CHAMBERS’S JOURNAL
OF
POPULAR
LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART.
CONTENTS
STORY OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
HELENA, LADY HARROGATE.
FIRES IN AMERICA.
MONSIEUR HOULOT.
THE CAT—ANCIENT AND MODERN.
SPECIMENS OF HINDU ENGLISH.
CURIOUS CASES OF SLEEP-WALKING.
POURING OIL ON THE TROUBLED WATERS.
LOVE UNSUNG.
No. 742.
Price 1½d.
SATURDAY, MARCH 16, 1878.
STORY OF GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.
A passing sigh of regret has noted the recentdemise, at the good old age of eighty-six, of oneof the most remarkable men of our time. Seldomhas it been our lot to record in the pages of thisJournal the story of one whose genius was of sowild and fantastic a character as that of thisveteran artist, who won his maiden fame in thedays of George III., and has passed away in thelatter part of the reign of Queen Victoria.
George Cruikshank, who was of Scotch parentage,was born in London on September 27, 1792.His father was an artist of the caricature order,contemporary with Gilray; and his elder brotherRobert was a draughtsman who, though of nogreat ability, had a strong Cruikshankian mannerabout him. George began to sketch at a very earlyage; and at the commencement of the presentcentury he got a living by making etchings for thebooksellers. His father had originally intendedto train up his son for the stage; but perceivingthat his inclinations lay in quite another direction,he allowed him to cultivate those artistic talentswhich were afterwards to be a source of delightto himself and to the public. In 1805 the ladsketched Lord Nelson’s funeral car; and his illustrationsof the ‘O. P.’ riots at Covent GardenTheatre in 1809 attracted considerable attentionat the time. Some of his earliest sketches depictcharacters who were the centre of interest at thatperiod, but whose names have now quite anancient ring about them.
Before the reign of George III. was over, theyoung artist had made a conspicuous name as acaricaturist and comic designer. His first designswere in connection with cheap songs and children’sbooks; and after that he furnished political caricaturesto the Scourge and other satirical publications,besides doing a good deal of work for MrHone’s books and periodicals during several years.Indeed this famous publisher was the first toperceive the talents of the artist, and to introducehis rather eccentric sketches to the public. Itis related of the young Cruiks