cessary to bear this in mind, because, besides being
reversed, the paintings frequently differ in detail from the engravings.

The first of the series represents the signing of the marriage
contract. The scene, as the artist is careful to signify by the
ostentatious coronets on the furniture and accessories (they are to be
discerned even on the crutches), is laid in the house of an earl, who,
with his gouty foot swathed in flannels, seems with a superb--if
somewhat stiff-jointed--dignity to be addressing certain pompous
observations respecting himself and his pedigree (dating from William
the Conqueror) to a sober-looking personage opposite, who,
horn-spectacles on nose, is peering at the endorsement of the "Marriage
Settlem^t of the R^t Hon^ble. Lord Vincent [Squanderfield]."[24] This
second figure, which is that of a London merchant, with its turned-in
toes, the point of the sword-sheath between the legs, and the awkward
constraint of its attitude, forms an admirable contrast to the other. A
massive gold chain denotes the wearer to be an alderman. Between the two
is a third person, perhaps the merchant's confidential clerk or cashier,
who holds out a "Mortgage" to the Earl. Gold and notes lie upon the
table, where are also an inkstand, sealing-wax, and a lighted candle in
which a "thief" is conspicuous. At the back of this trio is the
betrothed couple--the earl's son and the alderman's daughter. It is, in
fact, an alliance of _sacs et parchemins_, in which the young people are
involved rather than interested. The lady, who looks young and pretty in
her bridal-dress, wears a mingled expression of _mauvaise honte_ and
distaste for her position, and trifles with the ring, which she has
strung upon her handkerchief, while a brisk and well-built young lawyer,
who trims a pen, bends towards her with a whispered compliment. Meantime
the Viscount--a frail, effeminate-looking figure, holding an open
snuff-box, from which he affectedly lifts a pinch--turns from his
_fiancee_ with a smirk of complacent foppery towards a pier-glass at his
side. His wide-cuffed coat is light blue, his vest is loaded with
embroidery. He wears an enormous _solitaire_, and has high red heels to
his shoes. Before him, in happy parody of the ill-matched pair, are two
dogs in coupling-links:--the bitch sits up, alert and curious, her
companion is lying down. The only other figure is that of an old lawyer,
who, with a plan in his hand, and a gesture of co