  fociety  in  Italy  had  convinced  him  more  than  ever 
that  folly  was  the  prefiding  genius  of  mankind,  or  what  other  feeling 
influenced  him,  but  one  of  the  firfl  refults  of  his  voyage  was  the  Mwpmc 
'Eyioti/ziop  (Morice  Encomium),  or  "  Praife  of  Folly."  Erafmus  dedicated 
this  little  jocular  treatife  to  Sir  Thomas  More  as  a  fort  of  pun  upon  his 
name,  although  he  protefls  that  there  was  a  great  contraft  between  the 
two  characters.  Erafmus  takes  much  the  fame  view  of  folly  as  Brandt, 
Geiler,  Badius,  and  the  others,  and  under  this  name  he  writes  a  bold 
fatire  on  the  whole  frame  of  contemporary  fociety.  The  fatire  is  placed 
in  the  mouth  of  Folly  herfelf  (the  Mere  Folie  of  the  jocular  clubs),  who 
delivers  from  her  pulpit  a  declamation  in  which  fhe  fets  forth  her  qualities 
and  praifes.  She  boafts  of  the  greatnefs  of  her  origin,  claims  as  her 
kindred  the  fophifts,  rhetoricians,  and  many  of  the  pretentious  fcholars 
and  wife  men,  and  defcribes  her  birth  and  education.  She  claims  divine 
affinity,  and  boafls  of  her  influence  ovei  the  world,  and  of  the  beneficent 
manner  in  which  it  was  exercifed.  All  the  world,  (he  pretends,  was 
ruled  under  her  aufpices,  and  it  was  only  in  her  prefence  that  mankind 
was  really  happy.  Hence  the  happieft  ages  of  man  are  infancy,  before 
wifdom  has  come  to  interfere,  and  old  age,  when  it  has  parTed  away. 
Therefore,  (he  fays,  if  men  would  remain  faithful  to  her,  and  avoid 
wifdom  altogether,  they  would  pafs  a  life  of  perpetual  youth.  In  this 
long  difcourfe  of  the  influence  of  folly,  written  by  a  man  of  the  known 

G  G  fentiments 


226  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


fentiments  of  Erafmus,  it  would  be  ftrange  if  the  Romifli  church,  with 
its  monks  and  ignorant  prieflhood,  its  faints,  and  relics,  and  miracles,  did 
not  find  a  place.  Erafmus  intimates  that  the  fuperftitious  follies  had 
become  permanent,  becaufe  they  were  profitable.  There  are  fome,  he 
tells  us,  who  cherifhed  the  foolim  yet  pleafant  perfuafion,  that  if  they 
fixed  their  eyes  devoutly  on  a  figure  of  St.  Chriftopher,  carved  in  wood 


No.  137.     Superftition. 

or  painted  on  the  wall,  they  would  be  fafe  from  death  on  that  day  j  with 
many  other  examples  of  equal  credulity.  Then  there  are  your  pardons, 
your  meafures  of  purgatory,  which  may  be  bought  off  at  fo  much  the 
hour,  or  the  day,  or  the  month,  and  a  multitude  of  other  abfurdities. 
Ecclefiaftics,  fcholars,  mathematicians,  philofophers,  all  come  in  for  their 
{hare  of  the  refined  fatire  of  this  book,  which,  like  the  "  Ship  of  Fools," 
has  gone  through  innumerable  editions,  and  has  been  tranflated  into 
many  languages. 

In  an  early  French  tranflation,  the  text  of  this  work  of  Erafmus  is 
embellimed  with  fome  of  the  woodcuts  belonging  to  Brandt's  "  Ship  of 

Fools." 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


227 


Fools,"  which,  it  need  hardly  be  remarked,  are  altogether  inappropriate, 
but  the  "Praife  of  Folly"  was  deftined  to  receive  illuftrations  from  a  more 
diflinguiihed  pencil.  A  copy  of  the  book  came  into  the  hands  of  Hans 
Holbein — it  may  poffibly  have  been  prefented  to  him  by  the  author — 
and  Holbein  took  fo  much  intereft  in  it,  that  he  amufed  himfelf  with 
drawing  illuftrative  Sketches  with  a  pen  in  the  margins.  This  book  after- 
wards patTed  into  the  library  of  the  Univerfity  of  Bale,  where  it  was  found 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  feventeenth  century,  and  thefe  drawings  have 
fince  been  engraved  and  added  to  moft  of  the  fubfequent  editions.  Many 
of  thefe  iketches  are  very  flight,  and  fome  have  not  a  very  clofe  con- 
nection with  the  text  of  Erafmus,  but  they  are  all  chara6teriftic,  and  fliow 
the  Ipirit — the  ipirit  of  the  age — in  which  Holbein  read  his  author. 
I  give  two  examples  of  them,  taken  almoft  haphazard,  for  it  would 
require  a  longer  analyfis  of  the  book  than  can  be  given  here  to  make 
many  of  them  underftood.  The  firft  of  thefe,  our  cut  No.  137,  reprefents 
the  foolifti  warrior,  who  has  a  fword  long  enough  to  truft  to  it  for  defence, 


No.  138.     Preacher  Folly  ending  her  Sermon. 

bowing  with  trembling  fuperftition  before  a  painting  of  St.  Chriftopher 
croffing  the  water  with  the  infant  Chrift  on  his  moulder,  as  a  more  cer- 
tain fecurity  for  his  fafety  during  that  day.  The  other,  our  cut  No.  138, 
reprefents  the  preacher,  Lady  Folly,  defcending  from  her  pulpit,  after  fhe 
has  concluded  her  fermon. 


228  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

POPULAR    LITERATURE  AND    ITS    HEROES ;    BROTHER    RUSH,  TYLL    EULEN- 

SPIEGEL,  THE    WISE    MEN    OF    GOTHAM. STORIES    AND    JEST-BOOKS. 

SKELTON,    SCOGIN,    TARLTON,   PEELE. 

THE  people  in  the  middle  ages,  as  well  as  its  fuperiors,  had  its  comic 
literature  and  legend.  Legend  was  the  literature  efpecially  of  the 
peafant,  and  in  it  the  fpirit  of  burlefque  and  fatire  manifefted  itfelf  in 
many  ways.  Simplicity,  combined  with  vulgar  cunningj  and  the 
circumftances  arifing  out  of  the  exercife  of  thefe  qualities,  prefented  the 
greateft  ftimulants  to  popular  mirth.  They  produced  their  popular 
heroes,  who,  at  firft,  were  much  more  than  half  legendary,  fuch  as  the 
familiar  fpirit,  Robin  Goodfellow,  whofe  pranks  were  a  fource  of  con- 
tinual amufement  rather  than  of  terror  to  the  iimple  minds  which 
liftened  to  thofe  who  told  them.  Thefe  ftories  excited  with  flill  greater 
intereft  as  their  fpiritual  heroes  became  incarnate,  and  the  auditors  were 
perfuaded  that  the  perpetrators  of  fb  many  artful  acls  of  cunning  and  of 
fo  many  mifchievous  practical  jokes,  were  but  ordinary  men  like  them- 
felves.  It  was  but  a  fign  or  fymbol  of  the  change  from  the  mythic  age 
to  that  of  practical  life.  One  of  the  earlieft  of  thefe  flories  of  mythic 
comedy  transformed  into,  or  at  leaft  prefented  under  the  guife  of, 
humanity,  is  that  of  Brother  Rum.  Although  the  earlieft  verfion  of  this 
ftory  with  which  we  are  acquainted  dates  only  from  the  beginning  of  the 
fixteenth  century,*  there  is  no  reafon  for  doubt  that  the  ftory  itfelf  was 
in  exiftence  at  a  much  more  remote  period. 
Ruth 

*  This  earliest  known  version  is  in  German  verse,  and  was  printed  in  1515. 
An  English  version,  in  prose,  was  printed  in  1620,  and  is  reprinted  in  Thoms's 
"  Collection  of  Early  Prose  Romances." 


in  Literature  and  Art.  229 

Rufh  was,  in    truth,  a  fpirit  of  darknefs,  whofe    miffion   it  was    to 
wander  on  the  earth  tempting  and  impelling  people  to  do  evil.     Perceiv- 
ing that  the  internal  condition  of  a  certain  abbey  was  well  fuited  to  his 
purpofe,  he  prefented  himfelf  at  its  gates  in  the  difguife  of  a  youth  who 
wanted  employment,  and  was  received  as  an  afiiftant  in  the  kitchen,  but 
he  pleafed  the  monks  beft  by  the  fkill  with  which  he  furnifbed  them  all 
with  fair  companions.    At  length  he  quarrelled  with  the  cook,  and  threw 
him  into  the  boiling  caldron,  and  the  monks,  afluming  that  his  death 
was  accidental,  appointed  Rum  to  be  cook  in  his  place.     After  a  fervice 
of  feven  years  in  the  kitchen — which  appears  to  have  been  confidered  a 
fair  apprenticefhip  for  the  new  honour  which  was  to  be  conferred  upon  him 
— the  abbot  and  convent  rewarded  him  by  making  him  a  monk.     He  now 
followed  ftill  more  earneftly  his  defign  for  the  ruin  of  his  brethren,  both 
foul  and  body,  and  began  by  raifing  a  quarrel  about  a  woman,  which  led, 
through  his  contrivance,  to  a  fight,  in  which  the  monks  all  fuffered  grievous 
bodily  injuries,  and  in  which  Brother   Rufh  was  efpecially  aclive.     He 
went   on   in   this  way  until  at  laft  his  true  character  was   accidentally 
difcovered.     A  neighbouring  farmer,  overtaken  by  night,  took  flicker  in 
a  hollow  tree.     It  happened  to  be  the  night  appointed  by  Lucifer  to 
meet  his  agents  on  earth,  and  hear  from  them  the  report  of  their  feveral 
proceedings,  and  he  had  fele&ed  this  very  oak  as  the  place  of  rendezvous. 
There  Brother  Ruih  appeared,  and  the  farmer,  in  his  hiding-place,  heard 
his  confeflion  from  his  own  lips,  and  told  it  to  the  abbot,  who,  being  as 
it  would  appear  a  magician,  conjured  him  into  the  form  of  a  hcrfe,  and 
banifhed  him.     Rufli  hurried  away  to  England,  where  he  laid  afide  his 
equine  form,  and  entered  the  body  of  the  king's  daughter,  who  fuffered 
great  torments  from  his  poffeflion.     At  length  fome  of  the  great  doctors 
from  Paris  came  and  obliged  the  fpirit  to  confefs  that  nobody  but  the 
abbot  of  the  diftant  monaftery  had  any  power  over  him.     The  abbot 
came,  called  him  out  of  the  maiden,  and  conjured  him  more  forcibly 
than  ever  into  the  form  of  a  horfe. 

Such  is,  in  mere  outline,  the  ftory  of  Brother  Rufh,  which  was 
gradually  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  new  incidents.  But  the  people 
wanted  a  hero  who  prefented  more  of  the  character  of  reality,  who,  in 

fad, 


230  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


fa6t,  might  be  recognifed  as  one  of  themfelves ;  and  fuch  heroes  appear 
to  have  exifted  at  all  times.  They  ufually  reprefented  a  clafs  in  fociety, 
and  efpecially  that  clafs  which  confifted  of  idle  fharpers,  who  lived  by 
their  wits,  and  which  was  more  numerous  and  more  familiarly  known  in 
the  middle  ages  than  at  the  prefent  day.  Folly  and  cunning  combined 
prefented  a  never-failing  fubjeft  of  mirth.  This  clafs  of  adventurers  firft 
came  into  print  in  Germany,  and  it  is  there  that  we  find  its  firft  popular 
hero,  to  whom  they  gave  the  name  of  Eulenfpiegel,  which  means  literally 
"  the  owl's  mirror,"  and  has  been  fince  ufed  in  German  in  the  fenfe  of  a 
merry  fool.  Tyll  Eulenfpiegel,  and  his  ftory,  are  fuppofed  to  have  be- 
longed to  the  fourteenth  century,  though  we  firft  know  them  in  the  printed 
book  of  the  commencement  of  the  fixteenth,  which  is  believed  to  have 
come  from  the  pen  of  the  well-known  popular  writer,  Thomas  Murner, 
of  whom  I  mail  have  to  fpeak  more  at  length  in  another  chapter.  The 
popularity  of  this  work  was  very  great,  and  it  was  quickly  tranflated 
into  French,  Englifh,  Latin,  and  almoft  every  other  language  of  Weftern 
Europe.  In  the  Englifh  verfion  the  name  alfo  was  tranflated,  and 
appears  under  the  form  of  Owleglafs,  or,  as  it  often  occurs  with  the 
fuperfluous  afpirate,  Howleglafs.*  According  to  the  ftory,  Tyll  Eulen- 
fpiegel was  the  fon  of  a  peafant,  and  was  born  at  a  village  called  Kneit- 
lingen,  in  the  land  of  Brunfwick.  The  ftory  of  his  birth  may  be  given  in 
the  words  of  the  early  Englifh  verfion,  as  a  fpecimen  of  its  quaint  and 
antiquated  language  : — 

"  Yn  the  lande  of  Sassen,  in  the  vyllage  of  Ruelnige,  there  dwelleth  a  man 
that  was  named  Nicholas  Howleglas,  that  had  a  wife  named  Wypeke,  that  lay  a 
childbed  in  the  same  wyllage,  and  that  chylde  was  borne  to  christening  and  named 
Tyell  Howleglass.  And  than  the  chyld  was  brought  into  a  taverne,  where  the 
father  was  wyth  his  gosseppes  and  made  good  chere.  Whan  the  mydwife  had  wel 

dronke, 

*  The  title  of  this  English  translation  is,  "  Here  beginneht  a  merye  Jest  of  a 
man  that  was  called  Howleglas,  and  of  many  marveylous  thinges  and  jestes  that 
he  dyd  in  his  lyfe,  in  Eastlande,  and  in  many  other  places."  It  was  printed  by 
Coplande,  supposed  about  1520.  An  edition  of  Eulenspiegel  in  English,  by 
Mr.  Kenneth  Mackenzie,  has  recently  been  published  by  Messrs.  Triibner  &  Co., 
of  Paternoster  Row. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  231 


dronke,  she  toke  the  childe  to  here  it  home,  and  in  the  wai  was  a  litle  bridg  over  a 
muddy  water.  And  as  the  mydwife  would  have  gone  over  the  lytle  brydge,  she  fel 
into  the  mudde  with  the  chylde,  for  she  had  a  lytel  dronk  to  much  wyne,  for  had 
not  helpe  come  quickly,  the  had  both  be  drowned  in  the  mudde.  And  whan  the 
came  home  with  the  childe,  the  made  a  kettle  of  warm  water  to  be  made  redi,  and 
therin  they  washed  the  child  clen  of  the  mudde.  And  thus  was  Howleglas  thre 
tymes  in  one  dai  cristened,  once  at  the  churche,  once  in  the  mudde,  and  once  in  the 
warm  water." 

It  will  be  feen  that  the  Englifti  tranflator  was  not  very  corre6t  in  his 
geography  or  in  his  names.  The  child,  having  thus  efcaped  deftrn&ion, 
grew  rapidly,  and  difplayed  an  extraordinary  love  of  mifchief,  with  various 
other  evil  propenfities,  as  well  as  a  cunning  beyond  his  age,  in  efcaping 
the  rilks  to  which  thefe  expofed  him.  At  a  very  early  age,  he  difplayed 
a  remarkable  talent  for  fetting  the  other  children  by  the  ears,  and  this 
was  his  favourite  amufement  during  life.  His  mother,  who  was  now  a 
widow,  contemplating  the  extraordinary  cunning  of  her  child,  which,  as 
(he  thought,  muft  neceflarily  enfure  his  advancement  in  the  world,  reiblved 
that  he  fhould  no  longer  remain  idle,  and  put  him  apprentice  to  a  baker ; 
but  his  wicked  and  reftlefs  difpofition  defeated  all  the  good  intentions  of 
his  parent,  and  Eulenfpiegel  was  obliged  to  leave  his  matter  in  confequence 
of  his  mal-practices.  One  day  his  mother  took  him  to  a  church-dedica- 
tion, and  the  child  drank  fo  much  at  the  feaft  on  that  occafion,  that  he 
crept  into  an  empty  beehive  and  fell  afleep,  while  his  mother,  thinking  he 
had  gone  home,  returned  without  him.  In  the  night-time  two  thieves 
came  into  the  garden  to  fteal  the  bees,  and  they  agreed  to  take  firft  the  hive 
which  was  heavieft.  This,  as  may  be  fuppofed,  proved  to  be  the  hive  in 
which  Eulenfpiegel  was  hidden,  and  they  fixed  it  on  a  pole  which  they 
carried  on  their  fhoulders,  one  before  and  one  behind,  the  hive  hanging 
between  them.  Eulenfpiegel,  awakened  by  the  movement,  foon  difcovered 
the  pofition  in  which  he  was  placed,  and  hit  upon  a  plan  for  efcaping. 
Gently  lifting  the  lid  of  the  hive,  he  put  out  his  arm  and  plucked  the 
hair  of  the  man  before,  who  turned  about  and  accufed  his  companion  of 
infulting  him.  The  other  aflerted  that  he  had  not  touched  him,  and  the 
firft,  only  half  fatisfied,  continued  to  bear  his  {hare  of  the  burthen,  but  he 
had  not  advanced  many  fteps  when  a  ftill  (harper  pull  at  his  hair  excited 

his 


232  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

his  great  anger,  and  from  wrathful  words  the  two  thieves  proceeded  to 
blows.  While  they  were  fighting,  Eulenfpiegel  crept  out  of  the  hive  and 
ran  away. 

After  leaving  the  baker,  Eulenfpiegel  became  a  wanderer  in  the 
world,  gaining  his  living  by  his  trickery  and  deception,  and  engaging 
himfelf  in  all  forts  of  flrange  and  ludicrous  adventures.  He  ended  every- 
where by  creating  difcord  and  ftrife.  He  became  at  different  times  a 
blackfmith,  a  fhoemaker,  a  tailor,  a  cook,  a  drawer  of  teeth,  and  aflumed 
a  variety  of  other  characters,  but  remained  in  each  fituation  only  long 
enough  to  make  it  too  hot  for  him,  and  to  be  obliged  to  fecure  his  retreat. 
He  intruded  himfelf  into  all  clafles  of  fociety,  and  invariably  came  to 
fimilar  refults.  Many  of  his  adventures,  indeed,  are  fo  droll  that  we  can 
eafily  underfland  the  great  popularity  they  once  enjoyed.  But  they  are 
not  merely  amufing — they  prefent  a  continuous  fatire  upon  contemporary 
fociety,  upon  a  focial  condition  in  which  every  pretender,  every  recklefs 
impoftor,  every  private  plunderer  or  public  depredator,  faw  the  world 
expofed  to  him  in  its  folly  and  credulity  as  an  eafy  prey. 

The  middle  ages  polTeffed  another  clals  of  thefe  popular  fatirical 
hiftories,  which  were  attached  to  places  rather  than  to  perfons.  There  were 
few  countries  which  did  not  poffefs  a  town  or  a  diftri6t,  the  inhabitants  of 
which  were  celebrated  for  ftupidity,  or  for  roguery,  or  for  fome  other 
ridiculous  or  contemptible  quality.  We  have  feen,  in  a  former  chapter, 
the  people  of  Norfolk  enjoying  this  peculiarity,  and,  at  a  later  period,  the 
inhabitants  of  Pevenfey  in  SufTex,  and  more  efpecially  thofe  of  Gotham  in 
Nottingham  {hire,  were  fimilarly  diftinguiftied.  The  inhabitants  of  many 
places  in  Germany  bore  this  character,  but  their  grand  reprefentatives  among 
the  Germans  were  the  Schildburgers,  a  name  which  appears  to  belong 
entirely  to  the  domain  of  fable.  Schildburg,  we  are  told,  was  a  town 
"  in  Mifnopotamia,  beyond  Utopia,  in  the  kingdom  of  Calecut."  The 
Schildburgers  were,  originally  fo  renowned  for  their  wifdom,  that  they  were 
continually  invited  into  foreign  countries  to  give  their  advice,  until  at 
length  not  a  man  was  left  at  home,  and  their  wives  were  obliged  to 
aflame  the  charge  of  the  duties  of  their  hufbands.  This  became  at  length 
fo  onerous,  that  the  wives  held  a  council,  and  refolved  on  defpatching  a 

fijlemn 


in  Literature  and  Art.  233 


folenm  meflage  in  writing  to  call  the  men  home.  This  had  the  defired 
effect;  all  the  Schildburgers  returned  to  their  own  town,  and  were  fo 
joyfully  received  by  their  wives  that  they  refolved  upon  leaving  it  no 
more.  They  accordingly  held  a  council,  and  it  was  decided  that,  having 
experienced  the  great  inconvenience  of  a  reputation  of  wifdom,  they 
would  avoid  it  in  future  by  affuming  the  character  of  fools.  One  of  the 
firil  evil  refults  of  their  long  negle6t  of  home  affairs  was  the  want  of  a 
council-hall,  and  this  want  they  now  refolved  to  fupply  without  delay. 
They  accordingly  went  to  the  hills  and  woods,  cut  down  the  timber, 
dragged  it  with  great  labour  to  the  town,  and  in  due  time  completed  the 
erection  of  a  handfome  and  fubftantial  building.  But,  when  they  entered 
their  new  council-hall,  what  was  their  confirmation  to  find  themfelves 
in  perfect  darknefs  !  In  fact,  they  had  forgotten  to  make  any  windows. 
Another  council  was  held,  and  one  who  had  been  among  the  wifeft  in 
the  days  of  their  wifdom,  gave  his  opinion  very  oracularly ;  the  refult  of 
which  was  that  they  mould  experiment  on  every  poffible  expedient  for 
introducing  light  into  the  hall,  and  that  they  mould  firft  try  that  which 
feemed  mofl  likely  to  fucceed.  .They  had  obferved  that  the  light  of  day 
was  caufed  by  funfhine,  and  the  plan  propofed  was  to  meet  at  mid-day 
when  the  fun  was  brighteft,  and  fill  facks,  hampers,  jugs,  and  veflels  of  all 
kinds,  with  funihine  and  daylight,  which  they  propofed  afterwards  to 
empty  into  the  unfortunate  council-hall.  Next  day,  as  the  clock  firuck 
one,  you  might  fee  a  crowd  of  Schildburgers  before  the  council-houfe 
door,  bufily  employed,  fome  holding  the  facks  open,  and  others  throwing 
the  light  into  them  with  {hovels  and  any  other  appropriate  implements 
which  came  to  hand.  While  they  were  thus  labouring,  a  ftranger  came 
into  the  town  of  Schildburg,  and,  hearing  what  they  were  about,  told 
them  they  were  labouring  to  no  purpofe,  and  offered  to  fhow  them  how 
to  get  the  daylight  into  the  hall.  It  is  unneceffary  to  fay  more  than  that 
this  new  plan  was  to  make  an  opening  in  the  roof,  and  that  the  Schild- 
burgers witnefled  the  effect  with  aftonifhment,  and  were  loud  in  their 
gratitude  to  their  new  comer. 

The  Schildburgers  met  with  further  difficulties  before  they  completed 
their  council-hall.     They  fowed  a  field  with  fait,  and  when  the  falt-plarit 

H   H  grew 


234  Hi jl or y  of  Caricature  and  Grot efyue 


grew  up  next  year,  after  a  meeting  of  the  council,  at  which  it  was  ftiffly 
difputed  whether  it  ought  to  be  reaped,  or  mowed,  or  gathered  in  in  fome 
other  manner,  it  was  finally  difcovered  that  the  crop  confifted  of  nothing 
but  nettles.  After  many  accidents  of  this  kind,  the  Schildburgers  are 
noticed  by  the  emperor,  and  obtain  a  charter  of  incorporation  and  freedom, 
but  they  profit  little  by  it.  In  trying  fome  experiments  to  catch  mice, 
they  fet  fire  to  their  houfes,  and  the  whole  town  is  burnt  to  the  ground, 
upon  which,  in  their  forrow,  they  abandon  it  altogether,  and  become,  like 
the  Jews  of  old,  fcattered  over  the  world,  carrying  their  own  folly  into 
every  country  they  vifit. 

The  earlieft  "known  edition  of  the  hiftory  of  the  Schildburgers  was 
printed  in  1597,*  but  the  ftory  itfelf  is  no  doubt  older.  It  will  be  feen 
at  once  that  it  involves  a  fatire  upon  the  municipal  towns  of  the  middle 
ages.  A  fimilar  feries  of  adventures,  only  a  little  more  clerical,  bore  the 
title  of  "  Der  Pfarrherrn  vom  Kalenberg,"  or  the  Parfon  of  Kalenberg, 
and  was  firft,  as  far  as  we  know,  publifhed  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
fixteenth  century.  The  firft  known  edition,  printed  in  1582,  is  in  profe. 
Von  der  Hagen,  who  reprinted  a  fubfequent  edition  in  verfe,  in  a  volume 
already  quoted,  feems  to  think  that  in  its  firft  form  the  ftory  belongs  to 
the  fourteenth  century. 

The  Schildburgers  of  Germany  were  reprefented  in  England  by  the 
wife  men  of  Gotham.  Gotham  is  a  village  and  pariih  about  feven  miles  to 
the  fouth-weft  of  Nottingham,  and,  curioufly  enough,  a  ftory  is  told  accord- 
ing to  which  the  folly  of  the  men  of  Gotham,  like  that  of  the  Schild- 
burgers, was  at  firft  aflumed.  It  is  pretended  that  one  day  king  John,  on 
his  way  to  Nottingham,  intended  to  pafs  through  the  village  of  Gotham, 
and  that  the  Gothamites,  under  the  influence  of  fome  vague  notion  that 
his  prefence  would  be  injurious  to  them,  raifed  difficulties  in  his  way 
which  prevented  his  vifit.  The  men  of  Gotham  were  now  apprehenfive 
of  the  king's  vengeance,  and  they  refolved  to  try  and  evade  it  byafiuming 
the  character  of  fimpletons.  When  the  king's  officers  came  to  Gotham 
to 

*  It  was  reprinted  by  Von  der  Hagen,  in  a  little  volume  entitled  "Narrenbuch  • 
herausgegeben  durch  Friedrich  Heinrich  von  der  Hagen."  izmo.,  Halle,  1811. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  235 

to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the  inhabitants,  they  found  them  engaged 
in  the  moft  extraordinary  purfuits,  fome  of  them  feeking  to  drown  an  eel 
in  a  pond  of  water,  others  making  a  hedge  round  a  tree  to  confine  a 
cuckoo  which  had  fettled  in  it,  and  others  employing  themfelves  in  fimilar 
futile  purfuits.  The  commifiioners  reported  the  people  of  Gotham  to  be 
no  better  than  fools,  and  by  this  ftratagem  they  efcaped  any  further 
perfecution,  but  the  character  they  affumed  remained  attached  to  them. 

This  explanation  is,  of  courfe,  very  late  and  very  apocryphal ;  but 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  character  of  the  wife  men  of  Gotham 
is  one  of  confiderable  antiquity.  The  ftory  is  believed  to  have  been 
drawn  up  in  its  prefent  form  by  Andrew  Borde,  an  Englifh  writer  of  the 
reign  of  Henry  VIII.  It  was  reprinted  a  great  number  of  times  under 
the  form  of  thofe  popular  books  called  chap-books,  becaufe  they  were 
hawked  about  the  country  by  itinerant  bookfellers  or  chap-men.  The 
acts  of  the  Gothamites  difplayed  a  greater  degree  of  fimplicity  even  than 
thofe  of  the  Schildburgers,  but  they  are  lefs  connected.  Here  is  one 
anecdote  told  in  the  unadorned  language  of  the  chap-books,  in  explana- 
tion of  which  it  is  only  necefiary  to  flate  that  the  men  of  Gotham  admired 
greatly  the  note  of  the  cuckoo.  "  On  a  time  the  men  of  Gotham  fain 
would  have  pinn'd  in  the  cuckow,  that  fhe  might  ling  all  the  year  j  and, 
in  the  midft  of  the  town,  they  had  a  hedge  made  round  in  compafs,  and 
got  a  cuckow  and  put  her  into  it,  and  faid,  '  Sing  here,  and  you  (hall  lack 
neither  meat  nor  drink  all  the  year.'  The  cuckow,  when  fhe  perceived 
herfelf  encompaffed  with  the  hedge,  flew  away.  'A  vengeance  on  her,' 
faid  thefe  wife  men,  fwe  did  not  make  our  hedge  high  enough.'"  On 
another  occafion,  having  caught  a  large  eel  which  offended  them  by  its 
voracity,  they  aflembled  in  council  to  deliberate  on  an  appropriate  punifh- 
ment,  which  ended  in  a  refolution  that  it  fhould  be  drowned,  and  the 
criminal  was  ceremonioufly  thrown  into  a  great  pond.  One  day  twelve 
men  of  Gotham  went  a-fifhing,  and  on  their  way  home  they  fuddenly 
difcovered  that  they  had  loft  one  of  their  number,  and  each  counted  in  his 
turn,  and  could  find  only  eleven.  In  fact,  each  forgot  to  count  himfelf. 
In  the  midft  of  their  diftrefs — for  they  believed  their  companion  to  be 
drowned — a  ftranger  approached,  and  learnt  the  caufe  of  their  forrow. 

Finding 


236  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Finding  they  were  not  to  be  convinced  of  their  miftake  by  mere  argument, 
he  offered,  on  certain  conditions,  to  find  the  lofl  Gothamite,  and  he 
proceeded  as  follows.  He  took  one  by  one  each  of  the  twelve  Gothamites, 
ftruck  him  a  hard  blow  on  the  fhoulder,  which  made  him  fcream,  and  at 
each  cry  counted  one,  two,  three,  &c.  When  it  came  to  twelve,  they 
were  all  fatisfied  that  the  loft  Gothamite  had  returned,  and  paid  the  man 
for  the  fervice  he  had  rendered  them. 

As  a  chap-book,  this  hiftory  of  the  men  of  Gotham  became  fo  popular, 
that  it  gave  rife  to  a  hoft  of  other  books  of  iimilar  character,  which  were 
compiled  at  a  later  period  under  fuch  titles — formerly  well  known  to 
children — as,  "The  Merry  Frolicks,  or  the  Comical  Cheats  of  Swalpo  j" 
"The  Witty  and  Entertaining  Exploits  of  George  Buchanan,  commonly 
called  the  King's  Fool;"  "Simple  Simon's  Misfortunes;"  and  the  like. 
Nor  muft  it  be  forgotten  that  the  hiftory  of  Eulenfpiegel  was  the  proto- 
type of  a  clafs  of  popular  hiftories  of  larger  dimenfions,  reprefented  in  our 
own  literature  by  "  The  Englifh  Rogue,"  the  work  of  Richard  Head  and 
Francis  Kirkman,  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  and  various  other  "  rogues  " 
belonging  to  different  countries,  which  appeared  about  that  time,  or  not 
long  afterwards.  The  earlieft  of  thefe  books  was  "  The  Spanifh  Rogue, 
or  Life  of  Guzman  de  Alfarache,"  written  in  Spanifh  by  Mateo  Aleman 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fixteenth  century.  Curioufly  enough,  fome 
Englishman,  not  knowing  apparently  that  the  hiftory  of  Eulenfpiegel  had 
appeared  in  Englifh  under  the  name  of  Owlglafs,  took  it  into  his  head 
to  introduce  him  among  the  family  of  rogues  which  had  thus  come 
into  fafhion,  and,  in  1720,  publifhed  as  "Made  Englifh  from  the  High 
Dutch,"  what  he  called  "The  German  Rogue,  or  the  Life  and  Merry 
Adventures,  Cheats,  Stratagems,  and  Contrivances  of  Tiel  Eulefpiegle." 

The  fifteenth  century  was  the  period  during  which  mediaeval  forms 
generally  were  changing  into  forms  adapted  to  another  ftate  of  fociety, 
and  in  which  much  of  the  popular  literature  which  has  been  in  vogue 
during  modern  times  took  its  rife.  In  the  fourteenth  century,  the  fabliaux 
of  the  jougleurs  were  already  taking  what  we  may  perhaps  term  a  more 
literary  form,  and  were  reduced  into  profe  narratives.  This  took  place 
efpecially  in  Italy,  where  thefe  profe  tales  were  called  novelle,  implying 

fbme 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


237 


fome  novelty  in  their  character,  a  word  which  was  transferred  into  the 
French  language  under  the  form  of  nouvelles,  and  was  the  origin  of  our 
modern  Englifh  novel,  applied  to  a  work  of  fiction.  The  Italian  novelifts 
adopted  the  Eaftern  plan  of  ftringing  thefe  ftories  together  on  the  flight 
framework  of  one  general  plot,  in  which  are  introduced  caufes  for  telling 
them  and  perfons  who  tell  them.  Thus  the  Decameron  of  Boccaccio 
holds  towards  the  fabliaux  exactly  the  fame  pofition  as  that  of  the 
"Arabian  Nights"  to  the  older  Arabian  tales.  The  Italian  novelifts 
became  numerous  and  celebrated  throughout  Europe,  from  the  time  of 
Boccaccio  to  that  of  Straparola,  at  the  commencement  of  the  fixteenth 
century,  and  later.  The  tafte  for  this  clafs  of  literature  appears  to  have 
been  introduced  into  France  at  the  court  of  Burgundy,  where,  under 
duke  Philippe  le  Bon,  a  well-known  courtier  and  man  of  letters  named 
Antoine  de  La  Sale,  who  had,  during  a  fojourn  in  Italy,  become 
acquainted  with  one  of  the  moft  celebrated  of  the  earlier  Italian  collections, 
the  "  Cento  Novello,"  or  the  Hundred  Novels,  compiled  a  collection  in 
French  in  imitation  of  them,  under  the  title  of  "Les  Cent  Nouvelles 
Nouvelles,"  or  the  Hundred  new  Novels,  one  of  the  pureft  examples  o'f  the 
French  language  in  the  fifteenth  century.*  The  later  French  ftory-books, 
fuch  as  the  Heptameron  of  the  queen  of  Navarre,  and  others,  belong  chiefly 
to  the  fixteenth  century.  Thefe  collections  of  ftories  can  hardly  be  faid 
to  have  ever  taken  root  in  this  ifland  as  a  part  of  Englifh  literature. 

But  there  arofe  partly  out  of  thefe  ftories  a  clafs  of  books  which 
became  greatly  multiplied,  and  were,  during  a  long  period,  extremely 
popular.  With  the  houfehold  fool,  or  jefter,  inftead  of  the  old  jougleur, 
the  ftories  had  been  fhorn  of  their  detail,  and  fank  into  the  fhape  of  mere 
witty  anecdotes,  and  at  the  fame  time  a  tafte  arofe  for  what  we  now  clafs 
under  the  general  term  of  jefts,  clever  fayings,  what  the  French  call  Ions 
mots,  and  what  the  Englifh  of  the  fixteenth  century  termed  "  quick 

anfwers." 

*  I  am  obliged  to  pass  over  this  part  of  the  subject  very  rapidly.  For  the 
history  of  that  remarkable  book,  the  "  Cent  Nouvelles  Nouvelles,"  I  would  refer 
the  reader  to  the  preface  to  my  own  edition,  "  Les  Cent  Nouvelles  Nouvelles, 
publi6es  d'apres  le  seul  manuscrit  connu,  avec  Introduction  et  Notes,  par  M.  Thomas 
Wright."  z  vols.  izmo.,  Paris,  1858. 


238  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grot efque 

anfwers."  The  \vordjeft  itfelf  arofe  from  the  circumftance  that  the  things 
defignated  by  it  arofe  out  of  the  older  ftories,  for  it  is  a  mere  corruption 
of  geftes,  the  Latin  gejla,  in  the  fenfe  of  narratives  of  a6ls  or  deeds,  or 
tales.  The  Latin  writers,  who  firft  began  to  collect,  them  into  books, 
included  them  under  the  general  name  of  facetiae.  The  earlier  of  thefe 
collections  of  facetiae  were  written  in  Latin,  and  of  the  origin  of  the  firft 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  that  by  the  celebrated  fcholar  Poggio  of 
Florence,  a  curious  anecdote  is  told.  Some  wits  of  the  court  of  pope 
Martin  V.,  elected  to  the  papacy  in  141 7,  among  whom  were  the  pope's  two 
fecretaries,  Poggio  and  Antonio  Lufco,  Cincio  of  Rome,  and  Ruzello  of 
Bologna,  appropriated  to  themfelves  a  private  corner  in  the  Vatican,  where 
they  affembled  to  cftat  freely  among  themfelves.  They  called  it  their 
luggiale,  a  word  which  fignifies  in  Italian,  a  place  of  recreation,  where  they 
tell  ftories,  make  jefts,  and  amufe  themfelves  with  difcufling  fatirically  the 
doings  and  characters  of  everybody.  This  was  the  way  in  which  Poggio 
and  his  friends  entertained  themfelves  in  their  buggiale,  and  we  are  afiured 
that  in  their  talk  they  neither  fpared  the  church  nor  the  pope  himfelf  or 
his  government.  The  facetiae  of  Poggio,  in  fa6t,  which  are  faid  to  be  a 
fele£tion  of  the  good  things  faid  in  thefe  meetings,  mow  neither  reverence 
for  the  church  of  Rome  nor  refpeft  for  decency,  but  they  are  moftly  ftories 
which  had  been  told  over  and  over  again,  long  before  Poggio  came  into 
the  world.  It  was  perhaps  this  fatire  upon  the  church  and  upon  the 
ecclefiaftics  which  gave  much  of  their  popularity  to  thefe  facetiae  at  a  time 
when  a  univerfal  agitation  of  men's  minds  on  religious  affairs  prevailed, 
which  was  the  great  harbinger  of  the  Reformation ;  and  the  next  Latin 
books  of  facetiae  came  from  men  fuch  as  Henry  Bebelius,  who  were  zealous 
reformers  themfelves. 

Many  of  the  jefts  in  thefe  Latin  collections  are  put  into  the  mouths  of 
jefters,  or  domeftic  fools,  fatui,  or  moriones,  as  they  are  called  in  the  Latin  ; 
and  in  England,  where  thefe  jeft-books  in  the  vernacular  tongue  became 
more  popular  perhaps  than  in  any  other  country,  many  of  them  were 
publiftied  under  the  names  of  celebrated  jefters,  as  the  "  Merie  Tales  of 
Skelton,"  "The  Jefts  of  Scogin,"  " Tarlton's  Jefts,"  and  "  The  Jefts  of 
George  Peele." 

John 


in  Literature  and  Art.  239 

John  Skelton,  poet-laureat  of  his  time,  appears  to  have  been  known  in 
the  courts  of  Henry  VII.  and  Henry  VIII.  quite  as  much  in  the  character 
of  a  jefter  as  in  that  of  a  poet.  Poet-laureat  was  then  a  title  or  degree 
given  in  the  univerfity  of  Oxford.  His  "  Merye  Tales  "  are  all  perfonal  of 
himfelf,  and  we  fhould  be  inclined  to  fay  that  his  jefts  and  his  poetry  are 
equally  bad.  The  former  picture  him  as  holding  a  place  fomewhere 
between  Eulenfpiegel  and  the  ordinary  court-fool.  We  may  give  as  a 
fample  of  the  beft  of  them  the  tale  No.  I. — 

"  How  Skelton  came  home  late  to  Oxford  from  Ablngton. 

"  Skelton  was  an  Englysheman  borne  as  Skogyn  was,  and  hee  was  educated  and 
broughte  up  in  Oxfoorde,  and  there  was  he  made  a  poete  lauriat.  And  on  a  tyme 
he  had  ben  at  Abbington  to  make  mery,  wher  that  he  had  eate  salte  meates,  and 
hee  did  com  late  home  to  Oxforde,  and  he  did  lye  in  an  ine  named  the  Tabere, 
whyche  is  now  the  Angell,  and  hee  dyd  drynke,  and  went  to  bed.  About  mid- 
night he  was  so  thyrstie  or  drye  that  he  was  constrained  to  call  to  the  tapster  for 
drynke,  and  the  tapster  harde  him  not.  Then  hee  cryed  to  hys  oste  and  hys  ostes, 
and  to  the  ostler,  for  drinke,  and  no  man  would  here  hym.  Alacke,  sayd  Skelton, 
I  shall  peryshe  for  lacke  of  drynke  !  What  reamedye  ?  At  the  last  he  dyd  crie 
out  and  sayd,  Fyer,  fyer,  fyer !  When  Skelton  hard  every  man  bustle  hymselfe 
upward,  and  some  of  them  were  naked,  and  some  were  halfe  asleepe  and  amased, 
and  Skelton  dyd  crye,  Fier,  fier  !  styll,  that  everye  man  knewe  not  whether  to 
resorte.  Skelton  did  go  to  bed,  and  the  oste  and  ostis,  and  the  tapster,  with  the 
ostler,  dyd  runne  to  Skeltons  chamber  with  candles  lyghted  in  theyr  handes,  saying, 
Where,  where,  where  is  the  fyer  ?  Here,  here,  here,  said  Skelton,  and  poynted  hys 
fynger  to  hys  mouth,  saying,  Fetch  me  some  drynke  to  quenche  the  fyer  and  the 
heate  and  the  drinesse  in  my  mouthe.  And  so  they  dyd." 

Another  of  thefe  "  Merye  Tales  "  of  Skelton  contains  a  fatire  upon 
the  practice  which  prevailed  in  the  fixteenth  and  early  part  of  the 
feventeenth  centuries  of  obtaining  letters-patent  of  monopoly  from  the 
crown,  and  alfo  on  the  bibulous  propenfities  of  Wellhmen — 

"  How  the  Welshman  dyd  desyre  Skelton  to  ayde  hym  in  hys  sute  to  the  kynge  for  a  patent 

tn  tell  drynke. 

<c  Skelton,  when  he  was  in  London,  went  to  the  kynges  courte,  where  there  did 
come  to  hym  a  Welshman,  saying,  Syr,  it  is  so,  that  manye  dooth  come  upp  of  my 
country  to  the  kynges  court,  and  some  doth  get  of  the  kyng  by  patent  a  castell,  and 
some  a  parke,  and  some  a  forest,  and  some  one  fee  and  some  another,  and  they  dooe 
lyve  lyke  honest  men  ;  and  I  shoulde  lyve  as  honestly  as  the  best,  if  I  myght  have 
a  patyne  for  good  dryncke,  wherefore  I  dooe  praye  yow  to  write  a  fewe  woords  tor 
mee  in  a  lytle  byll  to  geve  the  same  to  the  kvnges  handes,  and  I  wil  geve  you  well 

for 


240  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


for  your  laboure.  I  am  contented,  sayde  Skelton.  Syt  downe  then,  sayde  the  Welsh- 
man, and  write.  What  shall  I  wryte  ?  sayde  Skelton.  The  Welshman  sayde  wryte 
dryncke.  Nowe,  sayde  the  Welshman, write  more  dryncke.  What  now?  sayde  Skelton. 
Wryte  nowe,  a  great  deale  of  dryncke.  Nowe,  sayd  the  Welshman,  putte  to  all  thys 
dryncke  a  littell  crome  of  breade,  and  a  great  deale  of  drynke  to  it,  and  reade  once  agayne. 
Skelton  dyd  reade,  Dryncke,  more  dryncke,  and  a  great  deale  of  dryncke,  and  a  lytle  crome  of 
breade,  and  a  great  deale  of  dryncke  to  it.  Than  the  Welshman  sayde,  Put  oute  the  litle 
crome  of  breade,  and  sette  in,  all  dryncke  and  no  breade.  And  if  I  myght  have  thys  sygned 
of  the  kynge,  sayde  the  Welshman,  I  care  for  no  more,  as  longe  as  I  dooe  lyve. 
Well  then,  sayde  Skelton,  when  you  have  thys  signed  of  the  kyng,  then  wyll  I 
labour  for  a  patent  to  have  bread,  that  you  wyth  your  drynke  and  I  with  the  bread 
may  fare  well,  and  seeke  our  livinge  with  bagge  and  staffe." 

Thefe  two  tales  are  rather  favourable  fpecimens  of  the  collection 
publiflied  under  the  name  of  Skelton,  which,  as  far  as  we  know,  was  firft 
printed  about  the  middle  of  the  fixteenth  century.  The  collection  of  the 
jefts  of  Scogan,  or,  as  he  was  popularly  called,  Scogin,  which  is  faid  to 
have  been  compiled  by  Andrew  Borde,  was  probably  given  to  the  world 
a  few  years  before,  but  no  copies  of  the  earlier  editions  are  now  known 
to  exift.  Scogan,  the  hero  of  thefe  jefts,  is  defcribed  as  occupying  at  the 
court  of  Henry  VII.  a  petition  not  much  different  from  that  of  an  ordinary 
court-fool.  Good  old  Holinfhed  the  chronicler  fays  of  him,  perhaps  a 
little  too  gently,  that  he  was  "a  learned  gentleman  and  fludent  for  a 
time  in  Oxford,  of  a  pleafant  wit,  and  bent  to  merrie  devices,  in  refpedt 
whereof  he  was  called  into  the  court,  where,  giving  himfelfe  to  his  na- 
turall  inclination  of  mirth  and  pleafant  paftime,  he  plaied  manie  fporting 
parts,  although  not  in  fuch  uncivil  manner  as  hath  beene  of  him  reported." 
This  allufion  refers  moft  probably  to  the  jefts,  which  reprefent  him  as  lead- 
ing a  life  of  low  and  coarfe  buffoonery,  in  the  courfe  of  which  he  difplayed 
a  considerable  fhare  of  the  difhoneft  and  mifchievous  qualities  of  the  lefs 
real  Eulenfpiegel.  He  is  even  reprefented  as  perfonally  infulting  the  king 
and  queen,  and  as  being  confequently  bammed  over  the  Channel,  to  fhow 
no  more  refpecl:  to  the  majefty  of  the  king  of  France.  Scogin's  jefts,  like 
Skelton's,  confift  in  a  great  meafure  of  thofe  practical  jokes  which  appear 
in  all  former  ages  to  have  been  the  delight  of  the  Teutonic  race.  Many 
of  them  are  directed  agr.'nft  the  ignorance  and  worldlinefs  of  the  clergy. 
Scogin  is  defcribed  as  being  at  one  time  himfelf  a  teacher  in  the  univerfity, 

and 


in  Literature  and  Art.  241 

and  on  one  occafion,  we  are  told,  a  hufbandman  fent  his  fon  to  fchool  to 
him  that  he  might  be  made  a  prieft.  The  whole  ftory,  which  runs  through 
feveral  chapters,  is  an  excellent  caricature  on  the  way  in  which  men 
vulgarly  ignorant  were  intruded  into  the  priefthood  before  the  Refor- 
mation. At  length,  after  much  blundering,  the  fcholar  came  to  be 
ordained,  and  his  examination  is  reported  as  follows  : — 


"How  the  tcholler  said  Tom  Miller  of  Oseney  was  Jacobus  father. 

"After  this,  the  said  scholler  did  come  to  the  next  orders,  and  brought  a  pre- 
sent to  the  ordinary  from  Scogin,  but  the  scholler's  father  paid  for  all.  Then  said 
the  ordinary  to  the  scholler,  I  must  needes  oppose  you,  and  for  master  Scogin's  sake, 
I  will  oppose  you  in  a  light  matter.  Isaac  had  two  sons,  Esau  and  Jacob.  Who 
was  Jacob's  father  ?  The  scholler  stood  still,  and  could  not  tell.  Well,  said  the 
ordinary,  I  cannot  admit  you  to  be  priest  untill  the  next  orders,  and  then  bring  me 
an  answer.  The  scholler  went  home  with  a  heavy  heart,  bearing  a  letter  to 
master  Scogin,  how  his  scholler  could  not  answer  to  this  question  :  I^aac  had  two 
sons,  Esau  and  Jacob  ;  who  was  Jacob's  father  ?  Scogin  said  to  his  scholler,  Thou 
foole  and  asse-head  !  Dost  thou  not  know  Tom  Miller  of  Oseney  ?  Yes,  said  the 
scholler !  Then,  said  Scogin,  thou  knowest  he  had  two  sonnes,  Tom  and  Jacke  ; 
who  is  Jacke's  father  ?  The  scholler  said,  Tom  Miller.  Why,  said  Scogin,  thou 
mightest  have  said  that  Isaac  was  Jacob's  father.  Then  said  Scogin,  Thou  shall 
arise  betime  in  the  morning,  and  carry  a  letter  to  the  ordinary,  and  I  trust  he  will 
admit  thee  before  the  orders  shall  be  given.  The  scholler  rose  up  betime  in  the 
morning,  and  carried  the  letter  to  the  ordinary.  The  ordinary  said,  For  Master 
Scogin's  sake  I  will  oppose  you  no  farther  than  I  did  yesterday.  Isaac  had  two  sons, 
Esau  and  Jacob ;  who  was  Jacob's  father  ?  Marry,  said  the  scholler,  I  can  tell 
you  now  that  was  Tom  Miller  of  Oseney.  Goe,  foole,  goe,  said  the  ordinary,  and 
let  thy  master  send  thee  no  more  to  me  for  orders,  for  it  is  impossible  to  make  a 
foole  a  wise  man." 


Scogin's  fcholar  was,  however,  made  a  prieft,  and  fome  of  the  ftories 
which  follow  defcribe  the  ludicrous  manner  in  which  he  exercifed  the 
priefthood.  Two  other  ftories  illuftrate  Scogin's  fuppofed  polition  at 
court : — 

"  How  Scogin  tola1  those  that  mocked  him  that  he  had  a  wall-eye. 

"  Scogin  went  up  and  down  in  the  king's  hall,  and  his  hosen  hung  downe,  and 
his  coat  stood  awry,  and  his  hat  stood  a  boonjour,  so  every  man  did  mocke  Scogin. 
Some  said  he  was  a  proper  man,  and  did  wear  his  rayment  cleanly  ;  some  said  the 
foole  could  not  put  on  his  owne  rayment ;  some  said  one  thing,  and  some  said 
another.  At  last  Scogin  said,  Masters,  you  have  praised  me  wel,  but  you  did  not 

I    I  espy 


242  Hlftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


espy  one  thing  in  me.  What  is  that,  Tom  ?  said  the  men.  Marry,  said  Scogin,  I  have 
a  wail  eye.  What  meanest  thou  by  that  ?  said  the  men.  Marry,  said  Scogin,  I 
have  spyed  a  sort  of  knaves  that  doe  mocke  me,  and  are  worse  fooles  themselves." 

"  How  Scogin  drew  hit  tonne  up  and  dcrwne  the  court, 

11  After  this  Scogin  went  from  the  court,  and  put  off  his  fbole's  garments,  and 
came  to  the  court  like  an  honest  man,  and  brought  his  son  to  the  court  with  him, 
and  within  the  court  he  drew  his  sonne  up  and  downe  by  the  heeles.  The  boy 
cried  out,  and  Scogin  drew  the  boy  in  every  corner.  At  last  ever}  body  had  pity 
on  the  boy,  and  said,  Sir,  what  doe  you  meane,  to  draw  the  boy  about  the  court  ? 
Masters,  said  Scogin,  he  is  my  sonne,  and  I  <loe  it  for  this  cause.  Every  man  doth 
say,  that  man  or  child  which  is  drawne  up  in  the  court  shall  be  the  better  as  long 
as  hee  lives ;  and  therefore  I  will  every  day  once  draw  him  up  and  downe  the 
court,  after  that  hee  may  come  to  preferment  in  the  end." 

The  appreciation  of  a  good  joke  cannot  at  this  time  have  been  very 
great  or  very  general,  for  Scogin's  jefts  were  wonderfully  popular  during 
at  leail  a  century,  from  the  firil  half  of  the  fixteenth  century.  They  palled 
through  many  editions,  and  are  frequently  alluded  to  by  the  writers  of  the 
Elizabethan  age.  The  next  individual  whofe  name  appears  at  the  head 
of  a  collection  of  his  jefts,  was  the  well-known  wit,  Richard  Tarlton,  who 
may  be  fairly  confidered  as  court  fool  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  His  jefts 
belong  to  the  fame  clafs  as  thofe  of  Skelton  and  Scogin,  and  if  poffible,  they 
prefent  a  ftill  greater  amount  of  dulnefs.  Tarlton's  jefts  were  foon  followed 
by  the  "merrie  conceited  jefts  "  of  George  Peele,  the  dramatift,  who  is 
defcribed  in  the  title  as  "  gentleman,  fometimes  ftudent  in  Oxford  j"  and 
it  is  added  that  in  thefe  jefts  "  is  (hewed  the  courfe  of  his  life,  how  he 
lived  5  a  man  very  well  knowne  in  the  city  of  London  and  elfewhere." 
In  fa6t,  Peele's  jefts  are  chiefly  curious  for  the  firiking  picture  they  give 
us  of  the  wilder  (hades  of  town  life  under  the  reigns  of  Elizabeth  and 
James  I. 

During  the  period  which  witnefled  the  publication  in  England  of 
thefe  books,  many  other  jeft-books  appeared,  for  they  had  already 
become  an  important  clals  of  Englilh  popular  literature.  Moft  of 
them  were  publifhed  anonymoufly,  and  indeed  they  are  mere  com- 
pilations from  the  older  collections  in  Latin  and  French.  All  that 
was  at  all  good,  even  in  the  jefts  of  Skelton,  Scogin,  Tarlton,  and 
Peele,  had  been  repeated  over  and  over  again  by  the  ftory-tellers  and 

jefters 


in  Literature  and  Art.  243 

jefters  of  former  ages.  Two  of  the  earlier  Engliih  colle6tions  have^ 
gained  a  greater  celebrity  than  the  reft,  chiefly  through  adventitious 
circumftances.  One  of  thefe,  entitled  "A  Hundred  Merry  Tales," 
has  gained  diftin6lion  among  Shakespearian  critics  as  the  one  efpecially 
alluded  to  by  the  great  poet  in  "  Much  Ado  about  Nothing,"  (Act  ii., 
Sc.  i),  where  Beatrice  complains  that  fomebody  had  faid  "that  I  had 
my  good  wit  out  of  the  Hundred  Merry  Tales."  The  other  collection 
alluded  to  was  entitled  "Mery  Tales,  Wittie  Queftions,  and  Quicke 
Anfweres,  very  pleafant  to  be  readde,"  and  was  printed  in  1567.  Its 
modern  fame  appears  to  have  arifen  chiefly  from  the  circumftance  that, 
until  the  accidental  difcovery  of  the  unique  and  imperfect  copy  of  the 
"  Hundred  Merry  Tales,"  it  was  fuppofed  to  be  the  book  alluded  to  by 
Shakefpeare.  Both  thefe  collections  are  mere  compilations  from  the 
"  Cent  Nouvelles  Nouvelles,"  Poggio,"  "  Straparola,"  and  other  foreign 
works.*  The  words  put  into  the  mouth  of  Beatrice  are  corre£lly  defcrip- 
tive  of  the  ufe  made  of  thefe  jeft-books.  It  had  become  fafhionable  to 
learn  out  of  them  jefts  and  ftories,  in  order  to  introduce  them  into 
polite  converfation,  and  efpecially  at  table  ;  and  this  practice  continued  to 
prevail  until  a  very  recent  period.  The  number  of  fuch  jeft-books  pub- 
limed  during  the  fixteenth,  feventeeth,  and  eighteenth  centuries,  was 
quite  extraordinary.  Many  of  thefe  were  given  anonymoufly;  but  many 
alfo  were  put  forth  under  names  which  pofiefied  temporary  celebrity,  fuch 
as  Hobfon  the  carrier,  Killigrew  the  jefter,  the  friend  of  Charles  II.,  Ben 
Jonfon,  Garrick,  and  a  multitude  of  others.  It  is,  perhaps,  unneceflary 
to  remind  the  reader  that  the  great  modern  reprefentative  of  this  clafs  of 
literature  is  the  illuftrious  Joe  Miller. 


*  A  neat  and  useful  edition  of  these  two  jest-books,  with  the  other  most  curious 
books  of  the  same  class,  published  during  the  Elizabethan  period,  has  recently  been 
published  in  two  volumes,  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Hazlitt. 


244  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE      AGE      OF    THB     REFORMATION. THOMAS     MURNER  ;     HIS     GENERAL 

SATIRES. FRUITFULNESS     OF     FOLLY. —  HANS    SACHS. THE    TRAP    FOR 

FOOLS. ATTACKS     ON     LUTHER. THE      POPE      AS      ANTICHRIST. THE 

POPE-ASS    AND    THE    MONK-CALF. OTHER    CARICATURES    AGAINST    THE 

POPE. THE  GOOD   AND    BAD    SHEPHERDS. 

THE  reign  of  Folly  did  not  pafs  away  with  the  fifteenth  century — on 
the  whole  the  fixteenth  century  can  hardly  be  faid  to  have  been 
more  fane  than  its  predeceflbr,  but  it  was  agitated  by  a  long  and  fierce 
ftruggle  to  difengage  European  fociety  from  the  trammels  of  the  middle 
ages.  We  have  entered  upon  what  is  technically  termed  the  renaijfance, 
and  are  approaching  the  great  religious  reformation.  The  period  during 
which  the  art  of  printing  began  firft  to  fpread  generally  over  Weftern 
Europe,  was  peculiarly  favourable  to  the  production  of  fatirical  books  and 
pamphlets,  and  a  confiderable  number  of  clever  and  fpirited  fatirifts  and 
comic  writers  appeared  towards  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century,  elpecially 
in  Germany,  where  circumftances  of  a  political  character  had  at  an  early 
period  given  to  the  intellectual  agitation  a  more  permanent  ftrength  than 
it  could  eafiiy  or  quickly  gain  in  the  great  monarchies.  Among  the  more 
remarkable  of  thefe  fatirifts  was  Thomas  Murner,  who  was  born  at 
Stralburg,  in.  1475.  The  circumftances  even  of  his  childhood  are 
fingular,  for  he  was  born  a  cripple,  or  became  one  in  his  earlier!  infancy, 
though  he  was  fubfequently  healed,  and  it  was  fo  univerfally  believed 
that  this  malady  was  the  efteft  of  witchcraft,  that  he  himfelf  wrote  after- 
wards a  treatife  upon  this  fubje6t  under  the  title  of  "  De  Phitonico 
Contrafhi."  The  Ichool  in  which  he  was  taught  may  at  lealt  have 
encouraged  his  fatirical  fpirit,  for  his  matter  was  Jacob  Locher,  the  fame 
who  tranflated  into  Latin  verfe  the  "  Ship  of  Fools  "  of  Sebaftian  Brandt. 

At 


in  Literature  ana  Art.  245 


A.t  the  end  of  the  century  Murner  had  become  a  matter  of  arts  in  the 
Univerfity  of  Paris,  and  had  entered  the  Francifcan  order.  His  reputa- 
tion as  a  German  popular  poet  was  fo  great,  that  the  emperor  Maxi- 
milian I.,  who  died  in  1519,  conferred  upon  him  the  crown  of  poetry,  or, 
in  other  words,  made  him  poet-laureat.  He  took  the  degree  of  do6tor 
in  theology  in  1509.  Still  Murner  was  known  beft  as  the  popular  writer, 
and  he  publilhed  feveral  fatirical  poems,  which  were  remarkable  for  the 
bold  woodcuts  that  illuftrated  them,  for  engraving  on  wood  flourished  at 
this  period.  He  expoled  the  corruptions  of  all  claffes  of  fociety,  and, 
before  the  Reformation  broke  out,  he  did  not  even  Ipare  the  corruptions 
of  the  ecclefiallical  Hate,  but  foon  declared  himfelf  a  fierce  opponent  of 
the  Reformers.  When  the  Lutheran  revolt  againft  the  Papacy  became 
ftrong,  our  king,  Henry  VIII.,  who  took  a  decided  part  againft  Luther, 
invited  Murner  to  England,  and  on  his  return  to  his  own  country,  the 
fatiric  Francifcan  became  more  bitter  againft  the  Reformation  than  ever. 
He  advocated  the  caufe  of  the  Engliih  monarch  in  a  pamphlet,  now  very 
rare,  in  which  he  difcufied  the  queftion  whether  Henry  VIII.  or  Luther 
was  the  liar — "  Antwort  dem  Murner  uff  feine  frag,  ob  der  kiinig  von 
Engllant  ein  Liigner  fey  oder  Martinus  Luther."  Murner  appears  to 
have  divided  the  people  of  his  age  into  rogues  and  fools,  or  perhaps  he 
confidered  the  two  titles  as  identical.  His  "  Narrenbeichwerung,"  or 
Confpiracy  of  Fools,  in  which.  Brandt's  idea  was  followed  up,  is  fuppoi'ed 
to  have  been  publilhed  as  early  as  1506,  but  the  firft  printed  edition  with 
a  date,  appeared  in  1512.  It  became  fo  popular,  that  it  went  through 
feveral  editions  during  fubfequent  years ;  and  that  which  I  have  before 
me  was  printed  at  Stralburg  in  1518.  It  is,  like  Brandt's  "  Ship  of 
Fools,"  a  general  fatire  againft  fociety,  in  which  the  clergy  are  not 
ipared,  for  the  writer  had  not  yet  come  in  face  of  Luther's  Reformation . 
The  cuts  are  fuperior  to  thofe  of  Brandt's  book,  and  fome  of  them  are 
remarkable  for  their  delign  and  execution.  In  one  of  the  earlieft  of  them, 
copied  in  the  cut  No.  139,  Folly  is  introduced  in  the  garb  of  a  huiband- 
man,  fcattering  his  feed  over  the  earth,  the  refult  of  which  is  a  very 
quick  and  flourithing  crop,  the  fool's  heads  rifing  above  ground,  almolt 
mftantaneoufly,  like  fo  many  turnips.  In  a  fubfequent  engraving,  repre- 

iented 


246  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

fented  in  our  cut  No.  140,  Folly  holds  out,  as  an  obje&  of  emulation,  the 
fool's  cap,  and  people  of  all  clafles,  the  pope  himfelf,  and  the  emperor, 
and  all  the  great  dignitaries  of  this  world,  prels  forward  eagerly  to  feize 
upon  it. 

The  lame  year  (1512)  witnefled  the  appearance  of  another  poetical, 
or  at  leaft  metrical,  fatire  by  Murner,  entitled  "  Schelmenzunft,"  or  the 
Confraternity  of  Rogues,  fimilarly  illuftrated  with  very  fpirited  engravings 


No.  139.      Sowing  a  Fruitful  Crop. 

on  wood.  It  is  another  demonstration  of  the  prevailing  dominion  of 
folly  under  its  worft  forms,  and  the  fatire  is  equally  general  with  the 
preceding.  Murner's  fatire  appears  to  have  been  felt  not  only  generally, 
but  perfonally;  and  we  are  told  that  he  was  often  threatened  with  afiaffi- 
nation,  and  he  raifed  up  a  number  of  literary  opponents,  who  treated  him 
with  no  little  rudenefs  j  in  fad,  he  had  got  on  the  wrong  fide  of  politics, 
or  at  all  events  on  the  unpopular  fide,  and  men  who  had  more  talents 
and  greater  weight  appeared  as  his  opponents — men  like  Ulrich  von 
Utten,  and  Luther  himfelf. 

Among  the  fatirifts  who  efpoufed  the  caufe  to  which  Murner  was 
oppoled,  we  mufl  not  overlook  a  man  who  reprefented  in  its  flrongeft 

features, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


247 


features,  though  in  a  rather  debafed  form,  the  old  fpontaneous  poetry  of 
the  middle  ages.  His  name  was  Hans  Sachs,  at  leaft  that  was  the  name 
under  which  he  was  known,  for  his  real  name  is  faid  to  have  been 
Loutrdorffer.  His  fpirit  was  entirely  that  of  the  old  wandering  minftrel, 
and  it  was  fo  powerful  in  him,  that,  having  been  apprenticed  to  the  craft 
of  a  weaver,  he  was  no  fooner  freed  from  his  indentures,  than  he  took  to 
a  vagabond  life,  and  wandered  from  town  to  town,  gaining  his  living  by 


No.  140.     Jin  Acceptable  Offering. 


finging  the  verfes  he  compofed  upon  every  occafion  which  prefented  itfelf. 
In  1519,  he  married  and  fettled  in  Nuremberg,  and  his  competitions 
were  then  given  to  the  public  through  the  prefs.  The  number  of  thefe 
was  quite  extraordinary — fongs,  ballads,  fatires,  and  dramatic  pieces,  rude 
in  ftyle,  in  accordance  with  the  tafte  of  the  time,  but  full  of  clevernefs. 
Many  of  them,  were  printed  on  broadfides,  and  illuftrated  with  large 
engravings  on  wood.  Hans  Sachs  joined  in  the  crufade  againll  the 
empire  of  Folly,  and  one  of  his  broadfides  is  illuftrated  with  a  graceful 
defign,  the  greater  part  of  which  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  141.  A  parry 
of  ladies  have  fet  a  bird-trap  to  catch  the  fools  of  the  age,  who  are 

waiting 


248  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


waiting  to  be  caught.  Qnefbol  is  taken  in  the  trap,  while  another  is 
.already  fernrpd  qnH  pini"""^  •|nrl  Others  1"?  rnfhjng  into  the^  fnare.  A 
number  of  people  of  the  world,  high  in  their  dignities  and  ftations,  are 
looking  on  at  this  remarkable  fcene. 


The  evil  influence  of  the 


No.  141.      Bird-Trafs. 

malp  fry  uas  at  this  time  proverbial,  and, 
in  fa&,  it  was  an  age  of  ovtrQr"^  li^nfirmCnpfg  Another  poet-laureat  of 
the  time,  Henricus  Bebelius,  born  in  the  latter  half  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  rather  well  known  in  the  literature  of  his  time,  publifhed, 
in  1515,  a  fatirical  poem  in  Latin,  under  the  title  of  "Triumphus  Veneris," 
which  was  a  fort  of  expofition  of  the  generally  licentious  character  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived.  It  is  diftributed  into  fix  books,  in  the  third  of 
which  the  poet  attacks  the  whole  ecclefiaftical  ftate,  not  fparing  the  pope 
himfelf,  and  we  are  thereby  perfectly  well  initiated  into  the  weaknelfes 
of  the  clergy.  Bebelius  had  been  preceded  by  another  writer  on  this  part 
of  the  fubjecT:,  and  we  might  fay  by  many,  for  the  incontinence  of  monks 

and 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


249 


and  nuns,  and  indeed  of  all  the  clergy,  had  long  been  a  fubjed  of  fatire. 
But  the  writer  to  whom  I  efpecially  allude  was  named  Paulus  Olearius, 
his  name  in  German  being  Oelfchlagel.  He  publifhed,  about  the  year 
ijjoo,  a  fatirical  tract,  under  the  title  of  "De  Fide  Concubinarum  in 
Sacerdotes."  It  was  a  bitter  attack  on  the  licentioufnefs  of  the  clergy, 
and  was  rendered  more  effective  by  the  engravings  which  accompanied  it. 
We  give  one  of  thefe  as  a  curious  picture  of  contemporary  manners ;  the 


No.  141.      Courtjbif. 

individual  who  comes  within  the  range  of  the  lady's  attractions,  though 
he  may  be  a  fcholar,  has  none  of  the  chara&eriftics  of  a  prieft.  She 
prefents  a  nofegay,  which  we  may  fuppofe  to  reprefen^the  influence  of 
pgrfiune  nppn  the  fenfes ;  but  the  love  of  the  ladies  for  pet  animals  is 
efpecially  typified  in  the  monkey,  attached  by  a  chain.  A  donkey  appears 
to  {how  by  his  heels  his  contempt  for  the  lover. 

From  an  early  period,  the  Roman  church  had  been  accuftomed  to 
treat  contemptuoufly,  as  well  as  cruelly,  all  who  diflented  from  its  dodrines, 
or  objected  to  its  government,  and  this  feeling  was  continued  down  to  the 
age  of  the  Reformation,  in  fpite  of  the  tone  of  liberalifm  which  was  beginning 


K  K 


to 


250  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grot efque 


to  mine  forth  in  the  writings  of  fome  of  its  greateft  ornaments.  Some 
refearch  among  the  dufty,  becaufe  little  ufed,  records  of  national  archives 
and  libraries  would  no  doubt  bring  to  light  more  than  one  fingular  cari- 
cature upon  the  "  heretics  "  of  the  middle  ages,  and  my  attention  has 

been  called  to  one  which  is  pofiefled 
of  peculiar  intereft.  There  is,  among 
the  imperial  archives  of  France,  in 
Paris,  among  records  relating  to  the 
country  of  the  Albigeois  in  the  thir- 
teenth century,  a  copy  of  the  bull  of 
pope  Innocent  IV.  giving  directions 
for  the  proceedings  againft  diflenters 
from  Romanifm,  on  the  back  of  which 
the  fcribe,  as  a  mark  of  his  contempt 
for  thele  arch-heretics  of  the  fouth, 
has  drawn  a  caricature  of  a  woman 
bound  to  a  flake  over  the  fire  which  is 
to  burn  her  as  an  open  opponent  of 
the  church  of  Rome.  The  choice  of 
a  woman  for  the  victim  was  perhaps  intended  to  mow  that  the  profe- 
lytifm  of  herefy  was  efpecially  fuccefsful  among  the  weaker  fex,  or  that 
it  was  confidered  as  having  fome  relation  to  witchcraft.  It  is,  by  a  long 
period,  the  earlieft  known  pictorial  reprefentatton  of  the  punifhment  of 
burning  inflicted  on  a  heretic. 

The  (hafts  of  fatire  were  early  employed  againfl  Luther  and  his  new 
principles,  and  men  like  Murner,  already  mentioned,  Emfer,  Cochlaeus, 
and  others,  fignalifed  themfelves  by  their  zeal  in  the  papal  caufe.  As 
already  ftated,  Murner  diftinguimed  himfelf  as  the  literary  ally  of  our 
king  Henry  VIII.  The  tafte  for  fatirical  writings  had  then  become  fo 
general,  that  Murner  complains  in  one  of  his  satires  that  the  printers 
would  print  nothing  but  abufive  or  fatirical  works,  and  neglected  his  more 
ferious  writings. 

Dajindt  die  trucker  fchuld  daran, 

Die  trucken  als  die  GaucAcreien, 

Und  lajjen  mein  ernftliche  backer  leihen, 

Some 


No.  143.      Burning  a  Heretic. 


in  Literature  and  At  t. 


251 


No.  144.     Folly  in  Mono/tie  Habit. 


Some  of  Murner's  writings  againft  Luther,  moft  of  which  are  now  very 
rare,  are  extremely  violent,  and  they  are  generally  illuftrated  with  fatirical 
woodcuts.  One  of  thefe  books,  printed 
without  name  of  place  or  date,  is 
entitled,  "  Of  the  great  Lutheran  Fool, 
how  Do6tor  Murner  has  exorcifed  him" 
(Von  dem  groffcn  Lutheriffchen  Narren, 
wie  in  Dofflor  Murner  lefchworen  hat). 
In  the  woodcuts  to  this  book  Murner 
himfelf  is  introduced,  as  is  ufually  the 
cafe  in  thefe  fatirical  engravings,  under 
the  character  of  a  Francifcan  friar, 
with  the  head  of  a  cat,  while  Luther 
appears  as  a  fat  and  jolly  monk,  wear- 
ing a  fool's  cap,  and  figuring  in  various 
ridiculous  circumftances.  In  one  of  the 
firft  woodcuts,  the  cat  Francifcan  is 
drawing  a  rope  so  tight  round  the  great  Lutheran  fool's  neck,  that  he 
compels  him  to  difgorge  a  multitude  of  fmaller  fools.  In  another 
the  great  Lutheran  fool  has  his  purfe,  or  pouch,  full  of  little  fools 
fufpended  at  his  girdle.  This  latter  figure  is  copied  in  the  cut  No.  144,  as 
an  example  of  the  form  under  which  the  great  reformer  appears  in  thefe 
fatirical  reprefentations. 

In  a  few  other  caricatures  of  this  period  which  have  been  preferred, 
the  apoftle  of  the  Reformation  is  attacked  ftill  more  favagely.  The.  one 
here  given  (Fig.  145),  taken  from  a  contemporary  engraving  on  wood, 
prefents  a  rather  fantaftic  figure  of  the  demon  playing  on  the  bagpipes. 
The  inftrument  is  formed  of  Luther's  head,  the  pipe  through  which  the 
devil  blows  entering  his  ear,  and  that  through  which  the  mufic  is 
produced  forming  an  elongation  of  the  reformer's  nofe.  It  was  a  broad 
intimation  that  Luther  was  a  mere  tool  of  the  evil  one,  created  for  the 
purpofe  of  bringing  mifchief  into  the  world. 

The  reformers,  however,  were  more  than  a  match  for  their  opponents 
in  this  fort  of  warfare.  Luther  himfelf  was  full  of  comic  and  fatiric 

humour, 


252  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


humour,  and  a  mafe  of  the  talent  of  that  age  was  ranged  on  his  fide,  both 
literary  and  artiftic.  After  the  reformer's  marriage,  the  papal  party 
quoted  the  old  legend,  that  Antichrifl  was  to  be  born  of  the  union  of 
a  monk  and  a  nun,  and  it  was  intimated  that  if  Luther  himfelf  could 
not  be  directly  identified  with  Antichrift,  he  bad,  at  leaft,  a  fair 
chance  of  becoming  his  parent.  But  the  reformers  had  refolved,  on  what 
appeared  to  be  much  more  conclufive  evidence,  that  Antichrift  was 


No.  145.     The  Mufic  of  the  Demon. 

only  emblematical  of  the  papacy,  that  under  this  form  he  had  been  long 
dominant  on  earth,  and  that  the  end  of  his  reign  was  then  approaching. 
A  remarkable  pamphlet,  defigned  to  place  this  idea  pidtorially  before  the 
public,  was  produced  from  the  pencil  of  Lather's  friend,  the  celebrated 
painter,  Lucas  Cranach,  and  appeared  in  the  year  1521  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Paffionale  of  Chrift  and  Antichrift  "  (Paffional  Chrifti  und  Anti- 
chrifti).  It  is  a  finall  quarto,  each  page  of  which  is  nearly  filled  by  a 
woodcut,  having  a  few  lines  of  explanation  in  German  below.  The  cut 

to 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


253 


to  the  left  reprefents  fome  incident  in  the  life  of  Chrift,  while  that  facing 
it  to  the  right  gives  a  contrafting  fa£t  in  the  hiftory  of  papal  tyranny. 
Thus  the  firft  cut  on  the  left  reprefents  Jefus  in  His  humility,  refuting 
earthly  dignities  and  power,  while  on  the  adjoining  page  we  fee  the  pope, 
with  his  cardinals  and  bifhops,  fupported  by  his  hofts  of  warriors,  his 
cannon,  and  his  fortifications,  in  his  temporal  dominion  over  fecular 


No.  146.     The  Defcent  of  the  Pope. 

princes.  When  we  open  again  we  fee  on  one  fide  Chrift  crowned  with 
thorns  by  the  infulting  foldiery,  and  on  the  other  the  pope,  enthroned  in 
all  his  worldly  glory,  exacting  the  worfhip  of  his  courtiers.  On  another 
we  have  Chrift  warning  the  feet  of  His  difciples,  and  in  contrail  the  pope 
compelling  the  emperor  to  kifs  his  toe.  And  fo  on,  through  a  number  oi 
curious  illuflrations,  until  at  laft  we  come  to  Chriit's  afcenfion  into  heaven, 

in 


254  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grot efque 


in  contraft  with  which  a  troop  of  demons,  of  the  moft  varied  and  fingular 
forms,  have  feized  upon  the  papal  Antichrift,  and  are  calling  him  down 
into  the  flames  of  hell,  where  fome  of  his  own  monks  wait  to  receive 
him.  This  laft  picture  is  drawn  with  fo  much  fpirit,  that  I  have  copied 
it  in  the  cut  No.  146. 

The  monftrous  figures  of  animals  which  had  amufed  the  fculptors  and 
miniaturifts  of  an  earlier  period  came  in  time   to  be  looked   upon   as 

realities,  and  were  not  only  regarded  with 
wonder  as  phyfical  deformities,  but  were 
objects  of  fuperftition,  for  they  were  believed 
to  be  fent  into  the  world  as  warnings,  of 
great  revolutions  and  calamities.  During 
the  age  preceding  the  Reformation,  the 
reports  of  the  births  or  difcoveries  of  fuch 
monfters  were  very  common,  and  engravings 
of  them  were  no  doubt  profitable  articles  of 
merchandife  among  the  early  book-hawkers, 
Two  of  thefe  were  very  celebrated  in  the 
time  of  the  Reformation,  the  Pope-afs  and 
the  Monk-calf,  and  were  publilhed  and  re- 
publifhed  with  an  explanation  under  the 
names  of  Luther  and  Melan6thon,  which 
made  them  emblematical  of  the  Papacy  and 
of  the  abufes  of  the  Romifh  church,  and,  of 
courfe,  prognoftications  of  their  approaching 
expolure  and  fall.  It  was  pretended  that 


No.  147.     The  Pope-afs. 


the  Pope-afs  was  found  dead  in  the  river  Tiber,  at  Rome,  in  the  year 
1496.  It  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  147,  taken  from  an  engraving  pre- 
ferved  in  a  very  curious  volume  of  broadfide  Lutheran  caricatures,  in  the 
library  of  the  Britifh  Mufeum,  all  belonging  to  the  year  1545,  though  this 
defign  had  been  publifhed  many  years  before.  The  head  of  an  afs,  we  are 
told,  reprefented  the  pope  himfelf,  with  his  falfe  and  carnal  do&rines. 
The  right  hand  refembled  the  foot  of  an  elephant,  fignifying  the  fpiritual 
power  of  the  pope,  which  was  heavy,  and  (lamped  down  and  cruftied 

people's 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


255 


people's  confciences.  The  left  hand  was  that  of  a  man,  fignifying  the 
worldly  power  of  the  pope,  which  grafped  at  univerfal  empire  over  kings 
and  princes.  The  right  foot  was  that  of  an  ox,  fignifying  the  fpiritual 
minifters  of  the  papacy,  the  doctors  of  the  church,  the  preachers,  con- 
feffors,  and  fcholaftic  theologians,  and  efpecially  the  monks  and  nuns, 
thofe  who  aided  and  fupported  the  pope  in  opprefling  people's  bodies 
and  fouls.  The  left  foot  was  that  of  a  griffin,  an  animal  which,  when  it 
once  feizes  its  prey,  never  lets  it  efcape,  and  fignified  the  canonifts,  the 
monfters  of  the  pope's  temporal  power,  who 
grafped  people's  temporal  goods,  and  never 
returned  them.  The  breaft  and  belly  of 
this  monfter  were  thofe  of  a  woman,  and 
fignified  the  papal  body,  the  cardinals,  bif- 
hops,  priefts,  monks,  &c.,  who  fpent  their 
lives  in  eating,  drinking,  and  incontinence ; 
and  this  part  of  the  body  was  naked,  becaufe 
the  popim  clergy  were  not  afhamed  to  ex- 
pofe  their  vices  to  the  public.  The  legs, 
arms,  and  neck,  on  the  contrary,  were  clothed 
with  fifties'  fcales ;  thefe  fignified  the  tem- 
poral princes  and  lords,  who  were  moftly  in 
alliance  with  the  papacy.  The  old  man's 
head  behind  the  monfter,  meant  that  the 
papacy  had  become  old,  and  was  approaching  its  end ;  and  the  head  of 
a  dragon,  vomiting  flames,  which  ferved  for  a  tail,  was  fignificative  of  the 
great  threats,  the  venomous  horrible  bulls  and  blafphemous  writings, 
which  the  pontiff  and  his  minifters,  enraged  at  feeing  their  end  approach, 
were  launching  into  the  world  againft  all  who  oppofed  them.  Thefe 
explanations  were  fupported  by  apt  quotations  from  the  Scriptures,  and 
were  fo  efte&ive,  and  became  fo  popular,  that  the  picture  was  publifhed 
in  various  fhapes,  and  was  feen  adorning  the  walls  of  the  humbleii  cottages. 
I  believe  it  is  ftill  to  be  met  with  in  a  fimilar  pofition  in  fome  parts  of 
Germany.  It  was  confidered  at  the  time  to  be  a  mafterly  piece  of  fatire. 
The  picture  of  the  Monk-calf,  which  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  148, 

wae 


No.  148.      The  Monk-Calf. 


256  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


was  publifhed  at  the  fame  time,  and  ufually  accompanies  it.  This  monfter 
is  faid  to  have  been  born  at  Freyburg,  in  Mifnia,  and  is  fimply  a  rather 
coarfe  emblem  of  the  monachal  character. 

The  volume  of  caricatures  juft  mentioned  contains  feveral  fatires  on 
the  pope,  which  are  all  very  fevere,  and  many  of  them  clever.  One  has 
a  movable  leaf,  which  covers  the  upper  part  of  the  pifture ;  when  it  is 
down,  we  have  a  reprefentation  of  the  pope  in  his  ceremonial  robes,  and 


7/0.149.      The  Head  of  the  Papacy. 

over  it  the  infcription  ALEX  .  VI .  PONT  .  MAX.  Pope  Alexander  VI. 
was  the  infamous  Roderic  Borgia,  a  man  ftained  with  all  the  crimes  and 
vices  which  flrike  moft  horror  into  men's  minds.  When  the  leaf  is  raifed, 
another  figure  joins  itfelf  with  the  lower  part  of  the  former,  and  reprefents 
a  papal  demon,  crowned,  the  crofs  being  transformed  into  an  inftrument 
of  infernal  punifhment.  This  figure  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  149. 

Above 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


257 


Above  it  are  infcribed  the  words  EGO  .  SVM  .  PAPA, "  I  am  the  Pope." 
Attached  to  it  is  a  page  of  explanation  in  German,  in  which  the  legend 
of  that  pope's  death  is  given,  a  legend  that  his  wicked  life  appeared  fufficient 
to  fan6tion.  It  was  faid  that,  diftrufting  the  fuccefs  of  his  intrigues  to  fecure 
the  papacy  for  himfelf,  he  applied  himfelf  to  the  ftudy  of  the  black  art. 
and  fold  himfelf  to  the  Evil  One.  He  then  alked  the  tempter  if  it  were 
his  deftiny  to  be  pope,  and  received  an  anfwer  in  the  affirmative.  He 
next  inquired  how  long  he  Ihould  hold  the  papacy,  but  Satan  returned  an 
equivocal  and  deceptive  anfwer,  for  Borgia  underftood  that  he  was  to  be 
pope  fifteen  years,  whereas  he  died  at  the  end  of  eleven.  It  is  well 
known  that  Pope  Alexander  VI.  died  fuddenly  and  unexpectedly  through 
accidentally  drinking  the  poifoned  wine  he  had  prepared  with  his  own 
hand  for  the  murder  of  another  man. 

An  Italian  theatine  wrote  a  poem  againft  the  Reformation,  in  which 
he  made  Luther  the  offspring  of  Megaera,  one  of  the  furies,  who  is 
reprefented  as  having  been  fent  from 
hell  into  Germany  to  be  delivered  of 
him.  This  farcafm  was  thrown  back 
upon  the  pope  with  much  greater  effeft 
by  the  Lutheran  caricaturifts.  One  of  the 
plates  in  the  above-mentioned  volume 
reprefents  the  "  birth  and  origin  of  the 
pope "  (ortus  et  origo  papce),  making 
the  pope  identical  with  Antichrift.  In 
different  groups,  in  this  rather  elaborate 
defign,  the  child  is  reprefented  as  at- 
tended by  the  three  furies,  Megaera  ac\- 
ing  as  his  wet-nurfe,  Alefto  as  nurfery-maid,  and  Trfiphone  in  another 
capacity,  &c.  The  name  of  Martin  Luther  is  added  to  this  caricature 

Hie  luird  geborn  der  TViderchrift. 
Megera  fein  Seugamme  ijl ; 
Ale&ofein  Keindermeidlin, 
Tifipkone  die  gengelt  in. — M.  Lulh.,  D.  1545. 

