The Project Gutenberg EBook of John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1, by William Powell Frith This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1 Author: William Powell Frith Release Date: July 8, 2011 [EBook #36663] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 *** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JOHN LEECH *** Produced by Marius Masi, Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) JOHN LEECH His Life and Work JOHN LEECH His Life and Work BY WILLIAM POWELL FRITH, R.A. WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILLUSTRATIONS IN TWO VOLUMES VOL. I. LONDON R I C H A R D B E N T L E Y A N D S O N Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen 1891 [All rights reserved] I Dedicate this Book TO C H A R L E S F. A D A M S , LEECH’S EARLIEST, WARMEST, AND MOST CONSTANT FRIEND; WITH MY GRATEFUL THANKS FOR THE INTEREST HE HAS TAKEN IN MY WORK, AND FOR THE VALUABLE ASSISTANCE AFFORDED IN THE EXECUTION OF IT. PREFACE I AM very conscious of the many sins of commission and omission of which I have been guilty in my attempt to write the “Life and Work of John Leech”; but, that ingratitude may not figure amongst my shortcomings, I take advantage of the usual preface to acknowledge my obligations to friends and strangers from whom I have received assistance, and to express my warmest thanks for their kindness. The time that has elapsed since Leech’s death has terribly thinned the ranks of his friends and contemporaries; but the leveller has spared and dealt tenderly with one of his earliest and most constant friends, Mr. Charles F. Adams, whose store of Leech’s letters, together with many pleasing reminiscences, have been placed unreservedly at my disposal. From Mr. Kitton’s memoir of Leech I have derived, through the author’s kindness, much advantage; and to Mr. Thornber, a well-known collector of Leech’s works, I owe the opportunity of selecting some of the best illustrations that grace the book. I also desire to express my gratitude to the proprietors of Punch, who, though unable to comply with my unreasonable demand to the full extent of it, have given me most important help in my endeavours to do honour to the genius who was such an honour to Punch. I owe to those gentlemen no less than eight of the full-page illustrations, to say nothing of numbers of small cuts. I take this opportunity of thanking Mr. Grego, my neighbour Mr. McKenzie, Mr. Willert Beale, and Mr. Maitland for their help in various ways; not forgetting the Eton boy, whose anonymity I preserve according to his desire. To Sir John Millais, Mr. Ashby Sterry, Mr. Horsley, Mr. Holman Hunt, and Mr. Cholmondeley Pennel I also offer my warmest acknowledgment for the papers they have so kindly contributed. In conclusion, I permit myself a few words in explanation of that which I know will be laid to my charge, namely, that my book tells too little of Leech and too much of his work, and that it is chronologically deficient. In excuse I plead that the life of Leech as I knew it from its early days was, like that of most artists, entirely devoid of such incidents as would interest the public; and that from the difficulty of acquiring certain information, and the varying times at which it was supplied, chronological accuracy was impossible. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAPTER PAGE prologue 1 I. early days 3 II. early work 20 III. mr. percival leigh and leech 75 IV. meeting of mulready and leech 95 V. “the physiology of evening parties,” by albert smith 104 VI. john leech and the eton boy 130 VII. mr. sponge’s sporting tour 137 VIII. “the marchioness of brinvilliers,” by albert smith 151 IX. “the marchioness of brinvilliers”—continued 163 X. “a man made of money,” by douglas jerrold 178 XI. albert smith and leech 206 XII. mr. adams and leech 233 XIII. “comic grammar” and “comic history” 255 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Portrait of John Leech Frontispiece Hercules returning from a Fancy Ball To face p. 3 Physician and General Practitioner 27 “Where ’ave we bin? Why, to see the Cove ’ung, to be sure!” 29 An Eye to Business 31 But Augustus’s Heart was too full to speak 33 “Sir! Please, Mr.! Sir! you’ve forgot the Door-key!” 38 Eton Boy (loq.): “Come, governor! just one toast—‘The Ladies’!” 39 The Return from the Derby 43 The Derby Epidemic 44 Something like a Holiday 46 Alarming Symptoms on eating Boiled Beef and Gooseberry-pie 47 “So you have taken all your Stuff, and don’t feel any better, eh?” 50 Awful Apparition to a Gentleman whilst Shaving in the Edgware Road, September 29, 1846. 51 “A Holder and a Thinner Wine” 53 “Hollo! Hi! here, Somebody! I’ve turned on the Hot Water, and I can’t turn it off again!” 