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METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON
THE REV. DR. SYNTAX _Frontispiece_ From _The Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque_
DR. SYNTAX IN THE GLASS HOUSE 8 From _The Second Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of Consolation_
QUÆ GENUS OFFICIATING AT A GAMING HOUSE 9 From _Johnny Quæ Genus_
BY GAMBLERS LINKED IN FOLLY'S NOOSE 13 From _The Dance of Life_
SUBSCRIPTION ROOM AT BROOKS 14 From _The Microcosm of London_
VAUXHALL GARDENS 15 From _The Microcosm of London_
DEATH'S DANCE 19 From _The Dance of Death_--Volume I.
HUNTING THE SLIPPER 20 From _The Vicar of Wakefield_
TOM AND JERRY IN THE SALOON AT COVENT GARDEN 25 From _Life in London_
ADVENTURES IN A WHISKEY PARLOUR 28 From _Real Life in Ireland_
RACE HORSE 34 From _The National Sports of Great Britain_
A NEW HUNTER 36 From _The Life of John Mytton_
MR. RIDGEWAY'S GOOD HEALTH 38 From _The Life of a Sportsman_
"O, GENTLEMEN, GENTLEMEN!" 39 From Jorrocks' Jaunts and Jollities
MR. JORROCKS' LECTURE ON 'UNTING 40 From _Handley Cross_
COLOURED TITLE PAGE 41 From _The Analysis of the Hunting Field_
It is an unromantic fact, but one which cannot fail to be of interest at the present time, that the remarkable development of the graver's art in England during the latter part of the eighteenth century was due, in a measure at least, to--Protection. In the middle of the century our trade in engravings was still an import one, English print-sellers being obliged to pay hard cash for the prints they bought in France, since the French took none in exchange. But with the accession of George III. a better prospect dawned for the artist and engraver. The young King, unlike his immediate predecessors, desired to patronise native talent; no budding Hogarth should draw unflattering comparisons between himself and the King of Prussia as an "Encourager of the Arts." And in spite of the gibes of Peter Pindar, in spite of the royal preference for Ramsay over Reynolds, it is probable that George III. was sincere in his desire to stimulate the growth of British art. In 1769 the long-talked-of Royal Academy was founded; while, for the benefit of the rising school of English engravers, bounties were granted on the exportation of English prints, and heavy duties imposed on the importation of French prints. Politics and patriotism were not without their influence upon the trade, many a good courtier being willing to help the cause by the purchase of an inexpensive print, though he was not yet prepared to patronise a British painter. Immense sums were cleared by John Boydell over Woollett's engravings after West and Copley; illustrated books, more especially of travel, were eagerly bought up; illustrated magazines flooded the market; print-shops multiplied, their windows "glazed with libels" in the shape of coloured caricatures; and foreign artists, engravers, and miniaturists flocked to the English Eldorado. In 1790 it was stated in a trade pamphlet that the prints exported from England at that time, as compared with those imported from France, were in the proportion of five hundred to one!