Chapter XI: Canto VI (1)

"The Lawyer meets his just reward,
Nor from the triple tree is spar'd;
The Father takes my Lady home,
Where, when she hears her Lover's doom,
To desperate attempts she flies,
And with a dose of poison dies."

In these plates only a single variation is detected. In the very first impressions of the second of them (perhaps a few only were taken off) a lock of hair on the forehead of the lady is wanting. It was added by our artist, after _Baron_ had finished the plate. In the early copies he inserted it with _Indian_ ink. A passage in the _Analysis_[2] will perhaps account for this supplemental ornament: "A lock of hair falling cross the temples, and by that means breaking the regularity of the oval, has an effect too alluring to be strictly decent." The room represented in this plate is adorned with a _melange_ of pictures on wanton and devotional subjects.

Mr. _Walpole_ has remarked, that the works of _Hogarth_ have little obscurity. This position is true in general, though _Marriage à la Mode_ may supply an exception to it; no two persons, perhaps, having hitherto agreed in their explanation of Plate the third.[3]

When this set of plates was to be engraved, _Ravenet_, a young artist, then just coming into employ, was recommended to Mr. _Hogarth_; and a hard bargain was made. _Ravenet_ went through two of the plates, but the price proved far inadequate to the labour. He remonstrated, but could obtain no augmentation. When the _Sigismunda_ was to be engraved, Mr. _Ravenet_ was in a different sphere of life. The painter, with many compliments, solicited his assistance as an engraver, but _Ravenet_ indignantly declined the connexion.

In the fourth of these plates[4] are the following portraits: Mrs. _Lane_ (afterwards Lady _Bingley_) adoring _Carestini_; her husband _Fox Lane_ asleep. _Rouquet_ only calls him "Un gentilhomme campagnard, fatigué d'une course après quelque renard ou quelque cerf, s'endort." This idea seems to be countenanced by the whip in his hand. The same explainer adds, speaking of the two next figures, "Ici on voit en papillotes un de ces personages qui passent toute leur vie à tâcher de plaire sans y reüssir; la, un eventail au poing, on reconnoît un de ces hérétiques en amour, un sectateur d'_Anacreon_." The former of these has been supposed to represent Monsieur _Michel_, the _Prussian_ ambassador. _Weideman_ is playing on the _German_ flute.--The pictures in the room are properly suited to the bed-chamber of a profligate pair--_Jupiter_ and _Io, Lot_ with his Daughters, _Ganymede_ and the Eagle, and the Young Lawyer who debauches the Countess. The child's coral, hanging from the back of the chair she sits in, serves to shew she was already a mother; a circumstance that renders her conduct still more unpardonable. Some of her new-made purchases, exposed on the floor, bear witness to the warmth of her inclinations. These will soon be gratified at the fatal masquerade, for which her paramour is offering her a ticket.

The pompous picture on the right hand of the window in the nobleman's apartment, Plate I. also deserves attention. It appears to be designed as a ridicule on the unmeaning flutter of _French_ portraits, some of which (particularly those of _Louis_ XIV.) are painted in a style of extravagance equal at least to the present parody by _Hogarth_. This ancestor of our peer is invested with several foreign orders. At the top of one corner of the canvas, are two winds blowing across each other, while the hero's drapery is flying quite contrary directions. A comet is likewise streaming over his head. In his hand he grasps the lightning of _Jove_, and reposes on a cannon going off, whose ball is absurdly rendered an object of sight. A smile, compounded of self-complacency and pertness, is the characteristic of his face.

On the cieling of this magnificent saloon is a representation of _Pharaoh_ and his Host drowned in the Red Sea. The pictures underneath are not on the most captivating subjects--_David_ killing _Goliath--Prometheus_ and the Vulture--the Murder of the _Innocents--Judith_ and _Holofernes_--St. _Sebastian_ shot full of Arrows--_Cain_ destroying _Abel_--and St. _Laurence_ on the Gridiron.