54 Symptoms of a Masquerade 55 The Rising Generation 57 The Irrepressible Juvenile 58 The Rising Generation 59 Servant-gal-ism 63 The Rising Generation 65 Special Constable: “Now mind, you know—if I kill you, it’s nothing; but if you kill me, by Jove! it’s murder!” 67 Recreations in Natural History 69 Cabman is supposed to have taken a Wrong Turning, that’s all 70 Mr. Briggs does a little Shooting 73 ”Fiddle-Faddle” Fashions 90 ”Fiddle-Faddle” Fashions 91 The Mulready Envelope 96 Fores’s Comic Envelope 97 Mamma and the Girls 106 Two Rude Young Men 107 The Head of the House 108 An Olive-Branch 109 Two “Gangling” Young Men 110 Preparing for the Ball 111 The Assistant-Waiter 112 The Band 112 Wallflowers 114 Mr. Ledbury 115 Mr. Ledbury and Miss Hamilton 116 The Waltz 118 In the Conservatory 119 The Belle of the Evening 120 Mr. Ledbury’s Hat 121 Mr. Percival Jenks 123 Clown: “Oh, see what I’ve found!” 127 Miss Cinthia Sings 128 Dreadful for Young Oxford 131 Miss Lucy and Mr. Sponge 149 Le Premier Pas To face p. 160 Death of St. Croix ” 172 A Family Picture 189 And there stood Jericho 203 Mr. Simmons’s Attempt at Reform 215 The Belle of the Month—August—taking a “Constitutional” in Kensington Gardens. Time, 8 a.m. 221 The Balcony Nuisance 223 The Belle of the Month—November—“in Distress off a Lee-shore—Brighton Pier” 229 “Now, Jack, my Boy! There’s no Time to lose! we’ve Ten Miles to go to Cover” 245 Effects of a Fall 253 Billy Taylor 256 “Where got’s Thou that Goose? Look!” 257 Queen Eleanor and Fair Rosamond 261 King Edward introducing his Son as Prince of Wales to his Newly-acquired Subjects 262 Unseemly Conduct of Henry, Prince of Wales 263 The Duke of Gloucester goes into Mourning for his Little Nephews 264 Mary’s Elopement 266 JOHN LEECH: HIS LIFE AND WORK PROLOGUE. “‘LEECH’ (spelt ‘leich’) is an old Saxon word for ‘surgeon,’” writes a friend to me. “Hence, as you know, the employment of the word ‘leech’ as a term applied in former times to doctors.” Though Leech is not a common name, I have met with several bearers of it under every variety of spelling that the word was capable of—Leech, Lietch, Leich, Leeche, Leitch, etc. Only two of the owners of these names became known to fame—John, of immortal memory, and, longo intervallo, William Leitch, a Scottish artist, and landscape-painter of considerable merit, whose pictures, generally of a classic character, found favour amongst a certain class of buyers. A large subject of much beauty was engraved, and, I think, formed the prize-engraving for the year for the Art Union of London. I have no doubt William Leitch was frequently asked if he were related to John. The sound of the names was similar, and few inquirers knew of the difference in the spelling. Whether William was asked the question or not I cannot speak to with certainty; but that John was I am sure, because he told me so himself, and, as well as I can recall them, in the following words: ”I was asked the other day if I were related to a man of the same name—a Scotchman—a landscape-painter. He spells his name L-e-i-t-c-h, you know. I said, ‘No; the Scotch gentleman’s name is spelt in the Scotch way, with the ’itch in it.’ Not bad, eh? I hope nobody will tell him!” I met William Leitch several times (he died long ago), and was always charmed by his refined and gentle manner; but we never became intimate, so I cannot say I had the following anecdote from himself; but it was told 1 2 me by an intimate friend of the artist, who assured me that he had it from Leitch direct. Leitch had a considerable practice as a drawing-master, chiefly amongst the higher classes. He taught the very highest, for he gave lessons to the Queen herself. I have never had the honour of seeing any of her Majesty’s drawings, but I have had the advantage of her criticism, and I can well believe in the reports of the excellence of her work. The story goes that one day, in the course of a lesson, the Queen let her pencil fall to the ground. Both master and pupil stooped to pick it up; and, to the horror of Leitch, there was a collision—the master’s head struck that of his royal pupil! and before he could stammer an apology, the Queen said, smiling: ”Well, Mr. Leitch, if we bring our heads together in this way, I ought to improve rapidly.” ”Hercules” returning from a Fancy Bail. R. E. & S. 1888. CHAPTER I. early days. ON the 29th of August, 1817, a boy was born in London gifted with a genius which, in the short time allowed for its development, delighted and astonished the world. The child’s name was Leech, and he was christened John. The Leech family was of Irish extraction. From information received, it appears that the father of Leech, also called John, was possessed of an uncle who had made a large fortune as the owner of the London Coffee-House, Ludgate Hill. With this fortune he retired, leaving his nephew