The Life of George Cruikshank in Two Epochs, Vol. 2. (of 2)Jerrold, Blanchard
History
The Life of George Cruikshank in Two Epochs, Vol. 2. (of 2)
Jerrold, Blanchard
Cruikshank, George, 1792-1878
The style of his advocacy was peculiar, he passed from grave to gay with
facility, but he never lost sight of the great object he had in view.
He seemed for years, to be deeply impressed at the numerous murders
that were taking place, all of them, or nearly so, being in the last
instance, if not in the first, attributable to drink. He used to
exclaim, with deep fervour, ‘Can nothing be done to stop these dreadful
murders?’ The clear remedy of total abstinence from that drink which
was their inciting cause then came naturally from his lips; but though
individuals responded to his appeal, the general mass of the public
remained unmoved. Sometimes he would suggest a deputation to the House
of Lords. But though this idea was not acted upon, yet he lived to see
that august assembly collect evidence well fitted to be of service
to them, and also to the public at large. Mr. Cruikshank’s powers of
mimicry were also very great, and often has he convulsed his audience
with his inimitable acting; but, at the same time, there was no
mistaking his deep earnestness, and the sincerity with which he
expressed the convictions of his heart.
He did his utmost, when the teetotalers had failed at the Crystal
Palace, to establish a teetotal palace in the old Surrey Zoological
Gardens; and he was drawn in state from the Hampstead Road to Walworth,
in a carriage and four, to open a bazaar in aid of the scheme. He even
prepared a design for the building. But although many went to cheer the
honest, earnest old man, few remained to invest, and the design fell
to the ground. It may have been some consolation to him and to his
Temperance friends to mark, afterwards, the services which the Crystal
Palace was destined to render to the cause of Temperance, for a drunkard
has hardly ever been seen under its shining roof.
Cruikshank could never convert his mother to his views. She lived with
him during the latter years of her life, and died under his roof, in
the care of a most reverent and attentive son.. She had always been a
careful, sober body, and would not be coerced, because her son could
not take his beer or toddy without committing excesses. She had been a
handsome woman in her days, a grandson records, and it was picturesque
to see the lame old lady, leaning upon her crutch, and wrapped in a
plaid,--with her shrivelled features and wild grey hair,--raise her
withered arm, and with the old fire declare that she would not surrender
her principles. A glass of beer with dinner, and a little toddy at
bedtime, she had always taken, and she took them to the end, and George
had to submit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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