Part 10 (2/2)

HUGHES BALL.

One of Robert's satires of this year, ent.i.tled _The Golden Football_, has obvious reference to Hughes Ball, known at Eton by his surname of Hughes only, but who took the further name of _Ball_ on coming into a fortune of forty thousand a year left him by his uncle, Admiral Sir Alexander Ball, and thenceforth received his appropriate nickname of the ”Golden Ball.” He was considered a great catch by all the mothers in London; but, notwithstanding his money, was unfortunate in love, being jilted by Lady Jane Paget, rejected by Miss Floyd (afterwards the wife of Sir Robert Peel), and then by Lady Caroline Churchill. The young ladies hearing of his numerous disappointments, were disinclined to encourage a man so proverbially unfortunate. By way, perhaps, of revenge, Hughes Ball this year ran off with and married Mademoiselle Mercandotti, _premiere danseuse_ at His Majesty's Theatre, a beautiful girl of sixteen, reported in the scandal of the day to be a natural daughter of the Earl of Fife. The incident of Lady Jane Paget we have mentioned is thus referred to by Charles Molloy Westmacott, the Ishmael of the press of his day, in the _English Spy_, a work which, as we shall presently see, was also ill.u.s.trated by the artist:--

”Now, by my faith, it gives me pain To see thee, cruel Lady J----, Regret the _Golden Ball_.

'Tis useless now: 'The Fox and Grapes'

Remember, and avoid the apes Which wait an old maids' fall.”

Other of Robert's satires of the same year bear the t.i.tle of _The Commons versus the Crown of Martyrdom, or King Abraham's Coronation Deferred_; and _A View in c.u.mberland_, that is the royal duke of that name--a most unpopular personage, and of course proportionately fertile subject of satire in his time.

1824. THE TENTH HUSSARS.

Among Robert's pictorial satires of 1824, I find one ent.i.tled _Arrogance or Nonchalance? of the Tenth Reported_,--the ”tenth” here referred to being the Tenth Hussars. This distinguished regiment set the pencils of the Brothers Cruikshank and their fellow caricaturists in motion at this period, and I find an amazing number of caricatures of the date of 1824, of which they form the subject. The officers would seem to have acquired considerable unpopularity by the exclusive airs they gave themselves in society, refusing to dance, declining introductions at public and private b.a.l.l.s, and otherwise a.s.suming an arrogant and exclusive tone which made them supremely ridiculous. So far did they carry these absurdities, that they even declined to a.s.sociate with an officer of their own regiment unless he previously submitted to them the particulars of his birth, parentage, and education, and general claim to be admitted to the privilege of their august society. A certain Mr.

Battier, who seems to have been ignorant of the peculiar arrangement they had established in opposition to the rules and policy of the service, had obtained from the Duke of York a cornetcy in the regiment, but not having submitted himself to the examination referred to, or possibly not answering to the exclusive requirements of the regiment, was forthwith sent to Coventry by his courteous brother officers. The result, of course, was that the unlucky gentleman, finding no one to speak to him, was forced to retire on half pay, which he was unfortunate enough afterwards to forfeit by not unnaturally sending a challenge to the colonel of the regiment.[53]

MISS FOOTE.

Maria Foote at this time was one of the most popular actresses in London. Some years before she had come on a starring tour to Cheltenham, a town much affected by the notorious Colonel Berkeley, who being pa.s.sionately devoted to the stage, and possessed moreover of some histrionic ability, gallantly offered to perform for her benefit. The colonel was notorious for his gallantries; under a promise of marriage--which could not then, he said, be carried into effect, inasmuch as he was then pet.i.tioning the Crown to grant him the dormant peerage, which a marriage with an actress could not fail to prejudice--he succeeded in accomplis.h.i.+ng her seduction, and she continued to live under his ”protection” till, on the birth of her second child, she arrived at the true conviction that he never had any intention of fulfilling his promise. There was at this time a silly fellow about town, Mr. Joseph Hayne, of Burderop Park, Wilts.h.i.+re, familiarly known (in reference to the colour of his coat) as ”Pea Green Hayne,” who fell in love with and proposed to the fascinating actress.

There was no attempt at concealment on her part: it was stated at the trial which followed that she herself wished to communicate to him the circ.u.mstance of her connexion with Colonel Berkeley, when this gallant gentleman saved her the trouble of doing so, and one night when they were in the pit of the opera together, took the characteristic course of making Hayne acquainted with the liaison, and the fact that it still existed. Hayne immediately broke off the engagement; but soon afterwards not only renewed it, but fixed the day of marriage. Again he broke it off, again yielded to the fascinations of his enslaver, and this time not only was the wedding-day fixed and the license obtained, but ”Pea Green Hayne” took a solemn vow that nothing should separate him from the object of his affections. Believing that all was safe, Miss Foote now threw up her engagement and disposed of her theatrical wardrobe, but the weak-minded, vacillating creature, who could not summon up resolution either to have or to leave her, let matters go on to the very day, and again failed to put in an appearance. Some preliminary letters having pa.s.sed between the parties, Maria then issued a writ, and recovered 3,000 damages in the action which followed. The plaintiff, who seven years afterwards became Countess of Harrington, died in 1867.

”Pea Green” Hayne was also known as the ”Silver Ball,” in allusion to his large income, which was smaller however than that enjoyed by his friend and contemporary, Hughes Ball. After his exposure in the action Foote _v._ Hayne, he received the far more appropriate nickname of ”Foote-Ball.”