to reign in his stead at the Coffee-House, not without a reasonable hope and expectation that the nephew would follow in the uncle’s prosperous footsteps. But times had changed. Clubs were being formed, and the customers of the Ludgate Hill place of entertainment preferred to be enrolled as members of the novel institutions rather than subject themselves to the somewhat mixed company at the Coffee-House. Leech’s establishment, however, struggled on into my early time, for I can well remember being advised, if I wished for a good and wonderfully cheap dinner, consisting—as per advertisement—of quite startling varieties of dishes, my desire might be gratified by payment of eighteen-pence to the authorities at the London Coffee-House, Ludgate Hill. I do not know the precise time at which the doors of the Coffee-House were finally closed and the father Leech, with his large family, was thrown upon the world; but it must have been some years after the subject of this memoir had been enrolled amongst the Charterhouse scholars, an event that took place when he was seven years old. Previous to this by about four years, some feeble buds of the genius that blossomed so abundantly afterwards are said to have shown themselves, and to have been observed by Flaxman as the child sat with pencil and paper on his mother’s knee. The great sculptor is reported to have said: “This drawing is wonderful. Do not let him be cramped by drawing-lessons; let his genius follow its own bent. He will astonish the world.” I venture to think that for this story a grain of salt would be by no means sufficient. No drawing done by a child of three years old, however gifted, could be “wonderful” in the estimation of Flaxman; and that such an artist as he was should have said anything so foolish as what is tantamount to advising a parent against “learning to draw” I take the liberty of disbelieving. Flaxman was a friend of the Leeches, and in after years, while John Leech was still a youth, the sculptor again examined some of his sketches, and, after looking well at them, he very likely said, as is reported: “That boy must be an artist; he will be nothing else.” A child of seven seems almost cruelly young to be subjected to the hardships of a public school. “I thought,” wrote John’s father, “that I was not wrong in sending him thus early, as Dr. Russell, the head-master, had a son of the same age in the school, and John was in the same form with him.” No doubt the elder Leech felt much the parting from his little son, but to Mrs. Leech the boy’s leaving home was a severe blow; the mother’s heart would no doubt realize and exaggerate the perils to mind and body arising from contact with something like six hundred fellow-pupils, scarcely one so young, and none so loving and lovable as her little boy. John was boarded at a house close by the Charterhouse, and only allowed to go home at rare intervals. The fond mother, however, could not live without seeing him, and to enable her to gratify her longing, a room was hired in a house overlooking the boy’s playground, from which, carefully hidden, she could see her little son as he walked and talked with the form-fellow, “the particular friend” to whom a sympathetic nature had attached him; or watch him as he joined heart and soul in some game—not too rough—for a fall from his pony, by which his arm had been broken and was still far from strong, made such rough sports as are common to schoolboys too dangerous to be indulged in. The Charterhouse rejoiced in a drawing-master named Burgess. Upon what principles that master proceeded to train the youth of Charterhouse I am unable to speak; they were most likely those in vogue at the time of young Leech’s sojourn. If they were of that description, it was fortunate that Leech paid—as is said—little or no attention to them, finding a difficulty, no doubt, in applying them to the sketches that constantly fell from him on to the pages of his school- books. It may be urged that when Flaxman warned the boy’s mother against teaching as being sure to cramp her son’s genius, he alluded to the Burgess method. That may have been so. But a man like Flaxman, who had possessed himself by severest study as a young man of the means by which his powers were developed, would, I think, have been sure to warn Mrs. Leech of the difference between the teaching that would be mischievous, and that which is proved to be indispensable by the universal practice of the greatest painters. I am aware I shall be confronted with the case of John Leech, who was, so to speak, entirely self-taught; but Leech was not a painter, and certainly never could have become a good one without training; besides, he was altogether exceptional—unique, in fact. In my opinion, we are as likely to see another Shakespeare or