William Combe

“ Folly loves the Toilette of a Woman of Fashion!—It is her Altar.—The enormity of its expences,—the frivolousness, to say no worse, of its conversation,—and the time which is lost in attending its duties, are so many offerings to her honour. The love of display is inherent in her nature:—every place of [Pg iii] public amusement is, more or less, her delight;—but an Opera is her favourite entertainment.—There, she not only presides, but triumphs.—There, Sense, Taste, and Reason, lie beneath her Feet. ”

“ Drawn by Rowlandson
Quæ Genus reading to Sir Jeffrey Gourmand.
Quæ Genus.
"If, Sir, it were not thought too free,
If I might take the liberty,
I would not wish you here to wait
While I my strange condition state,
As it would take an hour or more,
My various story to explore;
Tho' 'tis not such, that I should fear
The tale to tell or you to hear: 14
You, who will kind allowance make
For wants that press, and hearts that ache,
And passions that restraint disdain
When justice sues, and sues in vain ”

“ The Weak, the Strong, the Humble and the Proud,
All help'd to form the motley, mingled Crowd.
With curious eye, attentive I survey'd
Each busy Figure of the Masquerade.
A Mask it might be call'd, tho', free from shame,
All shew'd their Faces, and each told his Name.
For Folly's presence spoils the attractive grace
That plays around the most bewitching face.
Where'er she reigns, beneath her magic sway
Each charm, each envied beauty melts away.
[Pg 17] Where'er she governs, Wisdom will descry
In the fair form a foul deformity. ”

“ The influence of Folly is more dangerous, as the station it possesses is more exalted; and as the means of doing good are more enlarged among the Rich and Great, that time is the more to be lamented which they consume in frivolous pursuits and empty pleasures.
Without intruding upon your recollection the more awful obligations attendant upon your station in the world, you will forgive me if I just hint to Your Grace that Society has claims upon you, which you cannot refuse but with dishonour to yourself, and the contempt of those who possess the right which you refuse to grant ”

“ Ask Foley, Charles Fox, and a thousand others, what they think of modern infidelity; and they will tell you, that the Jews themselves, that unbelieving race, have deserted from the standard of skepticism, and, having borne the stigma of spiritual unbelief, for upwards of seventeen hundred years, are at this moment groaning beneath the effects of temporal credulity.
Credula turba sumus—We are a credulous race of beings; and the most steady professors of skepticism are deceived by others, and deceive themselves, every hour of the day. ”

“ And when, tho’ late, he made a bold appeal
To arms, from frowning Peers and fawning zeal,
And dar’d attempt with sacrilegious sword,
To offer equal combat to a LORD,
Sudden your noble limbs your coursers bore,
From Berkshire’s hills to Avon’s distant shore:
And eager to preserve from foul disgrace,
Th’ unsullied honors of a noble race,
Rather than have it said you meanly stood
To stain your faulchion with Plebeian blood,
You yielded bravely to a harsher fate,
And made submissions to the man you hate. ”

“ To please the old as well as young,
And study the expressive grace
That's seen to beam on any face;
When, in fair words and cautious mood
You may mark the similitude
Between the charms that smiling live,
And such as art like mine can give. ”

“ That play their gay delusions on the brain:
And strait, methought, a rude impetuous Throng,
With noise and riot, hurried me along,
To where a sumptuous Building met my eyes,
Whose gilded turrets seem'd to dare the skies.
To every Wind it op'd an ample door,
From every Wind tumultuous thousands pour.
With these I enter'd a stupendous Hall,
The scene of some approaching festival.
O'er the wide portals, full in sight, were spread
Banners of yellow hue, bestrip'd with red,
Whereon, in golden characters, were seen:
The Anniversary of Folly's Queen! ”

“ Upon this they returned to one of their chambers, and had scarce begun to communicate their sentiments to each other, when their conversation was interrupted by a renewal of yells, screams, and shrieks, which, from the horrour of them, seemed to issue from the throats of damned and tortured spirits. They immediately followed the sounds, and traced them to the stranger’s chamber, the door of which they instantly burst open, and found him upon his knees in bed, in the act of scourging himself with the most unrelenting severity, his body streaming with blood. ”

“ Should Your Grace honour the following Poem, if it may deserve that name, with a perusal, you will, perhaps, consider me as a visionary Character.—Be that as it may,—I am quite awake to your Honour and Interest in the Counsels I have given you; and if your Grace should adopt them, you will awake also.—The Visions of Folly will vanish away;—and your eyes will open on the real prospect of wise and honourable days.
I am, Madam, with all due respect,
Your Grace's most sincere Friend,
And humble Servant,
* * * * *. ”

“ The age in which we live does not possess so great a share, as former centuries, of that faith which is able to remove mountains: blind credulity, by the insults it so long offered to reason, has in a great measure destroyed itself, or is rather become modified into that sobriety of belief which is consistent with a rational being. ”

“ That in the changeful scenes of life,
Which raise up enmity and strife,
He may 'gainst others hold his head,
Nor the wide world's opinion dread,
If, though he almost stands alone,
An honest heart maintains its own:
But that he is an arrant fool
Who yields to his own ridicule.
Now such a fool, as we have seen,
Quæ Genus, from weak pride, has been:
But, though I wonder at his folly,
I will not make him melancholy.
in the sports of the kitchen
Drawn by Rowlandson
Quæ Genus, in the Sports of the Kitchen. ”

