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THE
ENGLISH SPY
An Original Work CHARACTERISTIC, SATIRICAL, AND HUMOROUS. COMPRISING
SCENES AND SKETCHES IN EVERY RANK OF SOCIETY, BEING PORTRAITS DRAWN FROM
THE LIFE
BY BERNARD BLACKMANTLE.
THE ILLUSTRATIONS DESIGNED BY
ROBERT CRUIKSHANK.
By Frolic, Mirth, and Fancy gay, Old Father Time is borne away.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY SHERWOOD, JONES, AND CO. PATERNOSTER-BOW. 1825.
Spines
ENLARGE TO FULL SIZE
Frontispiece
ENLARGE TO FULL SIZE
CONTENTS
BERNARD BLACKMANTLE{*} TO THE REVIEWERS.
THE ENGLISH SPY.
INTRODUCTION.
PREFACE, IN IMITATION OF SATIRE OF PERSIUS.
A SHANDEAN SCENE,
ETONIAN.
PORTRAITS IN MY DAME'S DINING-ROOM.
FIVE PRINCIPAL ORDERS OF ETON
THE MONTEM ODE. May 20, 1823.
THE DOUBTFUL POINT.
RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD ETONIAN.
APOLLO'S VISIT TO ETON.{1}
ETON MONTEM.
FAREWELL TO ETON.
MY VALE.
FIVE CHARACTERISTIC ORDERS OF OXFORD.
THE FRESHMAN.
THE DINNER PARTY.
COLLEGE SERVANTS.
TAKING POSSESSION OF YOUR ROOMS.
THE EXCURSION TO BAGLEY WOOD.
KENSINGTON GARDENS—SUNDAY EVENING.
THE OPERA.
THE ROYAL SALOON.
THE SPREAD, OR WINE PARTY AT BRAZEN-NOSE.
THE OXFORD RAKE'S PROGRESS.
TOWN AND GOWN, AN OXFORD ROW.
THE STAGE COACH,
THE PROPOSITION.
SKETCHES AT BRIGHTON.
CHARACTERS ON THE BEACH AND STEYNE, BRIGHTON.
METROPOLITAN SKETCHES.
VISIT TO WESTMINSTER HALL.
PROGRAMME.
CONCLUSION OF VOLUME ONE.
THE ENGLISH SPY.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SECOND VOLUME.
ODE, CONGRATULATORY AND ADVISIORY,
CYTHEREAN BEAUTIES.
LADIES OF DISTINCTION,
THE WAKE;
THE CYPRIAN'S BALL,
THE PHILOSOPHY OF LAUGHTER;
THE WESTMINSTER SCHOLAR.
ON FEASTERS AND FEASTING.
A SUNDAY RAMBLE TO HIGHGATE,
THE STOCK EXCHANGE.
THE LIFE, DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION
COMPANY.
THE ISLE OF WIGHT.
A CIRCULAR,
PORTSMOUTH IN TIME OF PEACE.
CHELTONIAN CHARACTERS.
CHAPTER I.
A SECOND ODE TO BERNARD BLACKMANTLE, ESQ.
A TRIP TO THE SPAS.
CHAPTER II.
TRAVELLER'S HALL.
AN EPISTLE TO BERNARD BLACKMANTLE, ESQ.,
A VISIT TO GLOUCESTER AND BERKELEY.
A DAY IN BRISTOL.
SKETCHES IN BATH.
SPORTSMAN'S HALL.
THE BATTLE OF THE CHAIRS.
SKETCHES IN BATH—CHAPTER II.
WAGGERIES AT WORCESTER.
BERNARD BLACKMANTLE TO HIS READERS.
A SHORT ODE AT PARTING,
Illustrations
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page002 (26K)
BERNARD BLACKMANTLE{*} TO THE REVIEWERS.
"But now, what Quixote of the age would care
To wage a war with dirt, and fight with air?"