Dickens as another Leech. This is a digression, for which I apologize. I cannot find that my hero—I may call him such, for he was ever a hero to me—paid much attention to classical knowledge. Latin verses were impossible to him, but they had to be done; so, as he 3 4 5 6 7 said, he “got somebody to do them for him.” In spite of his weak arm, he fenced with Angelo, the school fencing-master; but, beyond the advantage of the exercise, the accomplishment was of no use to him. Here I cannot resist an anecdote of which the fencing reminds me. Some years before Leech’s death the editor of a newspaper, who was remarkable for the severity of his criticisms and for his extreme personal ugliness, had made some caustic remarks on Leech’s work in general, and on some special drawings in particular. “If that chap,” said Leech to me, “doesn’t mind what he is about, I will draw and defend myself”—an idle threat, for nothing could have provoked that gentle, noble nature into personality, no trace of which is to be found in the long list of his admirable works. Several letters, delightfully boyish, written by Leech to his father from the Charterhouse, are in my possession. Some of them, I think, may appropriately appear in this place. “Septr 19 1826 “Dear Papa “I hope you are quite well. I beg you will let me come out to see you for I am so dull here, and I am always fretting about, because I wrote to you yesterday and you would not let me come out. I will fag hard if you will let me come out, and will you write to me, and the letter that you write put in when you are going to Esex and when you return for I want to very particularly “How is Mamma, Brother and Sisters “I hope Ester is quite well, “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech “I am very sorry that I stayed away from School with —— but I promise never to do it again and I beg you will let me come out on Sunday.” “Charter House October 2 1826 “My dear Papa. “You told me to write to you when the reports where made out, they are made out now, and mine is, does his Best. I hope you are quite well, and Mamma the same. I hope Tom Mary Caroline, and Ester are quite well. I have not spoken to Mr Chapman yet about the tuter, and drawing Master, because I had not an oppertunity, send me a cake as soon as it is convenient “Your affectionate son “J Leech.” [No date.] “My dear Papa. “I write this note to know how poor little Polly is I hope she is better to day pray write to me before the day is over and tell me how she is. I hope you and Mamma Tom and Fanny are all well since I left you last night. “I am happy to say I am at the very top off the Form “Tell Mamma not to forget to come and see me on Wenesday as she said she would. I would write to Polly now only I have not time pray give Polly a 1000 kiss for me and Fanny and Tom the same. As I said before I hope poor little Polly is better. “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech.” 8 9 10 “My Dear Papa, “My report was made out yesterday but I forgot to write to you therefore I tell you to-day, it was (generally attentive) If any afternoon or morning that you have time I should be very happy to see you. You can see me in the morning from 12 to half-past two and in the evening from 4 till 9. “Send me another suit of clothes if you please and a cap. Mind the gloves. I hope Polly continues to get better and I hope you and Mamma Brother and sisters are quite well. Send me a penknife if you please. I remain “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech.” “Dear Papa “Will you let me come out to see you once before my sisters go to school, for I feel quite unhappy here and miserable. I am afraid I shall not be able to get promoted yet, therefore I am afraid I shant be able to come out. But you promised me that if I did not get promoted you would let me come out. I try as much as I can to get promoted. Do let me come out once before my Sisters go to School. “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech “Tell Mamma to send me a cake as soon as she can “Send me some money as soon as you can.” “September 14 1827 “My Dear Papa. “I am happy to say that Mr Baliscombe says that for my Holiday Task I deserve promotion and says it is very well done indeed. Come and see me as soon as you can. I think I shall get promoted when Dr Russell sees my Holiday Task—In fact Mr Baliscombe is going to ask him to put me up. I hope you and Mamma are quite well. Springett went to the play he tells me and did not come back till the morning. I hope dear old Camello and the dear little Baby Bunning are quite well, would you mind sending Mrs Jeffkins some partridges for I know she would like some. Tell Mamma to write to me as soon as she possibly can. “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech “P.S. I would not send