May 8, 1814. [Peace and Plenty.] Published by T. Tegg (324).—The artist's view of the situation, with the smiling prospect of peace as set forth in 1814, was somewhat premature, as the more desperate events of the year following amply confirmed; but, with a general concord prevailing amongst the Allies, with the restless 'disturber of the peace of Europe' safely dismissed to the Island of Elba, there to amuse his giant ambition by administering affairs in his miniature kingdom, the old monarchy being comfortably restored to France for an interval, it was generally concluded that the world would once more be suffered to move along pacifically, and that a new era of plenty and commercial prosperity was reopening.
PEACE AND PLENTY.
[Peace and Plenty] are represented much as such things look on the eve of a congress of military powers, Peace meaning the forces held in readiness, and Plenty, in this case, referring principally to the war-chest, a plentiful supply of artillery, powder, shell and shot, and other offensive materials. The scene is fixed on one of the fortifications which had been set up to protect the security of our coasts; the cliffs of 'old England' bristle with Martello towers and island defences. A drummer is sleeping tranquilly, with his arm and head resting on his instrument, and a pile of cannon balls by his side; there are great guns of brass and iron, with a mortar and shells, ready for use, while sentries are on the look-out, and the soldiers are fully equipped. The British standard is flying, and an air of gallantry is introduced by the presence of certain buxom females, who are exciting the admiration of the soldiers of the garrison gathered around the Dulcineas and ogling and flirting with the skittish fair, whose ample proportions are such as to win the hearts and turn the heads of these 'sons of Mars,' released for a while from 'war's alarms,' of which the warriors were becoming reasonably tired after so many years of hard and comparatively profitless campaigning.
May 15, 1814. Macassar Oil: an oily puff for soft heads.—It is rather a question whether subjects similar to the present, in which some popular nostrum was held up to ridicule, were wholly playful or in part executed to order—a skilful method of indirect puffing much and ingeniously practised in the magazines and other channels of the day. The wondrous fluid Macassar is seen in application. A stout old party has laid off his fool's cap and is seated in an armchair, undergoing a trial of the efficacy of the oil: the perfectly bald head of the subject is a good field for its employment, and the operator—who, by some inconsistency characteristic of vendors of hair restoratives, is quite bereft of hair himself—is sleepily pouring oil from a flask over the broad surface beneath him. A lady has apparently been making a trial of the process, and on consulting the looking-glass she seems amazed to find a bushy head of hair pushing itself straight upwards with amazing vigour. Round the apartment are files of bottles, 'wig oil, one guinea per bottle,' and notices, 'Wonderful discovery: carroty or grey whiskers changed to black, brown, or blue, &c.'
June 14, 1814. Miseries of London, or a Surly Hackney Coachman.
June 20, 1814. Rural Sports, or a Pleasant Way of Making Hay. Published by T. Tegg (16).—In the rear are lasses raking the hay together, and lads are tossing the loads on to the well-filled wains. In the front of the picture is a group of boisterous haymakers of both sexes, who, throwing aside their rakes and forks, are tumbling the hay about by armfuls, rolling one over another in the grass, and sprawling about in picturesque confusion.
July 14, 1814. The Rivals. Published by T. Rowlandson, James Street. (See 1812.)