o us in the act of
_Burking Old Mrs. Constitution, aged 141_.

In this and the two preceding chapters we have attempted to give an
account of some of the leading events of the first thirty years of the
century, illustrating them by reference to a _few_ of the miscellaneous
caricatures of the period. We have adopted this method of arrangement
because, if our theory be correct, it was during this period that the
art of caricature continued to flourish, and it is from this period that
we date its speedy decline and downfall. We think that the prime cause
of this decline may be traced to the fact that George Cruikshank, the
best of nineteenth century satirists, had by this time resigned the art
to follow his new employment of an illustrator of books; we think, too,
that caricature received an additional impetus in its downward progress
by the secession from the ranks of its professors of the veteran Thomas
Rowlandson, who, although he did not die until 1827, had virtually
given up caricature in favour of book illustration[49] many years
before. Further illustration of some of the events already related, and
of others to which we have no occasion at present to refer, will be
found in the chapters devoted to the work of Isaac Robert Cruikshank and
his brother George.

A considerable number of the caricatures which belong to the first
quarter of the century have an anonymous origin; whilst a large
proportion are due to William Heath, who, either in his own name, or
often under the distinguishing hieroglyphic of "Paul Pry," contributed
largely to the political and social satires of his day. Other
caricaturists of the period were H. Heath (hundreds of whose comic
sketches were collected and published by Charles Tilt), Theodore Lane,
and his friends Isaac Robert and George Cruikshank. To these names we
must add those of the last century men who continued their work into the
present, James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson, George Moutard Woodward, C.
Williams, Henry William Bunbury, Robert Dighton, and others. Some idea
of the industry of the nineteenth century satirists may be gathered from
the fact that the "Paul Pry" series of political satires of 1829-30,
alone number some fifty plates, which in our day can rarely be purchased
at three times their original cost.

* * * * *

[Illustration:
THEODORE LANE. _From "Life of an Actor," 1824._

"THE GALLERY.--POWERFUL ATTRACTION OF TALENTS!"]

[Ill