ever mentioned its
origin. The subject was prompted by one of the last entries in the diary
of poor Benjamin Robert Haydon, who died by his own hand on the 22nd of
June, 1846, his corpse being found at the foot of his colossal picture
of _Alfred the Great and the First British Jury_. The entry runs as
follows:--"Tom Thumb had 12,000 people last week, B. R. Haydon 133-1/2
(the 1/2 a little girl). Exquisite taste of the English people!" In the
etching which shows us _Randulph and Hilda Dancing in the Rotunda at
Ranelagh_ ["Miser's Daughter"], he brings us face to face with our
great-grandfathers and great-grandmothers; wherever he got his authority
from, the huge circular hall with galleries and arches running round it,
illuminated by a thousand lamps, and the curious orchestra with the
old-fashioned sounding-board above, are no freak of the artist's
imagination. The etching possesses a wondrous charm of reality. We find
ourselves assisting, as it were, at one of the masquerades described in
"Sir Charles Grandison"; many of the company are in fancy dresses, and
we find it difficult to realize, in these broad-cloth days, that the
gentlemen in the velvet coats, with gold-bound embroidered waistcoats,
silk stockings, silver gilt rapiers, and laced hats, dancing minuets
with Chinamen, harlequins, scaramouches, templars, and other
fancifully-dressed persons, are simply wearing the every-day costume of
men of fashion of the day.

MANNERISM.

Perhaps more than any other comic artist of past or present time, George
is distinguished by his mannerisms. His horses, his women, the costumes
of his male and female characters, the cut of their garments and of
their boots, the arrangement of their hair, will proclaim his
individuality anywhere; and yet, if you look at any of the designs which
he executed in his best and brightest days, before he took up with the
mania which contributed, as we shall presently see, so largely to the
ruin of his artistic genius, fame, and fortunes, we cannot fail to be
impressed with the quaintness of his imagination. In this quaintness and
originality lie the charm and freshness which is the peculiar
characteristic of his designs. Unlike those of other artists, you may
turn over volume after volume of his sketches, and be conscious of no
sense of weariness. Much of this no doubt is due to their constant
variety. Unlike the generality of modern illustrators, he is not limited
to the costumes and incid