Probert was admitted King's evidence, and so escaped for that time, but he was afterwards hung at the Old Bailey for horse-stealing. Thurtell and Hunt were condemned to death, but only Thurtell was hung, Hunt being reprieved on the morning of execution, and transported for life. In those days prize-fighting was in much favour, and a great fight was coming off between Spring and Langham, two noted pugilists. To show the ruffianly and impenitent character of Thurtell, it is related that he said, a few hours before his execution, 'It is perhaps wrong in my situation; but I own I should like to read Pierce Egan's account of the great fight yesterday.'

Some of the incidents of the trial were appalling, others ludicrous. The production of the weapon with which the murder was committed, stained and rusted with blood, made every one shudder except the prisoners. The oft-quoted reason for a man being respectable 'because he kept a horse and shay' occurred during this trial; and when Probert's cook was asked whether the supper at Gill's Hill Cottage was postponed, she answered, 'No; it was pork.'[4]

The murder of Mr. Weare was committed on October 24, and discovered a few days afterwards. On November 10 the _Observer_ published five ill.u.s.trations of the murder:--1. Probert's cottage and garden. 2. The scene of the murder in Gill's Hill Lane. 3. The pond in which the body of Weare was found. 4. Front view (from the road) of Probert's cottage.

5. The parlour and the couch on which Hunt slept. On December 7 the _Observer_ published a view of the interior of the Crown Court at Hertford at the moment the prisoners were brought up to plead; and, having found that the public had eagerly purchased the ill.u.s.trations already issued, the editor announced the publication of two sheets with additional engravings on the occasion of the trial:--'The Trials of the prisoners at Hertford having been put off till Tuesday, Jan. 6, the publication of the intended Supplement of this Journal, containing the plates ill.u.s.trative of the facts to be disclosed in the evidence, has been deferred till Sunday, January 11, on which day Two Sheets instead of one will be published. Booksellers, Postmasters, &c., are requested to give their orders through their respective Agents in London, as no papers whatever are on any occasion forwarded through the Publisher.'

Accordingly, at the appointed time two sheets came out, containing the cuts already enumerated together with three fresh ones, the latter being the stable-yard of Probert's cottage with the murderers conveying the body by the light of a lantern to the stable; a front view of the cottage, showing the murderers dragging the body to the pond; and a ground-plan of the country round the scene of the murder. The conductors of the Journal appear to have had some misgivings as to the good taste of their proceedings, but were unable to resist the temptation of a large and profitable sale. The engravings are thus introduced to the reader:--'The unparalleled interest which has been created in the public mind by the mysterious circ.u.mstances attending the death of Mr. Weare has induced us, with a view to the gratification of our readers, to use every exertion in our power, not only to give a faithful and copious Report of the Trial of the persons charged with this most foul and atrocious deed, but, with the a.s.sistance of competent Artists, to obtain such Plates as appear to us best calculated to ill.u.s.trate the detail of circ.u.mstances disclosed in the evidence before the jury. We are aware that by some these ill.u.s.trations will be condemned as inconsistent with good taste; and we are ready to acknowledge that on all occasions their adoption would be extremely injudicious. In a case, however, where the feelings and the curiosity of the public have been so much excited, and where so singular and ardent an avidity has been displayed to obtain every possible light upon a subject so interesting, we trust that those who may entertain, perhaps, a well-founded objection to our plan, will, for a moment, grant us their indulgence, and permit us to meet the wishes of persons who may not be so fastidious as themselves. The strongest argument which we can adduce in favour of the continued pursuit of this plan--is the fact, that of three of the plates which we now feel it necessary to republish, many thousand impressions have been already sold, and yet the number, though high, has been insufficient to supply the continued demand. The necessity imposed on us, however, for breaking up our formes, forced us to refer the recent applicants to the present publication, which will be found to contain the most minute and correct particulars of everything connected with this extraordinary affair.'

Then follows a long and minute description of all the plates, when it is stated, 'For the sake of effect the artist has given all the views as they would appear in daylight; but, with the exception of Plate II.

(finding the body of Weare in the pond), the scenes ought to have been represented as at night.' Some of the engravings ill.u.s.trating the murder of Mr. Weare appeared in the _Morning Chronicle_ the day before their publication in the _Observer_, and they were also published simultaneously in the _Englishman_, which appears to have been in substance another edition of the _Observer_ without the advertis.e.m.e.nts.

