John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1 [of 2]Frith, William Powell
General
John Leech, His Life and Work. Vol. 1 [of 2]
Frith, William Powell
Leech, John, 1817-1864
Later on in the history we have another good example of Leech's humour.
King Edward, having subdued the Welsh, "endeavoured to propitiate his
newly acquired subjects by becoming a resident in the conquered country.
His wife Eleanor gave birth to a son in the castle of Caernarvon, and he
availed himself of the circumstance to introduce the infant as a native
production, giving him the title of Prince of Wales, which has ever
since been held by the eldest son of the British sovereign."
[Illustration: QUEEN ELEANOR AND FAIR ROSAMOND.]
[Illustration: KING EDWARD INTRODUCING HIS SON AS PRINCE OF WALES TO HIS
NEWLY-ACQUIRED SUBJECTS.]
A well-known historical scene is parodied as follows: Henry IV. being
ill, "the Prince of Wales was sitting up with him in the temporary
capacity of nurse," says Mr. à Becket. "The son, however, seemed rather
to be waiting for his father's death than hoping for the prolongation of
his life; and the King having gone off in a fit, the Prince, instead of
calling for assistance or giving any aid himself, heartlessly took that
opportunity to see how he should look in the crown, which always hung on
a peg in the royal bedchamber. Young Henry was figuring away before a
cheval glass with the regal bauble on his head, and was exclaiming,
'Just the thing, upon my honour!' when the elder Henry, happening to
recover, sat up in bed and saw the conduct of his offspring.
[Illustration: UNSEEMLY CONDUCT OF HENRY, PRINCE OF WALES.]
[Illustration: THE DUKE OF GLOUCESTER GOES INTO MOURNING FOR HIS LITTLE
NEPHEWS.]
"'Hallo!' cried the King, 'who gave you leave to put that on? I think
you might have left it alone till I've done with it.'"
The savage and hypocritical character of Richard III. afforded Leech an
opportunity for satire in his design of that monarch, when still Duke of
Gloucester, in the shape of a crocodile shedding tears for the death of
the two Princes in the Tower.
"Richard," says the chronicler, "by whom the outward decencies of life
were very scrupulously observed, in order to make up for the inner
deficiencies of his mind, determined to go into mourning for the young
Princes, and repaired to the same _maison de deuil_ which he had
honoured with his presence on a former occasion when requiring the
'trappings of woe' for himself and his retainers on the death of his
dear brother."
With the escape of Mary, Queen of Scots, I must close the extracts from
the "Comic History of England."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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