Credulity.—A fashionable, elegant, and good-looking lady is seated at her breakfast-table, while her maid is arranging the apartment. A messenger or letter-carrier has just brought a billet-doux, which the confiding beauty is eagerly perusing.
Indecision.—An obese prebendary, his gouty limb supported on cushions, is in all the perplexities of embarras de choix; one maiden is bringing in poultry, as appropriate to the day's dinner, shortly to follow in due course; and a fish-girl has offered an equally attractive choice of fish. The arrival of these luxuries and the necessity of selecting between them is vexing the soul of the good man.
Spoiling a Cloak and Making a Fortune.—Another version of the traditional episode of the gallant Raleigh laying down his mantle at the feet of his sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth to bridge over an undesirable crossing.
A Military Salute.—A gallant officer engaged in amorous dalliance with a tender-hearted fair, who is leaning out of a cottage window to receive the courtesies of the dashing warrior. Another version of [Kissing for Love], or Captain Careless Shot Flying by a Girl of Fifteen, who unexpectedly popped her Head out of a Casement (May 1810).
A Bagman.—A tired commercial traveller, cloaked, booted, and spurred, is alighting at the 'Woolpack;' his horse is taken to the stable; his saddle-bag is under his arm; and the buxom and broadly-expanded hostess of the inn is standing at the portal to bid the weary pilgrim welcome.
Obtaining the Countenance of the Minister.—An Italian itinerant vendor of 'images' is offering a citizen the chance of purchasing the head of the Government on easy terms, as far as his plaster bust is concerned.
Training.—A jockey, with his saddle strapped on his back, ready to mount for the race, is receiving the final and special instructions of his patron, a venerable and evidently deep file, well versed in the iniquities of the turf, whose face wears an expression of experienced and long-trained cunning. Another version of Tricks of the Turf, or Settling how to Lose a Race (1821).
An Exhibition.—The fashionable attendants at a gallery of pictures. All the spectators are lost in wonder and admiration at the collection of paintings. The figure of the Duke of Gloucester is 'taken off,' with that of other visitors. A partial transcript of the Portrait Painters Gallery.—Adventures of Johnnie Quæ Genus.
A Banquet.—Three convives are enjoying their soup, seated in a sort of supper-box; the French chef is prominently shown before his cooking-range, busied in the compounding of some extensive pot au feu.
The Ratcatcher.—As the title expresses, the figure of a professional ratcatcher, with a cage full of prisoners, which he is exhibiting to a venerable couple—probably his employers; his dogs are excited at the prospect of the sport. Another version of Rowlandson's London Characters.