FORM which is one of his principal
characteristics. Jack is surrounded by all sorts of implements of his
profession; he stands on a regular carpenter's table: away in the shadow
under it lie shavings and a couple of carpenter's hampers. The glue-pot,
the mallet, the chisel-handle, the planes, the saws, the hone with
its cover, and the other paraphernalia are all represented with
extraordinary accuracy and forethought. The man's mind has retained
the exact DRAWING of all these minute objects (unconsciously perhaps
to himself), but we can see with what keen eyes he must go through the
world, and what a fund of facts (as such a knowledge of the shape of
objects is in his profession) this keen student of nature has stored
away in his brain. In the next plate, where Jack is escaping from his
mistress, the figure of that lady, one of the deepest of the [Greek text
omitted], strikes us as disagreeable and unrefined; that of Winifred is,
on the contrary, very pretty and graceful; and Jack's puzzled, slinking
look must not be forgotten. All the accessories are good, and the
apartment has a snug, cosy air; which is not remarkable, except that
it shows how faithfully the designer has performed his work, and how
curiously he has entered into all the particulars of the subject.
Master Thames Darrell, the handsome young man of the book, is, in Mr.
Cruikshank's portraits of him, no favorite of ours. The lad seems to
wish to make up for the natural insignificance of his face by frowning
on all occasions most portentously. This figure, borrowed from the
compositor's desk, will give a notion of what we mean. Wild's face
is too violent for the great man of history (if we may call Fielding
history), but this is in consonance with the ranting, frowning,
braggadocio character that Mr. Ainsworth has given him.
The "Interior of Willesden Church" is excellent as a composition, and a
piece of artistical workmanship; the groups are well arranged; and the
figure of Mrs. Sheppard looking round alarmed, as her son is robbing
the dandy Kneebone, is charming, simple, and unaffected. Not so "Mrs.
Sheppard ill in bed," whose face is screwed up to an expression vastly
too tragic. The little glimpse of the church seen through the open door
of the room is very beautiful and poetical: it is in such small hints
that an artist especially excels; they are the morals which he loves
to append to his stories, and are always appropriate and welcome.
The boozing
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