Messieurs the Critics,
After twelve months of agreeable toil, made easy by unprecedented success,
the period has at length arrived when your high mightinesses will be able
to indulge your voracious appetites by feeding and fattening on the work
of death. Already does my prophetic spirit picture to itself the black
cloud of cormorants, swelling and puffing in the fulness of their
editorial pride, at the huge eccentric volume which has thus thrust itself
into extensive circulation without the usual cringings and cravings
to the pick fault tribe. But
I dare defy the venal crew that prates,
From tailor Place* to fustian Herald Thwaites.{**}
* The woolly editor of the Breeches Makers', alias the
"Westminster Review."
** The thing who writes the leaden (leading) articles for
the Morning Herald.
Let me have good proof of your greediness to devour my labours, and I will
dish up such a meal for you in my next volume, as shall go nigh to produce
extermination by surfeit. One favour, alone, I crave—give me
abuse enough; let no squeamish pretences of respect for my
bookseller, or disguised qualms of apprehension for your own sacred
persons, deter the natural inclination of your hearts. The
slightest deviation from your usual course to independent writers—or
one step towards commendation from your gang, might induce the
public to believe I had abandoned my character, and become one of
your honourable fraternity-the very suspicion of which would
(to me) produce irretrievable ruin. Your masters, the trading
brotherhood, will (as usual) direct you in the course you should
pursue; whether to approve or condemn, as their 'peculiar interests
may dictate. Most sapient sirs of the secret bandit' of the
screen, inquisitors of literature, raise all your arms and heels,
your daggers, masks, and hatchets, to revenge the daring of
an open foe, who thus boldly defies your base and selfish
views; for, basking at his ease in the sunshine of public patronage,
he feels that his heart is rendered invulnerable to your poisoned
shafts. Read, and you shall find I have not been parsimonious of the
means to grant you food and pleasure: errors there are, no
doubt, and plenty of them, grammatical and typographical, all of which I
might have corrected by an errata at the end of my volume; but I
disdain the wish to rob you of your office, and have therefore left them
just where I made them, without a single note to mark them out; for if all
the thistles were rooted up, what would become of the asses?
or of those
"Who pin their easy faith on critic's sleeve,
And, knowing nothing, ev'ry thing believe?"
Fully satisfied that swarms of literary blow flies will pounce upon
the errors with delight, and, buzzing with the ecstasy of infernal joy,
endeavour to hum their readers into a belief of the profundity of their
critic erudition;—I shall nevertheless, with Churchill, laughingly
exclaim—"Perish my muse"
"If e'er her labours weaken to refine
The generous roughness of a nervous line."
Bernard Blackmantle.
Contents Page Images
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CONTENTS. Page
INTRODUCTION 3
PREFACE, IN IMITATION OF THE FIRST SATIRE OF
PERSIUS 5
REFLECTIONS, ADDRESSED TO THOSE WHO CAN
THINK.
Reflections of an Author—Weighty Reasons for writing—
Magister Artis Ingeniique Largitor Venter—Choice of Subject
considered—Advice of Index, the Bookseller—Of the Nature
of Prefaces—How to commence a new Work 7
A FEW THOUGHTS ON MYSELF 14
A SHANDEAN SCENE, BETWEEN LADY MARY OLD—
STYLE AND HORATIO HEARTLY 17
SCHOOL—BOY REMINISCENCES. ON EARLY FRIEND—
SHIP 22
CHARACTER OF BERNARD BLACKMANTLE. BY
HORATIO HEARTLY 25
ETON SKETCHES OF CHARACTER 32
THE FIVE PRINCIPAL ORDERS OF ETON—DOCTOR,
DAME, COLLEGER, OPPIDAN, AND CAD. A
Sketch taken opposite the Long Walk 42
ETON DAMES; AN ODE, NEITHER AMATORY, ILL—
NATURED, NOR PATHETIC 43
ELECTION SATURDAY.
A Peep at the Long Chambers—The Banquet—Reflections
on parting—Arrival of the Provost of King's College, Cam—
bridge, and the Pozers—The Captain's Oration—Busy Monday
—The Oppidan's Farewell—Examination and Election of the
Collegers who stand for King's—The aquatic Gala and Fire—
works—Oxonian Visitors—Night—Rambles in Eton—Transfor-
mations of Signs and Names—The Feast at the Christopher,
with a View of the Oppidan's Museum, and Eton Court of
Claims 58
AN ETON ELECTION SCENE 59
HERBERT STOCKHORE, THE MONTEM POET
LAUREATE.
