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LETTEU; I"EO]N'I GERMANY.
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¦' - /¦ Hanovee , January Stb , lSbO ; mHE opening of the Prussian Parliament will take place on X Thursday next , when it is expected the Prince Regent will deliver the speech from the throne ¦; in which will . be urged the acceptance of the measures that will be brought forward by the Ministry , with reference to th < s reorganization of the army . The prince and his ministers are of one accord as to these measures , though it appears that the Minister of Finance required a pledge that no additional taxes should be demanded . According to the New Prussian Gazette , it has been resolved to apply five million thalersof the loan of forty millions still in hand towards defraying the costs of the alterations during the first year ; but all future disf t
bursements are to be covered by the grant already made otwenyfive per cent , on the income and class tax , which brings in , at present , about three million and a half thalers ; two millions more are expected to be obtained from the surplus income of the coming year-T-an anticipation which will , in all probability , be realized , should peace be maintained , and trade and manufactures continue as prosperous as they have hitherto been during peace and the absence of war alarms . The Prince Kegent , in his reply to the congratulations of the ministers and the generals on New Year ' s day , laid particular ' stress on the unanimity existing between himself and the Cabinet upon all 'general questions , and espociallythankedthe Minister of Finance for his ready acquiescence in his views respecting the financial measures to be laid before the parliament with
reference to the reorganization of the army . He called to mind tlie intentions of his father , King Fbedebiok William III ., upon this important question , and the many circumstances ' which had occurred to prevent those intentions from being carried into effect . The weightiest reason , however , was the vast strides that had heen made in every department of agricultural and manufacturing industry . The pi ? esont constitution of the . Prussian army proved itself to be totally unsuited to the state of society and the progress of civilization . Instead of increasing the powers of tlie nation , ifc crippled them , by withdrawing froni their occupations those who were the chief support of the finances of the country . The prince concluded by expressing a hope that both ministry and parliament would lend , him their aid in accomplishing this most needful reform .
The newly appointed Ambassador of Austria to the Cabinet of Berlin has arrived . It is said he is charged with a special mission connected with the , Bomngna and the French pamphlet , against which the Cabinet of Vienna would bo happy to got up a demon atration-in conjunction with Prussia and Bussia , if it wore possible . The Austrian Government cannot reconcile itself to the fact that the Holy Alliance is a thing of the past , never to be called into lijo again . There is probably little truth in the report Indeed , Austria has nothing to expect either from Prussia or Bussia ; the latter , through its journals and diplomatic agents , may drop now and then expressions of dissatisfaction with the policy of . Lo . trxs 'NaPO ^ kon , und liis apparent determination to trample upon treaties , but Austria ' s offence during 1 tljo war in the Crimea is not forgotten , nor over will
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Bible , exaggerated but little . To the faithful eyes of some , his picture histories appeal more forcibly than written tragedies or sermons . His Dying Babe and Harlot preach against waste , folly , and vice , quite as forcibly as Baxteb or Shebxock ; his ^ Marriage a la Mode" is a sound treatise againstmdridges de eonvenance from both sides of the question , and a hundred years ago pointed out the end of very many such alliances , quite as accurately as any report which might be selected from the scandalous chronicle of Sir Cbesswbll Cbesswell ' s Court , But beyond this , Hogabth possessed that broad English humour—call it fun if . you like—and that expansive intellect and feeling heart , without whieh no pencilsatirist can hope to attain greatness . Let any one look well into his March to Finch ley " if he can without laughing . Let him mark in his " Times of the Day" that wonderful face of theboy , who having rested his pie-dish on a post , has put it down with such force as to break it , and then say whether he be most inclined to laugh at or cry with the urchin ? Hogabth was capital with boys . In fact , the London gamin has had a succession of artists , who have each studied and understood him , and who have or should have made him famous . Hogabth , Cbuikshank , Leech , each of these have been wonderfully successful with boys . Hogabth ' s pictures are known to all who love caricature , political or social , pasquinade or satire ; but his merit and his price alike narrowed his public;—he was not for the shop windowsy like Sayeb , Gilbay , the elder Cbtjikshank , Woodwaed , and Bo'wjiAJsrDSON' . Sayeb , a little anterior to Gilbay , may be only mentioned as a connecting link ; compared with either Gilbay , Woodwaed , or EoTvuSpsoN , he was feeble enough ; It is worth while however to look over an old folio , and to mark what pleased our grandfathers or great-grandfathers before even Plan cus was consul . To say truth , mutatis mutandis , we do not appear to have made much' progress . Dead enough , in all conscience , are some of their jokes now , butwe must remenilier the effervescent nature of these witticisms , which , like soda water , are only palatable when freshly poured out . The biggest stones which an artist both then and now could throw against a minister , were love of place , love of money , and a perfectly ravenous appetite for a bribe . Contemporary history and private letters show that these accusations , foul as they are , were not always wrong . They hit hard too . The mud stuck , and more than one caricaturist hais , like Cebbebus , been silenced with a sop . But then , in those days , ministers did curious ! things . They pensioned an infamous writerj whose title-page declared he painted ¦ * ¦ ' in glowing colours '\ the adventures of " a young lady ; " while they brought up orator Henley before the Council , to remonstrate