The name of W. Hughes is attached to them as the engraver.

The _Observer_ was loudly condemned for publishing the Weare and Thurtell ill.u.s.trations, and it did not for some time bring out any more engravings; but this was probably owing more to the commercial depression prevailing at the time than to the strictures that had been pa.s.sed upon newspaper morality.

About this time _Bell's Life_ came into Mr. Clement's hands, and henceforth it shared, with the _Morning Chronicle_ and the _Englishman_, in the ill.u.s.trations prepared for the _Observer_. It had, however, a distinct series of ill.u.s.trations of its own, which was continued for several years. But before describing them I must refer to one or two characteristic engravings which appeared in _Bell's Life_ in its early days. On November 28, 1824, the first large woodcut was published, representing a prize-fight on a raised stage, and ent.i.tled the 'Tip Top Milling at Warwick.' According to the account accompanying the engraving, this prize-fight was a most brutal exhibition, without any display of what boxers call 'science'--a mere exchange of hard blows, ending in one of the combatants being carried insensible from the stage.

The coming fight was made known far and wide, so that when the day arrived vehicles from all parts of the country brought hundreds of spectators to the scene. The fight took place, openly and without fear of interruption, on the race-course at Warwick, the grand stand being crammed with spectators, and a ring of waggons, on which cl.u.s.tered crowds of eager gazers, surrounded the stage. This is all shown in the engraving in _Bell's Life_; and the different objects in the background, such as the church, the keep of Warwick Castle, the cemetery, &c., are pointed out by figures of reference with the most conscientious care.

There is a very long account of the battle, couched in language only understood by members of the 'fancy.'

In 1825 the town was being amused by Liston, as 'Paul Pry,' then a recent creation of the stage. On November 8 in that year _Bell's Life_ published a woodcut representing the comedian in that character, which I have copied as an early example of the ill.u.s.trations of the great sporting journal.

[Ill.u.s.tration: LISTON AS PAUL PRY. FROM 'BELL'S LIFE,' 1825.]

In 1827 _Bell's Life_ commenced a series of caricature sketches by Cruikshank, Seymour, and Kenny Meadows, ent.i.tled a 'Gallery of Comicalities.' This continued at intervals, along with other sketches ent.i.tled 'Phizogs of the Tradesmen of London' (half-lengths of Butchers, Cobblers, &c., commencing in 1832); 'Kitchen Stuff, or Cads of the Aristocracy' (heads of gentlemen's servants); 'Portraits down the Road'

(heads of characters seen on a stage-coach journey, such as the Landlady, the Commercial Traveller, the Chambermaid, &c.); 'The Sporting Alb.u.m' (sketches from life, commencing 1834). These caricature subjects were continued to the end of the year 1840. The greater number are much too coa.r.s.e, cynical, and vulgar for the taste of the present day.

Sometimes a series of sketches extended through several consecutive weeks, such as 'The Pugilist's Progress' and 'The Drunkard's Progress,'

both by Seymour. 'The Drunkard's Progress,' which appeared in 1829, consisted of twelve scenes, and embodied the same idea that was many years afterwards more fully developed by George Cruikshank in his series of large plates ent.i.tled 'The Bottle.' Now and then appeared a sporting subject by Harvey, such as Coursing, Hunting, Bull-Baiting, &c. In the number for February 8, 1829, appeared a curious woodcut representing a view in the Isle of Anglesea, which was said to have excited the attention and surprise of pa.s.sing travellers from its presenting an excellent profile of the Marquis of Anglesea, who was then very popular. In 1831 portraits of Young Dutch Sam and Ned Neal, the famous pugilists, were published; and in 1838 the initials of John Leech began to appear to some of the cuts. Portraits of prize-fighters, race-horses, representations of racing-cups, &c., were given at intervals until 1851, when the last ill.u.s.tration, a monument to Tom Cribb, appeared.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE MAN WOT LOST THE FIGHT.

THE MAN WOT WON THE FIGHT.

FROM 'BELL'S LIFE,' 1831.]

As further examples of the ill.u.s.trations in _Bell's Life_, I copy two, which were published in 1831.