One    of  the    groups    in    this   plate,   reprefeiiting    the  fury,   Megaera,   a 

L  L  becomii  g 


No  I  50        The  Pope's  Nurfe. 


2  $  8  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


becoming  fofter-mother,  fuckling  the  pope-infant,  is  given  in  our  cut, 

No.  150. 

In  another  of  thefe  caricatures 
the  pope  is  reprefented  trampling  on 
the  emperor,  to  fhow  the  manner  in 
which  he  ufurped  and  tyrannifed 
over  the  temporal  power.  Another 
illuftrates  "  the  kingdom  of  Satan  and 
the  Pope  "  (regnum  Satance  et  Papce), 
and  the  latter  is  reprefented  as  pre- 
fiding  over  hell-mouth  in  all  his  ftate. 
One,  given  in  our  cut  No.  ijji,  repre- 
fents  the  pope  under  the  form  of  an 
afs  playing  on  the  bagpipes,  and  is 
entitled  Papa  doftor  theologies  et  ma- 
gi/ter  jidei.  Four  lines  of  German 
verfe  beneath  the  engraving  ftate  how 
"  the  pope  can  alone  expound  Scrip- 
ture and  purge  error,  juft  as  the  afs 


No.  151.      The  Pope  giving  the  Tune. 

alone  can  pipe  and  touch  the  notes  correcUy." 


Der  Bapjf  kan  allein  aujlegen  , 

Die  ScAriffi,  und  irthum  ausfegen  ; 

Wit  der  efel  allein  pfeiffen 

Kan,  und  die  noten  recht  greiffen. — 1545. 

This  was  the  laft  year  of  Luther's  active  labours.  At  the  commence- 
ment of  the  year  following  he  died  at  Eiffleben,  whither  he  had  gone  to 
attend  the  council  of  princes.  Thefe  caricatures  may  perhaps  be  con- 
fidered  as  fo  many  proclamations  of  fatisfaftion  and  exultation  in  the  final 
triumph  of  the  great  reformer. 

Books,  pamphlets,  and  prints  of  this  kind  were  multiplied  to  an  extra- 
ordinary degree  during  the  age  of  the  Reformation,  but  the  majority  of 
them  were  in  the  intereft  of  the  new  movement.  Luther's  opponent, 
Eckius,  complained  of  the  infinite  number  of  people  who  gained  their 

living 


in  Literature  and  Art.  259 

living  by  wandering  over  all  parts  of  Germany,  and  felling  Lutheran 
books.*  Among  thofe  who  adminiftered  largely  to  this  circulation  of 
polemic  books  was  the  poet  of  farces,  comedies,  and  ballads,  Hans  Sachs, 
already  mentioned.  Hans  Sachs  had  in  one  poem,  publifhed  in  1535, 
celebrated  Luther  under  the  title  of  "  the  Wittemberg  Nightingale  :" — 

Die  WittembergifcK*  Nachtigall, 
Die  manj'tM  horet  uberall ; 

and  defcribed  the  effects  of  his  fong  over  all  the  other  animals ;  and  he 
publifhed,  alfo  in  verfe,  what  he  called  a  Monument,  or  Lament,  on  his 
death  ("  Ein  Denkmal  oder  Klagred'  ob  der  Leiche  Doktors  Martin 
Luther").  Among  the  numerous  broadfides  publifhed  by  Hans  Sachs, 
one  contains  the  very  clever  carcature  of  which  we  give  a  copy  in  our 
cut  No.  152.  It  is  entitled  "  Dcr  gut  Hirt  und  bofs  Hirt,"  the  good 
fhepherd  and  bad  Ihepherd,  and  has  for  its  text  the  opening  verfes  of  the 
tenth  chapter  of  the  gofpel  of  St.  John.  The  good  and  bad  {hepherds 
are,  as  may  be  fuppofed,  Chrift  and  the  pope.  The  church  is  here 
pictured  as  a  not  very  (lately  building ;  the  entrance,  efpecially,  is  a  plain 
ftructure  of  timber.  Jems  laid  to  the  Phanfees,  "  He  that  entereth  not 
by  the  door  into  the  fheepfold,  but  climbeth  up  fome  other  way,  the  fame 
is  a  thief  and  a  robber.  But  he  that  entereth  in  by  the  door  is  the 
ihepherd  of  the  flock."  In  the  engraving,  the  pope,  as  the  hireling 
fhepherd,  fits  on  the  roof  of  the  flatelieft  part  of  the  building,  pointing 
out  to  the  Chriftian  flock  the  wrong  way,  and  bleffing  the  climbers. 
Under  him  two  men  of  worldly  diftinction  are  making  their  way  into 
the  church  through  a  window  ;  and  on  a  roof  below  a  friar  is  pointing 
to  the  people  the  way  up.  At  another  window  a  monk  holds  out  his 
arms  to  invite  people  up ;  and  one  in  fpeftacles,  no  doubt  emblematical 
of  the  doctors  of  the  church,  is  looking  out  from  an  opening  over  the 
entrance  door  to  watch  the  proceedings  of  the  Good  Shepherd.  To  the 

right 

*  "  Infinitus  jam  erat  numerus  qui  vlctum  ex  Lutheranis  libris  quaeritantes,  in 
speciem  bibliopolarum  longe  latequc  per  Germanise  provincial  vagabantur." — 
Eck.,  p.  58. 


260  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


right,  on  the  papal  fide  of  the  church,  the  lords  and   great  men  are 
bringing  the  people  under  their  influence,  till  they  are  flopped  by  the 


cardinals  and  biihops,  who  prevent  them  from  going  forward  to  the  door 
and  point  out  very  energetically  the  way  up  the  roof     At  the  door  ftands, 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


261 


the  Saviour,  as  the  good  Ihepherd,  who  has  knocked,  and  the  porter  has 
opened  it  with  his  key.  Chrift's  true  teachers,  the  evangelifts,  Ihow  the 
way  to  the  folitary  man  of  worth  who  comes  by  this  road,  and  who  liftens 
with  calm  attention  to  the  gofpel  teachers,  while  he  opens  his  purfe  to 
beftow  his  charity  on  the  poor  man  by  the  road  fide.  In  the  original 
engraving,  in  the  diftance  on  the  left,  the  Good  Shepherd  is  feen  followed 
by  his  flock,  who  are  obedient  to  his  voice  ;  on  the  right,  the  bad  {hep- 
herd,  who  has  oftentatioufly  drawn  up  his  fheep  round  the  image  of  the 
crofs,  is  abandoning  them,  and  taking  to  flight  on  the  approach  of  the 
wolf.  "  He  that  entereth  in  by  the  door  is  the  fhepherd  of  the  fheep. 
To  him  the  porter  openeth  ;  and  the  (heep  hear  his  voice,  and  he  calleth 
his  own  Iheep  by  name,  and  leadeth  them  out. 
And  when  he  putteth  forth  his  own  fheep  he 
goeth  before  them,  and  the  fheep  follow  him, 
for  they  know  his  voice.  .  .  .  But  he  that  is  an 
hireling,  and  not  the  fhepherd,  whofe  own  the 
fheep  are  not,  feeth  the  wolf  coming,  and 
leaveth  the  fheep,  and  fleeth  ;  and  the  wolf 
catcheth  them,  and  fcattereth  the  fheep." 
(John  x.  2  —  4,  12.) 

The  triumph  of  Luther  is  the  fubject  of  a 
rather  large  and  elaborate  caricature,  which  is 
an  engraving  of  great  rarity,  but  a  copy  of  it 
is  given  in  Jaime's  "  Mu'-'e  de  Caricature." 
Leo  X.  is  reprefented  feated  on  his  throne  upon 
the  edge  of  the  abyfs,  into  which  his  cardinals 
are  trying  to  prevent  his  falling;  but  their 
efforts  are  rendered  vain  by  the  appearance 
of  Luther  on  the  other  fide  fupported  by  his  principal  adherents,  and 
wielding  the  Bible  as  his  weapon,  and  the  pope  is  overthrown,  in  fpite  of 
the  fupport  he  receives  from  a  vaft  hoft  of  popifh  clergy,  dodors,  &c. 

The  popifh  writers  againft  Luther  charged  him  with  vices  for  which 
there  was  probably  no  foundation,  and  invented  the  moft  fcandalous  flories 
againft  him.  They  accufed  him,  among  other  things,  of  drunkennefs  and 

licentiotifnels; 


153.    Mumer  and  Lut 


262  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


licentioufnefs ;  and  there  may,  perhaps,  be  fome  allufion  to  the  latter 
charge  in  our  cut  No.  153,  which  is  taken  from  one  of  the  comic  illuftra- 
tions  to  Murner's  book,  "Von  dem  groflen  Lutherifchen  Narren,"  which 
was  publifhed  in  1522  ;  but,  at  all  events,  it  will  ferve  as  a  fpecimen  of 
thefe  illuftrations,  and  of  Murner's  fancy  of  reprefenting  himfelf  with  the 
head  of  a  cat.  In  1525,  Luther  married  a  nun  who  had  turned  Proteftant 
and  quitted  her  convent,  named  Catherine  de  Bora,  and  this  became  the 
fignal  to  his  opponents  for  indulging  in  abufive  fongs,  and  fatires,  and 
caricatures,  moft  of  them  too  coarfe  and  indelicate  to  be  defcribed  in  thefe 
pages.  In  many  of  the  caricatures  made  on  this  occafion,  which  are 
ufually  woodcut  illuftrations  to  books  written  againft  the  reformer,  Luther 
is  reprefented  dancing  with  Catherine  de  Bora,  or  fitting  at  table  with  a 
glafs  in  his  hand.  An  engraving  of  this  kind,  which  forms  one  of  the 
illuftrations  to  a  work  by  Dr.  Konrad  Wimpina,  one  of  the  reformer's 
violent  opponents,  reprefents  Luther's  marriage.  It  is  divided  into  three 
compartments ;  to  the  left,  Luther,  whom  the  Catholics  always  repre- 
fented in  the  character  of  a  monk,  gives  the  marriage  ring  to  Catherine 
de  Bora,  and  above  them,  in  a  sort  of  aureole,  is  infcribed  the  word 
Vvvete ;  on  the  right  appears  the  nuptial  bed,  with  the  curtains  drawn, 
and  the  infcription  Reddite ;  and  in  the  middle  the  monk  and  nun  are 
dancing  joyoufly  together,  and  over  their  heads  we  read  the  words — 

Dlfcedat  ab  arts 
Cui  tulit  hefterna  gaudia  no  fie  Fen  us. 

While  Luther  was  heroically  fighting  the  great  fight  of  reform  in 
Germany,  the  foundation  of  religious  reform  was  laid  in  France  by  John 
Calvin,  a  man  equally  fincere  and  zealous  in  the  caufe,  but  of  a  totally 
different  temper,  and  he  efpoufed  doftrines  and  forms  of  church  govern- 
ment which  a  Lutheran  would  not  admit.  Literary  fatire  was  ufed  with 
great  effect  by  the  French  Calvinifts  againft  their  popifh  opponents,  but 
they  have  left  us  few  caricatures  or  burleique  engravings  of  any  kind  ;  at 
leaft,  very  few  belonging  to  the  earlier  period  of  their  hiftory.  Jaime,  in 
his  "  Mufee  de  Caricature,"  has  given  a  copy  of  a  very  rare  plate,  repre- 
fenting the  pope  ftruggling  with  Luther  and  Calvin,  as  his  two  aflailants. 

Both 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


263 


Both  are  tearing  the  pope's  hair,  but  it  is  Calvin  who  is  here  armed  with 
the  Bible,  with  which  he  is  ftriking  at  Luther,  who  is  pulling  him  by  the 
beard  The  pope  has  his  hands  upon  their  heads.  This  fcene  takes 


No.  1 54.      Luther  and  Calvin. 

place  in  the  choir  of  a  church,  but  I  give  here  (cut  No.  154)  only  the 
group  of  the  three  combatants,  intended  to  reprefent  how  the  two  great 
opponents  to  papal  corruptions  were  hoftile  at  the  fame  time  to  each 
other. 


264  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

ORIGIN    OF    MEDIAEVAL    FARCE    AND    MODERN    COMEDY. HROTSVITHA. 

MEDIJEVAL    NOTIONS    OF    TERENCE. THE    EARLY  RELIGIOUS    PLAYS. 

MYSTERIES      AND      MIRACLE      PLAYS. THE      FARCES. THE      DRAMA     IN 

THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY. 

THERE  is  ftill  another  branch  of  literature  which,  however  it  may 
have  been  modified,  has  defcended  to  us  from  the  middle  ages.  It 
has  been  remarked  more  than  on^e  in  the  courfe  of  this  book,  that  the 
theatre  of  the  Romans  perifhed  in  the  tranfition  from  the  empire  to  the 
middle  ages ;  but  fomething  in  the  ihape  of  theatrical  performances 
appears  to  be  infeparable  from  fociety  even  in  its  moft  barbarous  ftate, 
and  we  foon  trace  among  the  peoples  who  had  fettled  upon  the  ruins  of 
the  empire  of  Rome  an  approach  towards  a  drama.  It  is  worthy  of 
remark,  too,  that  the  mediaeval  drama  originated  exactly  in  the  fame  way 
as  that  of  ancient  Greece,  that  is,  from  religious  ceremonies. 

Such  was  the  ignorance  of  the  ancient  ftage  in  the  middle  ages,  that 
the  meaning  of  the  word  comcedia  was  not  underftood.  The  Anglo-Saxon 
gloffaries  interpret  the  word  by  racu,  a  narrative,  efpecially  an  epic 
recital,  and  this  was  the  fenle  in  which  it  was  generally  taken  until  late 
in  the  fourteenth  or  the  fifteenth  century.  It  is  the  fenfe  in  which  it  is 
ufed  in  the  title  of  Dante's  great  poem,  the  "  Divina  Commedia." 
When  the  mediaeval  fcholars  became  acquainted  in  manufcripts  with  the 
comedies  of  Terence,  they  confidered  them  only  as  fine  examples  of  a 
particular  fort  of  literary  compofition,  as  metrical  narratives  in  dialogue, 
and  in  this  feeling  they  began  to  imitate  them.  One  of  the  firft  of  thefe 

mediaeval 


in  Literature  and  Art.  265 

mediaeval  imitators  was  a  lady.  There  lived  in  the  tenth  century  a 
maiden  of  Saxony,  named  Hrotfvitha — a  rather  unfortunate  name  for  one 
of  her  fex,  for  it  means  limply  "  a  loud  noife  of  voices,"  or,  as  fhe  explains 
it  herfelf,  in  her  Latin,  clamor  validus.  Hrotfvitha,  as  was  common  enough 
among  the  ladies  of  thofe  days,  had  received  a  very  learned  education, 
and  her  Latin  is  very  refpe&able.  About  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century, 
me  became  a  nun  in  the  very  ariitocratic  Benedictine  abbey  of  Gandef- 
heim,  in  Saxony,  the  abbefies  of  which  were  all  princefies,  and  which 
had  been  founded  only  a  century  before.  She  wrote  in  Latin  verfe  a 
fhort  hiftory  of  that  religious  houfe,  but  Ihe  is  beft  known  by  feven  pieces, 
which  are  called  comedies  (comcediai) ,  and  which  confift  fimply  of  legends 
of  faints,  told  dialogue-wife,  fome  in  verfe  and  fome  in  profe.  As  may 
be  fuppofed,  there  is  not  much  of  real  comedy  in  thefe  compositions, 
although  one  of  them,  the  Dulcitius,  is  treated  in  a  ftyle  which 
approaches  that  of  farce.  It  is  the  ftory  of  the  martyrdom  of  the  three 
virgin  faints — Agape,  Chione,  and  Irene — who  excite  the  luft  of  the  per- 
fecutor  Dulcitius ;  and  it  may  be  remarked,  that  in  this  "  comedy,"  and 
in  that  of  Callimachus  and  one  or  two  of  the  others,  the  lady  Hrotfvitha 
difplays  a  knowledge  of  love-making  and  of  the  language  of  love,  which 
was  hardly  to  be  expected  from  a  holy  nun.* 

Hrotfvitha,  in  her  preface,  complains  that,  in  fpite  of  the  general  love 
for  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures,  and  contempt  for  everything  derived 
from  ancient  paganifm,  people  ftill  too  often  read  the  "fictions''  of  Terence, 
and  thus,  feduced  by  the  beauties  of  his  ftyle,  foiled  their  minds  with  the 
knowledge  of  the  criminal  acts  which  are  defcribed  in  his  writings.  A 
rather  early  manufcript  has  preferred  a  very  curious  fragment  illuftrative 
of 

*  Several  editions  of  the  writings  of  Hrotsvitha,  texts  and  translations,  have 
been  published  of  late  years  both  in  Germany  and  in  France,  of  which  I  may  point 
out  the  following  as  most  useful  and  complete— "Theatre de  Hrotsvitha,  Religieuse 
Allemande  du  xe  siecle.  .  .  .  par  Charles  Magnin,"  Svo.,  Paris,  1845  ;  "  Hrotsvithae 
Gandeshemensis,  virginis  et  monialis  Germanics,  gente  Saxonica  ortae,  Comce- 
dias  sex,  ail  fidem  codicis  Emmeranensis  typis  expressas  edidit.  .  .  .  J.  Benedixen," 
i6mo..  Luberae,  1857  ;  "Die  Werke  der  Hrotsvitha  :  Herausgegeben  von  Dr.  K. 
A.  Barack,"  8vo.,  Nurnberg,  1858. 

M    M 


266  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


of  the  manner  in  which  the  comedies  of  the  Romans  were  regarded  by 
one  clafs  of  people  in  the  middle  ages,  and  it  has  alfo  a  further  meaning. 
Its  form  is  that  of  a  dialogue  in  Latin  verfe  between  Terence  and  a  per- 
fonage  called  in  the  original  delufor,  which  was  no  doubt  intended  to  exprefs 
a  performer  of  fome  kind,  and  may  be  probably  confidered  as  fynonymous 
with  jongleur.  It  is  a  contention  between  the  new  jouglerie  of  the 
middle  ages  and  the  old  jouglerie  of  the  fchools,  fomewhat  in  the  fame 
ftyle  as  the  fabliau  of  "  Les  deux  Troveors  Ribauz,"  defcribed  in  a  former 
chapter.*  We  are  to  fuppofe  that  the  name  of  Terence  has  been  in  fome 
way  or  other  brought  forward  in  laudatory  terms,  upon  which  the  jougleur 
Heps  forward  from  among  the  fpeftators  and  expreffes  himfelf  towards  the 
Roman  writer  very  contemptuoufly.  Terence  then  makes  his  appearance 
to  fpeak  in  his  own  defence,  and  the  two  go  on  abufing  one  another  in 
no  very  rneafured  language.  Terence  alks  his  afiailant  who  he  is  ?  to 
which  the  other  replies,  "  If  you  alk  who  I  am,  I  reply,  I  am  better  than 
thee.  Thou  art  old  and  broken  with  years ;  I  am  a  tyro,  full  of  vigour, 
and  in  the  force  of  youth.  You  are  but  a  barren  trunk,  while  I  am  a 
good  and  fertile  tree.  If  you  hold  your  tongue,  old  fellow,  it  will  be 
much  better  for  you." 

Si  rogitas  quisfum,  refpondeo  :  te  meliorfum. 
Tu  -vetus  atquefenex  ;   ego  tyro,  valens,  adulejcens. 
Tu  fterllli  truncus  ;  egofertilii  arbor ,  opimus. 
Si  taceas,  o  vetule,  lucrum  tib'i  quarit  enormc. 

Terence  replies  : — "  What  fenfe  have  you  left  ?  Are  you,  think  you, 
better  than  me  ?  Let  me  fee  you,  young  as  you  are,  compofe  what  I, 
however  old  and  broken,  will  compofe.  If  you  be  a  good  tree,  mow  us 
fome  proofs  of  your  fertility.  Although  I  may  be  a  barren  trunk,  I 
produce  abundance  of  better  fruit  than  thine." 

£$uis  tibi  fenfus  ineft  ?  numquid  melior  me  es  ? 
Nunc  -Vitus  atquefenex  qua fecero  fac  adolescent. 
Si  bonus  arbor  ades,  qua  fertllitate  redundas  ? 
Cum  Jim  truncus  inert,  fruffu  meliore  redundo. 

And 


*  See  p.  191  of  the  present  volume. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  267 

And  fo  the  difpute  continues,  but  unfortunately  the  latter  part  has  been 
loft  with  a  leaf  or  two  of  the  manufcript.  I  will  only  add  that  I  think 
the  age  of  this  curious  piece  has  been  overrated.* 

Hrotfvitha  is  the  earlieft  example  we  have  of  mediaeval  writer?  in  this 
particular  clafs  of  literature.  We  find  no  other  until  the  twelfth  century, 
when  two  writers  flourimed  named  Vital  of  Blois  (Vitalis  Blefenfis)  and 
Matthew  of  Vend6me  (Matthceus  Vindocinenfis) ,  the  authors  of  feveral  of 
the  mediaeval  poems  diftinguifbed  by  the  title  of  comcedice,  which  give  us 
a  clearer  and  more  diftin6t  idea  of  what  was  meant  by  the  word.  They  are 
written  in  Latin  Elegiac  verfe,  a  form  of  compofition  which  was  very  popular 
among  the  mediaeval  fcholars.  and  confift  of  ftories  told  in  dialogue.  Hence 
ProfeiTor  Ofann,  of  Gieflen,  who  edited  two  of  thofe  of  Vital  of  Blois,  gives 
them  the  title  of  eclogues  (eclogcB).  The  name  comedy  is,  however,  given 
to  them  in  manufcripts,  and  it  may  perhaps  admit  of  the  following  expla- 
nation. Thefe  pieces  feem  to  have  been  firft  mere  abridgments  of  the 
plots  of  the  Roman  comedies,  efpecially  thofe  of  Plautus,  and  the  authors 
appear  to  have  taken  the  Latin  title  of  the  original  as  applied  to 
the  plot,  in  the  fenfe  of  a  narrative,  and  not  to  its  dramatic  form.  Of 
the  two  "  comedies  "  by  Vital  of  Blois,  one  is  entitled  "Geta,"  and  is  taken 
from  the  "Amphytrio"  of  Plautus,  and  the  other,  which  in  the  manu- 
fcripts bears  the  title  of  "  Querulus,"  reprefents  the  "  Aulularia  "  of  the 
fame  writer.  Independent  of  the  form  of  compofition,  the  fcholaftic 
writer  has  given  a  flrangely  mediaeval  turn  to  the  incidents  of  the  claflic 
ftory  of  Jupiter  and  Alcmena.  Another  fimilar  "  comedy,"  that  of  Babio, 
which  I  firft  printed  from  the  manufcripts,  is  ftill  more  mediaeval  in 
character.  Its  plot,  perhaps  taken  from  a  fabliau,  for  the  mediaeval 
writers  rarely  invented  ftories,  is  as  follows,  although  it  muft  be  confefled 
that  it  comes  out  rather  obfcurely  in  the  dialogue  itfelf.  Babio,  the  hero 
of  the  piece,  is  a  prieft,  who,  as  was  ftill  common  at  that  time  (the 
twelfth 

*  This  singular  composition  was  published  with  notes  by  M.  de  Montaiglon,  in  a 
Parisian  journal  entitled,  "I/ Amateur  de  LivreV  in  1849,  under  the  title  ot 
"  Fragment  d'un  Dialogue  Latin  du  ixe  sie-de  entre  Terence  et.un  Bouffon."  A 
few  separate  copies  were  printed,  of  which  I  possess  one. 


268  Hi  ft  ory  of  Caricature  and  Grot  efque 

twelfth  century),  has  a  wife,  or,  as  the  ftri6t  religionifts  would  then  fay,  a 
concubine,  named  Pecula.  She  has  a  daughter  named  Viola,  with  whom 
Babio  is  in  love,  and  he  purfues  his  defign  upon  her,  of  courfe  unknown 
to  his  wife.  Babio  has  alfo  a  man-fervant  named  Fodius,  who  is  engaged 
in  a  fecret  intrigue  with  his  miftrefs,  Pecula,  and  alfo  feeks  to  feduce  her 
daughter,  Viola.  To  crown  the  whole,  the  lord  of  the  manor,  a  knight 
named  Croceus,  is  alfo  in  love  with  Viola,  though  with  more  honourable 
defigns.  Here  is  furely  intrigue  enough  and  a  fufficient  abfence  of  morality 
to  fatisfy  a  modern  French  novelift  of  the  firii  water.  At  the  opening  of 
the  piece,  amid  fome  by-play  between  the  four  individuals  who  form 
the  houfehold  of  Babio,  it  is  fuddenly  announced  that  Croceus  is  on  his 
way  to  vifit  him,  and  a  feaft  is  haftily  prepared  for  his  reception.  It  ends 
in  the  knight  carrying  away  Viola  by  force.  Babio,  after  a  little  vain 
blufter,  confoles  himfelf  for  the  lofs  of  the  damfel  with  reflections  on  the 
virtue  of  his  wife,  Pecula,  and  the  faithfulnefs  of  his  man,  Fodius,  when, 
at  this  moment,  Fame  carries  to  his  ear  reports  which  excite  his  fufpicions 
againft  them.  He  adopts  a  ftratagem  very  frequently  introduced  in  the 
mediaeval  ftories,  furprifes  the  two  lovers  under  circumfiances  which  leave 
no  room  for  doubting  their  guilt,  and  then  forgives  them,  enters  a  monaf- 
tery,  and  leaves  them  to  themfelves.  In  form,  thefe  "  comedies  "  are 
little  more  than  fcholaftic  exercifes  j  but,  at  a  later  period,  we  fhall  fee 
the  fame  ftories  adopted  as  the  fubjefts  of  farces.* 

Already,  however,  by  the  fide  of  thefe  dramatic  poems,  a  real  drama 
— the  drama  of  the  middle  ages — was  gradually  developing  itfelf.  As 
ftated  before,  it  arofe,  like  the  drama  of  the  Greeks,  out  of  the  religious 
ceremonies.  We  know  nothing  of  the  exiftence  of  anything  approaching 
to  dramatic  forms  which  may  have  exifted  among  the  religious  rites  of 
the 

*  To  judge  by  the  number  of  copies  found  in  manuscripts,  especially  of  the 
"  Geta,"  these  dramatic  poems  must  have  enjoyed  considerable  popularity.  The 
"Geta  "  and  the  "  Querulus"  were  published  in  a  volume  entitled,  "  Vitalis  Ble- 
sensis  Amphitryon  et  Aulularia  Eclogae.  Edidit  Fridericus  Osannus,  Professor 
Gisensis,"  8vo.,  Darmstadt,  1836.  The  "  Geta  "  and  the  "  Babio  "  are  included 
in  my  "  Early  Mysteries,  and  other  Latin  Poems  of  the  Twelfth  and  Thirteenth 
Centuries." 


in  Literature  and  Art.  269 

the  peoples  of  the  Teutonic  race  before  their  convention  to  Chriftianity, 
but  the  Chriftian  clergy  felt  the  neceffity  of  keeping  up  feftive  religious 
ceremonies  in  fome  form  or  other,  and  alfo  of  imprefling  upon  people's 
imagination  and  memory  by  means  of  rude  fcenical  reprefentations  fome 
of  the  broader  fa6ts  of  fcriptural  and  ecclefiaftical  hiftory.  Thefe  per- 
formances at  firft  confifted  probably  in  mere  dumb  fhow,  or  at  the  moft 
the  performers  may  have  chanted  the  fcriptural  account  of  the  tranfa&ion 
they  were  reprefenting.  In  this  manner  the  choral  boys,  or  the  younger 
clergy,  would,  on  fome  fpecial  faint's  day,  perform  fome  ftriking  a6t  in 
the  life  of  the  faint  commemorated,  or,  on  particular  feftivals  of  the 
church,  thofe  incidents  of  gofpel  hiftory  to  which  the  feftival  efpecially 
related.  By  degrees,  a  rather  more  impofing  character  was  given  to  thefe 
performances  by  the  addition  of  a  continuous  dialogue,  which,  however, 
was  written  in  Latin  verfe,  and  was  no  doubt  chanted.  This  incipient 
drama  in  Latin,  as  far  as  we  know  it,  belongs  to  the  twelfth  century,  and 
is  reprefented  by  a  tolerably  large  number  of  examples  ftill  preferved  in 
mediaeval  manufcripts.  Some  of  the  earliefl  of  thefe  have  for  their  author 
a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  Abelard,  named  Hilarius,  who  lived  in  the  firil 
half  of  the  twelfth  century,  and  is  underftood  to  have  been  by  birth 
an  Englilhman.  Hilarius  appears  before  us  as  a  playful  Latin  poet, 
and  among  a  number  of  ftiort  pieces,  which  may  be  almoft  called 
lyric,  he  has  left  us  three  of  thefe  religious  plays.  The  fubjecl:  of  the 
firft  of  thefe  is  the  railing  of  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  the  chief  peculiarity 
of  which  confifts  of  the  fongs  of  lamentation  placed  in  the  mouths  of 
the  two  lifters  of  Lazarus,  Mary  and  Martha.  The  fecond  reprefents 
one  of  the  miracles  attributed  to  St.  Nicholas}  and  the  third,  the 
hiftory  of  Daniel.  The  latter  is  longer  and  more  elaborate  than  the 
others,  and  at  its  conclufion,  the  ftage  direction  tells  us  that,  if  it  were 
performed  at  matins,  Darius,  king  of  the  Medes  and  Perlians,  was  to 
chant  7>  Deum  Laudamus,  but  if  it  were  at  vefpers,  the  great  king  was 
to  chant  Magnificat  anima  mea  Dominum.* 
That 

*  "  Hilarii  Versus  et  Ludi,"  8vo.,  Paris,  1835.    Edited  by  M,  Champollion 
Figeac. 


270  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

That  this  mediaeval  drama  was  not  derived  from  that  of  the  Roman 
is  evident  from  the  circumflance  that  entirely  new  terms  were  applied  to 
it.  The  weftern  people  in  the  middle  ages  had  no  words  exa&ly  equi- 
valent with  the  Latin  comcedia,  tragcedia,  theatrum,  &c. ;  and  even  the 
Latinifts,  to  defignate  the  dramatic  pieces  performed  at  the  church 
feftivals,  employed  the  word  Indus,  a  play.  The  French  called  them  by 
a  word  having  exactly  the  fame  meaning,  jew  (from  jocus).  Similarly  in 
Englifh  they  were  termed  play s.  The  Anglo-Saxon  gloflaries  prefent.as 
the  reprefentative  of  the  Latin  theatrum,  the  compounded  words  plege- 
stow,  or  pleg-stow,  a  play-place,  and  pleg-hus,  a  play-houfe.  It  is  curious 
that  we  Engliftimen  have  preferred  to  the  prefent  time  the  Anglo-Saxon 
words  in  play,  player,  and  play-houje.  Another  Anglo-Saxon  word  with 
exadly  the  fame  fignification,  lac,  or  gelac,  play,  appears  to  have  been 
more  in  ufe  in  the  dialed  of  the  Northumbrians,  and  a  Yorkfhireman 
ftill  calls  a  play  a  lake,  and  a  player  a  laker.  So  alfo  the  Germans  called 
a  dramatic  performance  afpil,  i.e.  a  play,  the  modern  fpiel,  and  a  theatre, 
afpil-hus.  One  of  the  pieces  of  Hilarius  is  thus  entitled  "  Ludus  fuper 
iconia  fanfti  Nicolai,"  and  the  French  jeu  and  the  Englifh  play  are 
conftantly  ufed  in  the  fame  fenfe.  But  befides  this  general  term,  words 
gradually  came  into  ufe  to  charafterife  different  forts  of  plays.  The 
church  plays  confifted  of  two  defcriptions  of  fubje£ts,  they  either  reprefented 
the  miraculous  a6ts  of  certain  faints,  which  had  a  plain  meaning,  or 
fome  incident  taken  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  was  fuppofed  to 
have  a  hidden  myfterious  fignification  as  well  as  an  apparent  one,  and 
hence  the  one  clafs  of  fubjedt  was  ufually  fpoken  of  fimply  as  miraculum,  a 
miracle,  and  the  other  as  myjierium,  a  myftery.  Myjteries  and  miracle- 
plays  are  ftill  the  names  ufually  given  to  the  old  religious  plays  by  writers 
on  the  hiftory  of  the  ftage. 

We  have  a  proof  that  the  Latin  religious  plays,  and  the  feftivities  in 
which  they  were  employed,  had  become  greatly  developed  in  the  twelfth 
century,  in  the  notice  taken  of  them  in  the  ecclefiaftical  councils  of  that 
period,  for  they  were  difapproved  by  the  ftrider  church  difciplinarians. 
So  early  as  the  papacy  of  Gregory  VIII.,  the  pope  urged  the  clergy  to 
"  extirpate "  from  their  churches  theatrical  plays,  and  other  feftive 

practices 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


271 


practices  which  were  not  quite  in  harmony  with  the  facred  character  of 
thefe  buildings.*  Such  performances  are  forbidden  by  a  council  held  at 
Treves  in  1227. f  We  learn  from  the  annals  of  the  abbey  of  Corbei, 
publifiied  by  Leibnitz,  that  the  younger  monks  at  Herefburg  performed 
on  one  occafion  a  "facred  comedy"  (sacram  comcediam)  of  the  felling 
into  captivity  and  the  exaltation  of  Jofeph,  which  was  difapproved  by 
the  other  heads  of  the  order.  J  Such  performances  are  included  in  a 
proclamation  of  the  bilhop  of  Worms,  in  1316,  againft  the  various  abufes 
which  had  crept  into  the  feftivities  obferved  in  his  diocefe  at  Eafter  and 
St.  John's  tide.§  Similar  prohibitions  of  the  acting  of  fuch  plays  in 
churches  are  met  with  at  fubfequent  periods. 

While  thefe  performances  were  thus  falling  under  the  cenfure  of  the 
church  authorities,  they  were  taken  up  by  the  laity,  and  under  their 
management  both  the  plays  and  the  machinery  for  acting  them  under- 
went confiderable  extenfion.  The  municipal  guilds  contained  in  their 
conftitution  a  confiderable  amount  of  religious  Ipirit.  They  were  great 
benefactors  of  the  churches  in  cities  and  municipal  towns,  and  had  ufually 
fome  parts  of  the  facred  edifice  appropriated  to  them,  and  they  may, 
perhaps,  have  taken  a  part  in  thefe  performances,  while  they  were  ftill 
confined  to  the  church.  Thefe  guilds,  and  fubfequently  the  municipal 
corporations,  took  them  entirely  into  their  own  hands.  Certain  annual 
religious  feflivals,  and  efpecially  the  feaft  of  Corpus  Chrifti,  were  ftill 
the  occafions  on  which  the  plays  were  acted,  but  they  were  taken 
entirely  from  the  churches,  and  the  performances  took  place  in  the  open 
ftreets.  Each  guild  had  its  particular  play,  and  they  acted  on  movable 
ftages,  which  were  dragged  along  the  ftreets  in  the  proceflion  of  the 
guild.  Thefe  ftages  appear  to  have  been  rather  complicated.  They 

were 

*  "  Interdum  ludi  fiunt  in  ecclesiis  theatrales,"&c. —  Decret.Gregorii,}ib   iii.  tit.  i. 

f  "  Item  non  permittant  sacerdotes  ludos  theatrales  fieri  in  ecrlesia  et  alios  ludos 
inhonestos." 

J  "  Juniores  fratres  in  Heresburg  sacram  habuere  comcediam  de  Josepho  vendito 
et  exaltato,  qtiod  vero  reliqui  ordinis  nostri  prxlati  male  interpretati  sunt."—  Leitn., 
Script.  Brunrv.y  tom.  ii.  p.  311. 

§  The  acts  of  this  synod  of  Worms  are  printed  in  Harzheim,  tom.iv.p.  258. 


272  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

were  divided  into  three  floors,  that  in  the  middle,  which  was  the  principal 
ftage,  reprefentiug  this  world,  while  the  upper  divifion  reprefented  heaven, 
and  that  at  the  bottom  hell.  The  mediaeval  writers  in  Latin  called  this 
machinery  a  pegma,  from  the  Greek  word  ir^y/xa,  a  fcaflfoldj  and  they 
alfo  applied  to  it,  for  a  reafon  which  is  hot  fo  eafily  feen,  unlefs  the  one  word 
arofe  out  of  a  corruption  of  the  other,  that  of  pagina,  and  from  a  further 
corruption  of  thefe  came  into  the  French  and  Englifh  languages  the  word 
pageant,  which  originally  fignified  one  of  thefe  movable  ftages,  though 
it  has  fince  received  fecondary  meanings  which  have  a  touch  wider  appli- 
cation. Each  guild  in  a  town  had  its  pageant  and  its  own  aftors,  who 
performed  in  malks  and  coftumes,  and  each  had  one  of  a  feries  of  plays, 
which  were  performed  at  places  where  they  halted  in  the  proceffion. 
The  fubje£ts  of  thefe  plays  were  taken  from  Scripture,  and  they  ufually 
formed  a  regular  feries  of  the  principal  hiftories  of  the  Old  and  New 
Teftaments.  For  this  reafon  they  were  generally  termed  myfteries,  a 
title  already  explained ;  and  among  the  few  feries  of  thefe  plays  ftill 
preferred,  we  have  the  "  Coventry  Myfteries,"  which  were  performed  by 
the  guilds  of  that  town,  the  "  Chefter  Myfteries,"  belonging  to  the  guilds 
in  the  city  of  Chefter,  and  the  "  Towneley  Myfleries,"  fo  called  from  the 
name  of  the  pofleflbr  of  the  manufcript,  but  which  probably  belonged  to 
the  guilds  of  Wakefield  in  Yorkfhire. 

During  thefe  changes  in  the  method  of  performance,  the  plays  them- 
felves  had  alfo  been  confiderably  modified.  The  fimple  Latin  phrafes, 
even  when  in  rhyme,  which  formed  the  dialogue  of  the  earlier  ludi — as 
in  the  four  miracles  of  St.  Nicholas,  and  the  fix  Latin  myfteries  taken 
from  the  New  Teftament,  printed  in  my  volume  of  "  Early  Myfteries 
and  other  Latin  Poems  " — muft  have  been  very  uninterefting  to  the  mafs 
of  the  fpectators,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to%  enliven  them  by  intro- 
ducing among  the  Latin  phrafes  popular  proverbs,  or  even  fometimes  a 
fong  in  the  vulgar  tongue.  Thus  in  the  play  of  "  Lazarus  "  by  Hilarius, 
the  Latin  of  the  lamentations  of  his  two  fifters  is  intermixed  with  French 
verfes.  Such  is  the  cafe  alfo  with  the  play  of  "  St.  Nicholas  "  by  the  fame 
writer,  as  well  as  with  the  curious  myftery  of  the  Foolifh  Virgins,  printed 
in  my  "  Early  Mylteries  "  juft  alluded  to,  in  which  latter  the  Latin  is 

intermingled 


in  Literature  and  Art.  273 

intermingled  with  ProvenQal  verfe.  A  much  greater  advance  was  made 
when  thefe  performances  were  transferred  to  the  guilds.  The  Latin  was 
then  difcarded  altogether,  and  the  whole  play  was  written  in  French,  or 
Englifti,  or  German,  as  the  cafe  might  be,  the  plot  was  made  more 
elaborate,  and  the  dialogue  greatly  extended.  But  now  that  the  whole 
inftitution  had  become  fecularifed,  the  want  of  fomething  to  amufe 
people — to  make  them  laugh,  as  people  liked  to  laugh  in  the  middle 
ages — was  felt  more  than  ever,  and  this  want  was  fupplied  by  the  intro- 
duction of  droll  and  ludicrous  fcenes,  which  are  often  very  flightly,  if  at 
all,  connected  with  the  fubject  of  the  play.  In  one  of  the  earlieft  of  the 
French  plays,  that  of  "  St.  Nicholas,"  by  Jean  Bodel,  the  characters  who 
form  the  burlefque  fcene  are  a  party  of  gamblers  in  a  tavern.  In  others, 
robbers,  or  peafants,  or  beggars  form  the  comic  fcene,  or  vulgar  women, 
or  any  perfonages  who  could  be  introduced  afting  vulgarly  and  ufing  coarfe 
language,  for  thefe  were  great  incitements  to  mirth  among  the  populace. 
In  the  Englirti  plays  now  remaining,  thefe  fcenes  are,  on  the  whole, 
lefs  frequent,  and  they  are  ufually  more  clofely  connected  with  the 
general  fubjeft.  The  earlieft  Englifli  collection  that  has  been  publifhed  is 
that  known  as  the  "  Towneley  Myfteries,"  the  manufcript  of  which  belongs 
to  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  plays  themfelves  may  have  been  compofed 
in  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth.  It  contains  thirty-two  plays,  begin- 
ning with  the  Creation,  and  ending  with  the  Afcenfion  and  the  Day  of 
Judgment,  with  two  fupplementary  plays,  the  "  Railing  of  Lazarus  "  and 
the  "  Hanging  of  Judas."  The  play  of  "  Cain  and  Abel  "  is  throughout  a 
vulgar  drollery,  in  which  Cain,  who  exhibits  the  character  of  a  bluftering 
ruffian,  is  accompanied  by  a  garcio,  or  lad,  who  is  the  very  type  of  a 
vulgar  and  infolent  horfe-boy,  and  the  converfation  of  thefe  two  worthies 
reminds  us  a  little  of  that  between  the  clown  and  his  matter  in  the  open- 
air  performances  of  the  old  wandering  mountebanks.  Even  the  death  of 
Abel  by  the  hand  of  his  brother  is  performed  in  a  manner  calculated  to 
provoke  great  laughter.  In  the  old  mirthful  fpirit,  to  hear  two  perfons  load 
each  other  with  vulgar  abufe,  was  as  good  as  feeing  them  grin  through  a 
horfe-collar,  if  not  better.  Hence  the  droll  fcene  in  the  play  of  "  Noah  " 
is  a  domeftic  quarrel  between  Noah  and  his  wife,  who  was  proverbially 

N  N  a  (hrew, 


274  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

a  fhrew,  and  here  gives  a  tolerable  example  of  abufive  language,  as  it 
might  then  come  from  a  woman's  tongue.     The  quarrel  arifes  out  of  her 
obftinate  refufal  to  go  into  the  ark.    In  the  New  Teftament  feries  the  play 
of  "  The  Shepherds"  was  one  of  thofe  moft  fufceptible  of  this  fort  of  em- 
bellifhrnent.     There  are  two  plays  of  the  Shepherds  in  the  "  Towneley 
Myfteries,"  the  firft  of  which  is  amufing  enough,  as  it  reprefents,  in  clever 
burlefque,  the  a6ls  and  converfation  of  a  party  of  mediaeval  fhepherds 
guarding  their  flocks  at  night ;    but  the  fecond  play  of  the  Shepherds 
is  a  much  more  remarkable  example  of  a  comic  drama.     The  fhepherds 
are  introduced  at  the  opening  of  the  piece  converfing  very  fatirically  on 
the  corruptions  of  the   time,  and   complaining   how  the   people   were 
impoverimed  by  over-taxation,  to  fupport  the  pride  and  vanity  of  the 
ariftocracy.     After  a  good  deal  of  very  amufing  talk,  the  fhepherds,  who, 
as  ufual,  are  three  in  number,  agree  to  fing  a  fong,  and  it  is  this  fong,  it 
appears,  which  brings  to  them  a  fourth,  named  Mak,  who  proves  to  be  a 
fheep-ftealer ;  and,  in  facl,  no  fooner  have  the  fhepherds  refigned  them- 
felves  to  fleep  for  the  night,  than  Mak  choofes  one  of  the  beft  fheep  in 
their  flocks,  and  carries  it  home  to  his  hut.     Knowing  that  he  will  be 
fufpeded  of  the  theft,  and  that  he  will  foon  be  purfued,  he  is  anxious  to 
conceal  the  plunder,  and  is  only  helped  out  of  his  difficulty  by  his  wife, 
who  fuggefts  that  the  carcafe  fhall  be  laid  at  the  bottom  of  her  cradle, 
and  that  fhe  fhall  lie  upon  it  and  groan,  pretending  to  be  in  labour. 
Meanwhile  the  fhepherds  awake,  difcover  the  lofs  of  a  fheep,  and  perceiv- 
ing that  Mak  has  difappeared  alfo,  they  naturally  fufpeft  him  to  be  the 
depredator,  and  purfue  him.     They  find  everything  very  cunningly  pre- 
pared in  the  cottage  to  deceive  them,  but,  after  a  large  amount  of  round- 
about inquiry  and  refearch,  and  much  drollery,  they  difcover  that  the  boy 
of  which  Mak's  wife  pretends  to  have  been  juft  delivered,  is  nothing  elfe 
but  the  fheep  which  had  been  ftolen  from  their  flocks.     The  wife  ftill 
aflerts  that  it  U  her  child,  and  Mak  fets  up  as  his  defence  that  the  baby 
had  been  "forfpoken,"  or  enchanted,  by  an  elf  at  midnight,  and  that  it 
had  thus  been  changed  into  the  appearance  of  a  fheep  ;  but  the  fhepherds 
refufe  to  be  fatisfied  with  this  explanation.     The  whole  of  this  little 
comedy  is  carried  out  with  great  fkill,  and  with   infinite  drollery.     The 

fhepherds, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  275 

fhepherds,  while  flill  wrangling  with  Mak  and  his  wife,  are  feized  with 
drowrinefs,  and  lie  down  to  fleep ;  but  they  are  aroufed  by  the  voice  of 
the  angel,  who  proclaims  the  birth  of  the  Saviour.  The  next  play  in 
which  the  drollery  is  introduced,  is  that  of  "  Herod  and  the  Slaughter  of 
the  Innocents."  Herod's  blufter  and  bombaft,  and  the  vulgar  abufe 
which  pafles  between  the  Hebrew  mothers  and  the  foldiers  who  are 
murdering  their  children,  are  wonderfully  laughable.  The  plays  which 
represented  the  arreft,  trial,  and  execution  of  Jefus,  are  all  full  of  drollery, 
for  the  grotefque  character  which  had  been  given  to  the  demons  in  the 
earlier  middle  ages,  appears  to  have  been  transferred  to  the  executioners 
or,  as  they  were  called,  the  "  tormentors,"  and  the  language  and  manner 
in  which  they  executed  their  duties,  muft  have  kept  the  audience  in  a 
continual  roar  of  laughter.  In  the  play  of  "  Doomfday,"  the  fiends 
retained  their  old  character,  and  the  manner  in  which  they  joke  over  the 
diftrefs  of  the  finful  fouls,  and  the  details  they  give  of  their  finfulnefs,  are 
equally  mirth-provoking.  The  "Coventry  Myfteries "  are  alfo  printed 
from  a  manufcript  of  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  are, 
perhaps,  as  old  as  the  "Towneley  Myfteries."  They  confift  of  forty-two 
plays,  but  they  contain,  on  the  whole,  fewer  droll  fcenes  than  thofe  of 
the  Towneley  collection.  But  a  very  remarkable  example  is  furnimed  in 
the  play  of  the  "Trial  of  Jofeph  and  Mary,"  which  is  a  very  grotefque 
pi6ture  of  the  proceedings  in  a  mediaeval  confiftory  court.  The  fompnour, 
a  character  fo  well  known  by  Chaucer's  picture  of  him,  opens  the  piece 
by  reading  from  his  book  a  long  lift  of  offenders  againft  chaftity.  At  its 
conclufion,  two  "detractors  "  make  their  appearance,  who  repeat  various 
fcandalous  llories  againft  the  Virgin  Mary  and  her  hufband  Jofeph,  which 
are  overheard  by  fome  of  the  high  officers  of  the  court,  and  Mary  and 
Jofeph  are  formally  accufed  and  placed  upon  their  trial.  The  trial  itfelf 
is  a  fcene  of  low  ribaldry,  which  can  only  have  afforded  amufement  to  a 
very  vulgar  audience.  There  is  a  certain  amount  of  the  fame  kind  of 
indelicate  drollery  in  the  play  of  "  The  Woman  taken  in  Adultery,"  in 
this  collection.  The  "  Chefter  Myfteries  "  are  ftill  more  fparing  of  fuch 
fcenes,  but  they  are  printed  from  manufcripts  written  after  the  Reforma- 
tion, which  had,  perhaps,  gone  through  the  procefs  of  expurgation,  in 

which 


276  Htflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

which  fuch  excrefcences  had  been  lopped  off.  However,  in  the  play  of 
"  Noah's  Flood,"  we  have  the  old  quarrel  between  Noah  and  his  wife, 
which  is  carried  fo  far  that  the  latter  actually  beats  her  hufband  in  the 
prefence  of  the  audience.  There  is  a  little  drollery  in  the  play  of  "  The 
Shepherds,"  a  conliderable  amount  of  what  may  be  called  "Billingfgate  " 
language  in  the  play  of  the  "  Slaughter  of  the  Innocents,"  but  lefs  than  the 
ufual  amount  of  infolence  in  the  tormentors  and  demons.*  It  is  probable, 
however,  that  thefe  droll  fcenes  were  not  always  confidered  an  integral 
part  of  the  play  in  which  they  were  introduced,  but  that  they  were  kept  as 
feparate  fubjects,  to  be  introduced  at  will,  and  nor  always  in  the  fame  play, 
and  therefore  that  they  were  not  copied  with  the  play  in  the  manufcripts. 
In  the  Coventry  play  of  "  Noah's  Flood,"  when  Noah  has  received 
the  directions  from  an  angel  for  the  building  of  the  ark,  he  leaves  the 
ftage  to  proceed  to  this  important  work.  On  his  departure,  Lamech 
comes  forward,  blind  and  led  by  a  youth,  who  directs  his  hand  to  (hoot  at 
a  beaft  concealed  in  a  bufh.  Lamech  {hoots,  and  kills  Cain,  upon  which, 
in  his  anger,  he  beats  the  youth  to  death,  and  laments  the  misfortune  into 
which  the  latter  has  led  him.  This  was  the  legendary  explanation  of  the 

paflage  in  the  fourth  chapter  of  Genefis:  "And  Lamech  faid • 

I  have  flain  a  man  to  my  wounding,  and  a  young  man  to  my  hurt .:  if 
Cain  fhall  be  avenged  feven-fold,  truly  Lamech  feventy  and  feven-fold." 
It  is  evident  that  this  is  a  piece  of  fcriptural  ftory  which  has  nothing  to 
do  with  Noah's  flood,  and  accordingly,  in  the  Coventry  play,  we  are  told 
in  the  ftage  directions,  that  it  was  introduced  in  the  place  of  the  "  inter- 
lude," f  as  if  there  were  a  place  in  the  machinery  of  the  pageant  where 
the 

*  The  editions  of   the  three   principal  collections  of  English  mysteries  are — 

1.  "  TheTowneley  Mysteries,"  8vo., London,  i836,published  bytheSurtees  Society. 

2.  "  Ludus  Coventrise  :   a  Collection  of  Mysteries,  formerly  represented  at  Coventry 
on  the  Feast  of  Corpus  Christi,"  edited  by  James  Orchard  Halliwell,  Esq.,  8vo., 
London,  1841,  published  by  the  Shakespeare  Society ;   3.  "The  Chester  Plays:   a 
Collection  of  Mysteries  founded  upon  Scriptural  Subjects,  and  formerly  represented 
by  the  Trades  of  Chester  at  Whitsuntide,"  edited  by  Thomas  Wright,  Esq., 
»  vols.  8vo.,  London,  1843  and  1847,  published  by  the  Shakespeare  Society. 

t  "Hie  transit  Noe  cum  hiniilia  sua  pro  navi,quo  exeunte,  locum  interlude  ;ubintret 
statim  Lameth,  conductus  ab  adolescente,  et  dicens,"  &c- 


in  Literature  and  Art.  277 


the  epifode,  which  was  not  an  integral  part  of  the  fubje£t,  was  performed, 
and  that  this  part  of  the  performance  was  called  an  interlude,  or  play 
introduced  in  the  interval  of  the  aftion  of  the  main  fubjed.  The  word 
interlude  remained  long  in  our  language  as  applied  to  fuch  fhort  and 
fimple  dramatic  pieces  as  we  may  fuppofe  to  have  formed  the  drolleries  of 
the  myfteries.  But  they  had  another  name  in  France  which  has  had  a 
greater  and  more  lafting  celebrity.  In  one  of  the  early  French  miracle- 
plays,  that  of  "  St.  Fiacre,"  an  interlude  of  this  kind  is  introduced,  con- 
taining five  perfonages — a  brigand  or  robber,  a  peafant,  a  fergeant,  and  the 
wives  of  the  two  latter.  The  brigand,  meeting  the  peafant  on  the  highway, 
afks  the  way  to  St.  Omer,  and  receives  a  clownifh  anfwer,  which  is  followed 
by  one  equally  rude  on  a  fecond  queftion.  The  brigand,  in  revenge,  Heals 
the  peafant's  capon,  but  the  fergeant  comes  up  at  this  moment  and, 
attempting  to  arreft  the  thief,  receives  a  blow  from  the  latter  which  is 
fuppofed  to  break  his  right  arm.  The  brigand  thus  efcapes,  and  the  peafant 
and  the  fergeant  quit  the  fcene,  which  is  immediately  occupied  by  their 
wives.  The  fergeant's  wife  is  informed  by  the  other  of  the  injury 
fuftained  by  her  hufband,  and  me  exults  over  it  becaufe  it  will  deprive  him 
of  the  power  of  beating  her.  They  then  proceed  to  a  tavern,  call  for 
wine,  and  make  merry,  the  converfation  turning  upon  the  faults  of  their 
refpecYive  hulbands,  who  are  not  fpared.  In  the  midft  of  their  enjoy- 
ments, the  two  hulbands  return,  and  mow,  by  beating  their  wives,  that 
they  are  not  very  greatly  difabled.  In  the  manufcript  of  the  miracle-play 
of"  St.  Fiacre,"  in  which  this  amufing  epifode  is  introduced,  a  marginal 
ftage  direction  is  expreffed  in  the  following  words,  "  cy  eft  interpofe  une 
farjje"  (here  a  farce  is  introduced).  This  is  one  of  the  earlieft  inftancesof 
the  application  of  the  term  farce  to  thefe  fliort  dramatic  facetiae.  Different 
opinions  have  been  exprefled  as  to  the  origin  of  the  word,  but  it  feems 
moft  probable  that  it  is  derived  from  an  old  French  verb,farcer,  to  jeft,  to 
make  merry,  whence  the  modern  word  farceur  for  a  joker,  and  that  it 
thus  means  merely  a  drollery  or  merriment. 

I  have  juft  fuggefted  as  a  reafon  for  the  abfence  of  thefe  interludes,  or 
farces,  in  the  myfteries  as  they  are  found  in  the  manufcripts,  that  they 
were  probably  not  looked  upon  as  parts  of  the  myfteries  themfelves,  but 

as 


278  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

as  feparate  pieces  which  might  be  ufed  at  pleafure.  When  we  reach  a 
certain  period  in  their  hiftory,  we  find  that  not  only  was  this  the  cafe,  but 
that  thefe  farces  were  performed  feparately  and  altogether  independently 
of  the  religious  plays.  It  is  in  France  that  we  find  information  which 
enables  us  to  trace  the  gradual  revolution  in  the  mediaeval  drama.  A 
fociety  was  formed  towards  the  clofe  of  the  fourteenth  century  under 
the  title  of  Confreres  de  la  Pajfion,  who,  in  1398,  eftablifhed  a  regular 
theatre  at  St.  Maur-des-Fofies,  and  fubfequently  obtained  from  Charles  VI. 
a  privilege  to  tranfport  their  theatre  into  Paris,  and  to  perform  in  it 
myfteries  and  miracle-plays.  They  now  rented  of  the  monks  of  Hermieres 
a  hall  in  the  hofpital  of  the  Trinity,  outfide  of  the  Porte  St.  Denis,  per- 
forming there  regularly  on  Sundays  and  faints'  days,  and  probably  rrlaking 
a  good  thing  of  it,  for,  during  a  long  period,  they  enjoyed  great  popu- 
larity. Gradually,  however,  this  popularity  was  fo  much  diminifhed,  that 
the  confreres  were  obliged  to  have  recourfe  to  expedients  for  reviving  it. 
Meanwhile  other  fimilar  focieties  had  arifen  into  importance.  The  clerks 
of  the  Bazoche,  or  lawyers'  clerks  of  the  Palais  de  Juftice,  had  thus  aflbciated 
together,  it  is  faid,  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
and  they  diftinguifhed  themfelves  by  compofing  and  performing  farces,  for 
which  they  appear  to  have  obtained  a  privilege.  Towards  the  clofe  of 
the  fourteenth  century,  there  arofe  in  Paris  another  fociety,  which  took 
the  name  of  Enfans  fans  fouci,  or  Carelefs  Boys,  who  elected  a  prefident 
or  chief  with  the  title  of  Prince  des  Sots,  or  King  of  the  Fools,  and  who 
compofed  a  fort  of  dramatic  fatires  which  they  called  Sotties.  Jealoufies 
foon  arofe  between  thefe  two  focieties,  either  becaufe  the  fotties  were 
made  fometimes  to  referable  too  clofely  the  farces,  or  becaufe  each  tref- 
pafled  too  often  on  the  territories  of  the  other.  Their  differences  were 
finally  arranged  by  a  compromife,  whereby  the  Bazochians  yielded  to  their 
rivals  the  privilege  of  performing  farces,  and  received  in  return  the  per- 
miffion  to  perform  fotties.  The  Bazochians,  too,  had  invented  a  new  clafs 
of  dramatic  pieces  which  they  called  Moralities,  and  in  which  allegorical 
perfbnages  were  introduced.  Thus  three  dramatic  focieties  continued  to 
exift  in  France  through  the  fifteenth  century,  and  until  the  middle  of  the 
fixteenth. 

Thefe 


in  Literature  and  Art.  279 


Thefe  various  pieces,  under  the  titles  of  farces,  fotties,  moralities,  or 
whatever  other  names  might  be  given  to  them,  had  become  exceedingly 
popular  at  the  beginning  of  the  fixteenth  century,  and  a  very  confiderable 
number  of  them  were  printed,  and  many  of  them  are  flill  preferred,  but 
they  are  books  of  great  rarity,  and  often  unique.*  Of  thefe  the  farces  form 
the  moft  numerous  clafs.  They  confift  fimply  of  the  tales  of  the  older 
jougleurs  or  ftory-tellers  reprefented  in  a  dramatic  form,  but  they  often 
difplay  great  fkill  in  conducting  the  plot,  and  a  confiderable  amount  of 
wit.  The  flory  of  the  (heep-ftealer  in  the  Towneley  play  of  "The  Shep- 
herds," is  a  veritable  farce.  As  in  the  fabliaux,  the  moft  common  fubje&s 
of  thefe  farces  are  love  intrigues,  carried  on  in  a  manner  which  fpeaks 
little  for  the  morality  of  the  age  in  which  they  were  written.  Family 
quarrels  frequently  form  the  fubje6t  of  a  farce,  and  the  weaknefles  and 
vices  of  women.  The  priefts,  as  ufual,  are  not  fpared,  but  are  introduced 
as  the  feducers  of  wives  and  daughters,  [n  one  the  wives  have  found  a 
means  of  re-modelling  their  hufbands  and  making  them  young  again, 
which  they  put  in  practice  with  various  ludicrous  circumftances.  Tricks 
of  fervants  are  alfo  common  fubje6ts  for  thefe  farces.  One  is  the  ftory  of 
a  boy  who  does  not  know  his  own  father,  and  fome  of  the  fubje&s  are  of 
a  ftill  more  trivial  character,  as  that  of  the  boy  who  fteals  a  tart  from  the 
paftrycook's  mop.  Two  hungry  boys,  prowling  about  the  ftreets,  come  to 
the  fhop  door  juft  as  the  paflrycook  is  giving  directions  for  fending  an  eel- 
pie  after  him.  By  an  ingenious  deception  the  boys  gain  pofleflion  of  the 
pie  and  eat  it,  and  they  are  both  caught  and  feverely  chaftifed.  This  is 
the  whole  plot  of  the  farce.  A  dull  fchoolboy  examined  by  his  mailer  in 
the  prefence  of  his  parents,  and  the  mirth  produced  by  his  blunders  and 

their 


*  The  most  remarkable  collection  of  these  early  farces,  softies,  and  moralities 
yet  known,  was  found  accidentally  in  1845,  and  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 
These  were  all  edited  in  Paris  as  the  first  three  volumes  of  a  work  in  ten,  entitled 
"  Ancien  Theatre  Fran9ois,  on  Collection  des  Ouvrages  dramatiques  les  plus 
remarquable  depuis  les  Mysteres  jusqu'a  Corneille,  public.  .  .  .  par  M.  Viollet  le 
Due,"  izmo.,  Paris,  1854.  I*  ls  r'8nt  to  state  that  these  three  volumes  were  editnl^ 
not  by  M.  Viollet  le  Due,  but  by  a  scholar  better  known  for  his  learning  in  the 
older  French  literature,  M.  Anatole  de  Montaiglon. 


280  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


their  ignorance,  formed  alfo  a  favourite  fubject  among  thefe  farces.  One 
or  two  examples  are  preferred,  and,  from  a  comparifon  of  them,  we  might 
be  led  to  fufpect  that  Shakefpeare  took  the  idea  of  the  opening  fcene  in 
the  fourth  aft  of  the  "  Merry  Wives  of  Windfor  "  from  one  of  thefe  old 
farces. 

The  fotties  and  moralities  were  more  imaginative  and  extravagant 
than  the  farces,  and  were  filled  with  allegorical  perfonages.  The 
characters  introduced  in  the  former  have  generally  fome  relation  to  the 
kingdom  of  folly.  Thus,  in  one  of  the  fotties,  the  king  of  fools  (le  roy  des 
fotz)  is  reprefented  as  holding  his  court,  and  confulting  with  his  courtiers, 
whofe  names  are  Triboulet,  Mitouflet,  Sottinet,  Coquibus,  and  Guippelin. 
Their  converfation,  as  may  be  fuppofed,  is  of  a  fatirical  character. 
Another  is  entitled  "The  Sottie  of  the  Deceivers,"  or  cheats.  Sottie — 
another  name  for  mother  Folly — opens  the  piece  with  a  proclamation 
or  addrefs  to  fools  of  all  defcriptions,  fummoning  them  to  her  prefence. 
Two,  named  Tefte-Verte  and  Fine-Mine,  obey  the  call,  and  they  are 
queftioned  as  to  their  own  condition,  and  their  proceedings,  but  their  con- 
verfation is  interrupted  by  the  fudden  intrufion  of  another  perfonage 
named  Everyone  (Chafcun),  who,  on  examination,  is  found  to  be  as 
perfect  a  fool  as  any  of  them.  They  accordingly  fraternife,  and  join  in  a 
fong.  Finally,  another  character,  The  Time  (le  Temps},  joins  them,  and 
they  agree  to  fubmit  to  his  directions.  Accordingly  he  inftructs  them  in 
the  arts  of  flattery  and  deceiving,  and  the  other  fimilar  means  by  which 
men  of  that  time  fought  to  thrive.  Another  is  the  Sottie  of  Foolifh 
(Mentation  (de  foils  balance).  This  lady  fimilarly  opens  the  fcene  with 
an  addrefs  to  all  the  fools  who  hold  allegiance  to  her,  and  three  of  thefe 
make  their  appearance.  The  firft  fool  is  the  gentleman,  the  fecond  the 
merchant,  the  fourth  the  peafant,  and  their  converfation  is  a  fatire  on 
contemporary  fociety.  The  perfonification  of  abftract  principles  is  far 
bolder.  The  three  characters  who  compofe  one  of  thefe  moralities  are 
Everything  (tout),  Nothing  (rien),  and  Everyone  (chafcun).  How  the 
perfonification  of  Nothing  was  to  be  reprefented,  we  are  not  told.  The 
title  of  another  of  thefe  moralities  will  be  enough  to  give  the  reader  a 
notion  of  their  general  title  j  it  is,  "  A  New  Morality  of  the  Children  of 

Now-a-days  " 


in  Literature  and  Art.  2  8 1 


Now-a-Days  (Maintenani),  who  are  the  Scholars  of  Once-good  (Ja/rien), 
who  Ihows  them  how  .to  play  at  Cards  and  at  Dice,  and  to  entertain 
Luxury,  whereby  one  comes  to  Shame  (Honte),  and  from  Shame  to 
Defpair  (Defefpoir),  and  from  Defpair  to  the  gibbet  of  Perdition,  and  then 
turns  himfelf  to  Good-doing."  The  characters  in  this  play  are  Now-a- 
Days,  Once-good,  Luxury,  Shame,  Defpair,  Perdition,  and  Good-doing. 

The  three  dramatic  focieties  which  produced  all  thefe  farces,  fotties, 
and  moralities,  continued  to  flouriih  in  France  until  the  middle  of  the 
fixteenth  century,  at  which  period  a  great  revolution  in  dramatic  litera- 
ture took  place  in  that  country.  The  performance  of  the  Myfteries  had 
been  forbidden  by  authority,  and  the  Bazochians  themfelves  were  fup- 
prefled.  The  petty  drama  reprefented  by  the  farces  and  fotties  went 
rapidly  out  of  fafhion,  in  the  great  change  through  which  the  mind  of 
fociety  was  at  this  time  pafling,  and  in  which  the  tafte  for  claflical 
literature  overcame  all  others.  The  old  drama  in  France  had  difap- 
peared,  and  a  new  one,  formed  entirely  upon  an  imitation  of  the  claflical 
drama,  was  beginning  to  take  its  place.  This  incipient  drama  was  repre- 
fented in  the  fixteenth  century  by  Etienne  Jodel,  by  Jacques  Grevin, 
by  Remy  Belleau,  and  eipeciaily  by  Pierre  de  Larivey,  the  moft  prolific, 
and  perhaps  the  moft  talented,  of  the  earlier  French  regular  dramatic 
authors. 

Thefe  French  dramatic  eflays,  the  farces,  the  fotties,  and  the  morali- 
ties, were  imitated,  and  fometimes  translated,  in  Englifb,  and  many  of 
them  were  printed ;  for  the  further  our  refearches  are  carried  into  the 
early  hiftory  of  printing,  the  more  we  are  aftonifhed  at  the  extreme 
activity  of  the  prefs,  even  in  its  infancy,  in  multiplying  literature  of  a 
popular  character.  In  England,  as  in  France,  the  farces  had  been,  at  a 
rather  early  period,  detached  from  the  myfteries  and  miracle -plays,  but 
the  word  interludes  had  been  adopted  here  as  the  general  title  for  them, 
and  continued  in  ufe  even  after  the  eftablifhment  of  the  regular  drama. 
Perhaps  this  name  owed  its  popularity  to  the  circumftance  that  it  feemed 
more  appropriate  to  its  object,  when  it  became  fo  fafhionable  in  England 
to  aft  thefe  plays  at  intervals  in  the  great  feflivals  and  entertainments 
given  at  court,  or  in  the  houfeholds  of  the  great  nobles.  At  all  events, 

o   o  there 


282  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


there  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  faflnon  had  a  great  influence  on  the  fate 
of  the  Englifh  ftage.  The  cuftom  of  performing  plays  in  the  univerfities. 
great  fchools,  and  inns  of  court,  had  alfb  the  effeft  of  producing  a  number 
of  very  clever  dramatic  writers ;  for  when  this  literature  was  fo  warmly 
patronifed  by  princes  and  nobles,  people  of  the  liigheft  qualifications 
fought  to  excel  in  it.  Hence  we  find  from  books  of  houfehold  expenfes 
and  fimilar  records  of  the  period,  that  there  was,  during  the  fixteenth 
century,  an  immenfe  number  of  fuch  plays  compiled  in  England  which 
were  never  printed,  and  of  which,  therefore,  very  few  are  preferred. 

The  earlieft  known  plays  of  this  defcription  in  the  Englifh  language 
belong  to  the  clafs  which  were  called  in  France  moralities.  They  are 
three  in  number,  and  are  preferved  in  a  manufcript  in  the  poflefiion  of 
Mr.  Hudfon  Gurney,  which  I  have  not  feen,  but  which  is  faid  to  be  of 
the  reign  of  our  king  Henry  VI.  Several  words  and  allufions  in  them 
feem  to  me  to  fhow  that  they  were  tranflated,  or  adapted,  from  the 
French.  They  contain  exactly  the  fame  kind  of  allegorical  perfonages. 
The  allegory  itfelf  is  a  limple  one,  and  eafily  underftood.  In  the  firfl, 
which  is  entitled  the  "  Caftle  of  Perfeverance,"  the  hero  is  Humanum 
Genus  (Mankynd),  for  the  names  of  the  parts  are  all  given  in  Latin.  On 
the  birth  of  this  perfonage,  a  good  and  a  bad  angel  offer  themfelves  as 
his  proteftors  and  guides,  and  he  choofes  the  latter,  who  introduces  him 
to  Mundus  (the  World),  and  to  his  friends,  Stultitia  (Folly),  and  Vbluptas 
(Pleafure).  Thefe  and  fome  other  perfonages  bring  him  under  the 
influence  of  the  feven  deadly  fins,  and  Humanum  Genus  takes  for  his 
bedfellow  a  lady  named  Luxur'ia.  At  length  Confeffio  and  Pcenitentia 
fucceed  in  reclaiming  Humanum  Genus,  and  they  conduct  him  for  fecurity 
to  the  Caftle  of  Perfeverance,  where  the  feven  cardinal  virtues  attend 
upon  him.  He  is  befieged  in  this  caftle  by  the  feven  deadly  fins,  who 
are  led  to  the  attack  by  Belial,  but  are  defeated.  Humanum  Genus  has 
now  become  aged,  and  is  expofed  to  the  attacks  of  another  aflailant. 
This  is  Avaritia,  who  enters  the  Cafile  flealthily  by  undermining  the 
wall,  and  artfully  perfuades  Humanum  Genus  to  leave  it.  He  thus  comes 
again  under  the  influence  of  Mundus,  until  Mors  (Death)  arrives,  and  the 
bad  angel  carries  off  the  vi&im  to  the  domains  of  Satan.  This,  however, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  283 

is  not  the  end  of  the  piece.  God  appears,  feated  on  His  throne,  and 
Mercy,  Peace,  Juftice,  and  Truth  appear  before  Him,  the  two  former 
pleading  for,  and  the  latter  againft,  Humanum  Genus,  who,  after  fome 
difcuflion,  is  faved.  This  allegorical  picture  of  human  life  was,  in  one 
form  or  other,  a  favourite  fubject  of  the  moralifers.  I  may  quote  as 
examples  the  interludes  of  "  Lufty  Juventus,"  reprinted  in  Hawkins's 
"Origin  of  the  Englifli  Drama,"  and  the  "Difobedient  Child,"  and 
"  Trial  of  Treafure,'1  reprinted  by  the  Percy  Society. 

The  fecond  of  the  moralities  afcribed  to  the  reign  of  Henry  VI.,  has 
for  its  principal  characters  Mind,  Will,  and  Underftanding.  Thefe  are 
afiailed  by  Lucifer,  who  fucceeds  in  alluring  them  to  vice,  and  they 
change  their  modefl  raiment  for  the  drefs  of  gay  gallants.  Various  other 
characters  are  introduced  in  a  ftmilar  ftrain  of  allegory,  until  they  are 
reclaimed  by  Wifdom.  Mankind  is  again  the  principal  perfonage  of  the 
third  of  thefe  moralities,  and  fome  of  the  other  characters  in  the  play, 
fuch  as  Nought,  New-guife,  and  Now-a-days,  remind  us  of  the  fimilar 
allegorical  perfonages  in  the  French  moralities  defcribed  above. 

Thefe  interludes  bring  us  into  acquaintance  with  a  new  comic  character. 
The  great  part  which  folly  acted  in  the  focial  deftinies  of  mankind,  had 
become  an  acknowledged  fact;  and  as  the  court  and  almoft  every  great 
houfehold  had  its  profefled  fool,  fo  it  feems  to  have  been  confidered  that 
a  play  alfo  was  incomplete  without  a  fool.  But,  as  the  character  of  the 
fool  was  ufually  given  to  one  of  the  moft  objectionable  characters  in  it, 
fo,  for  this  reafon  apparently,  the  fool  in  a  play  was  called  the  Vice. 
Thus,  in  "  Lufty  Juventus,"  the  character  of  Hypocrify  is  called  the  Vice  ; 
in  the  play  of  "All  for  Money,"  it  is  Sin;  in  that  of  "Tom  Tyler  and 
his  Wife,"  it  is  Defire;  in  the  "Trial  of  Treafure"  it  is  Inclination ; 
and  in  fome  inftances  the  Vice  appears  to  be  the  demon  himfelf.  The 
Vice  feems  always  to  have  been  drefled  in  the  ufual  coftume  of  a  court 
fool,  and  he  perhaps  had  other  duties  befides  his  mere  part  in  the  plot, 
fuch  as  making  jefts  of  his  own,  and  ufing  other  means  for  provoking 
the  mirth  of  the  audience  in  the  intervals  of  the  action. 

A  few  of  our  early  Englifh  interludes  were,  in  the  ftrict  fenfe  of  the 
word,  farces.  Such  is  the  "mery  play"  of  "John  the  Hufband,  Tyb  the 

Wife, 


284  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Wife,  and  Sir  John  the  Prieft,"  written  by  John  Heywood,  the  plot 
of  which  prefents  the  fame  fimplicity  as  thofe  of  the  farces  which  were 
fo  popular  in  France.  John  has  a  fhrew  for  his  wife,  and  has  good  caufes 
for  fufpe&ing  an  undue  intimacy  between  her  and  the  prieft ;  but  they 
find  means  to  blind  his  eyes,  which  is  the  more  eafily  done,  becaufe  he  is 
a  great  coward,  except  when  he  is  alone.  Tyb,  the  wife,  makes  a  pie, 
and  propofes  that  the  prieft  mall  be  invited  to  affift  in  eating  it.  The 
hufband  is  obliged,  very  unwillingly,  to  be  the  bearer  of  the  invitation, 
and  is  not  a  little  furprifed  when  the  prieft  refufes  it.  He  gives  as  his 
reafon,  that  he  was  unwilling  to  intrude  himfelf  into  company  where  he 
knew  he  was  difliked,  and  perfuaded  John  that  he  had  fallen  under  the 
wife's  difpleafure,  becaufe,  in  private  interviews  with  her,  he  had  laboured 
to  induce  her  to  bridle  her  temper,  and  treat  her  hufband  with  more  gentle- 
nefs.  John,  delighted  at  the  difcovery  of  the  prieft's  honefty,  infifts  on 
his  going  home  with  him  to  feaft  upon  the  pie.  There  the  guilty  couple 
contrive  to  put  the  hufband  to  a  difagreeable  penance,  while  they  eat 
the  pie,  and  treat  him  otherwife  very  ignominioufly,  in  confequence  of 
which  the  married  couple  fight.  The  prieft  interferes,  and  the  fight  thus 
becomes  general,  and  is  only  ended  by  the  departure  of  Tyb  and  the 
prieft,  leaving  the  hufband  alone. 

The  popularity  of  the  moralities  in  England  is,  perhaps,  to  be  explained 
by  peculiarities  in  the  condition  of  fociety,  and  the  greater  pre-occupation 
of  men's  minds  in  our  country  at  that  time  with  the  religious  and  focial 
revolution  which  was  then  in  progrefs.  The  Reformers  foon  faw  the  ufe 
which  might  be  made  of  the  ftage,  and  compiled  and  caufed  to  be  a6led 
interludes  in  which  the  old  doftrines  and  ceremonies  were  turned  to 
ridicule,  and  the  new  ones  were  held  up  in  a  favourable  light.  We  have 
excellent  examples  of  the  fuccefs  with  which  this  plan  was  carried  out  in 
the  plays  of  the  celebrated  John  Bale.  His  play  of  "  Kyng  Johan,"  an 
edition  of  which  was  publifhed  by  the  Camden  Society,  is  not  only  a 
remarkable  work  of  a  very  remarkable  man,  but  it  may  be  confidered  as 
the  firft  rude  model  of  the  Englim  hiftorical  drama.  The  ftage  became 
now  a  political  inftrument  in  England,  almoft  as  it  had  been  in  ancient 
Greece,  and  it  thus  became  frequently  the  object  of  particular  as  well  as 

general 


in  Literature  and  Art.  285 

general  perfecution.  In  1543,  the  vicar  of  Yoxford,  in  Suffolk,  drew 
upon  himfelf  the  violent  hoftility  of  the  other  clergy  in  that  county  by 
competing  and  caufing  to  be  performed  plays  againft  the  pope's  counsellors. 
Six  years  afterwards,  in  1549,  a  royal  proclamation  prohibited  for  a  time 
the  performance  of  interludes  throughout  the  kingdom,  on  the  ground 
that  they  contained  "  matter  tendyng  to  fedicion  and  contempnyng  of 
fundery  good  orders  and  lawes,  whereupon  are  growen  daily,  and  are  likely 
to  growe,  muche  difquiet,  divifion,  tumultes,  and  uproares  in  this  realme." 
From  this  time  forward  we  begin  to  meet  with  laws  for  the  regulation  of 
ftage  performances,  and  proceedings  in  cafes  of  fuppofed  infractions  of 
them,  and  it  became  cuftomary  to  obtain  the  approval  of  a  play  by  the 
privy  council  before  it  was  allowed  to  be  a6ted.  Thus  gradually  arofe  the 
office  of  a  dramatic  cenfor. 

With  Bale  and  with  John  Heywood,  the  Englifli  plays  began  to 
approach  the  form  of  a  regular  drama,  and  the  two  now  rather  celebrated 
pieces,  "  Ralph  Roifter  Doilier,"  and  "  Gammer  GurtOn's  Needle," 
which  belong  to  the  middle  of  the  fixteenth  century,  may  be  considered 
as  comedies  rather  than  as  interludes.  Tht  ormer,  written  by  a  well- 
known  fcholar  of  that  time,  Nicholas  Udall,  mafler  of  Eton,  is  a 
fatirical  picture  of  fome  phafes  of  London  life,  and  relates  the  ridiculous 
adventures  of  a  weak-headed  and  vain-glorious  gallant,  who  believes 
that  all  the  women  mufl  be  in  love  with  him,  and  who  is  led  by  a  needv 
and  defigning  parafite  named  Matthew  Merygreeke.  Rude  as  it  is  as 
a  dramatic  competition,  it  difplays  no  lack  of  talent,  and  it  is  full 
of  genuine  humour.  The  humour  in  "  Gammer  Gurton's  Needle  "  is 
none  the  lefs  rich  becaufe  it  is  of  coarfer  and  rather  broader  caft.  The 
good  dame  of  the  piece,  Gammer  Gurton,  during  an  interruption  in  the 
procefs  of  mending  the  breeches  of  her  hulband,  Hodge,  has  loft  her 
needle,  and  much  lamentation  follows  a  misfortune  fo  great  at  a  time 
when  needles  appear  to  have  been  rare  and  valuable  articles  in  the  rural 
houfehold.  In  the  midft  of  their  trouble  appears  Diccon,  who  is  defcribed 
in  the  dramatis  perfonas  as  "  Diccon  the  Bedlam,"  meaning  that  he  was  an 
idiot,  and  who  appears  to  hold  the  petition  of  Vice  in  the  play.  Diccon, 
however,  though  weak-minded,  is  a  cunning  fellow,  and  efpecially  given 

to 


286  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


to  making  mifchief,  and  he  accufes  a  neighbour,  Dame  Chat,  of  Healing 
the  needle.  At  the  fame  time,  the  fame  mifchievous  individual  tells 
Dame  Chat  that  Gammer  Gurton's  cock  had  been  ftolen  in  the  night  from 
the  henrooft,  and  that  (he,  Dame  Chat,  was  accufed  of  being  the  thief. 
Amid  the  general  mifunderftanding  which  refults  from  Diccon's  fuccefsful 
endeavours,  they  fend  for  the  parfon  of  the  parim,  Dr.  Rat,  who  appears 
to  unite  in  himfelf  the  three  parts  of  preacher,  phyfician,  and  conjurer,  in 
order  to  have  advantage  of  his  experience  in  finding  the  needle.  Diccon 
now  contrives  a  new  piece  of  mifchief.  He  perfuades  Dame  Chat  that 
Hodge  intends  to  hide  himfelf  in  a  certain  hole  in  the  premifes,  in  order, 
that  night,  to  creep  out  and  kill  all  her  hens ;  and  at  the  fame  time  he 
informs  Dr.  Rat,  that  if  he  will  hide  in  the  fame  hole,  he  will  give  him 
ocular  demonftration  of  Dame  Chat's  guilt  of  ftealing  the  needle.  The 
confequence  is  that  Dame  Chat  attacks  by  furprife,  and  fomewhat 
violently,  the  fuppofed  depredator  in  the  hole,  and  that  Dr.  Rat  gets  a 
broken  head.  Dame  Chat  is  brought  before  "Mafler  Bayly"  for  the 
afiault,  and  the  proceedings  in  the  trial  bring  to  light  the  deceptions 
which  have  been  played  upon  them  all,  and  Diccon  ftands  convicted  as 
the  wicked  perpetrator.  In  fad,  the  "  bedlam  "  confefles  it  all,  and  it  is 
finally  decided  by  "  Matter  Bayly ' '  that  there  mail  be  a  general  recon- 
ciliation, and  that  Diccon  fhall  take  a  folemn  oath  on  Hodge's  breech, 
that  he  will  do  his  beft  to  find  the  loft  needle.  Diccon  has  Ml  the  fpirit 
of  mifchief  in  him,  and  inftead  of  laying  his  hand  quietly  on  Hodge's 
breech,  he  gives  him  a  fharp  blow,  which  is  refponded  to  by  an  unexpected 
fcream.  The  needle,  indeed,  which  has  never  quitted  the  breeches,  is 
driven  rather  deep  into  the  flefhy  part  of  Hodge's  body,  and  the  general 
joy  at  having  found  it  again  overruling  all  other  conliderations,  they 
all  agree  to  be  friends  over  a  jug  of  "  drink." 

We  cannot  but  feel  aftonifhed  at  the  fhort  period  which  it  required 
to  develop  rude  attempts  at  dramatic  compofition  like  this  into  the 
wonderful  creations  of  a  Shakefpeare  ;  and  it  can  only  be  explained  by 
the  fact  that  it  was  an  age  remarkable  for  producing  men  of  extraordinary 
genius  in  every  branch  of  intellectual  development.  Hitherto,  the  litera- 
ture of  the  ftage  had  reprefented  the  intelligence  of  the  mafs ;  it  became 

individualifed 


in  Literature  and  Art.  287 

individualifed  in  Shakefpeare,  and  this  fa6t  marks  an  entirely  new  era  in 
the  hiftory  of  the  drama.  In  the  writings  of  our  great  bard,  nearly  all  the 
peculiarities  of  the  older  national  drama  are  preferved,  even  fome  which  may 
be  perhaps  confidered  as  its  defe6ts,  but  carried  to  a  degree  of  perfection 
which  they  had  never  attained  before.  The  drollery,  which,  as  we  have 
feen,  could  not  be  difpenfed  with  even  in  the  religious  myfteries  and 
miracle-plays,  had  become  fo  neceflary,  that  it  could  not  be  difpenfed  with 
in  tragedy.  Its  omiflion  belonged  to  a  later  period,  when  the  foreign 
dramatifts  became  objects  of  imitation  in  England.  But  in  the  earlier 
drama,  thefe  fcenes  of  drollery  feem  frequently  to  have  no  connexion 
whatever  with  the  general  plot,  while  Shakefpeare  always  interweaves 
them  fkilfully  with  it,  and  they  feem  to  form  an  integral  and  neceflary 
part  of  it. 


