Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II.
you will recollect it at the next ball--this, you know, can be done in
a genteel way, and you will be 'all the go.' Return into the room, and
either tread upon some gentleman's toes, or give him a slight touch with
your elbow: which, if he be inclined to resent, tell him, 'pon lionour,'
you did not observe him, or, if inclined to suffer it with impunity--'
Get out of the way, fellow, d----n you.'
On your way home, after escorting your fair inamorata to her peaceful
abode, make a few calls for the purpose of taking a little more stimulus
with some particular friends, and then return home for the night to
'steep your senses in forgetfulness.'”
“A very amusing and useful account, truly,” said Bob, as his Cousin
closed his chapter of instructions How to Cut a Dash.
“It is, at least, a just and true delineation of living character.”
“Not without a good portion of caricature,” said Mincingait. “You
are downright scurrilous, and ought not to be tolerated in civilized
society. Sink me, if you ~239~~are not quite a bore, and not fit company
for a Gentleman. so I shall wish you a good morning.”
Tom and Bob laughed heartily at this declaration of the Dashing Blade,
and, wishing him a pleasant walk and a safe return, they separated.
By this time they had arrived at Somerset House: it was near three
o'clock, and the Rooms exhibited a brilliant crowd of rank and fashion,
which considerably enhanced the value of its other decorations.
“I have already,” said Dashall, “given you a general description of this
building, and shall therefore confine my present observations wholly to
the establishment of the Royal Academy for the encouragement of the Fine
Arts, for the cultivation of which London is now much and deservedly
distinguished; and to the progressive improvement in which we are
indebted to that Exhibition we have already witnessed. This Academy
was opened by Royal Charter in 1768; and it consists of forty members,
called Royal Academicians, twenty Associates, and six Associate
Engravers. The first President was the justly celebrated Sir Joshua
Reynolds; the second, the highly respected Benjamin West; and the
present, is Sir Thomas Lawrence.
“The Academy possesses a fine collection of casts and models, from
antique statues, &c. a School of colouring, from pictures of the best
masters. Lectures are delivered by the stated Professors in their
various branches, to the Students during the winter season; prize
medals are given annually for the best academy figures and drawings
of buildings; and gold medals for historical composition in painting,
sculpture, and designs in Architecture, once in two years; which latter
are presented to the successful Artists in full assembly, accompanied
with a discourse from the President, calculated to stimulate
perseverance and exertion. Students have at all times, (except during
the regular vacations,) an opportunity of studying nature from well
chosen models, and of drawing from the antique casts.
“This Exhibition is generally opened on the first of May. The number
of works of art, consisting of paintings, sculptures, models, proof
engravings and drawings, generally exhibited, are upwards of one
thousand; and are usually visited by all the gaiety and fashion of the
Metropolis, between the hours of two and five o'clock in ~240~~the day.
The rooms are elegant and spacious; and I consider it at all times
a place where a shilling may be well spent, and an hour or two well
enjoyed.
“Some spend a life in classing grubs, and try,
New methods to impale a butterfly;
Or, bottled up in spirits, keep with care
A crowd of reptiles--hideously rare;
While others search the mouldering wrecks of time,
And drag their stores from dust and rust and slime;
Coins eat with canker, medals half defac'd,
And broken tablets, never to be trac'd;
Worm-eaten trinkets worn away of old,
And broken pipkins form'd in antique mould;
Huge limbless statues, busts of heads forgot,
And paintings representing none knows what;
Strange legends that to monstrous fables lead,
And manuscripts that nobody can read;
The shapeless forms from savage hands that sprung,
And fragments of rude art, when Art was young.
This precious lumber, labell'd, shelv'd, and cas'd,
And with a title of Museum grac'd,
Shews how a man may time and fortune waste,
And die a mummy'd connoisseur of taste.”
On entering the rooms, Bob was bewildered with delight; the elegance
of the company, the number and excellence of the paintings, were
attractions so numerous and splendid, as to leave him no opportunity
of decidedly fixing his attention. He was surrounded by all that
could enchant the eye and enrapture the imagination. Moving groups of
interesting females were parading the rooms with dashing partners
at their elbows, pointing out the most beautiful paintings from the
catalogues, giving the names of the artists, or describing the subjects.