About 1825 there was another sporting paper in existence, conducted by the celebrated author of 'Tom and Jerry.' It was called _Pierce Egan's Life in London_, and, like _Bell's Life_, had its sporting and other columns decorated with little woodcut headings, and sometimes published an engraving of a racing-cup.

At the beginning of 1827 the _Observer_ resumed its ill.u.s.trations of news, and on the death of the Duke of York published a long memoir of his Royal Highness, accompanied by an equestrian portrait of the Duke, 'taken during his last visit to Newmarket.' In the number for January 21 are engravings of the remains of his Royal Highness lying in state in St. James's Palace, and a view of the interior of the Royal Mausoleum at Windsor. The above were engraved by Slader, and were published simultaneously in the _Englishman_ and _Bell's Life_.

The number published on Aug. 13, 1827, contains a large portrait of Mr.

Canning, then just deceased. This portrait has the names of Jackson and Smith attached to it as the engravers. In the number for Sept. 30 there is a 'correct view of the Suspension Bridge, Hammersmith, to be opened to the public on Sat.u.r.day, Oct. 6, 1827.' This is engraved by Slader, and appears also in _Bell's Life_ the same week. The following week the _Observer_ published a large plan showing the alterations proposed in St. James's Park in connexion with the building of Buckingham Palace; and on Nov. 18 appeared a plan of the port of Navarino, accompanying an account of the naval battle at that place. In December was published a view of 'Mr. Gurney's new Steam-Carriage, as it appeared in the Regent's Park on Thursday, Dec. 6, 1827,' and later in the same month a representation of Mr. D. Gordon's new steam-coach. Both these engravings are curious and interesting, as showing the attempts that were made fifty years ago to apply steam to the propulsion of carriages on common roads.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF YORK, TAKEN DURING HIS LAST VISIT TO NEWMARKET. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' JAN. 8, 1827.]

Mr. Gurney was a medical man, but gave up his practice and devoted himself to scientific studies, and particularly to the construction of locomotive engines for turnpike travelling. He had seen Trevithick's engine, and when a youth had frequently met Trevithick himself. He had thus become imbued with a conviction of the practicability of making a steam-carriage that would travel on common roads. Other inventors succeeded in doing the same thing, but Mr. Gurney attained the greatest amount of success. With his steam-carriage he made a journey from London to Bath on July 28, 1829, performing the return journey at fourteen miles an hour, or the eighty-four miles in nine hours and twenty minutes, stoppages for fuel and water included. In 1831 he established a regular steam conveyance between Gloucester and Cheltenham, a distance of about nine miles. The steam-carriages commenced plying on Feb. 21, 1831, and continued running four times a-day for four months, with tolerable regularity and without accident. The project, however, received such determined opposition from coach proprietors and turnpike trusts that it was abandoned. The tolls exacted were so heavy that at one gate they amounted to eight guineas. Mr. Gurney is said to have expended 36,000_l._ on his enterprise, but without any permanent beneficial result. His inventive genius, however, contributed to develope the high speed of the locomotive and the subsequent success of railways. He died Feb. 28, 1875, aged eighty-two years.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MR. GURNEY'S NEW STEAM-CARRIAGE AS IT APPEARED IN THE REGENT'S PARK ON THURSDAY, DEC. 6, 1827. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' DEC. 9, 1827.]

Mr. Gordon took out a patent for a steam-coach in 1822, and constructed two different machines. One had its wheels surrounded by cogs, or projecting teeth. This engine was to be placed within a large rolling drum, about nine feet in diameter and five feet wide, the inside of which should be fitted with circular rack-rails fitting the wheels of the steam-engine. Thus the motion of the engine would cause the drum to roll forward, on the same principle that a squirrel causes a cylindrical cage to revolve; and the rolling of the drum was to move a carriage connected with it. The other machine had two long propellers or legs, intended to obviate the supposed tendency of wheels to slip when ascending a slope.

