THE CORPORAL IN GOOD QUARTERS.
August 30, 1802. A Musical Family. Published by R. Ackermann.
September 12, 1802. Sorrow's Dry, or a Cure for the Heart-ache. Designed and published by Thomas Rowlandson. Republished 1811.
Were I not resolv'd against the yoke
Of hapless marriage, never to be curst
With second Love, so fatal was the first,
To this one error I might yield again.—Dryden.
'Deborah Crossstich departed this life September 5, 1802, aged 62.' The body of the departed wife is laid out in her coffin, propped on trestles; on the plate let into the lid is engraved the above affecting inscription.
The lamenting spouse is far gone in a mixed state of grief, intoxication, and maudlin affection; he is making laudable efforts to resign himself to his recent bereavement, and is endeavouring to allay his sorrow, between the combined consolations of drink and the tender solicitudes of a favourite maid, who is exerting herself to administer comfort to her afflicted master, with her arm round his neck. The personal belongings of the deceased—her watch, little articles of jewellery, and plate—have evidently been ransacked by this affectionate pair of unaffected and disinterested mourners. An open book displays this familiar quotation, bearing somewhat disrespectful application to the case of the departed:—
A smoky house and a scolding wife
Are the plagues of man's life.
Oh, what pleasure will abound
When my wife is laid in ground!
November 20, 1802. Doctor Convex and Lady Concave. Published by R. Ackermann.