Seated on one of the benches was to be seen the tired Dandy, whose
principal inducement to be present at this display of the Arts, was to
exhibit his own pretty person, and attract a little of the public gaze
by his preposterous habiliments and unmeaning countenance; to fasten
upon the first person who came within the sound of his scarcely
articulate voice with observing, “It is d----d hot, 'pon honour--can't
stand it--very fatiguing--I wonder so many persons are let in at
once--there's no such thing as seeing, I declare, where there is such
a crowd: I must come again, that's the end of it.” On another, was the
full-dressed Elegante, with her bonnet in one hand, and her catalogue
in the other, apparently intent upon examining the pictures before
~241~~her, while, in fact, her grand aim was to discover whether she
herself was observed. The lounging Blood, who had left his horses at
the door, was bustling among the company with his quizzing-glass in his
hand, determined, if possible, to have a peep at every female he met,
caring as much for the Exhibition itself, as the generality of the
visitors cared for him. The Connoisseur was placing his eye occasionally
close to the paintings, or removing to short distances, right and left,
to catch them in the most judicious lights, and making remarks on his
catalogue with a pencil; and Mrs. Roundabout, from Leadenhall, who had
brought her son Dicky to see the show, as she called it, declared it was
the '_most finest_ sight she ever seed, lifting up her hand and eyes at
the same time as Dicky read over the list, and charmed her by reciting
the various scraps of poetry inserted in the catalogue to elucidate
the subjects. It was altogether a source of inexpressible delight and
amusement. Tom, whose taste for the arts qualified him well for the
office of guide upon such an occasion, directed the eye of his Cousin
to the best and most masterly productions in the collection, and
whose attention was more particularly drawn to the pictures (though
occasionally devoted to the inspection of a set of well-formed features,
or a delicately turned ancle,) was much pleased to find Bob so busy in
enquiry and observation.
“We have here,” said Tom, “a combination of the finest specimens in the
art of painting laid open annually for public inspection. Music, Poetry,
and Painting, have always been held in high estimation by those who
make any pretensions to an improved mind and a refined taste. In this
Exhibition the talents of the Artists in their various lines may be
fairly estimated, and the two former may almost be said to give life to
the latter, in which the three are combined. The Historian, the Poet,
and the Philosopher, have their thoughts embodied by the Painter; and
the tale so glowingly described in language by the one, is brought full
before the eye by the other; while the Portrait-painter hands down, by
the vivid touches of his pencil, the features and character of those who
by their talents have deservedly signalized themselves in society.
The face of nature is displayed in the landscape, and the force of
imagination by the judicious selector of scenes from actual life. Hence
painting is the fascinating region of enchantment. The pencil is a
magic wand; it calls up ~242~~to view the most extensive and variegated
scenery calculated to wake the slumbering mind to thought.
“----To mark the mighty hand
That, ever busy, wheels the silent spheres,
Works in the secret deep; shoots steaming thence
The fair profusion that o'erspreads the Spring;
Flings from the sun direct the naming day;
Feeds every creature; hurls the tempest forth;
And as on earth this grateful change revolves.
With transport touches all the springs of life.”
“Upon my life!” cried Bob, “we seem to have no need of Sparkle now, for
you are endeavouring to imitate him.”
“Your observations maybe just, in part,” replied Tom; “but I can assure
you I have no inclination to continue in the same strain. At the
same time, grave subjects, or subjects of the pencil and graver, are
deserving of serious consideration, except where the latter are engaged
in caricature.”
“And that has its utility,” said Bob.
“To be sure it has,” continued Tom--“over the human mind, wit, humour
and ridicule maintain authoritative influence. The ludicrous images
which flit before the fancy, aided by eccentric combinations, awaken
the risible powers, and throw the soul into irresistible tumults of
laughter. Who can refrain from experiencing risible emotions when
he beholds a lively representation of Don Quixote and Sancho
Pança--Hudibras and his Ralpho--merry old Falstaff shaking his fat
sides, gabbling with Mrs. Quickly, and other grotesque figures to be
found in the vast variety of human character? To lash the vices and
expose the follies of mankind, is the professed end of this species of
painting.
“Satire has always shone among the rest;
And is the boldest way, if not the best,
To tell men freely of their foulest faults.”
Objects well worthy of attention--like comedy--may degenerate, and
become subservient to licentiousness and profligacy; yet the shafts
of ridicule judiciously aimed, like a well-directed artillery, do much
execution. With what becoming severity does the bold Caricature lay
open to public censure the intrigues of subtle Politicians, the
~243~~chicanery of corrupted Courts, and the flattery of cringing
Parasites! Hence satirical books and prints, under temperate
regulations, check the dissoluteness of the great. Hogarth's Harlot's
and Rake's Progress have contributed to reform the different classes of
society--nay, it has even been doubted by some, whether the Sermons of
a Tillotson ever dissuaded so efficaciously from lust, cruelty, and
intemperance, as the Prints of an Hogarth. Indeed it may with truth
be observed, that the art of Painting is one of those innocent and
delightful means of pleasure which Providence has kindly offered to
brighten the prospects of life: under due restriction, and with proper
direction, it may be rendered something more than an elegant mode of
pleasing the eye and the imagination; it may become a very powerful
auxiliary to virtue.”
“I like your remarks very well,” said Bob; “but there is no such
thing as paying proper attention to them at present; besides, you are
moralizing again.”
“True,” said Tom, “the subjects involuntarily lead me to moral
conclusions--there is a fine picture--Nature blowing Bubbles for her
Children, from the pencil of Hilton; in which is united the simplicity