Among such little circumstances in this plate as might escape the notice of a careless spectator, is the Thief in the Candle, emblematic of the mortgage on his Lordship's estate.

When engravings on a contracted scale are made from large pictures, a few parts of them will unavoidably become so small, as almost to want distinctness. It has fared thus with a number of figures that appear before the unfinished edifice,[5] seen through a window in the first plate of this work. _Hogarth_ designed them for the lazy vermin of his Lordship's hall, who, having nothing to do, are sitting on the blocks of stone, or staring at the building;[6] for thus _Rouquet_ has described them, "Une troupe de lacquais oisifs, qui sont dans le cour de ce batiment, acheve de caracteriser le faste ruineux qui environne le comte." The same illustrator properly calls the _Citizen_ Echevin (i. e. sheriff) of _London_, on account of the chain he wears.

Plate II. From the late Dr. _Ducarel_ I received the following anecdote; but there must be some mistake in it, as _Herring_ was not archbishop till several years after the designs for _Marriage à la Mode_ were made.

"_Edward Swallow_, butler to Archbishop _Herring_, had an annuity of ten pounds given to him in his Grace's will. For the honesty and simplicity of his physiognomy, this old faithful servant was so remarkable, that _Hogarth_, wanting such a figure in _Marriage à la Mode_, accompanied the late dean of _Sarum_, Dr. _Thomas Greene_, on a public day, to _Lambeth_, on purpose to catch the likeness. As they were coming away, he whispered, 'I have him!' And he may now be seen to the life preserved in the old steward, in Plate II. with his hands held up, &c."

In Plate V. the back ground, which is laboured with uncommon delicacy (a circumstance that will be remarked by few except artists), was the work of Mr. _Ravenet's_ wife. _Solomon's_ wise judgement is represented on the tapestry. When _Ravenet's_ two plates were finished, _Hogarth_ wanted much to retouch the faces,[7] and many disputes happened between him and the engraver on this subject. The first impressions, however, escaped without correction. Those who possess both copies, may discover evident marks of _Hogarth's_ hand in the second. See particularly the countenance of the dying nobleman, which is fairly ploughed up by his heavier burin.

I have been told that our artist took the portrait of the female, who is so placed, that the legs of a figure in the tapestry supply the want of her own, from a coarse picture of a woman called _Moll Flanders_.

Plate the sixth of this set, affords _Rouquet_ an opportunity of illustrating the following remark, which he had made at the outset of his undertaking: "Ce qu'un _Anglois_ lit, pour ainsi dire, en jettant les yeux sur ces estampes, va exiger de vous la lecture de plusieurs pages." Speaking of our citizen's parsimony, says he--"Voyez-vous ces pipes conservées dans le coin d'un armoire? Vous ne devineriez pas, vous qui n'êtes pas jamais venu en _Angleterre_, qu'elles sont aussi une marque d'economie; mais il faut vous dire que les pipes sont si communes ici, qu'on ne fume jamais deux fois dans la même. La païsan, l'artizan le plus vil prend une pipe gratis dans le premier cabaret où il arrête: il continue son chemin en achevant de la fumer, et la jette à ses pieds."

As _Rouquet_ observes, "Ce qui sert à garnir cet apartement ne contribue pas à l'orner. Tout y indique une économie basse." The scarcity of the real dinner--the picture exhibiting plenty of provision--the starved dog--the departing physician--the infected and ricketty condition of the child who is brought to take a last kiss of its dying mother--are circumstances too striking to be overlooked.

