The chemise, apron, cap, and ruffles, hanging upon a rope to dry, display marks of a laudable industry, and prove that these dignified personages, maugre their exalted rank, wash their own linen. The gridiron, close to the bed, intimates that they are not above broiling their own beefsteaks. The expression of the figures in this print is admirable. Nothing can exceed the mock-heroic dignity of Juno;[153] she is as haughty as one of her own peacocks. The Tragic Muse has been so frequently up to the ears in blood, that she laughs at the tortures of the poor quadruped whose tail she is cutting off. The faces of the tumbler, the cat, and the Medusa, in beauty and character, "contend for mastery." A little devil, who has his fist clenched, and threatens the other for drinking so deep, is admirably marked; from the eyes of his twin-brother, with the vessel to his mouth, we see that he highly relishes and greedily inhales the delicious draught. The group, formed by the five preceding characters, is well composed, and their various dispositions most forcibly delineated. In the ranting representative of the pale moon, unblushing, unabashed impudence; in the siren, mawkish intoxication; and in Ganymede, an appearance of that agony which arises from the toothache. Notwithstanding the candle that is near setting fire to the hamper of jewels, we see through a breach in the thatch that this is a daylight picture; in so shattered a tenement, it is not easy to determine from what source the figures are illuminated. From the Act of Parliament which lies upon the bed, we learn that this diabolical drama will be their last performance; and when this abstract and brief chronicle of the times have fretted their little hour upon the stage, and made their exit, the barn will be appropriated to its proper uses: "Rich harvests bury all their pride has plann'd, And laughing Ceres reassume the land." That time come, "This glittering show Of canvas, paint, and plaister shall lie low; These gorgeous palaces, yon cloud-capt scene-- This barn itself will be a barn again: The spirit-stirring drum will cease to roar, The prompter's whistle will be heard no more; But echoing sounds of rustic toil prevail, The winnowing hiss, and clapping of the flail: Hither once more may unhous'd vagrants fly, To shun the inclement blast and pelting sky: On Lear's own straw gipsies may rest their head, And trulls lie snug in Desdemona's bed." The original picture is in the possession of Mr. Wood of Lyttlecote, who purchased it for twenty-six guineas! [Illustration: (end of chapter floral icon)] MR. GARRICK IN THE CHARACTER OF RICHARD III.