this famous view of the relative estates of the realm stand under
niches; the head of the State is the first represented; and next, of
course, is the Church; then the powers militant; and lastly, as a sort
of necessary evil, the commonalty--perhaps better kept out of sight
altogether, since the presence of the representative of this portion
of the empire is not acknowledged by the other three, his pastors
and masters. Number one, George the Third; the King in this case is
represented strutting in awful but somewhat awkward majesty. To quote a
national but lowly authority, Giles Grinagain:--
What! he the King? Why, that chap there?
Why, I saw a king at Bartholomew Fair
More like a king than that chap there!
The Bishop, a snug ecclesiastic, a remnant possibly of the bad old
school of the Clarke preferments, all wig, lawn sleeves, mitre, and
crozier, is raising his fat hands with sanctimonious import--'I pray
for all.' As to the soldier, the military officer drawn by Rowlandson
rather reminds one of Colonel Wardle, whose person the caricaturist had
made a little too familiar--'I fight for all;' and lastly comes John
Bull, under his agricultural aspect, a simple farmer, with his smock,
hay-fork, and dog, and, what is more to the purpose, his bag of 'hard
earnings' in his hand, on the strength of which he is admitted to join
the quartette--on sufferance, it is palpable--'I pay for all!'[22]
1810 (?). _The Rabbit Merchant._ Published by T. Tegg (25).--The view
of a country street; a rabbit seller, with a selection of his stock
on his pole, is offering a choice to an old dame, who is somewhat
hypercritical, and is employing a test which the rabbit merchant
considers excessive and uncalled for; he is represented as offering
'the retort courteous' in justification of his goods.
1810 (?). _A Sale of English Beauties in the East Indies._--Although,
as we have noticed, Rowlandson's work was stamped by the strongest
originality, he, like other etchers of caricatures, often executed
the ideas or worked out the first impressions of less experienced
draughtsmen; however, unlike most engravers, he has left, in his
numerous plates after Wigstead, Woodward, Bunbury, Nixon, Newton,
&c. (in all cases the name of the originator is given), but slight
traces of the defects and shortcomings of the amateur artists whose
sketches he has put into circulation, the major part of the engravings
bearing unmistakable and easily recognised evidence of Rowlandson's
individuality. In the case of the present caricature he has, in some
degree, departed from this practice, probably at the desire of the
publisher of the print, and has gone to Gillray's large and spirited
plate entitled _A Sale of English Beauties in the East Indies_ for
the materials of his version of the same subject. It is noticeable,
however, that while he has, in a free-handed manner, preserved the
chief points and indeed most of the figures of the original (published
March 16, 1786), he has forborne to put his own name to the copy.
It is probable that the original version was, at the date of the
smaller copy, in demand and difficult to purchase, and, to satisfy the
requirements of both publishers and public, Rowlandson has etched this
second edition of his friend's plate, Gillray having unhappily lost his
reason at the date of the republication.
The scene is supposed to be drawn from one of the landing-places in the
East Indies. A merchantman has arrived with a cargo which has proved
a source of excitement and attraction to residents of all classes.
The fair sex being in great apparent request, a shipload of English
beauties on arriving in the East would naturally produce commotion and
competition among natives and foreigners alike. A dapper auctioneer
is mounted on a bale of books lately arrived, a similar package forms
his desk, and he is knocking down a very attractive article, which
seems likely to bring a handsome figure. A fine tall beauty is under
the scrutiny of a rich Nabob; a young officer is trying to win her
ear, and an envoy from the Government, with instructions in his pocket
from the Governor-General, is calculating the lady's height with his
walking-stick held as a measure. Similar incidents are represented
around; the Rajahs are inspecting the latest importations with true
merchant-like caution; sundry bargains have already been secured,
and in the scales is shown a method of approximating valuations; a
well-favoured arrival of the florid and fully developed type is set
against a corresponding weight of 'lacs of rupees.' In the background
is pictured a large warehouse for 'unsaleable goods from Europe--to be
returned by the next ship'--and several damsels are in great distress
at being forced to take refuge within this unpopular establishment.