the porter only I have got neither wafer nor seal’wax.” “Sepr 16th 1827 “My dear Papa. “I am very happy indeed to say that I am promoted for I know it makes you happy. Let me come out next Saturday and come and see me to-morrow. I have no sealing wax or would not send the porter. “I hope you are quite well and Mamma and Old Camello and the little Baby Bunning the same “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech.” “Dear Papa “As I am rather short of money and want to keep my money I’ve got, I should be much obliged if you would 11 12 13 give my ambassador 18 pence or so as I’ve promised a boy at school one of those small bladders to make balloons of, if you remember you bought me one once. I hope you are all well “I remain “Your affectionate son “J Leech.” “Dear Papa “Will you be so kind as to send me half a crown by the porter and allowence me every week “I was obliged to send the porter “I hope you Mamma Brothers and sisters are quite well. “Your affectionate son “J Leech.” [No date.] “My dear Mamma “I understand that you came to see me yesterday, and me being in the green, you did not see me, so that made me still more unhappy, I beg you will come and see me on Saturday for I am very unhappy. “I want to see you or Papa very much indeed. “Your affectionate son “J Leech.” “My dear Papa. “You desired me to send you my report I have not had it since the last one. I went into be examined by Dr Russell yesterday but I did not get promoted but I did not lose more than one or two places. I will send you my next report. I hope you are quite well. “Mamma and Brother and sisters the Same “Your affectionate “Son “J Leech. “I would have written to you sooner but I had not time.” Leech made no way at the Charterhouse; never approaching the position held by Thackeray, who was four years his senior: indeed, I doubt that they saw, or cared to see, much of each other, little dreaming that they would ultimately become dear and fast friends till death separated them, only to meet again, as we believe, after the sad, short interval that elapsed between the deaths of each. I cannot say I believe in inherited talent, but the fact that the elder Leech was said to be a remarkable draughtsman seems to strengthen the theory held by some people. I have never seen any specimens of the father’s drawing, nor did I ever hear the son speak of it. Anyway, Leech père had no faith in the practice of art as a means of livelihood for his son, for he informed the youth, after a nine years’ attendance at the Charterhouse, that he was destined for the medical profession. There is no record of any objection on the part of Leech to his father’s decision, at which I feel surprise; for the flame which burnt so brilliantly in after-life must have been always well alight, and very antagonistic to the kind of work required from the embryo surgeon. Leech’s gentle yielding nature influenced him then as always; and he went to St. Bartholomew’s, where under Mr. Stanley, the surgeon of the hospital, he worked hard and delighted his master by his excellent anatomical drawings. From these studies may be traced, I think, much of the knowledge of the human form, and above all of proportion, always displayed in his work; for in those wonderful drawings, whether a figure is tall or short, fat or thin, whether he deals with a child or a giant, with a dog or a horse, no disproportion can be found. 14 15 16 It appears that the elder Leech’s affairs were already in such an embarrassed condition, that an intention to place his son with Sir George Ballingall, an eminent Scottish doctor, was abandoned, and after a time he was placed with a Mr. Whittle, a very remarkable person, who figures under the name of Rawkins in a novel written by Albert Smith and illustrated by Leech. Smith’s work, with the title of “The Adventures of Mr. Ledbury and his Friend Jack Johnson,” was first published in Bentley’s Miscellany. “Mr. Rawkins,” says Albert Smith, “was so extraordinary a person for a medical practitioner that, had we only read of him instead of having known him, we should at once have put him down as the far-fetched creation of the author’s brain. He was about eight-and-thirty years old, and of herculean build except his legs, which were small in comparison with the rest of his body. But he thought that he was modelled after the statues of antiquity, and, indeed, in respect of his nose, which was broken, he was not far wrong in his idea—that feature having been damaged in some hospital skirmish when he was a student. His face was adorned with a luxuriant fringe of black whiskers, meeting under his chin, whilst his hair, of a similar hue, was cut rather short about his head, and worn without the least regard to any particular style or direction. But it was also his class of pursuits