_The Daily Advertiser_ of 1750 affords the following illustration of our artist's history: "Mr. _Hogarth_ proposes to publish by subscription two large prints, one representing _Moses_ brought to _Pharaoh's_ daughter; the other _Paul_ before _Felix_; engraved after the pictures of his painting which are now hung up in _The Foundling Hospital_ and _Lincoln's-Inn Hall_. Five Shillings to be paid at the time of subscribing, and Five Shillings more on the delivery of the print. On the first payment a receipt will be given, which receipt will contain a new print (in the true _Dutch_ taste) of _Paul_ before _Felix_. Note, The above two prints will be Seven Shillings and Six Pence each after the subscription is over; and the receipt-print will not be sold at a less price than One Guinea each. Subscriptions are taken in till the 6th of _June_ next, and no longer, at _The Golden-Head_ in _Leicester-Fields_, where the drawings may be seen; as likewise the author's six pictures of _Marriage-à-la-Mode_, which are to be disposed of in the following manner: That every bidder sign a note with the sum he intends to give. That such note be deposited in the drawer of a cabinet, which cabinet shall be constantly kept locked by the said _William Hogarth_; and in the cabinet, through a glass door, the sums bid will be seen on the face of the drawer, but the names of the bidders may be concealed till the time of bidding shall be expired. That each bidder may, by a fresh note, advance a further sum if he is outbid, of which notice shall be sent him. That the sum so advanced shall not be less than Three Guineas. That the time of bidding shall continue till twelve o'clock the 6th of _June_ next, and no longer. That no dealer in pictures will be admitted a bidder.

"As (according to the standard of judgement, so righteously and laudably established by picture-dealers, picture-cleaners, picture-frame-makers, and other connoisseurs) the works of a painter are to be esteemed more or less valuable as they are more or less scarce, and as the living painter is most of all affected by the inferences resulting from this and other considerations equally uncandid and edifying; Mr. _Hogarth_, by way of precaution, not puff, begs leave to urge, that, probably, this will be the last suit or series of pictures he may ever exhibit, because of the difficulty of vending such a number at once to any tolerable advantage, and that the whole number he has already exhibited of the historical or humourous kind does not exceed fifty, of which the three sets called _The Harlot's Progress, The Rake's Progress,_ and that now to be sold, make twenty; so that whoever has a taste of his own to rely on, not too squeamish for the production of a Modern, and courage enough to own it, by daring to give them a place in his collection (till Time, the supposed finisher, but real designer of paintings, has rendered them fit for those more sacred repositories where Schools, Names, Heads, Masters, &c. attain their last stage of preferment), may from hence be convinced that multiplicity at least of his (Mr. _Hogarth's_) pieces will be no diminution of their value."

Mr. _Lane_, of _Hillingdon_ near _Uxbridge_, bought the six original pictures for 120 guineas, at _Hogarth's_ auction.[8]

[1] _London Daily Post, April_ 7, 1743. "Mr. _Hogarth_ intends to publish by subscription Six Prints from copper plates, engraved by the best masters in _Paris_, after his own paintings (the heads, for the better preservation of the characters and expressions, to be done by the author), representing a variety of modern occurrences in high life, and called _Marriage a-la-mode_.

"Particular care is taken that the whole work shall not be liable to exception on account of any _indecency_ or _inelegancy_, and that none of the characters represented shall be _personal_. The subscription will be one guinea; half, &c."

[2] See p. 325.

[3] In the third plate of this work, the figure of the female unclasping a penknife, is said to have been designed for the once celebrated _Betty Careless_. This remark is supposed to be countenanced by the initials E. C. on her bosom. From being in a state to receive company, this woman had been long reduced to show it, and, after repeated confinements in various prisons, was buried from the poor's house of St. _Paul, Covent Garden, April_ 22, 1752, about seven years after this set of prints had been published. Such a representation of her decline from beauty, as may be given in the plate before us, is justified by various passages in _Loveling's_ poems, _Latin_ and _English_, written about the year 1738, and published in 1741. Thus in his ode, "Ad _Sextum_,"

_Carlesis_ turpis macies decentem
Occupat vultum----

Again more amply in his Elegiac Epistle, "Ad _Henricum_:"