288  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

DIABLERIE      IN      THE      SIXTEENTH      CENTURY. EARLY      TYPES      OF      THE 

DIABOLICAL  FORMS. ST.  ANTHONY. ST.   GUTHLAC. REVIVAL  OF  THE 

TASTE    FOR    SUCH    SUBJECTS    IN    THE    BEGINNING    OF    THE    SIXTEENTH 

CENTURY. THE    FLEMISH   SCHOOL   OF    BREUGHEL. THE    FRENCH   AND 

ITALIAN    SCHOOLS,    CALLOT,    SALVATOR    ROSA. 

WE  have  feen  how  the  popular  demonology  furnithed  materials  for 
the  earlieft  exercife  of  comic  art  in  the  middle  ages,  and  how  the 
tafte  for  this  particular  clafs  of  grotefque  lafted  until  the  clofe  of  the 
mediaeval  period.  After  the  "  renaiffance  "  of  art  and  literature,  this 
tafte  took  a  ftill  more  remarkable  form,  and  the  fchool  of  grotefque 
diablerie  which  flourifhed  during  the  lixteenth  century,  and  the  firft  half 
of  the  feventeenth,  juftly  claims  a  chapter  to  itfelf. 

The  birthplace  of  this  demonology,  as  far  as  it  belongs  to  Chriftianity, 
muft  probably  be  fought  in  the  deferts  of  Egypt.  It  fpread  thence  over 
the  eaft  and  the  weft,  and  when  it  reached  our  part  of  the  world,  it  grafted 
itfelf,  as  I  have  remarked  in  a  former  chapter,  on  the  exifting  popular 
fuperftitions  of  Teutonic  paganifm.  The  playfully  burlefque,  which  held 
fo  great  a  place  in  thefe  fuperftitions,  no  doubt  gave  a  more  comic  cha- 
racter to  this  Chriftian  demonology  than  it  had  poflefled  before  the  mix- 
ture. Its  primitive  reprefentative  was  the  Egyptian  monk,  St.  Anthony, 
who  is  faid  to  have  been  born  at  a  village  called  Coma,  in  Upper  Egypt, 
in  the  year  251.  His  hiftory  was  written  in  Greek  by  St.  Athanafius, 
and  was  tranflated  into  Latin  by  the  ecclefiaftical  hiftorian  Evagrius. 
Anthony  was  evidently  a  fanatical  vifionary,  fubjeA  to  mental  illufions, 
which  were  foftered  by  his  education.  To  efcape  from  the  temptations 
of  the  world,  he  fold  all  his  property,  which  was  considerable,  gave  it  to 
the  poor,  and  then  retired  into  the  defert  of  the  Thebaid,  to  live  a  life  of 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art.  289 

the  ftri£r?ft  afceticifm.  The  evil  one  perfecuted  him  in  his  folitude,  and 
fought  to  drive  him  back  into  the  corruptions  of  worldly  life.  He  firfl 
tried  to  fill  his  mind  with  regretful  reminifcences  of  his  former  wealth, 
pofition  in  fociety,  and  enjoyments ;  when  this  failed,  he  diflurbed  his  mind 
with  voluptuous  images  and  defires,  which  the  faint  refitted  with  equal 
fuccefs.  The  perfecutor  now  changed  his  tadics,  and  prefenting  himfelf 
to  Anthony  in  the  form  of  a  black  and  ugly  youth,  confefied  to  him, 
with  apparent  candour,  that  he  was  the  fpirit  of  uncleannefs,  and  acknow- 
leged  that  he  had  been  vanquifhed  by  the  extraordinary  merits  of 
Anthony's  fanftity.  The  faint,  however,  faw  that  this  was  only  a 
ftratagem  to  ftir  up  in  him  the  fpirit  of  pride  and  felf-confidence,  and  he 
met  it  by  fubje6ting  himfelf  to  greater  mortifications  than  ever,  which  of 
courfe  made  him  ftill  more  liable  to  thefe  delufions.  Now  he  fought 
greater  folitude  by  taking  up  his  refidence  in  a  ruined  Egyptian  fepulchre, 
but  the  farther  he  withdrew  from  the  world,  the  more  he  became  the 
obje6t  of  diabolical  perfecution.  Satan  broke  in  upon  his  privacy  with  a 
hoft  of  attendants,  and  during  the  night  beat  him  to  fuch  a  degree,  that 
one  morning  the  attendant  who  brought  him  food  found  him  lying 
fenfelefs  in  his  cell,  and  had  him  carried  to  the  town,  where  his  friends 
were  on  the  point  of  burying  him,  believing  him  to  be  dead,  when  he 
fuddenly  revived,  and  infifted  on  being  taken  back  to  his  folitary  dwelling. 
The  legend  tells  us  that  the  demons  appeared  to  him  in  the  forms  of  the 
moft  ferocious  animals,  fuch  as  lions,  bulls,  wolves,  afps,  ferpents,  fcorpions, 
panthers,  and  bears,  each  attacking  him  in  the  manner  peculiar  to  its 
fpecies,  and  with  its  peculiar  voice,  thus  making  together  a  horrible  din. 
Anthony  left  his  tomb  to  retire  farther  into  the  defert,  where  he  made  a 
ruined  caftle  his  refidence ;  and  here  he  was  again  frightfully  perfecuted 
by  the  demons,  and  the  noife  they  made  was  fo  great  and  horrible  that  it 
was  often  heard  at  a  vaft  diftance.  According  to  the  narrative,  Anthony 
reproached  the  demons  in  very  abufive  language,  called  them  hard  names, 
and  even  fpat  in  their  faces ;  but  his  moft  effective  weapon  was  always 
the  crofs.  Thus  the  faint  became  bolder,  and  fought  a  ftill  more  lonely 
abode,  and  finally  eftablifhed  himfelf  on  the  top  of  a  high  mountain  in 
the  upper  Thebaid.  The  demons  ftill  continued  to  perfecute  him,  under 

p  p  a  great 


290  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

a  great  variety  of  forms ;  on  one  occafion  their  chief  appeared  to  him 
under  the  form  of  a  man,  with  the  lower  members  of  an  afe. 

The  demons  which  tormented  St.  Anthony  became  the  general  type 
for  fubfequent  creations,  in  which  thefe  firft  pictures  were  gradually,  and 
in  the  fequel,  greatly  improved  upon.  St.  Anthony's  perfecutors  ufually 
afiumed  the  fhapes  of  bond  Jide  animals,  but  thofe  of  later  ftories  took 
monftrous  and  grotefque  forms,  flrange  mixtures  of  the  parts  of  different 
animals,  and  of  others  which  never  exifted.  Such  were  feen  by 
St.  Guthlac,  the  St.  Anthony  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  among  the  wild 
morafles  of  Croyland.  One  night,  which  he  was  paffing  at  his  devotions 
in  his  cell,  they  poured  in  upon  him  in  great  numbers ;  "  and  they  filled 
all  the  houfe  with  their  coming,  and  they  poured  in  on  every  fide,  from 
above  and  from  beneath,  and  everywhere.  They  were  in  countenance 
horrible,  and  they  had  great  heads,  and  a  long  neck,  and  lean  vifage  ; 
they  were  filthy  arid  fqualid  in  their  beards,  and  they  had  rough  ears,  and 
diftorted  face,  and  fierce  eyes,  and  foul  mouths ;  and  their  teeth  were 
like  horfes'  tufks,  and  their  throats  were  filled  with  flame,  and  they  were 
grating  in  their  voice ;  they  had  crooked  {hanks,  and  knees  big  and  great 
behind,  and  diftorted  toes,  and  (hrieked  hoarfely  with  their  voices ;  and 
they  came  with  fuch  immoderate  noifes  and  immenfe  horror,  that  it 
feemed  to  him  that  all  between  heaven  and  earth  refounded  with  their 
dreadful  cries."  On  another  fimilar  occafion,  "  it  happened  one  night, 
when  the  holy  man  Guthlac  fell  to  his  prayers,  he  heard  the  howling  of 
cattle  and  various  wild  beafts.  Not  long  after  he  faw  the  appearance 
of  animals  and  wild  beafts  and  creeping  things  coming  in  to  him.  Firft 
he  faw  the  vifage  of  a  lion  that  threatened  him  with  his  bloody  tulks, 
alfo  the  likenefs  of  a  bull,  and  the  vifage  of  a  bear,  as  when  they  are 
enraged.  Alfo  he  perceived  the  appearance  of  vipers,  and  a  hog's 
grunting,  and  the  howling  of  wolves,  and  croaking  of  ravens,  and  the 
various  whiftlings  of  birds,  that  they  might,  with  their  fantaftic  appear- 
ance, divert  the  mind  of  the  holy  man." 

Such  were  the  fuggeftions  on  which  the  mediaeval  fculptors  and  illumi- 
nators worked  with  fo  much  efFe£t,  as  we  have  feen  repeatedly  in  the  courfe 
of  our  preceding  chapters.  After  the  revival  of  art  in  weftern  Europe 


in  Literature  and  Art.  291 


in  the  fifteenth  century,  this  clafs  of  legends  became  great  favourites  with 
painters  and  engravers,  and  foon  gave  rife  to  the  peculiar  fchool  of 
diablerie  mentioned  above.  At  that  time  the  ftory  of  the  Temptation  of 
St.  Anthony  attracted  particular  attention,  and  it  is  the  fubje<5l  of  many 
remarkable  prints  belonging  to  the  earlier  ages  of  the  art  of  engraving. 
It  employed  the  pencils  of  fuch  artifls  as  Martin  Schongauer,  Ifrael  van 
Mechen,  and  Lucas  Cranach.  Of  the  latter  we  have  two  different 
engravings  on  the  fame  fubjeft — =St.  Anthony  carried  into  the  air  by  the 
demons,  who  are  reprefented  in  a  great  variety  of  grotefque  and  monftrous 
forms.  The  mofl  remarkable  of  the  two  bears  the  date  of  1506,  and  was, 
therefore,  one  of  Cranach's  earlier  works.  But  the  great  reprefentative 
of  this  earlier  fchool  of  diablerie  was  Peter  Breughel,  a  Flemifh  painter 
who  flourifhed  in  the  middle  of  the  fixteenth  century.  He  was  born  at 
Breughel,  near  Breda,  and  lived  fome  time  at  Antwerp,  but  afterwards 
eftablifhed  himfelf  at  Bruffels.  So  celebrated  was  he  for  the  love  of  the 
grotefque  difplayed  in  his  pictures,  that  he  was  known  by  the  name  of 
Peter  the  Droll.  Breughel's  "Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  like  one  or 
two  others  of  his  fubjecls  of  the  fame  clafs,  was  engraved  in  a  reduced 
form  by  J.  T.  de  Bry.  Breughel's  demons  are  figures  of  the  moft  fantaftic 
defcription — creations  of  a  wildly  grotefque  imagination ;  they  prefent 
incongruous  and  laughable  mixtures  of  parts  of  living  things  which  have  no 
relation  whatever  to  one  another.  Our  cut  No.  155  reprefents  a  group  of 
thefe  grotefque  demons,  from  a  plate  by  Breughel,  engraved  in  1565,  and 
entitled  Divus  Jacobus  diabolicis  pree/tigiis  ante  inagum  jijlitur  (St.  James 
is  arrefled  before  the  magician  by  diabolical  delufions).  The  engraving 
is  full  of  fimilarly  grotefque  figures.  On  the  right  is  a  fpacious  chimney, 
and  up  it  witches,  riding  on  brooms,  are  making  their  efcape,  while  in 
the  air  are  feen  other  witches  riding  away  upon  dragons  and  a  goat.  A 
kettle  is  boiling  over  the  fire,  around  which  a  group  of  monkeys  are  feen 
fitting  and  warming  themfelves.  Behind  thefe  a  cat  and  a  toad  are 
holding  a  very  intimate  converfation.  In  the  background  ftands  and 
boils  the  great  witches'  caldron.  On  the  right  of  the  picture  the  magus, 
or  magician,  is  feated,  reading  his  grimoire,  with  a  frame  before  him 
fupporting  the  pot  containing  his  magical  ingredients.  The  faint  occupies 

the 


292  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Gratefque 

the  middle  of  the  picture,  furrounded  by  the  demons  reprefented  in  our 
cut  and  by  many  others ;  and  as  he  approaches  the  magician,  he  is  feen 
raifing  his  right  hand  in  the  attitude  of  pronouncing  a  benediction,  the 
apparent  confequence  of  which  is  a  frightful  explofion  of  the  magician's 
pot,  which  ftrikes  the  demons  with  evident  confternation.  Nothing  can 
be  more  bizarre  than  the  horfe's  head  upon  human  legs  in  armour,  the 
parody  upon  a  crawling  fpider  behind  it,  the  fkull  (apparently  of  a  horfe) 


No.  155.     St.  Jama  and  hh  Perfection. 

fupported  upon  naked  human  legs,  the  ftrangely  excited  animal  behind 
the  latter,  and  the  figure  furnimed  with  pilgrim's  hood  and  flaff,  which 
appears  to  be  mocking  the  faint.  Another  print — a  companion  to  the 
foregoing — reprefents  the  ftill  more  complete  difcomfhure  of  the  magus. 
The  faint  here  occupies  the  r'ght-hand  fide  of  the  picture,  and  is  raifing 
his  hand  higher,  with  apparently  a  greater  fhow  of  authority.  The 
demons  have  all  turned  againft  their  mafter  the  magician,  whom  they  are 

beating 


in  Literature  and  Art.  293 

beating  and  hurling  headlong  from  his  chair.  They  feem  to  be  pro- 
claiming their  joy  at  his  fall  by  all  forts  of  playful  attitudes.  It  is  a  fort 
of  demon  fair.  Some  of  them,  to  the  left  of  the  picture,  are  dancing 
and  llanding  upon  their  heads  on  a  tight-rope.  Near  them  another  is 
playing  fbme  game  like  that  which  we  now  call  the  thimble-rig.  The 
monkeys  are  dancing  to  the  tune  of  a  great  drum.  A  variety  of  their 
mountebank  tricks  are  going  on  in  different  parts  of  the  fcene.  Three  of 
thefe  playful  actors  are  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  156. 

Breughel  alfo  executed  a  feries  of  fimilarly  grotefque  engravings, 
reprefenting  in  this  fame  fantaftic  manner  the  virtues  and  vices,  fuch  as 
Pride  (fuperlia),  Courage  (fortitude),  Sloth  (defidia),  &c.  Thefe  bear  the 


No.  156.     Strange  Demont. 

date  of  1558.  They  are  crowded  with  figures  equally  grotefque  with 
thofe  juft  mentioned,  but  a  great  part  of  which  it  would  be  almoft 
impofiible  to  defcribe.  I  give  two  examples  from  the  engraving  of 
"  Sloth,"  in  the  accompanying  cut  (No.  157). 

From  making  up  figures  from  parts  of  animals,  this  early  fchool  of 
grotefque  proceeded  to  create  animated  figures  out  of  inanimate  things, 
fuch  as  machines,  implements  of  various  kinds,  houfehold  utenfils,  and 
other  fuch  articles.  A  German  artift,  of  about  the  fame  time  as  Breughel, 

has 


294  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


has  left  us  a  fingular  fenes  of  etchings  of  this  defcription,  which    are 
intended  as  an  allegorical  fatire  on  the  follies  of  mankind.     The  allegory 


No.  157.      Imps  of  Sloth. 

is  here  of  fuch  a  fingular  character,  that  we  can  only  guefs  at  the  meaning 
of  thefe  ftrange  groups  through  four  lines  of  German  verfe  which  are 


No.  158.      The  Folly  of  Hunting. 

attached  to  each  of  them.     In  this  manner  we   learn   that   the   group 
reprefented  in  our  cut,  No.   158,  which  is  the  fecond  in   this  feries,  is 

intended 


in  Literature  and  Art.  295 

intended  as  a  fatire  upon  thofe  who  wafte  their  time  in  hunting,  which, 
the  verfes  tell  us,  they  will  in  the  fequel  lament  bitterly ;  and  they  are 
exhorted  to  cry  loud  and  continually  to  God,  and  to  let  that  ferve  them 
in  the  place  of  hound  and  hawk. 

Die  zeit  die  du  -verhurfl  mil  jagen, 

Die  ivirftu  xivar  noch  fchmertelich  klagen  ; 
Ruff"  laut  zu  Gott  gar  oft  und  i>ilt 

Das  fey  dein  hund  und  federfpil. 

The  next  picture  in  the  feries,  which  is  equally  difficult  to  defcribe, 
is  aimed  againft  thofe  who  fail  in  attaining  virtue  or  honour  through 
fluggtflbnefs.  Others  follow,  but  I  will  only  give  one  more  example.  It 
forms  our  cut  No.  159,  and  appears,  from  the  verfes  accompanying  it,  to 


No.  159.      The  Waftefulnefs  of  Youth. 

be  aimed  againft  thofe  who  practice  waftefulnefs  in  their  youth,  and  thus 
become  obje6ts  of  pity  and  fcorn  in  old  age.  Whatever  may  be  the  point 
of  the  allegory  contained  in  the  engraving,  it  is  certainly  far-fetched, 
and  not  very  apparent. 

This  German-Flemifh  fchool  of  grotefque  does  not  appear  to  have 
outlived  the  fixteenth  century,  or  at  leaft  it  had  ceafed  to  flourifh  in  the 
century  following.  But  the  tafte  for  the  diablerie  of  the  Temptation 

fcenes 


296          Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

fcenes  pafled  into  France  and  Italy,  in  which  countries  it  aflumed  a  much 
more  refined  character,  though  at  the  fame  time  one  equally  grotefque 
and  imaginative.  Thefe  artifts,  too,  returned  to  the  original  legend,  and 
gave  it  forms  of  their  own  conception.  Daniel  Rabel,  a  French  artift, 
who  lived  at  the  end  of  the  fixteenth  century,  publiflied  a  rather  remark- 
able engraving  of  the  "Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,"  in  which  the  faint 
appears  on  the  right  of  the  picture,  kneeling  before  a  mound  on  which 
three  demons  are  dancing.  On  the  right  hand  of  the  faint  ftands  a  naked 
woman,  flickering  herfelf  with  a  parafol,  and  tempting  the  faint  with  her 
charms.  The  reft  of  the  piece  is  filled  with  demons  in  a  great  variety  of 
forms  and  poftures.  Another  French  artift,  Nicholas  Cochin,  has  left  us 
two  "Temptations  of  St.  Anthony,"  in  rather  fpirited  etching,  of  the 
earlier  part  of  the  feventeenth  century.  In  the  firft,  the  faint  is  repre- 
fented  kneeling  before  a  crucifix,  furrounded  by  demons.  The  youthful 
and  charming  temptrefs  is  here  dreifed  in  the  richeft  garments,  and  the 
higheft  ftyle  of  fafhion,  and  displays  all  her  powers  of  feduction.  The 
body  of  the  picture  is,  as  ufual,  occupied  by  multitudes  of  diabolical 
figures,  in  grotefque  forms.  In  Cochin's  other  picture  of  the  Temp- 
tation of  St.  Anthony,  the  faint  is  reprefented  as  a  hermit  engaged 
in  his  prayers ;  the  female  figure  of  voluptuoufnefs  (voluptas)  occupies 
the  middle  of  the  picture,  and  behind  the  faint  is  feen  a  witch  with  her 
befom. 

But  the  artift  who  excelled  in  this  fubject  at  the  period  at  which  we 
now  arrive,  was  the  celebrated  Jacques  Callot,  who  was  born  at  Nancy, 
in  Brittany,  in  1^93,  and  died  at  Florence  on  the  24th  of  March,  1635, 
which,  according  to  the  old  ftyle  of  calculating,  may  mean  March,  1636. 
Of  Callot  we  fhall  have  to  fpeak  in  another  chapter.  He  treated  the 
fubject  of  the  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony  in  two  different  plates,  which 
are  confidered  as  ranking  among  the  moft  remarkable  of  his  works,  and 
to  which,  in  fact,  he  appears  to  have  given  much  thought  and  attention. 
He  is  known,  indeed,  to  have  worked  diligently  at  it.  They  refemble 
thofe  of  the  older  artifts  in  the  number  of  diabolical  figures  introduced 
into  the  picture,  but  they  difplay  an  extraordinary  vivid  imagination  in 
the  forms,  poftures,  phyfiognomies,  and  even  the  equipments,  of  the 

chimerical 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


297 


chimerical  figures,  all  equally  droll  and  btirlefque,  but  which  prefent  an 
entire  contrail  to  the  more  coarfe  and  vulgar  conceptions  of  the  German- 
Flemifh  fchool.  This  difference  will  be  understood  befl  by  an  example. 


No.  1 60.      The  Demon  Titter  (Callot). 


One  of  Callot  s  demons  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  160.  Many  of  them 
aie  mounted  on  nondefcript  animals,  of  the  moft  extraordinary  demoniacal 
chara6ler,  and  fuch  is  the  cafe  of  the  demon  in  our  cut,  who  is  running  a 


No.  161.      Uneafy  Ridng  (Caliot~). 


tilt  at  the  faint  with  his  tilting  fpear  in  his  hand,  and,  to  make  more 
fure,  his  eyes  well  furnilhed  with  a  pair  of  fpe&acles.  In  our  next  cut, 
No.  161,  we  give  a  fecond  example  of  the  figures  in  Callot's  peculiar 

a  a  aiallerie. 


298  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


diablerie.  The  demon  in  this  cafe  is  riding  very  uneafily,  and,  in  fa6l, 
feems  in  danger  of  being  thrown.  The  fteeds  of  both  are  of  an  anomalous 
character;  the  firft  is  a  fort  of  dragon-horfe  ;  the  fecond  a  mixture  of  a 
lobfter,  a  fpider,  and  a  craw-fifh.  Mariette,  the  art-collector  and  art- 
writer  of  the  reign  of  Louis  XV.  as  well  as  artift,  confiders  this  grotefque, 
or,  as  he  calls  it,  "  fantaitic  and  comic  character,"  as  almoft  neceflary  to 
the  pictures  of  the  Temptation  of  St.  Anthony,  which  he  treats  as 
one  of  Callot's  efpeciallyyenow.?  fubjedts.  "  It  was  allowable,"  he  fays, 
"  to  Callot,  to  give  a  flight  to  his  imagination.  The  more  his  fictions 
were  of  the  nature  of  dreams,  the  more  they  were  fitted  to  what  he  had 
to  exprefs.  For  the  demon  intending  to  torment  St.  Anthony,  it  is  to  be 
fuppofed  that  he  muft  have  thought  of  all  the  forms  moft  hideous,  and 
moft  likely  to  ftrike  terror." 

Callot's  firft  and  larger  print  of  the  Temptation  of  St  Anthony 
is  rare.  It  is  filled  with  a  vaft  number  of  figures.  Above  is  a  fantaftic 
being  who  vomits  thoufands  of  demons.  The  faint  is  feen  at  the  entrance 
of  a  cavern,  tormented  by  fome  of  thefe.  Others  are  fcattered  about 
in  different  occupations.  On  one  fide,  a  demoniacal  party  are  drinking 
together,  and  pledging  each  other  in  their  glafies ;  here,  a  devil  is  playing 
on  the  guitar ;  there,  others  are  occupied  in  a  dance  ;  all  fuch  grotefque 
figures  as  our  two  examples  would  lead  the  reader  to  expect.  In  the  fecond 
of  Callot's  "Temptations,"  which  is  dated  in  1635,  and  muft  therefore 
have  been  one  of  his  lateft  works,  the  fame  figure  vomiting  the  demons 
occupies  the  upper  part  of  the  plate,  and  the  field  is  covered  with  a 
prodigious  number  of  imps,  more  hideous  in  their  forms,  and  more  varied 
in  their  extraordinary  attitudes,  than  in  the  fame  artift's  firft  defign. 
Below,  a  hoft  of  demons  are  dragging  the  faint  to  a  place  where  new 
torments  are  prepared  for  him.  Callot's  prints  of  the  Temptation  of 
St.  Anthony  gained  fo  great  a  reputation,  that  imitations  of  them  were 
fubfequently  publiihed,  fome  of  which  fo  far  approached  his  ftyle,  that 
they  were  long  fuppofed  to  be  genuine. 

Callot,  though  a  Frenchman,  ftudied  and  flourifhed  in  Italy,  and  his 
ftyle  is  founded  upon  Italian  art.  The  laft  great  artift  whofe  treatment 
of  the  Temptation  I  (hall  quote,  is  Salvator  Rofa,  an  Italian  by  birth, 

who 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


299 


who  flourifhed  in  the  middle  of  the  feventeenth  century.  His  ftyle, 
according  to  fome  opinions,  is  refined  from  that  of  Callot  j  at  all  events, 
it  is  bolder  in  defign.  Our  cut  No.  162  reprefents  St.  Anthony  protect- 


No.  l6z.     St.  Anthony  and  his  Persecutor. 

ing  himfelf  with  the  crofs  againft  the  afiaults  of  the  demon,  as  reprefented 
by  Salvator  Rofa.  With  this  artift  the  fchool  of  diablerie  of  the  fixteenth 
century  may  be  confidered  to  have  come  to  its  end. 


300  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

CALLOT      AND      HIS      SCHOOL. CALLOT's       ROMANTIC       HISTORY. HIS 

"CAPRJCI,"     AND     OTHER     BURLESftUE     WORKS. THE     "  BALLI  "     AND 

.       THE     BEGGARS. IMITATORS    OF     CALLOT  ;     DELLA    BELLA. EXAMPLES 

OF    DELLA    BELLA. ROMAIN    DE    HOOGHE. 

THE  art  of  engraving  on  copper,  although  it  had  made  rapid  advances 
during  the  fixteenth  century,  was  ftill  very  far  from  perfe&ion  ;  but 
the  clofe  of  that  century  witneffed  the  birth  of  a  man  who  was  deftined 
not  only  to  give  a  new  character  to  this  art,  but  alfo  to  bring  in  a  new 
ftyle  of  caricature  and  burlefque.  This  was  the  celebrated  Jacques  Callot, 
a  native  of  Lorraine,  and  defcended  from  a  noble  Burgundian  family. 
His  father,  Jean  Callot,  held  the  office  of  herald  of  Lorraine.  Jacques 
was  born  in  the  year  1^92,*  at  Nancy,  and  appears  to  have  been  deflined 
for  the  church,  with  a  view  to  which  his  early  education  was  regulated. 
But  the  early  life  of  Jacques  Callot  prefents  a  romantic  epifode  in  the 
hiftory  of  art  afpirations.  While  yet  hardly  more  than  an  infant,  he 
feized  every  opportunity  of  neglecting  more  ferious  ftudies  to  pradife 
drawing,  and  he  difplayed  efpecially  a  very  precocious  tafte  for  fatire, 
for  his  artiftic  talent  was  fhown  principally  in  caricaturing  all  the 
people  he  knew.  His  father,  and  apparently  all  his  relatives,  difapproved 
of  his  love  for  drawing,  and  did  what  they  could  to  difcourage  it ;  but  in 
vain,  for  he  ftill  found  means  of  indulging  it.  Claude  Henriet,  the 
painter  to  the  court  of  Lorraine,  gave  him  leflbns,  and  his  fon,  Ifrael 
Henriet,  formed  for  him  a  boy's  friendfhip.  He  alfo  learnt  the  elements 
of 

*  This  is  the  date  fixed  by  Meaume,  in  his  excellent  work  on  Callot,  entitled 
"  Recherches  sur  la  Vie  et  les  Otivrages  de  Jacques  Callot,"  2  torn.  8vo.,  1860. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  301 


of  the  art  of  engraving  of  Demange  Crocq,  the  engraver  to  the  duke  of 
Lorraine. 

About  this  time,  the  painter  Bellange,  who  had  been  a  pupil  of 
Claude  Henriet,  returned  from  Italy,  and  gave  young  Callot  an  exciting 
account  of  the  wonders  of  art  to  be  feen  in  that  country ;  and  foon  after- 
wards Claude  Henriet  dying,  his  fon  Ifrael  went  to  Rome,  and  his  letters 
from  thence  had  no  lefs  effect  on  the  mind  of  the  young  artiit  at  Nancy, 
than  the  converfation  of  Bellange.  Indeed  the  paflion  of  the  boy  for  art 
was  fo  ftrong,  that,  finding  his  parents  obftinately  oppofed  to  all  his 
longings  in  this  direction,  he  left  his  father's  houfe  fecretly,  and,  in  the 
fpring  of  1604,  when  he  had  only  juft  entered  his  thirteenth  year,  he  frt 
out  for  Italy  on  foot,  without  introductions  and  almoft  without  money. 
He  was  even  unacquainted  with  the  road,  but  after  proceeding  a  Ihort 
diftance,  he  fell  in  with  a  band  of  gipfies,  and,  as  they  were  going  to 
Florence,  he  joined  their  company.  His  life  among  the  gipfies,  which 
lafted  feven  or  eight  weeks,  appears  to  have  furnifhed  food  to  his  love  of 
burlefque  and  caricature,  and  he  has  handed  down  to  us  his  impreflions, 
in  a  feries  of  four  engravings  of  fcenes  in  gipfy  life,  admirably  executed 
at  a  rather  later  period  of  his  life,  which  are  full  of  comic  humour. 
When  they  arrived  at  Florence,  Jacques  Callot  parted  company  with  the 
gipfies,  and  was  fortunate  enough  to  meet  with  an  officer  of  the  grand 
duke's  houfehold,  who  liftened  to  his  ftory,  and  took  fo  much  intereft  in 
him,  that  he  obtained  him  admiflion  to  the  ftudio  of  Remigio  Canta 
Gallina.  This  artiit  gave  him  inftruclions  in  drawing  and  engraving,  and 
fought  to  correft  him  of  his  tafle  for  the  grotefque  by  keeping  him 
employed  upon  ferious  fubjecls. 

After  ftudying  for  fome  months  under  Canta  Gallina,  Jacques  Callot 
left  Florence,  and  proceeded  to  Rome,  to  feek  his  old  friend  Ifrael 
Henriet ;  but  he  had  hardly  arrived,  when  he  was  recognifed  in  the 
ftreets  by  fome  merchants  from  Nancy,  who  took  him,  and  in  fpite  of  his 
tears  and  refiftance,  carried  him  home  to  his  parents.  He  was  now 
kept  to  his  ftudies  more  ftri6tly  than  ever,  but  nothing  could  overcome 
his  paffion  for  art,  and,  having  contrived  to  lay  by  fome  money,  after  a 
fhort  interval  he  again  ran  away  from  home.  This  time  he  took  the  road 

to 


302  Hifto^y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


to  Lyons,  and  crofled  Mont  Cenis,  and  he  had  reached  Turin  when  he 
met  in  the  ftreet  of  that  city  his  elder  brother  Jean,  who  again  carried 
him  home  to  Nancy.  Nothing  could  now  reprefs  young  Callot's  ardour, 
and  foon  after  this  fecond  efcapade,  he  engraved  a  copy  of  a  portrait  of 
Charles  III.,  duke  of  Lorraine,  to  which  he  put  his  name  and  the  date 
1607,  and  which,  though  it  difplays  little  (kill  in  engraving,  excited 
confiderable  intereft  at  the  time.  His  parents  were  now  perfuaded  that 
it  was  ufelefs  to  thwart  any  longer  his  natural  inclinations,  and  they  not 
only  allowed  him  to  follow  them,  but  they  yielded  to  his  wifh  to  return 
to  Italy.  The  circumftances  of  the  moment  were  efpecially  favourable. 
Charles  III.,  duke  of  Lorraine,  was  dead,  and  his  fuccefibr,  Henry  II., 
was  preparing  to  fend  an  embafiy  to  Rome  to  announce  his  acceffion. 
Jean  Callot,  by  his  pofition  of  herald,  had  fufficient  intereft  to  obtain  for 
his  fon  an  appointment  in  the  ambaflador's  retinue,  and  Jacques  Callot 
ftarted  for  Rome  on  the  ift  of  December,  1608,  under  more  favourable 
aufpices  than  thofe  which  had  attended  his  former  vifits  to  Italy. 

Callot  reached  Rome  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1609,  and  now  at 
length  he  joined  the  friend  of  his  childhood,  Ifrael  Henriet,  and  began 
to  throw  all  his  energy  into  his  art-labours.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  he  fludied  under  Tempefta,  with  Henriet,  who  was  a  pupil  of  that 
painter,  and  another  Lorrainer,  Claude  Dervet.  After  a  time,  Callot 
began  to  feel  the  want  of  money,  and  obtained  employment  of  a  French 
engraver,  then  refiding  in  Rome,  named  Philippe  Thomaflin,  with  whom 
he  worked  nearly  three  years,  and  became  perfect  in  handling  the  graver. 
Towards  the  end  of  the  year  1611,  Callot  went  to  Florence,  to  place 
himfelf  under  Julio  Parigi,  who  then  flourished  there  as  a  painter  and 
engraver.  Tufcany  was  at  this  time  ruled  by  its  duke  Cofmo  de'  Medicis, 
a  great  lover  of  the  arts,  who  took  Callot  under  his  patronage,  giving  him 
the  means  to  advance  himfelf.  Hitherto  his  occupation  had  been  prin- 
cipally copying  the  works  of  others,  but  under  Parigi  he  began  to  pradife 
more  in  original  defign,  and  his  tafte  for  the  grotefque  came  upon  him 
ftronger  than  ever.  Although  Parigi  blamed  it,  he  could  not  help 
admiring  the  talent  it  betrayed.  In  1615,  the  grand  duke  gave  a  great 
entertainment  to  the  prince  of  Urbino,  and  Callot  was  employed  to  make 

engravings 


in  Literature  and  Art.  303 

engravings  of  the  feftivities ;  it  was  his  firft  commencement  in  a  clafe  of 
defigns  by  which  he  afterwards  attained  great  celebrity.  In  the  year 
following,  his  engagement  with  Parigi  ended,  and  he  became  his  own 
matter.  He  now  came  out  unfettered  in  his  own  originality.  The  firft 
fruits  were  feen  in  a  new  kind  of  defigns,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of 
"  Caprices,"  a  feries  of  which  appeared  about  the  year  1617,  under  the 
title  of"  Caprici  di  varie  Figure."  Callot  re-engraved  them  at  Nancy  in 
later  years,  and  in  the  new  title  they  were  ftated  to  have  been  originally 
engraved  in  1616.  In  a  mort  preface,  he  fpeaks  of  thefe  as  the  firft  of 
his  works  on  which  he  fet  any  value.  They  now  ftrike  us  as  fingular 


No.  163.     A  Cripple. 


examples  of  the  fanciful  creations  of  a  moft  grotefque  imagination,  but 
they  no  doubt  preferve  many  traits  of  the  feftivals,  ceremonies,  and 
manners  of  that  land  of  mafquerade,  which  muft  have  been  then  familial 
to  the  Florentines  ;  and  thefe  engravings  would,  doubtlefs,  be  received  by 
them  with  abfolute  delight.  One  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  163  j  it 
reprefents  a  cripple  fupporting  himfelf  on  a  mort  crutch,  with  his  right  arm 
in  a  fling.  Our  cut  No.  164  is  another  example  from  the  fame  fet,  and 
reprefents  a  malked  clown,  with  his  left  hand  on  the  hilt  of  his  dagger, 
or  perhaps  of  a  wooden  fword.  From  this  time,  although  he  was  very 
induftrious  and  produced  much,  Callot  engraved  only  his  own  defigns. 

While 


304  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

While  employed  for  others,  Callot  had  worked  chiefly  with  the  graver, 
but  now  that  he  was  his  own  mailer,  he  laid  afide  that  implement,  and 
devoted  himfelf  almoft  entirely  to  etching,  in  which  he  attained  the 
higheft  proficiency.  His  work  is  remarkable  for  the  cleannefs  and  eafe  of 
his  lines,  and  for  the  life  and  fpirit  he  gave  to  his  figures.  His  talent  lay 


No.  164.     A  Grotefauc  Majktr. 

efpecially  in  the  extraordinary  ikill  with  which  he  grouped  together 
great  numbers  of  diminutive  figures,  each  of  which  preferved  its  proper 
and  full  a&ion  and  effect.  The  great  annual  fair  of  the  Impruneta  was 
held  with  extraordinary  feftivities,  and  attended  by  an  immenfe  concourfe 
of  people  of  all  clafles.  on  St.  Luke's  Day,  the  i8th  of  O6tober,  in  the 
oudkirts  of  Florence.  Callot  engraved  a  large  pi£ture  of  this  fair,  which 
is  abfolutely  wonderful.  The  picture  embraces  an  extenfive  fpace  of 
ground,  which  is  covered  with  hundreds  of  figures,  all  occupied,  fingly  or 
in  groups,  in  different  manners,  converfing,  mafquerading,  buying  and 
felling,  playing  games,  and  performing  in  various  ways ;  each  group  or 

figure 


in  Literature  and  Art.  305 


figure  is  a  picture  in  itielf.  This  engraving  produced  quite  a  fenfation, 
and  it  was  followed  by  other  pictures  of  fairs,  and,  after  his  final  return 
to  Nancy,  Callot  engraved  it  anew.  It  was  this  talent  for  grouping 
large  mafles  of  perfons  which  caufed  the  artift  to  be  fo  often  employed 
in  drawing  great  public  ceremonies,  fieges,  and  other  warlike  operations. 

By  the  duke  of  Florence,  Cofmo  II.,  Callot  was  liberally  patronifed 
and  loaded  with  benefits,  but  on  his  death  the  government  had  to  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  a  regency,  and  art  and  literature  no  longer  met 
with  the  fame  encouragement.  In  this  ftate  of  things,  Callot  was  found 
by  Charles  of  Lorraine,  afterwards  duke  Charles  IV.,  and  perfuaded  to 
return  to  his  native  country.  He  arrived  at  Nancy  in  1622,  and  began 
to  work  there  with  greater  activity  even  than  he  had  difplayed  before.  It 
was  not  long  after  this  that  he  produced  his  fets  of  grotefques,  the  Balli 
(or  dancers),  the  Gobbi  (or  hunchbacks),  and  the  Beggars.  The  firft  of 
thefe  fets,  called  in  the  title  Balli,  or  Cucurucu*  confifts  of  twenty-four 
fmall  plates,  each  of  them  containing  two  comic  characters  in  grotefque 
attitudes,  with  groups  of  fmalier  figures  in  the  diftance.  Beneath  the 
two  prominent  figures  are  their  names,  now  unintelligible,  but  at  that 
time  no  doubt  well  known  on  the  comic  flage  at  Florence.  Thus,  in 
the  couple  given  in  our  cut  No.  165,  which  is  taken  from  the  fourth 
plate  of  the  feries,  the  perfonage  to  the  left  is  named  Smaraolo  Cornuto, 
which  means  fimply  Smaraolo  the  cuckold;  and  the  one  on  the  right  is 
called  Ratfa  di  Boio.  In  the  original  the  background  is  occupied  by  a 
ftreet,  full  of  fpectators,  looking  on  at  a  dance  of  pantaloons,  round  one 
who  is  mounted  on  ftilts  and  playing  on  the  tabour.  The  couple  in  our  cut 

No.  1 66, 


*  Meaumc  appears  to  be  doubtful  of  the  meaning  of  this  word  ;  a  friend  has 
pointed  out  to  me  the  correction.  It  was  the  title  of  a  song,  so  called  because  the 
burden  was  an  imitation  of  the  crowing  of  a  cock,  the  singer  mimicking  also  the 
action  of  the  bird.  When  Bacchus,  in  Redi's  "  Bacco  in  Toscana,"  is  beginning 
to  feel  the  exhilarating  effects  of  his  critical  investigation  of  the  Tuscan  wines,  he 
calls  upon  Ariadne  to  sing  to  him  "  sulla  mandola  la  CucurucV  "on  the  man- 
dola  the  Cucurucu."  A  note  fully  explains  the  word  as  we  have  stated  it — "  Can- 
zone cosi  detta,  perche  in  esse  si  replica  molte  volte  la  voce  del  gallo ;  e  cantandola 
si  fanno  atti  e  moti  simili  a  quegli  di  esso  gallo." 

R    R 


306  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


No.  1 66,  reprefents  another  of  Callot's  "  Caprices,"  from  a  fet  differing 
from  the  firft  "  Caprices,"  or  the  Balli.     The  Gobbi,  or  hunchbacks,  form 


No.  165.     Smaraolo  Cornuto. — Ratja  di  Boio. 

a  fet  of  twenty-one  engravings  ;  and  the  fet  of  the  Gipfies,  already  alluded 
to,  which  was  alfo  executed  at  Nancy,  was  included  in  four  plates,  the 


No.  1 66.      A  Caprice. 

fubje&s  of  which  were  feverally — i,  the  gipfies  travelling  ;  2,  the  avant- 
guard  ;  3,  the  halt ;  and  4,  the  preparations  for  the  feafl.     Nothing  could 

be 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


3°7 


be  more  truthful,  and  at  the  fame  time  more  comic,  than  this  laft  fet  of 
fubjects.  We  give,  as  an  example  of  the  fet  of  the  Baroni,  or  beggars, 
Callot's  figure  of  one  of  that  particular  clafs — for  beggars  and  rogues  of 
all  kinds  were  claffified  in  thofe  days — whofe  part  it  was  to  appeal  to 
charity  by  wounds  and  fores  artificially  reprefented.  In  the  Englilh  flang 


No.  167.      The  Falfc  Cripple. 

of  the  feventeenth  century,  thefe  artificial  fores  were  called  clymcs,  and  a 
curious  account  of  the  manner  in  which  they  were  made  will  be  found  in 
that  fingular  picture  of  the  vicious  clafles  of  fociety  in  this  country  at  that 
period,  the  "Englim  Rogue,"  by  Head  and  Kirkman.  The  falfe  cripple 
in  our  cut  is  holding  up  his  leg  to  make  a  difplay  of  his  pretended 
infirmity. 

Callot  remained  at  Nancy,  with  merely  temporary  abfences,  during 
the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  1628,  he  was  employed  at  Bruflels  in 
drawing  and  engraving  the  "  Siege  of  Breda,"  .one  of  the  moft  finifhed  ol 
his  works,  and  he  there  made  the  perfonal  acquaintance  of  Vandyck.  Early 


in 


308  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

in  1629,  he  was  called  to  Paris  to  execute  engravings  of  the  fiege  of 
La  Rochelle,  and  of  the  defence  of  the  Ifle  of  Rhe,  but  he  returned  to 
Nancy  in  1630.  Three  years  afterwards  his  native  country  was  invaded 
by  the  armies  of  Louis  XIII. ,  and  Nancy  furrendered  to  the  French  on 
the  2^th  of  September,  1633.  Callot  was  required  to  make  engravings 
to  celebrate  the  fall  ot  his  native  town ;  but,  although  he  is  faid  to  have 
been  threatened  with  violence,  he  refufed ;  and  afterwards  he  com- 
memorated the  evils  brought  upon  his  country  by  the  French  invafion  in 
thofe  two  immortal  fets  of  prints,  the  lefler  and  greater  "  Miseres  de  la 
Guerre."  About  two  years  after  this,  Callot  died,  in  the  prime  of  life, 
on  the  24th  of  March,  1635. 

The  fame  of  Callot  was  great  among  his  contemporaries,  and  his  name 
is  juftly  refpected  as  one  of  the  moft  illuftrious  in  the  hiftory  of  French 
art.  He  had,  as  might  be  expected,  many  imitators,  and  the  Caprices, 
the  Balli,  and  the  Gobbi,  became  very  favourite  fubjects.  Among  thefe 
imitators,  the  moft  fnccefsful  and  the  moft  diftinguimed  was  Stephano 
Delia  Bella ;  and,  indeed,  the  only  one  deferring  of  particular  notice. 
Delia  Bella  was  born  at  Florence,  on  the  i8th  of  May,  1610  ;*  his  father, 
dying  two  years  afterwards,  left  him  an  orphan,  and  his  mother  in  great 
poverty.  As  he  grew  up,  he  fhowed,  like  Callot  himfelf,  precocious 
talents  in  art,  and  of  the  fame  kind.  He  eagerly  attended  all  public 
feftivals,  games,  &c.,  and  on  his  return  from  them  made  them  the  fubjecl 
of  grotefque  Sketches.  It  was  remarked  of  him,  efpecially,  that  he  had  a 
curious  habit  of  always  beginning  to  draw  a  human  figure  from  the  feet, 
and  proceeding  upwards  to  the  head.  He  was  ftruck  at  a  very  early 
period  of  his  purfuit  of  art  by  the  ftyle  of  Callot,  of  which,  at  firft,  he 
was  a  fervile  imitator,  but  he  afterwards  abandoned  fome  of  its  pecu- 
liarities, and  adopted  a  ftyle  which  was  more  his  own,  though  ftill  founded 
upon  that  of  Callot.  He  almoft  rivalled  Callot  in  his  fuccefs  in  grouping 
multitudes  of  figures  together,  and  hence  he  alfo  was  much  employed  in 
_____ producing 

*  The  materials  for  the  history  of  Delia  Bella  and  his  works,  will  be  found  in 
a  carefully  compiled  volume,  by  C.  A.  Jomberr,  entitled,  "  Essai  d'un  Catalogue 
de  1'Oeuvre  d'Etienne  de  la  Bella."  8vo.,  Paris,  1772. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  309 

producing  engravings  of  fieges,  feftive  entertainments,  and  fuch  elaborate 
fubjedts.  As  Callot's  afpi rations  had  been  directed  towards  Italy,  thofe  of 
Delia  Bella  were  turned  towards  France,  and  when  in  the  latter  days  of 
the  miniftry  of  Cardinal  Richelieu,  the  grand  duke  of  Florence  fent 
Alexandra  del  Nero  as  his  refident  ambaflador  in  Paris,  Delia  Bella  was 
permitted  to  accompany  him.  Richelieu  was  occupied  in  the  liege  of 
Arras,  and  the  engraving  of  that  event  was  the  foundation  of  Delia  Bella's 
fame  in  France,  where  he  remained  about  ten  years,  frequently  employed 
on  fimilar  fubje&s.  He  fubfequently  vifited  Flanders  and  Holland,  and 
at  Amfterdam  made  the  acquaintance  of  Rembrandt.  He  returned  to 
Florence  in  1650,  and  died  there  on  the  2jrd  of  July,  1664. 

While  ftill  in  Florence,  Delia  Bella  executed  four  prints  of  dwarfs 
quite  in  the  grotefque  ftyle  of  Callot.  In  1637,  on  the  occafion  of  the 
marriage  of  the  grand  duke  Ferdinand  II.,  Delia  Bella  publilhed 
engravings  of  the  different  fcenes  reprefented,  or  performed,  on  that 
occafion.  Thefe  were  effected  by  very  elaborate  machinery,  and  were 
reprefented  in  fix  engravings,  the  fifth 
of  which  (fcena  quinta)  reprefents 
hell  (d'  Inferno),  and  is  filled  with 
furies,  demons,  and  witches,  which 
might  have  found  a  place  in  Callot's 
"Temptation  of  St.  Anthony." 

A  fpecimen  of  thefe  is  given  in  our 
cut  No.  1 68 — a  naked  witch  feated 
upon  a  fkeleton  of  an  animal  that 
might  have  been  borrowed  from  fome 
far  diltant  geological  period.  In 

/Vo.  168.     A  Witch  Mounted. 

1642,  Delia  Bella  executed  a  set  of 

fmall  "  Caprices,"  confifling  of  thirteen  plates,  from  the  eighth  of  which 
we  take  our  cut  No.  169.  It  reprefents  a  beggar-woman,  carrying  one 
child  on  her  back,  while  another  is  ftretched  on  the  ground.  In  this 
ciafs  of  fubje&s  Delia  Bella  imitated  Callot,  but  the  copyifl  never  fuc- 
ceeded  in  equalling  the  original.  His  beft  ftyle,  as  an  original  artift  of 
burlefque  and  caricature,  is  Ihown  in  a  let  of  five  plates  of  Death  carrying 

away 


3 1  o  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


away  people  of  different  ages,  which  he  executed  in  1648.  The  fourth 
of  this  fet  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  170,  and  reprefents  Death  carrying 
off,  on  his  fhoulder,  a  young  woman,  in  fpite  of  her  ftruggles  to  efcape 

from  him. 

With  the  clofe  of  the  feventeenth  century  thefe  "Caprices"  and 


No.  169.      Beggary. 

mafquecade  fcenes  began  to  be  no  longer  in  vogue,  and  caricature  and 
burlefque  afliimed  new  forms ;  but  Callot  and  Delia  Bella  had  many 
followers,  and  their  examples  had  a  lafling  influence  upon  art. 

We  muft  not  forget  that  a  celebrated  artift,  in  another  country,  at  the 
end  of  the  fame  century,  the  well-known  Remain  de  Hooghe,  was  pro- 
duced from  the  fchool  of  Callot,  in  which  he  had  learnt,  not  the  arts  of 
burlefque  and  caricature,  but  that  of  skilfully  grouping  multitudes  of 
figures,  efpecially  in  fubje&s  reprefenting  epifodes  of  war,  tumults, 
maflacres,  and  public  proceflions. 

Of  Remain  de  Hooghe  we  mail  have  to  fpeak  again  in  a  fubfequent 
chapter.  In  his  time  the  art  of  engraving  had  made  great  advance  on  the 
Continent,  and  efpecially  in  France,  where  it  met  with  more  encourage- 
ment than  elfewhere.  In  England  this  art  had,  on  the  whole,  made  much 
lefs  progrefs,  and  was  in  rather  a  low  condition,  one  branch  only  excepted, 
that  of  portraits.  Of  the  two  diftinguifhed  engravers  in  England  during 
the  feventeenth  century,  Hollar  was  a  Bohemian,  and  Faithorne,  though 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


311 


an  Englifhman,  learnt  his  art  in  France.  We  only  began  to  have  an 
Englifh  fchool  when  Dutch  and  French  engravers  came  in  with  King 
William  to  lay  the  groundwork. 


No.  1  TO.     Death  carrying  off  hit  Prey. 


3 1 2  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

THE  SATIRICAL  LITERATURE  OF   THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. PAS&UIL. 

MACARONIC     POETRY. THE    EPISTOLJE    OBSURORUM    VIRORUM. 

RABELAIS. COURT  OF    THE  ftUEEN  OF    NAVARRE,  AND  ITS   LITERARY 

CIRCLE  ;  BONAVENTURE  DBS  PERIERS. HENRI  ETIENNE.  —  THE  LIGUE, 

AND  ITS  SATIRE:    THE  "  SATYRE  MENIPPEE." 

THE  fixteenth  century,  efpecially  on  the  Continent,  was  a  period  of  that 
fort  of  violent  agitation  which  is  moft  favourable  to  the  growth  of 
fatire.  Society  was  breaking  up,  and  going  through  a  courfe  of  decom- 
pofition,  and  it  prefented  to  the  view  on  every  fide  fpeftacles  which  pro- 
voked the  mockery,  perhaps  more  than  the  indignation,  of  lookers-on. 
Even  the  clergy  had  learnt  to  laugh  at  themfelves,  and  almoft  at  their  own 
religion  ;  and  people  who  thought  01  reflected  were  gradually  feparating 
into  two  claffes — thofe  who  caft  all  religion  from  them,  and  rulhed  into  a 
jeering  fcepticifm,  and  thofe  who  entejod  ferioufly  and  with  refolution  into 
the  work  of  reformation.  The  latter  found  moft  encouragement  among 
the  Teutonic  nations,  while  the  fceptical  element  appears  to  have  had  its 
birth  in  Italy,  and  even  in  Rome  itfelf,  where,  among  popes  and  cardinals, 
religion  had  degenerated  into  empty  forms. 

At  fome  period  towards  the  clofe  of  the  fifteenth  century,  a  mutilated 
ancient  ftatue  was  accidentally  dug  up  in  Rome,  and  it  was  erefted  on  a 
pedeftal  in  a  place  not  far  from  the  Urfini  Palace.  Oppofite  it  flood  the 
{hop  of  a  ftioemaker,  named  Pafquillo,  or  Pafquino,  the  latter  being  the  form 
moft  commonly  adopted  at  a  later  period.  This  Pafquillo  was  notorious 
as  a  facetious  fellow,  and  his  fti  p  was  ufually  crowded  by  people  who 
went  there  to  tell  tales  and  hear  news ;  and,  as  no  other  name  had  been 

invented 


in  Literature  and  Art.  313 

invented  for  the  ftatue,  people  agreed  to  give  it  the  name  of  the  ftioemaker, 
and  they  called  it  Pafquillo.  It  became  a  cuftom,  at  certain  feafons,  to 
write  on  pieces  of  paper  fatirical  epigrams,  fonnets,  and  other  ftiort  com- 
pofitions  in  Latin  or  Italian,  moftly  of  a  perfonal  character,  in  which  the 
writer  declared  whatever  he  had  feen  or  heard  to  the  difcredit  of  fomebody, 
and  thefe  were  publiftied  by  depofiting  them  with  the  ftatue,  whence 
they  were  taken  and  read.  One  of  the  Latin  epigrams  which  pleads 
againft  committing  thefe  ihort  perfonal  fatires  to  print,  calls  the  time  at 
which  it  was  ufual  to  compofe  them  Pafquil's  feftival  : — 

Jam  redit  ilia  dies  in  qua  Romana  juwntut 

Pafquilli  fcftum  concelcbrablt  ovans. 
Sed  verfus  imprejfbi  obfecro  ut  edere  omittas, 

Ne  noceant  iterum  qute  nocuere  femel. 

The  feftival  was  evidently  a  favourite  one,  and  well  celebrated.  "  The 
foldiers  of  Xerxes,"  fays  another  epigram,  placed  in  Pafquil's  mouth, 
"  were  not  fo  plentiful  as  the  paper  beftowed  upon  me  j  I  fhall  foon  become 
a  bookfeller  " — 

Armigerum  Xerx'i  nan  cofia  tanta  papyri 
Quanta  mihi :  fiam  bibliopola  ftatim. 

The  name  of  Pafquil  was  foon  given  to  the  papers  which  were 
depofited  with  the  ftatue,  and  eventually  a  pafjuil,  or  pafquin,  was  only 
another  name  for  a  lampoon  or  libel.  Not  far  from  this  ftatue  flood 
another,  which  was  found  in  the  forum  of  Mars  (Mortis  forum),  and 
was  thence  popularly  called  Marforio.  Some  of  thefe  fatirical  writings 
were  compofed  in  the  form  of  dialogues  between  Pafquil  and  Marforio, 
or  of  meflages  from  one  to  the  other. 

A  collection  of  thefe  pafquils  was  publiftied  in  1544  in  two  fmall 
volumes.*  Many  of  them  are  extremely  clever,  and  theyare  fliarply  pointed. 
The  popes  are  frequent  objects  of  bittereft  fatire.  Thus  we  are  reminded 
in  two  lines  upon  pope  Alexander  VI.  (fextus},  the  infamous  Borgia,  that 
Tarquin  had  been  a  Sextus,  and  Nero  alfo,  and  now  another  Sextus  was 
at 

*  "  Pasquillorum  Torn!  duo."    Eleutheropoli,  MrvT.'iii. 
b   9 


314  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


at  the  head  of  the  Romans,  and  told  that  Rome  was  always  ruined  under 
a  Sextus — 

De  Alexandra  VI.  Pont 

Sextus  Tarquinius,  Sextus  Nero,  Sextus  et  tfte  : 
Semper  fub  Sextis  perdita  Romafuit. 

The  following  is  given  for  an  epitaph  on  Lucretia  Borgia,  pope 
Alexander's  profligate  daughter : — 

Hoc  tumulo  dormlt  Lucretia  nomine,  fed  re 
Thais,  Alexandri  filia,  fponfa,  nurus. 

In  another  of  a  rather  later  date,  Rome,  addreffing  herfelf  to  Pafquil,  is 
made  to  complain  of  two  fuccefiive  popes,  Clement  VII.  (Julio  de  Medicis, 
1523-1534)  and  Paul  III.  (Alexandra  Farnefe,  1534-1549),  and  alfo  of 
Leo  X.  (1513-1521).  "I  am,"  Rome  fays,  "  fick  enough  with  the 
phyfician  (Medicos,  as  a  pun  on  the  Medicis),  I  was  alfo  the  prey  of  the 
lion  (Leo),  now,  Paul,  you  tear  mv  vitals  like  a  wolf.  You,  Paul,  are  not 
a  god  to  me,  as  I  thought  in  my  folly,  but  you  are  a  wolf,  fince  you  tear 
the  food  from  my  mouth  " — 

Sum  Medico  fatis  cegra,fui  quoque  prceda  Leonis, 

Nunc  mea  dilaceras  •vifctra,  Paule,  lupus. 
Nan  es,  Paule,  mihi  numen,  ceu  ftulta  putabam, 

Sed  lupus  es,  quoniam  Jubtrahis  ore  cibum. 

Another  epigram,  addrefled  to  Rome  herfelf,  involves  a  pun  in  Greek 
(in  the  words  Paulos,  Paul,  and  Phaulos,  wicked).  "  Once,  Rome,"  it 
fays,  "  lords  of  lords  were  thy  fubje&s,  now  thou  in  thy  wretchednefs  art 
fubjed  to  the  ferfs  of  ferfs ;  once  you  liftened  to  the  oracles  of  St.  Paul, 
but  now  you  perform  the  abominable  commands  of  the  wicked  " — 

Quondam,  Roma,  tibi  fuberant  domini  dominorum, 

Ser-vorum  fer-vis  nunc  miferanda  Jubes  } 
Audljli  quondam  di-vini  oracula  IIavXov> 

At  nunc  TUV  <f>a.v\uv  jujja  nefanda  facii. 

The  idea,  of  courfe,  is  the  contrail  of  Rome  in  her  Pagan  glory,  with 
Rome  in  her  Chriftian  debafement,  very  much  the  fame  as  that  which 

ftruck 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3 1 5 

ftruck  Gibbon,  and  gave  birth  to  his  great  hfftory  of  Rome's  "  decline  and 
fall."* 

The  pafquils  formed  a  body  of  fatire  which  ftruck  indifcriminately  at 
everybody  within  its  range,  but  fatirifts  were  now  rifing  who  took  for 
their  fubjecls  fpecial  cafes  of  the  general  diforder.  Rotten  at  the  heart, 
fociety  prefented  an  external  gloffinefs,  a  mixture  of  pedantry  and  affe&a- 
tion,  which  offered  fubjecls  enough  for  ridicule  in  whatever  point  of 
view  it  was  taken.  The  ecclefiaftical  body  was  in  a  ftate  of  fermentation, 
out  of  which  new  feelings  and  new  doctrines  were  about  to  rife.  The 
old  learning  and  literature  of  the  middle  ages  remained  in  form  after 
their  fpirit  had  paffed  away,  and  they  were  now  contending  clumfily 
and  unfuccefsfully  againfl.  new  learning  and  literature  of  a  more  refined 
and  healthier  character.  Feudalifm  itfelf  had  fallen,  or  it  was  ftruggling 
vainly  againft  new  political  principles,  yet  the  ariflocracy  clung  to  feudal 
forms  and  feudal  affumptions,  with  an  exaggeration  which  was  meant 
for  an  appearance  of  flrength.  Among  the  literary  affectations  of 
this  falfe  feudalifm,  was  the  fafhion  for  reading  the  long,  dry,  old 
romances  of  chivalry  j  while  the  churchmen  and  fchoolmen  were  cor- 
rupting the  language  in  which  mediaeval  learning  had  been  expreffed, 
into  a  form  the  moft  barbarous,  or  introducing  words  compounded 
from  the  later  into  the  vernacular  tongue.  Thefe  peculiarities  were 
among  the  firft  to  provoke  literary  fatire.  Italy,  where  this  clafs  of  fatire 
originated,  gave  it  its  name  alfo,  though  it  appears  flill  to  be  a  matter  of 
doubt  why  it  was  called  macaronic,  or  in  its  Italian  form  maccharonea. 
Some  have  confidered  this  name  to  have  been  taken  from  the  article  of 
food  called  macaroni,  to  which  the  Italians  were,  and  ftill  are,  fo  much 
attached  j  while  others  pretend  that  it  was  derived  from  an  old  Italian 
word  macarone,  which  meant  a  lubberly  fellow.  Be  this,  however,  as  it 
may,  what  is  called  macaronic  compofition,  which  confifts  in  giving  a 
Ladn 

*  Pasquil  and  Pasquin  became,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  and  the 
whole  of  the  seventeenth  centuries,  a  well-known  name  in  French  and  English 
literature.  In  English  popular  literature  he  was  turned  into  a  jester,  and  a  hook 
was  published  in  1604  under  the  title  "Pasquil's  Jests ;  with  the  Merriments  of 
Mother  Bunch.  Wittie,  pleasant,  and  delightfull." 


3 1 6  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Latin  form  to  words  taken  from  the  vulgar  tongue,  and  mixing  them 
with  words  which  are  purely  Latin,  was  introduced  in  Italy  at  the  clofe 
of  the  fifteenth  century. 

Four  Italian  writers  in  macaronic  verfe  are  known  to  have  lived 
before  the  year  1500.*  The  firfl  of  thefe  was  named  Fofla,  and  he  tells 
us  that  he  compofed  his  poem  entitled  "  Vigonce,"  on  the  fecond  day  of 
May,  1494.  It  was  printed  in  1502.  Baffano,  a  native  of  Mantua,  and 
the  author  of  a  macaronic  which  bears  no  title,  was  dead  in  1499  5  an^ 
another,  a  Paduan  named  Fifi  degli  Odaffi,  was  born  about  the  year  1450. 
Giovan  Georgio  Allione,  of  Afli,  who  is  believed  alfo  to  have  written 
during  the  laft  ten  years  of  the  fifteenth  century,  is  a  name  better  known 
through  the  edition  of  his  French  works,  publifhed  by  Monfieur  J.  C. 
Brunei  in  1836.  All  thefe  prefent  the  fame  coarfenefs  and  vulgarity  of 
fentiment,  and  the  fame  licence  in  language  and  defcription,  which  appear 
to  have  been  taken  as  neceflary  chara6teriilics  of  macaronic  compofition. 
Odaffi  appears  to  give  fupport  to  the  derivation  of  the  name  from 
macaroni,  by  making  the  principal  character  of  his  poem  a  fabricator  of  that 
article  in  Padua — 

Eft  units  in  Padua  natus  fpectale  cufinus, 

In  maccharonea  frinceps  bonus  atquc  magijler. 

But  the  great  matter  of  macaronic  poetry  was  Teofilo  Folengo,  of 
whofe  life  we  know  juft  fufficient  to  give  us  a  notion  of  the  perfonal 
character  of  thefe  old  literary  caricaturifts.  Folengo  was  defcended  from 
a  noble  family,  which  had  its  feat  at  the  village  of  Cipada,  near  Mantua, 
where  he  was  born  on  the  8th  of  November,  1491,  and  baptifed  by  the 
name  of  Girolamo.  He  purfued  his  ftudies,  firft  in  the  univerfity  of 
Ferrara,  under  the  profeflbr  Vifago  Cocaio,  and  afterwards  in  that  of 
Bologna,  under  Pietro  Pomponiazzo  ;  or  rather,  he  ought  to  have  purfued 
them 

*  The  great  authority  on  the  history  of  Macaronic  literature  is  my  excellent 
friend  Monsieur  Octave  Delepierre,  and  I  will  simply  refer  the  reader  to  his  two 
valuable  publications,  "  Macaroneana,  ou  Melanges  de  Litterature  Macaronique 
des  differents  Peuples  de  1'Europe,"  8vo.,  Paris,  1852;  and  "  Macaroneana,"  4to-, 
1863  ;  the  latter  printed  for  the  Philobiblon  Club. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3 1 7 

them,  for  his  love  of  poetry,  and  his  gaiety  of  chara&er,  led  him  to 
negle6t  them,  and  at  length  his  irregularities  became  fo  great,  that  he 
was  obliged  to  make  a  hafty  flight  from  Bologna.  He  was  ill  received  at 
home,  and  he  left  it  alfo,  and  appears  to  have  fubfequently  led  a  wild  life, 
during  part  of  which  he  adopted  the  profeflion  of  a  foldier,  until  at  length 
he  took  refuge  in  a  Benedi6tine  convent  near  Brefcia,  in  1507,  and 
became  a  monk.  The  difcipline  of  this  houfe  had  become  entirely 
relaxed,  and  the  monks  appear  to  have  lived  very  licentiouflyj  and 
Folengo,  who,  on  his  admiflion  to  the  order,  had  exchanged  his  former 
baptifmal  name  for  Teofilo,  readily  conformed  to  their  example.  Even- 
tually he  abandoned  the  convent  and  the  habit,  ran  away  with  a  lady 
named  Girolama  Dedia,  and  for  fome  years  he  led  a  wandering,  and,  it 
would  feem,  very  irregular  life.  Finally,  in  1,527,  he  returned  to  his 
old  profeflion  of  a  monk,  and  remained  in  it  until  his  death,  in  the 
December  of  1544.  He  is  faid  to  have  been  extremely  vain  of  his  poetical 
talents,  and  a  ftory  is  told  of  him  which,  even  if  it  were  invented,  illuf- 
trates  well  the  character  which  was  popularly  given  to  him.  It  is  faid 
that  when  young,  he  afpired  to  excel  in  Latin  poetry,  and  that  he  wrote 
an  epic  which  he  himfelf  believed  to  befuperior  to  the  ./Eneid.  When, 
however,  he  had  communicated  the  work  to  his  friend  the  bifhop  of 
Mantua,  and  that  prelate,  intending  to  compliment  him,  told  him  that 
he  had  equalled  Virgil,  he  was  fo  mortified,  that  he  threw  the  manufcript 
on  the  fire,  and  from  that  time  devoted  his  talents  entirely  to  the 
compofition  of  macaronic  verfe. 

Such  was  the  man  who  has  juftly  earned  the  reputation  of  being  the 
firft  of  macaronic  poets.  When  he  adopted  this  branch  of  literature, 
while  he  was  in  the  univerfity  of  Bologna,  he  aflumed  in  writing  it  the 
name  of  Merlinus  Cocaius,  or  Coccaius,  probably  from  the  name  of  his 
profeflbr  at  Ferrara.  Folengo's  printed  poems  confift  of — i.  The  Zani- 
tonella,  a  paftoral  in  feven  eclogues,  defcribing  the  love  of  Tonellus  for 
Zanina ;  a,  the  macaronic  romance  of  Baldus,  Folengo's  principal  and 
moft  remarkable  work  ;  3,  the  Mofchaea,  or  dreadful  battle  between  the 
flies  and  the  ants  ;  and  4,  a  book  of  Epiftles  and  Epigrams. 

The  firft  edition  of  the  Baldus  appeared  in  1.517.  It  is  a  fort  of 

parody 


3 1 8  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

parody  on  the  romances  of  chivalry,  and  combines  a  jovial  latire  upon 
everything,  which,  as  has  been  remarked,  fpares  neither  religion  nor 
politics,  fcience  nor  literature,  popes,  kings,  clergy,  nobility,  or  people. 
It  confifts  of  twenty-five  cantos,  or,  as  they  are  termed  in  the  original, 
phantqfice,  fantafies.  In  the  firft  we  are  told  of  the  origin  of  Baldus. 
There  was  at  the  court  of  France  a  famous  knight  named  Guy,  defcended 
from  that  memorable  paladin  Renaud  of  Montauban.  The  king,  who 
mowed  a  particular  efteem  for  Guy,  had  alfo  a  daughter  of  furpaffing 
beauty,  named  Balduine,  who  had  fallen  in  love  with  Guy,  and  he  was 
equally  amorous  of  the  princeis.  In  the  fequel  of  a  grand  tournament, 
at  which  Guy  has  diftinguilhed  himfelf  greatly,  he  carries  off  Balduine, 
and  the  two  lovers  fly  on  foot,  in  the  difguife  of  beggars,  reach  the 
Alps  in  fafety,  and  crofs  them  into  Italy.  At  Cipada,  in  the  territory 
of  Brefcia,  they  are  hofpitably  entertained  by  a  generous  peafant  named 
Berte  Panade,  with  whom  the  princefs  Balduine,  who  approaches  her  time 
of  confinement,  is  left  j  while  her  lover  goes  forth  to  conquer  at  leaft  a 
marquifate  for  her.  After  his  departure  (he  gives  birth  to  a  fine  boy,  which 
is  named  Baldus.  Such,  as  told  in  the  fecorid  canto,  is  the  origin  of 
Folengo's  hero,  who  is  deftined  to  perform  marvellous  ads  of  chivalry. 
The  peafant  Berte  Panade  has  alfo  a  fon  named  Zambellus,  by  a  mother 
who  had  died  in  childbirth  of  him.  Baldus  pafles  for  the  fon  of  Berte 
alfo,  fo  that  the  two  are  fuppofed  to  be  brothers.  Baldus  is  fucceflively 
led  through  a  feries  of  extraordinary  adventures,  fbme  low  and  vulgar, 
others  more  chivalrous,  and  fome  of  them  exhibiting  a  wild  fertility  of 
imagination,  which  are  too  long  to  enable  me  to  take  my  readers  through 
them,  until  at  length  he  is  left  by  the  poet  in  the  country  of  Falfehood  and 
Charlatanifm,  which  is  inhabited  by  aftrologers,  necromancers,  and  poets. 
Thus  is  the  hero  Baldus  dragged  through  a  great  number  of  marvellous 
accidents,  fome  of  them  vulgar,  many  of  them  ridiculous,  and  fome, 
again,  wildly  poetical,  but  all  of  them  prefenting,  in  one  form  or  other, 
an  opportunity  for  fatire  upon  fome  of  the  follies,  or  vices,  or  corruptions 
of  his  age.  The  hybrid  language  in  which  the  whole  is  written,  gives 
it  a  fingularly  grotefque  appearance;  yet  from  time  to  time  we  have 
paflages  which  mow  that  the  author  was  capable  of  writing  true  poetry, 

although 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3 1 9 

although  it  is  mixed  with  a  great  amount  of  coarfe  and  licentious  ideas, 
exprefled  no  leis  coarfely  and  licentioufly.  What  we  may  term  the  filth, 
indeed,  forms  a  large  proportion  of  the  Italian  macaronic  poetry.  The 
paftoral  of  Zanitonella  prefents,  as  might  be  expected,  more  poetic 
beauty  than  the  romance  of  Balbus.  As  an  example  of  the  language 
of  the  latter,  and  indeed  of  that  of  the  Italian  macaronics  in  general, 
I  give  a  few  lines  of  a  defcription  of  a  ftorm  at  fea,  from  the  twelfth 
canto,  with  a  literal  tranflation  : — 


Jam  grldor  aterias  hom'mum  concujfit  abyjjos, 
Sentiturque  ingens  cordarum  Jlridor,  et  ipfe 
Pontus  habet  pavidos  -vultus,  mortijque  colores. 
Nunc  Sirochus  habet  palmamt  nunc  Borra  Juperchiat  ; 
Irrugit  pelagus,  tangit  quoque  jluftibus  aftra, 
Fulgure  Jlammlgero  creber  lampezat  Olympus  ; 
J^elaforata  micant  crebris  lacerata  balottis  ; 
Horrendam  mortem  nautit  ea  cuntJa  minazzant. 
Nuncjbalzata  ratis  celfum  tangebat  Olympum, 
Nunc  fulfil  infernam  undajbadacchiantepaludem. 

TBANSLATION 

Now  the  clamour  of  the  men  Jbook  the  ethereal  abyjjes, 
dnd  the  mighty  crajbing  of  the  ropet  is  felt ',  and  the  -very 
Sea  has  pale  looks,  and  the  hue  of  death. 
Now  the  Sirocco  has  the  palm,  now  Eurus  exults  over  it ; 
Thejea  roars,  and  touches  thejtars  ivith  its  "waves, 
Olympus  continually  bla-zet  out  ivith  flaming  thunder, 
The  pierced  fails  glitter  torn  with  frequent  thunderbolts  ; 
All  thefe  threaten  frightful  death  to  the  Jailors. 
Now  the  [hip  toffed  up  touched  the  top  of  Olympus, 
Now,  the  wave  yawning,  it  Jinks  into  the  infernal  lake. 


Teofilo  Folengo  was  followed  by  a  number  of  imitators,  of  whom  it 
will  be  fufficient  to  ftate  that  he  ftands  in  talent  as  far  above  his  followers 
as  above  thofe  who  preceded  him.  One  of  thefe  minor  Italian  macaronic 
writers,  named  Bartolommeo  Bolla,  of  Bergamo,  who  flourifhed  in  the 
latter  half  of  the  fixteenth  century,  had  the  vanity  to  call  himfelf,  in  the 
title  of  one  of  his  books,  "  the  Apollo  of  poets,  and  the  Cocaius  of  this 
age  5"  but  a  modern  critic  has  remarked  of  him  that  he  is  as  far  removed 

from 


320  Hill  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

from  his  model  Folengo,  as  his  native  town  Bergamo  is  diftant  from 
Siberia.  An  earlier  poet,  named  Guarino  Capella,  a  native  of  the 
town  of  Sarfina,  in  the  country  of  Forli,  on  the  borders  of  Tufcany, 
approached  far  nearer  in  excellence  to  the  prince  of  macaronic  writers. 
His.  work  alfo  is  a  mock  romance,  the  hiftory  of  "  Cabrinus,  king  of 
Gagamagoga,"  in  fix  books  or  cantos,  which  was  printed  at  Arimini  in 
1526,  and  is  now  a  book  of  exceflive  rarity. 

The  tafte  for  macaronics  paffed  rather  early,  like  all  other  faihions  in 
that  age,  from  Italy  into  France,  where  it  firfl  brought  into  literary  repu- 
tation a  man  who,  if  he  had  not  the  great  talent  of  Folengo,  pofleffed  a 
very  confiderable  amount  of  wit  and  gaiety.  Antoine  de  la  Sable,  who 
Latinifed  his  name  into  Antonius  de  Arena,  was  born  of  a  highly  refpeft- 
able  family  at  Soliers,  in  the  diocefe  of  Toulon,  about  the  year  1500,  and, 
being  deftined  from  his  youth  to  follow  the  profeffion  of  the  law,  ftudied 
under  the  celebrated  jurifconfult  Alciatus.  He  had  only  arrived  at  the 
fimple  dignity  of  juge,  at  St.  Remy,  in  the  diocefe  of  Aries,  when  he 
died  in  the  year  1544.  In  faft,  he  appears  to  have  been  no  very  diligent 
ftudent,  and  we  gather  from  his  own  confeflions  that  his  youth  had  been 
rather  wild.  The  volume  containing  his  macaronics,  the  fecond  edition 
of  which  (as  far  as  the  editions  are  known)  was  printed  in  1529,  bears  a 
title  which  will  give  fome  notion  of  the  character  of  its  contents, — 
"Provencalis  de  Iragardiffima  villa  de  Solents,  ad  SILOS  compagnones  quifunt 
de  perfona  friantes,  bajffas  danfas  et  Iranlas  praSlicantes  novellas,  de  guerra 
Romana,  Neapolitana,  et  Genuenfi  mandat ;  una  cum  epi/lola  adfalotiffimam 
fuam  garfam,  Janam  Rofaam,  pro  paffando  tempora  " — (i.e.  a  ProvenQal  of 
the  moft  fwaggering  town  of  Soliers,  fends  this  to  his  companions,  who  are 
dainty  of  their  perfons,  praftifing  bafle  dances  and  new  brawls,  concern-  • 
ing  the  war  of  Rome,  Naples,  and  Genoa ;  with  an  epiftle  to  his  moft 
merry  wench.  Jeanne  Rofee,  for  paftime).  In  the  firft  of  thefe  poems 
Arena  traces  in  his  burlefque  verfe,  which  is  an  imitation  of  Folengo,  his 
own  adventures  and  fufferings  in  the  war  in  Italy  which  led  to  the  fack  of 
Rome,  in  1527,  and  in  the  fubfequent  expeditions  to  Naples  and  Genoa. 
From  the  picture  of  the  horrors  of  war,  he  paffes  very  willingly  to  defcribe 
the  joyous  manners  of  the  fludents  in  Proven9al  univerfities,  of  whom  he 

tells 


in  Literature  and  Art.  321 

tells  us,  that  they  are  all  fine  gallants,  and  always  in  love  with  the  prettj 
girls. 

Gentigr.lantes  funt  omnes  inftudiantcs, 

Et  bellas  garfas  Jenifer  amare  folcr.t . 

He  goes  on  to  defcribe  the  fcholars  as  great  quarrellers,  as  well  as  lovers 
of  the  other  fex,  and  after  dwelling  on  their  gaiety  and  love  of  the  dance, 
he  proceeds  to  treat  in  the  fame  burlefque  ftyle  on  the  fubjecl  of  dancing; 
but  I  pafs  over  this  to  fpeak  of  Arena's  principal  piece,  the  fatirical 
defcription  of  the  invafion  of  Provence  by  the  emperor  Charles  V.  in 
1536.  This  curious  poem,  which  is  entitled  "  Meygra  Enterprifa  Cato- 
loqui  imperatoris,"  and  which  extends  to  upwards  of  two  thoufand  lines, 
opens  with  a  laudatory  addrefs  to  the  king  of  France,  Franqois  I.,  and 
with  a  fneer  at  the  pride  of  the  emperor,  who,  believing  himfelf  to  be 
the  matter  of  the  whole  world,  had  foolifhly  thought  to  take  away  France 
and  the  cities  of  Provence  from  their  rightful  monarch.  It  was  Antonio 
de  Leyva,  the  boafter,  who  had  put  this  project  into  the  emperor's  head, 
and  they  had  already  pillaged  and  ravaged  a  good  part  of  Provence,  and 
were  dividing  the  plunder,  when,  harafled  continually  by  the  peafantry, 
the  invaders  were  brought  to  a  Hand  by  the  difficulty  of  fubfifting  in  a 
devastated  country,  and  by  the  difeafes  to  which  this  difficulty  gave  rife. 
Neverthelefs,  the  Spaniards  and  their  allies  committed  terrible  devafta- 
tion,  which  is  defcribed  by  Arena  in  ftrong  language.  He  commemorates 
the  valiant  refiftance  of  his  native  town  of  Soliers,  which,  however,  was 
taken  and  facked,  and  he  loft  in  it  his  houfe  and  property.  Aries  held 
the  imperialifts  at  bay,  while  the  French,  under  the  conilable  Montmo- 
rency,  eftablifhed  themfelves  firmly  at  Avignon.  At  length  difeafe  gained 
pofleflion  of  Antonio  de  Leyva  himfelf,  and  the  emperor,  who  had  been 
making  an  unfuccefsful  demonftration  againft  Marfeilles,  came  to  him  in 
his  ficknefs.  The  firft  lines  of  the  defcription  of  this  interview,  will  ferve 
as  a  fpecimen  of  the  language  of  the  French  macaronics  : — 

Sed  de  Marjella  braggantl  quando  retornat, 

Fort  male  contentufy  quando  npoljat  turn, 
Antonium  Levant  trobavit  forte  maladum, 

Cui  mors  terribilis  trifle  cubile  firat. 

T    T  Etkita 


322  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Ethica  torquct  turn  per  coftas,  et  dolor  mgens  : 

Cum  male  ret  vadit,  vivere  fachat  earn. 
Dixcrunt  medici,  fperanja  eft  niilla  falutis  ; 

Ethicui  in  tefta  inhere  pauca  potcft. 
Ante  juam  mortem  imluit  par  tare  per  horam 

Imperelatori,  conjiimmque  dare. 
Scis,  Ccefar,  ftri&e  noftri  groppantur  amorei, 

Namque  dual  animal  corpus  utrumque  tenet, 
Heu  !  fuge  Provenfam  fortem,  fuge  iittus  amarum, 

Pac  tibl  nan  noceat  gloria  tanta  modo. 


TRAXSLATION. 


But  when  he  returns  from  boafting  Marseilles, 

Very  ill  content,  that  /he  had  repuljed  him, 
He  found  dntonio  de  Leyva  very  ill, 

For  whom  terrible  death  is  preparing  aforrowful  bed. 
Heflic  fever  tortures  him  in  the  ribs,  and  great  pain  ; 

Since  things  are  going  ill,  he  is  -weary  of  life. 
Before  his  death  he  voijhtd  to  f peak  an  hour 

To  the  emperor,  and  to  give  him  counfel. 
"  You  know,  Ctefar,  our  affeffions  are  clojely  bound  together, 

For  either  body  holds  the  two  fouls, 
Alat  !  fy  Provence  the  ftrong,  jly  the  bitter  Jbore, 

Take  care  that  your  great  glory  prove  not  an  injury  to  you.'" 

Thus  Leyva  goes  on  to  perfuade  the  emperor  to  abandon  his  enterprife, 
and  then  dies.  Arena  exults  over  his  death,  and  over  the  emperor's 
grief  for  his  lofs,  and  then  proceeds  to  defcribe  the  difaftrous  retreat  of  the 
imperial  army,  and  the  glory  of  France  in  her  king. 

Antonius  de  Arena  wrote  with  vigour  and  humour,  but  his  verfes  are 
tame  in  comparifon  with  his  model,  Folengo.  The  tafte  for  macaronic 
verfe  never  took  ftrong  root  in  France,  and  the  few  obfcure  writers  who 
attempted  to  mine  in  that  kind  of  compofition  are  now  forgotten,  except 
by  the  laborious  bibliographer.  One  named  Jean  Germain,  wrote  a 
macaronic  hiftory  of  the  invafion  of  Provence  by  the  imperialifts  in  rivalry 
of  Arenas.  I  will  not  follow  the  tafte  for  this  clafs  of  burlefque  compofi- 
tion into  Spain  or  Germany,  but  merely  add  that  it  was  not  adopted  in 
England  until  the  beginning  of  the  feventeenth  century,  when  feveral 
authors  employed  it  at  about  the  fame  time.  The  moft  perfect  example 
of  thefe  early  Englifh  macaronics  is  the  "  Polemo-Middiana,"  i.e.  battle  of 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


323 


the  dunghill,  by  the  talented  and  elegant-minded  Drummond  of  Haw- 
thornden.  We  may  take  a  fingle  example  of  the  Englifli  macaronic 
from  this  poem,  which  will  not  need  an  Englim  tranflation.  One  of  the 
female  characters  in  the  dunghill  war,  calls,  among  others,  to  her  aid  — 

HUHC  qul  dirtlferai  ter/tt  cum  dijbckuty  dijbras, 
Hunc  qui  gruelias  fc'rvlt  bene  lickere  plettas, 
Et  faltpannlfumos,  et  •widebricatosjijherof, 
Hellaofque  etiam  falteros  duxit  ab  antris, 
Coalheughc/t  nlgri  girnantet  more  divelli  j 
Lifeguardamque  Jibi  f&vas  -vocat  improba  lajfast 
Maggyam  mag'u  do  flam  milkare  covceas, 
Et  doliam  fuepare  jjourast  et  Jlernere  beddas, 
QjKtque  novit  fpinnare,  et  longas  ducere  threddas  ; 
Nanfyam,  claves  bene  qua  keepa-verat  omnesy 

lanam  cardare  Jolet  greajy-jingria  Betty. 