with , . to threaten him . . The social caricature was of precisely the same nature as is the social cut in last week ' s J ? unc 7 i . Woodwaed , Btjnbtxey and Leech have all attacked dress , fashion ^ manner , and the insolent assumption of the three . Hogaeth was the author of just as Bard cuts at ladies' hoops , as Leech is against crinoline , and both were equally powerless . The frivolity of Fashion resembles certain . fevers , which no physician attempts to stop , being quite aware that they will run their course . With bur present social caricaturist there is this to be remarked , that it is difficult to say whether or not he does not aid in the absurdity he condemns . Dozens of young ladies and " swells" no doubt dress up to Mr . Leech ' s figures ; and it is difiicult to say whether he copies the smart piquant face that we so often meet with from his pencil , or whether the young ladies ( and young men too ) , do not dress to resemble his figures as nearly as they can . With Woodwabp and Bq ; wlandson there is this difference : their fun was rude and boisterous , often cruel , and almost always uccompjinied by an open or a latent indecency . People falling down stairs , skaters' tumbling through the ice , and in their grotesque struggles poking their skate points or sticks into their neighbours ' eyes or mouths , breaking their own backs or heads , or their horses ' legs , and similar subjects not by any means pleasant to contemplate , . me the staple subjects of their plates . Dress gave great opportunities for indecency , —and Bowla ^ tdson , a fine free draughtsman , a kind of ' Bubens in his walk of art , never lost one . Gilbay—employed by a Bond Street publisher , and bound to work onl y for him , yet continually produced plates which he sold elsewhere with other signatures—was a man of fine genius , and . under other circumstances might have achieved a greater and purer fame . Often as he struck at a minister or satirised a c&urtier , he yet ' more often returned to the battle which he lpved towage—that against Buonapabte . With him the Corsican was a murderer , n fanatic , a tyrant ; an invader with death's head and dripping sword ; a ghoul who lpved to feast on human flesh ; an incarnate fiend , a demon . Single-handed , Gilbay fed and nursed the flame of hatred which burnt so steadily and so long in these islands against that potentate , whether as general , first consul * or emperor . Napoleon himself perceived it , and complained of it . His' empress and generals ctime in f ' pr , a share of Gilbay ' s pictorial wrath . Ministers , who at the time of the trial of Peltieb . wore not unwilling to conciliate the xnastor of a hundred legions , iu vain , attempted to stop Gilbay . The shop windows still displayed the bright colours of tlie newost print , wherein , as incendiary or demon , the chief purson was still Napoleon BuonapAbtjh . If , according to the diafrum of tho latter , ono newspaper editor wore worse than five corps d'artnde acting 1 against him , surely Gilbay , With . hjs enormous effect on the British mind , then hardly swayed or taught by loading articles , was worse than five editors . And if wo of tho volunteer corps wiwh to realise the . intense hatred , tho indignation , the burning passion with which most ) of our fathers regarded the first Napoleon , wo have only to turn over some old oarjontures . How tho old times rise before us , summoned by llio tricksy Abjel of art , ns wo look over thorn . Hero
were our grandmothers with the Grecian " stoop" and scant dress , and richly clustered hair , such as the Princess Chablotte wore , as Mrs . Jobdan charmed with , and under which the busy brain of wicked Mrs . Clabke planned her sale . of commissions—a ^ sale the effects of which lasted in our .-army until the time of the Crimea . A little further back are bur great-grandfathers and mothers ; grandfathers with powder and pigtail , looking killing as beau or blood , and with complexions blooming , like only English faces can , beneath the contrast of the white powdered wig . Our ^ grandmothers- drawn ponderously by Btns BtrBY , but fresh , riantes , or matronly , as the case may be , in mob caps and tuckers , or in hair a foot or a yard above their heads , Or languishing with naturalcurls tied with blue ribbon ,-after the manner of Angelica Kattffman . They will bring to mind the sturdy old days of Pitt , Bubee , and Fox , — Fox the beloved , the butcher , the gambler , or the spotless patriot—the sansculotte ; or the Hampden—Cicebo or Catiline—eminent in each character , under every name , fitted " to reign in hell or serve in heaven , " but still the chief figure of the picture . Adbington , the doctor Sidmouth , Canning , Peel , Bussell , Disbaeli , or Palmeeston ; let the leaves fly . But the lesson is not lost ; the wit is dead , though gaiety is that of the empty mask of comedy , with inane grin lying upon an actor ' s tomb . It is probable that almost all the popular ideas of prime ministers and leading- politicians have been moulded and shaped by the caricaturist . Who does not know the pompous yet kindly Peel , the versatile , lar ^ re-hearted , and large-brained Henby Bbottgham :, Bttssell , or Palmebston , better by Leech ' s pencil , than by any other portrait ? When we see the great originals , we are disappointed that they do not come up to the wood-cuts ; that" Pam" is not so jaunty > nor Bboughabt so eccentric as he is drawn . We shape the ideal head to the speech , and measure the action by the dress . The caricaturist has been up earlier than the historian , and has stolen a march on him . He influences popular knowledge , though forgotten . ; . the very water in the well of truth is . stained by his ink j and to the end of time , we shall never be quite sure that Palmebston does not carry a perpetual bit of straw in his mouth , or that the nose of Olivee Ceomwell vyas not as red as the lattice of a country roadside inn , so deeply are we tinged with the ^ teachirigs of the caricaturist . The art in its modern phases has yet to be . considered .
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42 TheLeader-and Saturdayr Analyst . [" Jan . 14 , 1860 .
Letteu; I"Eo]N'I Germany.
¦¦ LETTEU . I'EO ^ I G EUM ANY .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 14, 1860, page 42, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2329/page/14/
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