The opportunity of course was improved by the caricaturists, and Robert's contributions on the subject (1824 and 1825) are labelled respectively, _Miss Foote in the King's Bench Battery_; _Miss Foote putting her Foot in it_; and _A Foot on the Stage and a.s.ses in the Pit, or a New Year's Piece for 1825_. Other pictorial satires of Robert's bearing the date of 1824, are: _A Civic Louse in the State Bed_; _A Cut at the City Cauliflower_; _The Corinthian Auctioneer_; two very coa.r.s.e but well drawn subjects--_Moments of Prattle and Pleasure_ and _Moments of Parting with Treasure_; and an exquisitely drawn sketch bearing the t.i.tle of _Madame Catalani and the Bishop of Limbrig_, having reference to some musical festival at Cambridge, the point of which has been lost, but which is remarkable for the admirable likeness of the popular singer.

1825.

The conduct of Colonel Berkeley in reference to the case Foote _v._ Hayne, called forth, as might have been expected, some severe strictures from the press, and in particular Mr. Judge, editor of the _Cheltenham Journal_, which place the colonel honoured with his patronage and society, had occasionally indulged in animadversions on his conduct. In one of the numbers of his paper an article appeared, in which some satirical observations were made with reference to the annual ”Berkeley Hunt” ball. On the afternoon of that day Colonel Berkeley accompanied, by two of his friends, called at Mr. Judge's residence, and being invited to walk in, the colonel asked Mr. Judge if he would name the author of the papers which had appeared in the _Journal_. Mr. Judge said he did not know whom he had the honour of addressing, and on learning who he was, proposed that he should call at the office of the paper, ”where he would give him every satisfaction.” Colonel Berkeley replied, ”No, sir! Now, sir! Now, sir!” and without further notice commenced a cowardly attack on the unarmed man by beating him _over the head_ and face with the b.u.t.t-end of a heavy hunting whip. To make the dastardly affair more dastardly if possible, one of the two fellows with him stood at the door, and the other near the fire place, so as to prevent Judge from seizing any weapon or calling any one to his a.s.sistance. For this ruffianly a.s.sault, which placed poor Judge for some time in considerable danger of his life, he subsequently recovered substantial damages against his cowardly antagonist. The Colonel got a far worse dressing from Robert Cruikshank who, in a severe contemporary skit, named (in allusion to the colonel's notorious illegitimacy) _Colonel Fitz b.a.s.t.a.r.d_, depicted him and his friends in the act of a.s.saulting the editor of the _Cheltenham Journal_.

EDMUND KEAN.

The artist's tastes and sympathies threw him much in the society of actors. The following year his thoroughly Bohemian friend, Edmund Kean, was mulcted in 800 damages, in consequence of a disgraceful liaison with the wife of Alderman c.o.x; and while audiences thronged the one theatre to testify their sympathy for a favourite and popular actress, they crowded the other to howl and hiss at the thoroughly disreputable and disgraced tragedian. The episode is referred to by the artist in three of his contemporary caricatures, labelled respectively, _Wolves Triumphant, or a Fig for Public Opinion_; _A Scene from the Pantomime of c.o.c.k-a-Doodle-Doo, lately performed at Drury Lane with unbounded applause_; and the _Hostile Press, or Shakespeare in Danger_, all of which contain perhaps the best theatrical portraits of the popular tragedian which are extant.

Sir Walter Scott also figures in one of Robert's satires of this year ent.i.tled, _The Great Unknown lately discovered in Ireland_, wherein he is represented in Highland costume, with the Waverley novels on his head, holding by the hand a small figure in hussar uniform, intended for his son, Captain Scott of the 18th hussars, who this year had married Miss Jobson, of Loch.o.r.e. The pair after their marriage returned to Ireland, where the captain was quartered, and where he and his wife were visited by Sir Walter in August of this year. Although the fact was pretty well known, the authors.h.i.+p of the novels was not avowed until February of the following year, when with Sir Walter's consent it was proclaimed by Lord Meadowbank at a theatrical dinner on the 27th of February.

THE LIVING SKELETON.

A very curious personage makes his appearance in Robert's sketches of this year, who would seem at first sight to be the most outrageously caricatured of any of his subjects, and yet this in truth is not the case. This person was the celebrated Claude Ambroise Seurat, ”the living skeleton,” who was exhibited at the Chinese saloon in Pall Mall, and whose portrait from three different points of view was taken by Robert Cruikshank, and afterwards appeared in the first volume of Hone's ”Every-day Book,” where a full account of this very singular personage will be found. The repulsive object, who (with the exception of his face) presented all the appearance of an attenuated skeleton, was exhibited in a state of complete nudity with the exception of a fringe of silk about his middle, from which (out of two holes cut for the purpose) protruded his dreadful hip bones. Seurat, as might have been expected, forms the subject of numerous contemporary caricatures; and in one of these, by way of comical contrast, the worthy but corpulent alderman, Sir William Curtis, distinguished by a similar scantiness of attire, figures with the living skeleton in a lively _pas de deux_.

William Heath, in another of contemporary date, represents the fat alderman standing on a map of England, and Seurat on a map of France.

Says Sir William: ”I say, friend, did you ever eat turtle soup?” to which Claude Ambroise replies, ”No, sare; but I did eat de soupe maigre.” In another (also I think by the same artist), labelled, _Foreign Rivals for British Patronage_, the living skeleton and a favourite male Italian singer of the time are represented in the act of preparing for mortal combat.[54]

A number of the caricatures of 1825 (and among them many by Robert) are singularly ill.u.s.trative of the morals of the time. About this year had been published a work professing to contain the memoirs of an apt disciple of Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke, which was made the vehicle of extorting money. The _modus operandi_ appears to have been as follows.

In the month of March, 1825, a well-known M.P. of that day received a letter from this creature in the following terms:--

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