Perhaps  before  this  was  written,  the  eccentric  Thomas  Coryat  had 
publifhed  in  the  volume  of  his  Crudities,  printed  in  1611,  a  fhort  piece  of 
verfe,  which  is  perfect  in  its  macaronic  ftyle,  but  in  which  Italian  and 
other  foreign  words  are  introduced,  as  well  as  Englifli.  The  celebrated 
comedy  of  "  Ignoramus,"  compofed  by  George  Ruggle  in  1615,  may  alfo  be 
mentioned  as  containing  many  excellent  examples  of  Englim  macaronics. 
While  Italy  was  giving  birth  to  macaronic  verfe,  the  fatire  upon  the 
ignorance  and  bigotry  of  the  clergy  was  taking  another  form  in  Germany, 
which  arofe  from  fome  occurrences  which  it  will  be  neceflary  to  relate. 
In  the  midft  of  the  violent  religious  agitation  at  the  beginning  of  the 
fixteenth  century  in  Germany,  there  lived  a  German  Jew  named  Pfeffer- 
corn,  who  embraced  Chriftianity,  and  to  mow  his  zeal  for  bis  new  faith, 
he  obtained  from  the  emperor  an  edict  ordering  the  Talmud  and  all  the 
Jewifh  writings  which  were  contrary  to  the  Chriflian  faith  to  be  burnt. 
There  lived  at  the  fame  time  a  fcholar  of  distinction,  and  of  more  liberal 
views  than  moft  of  the  fcholattics  of  his  time,  named  John  Reuchlin. 
He  was  a  relative  of  Melancthon,  and  was  fecretary  to  the  palfgrave, 
who  was  tolerant  like  himfelf.  The  Jews,  as  might  be  expected, 
were  unwilling  to  give  up  their  books  to  be  burnt,  and  Reuchlin 
wrote  in  their  defence,  under  the  affumed  name  of  Capnion,  which  is  a 

Hebrew 


3  24  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Hebrew  tranflation  of  his  own  name  of  Reuchlin,  meaning  fmoke,  and 
urged  that  it  was  better  to  refute  the  books  in  queftion  than  to  burn 
them.  The  converted  Pfeffercorn  replied  in  a  book  entitled  "  Speculum 
Manuale,"  in  anfwer  to  which  Reuchlin  wrote  his  "  Speculum  Ocu- 
lare."  The  controverfy  had  already  provoked  much  bigoted  ill-feeling 
againft  Reuchlin.  The  learned  doftors  of  the  univerfity  of  Cologne 
efpoufed  the  caufe  of  Pfeffercorn,  and  the  principal  of  the  univerfity, 
named  in  Latin  Ortuinus  Gratius,  fupported  by  the  Sorbonne  in  Paris, 
lent  himfelf  to  be  the  violent  organ  of  the  intolerant  party.  Hard  prefTed 
by  his  bigoted  opponents,  Reuchlin  found  good  allies,  but  one  of  the  beft 
of  thefe  was  a  brave  baron  named  Ulric  von  Hutten,  of  an  old  and  noble 
family,  born  in  1488  in  the  caftle  of  Staeckelberg,  in  Franconia.  He  had 
ftudied  in  the  fchools  at  Fulda,  Cologne,  and  Frankfort  on  the  Oder,  and 
diftinguifhed  himfelf  fo  much  as  a  fcholar,  that  he  obtained  the  degree  of 
Mafter  of  Arts  before  the  ufual  age.  But  Ulric  poflefled  an  adventurous 
and  chivalrous  fpirit,  which  led  him  to  embrace  the  profeflion  of  a  foldier, 
and  he  ferved  in  the  wars  in  Italy,  where  he  was  diftinguifhed  by  his 
bravery.  He  was  at  Rome  in  iji6,  and  defended  Reuchlin  againft  the 
Dominicans.  The  fame  year  appeared  the  firft  edition  of  that  marvellous 
book,  the  "Epistolae  Obfcurorum  Virorum,"  one  of  the  moft  remarkable 
fatires  that  the  world  has  yet  feen.  It  is  believed  that  this  book  came 
entirely  from  the  pen  of  Ulric  von  Hutten  ;  and  the  notion  that  Reuchlin 
himfelf,  or  any  others  of  his  friends,  had  a  ihare  in  it  appears  to  be 
without  foundation.  Ulric  was  in  the  following  year  made  poet-laureat. 
Neverthelefs,  this  book  greatly  incenfed  the  monks  againft  him,  and  he 
was  often  threatened  with  aflaflination.  Yet  he  boldly  advocated  the  caufe 
and  embraced  the  opinions  of  Luther,  and  was  one  of  the  ftaunch  fup- 
porters  of  Lutheranifm.  After  a  very  turbulent  life,  Ulric  von  Hutten 
died  in  the  Auguft  of  the  year  1523. 

The  "  Epiftolae  Obfcurorum  Virorum,"  or  letters  of  obfcure  men,  are 
fuppoled  to  be  addreffed  to  Ortuinus  Gratins,  mentioned  above,  by  various 
individuals,  fome  his  fcholars,  others  his  friends,  but  all  belonging  to  the 
bigoted  party  oppofed  to  Reuchlin,  and  they  were  defigned  to  throw 
ridicule  on  the  ignorance,  bigotry,  and  immorality  of  the  clergy  of  the 

Romifh 


in  Literature  and  Art.  325 


Romifh  church.  The  old  fcholaftic  learning  had  become  debafed  into  a 
heavy  and  barbarous  fyftem  of  theology,  literary  compofition  confided  in 
writing  a  no  lefs  barbarous  Latin,  and  even  the  few  claffical  writers  who 
were  admitted  into  the  fchools,  were  explained  and  commented  upon  in  a 
ftrange  half-theological  fafhion.  Thefe  old  fcholailics  were  bitterly  oppofed 
to  the  new  learning,  which  had  taken  root  in  Italy,  and  was  fpreading 
abroad,  and  they  fpoke  contemptuoufly  of  it  as  "  fecular."  The  letters 
of  the  obfcure  individuals  relate  chiefly  to  the  difpute  between  Reuchlin 
and  PfefFercorn,  to  the  rivalry  between  the  old  fcholarfhip  and  the  new, 
and  to  the  low  licentious  lives  of  the  theologifts ;  and  they  are  written  in 
a  ftyle  of  Latin  which  is  intended  for  a  parody  on  that  of  the  latter,  and 
which  clofely  refembles  that  which  we  call  "dog- Latin."*  They  are 
full  of  wit  and  humour  of  the  moft  exquifite  defcription,  but  they  too 
often  defcend  into  details,  treated  in  terms  which  can  only  be  excufed 
by  the  coarfe  and  licentious  character  of  the  age.  The  literary  and 
fcientific  queftions  difcuffed  in  thefe  letters  are  often  very  droll.  The  firit 
in  order  of  the  correfpondents  of  Ortuinus  Gratius,  who  boafls  of  the 
rather  formidable  name,  Thomas  Langfchneiderius,  and  addrefles  mafter 
Ortuinus  as  "poet,  orator,  philofopher,  and  theologift,  and  more  if  he 
would,"  propounds  to  him  a  difficult  queftion  :•'— 

"  There  was  here  one  day  an  Aristotelian  dinner,  and  doctors,  licentiates,  and 
masters  too,  were  very  jovial,  and  I  was  there  too,  and  we  drank  at  the  first  course 
three  draughts  of  Malmsey,  .  .  •  and  then  we  had  six  dishes  of  flesh  and  chickens  and 
capons,  and  one  of  fish,  and  as  we  passed  from  one  dish  to  another,  we  continually 
drunk  wine  of  Kotzburg  and  the  Rhine,  and  ale  of  Embeck,  and  Thurgen,  and 
Neuburg.  And  the  masters  were  well  satisfied,  and  said  that  the  new  masters  had 
acquitted  themselves  well  and  with  great  honour.  Then  the  masters  in  their 
hilarity  began  to  talk  learnedly  on  great  questions,  and  one  asked  whether  it  were 

correct 

*  This  style  differs  entirely  from  the  macaronic.  It  consists  merely  in  using 
the  words  of  the  Latin  language  with  the  forms  and  construction  of  the  vulgar 
tongue,  as  illustrated  by  the  directions  of  the  professor  who,  lecturing  in  the  schools, 
was  interrupted  by  the  entrance  of  a  clog,  and  shouted  out  to  the  doorkeeper,  Verte 
canem  ex,  meaning  thereby  that  he  should  "  turn  the  dog  out."  It  was  perhaps  from 
this,  or  some  similar  occurrence,  that  this  barbarous  Latin  gained  the  name  of 
dog-Latin.  The  French  call  it  Latin  de  cuifme. 


326  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


correct  to  say  magifter  noftrandut,  or  nofter  magiftrandmt  for  a  person  fit  to  be  made  doctor 
in  theology.  .  .  .  And  immediately  Master  Warmsemmel,  who  is  a  subtle  Scotist, 
and  has  been  master  eighteen  years,  and  was  in  his  time  twice  rejected  and  thrice 
delayed  for  the  degree  of  master,  and  he  went  on  offering  himself,  until  he  was  pro- 
moted for  the  honour  of  the  university, .  .  .  spoke,  and  held  that  we  should  say  nofter 
magiftrandus.  .  .  .  Then  Master  Andreas  Delitsch,  who  is  very  subtle,  and  half  poet, 
half  artist  (I.e.  one  who  professed  in  the  faculty  of  arts),  physician,  and  jurist;  and 
now  he  reads  ordinarily  '  Ovid  on  the  Metamorphoses,'  and  expounds  all  the 
fables  allegorically  and  literally,  and  I  was  his  hearer,  because  he  expounds  very 
fundamentally,  and  he  also  reads  at  home  Quintillian  and  Juvencus,  and  he  held 
the  opposite  to  Master  Warmsemmel,  and  said  that  we  ought  to  say  magifter 
noftrandus.  For  as  there  is  a  difference  between  magifter  nofter  and  nofter  magijier,  so 
also  there  is  a  difference  between  magifter  noftrandus  and  nofter  magiftrandus;  for  a  doctor 
in  theology  is  called  magifter  nofttr,  and  it  is  one  word,  but  nofter  magifter  are  two 
words,  and  it  is  taken  for  any  master ;  and  he  quoted  Horace  in  support  of  this. 
Then  the  masters  much  admired  his  subtlety,  and  one  drank  to-him  a  cup  of  Neu- 
burg  ale.  And  he  said, '  I  will  wait,  but  spare  me,*  and  touched  his  hat,  and 
laughed  heartily,  and  drank  to  Master  Warmsemmel,  and  said,  '  There,  master, 
don't  think  I  am  an  enemy,'  and  he  drank  it  off  at  one  draught,  and  Master  Warm- 
semmel replied  to  him  with  a  strong  draught.  And  the  masters  were  all  merry  till 
the  bell  rang  for  Vespers." 

Matter  Ortuin  is  prefled  for  his  judgment  on  this  weighty  queftion.  A 
fimilar  fcene  defcribed  in  another  letter  ends  lefs  peacefully.  The  cor- 
refpondent  on  this  occafion  is  Magifter  Bornharddus  Plumilegus,  who 
addrefles  Ortuinus  Gratius  as  follows  : — 

"  Wretched  is  the  mouse  which  has  only  one  hole  for  a  refuge  !  So  also  I  may 
say  of  myself,  most  venerable  sir,  for  I  should  be  poor  if  I  had  only  one  friend,  and 
when  that  one  should  fail  me,  then  I  should  not  have  another  to  treat  me  with  kind- 
ness. As  is  the  case  now  with  a  certain  poet  here,  who  is  called  George  Sibutus, 
and  he  is  one  of  the  secular  poets,  and  reads  publicly  in  poetry,  and  is  in  other 
respects  a  good  fellow  (bonus  focius") .  But  as  you  know  these  poets,  when  they  are 
not  theologists  like  you,  will  always  reprehend  others,  and  despise  the  theologists. 
And  once  in  a  drinking  party  in  his  house,  when  we  were  drinking  Thurgen  ale,  and 
sat  until  the  hour  of  tierce,  and  I  was  moderately  drunk,  because  that  ale  rose  into 
my  head,  then  there  was  one  who  was  not  before  friendly  with  me,  and  I  drank  to  him 
half  a  cup,  and  he  accepted  it.  But  afterwards  he  would  not  return  the  compliment. 
And  thrice  I  cautioned  him,  and  he  would  not  reply,  but  sat  in  silence  and  said 
nothing.  Then  I  thought  to  myself,  Behold  this  man  treats  thee  with  contempt, 
and  is  proud,  and  always  wants  to  confound  you.  And  I  was  stirred  in  my  anger, 
and  took  the  cup,  and  threw  it  at  his  head.  Then  that  poet  was  angry  at  me,  and 
said  that  I  had  caused  a  disturbance  in  his  house,  and  said  I  should  go  out  of  his 
house  in  the  devil's  name.  Then  I  replied,  'What  matter  is  it  if  you  are  my 

enemy  ? 


in  Literature  and  Art.  327 


enemy  ?  1  have  had  as  bad  enemies  as  you,  and  yet  I  have  stood  in  spite  of  them. 
What  matters  it  if  you  are  a  poet?  I  have  other  poets  who  are  my  friends,  and  they 
are  quite  as  good  as  you,  ego  bent  merdarem  in  -veftram  poetriam  !  Do  you  think  I  am  a 
fool,  or  that  I  was  born  under  a  tree  like  apples  ?'  Then  he  called  me  an  ass,  and 
said  that  I  never  saw  a  poet.  And  I  said,  '  You  are  an  ass  in  your  skin,  I  have 
seen  many  more  poets  than  you.'  And  I  spoke  of  you.  .  .  .  Wherefore  I  ask  you 
very  earnestly  to  write  me  one  piece  of  verse,  and  then  I  will  show  it  to  this  poet 
and  others,  and  I  will  boast  that  you  are  my  friend,  and  you  are  a  much  better 
poet  than  he." 

The  war  againft  the  fecular  poets,  or  advocates  of  the  new  learning, 
is  kept  up  with  fpirit  through  this  ludicrous  correfpondence.  One  corre- 
fpondent  preffes  Ortuinus  Gratius  to  "  write  to  me  whether  it  be  neceffary 
for  eternal  falvation  that  fcholars  learn  grammar  from  the  fecular  poets, 
fuch  as  Virgil,  Tullius,  Pliny,  and  others;  for,"  he  adds,  "it  feems  to 
me  that  this  is  not  a  good  method  of  fludying."  "As  I  have  often 
written  to  you,"  fays  another,  "  I  am  grieved  that  this  ribaldry  (i/ia 
ribaldria) ,  namely,  the  faculty  of  poetry,  becomes  common,  and  is  fpread 
through  all  provinces  and  regions.  In  my  time  there  was  only  one  poet, 
who  was  called  Samuel;  and  now,  in  this  city  alone,  there  are  at  leaft 
twenty,  and  they  vex  us  all  who  hold  with  the  ancients.  Lately  I 
thoroughly  defeated  one,  who  faid  thatfcholaris  does  not  fignify  a  perfon 
who  goes  to  the  fchool  for  the  purpofe  of  learning ;  and  I  faid,  '  Afs  ! 
will  you  correct  the  holy  doctor  who  expounded  this  word  ?  "  The  new 
learning  was,  of  courfe,  identified  with  the  fupporters  of  Reuchlin.  "  It 
is  faid  here,"  continues  the  fame  correfpondent,  "  that  all  the  poets  will 
fide  with  doctor  Reuchlin  againft  the  theologians.  I  wifh  all  the  poets 
were  in  the  place  where  pepper  grows,  that  they  might  let  us  go  in 
peace !" 

Matter  William  Lamp,  "matter  of  arts,"  fends  to  Matter  Ortuinus 
Gratius,  a  narrative  of  his  adventures  in  a  journey  from  Cologne  to  Rome. 
Firft  he  went  to  Mayence,  where  his  indignation  was  moved  by  the  open 
manner  in  which  people  fpoke  in  favour  of  Reuchlin,  and  when  he 
hazarded  a  contrary  opinion,  he  was  only  laughed  at,  but  he  held  his 
tongue,  becaufe  his  opponents  all  carried  arms  and  looked  fierce.  "  One 
of  them  is  a  count,  and  is  a  long  man,  and  has  white  hair;  and  they  fay 
that  he  takes  a  man  in  armour  in  his  hand,  and  throws  him  to  the  ground, 

and 


328  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

and  he  has  a  fword  as  long  as  a  giant ;  when  I  faw  him,  then  I  held  my 
tongue."  At  Worms,  he  found  things  no  better,  for  the  "  do&ors  "  fpoke 
bitterly  againft  the  theologians,  and  when  he  attempted  to  expoftulate,  he 
got  foul  words  as  well  as  threats,  a  learned  doctor  in  medicine  affirming 
"  quod  merdaret  fuper  nos  omnes."  On  leaving  Worms,  Lamp  and  his 
companion,  another  theologift,  fell  in  with  plunderers  who  made  them  pay 
two  florins  to  drink,  "  and  I  faid  occulte,  Drink  what  may  the  devil  blefs  to 
you!"  Subfequently  they  fell  into  low  amours  at  country  inns,  which 
are  defcribed  coarfely,  and  then  they  reached  Infprucken,  where  they 
found  the  emperor,  and  his  court  and  army,  with  whofe  manners  and 
proceedings  Magifter  Lamp  became  forely  difgufted.  I  pafs  over  other 
adventures  till  they  reach  Mantua,  the  birthplace  of  Virgil,  and  of  a  late 
mediaeval  Latin  poet,  named  from  it  Baptifta  Mantuanus.  Lamp,  in  his 
hoftile  fpirit  towards  the  "  fecular  poets,"  proceeds, — "  And  my  companion 
faid,  '  Here  Virgil  was  born.'  I  replied, '  What  do  I  care  for  that  pagan  ? 
We  will  go  to  the  Carmelites,  and  fee  Baptifta  Mantuanus,  who  is  twice 
as  good  as  Virgil,  as  I  have  heard  full  ten  times  from  Ortuinus  j '  and  I 
told  him  how  you  once  reprehended  Donatus,  when  he  fays,  'Virgil  was 
the  moft  learned  of  poets,  and  the  beft ;'  and  you  faid, '  If  Donatus  were 
here,  I  would  tell  him  to  his  face  that  he  lies,  for  Baptifta  Mantuanus  is 
above  Virgil.'  And  when  we  came  to  the  monaftery  of  the  Carmelites, 
we  were  told  that  Baptifta  Mantuanus  was  dead ;  then  I  faid,  '  May  he 
reft  in  peace  !'"  They  continued  their  journey  by  Bologna,  where  they 
found  the  inquifitor  Jacob  de  Hochftraten,  and  Florence,  to  Siena.  "After 
this  there  are  fmall  towns,  and  one  is  called  Monte-flafcon,  where  we 
drunk  excellent  wine,  fuch  as  I  never  drank  in  my  life.  And  I  alked  the 
hoft  what  that  wine  is  called,  and  he  replied  that  it  is  lachryma  Chrifti. 
Then  faid  my  companion,  '1  wilh  Chrift  would  cry  in  our  country!' 
And  fo  we  drank  a  good  bout,  and  two  days  after  we  entered  Rome." 

In  the  courfe  of  thefe  letters  the  theologifts,  the  poets  efpecially,  the 
charader  of  the  clergy,  and  particularly  Reuchlin  and  Pfeffercorn,  afford 
continual  fubje&s  for  difpute  arid  pleafantry.  The  laft  mentioned  indivi- 
dual, in  the  opinion  ot  fome,  had  merited  hanging  for  theft,  and  it  was 
pretended  that  the  Jews  had  expelled  him  from  their  fociety  for  his 

wicked 


Literature  and  in  Art.  329 

wicked  courfes.  One  argued  that  all  Jews  (link,  and  as  it  was  well 
known  that  Pfeffercorn  continued  to  flink  like  a  Jew,  it  was  quite  evident 
that  he  could  not  be  a  good  Chriftian.  Some  of  Ortuinus's  correfpon dents 
confult  him  on  difficult  theological  queftions.  Here  is  an  example  in  a 
letter  from  one  Henricus  Schaffmulius,  another  of  his  fcholars  who  had 
made  the  journey  to  Rome  : — 

"  Since,  before  I  journeyed  to  the  Court,  you  said  to  me  that  I  am  to  write 
often  to  you,  and  that  sometimes  I  am  to  send  you  any  theological  questions,  which 
you  will  solve  for  me  better  than  the  courtiers  of  Rome,  therefore  now  I  ask  your 
mastership  what  you  hold  as  to  the  case  when  any  one  on  a  Friday,  or  any  other 
fast  day,  eats  an  eg?,  and  there  is  a  chicken  inside.  Because  the  other  day  we  sat 
in  a  tavern  in  the  Campo-flore,  and  made  a  collation,  and  eat  eggs,  and  I,  opening 
an  egg,  saw  that  there  was  a  young  chicken  in  it,  which  I  showed  to  my  companion, 
and  then  he  said,  '  Eat  it  quickly  before  the  host  sees  it,  for  if  he  sees  it,  then  you 
will  be  obliged  to  give  a  carlino  or  a  julio  for  a  hen,  because  it  is  the  custom  here 
that,  when  the  host  places  anything  on  the  table,  you  must  pay  for  it,  for  they  will 
not  take  it  back.  And  when  he  sees  there  is  a  young  hen  in  the  egg,  he  will  say, 
Pay  me  for  the  hen,  because  he  reckons  a  small  one  the  same  as  a  large  one.'  And 
I  immediately  sucked  up  the  egg,  and  with  it  the  chicken,  and  afterwards  I  bethought 
me  that  it  was  Friday,  and  I  said  to  my  companion.  '  You  have  caused  me  to  com- 
mit a  mortal  sin,  in  eating  flesh  on  Friday.'  And  he  said  that  it  is  not  a  mortal 
sin,  nor  even  a  venial  sin,  because  that  embryo  of  a  chicken  is  not  reckoned  other 
than  an  egg  till  it  is  born  ;  and  he  told  me  that  it  is  as  in  cheeses,  in  which  there 
are  sometimes  worms,  and  in  cherries,  and  fresh  peas  and  beans,  yet  they  are  eaten 
on  Fridays,  and  also  in  the  vigils  of  the  apostles.  But  the  hosts  are  such  rogues, 
that  they  say  that  they  are  flesh,  that  they  may  have  more  money.  Then  I  went 
away,  and  thought  about  it.  And,  per  Deum !  Magister  Ortuinus,  I  am  much 
troubled,  and  I  know  not  how  I  ought  to  rule  myself.  If  I  went  to  ask  advice  of  a 
courtier  [of  the  papal  court],  I  know  that  they  have  not  good  consciences.  It 
seems  to  me  that  these  young  hens  in  the  eggs  are  flesh,  because  the  matter  is  already 
formed  and  figured  in  members  and  bodies  of  an  animal,  and  it  has  life  ;  it  is  other- 
wise with  worms  in  cheeses  and  other  things,  because  worms  are  reputed  for  fishes, 
as  I  have  heard  from  a  physician,  who  is  a  very  good  naturalist.  Therefore  I  ask 
you  very  earnestly,  that  you  will  give  me  your  reply  on  this  question.  Because  it  you 
hold  that  it  is  a  mortal  sin,  then  I  will  purchase  an  absolution  here,  before  I  return 
to  Germany.  Also  you  must  know  that  our  master  Jacobus  de  Hochstraten  has 
obtained  a  thousand  florins  from  the  bank,  and  I  think  that  with  these  he  will  gain 
his  cause,  and  the  devil  confound  that  John  Reuchlin,  and  the  other  poets  and 
jurists,  because  they  will  be  against  the  church  of  God,  that  is,  against  the  theologists, 
in  whom  is  founded  the  church,  as  Christ  said  :  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this 
rock  I  will  build  my  church.  And  so  I  commend  you  to  the  Lord  God.  Fare- 
well. Given  from  the  city  of  Rome." 

While  in  Italy  macaronic  literature  was  reaching  itsgreateft  perfection, 

u  u  there 


330  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


there  arofe  in  the  very  centre  of  France  a  man  of  great  original  genius, 
who  was  foon  to  aftonifti  the  world  by  a  new  form  of  fatire,  more 
grotefque  and  more  comprehensive  than  anything  that  had  been  feen 
before.  Teofilo  Folengo  may  fairly  be  confidered  as  the  precurfor  of 
Rabelais,  who  appears  to  have  taken  the  Italian  fatirift  as  his  model. 
What  we  know  of  the  life  of  Franpois  Rabelais  is  rather  obfcure  at  beft, 
and  is  in  fome  parts  no  doubt  fabulous.  He  was  born  at  Chinon  in 
Touraine,  either  in  1483  or  in  1487,  for  this  feems  to  be  a  difputed  point, 
and  fome  doubt  has  been  thrown  on  the  trade  or  profeflion  of  his  father, 
but  the  moft  generally  received  opinion  is  that  he  was  an  apothecary. 
He  is  faid  to  have  fhown  from  his  youth  a  difpofition  more  inclined  to 
gaiety  than  to  ferious  purfuits,  yet  at  an  early  age  he  had  made  great 
proficiency  in  learning,  and  is  faid  to  have  acquired  a  very  fufficient 
knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew,  two  of  which,  at  leaft,  were 
not  popular  among  the  popifh  clergy,  and  not  only  of  the  modern  lan- 
guages and  literature  of  Italy,  Germany,  and  Spain,  but  even  of  Arabic. 
Probably  this  eftimate  of  his  acquirements  in  learning  is  rather  exaggerated. 
It  is  not  quite  clear  where  the  young  Rabelais  gained  all  this  knowledge, 
for  he  is  faid  to  have  been  educated  in  convents  and  among  monks,  and 
to  have  become  at  a  rather  early  age  a  Francifcan  friar  in  the  convent  of 
Fontenai-le-Compte,  in  Lower  Poitou,  where  he  became  an  obje6t  of 
jealoufy  and  ill-feeling  to  the  other  friars  by  his  fuperior  acquirements. 
It  was  a  tradition,  at  leaft,  that  the  condu6t  of  Rabelais  was  not  very  ftri&ly 
conventual,  and  that  he  had  fo  far  fhown  his  contempt  for  monaftic  rule, 
and  for  the  bigotry  of  the  Romifh  church,  that  he  was  condemned  to  the 
prifon  of  his  monaftery,  upon  a  diet  of  bread  and  water,  which,  according 
to  common"  report,  was  very  uncongenial  .with  the  taftes  of  this  jovial 
friar.  Out  of  this  difficulty  he  is  faid  to  have  been  helped  by  his  friend 
the  bifhop  of  Maillezais,  who  obtained  for  him  the  pope's  licence  to 
change  the  order  of  St.  Francis  for  the  much  more  eafy  and  liberal  order 
of  St.  Benedict,  and  he  became  a  member  of  the  bifhop's  own  chapter  in 
the  abbey  of  Maillezais.  His  unfteady  temper,  however,  was  not  long 
fatisficd  with  this  retreat,  which  he  left,  and,  laying  afide  the  regular 
habit,  afliimed  that  of  a  fecular  prieft.  In  this  charader  he  wandered  for 

fome 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3  3 1 

fome  time,  and  then  fettled  at  Montpellier,  where  he  took  a  degree  as 
dodor  in  medicine,  and  praclifed  for  fome  time  with  credit.  There  he 
published  in  1532  a  tranflation  of  fome  works  of  Hippocrates  and  Galen, 
which  he  dedicated  to  his  friend  the  biftiop  of  Maillezais.  Thfe  circum- 
ftances  under  which  he  left  Montpellier  are  not  known,  but  he  is  fup- 
pofed  to  have  gone  to  Paris  upon  fome  bufinefs  of  the  univerfity,  and  to 
have  remained  there.  He  found  there  a  ftaunch  friend  in  Jean  de 
Bellay,  bifhop  of  Paris,  who  foon  afterwards  was  raifed  to  the  rank  of 
cardinal.  When  the  cardinal  de  Bellay  went  as  ambaflador  to  Rome 
from  the  court  of  France,  Rabelais  accompanied  him,  it  is  laid  in  the 
character  of  his  private  medical  advifer,  but  during  his  flay  in  the 
metropolis  of  Chriftendom,  as  Chriftendom  was  underftood  in  thofe  days 
by  the  Romifh  church,  Rabelais  obtained,  on  the  I7th  of  January,  1536, 
the  papal  abfolution  for  all  his  tranfgreffions,  and  licence  to  return  to 
Maillezais,  and  pra&ife  medicine  there  and  elfewhere  as  an  a£t  of  charity. 
Thus  he  became  again  a  Benedictine  monk.  He,  however,  changed 
again,  and  became  a  fecular  canon,  and  finally  fettled  down  as  the  cure 
of  Meudon,  near  Paris,  with  which  he  alfo  held  a  fair  number  of  ecclefi- 
aftical  benefices.  Rabelais  died  in  i553>  according  to  fome  in  a  very 
religious  manner,  but  others  have  given  ftrange  accounts  of  his  lafl 
moments,  reprefenting  that,  even  when  dying,  he  converfed  in  the  fame 
fpirit  of  mockery,  not  only  of  Romim  forms  and  ceremonies,  but  of  all 
religions  whatever,  which  was  afcribed  to  him  during  his  life,  and  which 
are  but  too  openly  manifefted  in  the  extraordinary  fatirical  romance 
\vhich  has  given  fo  much  celebrity  to  his  name. 

During  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  Rabelais  was  expofed  to  troubles 
and  perfecutions.  He  was  faved  from  the  intrigues  of  the  monks  by  the 
friendly  influence  of  popes  and  cardinals ;  and  the  favour  of  two  fucceflive 
kings,  Francois  I.  and  Henri  II.,  protected  him  againft  the  ftill  more 
dangerous  hoftility  of  the  Sorbonne  and  the  parliament  of  Paris.  This 
high  protection  has  been  advanced  as  a  reafon  for  rejecting  the  anecdotes 
and  accounts  which  have  been  commonly  received  relating  to  the  per- 
fonal  character  of  Rabelais,  and  his  irregularities  may  poffibly  have  been 
exaggerated  by  the  hatred  which  he  had  drawn  upon  himfelf  by  his 

writings. 


332  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

writings.  But  nobody,  I  think,  who  knows  the  character  of  fociety  at 
that  time,  who  compares  what  we  know  of  the  lives  of  the  other  fatirifts, 
and  who  has  read  the  hiftory  of  Gargantua  and  Pantagruel,  will  confider 
fuch  an  argument  of  much  weight  againft  the  deliberate  ftatements  of 
thofe  who  were  his  contemporaries,  or  be  inclined  to  doubt  that  the 
writer  of  this  hiftory  was  a  man  of  jovial  character,  who  loved  a  good 
buttle  and  a  broad  joke,  and  perhaps  other  things  that  were  equally 
objectionable.  His  books  prefent  a  fort  of  wild  riotous  orgy,  without 
much  order  or  plan,  except  the  mere  outline  of  the  ftory,  in  which  is  dif- 
played  an  extraordinary  extent  of  reading  in  all  clailes  of  literature,  from 
the  moft  learned  to  the  moil  popular,  with  a  wonderful  command  of  lan- 
guage, great  imagination,  and  fome  poetry,  intermixed  with  a  per- 
haps larger  amount  of  downright  obfcene  ribaldry,  than  can  be  found  in 
the  macaronics  of  Folengo,  in  the  "Epiftolae  Obfcurorum  Virorum,"  or 
in  the  works  of  any  of  the  other  fatirifts  who  had  preceded  him,  or  were 
his  contemporaries.  It  is  a  broad  caricature,  poor  enough  in  its  ftory,  but 
enriched  with  details,  which  are  brilliant  with  imagery,  though  generally 
coarfe,  and  which  are  made  the  occafions  for  turning  to  ridicule  everything 
that  exifted.  The  five  books  of  this  romance  were  publiilied  feparately 
and  at  different  periods,  apparently  without  any  fixed  intention  of  con- 
tinuing them.  The  earlier  editions  of  the  firft  part  were  publifhed 
without  date,  but  the  earlieit  editions  with  dates  belong  to  the  year  1535, 
when  it  was  feveral  times  reprinted.  It  appeared  as  the  life  of  Gar- 
gantua. This  hero  is  fuppofed  to  have  flouriflied  in  the  firft  half  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  to  have  been  the  fon  of  Grandgoufier,  king  of 
Utopia,  a  country  which  lay  fomewhere  in  the  direction  of  Chinon,  a 
prince  of  an  ancient  dynafty,  but  a  jovial  fellow,  who  loved  good  eating 
and  drinking  better  than  anything  elfe.  Grandgoufier  married  Garga- 
melle,  daughter  of  the  king  of  the  Parpaillos,  who  became  the  mother  of 
Gargantua.  The  firft  chapters  relate  rather  minutely  how  the  child  was 
born,  and  came  out  at  its  mother's  ear,  why  it  was  called  Gargantua,  how 
it  was  drelfed  and  treated  in  infancy,  what  were  its  amufements  and 
difpofition,  and  how  Gargantua  was  put  to  learning  under  the  fophifts, 
and  made  no  progrefs.  Thereupon  Grandgoufier  fent  his  fon  to  Paris,  to 

feek 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


333 


feek  inftru6tion  there,  and  he  proceeds  thither  mounted  on  an  immenfe 
mare,  which  had  been  fent  as  a  prefent  by  the  king  of  Numidia — it  muft 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  royal  race  of  Utopia  were  all  giants.  At 
Paris  the  populace  affembled  tumultuoufly  to  gratify  their  curiofity  in 
looking  at  this  new  fcholar;  but  Gargantua,  befides  treating  them  in  a 
very  contemptuous  manner,  carried  off  the  great  bells  of  Notre  Dame  to 
fufpend  at  the  neck  of  his  mare.  Great  was  the  indignation  caufed  by 
this  theft.  "  All  the  city  was  rifen  up  in  fedition,  they  being,  as  you  know, 
upon  any  flight  occafions,  fo  ready  to  uproars  and  infurreclions,  that  foreign 
nations  wonder  at  the  patience  of  the  kings  of  France,  who  do  not  by 
good  juftice  reftrain  them  from  fuch  tumultuous  courfes."  The  citizens 
take  counfel,  and  refolve  on  fending  one  of  the  great  orators  of  the 
univerfity,  Mafter  Janotus  de  Bragmardo,  to  expoftulate  with  Gargantua, 
and  obtain  the  reiteration  of  the  bells.  The  fpeech  which  this  worthy 
addreffes  to  Gargantua,  in  fulfilment  of  his  miflion,  is  an  amufing  parody 
on  the  pedantic  ftyle  of  Parifian  oratory.  The  bells,  however,  are  re- 
covered, and  Gargantua,  under  Ikilful  inftruftors,  purfues  his  ftudies  with 
credit,  until  he  is  fuddenly  called  home  by  a  letter  from  his  father.  In 
fa6t,  Grandgoufier  was  fuddenly  involved  in  a  war  with  his  neighbour 
Picrocole,  king  of  Lejne,  caufed  by  a  quarrel  about  cakes  between  fome 
cake-makers  of  Lerne  and  Grandgoufier's  fhepherds,  in  confequence  of 
which  Picrocole  had  invaded  the  dominions  of  Grandgoufier,  and  was 
plundering  and  ravaging  them.  His  warlike  humour  is  ftirred  up  by  the 
counfels  of  his  three  lieutenants,  who  perfuade  him  that  he  is  going  to 
become  a  great  conqueror,  and  that  they  will  make  him  mailer  of  the 
whole  world.  It  is  not  difficult  to  fee,  in  the  circumftances  of  the  time, 
the  general  aim  of  the  fatire  contained  in  the  hiftory  of  this  war.  It  ends 
in  the  entire  defeat  and  difappearance  of  king  Picrocole.  A  fenfual  and 
jovial  monk  named  brother  Jean  des  Entommeurs,  who  has  firfl  diftin- 
guifhed  himfelf  by  his  prowefs  and  ftrength  in  defending  his  own  abbey 
againft  the  invaders,  contributes  largely  to  the  victory  gained  by  Gargantua 
againft  his  father's  enemies,  and  Gargantua  rewards  him  by  founding  for 
him  that  pleafant  abbey  of  Theleme,  a  grand  eftablifhment,  flored  with 
everything  which  could  contribute  to  terreftrial  happinefs,  from  which 

all 


334  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

all  hypocrites  and  bigots  were   to  be   excluded,  and  the  rule  of  which 
was  comprifed  in  the  four  fimple  words,  "  Do  as  you  like." 

Such  is  the  hiftory  of  Gargantua,  which  was  afterwards  formed  by 
Rabelais  into  the  firft  book  of  his  great  comic  romance.  It  was  pub- 
lifhed  anonymoufly,  the  author  merely  defcribing  himfelf  as  "  I'abftra&eur 
de  quinte  efTence  j "  but  he  afterwards  adopted  the  pfeudonyme  of 
Alcofribas  Nader,  which  is  merely  an  anagram  of  his  own  name,  Francois 
Rabelais.  A  very  improbable  ftory  has  been  handed  down  to  us  relating 
to  this  book.  It  is  pretended  that,  having  publifhed  a  book  of  medical 
fcience  which  had  no  fale,  and  the  publither  complaining-  that  he  had 
loft  money  by  it,  Rabelais  promifed  to  make  amends  for  bis  lofs,  and 
immediately  wrote  the  hiftory  of  Gargantua,  by  which  the  fame  book- 
feller  made  his  fortune.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  this  remarkable 
fatire  had  a  deeper  origin  than  any  cafual  accident  like  this;  but  it  was 
exactly  fuited  to  the  tafte  and  temper  of  the  age.  It  was  quite  original 
in  its  form  and  ftyle,  and  it  met  with  immediate  and  great  fuccefs. 
Numerous  editions  followed  each  other  rapidly,  and  its  author,  encouraged 
by  its  popularity,  very  foon  afterwards  produced  a  fecond  romance,  in 
continuation,  to  which  he  gave  the  title  of  Pantagruel.  The  caricature 
in  this  fecond  romance  is  bolder  even  than  in  the  firft,  the  humour 
broader,  and  the  fatire  more  pungent.  Grandgoufier  has  difappeared 
from  the  fcene,  and  his  fon,  Gargantua,  is  king,  and  has  a  fon  named 
Pantagruel,  whofe  kingdom  is  that  of  the  Dipfodes.  The  firft  part 
of  this  new  romance  is  occupied  chiefly  with  Pantagruel's  youth  and 
education,  and  is  a  fatire  on  the  univerfity  and  on  the  lawyers,  in  which 
the  parodies  on  their  ftyle  of  pleading  as  then  pra6tifed  is  admirable.  In 
the  latter  part,  Pantagruel,  like  his  father  Gargantua,  is  engaged  in  great 
wars.  It  was  perhaps  the  continued  fuccefs  of  this  new  production  of  his 
pen  which  led  Rabelais  to  go  on  with  it,  and  form  the  defign  of  making 
thele  two  books  part  only  of  a  more  extenfive  romance.  During  his 
ftudies  in  Paris,  Pantagruel  has  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  fingular 
individual  named  Panurge,  who  becomes  his  attached  friend  and  conftant 
companion,  holding  fomewhat  the  pofition  of  brother  Jean  in  the  firft 
book,  but  far  more  crafty  and  verfatile.  The  whole  fubjeft  of  the  third 

book 


in  Literature  and  Art.  335 

book  arifes  out  of  Pantagreul's  defire  to  marry,  and  its  various  amuling 
epifodes  defcribe  the  different  expedients  which,  at  the  fuggeftion  of 
Panurge,  he  adopts  to  arrive  at  a  folution  of  the  queftion  whether  his 
marriage  would  be  fortunate  or  not. 

In  publifhing  his  fourth  book,  Rabelais  complains  that  his  writings 
had  raifed  him  enemies,  and  that  he  was  accufed  of  having  at  lead  written 
herefy.  In  fact,  he  had  bitterly  provoked  both  the  monks  and  the  univerfity 
and  parliament ;  and,  as  the  increafing  reaction  of  Romanifm  in  France  gave 
more  power  of  perfecution  to  the  two  latter,  he  was  not  writing  without 
fome  degree  of  danger,  yet  the  fatire  of  each  fucceffive  book  became 
bolder  and  more  direct.  The  fifth,  which  was  left  unfinifhed  at  his  death, 
and  which  was  publifhed  pofthumoufly,  was  the  moft  fevere  of  them  all. 
The  character  of  Gargantua,  indeed,  was  almoft  forgotten  in  that  of  Pan- 
tagruel,  and  Pantagruelifm  became  an  accepted  name  for  the  fort  of  gay, 
recklefs  fatire  of  which  he  was  looked  upon  as  the  model.  He  defcribed 
it  himfelf  as  a  ccrtaine  gaiete  cTefprit  confite  en  mepris  des  chofes  fortuites, 
in  fact,  neither  Romanifm  nor  ProtsUrintifm,  but  fimply  a  jovial  kind  of 
Epicurianifm.  All  the  gay  wits  of  *pe  time  afpired  to  be  Plantagruelifts, 
and  the  remainder  of  the  fixteenth  century  abounded  in  wretched  imita- 
tions of  the  ftyle  of  Rabelais,  which  are  now  configned  as  mere  rarities  to 
the  fhelves  of  the  bibliophilift. 

Among  the  dangers  which  began  to  threaten  them  in  France  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  fixteenth  century,  liberal  opinions  found  an  afylum  at 
the  court  of  a  princefs  who  was  equally  diftinguifhed  by  her  beauty,  by 
her  talents  and  noble  fentiments,  and  by  her  accomplifhments.  Mar- 
guerite d' Angouleme,  queen  of  Navarre,  was  the  only  fifler  of  Fran§ois  I., 
who  was  her  junior  by  two  years,  and  was  affectionately  attached  to  her. 
She  was  born  on  the  nth  of  April,  1492.  She  had  married,  firfl,  that 
unfortunate  duke  d'Alenpon,  whofe  mifconduct  at  Pavia  was  the  caufe  of 
the  difaftrous  defeat  of  the  French,  and  the  captivity  of  their  king.  The 
duke  died,  it  was  faid  of  grief  at  his  misfortune,  in  1525  ;  and  two  years 
afterwards,  on  the  24th  of  January,  1527,  the  married  Henri  d'Albret, 
king  of  Navarre.  Their  daughter,  Jeanne  d'Albret,  carried  this  petty 
royalty  to  the  houfe  of  Bourbon,  and  was  the  mother  of  Henri  IV. 

Marguerite 


336  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  GrotcJ'que 

Marguerite  held  her  court  in  true  princely  manner  in  the  caftle  of 
Pau  or  at  Nerac,  and  (he  loved  to  furround  herfelf  with  a  circle  of  men 
remarkable  for  their  character  and  talents,  and  ladies  diftinguimed  by 
beauty  and  accomplifhments,  which  made  it  rival  in  brilliance  even  that 
of  her  brother  Francois.  She  placed  neareft  to  her  perfon,  under  the 
character  of  her  valets-de-chambre,  the  principal  poets  and  leaux-ejprits 
of  her  time,  fuch  as  Clement  Marot,  Bonaventure  des  Periers,  Claude 
Gruget,  Antoine  du  Moulin,  and  Jean  de  la  Haye,  and  admitted  them  to 
fuch  a  tender  familiarity  of  intercourfe,  as  to  excite  the  jealoufy  of  the 
king  her  hufband,  from  whofe  ill-treatment  ftie  was  only  protected  by 
her  brother's  interference.  The  poets  called  her  chamber  a  "veritable 
Parnaflus."  Hers  was  certainly  a  great  mind,  greedy  of  knowledge, 
diflatisfied  with  what  was,  and  eager  for  novelties,  and  therefore  ihe 
encouraged  all  who  fought  for  them.  It  was  in  this  fpirit,  combined 
with  her  earneft  love  for  letters,  that  fhe  threw  her  protection  over  both 
the  fceptics  and  the  religious  reformers.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
perfections,  as  early  as  1523,  fhe  openly  declared  herfelf  the  advocate  of 
the  Proteftants.  When  Clement  Marot  was  arrefted  by  order  of  the 
Sorbonne  and  the  Inquifitor  on  the  charge  of  having  eaten  bacon  in 
Lent,  Marguerite  caufed  him  to  be  liberated  from  prifon,  in  defiance  of 
his  perfecutors.  Some  of  the  pureft  and  ableft  of  the  early  French 
reformers,  fuch  as  Roufiel  and  Le  Fevre  d'Etaples,  and  Calvin  himfelf, 
found  a  fafe  afylum  from  danger  in  her  dominions.  As  might  be 
fuppofed,  the  bigoted  party  were  bitterly  incenfed  againft  the  queen  of 
Navarre,  and  were  not  backward  in  taking  advantage  of  an  opportunity 
for  mowing  it.  A  moral  treatife,  entitled  "  Le  Miroir  de  1'Ame 
Pecherefle,"  of  which  Marguerite  was  the  author,  was  condemned  by 
the  Sorbonne  in  1533,  but  the  king  compelled  the  univerfity,  in  the 
perfon  of  its  reftor,  Nicolas  Cop,  to  difavow  publicly  the  cenfure.  This 
was  followed  by  a  flill  greater  a<5t  of  infolence,  for,  at  the  inftigation  of 
fome  of  the  more  bigoted  papifts,  the  fcholars  of  the  college  of  Navarre, 
in  concert  with  their  regents,  performed  a  farce  in  which  Marguerite  was 
transformed  into  a  fury  of  hell.  Franpois  I.,  greatly  indignant,  fent  his 
archers  to  arreft  the  offenders,  who  further  provoked  his  anger  by 

refiftance 


in  Literature  and  Art.  337 


refiftance,  and  only  obtained  their  pardon  through  the  generous  inter- 
ceffion  of  the  princefs  whom  they  had  fo  groflly  infulted. 

Marguerite  was  herfelf  a  poetefs,  and  me  loved  above  all  things  thofe 
gay,  and  feldom  very  delicate,  ftories,  the  telling  of  which  was  at  that 
time  one  of  the  favourite  amufements  of  the  evening,  and  one  in  which 
fhe  was  known  to  excel.  Her  poetical  writings  were  collected  and 
printed,  under  her  own  authority,  in  i^47>  by  her  then  valet-de-chamlre, 
Jean  de  la  Haye,  who  dedicated  the  volume  to  her  daughter.  They  are 
all  graceful,  and  fome  of  them  worthy  of  the  beft  poets  of  her  time.  The 
title  of  this  colle&ion  was,  punning  upon  her  name,  which  means  a  pearl, 
"  Marguerites  de  la  Marguerite  des  princefies,  tres  illuftre  reyne  de 
Navarre."  Marguerite's  ftories  (nouvelles)  were  more  celebrated  than 
her  verfes,  and  are  faid  to  have  been  committed  to  writing  under  her 
own  dictation.  All  the  ladies  of  her  court  poffefled  copies  of  them  in 
writing.  It  is  underftood  to  have  been  her  intention  to  form  them  into 
ten  days'  tales,  of  ten  in  each  day,  fo  as  to  referable  the  "Decameron  " 
of  Boccaccio,  but  only  eight  days  were  finimed  at  the  time  of  her  death, 
and  the  imperfeft  work  was  publilhed  pofthumoufly  by  her  valet-de- 
chamlre,  Claude  Gruget,  under  the  title  of  "  L'Heptameron,  ou  Hiftoire 
des  Amants  Fortunes."  It  is  by  far  the  beft  collection  of  ftories  of  the 
fixteenth  century.  They  are  told  charmingly,  in  language  which  is  a 
perfect  model  of  French  compofition  of  that  age,  but  they  are  all  tales  of 
gallantry  fuch  as  could  only  be  repeated  in  polite  fociety  in  an  age 
which  was  eflentially  licentious.  Queen  Marguerite  died  on  the  aift  of 
December,  1549,  and  was  buried  in  the  cathedral  of  Pau.  Her  death 
was  a  fubjecl:  of  regret  to  all  that  was  good  and  all  that  was  poetic,  not 
only  in  France,  but  in  Europe,  which  had  been  accuftomed  to  look  upon 
her  as  the  tenth  Mufe  and  the  fourth  Grace  : — 

Mujarum  deciaia  et  Charitum  yuarta,  inclyta  regum 
Et  furor  et  conjux,  Marguarii  ilia  jacet. 

Before  Marguerite's  death,  he:  literary  circle  had  been  broken  up  by 
the  hatred  of  religious  perfecutors.  Already,  in  1536,  the  imprudent 
boldnefs  of  Marot  had  rendered  it  impofiible  to  protect  him  any  longer, 

x   x  and 


338  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

and  he  had  been  obliged  to  retire  to  a  place  of  concealment,  from 
whence  he  fometimes  paid  a  ftealthy  vifit  to  her  court.  His  place  of 
valet-de-chamlre  was  given  to  a  man  of  talents,  even  more  remarkable, 
and  who  fhared  equally  the  perfonal  elteem  of  the  queen  of  Navarre, 
Bonaventure  des  Periers.  Marot's  fucceflbr  paid  a  graceful  compliment 
to  him  in  a  fhort  poem  entitled  "  L'Apologie  de  Marot  abfent," 
publifhed  in  1537.  The  earlier  part  of  the  year  following  witnefled  the 
publication  of  the  moft  remarkable  work  of  Bonaventure  des  Periers,  the 
"  Cymbalum  Mundi,"  concerning  the  real  character  of  which  writers  are 
ftill  divided  in  opinion.  In  it  Des  Periers  introduced  a  new  form  of 
fatire,  imitated  from  the  dialogues  of  Lucian.  The  book  confifts  of  four 
dialogues,  written  in  language  which  forms  a  model  of  French  compe- 
tition, the  perfonages  introduced  in  them  intended  evidently  to  reprefent 
living  characters,  whofe  names  are  concealed  in  anagrams  and  other 
devices,  among  whom  was  Clement  Marot.  It  was  the  boldeft  declara- 
tion of  fcepticifm  which  had  yet  iflued  from  the  Epicurean  fchool  repre- 
fented  by  Rabelais.  The  author  fneers  at  the  Romim  church  as  an 
impofture,  ridicules  the  Proteftants  as  feekers  after  the  philofopher's  ftone, 
and  fbows  difrefpect  to  Chriftianity  itfelf.  Such  a  book  could  hardly  be 
publifhed  in  Paris  with  impunity,  yet  it  was  printed  there,  fecretly,  it  is 
faid,  by  a  well-known  bookfeller,  Jean  Morin,  in  the  Rue  St.  Jacques, 
and  therefore  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  perfecuting  Sorbonne. 
Private  information  had  been  given  of  the  character  of  this  work,  poffibly 
by  the  printer  himfelf  or  by  one  of  his  men,  and  on  the  6th  of  March, 
I53&>  when  it  was  on  the  eve  of  publication,  the  whole  impreffion  was 
feized  at  the  printer's,  and  Morin  himfelf  was  arrefted  and  thrown  into 
prifon.  He  was  treated  rigoroufly,  and  is  underftood  to  have  efcaped 
only  by  difavowing  all  knowledge  of  the  character  of  the  book,  and 
giving  up  the  name  of  the  author.  The  firft  edition  of  the  "  Cymbalum 
Mundi "  was  burnt,  and  Bonaventure  des  Periers,  alarmed  by  the 
perfonal  dangers  in  which  he  was  thus  involved,  retired  from  the  court  of 
the  queen  of  Navarre,  and  took  refuge  in  the  city  of  Lyons,  where  liberal 
opinions  at  that  time  found  a  greater  degree  of  tolerance  than  elfewhere. 
There  he  printed  a  fecond  edition  of  the  "  Cymbalum  Mundi,"  which 

alfo 


in  Literature  and  Art.  339 


alfo  was  burnt,  and  copies  of  either  edition  are  now  exceffively  rare.* 
Bonaventure  des  Periers  felt  fo  much  the  weight  of  the  perfecution  in 
which  he  had  now  involved  himfelf,  that,  in  the  year  i539>  as  ^ar  as  can 
be  afcertained,  he  put  an  end  to  his  own  exiftence.  This  event  caft  a 
gloom  over  the  court  of  the  queen  of  Navarre,  from  which  it  feems  never 
to  have  entirety  recovered.  The  fchool  of  fcepticifm  to  which  Des 
Periers  belonged  had  now  fallen  into  equal  difcredit  with  Catholics  and 
Proteftants,  and  the  latter  looked  upon  Marguerite  herfelf,  who  had 
latterly  conformed  outwardly  with  Romanifm,  as  an  apoftate  from  their 
caufe.  Henri  Eftienne,  in  his  "  Apologie  pour  Herodote,"  fpeaks  of  the 
"  Cymbalum  Mundi  "  as  an  infamous  book. 

Bonaventure  des  Periers  left  behind  him  another  work  more  amufing 
to  us  at  the  prefent  day,  and  more  characteriftic  of  the  literary  taftes  of 
the  court  of  Marguerite  of  Navarre.  This  is  a  collection  of  facetious 
ftories,  which  was  publifhed  feveral  years  after  the  death  of  its  author, 
under  the  title  of  "  Les  Contes,  ou  Les  Nouvelles  Recreations  et  Joyeux 
Devis  de  Bonaventure  des  Periers."  They  have  fome  refemblance  in 
ftyle  to  the  ftories  of  the  Heptameron,  but  are  ihorter,  and  rather  more 
facetious,  and  are  characterifed  by  their  bitter  fpirit  of  fatire  againft  the 
monks  and  popifh  clergy.  Some  of  thefe  ftories  remind  us,  in  their 
peculiar  character  and  tone,  of  the  "  Epiftolae  Obfcurorum  Virorum,"  as, 
for  an  example,  the  following,  which  is  given  as  an  anecdote  of  the  cure 
de  Brou  : — 

"  This  cur6  had  a  way  of  his  own  to  chant  the  different  offices  of  the  church, 
and  above  all  he  disliked  the  way  of  saying  the  Passion  in  the  manner  it  was  ordi- 
narily said  in  churches,  and  he  chanted  it  quite  differently.  For  when  our  Lord 
said  anything  to  the  Jews,  or  to  Pilate,  he  made  him  talk  high  and  loud,  so  that 
everybody  could  hear  him,  and  when  it  was  the  Jews  or  somebody  else  who  spoke, 
he  spoke  so  low  that  he  could  hardly  be  heard  at  all.  It  happened  that  a  lady  of 
rank  and  importance,  on  her  way  to  Chateaudun,  to  keep  there  the  festival  of 
Easter,  passed  through  Brou  on  Good  Friday,  about  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
and, 

*  A  cheap  and  convenient  edition  of  the  "Cymbalum  Mundi,"  edited  by  the 
Bibliophile  Jacob  (Paul  Lacroix),  was  published  in  Paris  in  1841.  I  may  here 
state  that  similar  editions  of  the  principal  French  satirists  of  the  sixteenth  century 
have  been  printed  during  the  last  twenty- five  years. 


340          Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


and,  wishing  to  hear  service,  she  went  to  the  church  where  the  cur6  was  officiating. 
When  it  came  to  the  Passion,  he  said  it  in  his  own  manner,  and  made  the  whole 
church  ring  again  when  he  said  S^uem  qtugritis  ?  But  when  it  came  to  the  reply, 
Jcfum  Naxartnum,  he  spoke  as  low  as  he  possibly  could.  And  in  this  manner  he 
continued  the  Passion.  The  lady,  who  was  very  devout,  and,  for  a  woman,  well 
informed  in  the  holy  scriptures,  and  attentive  to  the  ecclesiastical  ceremonies,  felt 
scandalised  at  this  mode  of  chanting,  and  wished  she  had  never  entered  the  church. 
She  had  a  mind  to  speak  to  the  cure,  and  tell  him  what  she  thought  of  it ;  and  for 
this  purpose  sent  for  him  to  come  to  her  after  the  service.  When  he  came,  she  said 
to  him,' Monsieur  le  Cure,  I  don't  know  where  you  learnt  to  officiate  on  a  day  like 
this,  when  the  people  ought  to  be  all  humility ;  but  to  hear  you  perform  the 
service,  is  enough  to  drive  away  anybody's  devotion.'  '  How  so,  madame?'  said 
the  cure.  '  How  so?*  said  she,  *  you  have  said  a  Passion  contrary  to  all  rules  of 
decency.  When  our  Lord  speaks,  you  cry  as  if  you  were  in  the  town-hall ;  and 
when  it  is  a  Caiaphas,  or  Pilate,  or  the  Jews,  you  speak  softly  like  a  young  bride. 
Is  this  becoming  in  one  like  you  ?  are  you  fit  to  be  a  cure"  ?  If"  you  had  what  you 
deserve,  you  would  be  turned  out  of  your  benefice,  and  then  you  would  be  made  to 
know  your  fault !'  When  the  cure  had  very  attentively  listened  to  her,  he  said, 
'  Is  this  what  you  had  to  say  to  me,  madame  ?  By  my  soul !  it  is  very  true,  what 
they  say;  and  the  truth  is,  that  there  are  many  people  who  talk  of  things  which 
they  do  not  understand.  Madame,  I  believe  that  I  know  my  office  as  well  as 
another,  and  I  beg  all  the  world  to  know  that  God  is  as  well  served  in  this  parish, 
according  to  its  condition,  as  in  any  place  within  a  hundred  leagues  of  it.  I  know 
very  well  that  the  other  cures  chant  the  Passion  quite  differently;  I  could  easily 
chant  it  like  them  if  I  would  ;  but  they  do  not  understand  their  business  at  all.  I 
should  like  to  know  if  it  becomes  those  rogues  of  Jews  to  speak  as  loud  as  our 
Lord  !  No,  no,  madame  ;  rest  assured  that  in  my  parish  it  is  my  will  that  God  be 
the  master,  and  He  shall  be  as  long  as  I  live  ;  and  let  the  others  do  in  their  parishes 
according  to  their  understanding.' " 

Another  ftory,  equally  worthy  of  Ulric  von  Hutten,  is  fatirical  enough 
on  prieflly  pedantry  : — 

"  There  was  a  priest  of  a  village  who  was  as  proud  as  might  be,  because  he  had 
seen  a  little  more  than  his  Cato ;  for  he  had  read  De  Syntaxl,  and  his  Faufte  precor 
gelida  [the  first  eclogue  of  Baptista  Mantuanus].  And  this  made  him  set  up  his 
feathers,  and  talk  very  grand,  using  words  that  filled  his  mouth,  in  order  to  make 
people  think  him  a  great  doctor.  Even  at  confession,  he  made  use  of  terms  which 
astonished  the  poor  people.  One  day  he  was  confessing  a  poor  working  man,  of 
whom  he  asked,  'Here,  now,  my  friend,  tell  me,  art  thou  ambitious?'  The  poor 
man  said  '  No,'  thinking  this  was  a  word  which  belonged  to  great  lords,  and  almost 
icpented  of  having  come  to  confess  to  this  priest ;  for  he  had  already  heard  that  he 
was  such  a  great  clerk,  and  that  he  spoke  so  grandly,  that  nobody  understood  him, 
which  he  now  knew  by  this  word  ambitious ;  for  although  he  might  have  heard  it 
somewhere,  yet  he  did  not  know  at  all  what  it  was.  The  priest  went  on  to  ask, 
'  Art  thou  not  a  fornicator  ? '  '  No,'  said  the  labourer,  who  understood  as  little  as 

before. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  341 


before.  '  Art  thou  not  a  gourmand  ? '  said  the  priest.  '  No.'  '  Art  thou  not 
superbe  [/>rW]?'  'No.'  'Art  thou  not  iracund?'  'No.'  The  priest  seeing 
the  man  answer  always  'No,'  was  somewhat  surprised.  '  Art  thou  not  concupiscent?' 
'  No.'  '  And  what  art  thou,  then  ?'  said  the  priest.  '  I  am,'  said  he, '  a  mason  ; 
here  is  my  trowel ! '  " 

At  this  time  "  Panragruelifra  "  had  mixed  itfelf  more  or  lefs  largely  in 
all  the  fatirical  literature  of  France.  It  is  very  apparent  in  the  writings 
of  Bonaventure  des  Periers,  and  in  a  confiderable  number  of  fatirical  pub- 
lications which  now  iflued,  many  of  them  anonymoufly,  or  under  the  then 
fafhionable  form  of  anagrams,  from  the  prefs  in  France.  Among  thefe 
writers  were  a  few  who,  though  far  inferior  to  Rabelais,  may  be  confidered 
as  not  unequal  to  Des  Periers  himfelf.  One  of  the  moft  remarkable  of 
thefe  was  a  gentleman  of  Britany,  Noel  du  Fail,  lord  of  La  Herifiaye, 
who  was,  like  fo  many  of  thefe  fatirifts,  a  lawyer,  and  who  died,  apparently 
at  an  advanced  age,  at  the  end  of  1585,  or  beginning  of  1586.  In  his 
publications,  according  to  the  fafhion  of  that  age,  he  concealed  his  name 
under  an  anagram,  and  called  himfelf  Leon  Ladulfil  (doubling  the  /  in 
the  name  Fail).  Noel  du  Fail  has  been  called  the  ape  of  Rabelais, 
though  the  mere  imitation  is  not  very  apparent.  He  publimed  (as  far  as 
has  been  afcertained),  in  1548,  his  "Difcours  d'aucuns  propos  ruftiques 
facetieux,  et  de  linguliere  recreation."  This  was  followed  immediately 
by  a  work  entitled  "  Baliverneries,  ou  Contes  Nouveaux  d'Eutrapel ;"  but 
his  laft,  and  moft  celebrated  book,  the  "  Contes  et  Difcours  d'Eutrapel," 
was  not  printed  until  1586,  after  the  death  of  its  author.  The  writings 
of  Noel  du  Fail  are  full  of  charming  pictures  of  rural  life  in  the  fix- 
teenth  century,  and,  though  fufficiently  free,  they  prefent  lefs  than  moft 
fimilar  books  of  that  period  of  the  coarfenefs  of  Rabelais.  I  cannot 
fay  the  fame  of  a  book  which  is  much  more  celebrated  than  either  of 
thefe,  and  the  hiftory  of  which  is  ftill  enveloped  in  obfcurity.  I  mean  the 
"Moyen  de  Parvenir."  This  book,  which  is  full  of  wit  and  humour, 
but  the  licentioufnels  of  which  is  carried  to  a  degree  which  renders  it 
unreadable  at  the  prefent  day,  is  now  afcribed  by  bibliographers,  in  its 
prefent  form,  to  Beroalde  de  Verville,  a  gentleman  of  a  Proteftant  family 
who  had  embraced  Catholicifm,  and  obtained  advancements  in  the  church, 
and  it  was  not  printed  until  1610,  but  it  is  fuppofed  that  in  its  prefent 

form 


342  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

form  it  is  only  a  revifion  of  an  earlier  competition,  perhaps  even  an 
unacknowledged  work  of  RJbelais  himfelf,  which  had  been  preferved  in 
manufcript  in  Beroald's  family. 

Pantagruelifm,  or,  if  you  like,  Rabelaifm,  did  not,  during  thefixteenth 
century,  make  much  progrefs  beyond  the  limits  of  France.  In  the 
Teutonic  countries  of  Europe,  and  in  England,  the  fceptical  fentiment 
was  fmall  in  comparifon  with  the  religious  feeling,  and  the  only  fatirical 
work  at  all  refembling.  thofe  we  have  been  defcribing,  was  the  "  Utopia  " 
of  Sir  Thomas  More,  a  work  comparatively  fpiritlels,  and  which  produced 
a  very  flight  fenfation.  In  Spain,  the  ftate  of  focial  feeling  was  ftill  lels 
favourable  to  the  writings  of  Rabelais,  yet  he  had  there  a  worthy  and  true 
reprefentative  in  the  author  of  Don  Quixote.  It  was  only  in  the  feven- 
teenth  century  that  the  works  of  Rabelais  were  tranflated  into  Englifh  ; 
but  we  muft  not  forget  that  our  latirifts  of  the  laft  century,  fuch  as  Swift 
and  Sterne,  derived  their  infpiration  chiefly  from  Rabelais,  and  from  the 
Pantagrueliftic  writers  of  the  latter  half  of  the  fixteenth  century.  Thefe 
latter  were  moft  of  them  poor  imitators  of  their  original,  and,  like  all 
poor  imitators,  purfued  to  exaggeration  his  leaft  worthy  characteriftics. 
There  is  ftill  fome  humour  in  the  writings  of  Tabourot,  the  fieur  des 
Accords,  efpecially  in  his  "  Bigarrures,"  but  the  later  productions,  which 
appeared  under  fuch  names  as  Brufcambille  and  Tabarin,  fink  into  mere 
dull  ribaldry. 

There  had  arifen,  however,  by  the  fide  of  this  fatire  which  fmelt 
fomewhat  too  much  of  the  tavern,  another  fatire,  more  ferious,  which  ftill 
contained  a  little  of  the  ftyle  of  Rabelais.  The  French  Proteftants  at  firft 
looked  upon  Rabelais  as  one  of  their  towers  of  flrength,  and  embraced 
with  gratitude  the  powerful  protection  they  received  from  the  graceful 
queen  of  Navarre ;  but  their  gratitude  failed  them,  when  Marguerite, 
though  (he  never  ceafed  to  give  them  her  protection,  conformed  out- 
wardly, from  attachment  to  her  brother,  to  the  forms  of  the  Catholic 
faith,  and  they  rejeded  the  fchool  of  Rabelais  as  a  mere  fchool  of  Atheifts. 
Among  them  arofe  another  fchool  of  fatire,  a  fort  of  branch  from  the 
other,  which  was  reprefented  in  its  infancy  by  the  celebrated  fcholar  and 
printer,  Henri  Eftienne,  better  known  among  us  as  Henry  Stephens. 

The 


in  Literature  and  Art.  343 

The  remarkable  book  called  an  "Apologie  pour  Herodote,"  arofe  out 
of  an  attack  upon  its  writer  by  the  Romanifts.  Henri  Eftienne,  who  was 
known  as  a  ftaunch  Proteftant,  publiftied,  at  great  expenfe,  an  edition  ot 
Herodotus  in  Greek  and  Latin,  and  the  zealous  Catholics,  out  of  fpite  to 
the  editor,  decried  his  author,  and  fpoke  of  Herodotus  as  a  mere  collector 
of  monftrous  and  incredible  tales.  Eftienne,  in  revenge,  publifhed  what, 
under  the  form  of  an  apology  for  Herodotus,  was  really  a  violent  attack  on 
the  Romilh  church.  His  argument  is  that  all  hiftorians  muft  relate  tranf- 
a6lions  which  appear  to  many  incredible,  and  that  the  events  of  modern 
times  were  much  more  incredible,  if  they  were  not  known  to  be  true,  than 
anything  which  is  recorded  by  the  hiftorian  of  antiquity.  After  an  intro- 
ductory diifertation  on  the  light  in  which  we  ought  to  regard  the  fable  of 
the  Golden  Age,  and  on  the  moral  character  of  the  ancient  peoples,  he 
goes  on  to  mow  that  their  depravity  was  much  lefs  than  that  of  the  middle 
ages  and  of  his  own  time,  indeed  of  all  periods  during  which  people  were 
governed  by  the  Church  of  Rome.  Not  only  did  this  diflblutenefs  of 
morals  pervade  lay  fociety,  but  the  clergy  were  more  vicious  even  than 
the  people,  to  whom  they  ought  to  ferve  as  an  example.  A  large  part 
of  the  book  is  filled  with  anecdotes  of  the  immoral  lives  of  the  popifh 
clergy  of  the  fixteenth  century,  and  of  their  ignorance  and  bigotry  j  and 
he  defcribes  in  detail  the  methods  employed  by  the  Romilh  church  to 
•  keep  the  mafs  of  the  people  in  ignorance,  and  to  reprefs  all  attempts  at 
inquiry.  Out  of  all  this,  he  fays,  had  rifen  a  fchool  of  atheifls  and 
fcofFers,  reprefented  by  Rabelais  and  Bonaventure  des  Periers,  both  of 
whom  he  mentions  by  name. 

As  we  approach  the  end  of  the  fixteenth  century,  the  ftruggle  of 
parties  became  more  political  than  religious,  but  not  lefs  bitter  than 
before.  The  literature  of  the  age  of  that  celebrated  "  Ligue,"  which 
feemed  at  one  time  deftined  to  overthrow  the  ancient  royalty  of  France, 
confided  chiefly  of  libellous  and  abufive  pamphlets,  but  in  the  midfl  of 
them  there  appeared  a  work  far  fuperior  to  any  purely  political  fatire 
which  had  yet  been  feen,  and  the  fame  of  which  has  never  pafled  away. 
Its  object  was  to  turn  to  ridicule  the  meeting  of  the  Eftates  of  France, 
convoked  by  the  duke  of  Mayenne,  as  leader  of  the  Ligue,  and  held  at 

Paris 


344  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Paris  on  the  loth  of  February,  1503.  The  grand  object  of  this  meeting 
was  to  exclude  Henri  TV.  from  the  throne ;  and  the  Spanilh  party  pro- 
pofed  to  abolifti  the  Salic  law,  and  proclaim  the  infanta  of  Spain  queen 
of  France.  The  French  ligueurs  propofed  plans  hardly  lefs  unpatriotic, 
and  the  duke  of  Mayenne,  indignant  at  the  fmall  account  made  of  his 
own  perfonal  pretenfions,  prorogued  the  meeting,  and  perfuaded  the  two 
parties  to  hold  what  proved  a  fruitlefs  conference  at  Surefne.  It  was  the 
meeting  of  the  Eftates  in  Paris  which  gave  rife  •  ^«at  celebrated  Satyre 
Minippee,  of  which  it  was  faid,  that  it  ferved  the  cauie  of  Henri  IV.  as 
much  as  the  battle  of  Ivry  itfelf. 

This  fatire  originated  among  a  party  of  friends,  of  men  diftinguifhed 
by  learning,  wit,  and  talent,  though  moft  of  their  names  are  obfcure,  who 
ufed  to  meet  in  an  evening  in  the  hofpitable  houfe  of  one  of  them, 
Jacques  Gillot,  on  the  Quai  des  Orfevres  in  Paris,  and  there  talk 
fatirically  over  the  violence  and  infolence  of  the  ligueurs.  They  all 
belonged  either  to  the  bar  or  to  the  univerfity,  or  to  the  church.  Gillot 
himfelf,  a  Burgundian,  born  about  the  year  1560,  had  been  a  dean  in  the 
church  of  Langres,  and  afterwards  canon  of  the  Sainte  Chapelle  in  Paris, 
and  was  at  this  time  confeiller-clerc  to  the  parliament  of  Paris.  In  1589 
he  was  committed  to  the  Baftille,  but  was  foon  afterwards  liberated. 
Nicolas  Rapin,  one  of  his  friends',  was  born  in  1535,  and  was  faid  to  have 
been  the  fon  of  a  prieft,  and  therefore  illegitimate.  He  was  a  lawyer,  a- 
poet,  and  a  foldier,  for  he  fought  bravely  in  the  ranks  of  Henri  IV.  at  Ivry, 
and  his  devotion  to  that  prince  was  fo  well  known,  that  he  was  banifhed 
from  Paris  by  the  ligueurs,  but  had  returned  thither  before  the  meeting 
of  the  Eftates  in  1593.  Jean  Paflerat,  born  in  1534,  was  alfo  a  poet,  and 
a  profeffor  in  the  College  Royal.  Florent  Chrftien,  born  at  Orleans  in 
1540,  had  been  the  tutor  of  Henri  IV.,  and  was  well  known  as  a  man  of 
found  learning.  The  moft  learned  of  the  party  was  Pierre  Pithou,  born 
at  Troyes  in  1539,  who  had  abjured  Calvinifm  to  return  to  Romanifm, 
and  who  held  a  diftinguiftied  pofition  at  the  French  bar.  The  laft  of 
this  little  party  of  men  of  letters  was  a  canon  of  Rouen  named  Pierre  le 
Roy,  a  patriotic  ecclefiaftic,  who  held  the  office  of  almoner  to  the  cardinal 
de  Bourbon.  It  was  Le  Roy  who  drew  up  the  firft  Iketch  of  the 

"  Satvre 


in  Literature  and  Art.  345 

"  Satyre  Menippee,"  each  of  the  others  executed  his  part  in  the  competi- 
tion, and  Pithou  finally  revifed  it.  For  feveral  years  this  remarkable 
fatire  circulated  only  fecretly,  and  in  manufcript,  and  it  was  not  printed 
until  Henri  IV.  was  eflabliihcd  on  the  throne. 

The  fatire  opens  with  an  account  of  the  virtues  of  the  "  Catholicon," 
or  noftrum  for  curing  all  political  difeafes,  or  the  higuiero  d'infierno,  which 
had  been  fo  effective  in  the  hands  of  the  Spaniards,  who  invented  it.  Some 
of  thefe  are  extraordinary  enough.  If,  we  are  told,  the  lieutenant  of  Don 
Philip  "  have  fome  of  this  Catholicon  on  his  flags,  he  will  enter  without  a 
blow  into  an  enemy's  country,  and  they  will  meet  him  with  crolles  and 
banners,  legates  and  primates ;  and  though  he  ruin,  ravage,  ulurp,  mallacre, 
and  fack  everything,  and  carry  away,  ravifh,  burn,  and  reduce  everything 
to  a  defert,  the  people  of  the  country  will  fay,  '  Thefe  are  our  friends, 
they  are  good  Catholics  ;  they  do  it  for  our  peace,  and  for  our  mother 
holy  church.'  "  "  If  an  indolent  "king  amufe  himfelf  with  refining  this 
drug  in  his  efcurial,  let  him  write  a  word  into  Flanders  to  Father  Ignatius, 
fealed  with  the  Catholicon,  he  will  find  him  a  man  who  (falva  con- 
fcientia)  will  aflaflinate  his  enemy  whom  he  has  not  been  able  to  conquer 
by  arms  in  twenty  years."  This,  of  courfe,  is  an  allufion  to  the  murder 
of  the  prince  of  Orange.  "  If  this  king  propofes  to  aflure  his  eftates  to 
his  children  after  his  death,  and  to  invade  another's  kingdom  at  little 
expenfe,  let  him  write  a  word  to  Mendoza,  his  ambaflador,  or  to  Father 
Commelet  (one  of  the  moft  feditious  orators  of  the  Ligue),  and  if  he 
write  with  the  higuiero  del  infierno,  at  the  bottom  of  his  letter,  the  words 
Yo  el  Rey,  they  will  furnifh  him  with  an  apoftate  monk,  who  will  go 
under  a  fair  femblance,  like  a  Judas,  and  afTaflinate  in  cold  blood  a  great 
king  of  France,  his  brother-in-law,  in  the  middle  of  his  camp,  without 
fear  of  God  or  men ;  they  will  do  more,  they  will  canonife  the  murderer, 
and  place  this  Judas  above  St.  Peter,  and  baptife  this  prodigious  and 
horrible  crime  with  the  name  of  a  providential  event,  of  which  the  god- 
fathers will  be  cardinals,  legates,  and  primates."  The  allufion  here  is  to 
the  affaflination  of  Henri  III.  by  Jacques  Clement.  Thefe  are  but  a 
few  of  the  marvellous  properties  of  the  political  drug,  after  the  enumera- 
tion of  which  the  report  of  the  meeting  of  the  Eftates  is  introduced  by  a 

Y  Y  burlefque 


346  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


burlefque  defcription  of  the  grand  proceflion  which  preceded  it.  Then 
we  are  introduced  to  the  hall  of  affembly,  and  different  fubjects  pictured 
on  the  tapeflries  which  cover  its  walls,  all  having  reference  to  the  politics 
of  the  Ligue,  are  defcribed  fully.  Then  we  come  to  the  report  of  the 
meeting,  and  to  the  fpeeches  of  the  different  fpeakers,  each  of  which  is  a 
model  of  fatire.  It  is  not  known  which  of  the  little  club  of  fatirifts  wrote 
the  open  fpeech  of  the  duke  of  Mayenne,  but  that  of  the  Roman  legate 
is  known  to  be  the  work  of  Gillot,  and  that  of  the  cardinal  de  Pelve,  a 
mafterpiece  of  Latin  in  the  ftyle  of  the  "Epiftolae  Obfcurorum  Virorum," 
was  written  by  Florent  Chreflien.  Nicolas  Rapin  compofed  the  "harangue" 
placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  archbifhop  of  Lyons,  as  well  as  that  of  Rcfe, 
the  rector  of  the  univerfhy}  and  the  long  fpeech  of  Claude  d'Aubray  was 
by  Pithou.  Paflerat  compofed  moft  of  the  verfes  which  are  fcattered 
through  the  book,  and  it  is  underftood  that  Pithon  finally  revifed  the 
whole.  This  mock  report  of  the  meeting  of  the  Eftates  clofes  with  a 
defcription  of  a  feries  of  political  pictures  which  are  arranged  on  the  wall 
of  the  ftaircafe  of  the  hall. 

Thefe  pictures,  as  well  as  thofe  on  the  tapeftries  of  the  hall  of  meeting, 
are  fimply  fo  many  caricatures,  and  the  fame  may  be  faid  of  another  fet 
of  pictures,  of  which  a  defcription  is  given  in  one  of  the  fatirical  pieces 
which  followed  the  "  Satyre  Menippee,"  on  the  fame  fide,  entitled, 
"  Hiftoire  des  Singeries  de  la  Ligue."  It  was  amid  the  political  turmoil 
of  the  fixteenth  century  in  France  that  modern  political  caricature  took 
its  rife. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


347 


CHAPTER  XX. 

POLITICAL     CARICATURE     IN     ITS     INFANCY. THE     REVERS     DU    JEU    DBS 

SUYSSES. CARICATURE     IN     FRANCE. THE     THREE    ORDERS. — PERIOD 

OF     THE    LEAGUE  ;      CARICATURES    AGAINST     HENRI     III. CARICATURES 

AGAINST  THE   LEAGUE. CARICATURE   IN  FRANCE  IN  THE   SEVENTEENTH 

CENTURY. GENERAL  GALAS. THE   SUARREL   OF  AMBASSADORS. CARI- 
CATURE   AGAINST    LOUIS    XIV.  j    WILLIAM    OF    FURSTEMBERG. 

IT  has  been  already  remarked  that  political  caricature,  in  the  modern 
fenfe  of  the  word,  or  even  perfonal  caricature,  was  inconfiftent  with 
the  ftate  of  things  in  the  middle  ages,  until  the  arts  of  engraving  and 
printing  became  fufficiently  developed,  becaufe  it  requires  the  facility  of 
quick  and  extenfive  circulation.  The  political  or  fatirical  fong  was  carried 
everywhere  by  the  minftrel,  but  the  fatirical  pi6ture,  reprefented  only  in 
fome  folitary  fculpture  or  illumination,  could  hardly  be  finifhed  before  it 
had  become  ufelefs  even  in  the  fmall  fphere  of  its  influence,  and  then 
remained  for  ages  a  flrange  figure,  with  no  meaning  that  could  be  under 
flood.  No  fooner,  however,  was  the  art  of  printing  introduced,  than  the 
importance  of  political  caricature  was  underftood  and  turned  to  account. 
We  have  feen  what  a  powerful  agent  it  became  in  the  Reformation, 
which  in  fpirit  was  no  lefs  political  than  religious ;  but  even  before  the 
great  religious  movement  had  begun,  this  agent  had  been  brought  into 
activity.  One  of  the  earlieft  engravings  which  can  be  called  a  caricature 
— perhaps  the  oldeft  of  our  modern  caricatures  known — is  reprefented  in 
our  cut  No.  171,  is  no  doubt  French,  and  belongs  to  the  year  1499.  It 
is  fufficiently  explained  by  the  hiftory  of  the  time. 

At  the  date  juft  mentioned,  Louis  XII.  of  France,  who  had  been  king 
lefs  than  twelve  months,  was  newly  married  to  Anne  of  Britany,  and 
had  refolved  upon  an  expedition  into  Italy,  to  unite  the  crown  of  Naples 

with 


348  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


with  that  of  France.  Such  an  expedition  affe&ed  many  political  interefts, 
and  Louis  had  to  employ  a  certain  amount  of  diplomacy  with  his  neigh- 
bours, feveral  of  whom  were  ftrongly  oppofed  to  his  projects  of  ambition, 
and  among  thofe  who  a6ted  moft  openly  were  the  Swifs,  who  were 


No.  171.      The  Political  Game  of  Cards. 

believed  to  have  been  fecretly  fupported  by  England  and  the  Netherlands. 
Louis,  however,  overcame  their  oppofition,  and  obtained  a  renewal  of  the 
alliance  which  had  expired  with  his  predeceflbr  Charles  VIII.  This 
temporary  difficulty  with  the  Swifs  is  the  iubjecl  of  our  caricature,  the 
original  of  which  bears  the  title  "  Le  Revers  du  Jeu  des  Suyfles  "  (the 
defeat  of  the  game  of  the  Swifs).  The  princes  moft  interefted  are 
aflembled  round  a  card-table,  at  which  are  leated  the  king  of  France  to 
the  right,  oppofite  him  the  Swifs,  and  in  front  the  doge  of  Venice,  who 

was 


in  Literature  and  Art.  349 

was  in  alliance  with  the  French  againft  Milan.  At  the  moment  repre- 
fented,  the  king  of  France  is  announcing  that  he  has  a  flulh  of  cards,  the 
Swifs  acknowledges  the  weaknefs  of  his  hand,  and  the  doge  lays  down 
his  cards — in  fact,  Louis  XII.  has  won  the  game.  But  the  point  of  the 
caricature  lies  principally  in  the  group  around.  To  the  extreme  right  the 
king  of  England,  Henry  VII.,  diftinguifhed  by  his  three  armorial  lions, 
and  the  king  of  Spain,  are  engaged  in  earneft  converfation.  Behind  the 
former  ftands  the  infanta  Margarita,  who  is  evidently  winking  at  the 
Swifs  to  give  him  information  of  the  ftate  of  the  cards  of  his  opponents. 
At  her  fide  ftands  the  duke  of  Wirtemberg,  and  juft  before  him  the 
pope,  the  infamous  Alexander  VI.  (Borgia),  who,  though  in  alliance  with 
Louis,  is  not  able,  with  all  his  efforts,  to  read  the  king's  game,  and  looks 
on  with  evident  anxiety.  Behind  the  doge  of  Venice  ftands  the  Italian 
refugee,  Trivulci,  an  able  warrior,  devoted  to  the  interefls  of  France  5 
and  at  the  doge's  right  hand,  the  emperor,  holding  in  his  hands  another 
pack  of  cards,  and  apparently  exulting  in  the  belief  that  he  has  thrown 
confufion  into  the  king  of  France's  game.  In  the  background  to  the 
left  are  feen  the  count  Palatine  and  the  marquis  of  Montferrat,  who  alfo 
look  uncertain  about  the  refult ;  and  below  the  former  appears  the  duke 
of  Savoy,  who  was  giving  afliftance  to  the  French  defigns.  The  duke  of 
Lorraine  is  ferving  drink  to  the  gamblers,  while  the  duke  of  Milan,  who 
was  at  this  time  playing  rather  a  double  part,  is  gathering  up  the  cards 
which  have  fallen  to  the  ground,  in  order  to  make  a  game  for  himfelf. 
Louis  XII.  carried  his  defigns  into  execution ;  the  duke  of  Milan, 
Ludovico  Sforza,  nick-named  the  Moor,  played  his  cards  badly,  loft  his 
duchy,  and  died  in  prifon. 