A Sketch from the Life, as he appeared in the Montem
Procession of May, 1823. By Bernard Blackmantle and
Robert Transit 67
LIFE IN ETON; A College Chaunt in praise of private
Tutors 68
RECOLLECTIONS OF AN OLD ETONIAN 78
ETON MONTEM 96
FAREWELL TO ETON 105
MY VALE 108
THE FRESHMAN.
Reflections on leaving Eton University—A Whip—Sketches
on the Road—The Joneses of Jesus—Picturesque Appearance
of Oxford from the Distance—The Arrival—Welcome of an
Old Etonian—Visit to Dr. Dingyman—A University Don—
Presentation to the Big Wig—Ceremony of Matriculation 113
CHRIST CHURCH COLLEGE.
Architectural Reminiscences—Descriptive Remarks—Simi-
litude between the Characters of Cardinal Wolsey and
Napoleon 129
THE DINNER PARTY.
Bernard Blackmantle's Visit to Tom Echo—Oxford Phrase-
ology—Smuggled Dinners—A College Party described—
Topography of a Man's Room—Portrait of a Bachelor of Arts
—Hints to Freshmen—Customs of the University 132
COLLEGE SERVANTS.
Descriptive Sketch of a College Scout—Biography of Mark
Supple—Singular Invitation to a Spread 146
TAKING POSSESSION OF YOUR ROOMS.
Topography of a vacant College Larium—Anecdotes and
Propensities of Predecessors—A Long Shot—Scout's List of
Necessaries—Condolence of University Friends 151
THE EXCURSION TO BAGLEY WOOD 157
WESTERN ENTRANCE INTO THE METROPOLIS.
A descriptive Sketch.
General Views of the Author relative to Subject and Style
—Time and Place—Perspective Glimpse of the great City—
The Approach—Cockney Salutations—The Toll House—
Western Entrance to Cockney Land—Hyde Park—Sunday
Noon-Sketches of Character, Costume, and Scenery—The
Ride and Drive—Kensington Gardens—Belles and Beaux-
Stars and fallen Stars—Singularities of 1824-Tales of Ton-
On Dits and Anecdotes—Sunday Evening—High Life and
Low Life, the Contrast—Cockney Goths—Notes, Biographical,
Amorous, and Exquisite 164
THE OPERA.
The Man of Fashion—Fop's Alley—Modern Roué and
Frequenters—Characteristic Sketches in High Life—Blue
Stocking Illuminati—Motives and Manners—Meeting with
the Honourable Lillyman Lionise—Dinner at Long's—Visit
to the Opera—Joined by Bob Transit—A Peep into the
Green Room—Secrets behind the Curtain—Noble Amateurs
and Foreign Curiosities—Notes and Anecdotes by Horatio
Heartly 198
THE ROYAL SALOON.
Visit of Heartly, Lionise, and Transit—Description of the
Place—Sketches of Character—The Gambling Parsons—Horse
Chaunting, a true Anecdote—Bang and her Friends—Moll
Raffle and the Marquis W.—he Play Man—The Touter—
The Half-pay Officer—Charles Rattle, Esq.—Life of a modern
Roue—B——— the Tailor—The Subject—Jarvey and Brooks
the Dissector—"Kill him when you want him" 205
THE SPREAD, OR WINE PARTY AT BRAZEN-NOSE.
A College Wine Party described—Singular Whim of
Horace Eglantine—Meeting of the Oxford Crackademonians
—Sketches of Eccentric Characters, drawn from the Life—
The Doctor's Daughter—an old Song—A Round of Sculls—
Epitaphs on the Living and the Dead—Tom Tick, a College
Tale—The Voyagers—Notes and Anecdotes 221
THE OXFORD RAKE'S PROGRESS 233
TOWN AND GOWN, AN OXFORD ROW.