“ Display'd an idle, vain, fantastic show,
Fit only for the Crowd that gaz'd below.
Gay China's unsubstantial forms supply
The place of Beauty, Strength, Simplicity.
Each varied colour, of the brightest hue,
The green, the red, the yellow, and the blue,
In every part the dazzled eyes behold,
Here streak'd with silver, there enrich'd with gold;
While fancied forms upon the ceiling sprawl,
And shapeless monsters decorate the wall. ”

“ The gaudy, awful, and presuming phantom of Papal authority, has long begun to disappear: that blazing meteor, which for so many ages dazzled the superstitious world, verges towards the horizon, and grows pale before the steady, embodied light of liberal, unimpeded science. But I cannot believe, although luxury and dissipation with their concomitant depravities have made such enormous strides among the higher orders, that infidelity in religious matters is a leading characteristick of our times. ”

“ Your kind, protecting patronage,
And, among those of rank and wealth
Who make you guardian of their health,
Your favour may smile on my fate,
And I renew an household state,
Like that which crown'd my better days,
When I enjoy'd your frequent praise. ”

“ Ev’n when to burst their bonds your ardor fail’d,
And law, tyrannic law, at last prevail’d,
Tho’ forc’d a while to bend beneath the yoke,
Its weight your dauntless spirit never broke,
Still rankled in your breast the fatal wound,
Tho’ years had o’er it roll’d their circling round,
[Pg 7] On [A] SCROPE, tho’ late, you rear’d your threat’ning arm,
And shew’d the will without the pow’r to harm.
With Freedom’s warmth, tho’ thus your bosom glow’d,
From no licentious heat the ardour flow’d
When peaceful leaders rul’d with gentle sway,
Still were you first their mandates to obey ”

“ Drawn by Rowlandson
Quæ Genus, in the service of Sir. Jeffery Gourmand.
'Tis not the office of the Muse,
On slight suspicions, to accuse;
Nor does she now present to view
More than 'tis probable she knew:
But one day, and it may be more,
His constant meal of dainties o'er,
Dull nature did the Knight incline
To snore a little o'er his wine. ”

“ Religion, which commands, among its evident truths, the belief of matters which we cannot entirely comprehend, will sometimes so habituate the mind of its submissive disciple to acts of faith, that he does not know how to withhold his assent to the most improbable fictions of human fancy ”

“ Drawn by Rowlandson
Quæ Genus with a Spendthrift.
Whene'er enquiry makes a stir
To trace the human character, 151
The strict and scrutinising eye
Must look for human frailty,
And will perceive as on we range,
Our dispositions prone to change,
Nor like the features of the face,
Fix'd on their first-born, native place. ”

“ At your time of life it is not wholly unnatural that you should find something pleasant in the frolic gaiety of your Friend; and the Flatterers, who are alike under her influence, may find something graceful in the manners which she might communicate to you: but in the Mirror of Wisdom, the highest beauties of Folly appear but as foul deformities ”

“ It was in the early part of — — —’s life that he attended an hunting club at their sport, when a stranger, of a genteel appearance, and well mounted, joined the chace, and was observed to ride with a degree of courage and address that called forth the utmost astonishment of every one present. ”

“ Drawn by Rowlandson
Quæ Genus, interrupts a Tête a Tête.
To thinking minds it is not strange
That man is seen so soon to change,
And, when he gets on random chace,
To move so quick from place to place. ”

“ Then St. Patrick, St. George and St. Andrew shall be
The Protectors of Kingdoms so brave and so free:
Thus in vain will the thunders of Denis be hurl'd,
For our Trio of Saints shall give laws to the world. ”

“ I cannot therefore, in justice, be considered as guilty of any impropriety in addressing this work to Your Grace, as it relates to a Personage, who has heretofore possessed, as it were, a domestic union with the Great, by furnishing, from among her Children, the chief Wits of their noble Houses.
Tho' it has changed its appearance, the connection has not ceased to subsist; and Folly, though she extends her influence over all ranks and professions, still seems more particularly attached to the higher Orders of Life. ”

“ If we turn from the church to the state, the firm confidence of a very great majority of the people in a government, which, I am forced to confess, does not possess all the wisdom that such a government ought to possess, is a circumstance, which, were I to enlarge upon it, you would be perplexed to answer. In the ordinary transactions of life, the wantonness of commercial credit is well prepared to give the lie direct to any charge of incredulity. ”

“ Give then to Society what it requires—a great and noble example of female excellence.—Discard your present Associate;—cultivate the more solid Graces;—exalt your character by the dignity of Virtue;—and let continual actions of Benevolence and Generosity mark those hours which are passing hastily away, and will never return. ”

“ He no amass'd Pagodas brought
Whence treasures are so often sought:
Yet he, the favour'd lot of few,
As they bright fortune's track pursue,
Though India gave him mod'rate store,
Found plenteous wealth on Britain's shore. ”

“ If it alludes to religion, you would, I think, find some difficulty to maintain your position: if it should glance at politicks, our national submission is certainly against you: or, leaving the higher concerns of the world, if you should apply your assertion to the ordinary intercourse and common transactions between man and man, you are truly unfortunate, as an extreme cullibility seems to be one of the leading features of the present times. ”