Such  is  this  earlieft  of  political  caricatures — and  in  this  cafe  it  was 
purely  political — but  the  queftion  of  religion  foon  began  not  only  to  mix 
itfelf  up  with  the  political  queftion,  but  almoft  to  abforb  it,  as  we  have 
feen  in  the  review  of  the  hiftory  of  caricature  under  the  Reformation. 
Before  this  period,  indeed,  political  caricature  was  only  an  affair  between 
crowned  heads,  or  between  kings  and  their  nobles,  but  the  religious  agita- 
tion had  originated  a  vaft  focial  movement,  which  brought  into  play 
oopular  feelings  and  paffions  :  thefe  gave  caricature  a  totally  new  value. 

Its 


350  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Its  power  was  greateft  on  the  middle  and  lower  claffes  of  fociety,  that  is, 
on  the  people,  the  tiers  etat,  which  was  now  thrown  prominently  forward. 
The  new  focial  theory  is  proclaimed  in  a  print,  of  which  a  fac-fimile  will 
be  found  in  the  "  Mufee  de  la  Caricature,"  by  E.  J.  Jaime,  and  which, 
from  the  ftyle  and  coftume,  appears  to  be  German.  The  three  orders, 
the  church,  the  lord  of  the  land,  and  the  people,  reprefented  refpe£tively 
by  a  bifhop,  a  knight,  and  a  cultivator,  ftand  upon  the  globe  in  an  honour- 
able equality,  each  receiving  dire6t  from  heaven  the  emblems  or  imple- 
ments of  his  duties.  To  the  biftiop  is  delivered  his  bible,  to  the  hufband- 


No.  172.      The  Three  Orders  of  the  State. 

man  his  mattock,  and  to  the  knight  the  fword  with  which  he  is  to 
protect  and  defend  the  others.  This  print — fee  cut  No.  172 — which 
bears  the  title,  in  Latin,  "  Quis  te  praetulit  ?  "  (Who  chofe  thee  ?)  belongs 
probably  to  the  earlier  half  of  the  fixteenth  century.  A  painting  in  the 
Hotel  de  Ville  of  Aix,  in  Provence,  reprefents  the  fame  fubje6t  much 
more  fatirically,  intending  to  delineate  the  three  orders  as  they  were,  and 

not 


in  Literature  and  Art.  351 

not  as  they  ought  to  be.  The  divine  hand  is  letting  down  from  heaven 
an  immenfe  frame  in  the  form  of  a  heart,  in  which  is  a  picture  repre- 
fenting  a  king  kneeling  before  the  crofe,  intimating  that  the  civil  power 
was  to  be  fubordinate  to  the  ecclefiaftical.  The  three  orders  are  repre- 
fented  by  a  cardinal,  a  noble,  and  a  peafant,  the  latter  of  whom  is  bending 
under  the  burthen  of  the  heart,  the  whole  of  which  is  thrown  upon  his 
ihoulders,  while  the  cardinal  and  the  noble,  the  latter  drefied  in  the 
falhionable  attire  of  the  court  minions  of  the  day,  are  placing  one  hand 
to  the  heart  on  each  fide,  in  a  manner  which  (hows  that  they  fupport 
none  of  the  weight. 

Amid  the  fierce  agitation  which  fell  upon  France  in  the  fixteenth 
century,  for  a  while  we  find  but  few  traces  of  the  employment  of 
caricature  by  either  party.  The  religious  reformation  there  was  rather 
ariftocratic  than  popular,  and  the  reformers  fought  lefs  to  excite  the 
feelings  of  the  multitude,  which,  indeed,  went  generally  in  the  contrary 
direction.  There  was,  moreover,  a  character  of  gloom  in  the  religion  of 
Calvin,  which  contracted  ftrongly  with  the  joyoufnefe  of  that  of  the 
followers  of  Luther;  and  the  factions  in  France  fought  to  (laughter, 
rather  than  to  laugh  at,  each  other.  The  few  caricatures  of  this  period 
which  are  known,  are  very  bitter  and  coarfe.  As  far  as  I  am  aware,  no 
early  Huguenot  caricatures  are  known,  but  there  are  a  few  directed  againft 
the  Huguenots.  It  was,  however,  with  the  rife  of  the  Ligue  that  the 
taite  for  political  caricature  may  be  faid  to  have  taken  root  in  France,  and 
in  that  country  it  long  continued  to  flourifh  more  than  anywhere  ehe. 
The  firft  caricatures  of  the  ligueurs  were  directed  againft  the  perfon  of  the 
king,  Henri  de  Valois,  and  poffefs  a  brutality  almoft  beyond  defcription. 
It  was  now  an  object  to  keep  up  the  bitternefs  of  fpirit  of  the  fanatical 
multitude.  In  one  of  thefe  caricatures  a  demon  is  represented  waiting 
on  the  king  to  fummon  him  to  a  meeting  of  the  "  Eftates"  in  hell ;  and 
in  the  diftance  we  fee  another  demon  flying  away  with  him.  Another 
relates  to  the  murder  of  the  Guifes,  in  1588,  which  the  ligueurs  profefled 
to  afcribe  to  the  councils  of  M.  d'Epernon,  one  of  his  favourites,  on  whom 
they  looked  with  great  hatred.  It  is  entitled,  "  Soufflement  et  Confeil 
diabolique  de  d'Epernon  a  Henri  de  Valois  pour  faccager  les  Catholiques." 

In 


352  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grot  efque 

In  the  middle  of  the  pi&ure  ftands  the  king,  and  befide  him  D'Epernon, 
who  is  blowing  into  his  ear  with  a  bellows.  On  the  ground  before  them 
lie  the  headlefs  corpfes  of  the  deux  frkres  Catholiqucs,  the  duke  of  Guife, 
and  his  brother  the  cardinal,  while  the  executioner  of  royal  vengeance  is 
holding  up  their  heads  by  the  hair.  In  the  diftance  is  feen  the  caftle  of 
Blois,  in  which  this  tragedy  took  place  ;  and  on  the  left  of  the  pidure 
appear  the  cardinal  de  Bourbon,  the  archbilhop  of  Blois,  and  other 
friends  of  the  Guifes,  exprefling  their  horror  at  the  deed.  Henri  III.  was 
himfelf  murdered  in  the  year  following,  and  the  caricatures  againft  him 
became  ftill  more  brutal  during  the  period  in  which  the  ligueurs  tried  to 
fet  up  a  king  of  their  own  in  his  place.  In  one  caricature,  which  has 
more  of  an  emblematical  character  than  moft  of  the  others,  he  is  pictured 
as  "  Henri  le  Monflrueux  ;"  and  in  others,  entitled  "Les  Hermaphro- 
dites," he  is  exhibited  under  forms  which  point  at  the  infamous  vices 
with  which  he  was  charged. 

The  tide  of  caricature,  however,  foon  turned  in  the  contrary  dire&ion, 
and  the  coarfe,  unprincipled  abufe  employed  by  the  ligueurs  found  a 
favourable  contraft  in  the  powerful  wit  and  talent  of  the  fatirifts  and 
caricaturiils  who  now  took  up  pen  and  pencil  in  the  caufe  of  Henri  IV. 
The  former  was,  on  the  whole,  the  more  formidable  weapon,  but  the 
latter  reprefented  to  fome  eyes  more  vividly  in  picture  what  had  already 
been  done  in  type.  This  was  the  cafe  on  both  fides ;  the  caricature  lafl 
mentioned  was  founded  upon  a  very  libellous  fatirical  pamphlet  againft 
Henri  III.,  entitled  "L'Ifle  des  Hermaphrodites."  It  is  the  cafe  alfo 
with  the  firft  caricatures  againft  the  ligueurs,  which  I  have  to  mention. 
The  Eftates  held  in  Paris  by  the  duke  of  Mayenne  and  the  ligueurs  for 
the  purpofe  of  ele&ing  a  new  king  in  oppofition  to  Henri  of  Navarre,  were 
made  the  fubjeft  of  the  celebrated  "Satyre  Menippee,"  in  which  the  pro- 
ceedings of  thefe  Eftates  were  turned  to  ridicule  in  the  moft  admirable 
manner.  Four  large  editions  were  fold  in  lefs  than  as  many  months. 
Several  caricatures  arofe  out  of  or  accompanied  this  remarkable  book. 
One  of  thefe  is  a  rather  large  print,  entitled  "La  Singerie  des  Eftats  de  la 
Ligue,  I'an  1593,"  in  which  the  members  of  the  Eftates  and  the  ligueurs 
are  pictured  with  the  heads  of  monkeys.  The  central  part  reprefents  the 

meeting 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


353 


meeting  of  the  Eftates,  at  which  the  lieutenant-general  of  the  kingdom, 
the  duke  of  Mayenne,  feated  on  the  throne,  prefides.  Above  him  is 
fufpended  a  large  portrait  of  the  infanta  of  Spain,  L'Efpoufee  de  la  Ligue, 
as  fhe  is  called  in  the  fatire,  ready  to  marry  any  one  whom  the  Eftates 
(hall  declare  king  of  France.  In  chairs,  on  each  fide  of  Mayenne,  are  the 
two  "ladies  of  honour  "  of  the  faid  future  ipoufe.  To  the  left  are  feated 


No.  173.     The  AJJembly  of  Apes. 

in  a  row  the  celebrated  council  of  fixteen  (lesfeize),  reduced  at  this  time 
to  twelve,  becaufe  the  duke  of  Mayenne,  to  check  their  turbulence,  had 
caufed  four  of  them  to  be  hanged.  They  wear  the  favours  of  the  future 
fpoufe.  Oppofite  to  them  are  the  reprefentatives  of  the  three  orders,  all, 
we  are  told,  devoted  to  the  fervice  of  "the  faid  lady."  Before  the  throne 

z  z  are 


354  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

are  the  two  muficians  of  the  Ligue,  one  defcribed  as  Phelipottin,  the  blind 
performer  on  the  viel,  or  hurdy-gurdy,  to  the  Ligue,  and  his  fubordinate, 
the  player  on  the  triangle,  "  kept  at  the  expenfe  of  the  future  fpoufe." 
Thefe  were  to  entertain  the  aflembly  during  the  paufes  between  the 
orations  of  the  various  fpeakers.  All  this  is  a  fatire  on  the  efforts  of  the 
king  of  Spain  to  eftablifh  a  monarch  of  his  own  choice.  On  the  bench 
behind  the  muficians  fit  the  deputies  from  Lyons,  Poitiers,  Orleans,  and 
Rheims,  cities  where  the  influence  of  the  Ligue  was  ftrong,  difcufling  the 
queftioa  as  to  who  mould  be  king.  Thus  much  of  this  picture  is  repre- 
fented  in  our  cut  No.  173.  There  are  other  groups  of  figures  in  the 
reprefentation  of  the  aflembly  of  the  Eftates  ;  and  there  are  two  fide  com- 
partments— that  on  the  left  reprefenting  a  forge,  on  which  the  fragments 
of  a  broken  king  are  laid  to  be  refounded,  and  a  multitude  of  apes,  with 
hammers  and  an  anvil,  ready  to  work  him  into  a  new  king ;  the  other 
fide  of  the  pifture  reprefents  the  circumftances  of  a  then  well-known  aft 
of  tyranny  perpetrated  by  the  Eftates  of  the  Ligue.  Another  large  and 
well-executed  engraving,  publimed  at  Paris  in  1594,  immediately  after 
Henri  IV.  had  obtained  pofleflion  of  his  capital,  alfo  reprefents  the  grand 
procefiion  of  the  Ligue  as  defcribed  at  the  commencement  of  the 
"  Satyre  Menippee,"  and  was  intended  to  hold  up  to  ridicule  the  warlike 
temper  of  the  French  Catholic  clergy.  It  is  entitled,  "La  Proceffion  de 
la  Ligue." 

Henri's  triumph  over  the  Ligue  was  made  the  fubjecl:  of  a  feries  of 
three  caricatures,  or  perhaps,  more  correctly,  of  a  caricature  in  three 
divifions.  The  firft  is  entitled  the  "  Naiflance  de  la  Ligue,"  and  repre- 
fents it  under  the  form  of  a  monfter  with  three  heads,  feverally  thofe 
of  a  wolf,  a  fox,  and  a  ferpent,  ifluing  from  hell-mouth.  Under  it 
are  the  following  lines  : — 

L\nfer,  four  affervlr  foubs  fes  loix  tout  le  monde, 
Vomit  ce  monflre  h\deux,fait  d"un  hup  raviffeur, 
D*un  renard  en-veilly,  et  d^un  ferpent  immo>;det 
Affuble  d'un  mantcau  propre  a  toute  couleur. 

The  fecond  divifion,  the  "  Declin  de  la  Ligue,"  reprefenting  its  downfall, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


355 


is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  1 74.  Henri  of  Navarre,  in  the  form  of  a  lion, 
has  pounced  fiercely  upon  it,  and  not  too  foon,  for  it  had  already  feized 
the  crown  and  fceptre.  In  the  diftance,  the  fun  of  national  profperity  is 
feen  rifing  over  the  country.  The  third  pi&ure,  the  "  Effets  de  la  Ligue," 
reprefents  the  deftru&ion  of  the  kingdom  and  the  flaughter  of  the  people, 
of  which  the  Ligue  had  been  the  caufe. 

The  caricatures  in  France  became  more  numerous  during  the  feven- 
teenth  century,  but  they  are  either  fo  elaborate  or  fo  obfcure,  that  each 


No.  174.      The  Deftrufiion  of  the  Ligue. 

requires  almofl  a  difiertation  to  explain  it,  and  they  often  relate  to 
queftions  or  events  which  have  little  intereft  for  us  at  the  prefent  day. 
Several  rather  fpirited  ones  appeared  at  the  time  of  the  difgrace  of  the 
marefchal  d'Ancre  and  his  wife ;  and  the  inglorious  war  with  the 
Netherlands,  in  1635,  furnifhed  the  occafion  for  others,  for  the  French, 
as  ufual,  could  make  merry  in  their  reverfes  as  well  as  in  their  fuccefles. 
The  imp^rialift  general  Galas  inflided  ferious  defeat  on  the  French 
armies,  and  cj.melled  them  to  a  very  difaftrous  retreat  from  the  countries 
they  had  invaded,  a..A  they  tried  to  amufe  themfelves  at  the  expenfe  ot 
their  conqueror.  Galas  was  rather  remarkable  for  obefity,  and  the  French 

caricaturing 


356  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


caricaturifts  of  the  day  made  this  circumftance  a  fubjedt  for  their  fatire. 
Our  cut  No.  1 75  is  copied  from  a  print  in  which  the  magnitude  of  the 
ftomach  of  General  Galas  is  certainly  fomewhat  exaggerated.  He  is 


No.  175.     General  Galas. 

reprefented,  not  apparently  with  any  good  reafon,  as  puffed  up  with  his 
own  importance,  which  is  evaporating  in  fmoke;  and  along  with  the 
fmoke  thus  ifluing  from  h;s  mouth,  he  is  made  to  proclaim  his  greatnels 
in  the  following  rather  doggrel  verfes :  — 

Jejuis  ce  grand  Galas,  autrefois  dans  Paroiee 
La  gloire  de  rEfpagne  et  de  mes  compagnons  ; 
Maintenant  je  nefuii  qiiun  corps  plein  de  fumeet 
Pour  avoir  trap  mange  de  raves  et  fmgtHnt, 

re*  & 

Gargantua  jantaii  tCeut  unt  telle  panfe}  (S?c. 

Caricatures 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


357 


Caricatures  iu  France  began  to  be  tolerably  abundant  during  the 
middle  of  the  feventeenth  century,  but  under  the  crufhing  tyranny  of 
Louis  XIV.,  the  freedom  of  the  prefs,  in  all  its  forms,  ceafed  to  exift,  and 
caricatures  relating  to  France,  unlefs  they  came  from  the  court  party, 
had  to  be  publifhed  in  other  countries,  efpecially  in  Holland.  It  will  be 
fufficient  to  give  two  examples  from  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.  In  the 
year  1661,  a  difpute  arofe  in  London  between  the  ambaflador  of  France, 
M.  D'Eftrades,  and  the  Spanilh  ambaflador,  the  baron  de  Batteville,  on 


No.  176.      Batte-vllle  Humiliated. 

the  queftion  of  precedence,  which  was  carried  fo  far  as  to  give  rife  to  a 
tumult  in  the  ftreets  of  the  Englifh  capital.  At  this  very  moment,  a  new 
Spanifli  ambaflador,  the  marquis  de  Fuentes,  was  on  his  way  to  Paris, 
but  Louis,  indignant  at  Batteville's  behaviour  in  London,  fent  orders  to 
flop  Fuentes  on  the  frontier,  and  forbid  his  further  advance  into  his 
kingdom.  The  king  of  Spain  difavowed  the  att  of  his  ambaflador  in 
England,  who  was  recalled,  and  Fuentes  received  orders  to  make  an 

apology 


358  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

apology  to  king  Louis.  This  event  was  made  the  fubjeft  of  a  rather 
boafting  caricature,  the  greater  portion  of  which  is  given  in  our  cut 
No.  1/6.  It  is  entitled  "  Batteville  vient  adorer  le  Soliel "  (Batteville 
comes  to  worfhip  the  fun).  In  the  original  the  fun  is  feen  mining  in  the 
upper  corner  of  the  picture  to  the  right,  and  prefenting  the  juvenile  face 
of  Louis  XIV.,  but  the  caricaturift  appears  to  have  fubftituted  Batteville 
in  the  place  of  Fuentes.  Beneath  the  whole  are  the  following  boaftful 
lines  : — 

On  ne  -ua  plus  a  Rome,  on  went  de  Rome  en  France, 
Merlter  le  pardon  de  quelque  grande  offence. 
L?  Italic  tout  entiere  eft  foumije  a  ces  loix  ; 
Un  Efpagnol  J^oppofe  a  ce  droit  de  nos  rois. 
Mais  un  Franfais  puijjant  joua  des  bajtonnades, 
Et  punlt  rinfolent  de  fes  rodomontades. 

From  this  time  there  fprung  up  many  caricatures  againft  the  Spaniards ; 
but  the  moft  ferocious  caricature,  or  rather  book  of  caricatures,  of  the 
reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  came  from  without,  and  was  directed  againft  the 
king  and  his  minifters  and  courtiers.  The  revocation  of  the  edi6t  of 
Nantes  took  place  in  October,  1^85,  and  was  preceded  and  followed  by 
frightful  perfecutions  of  the  Proteftants,  which  drove  away  in  thoufands 
the  earneft,  intelligent,  and  induftrious  part  of  the  population  of  France. 
They  carried  with  them  a  deep  hatred  to  their  oppreflbrs,  and  fought 
refuge  efpecially  in  the  countries  moft  hoftile  to  Louis  XIV. — England 
and  Holland.  The  latter  country,  where  they  then  enjoyed  the  greateft 
freedom  of  action,  foon  fent  forth  numerous  fatirical  books  and  prints 
againft  the  French  king  and  his  minifters,  of  which  the  book  juft  alluded 
to  was  one  of  the  moft  remarkable.  It  is  entitled  "  Les  Heros  de  Ja 
Ligue,  ou  la  Proceffion  Monacale  conduite  par  Louis  XIV.  pour  la  Con- 
verfion  des  Proteftans  de  fon  Royaume,"  and  confifts  of  a  series  of  twency- 
four  moft  grotefque  faces,  intended  to  reprefent  the  minifters  and  courtiers 
of  the  "  grand  roi  "  moft  odious  to  the  Calvinifts.  It  muft  have  provoked 
their  wrath  exceedingly.  I  give  one  example,  and  as  it  is  difficult  to 
feleft,  I  take  the  firft  in  the  lift,  which  reprefents  William  of  Fiirftemberg, 
one  of  the  German  princes  devoted  to  Louis  XIV.,  who,  by  his  intrigues, 
had  forced  him  into  the  archbimopric  of  Cologne,  by  which  he  became 

an 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


359 


an  ele&or  of  the  empire.  For  many  reafons  William  of  Fiirftemberg  was 
hated  by  the  French  Proteftants,  but  it  is  not  quite  clear  why  he  is  here 
reprefented  m  the  character  of  one  of  the  low  merchants  of  the  Halles. 


No.  177.      William  of  Furjiemberg. 

Over  the  picture,  in  the  original,  we  read,  Guillaumc  de  Furjtemleig,  crie, 
ite,  miffa  eft,  and  beneath  are  the  four  lines  : — 

J^ay  yu'itte  man  fais  pour  fervir  a  la  France, 
Soil  far  ma  trahifon,  foil  far  ma  lachete  ; 
'Jf'ay  trouble  let  e tats  far  ma  me'chancete, 
Une  abbaye  eft  ma  recompense. 


360  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

EARLY   POLITICAL   CARICATURE    IN   ENGLAND. THE    SATIRICAL   WHITINGS 

AND    PICTURES     OF    THE    COMMONWEALTH    PERIOD. SATIRES    AGAINST 

THE  BISHOPS  ;    BISHOP  WILLIAMS. CARICATURES   ON    THE    CAVALIERS  ; 

SIR     JOHN      SUCKLING. THE      ROARING      BOYS  ;      VIOLENCE      OF      THE 

ROYALIST     SOLDIERS. CONTEST    BETWEEN    THE    PRESBYTERIANS     AND 

INDEPENDENTS. GRINDING  THE   KING'S    NOSE. PLAYING-CARDS  USED 

AS     THE    MEDIUM    FOR     CARICATURE  ;     HASELRIGGE     AND      LAMBERT. 

SHROVETIDE. 

DURING  the  fixteenth  century  caricature  can  hardly  be  faid  to  have 
exifted  in  England,  and  it  did  not  come  much  into  fafhion,  until  the 
approach  of  the  great  ftruggle  which  convulfed  our  country  in  the  century 
following.  The  popular  reformers  have  always  been  the  firft  to  appreciate 
the  value  of  piftorial  fatire  as  an  offenfive  weapon.  Such  was  the  cafe 
with  the  German  reformers  in  the  age  of  Luther ;  as  it  was  again  with 
the  Englifh  reformers  in  the  days  of  Charles  I.,  a  period  which  we  may 
juftly  confider  as  that  of  the  birth  of  Englifh  political  caricature.  From 
1640  to  1 66 1  the  prefs  launched  forth  an  abfolute  deluge  of  political 
pamphlets,  many  of  which  were  of  a  fatirical  character,  fcurrilous  in  form 
and  language,  and,  on  whatever  fide  they  were  written,  very  unfcrupulous 
in  regard  to  the  truth  of  their  ftatements.  Among  them  appeared  a  not 
unfrequent  engraving,  feldom  well  executed,  whether  on  copper  or  wood, 
but  difplaying  a  coarfe  and  pungent  wit  that  muft  have  told  with  great 
effect  on  thofe  for  whom  it  was  intended.  The  firft  objects  of  attack  in 
thefe  caricatures  were  the  Epifcopalian  party  in  the  church  and  the 
profanenefs  and  infolence  of  the  cavaliers.  The  Puritans  or  Prefbyterians 
who  took  the  lead  in,  and  at  firft  directed,  the  great  political  movement, 
looked  upon  Epifcopalianifm  as  differing  in  little  from  popery,  and,  at  all 
events,  as  leading  dire6t  to  it.  Arminianifm  was  with  them  only  another 

name 


in  Literature  and  Art.  361 

jiame  for  the  fame  thing,  and  was  equally  detefted.  In  a  caricature 
published  in  1641,  Arminius  is  reprefented  fupported  on  one  fide  by 
Herefy,  wearing  the  triple  crown,  while  on  the  other  fide  Truth  is 
turning  away  from  him,  and  carrying  with  her  the  Bible.  It  was  the 
indifcreet  zeal  of  archbifhop  Laud  which  led  to  the  triumph  of  the 
Puritan  party,  and  the  downfall  of  the  epifcopal  church  government,  and 
Laud  became  the  butt  for  attacks  of  all  defcriptions,  in  pamphlets,  fongs 
and  fatirical  prints,  the  latter  ufually  figuring  in  the  titles  of  the  pam- 
phlets. Laud  was  efpecially  obnoxious  to  the  Puritans  for  the  bitternefs 
with  which  he  had  perfecuted  them. 

In  1640  Laud  was  committed  to  the  Tower,  an  event  which  was 
hailed  as  the  firft  grand  ftep  towards  the  overthrow  of  the  bifhops.  As 
an  example  of  the  feeling  of  exultation  difplayed  on  this  occafion  by  his 
enemies,  we  may  quote  a  few  lines  from  a  fatirical  fong,  publiflied  in 
1641,  and  entitled  "  The  Organs  Eccho.  To  the  Tune  of  the  Cathedrall 
Service."  It  is  a  general  attack  on  the  prelacy,  and  opens  with  a  cry  of 
triumph  over  the  fall  of  William  Laud,  of  whom  the  fong  fays — 

sis  he  "was  in  his  tra-verie, 
A  nd  thought  to  bring  us  all  in  fla-verie, 
The  parliament  found  out  his  kna-verie  ; 

And fo  fell  William. 

Alas  !  poore  William  ! 

His  pope-like  domineering, 
And  fame  other  tricks  appearing, 
Provofd  Sir  Edivard  Deer  ing 

To  blame  t'te  old  prelate 

Mas  !  poore  prelate  ! 

Some  fay  he  'was  in  hope 

To  bring  England  againe  to  th?  p-jpe  ; 

But  n<n-j  he  is  in  danger  of  an  axe  or  a  rope. 

Farewell,  old  Canterbury. 

Alas  !  pcore  Canterbury  ! 

Wren,  bifhop  of  Ely,  was  another  of  the  more  obnoxious  of  the 
prelates,  and  there  was  hardly  lefs  joy  among  the  popular  party  when  he 
was  committed  to  the  Tower  in  the  courfe  of  the  year  1641.  Another 

3  A 


362  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

fong,  in  verfe  fimilar  to  the  laft,  contains  a  general  review  of  the  demerits 
of  the  members  of  the  prelacy,  under  the  title  of  "The  Bifhops  Laft 
Good-night."  At  the  head  of  the  broadfide  on  which  it  is  printed  ftand 
two  fatirical  woodcuts,  but  it  muft  be  confeired  that  the  words  of  the 
fong  are  better  than  the  engraving.  The  bifliop  of  Ely,  we  are  told,  had 
juft  gone  to  join  his  friend  Laud  in  the  Tower — 

Ely,  thcu  haft  alway  to  thy  power 

Left  the  church  naked  in  a  ftorme  and  jbowre, 

And  now  Jor  V  thou  muft  to  thy  old  friend  /'  tK  Tower. 

To  the  Tower  muft  Ely  ; 

Come  away,  Ely. 

A  third  obnoxious  prelate  was  biftiop  Williams.  Williams  was  a 
WeHhman  who  had  been  high  in  favour  with  James  I.,  but  he  had  given 
offence  to  the  government  of  Charles  I.,  and  been  imprifoned  in  the 
Tower  during  the  earlier  part  of  that  king's  reign.  He  was  releafed  by 
the  parliament  in  1640,  and  fo  far  regained  the  favour  of  king  Charles,  that 
he  was  raifed  to  the  archbifliopric  of  York  in  the  year  following.  When 
the  civil  war  began,  he  retired  into  Wales,  and  garrifoned  Conway  for 
the  king.  Williams's  warlike  behaviour  was  the  fource  of  much  mirth 
among  the  Roundheads.  In  1642  was  publilhed  a  large  caricature  on 
the  three  clafles  to  whom  the  parliamentarians  were  efpecially  hoftile  — 
the  royalift  judges,  the  prelates,  and  ^he  ruffling  cavaliers ;  reprefented 
here,  as  we  are  told  in  writing  in  the  copy  among  the  king's  pamphlets, 
by  judge  Mallet,  bifhop  Williams,  and  colonel  Lunsford.  Thefe  three 
figures  are  placed  in  as  many  compartments  with  doggrel  verfes  under 
each.  That  of  bifliop  Williams  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  178.  The 
bilhop  is  armed  cap-a-pie,  and  in  the  diftance  behind  him  are  feen  on  one 
fide  his  cathedral  church,  and  on  the  other  his  war-horfe.  The  verfes 
beneath  it  contain  an  allufion  to  this  prelate's  Welfh  extraction  in  the 
orthography  of  fome  of  the  words  : — 

Oh,Jir,  Vme  ready,  did  you  never  heere 

How  forward  I  ha-tfe  byn  t~h  many  a  yeare, 

T^oppofe  the  practice  dot  is  now  onfoote, 

Which  plucks  my  brethren  up  both  pranch  and  roott  f 

My  pojture  and  my  hart  toth  well  agree 

To  fight  ;  now  plud  is  up  :  come,  follow  mee. 

rhe 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


363 


The  country  had  now  begun  to  experience  the  miferies  of  war,  and 
to  fmart  under  them ;  and  the  cavaliers  were  efpecially  reproached  for  the 
cruelty  with  which  they  plundered  and  ill-treated  people  whenever  they 
gained  the  maftery.  Colonel  Lunsford  was  efpecially  notorious  for  the 


No.  178.     The  Church  Militant. 


barbarities  committed  by  himfelf  and  his  men— to  fuch  a  degree  that  he 
was  popularly  accufed  of  eating  children,  a  charge  which  is  frequently 
alluded  to  in  the  popular  fongs  of  the  time.  Thus  one  of  thefe  fongs 
couples  him  with  two  other  obnoxious  royalifts  : — 

From  Fielding,  and  from  Va-uafour, 

Both  ill-affefied  men, 
From  Lunsford  eke  deliver  us, 

Who  eateth  up  children. 

In 


364  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


In  the  third  compartment  of  the  caricature  juft  mentioned,  we  fee  in 
the  background  of  the  picture,  behind  colonel  Lunsford,  his  foldiers  occu- 
pied in  burning  towns,  and  maflacring  women  and  children.  The  model 
of  the  gay  cavalier  of  the  earlier  period  of  this  great  revolution,  before 


No.  179.     The  Sucklington  Fafticn. 


the  war  had  broken  out  in  its  intenfity,  was  the  courtly  Sir  John  Suckling, 
the  poet  of  the  drawing-room  and  tavern,  the  admired  of  "roaring  boys," 
and  the  hated  of  rigid  Puritans.  Sir  John  outdid  his  companions  in 
extravagance  in  everything  which  was  fafhionable,  and  the  difplay  of  his 
zeal  in  the  caufe  of  royalty  was  not  calculated  to  conciliate  the  reformers. 

When 


in  Literature  and  Art.  365 


When  the  king  led  an  army  againft  the  Scottifti  Covenanters  in  1639, 
Suckling  raifed  a  troop  of  a  hundred  horfe  at  his  own  expenfe ;  but  they 
gained  more  reputation  by  their  extraordinary  drefs  than  by  their  courage, 
and  the  whole  affair  was  made  a  fubje6t  of  ridicule.  From  this  time  the 
name  of  Suckling  became  identified  with  that  gay  and  profligate  clafs  who, 
difgufled  by  the  outward  (how  of  fanctity  which  the  Puritans  affected, 
rufhed  into  the  other  extreme,  and  became  notorious  for  their  profanenefs, 
their  libertinifm,  and  their  indulgence  in  vice,  which  threw  a  certain 
degree  of  difcredit  upon  the  royalift  party.  There  is  a  large  broadfide 
among  the  King's  Pamphlets  in  the  Britifh  Mufeum,  entitled,  "  The 
Sucklington  Faction ;  or  (Sucklings)  Roaring  Boys."  It  is  one  of 
thofe  fatirical  compofitions  which  were  then  falhionable  under  the  title 
of "  Characters,"  and  is  illuftrated  by  an  engraving,  from  which  our  cut 
No.  179  is  copied.  This  engraving,  which  from  its  fuperior  ftyle  is 
perhaps  the  work  of  a  foreign  artift,  reprefents  the  interior  of  a  chamber, 
in  which  two  of  the  Roaring  Boys  are  engaged  in  drinking  and  fmoking, 
and  forms  a  curious  picture  of  contemporary  manners.  Underneath  the 
engraving  we  read  the  following  lines : — 

Much  meate  doth  gluttony  produce, 

And  makes  a  man  afivine  ,• 
But  hee  '*  a  temperate  man  indeed 
That  •with  a  leafe  can  dine. 

Hee  needei  no  napkin  fir  his  handes, 

His  fngcrs  for  to  loipc  ; 
He  hath  his  kitchin  in  a  box, 

His  roaft  meate  in  a  pipe. 

When  the  war  fpread  itfelf  over  the  country,  many  of  thefe  Roaring 
Boys  became  foldiers,  and  difgraced  the  profeffion  by  rapacity  and  cruelty. 
The  pamphlets  of  the  parliamentarians  abound  with  complaints  of  the 
outrages  perpetrated  by  the  Cavaliers,  and  the  evil  appears  to  have  been 
increafed  by  the  ill-conduct  of  the  auxiliaries  brought  over  from  Ireland 
to  ferve  the  king,  who  were  efpecially  objects  of  hatred  to  the  Puritans. 
A  broadfide  among  the  king's  pamphlets  is  adorned  by  a  fatirical  picture 
of  "  The  Englifli  Irilh  Souldier,  with  his  new  difcipline,  new  armes,  old 

ftomacke, 


366  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


ilomacke,  and  new  taken  pillage ;  who  had  rather  eat  than  fight."  It 
was  publiftied  in  1642.  The  Englilh  Irifh  foldier  is,  as  may  be  fuppofed, 
heavily  laden  with  plunder.  In  1646  appeared  another  caricature,  which 
is  copied  in  «our  cut  No.  180.  It  reprefents  "England's  Wolfe  with 


No.  1 80.      "  England's  Wdf." 

Eagles  clawes:  the  cruell  impieties  of  bloud-thirfty  royalifts  and  blaf- 
phemous  anti-parliamentarians,  under  the  command  of  that  inhumane 
prince  Rupert,  Digby,  and  the  reft,  wherein  the  barbarous  crueltie  of  our 
civill  uncivill  warres  is  briefly  difcovered."  England's  wolf,  as  will  be 
feen,  is  drefled  in  the  high  fafh  on  of  the  gay  courtiers  of  the  time. 

A  few  large  caricatures,  embodying  fatire  of  a  more  comprehenfive 
defcription,  appeared  from  time  to  time,  during  this  troubled  age.  Such 
is  a  large  emblematical  pidure,  publifhed  on  the  pth  of  November,  1642, 

and 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


367 


and  entitled  "  Heraclitus'  Dream,"  for  the  fcene  is  fuppofed  to  be  mani- 
fefted  to  the  philofopher  in  a  vificn.  In  the  middle  of  the  picture  the 
fheep  are  feen  {hearing  their  fhepherd ;  while  one  cuts  his  hair,  another 
treats  his  beard  in  the  fame  manner.  Under  the  picture  we  read  the 
couplet — 

Thefacke  that  ivas  wont  to  be  fhorne  by  the  herd, 
Ncnu  pc/lleth  the  Jbepherd  in  jpight  of  hh  beard. 

On  the  ipth  of  January,  1647,  a  caricature  appeared  under  the  title 
"  An  Embleme  of  the  Times."  On  one  fide  War,  reprefented  as  a  giant 
in  armour,  is  feen  ftanding  upon  a  heap  of  dead  and  mutilated  bodies, 
while  Hypocrify,  in  the  form  of  a  woman  with  two  faces,  is  flying  towards 
a  diftant  city.  "  Libertines,"  "  anti-fabbatarians,"  and  others,  are  haften- 


No.  181.      Folly  Uppermcft. 

ing  in  the  fame  direction  ;  and  the  angel  of  peftilence,  hovering  over  the 
city,  is  ready  to  pounce  upon  it. 

The  party  of  the  parliament  was  now  triumphant,  and  the  queftion  of 
religion  again  became  the  fubjeft  of  difpute.  The  Prelbyterians  had 
been  eftabliming  a  fort  of  tyranny  over  men's  minds,  and  fought  to  pro- 
fcribe  all  other  feels,  till  their  intolerance  gradually  raifed  up  a  ftrong  and 

general 


368  Hijiory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 

general  feeling  of  refiftance.  Since  1643  a  brifk  war  of  political  pam- 
phlets had  been  carried  on  between  the  Prefbyterians  and  their  opponents, 
when,  in  1647,  the  Independents,  whofe  caufe  had  been  efpoufed  by  the 
army,  gained  the  mattery.  "  Sir  John  Prelbyter  "  or  to  ufe  the  more 
familiar  phrafe,  "  Jack  Prefbyter,"  furnilhed  a  fubjeft  for  frequent  fatire, 
and  the  Prefbyterians  were  not  flow  in  returning  the  blow.  In  the 
collection  in  the  Britilh  Mufeum  we  find  a  caricature  which  muft  have 
come  from  the  Prefbyterian  party,  entitled  "  Reall  Perfecution,  or  the 
Foundation  of  a  general  Toleration,  difplaied  and  portrayed  by  a  proper 
emblem,  and  adorned  with  the  fame  flowers  wherewith  the  fcoffers  of 
this  lafl  age  have  ftrowed  their  libellous  pamphlets."  The  group  which 
occupies  the  middle  part  of  this  broadfide,  is  copied  in  our  cut  No.  181. 
It  has  its  feparate  title,  "The  Picture  of  an  Englifh  Perfecutor,  or  a  foole- 
ridden  ante-Preflbeterian  feclary."  (I  give  the  fpelling  as  in  the  original.) 
Folly  is  riding  on  the  feclarian,  whom  he  holds  with  a  bridle,  the  feftarian 
having  the  ears  of  an  afs.  The  following  homely  rhymes  are  placed  in 
the  mouth  of  Folly, — 

Behould  my  Aaiit,  like  my  witty 
Equalh  hit  on  -whom  IJitt. 

Anti-Preibyterian  is,  as  will  be  feen,  drefled  in  the  height  of  the  fafhion, 
and  fays — 

My  curjed  fpeechcs  againji  Prefbetry 
Declares  unto  the  "world  my  foolery, 

The  mortification  of  the  Prefbyterians  led  in  Scotland  to  the  procla- 
mation of  Charles  II.  as  king,  and  to  the  ill-fated  expedition  which  ended 
in  the  battle  of  Worcefter  in  1651,  when  fatirical  pamphlets,  ballads,  and 
caricatures  againft  the  Scottifh  Prefbyterians  became  for  a  while  very 
popular.  One  of  the  beft  of  the  latter  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  182. 
Its  objeft  is  to  ridicule  the  conditions  which  the  Prefbyterians  exacted 
from  the  young  prince  before  they  offered  him  the  crown.  It  is  printed 
in  the  middle  of  the  broadfide,  in  profe,  published  on  the  I4th  of  July, 
1651,  with  the  general  title, "  Old  Sayings  and  Prediaions  verified  and 
fulfilled,  touching  the  young  King  of  Scotland  and  his-  gude  fubjeds." 

The 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


369 


The  picture  has  its  feparate  title,  "The  Scots  holding  their  young  kinges 
nofe  to  the  grinftone."  followed  by  the  lines — 

Come  to  the  grinflone,  Charles,  ''tis  now  to  late 
To  recohft,  V/'j  frejbiterian  fate, 
You  covinant  pretenders,  muft  I  bee 

The  futjefi  ofyouer  tradgie-comedie  ? 

In  fatt,  the  picture  reprefents  Prefbyterianifm — Jack  Prefbyter — holding 
the  young  king's  nofe  to  the  grindftone,  which  is  turned  by  the  Scots, 


'Jockie 


No.  182.     Conditions  of  Royalty. 

perfonified  as  Jockey.    The  following  lines  are  put  into  the  mouths  of  the 
three  aclors  in  this  Icene  : — 

Jockey. — I,  Jockey,  turne  the  stone  of  all  your  plots, 

For  none  turnes  faster  than  the  turne-coat  Scots. 
Pre/byter. —  We  for  our  ends  did  make  thee  king,  be  sure, 

Not  to  rule  us,  we  will  not  that  endure. 
King. — You  deep  dissemblers,  I  kow  what  you  doe, 
And,  for  revenges  sake,  I  will  dissemble  too. 

Charles's  defeat  and  flight  from  Worceftei  furnifhed  materials  for  a 

3  B  much 


370  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


much  more  elaborate  caricature  than  moft  of  the  fimilar  productions  of 
this  period,  and  of  a  fomewhat  fingular  defign.  It  was  publiftied  on  the 
6th  of  November,  1651,  and  bears  the  title  "A  Mad  Defigne  ;  or  a 
Defcription  of  the  king  of  Scots  marching  in  his  difguife,  after  the  Rout 
at  Worcefter."  A  long,  and  not  unneceflary,  explanation  of  the  feveral 
groups  forming  this  picture,  enables  us  to  underftand  it.  On  the  left 
Charles  is  feated  on  the  globe  "  in  a  melancholy  pofture."  A  little  to 
the  right,  and  nearly  in  front,  the  bifhop  of  Clogher  is  performing  mats, 
at  which  lords  Ormond  and  Inchquin,  in  the  fhapes  of  ftrange  animals, 
hold  torches,  and  the  lord  Taaf,  in  the  form  of  a  monkey,  holds  up  the 
bifhop's  train.  The  Scottilh  army  is  feen  marching  up,  confifting,  accord- 
ing to  the  defcription,  of  papifts,  prelatical  malignants,  Prelbyterians,  and 
old  cavaliers ;  the  latter  of  whom  are  reprefented  by  the  "  fooles  head 
upon  a  pole  in  the  rear."  The  next  group  confifts  of'two  monkeys,  one 
with  a  fiddle,  the  other  carrying  a  long  ftarT  with  a  torch  at  the  end,  con- 
cerning which  we  learn  that  "  The  two  ridiculous  anticks,  one  with  a 
fiddle,  and  the  other  with  a  torch,  ft*  forth  the  ridiculoufnefs  of  their 
condition  when  they  marched  into  England,  carried  up  with  high 
thoughts,  yet  altogether  in  the  darke,  having  onely  a  fooles  bawble  to  be 
their  light  to  walke  by,  mirth  of  their  own  whimfies  to  keep  up  their 
fpirits,  and  a  fheathed  fword  to  trufte  in."  Next  come  a  troop  of  women, 
children,  and  papifts,  lamenting  over  their  defeat.  Two  monkeys  on 
foot,  and  one  on  horfeback,  follow,  the  latter  riding  with  his  face  turned 
to  the  horfe's  tail,  and  carrying  in  his  hand  a  fpit  with  provifions  on  it. 
It  is  explained  as  "The  Scots  Kings  flight  from  Worcefter,  reprefented 
by  the  foole  on  horfeback,  riding  backward,  turning  his  face  every  way 
in  feares,  ufhered  by  duke  Hambleton  and  the  lord  Wilmot."  Laftly,  a 
crowd  of  women  with  flags  bring  up  the  rear.  It  cannot  be  faid  that  the 
wit  difplayed  in  this  fatire  is  of  the  very  higheft  order. 

After  this  period  we  meet  with  comparatively  few  caricatures  until 
the  death  of  Cromwell,  and  the  eve  of  the  Reftoration,  when  there  came 
a  new  and  fierce  flruggle  of  political  parties.  The  Dutch  were  the  fubjecl 
of  fome  fatirical  prints  and  pamphlets  in  1652  ;  and  we  find  a  fmall  number 
of  caricatures  on  the  focial  evils,  fuch  as  drunkennefs  and  gluttony,  and  on 

one 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


371 


one  or  two  fubje6ts  of  minor  agitation.  With  the  clofe  of  the  Common- 
wealth a  new  form  of  caricature  came  in.  Playing  cards  had,  during  this 
feventeenth  century,  been  employed  for  various  purpofes  which  were  quite 
alien  to  their  original  character.  In  France  they  were  made  the  means 
of  conveying  instruction  to  children.  In  England,  at  the  time  of  which 
we  are  fpeaking,  they  were  adopted  as  the  medium  for  fpreading  political 


No.  183.      Arthur  Hafelrigg. 

caricature.  The  earlieft  of  thefe  packs  of  cards  known  is  one  which 
appears  to  have  been  publilhed  at  the  very  moment  of  the  reftoration  of 
Charles  II.,  and  which  was,  perhaps,  engraved  in  Holland.  It  contains 
?  feries  of  caricatures  on  the  principal  ads  of  the  Commonwealth,  and 
on  the  parliamentary  leaders.  Among  other  cards  of  a  fimilar  character 
which  have  been  preferred  is  a  pack  relating  to  the  popifh  plot,  another 

relating 


372  Hiftory  of  Caricature  a nd  Grotefque 


relating  to   the    Rye  Houfe  confpiracy,  one  on  the  Miffiffippi  fcheme, 
publifhed  in  Holland,  and  one  on  the  South  Sea  bubble. 

The  earlieft  of  thefe  packs  of  fatirical  cards,  that  on  the  Common- 
wealth, belonged  a  few  years  ago  to  a  lady  of  the  name  of  Preft,  and  is 
very  fully  defcribed  in  a  paper  by  Mr.  Pettigrew,  printed  in  the  "  Journal 
of  the  Britifh  Archaeological  Affociation."  Each  of  the  fifty-two  cards 


.  184.      General  Lambert. 


prefents  a  picture  with  a  fatirical  title.  Ihus  the  ace  of  diamonds  repre- 
fents"The  High  Court  of  Juftice,  or  Oliver's  Slaughter  Houfe."  The 
eight  of  diamonds  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  183  ;  its  fubjecl:  is  "  Don 
Hafelrigg,  Knight  of  the  Codled  Braine."  It  is  hardly  neceflary  to  fay 
that  Sir  Arthur  Hafelrigg  afted  a  very  prominent  and  remarkable  part 
during  the  whole  of  the  Commonwealth  period,  and  that  his  manner  ; 

were 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


.373 


were  impetuous  and  authoritative,  which  was  probably  the  meaning  of 
the  epithet  here  given  to  him.  The  card  of  the  king  of  diamonds  repre- 
fents  rather  unequivocally  the  fubjeft  indicated  by  its  title,  "Sir  H.  Mild- 
may  folicits  a  citizen's  wife,  for  which  his  owne  corrects  him."  It  is 
an  allufion  to  one  of  the  petty  fcandals  of  the  republican  period.  The 
eight  of  hearts  is  a  fatire  on  major-general  Lambert.  This  able  and  diftin- 
guifhed  man  was  remarkably  fond  of  flowers,  took  great  pleafure  in 
cultivating  them,  and  was  ikilful  in  drawing  them,  which  was  one  of  his 
favourite  amufementst  He  withdrew  to  Amfterdam  during  the  Protec- 


Ab.  185.      Shrovetide. 

torate,  and  there  gave  full  indulgence  to  this  love  of  flowers,  and  I  need 
hardly  fay  that  it  was  the  age  of  the  great  tulip  mania  in  Holland. 
When,  after  the  Reftoration,  he  was  involved  in  the  fate  of  the  regicides, 
but  had  his  fentence  commuted  for  thirty  years  of  imprifonment,  he 
alleviated  the  dulnefs  of  his  long  confinement  in  the  ifle  of  Guernfey  by 
the  fame  amufement.  In  the  card  we  have  engraved,  Lambert  is  repre- 
fented  in  his  garden,  holding  a  large  tulip  in  his  hand ;  and  it  is  no  doubt 
in  allufion  to  this  innocent  tafte  that  he  is  here  entitled  "  Lambert,  Knight 

of  the  Golden  Tulip." 

The 


374  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


The  Reftoration  furnifhed  better  fongs  than  prints,  and  many  years 
pafled  befoie  any  caricatures  worthy  of  notice  appeared  in  England. 
Even  burlefque  fubjecTs  of  any  merit  occur  but  rarely,  and  I  hardly  know 
of  one  which  is  worth  defcribing  here.  Among  the  beft  of  thofe  I  have 
met  with,  is  a  pair  of  plates,  publifhed  in  1660,  reprefenting  Lent  and 
Shrovetide,  and  thefe,  I  believe,  are  copied  or  imitated  from  foreign 
prints.  Lent  is  come  as  a  thin  miferable-looking  knight-errant,  appro- 
priately armed  and  mounted,  ready  to  give  battle  to  Shrovetide,  whofe 
good  living  is  pernicious  to  the  whole  community,  and  he  abufes  his  oppo- 
nent in  good  round  terms.  In  the  companion  print,  of  which  our  cut 
No.  185  is  a  copy,  Shrovetide  appears  as  a  jolly  champion,  quite  ready  to 
meet  his  enemy.  He  is  beft  defcribed  in  the  following  lines,  extracted 
from  the  verfes  which  accompany  the  prints : — 

Fatt  Shro'tetyde,  mounted  on  a  goad  fan  oxe, 
Suppofd  that  Lent  was  mad,  or  caught  a  foxe,* 
Armed  cap-a-pea  from  head  unto  the  heel, 
A/pit  his  long  fioor  d,  Jomew  hat  worfe  than  fteale, 
{Sheathed  in  a  fatt  pigge  and  a  peece  of  porke), 
His  bottles  fid  with  wine,  •wellftopt  'with  corke  ; 
The  tiuo  plump  capons  fluttering  at  his  crupper  ; 
And  'i  /boulders  lac'd  ivith  fa-wfages  for  f upper  ; 
The  gridiron  (like  a  well  ftrung  injlrument) 
Hung  at  his  backe,  and  for  the  turnament 
His  helmet  is  a  brajje  pott,  and  his  flagge 
A  cookesfoule  apron,  which  the  -wind  doth  "wagg, 
Fixd  to  a  broome  :  thus  bravely  he  did  ridet 
And  boldly  to  his  foe  he  thus  replied. 

*  /rf  ,  was  drunk. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  375 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

ENGLISH      COMEDY. BEN      JONSON. THE      OTHER      WRITERS      OF       HIS 

SCHOOL. INTERRUPTION      OF      DRAMATIC      PERFORMANCES. COMEDY 

AFTER  THE   RESTORATION. THE    HOWARDS    BROTHERS  ;    THE  DUKE   OF 

BUCKINGHAM  ;  THE  REHEARSAL. WRITERS  OF  COMEDY  IN  THE  LATTER 

PART    OF    THE    SEVENTEENTH    CENTURY. INDECENCY    OF    THE    STAGE. 

COLLEY    CIBBER. FOOTE. 

IN  England,  as  in  Athens  of  old,  perfect  comedy  arofe  gradually  out  of 
the  perfonalities  of  the  rude  dramatic  attempts  of  an  earlier  period. 
Such  productions  as  Ralph  Roifter  Doifter  and  Gammer  Gurton's  Needle 
were  mere  imperfect  attempts  at,  we  may  perhaps  rather  fay  feelers 
towards,  comedy  itfelf — that  djama,  the  objecl:  of  which  was  to  carica- 
ture, and  thus  to  diflecl:  and  apply  correctives  to,  the  vices  and  weak- 

Jlfiffcs  "f  rrmtpmpnrary  fociety. The  genius  of  Shakefpeare  was  far  too 

exquifitely  poetical  to  qualify  him  for  a  talk  like  this ;  it  wanted  fome 
one  who  could  ufe  the  lancet  and  fcalpel  Ikilfully,  but  foberly,  and  who 
was  not  liable  to  be  led  aftray  by  too  much  vigour  of  imagination. 

Such  a  one  was^Ben  Jonlon,  whom  we  may  rightly  confideras  the 
father  of  Englifh  comedy.  "  Bartholomew  Fair,"  firft  performed  at  the 
Hope  Theatre,  on  Bankfide,  London,  on  the  3ift  of  October,  1614,  is 
the  moft  perfect  and  mod  remarkable  example  of  the  truly  Engliih 
comedy,  remarkable,  among  many  other  things,  for  the  extraordinary 
number  of  characters  who  were  brought  upon  the  ftage  in  one  piece,  and 
who  are  all  at  the  fame  time  grouped  and  individualifed  with  a  Ikill  that 
reminds  us  of  the  pictorial  triumphs  of  a  Callot  or  a  Hogarth.  London 
life  is  placed  before  us  in  all  its  moie  popular  forms  in  one  grand  tableau, 
the  one  in  which  it  would  fliow  itfelf  in  its  more  grotefque  attitudes^^the^ 
London  citizen,  his  vain  or  eafy  wife,  (harpers  of  every,  defcription,  and 
their  victims  no  lefs  varied  in  character,  the  petty  city  officers,  all  come 

in 


376  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

in  for  their  fhare  of  fatire.  The  different  groups  are  diftributed  fo  natu- 
rally, that  it  is  difficult  to  fay  who  is  the  principal  character  of  the  piece 
— and  who  ever  was  the  principal  character  in  Bartholomew  Fair?  Per- 
haps the  character  of  Cokes,  the  young  booby  fquire  from  Harrow — for  in 
thofe  times  even  fo  near  London  as  Harrow,  a  young  fquire  was  confidered 
to  be  in  all  probability  but  a  young  country  booby — ftrikes  us  moft.  It 
is  faid  to  have  been  at  a  later  period  the  favourite  character  of  Charles  II. 
Among  the  other  principal  characters  of  the  play  are  a  proctor  of  the 
Arches  Court  named  Littlewit,  who  imagines  himfelf  to  be  a  bel  cfprit  of 
the  firft  order;  his  wife,  and  her  mother,  dame  Purecraft,  who  is  a  widow  ; 
Juftice  Overdo,  a  London  magiftrate,  to  whofe  ward,  Grace  Wellborn, 
Cokes  is  affianced  in  marriage;  a  zealous  Puritan,  named  Zeal-of-the-land 
Bufy,  who  is  a  fuitor  to  the  widow  Purecraft,  herfelf  alfo  a  Puritan ; 
Winwife,  Bufy's  rival ;  and  a  gamefter  named  Tom  Quarlous,  who 
figures  as  Winwife's  friend  and  companion.  All  thefe  meet  in  town,  on 
the  morning  of  the  fair,  Cokes  under  the  care  of  a  fort  of  fteward  or 
upper  fervant,  named  Wafpe,  who  was  of  a  quarrelfome  difpofition, 
and  feparate  in  groups  among  the  crowd  which  filled  Smithfield  and  its 
vicinity,  each  having  their  feparate  adventures,  but  meeting  from  time  to 
time,  and  reaffembling  at  the  end.  Cokes  behaves  as  a  fimpleton  from 
the  country,  longs  for  everything,  and  wonders  at  everything,  buys  up 
toys  and  gingerbread,  is  feparated  from  all  his  companions,  robbed  of  his 
money  and  even  of  his  outer  garments,  and  in  this  condition  finally 
fettles  down  at  a  puppet-lhow.  Meanwhile  the  Puritan  Bufy,  by  his  zeal 
againft  the  "heathen  abominations"  of  the  fair  on  one  hand,  and 
Wafpe,  by  his  quarrelfome  temper  on  the  other,  fall  into  a  feries  of 
fcrapes,  which  end  in  both  being  carried  to  the  flocks.  They  are  there 
joined  by  another  important  perfonage.  Juftice  Overdo,  who  is  diftin- 
guifhed  by  an  extraordinary  zeal  for  the  right  adminiftration  of  juftice 
and  the  fuppreflion  of  focial  vices  of  all  kinds,  has  come  into  the  fair  in 
difguife,  in  order  to  make  himfelf  acquainted  with  its  various  abufes,  and 
he  paffes  among  them  unknown  ;  and  his  inquifitive  intermeddling  brings 
him  into  a  variety  of  miftiaps,  in  the  courfe  of  which  he  alfo  is  feized  by 
the  conftable,  and  allows  himfelf  to  be  taken  to  the  flocks,  rather  than 

betray 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


377 


betray  nis  identity.  Thus  all  three,  Bufy,  Wafpe,  and  Overdo,  are  placed 
in  the  flocks  at  the  fame  time  5  but  Wafpe,  by  a  clever  trick,  efcapes,  and 
leaves  the  Puritan  and  the  juftice  confined  together,  the  one  looking  upon 
himfelf  as  a  martyr  for  religion's  fake,  the  other  rather  glorying  in 
fuffering  through  his  difinterefted  zeal  for  the  common  good.  They, 
too,  after  a  while  make  their  efcape  through  an  accidental  overfight  of 
their  keepers,  and  mix  again  with  the  mob.  The  women,  likewife,  have 
bj;en  feparated  from  their  rnalp  <""r"pnnir>nsr^>avH  faMep  among  (harpers 
jmjl_b_uniesj_been  made  drunk,  and  efcaped  but  narrowly  from  ftill  worfe 
difafters.  They  all  finally  meet  before  the  puppet-fhow,  which  has  fixed  the 
attention  of  Cokes,  and  there  juftice  Overdo  difcovers  himfelf.  Such  are 
the  materials  of  Ben  Jonfon's  "  Bartholomew  Fair,"  the  bufieft  and  moft 
amufing  of  plays.  It  is  faid,  when  firft  a&ed,  to  have  given  great  fatif- 
fa&ion  to  king  James,  by  the  ridicule  thrown  upon  the  Puritans,  and  it 
continued  to  be  a  favourite  comedy  when  revived  after  the  Reftoration. 

"The  Alchemift,"  by  the  fame  author,  preceded  "Bartholomew 
Fair,"  by  four  years,  and  was  defigned  as  a  fatire  upon  a  clais  of  impoftors 
who,  in  that  age,  were  among  the  greateft  pells  of  fociety,  and  were 
inftruments,  one  way  or  other,  in  the  greateft  crimes  of  the  day.  "The 
Alchemift"  belongs,  alfo,  to  the  pure  Englifh  comedy,  but  its  plot  is  more 
fimple  and  diftincl  than  that  of  "  Bartholomew  Fair."  It  involves  events 
which  may  have  occurred  frequently,  at  periods  when  the  metropolis  was 
from  time  to  time  expofed  to  the  vicifiitudes  of  the  plague.  On  one  of 
thefe  occafions,  Love  wit,  a  London  gentleman,  obliged  to  quit  the  metropolis 
in  order  to  avoid  the  plague,  leaves  his  town  houfe  to  the  charge  of  one 
man-fervant,  Face,  who  proves  diftioneft,  afibciates  himfelf  with  a  rogue 
named  Subtle,  and  an  immoral  woman  named  Dol  Common,  and  introduces 
them  into  the  houfe,  which  is  made  the  bafis  for  their  fubfequent  opera- 
tions. Subtle  afTumes  the  character  of  a  magician  and  alchemift,  while 
Dol  a<5ts  various  female  parts,  and  Face  goes  about  alluring  people  into 
their  fnares.  Among  their  dupes  are  a  knight  who  lives  upon  the  town, 
two  Englifh  Puritans  from  Amfterdam,  a  lawyer's  clerk,  a  tobacco  man, 
a  young  country  fquire,  and  his  fifter  dame  Pliant,  a  widow.  The  various 
intrigues  in  which  thefe  individuals  are  involved,  (how  us  the  way  in 

3  c  which 


378  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

which  the  pretended  conjurers  and  alchemifts  contributed  to  all  the  vices 
of  the  town.  At  length  their  bafe  dealings  are  on  the  point  of  being 
expofed  by  the  cunning  of  one  upon  whom  they  had  attempted  to  impofe, 
when  Truewit,  the  matter  of  the  houfe,  returns  unexpectedly,  and  all  is 
difcovered,  but  the  alchemift  and  his  female  aflbciate  contrive  to  efcape. 
The  obje£t  of  their  laft  intrigue  had  been  to  entrap  dame  Pliant,  who 
was  rich,  into  a  marriage  with  a  needy  (harper ;  and  Lovewit,  finding  the 
lady  in  the  houfe,  and  liking  her,  marries  her  himfelf,  and,  in  confidera- 
tionof  the  fatisfa&ion  he  has  thus  procured,  forgives  his  unfaithful  fervant. 
Many  have  confidered  the  Alchemift  to  be  the  beft  of  Jonfon's  dramas. 
"Epicrene,  or  the  Silent  Woman,"  which  belongs  to  the  year  1609,  is 
another  fatirical  pifture  of  London  fociety,  in  which  the  fame  clafs  of 
characters  appear.  Morofe,  an  eccentric  gentleman  of  fortune,  who  has 
a  great  horror  for  noife,  and  even  obliges  his  fervants  to  communicate 
with  him  by  figns,  has  a  nephew,  a  young  knight  named  Sir  Dauphine 
Eugenie,  with  whom  he  is  difiatisfied,  and  he  refufes  to  allow  him  money 
for  his  fupport.  A  plot  is  laid  by  his  friends,  whereby  the  uncle  is  led 
into  a  marriage  with  a  fuppofed  filent  woman,  named  Epicoene,  but  fhe 
only  fuftains  the  character  until  the  wedding  formalities  are  completed, 
and  thefe  are  followed  by  a  fcene  of  noife  and  riot,  which  completely 
horrifies  Morofe,  and  leads  to  a  reconciliation  with  his  nephew,  to  whom 
he  makes  over  half  his  fortune.  The  earlieft  of  Ben  Jonfon's  comedies, 
"  Every  Man  in  his  Humour,"  was  compofed  in  its  prefent  form  in  1598, 
and  is  the  firfl  of  thefe  dramatic  fatires  on  the.  manners  and  character  of 
the  citizens  of  London,  of  whom  it  was  faftiionable  at  the  courts  of 
James  I.  and  Charles  I.  to  fpeak  contemptuously.  Kno'well,  an  old 
gentleman  of  refpe&ability,  is  highly  difpleafed  with  his  fon  Edward, 
becaufe  the  latter  has  taken  to  writing  poetry,  and  has  formed  a  friendftiip 
with  another  gentleman  of  his  own  age,  who  loves  poetry  and  frequents 
the  rather  gay  fociety  of  the  poets  and  wits  of  the  town.  Wellbred  has 
a  half-brother,  a  "plain  fquire,"  named  Downright,  and  a  fitter  married 
to  a  rich  city  merchant  named  Kitely.  Kitely,  the  merchant,  who  is 
extremely  jealous  of  his  wife,  has  a  great  defire  to  reform  Wellbred,  and 
draw  him  to  a  fteadier  line  of  life,  a  fentiment  in  which  Downright 

heartily 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


379 


heartily  joins.  Kitely's  jealoufy,  and  the  fteps  taken  to  reform  Wellbred, 
lead  to  the  moft  comic  parts  of  the  play,  which  concludes  with  the 
marriage  of  young  Kno'well  to  Kitely's  daughter,  Mifs  Bridget,  and  his 
reconciliation  with  his  father.  Among  the  other  characters  in  the  piece 
are  captain  Bobadil,  "  a  bluftering  coward,"  juftice  Clement,  "  an  old 
merry  magiftrate,"  his  clerk,  Roger  Formal,  and  a  country  gull  and  a 
town  gull. 

Thefe  comedies  of  London  life  became  popular,  and  continued  fo 
during  this  "and  the  following  reign — in  fact,  the  mafs  of  thofe  who 
attended  the  theatres  could  underftand  and  appreciate  them  better  than 
any  others,  and,  what  was  more,  they  felt  them.  Among  Jonfon's  con- 
temporaries in  the  literature  of  this  Englifh  comedy  were  Middleton  and 
Thomas  Heywood,  both  very  prolific  writers,  Chapman,  and  Marfton. 
Certain  clafles  of  characters  are  continually  repeated  in  this  comedy, 
becaufe  they  belonged  efpecially  to  the  London  fociety  of  the  time,  but 
the  employment  and  diftribution  of  thefe  characters  admitted  of  great 
variations,  and  they  perhaps  often  had  at  the  time  a  fpecial  intereft,  as 
reprefenting  known  individuals,  or  as  being  combined  in  a  plot  which 
was  built  upon  real  incidents  in  London  life.  Among  thefe  were  ufually 
a  country  gentleman  of  fortune,  who  was  very  avaricious,  and  had  a 
fpendthrift  fon,  or  who  had  a  daughter,  a  rich  heirefs,  who  was  the  object 
of  the  intrigues  of  fpendthrift  fuitors  ;  young  heirs,  who  have  juft  come  to 
their  eftates,  and  are  fpending  them  in  London ;  young  country  fquires 
who  are  eafy  victims  ;  a  needy  knight,  as  poor  in  principles  as  in  money, 
who  lived  upon  the  public  in  every  way  he  could ;  defigning  and  unfcru- 
pulous  women ;  bullies  and  {harpers  of  every  defcription.  In  fact,  we 
feem  to  be  always  in  the  fmell  of  the  tavern,  and  in  the  midft  of  diflipa- 
tion.  Then  there  are  fat,  fleek,  and  wealthy  citizens,  whofe  fouls  are 
entirely  wrapt  up  in  their  merchandife,  who  are  proud,  neverthelefs,  of 
their  pofition^  and  eafy,  credulous  city  wives,  who  are  fond  of  finery  and 
of  praife,  eager  for  gaiety  and  difplay,  impatient  of  the  rule  of  hulbands, 
or  of  the  dulnefs  of  home,  and  very  ready  to  liften  to  the  advances  of  the 
gay  gallants  from  the  court  end  of  the  town,  or  from  the  tavern.  The 
city  tradesman  has  generally  an  apprentice  or  two,  fometimes  very  fober, 

but 


380  Hijtory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

but  perhaps  more  frequently  diflipated,  who  play  their  parts  in  the  piece  ; 
and  often  a  daughter,  who  is  either  a  model  of  modefty  and  all  the 
domeftic  virtues,  and  is  finally  the  reward  of  fome  hero  of  good  principles, 
who  has  been  temporarily  led  aftray,  and  his  character  mifinterpreted,  or 
who  is  gay  and  intriguing,  and  comes  to  difgrace.  But  the  favourite 
idea  of  excellence,  or,  to  ufe  a  technical  phrafe,  the  beau  ideal  of  this 
comedy,  appears  to  have  been  a  wild  youth,  who  goes  through  every 
fcene  of  diflipation,  in  a  gentlemanly  manner  (as  the  term  was  then  under- 
ftood),  and  comes  out  at  the  end  of  the  play  as  an  honeft,  virtuous  man,  and 
receives  the  reward  for  qualities  which  he  had  not  previoufly  difplayed. 

Sometimes  the  writers  of  this  comedy  indulged  in  perfonal,  or  even 
in  political,  allufions  which  brought  them  into  trouble.  In  the  year 
1605,  Ben  Jonfon,  George  Chapman,  and  John  Marfton,  wrote  jointly  a 
comedy  entitled  "  Eaftward  Hoe."  It  is  a  very  excellent  and  amufing 
comedy,  and  was  very  popular.  Touchftone,  an  honeft  goldfmith  in  the 
city,  has  two  apprentices,  Golding,  a  fober  and  induftrious  youth,  and 
Quickfijver,  who  is  an  irreclaimable  rake.  Touchftone  has  alfo  two 
daughters,  the  eldeft  of  whom,  Gertrude,  affe6ts  the  fine  lady,  and  is 
ambitious  of  finding  a  hufband  in  the  fafhionable  world,  while  her 
younger  fifter,  Mildred,  is  all  virtue  and  humility.  An  attachment  arifes 
between  Golding  and  Mildred.  Another  character  in  this  drama  is  a 
needy,  fcheming  knight,  who  lives  upon  the  town,  and  rejoices  in  the  name 
of  Sir  Petronel  Flafh.  Sir  Petronel  is  attracted  by  the  rich  dowry  which 
the  young  lady,  Gertrude,  had  to  expect,  pays  his  court  to  her,  and  eafily 
works  upon  her  vanity ;  and,  her  mother  encouraging  her,  they  are  haftily 
married,  contrary  to  the  wifhes  of  her  father.  The  knight  is  fuppofed  to 
poflefs  a  magnificent  caftle  fomewhere  to  the  eaft  of  London,  and  the  young 
bride  and  her  mother  proceed  in  fearch  of  this,  from  which  the  comedy 
derives  its  title  of  "  Eaftward  Hoe,"  but  they  are  involved  in  various  dif- 
agreeable  adventures  in  the  fearch,  which  ends  in  the  conviction  that  it  is 
all  a  fable.  Another  character  in  the  play  is  a  greedy  and  unprincipled 
ufurer,  who  is  fo  jealous  of  his  young  and  pretty  wife,  that  he  keeps  her 
under  lock  and  key ;  and  this  man  is  deeply  involved  in  money-lending 
with  Sir  Petronel  Flafh,  and  they  are  engaged  in  a  feries  of  unprincipled 

tranfactions, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  3  81 

tranfa&ions,  which  lead  to  the  difgrace  of  them  all,  and  in  the  courfe  of 
which  the  virtue  of  the  ufurer's  wife  falls  a  facrifice.  Meanwhile  the 
fortunes  of  the  two  apprentices  have  been  advancing  in  diredtly  oppofite 
directions.  Quickfilver,  the  unworthy  apprentice,  leaves  his  matter,  pro- 
ceeds from  bad  to  worfe,  and  finally  is  committed  to  prifon,  for  a  crime 
the  punimment  of  which  was  death.  On  the  other  hand,  Golding  has 
not  only  gained  his  matter's  efteem  and  married  his  daughter  Mildred,  and 
been  adopted  as  the  heir  to  his  wealth,  but  he  has  merited  the  refpe6t  of 
his  fellow-citizens,  and  has  been  promoted  in  municipal  rank.  It  becomes 
Golding's  duty  to  prefide  over  the  trial  of  his  old  fellow  apprentice  Quick- 
filver, but  the  latter  efcapes  through  Golding's  generofity. 

There  is  fome  found  morality  in  the  (pint  of  this  comedy,  and  a  very 
large  amount  of  immorality  in  the  text.  There  was,  indeed,  a  coarfe 
licence  in  the  relations  of  fociety  at  this  period,  which  are  but  too  faith- 
fully reprefented  in  its  literature.  But  there  are  two  circumftances,  acci- 
dentally attached  to  this  drama,  which  give  it  a  peculiar  intereft.  When 
brought  out  upon  the  ftage  it  contained  reflections  upon  Scotchmen 
which  provoked  the  anger  of  king  James  I.  to  fuch  a  degree,  that  all  the 
authors  were  feized  and  thrown  into  prifon,  and  narrowly  efcaped  the  lofs 
of  their  ears  and  nofes,  but  they  obtained  their  releafe  with  fome  diffi- 
culty, and  only  through  powerful  interceflion.  In  the  copy  which  has 
been  brought  down  to  us  through  the  prefs,  we  find  no  reflections  what- 
ever upon  Scotchmen,  fo  that  it  mutt  have  been  altered  from  the  original 
text.  When  we  confider  that,  at  this  time,  the  Englifh  court  and  capital 
were  crowded  with  needy  Scottifh  adventurers,  who  were  looked  upon 
with  great  jealoufy,  it  is  not  improbable  that  in  the  original  form  of  the 
comedy,  Sir  Petronel  Flafli  may  have  been  a  Scotchman,  and  intended 
not  only  as  a  fatire  upon  the  Scottifh  adventurers  in  general,  but  to  have 
been  defigned  for  fome  one  in  particular  who  had  the  means  of  bringing 
upon  the  authors  the  extreme  difpleafure  of  the  court. 

The  other  circumftance  which  has  given  celebrity  to  this  comedy,  is 
one  of  ftill  greater  intereft.  After  the  Reftoration,  it  was  new  modelled 
by  Nicholas  Tate,  and  brought  again  upon  the  flage  under  the  title  of 
"  Cuckold's  Haven."  Perhaps  through  this  remodelled  edition,  Hogarth 

took 


582  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

took  from  the  comedy  of  "  Eaftward  Hoe,"  the  idea  of  his  feries  of  plates 
of  the  hiflory  of  the  Idle  and  Induftrious  Apprentices. 

When  we  confider  the  ridicule  which  was  continually  thrown  upon 
them  in  this  earlier  period  of  the  Englilh  comedy,  we  can  eafily  under- 
fland  the  bitternefs  with  which  the  Puritans  regarded  the  ftage  and  the 
drama.  When  they  obtained  power,  the  ftage,  as  might  be  expected, 
was  fupprefled,  and  for  fome  years  England  was  without  a  theatre.  At 
the  Reftoration,  however,  the  theatres  were  opened  again,  and  with 
greater  freedom  than  ever.  At  firft  the  old  comedies  of  the  days  of 
James  I.  and  Charles  I.  were  revived,  and  many  of  them,  modified  and 
adapted  to  the  new  circumftances,  were  again  brought  upon  the  flage. 
The  original  comedies  which  appeared  immediately  after  the  Reftoration, 
were  often  marked  with  a  political  tinge;  as  the  ftage  faw  its  natural  pro- 
tectors in  the  court,  and  in  the  court  party,  it  embraced  their  politics ;  and 
Puritans,  Roundheads,  Whigs,  all  whofe  principles  were  fuppofed  to  be  con- 
trary to  royalty  and  arbitrary  power,  fell  under  its  fatire.  Such  was  the 
character  of  the  comedy  of  "The  Cheats,"  by  a  play-writer  of  fome  repute 
named  Wilfon,  which  was  brought  out  in  1662.  The  object  of  this  play 
appears  to  have  been,  in  the  firft  place,  to  fatirife  the  Nonconformifts  or 
Puritanical  clergy — with  whom  were  clafled  the  aftrologers  and  conjurers, 
who  had  increafed  in  number  during  the  Commonwealth  time,  and  infefted 
fociety  more  than  ever — and  the  city  magiftrates,  who  were  not  looked 
upon  as  being  generally  over-loyal.  The  three  cheats  who  are  the  heroes 
of  this  comedy,  are  Scruple,  the  Nonconformift,  Mopus,  a  pretender  to 
phyfic  and  aftrology,  and  alderman  Whitebroth.  Dired  perfonal  attacks 
had  been  introduced  into  the  comedy  of  the  Reftoration,  and  it  is  probable 
that  fomebody  of  influence  was  fatirifed  under  the  name  of  Scruple,  for 
the  play  was  fupprefled  by  authority,  and  at  a  later  period,  when  it  was 
revived,  the  prologue  announces  this  facl:  in  the  following  words  : — 

Sad  news,  my  maflert  ;  and  too  true,  I  fear, 
For  us — Scruple's  ajilenc'd  mini/ier. 
Would  ye  the  c  auje  ?     The  brethren  fni-vel,  and  fay, 
'  Tis  fcandalous  that  any  cheat  but  they. 

Many  of  the  dramatifts  of  the  Reftoration  were  men  of  good  and 

ariftocratic 


in  Literature  and  Art.  383 

ariftocratic  families,  witty  and  profligate  cavaliers,  who  had  returned  from 
exile  with  their  king.  The  family  of  the  earl  of  Berkfhire  produced  no  leis 
than  four  writers  of  comedy,  all  brothers,  Edward  Howard,  colonel  Henry 
Howard,  fir  Robert  Howard,  and  James  Howard,  while  their  fifter,  the 
lady  Elizabeth  Howard,  was  married  to  the  poetDryden.  Edward  Howard's 
firft  dramatic  piece  was  a  tragi-comedy  entitled  "  The  Ufurper,"  which 
came  out  in  1668,  and  was  intended  as  a  fatire  upon  Cromwell.  His  beft 
known  comedies  were  "The  Man  of  Newmarket,"  and  "Woman's 
Conqueft."  Colonel  Henry  Howard  compofed  a  comedy  entitled  "  United 
Kingdoms/'  which  appears  not  to  have  been  printed.  To  James  Howard, 
the  youngeft  of  the  brothers,  the  play-going  public,  even  then  rather  a 
large  one,  owed  "The  Englilh  Mounfieur,"  and  "All  Miftaken,  or  the 
Mad  Couple."  Sir  Robert  Howard  was  the  beft  writer  of  the  four,  and 
wrote  both  tragedies  and  comedies,  which  were  afterwards  publifhed 
collectively.  The  beft  of  his  comedies  is  "  The  Committee,"  which  was 
firft  brought  on  the  ftage  in  16?$.  and  through  fome  chance,  certainly  not 
by  its  merit,  continued  to  be  an  acting  play  during  the  whole  of  the  laft 
century. 

"  The  Committee  "  is  by  far  the  beft  of  the  dramatic  writings  of  the 
Howards.  Its  defign  was  to  turn  to  ridicule  the  Commonwealth  men  and 
the  Puritans.  Colonel  Blunt  and  colonel  Carelefs  are  .two  royalifts,  whofe 
eftates  are  in  the  hands  of  the  committee  of  fequeftrations,  and  who  repair 
to  London  for  the  purpofe  of  compounding  for  them.  The  chairman  of 
the  committee  is  a  Mr.  Day,  a  worldly-minded  and  fufficiently  felfifh  Puritan, 
but  who  is  ruled  by  his  more  crafty  and  ftill  lefs  fcrupulous  wife,  a  defign- 
ing  and  very  talkative  woman.  Both  are  of  low  origin,  for  Mrs.  Day 
had  been  a  kitchen-woman,  and  both  are  very  proud  and  very  tyrannical. 
Among  the  other  principal  characters  are  Abel  Day,  their  fon,  Obadiah, 
the  clerk  to  the  committee,  a  man  in  the  intereft  of  the  Days,  and  an 
Irifh  fervant  named  Teague,  who  had  been  the  fervant  of  Carelefs's  dear 
friend,  a  royalift  officer  killed  in  battle,  and  whom  the  colonel  finds  in 
great  diftrefs,  and  takes  into  his  own  fervice  out  of  charity.  The  cha- 
racter of  Teague  is  a  very  poor  caricature  upon  an  Irimman,  and  his 
blunders  and  bulls  are  of  a  very  fpiritlefs  defcription.  Here  is  an  example. 

Teague 


384          Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Teague  has  overheard  the  two  colonels  ftate  that  they  fhould  be  obliged 
to  take  the  Covenant,  and  exprefs  their'  reludance  to  do  it,  and  in  his 
inconfiderate  zeal,  he  hurries  away  to  try  if  he  cannot  take  the  covenant 
for  them,  and  thus  fave  them  a  difagreeable  operation.  In  the  ttreet  he 
meets  a  wandering  bookfeller  —  a  elate  of  pedlars  who  were  then  common  — 
and  a  fcene  takes  place  which  is  beft  given  in  the  words  of  the  original  :— 


books,  new  books  !  A  Desperate  Plot  and  Engage- 
ment of  the  Bloody  Cavaliers  !  Mr.  Saltmarshe's  Alarum  to 
the  Nation,  after  having  been  three  days  dead  !  Mercurius 
Britannicus-^ 

Teague.—  How's  that  ?  They  cannot  live  in  Ireland  after  they  are 
dead  three  days  ! 

Book.—  Mercurius  Britannicus,  or  the  Weekly  Post,  or  the  Solemn 
League  and  Covenant  ! 

r<wg-.—  What  is  that  you  say  ?     Is  it  the  Covenant  you  have  ? 

Book.  —  Yes  ;  what  then,  sir  ? 

Teag.—  Which  is  that  Covenant  ? 

Book.  —  Why,  this  is  the  Covenant. 

Teag.—  Well,  I  must  take  that  Covenant. 

Book.  —  You  take  my  commodities  ? 

Teag.  —  I  must  take  that  Covenant,  upon  my  soul,  now. 

Book.  —  Stand  off,  sir,  or  I'll  set  you  further  ! 

Teag.  —  Well,  upon  my  soul,  now,  I  will  take  the  Covenant  for  my 
master. 

Buok.  —  Your  master  must  pay  me  for  't,  then  ! 

Teag.  —  I  must  take  it  first,  and  my  master  will  pay  you  afterwards. 

Book.  —  You  must  pay  me  now. 

Teag.  —  Oh  !  that  I  will  [Knocks  him  downi],  Now  you're  paid,  you 
thief  of  the  world.  Here's  Covenants  enough  to  poison  the  whole 
nation.  [Exit. 

Book.  —  What  a  devil  ails  this  fellow  ?  [Crying],  He  did  not  come  to 
rob  me,  certainly  ;  for  he  has  not  taken  above  two-pennyworth  of 
lamentable  ware  away  ;  but  I  feel  the  rascal's  fingers.  I  may 
light  upon  my  wild  Irishman  again,  and,  if  I  do,  I  will  fix  him 
with  some  catchpole,  that  shall  be  worse  than  his  own  country 
bogs.  [Exit. 

Iu  the  frquel,  Teague  is  caught  by  the  conftables,  and  is  liberated  at 
the  interference  of  his  matter,  who  pays  twopence  for  the  book.  The 
plot  of  the  comedy  is  but  a  fimple  one,  and  is  neither  fkilfully  nor  natu- 
rally carried  out.  Colonel  Blunt  comes  to  London  from  Reading  in  the 

infide 


in  Literature  and  Art.  385 

infide  of  a  ftage-coach,  having  for  his  travelling  companions  Mrs.  Day, 
her  fuppofed  daughter  Ruth,  and  Arabella,  a  young  lady  whofe  father  is 
recently  dead,  leaving  his  eftates  in  the  hands  of  the  committee  of  fequef- 
trations.  Ruth  is,  in  truth,  a  young  lady  whofe  eftates  the  Days  have, 
under  fimilar  circumftances,  robbed  her  of,  and  it  is  their  defign  to  treat 
Arabella  in  the  fame  manner,  under  difguife  of  forcing  her  to  marry  their 
fon  Abel,  a  vain  filly  lad.  To  effect  this,  as  the  committee  itfelf  requires 
fome  influencing  to  engage  them  in  the  felfifh  plans  of  their  chairman, 
Day  and  his  wife  forge  a  letter  from  the  exiled  king,  complimenting  the 
former  on  his  great  power  and  influence  and  talents  as  a  ftatefman,  and 
offering  him  great  rewards  if  he  will  fecretly  promote  his  caufe.  Day 
communicates  this  to  the  committee  under  the  pretext  that  it  is  his  duty 
to  make  them  acquainted  with  allfuch  perfidious  defigns  that  might  come 
to  his  knowledge,  and  they,  convinced  of  his  honefty  and  value  to  them, 
give  up  Arabella's  eftates  to  the  Days,  and  (he  falls  entirely  under  their 
power.  Meanwhile,  on  the  one  hand,  Arabella  has  gained  the  confidence 
of  Ruth,  who  makes  her  acquainted  with  the  whole  plot  againft  her  and 
her  eftates,  and  on  the  other,  Ruth  falls  in  love  with  colonel  Carelefs, 
and  colonel  Blunt  is  frpitten  with  the  charms  of  Arabella,  and  all  this 
takes  place  in  the  committee  room.  Various  incidents  follow,  which 
feem  not  very  much  to  the  purpofe,  but  at  laft,  as  the  marriage  ot 
Arabella  to  Abel  Day  is  prefied  forward,  the  two  young  ladies,  although 
as  yet  they  have  hardly  had  an  interview  with  the  colonels,  refolve  to  make 
their  efcape  from  the  houfe  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee,  and  fly  to 
their  lovers  for  protection.  A  Ihort  abfence  from  the  houfe  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Day  and  their  fon  together,  prefents  the  defired  opportunity,  and 
Day  having  accidentally  left  his  keys  behind  him,  the  idea  fuggefts  itfelf 
to  Ruth  to  open  his  cabinet,  and  gain  pofieflion  of  the  deeds  and  papers 
of  her  own  eftates  and  thofe  of  Arabella.  As  flie  had  before  this  fecretly 
obferved  the  private  drawer  in  which  they  were  placed,  fhe  met  with  no 
difficulty  in  effecting  her  purpofe,  and  not  only  found  thefe  documents, 
but  alfo  with  them  the  forged  letter  from  the  king,  and  fome  letters 
addrefled  to  Day  by  ypung  women  whom  he  was  fecretly  keeping,  and 
who  demanded  money  for  the  fupport  of  children  they  had  by  him,  and 

3  D  alluded 


386  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

alluded  to  matters  of  a  ftill  more  ferious  character.  Ruth  takes  pofleflion 
of  all  thefe,  and  thus  laden,  the  two  damfels  hurry  away,  and  reach 
without  interruption  the  houfe  where  they  were  to  meet  the  colonels. 
The  Days  return  home  immediately  after  the  departure  of  their  wards, 
and  at  once  fufpeft  the  real  ftate  of  affairs,  which  is  fully  confirmed, 
when  Mr.  Day  finds  that  his  moft  private  drawer  has  been  opened,  and 
his  moft  important  papers  carried  off.  They  immediately  proceed  in 
fearch  of  the  fugitives,  having  fent  orders  for  a  detachment  of  foldiers  to 
affift  them,  and  the  houfe  in  which  the  lovers  have  taken  refuge  is  fur- 
rounded  before  they  have  had  time  to  efcape.  Finding  it  ufelefs  to 
attempt  refiftance  by  force,  the  beiieged  call  for  a  parley,  and  then  Ruth 
frightens  Day  by  acquainting  him  with  the  contents  of  the  private 
letters  (he  has  become  poflefied  of,  and  his  wife  by  the  knowledge  fhe  has 
obtained  of  the  forged  letter,  which  alfo  fhe  has  in  her  poffeffion.  The 
Days  are  thus  overreached,  and  the  play  ends  with  a  general  reconciliation. 
The  ladies  are  left  with  the  titles  of  their  eftates,  and  with  their  lovers, 
and  we  are  left  to  fuppofe  that  they  afterwards  married,  and  were  happy. 

