(231).--A gallant huzzar has ridden his charger through a pond which is
supposed to isolate the walls of a park and mansion, from the security
of which a damsel, 'all in white,' of redundant personal charms, is
being helped to elope over the ivy-grown wall by the dashing horseman,
to whose custody the lady is unreservedly entrusting the keeping of her
fair person.
_September 20, 1813._ _A Doleful Disaster, or Miss Fubby Tatarmin's
Wig caught Fire._ (Vide _Bath Guide_.)--A stout lady is in all the
consternation of a blazing head of hair; the enormous superstructure
piled on her head has caught fire at the top from the sconces on the
mantel; her armchair is kicked over, and the whole of her household
are making a desperate rush on to the scene of the conflagration; the
footman has dragged the tablecloth from beneath the tea equipage,
which has fallen to destruction, and is endeavouring to envelope the
headdress of his mistress in the folds; a black page is discharging a
flowerpot of water in the face of the distressed lady; female servants
are flinging up their arms and screaming; and, in the rear, the elder
servants are hurrying up in great distress.
But Madge at the Rooms
Must beware of her plumes;
For if Vulcan her feather embraces,
Like poor Lady Laycock,
She'll burn like a haycock,
And roast all the Loves and the Graces.
ANSTEY'S _Bath Guide_.
_November 5, 1813._ _The Two Kings of Terror. Copy of the transparency
exhibited at Ackermann's Repository of Arts during the Illuminations
of the 5th and 6th November, 1813, in honour of the splendid victories
obtained by the Allies over the armies of France, at Leipzic and
its environs._--'This subject, representing the two tyrants--viz.,
the tyrant Buonaparte and the tyrant Death--sitting together on the
field of battle, in a manner which promises a more perfect intimacy
immediately to ensue, is very entertaining. It is also instructive
to observe that the former is now placed in a situation in which
all Europe _may see through him_. The emblem, too, of the circle of
dazzling light from mere _vapour_, which is so _soon extinguished_, has
a good moral effect; and as the gas represents the dying flame, so does
the drum, on which he is seated, typify the hollow and noisy nature of
the falling usurper.'
The above description of the subject appeared in the _Sun_ of Saturday,
November 6, 1813. These printed comments arose from the picture itself
having been transparent, and from a circle which surmounted the same,
indicative of the strength and brotherly union of the Allies, composed
of gas of brilliant brightness. (See January 1, 1814.)
_November 22, 1813._ _The Norwich Bull Feast, or Glory and Gluttony._
Published by T. Tegg (232).--The success gained by the allied armies
over Napoleon and his forces, and the series of French disasters
which had culminated at Leipzig, gave rise to rejoicings all over the
country, in celebration of the supposed final downfall of the Corsican
Emperor, the traditional enemy of England, as the people had been
taught to consider him. Norwich, according to the print, is the scene
of disorderly revelry. A huge bullock has been roasted whole in the
market-place, and the carcase is being cut up and distributed in the
streets; the unruly mob fighting over the morsels and wrenching the
bones from those who are ravenously picking them; scuffles, struggles,
scrimmages, and savage onslaughts are the order of the day. At the
same time a puncheon of beer or spirits is broached for gratuitous
distribution, and a pretty spectacle of misrule is the consequence.
The fair sex are represented as the chief competitors for the drink;
pails, cans, and jugs are eagerly filled, and as greedily emptied;
the contents being poured down the throats of the holders or down
those of their friends, who are opening their mouths to receive the
liquor, which is gushing forth in streams. The incidents surrounding
the liquor-cart are, if possible, more disreputable and degrading than
those transpiring on all sides of the trestles on which the ox is being
dismembered by a pair of butcher's men, armed with a chopper and a
huge carver. Some of the female patriots are reduced to insensibility,
and efforts are being made to revive one poor creature, who is lying
unconscious in the midst of the struggling mass, either overpowered
by the potency of the drink or smothered by the pressure; buckets
of the fluid are being emptied over the prostrate sufferer by tipsy
Samaritans, without alleviating her condition.
The town of Norwich is given up to the gala; flags are flying,
and illuminations and fireworks render the sight more animated. A
tumultuous procession is struggling along, bearing guns, pikes, &c.,
and carrying the effigy of Buonaparte to be gibbeted or burnt at a
bonfire. Flags head the mob, inscribed _Downfall of the Tyrant_; _Peace
and Plenty_, &c.
[Illustration: A LONG PULL, A STRONG PULL, AND A PULL ALL TOGETHER.]
_November 25, 1813._ _A Long Pull, a Strong Pull, and a Pull All
together._ Published by T. Tegg (233).--The end of 1813 promised to
witness the downfall of the great 'little Boney;' one misfortune
followed another; ally after ally abandoned the conqueror, who in the
hour of victory had behaved magnanimously to the subjugated States,
and they in return deserted their new friend when disasters were
pressing on him--a sure proof of the danger of confiding in alliances
extracted at the point of the sword or made in bad faith on grounds
of desperate expediency. As we have seen, the blow came from the
North: the treachery of Bernadotte, King of Sweden, a man who owed
his elevation to the Emperor, pointed the way to prostrate Europe to
free herself from the ambitious thraldom of Napoleon; the Russian Bear
broke his false slumbers, the Austrian and Prussian Eagles escaped
from their chains, Spain was cleared of the invaders, and lastly the
Kingdom of Holland revolted in the rear of the disabled Corsican. The
king, Napoleon's brother, Louis, whom he had imposed on this kingdom,
had voluntarily abdicated the crown in favour of his son, a minor, in