Nympha _Coventini_ quæ gloria sulferat Horti,
Cui vix vidisset _Druria_ vestra parem,
Exul, inops, liquit proprios miseranda Penates,
Fortunæ extremas sustinuitque vices,
Nunc trahit infaustam tenebroso in carcere vitam,
Et levat insolito mollia membra toro.
_Carlesis_, ah! quantum, quantum mutaris ab illâ,
_Carlese_, quæ _Veneris_ maxima cura fuit!
Æde tua risêre olim Charitesque Jocique,
Hic fuerant _Paphiæ_ currus & arma Deæ;
Arsèrunt Cives, arsit _Judæus Apella_,
Et te Bellorum deperiêre chori.
Jam sordes, pallensque genas, & flaccida mammas,
Non oculi, quondam qui micuere, micant.
Heu! ubi formosæ referentes lilia malæ!
Labra ubi purpureis quæ rubuére rosis!
Te puer _Idalius_, te fastiditque juventus
Tam marcescentem, dissimilemque tui.
Siccine tam fidam curas _Erycina_ ministram?
Hæccine militiæ praemia digna tuæ?
O _Venus!_ ô nimium, nimiumque oblita tuarum!
_Carlesis_ an meruit sortis acerba pati?
Quæ posthàc arisve tuis imponet honorem,
Ardebit posthàc vel tua castra sequi?
Omnigenas æquo circumspice lumine mœchas
Quas tua pellicibus _Druria_ dives alit,
Quæ cellas habitant, vicos peditesve peragrant,
Aut quæ _Wappinios_ incoluêre lares;
Invenienda fuit nusquam lascivior, artus
Mobilior, sacris vel magis apta tuis.
_Carlesis_ ah nostris & flenda & fleta Camœnis!
Accedat vestris nulla medela malis?
Te vereor miseram fortuna tenaciter anget,
Nec veniet rebus mollior aura tuis.

Again in his Ode, "Ad _Carolum B......._"

-----------------relinquent
_Carlesis_ quondam miseræ Penates
_Douglasa & Johnson_, duo pervicacis
Fulmina linguæ.

Again in a "Copy of Verses on _Betty Close's_ coming to Town, &c."

_Roberts_ will curse all whores--
From worn-out _Careless_ to fair _Kitty Walker_.

Again in an Ode intituled "Meretrices _Britannicæ_."

Alma scortorum _Druriæque_ custos
Orta _Neptuno!_ tibi cura pulchræ;
_Carlesis_ satis data, tu secundà
_Carlesis_ regnes.

These lines will serve to enforce the moral of _The Harlot's Progress_, while they aim at the illustration of a single circumstance in _Marriage à la Mode_; where if this female is introduced at all, it seems to be in the character of an opulent procuress, either threatening the peer for having diseased her favourite girl, or preparing to revenge herself on the quack whose medicines had failed to eradicate his lordship's disorder. That heroine must have been notorious, who could at once engage the pencil of _Hogarth_ and the pens of _Loveling_ and _Fielding_, who in the sixth chapter of the first book of _Amelia_ has the following story: "I happened in my youth to sit behind two ladies in a side-box at a play, where, in the balcony on the opposite side was placed the inimitable _Betty Careless_, in company with a young fellow of no very formal, or indeed sober, appearance. One of the ladies, I remember, said to the other--'Did you ever see any thing look so modest and so innocent as that girl over the way? What pity it is such a creature should be in the way of ruin, as I am afraid she is, by her being alone with that young fellow!' Now this lady was no bad physiognomist; for it was impossible to conceive a greater appearance of modesty, innocence, and simplicity, than what nature had displayed in the countenance of that girl; and yet, all appearances notwithstanding, I myself (remember, critic, it was in my youth) had a few mornings before seen that very identical picture of those engaging qualities in bed with a rake at a bagnio, smoaking tobacco, drinking punch, talking obscenity, and swearing and cursing with all the impudence and impiety of the lowest and most abandoned trull of a soldier." We may add, that one of the mad-men in the last plate of _The Rake's Progress_ has likewise written "charming _Betty Careless"_ on the rail of the stairs, and wears her portrait round his neck. Perhaps between the publication of _The Rake's Progress_ and _Marriage à la Mode_, she sunk from a wanton into a bawd. Mrs. _Heywood's Betsey Thoughtless_ was at first entitled _Betsey Careless_, but the name was afterwards changed for obvious reasons.