The  plot  of  "The  Committee,  »t  will  be  feen,  is  not  a  very  capital 
one,  but  the  manner  in  which  it  is  worked  out  is  ftill  worfe.  The 
dialogue  is  extremely  tame,  and  the  incidents  are  badly  interwoven. 
When  I  fay  that  the  example  of  wit  given  above  is  the  beft  in  the  play, 
and  that  there  are  not  many  attempts  at  wit  in  it,  it  will  hardly  be 
thought  that  it  could  be  amufing,  and  we  cannot  but  feel  aftonifhed  at 
the  popularity  which  it  once  enjoyed.  This  popularity,  indeed,  is  only 
explained  by  the  fafhion  of  ridiculing  the  Puritans,  which  then  prevailed 
fo  ftrongly  j  and  it  perhaps  retained  its  place  on  the  ftage  during  the  laft 
century  chiefly  from  the  circumftance  of  its  wanting  the  objetlionable 
qualities  which  chara&erifed  the  written  plays  of  the  latter  half  of  the 
feventeenth  century. 

"The  Committee"  is,  after  all,  one  of  the  very  beft  comedies  of  the 
fchool  of  dramatifts  reprefented  by  the  brothers  Howard.  Contemporary 
with  this  fchool  of  flat  comedies,  there  was  a  fchool  of  equally  inflated 
tragedy,  and  both  foon  became  obje6ts  of  ridicule  to  the  fatirifts  of  the  day. 
Of  thefe,  one  of  the  boldeft  was  George  Villiers,  duke  of  Buckingham, 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art.  387 

the  fon  of  the  favounte  of  king  James  I.,  and  equally  celebrated  for  his 
talents  and  his  profligacy.  Buckingham  is  faid  to  have  planned  and 
begun  his  fatirical  comedy  of  "  The  Rehearfal  "  as  early  as  the  year  1663, 
and  to  have  had  it  ready  for  reprefentation  towards  the  December  of 
1665,  when  the  breaking  out  of  the  great  plague  caufed  the  theatres  to 
be  clofed.  After  this  interruption  its  author,  who  was  a  defultory  writer, 
appears  to  have  laid  it  afide  for  fome  time  and  then,  new  objeds  for 
fatire  having  prefented  themfelves,  he  altered  and  modified  it,  and  it  was 
finally  completed  in  1671,  when  it  was  brought  out  at  the  Theatre 
Royal  in  Covent  Garden.  It  is  faid  that  Buckingham  was  aflifted  in  the 
compofition  of  this  fatire,  but  it  is  not  ftated  in  what  manner,  by  Butler, 
and  by  Martin  Clifford,  of  the  Charter-houfe.  It  is  underftood  that,  in 
the  firft  form  of  his  fatire,  Buckingham  had  chofen  the  Hon.  Edward 
Howard  for  its  hero,  and  that  he  afterwards  exchanged  him  for  Sir 
William  Davenant,  but  he  finally  fixed  upon  Dryden,  whofe  tragedies 
and  comedies  are  certainly  not  the  beft  of  his  writings — poflibly  fome 
perfonal  pique  may  have  had  an  influence  in  the  felection.  Neverthelefs, 
with  Dryden,  the  Howards,  Davenant,  and  one  or  two  other  writers  of 
comedy,  come  in  for  their  fhare  of  ridicule.  Dryden,  under  the  name  of 
Bayes,  has  compofed  a  new  drama,  and  a  friend  named  Johnfon  goes  to 
witnefs  the  rehearfal  of  this  play,  taking  with  him  a  country  friend  of  the 
name  of  Smith.  The  play  itfelf  is  a  piece  of  mockery  throughout,  made 
up  of  parodies,  often  very  happy,  on  the  different  play-writers  of  the  day, 
and  efpecially  upon  Dryden ;  and  it  is  mixed  up  with  a  running  converfation 
between  Bayes,  the  author,  and  his  two  vifitors,  which  is  full  of  fatirical 
humour.  The  firft  part  of  the  prologue  explains  to  us  fufficiently  the 
fpirit  in  which  this  fatire  was  written. 

We  might  <well  call  this  Jhort  mock-play  of  our t 
A  pojte  made  ofiveedt  mftead  of  flower  i  } 
Yet  fuch  have  been  prefented  to  your  nofes, 
And  there  are  fuch,  I  fear,  -who  thought  V«  rofes. 
Would  fame  of  ''em  loere  here,  to  fee  this  night 
What  fluff  It  is  in  "which  they  took  delight . 
Here,  brijk,  infipid  rogues,  for  <wit,  let  fall 
Sometimes  dullfenfe,  but  ofCner  none  at  all  ,- 

There 


388  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


There,  ftrutting  heroes,  tvith  a  grim-foe* d  train, 
Shalt  brave  the  gods,  in  king  Cambyfes  vein. 
For  (changing  rules,  of  late,  as  if  men  writ 
Injpite  offeajon,  nature,  art,  and  wit) 
Our  f  Mi  make  us  laugh  at  tragedy, 
And  "with  their  comedies  they  make  us  cry. 

A  fhort  account  of  this  latire  will,  perhaps,  be  beft  understood,  if  I 
explain  that  the  antagonifra  of  two  contending  kings  of  Granada  having 
been  a  favourite  idea  of  Dryden  in  his  tragedies,  Buckingham  is  faid  to 
have  defigned  to  ridicule  him  in  making  two,  not  rival,  but  aflbciate  kings 
of  Brentford,  though  others  fay  that  thefe  two  kings  of  Brentford  were 
intended  for  a  fneer  upon  king  Charles  II.  and  the  duke  of  York.  Thefe 
two  kings  are  the  heroes  of  Bayes's  play.  The  firft  a£l  of  "The  Rehearfal  " 
confifls  of  a  difcuffion  between  Bayes,  Johnfon,  and  Smith,  on  the  general 
character  of  the  play,  in  which  Bayes  exhibits  a  large  amount  of  vanity 
and  felf-confidence,  faid  to  have  been  a  characteriftic  of  all  thefe  play- 
writers  of  the  earlier  period  of  the  Reftoration,  and  he  informs  them  that 
he  has  "made  a  prologue  and  an  epilogue,  which  may  both  ferve  for 
either  j  that  is,  the  prologue  for  the  epilogue,  or  the  epilogue  for  the 
prologue,  (do  you  mark !)  nay,  they  may  both  ferve,  too,  'egad,  for  any 
other  play  as  well  as  this."  Smith  obferves,  "That's  indeed  artificial." 
Finally  Bayes  explains,  that  as  other  authors,  in  their  prologues,  fought  to 
flatter  and  propitiate  their  audience,  in  order  to  gain  their  favourable 
opinion  of  the  plot,  he,  on  the  contrary,  intended  to  force  their  applaufe 
out  of  them  by  mere  dint  of  terror,  and  for  that  purpofe,  he  had  intro- 
duced as  fpeakers  of  his  prologue,  no  lefs  perfonages  than  Thunder  and 
Lightning.  This  prologue,  difengaged  from  the  remarks  of  Bayes  and  his 
friends,  runs  as  follows : — 

Enter  THUNDER  and  LIGHTNING. 

Thun.—l  am  the  bold  Thunder. 

Light. — The  brisk  Lightning  I. 

Thun. — I  am  the  bravest  Hector  of  the  sky. 

Light. — And  I  fair  Helen,  that  made  Hector  die. 

Thun. — I  strike  men  down. 

Light. — I  fire  the  town. 

Thun. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  389 


Thun. — Let  critics  take  heed  how  they  grumble, 

For  then  I  begin  for  to  rumble. 
Light. — Let  the  ladies  allow  us  their  graces, 

Or  I'll  blast  all  the  paint  on  their  faces, 

And  dry  up  their  peter  to  soot. 
Thun. — Let  the  critics  look  to't. 
Light. — Let  the  ladies  look  to't. 
Thun.— For  the  Thunder  will  do't. 
Light. — For  the  Lightning  will  shoot. 
Thun. — I'll  give  you  dash  for  dash. 
Light. — I'll  give  you  flash  for  flash. 

Gallants,  I'll  singe  your  feather. 
Thun. — I'll  Thunder  you  together. 

Both. — Look  to't,  look  to't  j  we'll  do't,  we'll  do't ;  look  to't ;  we'll 
do't.  [Twice  or  thrice  repeated. 

Bayes  calls  this  "  but  a  flafti  of  a  prologue,"  in  reply  to  which,  Smith 
obferves,  "Yes;  'tis  ftiort,  indeed,  but  very  terrible."  It  is  a  parody 
on  a  fcene  in  "  The  Slighted  Maid,"  a  play  by  Sir  Robert  Stapleton, 
where  Thunder  and  Lightning  were  introduced,  and  then*  converfation 
begins  in  the  fame  words.  But  the  poet  has  another  difficulty  on  which 
he  denies  the  opinion  of  his  vifitors.  "  I  have  made,"  he  fays,  "one  of 
the  mott  delicate,  dainty  limiles  in  the  whole  world,  'egad,  if  I  knew 
how  to  apply  it.  'Tis,"  he  adds,  "an  allufion  to  love."  This  is  the 
limile — 

So  boar  andfow,  when  any  florm  is  nigh 
Snuff  up,  andfmcll  it  gathering  in  the  sky  ; 
Soar  beckons  f<rw  to  trot  in  chefnut  groves, 
And  there  consummate  their  unfinijbed  loves  : 
Penfive  in  mud  they  wallow  all  alone, 
Andfnore  and  gruntle  to  each  others  moan, 

It  is  a  rather  coarfe,  but  clever  parody  on  a  limile  in  Dryden's  "  Conqueft 
of  Granada,"  part  ii. : — 

&  two  kind  turtles,  "when  a  form  is  nigh, 
Look  up,  and  fee  it  gathering  in  the  sky; 
Each  calls  his  mate  to  /belter  in  the  groves, 
Leaving,  in  murmurs,  their  unfini/bed  loves  ; 
Perch"1 d  on  fame  dropping  branch,  they  Jit  alone, 
And  coc,  and  hearken  to  each  other's  moan. 

It 


390  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

It  is  decided  that  the  fimile  fliould  be  added  to  the  prologue,  for,  as 
Johnfon  remarks  to  Bayes,  "  Faith,  'tis  extraordinary  fine,  and  very  applic- 
able to  Thunder  and  Lightning,  methinks,  becaufe  it  fpeaks  of  a  ftorm." 
In  the  fecond  aft  we  come  to  the  opening  of  the  play,  the  firft  fcene 
confifting  of  whifpering,  in  ridicule  of  a  fcene  in  Davenant's  "  Play-houfe 
to  Let,"  where  Drake  fenior  fays — 

Draw  up  your  men, 

And  in  low  lohlfpcrs  give  your  orders  out, 

In  fact,  the  Gentleman-Ufher  and  the  Phyfician  of  the  two  kings  of 
Brentford  appear  upon  the  fcene  alone,  and  difcufs  a  plot  to  dethrone  the 
two  kings  of  Brentford,  which  they  communicate  by  whifpers  into  each 
other's  ears,  which  are  totally  inaudible.  In  Scene  ii.,  "  Enter  the  two 
kings,  hand  in  hand/'  and  Bayes  remarks  to  his  vifitors,  "  Oh  !  thefe  are 
now  the  two  kings  of  Brentfordj  take  notice  of  their  ftyle — 'twas  never  yet 
upon  the  flags ;  but,  if  you  like  it,  I  could  make  a  fhift,  perhaps,  to  (how 
you  a  whole  play,  writ  all  juft  fo."  The  kings  begin,  rather  familiarly, 
becaufe,  as  Bayes  adds,  "  they  are  both  perfons  of  the  fame  quality  :" — 

ift  King. — Did  you  observe  their  whispers,  brother  king? 
tnd  King , — I  did,  and  heard,  besides,  a  grave  bird  sing, 

That  they  intend,  sweetheart,  to  play  us  pranks. 
ijt  King. — If  that  design  appears, 

I'll  lay  them  by  the  ears, 

Until  I  make  'em  crack. 
znd  King. — And  so  will  I,  i'  fack  ! 
ifl  King. — You  must  begin,  monfoi. 
ind  King. — Sweet  sir,  pardonnex  mot. 

Bayes  obferves  that  he  makes  the  two  kings  talk  French  in  order  "  to 
ihow  their  breeding."  In  the  third  aft,  Bayes  introduces  a  new 
character,  prince  Prettyman,  a  parody  upon  the  character  of  Leonidas,  in 
Dryden's  "  Marriage-a-la-Mode."  The  prince  falls  afleep,  and  then  his 
beloved  Cloris  comes  in,  and  is  furprifed,  upon  which  Bayes  remarks, 
"  Now,  here  ihe  muft  make  a  fimile."  "  Where's  the  neceffity  of  that, 
Mr.  Bayes  ?  "  aiks  the  critical  Mr.  Smith.  "  Oh,"  replies  Bayes,  "  becaufe 
fhe's  furprifed.  That's  a  general  rule.  You  muft  ever  make  a  fimile 

when 


in  Literature  and  Art.  391 

when  you  are  furprifed;  'tis  a  new  way  of  writing."  Now  we  have 
another  parody  upon  one  of  Dryden's  fimiles.  In  the  fourth  fcene,  the 
Gentleman-Ufher  and  Phyfician  appear  again,  difcufling  the  queftion 
whether  their  whifpers  had  been  heard  or  not,  a  difcuffion  which  they 
conclude  by  feizing  on  the  two  thrones,  and  occupying  them  with  their 
drawn  fwords  in  their  hands.  Then  they  march  out  to  raife  their  forces, 
and  a  battle  to  mufic  takes  place,  four  foldiers  on  each  fide,  who  are 
all  killed.  Next  we  have  a  fcene  between  prince  Prettyman  and  his 
tailor,  Tom  Thimble,  which  involves  a  joke  upon  the  princely  principle 
of  non-payment.  A  fcene  or  two  follows  in  a  fimilar  tone,  without  at  all 
advancing  the  plot ;  although  it  appears  that  another  prince,  Volfcius, 
who,  we  are  to  fuppofe,  fupports  the  old  dynafty  of  Brentford,  has  made 
his  efcape  to  Piccadilly,  while  the  army  which  he  is  to  lead  has  aflembled, 
and  is  concealed,  at  Knightlbridge.  This  incident  produces  a  difcuffion 
between  Mr.  Bayes  and  his  friends : — 

Smith. — But  pray,  Mr.  Bayes,  is  not  this  a  little  difficult,  that  you  were 
saying  e'en  now,  to  keep  an  army  thus  concealed  in  Knights- 
bridge  ? 

Bayes. — In  Knightsbridge  ? — stay. 

Johnfon. — No,  not  if  inn- keepers  be  his  friends.* 

Bayes. — His  friends  ?     Ay,  sir,  his  intimate  acquaintance  ;  or  else, 
indeed,  I  grant  it  could  not  be. 

Smith. — Yes,  faith,  so  it  might  be  very  easy. 

Bayes. — Nay,  if  I  don't  make  all  things  easy,  'egad,  I'll  give  'em  leave 
to  hang  me.  Now  you  would  think  that  he  is  going  out  of  town  ; 
but  you  will  see  how  prettily  I  have  contrived  to  stop  him, 
presently. 

Accordingly,  prince  Volfcius  yields  to  the  influence  of  a  fair  demoifelle, 
who  bears  the  claffical  name  of  Parthenope,  and  after  various  exhibitions 
of  hefitation,  he  does  not  leave  town.  Another  fcene  or  two,  with  little 
meaning,  but  full  of  clever  parodies  on  the  plays  of  Dryden,  the  Howards, 
and  their  contemporaries.  The  firft  fcene  of  the  fourth  act  opens  with  a 

funeral, 

*  Knightsbridge,  as  the  principal  entrance  to  London  from  the  west,  was  full 
of  inns. 


392  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

funeral,  a  parody  upon  colonel  Henry  Howard's  play  of  the  "  United 
Kingdoms."  Pallas  interferes,  brings  the  lady  who  is  to  be  buried  to  life, 
gets  up  a  dance,  and  furnifhes  a  very  extempore  feaft.  The  princes 
Prettyman  and  Volfcius  difpute  about  their  fweethearts.  At  the  com- 
mencement of  the  fifth  ad  the  two  ufurping  kings  appear  in  ftate, 
attended  by  four  cardinals,  the  two  princes,  all  the  lady-loves,  heralds,  and 
fergeants-at-arms,  &c.  In  the  middle  of  all  this  ftate,  "  the  two  right  kings 
of  Brentford  defcend  in  the  clouds,  finging,  in  white  garments,  and  three 
fiddlers  fitting  before  them  in  green."  "  Now,"  {ays  Bayes  to  his  friends, 
"  becaufe  the  two  right  kings  defcend  from  above,  I  make  'em  fing  to  the 
tune  and  ftyle  of  our  modern  fpirits."  And  accordingly  they  proceeded 
in  a  continuous  parody: — 


\ft  King. — Haste,  brother  king,  we  are  sent  from  above. 
znd  King. — Let  us  move,  let  us  move  5 
Move,  to  remove  the  fate 
Of  Brentford's  long  united  state. 
ift  King. — Tara,  tan,  tara  ! — full  east  and  by  south. 
2nd  King. — We  sail  with  thunder  in  our  mouth. 

In  scorching  noon-day,  whilst  the  traveller  stays, 

Busy,  busy,  busy,  busy,  we  bustle  along, 
Mounted  upon  warm  Phoebus's  rays, 
Through  the  heavenly  throng, 

Hasting  to  those 

Who  will  feast  us  at  night  with  a  pig's  pettytoes. 
ijl  King. — And  we'll  fall  with  our  plate 

In  an  olio  of  hate 
*»</  King  — But,  now  supper's  done,  the  servitors  try, 

Like  soldiers,  to  storm  a  whole  half-moon  pie. 
*ft  King. — They  gather,  they  gather,  hot  custards  in  spoons ; 
But,  alas  !  I  must  leave  these  half-moons, 
And  repair  to  my  trusty  dragoons. 
ind  King. — O  stay  !  for  you  need  not  as  yet  go  astray ; 

The  tide,  like  a  friend,  has  brought  ships  in  our  way, 
And  on  their  high  ropes  we  will  play  ; 
Like  maggots  in  filberts,  we'll  snug  in  our  shell, 
We'll  frisk  in  our  shell, 
We'll  firk  in  our  shell, 

And  farewell. 
ift  King. — But  the  ladies  have  all  inclination  to  dance, 

And  the  green  frogs  croak  out  a  coranto  of  France. 

All 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


393 


All  this  is  quite  Ariftophanic.  It  is  interrupted  by  a  difcuffion  between 
Bayes  and  his  via" tors  on  the  mufic  and  the  dance,  and  then  the  two  kings 
continue  : — 

^nd  King. — Now  mortals,  that  hear 
How  we  tilt  and  career, 
With  wonder,  will  fear 

The  event  of  such  things  as  shall  never  appear. 
\ft  King. — Stay  you  to  fulfil  what  the  gods  have  decreed. 
ind  King. — Then  call  me  to  help  you,  if  there  shall  be  need. 
\ft  King. — So  firmly  resolved  is  a  true  Brentford  king, 

To  save  the  distressed,  and  help  to  'em  bring, 
That,  ere  a  full  pot  of  good  ale  you  can  swallow, 
He's  here  with  a  whoop,  and  gone  with  a  halloo. 

The  rather  too  inquifitive  Smith  wonders  at  all  this,  and  complains  that, 
to  him,  the  fenfe  of  this  is  "  not  very  plain."  "  Plain !"  exclaims  Bayes, 
"  why,  did  you  ever  hear  any  people  in  the  clouds  fpeak  plain  ?  They 
muft  be  all  for  flight  of  fancy,  at  its  full  range,  without  the  leaft  check  or 
control  upon  it.  When  once  you  tie  up  fprites  and  people  in  clouds  to 
fpeak  plain,  you  fpoil  all."  The  two  kings  of  Brentford  now  "light  out 
of  the  clouds,  and  ftep  into  the  throne,"  continuing  the  fame  dignified 
converfation : — 

ifi  King. — Come,  now  to  serious  council  we'll  advance. 
f.nd  King. — I  do  agree ;  but  first,  let's  have  a  dance. 

This  confidence  of  the  two  kings  of  Brentford  is  fuddenly  difturbed  by 
the  found  of  war.  Two  heralds  announce  that  the  army,  that  of  Knightf- 
bridge,  had  come  to  proteft  them,  and  that  it  had  come  in  difguife,  an 
arrangement  which  puzzles  the  author's  two  vifitors  : — 

ijt  King. — What  saucy  groom  molests  our  privacies  ? 

ift  Herald. — The  army's  at  the  door,  and,  in  disguise, 

Desires  a  word  with  both  your  majesties. 

^nd  Herald. — Having  from  Knightsbridge  hither  march'd  by  stealth. 
in d  King. — Bid  'em  attend  a  while,  and  drink  our  health. 
Smith. — How,  Mr.  Bayes  ?     The  army  in  disguise  ! 
Bayes. — Ay,  sir,  for  fear  the  usurpers  might  discover  them,  that  went 
out  but  just  now. 

jj   E  War 


394  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

War  itfelf  follows,  and  the  commanders  of  the  two  armies,  the  general 
and  the  lieutenant-general,  appear  upon  the  ftage  in  another  parody  upon 
the  opening  fcenes  of  Dryden's  "  Siege  of  Rhodes  :" — 

Enter,  at  fever al  doors,  the  GENERAL  and  LlEUTENANT-GENERAL, 
armed  cap-a-pie,  with  each  a  lute  in  hit  hand,  and  his  /-word  drawn,  and  hung  with 
a  fear  let  riband  at  the  ivrift. 

Lieut. -Gen. — Villain,  thou  liest. 

Gen. — Arm,  arm,  Gonsalvo,  arm.     What !  ho ! 

The  lie  no  flesh  can  brook,  I  trow. 
Licut.-Gen. — Advance  from  Acton  with  the  musqueteers. 
Gen. — Draw  down  the  Chelsea  cuirassiers. 
Lieut.-Gen. — The  band  you  boast  of,  Chelsea  cuirassiers, 

Shall  in  my  Putney  pikes  now  meet  their  peers. 
Gen. — Chiswickians,  aged,  and  renowned  in  fight, 

Join  with  the  Hammersmith  brigade. 
Lieut.-Gen. — You'll  find  my  Mortlake  boys  will  do  thrm  right, 

Unless  by  Fulham  numbers  over-laid. 
Gen. — Let  the  left  wing  of  Twick'n'am  foot  advance, 

And  line  that  eastern  hedge. 
Lieut.-Gen. — The  horse  I  raised  in  Petty  France 
Shall  try  their  chance, 

And  scour  the  meadows,  overgrown  with  sedge. 
Gen. — Stand  :  give  the  word. 
Lieut.-Gen. — Bright  sword. 
Gen. — That  may  be  thine, 

But  'tis  not  mine. 
Lieut.-Gen. — Give  fire,  give  fire,  at  once  give  fire, 

And  let  those  recreant  troops  perceive  mine  ire. 
Gen. — Pursue,  pursue  ;  they  fly, 

That  first  did  give  the  lie  !  [Exeunt. 

Thus  the  battle  is  carried  on  in  talk  between  two  individuals.  Bayes 
alleges,  as  an  excufe  for  introducing  thefe  trivial  names  of  places,  that 
"  the  fpe&ators  know  all  thefe  towns,  and  may  eafily  conceive  them  to 
be  within  the  dominions  of  the  two  kings  of  Brentford."  The  battle  is 
6nally  Hopped  by  an  eclipfe,  and  three  perfonages,  reprefenting  the  fun, 
moon,  and  earth,  advance  upon  the  flage,  and  by  dint  of  tinging  and 
manoeuvring,  one  gets  in  a  line  between  the  other  two,  and  this,  accord- 
ing to  the  ftri£t  rules  of  aftronomy,  conftituted  the  eclipfe.  The  eclipfe  is 
followed  by  another  battle  of  a  more  defperate  character,  to  which  a  flop 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


395 


is  put  in  an  equally  extraordinary  manner,  by  the  entrance  of  the  furious 
hero  Drawcanfir,  who  flays  all  the  combatants  on  both  fides.  The 
marriage  of  prince  Prettyman  was  to  form  the  fubject  of  the  fifth  ad,  but 
while  Bayes,  Johnfon,  and  Smith  withdraw  temporarily,  all  the  players,  in 
difguft,  run  away  to  their  dinners,  and  thus  ends  "  The  Rehearfal "  of 
Mr.  Bayes's  play.  The  epilogue  returns  to  the  moral  which  the  play  was 
defigned  to  inculcate  : — 

The  play  is  at  an  end,  but  •where'' 's  the  plot  f 
That  circumftance  the  poet  Bayes  forgot. 
And  ive  can  boaft,  though  'tis  a  plotting  age. 
No  place  is  freer  from  it  than  the  J}age, 

Formerly  people  fought  to  write  fo  that  they  might  be  underftood,  but 
"  this  new  way  of  wit  "  was  altogether  incomprehenfible  : — 

Wherefore,  for  ours,  and  for  the  kingdom's  peace, 
May  this  prodigious  ivay  of  "writing  ceafe  ; 
Left  have,  at  haft  once  in  our  lives,  a  time 
When  we  may  hear  fame  reafon,  not  all  rhyme. 
We  have  this  ten  years  felt  its  influence  } 
Pray  let  this  prove  a  year  of  profe  andjenfe. 

Englifh  comedy  was  certainly  greatly  reformed,  in  fome  fenfes  of  the 
word  reform,  during  the  period  which  followed  the  publication  of  "  The 
Rehearfal,"  and,  in  the  hands  of  writers  like  Wycherley,  Shadwell, 
Congreve,  and  D'Urfey,  the  dulnefs  of  the  Howards  was  exchanged 
for  an  extreme  degree  of  vivacity.  The  plot  was  as  little  confidered  as 
ever — it  was  a  mere  peg  on  which  to  hang  fcenes  brilliant  with  wit  and 
repartee.  The  fmall  intrigue  is  often  but  a  frame  for  a  great  picture  of 
fociety  in  its  forms  then  moft  open  to  caricature,  with  all  the  petty 
intrigues  infeparable  from  it.  "  Epfom  Wells,"  one  of  Shadwell's  earlier 
comedies,  and  perhaps  his  beft,  will  bear  comparifon  with  Jonfon's 
"  Bartholomew  Fair."  The  perfonages  reprefented  in  it  are  exactly  thofe 
which  then  fhone  in  fuch  fociety — three  "  men  of  wit  and  pleafure,"  one 
of  the  clals  of  country  fquires  whom  the  wits  of  London  loved  to  laugh  at, 
aud  who  is  defcribed  as  "a  country  juflice,  a  public  Ipirited,  politick, 

difcontented 


396  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

difcontented  fop,  an  immoderate  hater  of  London,  and  a  lover  of  the 
country  above  meafure,  a  hearty  true  Englifti  coxcomb."  Then  we  have 
"  two  cheating,  (harking,  cowardly  bullies."  The  citizens  of  London  are 
reprefented  by  BHket,  "  a  comfit-maker,  a  quiet,  humble,  civil  cuckold, 
governed  by  his  wife,  whom  he  very  much  fears  and  loves  at  the  fame 
time,  and  is  very  proud  of,"  and  Fribble,  "  a  haberdalher,  a  furly  cuckold, 
very  conceited,  and  proud  of  his  wife,  but  pretends  to  govern  and  keep 
her  under,"  and  their  wives,  the  firfl  "  an  impertinent,  imperious  ftrumpet," 
and  the  other,  "  an  humble,  fubmitting  wife,  who  jilts  her  hufband  that 

way,  a  very "     One   or  two  other  characters  of  the  fame  ftamp, 

with  "  two  young  ladies  of  wit,  beauty,  and  fortune,"  who  behave  them- 
felves  not  much  better  than  the  others,  and  a  full  allowance  of  "  parfons, 
hedtors,  conftables,  watchmen,  and  fiddlers,"  complete  the  dramatis 
perfonce  of "  Epfom  Wells."  With  fuch  materials  anybody  will  under- 
ftand  the  character  of  the  piece,  which  was  brought  out  on  the  ftage  in 
1672.  "The  Squire  of  Alfatia,"  by  the  fame  author,  brought  upon  the 
ftage  in  the  eventful  year  1688,  is  a  vivid  picture  of  one  of  the  wildeft 
phafes  of  London  life  in  thofe  ftill  rather  primitive  times.  Alfatia,  as 
ever)'  reader  of  Walter  Scott  knows,  was  a  cant  name  for  the  White 
Friars,  in  London,  a  locality  which,  at  that  time,  was  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  law  and  its  officers,  a  refuge  for  thieves  and  rogues,  and  efpecially  for 
debtors,  where  they  could  either  refift  with  no  great  fear  of  being  over- 
come, or,  when  refiftance  was  no  longer  poflible,  efcape  with  eafe.  With 
fuch  a  fcene,  and  fuch  people  for  characters,  we  are  not  furprifed  that  the 
printed  edition  of  this  play  is  prefaced  by  a  vocabulary  of  the  cant  words 
employed  in  it.  The  principal  characters  in  the  play  are  of  the  fame  clals 
with  thofe  which  form  the  ftaple  of  all  thefe  old  comedies.  Firft  there  is 
a  country  father  or  uncle,  who  is  rich  and  fevere  upon  the  vices  of  youth, 
or  arbitrary,  or  avaricious.  He  is  here  reprefented  by  fir  William  Belfond, 
"  a  gentleman  of  about  ^3000  per  annum,  who  in  his  youth  had  been  a 
fpark  of  the  town ;  but  married  and  retired  into  the  country,  where  he 
turned  to  the  other  extreme— rrigid,  morofe,  moft  fordidly  covetous, 
clownifti,  obftinate,  pofitive,  and  forward."  He  muft  have  a  London  brother, 
or  near  relative,  endowed  with  exactly  contrary  qualities,  here  reprefented 

by 


in  Literature  and  Art.  397 

by  fir  Edward  Belfond,  fir  William's  brother,  "  a  merchant,  who  by 
lucky  hits  had  gotten  a  great  eftate,  lives  fingle  with  eafe  and  pleafure, 
reafonably  and  virtuoufly,  a  man  of  great  humanity  and  gentleneis  and 
compaflion  towards  mankind,  well  read  in  good  books,  poifefied  with  all 
gentlemanlike  qualities."  Sir  William  Belfond  has  two  fons.  Belfond 
fenior,  the  eldeft,  is  "bred  after  his  father's  ruftic,  fwinifh  manner,  with 
great  rigour  and  feverity,  upon  whom  his  father's  eftate  is  entailed,  the 
confidence  of  which  makes  him  break  out  into  open  rebellion  to  his 
father,  and  become  lewd,  abominably  vicious,  ftubborn,  and  obftinate." 
The  younger  Belfond,  Sir  William's  fecond  fon,  had  been  "  adopted  by 
Sir  Edward,  and  bred  from  his  childhood  by  him,  with  all  the  tendernels 
and  familiarity,  and  bounty,  and  liberty  that  can  be  5"  "he  was  "inftru&ed 
in  all  the  liberal  fciences,  and  in  all  gentleman-like  education ;  fomewhat 
given  to  women,  and  now  and  then  to  good  fellowfhip  ;  but  an  ingenious, 
well-accomplifhed  gentleman ;  a  man  of  honour,  and  of  excellent  difpo- 
fition  and  temper."  Then  we  have  fome  of  the  leading  heroes  of 
Alfatia,  and  firft  Cheatly,  who  is  defcribed  as  "  a  rafcal,  who  by  reafon  of 
debts,  dares  not  ftir  out  of  Whitefryers,  but  there  inveigles  young  heirs 
in  tail  j  and  helps  'em  to  goods  and  money  upon  great  diladvantages ;  is 
bound  for  them,  and  fhares  with  them,  till  he  undoes  them;  a  lewd, 
impudent,  debauched  fellow,  very  expert  in  the  cant  about  the  town." 
Shamwell  is  "coufin  to  the  Belfonds,  an  heir,  who,  being  ruined  by 
Cheatly,  is  made  a  decoy-duck  for  others;  not  daring  to  ftay  out  of 
Alfatia,  where  he  lives ;  is  bound  with  Cheatly  for  heirs,  and  lives  upon 
them,  a  diflblute,  debauch'd  life."  Another  of  thefe  characters  is  captain 
Hackum,  "  a  block-headed  bully  .of  Alfatia ;  a  cowardly,  impudent, 
bluftering  fellow ;  formerly  a  fergeant  in  Flanders,  run  from  his  colours, 
retreating  into  Whitefryers  for  a  very  fmall  debt ;  where  by  the  Alfatians 
he  is  dubb'd  a  captain  j  marries  one  that  lets  lodgings,  fells  cherry-brandy, 
and  is  a  bawd."  Nor  is  Alfatia  without  a  reprefentative  of  the  Puritanical 
part  of  fociety,  in  Scrapeall,  "  a  hypocritical,  repeating,  praying,  pfalm- 
finging,  precife  fellow,  pretending  to  great  piety ;  a  godly  knave,  who 
joins  with  Cheatly,  and  fupplies  young  heirs  with  goods  and  money."  A 
rather  large  number  of  inferior  characters  fill  up  the  canvas ;  and  the 

females 


398  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefqu'e 

females,  with  two  exceptions,  belong  to  the  fame  clafs.  The  plot  of  this 
play  is  very  fimple.  The  elder  fon  of  fir  William  Belfond  has  taken  to 
Alfatia,  but  fir  William,  on  his  return  from  abroad,  hearing  talk  of  the 
fame  of  a  fquire  Belfond  among  the  Alfatians,  imagines  that  it  is  his 
younger  fon,  and  out  of  this  miftake  a  confiderable  amount  of  mifunder- 
ftanding  arifes.  At  lafl  fir  William  difcovers  his  error,  and  finds  his 
eldefl  fon  in  Whitefryers,  but  the  youth  fets  him  at  defiance.  The  father, 
in  great  anger,  brings  tipftaff  conflables,  to  take  away  his  fon  by  force  ; 
but  the  Alfatians  rife  in  force,  the  officers  of  the  law  are  beaten,  and  fir 
William  himfelf  taken  prifoner.  He  is  refcued  by  the  younger  Belfond, 
and  in  the  conclufion  the  elder  brother  becomes  penitent,  and  is 
reconciled  with  his  father.  There  is  an  underplot,  far  from  moral  in  its 
character,  which  ends  in  the  marriage  of  Belfond  junior.  It  is  a  bufy, 
noify  play,  and  was  a  great  favourite  on  the  flage ;  but  it  is  now  chiefly 
interefting  as  a  vivid  picture  of  London  life  in  the  latter  half  of  the 
feventeenth  century.  "Bury  Fair,"  by  Shadwell,  is  another  comedy 
of  the  fame  defcription ;  with  little  interefl  in  the  plot,  but  full  of 
life  and  movement.  If  "  The  Squire  of  Alfatia  "  was  noify,  "  The 
Scowrers,"  another  comedy  by  the  fame  author,  firfl  brought  on  the 
flage  in  1691,  was  ftill  more  fo.  The  wild  and  riotous  gallants  who, 
in  former  times  of  inefficient  police  regulation,  infefted  the  flreets  at 
night,  and  committed  all  forts  of  outrages,  were  known  at  different  periods 
by  a  variety  of  names.  In  the  reign  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.  they 
were  the  "roaring  boys  j"  in  the  time  of  Shadwell,  they  were  called  the 
"  fcowrers,"  becaufe  they  fcowered  the  flreets  at  night,  and  rather  roughly 
cleared  them  of  all  paffengers ;  a  few  years  later  they  took  the  name  of 
Mohocks,  or  Mohawks.  During  the  night  London  lay  at  the  mercy  of 
thefe  riotous  clatfes,  and  the  flreets  witneffed  fcenes  of  brutal  violence, 
which,  at  the  prefent  day,  we  can  hardly  imagine.  This  flate  of  things 
is  pictured  in  Shadwell's  comedy.  Sir  William  Rant,  Wildfire,  and 
Tope,  are  noted  fcowrers,  well  known  in  the  town,  whofe  fame  has 
excited  emulation  in  men  of  lefs  diflinftion  in  their  way,  Whachum, 
"  a  city  wit  and  fcowrer,  imitator  of  fir  William,"  and  "  two  fcoundrells," 
his  companions,  Blufler  and  Dingboy.  Great  enmity  arifes  between  the 

two 


in  Literature  and  Art.  399 

two  parties  of  rival  fcowrers.  The  more  ferious  characters  in  the  play 
are  Mr.  Rant,  fir  William  Rant's  father,  and  fir  Richard  Maggot,  "a 
foolifli  Jacobite  alderman  "  (it  muft  be  remembered  that  we  are  now  in 
the  reign  of  king  William).  Sir  Richard's  wife,  lady  Maggot,  like  the 
citizen's  wives  of  the  comedy  of  the  Reftoration  generally,  is  a  lady  rather 
wanting  in  virtue,  ambitious  of  mixing  with  the  gay  and  fafhionable 
world,  and  fomewhat  of  a  tyrant  over  her  hulband.  She  has  two  hand- 
fome  daughters,  whom  the  feeks  to  keep  confined  from  the  world,  left 
they  fhould  become  her  rivals.  There  are  low  characters  of  both  fexes, 
who  need  not  be  enumerated.  Much  of  the  play  is  taken  up  with  ftreet 
rows,  capital  fatirical  pictures  of  London  life.  The  play  ends  with 
marriages,  and  with  the  reconciliation  of  fir  William  Rant  with  his 
father,  the  ferious  old  gentleman  of  the  play.  Shadwell  excelled  in  thefe 
bufy  comedies.  One  of  the  neareft  approaches  to  him  is  Mountfort's 
comedy  of  "  Greenwich  Park,"  which  is  •  another  ftriking  fatire  on  the 
loofenefs  of  London  life  at  that  time.  As  in  the  others,  the  plot  is  fimply 
nothing.  The  play  confifts  of  a  number  of  intrigues,  fuch  as  may  be 
imagined,  at  a  time  when  morality  was  little  refpefted,  in  places  of 
faihionable  refort  like  Greenwich  Park  and  Deptford  Wells. 

An  element  of  fatire  was  now  introduced  into  Englifti  comedy  which 
does  not  appear  to  have  belonged  to  it  before — this  was  mimicry. 
Although  the  principal  characters  in  the  play  bore  conventional  names, 
they  appear  often  to  have  been  intended  to  reprefent  individuals  then 
well  known  in  fbciety,  and  thefe  individuals  were  caricatured  in  their 
drefs,  and  mimicked  in  their  language  and  manners.  We  are  told  that 
this  mimicry  contributed  greatly  to  the  fuccefs  of  "  The  Rehearfal,"  the 
duke  of  Buckingham  having  taken  incredible  pains  to  make  Lacy,  who 
acted  the  part  of  Bayes,  perfect  in  imitating  the  voice  and  manner  of 
Dryden,  whofe  drefs  and  gait  were  minutely  copied.  This  perfonal  fatire 
was  not  always  performed  with  impunity.  On  the  ift  of  February,  1669, 
Pepys  went  to  the  Theatre  Royal  to  fee  the  performance  of  "The 
Heirefs,"  in  which  it  appears  that  fir  Charles  Sedley  was  perfonally 
caricatured,  arid  the  fecretary  of  king  Charles's  admiralty  has  left  in  his 
diary  the  following  entry : — "  To  the  king's  houfe,  thinking  to  have  feen 

the 


400  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

the  Heyreffe,  firft  acted  on  Saturday,  but  when  we  come  thither  we  find 
no  play  there ;  Kynafton,  that  did  act  a  part  therein  in  abufe  to  fir 
Charles  Sedley,  being  laft  night  exceedingly  beaten  with  flicks  by  two  or 
three  that  faluted  him,  fo  as  he  is  mightily  bruifed,  and  forced  to  keep 
his  bed."  It  is  faid  that  Dryden's  comedy  of  "  Limberham,"  brought 
on  the  ftage  in  1678,  was  prohibited  after  the  firft  night,  becaufe  the 
character  of  Limberham  was  confidered  to  be  too  open  a  fatire  on  the 
duke  of  Lauderdale. 

Another  peculiarity  in  the  comedies  of  the  age  of  the  Reftoration  was 
their  extraordinary  indelicacy.  The  writers  feemed  to  emulate  each 
other  in  prefenting  upon  the  ftage  fcenes  and  language  which  no  modeft 
ear  or  pure  mind  could  fupport.  In  the  earlier  period  coarfenefs  in  con- 
verfation  was  characteriftic  of  an  unpolifhed  age — the  language  put  in 
the  mouths  of  the  actors,  as  remarked  before,  fmelt  of  the  tavern ;  but 
under  Charles  II.  the  tone  of  faihionable  fociety,  as  reprefented  on  the 
ftage,  is  modelled  upon  that  of  the  brothel.  Even  the  veiled  allufion  is 
no  longer  reforted  to,  broad  and  direct  language  is  fubftituted  in  its  place. 
This  open  profligacy  of  the  ftage  reached  its  greateft  height  between  the 
years  1670  and  1680.  The  ftaple  material  of  this  comedy  may  be  con- 
fidered to  be  the  commiffion  of  adultery,  which  is  prefented  as  one  of  the 
principal  ornaments  in  the  character  of  the  well-bred  gentleman,  varied 
with  the  feducing  of  other  men's  miftrefles,  for  the  keeping  of  miftrefies 
appears  as  the  rule  of  focial  life.  The  "  Country  Wife,"  one  of 
Wycherley's  comedies,  which  is  fuppofed  to  have  been  brought  on  the 
ftage  perhaps  as  early  as  1672,  is  a  malsof  grofs  indecency  from  beginning 
to  end.  It  involves  two  principal  plots,  that  of  a  voluptuary  who  feigns 
himfelf  incapable  of  love  and  infenfible  to  the  other  fex,  in  order  to 
purfue  his  intrigues  with  greater  liberty  ;  and  that  of  a  citizen  who  takes 
to  his  wife  a  filly  and  innocent  country  girl,  whofe  ignorance  he  believes 
will  be  a  protection  to  her  virtue,  but  the  very  means  he  takes  to  prevent 
her,  lead  to  her  fall.  The  "  Parfon's  Wedding,"  by  Thomas  Killigrew, 
firft  acted  in  1673,  is  equally  licentious.  The  fame  at  leaft  may  be  faid  of 
Dryden's  "  Limberham,  or  the  Kind  Keeper,"  firft  performed  in  1678, 
which,  according  to  the  author's  own  ftatement,  was  prohibited  on  account 

of 


in  Literature  and  Art.  401 

of  its  freenefs,  but  more  probably  becaufe  the  charafter  of  Limberham 
was  believed  to  be  intended  for  a  perfonal  fatire  on  the  unpopular  earl  of 
Lauderdale.  Its  plot  is  fimple  enough ;  it  is  the  flory  of  a  debauched 
old  gentleman,  named  Aldo,  whofe  fon,  after  a  rather  long  abfence  on 
the  Continent,  returns  to  England,  and  afiumes  the  name  of  Woodall,  in 
order  to  enjoy  freely  the  pleafures  of  London  life  before  he  makes  himfelf 
known  to  his  friends.  He  takes  a  lodging  in  a  houfe  occupied  by  fome 
loofe  women,  and  there  meets  with  his  father,  but,  as  the  latter  does  not 
recognife  his  fon,  they  become  friends,  and  live  together  licentioufly  fo 
long,  that  when  the  fon  at  length  difcovers  himfelf,  the  old  man  is 
obliged  to  overlook  his  vices.  Otway's  comedy  of  "Frieridfhip  in  Fafhion," 
performed  the  fame  year,  was  not  a  whit  more  moral.  But  all  thefe  are 
far  outdone  by  Ravenfcroft's  comedy  of  "  The  London  Cuckolds,"  firft 
brought  out  in  1682,  which,  neverthelefs,  continued  to  be  afted  until  late 
in  the  laft  century.  It  is  a  clever  comedy,  full  of  a&ion,  and  confifting 
of  a  great  number  of  different  incidents,  fele&ed  from  the  lefs  moral 
tales  of  the  old  ftory-tellers  as  they  appear  in  the  "  Decameron "  of 
Boccaccio,  among  which  that  of  the  ignorant  and  uneducated  young  wife, 
fimilar  to  the  plot  of  Wycherley's  "  Country  Wife,"  is  again  introduced. 

The  corruption  of  morals  had  become  fo  great,  that  when  women  took 
up  the  pen,  they  exceeded  in  licentioufnefs  even  the  other  fex,  as  was 
the  cafe  with  Mrs.  Behn.  Aphra  Behn  is  underflood  to  have  been  born 
at  Canterbury,  but  to  have  pafled  fome  part  of  her  youth  in  the  colony 
of  Surinam,  of  which  her  father  was  governor.  She  evidently  poffefied 
a  difpofition  for  intrigue,  and  me  was  employed  by  the  Englifh  govern- 
ment, a  few  years  after  the  Refloration,  as  a  political  fpy  at  Antwerp, 
She  fubfequently  fettled  in  London,  and  gained  a  living  by  her  pen,  which 
was  very  prolific  in  novels,  poems,  and  plays.  It  would  be  difficult  to 
point  out  in  any  other  works  fuch  fcenes  of  open  profligacy  as  thofe  pre- 
fented  in  Mrs.  Behn's  two  comedies  of"  Sir  Patient  Fancy"  and  "The 
City  Heirefs,  or  Sir  Timothy  Treat-all,"  which  appeared,  in  1678  and 
1681.  Concealment  of  the  flighteft  kind  is  avoided,  and  even  that  which 
cannot  be  expofed  to  view,  is  tolerably  broadly  defcribed. 

It  appears  that  the   performance  of  the  "  London   Cuckolds "  had 

a  F  been 


402  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


been  the  caufe  of  fome  fcandal,  and  there  were,  even  among  play-goers, 
fome  who  took  offence  at  fuch  outrages  on  the  ordinary  feelings  of 
modefty.  The  excefs  of  the  evil  had  begun  to  produce  a  reaftion. 
Ravenfcroft,  the  author  of  that  comedy,  produced  on  the  ftage,  in  1684, 
a  comedy,  entitled  "Dame  Dobfon,  or  the  Cunning  Woman,"  which 
was  intended  to  be  a  modeft  play,  but  it  was  unceremonioufly  "  damned  " 
by  the  audience.  The  prologue  to  this  new  comedy  intimates  that  the 
"  London  Cuckolds  "  had  pleafed  the  town  and  diverted  the  court,  but 
that  fome  "  fqueamifh  females  "  had  taken  offence  at  it,  and  that  he  had 
now  written  a  "  dull,  civill  "  play  to  make  amends.  They  are  addrefled, 
therefore,  in  fuch  terms  as  thefe : — 

In  you,  chafte  ladies,  then  <we  hope  to-day, 

Thii  is  the  poefs  recantation  play. 

Come  often  to  V,  that  he  at  length  may  fee 

'Tw  more  than  a  pretended  modefty. 

Stick  by  him  now,  for  if 'he  finds  you  falter , 

He  quickly  "will  his  way  of  "writing  alter  ; 

And  every  play  Jball  fend  you  blujhing  home, 

For,  though  you  rail,  yet  then  "we're  fare  you'' 11  come. 

And  it  is  further  intimated, - 

A  naughty  play  was  never  counted  dull — 
Nor  modeft  comedy  e^er  p leafed  you  much. 

"I  remember,"  fays  Colley  Gibber  in  his  "Apology,"  looking  back  to  thefe 
times,  "  I  remember  the  ladies  were  then  obferved  to  be  decently  afraid 
of  venturing  bare-faced  to  a  new  comedy,  till  they  had  been  aflured  they 
might  do  it  without  the  rifk  of  an  infult  to  their  modefty ;  or  if  their 
curiofity  were  too  ftrong  for  their  patience,  they  took  care  at  leaft  to  fave 
appearances,  and  rarely  came  upon  the  firft  days  of  acting  but  in  mafks 
(then  daily  worn,  and  admitted  in  the  pit,  the  lide  boxes,  and  gallery), 
which  cuftom,  however,  had  fo  many  ill  confequences  attending  it,  that  it 
has  been  abolimed  thefe  many  years."  According  to  the  Spectator,  ladies 
began  now  to  defert  the  theatre  when  comedies  were  brought  out,  except 
thofe  who  "  never  mifs  the  firft  day  of  a  new  play,  left  it  fhould  prove  too 
lufcious  to  admit  of  their  going  with  any  countenance  to  the  fecond." 

In 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


4°3 


In  the  midft  of  this  abufe,  there  fuddenly  appeared  a  book  which 
created  at  the  time  a  great  fenfation.  The  comedies  of  the  latter  half  of 
the  feventeenth  century  were  not  only  indecent,  but  they  were  filled 
with  profane  language,  and  contained  fcenes  in  which  religion  itfelf  was 
treated  with  contempt.  At  that  time  there  lived  a  divine  of  the  Church 
of  England,  celebrated  for  his  Jacobitifm — for  I  am  now  fpeaking  of  the 
reign  of  king  William — for  his  talents  as  a  controveriial  writer,  and  for 
his  zeal  in  any  caufe  which  he  undertook.  This  was  Jeremy  Collier,  the 
author  of  feveral  books  of  fome  merit,  which  are  feldom  read  now,  and 
who  fuffered  for  his  zeal  in  the  caufe  of  king  James,  and  for  his  refufal  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  king  William.  In  the  year  1698  Collier 
publifhed  his  "  Short  View  of  the  Immorality  and  Profanenefs  of  the 
Englifh  ftage,"  in  which  he  boldly  attacked  the  licentioufnefs  of  the 
Englifh  comedy.  Perhaps  Collier's  zeal  carried  him  a  little  too  far;  but 
he  had  offended  the  wits,  and  efpecially  the  dramatic  poets,  on  all  fides, 
and  he  was  expofed  to  attacks  from  all  quarters,  in  which  Dryden  himfelf 
took  an  aftive  part.  Collier  (bowed  himfelf  fully  capable  of  dealing  with 
his  opponents,  and  the  controverfy  had  the  effect  of  calling  attention  to 
the  immoralities  of  the  ftage,  and  certainly  contributed  much  towards 
reforming  them.  They  were  become  much  lefs  frequent  and  lefs  grofs  at 
the  opening  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

Towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  king  Charles  II.,  the  ftage  was  more 
largely  employed  as  a  political  agent,  and  under  his  fucceflbr,  James  II., 
the  Puritans  and  the  Whigs  were  conftantly  held  up  to  fcorn.  After  the 
Revolution,  the  tables  were  turned,  and  the  fatire  of  the  ftage  was  often 
aimed  at  Tories  and  Non-jurors.  "The  Non-juror,"  by  Colley  Cibber, 
which  appeared  in  1717,  at  a  very  opportune  moment,  gained  for  its 
author  a  penfion  and  the  office  of  poet-laureate.  It  was  founded  upon  the 
"Tartufte"  of  Moliere,  for  the  Englifh  comedy  writers  borrowed  much 
from  the  foreign  ftage.  A  difguifed  prieft,  who  pafies  under  the  name  of 
Dr.  Wolf,  and  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  rebellion  of  171$,  has  in- 
finuated  himfelf  into  the  houfehold  of  a  gentleman  of  fortune,  of  not  very 
ftrong  judgment,  Sir  John  Woodvil,  whom,  under  the  title  of  a  Non-juror, 
he  has  not  only  induced  to  become  an  abettor  of  rebels,  but  he  has 

perfuaded 


404  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

perfuaded  him  to  difinherit  his  fon,  and  he  labours  to  feduce  his  wife  and 
to  deceive  his  daughter.  His  bafenefs  is  expofed  only  juft  foon  enough  to 
defeat  his  defigns.  Such  a  production  as  this  could  not  fail  to  give  great 
offence  to  all  the  Jacobite  party,  of  whatever  fhade,  who  were  then  rather 
numerous  in  London,  and  Gibber  afTures  us  that  his  reward  was  a  con- 
fiderable  amount  of  adverfe  criticifm  in  every  quarter  where  the  Tory 
influence  reached.  His  comedies  were  inferior  in  brilliance  of  dialogue 
to  thofe  of  the  previous  age,  but  the  plots  were  well  imagined  and 
conduced,  and  they  are  generally  good  a&ing  plays. 

To  Samuel  Foote,  born  in  1722,  we  owe  the  laft  change  in  the  form 
and  character  of  Englifh  comedy.  A  man  of  infinite  wit  and  humour, 
and  poflefled  of  extraordinary  talent  as  a  mimic,  Foote  made  mimicry 
the  principal  inftrument  of  his  fuccefs  on  the  ftage.  His  plays  are  above 
all  light  and  amufingj  he  reduced  the  old  comedy  of  five  a6ts  to  three 
afts,  and  his  plots  were  ufually  fimple,  the  dialogue  full  of  wit  and 
humour ;  but  their  peculiar  characterise  was  their  open  boldnels  of  per- 
fonal  fatire.  It  is  entirely  a  comedy  of  his  own.  He  fought  to  direct 
his  wit  againft  all  the  vices  of  fociety,  but  this  he  did  by  holding  up  to 
ridicule  and  fcorn  the  individuals  who  had  in  fome  way  or  other  made 
themfelves  notorious  by  the  practice  of  them.  All  his  principal  characters 
were  real  characters,  who  were  more  or  lefs  known  to  the  public,  and 
who  were  fo  perfectly  mimicked  on  the  ftage  in  their  drefs,  gait,  arfd 
fpeech,  that  it  was  impoffible  to  miftake  them.  Thus,  in  "  The  Devil 
upon  Two  Sticks,"  which  is  a  general  fatire  on  the  low  condition  to  which 
the  practice  of  medicine  had  then  fallen,  the  perfonages  introduced  in  it 
all  reprefented  quacks  well  known  about  the  town.  "The  Maid  of  Bath" 
dragged  upon  the  ftage  fcandals  which  were  then  the  talk  of  Bath  fociety. 
The  nabob  of  the  comedy  which  bears  that  title,  had  alfo  his  model 
in  real  life.  "  The  Bankrupt  "  may  be  confidered  as  a  general  fatire  on 
the  bafenefs  of  the  newfpaper  prefs  of  that  day.  which  was  made  the 
means  of  propagating  private  fcandals  and  libellous  accufations  in  order  to 
extort  money,  yet  the  characters  introduced  are  faid  to  have  been  all 
portraits  from  the  life ;  and  the  fame  ftatement  is  made  with  regard  to 
the  comedy  of  "  The  Author." 

It 


in  Literature  and  Art.  4.05 

It  is  evident  that  a  drama  of  this  inquifitorial  character  is  a  dangerous 
thing,  and  that  it  could  hardly  be  allowed  to  exift  where  the  rights  of 
fociety  are  properly  defined  ;  and  we  are  not  furprifed  if  Foote  provoked 
a  hoft  of  bitter  enemies.  But  in  fome  cafes  the  author  met  with  punim- 
ment  of  a  heavier  and  more  fubftantial  defcription.  One  of  the  individuals 
introduced  into  "The  Maid  of  Bath,"  extorted  damages  to  the  amount 
of  ^3,000.  One  of  the  perfons  who  figured  in  "  The  Author,"  obtained 
an  order  from  the  lord  chamberlain  for  putting  a  flop  to  the  performance 
after  it  had  had  a  (hort  ran  j  and  the  confequences  of  "  The  Trip  to 
Calais,"  were  ftill  more  difaftrous.  It  is  well  known  that  the  character  of 
lady  Kitty  Crocodile  in  that  play  was  a  broad  caricature  on  the  notorious 
duchefs  of  Kingfton.  Through  the  treachery  of  fome  of  the  people 
employed  by  Foote,  the  duchefs  obtained  information  of  the  nature  of 
this  play  before  it  was  ready  for  reprefentation,  and  fhe  had  fufficient 
influence  to  obtain  the  lord  chamberlain's  prohibition  for  bringing  it  on 
the  ftage.  Nor  was  this  all,  for  as  the  play  was  printed,  if  not  afted, — and 
it  was  fubfequently  brought  out  in  a  modified  form,  with  omiflion  of  the 
part  of  lady  Kitty  Crocodile,  though  the  characters  of  fome  of  her  agents 
were  ftill  retained, — infamous  charges  were  got  up  againft  Foote,  in 
retaliation,  which  caufed  him  fo  much  trouble  and  grief,  that  they  are 
faid  to  have  fhortened  his  days. 

The  drama  which  Samuel  Foote  had  invented  did  not  outlive  him  ; 
its  caricature  was  itfelf  transferred  to  the  caricature  of  the  print-fhop. 


40  6  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotejque 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CARICATURE       IN       HOLLAND. ROMAIN       DE       HOOGHE. THB       ENGLISH 

REVOLUTION. CARICATURES    ON    LOUIS    XIV.  AND    JAMES    II. DR.   SA- 

CHEVERELL. CARICATURE  BROUGHT  FROM    HOLLAND    TO    ENGLAND. 

ORIGIN  OF    THE  WORD  "CARICATURE." MISSISSIPPI   AND    THE    SOUTH 

SEA;     THE    YEAR    OF    BUBBLES. 

MODERN  political  caricature,  born,  as  we  have  feen,  in  France, 
maybe  confidered  to  have  had  its  cradle  in  Holland.  The  petition 
of  that  country,  and  its  greater  degree  of  freedom,  made  it,  in  the  feven- 
teenth  century,  the  general  place  of  refuge  to  the  political  difcon- 
tents  of  other  lands,  and  efpecially  to  the  French  who  fled  from  the 
tyranny  of  Louis  XIV.  It  poflefled  at  that  time  fome  of  the  moft 
ikilful  artifts  and  beft  engravers  in  Europe,  and  it  became  the  central  fpot 
from  which  were  launched  a  multitude  of  fatirical  prints  againft  that 
monarch's  policy,  and  againft  himfelf  and  his  favourites  and  minifters. 
This  was  in  a  great  meafure  the  caufe  of  the  bitter  hatred  which  Louis 
always  difplayed  towards  that  country.  He  feared  the  caricatures  of  the 
Dutch  more  than  their  arms,  and  the  pencil  and  graver  of  Romain  de 
Hooghe  were  among  the  moft  effective  weapons  employed  by  William  of 
Naflau. 

The  marriage  of  William  with  Mary,  daughter  of  the  duke  of  York, 
in  1677,  naturally  gave  the  Dutch  a  greater  intereft  than  they  could  have 
felt  before  in  the  domeftic  affairs  of  Great  Britain,  and  a  new  ftimulus  to 
their  zeal  againft  Louis  of  France,  or,  which  was  the  fame  thing,  againft 
arbitrary  power  and  Popery,  both  of  which  had  been  rendered  odious 
under  his  name.  The  acceffion  of  James  II.  to  the  throne  of  England, 
and  his  attempt  to  re-eftablifh  Popery,  added  religious  as  well  as  political 
fuel  to  thefe  feelings,  for  everybody  underflood  that  James  was  afting 

under 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


407 


under  the  prote6tion  of  the  king  of  France.  The  very  year  of  king 
James's  acceflion,  in  1685,  the  caricature  appeared  which  we  have  copied 
in  our  cut  No.  186,  and  which,  although  the  infcription  is  in  Englifti, 
appears  to  have  been  the  work  of  a  foreign  artift.  It  was  probably 
intended  to  reprefent  Mary  of  Modena,  the  queen  of  James  II.,  and  her 


No.  1 8 6.     A  Dangerous  ConfeJ/br. 

rather  famous  confeflbr,  father  Petre,  the  latter  under  the  character  of  the 
wolf  among  the  fheep.  Its  aim  is  fufficiently  evident  to  need  no  expla- 
nation. At  the  top,  in  the  original,  are  the  Latin  words,  Convcrte 
Angliam,  "  convert  England,"  and  beneath,  in  Englifh,  "  It  is  a  fooliih. 
fheep  that  makes  the  wolf  her  confeflbr." 

The  period  during  which  the  Dutch  fchool  of  caricature  flourilhed, 
extended  through  the  reign  of  Louis  XIV.,  and  into  the  regency  in 
France,  and  two  great  events,  the  revolution  of  1688  in  England,  and  the 
wild  money  fpeculations  of  the  year  1720,  exercifed  efpecially  the  pencils 

of 


40  8  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

of  its  caricaturifts.  The  firft  of  thefe  events  belongs  almoft  entirely  to 
Remain  de  Hooghe.  Very  little  is  known  of  the  perfonal  hiftory  of  this 
remarkable  artift,  but  he  is  believed  to  have  been  born  towards  the  middle 
of  the  feventeenth  century,  and  to  have  died  in  the  earlier  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  older  French  writers  on  art,  who  were  pre- 
judiced againft  Remain  de  Hooghe  for  his  bitter  hoftiliry  to  Louis  XIV., 
inform  us  that  in  his  youth  he  employed  his  graver  on  obfcene  fubjects, 
and  led  a  life  fo  openly  licentious,  that  he  was  banifhed  from  his  native 
town  of  Amfterdam,  and  went  to  live  at  Haerlem.  He  gained  celebrity 
by  the  feries  of  plates,  executed  in  1672,  which  reprefented  the  horrible 
atrocities  committed  in  Holland  by  the  French  troops,  and  which  raifed 
againft  Louis  XIV.  the  indignation  of  all  Europe.  It  is  faid  that  the 
prince  of  Orange  (William  III.  of  England),  appreciating  the  value  of 
his  fatire  as  a  political  weapon,  fecured  it  in  his  own  interefts  by  liberally 
patronifing  the  caricaturift  j  and  we  owe  to  Remain  de  Hooghe  a  fuccef- 
fion  of  large  prints  in  which  the  king  of  France,  his  protege  James  II., 
and  the  adherents  of  the  latter,  are  covered  with  ridicule.  One,  publifhed 
in  1688,  and  entitled  "  Les  Monarches  Tombants,"  commemorates  the 
flight  of  the  royal  family  from  England.  Another,  which  appeared  at  the 
fame  date,  is  entitled,  in  French,  "  Arlequin  fur  1'hypogryphe  a  la  croifade 
Loiolifte,"  and  in  Dutch,  "  Armee  van  de  Heylige  League  voor  der 
Jefuiten  Monarchy'1  (i.e.  "  the  army  of  the  holy  league  for  eflablifhing  the 
monarchy  of  the  Jefuits  ").  Louis  XIV.  and  James  II.  were  reprefented 
under  the  characters  of  Arlequin  and  Panurge,  who  are  feated  on  the 
animal  here  called  a  "  hypogryphe,"  but  which  is  really  a  wild  afs.  The 
two  kings  have  their  heads  joined  together  under  one  Jefuit's  cap. 
Other  figures,  forming  part  of  this  army  of  Jefuitifm,  are  diftributed  over 
the  field,  the  moft  grotefque  of  which  is  that  given  in  our  cut  No.  187. 
Two  perfonages  introduced  in  fome  ridiculous  pofition  or  other,  in  moft 
of  thefe  caricatures,  are  father  Petre,  the  Jefuit,  and  the  infant  prince  of 
Wales,  afterwards  the  old  Pretender.  It  was  pretended  that  this  infant 
was  in  fact  the  child  of  a  miller,  fecretly  introduced  into  the  queen's  bed 
concealed  in  a  warming-pan ;  and  that  this  ingenious  plot  was  contrived 
by  father  Petre.  Hence  the  boy  was  popularly  called  Peterkin,  or 

Perkin, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


409 


Perkin,  i.e.  little  Peter,  which  was  the  name  given  afterwards  to  the 
Pretender  in  fongs  and  fatires  at  the  time  of  his  rebellion  ;  and  in  the 
prints  a  windmill  was  ufually  given  to  the  child  as  a  fign  of  its  father's 
trade.  In  the  group  reprefented  in  our  cut,  father  Petre,  with  the  child 
in  his  arms,  is  feated  on  a  rather  fingular  fteed,  a  lobfter.  The  young 


No.  187.      A  Jefuit  luell  Mounted. 

prince  here  carries  the  windmill  on  his  head.  On  the  lobfter's  back, 
behind  the  Jefuit,  are  carried  the  papal  crown,  furmounted  by  a  fleur-de- 
lis,  with  a  bundle  of  relics,  indulgences,  &c.,  and  it  has  feized  in  one  claw 
the  Englifh  church  fervice  book,  and  in  the  other  the  book  of  the  laws  of 
England.  In  the  Dutch  defcription  of  this  print,  the  child  is  called  "  the 
new  born  Antichrift."  Another  of  Romain  de  Hooghe's  prints,  entitled 
"  Panurge  feconde  par  Arlequin  Deodaat  a  la  croifade  d'Irlande,  1689," 
is  a  fatire  on  king  James's  expedition  to  Ireland,  which  led  to  the  memo- 
rable battle  of  the  Boyne.  James  and  his  friends  are  proceeding  to  the 
place  of  embarkation,  and,  as  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  188,  father 
Petre  marches  in  front,  carrying  the  infant  prince  in  his  arms. 

The  drawing  of  Romain  de  Hooghe  is  not  always  correct,  efpecially 
in  his  larger  fubjecls,  which  perhaps  may  be  afcribed  to  his  hafty  and 
carelefs  manner  of  working ;  but  he  difplays  great  fkiJ.l  in  grouping  his 
figures,  and  great  power  in  inverting  them  with  a  large  amount  of  fatirical 

3   o  humour. 


4 1  o  Htjtory  of  Caricature  and  (JroteJ  que 


humour.  Moft  of  the  other  caricatures  of  the  time  are  poor  both  in 
defign  and  execution.  Such  is  the  cafe  with  a  vulgar  fatirical  print 
which  was  publimed  in  France  in  the  autumn  of  1690,  on  the  arrival  of 
a  falfe  rumour  that  king  William  had  been  killed  in  Ireland.  In  the 


No.  188. 


Ireland. 


field  of  the  picture  the  corpfe  of  the  king  is  followed  by  a  proceflion  con- 
fifting  of  his  queen  and  the  principal  fupporters  of  his  caufe.  The  lower 
corner  on  the  left  hand  is  occupied  by  a  view  of  the  interior  of  the 
infernal  regions,  and  king  William  introduced  in  the  place  allotted  to  him 
among  the  flames.  In  different  parts  of  the  picture  there  are  feveral  infcrip- 
tions,  all  breathing  a  fpirit  of  very  infolent  exultation.  One  of  them  is 
the — 

Billet  £  Enterrement . 

Vous  estes  priez  d'assister  au  convoy,  service,  et  enterrement  du  tres  haut,  tres 
grand,  et  tres  infame  Prince  infernal,  grand  stadouter,  des  Arm6s  diaboliques  de  la 
ligue  d'Ausbourg,  et  insigne  usiirpateur  des  Royaumes  d'Angleterre,  d'Eccosse, 
et  d'Irlande,  ddc6dedans  1'Irlandeau  mois  d'Aoust  1690,  qui  se  fera  ledit  mois,dans 
sa  paroisse  infernale,  ou  assisteront  Dame  Proserpine,  Radamonte,  et  les  Ligueurs. 
Les  Dames  lui  diront  s'il  leur  plaist  des  injures. 

The  prints  executed  in  England  at  this  time  were,  if  poflible,  worfe 
than  thofe  publifhed  in  France.    Almoft  the  only  contemporary  caricature 
on  the  downfall  of  the  Stuarts  that  I  know,  is  an  ill-executed  print,  pub- 
limed 


in  Literature  and  Art.  41 1 

lilhed  immediately  after  the  acceffion  of  William  III.,  under  the  title, 
"  England's  Memorial  of  its  wonderful  deliverance  from  French  Tyranny 
and  Popifh  Opprefiion."  The  middle  of  the  pidure  is  occupied  by  "  the 
royal  orange  tree,"  which  flourifhes  in  Ipite  of  all  the  attempts  to  deftroy 
it.  At  the  upper  corner,  on  the  left  fide,  is  a  reprefentation  of  the  French 
king's  "  council,"  confifting  of  an  equal  number  of  Jefuits  and  devils, 
feated  alternately  at  a  round  table. 

The  circumftance  that  the  titles  and  infcriptions  of  nearly  all  thefe 
caricatures  are  in  Dutch,  feems  to  ihow  that  their  influence  was  intended 
to  be  exercifed  in  Holland  rather  than  elfewhere.  In  two  or  three  only 
of  them  thefe  defcriptions  were  accompanied  with  tranflations  in  Englifh 
or  French  ;  and  after  a  time,  copies  of  them  began  to  be  made  in  England, 
accompanied  with  Englifh  defcriptions.  A  curious  example  of  this  is 
given  in  the  fourth  volume  of  the  "  Poems  on  State  Affairs,"  printed  in 
1707.  In  the  preface  to  this  volume  the  editor  takes  occafion  to  inform 
the  reader — "That  having  procur'd  from  beyond  fea  a  Collection  of 
Satyrical  Prints  done  in  Holland  and  elfewhere,  by  Rom.  de  Hoog,  and 
other  the  beft  mailers,  relating  to  the  French  King  and  his  Adherents, 
fince  he  unjuftly  begun  this  war,  1  have  perfuaded  the  Bookfeller  lo  be  at 
the  expenfe  of  ingraving  feveral  of  them ;  to  each  of  which  I  have  given 
the  Explanation  in  Engliih  verfe,  they  being  in  Dutch,  French,  or  Latin 
in  the  originals."  Copies  of  feven  of  thefe  caricatures  are  accordingly 
given  at  the  end  of  the  volume,  which  are  certainly  inferior  in  every 
refpedt  to  thofe  of  the  beft  period  of  Romain  de  Hooghe.  One  of  them 
commemorates  the  eclipfe  of  the  fun  on  the  I2th  of  May,  1706.  The 
fun,  as  it  might  be  conjectured,  is  Louis  XIV.,  eclipfed  by  queen  Anne, 
whofe  face  occupies  the  place  of  the  moon.  In  the  foreground  of  the 
picture,  juft  under  the  eclipfe,  the  queen  is  feated  on  her  throne  under  a 
canopy,  furrounded  by  her  counfellors  and  generals.  With  her  left  arm 
fhe  holds  down  the  Gallic  cock,  while  with  the  other  hand  fhe  clips  one 
of  its  wings  (fee  our  cut  No.  189).  In  the  upper  corner  on  the  right,  is 
inferted  a  pi6^ure  of  the  battle  of  Ramillies,  and  in  the  lower  corner  on 
the  left,  a  fea-fight  under  admiral  Leake,  both  victories  gained  in  that 
year.  Another  of  thefe  copies  of  foreign  prints  is  given  in  our  cut 

No.  190 


412 


Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


No.  190.  We  are  told  that  "  thefe  figures  reprefent  a  French  trumpet 
and  drum,  fent  by  Louis  le  Grand  to  enquire  news  of  feveral  citys  loft  by 
the  Mighty  Monarch  laft  campaign."  The  trumpeter  holds  in  his  hand 
a  lift  of  loft  towns,  and  another  is  pinned  to  the  bread  of  the  drummer  j 


No.  189.     Cliff  ing  the  Cock  $  Wmgt. 

the  former  lift  is  headed  by  the  names  of  "  Gaunt,  Bruflels,  Antwerp, 
Bruges,"  the  latter  by  "  Barcelona." 

The  firft  remarkable  outburft  of  caricatures  in  England  was  caufed 
by  the  proceedings  againft  the  notorious  Dr.  Sacheverell  in  1710.  It 
is  fomewhat  curious  that  Sacheverell's  partifans  fpeak  of  caricatures 
as  things  brought  recently  from  Holland,  and  new  in  England,  and 
afcribe  the  ufe  of  them  as  peculiar  to  the  Whig  party.  The  writer  of  a 
pamphlet,  entitled  "The  Pifture  of.  Malice,  or  a  true  Account  of  Dr. 
Sacheverell's  Enemies,  and  their  behaviour  with  regard  to  him,"  informs 
us  that  "  the  chief  means  by  which  all  the  lower  order  of  that  fort  of 
men  call'd  Whigs,  (hall  ever  be  found  to  aft  for  the  ruin  of  a  potent 
adverfary,  are  the  following  three — by  the  Print,  the  Canto  or  Doggrell 
Poem,  and  by  the  Libell,  grave,  calm,  and  cool,  as  the  author  of  the 
'  True  Anfwer '  defcribes  it.  Thefe  are  not  all  employed  at  the  fame 

time 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


413 


time,  any  more  than  the  ban  and  arierban  of  a  kingdom  is  raifed,  unlels 
to  make  fure  work,  or  in  cafes  of  great  exigency  and  imminent  danger." 
"The  Print,"  he  goes  on  to  fay,  "is  originally  a  Dutch  talifman  (be- 
queathed to  the  ancient  Batavians  by  a  certain  Chinefe  necromancer  and 


No.  1 90.      Trumpet  and  Drum. 

painter),  with  a  virtue  far  exceeding  that  of  the  Palladium,  not  only  of 
guarding  their  cities  and  provinces,  but  alfo  of  annoying  their  enemies, 
and  preferving  a  due  balance  amongft  the  neighbouring  powers  around." 
This  writer  warms  up  fo  much  in  his  indignation  againft  this  new  weapon 
of  the  Whigs,  that  he  breaks  out  in  blank  verfe  to  tell  us  how  even  the 
myfterious  power  of  the  magician  did  not  deftroy  its  victims — 

Swifter  than  heretofore  the  Print  effaced 
The  pomp  of  mightieji  monarchs,  and  dethroned 
The  dread  idea  of  royal  majefty  ; 
Dwindling  the  prince  below  the  pigmy 


1 4  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


ffttnefs  the  once  Great  Louis  in  youthful  pride , 
And  Charles  of  happy  days,  who  both  confeJJ^d 
The  magic  power  of  mezzotinto  *  Jbade, 
And  form  grotesque,  in  manifejiocs  loud 
Denouncing  death  to  boor  and  burgomajler. 
fFitnefs,  yefacred  popes  with  triple  crown, 
JVho  likewise  vitJimsfell  to  hideous  print, 
Spurn1  d  by  the  populace  who  whilome  lay 
Proflrate,  an.i  erfn  adored  before  your  thrones. 

We  are  then  told  that  "  this,  if  not   the  firft,  has  yet    been  the  chief 
machine  which  his  enemies  have  employ'd  againft  the  doftor ;  they  have 


No.  191.      The  Three  Falfe  Brethren. 

expofed  him  in  the  fame  piece  with  the  pope  and  the  devil,  and  who 
now  could  imagine  that  any  fimple  prieft  (hould  be  able  to  ftand  before  a 
power  which  had  levelled  popes  and  monarchs  ?  "  At  leaft  one  copy  of 
the  caricature  here  alluded  to  is  preferred,  although  a  great  rarity,  and  it 
is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  191.  Two  of  the  party  remained  long 

aflbciated 

*  The  method  of  engraving  called  mezzotinto  was  very  generally  adopted  in 
England  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  last  century  for  prints  and  caricatures.  It  was 
continued  to  rather  a  late  period  by  the  publishing  house  of  Carrington  Bowles. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  4 1 5 

aflbciated  together  in  the  popular  outcry,  and  as  the  name  of  the  third 
fell  into  contempt  and  oblivion,  the  doctor's  place  in  this  aflbciation  was 
taken  by  a  new  caufe  of  alarm,  the  Pretender,  the  child  whom  we  have 
juft  feen  fo  joyoufly  brandifhing  his  windmill.  It  is  evident,  however, 
that  this  caricature  greatly  exafperated  Sacheverell  and  the  party  which 
fupported  him. 

It  will  have  been  noticed  that  the  writer  juft  quoted,  in  ufing  the  term 
"print,"  ignores  altogether  that  of  caricature,  which,  however,  was  about 
this  time  beginning  to  come  into  ufe,  although  it  is  not  found  in  the 
dictionaries,  I  believe,  until  the  appearance  of  that  of  Dr.  Johnfon,  in 
1755.  Caricature  is,  of  courfe,  an  Italian  word,  derived  from  the  verb 
caricare,  to  charge  or  load  ;  and  therefore,  it  means  a  picture  which  is 
charged,  or  exaggerated  (the  old  French  dictionaries  fay,  "  c'eft  la  memc 
chofe  que  charge  en  peinture  ").  The  word  appears  not  to  have  come  into 
ufe  in  Italy  Qntil  the  latter  half  of  the  feventeenth  century,  and  the 
earlieft  inftance  I  know  of  its  employment  by  an  Englifh  writer  is  that 
quoted  by  Johnfon  from  the  "  Chriftian  Morals  "  of  Sir  Thomas  Brown, 
who  died  in  1682,  but  it  was  one  of  his  lateft  writings,  and  was  not 
printed  till  long  after  his  death  : — "  Expofe  not  thyfelf  by  four-footed 
manners  unto  monftrous  draughts  (i.e.  drawings)  and  caricatura  reprefen- 
tations."  This  very  quaint  writer,  who  had  pafled  fbme  time  in  Italy, 
evidently  ufes  it  as  an  exotic  word.  We  find  it  next  employed  by  the 
writer  of  the  EfTay  No.  537,  of  the  "  Spectator,"  who,  fpeaking  of  the 
way  in  which  different  people  were  led  by  feelings  of  jealoufy  and  preju- 
dice to  detract  from  the  characters  of  others,  goes  on  to  fay,  "  From  all 
thefe  hands  we  have  fuch  draughts  of  mankind  as  are  reprefented  in  thofe 
burlefque  pictures  which  the  Italians  call  caricaturas,  where  the  art 
confifts  in  preferving,  amidft  diftorted  proportions  and  aggravated  features, 
fome  diflinguilhing  likenefs  of  the  perfon,  but  in  fuch  a  manner  as  to 
transform  the  moft  agreeable  beauty  into  the  moft  odious  monfter."  The 
word  was  not  fully  eftabliflied  in  our  language  in  its  Englifh  form  of 
caricature  until  late  in  the  laft  century. 

The  fubject  of  agitation  which  produced  a  greater  number  of  carica- 
tures than  any  previous  event  was  the  wild  financial  fcheme  introduced 

into 


41 6  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


into  France  by  the  Scottifb  adventurer,  Law,  and  imitated  in  England  in 
the  great  South  Sea  Bubble.  It  would  be  impoflible  here,  within  our 
necefiary  limits,  to  attempt  to  trace  the  hiftory  of  thefe  bubbles,  which  all 
burft  in  the  courfe  of  the  year  1720 ;  and,  in  faft,  it  is  a  hiftory  of  which 
few  are  ignorant.  On  this,  as  on  former  occafions,  the  great  mafs  of  the 
caricatures,  efpecially  thofe  againft  the  Miflifiippi  fcheme,  were  execnted 
in  Holland,  but  they  are  much  inferior  to  the  works  of  Remain  de  Hooghe. 


No.  192.     Atlcu. 

In  faft,  fo  great  was  the  demand  for  thefe  caricatures,  that  the  publifhers, 
in  their  eagernefs  for  gain,  not  only  deluged  the  world  with  plates  by 
artifts  of  no  talent,  which  were  without  point  or  intereft,  but  they  took  old 
plates  of  any  fubjett  in  which  there  was  a  multitude  of  figures,  put  new 
titles  to  them,  and  publifhed  them  as  fatires  on  the  Mifiiflippi  fcheme ; 
for  people  were  ready  to  take  anything  which  reprefented  a  crowd 
as  a  fatire  on  the  eagernefs  with  which  Frenchmen  rufhed  into  the 

fbare-market. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  4 1 7 

fhare-market.  One  or  two  curious  inftances  of  this  deception  might  be 
pointed  out.  Thus,  an  old  picture,  evidently  intended  to  reprefent  the 
meeting  of  a  king  and  a  nobleman,  in  the  court  of  a  palace,  furrounded 
by  a  crowd  of  courtiers,  in  the  coftume  probably  of  the  time  of  Henri  IV., 
was  republifhed  as  a  picture  of  people  crowding  to  the  grand  fcene  of 
(lock-jobbing  in  Paris,  the  Rue  Quinquenpoix  j  and  the  old  pidture  of  the 
battle  between  Carnival  and  Lent  came  out  again,  a  little  re-touched, 
under  the  Dutch  title,  f(  Stryd  tufzen  de  fmullende  Bubbel-Heeren  en  de 
aanflaande  Armoede,"  i.e.,  "  The  battle  between  the  good-living  bubble-- 
lords and  approaching  poverty." 

Befides  being  iflued  fingly,  a  confiderable  number  of  thefe  prints  were 
collected  and  publiftied  in  a  volume,  which  is  ftill  met  with  not  unfre- 
quently,  under  the  title  "  Het  groote  Tafereel  der  Dwaaftieid,"  "The 
great  picture  of  folly."  One  of  this  fet  of  prints  reprefents  a  multitude 
of  perfons,  of  all  ages  and  fexes,  acting  the  part  of  Atlas  in  fupporting  on 
their  backs  globes,  which,  though  made  only  of  paper,  had  become, 
through  the  agitation  of  the  flock  exchange,  heavier  than  gold.  Law 
himfelf  (fee  our  cut  No.  192)  flands  foremoft,  and  requires  the  afliftance 
of  Hercules  to  fupport  his  enormous  burthen.  In  the  French  verfes 
accompanying  this  print,  the  writer  fays — 

Ami  sStlas,  on  volt  (fans  center  vous  et  mo'i) 
Fa  ire  /' 'Atlas  part  out  des  divers  perfannages, 
Ricfte,  pau-vre,  homme,femme,  etfot  et  quaji-fage, 
Valet,  et  paifan,  le  gueuxfeleve  en  roi. 

Another  of  thefe  caricatures  reprefents  Law  in  the  character  of  Don 
Quixote,  riding  upon  Sancho's  donkey.  He  is  haftening  to  his  Dulcinia, 
who  waits  for  him  in  the  aflie  huis  (adion  or  fhare-houfe),  towards  which 
people  are  dragging  the  animal  on  which  he  is  seated.  The  devil  (fee 
our  cut  No.  193),  fits  behind  Law,  and  holds  up  the  afs's  tail,  while  a 
ihower  of  paper,  in  the  form  of  (hares  in  companies,  is  fcattered  around, 
and  fcrambled  for  by  the  eager  aSlionnaires.  In  front,  the  animal  is 
laden  with  the  money  into  which  this  paper  has  been  turned, — the  box 
bears  the  infcription,  "  Bomlarioos  Geldkift,  1720,"  "  Bombario's  (Law's) 
gold  cheft ; "  and  the  flag  bears  the  infcription,  "  Ik  koom,  ik  koom,  Dul- 

3   H  cirua 


41 8  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


cinia,"  "  I  come,  I  come,  Dulcinia."  The  befl,  perhaps,  of  this  lot  of 
caricatures  is  a  large  engraving  by  the  well-known  Picart,  inferred  among 
the  Dutch  colleftion  with  explanations  in  Dutch  and  French,  and  which 
was  re-engraved  in  London,  with  Englifh  defcriptions  and  applications. 