that made him so singular a character. Every available apartment in his house not actually in use by human beings was appropriated to the conserving of innumerable rabbits, guinea-pigs, and ferrets. His areas were filled with poultry, bird-cages hung at every window, and the whole of his roof had been converted into one enormous pigeon-trap. It was one of his most favourite occupations to sit, on fine afternoons, with brandy-and-water and a pipe, and catch his neighbours’ birds. He had very little private practice; the butcher, the baker, and the tobacconist were his chief patients, who employed him more especially with the intention of working out their accounts. He derived his principal income from the retail of his shop, his appointments of medical man to the police force and parish poor, and breeding fancy rabbits. These various avocations pretty well filled up his time, and when at home he passed his spare minutes in practising gymnastics—balancing himself upon one hand and laying hold of staples, thus keeping himself at right angles to the wall, with other feats of strength, the acquisition of which he thought necessary in enabling him to support the character of Hercules—his favourite impersonation—with due effect.” It is not to be wondered at that Mr. Whittle, alias Rawkins, should find that stealing his neighbours’ pigeons, together with his other unprofitable accomplishments, to say nothing of the sparseness of paying patients, could have only one termination—bankruptcy. Mr. Whittle ended his career in a public-house, of which he became proprietor after marrying the widow who kept it. Here he put off his coat to his work, and in his shirt-sleeves served his customers with beer. Leech and Albert Smith, and others of his pupils took his beer readily, though they had always declined to take his pills. It is said that he was originally a Quaker, and that he died a missionary at the Antipodes. Leech stayed but a short time with the pigeon-fancying Whittle, whom he left to be placed under Dr. John Cockle, afterwards Physician to the Royal Free Hospital. Leech seems to have been a pretty regular attendant at anatomical and other lectures, and it goes without saying that his notes were garnished with sketches, for which his fellow-students sat unconsciously; and plenty of them remain to prove the impossibility of checking an inclination so strongly implanted in such a genuine artist as John Leech. CHAPTER II. early work. IT was at St. Bartholomew’s that Leech made acquaintance, which soon ripened into friendship, with Albert Smith, Percival Leigh (a future comrade on the Punch Staff, and author of the “Comic Latin Grammar,” “Pips’ Diary,” etc.), Gilbert à Beckett and many others, all or most of whom served as models for that unerring pencil. The impecunious condition of Leech senior before John had reached his eighteenth year was such as to make his chances of getting a living by medicine or surgery, even if successful, so remote as to place them beyond consideration. No doubt the elder Leech’s misfortunes were “blessings in disguise,” for we owe to them the necessity that compelled the younger man to devote himself to art. The art of drawing upon wood, to which Leech in his later years almost entirely confined himself, dates back from very early times. Lithography, or drawing upon stone, is a comparatively modern invention, and, until the introduction of photography, was used for varieties of artistic reproduction. It was to that process we owe the first published work of Leech. The artist was eighteen years old when “Etchings and Sketchings,” by A. Pen, Esq., price 2s. plain, 3s. coloured, was offered tremblingly to the public. The work was in the shape of four quarto sheets, which were covered with sketches, more or less caricatures, of cabmen, policemen, street musicians, hackney coachmen with their vehicles and the peculiar breed of animal attached to them, and other varieties of life and character common to the streets of London. This work is now very rarely to be met with; it consisted chiefly, I believe, of characteristic heads and half-length figures. To “Etchings and Sketchings” the young artist added some political caricatures, also in lithography, of considerable merit. With these, or, rather, with the heavy stones on which they were drawn, we may imagine the weary wanderings from publisher to publisher; the painful anxiety with which the verdict, on which so much depended, was waited for; the hopes 17 18 19 20 21 that brightened at a word of commendation, only to be scattered by a few stereotyped phrases, such as, “Ah, very clever, but these sort of things are not in our way, you see; there is no demand,” and so on. 1836, when Leech was still a boy, saw the production of works called “The Boy’s Own Series,” “Studies