The Thames Tunnel, which was begun in 1825 by Mr. Brunel, was on more than one occasion threatened with destruction by irruptions of water. On Jan. 12, 1828, six workmen perished by a sudden rush of water into the workings, and on the 20th the _Observer_ published an engraving representing the catastrophe. On the 9th of June appeared 'A correct view of Ascot Heath Race Course, taken by an eminent artist on Thursday last.' This 'eminent artist' was William Harvey, and the cut bears the names of Jackson and Smith as the engravers. A sheet containing a selection of comic sketches from _Bell's Life_ was issued with the _Observer_ of July 20, 1828, accompanied by a statement that the sketches (twenty-seven in number) cost one hundred and forty-two pounds, drawing and engraving. This sounds very trivial when contrasted with the large sums now paid by ill.u.s.trated newspapers.

In 1827 another exciting murder was committed, and the _Observer_, undeterred by former censures, published a portrait of the criminal and a view of the scene of his crime, but did not on this occasion deal with the case in the elaborate way in which the murder of Mr. Weare was treated. The story of the Red Barn is well known to provincial playgoers in the Eastern Counties, where it still sometimes figures in theatrical programmes on Sat.u.r.day nights. William Corder was a farmer's son residing not far from Ipswich. He had for some time carried on an intrigue with a country girl named Maria Marten, whom he at last enticed into a barn not far from her father's cottage, and there murdered her, and buried her body under the floor of the barn. After this he continued to visit her father's cottage, and by various falsehoods accounted for the girl's continued absence. Months went by, and Corder wrote several letters to the girl's parents, in which he told plausible stories about her being at the seaside with relatives of his own. The girl's mother, however, had had her suspicions aroused by several circ.u.mstances, and at length she dreamed three times that her daughter had been murdered and her body hid under the floor in the Red Barn. The woman's mind was so worked upon by the recurrence of this dream that she induced her husband to search under the floor of the barn, and there, sure enough, the murdered body of the girl was found. In the meantime Corder had advertised for a wife in the _Morning Herald_ in the following terms:--'A private gentleman, aged twenty-four, entirely independent, whose disposition is not to be exceeded, has lately lost chief of his family by the hand of Providence, which has occasioned discord among the remainder, under circ.u.mstances the most disagreeable to relate. To any female of respectability, who would study for domestic comfort, and is willing to confide her future happiness to one in every way qualified to render the marriage state desirable, as the advertiser is in affluence.

Many happy marriages have taken place through means similar to this now resorted to. It is hoped no one will answer this through impertinent curiosity; but should this meet the eye of any agreeable lady, who feels desirous of meeting with a sociable, tender, kind, and sympathising companion, they will find this advertis.e.m.e.nt worthy of notice. Honour and secrecy may be relied on. As some little security against idle application, it is requisite that letters may be addressed, post-paid, A. Z., care of Mr. Foster, stationer, 68 Leadenhall Street, with real name and address, which will meet with most respectful attention.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: WILLIAM CORDER. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' AUG. 10, 1823.]

Through this advertis.e.m.e.nt Corder became acquainted with a lady who kept the Grove House Academy at Ealing, near London. They were married, and he went to reside with his wife at Grove House, where he was arrested one morning in the spring of 1828. Various circ.u.mstances pointed to him as the murderer of Maria Marten, and he was tried for the crime at Bury St. Edmunds on Aug. 6, 1828. The crowd was so great that the counsel and officers of the court had to fight their way to their places. Corder appeared at the bar dressed in a new suit of black, and with his hair combed over his forehead. He wore a pair of blue French spectacles, through which he eyed the witnesses smilingly. Being called on for his defence, he read a statement which amounted to charging Maria Marten with having committed suicide. He said that in consequence of a quarrel they had in the Red Barn she shot herself with one of two pistols which he had with him:--'The instant the mischief happened, I thought to have made it public; but this would have added to the suspicion, and I then resolved to conceal her death. I then buried her in the best way I could. I tried to conceal the fact as well as I could, giving sometimes one reason for her absence, and sometimes another.' He was found guilty and sentenced to death, and the night before his execution he made the following confession:--'I acknowledge being guilty of the death of poor Maria Marten, by shooting her with a pistol. The particulars are as follows: When we left her father's house, we began quarrelling about the burial of the child, she apprehending that the place wherein it was deposited would be found out. The quarrel continued for about three quarters of an hour upon this and about other subjects. A scuffle ensued, and during the scuffle, and at the time I think that she had hold of me, I took the pistol from the side pocket of my shooting-coat.... I have been guilty of great idleness, and at times led a dissolute life, but I hope through the mercy of G.o.d to be forgiven.--W. CORDER.'

