Rowlandson the Caricaturist; a Selection from His Works. Vol. 2Grego, Joseph
History
Rowlandson the Caricaturist; a Selection from His Works. Vol. 2
Grego, Joseph
English wit and humor, Pictorial; Rowlandson, Thomas, 1756-1827
_April 29, 1809._ _Oh! you're a Devil. Get along, do!_ Published by
Reeve and Jones, 7 Vere Street, New Bond Street.--A dashing young
officer, a gallant adventurer, probably crippled with debts, and with
nothing but his commission to support his extravagances, is laying
ardent siege to the ordinary person of a rich dowager, fat, _not_ fair,
and decidedly forty; indeed, the lady is more than old enough to be the
mother of her insidious admirer, who is probably looking forward to
the possession of the foolish inamorata's fortune to 'whitewash' his
liabilities, and exchange him from one slavery to another; preferring
the fetters of Hymen to the captivity of a debtor's prison. The lady,
a vain piece of antiquated and frivolous vulgarity, is loaded with
massive jewellery, which her hopeful lover no doubt looks forward
to melting for his own purposes, after he has staked the relict's
money-bags on the gambling-table; her feathers are profuse, and she
wears a boa of an extinct kind, famous in the annals of contemporary
fashions, known as a _rattle-snake_.[10]
_June 20, 1809._ _A Tit-bit for a Strong Stomach._
_July 31, 1809._ _The Huntsman Rising. The Gamester going to bed._
Published by T. Rowlandson, 1 James Street, Adelphi. (See 1811.)
1809. _Rowlandson's Caricatures upon the Delicate Investigation, or the
Clarke Scandal_ (Mrs. Mary Anne Clarke and the Duke of York).--In order
to make the caricatures, published by Rowlandson, on the Clarke scandal
intelligible, it is desirable to recapitulate the circumstances, which
are given in condensed form from the writer's 'Life of James Gillray
the Caricaturist.'[11]
[Illustration: OH! YOU'RE A DEVIL. GET ALONG, DO!]
George the Third's darling son, the favourite Frederick, on whom he
doted, and who was so popular out of doors that he was hailed as 'the
soldier's friend'--a compliment which no soldier would be likely to
utter concerning a commander who had not taken the right method to
render himself the object of general affection--began to attract
unenviable notoriety at the beginning of 1809. On January 27 Colonel
Wardle charged the Duke with corrupt administration of the Half-Pay
Fund, the sole control of this provision having been vested in the
Commander-in-Chief.
The produce of the fund arose from the sale of commissions fallen in
by the death or dismissal of officers in the army, and amounts thus
realised were applied to the purchase of commissions for meritorious
officers, and other beneficial purposes.
Colonel Wardle stated he should prove that the Duke of York had a
mistress, Mrs. Clarke, living in great splendour in Gloucester Place,
from 1803 to 1806. This lady had a scale of prices for the sale of
commissions, and he would lay before the House Mrs. Clarke's prices and
the Regulation prices.
Mrs. Clarke's Regulation
Prices. Prices.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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