from Nature,” “Amateur Originals,” “The Ups and Downs of Life; or, The Vicissitudes of a Swell,” etc. The delicate touch and the grasp of character peculiar to the artist are recognised at once in many examples. Leech’s struggle for bread for himself and others must have been terrible at this time; indeed, up to the establishment of Rowland Hill’s penny post, when, by what may be called a brilliant opportunity, Leech attracted for the first time the public attention, which never deserted him. The title of this book is “The Life and Work of John Leech.” Of the former, as I have shown, there is little to tell; on the latter, volumes, critical, descriptive, appreciative, might be written. An artist is destined to immortality or speedy oblivion according to his work, and it was my earnest hope, on undertaking this memoir, that I should be able to prove, by the finest examples of Leech’s genius, that an indisputable claim to immortality was established for him. To a great extent I have been permitted to do so; but the law of copyright has debarred me from the selection of many brilliant pictures of life and character on which my, perhaps unreasonably covetous, eyes had rested. The proprietors of Punch and also of the copyright of most of Leech’s other works are, no doubt, properly careful of their interests, and I can imagine their surprise at the extent of my first demands upon their good-nature. In my ignorance I had thought that as my object was the honour and glory of John Leech—a feeling, no doubt, shared by them—the treasures of Punch would be spread before me, with a request that I would help myself. I do not in the least complain that I found myself mistaken. There are, no doubt, good reasons for the limits to which I was restricted, though I am unable to see them; and, granting the existence of those reasons, I should be ungrateful if I did not express my thanks for the small number of illustrations from Punch and other sources which I am allowed to use. I confess I was delighted to find that the first few years of the existence of Punch were free by lapse of time from copyright protection, and as some of Leech’s best work appears in the volumes between 1841 and 1849, I am able to show my readers further proofs of the justice of the artist’s claim to be remembered for all time. Leech’s hatred of organ-grinding began very early in his career. “Wanted, by an aged Lady of very Nervous Temperament, a Professor, who will undertake to mesmerize all the Organs in her Street. Salary, so much per Organ.” The drawing which appeared in Punch in 1843, with the above title, was the first of the humorous series that continued almost unbroken for more than twenty years. It is pitiable to think of the long martyrdom that Leech suffered from an abnormal nervous organization, which ultimately made street-noises absolute agony to him. In the illustration the singular difference of dress in the organ-grinder of fifty years ago and him of the present time is noticeable, as also are the perfect expressions of the small audience. Leech’s chief contributions to Punch at this time were the large cuts, in which Peel, Brougham, the great Duke of Wellington, and others, play political parts in matters that would be of little interest to the reader of to-day, nor are the drawings of exceptional merit. In 1844 there appeared an irresistible little cut, the precursor of so many admirable variations of skating and sliding incidents. “Now, Lobster, keep the Pot a-biling.” What could surpass the impudence of the vigorous youngster, or the expression of the guardsman of amused wonder as he looks down upon the audacious imp, as Goliath might have looked upon David? The sensation created by the first appearance of the dwarf Tom Thumb remains vividly in my memory. I saw him in all his impersonations; that of Napoleon, in which he was dressed in exact imitation of the Emperor, was very droll. The little creature was at Waterloo, taking quantities of snuff from his waistcoat pocket, giving his orders for the final charge which decided his fate; and when he saw that all was lost, his distress was terrible: he wrung his little hands and wept copiously, amidst the uproarious applause and laughter of the audience. Then he was at St. Helena, and, standing on an imaginary rock, he folded his arms, and gazed wistfully in the direction of his beloved France. After a long, lingering look, he shook his little head, and with a sigh so loud as to astonish us, he dashed the tears from his eyes, and made his bow to the audience, some of whom affected to be shocked by the laughter of the unthinking, and loudly expressed their sympathy with the great man in his fall. I well remember the great Duke going to see the amusing dwarf, but why Leech should have represented him in