This murder excited great and marked interest, not only in Suffolk, but through the whole country. On Aug. 10, 1828, the day before the execution, the _Observer_ published a portrait of Corder and a view of the Red Barn, which are here copied. The excitement showed itself in the streets, where puppet shows represented the scene of the crime, and Methodist preachers held forth in the fields near the barn to thousands of attentive listeners. The Red Barn itself was nearly pulled to pieces by curiosity seekers.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RED BARN. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' AUG. 10, 1828.]

On the Monday of the execution all the workmen in Bury struck work in order to see the murderer hanged, and persons came from long distances for the same purpose. One man was pestered by every one he met on his return by inquiries whether Corder had really been hung that morning.

This was repeated so often that he became quite weary of the constantly recurring question, 'Is Corder executed?' In the evening, in order to get rid of the gloomy feelings created by what he had witnessed, he went to the theatre, where he arrived somewhat late. The play ('Macbeth') had advanced to the fourth scene of the first act as he seated himself in the pit. The newcomer, who was better acquainted with the details of the murder in the Red Barn than with the plays of Shakespeare, was not a little astonished when King Duncan entered, and, fixing his eye upon him, repeated what he thought was the same question that had been so often addressed to him that day, 'Is execution done on Cawdor?'

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SIAMESE TWINS. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' NOVEMBER 22, 1829.]

The _Observer_ continued its ill.u.s.tration of events as they occurred, sharing the engravings with _Bell's Life_ and the _Englishman_. St.

Katharine's Docks were opened on Oct. 25th, 1828, and on the following day the _Observer_ published a bird's eye view of the docks, showing the ceremonies attending the opening. In January, 1829, appeared two views of Buckingham Palace, then building for George IV.; and in August a cut of the 'Post-Office Accelerator,' a carriage for conveying London postmen to their several districts. A portrait of Rowton, the winner of the Great St. Leger for 1829, was given in September. This year the lovers of wonderful shows were attracted to an exhibition in London of two Siamese youths who were united together by a short cartilaginous band at the pit of the stomach, but with no other connexion existing between them. They were perfectly straight and well made, and walked with a gait like other people; being perfect in all their parts, and having all their functions distinct. Their names were Chang and Eng; and they were first discovered on the banks of the Siam river, fishing, by Mr. Hunter, an American, by whom they were taken to New York, where they were exhibited, and were afterwards brought to England. They were supposed to be about eighteen years old when they were exhibited in London in 1829. The _Observer_ of November 22, 1829, published a long account of the Siamese Twins, with a woodcut representing them as they were exhibited to the public.

After having been exhibited for several years in London and the provinces, the Siamese twins went to America, where they settled on a farm, and married sisters. In the year 1869 they returned to London, and were as elderly men again exhibited; but they soon went back to America, where in a few years they died, both together. A similar exhibition was made in London about 1868 of twin girls, named Millie-Christine, or the 'Two-headed Nightingale,' and it was probably the appearance of these two 'black birds' that suggested the idea of the Siamese twins appearing again in public.

In June, 1830, George the Fourth died, and the _Observer_ published several engravings connected with the event. On June 24th appeared a portrait of 'His Majesty George the Fourth as he last appeared in his Pony Phaeton in Windsor Park;' and on July 18 three ill.u.s.trations of the lying-in-state and the funeral were published.

'The King is dead! Long live the King!' So said the citizens of London when they invited William IV. and Queen Adelaide to a banquet at Guildhall on the following November 9; and on the 1st, eight days before the entertainment came off, the _Observer_ duly supplied the public with 'A correct view of the grand civic entertainment,' as it was to be. On Aug. 1, 1831, new London Bridge was opened by the King and Queen, and two engravings ill.u.s.trative of the event were published in the _Observer_, the _Morning Chronicle_, _Bell's Life_, and the _Englishman_. One of them is interesting, as it shows the relative positions of the old and the new bridge. The view was taken from the tower of St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, looking towards Fish Street Hill.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HIS MAJESTY GEORGE IV., AS HE LAST APPEARED IN HIS PONY PHAETON IN WINDSOR PARK. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' JUNE 29, 1830.]

The _Observer_ of Sept. 11, 1831, contained four ill.u.s.trations of the coronation of King William IV. and Queen Adelaide, together with long and elaborate descriptions. There was another paper in existence at this time called the _United Kingdom_, which also ill.u.s.trated the coronation.