No.  193.      The  Don  Quixote  of  Finance. 

It  is  a  general  fatire  on  the  madnefs  of  the  memorable  year  1720.  Folly 
appears  as  the  charioteer  of  Fortune,  whofe  car  is  drawn  by  the  reprefen- 
tatives  of  the  numerous  companies  which  had  fprung  up  at  this  time, 
moft  of  which  appear  to  be  more  or  lefs  unfound.  Many  of  thefe  agents 
have  the  tails  of  foxes,  "  to  (how  their  policy  and  cunning,"  as  the  explana- 
tion informs  us.  The  devil  is  feen  in  the  clouds  above,  blowing  bubbles 
of  foap,  which  mix  with  the  paper  which  Fortune  is  diftributing  to  the 
crowd.  The  picture  is  crowded  with  figures,  fcattered  in  groups,  who 
are  employed  in  a  variety  of  occupations  connected  with  the  great  felly  of 
the  day,  one  of  which,  as  an  example,  is  given  in  our  cut  No.  194.  It  Js 
a  transfer  of  ftock,  made  through  the  medium  of  a  Jew  broker. 

It 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


419 


It  was  in  this  bubble  agitation  that  the  Englifh  fchool  of  caricature  began, 
and  a  few  fpecimens  are  preferred,  though  others  which  are  advertifed  in 
the  newfpapers  of  that  day,  feem  to  be  entirely  loft.  In  fa6t,  a  very 
confiderable  portion  of  the  caricature  literature  of  a  period  fo  compara- 
tively recent  as  the  firft  half  of  the  laft  century,  appears  to  have  perifhedj 


No.  194.      Transfer  of  Stock. 

for  the  intereft  of  thefe  prints  was  in  general  fo  entirely  temporary  that 
few  people  took  any  care  to  preferve  them,  and  few  of  them  were  very 
attractive  as  pictures.  As  yet,  indeed,  thefe  Englifh  prints  are  but  poor 
imitations  of  the  works  of  Picart  and  other  continental  artifts.  A  pair  of 
Englifh  prints,  entitled  "  The  Bubbler's  Mirrour,"  reprefents,  one  a  head 
joyful  at  the  rife  in  the  value  of  ftock,  the  other,  a  fimilar  head  forrowful 
at  its  fall,  furrounded  in  each  cafe  with  lifts  of  companies  and  epigrams 
upon  them.  They  are  engraved  in  mezzotinto,  a  ftyle  of  art  fuppofed  to 
have  been  invented  in  England — its  invention  was  afcribed  to  Prince 
Rupert — and  at  this  time  very  popular.  In  the  imprint  of  thefe  laft- 
mentioned  plates,  we  are  informed  that  they  were  "  Printed  for  Carington 
Bowles,  next  ye  Chapter  Houfe,  in  St.  Paul's  Ch.  Yard,  London,"  a  well- 
known  name  in  former  years,  and  even  now  one  quite  familiar  to  col- 
lectors, of  this  clafs  of  prints,  efpecially.  Of  Carington  Bowles  we  fhall 
have  more  to  fay  in  the  next  chapter.  With  him  begins  the  long  lift  of 
celebrated  Englifh  printfellers. 


42 o  Hi/iory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

ENGLISH     CARICATURE     IN     THE    AGE    OF     GEORGE    II. ENGLISH    PRINT- 
SELLERS. ARTISTS     EMPLOYED     BY     THEM. SIR     ROBERT     WALPOLE*S 

LONG     MINISTRY. THE     WAR    WITH     FRANCE. THE     NEWCASTLE    AD- 
MINISTRATION.  OPERA    INTRIGUES. ACCESSION    OF  GEORGE  III.,  AND 

LORD    BUTE    IN    POWER. 

WITH  the  acceffion  of  George  II.,  the  tafte  for  political  caricatures 
increafed  greatly,  and  they  had  become  almofl  a  neceffity  of  focial 
life.  At  this  time,  too,  a  diftinft  Englifh  fchool  of  political  caricature  had 
been  eftablithed,  and  the  print-fellers  became  more  numerous,  and  took 
a  higher  pofition  in  the  commerce  of  literature  and  art.  Among  the 
earlieft  of  thefe  printfellers  the  name  of  Bowles  ftands  efpecially  con- 
fpicuous.  Hogarth's  burlefque  on  the  Beggar's  Opera,  publifhed  in  1728, 
was  "  printed  for  John  Bowles,  at  the  Black  Horfe,  in  Cornhill."  Some 
copies  of  "King  Henry  the  Eighth  and  Anna  Bullen,"  engraved  by  the  fame 
great  artift  in  the  following  year,  bear  the  imprint  of  John  Bowles ;  and 
others  were  "  printed  for  Robert  Wilkinfon,  Cornhill,  Carington  Bowles, 
in  St.  Paul's  Church  Yard,  and  R.  Sayer,  in  Fleet  Street."  Hogarth's 
"  Humours  of  Southwark  Fair  "  was  alfo  publifhed,  in  1733,  by  Carington 
and  John  Bowles.  This  Carington  Bowles  was,  perhaps,  dead  in  1755, 
for  in  that  year  the  caricature  entitled  "  Britilh  Refentment "  bears  the 
imprint,  "  Printed  for  T.  Bowles,  in  St.  Paul's  Church  Yard,  and  Jno. 
Bowles  &  Son,  in  Cornhill."  John  Bowles  appears  to  have  been  the 
brother  of  the  firlt  Carington  Bowles  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  and  a  fon 
named  Carington  fucceeded  to  that  bunnefs,  which,  under  him  and  his 
fon  Carington,  and  then  as  the  eftablifhment  of  Bowles  and  Carver,  has 
continued  to  exift  within  the  memory  of  the  prefent  generation.  Another 
very  celebrated  printftiop  was  eftablifhed  in  Fleet  Street  by  Thomas 

Overton, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  42 1 


Overton,  probably  as  far  back  as  the  clofe  of  the  feventeenth  century. 
On  his  death  his  bufinefs  was  purchafed  by  Robert  Sayers,  a  mezzotihto 
engraver  of  merit,  whofe  name  appears  as  joint  publimer  of  a  print  by 
Hogarth  in  1729.  Overton  is  faid  to  have  been  a  perfonal  friend  of 
Hogarth.  Sayers  was  fucceeded  in  the  bufinefs  by  his  pupil  in  mezzo- 
tinto  engraving,  named  Laurie,  from  whom  it  defcended  to  his  fon, 
Robert  H.  Laurie,  known  in  city  politics,  and  it  became  fubfequently  the 
firm  of  Laurie  and  Whittle.  This  bufinefs  ftill  exifts  at  53,  Fleet  Street, 
the  oldeft  eltablifhment  in  London  for  the  publication  of  maps  and  prints. 
During  the  reign  of  the  fecond  George,  the  number  of  publifhers  of 
caricatures  increafed  confiderably,  and  among  others,  we  meet  with  the 
names  of  J.  Smith,  "  at  Hogarth's  Head,  Cheapfide,"  attached  to  a 
caricature  publifhed  Auguft,  17565  Edwards  and  Darly,  "at  the  Golden 
Acorn,  facing  Hungerford,  Strand,"  who  alfo  publifhed  caricatures  during 
the  years  1756-7$  caricatures  and  burlefque  prints  were  publiihed  by 
G.  Bickham,  May's  Buildings,  Covent  Garden,  and  one,  directed  againft 
the  employment  of  foreign  troops,  and  entitled  "  A  Nurfe  for  the 
Heffians,"  is  ftated  to  have  been  "  fold  in  May's  Buildings,  Covent 
Garden,  where  is  50  more  5''  "The  Raree  Show,"  publiftied  in  1762,  was 
"  fold  at  Sumpter's  Political  Print-mop,  Fleet  Street,"  and  many  carica- 
tures on  contemporary  coftume,  efpecially  on  the  Macaronis,  about  the 
year  1772,  were  "publiftied  by  T.  Bowen,  oppofite  the  Haymarket, 
Piccadilly."  Sledge,  "  printfeller,  Henrietta  Street,  Covent  Garden,"  is 
alfo  met  with  about  the  middle  of  the  laft  century.  Among  other 
burlefque  prints,  Bickham,  of  May's  Buildings,  iffued  a  feries  of  figures 
reprefenting  the  various  trades,  made  up  of  the  different  tools,  &c.,  ufed 
by  each.  The  houfe  of  Carington  Bowles,  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 
produced  an  immenfe  number  of  caricatures,  during  the  laft  century  and 
the  prefent,  and  of  the  moft  varied  character,  but  they  confifted  more  of 
comic  fcenes  of  fociety  than  of  political  fubjefts,  and  many  of  them  were 
engraved  in  mezzotinto,  and  rather  highly  coloured.  Among  them  were 
caricatures  on  the  faftiions  and  foibles  of  the  day,  amufing  accidents  and 
incidents,  common  occurrences  of  life,  characters,  &c.,  and  they  are 
frequently  aimed  at  lawyers  and  priefts,  and  efpecially  at  monks  and 

friars. 


422  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefq ue 

friars,  for  the  anti-Catholic  feeling  was  ftrong  in  the  laft  century. 
J.  Brotherton,  at  No.  132,  New  Bond  Street,  publifhed  many  of  Bun- 
bury's  caricatures ;  while  the  houfe  of  Laurie  and  Whittle  gave  employ- 
ment efpecially  to  the  Cruikfhanks.  But  perhaps  the  moft  extenfive 
publifher  of  caricatures  of  them  all  was  S.  W.  Fores,  who  dwelt  firft  at 
No.  3,  Piccadilly,  but  afterwards  eftablifhed  himfelf  at  No.  50,  the  corner 
of  Sackville  Street,  where  the  name  ftill  remains.  Fores  feems  to  have 
been  moft  fertile  in  ingenious  expedients  for  the  extenfion  of  his  bufinefs. 
He  formed  a  fort  of  library  of  caricatures  and  other  prints,  and  charged 
for  admifiion  to  look  at  them ;  and  he  afterwards  adopted  a  fyftem  of 
lending  them  out  in  portfolios  for  evening  parties,  at  which  thefe  port- 
folios of  caricatures  became  a  very  fafhionable  amufement  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  laft  century.  At  times,  fome  remarkable  curiofity  was  em- 
ployed to  add  to  the  attractions  of  his  fhop.  Thus,  on  caricatures  pub- 
lifhed in  1790,  we  find  the  ftatement  that,  "In  Fores'  Caricature  Mufeum 
is  the  completed  collection  in  the  kingdom.  Alfo  the  head  and  hand  of 
Count  Struenzee.  Admittance,  is."  Caricatures  againft  the  French 
revolutionifts,  published  in  1793,  bear  imprints  ftating  that  they  were 
"  publifhed  by  S.  W.  Fores,  No.  3,  Piccadilly,  where  may  be  feen  a 
complete  Model  of  the  Guillotine — admittance,  one  /hilling."  In  fome 
this  model  is  faid  to  be  fix  feet  high. 

Among  the  artifts  employed  by  the  print-publifhers  of  the  age  of 
George  II.,  we  ftill  find  a  certain  number  of  foreigners.  Coypel,  who 
caricatured  the  opera  in  the  days  of  Farinelii,  and  pirated  Hogarth, 
belonged  to  a  diftinguifhed  family  of  French  painters.  Goupy,  who  alfo 
caricatured  the  arti/les  of  the  opera  (in  1727),  and  Boitard,  who  worked 
actively  for  Carington  Bowles  from  1750  to  1770,  were  alfo  Frenchmen. 
Liotard,  another  caricaturift  of  the  time  of  George  II.,  was  a  native  of 
Geneva.  The  names  of  two  others,  Vandergucht  and  Vanderbank,  pro- 
claim them  Dutchmen.  Among  the  Englifh  caricaturifls  who  worked 
for  the  houfe  of  Bowles,  were  George  Bickham,  the  brother  of  the  print- 
feller,  John  Collet,  and  Robert  Dighton,  with  others  of  lefs  repute. 
R.  Attwold,  who  publifhed  caricatures  againft  admiral  Byng  in  1750,  was 
an  imitator  of  Hogarth.  Among  the  more  obfcure  caricaturifts  of  the 

Jatter 


in  Literature  and  Art.  423 

latter  part  of  the  half-century,  were  MacArdell — whofe  print  of  "  The 
Park  Shower,"  reprefenting  the  confufion  raifed  among  the  falhionable 
company  in  the  Mall  in  St.  James's  Park  by  a  fudden  fall  of  rain,  is  fo 
well  known — and  Darley.  Paul  Sandby,  who  was  patronifed  by  the  duke 
of  Cumberland,  executed  caricatures  upon  Hogarth.  Many  of  thefe  artifts 
of  the  earlier  period  of  the  Englifh  fchool  of  caricature  appear  to  have 
been  very  ill  paid — the  firft  of  the  family  of  Bowles  is  faid  to  have  boafled 
that  he  bought  many  of  the  plates  for  little  more  than  their  value  as 
metal.  The  growing  tafte  for  caricature  had  alib  brought  forward  a 
number  of  amateurs,  among  whom  were  the  countefs  of  Burlington,  and 
general,  afterwards  marquis,  Townfliend.  The  former,  who  was  the  lady 
of  that  earl  who  built  Burlington  Houfe,  in  Piccadilly,  was  the  leader  of 
one  of  the  factions  in  the  opera  difputes  at  the  clofe  of  the  reign  of 
George  I.,  and  is  underftood  to  have  defigned  the  well-known  caricature 
upon  Cuzzoni,  Farinelli,  and  Heidegger,  which  was  etched  by  Goupy, 
whom  me  patronifed.  It  mufl  not  be  forgotten  that  Bunbury  himfelf,  as 
well  as  Sayers,  were  amateurs ;  and  among  other  amateurs  I  may  name 
captain  Minfhull,  captain  Baillie,  and  John  Nixon.  The  firft  of  thefe 
publifhed  caricatures  againft  the  Macaronis  (as  the  dandies  of  the  earlier 
part  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  were  called),  one  of  which,  entitled  "The 
Macaroni  Drefiing-Room,"  was  efpecially  popular. 

Englifh  political  caricature  came  into  its  full  activity  with  the  miniftry 
of  fir  Robert  Walpole,  which,  beginning  in  1721,  lafted  through  the  long 
period  of  twenty  years.  In  the  previous  period  the  Whigs  were  accufed 
of  having  invented  caricature,  but  now  the  Tories  certainly  took  the 
utmoft  advantage  of  the  invention,  for,  during  feveral  years,  the  greater 
number  of  the  caricatures  which  were  publifhed  were  aimed  againft  the 
Whig  miniftry.  It  is  alfo  a  rather  remarkable  characteriftic  of  fociety  at 
this  period,  that  the  ladies  took  fo  great  an  intereft  in  politics,  that  the 
caricatures  were  largely  introduced  upon  fans,  as  well  as  upon  other 
objects  of  an  equally  perfonal  character.  Moreover,  the  popular  notion  of 
what  conflituted  a  caricature  was  ftill  fo  little  fixed,  that  they  were  ufually 
called  hieroglyphics,  a  term,  indeed,  which  was  not  ill  applied,  for  they 
were  fo  elaborate,  and  fo  filled  with  myftical  allufions,  that  now  it  is  by 

uc 


424  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

no  means  eafy  to  underftand  or  appreciate  them.  Towards  the  year 
1739,  there  was  a  marked  improvement  in  the  political  caricatures — they 
were  better  defigned,  and  difplayed  more  talent,  but  ftill  they  required 
rather  long  delcriptions  to  render  them  intelligible.  One  of  the  moft 
celebrated  was  produced  by  the  motion  in  the  Houfe  of  Commons, 
Feb.  13,  1741,  againft  the  minifter  Walpole.  It  was  entitled  "The 
Motion,"  and  was  a  Whig  fatire  upon  the  oppofition,  who  are  reprefented 


No,  195.      A  Party  of  Mourner t. 

as  driving  fo  hurriedly  and  inconfiderately  to  obtain  places,  that  they  are 
overthrown  before  they  reach  their  obje6t  The  party  of  the  oppofition 
retaliated  by  a  counter-caricature,  entitled,  "The  Reafon,"  which  was  in 
fome  refpe6ts  a  parody  upon  the  other,  to  which  it  was  inferior  in  point 
and  fpirit.  At  the  fame  time  appeared  another  caricature  againft  the 
miniftry,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Motive."  Thefe  provoked  another, 

entitled, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


425 


entitled,  "  A  Confequence  of  the  Motion  •"  which  was  followed  the  day 
after  its  publication  by  another  caricature  upon  the  oppofition,  entitled, 
"  The  Political  Libertines ;  or,  Motion  upon  Motion  •"  while  the  oppo- 
nents of  the  government  alfo  brought  out  a  caricature,  entitled,  "The 
Grounds,"  a  violent  and  rather  grofs  attack  upon  the  Whigs.  Among 
other  caricatures  publifhed  on  this  occafion,  one  of  the  beft  was  entitled, 
"The  Funeral  of  Fa&ion,"  and  bears  the  date  of  March  26,  1741. 
Beneath  it  are  the  words,  "Funerals  performed  by  Squire  S s,"  allud- 
ing to  Sandys,  who  was  the  motion-maker  in  the  Houfe  of  Commons, 
and  who  thus  brought  on  his  party  a  fignal  defeat.  Among  the  chief 
mourners  on  this  occafion  are  feen  the  oppofition  journals,  The  Craftsman, 
the  creation  of  Bolingbroke  and  Pulteney,  the  ftill  more  fcurrilous 


No.  196.      Bi  itifh  Rejenimcnt. 

Champion,  The  Daily  Pofl,  The  London  and  Evening  Pojl,  and  The  Common 
Senfe  Journal.     This  mournful  group  is  reproduced  in  our  cut  No.  195. 

From  this  time  there  was  no  falling  off  in  the  fupply  of  caricatures, 
which,  on  the  contrary,  feemed  to  increafe  every  year,  until  the  activity 
of  the  pidorial  fatirifts  was  roufed  anew  by  the  hoftilities  with  France  in 

3   i  1755. 


426  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


1755,  and  the  minifterial  intrigues  of  the  two  following  years.  The  war, 
accepted  by  the  Englifh  government  reluctantly,  and  ill  prepared  for,  was 
the  fubjedt  of  much  difcontent,  although  at  firft  hopes  were  given  of  great 
fuccefs.  One  of  the  caricatures,  published  in  the  middle  of  thefe  early 
hopes,  at  a  time  when  an  Englifh  fleet  lay  before  Louifbourg,  in  Canada, 
is  entitled,  "  Britifh  Refentment,  or  the  French  fairly  coop'd  at  Louif- 
bourg," and  came  from  the  pencil  of  the  French  artift  Boitard.  One  of 
its  groups,  reprefenting  the  courageous  Englifh  failor  and  the  defpairing 
Frenchman,  is  given  in  our  cut  No.  tp6,  and  may  ferve  as  an  example 
of  Boitard's  ftyle  of  drawing.  It  became  now  the  fafhion  to  print 
political  caricatures,  in  a  diminifhed  form,  on  cards,  and  feventy-five  of 
thefe  were  formed  into  a  fmall  volume,  under  the  title  of  "A  Political 
and  Satirical  Hittory  of  the  years  1756  and  1757.  In  a  feries  of  feventy- 


No.  197.      Britannia  in  a  New  Drcft< 

five  humorous  and  entertaining  Prints,  containing  all  the  moft  remarkable 
Tranfa6tions,  Characters,  and  Caricaturas  of  thofe  two  memorable 
years.  .  .  .  London:  printed  for  E.  Morris,  near  St.  Paul's."  The  im- 
prints of  the  plates,  which  bear  the  dates  of  their  feveral  publications, 
inform  us  that  they  came  from  the  well-known  mop  of  "  Darly  and 
Edwards,  at  the  Acorn,  facing  Hungerford^  Sfrand."  Thefe  caricatures 
begin  with  our  foreign  relations,  and  exprefs  the  belief  that  the  minifters 
were  facrificing  Englifh  interefts  to  French  influence.  In  one  of  them 

(our 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


427 


(our  cut  No.  197),  entitled,  "England  made  odious,  or  the  French 
Dreffers,"  the  minifter,  Newcaftle,  in  the  garb  of  a  woman,  and  his 
colleague,  Fox,  have  dreffed  Britannia  in  a  new  French  robe,  which  does 
not  fit  her.  She  exclaims,  "  Let  me  have  my  own  cloathes.  I  cannot 
ftir  my  arms  in  thefej  befides,  everybody  laughs  at  me."  Newcaftle 
replies,  rather  imperioufly,  "  Huffy,  be  quiet,  you  have  no  need  to  ftir 
your  arms — why,  fure !  what's  here  to  do?"  While  Fox,  in  a  more 
infinuating  tone,  offers  her  a  fleur-de-lis,  and  fays,  "  Here,  madam,  ftick 


No.  198.     Caught  by  a  Bait. 

this  in  your  bofom,  next  your  heart."  The  two  pictures  which  adorn  the 
walls  of  the  room  reprefent  an  axe  and  a  halter ;  and  underneath  we  read 
the  lines, — 

And  (ball  the  fubjtitutes  of  power 

Our  genius  thus  bedeck  ? 
Let  them  remember  there'' s  an  hour 

Of  quittance — then,  -ware  neck. 

In  another  print  of  this  feries,  this  laft  idea  is  illuftrated  more  fully.  It 
is  aimed  at  the  minifters,  who  were  believed  to  be  enriching  themfelves 
at  the  expenfe  of  the  nation,  and  is  entitled,  "  The  Devil  turned  Bird- 
catcher."  On  one  fide,  while  Fox  is  greedily  fcrambling  for  the  gold, 
the  fiend  has  caught  him  in  a  baiter  fufpended  to  the  gallows ;  on  the 
other  fide  another  demon  is  letting  down  the  fatal  axe  on  Newcaftle, 
who  is  fimilarly  employed.  The  latter  (fee  our  cut  No.  198)  is  defcribed 

as 


428  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

as  a  "  Noddy  catching  at  the  bait,  while  the  bird-catcher  lets  drop  an 
axe."  This  implement  of  execution  is  a  perfect  picture  of  a  guillotine, 
long  before  it  was  fo  notorioufly  in  ufe  in  France. 

The  third  example  of  thefe  caricatures  which  I  (hall  quote  is  entitled 
"  The  Idol,"  and  has  for  its  fubje£t  the  extravagancies  and  perfonal  jealou- 
fies  connected  with  the  Italian  opera.  The  rivalry  between  Mingotti  and 
Vannefchi  was  now  making  as  much  noife  there  as  that  of  Cuzzoni  and 


No.  199.      Britifh  Idolatry. 


Fauftina  fome  years  before.  The  former  acted  arbitrarily  and  capricioufly, 
and  could  with  difficulty  be  bound  to  fing  a  few  times  during  the  feafon 
for  a  high  falary  :  it  is  faid,  ^2,000  for  the  feafon.  In  the  caricature  to 
which  I  allude,  this  lady  appears  raifed  upon  a  ftool,  infcribed  "^2,000 
per  annum,"  and  is  receiving  the  worlhip  of  her  admirers.  Immediately 
before  her  an  ecclefiaftic  is  feen  on  his  knees,  exclaiming,  "Unto  thee  be 
praife  now  and  for  evermore  ! "  In  the  background  a  lady  appears,  hold- 
ing up  her  pug-dog,  then  the  fafhionable  pet,  and  addrefling  the  opera 
favourite,  "  'Tis  only  pup  and  you  I  love."  Other  men  are  on  their 
knees  behind  the  ecclefiaftic,  all  perfons  of  diftinftion;  and  laft  comes  a 
nobleman  and  his  lady,  the  former  holding  in  his  hand  an  order  for 
$£2,000,  his  fubfcription  to  the  opera,  and  remarking,  "We  mall  have  but 

twelve 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


429 


twelve  fongs  for  all  this  money."  The  lady  replies,  with  an  air  of  con- 
tempt, "Well,  and  enough  too,  for  the  paltry  trifle."  The  idol,  in  return 
for  all  this  homage,  fings  rather  contemptuoufly — 

Ra,  rUf  ray  rot  yet 
My  name  is  Mingctti, 
If  you  war/hi f  me  notri, 
You  jhall  all  go  to  pottl. 

The  clofing  years  of  the  reign  of  George  II.,  under  the  vigorous 
adminiftration  of  the  firft  William  Pitt,  witnefied  a  calm  in  the  domeftic 
politics  of  the  country,  which  prefented  a  ftrange  contrail  to  the  agita- 
tion of  the  previous  period.  Faction  feemed  to  have  hidden  its  head,  and 
there  was  comparatively  little  employment  for  the  caricaturift.  But  this 
calm  lafted  only  a  Ihort  time  after  that  king's  death,  and  the  new  reign 
was  ufhered  in  by  indications  of  approaching 
political  agitation  of  the  moft  violent  defcrip- 
tioh,  in  which  fatirifts  who  had  hitherto  con- 
tented themfelves  with  other  fubjects  were 
tempted  to  embark  in  the  ftrife  of  politics. 
Among  thefe  was  Hogarth,  whole  difcom- 
forts  as  a  political  caricaturift  we  {hall  have 
to  defcribe  in  our  next  chapter. 

Perhaps  no  name  ever  provoked  a  greater 
amount  of  caricature  and  fatirical  abufe  than 
that  of  Lord  Bute,  who,  through  the  favour 
of  the  Princefs  of  Wales,  ruled  fupreme  at 
court  during  the  firft  period  of  the  reign  of 
George  III.  Bute  had  taken  into  the 
miniftry,  as  his  confidential  colleague,  Fox 
— the  Henry  Fox  who  became  fubfequently 
the  firft  Lord  Holland,  a  man  who  had  en- 
riched himfelf  enormoufly  with  the  money  of 
the  nation,  and  thefe  two  appeared  to  be 

,     ,  .  No.  200     Fox  on  Boots. 

aiming  at  the  eftablilhment  of  arbitrary  power 

in  the  place  of  conftitutional  government.     Fox  was  ulually  reprefented  in 

the 


430  Hi  ft  or y  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

the  caricatures  with  the  head  and  tail  of  the  animal  reprefented  by  his 
name  rather  ftrongly  developed  ;  while  Bute  was  drawn,  as  a  very  bad  pun 
upon  his  name,  in  the  garb  of  a  Scotchman,  wearing  two  large  boots,  or 
fometimes  a  (ingle  boot  of  ftill  greater  magnitude.  In  thefe  caricatures  Bute 
and  Fox  are  generally  coupled  together.  Thus,  a  little  before  the  refigna- 
tion  of  the  duke  of  Newcaftle  in  1762,  there  appeared  a  caricature  entitled 
"  The  State  Nurfery,"  in  which  the  various  members  of  the  miniftry,  as  it 
was  then  formed  under  Lord  Bute's  influence,  are  reprefented  as  engaged 
in  childifh  games.  Fox,  as  the  whipper-in  of  parliamentary  majorities,  is 
riding,  armed  with  his  whip,  on  Bute's  moulders  (fee  our  cut  No.  200), 
while  the  duke  of  Newcaftle  performs  the  more  menial  fervice  of  rocking 
the  cradle.  In  the  rhymes  which  accompany  this  caricature,  the  firft  of  thefe 
groups  is  defcribed  as  follows  (Fox  was  commonly  fpoken  of  in  fatire  by 
the  title  of  Volpone) — 

Firft  you  fee  old  Jly  Volf>one-y, 
Riding  on  the  /boulders  brawny 
Of  the  tnuc kle  favourite  Saivny  ,- 
Doodle,  doodle,  doo. 

The  number  of  caricatures  publilhed  at  this  period  was  very  great, 
and  they  were  almoft  all  aimed  in  one  direction,  againft  Bute  and  Fox, 
the  Princefs  of  Wales,  and  the  government  they  directed.  Caricature, 
at  this  time,  ran  into  the  leaft  difguifed  licence,  and  the  coarfeft  allufions 
were  made  to  the  fuppofed  fecret  intercourfe  between  the  minifter  and 
the  Princefs  of  Wales,  of  which  perhaps  the  moft  harmlefs  was  the  addi- 
tion of  a  petticoat  to  the  boot,  as  a  fymbol  of  the  influence  under  which 
.the  country  was  governed.  In  mock  proceffions  and  ceremonies  a 
Scotchman  was  generally  introduced  carrying  the  ftandard  of  the  boot 
and  petticoat.  Lord  Bute,  frightened  at  the  amount  of  odium  which 
was  thus  heaped  upon  him,  fought  to  ftem  the  torrent  by  employing 
fatirifts  to  defend  the  government,  and  it  is  hardly  neceflary  to  ftate  that 
among  thefe  mercenary  auxiliaries  was  the  great  Hogarth  himfelf,  who 
accepted  a  pennon,  and  publimed  his  caricature  entitled,  "The  Times, 
Nov.  i,"  in  the  month  of  September,  1762.  Hogarth  did  not  excel  in 
political  caricature,  and  there  was  little  in  this  print  to  diftinguifh  it  above 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


43 


the  ordinary  publications  of  a  fimilar  chara6ler.  It  was  the  moment  ol 
negotiations  for  Lord  Bute's  unpopular  peace,  and  Hogarth's  iatire  is 
directed  againft  the  foreign  policy  of  the  great  ex-minifter  Pitt.  It 
reprefents  Europe  in  a  ftate  of  general  conflagration,  and  the  flames 
already  communicating  to  Great  Britain.  While  Pitt  is  blowing  the  fire, 
Bute,  with  a  party  of  foldiers  and  failors  zealoufly  aflifted  by  his  favourite 
Scotchmen,  is  labouring  to  extinguish  it.  In  this  he  is  impeded  by  the 
interference  of  the  duke  of  Newcaftle,  who  brings  a  wheelba"rro\v  full  of 
Monitors  and  North  Britons,  the  violent  .oppofition  journals,  to  feed  the 


.  20 1.      Fanatiilfm  in  another  Shape. 


flames.  The  advocacy  of  Bute's  mercenaries,  whether  literary  or  artiftic, 
did  little  fervice  to  the  government,  for  they  only  provoked  increafed 
activity  among  its  opponents.  Hogarth's  caricature  of  "  The  Times," 
drew  feveral  anfwers,  one  of  the  beft  of  which  was  a  large  print  entitled 
"  The  Raree  Show  :  a  political  contraft  to  the  print  of  '  The  Times,'  by 
William  Hogarth."  It  is  the  houfe  of  John  Bull  which  is  here  on  fire, 
and  the  Scots  are  dancing  and  exulting  at  it.  In  the  centre  of  the  pittnre 
appears  a  great  afters'  barn,  from  an  upper  window  of  which  Fox  thrufts 
out  his  head  and  points  to  the  fign,  reprefenting  jEneas  and  Dido 

entering 


432  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

entering  the  cave  together,  as  the  performance  which  was  acUng  within. 
It  is  an  allufion  to  the  fcandal  in  generaj  circulation  relating  to  Bute  and 
the  princefs,  who,  of  courfe,  were  the  ./Eneas  and  Dido  of  the  piece,  and 
appear  in  thofe  characters  on  the  fcaffbld  in  front,  with  two  of  Bute's 
mercenary  writers,  Smollett,  who  edited  the  Briton,  and  Murphy,  who 
wrote  in  the  Auditor,  one  blowing  the  trumpet  and  the  other  beating  the 
drum.  Among  the  different  groups  which  fill  the  picture,  one,  behind 
the  adors'  barn  (fee  our  cut  No.  201),  is  evidently  intended  for  a  fatire 
on  the  fpirit  of  religious  fanaticifm  which  was  at  this  time  fpreading 
through  the  country.  An  open-air  preacher,  mounted  on  a  ftool,  is 
addrefling  a  not  very  intelle6hial-looking  audience,  while  his  infpiration  is 
conveyed  to  him  in  a  rather  vulgar  manner  by  the  fpirit,  not  of  good, 
but  of  evil. 

The  violence  of  this  political  warfare  at  length  drove  Lord  Bute  from 
at  leaft  oftenfible  power.  He  refigned  on  the  6th  of  April,  1763.  One 
of  the  popular  favourites  at  this  time  was  the  duke  of  Cumberland,  the 
hero  of  Culloden,  who  was  regarded  as  the  leader  of  the  oppofition  in  the 
Houfe  of  Lords.  People  now  believed  that  it  was  the  duke  of  Cumber- 
land who  had  overthrown  "  the  boot,"  and  his  popularity  increafed  on  a 
fudden.  The  triumph  was  commemorated  in  feveral  caricatures.  One 
of  thefe  is  entitled,  "The  Jack-Boot  kick'd  down,  or  Englifti  Will 
triumphant :  a  Dream."  The  duke  of  Cumberland,  whip  in  hand,  has 
kicked  the  boot  out  of  the  houfe,  exclaiming  to  a  'young  man  in  failor's 
garb  who  follows  him,  "  Let  me  alone,  Ned  ;  I  know  how  to  deal  with 
Scotfmen.  Remember  Culloden."  The  youth  replies,  "  Kick  hard, 
uncle,  keep  him  down.  Let  me  have  a  kick  too."  Nearly  the  fame 
group,  ufing  fimilar  language,  is  introduced  into  a  caricature  of  the  fame 
date,  entitled,  "  The  Boot  and  the  Blockhead."  The  youthful  perfonage 
is  no  doubt  intended  for  Cumberland's  nephew,  Edward,  duke  of  York, 
who  was  a  failor,  and  was  raifed  to  the  rank  of  rear-admiral,  and  who 
appears  to  have  joined  his  uncle  in  his  oppofition  to  Lord  Bute.  The 
"boot,"  as  feen  in  our  cut  No.  202,  is  encircled  with  Hogarth's  celebrated 
"line  of  beauty,"  of  which  I  {hall  have  to  fpeak  more  at  length  in  the 
next  chapter. 

With 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


433 


With  the  overthrow  of  Bute's  miniftry,  we  may  confider  the  Englifti 
fchool  of  caricature  as  completely  formed  and  fully  eftabliflied.  From 
this  time  the  names  of  the  caricaturifts  are  better  known,  and  we  (hall 


No,  ZO2.     The  Overthrow  of  the  Boot. 

have  to  confider  them  in  their  individual  characters.  One  ol  thefe, 
William  Hogarth,  had  rifen  in  fame  far  above  the  group  of  the  ordinary 
men  by  whom  he  was  lurrounded. 


434          Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

HOGARTH. HIS    EARLY    HISTORY. HIS    SETS    OF    PICTURES. THE    HAR- 

LOT's      PROGRESS. THE      RAKE*S     PROGRESS. THE     MARRIAGE      A      LA 

MODE. HIS      OTHER     PRINTS. THE    ANALYSIS    OF     BEAUTY,    AND    THE 

PERSECUTION    ARISING    OUT    OF    IT. HIS    PATRONAGE    BY  LORD    BUTE. 

CARICATURE    OF     THE     TIMES. ATTACKS     TO    WHICH      HE    WAS    EX- 
POSED   BY    IT,   AND    WHICH    HASTENED    HIS    DEATH. 

ON  the  loth  of  November,  1697,  William  Hogarth  was  born  in  the 
city  of  London.  His  father,  Richard  Hogarth,  was  a  London 
fchoolmafter,  who  laboured  to  increafe  the  income  derived  from  his 
fcholars  by  compiling  books,  but  with  no  great  fuccefs.  From  his  child- 
hood, as  he  tells  us  in  his  "Anecdotes  "  of  himfelf,  the  young  Hogarth 
difplayed  a  tafte  for  drawing,  and  efpecially  for  caricature ;  and,  out  of 
fchool,  he  appears  to  have  been  feldom  without  a  pencil  in  his  hand. 
The  limited  means  of  Richard  Hogarth  compelled  him  to  take  the  boy 
from  fchool  at  an  early  age,  and  bind  him  apprentice  to  a  fteel-plate 
engraver.  But  this  occupation  proved  little  to  the  tafte  of  one  whofe 
ambition  rofe  much  higher;  and  when  the  term  of  his  apprenticelhip  had 
expired,  he  applied  himfelf  to  engraving  on  copper ;  and,  fetting  up  on 
his  own  account,  did  considerable  amount  of  work,  firft  in  engraving  arms 
and  (hop-bills,  and  afterwards  in  defigning  and  engraving  book  illuftrations, 
none  of  which  difplayed  any  fuperiority  over  the  ordinary  run  of  fuch 
productions.  Towards  1728  Hogarth  began  to  prattife  as  a  painter,  and 
he  fubfequently  attended  the  academy  of  fir  James  Thornhill,  in  Covent 
Garden,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  that  painter's  only  daughter, 
Jane.  The  refult  was  a  clandeftine  marriage  in  1730,  which  met  the 
difapproval  and  provoked  the  anger  of  the  lady's  father.  Subfequently, 
however,  fir  James  became  convinced  of  the  genius  of  his  fon-in-law,  and 
a  reconciliation  was  effected  through  the  medium  of  lady  Thornhill. 

At 


in  Literature  and  Art.  435 


At  this  time  Hogarth  had  already  commenced  that  new  ftyle  of  defign 
which  was  deftined  to  raife  him  foon  to  a  degree  of  fame  as  an  artift  few 
men  have  ever  attained.  In  his  "  Anecdotes  "  of  himfelf,  the  painter  has 
given  us  an  interefting  account  of  the  motives  by  which  he  was  guided. 
"  The  reafons,"  he  fays,  "  which  induced  me  to  adopt  this  mode  of 
defigning  were,  that  I  thought  both  writers  and  painters  had,  in  the 
hiftorical  ftyle,  totally  overlooked  that  intermediate  fpecies  of  fubjects 
which  may  be  placed  between  the  fublime  and  the  grotefque.  I  there- 
fore wifhed  to  compofe  pictures  on  canvas-limilar  to  reprefentations  on  the 
Itage  ;  and  further  hope  that  they  will  be  tried  by  the  fame  tett,  and 
criticifed  by  the  fame  criterion.  Let  it  be  obferved,  that  I  mean  to  fpeak 
only  of  thofe  fcenes  where  the  human  fpecies  are  actors,  and  thefe,  I 
think,  have  not  often  been  delineated  in  a  way  of  which  they  are  worthy 
and  capable.  In  thefe  compofitions,  thofe  fubjects  that  will  both  entertain 
and  improve  the  mind  bid  fair  to  be  of  the  greateft  public  utility,  and 
muft  therefore  be  entitled  to  rank  in  the  higheft  clafs.  If  the  execution 
is  difficult  (though  that  is  but  a  fecondary  merit),  the  author  has  claim  to 
a  higher  degree  of  praife.  If  this  be  admitted,  comedy,  in  painting  as 
well  as  writing,  ought  to  be  allotted  the  tirft  place,  though  the  fublime, 
as  it  is  called,  has  been  oppofed  to  it.  Ocular  demonftration  will  carry 
more  conviction  to  the  mind  of  a  fenfible  man  than  all  he  would  find  in 
a  thoufand  volumes,  and  this  has  been  attempted  in  the  prints  I  have 
compofed.  Let  the  decifion  be  left  to  every  unprejudiced  eye ;  let  the 
figures  in  either  pictures  or  prints  be  confidered  as  players  dreffed  either 
for  the  fublime,  for  genteel  comedy  or  farce,  for  high  or  low  life.  I 
have  endeavoured  to  treat  my  fubjects  as  a  dramatic  writer  :  my  picture 
is  my  ftage,  and  men  and  women  my  players,  who,  by  means  of  certain 
actions  and  geftures,  are  to  exhibit  a  duml-jhow" 

The  great  feries  of  pictures,  indeed,  which  form  the  principal  founda- 
tion of  Hogarth's  fame,  are  comedies  rather  than  caricatures,  and  noble 
comedies  they  are.  Like  comedies,  they  are  arranged,  by  a  feries  of  fuc- 
ceflive  plates,  in  acts  and  fcenes ;  and  they  reprefent  contemporary  fociety 
pictorially,  juft  as  it  had  been  and  was  reprefented  on  the  ftage  in  Englilh 
comedy.  It  is  not  by  delicacy  or  excellence  of  drawing  that  Hogarth 

excels, 


43 6  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

excels,  for  he  often  draws  incorrectly ;  but  it  is  by  his  extraordinary  and 
minute  delineation  of  character,  and  by  his  wonderful  ikill  in  telling  a 
flory  thoroughly.  In  each  of  his  plates  we  fee  a  whole  act  of  a  play,  in 
which  nothing  is  loft,  nothing  glofled  over,  and,  I  may  add,  nothing 
exaggerated.  The  moft  trifling  object  introduced  into  the  picture  is 
made  to  have  fuch  an  intimate  relationfhip  with  the  whole,  that  it  feems 
as  if  it  would  be  imperfect  without  it.  The  art  of  producing  this  effect 
was  that  in  which  Hogarth  excelled.  The  firft  of  Hogarth's  great  fuites 
of  prints  was  "The  Harlot's  Progrefs,"  which  was  the  work  of  the  years 
1733  and  1734.  It  tells  a  ftory  which  was  then  common  in  London,  and 
was  acted  more  openly  in  the  broad  face  of  fociety  than  at  the  prefent 
day;  and  therefore  the  effect  and  confequent  fuccefs  were  almoft  inftan- 
taneous.  It  had  novelty,  as  well  as  excellence,  to  recommend  it.  This 
feries  of  plates  was  followed,  in  1735,  by  another,  under  the  title  of  "  The 
Rake's  Progrefs."  In  the  former,  Hogarth  depicted  the  fhame  and 
ruin  which  attended  a  life  of  proftitution  ;  in  this,  he  reprefented  the 
fimilar  confequences  which  a  life  of  profligacy  entailed  on  the  other  fex. 
In  many  relpects  it  is  fuperior  to  the  "  Harlot's  Progrefs,"  and  its  details 
come  more  home  to  the  feelings  of  people  in  general,  becaufe  thofe  of 
the  proftitute's  hiftory  are  more  veiled  from  the  public  gaze.  The 
progrefs  of  the  fpendthrift  in  diflipation  and  riot,  from  the  moment  he 
becomes  poflefied  of  the  fruits  of  paternal  avarice,  until  his  career  ends  in 
prifon  and  madnels,  forms  a  marvellous  drama,  in  which  every  incident 
prefents  itfelf,  and  every  agent  performs  his  part,  fo  naturally,  that  it 
feems  almoft  beyond  the  power  of  acting.  Perhaps  no  one  ever  pictured 
defpair  with  greater  perfection  than  it  is  mown  in  the  face  and  bearing  of 
the  unhappy  hero  of  this  hiflory,  in  the  laft  plate  but  one  of  the  feries, 
where,  thrown  into  prifon  for  debt,  he  receives  from  the  manager  of  a 
theatre  the  announcement  that  the  play  which  he  had  written  in  the 
hope  of  retrieving  fomewhat  of  his  pofition — his  laft  refource — has  been 
refufed.  The  returned  manufcript  and  the  manager's  letter  lie  on  the 
wretched  table  (cut  No.  203)  ;  while  on  the  one  fide  his  wife  reproaches 
him  heartleflly  with  the  deprivations  and  fufferings  which  he  has  brought 
upon  her,  and  on  the  other  the  jailer  is  reminding  him  of  the  fact  that 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


437 


the  fees  exaded  for  the  flight  indulgence  he  has  obtained  in  prifon  are 
unpaid,  and  even  the  pot-boy  refufes  to  deliver  him  his  beer  without  firft 
receiving  his  money.  It  is  but  a  ftep  further  to  Bedlam,  which,  in  the 
next  plate,  clofes  his  unblefled  career. 

Ten  years  almoft  from  this  time  had  patted  away  before  Hogarth  gave 


No.  703.      Defpair. 


to  the  world  his  next  grand  feries  of  what  he  called  his  "  modern  moral 
fubjefts."  This  was  "  The  Marriage  a  la  mode,'1  which  was  publifhed  in 
fix  plates  in  1745,  and  which  fully  fuftained  the  reputation  built  upon  the 
"  Harlot's  Progrefs  "  and  the  "  Rake's  Progrefs."  Perhaps  the  beft  plate 
of  the  "  Marriage  d  la  mode,"  is  the  fourth — the  mufic  fcene — in  which 
one  principal  group  of  figures  efpecially  arrefts  the  attention.  It  is  repre- 
fented  in  our  cut  No.  204.  William  Hazlitt  has  juflly  remarked  upon  it 
that,  "  the  prepofterous,  overftrained  admiration  of  the  lady  of  quality ; 
the  fentimental,  infipid,  patient  delight  of  the  man  with  his  hair  in 
papers,  and  fipping  his  tea  ;  the  pert,  fmirking,  conceited,  half-diftorted 
approbation  of  the  figure  next  to  him ;  the  transition  to  the  total  infenfi- 
bility  of  the  round  face  in  profile,  and  then  to  the  wonder  of  the  negro 
boy  at  the  rapture  of  his  miftrefs,  form  a  perfect  whole." 

In 


43 8          Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


In  the  interval  between  thefe  three  great  monuments  of  his  talent, 
Hogarth  had  publimed  various  other  plates,  belonging  to  much  the  fame 


A'o.  204.     Fa/hknable  Society. 

clafs   of  fubje&s,  and  difplaying  different    degrees   of  excellence.     His 
engraving  of  "  Southwark  Fair,"  publifhed  in  1733,  which  immediately 


No.  205.     An  Old  Maid  and  her  Page. 

preceded  the  "  Harlot's  Progrefs,"  may  be  regarded  almoft  as  an  attempt 
to  rival  the  fairs  of  Callot.     "  The  Midnight    Modern    Converfation  " 

appeared 


in  Literature  and  Art.  439 

appeared  in  the  interval  between  the  "  Harlot's  ProgreCs "  and  the 
"  Rake's  Progrefs  ;"  and  three  years  after  the  feries  latt  mentioned,  in 
1738,  the  engraving,  remarkable  equally  in  defign  and  execution,  of  the 
"  Strolling  A6trefles  in  a  Barn,"  and  the  four  plates  of  "  Morning," 
"  Noon,"  "Evening,"  and  "Night,"  all  full  of  choiceft  bits  of  humour. 
Such  is  the  group  of  the  old  maid  and  her  footboy  in  the  firft  of  this 
feries  (cut  No.  205) — the  former  ftiff  and  prudifh,  whofe  religion  is 
evidently  not  that  of  charity ;  while  the  latter  crawls  after,  fhrinking  at 
the  fame  time  under  the  effects  of  cold  and  hunger,  which  he  fuftains 
in  confequence  of  the  hard,  niggardly  temper  of  his  miftrefs.  Among 


No.  206.     Lofs  and  Gain. 

the  humorous  events  which  fill  the  plate  of  "  Noon,"  we  may  point  to 
the  difafler  of  the  boy  who  has  been  fent  to  the  baker's  to  fetch  home 
the  family  dinner,  and  who,  as  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  206,  has 
broken  his  pie-dim,  and  fpilt  its  contents  on  the  ground;  and  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  fay  which  is  exprefied  with  moft  fidelity  to  nature — the  terror  and 
Ihame  of  the  unfortunate  lad,  or  the  feeling  of  enjoyment  in  the  face  of 
the  little  girl  who  is  feafting  on  the  fragments  of  the  fcattered  meal.  In 
1 741  appeared  the  plate  of  "  The  Enraged  Mufician."  During  this  period 
Hogarth  appears  to  have  been  hefitating  between  two  fubjefts  for  his 
third  grand  pictorial  drama.  Some  unfiniflied  iketches  have  been  found, 

from 


440  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


from  which  it  would  feem  that,  after  depiding  the  miferies  of  a  life  of 
diUipation  in  either  fex,  he  intended  to  reprefent  the  domeftic  happinels 
which  refulted  from  a  prudent  and  well-aflbrted  marriage ;  but  for  fome 
reafon  or  other  he  abandoned  this  defign,  and  gave  the  pi&ure  of  wedlock 
in  a  lefs  amiable  light,  in  his  "  Marriage  d  la  mode."  The  title  was  pro- 
bably taken  from  that  of  Dryden's  comedy.  In  1750  appeared  "The 
March  to  Finchley,"  in  many  refpe&s  one  of  Hogarth's  belt  works.  It 
is  a  ftriking  expofure  of  the  want  of  difcipline,  and  the  low  morale  of  the 
Englifh  army  under  George  II.  Many  amufing  groups  fill  this  pi&ure, 
the  fcene  of  which  is  laid  in  Tottenham  Court  Road,  along  which  the 
guards  are  fuppofed  to  be  marching  to  encamp  at  Finchley,  in  confequence 


No.  207.     A  brave  Soldier. 

of  rumours  of  the  approach  of  the  Pretender's  army  in  the  Rebellion  of 
'45.  The  foldiers  in  front  are  moving  on  with  fome  degree  of  order,  but 
in  the  rear  we  fee  nothing  but  confufion,  fome  reeling  about  under  the 
effefts  of  liquor,  and  confounded  by  the  cries  of  women  and  children, 
camp-followers,  ballad-fingers,  plunderers,  and  the  like.  One  of  the  latter, 
as  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  207,  is  aflifting  a  fallen  foldier  with  an 
additional  dofe  of  liquor,  while  his  pilfering  propenfities  are  betrayed  by 
the  hen  fcreaming  from  his  wallet,  and  by  the  chickens  following  dif- 
tra6tedly  the  cries  of  their  parent. 

Hogarth  prefents  a  fingular  example  of  a  fatirift  who  fuffered  under 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art.  441 


the  very  punifhment  which  he  infli&ed  on  others.  He  made  many 
perfonal  enemies  in  the  courfe  of  his  labours.  He  had  begun  his  career 
with  a  well-known  perfonal  fatire,  entitled  "The  Man  of  Tafte,"  which 
was  a  caricature  on  Pope,  and  the  poet  is  faid  never  to  have  forgiven  it. 
Although  the  fatire  in  his  more  celebrated  works  appears  to  us  general, 
it  told  upon  his  contemporaries  personally ;  for  the  figures  which  a&. 
their  parts  in  them  were  fo  many  portraits  of  individuals  who  moved  in 
contemporary  fociety,  and  who  were  known  to  everybody,  and  thus  he 
provoked  a  hoft  of  enemies.  It  was  like  Foote's  mimicry.  He  was  to 
an  extraordinary  degree  vain  of  his  own  talent,  and  jealous  of  that  of 
others  in  the  fame  profeffion;  and  he  fpoke  in  terms  of  undifguifed 
contempt  of  almoft  all  artifts,  part  or  prefent.  Thus,  the  painter  intro- 
duced into  the  print  of "  Beer  Street,"  is  faid  to  be  a  caricature  upon 
John  Stephen  Liotard,  one  of  .he  artifts  mentioned  in  the  laft  chapter. 
He  thus  provoked  the  hoftility  of  the  greateft  part  of  his  contemporaries 
in  his  own  profeffion,  and  in  the  fequel  had  to  fupport  the  full  weight  of 
their  anger.  When  George  II.,  who  had  more  tafte  for  foldiers  than 
pictures,  faw  the  painting  of  the  "  March  to  Finchley,"  inftead  of  admir- 
ing it  as  a  work  of  art,  he  is  faid  to  have  exprefied  himfelf  with  anger  at 
the  infult  which  he  believed  was  offered  to  his  army ;  and  Hogarth  not 
only  revenged  himfelf  by  dedicating  his  print  to  the  king  of  Pruffia,  by 
which  it  did  become  a  fatire  on  the  Britilh  army,  but  he  threw  himfelf 
into  the  faction  of  the  prince  of  Wales  at  Leicefter  Houfe.  The  firft 
occafion  for  the  difplay  of  all  thefe  animofities  was  given  in  the  year  1753, 
at  the  clofe  of  which  he  publiftied  his  "  Analyfis  of  Beauty."  Though 
far  from  being  himfelf  a  fuccefsful  painter  of  beauty,  Hogarth  under- 
took in  this  work  to  invefligate  its  principles,  which  he  referred  to 
a  waving  or  ferpentine  line,  and  this  he  termed  the  "  line  of  beauty." 
In  1 745  Hogarth  had  publifhed  his  own  portrait  as  the  frontifpiece  to  a 
volume  of  his  collected  works,  and  in  one  corner  of  the  plate  he  introduced 
a  painter's  palette,  on  which  was  this  waving  line,  infcribed  "  The  line 
of  beauty."  For  feveral  years  the  meaning  of  this  remained  either  quite 
a  myftery,  or  was  only  known  to  a  few  of  Hogarth's  acquaintances,  until 
the  appearance  of  the  book  juft  mentioned.  Hogarth's  manufcript  was 

3   L  revifed 


442  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


revifed  by  his  friend,  Dr.  Morell,  the  compiler  of  the  "  Theiaurus," 
whofe  name  became  thus  affociated  with  the  book.  This  work  expofed 
its  author  to  a  hofl  of  violent  attacks,  and  to  unbounded  ridicule,  efpe- 
cially  from  the  whole  tribe  of  offended  artifts.  A  great  number  of  cari- 
catures upon  Hogarth  and  his  line  of  beauty  appeared  during  the  year 
1754,  which  fhow  the  bitternete  of  the  hatred  he  had  provoked ;  and  to 
hold  ftill  further  their  terror  over  his  head,  moft  of  them  are  infcribed 
with  the  words,  "  To  be  continued."  Among  the  artifts  who  efpecially 


c.  208.     A.  Painter" t  Amufementt. 


fignalifed  themfelves  by  their  zeal  againft  him,  was  Paul  Sandby,  to 
whom  we  owe  fome  of  the  beft  of  thefe  anti-Hogarthian  caricatures. 
One  of  thefe  is  entitled,  "A  New  Dunciad,  done  with  a  view  of 
[fixing]  the  fluctuating  ideas  of  tafte."  In  the  principal  group  (which  is 
given  in  our  cut  No.  208),  Hogarth  is  reprefented  playing  with  a  pantin, 
or  figure  which  was  moved  into  activity  by  pulling  a  firing.  The  firing 
takes  fomewhat  the  form  of  the  line  of  beauty,  which  is  alfo  drawn  upon 
his  palette.  This  figure  is  defcribed  underneath  the  picture  as  "  a  painter 

at 


in  Literature  and  Art.  443 

at  the  proper  exercife  of  his  tafte."  To  his  breaft  is  attached  a  card  (the 
knave  of  hearts),  which  is  defcribed  by  a  very  bad  pun  as  "  the  fool  of 
arts."  On  one  fide  "  his  genius  "  is  reprefented  in  the  form  of  a  black 
harlequin ;  while  behind  appears  a  rather  jolly  perfonage  (intended,  perhaps, 
for  Dr.  Morell),  who,  we  are  told,  is  one  of  his  admirers.  On  the  table 
are  the  foundations,  or  the  remains,  of  "a  houfe  of  cards."  Near  him 
is  Hogarth's  favourite  dog,  named  Trump,  which  always  accompanies  him 
in  thefe  caricatures.  Another  caricature  which  appeared  at  this  time 
reprefents  Hogarth  on  the  ftage  as  a  quack  do6lor,  holding  in  his  hand 
the  line  of  beauty,  and  recommending  its  extraordinary  qualities.  This 


No.  209.     The  Line  of  Beauty  exemplified. 

print  is  entitled  "  A  Mountebank  Painter  demonftrating  to  his  admirers 
and  fubfcribers  that  crookednefs  is  ye  moft  beautifull."  Lord  Bute,  whofe 
patronage  at  Leicefter  Houfe  Hogarth  now  enjoyed,  is  reprefented 
fiddling,  and  the  black  harlequin  ferves  as  "  his  puff."  In  the  front  a 
crowd  of  deformed  and  hump-backed  people  are  preffing  forwards  (fee 
our  cut  No.  209),  and  the  line  of  beauty  fits  them  all  admirably. 

Much  as  this  famous  line  of  beauty  was  ridiculed,  Hogarth  was  not 
allowed  to  retain  the  fmall  honour  which  feemed  to  arife  from  it  undif- 
puted.  It  was  laid  that  he  had  ftolen  the  idea  from,  an  Italian  writer 
named  Lomazzo,  Latinifed  into  Lomatius,  who  had  enounced  it  in  a 

treatife 


444  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


treatife  on  the  Fine  Arts,  publifhed  in  the  fixteenth  century.*  In 
another  caricature  by  Paul  Sandby,  with  a  vulgar  title  which  I  will  not 
repeat,  Hogarth  is  vifited,  in  the  midft  of  his  glory,  by  the  ghoft  of 
Lomazzo,  carrying  in  one  hand  his  treatife  on  the  arts,  and  with  his  other 
holding  up  to  view  the  line  of  beauty  itfelf.  In  the  infcriptions  on  the 
plate,  the  principal  figure  is  defcribed  38  "An  author  finking  under  the 


No.  z  10.     Piracy  Expofed. 

weight  of  his  faturnine  analyfis  3"  and,  indeed,  Hogarth's  terror  is  broadly 
painted,  while  the  volume  of  his  analyfis  is  refting  heavily  upon  "  a  ftrong 
fupport  bent  in  the  line  of  beauty  by  the  mighty  load  upon  it."  Befide 
Hogarth  ftands  "  his  faithful  pug,"  and  behind  him  "  a  friend  of  the 
author  endeavouring  to  prevent  his  finking  to  his  natural  lownefs."  On 
t the 

*  It  was  translated  into  English  by  Richard  Haydocke,  under  the  title  of  "  The 
Artes  of  Curious  Paintinge,  Carvinge,  Buildinge,"  fol.  1598.  This  is  one  of  the 
earliest  works  on  art  in  the  English  language. 


in  Literature  and  Art.  445 

the  other  fide  ftands  Dr.  Morell,  or,  perhaps,  Mr.  Townley,  the  matter  of 
Merchant  Taylors'  School,  who  continued  his  fervice  in  preparing  the 
book  for  the  prefs  after  Morell's  death,  defcribed  as  "  the  author's  friend 
and  correclor,"  aftonifhed  at  the  fight  of  the  ghoft.  The  ugly  figure  on 
the  left  hand  of  the  picture  is  described  as  tf  Deformity  weeping  at  the 
condition  of  her  darling  fon,''  while  the  dog  is  "  a  greyhound  bemoaning 
his  friend's  condition."  This  group  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  210. 
The  other  caricatures  which  appeared  at  this  time  were  two  numerous 
to  allow  us  to  give  a  particular  defcription  of  them.  The  artift  is  ufually 
reprefented,  under  the  influence  of  his  line  of  beauty,  painting  ugly 
pictures  from  deformed  models,  or  attempting  hiftorical  pictures  in  a  ftyle 
bordering  on  caricature,  or,  on  one  occafion,  as  locked  up  in  a  mad-houfe, 
and  allowed  only  to  exercife  his  Ikill  upon  the  bare  walls.  One  of  thefe 
caricatures  is  entitled,  in  allufion  to  the  title  of  one  of  his  moft  popular 
prints,  "  The  Painter's  March  through  Finchley,  dedicated  to  the  king  of 
the  gipfies,  as  an  encourager  of  arts,  &c."  Hogarth  appears  in  full  flight 
through  the  village,  clofely  purfued  by  women  and  children,  and  animals 
in  great  variety,  and  defended  only  by  his  favourite  dog. 

With  the  "  Marriage  d  la  mode,"  Hogarth  may  be  confidered  as  having 
reached  his  highefl  point  of  excellence.  The  fet  of  "  Induftry  and  Idle- 
nefs"  tells  a  good  and  ufeful  moral  ftory,  but  difplays  inferior  talent  in 
defign.  "Beer  Street"  and  "Gin  Lane"  difguft  us  by  their  vulgarity, 
and  the  "  Four  Stages  of  Cruelty  "  are  equally  repulfive  to  our  feelings 
by  the  unveiled  horrors  of  the  fcenes  which  are  too  coarfely  depi&ed  in 
them.  In  the  four  prints  of  the  proceedings  at  an  election,  which  are 
the  laft  of  his  pictures  of  this  defcription,  publiflied  in  1754,  Hogarth  rifes 
again,  and  approaches  in  fome  degree  to  his  former  elevation. 

In  1757,  on  the  death  of  his  brother-in-law,  John  Thornhill,  the 
office  of  fergeant-painter  of  all  his  Majefty's  works  became  vacant,  and  it 
was  beflowed  upon  Hogarth,  who,  according  to  his  own  account,  received 
from  it  an  income  of  about  aSzoo  a-year.  This  appointment  caufed 
another  difplay  of  hoftility  towards  him,  and  his  enemies  called  him 
jeeringly  the  king's  chief  panel  painter.  It  was  at  this  moment  that  a 
plan  for  the  eftablimment  of  an  academy  of  the  fine  arts  was  agitated, 

which, 


446  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

which,  a  few  years  later,  came  into  exiftence  under  the  title  of  the  Royal 
Academy,  and  Hogarth  proclaimed  fo  loud  an  oppofition  to  this  project, 
that  the  old  cry  was  raifed  anew,  that  he  was  jealous  and  envious  of  all 
his  profeffion,  and  that  he  fought  to  ftand  alone  as  fuperior  to  them  all. 
It  was  the  fignal  for  a  new  onflaught  of  caricatures  upon  himfelf  and  his 
line  of  beauty.  Hitherto  his  aflailants  had  been  found  chiefly  among  the 
artifts,  but  the  time  was  now  approaching  when  he  was  deftined  to  thruft 
himfelf  into  the  midft  of  a  political  ftruggle,  where  the  attacks  of  a  new 
clafs  of  enemies  carried  with  them  a  more  bitter  fling. 

George  II.  died  on  the  r7th  of  October,  1760,  and  his  grandfcn 
fucceeded  him  to  the  throne  as  George  III.  It  appears  evident  that 
before  this  time  Hogarth  had  gained  the  favour  of  lord  Bute,  who,  by  his 
intereft  with  the  princefs  of  Wales,  was  all-powerful  in  the  houfehold  of 
the  young  prince.  The  painter  had  hitherto  kept  tolerably  clear  of  politics 
in  his  prints,  but  now,  unluckily  for  himfelf,  he  fuddenly  rufhed  into  the 
arena  of  political  caricature.  It  was  generally  faid  that  Hogarth's  object 
was,  by  difplaying  his  zeal  in  the  caufe  of  his  patron,  lord  Bute,  to  obtain 
an  increafe  in  his  penfion ;  and  he  acknowledges  himfelf  that  his  obje6t 
was  gain.  "  This,"  he  fays,  "  being  a  period  when  war  abroad  and 
contention  at  home  engrofled  every  one's  mind,  prints  were  thrown  into 
the  background  ;  and  the  ftagnation  rendered  it  neceflary  that  I  fhould 
do  fome  timed  thing  [the  italics  are  Hogarth's]  to  recover  my  loft  time, 
and  flop  a  gap  in  my  income."  Accordingly  he  determined  to  attack 
the  great  minifter,  Pitt,  who  had  then  recently  been  compelled  to  refign 
his  office,  and  had  gone  over  to  the  oppofition.  It  is  faid  that  John 
Wilkes,  who  had  previoufly  been  Hogarth's  friend,  having  been  privately 
informed  of  his  delign,  went  to  the  painter,  expoftulated  with  him,  and, 
as  he  continued  obftinate,  threatened  him  with  retaliation.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1762,  appeared  the  print  entitled  "  The  Times,  No.  i,"  indicating 
that  it  was  to  be  followed  by  a  fecond  caricature.  The  principal  features 
of  the  picture  are  thefe  :  Europe  is  reprefented  in  flames,  which  are 
communicating  to  Great  Britain,  but  lord  Bute,  with  foldiers  and  failors, 
and  the  afliftance  of  Highlanders,  is  labouring  to  extinguilh  them,  while 
Pitt  is  blowing  the  fire,  and  the  duke  of  Newcaftle  brings  a  barrowful  of 

Monitor 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


447 


Monitors  and  North  Britons,  the  violent  journals  of  the  popular  party,  to 
feed  it.  There  is  much  detail  in  the  print  which  it  is  not  neceffary  to 
defcribe.  In  fulfilment  of  his  threat,  Wilkes,  in  the  number  of  the 
North  Briton  published  on  the  Saturday  immediately  following  the  pub- 
lication of  this  print,  attacked  Hogarth  with  extraordinary  bitternefs, 
cafting  cruel  reflections  upon  his  domeftic  as  well  as  his  profeflional 
character.  Hogarth,  ftung  to  the  quick,  retaliated  by  publishing  the  well- 
known  caricature  of  Wilkes.  Thereupon  Churchill,  the  poet,  Wilkes's 
friend,  and  formerly  the  friend  of  Hogarth  alfo,  publifhed  a  bitter  inveftive 


No.  211.      An  Independent  Draughtsman. 

in  verfe  againft  the  painter,  under  the  title  of  an  "  Epiftle  to  William 
Hogarth."  Hogarth  retaliated  again:  "Having. an  old  plate  by  me," 
he  tells  us,  "with  fome  parts  ready,  fuch  as  a  background  and  a  dog, 
I  began  to  confider  how  I  could  turn  fo  much  work  laid  afide  to  fome 
account,  fo  patched  up  a  print  of  Matter  Churchill  in  the  character  of  a 
bear."  The  unfinifhed  picture  was  intended  to  be  a  portrait  of  Hogarth 
himfelf ;  the  canonical  bear,  which  reprefented  Churchill,  held  a  pot  of 

porter 


44  8  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


porter  in  one  hand,  and  in  the  other  a  knotted  club,  each  knot  labelled 
"lie  J,"  "lie  2,"  &c.  The  painter,  in  his  "Anecdotes,"  exults  over  the 
pecuniary  profit  he  derived  from  the  extenfive  fale  of  thefe  two  prints. 

The  virulence  of  the  caricaturifls  againft  Hogarth  became  on  this 
occafion  greater  than  ever.  Parodies  on  his  own  works,  fneers  at  his 
perfonal  appearance  and  manners,  reflections  upon  his  character,  were 
all  embodied  in  prints  which  bore  fuch  names  as  Hogg-afs,  Hoggart, 
O'Garth,  &c.  Our  cut  No.  211  reprefents  one  of  the  caricature  portraits 
of  the  artift.  It  is  entitled  "  Wm.  Hogarth,  Efq.,  drawn  from  the  Life." 
Hogarth  wears  the  thiftle  on  his  hat,  as  the  fign  of  his  dependence  on 
lord  Bute.  At  his  breaft  hangs  his  palette,  with  the  line  of  beauty 
infcribed  upon  it.  He  holds  behind  his  back  a  roll  of  paper  infcribed 
"  Burlefque  on  L  —  d  B  —  t."  In  his  right  hand  he  prefents  to  view  two 
pictures,  "The  Times,"  and  the  "Portrait  of  Wilkes."  At  the  upper 
corner  to  the  left  is  the  figure  of  Bute,  offering  him  in  a  bag  a  penfion  of 
"^"300  per  aim."  Some  of  the  allufions  in  this  picture  are  now  obfcure, 
but  they  no  doubt  relate  to  anecdotes  well  known  at  the  time.  They 
receive  fome  light  from  the  following  mock  letters  which  are  written  at 
the  foot  of  the  plate  :  — 


"  Copy  of  a  Letter  from  Mr.  Hog-garth  to  Lord  Mucklemon,  w*A  his  Lord/hip's  Anjioer. 

"  My  Lord,  —  The  enclosed  is  a  design  I  intend  to  publish  ;  you  are  sensible  it 
will  not  redound  to  your  honour,  as  it  will  expose  you  to  all  the  world  in  your 
proper  colours.  You  likewise  know  what  induced  me  to  do  this  ;  but  it  is  in  yr 
power  to  prevent  it  from  appearing  in  publick,  which  I  would  have  you  do 
immediately. 

"WILL"  HOG-GARTH. 

"  Maisr  Hog-garth,  —  By  my  saul,  mon,  I  am  sare  troobled  for  what  I  have 
done;  I  did  na  ken  yr  muckle  merit  till  noow  ;  say  na  mair  aboot  it;  I'll  mak  au 
things  easy  to  you,  &  gie  you  bock  your  Pension. 

"SAWNEY  MUCKLEMON." 

In  an  etching  without  a  title,  publifhed  at  this  time,  and  copied  in 
our  cut  No.  212,  the  Hogarthian  dog  is  reprefented  barking  from  a 
cautious  diftance  at  the  canonical  bear,  who  appears  to  be  meditating 
further  mifchief.  Pugg  ftands  upon  his  matter's  palette  and  the  line  of 
beauty,  while  Bruin  refts  upon  the  "  Epiflle  to  Wm.  Hogarth,"  with  the 

pen 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


449 


pen  and  ink  by  its  fide.     On  the  left,  behind  the  dog,  is  a  large  frame, 
with  the  words  "  Pannel  Painting  "  infcribed  upon  it. 

The  article  by  Wilkes  in  the  North  Briton,  and  Churchill's  metrical 
epiftle,  irritated  Hogarth  more  than  all  the  hoftile  caricatures,  and  were 


No. 


Beauty  ar.d  the  Bear. 


generally  believed  to  have  broken  his  heart.  He  died  on  the  a6th  of 
October,  1764,  little  more  ihan  a  year  after  the  appearance  of  the  attack 
by  Wilkes,  and  with  the  taunts  of  his  political  as  well  as  his  profeffional 
enemies  ftill  ringing  in  his  ears. 


3  * 


45  o  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

THE     LESSER     CARICATURISTS     OF     THE     REIGN     OF     GEORGE     III. PAUL 

SANDBY. COLLET  ;     THE    DISASTER,    AND    FATHER    PAUL    IN    HIS    CUPS. 

JAMES    SAYER  ;     HIS     CARICATURES     IN     SUPPORT    OF    PITT,    AND    HIS 

REWARD. — CARLO  KHAN*S  TRIUMPH. BUNBURY  ;  HIS   CARICATURES   ON 

HORSEMANSHIP. WOODWARD  ;  GENERAL  COMPLAINT. ROWLANDSON's 

INFLUENCE    ON    THE     STYLE    OF    THOSE    WHOSE    DESIGNS    HE    ETCHED. 
JOHN    KAY    OF    EDINBURGH  :    LOOKING   A    ROCK    IN   THE    FACE. 

THE  fchoolof  caricature  which  had  grown  amid  the  political  agitation 
of  the  reigns  of  the  two  firft  Georges,  gave  birth  to  a  number  of 
men  of  greater  talent  in  the  fame  branch  of  art,  who  carried  it  to  its 
higheft  degree  of  perfection  during  that  of  George  III.  Among  them 
are  the  three  great  names  of  Gillray,  Rowlandfon,  and  Cruikmank,  and 
a  few  who,  though  fecond  in  rank  to  thefe,  are  flill  well  remembered  for 
the  talent  difplayed  in  their  works,  or  with  the  effed  they  produced  on 
contemporaries.  Among  thefe  the  principal  were  Paul  Sandby,  John 
Collet,  Sayer,  Bunbury,  and  Woodward. 

Sandby  has  been  fpoken  of  in  the  laft  chapter.  He  was  not  by  pro- 
feflion  a  caricaturift,  but  he  was  one  of  thofe  riling  artifts  who  were 
offended  by  the  fneering  terms  in  which  Hogarth  fpoke  of  all  artifts  but 
himfelf,  and  he  was  foremoft  among  thofe  who  turned  their  fatire 
againft  him.  Examples  of  his  caricatures  upon  Hogarth  have  already 
been  given,  fufficient  to  mow  that  they  difplay  fkill  in  compofition  as 
well  as  a  large  amount  of  wit  and  humour.  After  his  death,  they  were 
republifhed  collectively,  under  the  title,  "  Retrofpective  Art,  from  the 
Collection  of  the  late  Paul  Sandby,  Efq.,  R.A."  Sandby  was,  indeed, 
one  of  the  original  members  of  the  Royal  Academy.  He  was  an  artift 

much 


in  Literature  and  Art.  45 1 

much  admired  in  his  time,  but  is  now  chiefly  remembered  as  a  topo- 
graphical draughtfman.  He  was  a  native  of  Nottingham,  where  he  was 
born  in  1725,*  and  he  died  on  the  7th  of  November,  iSop.f 

John  Collet,  who  alfo  has  been  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter,  was 
born  in  London  in  1725,  and  died  there  in  1780.  Collet  is  faid  to  have 
been  a  pupil  of  Hogarth,  and  there  is  a  large  amount  of  Hogarthian  cha- 
racter in  all  his  defigns.  Few  artifts  have  been  more  induftrious  and 


Ac.  213.     ADifaJier. 


produced  a  greater  number  of  engravings.  He  worked  chiefly  for 
Carrington  Bowles,  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard,  and  for  Robert  Sayers,  at 
53,  Fleet  Street.  His  prints  publimed  by  Bowles  were  engraved  generally  in 

mezzotinto, 

*  His  death  is  usually  placed,  but  erroneously,  in  1732. 

•f  Sandby  etched  landscapes  on  steel,  and  in  aquatinta,  the  latter  by  a  method 
peculiarly  his  own,  besides  painting  in  oil  and  opaque  colours.  But  his  fame  rests 
mainly  on  being  the  founder  of  the  English  school  of  water-cclour  fainting,  since  he 
was  the  first  to  show  the  capability  of  that  material  to  produce  finished  pictures, 
and  to  lead  the  way  to  the  perfection  in  effect  and  colour  to  which  that  branch  of 
art  has  since  attained. 


452  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

mezzotinto,  and  highly  coloured  for  fale ;  while  thofe  publiflied  by  Sayers 
were  ufually  line  engravings,  and  fometimes  remarkably  well  executed. 
Collet  chofe  for  his  field  of  labour  that  to  which  Hogarth  had  given  the 
title  of  comedy  in  art,  but  he  did  not  poffefs  Hogarth's  power  of  delineat- 
ing whole  acts  and  fcenes  in  one  picture,  and  he  contented  himfelf  with 
bits  of  detail  and  groups  of  characters  only.  His  caricatures  are  rarely  poli- 
tical— they  are  aimed  at  focial  manners  and  focial  vanities  and  weakneffes, 
and  altogether  they  form  a  fingularly  curious  picture  of  fociety  during 
an  important  period  of  the  laft  century.  The  firft  example  I  give  (No. 
213)  is  taken  from  a  line  engraving,  publifhed  by  Sayers  in  1776.  At  this 
time  the  natural  adornments  of  the  perfon  in  both  fexes  had  fo  far  yielded 
to  artificial  ornament,  that  even  women  cut  off  their  own  hair  in  order  to 
replace  it  by  an  ornamental  peruque,  fupporting  a  head-drefs,  which  varied 
from  time  to  time  in  form  and  in  extravagance.  Collet  has  here  intro- 
duced to  us  a  lady  who,  encountering  a  fudden  and  violent  wind,  has  loft 
all  her  upper  coverings,  and  wig,  cap,  and  hat  are  caught  by  her  footman 
behind.  The  lady  is  evidently  fuffering  under  the  feeling  of  fhamej  and 
hard  by,  a  cottager  and  his  wife,  at  their  door,  are  laughing  at  her  dif- 
comfiture.  A  bill  fixed  againft  a  neighbouring  wall  announces  "  A 
Lecture  upon  Heads." 

At  this  time  the  "  no-popery  "  feeling  ran  very  high.  Four  years 
afterwards  it  broke  out  violently  in  the  celebrated  lord  Gordon  riots.  It 
was  this  feeling  which  contributed  greatly  to  the  fuccefs  of  Sheridan's 
comedy  of  "The  Duenna,"  brought  out  in  1775.  Collet  drew  feveral 
pictures  founded  upon  fcenes  in  this  play,  one  of  which  is  given  in  our  cut 
No.  214.  It  forms  one  of  Carington  Bowles's  rather  numerous  feries  of 
prints  from  defigns  by  Collet,  and  reprefents  the  well-known  drinking 
fcene  in  the  convent,  in  the  fifth  fcene  of  the  third  act  of  "The  Duenna." 
The  fcene,  it  will  be  remembered,  is  "a  room  in  the  priory,"  and  the 
excited  monks  are  toafting,  among  other  objects  of  devotion,  the  abbefs 
of  St.  Urfuline  and  the  blue-eyed  nun  of  St.  Catherine's.  The  "  blue- 
eyed  nun"  is,  perhaps,  the  lady  feen  through  the  window,  and  the  patron 
faint  of  her  convent  is  reprefented  in  one  of  the  pictures  on  the  wall. 
There  is  great  fpirit  in  this  picture,  which  is  entitled  "  Father  Paul  in  his 

Cups. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


453 


Cups,  or  the  Private  Devotions  of  a  Convent." 
the  following  lines  : — 


It  is  accompanied  with 


See  with  thefe  friars  how)  religion  thrives, 
Who  love  good  living  better  than  good  lives  ; 
Paul,  the  fuperior  father,  rules  the  roaj}, 
His  god  '*  the  glafs,  the  blue-eyed  nun  his  toaftt 
Thus  priefts  confume  "what  fearful  fools  beftow. 
^ind  faints'"  donations  make  the  bumpers  Jioiv. 
The  butler  Jleeps — the  cellar  door  it  free — 
This  is  a  modern  cloifter'i  piety. 

From   Collet   to  Sayer  we  rufti  into  the  heat — I  may  fay  into  the 
bitternefs — of  politics,  for  James  Sayer  is  known,  with  very  trifling  ex- 


No.  214.     Father  Paul  in  hit  Cups. 

ceptions,  as  a  political  caricaturift.  He  was  the  fon  of  a  captain  of  a 
merchant  ihip  at  Great  Yarmouth,  but  was  himfelf  put  to  the  profef- 
fion  of  an  attorney.  As,  however,  he  was  pofleffed  of  a  moderate  inde- 
pendence, and  appears  to  have  had  no  great  tafte  for  the  law,  he  neglected 
his  bufinefs,  and,  with  confiderable  talent  for  fatire  and  caricature,  he 
threw  himfelf  into  the  political  ftrife  of  the  day.  Sayer  was  a  bad 

draughtfman, 


454  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

draughtfman,  and  his  pictures  are  produced  more  by  labour  than  by  Ikill 
in  drawing,  but  they  poflefs  a  confiderable  amount  of  humour,  and  were 
fufficiently  fevere  to  obtain  popularity  at  a  time  when  this  latter  character 
excufed  worfe  drawing  even  than  that  of  Sayer.  He  made  the  acquaint- 
ance and  gained  the  favour  of  the  younger  William  Pitt,  when  that 
ftatefman  was  afpiring  to  power,  and  he  began  his  career  as  a  caricaturift 
by  attacking  the  Rockingham  miniftry  in  1782 — of  courfe  in  the  intereft 
of  Pitt.  Sayer's  earlieft  productions  which  are  now  known,  are  a  feries  of 
caricature  portraits  of  the  Rockingham  adminiftration,  that  appear. to  have 
been  given  to  the  public  in  inftalments,  at  the  feveral  dates  of  April  6, 
May  14,  June  17,  and  July  3,  1782,  and  bear  the  name  of  C.  Bretherton 
as  publiftier.  He  publifhed  his  firft  veritable  caricature  on  the  occafion  of 
the  minifterial  changes  which  followed  the  death  of  lord  Rockingham, 
when  lord  Shelburne  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  cabinet,  and  Fox  and 
Burke  retired,  while  Pitt  became  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  This 
caricature,  which  bears  the  title  of  "  Paradife  Loft,"  and  is,  in  faft,  a 
parody  upon  Milton,  reprefents  the  once  happy  pair,  Fox  and  Burke, 
turned  out  of  their  paradife,  the  Treafury,  the  arch  of  the  gate  of  which 
is  ornamented  with  the  heads  of  Shelburne,  the  prime  minifter,  and 
Dunning  and  Barre,  two  of  his  ftaunch  fupporters,  who  were  confidered 
to  be  efpecially  obnoxious  to  Fox  and  Burke.  Between  thefe  three  heads 
appear  the  faces  of  two  mocking  fiends,  and  groups  of  piftols,  daggers, 
and  fwords.  Beneath  are  infcribed  the  well-known  lines  of  Milton — 

To  the  eaftcrnjide 

Of  Paradife,  fo  late  their  happy  feat, 
Waved  over  by  that  flaming  brand  ;  the  gate 
With  dreadful  faces  thronged  and  fiery  arms  ! 
Some  natural  tears  they  dropt,  but  -wiped  themfoon. 
The  "world  *was  all  before  them,  -where  to  chooje 
Their  place  of  reft,  and  providence  their  guide. 
They,  arm  in  arm,  -with,  wandering  fteps,  and  flow, 
Thro"1  Eden  took  their  folitary  -way. 

Nothing  can  be  more  lugubrious  than  the  air  of  the  two  friends,  Fox  and 
Burke,  as  they  walk  away,  arm  in  arm,  from  the  gate  of  the  minifterial 
paradife.  From  this  time  Sayer,  who  adopted  all  Pitt's  virulence  towards 

Fox, 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


455 


Fox,  made  the  latter  a  continual  fubjeft  of  his  fatire.  Nor  did  this  zeal 
pafs  unrewarded,  for  Pitt,  in  power,  gave  the  caricaturift  the  not  unlucra- 
tive  offices  of  marfhal  of  the  court  of  exchequer,  receiver  of  the  fixpenny 
duties,  and  curfitor.  Sayer  was,  in  fad,  Pitt's  caricaturift,  and  was 
employed  by  him  in  attacking  fucceffively  the  coalition  under  Fox  and 
North,  Fox's  India  Bill,  and  even,  at  a  later  period,  Warren  Haftings  on 
his  trial. 

I  have  already  remarked  that  Sayer  was  almoft  exclufively  a  political 
caricaturift.     The  exceptions  are  a  few  prints  on  theatrical  fubjects,  in 


No.  415.     A  Contra  ft. 

which  contemporary  adors  and  adrefles  are  caricatured,  and  a  fingle 
fubjed  from  fafhionable  life.  A  copy  of  the  latter  forms  our  cut 
No.  215.  It  has  no  title  in  the  original,  but  in  a  copy  in  my  pofleflion 
a  contemporary  has  written  on  the  margin  in  pencil  that  the  lady  is  Mifs 
Snow  and  the  gentleman  Mr.  Bird,  no  doubt  well-known  perfonages  in 
contemporary  fociety.  It  was  publiihed  on  the  ipth  of  July,  1783. 

One  of  Sayer's  moft  fuccefsful  caricatures,  in  regard  to  the  effed  it 

produced 


456  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

produced  on  the  public,  was  that  on  Fox's  India  Bill,  publifhed  on  the 
<th  of  September,  1783.  It  was  entitled  "Carlo  Khan's  Triumphal 
Entry  into  Leadenhall  Street,"  Carlo  Khan  being  perfonified  by  Fox, 
who  is  carried  in  triumph  to  the  door  of  the  India  Houfe  on  the  back  of 
an  elephant,  which  prefents  the  face  of  lord  North.  Burke,  who  had 
been  the  principal  fupporter  of  the  bill  in  debate,  appears  in  the  character 
of  the  imperial  trumpeter,  and  leads  the  elephant  on  its  way.  On  a 
banner  behind  Carlo,  the  old  infcription,  "  The  Man  of  the  People,"  the 
title  popularly  given  to  Fox,  is  erafed,  and  the  two  Greek  words, 
BA2IAEYS  BASIAEQN,  "king  of  kings,"  fubftituted  in  its  place. 
From  a  chimney  above,  the  bird  of  ill  omen  croaks  forth  the  doom  of  the 
ambitious  minifter,  who,  it  was  pretended,  aimed  at  making  himfelf  more 
powerful  than  the  king  himfelf;  and  on  the  fide  of  the  houfe  juft  below 
we  read  the  words — 

The  night- crow  cried  foreboding  lucklefs  time. — Shakespeare. 