the dancing attitude, as shown in the illustration, seems strange. Surely a more serious imitation of a Napoleonic attitude would have been more telling and more comic. The next print illustrates a paper in Punch called “Physicians and General Practitioners.” “The physician almost invariably dresses in black,” says the writer, “and wears a white neck-cloth. He also often affects smalls and gaiters, likewise shirt-frills” (fancy a physician in these days thus dressed!). He appears, no doubt very 22 23 24 25 26 properly, in perpetual mourning. The general practitioner more frequently sports coloured clothes, as drab trousers and a figured waistcoat. With respect to features, the Roman nose, we think, is more characteristic of physicians; while among general practitioners, we should say, the more common of the two was the snub. The general practitioner and the physician often meet professionally, on which occasion their interests as well as their opinions are very apt to clash; whereupon an altercation ensues, which ends by the physician telling the general practitioner that he is an “impudent quack,” and the general practitioner’s replying to the physician that he is “a contemptible humbug.” How perfectly Leech has realized the scene for us the drawing abundantly shows. It is, perhaps, not too much to say that he never surpassed in drawing, expression, and character, these two admirable figures; full of contempt for each other, the emotion is expressed naturally, and with due regard to the peculiarities, widely varying, of each of the disputants. More years ago than I care to remember, I met at dinner Mr. Gibson, the Newgate surgeon. At that time an agitation was afoot respecting public executions, the advocates maintaining that the sight of a fellow-creature done to death acted as a deterrent on any of the sight-seers who were disposed to risk a similar fate, the objectors declaring that the exhibition only made brutes more brutal, and was in no way a deterrent. As Mr. Gibson had had a long experience of criminals and their ways, it was thought worth while to ask his opinion of the matter in dispute. The surgeon said that, feeling strongly on the subject of public hanging, he had made a point of asking persons under sentence of death if they had ever attended executions, and he found that over three-fourths—he told us the exact number, but I cannot trust my memory on the point —had witnessed the finishing of the law. So much for the deterrent effect. The disgraceful scenes that took place at the execution of the Mannings produced a powerful letter to the press from Dickens, and an equally powerful article in the Daily News, by Mr. Parkinson. Parliament was aroused, and public executions ceased. 27 28 29 Where ’ave we bin? Why, to see the Cove ’ung, to be sure!” The Leech drawing which follows appeared in 1845, some years before the Manning murder, and a considerable time previous to the agitation on the subject of hanging in public. If ever a moral lesson was inculcated by a work of art, this powerful drawing is an example. Who knows how much it may have done towards hastening the time when those horrible exhibitions ceased? Is this squalid group, with debauchery and criminality in evidence in each figure, likely to be morally impressed by the sight of a public hanging? What are they but types of a class that always frequented such scenes? The dreadful woman has carried her child with her; the little creature’s attenuated limbs point to the neglect and ill-usage sure to be met with from such parents. To those unacquainted with the “Caudle Lectures” by Douglas Jerrold, which appeared at this time in Punch, I recommend the perusal of those inimitable papers. One of their merits is their having given occasion for an admirable drawing by Leech. Lord Brougham was, in the eyes of Punch and many others, a firebrand in the House of Lords. He was irrepressible, contentious, and brilliant on all occasions, quarrelsome in the extreme, and a thorn in the side of whatever Government was in power unless he was a member of it. The Woolsack, more especially the object of his ambition, was made a very uneasy seat to any occupant. Behold him, then, as Mrs. Caudle—an excellent likeness— making night hideous for the unhappy Caudle, whose part is played by the Lord Chancellor—Lyndhurst—while the Caudle pillow is changed into the Woolsack. “The Mrs. Caudle of the House of Lords.” “What do you say? Thank heaven! you are going to enjoy the recess, and you’ll be rid of me for some months? Never mind. Depend upon it, when you come back, you shall have it again. No, I don’t raise the House and set everybody by the ears; but I’m not going to give up every little privilege, though it’s seldom I open my lips, goodness knows!”—“Caudle Lectures” (improved). 30 31