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[The Physician] had by him an old Greek manuscript where a favourite diversion of Socrates was recorded." "Ay!" says the parson eagerly; "I should be most infinitely obliged to you for the favour of perusing it." The doctor promised to send it him, and farther said, "That he believed he could describe it. I think," says he, "as near as I can remember, it was this: there was a throne erected, on one side of which sat a king and on the other a queen, with their guards and attendants ranged on both sides; to them was introduced an ambassador, which part Socrates always used to perform himself; and when he was led up to the footsteps of the throne he addressed himself to the monarchs in some grave speech, full of virtue, and goodness, and morality, and such like. After which, he was seated between the king and queen, and royally entertained. This I think was the chief part. Perhaps I may have forgot some particulars; for it is long since I read it." Adams said, "It was, indeed, a diversion worthy the relaxation of so great a man; and thought something resembling it should be instituted among our great men, instead of cards and other idle pastime, in which, he was informed, they trifled away too much of their lives." He added, "The Christian religion was a nobler subject for these speeches than any Socrates could have invented." The gentleman of the house approved what Mr Adams said, and declared "he was resolved to perform the ceremony this very evening." To which the doctor objected, as no one was prepared with a speech, "unless," said he (turning to Adams with a gravity of countenance which would have deceived a more knowing man), "you have a sermon about you, doctor." "Sir," said Adams, "I never travel without one, for fear of what may happen." He was easily prevailed on by his worthy friend, as he now called the doctor, to undertake the part of the ambassador; so that the gentleman sent immediate orders to have the throne erected, which was performed before they had drank two bottles; and, perhaps, the reader will hereafter have no great reason to admire the nimbleness of the servants. Indeed, to confess the truth, the throne was no more than this: there was a great tub of water provided, on each side of which were placed two stools raised higher than the surface of the tub, and over the whole was laid a blanket; on these stools were placed the king and queen, namely, the master of the house and the captain. And now the ambassador was introduced between the poet and the doctor; who, having read his sermon, to the great entertainment of all present, was led up to his place and seated between their majesties. They immediately rose up, when the blanket, wanting its supports at either end, gave way, and soused Adams over head and ears in the water. The captain made his escape, but, unluckily, the gentleman himself not being as nimble as he ought, Adams caught hold of him before he descended from his throne, and pulled him in with him, to the entire secret satisfaction of all the company. Adams, after ducking the squire twice or thrice, leapt out of the tub, and looked sharp for the doctor, whom he would certainly have conveyed to the same place of honour; but he had wisely withdrawn: he then searched for his crabstick, and having found that, as well as his fellow travellers, he declared he would not stay a moment longer in such a house. He then departed, without taking leave of his host, whom he had exacted a more severe revenge on than he intended; for, as he did not use sufficient care to dry himself in time, he caught a cold by the accident which threw him into a fever that had like to have cost him his life. [Book III, Ch. VII, "A Scene of Roasting, very nicely adapted to the present taste and times," pp. 243-44]

Commentary

— Gentle Dulness ever loves a Joke. — Pope, The Dunciad, 2: 30.

The scene entitled "The Ambassador" rehearses a ridiculous practical joke which John, Duke of Montague (1688-1749), had perpetrated on the French philosopher Montesquieu some twelve years earlier. Standing in for "Socrates," Parson Adams, thorough drenched in the lascivious Squire's plot to make him look gullible, cannot find the physician who co-authored the joke. However, after getting thoroughly soused, Adams, gets even with the mean-spirited host. He totally immerses the Squire, getting him so wet in the tub that as the legitimate recipient of poetic justice he catches a life-threatening cold. He is furious when he learns that Adams has escaped with Fanny, whom he had planned to rape once he had made sure that Adams and Joseph were so inebriated that they could not interfere. Further adventures ensue at The New Inn, the nearby ale-house.

This is precisely the sort of situation that Cruikshank, who pilloried the immoral lifestyle of the Prince Regent, so thoroughly enjoyed as a satirical subject. The visual satirist underscores the testosterone-laced nature of the gathering through the skeletal stag's head above the doorway. The six wastrels not in the tub are thoroughly enjoying the joke, even though it is now at their host's expense. Adams, centre, pulls the Squire back into the tub as he attempts to extricate himself, clambering over the the tumbled high-stool (left). Cruikshank shows the Captain, who had enacted the role of the Queen, as the joker in uniform (right) who is overcome with hilarity. The sermon that Adams has just delivered lies neglected on the floor, just right of centre. Cruikshank realizes the whole scene effectively, especially "to the entire secret satisfaction of all the company" (244).

Bibliography

Allen, Walter. "The Eighteenth Century." The English Novel: A Short Critical History. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1954. Pp. 43-102.

Burton, Anthony. "Cruikshank as an Illustrator of Fiction." George Cruikshank: A Revaluation. Ed. Robert L. Patten. Princeton: Princeton U. P., 1974, rev., 1992. Pp. 92-128.

Chesson, W. H. George Cruikshank. London: Duckworth, n. d.

Cohen, Jane Rabb. Part One, "Dickens and His Early Illustrators: 1. George Cruikshank. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio University Press, 1980. Pp. 15-38.

Fielding, Henry.​ The Adventures of Joseph Andrews​and his friend, Parson Abraham Adams.​Illustrated by George Cruikshank.​London: James Cochrane and Co.,​1832; rpt., London: George Bell, 1904.

Fielding, Henry.​ Joseph Andrews, Shamela and Related Writings.​Ed. Homer Goldberg. New York: Norton Critical Editions, 1987.

Kitton, Frederic G. "George Cruikshank." Dickens and His Illustrators. London: Chapman & Hall, 1899. Pp. 1-28.

McLean, Ruari. George Cruikshank: His Life and Work as a Book Illustrator. English Masters of Black-and-White. London: Art and Technics, 1948.

Patten, Robert L. "Phase 2: The Finest Things, Next to Rembrandt's — Chapter 21, "An 'Average-European' Style." George Cruikshank's Life, Times, and Art, vol. 1: 1792-1835. Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers U. P., 1992; London: The Lutterworth Press, 1992. Pp. 341-354.

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