caricature the date of this plate has been altered; it was probably
published in 1802, and re-issued later, a common occurrence with
Rowlandson's prints. _Bitter Fare, or Sweeps Regaling_, was, it seems
likely, designed as a companion to _Love and Dust_ (1792, &c.), and
it partakes of the same ragged inspiration. In the hovel tenanted
by the somewhat undesirable 'Chummey family' smoke is the prevalent
element; the sooty company, sufficiently black and begrimed in
their own persons, seem perfectly in their element before a smoking
fireplace--as they are reposing luxuriously on sacks of soot. The heads
of the family are amiably sharing their enjoyments, drinking beer
from a pewter measure, and smoking long clay pipes; the sweeper lads,
but for a coat of soot comparatively unclad, are revelling amidst the
cinders on the hearth, divided between the congenial relaxations of
eating porridge and tormenting an unfortunate cat. Brushes, shovels,
and the professional belongings of chimney-sweeping are scattered
about; the only article of fancy admitted into the establishment is a
blackbird, which is possibly present on the ground that its hue offers
a resemblance to the general complexion.
_October 12, 1812._ _Raising the Wind._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1
James Street, Adelphi.
When noblemen have lost racehorse, and all their rhino spent,
Then little Isaac draws the bond and lends for cent. per cent.
[Illustration: RAISING THE WIND.]
Rowlandson's print introduces the nobleman at the precise moment his
affairs need 'patching up,' for 'mended' he never can be after he
has put himself into the spider-like clutches of plausible Isaac and
his 'friend in the City.' The 'little Jew broker' has brought a rich
usurer of his tribe, and between them his lordship's career of folly
will be swiftly run. All the ready-money is gone, and the racing stud
has followed it; but the 'road to ruin' is only just opening up. The
spendthrift is a comparative beginner; the next step is raising money
on his _title deeds_, which are undergoing inspection under the
vulture-like eye of the scrivener, who, it appears, lends money on good
security and traffics in annuities and jointures.
The borrower is evidently accustomed to take life easily, he is putting
himself into the claws of the Israelites, and is otherwise 'going to
the bad' with perfect good humour and in a sociable frame of mind, not
unlike the way of proceeding practised by the heroes of Sheridan's
comedies; indeed, there is a great deal of the _Charles Surface_
element in the composition.
The pictures which fill young Hopeful's walls tell his story after the
Hogarthian method. There are portraits of the relatives who have left
their savings and estates to the present careless holder: Sir Matthew
Mite, a miser; Lady Crane; and Sir Peter Plumb--all persons of a 'warm'
disposition as to wealth. There is a 'view of the Yorkshire estate;'
then there is 'The Prodigal Son,' which may be held to apply to the
heir, whose ways of making the money fly are further illustrated by
such pictures as a 'Hazard Table,' 'A game fighting-cock,' a racehorse,
'Sancho,' on the course; and a blood mare, 'Diana,' and foal; the
breeding and running of racehorses being considered then, as now, among
the most expeditious routes to insolvency.
_November 30, 1812._ _Christmas Gambols._ Published by T. Rowlandson, 1
James Street, Adelphi.--The festivities represented, which partake of
the free and frolicsome description, are taking place in the servants'
hall. Full drinking has been the order of the evening; the master's
cellar and the servants' heads have both been lightened simultaneously,
and the results are displaying themselves under the mistletoe and in
horseplay. A footman and a parlour-maid are rolling over one another
indiscriminately on the hearthrug amidst the fragments of crockery
demolished in their downfall. A sturdy black footman is lifting a fat
wench in his arms for a chaste salute. Practical joking is the order of
the evening; the fat cook has been toppled back in her armchair, and is
vainly flourishing her basting-ladle to drive off her assailant, while
her feet are in the air; and the butler, as author of the mischief,
is making the best use of his opportunities, while another couple are
exchanging kisses with evident goodwill.