This was the period of the great Reform agitation, when the newspapers were absorbed in political excitement; and after this the _Observer_ for a time ceased to give any ill.u.s.trations.

On July 28, 1835, a diabolical attempt was made in Paris to shoot Louis-Philippe, king of the French. The a.s.sa.s.sin, whose name was Fieschi, constructed an infernal machine, consisting of twenty-five barrels, charged with various kinds of missiles, and lighted simultaneously by a train of gunpowder. The machine was fired from a window as the King rode along the lines of the National Guard, on the Boulevard du Temple, accompanied by his three sons and suite. The King and his sons escaped, but Marshal Mortier was shot dead and many officers were dangerously wounded. Amongst the spectators upwards of forty persons were killed or injured. In its number for August 9, 1835, the _Observer_ gave a sketch of the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination, a portrait of the criminal, and a representation of the infernal machine.

The actual infernal machine, with a waxen effigy of Fieschi, formed for many years a prominent attraction at Madame Tussaud's Exhibition.

The reign of William IV. was a short one, and soon the _Observer_ had to ill.u.s.trate his funeral, as it had done that of his predecessor. The number for July 3, 1837, contained three engravings of the royal obsequies, and ere long the brief rule of the Sailor King was forgotten in the dawning glories of the Victorian era. The epoch of railways was opening. The Greenwich Railway was the first railway out of London, and the next was the North-Western, or the London and Birmingham as it was then called. On July 24, 1837, the _Observer_ published a large woodcut of the 'Grand entrance to the London and Birmingham Railway at Euston Square.' Mr. Hardwick's ma.s.sive structure was then in progress, and formed the entrance to the first of the great London railway stations--vast buildings, some of which have swallowed up whole streets, and contributed greatly to alter the appearance of London in their vicinity.

[Ill.u.s.tration: GERARD, _ALIAS_ FIESCHI, AND THE INFERNAL MACHINE. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,' AUGUST 9, 1835.]

On July 24, 1837, a balloon ascended from Vauxhall with a parachute attached, in which was Mr. c.o.c.king, who in descending was killed. The _Observer_ published ill.u.s.trations of this event, which excited great interest at the time. Other papers ill.u.s.trated Mr. c.o.c.king's death, which I will recount more at length when I come to treat of the _Weekly Chronicle_, which contained more ill.u.s.trations of the event than any other paper. A large engraving appeared in the _Observer_ for August 20, 1837, representing the Waterloo shield, given by Lord George Bentinck, and run for at Goodwood Races, 1837.

When Her Majesty Queen Victoria paid her first visit to the City of London after her accession, the _Observer_ came out with larger engravings than it had ever before produced. Two large views of the interior of Guildhall were given, together with a panoramic sketch of the royal and civic procession, and a portrait of the youthful Queen, 'surrounded by a beautiful Emblematic Design, in which innocence and strength are happily portrayed by the playfulness of the Doves and the fearless defiance of the Lion.' Such was the flowery language of the _Observer_ in those days.

The _Observer_ of July 2, 1838, was a double number, price tenpence, and contained several ill.u.s.trations of the coronation of Queen Victoria, which were also printed in _Bell's Life_. I have copied one of them, not because it is particularly good, but simply to mark an important historical event, which ought to have some record in an account of ill.u.s.trated journalism.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CORONATION OF QUEEN VICTORIA. FROM THE 'OBSERVER,'

JULY 2, 1838.]

On the occasion of Her Majesty's marriage, the _Observer_ published a wedding number, containing several engravings, which were introduced to the reader thus:--'Little in the way of explanation is necessary to render the sketches in the opposite page, with which we have ill.u.s.trated our account of the splendid ceremonials of Her Majesty's Nuptials on Monday last, intelligible. Our readers will no doubt make due allowance for any imperfections which may be discovered, when they reflect on the fact that the whole of the labours of the artists and the engravers have been accomplished in less than a week, and this under circ.u.mstances of difficulty, in obtaining admission to the scenes to be sketched, almost insurmountable. We should not be doing justice to our engraver were we not to state that it is to Mr. Orrin Smith we owe the consummation of our desire to gratify our patrons.'