Cruikshank's didactic work was the offspring of his journalism. No man can journalise with spirit and remain uncritical. Criticism is, in truth, the soul of caricature, which by stressing the emphasis of Nature on face and expression makes even simpletons judges of grandees. Photography itself is on the side of illusion; but caricature has X-rays for the deformed fact. That a habit of criticism should evolve a passion for preaching is only natural, though it is the modern critic with his hedonistic bias who has armed the word didactic with a sting. Even such a critic must admit that Cruikshank's preaching was from living texts and that the preacher seemed well versed in "St Giles's Greek." But before speaking specifically of his didactic drawing we will consider what led up to it. A balladier of _circa_ 1811 threatens mankind as follows:-- "Since I have had some comic scenes, Egad! I'll sing them all, sir, With my bow, wow, what a row! fal lal de riddy, riddy, sparkey, larkey, funny, dunny, quizzy, dizzy, O." This animal outburst breathes the spirit of all the "bang up" books of the last Georgian period, and might almost have served as a motto for Pierce Egan's "Life in London" (1821), and David Carey's "Life in Paris" (1822). Blanchard Jerrold's bibliography of Cruikshank begins with "A Dictionary of the Slang and Cant Languages" (1809), to which the artist contributes _The Beggars' Carnival_--a folding frontispiece. In assisting his brother Robert--who styled himself "original suggester and artist of the 2 vols." containing "Life in London" and its sequel--to illustrate the rambles and sprees of "Jerry Hawthorn, Esq., and his elegant friend Corinthian Tom," George seems to have seen carnival on a more liberal scale. "Life in London" ranges from the Westminster [Dog] Pit to Rotten Row, and from the [Cyprian] Saloon of Covent Garden to the Press Yard of Newgate. One of the spirited plates (_Tom and Jerry taking Blue Ruin_) powerfully presents some pitiable pothouse types, and is a text, though it is not a sermon. Another illustration, reproduced here, compares equally with _Dick and His Companions Smashing the Glim_ in Carey's work. While illustrating "Life in Paris," George, working alone, pursued the example set by Robert when they collaborated. Carey credits him with "accuracy of local delineation"--praise which he has often and variously deserved--yet it must be confessed that Dick Wildfire like Corinthian Tom is at once commonplace and out-of-date. In face he is like George in early manhood as Corinthian Tom was like Robert; that is his chief recommendation. The book may be silently offered to any one who asserts that George's taste in literature was too nice for Pierce Egan. One of his plates turns a catacomb into a scene of vulgar mirth.