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
Death, according to another picture, has asserted his supremacy in the
presence of that very exalted personage, a statesman--whose table,
covered with deeds and bags of money, and whose office, attended by
numerous suitors, bearing heavy contributions, seem to indicate that
the owner has not failed to provide for himself. The portrait of Midas
tops the book-case. A footman is pouring out a glass of wine for
the great man's refreshment, when the Universal Ruler, the 'King of
Terrors,' who in this instance, out of respect possibly to the object
of his call, has assumed his crown--is peering forth on the pair from
behind a screen; the ghastly summons has driven the colour from the
cheeks of his victim, and drawn the power from his limbs.
Plate 5. _Tom Higgins._
His blood is stopp'd in ev'ry vein,
He ne'er will eat or drink again.
The story of Tom Higgins is instructive. He began life as a
bricklayer's lad, rose gradually, by care and industry, to a position
of influence, and then turned his means to account.
A more important line he sought;
Houses he jointly built, and bought;
Nay, he had somehow learn'd to waste
The gay man's wealth in works of taste.
After a life devoted to various building schemes and other
speculations, whereby Tom Higgins has grown into a man of great estate,
he is persuaded to become a squire, and to retire to the country,
where his new position and state of being fail to afford him the
gratification he had anticipated, and he sighs for the simple joys
of his early days. Coombe's easy verses best describe the artist's
picture, in which the end of wealth and consequence is graphically set
forth, when Death finally drops in and discovers a passive and not
unwilling victim in Tom Higgins.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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