Battle of the Togati and the Town—Raff—A Night—Scene in
the High-Street, Oxford—Description of the Combatants—
Attack of the Gownsmen upon the Mitre—Evolutions of the
Assailants—Manoeuvres of the Proctors and Bull—Dogs—
Perilous Condition of Blackmantle and his Associates, Eglan-
tine, Echo, and Transit—Snug Retreat of Lionise—The High—
Street after the Battle—Origin of the Argotiers, and Inven-
tion of Cant—phrases—History of the Intestine Wars and
Civil Broils of Oxford, from the Time of Alfred—Origin
of the late Strife—Ancient Ballad—Retreat of the Togati—
Reflections of a Freshman—Black Matins, or the Effect of
late Drinking upon early Risers—Visit to Golgotha, or the
Place of Sculls—Lecture from the Big—Wigs—Tom Echo
receives Sentence of Rustication 246
TOWNE AND GOWNE 263
THE STAGE COACH, OR THE TRIP TO BRIGHTON.
Improvements in Travelling—Contrast of ancient and
modern Conveyances and Coachmen—Project for a new Land
Steam Carriage—The Inn—yard at the Golden Cross, Charing
Cross—Mistakes of Passengers—Variety of Characters—Ad-
vantages of the Box—seat—Obstructions on the Road—A
Pull—up at the Elephant and Castle—Move on to Kennington
Common—New Churches—Civic Villas at Brixton—Modern
Taste in Architecture described—Arrival at Croydon; why
not now the King's Road?—The Joliffe Hounds—A Hunting
Leader—Anecdotes of the Horse, by Coachee—The new
Tunnel at Reigate—The Baron's Chamber—The Golden Ball
—the Silver Ball—and the Golden Calf—Entrance into
Brighton 274
THE PROPOSITION.
Family Secrets—Female Tactics—How to carry the Point 287
SKETCHES AT BRIGHTON.
The Pavilion Party—Interior described—Royal and Noble
Anecdotes—The King and Mathews 292
CHARACTERS ON THE BEACH AND STEYNE,
BRIGHTON.
On Bathing and Bathers—Advantages of Shampooing—
French Decency—Brighton Politeness—Sketches of Character
—The Banker's Widow—Miss J——s—Mrs. F——1—Peter
Paragraph, he London Correspondent—J—k S——h—The
French Consul—Paphian Divinities—C—— L——, Esq.
Squeeze into the Libraries—The new Plunging Bath—
Chain Pier—Cockney Comicalities—Royal Gardens—The
Club House 305
METROPOLITAN SKETCHES.
Heartly, Echo, and Transit start for a Spree—Scenes by
Daylight, Starlight, and Gaslight—Black Monday at Tatter—
sail's—The first Meeting after the Great St. Leger—Heroes of
the Turf paying and receiving—Dinner at Fishmongers' Hall
—Committee of Greeks—The Affair of the Cogged Dice—A
Regular Break—down—Rules for the New Club—The Daffy
Club, or a Musical Muster of the Fancy: striking Portraits—
Counting the Stars—Covent Garden, what it was and what it
is—The Finish—Anecdotes of Characters—The Hall of Infamy,
alias the Covent Garden Hell 327
VISIT TO WESTMINSTER HALL.
Worthies thereof—Legal Sketches of the Long Robe—An
Awkward Recognition—Visit to Banco Regis—Surrey Col—
legians giving a Lift to a Limb of the Law—Out of Rule and in
Rule—"Thus far shalt thou go, and no further"—Park
Rangers personified—Visit to the Life Academy, Somerset
House—R. A—ys of Genius reflecting on the true Line of
Beauty—Peep into the Green Rooms of the two Theatres Royal,
Drury Lane and Covent Garden—Bernard Blackmantle
reading his new Play and Farce—The City Ball at the Mansion
House—The Squeeze—Civic Characters—Return to Oxford—
Invite to Cambridge—Jemmy Gordon's Frolic—Term ends 355
Illustration Listing Page Images
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ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE ENGLISH SPY.