Henry  William  Bunbury  belonged  to  a  more  ariftocratic  clafs  in 
fociety  than  any  of  the  preceding.  He  was  the  fecond  fon  of  fir 
William  Bunbury,  Bart.,  of  Mildenhall,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  and 
was  born  in  1750.  How  he  firfl  took  fo  zealoufly  to  caricature  we  have 
no  information,  but  he  began  to  publifh  before  he  was  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  Bunbury's  drawing  was  bold  and  often  good,  but  he  had  little 
(kill  in  etching,  for  fome  of  his  earlier  prints,  publifhed  in  1771,  which  he' 
etched  himfelf,  are  coarfely  executed.  His  defigns  were  afterwards 
engraved  by  various  perfons,  and  his  own  ftyle  was  fometimes  modified  in 
this  procefs.  His  earlier  prints  were  etched  and  fold  by  James  Bretherton, 
who  has  been  already  mentioned  as  publifhing  the  works  of  James  Sayer. 
This  Bretherton  was  in  fome  efteem  as  an  engraver,  and  he  alfo  had  a 
print-mop  at  132,  New  Bond  Street,  where  his  engravings  were  publifhed. 
James  had  a  fon  named  Charles,  who  difplayed  great  talent  at  an  early 
age,  but  he  died  young.  As  early  as  1772,  when  the  macaronis  (the 
dandies  of  the  eighteenth  century)  came  into  fafhion,  James  Bretherton's 
name  appears  on  prints  by  Bunbury  as  the  engraver  and  publifher,  and  it 
occurs  again  as  the  engraver  of  his  print  of  "  Strephon  and  Chloe  "  in 

1801, 


in  Literature  and  Art.  4.57 

1801,  which  was  publifhed  by  Fores.  At  this  and  a  later  period  forae  of 
his  defigns  were  engraved  by  Rowlandfon,  who  always  transferred  his 
own  ftyle  to  the  drawings  he  copied.  A  remarkable  inftance  of  this  is 
furnifhed  by  a  print  of  a  party  of  anglers  of  both  fexes  in  a  punt,  entitled 
"Anglers  of  1811  "  (the  year  of  Bunbury's  death).  But  for  the  name, 
"  H.  Bunbury,  del.,"  very  diftinctly  infcribed  upon  it,  we  ihould  take  this 
to  be  a  genuine  defign  by  Rowlandfon ;  and  io  1803  Rowlandfon 
engraved  fome  copies  of  Bunbury's  prints  on  horfemanfliip  for  Acker- 
mann,  of  the  Strand,  in  which  all  traces  of  Bunbury's  ftyle  are  loft. 
Bunbury's  ftyle  is  rather  broadly  burlefque. 

Bunbury  had   evidently  little   tafte  for   political  caricature,  and   he 


No.  2l6.      How  to  Travel  on  Two  Legs  in  a  Fro/1. 

feldom  meddled  with  it.  Like  Collet,  he  preferred  fcenes  of  focial  life, 
and  humorous  incidents  of  contemporary  manners,  fafhionable  ot 
popular.  He  had  a  great  tafte  for  caricaturing  bad  or  awkward  horfe- 
manmip  or  unmanageable  horfes,  and  his  prints  of  fuch  fubjects  were 
numerous  and  greatly  admired.  This  tafte  for  equeftrian  pieces  was 
fhown  in  prints  publifhed  in  1772,  and  feveral  droll  feries  of  fuch  fubjecls 
appeared  at  different  times,  between  1781  and  1791,  one  of  which  was 
long  famous  under  the  title  of  "  Geoffrey  Gambado's  Horfemanfhip." 

3  N  An 


458  Htftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


An  example  of  thefe  incidents  of  horfemanftiip  is  copied  in  our  cut 
No.  216,  where  a  not  very  (kilful  rider,  with  a  troublefome  horfe,  is 
taking  advantage  of  the  ftate  of  the  ground  for  accelerating  locomotion. 
It  is  entitled,  "How  to  travel  on  Two  Legs  in  a  Froft,"  and  is  accom- 
panied with  the  motto,  in  Latin,  "  OJlendunt  terris  hunc  Ionium  fata, 
neque  ultra  effejznent." 

Occafionally  Bunbury  drew  in  a  broader  ftyle  of  caricature,  efpecially 
in  fome  of  his  later  works.  Of  our  examples  of  this  broader  ftyle, 
the  firft  cut,  No.  217,  entitled  "  Strephon  and  Chloe,"  is  dated  the 


No.  ZI7.     Strephon  and  Chloe. 

ift  of  July,  1801.  It  is  the  very  acme  of  fentimental  courtfliip,  exprefled 
in  a  fpirit  of  drollery  which  could  not  eafily  be  excelled.  The  next  group 
(cut  No.  218),  from  a  fimilar  print  publifhed  on  the  2ift  of  July  in  the 
fame  year,  is  a  no  leis  admirable  piclnre  of  overflrained  politenefs.  It  is 
entitled  in  the  original,  "  The  Salutation  Tavern,"  probably  with  a  tem- 
porary allufion  beyond  the  more  apparent  defign  of  the  pi&ure.  Bunbury, 
as  before  ftated,  died  in  1811.  It  is  enough  to  fay  that  fir  Jofhua 
Reynolds  ufed  to  exprefs  a  high  opinion  of  him  as  an  artift. 

Bunbury's  prints  rarely  appeared  without  his  name,  and,  except 
when  they  had  pafled  through  the  engraving  of  Rowlandfon,  are 
eafily  recognifed.  No  doubt  his  was  confidered  a  popular  name, 
which  was  almoft  of  as  much  importance  as  the  print  itfelf.  But 

a 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


459 


a  large  mafs  of  the  caricatures  publifhed  at  the  latter  end  of  the  lafl 
century  and  the  beginning  of  the  prefent,  appeared  anonymoully,  or 
with  imaginary  names.  Thus  a  political  print,  entitled  "  The  Modern 
Atlas," -bears  the  infcription  "  Mafr  Hook  fecit  5"  another  entitled 
"Farmer  George  delivered,"  has  that  of  "  Poll  Pitt  del."  "Every- 
body delin^,"  is  infcribed  on  a  caricature  entitled  "  The  Lover's  Leap  5" 
and  one  which  appeared  under  the  title  of  "Veterinary  Operations," 
is  infcribed  "  Giles  Grinagain  fed."  Some  of  thefe  were  probably 


No.  218.     A  Fa/blonable  Salutation. 

the  works  of  amateurs,  for  there  appear  to  have  been  many  amateur 
caricaturifts  in  England  at  that  time.  In  a  caricature  entitled  "The 
Scotch  Arms,"  publifhed  by  Fores  on  the  3rd  of  January,  1787,  we  find 
the  announcement,  "  Gentlemen's  defigns  executed  gratis,"  which  means, 
of  courfe,  that  Fores  would  publifh  the  caricatures  of  amateurs,  if  he 
approved  them,  without  making  the  faid  amateurs  pay  for  the  engraving. 
But  alfo  fome  of  the  beft  caricaturifts  of  the  day  publifhed  much  anony- 
moufly,  and  we  know  that  this  was  the  cafe  to  a  very  great  extent  with 
fuch  artifts  as  Cruikfhank,  Woodward,  &c.,  at  all  events  until  fuch  time 
as  their  names  became  fufficiently  popular  to  be  a  recommendation  to,  the 
print.  It  is  certain  that  many  of  Woodward's  defigns  were  publifhed 

without 


460  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


without  his  name.  Such  was  the  cafe  with  the  print  of  which  we  give  a 
copy  in  our  cut  No.  219,  which  was  publifhed  on  the  ^th  of  May,  1796, 
and  which  bears  ftrongly  the  marks  of  Woodward's  ftyle.  The  fpring  of 
this  year,  1796,  witnefled  a  general  difappointment  at  the  failure  of  the 
negociations  for  peace,  and  therefore  the  neceffity  of  new  facrifices  for 
carrying  on  the  war,  and  of  increafed  taxation.  Many  clever  caricatures 
appeared  on  this  occafion,  of  which  this  by  Woodward  was  one.  Of 


No.  219.      General  Complaint. 

courfe,  when  war  was  inevitable,  the  queftion  of  generals  was  a  very 
important  one,  and  the  caricaturift  pretends  that  the  greateft  general  of 
the  age  was  "  General  Complaint.  '  The  general  appears  here  with  an 
empty  purfe  in  his  right  hand,  and  in  his  left  a  handful  of  papers  contain- 
ing a  lift  of  bankrupts,  the  ftatement  of  the  budget,  &c.  Four  lines 
beneath,  in  rather  doggrel  verfe,  explain  the  fituation  as  follows : — 

Don't  tell  me  of  generals  raijedfrom  mere  boys, 

Though,  believe  mt,  I  mean  not  their  laurel  to  taivt ; 

But  the  general,  rm  fore,  that  -will  make  the  mojl  noifet 
If  the  war  Jiill  goes  on,  -will  be  General  Complaint. 

There 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


461 


There  was  much  of  Bunbury's  ftyle  in  that  of  Woodward,  who  had  a 
tafte  for  the  fame  broad  caricatures  upon  fociety,  which  he  executed  in  a 
fimilar  fpirit.  Some  of  the  fuites  of  fubjeds  of  this  defcription  that  he 
published,  fuch  as  the  feries  of  the  "  Symptoms  of  the  Shop,"  thofe  ot 
"  Everybody  out  of  town  "  and  "  Everybody  in  Town,"  and  the  "  Speci- 
mens of  Domeftic  Phrenfy,"  are  extremely  clever  and  amufing.  Wood- 
ward's defigns  were  alfo  not  unfrequently  engraved  by  Rowlandfon,  who, 
as  ufual,  imprinted  his  own  ftyle  upon  them.  A  very  good  example  of 
this  practice  is  feen  in  the  print  of  which  we  give  a  copy  in  our  cut 
No.  220.  Its  title,  in  the  original,  is  "Defire,"  and  the  paflion  is 


No.  220.     Defire. 

exemplified  in  the  cafe  of  a  hungry  fchoolboy  watching  through  a  window 
a  jolly  cook  carrying  by  a  tempting  plum-pudding.  We  are  told  in  an 
infcription  underneath  :  "Various  are  the  ways  this  paffion  might  be 
depifted ;  in  this  delineation  the  fabjects  chofen  are  fimple — a  hungry 
boy  and  a  plum-pudding."  The  defign  of  this  print  is  ftated  to  be 
Woodward's ;  but  the  ftyle  is  altogether  that  of  Rowlandfon,  whofe  name 
appears  on  it  as  the  etcher.  Jt  was  publilhed  by  R.  Ackermann,  on  the 

20th 


462  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


20th  of  January,  1800.  Woodward  is  well  known  by  his  prolific  pencil, 
but  we  are  fo  little  acquainted  with  the  man  himfelf,  that  I  cannot  flate 
the  date  either  of  his  birth  or  of  his  death. 

There  lived  at  this  time  in  Edinburgh  an  engraver  of  fome  eminence 
in  his  way,  but  whofe  name  is  now  nearly  forgotten,  and,  in  fad,  it  does 
not  occur  in  the  lafl  edition  of  Bryan's  "Dictionary  of  Engravers."  This 
name  was  John  Kay,  which  is  found  attached  to  prints,  of  which  about 
four  hundred  are  known,  with  dates  extending  from  1784  to  1817.  As  an 
engraver,  Kay  poflefied  no  great  talent,  but  he  had  confiderable  humour, 


No.  221.     Looking  a  Rock  in  the  Face. 

and  he  excelled  in  catching  and  delineating  the  ftriking  points  in  the 
features  and  gait  of  the  individuals  who  then  moved  in  Edinburgh  Society. 
In  fa£t,  a  large  proportion  of  his  prints  confift  of  caricature  portraits,  often 
feveral  figures  on  the  fame  plate,  which  is  ufually  of  fmall  dimenfions. 

Among 


in  Literature  and  Art.  46  3 

Among  them  are  many  of  the  profeflbrs  and  other  diftinguifhed  members 
of  the  univerfity  of  Edinburgh.  Thus  one,  copied  in  our  cut  No.  221, 
reprefents  the  eminent  old  geologift,  Dr.  James  Hutton,  rather  aftonifhed 
at  the  fhapes  which  his  favourite  rocks  have  fuddenly  taken.  The  original 
print  is  dated  in  1787,  ten  years  before  Dr.  Hutton's  death.  The  idea  of 
giving  faces  to  rocks  was  not  new  in  the  time  of  John  Kay,  and  it  has 
been  frequently  repeated.  Some  of  thefe  caricature  portraits  are  clever 
and  amufing,  and  they  are  at  times  very  fatirical.  Kay  appears  to  have 
rarely  ventured  on  caiicature  of  any  other  defcription,  but  there  is  one 
rare  plate  by  him,  entitled  "  The  Craft  in  Danger,"  which  is  ftated  in  a 
few  words  pencilled  on  the  copy  I  have  before  me,  to  have  been  aimed 
at  a  cabal  for  propofing  Dr.  Barclay  for  a  profeflbrfhip  in  the  univerfity  of 
Edinburgh.  It  difplays  no  great  talent,  and  is,  in  fact,  now  not  very 
intelligible.  The  figures  introduced  in  it  are  evidently  intended  for 
rather  caricatured  portraits  of  members  of  the  univerfity  engaged  in  the 
cabal,  and  are  in  the  ftyle  of  Kay's  other  portraits.* 


*  In  the  library  of  the  British  Museum  there  is  a  collection  of  John  Kay's 
works  bound  in  two  volumes  quarto,  with  a  title  and  table  of  contents  in  manu- 
script, but  whether  it  is  one  of  a  few  copies  intended  for  publication,  or  whether 
it  is  merely  the  collection  of  some  individual,  I  am  not  prepared  to  say.  It  contains 
343  plates,  which  are  stated  to  be  all  Kay's  works  down  to  the  year  1813,  when 
this  collection  was  made.  "  The  Craft  in  Danger  "  is  not  among  them.  I  have 
before  me  a  smaller,  but  a  very  choice  selection,  of  Kay's  caricatures,  the  loan  of 
which  I  owe  to  the  kindness  of  Mr.  John  Camden  Hotten,  of  Piccadilly.  I  am 
indebted  to  Mr.  Hotten  for  many  courtesies  of  this  description,  and  especially  for 
the  use  of  a  very  valuable  collection  of  caricatures  of  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  and  earlier  part  of  the  present,  mounted  in  four  large  folio  volumes,  which 
has  been  of  much  use  to  me. 


464  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

GILLRAY. HIS    FIRST    ATTEMPTS. HIS    CARICATURES    BEGIN    WITH    THE 

SHELBURNE   MINISTRY. IMPEACHMENT   OF  WARREN  HASTINGS. CARI- 
CATURES  ON  THE  KING  ;  "  NEW  WAY  TO    PAY  THE   NATIONAL  DEBT." 

ALLEGED     REASON     FOR     GILLKAY*S     HOSTILITY     TO    THE     KING. THE 

KING    AND     THE     APPLE-DUMPLINGS. GILLRAY*S     LATER     LABOURS. 

HIS    IDIOTCY    AND    DEATH. 

IN  the  year  1757  was  born  the  greateft  of  Englifh  caricaturifts,  and 
perhaps  of  all  caricaturifts  of  modern  times  whofe  works  are  known — 
James  Gillray.  His  father,  who  was  named  like  himfelf,  James,  was  a 
Scotchman,  a  native  of  Lanark,  and  a  foldier,  and,  having  loft  one  arm  at 
the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  became  an  out-penlioner  of  Chelfea  Hofpital.  He 
obtained  alfo  the  appointment  of  fexton  at  the  Moravian  burial-ground  at 
Chelfea,  which  he  held  forty  years,  and  it  was  at  Chelfea  that  James 
Gillray  the  younger  was  born.  The  latter,  having  no  doubt  fhown  figns 
of  artiftic  talent,  was  put  apprentice  to  letter-engraving ;  but  after  a  time, 
becoming  difgufted  with  this  employment,  he  ran  away,  and  joined  a  party 
of  ftrolling  players,  and  in  their  company  pafled  through  many  adven- 
tures, and  underwent  many  hardlhips.  He  returned,  however  to  London, 
and  received  fome  encouragement  as  a  promifing  artift,  and  obtained 
admifllon  as  a  ftudent  in  the  Royal  Academy — the  then  young  institution 
to  which  Hogarth  had  been  oppofed.  Gillray  foon  became  known  as  a 
defigner  and  engraver,  and  worked  in  thefe  capacities  for  the  publifliers. 
Among  his  earlier  productions,  two  illuftrations  of  Goldfmith's  "  Deferted 
Village  "  are  fpoken  of  with  praife,  as  difplaying  a  remarkable  freedom 
of  efteft.  For  a  long  time  after  Gillray  became  known  as  a  caricaturift 
he  continued  to  engrave  the  defigns  of  other  artifts.  The  earlieft  known 
caricature  which  can  be  afcribed  to  him  with  any  certainty,  is  the  plate 
entitled  "  Paddy  on  Horfeback,"  and  dated  in  1779,  when  he  was  twenty- 
two  years  of  age.  The  "  horfe  "  on  which  Paddy  rides  is  a  bull ;  he  is 

feated 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


465 


feated  with  his  face  turned  to  the  tail.  The  fubjeft  of  fatire  is  fuppofed 
to-  be  the  chara&er  then  enjoyed  by  the  Irifh  as  fortune-hunters.  The 
point,  however,  is  not  very  apparent,  and  indeed  Gillray's  earlieft  carica- 
tures are  tame,  although  it  is  remarkable  how  rapidly  he  improved,  and 
how  foon  he  arrived  at  excellence.  Two  caricatures,  publifhed  in  June 
and  July,  1782,  on  the  occafion  of  admiral  Rodney's  victory,  are  looked 
upon  as  marking  his  firft  decided  appearance  in  politics. 

A  diftinguifhing  charadteriftic  of  Gillray's  ftyle  is,  the  wonderful  tad 
with  which  he  feizes  upon  the  points  in  his  fubjedt  open  to  ridicule,  and 
the  force  with  which  he  brings  thofe  points  out.  In  the  finenefs  of  his 
defign,  and  in  his  grouping  and  drawing,  he  excels  all  the  other  cari- 
caturifts.  He  was,  indeed,  born  with  all  the  talents  of  a  great  hiftorical 
painter,  and,  but  for  circumftances,  he  probably  would  have  fhone  in  that 
branch  of  art.  This  excellence  will  be  the  more  appreciated  when  it  is 
underftood  that  he  drew  his  picture  with  the  needle  on  the  plate,  without 
having  made  any  previous  Iketch  of  it,  except  fometimes  a  few  hafty 
outlines  of  individual  portraits  or  characters  fcrawled  on  cards  or  fcraps  of 
paper  as  they  ftruck  him. 

Soon  after  the  two  caricatures  on  Rodney's  naval  viclory,  the  Rocking- 
ham  adminHtration  was  broken  up  by  the  death  of  its  chief,  and  another 
was  formed  under  the  direction  of  Lord  Shelburne,  from  which  Fox  and 
Burke  retired,  leaving  in  it  their  old  colleague,  Pitt,  who  now  deferted 
the  Whig  party  in  parliament.  Fox  and  Burke  became  from  this  moment 
the  butt  of  all  forts  of  abufe  and  fcornful  fatire  from  the  caricaturifts,  fuch 
as  Sayer,  and  newfpaper  writers  in  the  pay  of  their  opponents  j  and 
Gillray,  perhaps  becaufe  it  offered  at  that  moment  the  befl.  chance  of 
popularity  and  fuccefs,  joined  in  the  crufade  againft  the  two  ex-minifters 
and  their  friends.  In  one  of  his  caricatures,  which  is  a  parody  upon  Milton, 
Fox  is  reprefented  in  the  character  of  Satan,  turning  his  back  upon  the 
minifterial  Paradife,  but  looking  envioufly  over  his  {houlder  at  the  happy 
pair  (Shelburne  and  Pitt)  who  are  counting  their  money  on  the  treafury 
table  : — 


Jijlde  hi  turned 
For  envy,  yet  with  jealous  leer  malign 
Eyed  them  ajkance. 

3   o 


Another 


466  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Another,  alfo  by  Gillray,  is  entitled  "  Guy  Faux  and  Judas  Ifcariot,"  the 
former  reprefented  by  Fox,  who  difcovers  the  defertion  of  his  late  colleague, 
lord  Shelburne,  by  the  light  of  his  lantern,  and  recriminates  angrily, 
"Ah!  what,  I've  found  you  out,  have  I?  Who  arm'd  the  high  priefts 
and  the  people  ?  Who  betray'd  his  mas — ?"  At  this  point  he  is  inter- 
rupted by  a  fneering  retort  from  Shelburne,  who  is  carrying  away  the 
treafury  bag  with  a  look  of  great  felf-complacency,  "  Ha,  ha  !  poor  Gun- 
powder's vexed  !  He,  he,  he  ! — Shan't  have  the  bag,  I  tell  you,  old 
Goofetooth  !"  Burke  was  ufually  caricatured  as  a  Jefuit  3  and  in  another 
of  Gillray's  prints  of  this  time  (publifhed  Aug.  23,  1782),  entitled  "  Cin- 
cinnatus  in  Retirement,"  Burke  is  reprefented  as  driven  into  the  retire- 
ment of  his  Irim  cabin,  where  he  is  furrounded  by  Popim  relics  and 
emblems  of  fuperftition,  and  by  the  materials  for  drinking  whilky.  A 
veffel,  infcribed  "  Relick  No.  i.,  ufed  by  St.  Peter,"  is  filled  with  boiled 
potatoes,  which  Jefuit  Burke  is  paring.  Three  imps  are  feen  dancing 
under  the  table. 

In  1783  the  Shelburne  miniftry  itfelf  was  diffolved,  and  fucceeded  by 
the  Portland  miniftry,  in  which  Fox  was  fecretary  of  ftate  for  foreign 
affairs,  and  Burke,  paymafter  of  the  forces,  and  Lord  North,  who  had 
joined  the  Whigs  againft  lord  Shelburne,  now  obtained  office  as  fecretary 
for  the  home  department.  Gillray  joined  warmly  in  the  attacks  on  this 
coalition  of  parties,  and  from  this  time  his  great  activity  as  a  caricaturift 
begins.  Fox,  efpecially,  and  Burke,  ftill  under  the  character  of  a  Jefuit, 
were  incelTantly  held  up  to  ridicule  in  his  prints.  In  another  year  this 
miniftry  alfo  was  overthrown,  and  young  William  Pitt  became  eftablifhed 
In  power,  while  the  ex-minifters,  now  the  oppofhion,  had  become  un- 
popular throughout  the  country.  The  caricature  of  Gillray  followed 
them,  and  Fox  and  Burke  conftantly  appeared  under  his  hands  in  fome 
ridiculous  fituation  or  other.  But  Gillray  was  not  a  hired  libeller,  like 
Sayer  and  fome  of  the  lower  caricaturifts  of  that  time ;  he  evidently  chofe 
his  fubjefts,  in  fome  degree  independently,  as  thofe  which  offered  him 
the  beft  mark  for  ridicule ;  and  he  had  fo  little  refped  for  the  minifters 
or  the  court,  that  they  all  felt  his  fatire  in  turn.  Thus,  when  the  plan  of 
national  fortifications— brought  forward  by  the  duke  of  Richmond,  who 

had 


in  Literature  and  Art.  467 

had  deferted  the  Whigs  to  be  made  a  Tory  minifter,  as  mafter-general  of 
the  ordnance — was  defeated  in  the  Houfe  of  Commons  in  1787,  the  beft 
caricature  it  provoked  was  one  by  Gillray,  entitled  "  Honi  foit  qui  mal  y 
penfe,"  which  reprefents  the  horror  of  the  duke  of  Richmond  at  being  fo 
unceremonioufly  compelled  to  fwallow  his  own  fortifications  (cut  No.  222). 


No.  222.     A  Strong  Dofe. 

It  is  lord  Shelburne,  who  had  now  become  marquis  of  Lanfdowne,  who 
is  reprefented  as  adminiftering  the  bitter  dofe.  Some  months  afterwards, 
in  the  famous  impeachment  againft  Warren  Haftings,  Gillray  fided 
warmly  againft  the  impeachers,  perhaps  partly  becaufe  thefe  were  Burke 
and  his  friends ;  yet  feveral  of  his  caricatures  on  this  affair  are  aimed  at 
the  minifters,  and  even  at  the  king  himfelf.  Lord  Thurlow,  who  was  a 
favourite  with  the  king,  and  who  fupported  the  caufe  of  Warren  Haftings 
with  firmnefs,  after  he  had  been  deferted  by  Pitt  and  the  other  minifters, 
was  efpecially  an  object  of  Gillray's  fatire.  Thurlow,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, was  rather  celebrated  for  profane  fwearing,  and  was  fometimes 
fpoken  of  as  the  thunderer.  One  of  the  fineft  of  Gillray's  caricatures  at 
this  period,  published  on  the  ift  of  March,  1788,  is  entitled  "Blood  on 
Thunder  fording  the  Red  Sea,"  and  reprefents  Warren  Haftings  carried 
on  chancellor  Thurlow's  moulders  through  a  fea  of  blood,  ftrewed  with 

the 


468  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

the  mangled  corpfes  of  Hindoos.  As  will  be  feen  in  our  copy  of  the 
moft  important  part  of  this  print  (cut  No.  223),  the  "  faviour  of  India/- 
as he  was  called  by  his  friends,  has  taken  care  to  fecure  his  gains..  A 
remarkably  bold  caricature  by  Gillray  againft  the  government  appeared 
on  the  2nd  of  May  in  this  year.  It  is  entitled  "  Market-Day— every  man 
has  his  price,"  and  reprefents  a  fcene  in  Smithfield,  where  the  horned 
cattle  expofed  for  fale  are  the  fupporters  of  the  king's  miniftry.  Lord 


No.  223.     Blood  on  Thunder. 

Thurlow,  with  his  charac\erifl.ic  frown,  appears  as  the  principal  purchafer. 
Pitt,  and  his  friend  and  colleague  Dundas,  are  reprefented  drinking  and 
fmoking  jovially  at  the  window  of  a  public-houfe.  On  one  fide  Warren 
Haftings  is  riding  off  with  the  king  in  the  form  of  a  calf,  which  he  has 
juft  purchafed,  for  Haftings  was  popularly  believed  to  have  worked  upon 
king  George's  avarice  by  rich  prefents  of  diamonds.  On  another  fide, 
the  overwhelming  rum  of  the  cattle  is  throwing  over  the  van  in  which 
Fox,  Burke,  and  Sheridan  are  driving.  This  plate  deferves  to  be  placed 
among  Gillray's  fineft  works. 

Gillray  caricatured  the  heir  to   the   throne   with  bitternefs,  perhaps 

becaufe 


in  Literature  and  Art.  469 

becaufe  his  diflipation  and  extravagance  rendered  him  a  fair  fubject  of 
ridicule,  and  becaufe  he  aflbciated  himfelf  with  Fox's  party  in  politics; 
but  his  hoftility  to  the  king  is  afcribed  in  part  to  perfonal  feelings.  A 
large  and  very  remarkable  print  by  our  artift,  though  his  name  was  not 
attached  to  it,  and  one  which  difplays  in  a  fpecial  manner  the  great 
charadterittics  of  Gillray's  ftyle,  appeared  on  the  2ift  of  April,  1786,  juft 
after  an  application  had  been  made  to  the  Houfe  of  Commons  for  a  large 
fum  of  money  to  pay  off  the  king's  debts,  which  were  very  great,  in  Ipite 
of  the  enormous  income  then  attached  to  the  crown.  George  was  known 
as  a  careful  and  even  a  parfimonious  man,  and  the  queen  was  looked 
upon  generally  as  a  mean  and  very  avaricious  woman,  and  people  were 
at  a  lols  to  account  for  this  extraordinary  expenditure,  and  they  tried  to 
explain  it  in  various  ways  which  were  not  to  the  credit  of  the  royal  pair. 
It  was  faid  that  immenfe  fums  were  fpent  in  fecret  corruption  to  pave 
the  way  to  the  eftabliihment  of  arbitrary  power ;  that  the  king  was 
making  targe  favings,  and  hoarding  up  treafures  at  Hanover  j  and  that, 
inftead  of  fpending  money  on  his  family,  he  allowed  his  eldeft  fon  to  run 
into  ferious  difficulties  through  the  fmallnefs  of  his  allowance,  and  thus  to 
become  an  object  of  pity  to  his  French  friend,  the  wealthy  due  d'Orleans, 
who  had  offered  him  relief.  The  caricature  juft  mentioned,  which  is 
extremely  fevere,  is  entitled  "  A  new  way  to  pay  the  National  Debt." 
It  reprefents  the  entrance  to  the  treafury,  from  which  king  George  and 
his  queen,  with  their  band  of  penfioners,  are  iffuing,  their  pockets., 
and  the  queen's  apron,  fo  full  of  money,  that  the  coins  are  rolling  out 
and  fcattering  about  the  ground.  Neverthelefs,  Pitt,  whofe  pockets  alfo 
are  full,  adds  to  the  royal  trealures  large  bags  of  the  national  revenue, 
which  are  received  with  fmiles  of  fatisfadion.  To  the  left,  a  crippled 
foldier  fits  on  the  ground,  and  alks  in  vain  for  relief ;  while  the  wall  above 
is  covered  with  torn  placards,  on  fome  of  which  may  be  read,  "  God  fave 
the  King  ;"  "  Charity,  a  romance  3"  "  From  Germany,  juft  arrived  a  large 
and  royal  aflortment  ....  j"  and  "  Laft  dying  fpeech  of  fifty-four  male- 
fa6tors  executed  for  robbing  a  hen-rooft."  The  latter  is  a  fatirical  allu- 
fion  to  the  notorious  feverity  with  which  the  moft  trifling  depredators  on 
the  king's  private  farm  were  profecuted.  In  the  background,  on  the 

-right 


470  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

right  hand  fide  of  the  pidure,  the  prince  appears  in  ragged  garments,  and 
in  want  of  charity  no  lets  than  the  cripple,  and  near  him  is  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  who  offers  him  a  draft  for  ,=£200,000.  On  the  p.acards  on  the 
walls  here  we  read  fuch  announcements  as  "  Economy,  an  old  fong ;" 
"Britifti  property,  a  farce;"  and  "Juft  publiftied,  for  the  benefit  of 
pofterity,  the  dying  groans  of  Liberty ;"  and  one,  immediately  over  the 
prince's  head,  bears  the  prince's  feathers,  with  the  motto, "  Ich  ftarve." 
Altogether  this  is  one  of  the  moft  remarkable  of  Gillray's  caricatures. 

The  parfimonioufnefs  of  the  king  and  queen  was  the  fubjecl:  of  carica- 
tures and  fongs  in  abundance,  in  which  thefe  illuftrious  perfonages  appeared 


No.  224.     Farmer  George  and  his  Wife. 

haggling  with  their  tradefmen,  and  making  bargains  in  perfon,  rejoicing  in 
having  thus  faved  a  fmall  fum  of  money.  It  was  laid  that  George  kept  a 
farm  at  Windfor,  not  for  his  amufement,  but  to  draw  a  fmall  profit  from  it. 
By  Peter  Pindar  he  is  defcribed  as  rejoicing  over  the  fkill  he  has  ftiown 
in  purchafing  his  live  ftock  as  bargains.  Gillray  feized  greedily  all  thefe 
points  of  ridicule,  and,  as  early  as  1786,  he  publifhed  a  print  of"  Farmer 
George  and  his  Wife"  (fee  our  cut  No.  224),  in  which  the  two  royal 

perform  gen 


in  Literature  and  Art.  47 1 

perfonages  are  reprefented  in  the  very  familiar  manner  in  which  they 
were  accuftomed  to  walk  about  Windfor  and  its  neighbourhood.  This 
picture  appears  to  have  been  very  popular  j  and  years  afterwards,  in  a 
caricature  on  a  fcene  in  "  The  School  for  Scandal,"  where,  in  the  fale  of 
the  young  profligate's  effects,  the  audtioneer  puts  up  a  family  portrait,  for 
which  a  broker  offers  five  (hillings,  and  Carelefs,  the  auctioneer,  fays, 
"  Going  for  no  more  than  one  crown,"  the  family  piece  is  the  well- 
known  picture  of  "  Farmer  George  and  his  Wife,"  and  the  ruined 
prodigal  is  the  prince  of  Wales,  who  exclaims,  "  Carelefs,  knock  down 
the  farmer." 

Many  caricatures  againft  the  undignified  meannefs  of  the  royal  houfe- 
hold  appeared  during  the  years  1791  and  1792,  when  the  king  pa  fled 
much  of  his  time  at  his  favourite  watering-place,  Weymouth ;  and  there 
his  domeftic  habits  had  become  more  and  more  an  object  of  remark.  It 
was  faid  that,  under  the  pretence  of  Weymouth  being  an  expenfive  place, 
and  taking  advantage  of  the  obligations  of  the  royal  mail  to  carry  parcels 
for  the  king  free,  he  had  his  provifions  brought  to  him  by  that  conveyance 
from  his  farm  at  Windfor.  On  the  28th  of  November,  1791,  Gillray 
publiflied  a  caricature  on  the  homelinefs  of  the  royal  houfehold,  in  two 
compartments,  in  one  of  which  the  king  is  reprefented,  in  a  drefs  which  is 
anything  but  that  of  royalty,  toafting  his  muffins  for  breakfaft  j  and  in  the 
other,  queen  Charlotte,  in  no  lefs  homely  drefs,  though  her  pocket  is  over- 
flowing with  money,  toafting  fprats  for  fupper.  In  another  of  Gillray's 
prints,  entitled  "  Anti-faccharites,"  the  king  and  queen  are  teaching  their 
daughters  economy  in  taking  their  tea  without  fugarj  as  the  young 
princefles  (how  fome  diflike  to  the  experiment,  the  queen  admoniihes 
them,  concluding  with  the  remark,  "  Above  all,  remember  how  much 
expenfe  it  will  fave  your  poor  papa  !  " 

According  to  a  ftory  which  feems  to  be  authentic,  Gillray's  diflike  of 
the  king  was  embittered  at  this  time  by  an  incident  fomewhat  fimilar  to 
that  by  which  George  II.  had  provoked  the  anger  of  Hogarth.  Gillray 
had  vifited  France,  Flanders,  and  Holland,  and  he  had  made  (ketches, 
a  few  of  which  he  engraved.  Our  cut  No.  225  reprefents  a  group  from 
one  of  thefe  (ketches,  which  explains  itfelf,  and  is  a  fair  example  of 

Gillray's 


472  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


Gillray's  manner  of  drawing  fuch  fubjeds.  He  accompanied  the  painter 
Loutherbourg,  who  had  left  his  native  city  of  Strafburg  to  fettle  in 
England,  and  become  the  king's  favourite  artift,  to  affift  him  in  making 
fketches  for  his  great  painting  of  "  The  Siege  of  Valenciennes,"  Gillray 
Iketching  groups  of  figures  while  Loutherbourg  drew  the  landfcape 
and  buildings.  After  their  return,  the  king  exprefled  a  defire  to  fee 
their  fketches,  and  they  were  placed  before  him.  Loutherbourg's 
landfcapes  and  buildings  were  plain  drawings,  and  eafy  to  under- 
ftand,  and  the  king  exprefled  himfelf  greatly  pleafed  with  them.  But 


No.  225.     A  Fleml/h  Proclamation. 


the  king's  mind  was  already  prejudiced  againft  Gillray  for  his  fatirical 
prints,  and  when  he  faw  his  hafty  and  rough,  though  fpirited  fketches,  of 
the  French  foldiers,  he  threw  them  afide  contemptuoufly,  with  the 
remark,  "  I  don't  understand  thefe  caricatures."  Perhaps  the  very  word 
he  ufed  was  intended  as  a  fneer  upon'  Gillray,  who,  we  are  told,  felt  the 
affront  deeply,  and  he  proceeded  to  retort  by  a  caricature,  which  ftruck  at 
once  at  one  of  the  king's  vanities,  and  at  his  political  prejudices. 
George  III.  imagined  himfelf  a  great  connoiffeur  in  the  fine  arts,  and  the 
caricature  was  entitled  'A  Connoifieur  examining  a  Cooper."  It  repre- 

fented 


in  Literature  and  Art.  473 


fented  the  king  looking  at  the  celebrated  miniature  of  Oliver  Cromwell, 
by  the  Englifti  painter,  Samuel  Cooper.  When  Gillray  had  completed 
this  print,  he  is  faid  to  have  exclaimed,  "I  wonder  if  the  royal  connoiffeur 
will  underftand  this  !"  It  was  publifhed  on  the  i8th  of  June,  1792,  and 
cannot  have  failed  to  produce  a  fenfation  at  that  period  of  revolutions. 
The  king  is  made  to  exhibit  a  ftrange  mixture  of  alarm  with  aftonifliment 
in  contemplating  the  features  of  this  great  overthrower  of  kingly  power, 
at  a  moment  when  all  kingly  power  was  threatened.  It  will  be  remarked, 
too,  that  the  fatirift  has  not  overlooked  the  royal  character  for  domeftic 


No.  za6.     A  Connoiffeur  in  Art. 

economy,  for,  as  will  be  feen  in  our  cut  No.  226,  the  king  is  looking  at 
the  pi6ture  by  the  light  of  a  candle-end  ftuck  on  a  "  fave-all." 

From,  this  time  Gillray  rarely  let  pafs  an  opportunity  of  caricaturing 
the  king.  Sometimes  he  pictured  his  awkward  and  undignified  gait,  as 
he  was  accuftomed  to  fhuffle  along  the  efplanade  at  Weymouth ;  fome- 
times  in  the  familiar  manner  in  which,  in  the  courfe  of  his  walks  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  his  Windfor  farm,  he  accofted  the  commoneft  labourers 
and  cottagers,  and  overwhelmed  them  with  a  long  repetition  of  trivial 
qneftions — for  king  George  had  a  chara&eriftic  manner  of  repeating  his 
queftions,  and  of  frequently  giving  the  reply  to  them  himfelf. 

Then  ajks  the  farmer'' t  wife,  or  farmer'' t  maid, 
How  many  eggs  the  foivls  have  laid  ; 

3    P 


474  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


What '.»  in  the  oven,  in  -the  pet,  the  crock  } 
Whether  'twill  rain  or  no,  and  <whafs  o'clock  ; 
Thutfrom  poor  hovels  gleaning  information, 
Toferve  as  future  treasure  for  the  nation. 

So  faid  Peter  Pindar ;  and  in  this  rdle  king  George  was  reprefented  not 
unfrequently  in  fatirical  prints.  On  the  loth  of  February  Gillray 
illuftrated  the  quality  of  "  Affability  "  in  a  pifture  of  one  of  thefe  ruftic 
encounters.  The  king  and  queen,  taking  their  walk,  have  arrived  at  a 
cottage,  where  a  very  coarfe  example  of  Englifh  peafantry  is  feeding  his 
pigs  with  wafh.  The  fcene  is  reprefented  in  our  cut  No.  227.  The  vacant 


No. -LIT.     Royal  Affability. 

ftare  of  the  countryman  betrays  his  confufion  at  the  rapid  fucceffion  of 
queftions — "Well,  friend,  where  a'  you  going,  hay? — What's  your  name, 
hay? — Where  do  you  live,  hay? — hay?"  In  other  prints  the  king  is 
reprefented  running  into  ludicrous  adventures  while  hunting,  an  amufe- 

ment 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


475 


ment  to  which  he  was  extremely  attached.  One  of  the  beft  known  of 
thele  has  been  celebrated  equally  by  the  pen  of  Peter  Pindar  and  by  the 
needle  of  Gillray.  It  was  faid  that  one  day  while  king  George  was 
following  the  chafe,  he  came  to  a  poor  cottage,  where  his  ufual  curiofity 
was  rewarded  by  the  difcovery  of  an  old  woman  making  apple  dumplings. 
When  informed  what  they  were,  he  could  not  conceal  his  aftoniftiment 
how  the  apples  could  have  been  introduced  without  leaving  a  feam  in 
their  covering.  In  the  caricature  by  Gillray,  from  which  we  take  our  cut 
No.  228,  the  king  is  reprefented  looking  at  the  procefs  of  dumpling  mak- 
ing through  the  window,  inquiring  in  aftonilhment,  "  Hay  ?  hay  ?  apple 


No.  228.     A  Leffln  in  Apple  Dumplings . 

dumplings  ? — how  get  the  apples  in  ? — how  ?  Are  they  made  without 
feams?"  The  ftory  is  told  more  fully  in  the  following  verfes  of  Peter 
Pindar,  which  will  ferve  as  the  beft  commentary  on  the  engraving  : — 

THE  KING  AND  THE  APPLE  DUMPLING. 

Once  on  a  time  a  monarch,  tired  -with  whooping, 
Whipping  and  fpurring, 
Happy  in  -worrying 
A  poor,  defencelefs,  harmlefi  buck 
(The  horje  and  rider  wet  as  muck), 
Frtm  his  high  conjequence  and  loifdom  ftooping, 
Entered  through  curiojity  a  cot, 
Where  Jat  a  poor  eld  woman  and  her  pot. 

Tht 


476          Uiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


The  -wrinkled,  blear-eyed,  good  old  granny, 

In  this  fame  cot,  ilium" a"  by  many  a  cranny, 
Hadfinijb'd  apple  dumplings  for  her  pot. 

In  tempting  row  the  naked  dumplings  lay, 

When  lo  !  the  monarch  In  his  ufual  way 

Like  lightening  fpoke,  "  What  this  ?  what  this  f  -what  ?  what?'* 
Then  taking  up  a  dumpling  in  his  hand, 
His  eyes  with  admiration  did  expand, 

And  oft  did  majefty  the  dumpling  grapple. 
"  'Tit  monftrous,  monftrous  hard,  indeed  f"  he  cried} 
"  What  makes  it,  pray,  Jo  hard  f  "—The  dame  replied, 

Low  curt/eying,  "  Pleafe  your  majefty,  the  apple." 
"  Very  afton:Jhlng,  indeed  !  ftrange  thing  !  " 
Turning  the  dumpling  round,  rejoined  the  king  ; 

"  TM  moft  extraordinary  then,  all  this  is — 

/;  beats  Pinettrs  conjuring  all  to  pieces — 
Strange  I  jbould  never  of  a  dumpling  dream  I 
But,  Goody,  tell  me  where,  where,  -where' s  the  f  earn  f  " 
"  Sir,  thereof  no  f  earn,"  quoth  /he,  "  /  never  knew 
That  folks  did  apple  dumplings  few." 
"  No  !  "  cried  the  flaring  monarch  -with  a  grin, 
"  How,  how  the  devil  got  the  apple  in  f" 
On  which  the  dame  the  curious  fcheme  reveaTd 
By  which  the  apple  lay  fo  Jiy  concealed, 

Which  made  the  Solomon  ef  Britain  ftart  f 
Who  to  the  palace  with  full  fpeed  repaired 
And  queen,  and  princej/es  fo  beauteous,  feared^ 
All  with  the  wonders  of  the  dumpling  art. 
There  did  he  labour  one  -whole  week,  to  Jbow 
The  wlfdom  of  an  apple  dumpling  maker  ; 
And  lot  fo  deep  -was  majefty  In  dough, 
The  palace  feem 'd  the  lodging  of  a  baker  ! 

Gillray  was  not  the  only  caricaturift  who  turned  the  king's  weaknefles 
to  ridicule,  but  none  caricatured  them  with  fo  little  gentlenefs,  or 
evidently  with  fo  good  a  will.  On  the  ^th  of  March,  1796,  the  princefs 
of  Wales  gave  birth  to  a  daughter,  fo  well  known  fince  as  the  princefs 
Charlotte.  The  king  is  faid  to  have  been  charmed  with  his  grandchild, 
and  this  fentiment  appears  to  have  been  anticipated  by  the  public,  for 
on  the  I3th  of  February,  when  the  princefs's  accouchment  was  looked 
forward  to  with  general  intereft,  a  print  appeared  under  the  title  of 
"  Grandpapa  in  his  Glory."  In  this  caricature,  which  is  given  in 

our 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


477 


our  cut  No.  229,  king  George,  feated,  is  reprefented  nurfing  and 
feeding  the  royal  infant  in  an  extraordinary  degree  of  homelinefs.  He 
is  finging  the  nurfery  rhyme — 

There  -was  a  laugh  and  a  crawt 

There  toas  a  giggling  honey  t 
Goody  good  girl  /ball  be  fed, 

But  naughty  girl  (hall  have  noney. 

This  print  bears  no  name,  but  it  is  known  to  be  by  Woodward,  though 
it  betrays  an  attempt  to  imitate  the  ftyle  of  Gillray.  Gillray  was  often 


No.  219.     Grandfather  George. 


imitated  in  this  manner,  and  his  prints  were 
pirated.  He  even  at  times  copied  himfelf, 
for  the  fake  of  gaining  money. 

At  the  period  of  the  regency  bill  in  I 
policy  in  that  affair  with  great  feverity.  In 
3rd  of  January,  he  drew  the  premier  in  the 
vulture,  with  one  claw  fixed  firmly  on  the 


not  unfrequently  copied  and 
and  difguifed  his  own  ftyle, 

789,  Gillray  attacked  Pitt's 
a  caricature  publilhed  on  the 
character  of  an  over-gorged 
crown  and  fceptre,  and  with 
the 


478  HIJlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

the  other  feizing  upon  the  prince's  coronet,  from  which  he  is  plucking 

the  feathers.     Among  other  good  caricatures  on  this  occafion,  perhaps 

the  fineft  is  a  parody  on  Fufeli's  picture  of  "The  Weird  Sifters,"  in  which 

Dundas,  Pitt,  and  Thurlow,  as  the  lifters,  are  contemplating  the  moon, 

the  bright  fide  of  whofe  difc  reprefents  the  face  of  the  queen,  and  the 

other  that  of  the  king,  overcaft  with  mental  darknefs.     Gillray  took  a 

ftrongly  hoftile  view  of  the  French  revolution,  and  produced  an  immenfe 

number  of  caricatures  againft   the  French  and  their  rulers,  and   their 

friends,  or  fuppofed  friends,  in  this  country,  during  the  period  extending 

from  1790  to  the  earlier  years  of  the  prefent  century.     Through  all  the 

changes  of  miniftry  or  policy,  he  feems  to  have  fixed  himfelf  ftrongly  on 

individuals,  and  he  feldom  ceafed  to  caricature  the  perfon  who  had  once 

provoked  his  attacks.     So  it  was  with  the  lord  chancellor  Thurlow,  who 

became  the  butt  of  favage  fatire  in  fome  of  his  prints  which  appeared  in 

1792,  at  the  time  when    Pitt  forced   him  to  refign  the  chancellorfhip. 

Among  thefe  is  one  of  the  boldeft  caricatures  which  he  ever  executed. 

It  is  a  parody,  fine  almoft  to  fublimity,  on  a  well-known  fcene  in  Milton, 

and  is  entitled,  "  Sin,  Death,  and  the  Devil."     The  queen,  as  Sin,  nifties 

to  feparate  the  two  combatants,  Death   (in  the  femblance  of  Pitt)  and 

Satan  (in  that  of  Thurlow).     During  the  latter  part  of  the  century  Gillray 

caricatured  all  parties   in  turn,  whether  minifterial   or   oppofition,  with 

indifcriminate  vigour  j  but  his  hoftility  towards  the  party  of  Fox,  whom 

he  perfifted  in  regarding,  or  at  leaft  in  reprefenting,  as  unpatriotic  revo- 

lutionifts,  was  certainly  greateft.     In  1803  he  worked  energetically  againft 

the  Addington  miniftry}    and    in    1806  he  caricatured  that  which  was 

known  by  the  title  of  "All  the  Talents  j"  but  during  this  later  period  of 

his  life  his  labours  were  more  efpecially  aimed  at  keeping  up  the  fpirit  of 

his  countrymen  againft  the  threats  and  defigns  of  our  foreign  enemies. 

It  was,  in  fa6t,  the  caricature  which  at  that  time  met  with  the  greateft 

encouragement. 

In  his  own  perfon,  Gillray  had  lived  a  life  of  great  irregularity,  and  as 
he  grew  older,  his  habits  of  diflipation  and  intemperance  increafed,  and 
gradually  broke  down  his  intelled.  Towards  the  year  1811  he  ceafed 
producing  any  original  works  ;  the  laft  plate  he  executed  was  a  drawing 

of 


in  Literature  and  Art.  479 


of  Bunbury's,  entitled  "  A  Barber's  Shop  in  Aflize  Time,'  which  is 
fuppofed  to  have  been  finifhed  in  the  January  of  that  year.  Soon  after- 
wards his  mind  fank  into  idiotcy,  from  which  it  never  recovered.  James 
Gillray  died  in  1815,  and  was  buried  in  St.  James's  churchyard,  Piccadilly, 
near  the  reftory  houfe. 


480  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


CHAPTER   XXVIII. 

GILLRAY'S  CARICATURES  ON  SOCIAL  LIFE. — THOMAS  ROWLANDSON. — HIS 

EARLY  LIFE. HE  BECOMES  A  CARICATURIST. HIS  STYLE  AND  WORKS. 

— HIS  DRAWINGS. THE  CRUIKSHANKS. 

GILLRAY  was,  beyond  all  others,  the  great  political  caricaturift  of 
his  age.  His  works  form  a  complete  hiftory  of  the  greater  and 
more  important  portion  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  He  appears  to  have 
had  lefs  tafte  for  general  caricature,  and  his  caricatures  on  focial  life  are 
lefs  numerous,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  lefs  important,  than  thofe  which 
were  called  forth  by  political  events.  The  exceptions  are  chiefly  fatires 
on  individual  characters,  which  are  marked  by  the  fame  bold  ftyle  which 
is  difplayed  in  his  political  attacks.  Some  of  his  caricatures  on  the 
extravagant  coftume  of  the  time,  and  on  its  more  prominent  vices,  fuch 
as  the  rage  for  gambling,  are  alfo  fine,  but  his  focial  (ketches  generally 
are  much  inferior  to  his  other  works. 

This,  however,  was  not  the  cafe  with  his  contemporary,  Thomas 
Rowlandfon,  who  doubtlefsly  ftands  fecond  to  Gillray,  and  may,  in  fome 
refpefts,  be  considered  his  equal.  Rowlandfon  was  born  in  the  Old 
Jewry  in  London,  the  year  before  that  of  the  birth  of  Gillray,  in  the  July 
of  1756.  His  father  was  a  city  merchant,  who  had  the  means  to  give 
him  a  good  education,  but  embarking  ralhly  in  fome  unfuccefsful  fpecula- 
tions,  he  fell  into  reduced  circumftances,  and  the  fon  had  to  depend  upon 
the  liberality  of  a  relative.  His  uncle,  Thomas  Rowlandfon,  after  whom 
probably  he  was  named,  had  married  a  French  lady,  a  Mademoifelle 
Chatelier,  who  was  now  a  widow,  refiding  in  Paris,  with  what  would  be 
confidered  in  that  capital  a  handfome  fortune,  and  {he  appears  to  have 
been  attached  to  her  Englifh  nephew,  and  fupplied  him  rather  freely  with 
money.  Young  Rowlandfon  had  ihown  at  an  early  age  great  talent  for 

drawing 


in  Literature  and  Art.  481 

drawing,  with  an  efpecial  turn  for  fatire.  As  a  fchoolboy,  he  covered  the 
margins  of  his  books  with  caricatures  upon  his  matter  and  upon  hisfellow- 
fcholars,  and  at  the  age  of  fixteen  lie  was  admitted  a  ftudent  in  the  Royal 
Academy  in  London,  then  in  its  infancy.  But  he  did  not  profit  imme- 
diately by  this  admillion,  for  his  aunt  invited  him  to  Paris,  where  he 
began  and  followed  his  ftudies  in  art  with  great  fuccefs,  and  was  remarked 
for  the  Ikill  with  which  he  drew  the  human  body.  His  ftudies  from 
nature,  while  in  Paris,  are  faid  to  have  been  remarkably  fine.  Nor  did 
his  tafte  for  fatirical  defign  fail  him,  for  it  was  one  of  his  greateft  amufe- 
ments  to  caricature  the  numerous  individuals,  and  groups  of  individuals, 
who  muft  in  that  age  have  prefented  objects  of  ridicule  to  a  lively 
Englifhman.  During  this  time  his  aunt  died,  leaving  him  all  her 
property,  confifting  of  about  ^7,000  in  money,  and  a  confiderable  amount 
in  plate  and  other  objects.  The  fudden  pofleffion  of  fo  much  money 
proved  a  misfortune  to  young  Rowlandfon.  He  appears  to  have  had  an 
early  love  for  gaiety,  and  he  now  yielded  to  all  the  temptations  to  vice 
held  out  by  the  French  metropolis,  and  efpecially  to  an  uncontrollable 
paflion  for  gambling,  through  which  he  foon  difiipated  his  fortune. 

Before  this,  however,  had  been  effected,  Rowlandfon,  after  having 
refided  in  Paris  about  two  years,  returned  to  London,  and  continued  his 
ftudies  in  the  Royal  Academy.  But  he  appears  for  fome  years  to  have 
given  himfelf  up  entirely  to  his  diflipated  habits,  and  to  have  worked  only 
at  intervals,  when  he  was  driven  to  it  by  the  want  of  money.  We  are 
told  by  one  who  was  intimate  with  him,  that,  when  teduced  to  this  con- 
dition, he  ufed  to  exclaim,  holding,  up  his  pencil,  "  I  have  been  playing 
the  fool,  but  here  is  myrefource!"  and  he  would  then  produce — with 
extraordinary  rapidity — caricatures  enough  to  fupply  his  momentary 
wants.  Moft  of  Rowlandfon's  earlier  productions  were  publifhed  anony- 
moufly,  but  here  and  there,  among  large  collections,  we  meet  with  a 
print,  which,  by  companion  of  the  ftyle  with  that  of  his  earneft 
known  works,  we  can  hardly  hefitate  in  afcribing  to  him ;  and  from 
thefe  it  would  appear  that  he  had  begun  with  political  caricature, 
becaafe,  perhaps,  at  that  period  of  great  agitation,  it  was  molt  called 
for,  and,  therefore,  moft  profitable.  Three  of  the  earlieft  of  the  political 

3  Q.  caricatures 


482  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


caricatures  thus  afcribed  to  Rowlandfon  belong  to  the  year  1784, 
when  he  was  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  relate  to  the  diflblution  of 
parliament  in  that  year,  the  refult  of  which  was  the  eftablifhment  of 
William  Pitt  in  power.  The  firft,  published  on  the  nth  of  March,  is 
entitled  "The  Champion  of  the  People."  Fox  is  reprefented  under  this 
title,  armed  with  the  fword  of  Juftice  and  the  Ihield  of  Truth,  combat- 
ing the  many-headed  hydra,  its  mouths  refpectively  breathing  forth 
"Tyranny,"  "Affumed  Prerogative,"  "Defpotifm,"  "Opprefiion,"  "  Secret 
Influence,"  "  Scotch  Politics,"  "  Duplicity,"  and  "  Corruption."  Some 
of  thefe  heads  are  already  cut  off.  The  Dutchman,  Frenchman,  and 
other  foreign  enemies  are  feen  in  the  background,  dancing  round  the 
ftandard  of"  Sedition."  Fox  is  fupported  by  numerous  bodies  of  Englilh 
and  Irilhmen,  the  Engliih  fhouting,  "While  he  protects  us,  we  will 
lupport  him."  The  Irifti,  "  He  gave  us  a  free  trade  and  all  we  afked  ; 
he  (hall  have  our  firm  fupport."  Natives  of  India,  in  allufion  to  his  un- 
fuccefsful  India  Bill,  kneel  by  his  fide  and  pray  for  his  fuccefs.  The 
fecond  of  thefe  caricatures  was  pubhlhed  on  the  26th  of  March,  and  is 
entitled  "  The  State  Auction."  Pitt  is  the  auctioneer,  and  is  reprefented 
as  knocking  down  with  the  hammer  of  "  prerogative  "  all  the  valuable 
articles  of  the  conftitution.  The  clerk  is  his  colleague,  Henry  Dundas, 
who  holds  up  a  weighty  lot,  entitled,  "Lot  i.  The  Rights  of  the  People." 
Pitt  calls  to  him,  "  Show  the  lot  this  way,  Harry — a'going,  a'going — 
fpeak  quick,  or  it's  gone — hold  up  the  lot,  ye  Dund-afs  1"  The  clerk 
replies  in  his  Scottifh  accent,  "  I  can  hould  it  na  higher,  lir."  The  Whig 
members,  under  the  title  of  the  "  chofen  reprefenters,"  are  leaving  the 
auction  room  in  difcouragement,  with  reflections  in  their  mouths,  fuch  as, 
"  Adieu  to  Liberty !"  "  Defpair  not ! '  "  Now  or  never !'  While  Fox 
Hands  firm  in  the  caufe,  and  exclaims — "I  am  determined  to  bid  wiai 
fpirit  for  Lot  i ;  he  lhall  pay  dear  for  it  that  outbids  me  !"  Pitt's  Tory 
fupporters  are  ranged  under  the  auctioneer,  and  are  called  the  "  here- 
ditary virtuofis ;"  and  their  leader,  who  appears  to  be  the  lord  chancellor, 
addrefles  them  in  the  words,  "  Mind  not  the  nonfenfical  biddings  of  thofe 
common  fellows."  Dundas  remarks,  "  We  lhall  get  the  fupplies  by  this 
tale."  The  third  of  thefe  caricatures  is  dated  on  the  .31  ft  of  March, 

when 


in  Literature  and  Art.  483 

when  the  elections  had  commenced,  and  is  entitled,  "  The  Hanoverian 
Horfe  and  Britilh  Lion — a  Scene  in  a  new  Play,  lately  a6ted  in  Weft- 
minfter,  with  diftinguilhed  applaufe.  A6t  2nd,  Scene  laft."  At  the 
back  of  the  pifture  ftands  the  vacant  throne,  with  the  intimation,  "  We 
fhall  refume  our  fituation  here  at  pleafure,  Leo  Rex"  In  front,  the 
Hanoverian  horfe,  unbridled,  and  without  faddle,  neighs  "  pre-ro-ro-ro-ro- 
rogative,"  and  is  trampling  on  the  fafeguard  of  the  conflitution,  while  it 
kicks  out  violently  the  "faithful  commons"  (alluding  to  the  recent  dif- 
folution  of  parliament).  Pitt,  on  the  back  of  the  horfe,  cries,  "  Bravo  ! — 
go  it  again  ! — I  love  to  ride  a  mettled  fteed  ;  fend  the  vagabonds 
packing !"  Fox  appears  on  the  other  fide  of  the  picture,  mounted  on  the 
Britilh  lion,  and  holding  a  whip  and  bridle  in  his  hand.  He  fays  to  Pitt, 
"Prithee,  Billy,  difrnount  before  ye  get  a  fall,  and  let  fome  abler  jockey 
take  your  feat ;"  and  the  lion  obferves,  indignantly,  but  with  gravity, 
"  If  this  horfe  is  not  tamed,  he  will  foon  be  abfolute  king  of  our  foreft." 

If  thefe  prints  are  corre6tly  afcribed  to  Rowlandfon,  we  fee  him  here 
fairly  entered  in  the  lifts  of  political  caricature,  and  riding  with  Fox  and 
the  Whig  party.  He  difplays  the  fame  boldnefs  in  attacking  the  king 
and  his  minifters  which  was  difplayed  by  Gillray — a  boldnefs  that  pro- 
bably did  much  towards  preferving  the  liberties  of  the  country  from  what 
was  no  doubt  a  refolute  attempt  to  trample  upon  them,  at  a  time  when 
caricature  formed  a  very  powerful  weapon.  Before  this  time,  however, 
Rowlandfon's  pencil  had  become  pra6tifed  in  thofe  burlefque  pidures  of 
focial  life  for  which  he  became  afterwards  fo  celebrated.  At  firfl  he 
feems  to  have  publifhed  his  defigns  under  fictitious  names,  and  one  now 
before  me,  entitled  "The  Tythe  Pig,"  bears  the  early  date  of  1786,  with 
the  name  of  "  Wigftead,"  no  doubt  an  aflumed  one,  which  is  found  on 
fome  others  of  his  early  prints.  It  reprefents  the  country  parfon,  in  his 
own  parlour,  receiving  the  tribute  of  the  tithe  pig  from  an  interefting 
looking  farmer's  wife.  The  name  of  Rowlandfon,  with  the  date  1792, 
is  attached  to  a  very  clever  and  humorous  etching  which  is  now  alfo 
before  me,  entitled  "  Cold  Broth  and  Calamity,"  and  reprefenting  a  party 
of  ikaters,  who  have  fallen  in  a  heap  upon  the  ice,  which  is  breaking 
under  their  weight.  It  bears  the  name  of  Fores  as  publilher.  From 

this 


484  Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

th's  time,  and  efpecially  toward  the  cbfe  of  the  century,  Rowlandfon's 
caricatures  on  focial  life  became  very  numerous,  and  they  are  fo  well 
known  that  it  becomes  unneceflary,  nor  indeed  would  it  be  eafy,  to  feleS 
a  few  examples  which  would  illuftrate  all  his  charafteriftic  excellencies. 
In  prints  publifhed  by  Fores  at  the  beginning  of  1 794,  the  addrefs  of  the 
publifher  is  followed  by  the  words,  "  where  may  be  had  all  Rowlandfon's 
works,"  which  fhows  how  great  was  his  reputation  as  a  caricaturift  at  that 
time.  It  may  be  flared  briefly  that  he  was  diftinguiftied  by  a  remarkable 
verfatility  of  talent,  by  a  great  fecundity  of  imagination,  and  by  a  fkill  in 
grouping  quite  equal  to  that  of  Gillray,  and  with  a  fingular  eafe  in 
forming  his  groups  of  a  great  number  of  figures.  Among  thofe  of  his 
contemporaries  who  fpoke  of  him  with  the  higheft  praife  were  fir  Jofhua 
Reynolds  and  Benjamin  Weft.  It  has  been  remarked,  too,  that  no  artift 
ever  pofTefled  the  power  of  Rowlandfon  of  exprefling  fo  much  with  fo 
little  effort.  We  trace  a  great  difference  in  ftyle  between  Rowlandfon's 
earlier  and  his  later  works  j  although  there  is  a  general  identity  of  cha- 


No.  230.     Opera  Beauties. 

rafter  which  cannot  be  miftaken.  The  figures  in  the  former  fhow  a  tafte 
for  grace  and  elegance  that  is  rare  in  his  later  works,  and  we  find  a  deli- 
cacy of  beauty  in  his  females  which  he  appears  afterwards  to  have  entirely 
laid  afide.  An  example  of  his  earlier  ftyle  in  depifting  female  faces  is  fur- 
nifhed  by  the  pretty  farmer's  wife,  in  the  print  of  "  The  Tythe  Pig,"  jnft 
alluded  to  5  and  I  may  quote  as  another  example,  an  etching  publilhed  on 

the 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


4*5 


the  i ft  of  January,  1794,  under  the  title  of  "  Englifh  Curiofity;  or,  the 
foreigner  flared  out  of  countenance."  An  individual,  in  a  foreign  coftume, 
is  feated  in  the  front  row  of  the  boxes  of  a  theatre,  probably  intended 
for  the  opera,  where  he  has  become  the  object  of  curiofity  of  the  whole 
audience,  and  all  eyes  are  eagerly  directed  upon  him.  The  faces  of  the 
men  are  rather  coarfely  grotefque,  but  thofe  of  the  ladies,  two  of  which 
are  given  in  our  cut  No.  230,  poflels  a  confiderable  degree  of  refinement. 
He  appears,  however,  to  have  been  naturally  a  man  of  no  real  refine- 
ment, who  eafily  gave  himfelf  up  to  low  and  vulgar  taftes,  and,  as  his 
caricature  became  more  exaggerated  and  coarfe,  bis  females  became  left 
and  lefs  graceful,  until  his  model  of  female  beauty  appears  to  have  been 
reprefented  by  fomething  like  a  fat  oyfter-woman.  Our  cut  No.  231, 


A'o.  231.      The  Trumpet  and  BaJ/oon. 

taken  from  a  print  in  the  pofleflion  of  Mr.  Fairholt,  entitled,  "  The 
Trumpet  and  Balloon,"  prefents  a  good  example  of  Rowlandfon's  broaa 
humour,  and  of  his  favourite  models  of  the  human  face.  We  can  afmolt 
fancy  we  hear  the  different  tones  of  this  brace  of  fnorers. 

A  good  example  of  Rowlandfon's  grotefques  of  the  human  figure  is 

given 


Hi/lory  of  Caricature  and  Grotesque 


given  in  our  cut  No.  232,  taken  from  a  print  publifhed  on  the  jft  of 
January,   1796,  under  the  title  of  "Anything  will  do  for  an  Officer. 
People  complained  of  the  mean  appearance  of  the  officers  in  our  armies, 
who  obtained  their  rank,  it  was  pretended,  by  favour  and  purchafe  rather 


No.  232.     A  Model  Officer. 

than  by  merit ;  and  this  caricature  is  explained  by  an  infcription  beneath, 
which  informs  us  how  "  Some  fchool-boys,  who  were  playing  at  foldiers, 
found  one  of  their  number  fo  ill-made,  and  fo  much  under  fize,  that  he 
would  have  disfigured  the  whole  body  if  put  into  the  ranks.  '  What 
fhall  we  do  with  him?'  afced  one.  'Do  with  him?'  fays  another, 
'why  make  an  officer  of  him.'  "  This  plate  is  infcribed  with  his  name, 
"  Rowlandfon  fecit." 

\t  this  time  Rowlandfon  ftill  continued  to  work  for  Fores,  but  before 
the  end  of  the  century  we  find  him  working  for  Ackermann,  of  the 
Strand,  who  continued  to  be  his  friend  and  employer  during  the  reft  of 
his  life,  and  is  faid  to  have  helped  him  generoufly  in  many  difficulties. 
In  thefe,  indeed,  he  was  continually  involved  by  his  diflipation  and 

thoughtleffuefs. 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


487 


thoughtleflhefs.  Ackermann  not  only  employed  him  in  etching  the 
drawings  of  other  caricaturifls,  efpecially  of  Bunbury,  but  in  furnifhing 
illuftrations  to  books,  fuch  as  the  feveral  feries  of  Dr.  Syntax,  the  ".New 
Dance  of  Death,"  and  others.  Rowlandfon's  illuftrations  to  editions  of 
the  older  ftandard  novels,  fuch  as  "Tom  Jones,"  are  remarkably  clever. 
In  transferring  the  works  of  other  caricaturifts  to  the  copper,  Rowlandfon 
was  in  the  habit  of  giving  his  own  ftyle  to  them  to  fuch  a  degree,  that 
nobody  would  fufpe6t  that  they  were  not  his  own,  if  the  name  of  the 
defigner  were  not  attached  to  them.  I  have  given  one  example  of  this 
in  a  former  chapter,  and  another  very  curious  one  is  furniflied  by  a  print 
now  before  me,  entitled  "Anglers  of  1811,"  which  bears  only  the  name 
"  H.  Bunbury  del.,"  but  which  is  in  every  particular  a  perfect  example  of 


No.  233.     Antiquaries  at  Work. 

the  ftyle  of  Rowlandfon.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  life  Rowlandfon 
amufed  himfelf  with  making  an  immenfe  number  of  drawings  which  were 
never  engraved,  but  many  of  which  have  been  preferved  and  are  ftill 
found  fcattered  through  the  portfolios  of  collectors.  Thefe  are  generally 
better  finifhed  than  his  etchings,  and  are  all  more  or  lets  burlcfque.  Our 
cut  No.  233  is  taken  from  one  of  thefe  drawings,  in  the  poflefiion  of 

Mr 


488  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grot ejque 

Mr.  Fairholt ;  it  reprefents  a  party  of  antiquaries  engaged  in  important 
excavations.  No  doubt  the  figures  were  intended  for  well-known  archae- 
ologifts  of  the  day. 

Thomas  Rowlandfon  died  in  poverty,  in  lodgings  in  the  Adelphi,  on 
the  22nd  of  April,  1827. 

Among  the  mofl  aftive  caricaturifts  of  the  beginning  of  the  prefent 
century  we  muft  not  overlook  Ifaac  Cruikfhank,  even  if  it  were  only 
becaufe  the  name  has  become  fo  celebrated  in  that  of  his  more  talented 
fon.  Ifaac's  caricatures,  too,  were  equal  to  thofe  of  any  of  his  contem- 
poraries, after  Gillray  and  Rowlandfon.  One  of  the  earliefl  examples 
which  I  have  feen  bearing  the  well-known  initials,  I.  C.,  was  publifhed 
on  the  loth  of  March,  1794,  the  year  in  which  George  Cruikfhank  was 
born,  and  probably,  therefore,  when  Ifaac  was  quite  a  young  man.  It  is 
entitled  "A  Republican  Belle,"  and  is  an  evident  imitation  of  Gillray. 
In  another,  dated  the  ift  of  November,  1795,  Pitt  is  reprefented  as  "  The 
Royal  Extinguifher,"  putting  out  the  flame  of  "  Sedition."  Ifaac  Cruik- 
fhank publifhed  many  prints  anonymoufly,  and  among  the  numerous  cari- 
catures of  the  latter  end  of  the  lafl  century  we  meet  with  many  which 
have  no  name  attached  to  them,  but  which  referable  fo  exa&ly  his  known 
flyle,  that  we  can  hardly  hefitate  in  afcribing  them  to  him.  It  will  be 
remarked  that  in  his  acknowledged  works  he  caricatures  the  oppofition ; 
but  perhaps,  like  other  caricaturifts  of  his  time,  he  worked  privately  for 
anybody  who  would  pay  him,  and  was  as  willing  to  work  againfl  the 
government  as  for  it,  for  moft  of  the  prints  which  betray  their  author  only 
by  their  ftyle  are  caricatures  on  Pitt  and  his  meafures.  Such  is  the  group 
given  in  our  cut  No.  234,  which  was  publifhed  on  the  ijjth  of  Auguft, 
1797,  at  a  time  when  there  were  loud  complaints  againfl  the  burthen  of 
taxation.  It  is  entitled  "  Billy's  Raree-Show  j  or,  John  Bull  Ew-lighten'd," 
and  reprefents  Pitt,  in  the  character  of  a  fhowman,  exhibiting  to  John 
Bull,  and  picking  his  pocket  while  his  attention  is  occupied  with  the 
fhow.  Pitt,  in  a  true  fhowman's  ftyle,  fays  to  his  vidim,  "  Now,  pray 
lend  your  attention  to  the  enchanting  profpe6t  before  you,— this  is  the 
profpe<a  of  peace— only  obferve  what  a  bufy  fcene  prefents  itfelf— the 
ports  are  filled  with  fhipping,  the  quays  loaded  with  merchandife,  riches 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


489 


are  flowing  in  from  every  quarter — this  profpeft  alone  is  worth  all  the 
money  you  have  got  about  you."  Accordingly,  the  fhowman  abftra6ts 
the  fame  money  from  his  pocket,  while  John  Bull,  unconfcious  of  the 
theft,  exclaims  with  furprife,  "  Mayhap  it  may,  matter  fhowman,  but  I 
canna  zee  ony  thing  like  what  you  mentions, — I  zees  nothing  but  a 


No.  234.      The  Raree-Shmu, 

woide  plain,  withfome  mountains  and  molehills  upon't — as  fure  as  a  gun, 
it  muft  be  all  behoind  one  of  thofe!"  The  flag  of  the  mow  is  infcribed, 
"  Licenfed  by  authority,  Billy  Hum's  grand  exhibition  of  moving 
mechanifm;  or,  deception  of  the  fenfes." 

In  a  caricature  with  the  initials  of  I.  C.,  and  publifhed  on  the  2Oth  of 
June,    1797,  Fox   is   reprefented  as  "The  Watchman   of  the    State," 
ironically,  of  courfe,  for  he  is  betraying  the  truft  which  he  had  oftenta 
tioufly  affumed,  and  abfenting  himfelf  at  the  moment  when  his  agents 
are  putting  the  match  to  the  train  they  have  laid  to  blow  up  the  conftitu- 

3  R  tion 


490  Hijlory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 


tion.  Yet  Cruikftiank's  caricatures  on  the  Irilh  union  were  rather  oppofed 
to  minifters.  One  of  thefe,  publilhed  on  the  2oth  of  June,  1800,  is  full 
of  humour.  It  is  entitled  "A  Flight  acrofs  the  Herring  Pond."  Eng- 
land and  Ireland  are  feparated  by  a  rough  fea,  over  which  a  crowd  of 
Irift  "  patriots  "  are  flying,  allured  by  the  profpecl  of  honours  and  rewards. 
On  the  Irifh  fhore,  a  few  wretched  natives,  with  a  baby  and  a  dog,  are  in 
an  attitude  of  prayer,  expoftulating  with  the  fugitives, — "  Och,  och  !  do 
not  leave  us — confider  your  old  houfe,  it  will  look  like  a  big  wallnut-mell 
without  a  kernel."  On  the  Englifh  fhore,  Pitt  is  holding  open  the 
"  Imperial  Pouch,"  and  welcoming  them, — "  Come  on,  my  little  fellows, 
there's  plenty  of  room  for  you  all — the  budget  is  not  half  full."  Infide 


No.  235.      Flight  acrojs  the  Herring  Pond. 

the  "  pouch  "  appears  a  hoft  of  men  covered  with  honours  and  dignities, 
one  of  whom  fays  to  the  foremoft  of  the  Irifh  candidates  for  favour, 
"Very  fnug  and  convenient,  brother,  I  affure  you."  Behind  Pitt,  Dundas, 
feated  on  a  pile  of  public  offices  united  in  his  perfon,  calls  out  to  the 
immigrants,  "If  you've  ony  confciences  at  a',  here's  enugh  to  fatisfy 
ye  a'."  A  portion  of  this  clever  caricature  is  reprefented  in  our  cut 
No.  235. 

There 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


491 


There  is  a  rare  caricature  on  the  fubje<3:  of  the  Irilh  union,  which 
exhibits  a  little  of  the  ftyle  of  Ifaac  Cruikfhank,  and  a  copy  of  which  is 
in  the  pofieffion  of  Mr.  Fairholt.  From  this  I  have  taken  merely  the 
group  which  forms  our  cut  No.  236.  It  is  a  long  print,  dated  on  the 
i  ft  of  January,  1800,  and  is  entitled  "The  Triumphal  entry  of  the  Union 


No.  436.     A  Cafe  of  AbduRion. 

into  London."  Pitt,  with  a  paper  entitled  "  Irifti  Freedom "  in  his 
pocket,  is  carrying  off  the  young  lady  (Ireland)  by  force,  with  her  natural 
accompaniment,  a  keg  of  whhky.  The  lord  chancellor  of  Ireland  (lord 
Clare)  fits  on  the  horfe  and  performs  the  part  of  fiddler.  In  advance  of 
this  group  are  a  long  rabble  of  radicals,  Irimmen,  &c.,  while  clofe  behind 
comes  Grattan,  carried  in  a  fedan-chair,  and  earneftly  appealing  to  the 
lady,  "  lerne,  lerne  ! .  my  fweet  maid,  liften  not  to  him — he's  a  falfe, 
flattering,  gay  deceiver."  Still  farther  in  the  rear  follows  St.  Patrick, 
riding  on  a  bull,  with  a  fack  of  potatoes  for  his  faddle,  and  playing  on 
the  Irifti  harp.  An  Irifliman  expoftulates  in  the  following  words — "  Ah, 
long  life  to  your  holy  reverence's  memory,  why  will  you  lave  your  own 
nate  little  kingdom,  and  go  to  another  where  they  will  tink  no  more  of 
you  then  they  would  of  an  old  biogue  ?  Shure,  of  all  the  faints  in  the 
red  letter  calendar,  we  give  you  the  preference  !  och  hone !  och  hone  !" 

Another 


492  Hiflory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque 

Another  Irilhman  pulls  the  bull  by  the  tail,  with  the  lament,  "  Ah, 
mafther,  honey,  why  will  you  be  after  leaving  us  ?  What  will  become  of 
poor  Shelagh  and  all  of  us,  when  you  are  gone  >"  It  is  a  regular  Irifh 
cafe  of  abduclion. 

The  laft  example  I  (hall  give  of  the  caricatures  of  Ifaac  Cruikfhank  is 
the  copy  of  one  entitled  "The  Farthing  Rufhlight,"  which,  I  need  hardly 


No.  237.      The  Farthing  Rujhlight. 

fay,  is  a  parody  on  the  fubjed  of  a  well-known  fong.  The  rufhlight  is 
the  poor  old  king,  George,  whom  the  prince  of  Wales  and  his  Whig 
aflbciates,  Fox,  Sheridan,  and  others,  are  labouring  in  vain  to  blow  out. 
The  lateft  caricature  I  poffefs,  bearing  the  initials  of  Ifaac  Cruikfhank, 
was  publifhed  by  Fores,  on  the  19111  of  April,  1810,  and  is  entitled,  "  The 
Laft  Grand  Minifterial  Expedition  (on  the  Street,  Piccadilly)."  The 
fubjea  is  the  riot  on  the  arreft  of  fir  Francis  Burdett,  and  it  mows  that 
Cruikfhank  was  at  this  time  caricaturing  on  the  radical  fide  in  politics. 

Ifaac  Cruikfhank  left  two  fons  who  became  diflinguifhed  as  caricaturifts, 
George,  already  mentioned,  and  Robert.  George  Cruikfhank,  who  is 
ftill  amongft  us,  has  raifed  caricature  in  art  to  perhaps  the  higheft  degree 
of  excellence  it  has  yet  reached.  He  began  as  a  political  caricaturift,  in 
imitation  of  his  father  Ifaac— in  fad  the  two  brothers  are  underftood  to 

have 


in  Literature  and  Art. 


493 


have  worked  jointly  with  their  father  before  they  engraved  on  their  own 
account.  1  have  in  my  own  pofleflion  two  of  his  earlieft  works  of  this 
clais,  publiihed  by  Fores,  of  Piccadilly,  and  dated  refpedively  the  3rd  and 
the  I9th  of  March,  1815.  George  was  then  under  twenty-one  years  of 
age.  The  firft  of  thefe  prints  is  a  caricature  on  the  reftri&ions  laid  upon 
the  trade  in  corn,  and  is  entitled  "  The  Bleffings  of  Peace,  or,  the  Curfe  ot 
the  Corn  Bill."  A  foreign  boat  has  arrived,  laden  with  corn  at  a  low 
price — one  of  the  foreign  traders  holds  out  a  fample  and  fays,  "  Here  is 
de  beft  for  505."  A  group  of  bloated  ariftocrats  and  landholders  ftand 
on  the  Ihore,  with  a  clofed  ftorehoufe,  filled  with  corn  behind  them ;  the 
foremoft,  warning  the  boat  away  with  his  hand,  replies  to  the  merchant, 
"  We  won't  have  it  at  any  price — we  are  determined  to  keep  up  our  own 
to  80*.,  and  if  the  poor  can't  buy  at  that  price,  why  they  muft  ftarve. 
We  love  money  too  well  to  lower  our  rents  again ;  the  income  tax  is 
taken  off."  One  of  his  companions  exclaims,  "No,  no,  we  won't  have  it 
at  all."  A  third  adds,  "  Ay,  ay,  let  'em  ftarve,  and  be  d —  to  'em." 
Upon  this  another  of  the  foreign  merchants  cries,  "  By  gar,  if  they  will 
not  have  it  at  all,  we  muft  throw  it  overboard !"  and  a  failor  is  carrying 
this  alternative  into  execution  by  emptying  a  fack  into  the  fea.  Another 
group  Hands  near  the  clofed  ftorehoufe — it  confifts  of  a  poor  Englifhman, 
his  wife  with  an  infant  in  the  arms,  and  two  ragged  children,  a  boy  and 
a  girl.  The  father  is  made  to  fay,  "  No,  no,  mailers,  I'll  not  ftarve  ;  but 
quit  my  native  country,  where  the  poor  are  cruihed  by  thofe  they  labour 
to  fupport,  and  retire  to  one  more  hofpitable,  and  where  the  arts  of  the 
rich  do  not  interpofe  to  defeat  the  providence  of  God."  The  corn  bill 
was  parted  in  the  fpring  of  1815,  and  was  the  caufe  of  much  popular 
agitation  and  rioting.  The  fecond  of  thefe  caricatures,  on  the  fame 
fubjeft,  is  entitled,  "  The  Scale  of  Juftice  reverfed,"  and  reprefents  the 
rich  exulting  over  the  difappearance  of  the  tax  on  property,  while  the 
poor  are  cruihed  under  the  weight  of  taxes  which  bore  only  upon  them. 
Thefe  two  caricatures  prefent  unmiftakable  traces  of  the  peculiarities  of 
ftyle  of  George  Cruikfhank,  but  not  as  yet  fully  developed. 

George    Cruikfhank   rofe   into   great    celebrity   and   popularity  as  a 
political  caricaturift  by  his  illuftrations  to  the  pamphlets  of  William  Houe, 

fuch 


494  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque. 

fuch  as  "  The  Political  Houfe  that  Jack  built,"  "  The  Political  Showman 
at  Home,"  and  others  upon  the  trial  of  queen  Caroline ;  but  this  fort  of 
work  fuited  the  tafte  of  the  public  at  that  time,  and  not  that  of  the  artift, 
which  lay  in  another  dire£tion.  The  ambition  of  George  Cruikfhank  was 
to  draw  what  Hogarth  called  moral  comedies,  pictures  of  fociety  carried 
through  a  feries  of  acts  and  fcenes,  always  pointed  with  fome  great  moral ; 
and  it  muft  be  confefled  that  he  has,  through  a  long  career,  fucceeded 
admirably.  He  poflefles  more  of  the  true  fpirit  of  Hogarth  than  any 
other  artift  fince  Hogarth's  time,  with  greater  Ikill  in  drawing.  He 
poflefles,  even  to  a  greater  degree  than  Hogarth  himfelf,  that  admirable 
talent  of  filling  a  picture  with  an  immenfe  number  of  figures,  every  one 
telling  a  part  of  the  ftory,  without  which,  however  minute,  the  whole 
picture  would  feem  to  us  incomplete.  The  picture  of  the  "  Camp  at 
Vinegar  Hill,"  and  one  or  two  other  illuftrations  to  Maxwell's  "  Hiftory 
of  the  Irifh  Rebellion  in  1798,"  are  equal,  if  not  fuperior,  to  anything 
ever  produced  by  Hogarth  or  by  Callot. 

The  name  of  George  Cruikfliank  forms  a  worthy  conclufion  to  the 
"  Hiftory  of  Caricature  and  Grotefque."  He  is  the  laft  reprefentative  of 
the  great  fchool  of  caricaturifts  formed  during  the  reign  of  George  III. 
Though  there  can  hardly  be  faid  to  be  a  fchool  at  the  prefent  day,  yet 
our  modern  artifts  in  this  field  have  been  all  formed  more  or  lefs  under 
his  influence ;  and  it  muft  not  be  forgotten  that  we  owe  to  that 
influence,  and  to  his  example,  to  a  great  degree,  the  cleanfing  of  this 
branch  of  art  from  the  objectionable  character! ftics  of  which  I  have  on 
more  than  one  occafion  been  obliged  to  fpeak.  May  he  ftill  live  long 
among  the  friends  who  not  only  admire  him  for  his  talents,  but  love 
him  for  his  kindly  and  genial  fpirit ;  and  none  among  them  love  and 
admire  him  more  fincerely  than  the  author  of  the  prefent  volume. 


FINIS. 


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