_The London Daily Post, Nov._ 28, 1735, contains the following advertisement from this notorious female:

"Mrs. _Careless_, from the _Piazza_ in _Covent-Garden_, not being able to make an end of her affairs so soon as she expected, intends on _Monday_ next to open a coffee-house in _Prujean's-Court_, in _The Old Bailey_, where she hopes her friends will favour her with their company, notwithstanding the ill situation of the place; since her misfortunes oblige her still to remain there.

"N. B. It is the uppermost house in the court, and coaches and chairs may come up to the door."

Again in _The London Daily Post, Oct._ 21, 1741, Mrs. _Careless_ advertises _The Beggar's Opera_, at the theatre in _James-Street, Haymarket_, for her benefit, _Oct._ 27. At the bottom of the advertisement she says, "Mrs. _Careless_ takes this benefit because she finds a small pressing occasion for one: and as she has the happiness of knowing she has a great many friends, hopes not to find an instance to the contrary by their being absent the above-mentioned evening; and as it would be entirely inconvenient, and consequently disagreeable, if they should, she ventures to believe they won't fail to let her have the honour of their company." In the bill of the day she says--"N. B. Mrs. _Careless_ hopes her friends will favour her according to their promise, to relieve her from terrible fits of the vapours proceeding from bad dreams, though the comfort is they generally go by the contraries.

"Tickets to be had at Mrs. _Careless's_ Coffee-house, the _Playhouse-Passage, Bridges-Street_."

Would the public, at this period of refinement, have patiently endured the familiar address of such a shameless, superannuated, advertising strumpet?

The reader will perhaps smile, when, after so much grave ratiocination, and this long deduction of particulars, he is informed that the letters are not E. C. but F. C. the initials of _Fanny Cock_, daughter to the celebrated auctioneer of that name, with whom our artist had had some casual disagreement.

The following, somewhat different, explanation has also been communicated to me by _Charles Rogers_, esq. who says it came from _Sullivan_, one of _Hogarth's_ engravers: "The nobleman threatens to cane a quack-doctor for having given pills which proved ineffectual in curing a girl he had debauched; and brings with him a woman, from whom he alledges he caught the infection; at which she, in a rage, is preparing to stab him with her clasp knife. This wretch is one of the lowest class, as is manifest by the letters of her name marked with gunpowder on her breast. She, however, is brought to the _French_ barber-surgeon for his examination and inspection, and for which purpose he is wiping his spectacles with his coarse muckender."

The explanation given by _Rouquet_, however, ought not to be suppressed, as in all probability he received it from _Hogarth_. "Il falloit indiquer la mauvaise conduite du héros de la piece. L'auteur pour cet effet l'introduit dans l'appartement d'un empirique, où il ne peut guères se trouver qu'en consequence de ses débauches; il fait en même tems rencontrer chez cet empirique une de ces femmes qui perdues depuis long-tems, font enfin leur métier de la perte des autres. Il suppose un démêlé entre cette femme et son héros, dont le sujet paroît être la mauvaise santé d'un petite fille, du commerce de laquelle il ne s'est pas bien trouvé. La petite fille au reste fait ici contraste par son âge, sa timidité, sa douceur, avec le caractère de l'autre femme, qui paroît un composé de rage, de fureur, et de tous les crimes qui accompagnent d'ordinaire les dernières débauches chez celles de son sexe.

"L'empirique et son appartement sont des objets entièrement épisodiques. Quoique jadis barbier,[A] il est aujourdhui, si l'on en juge par l'etalage, non seulment chirurgien, mais naturaliste, chimiste, mechanicien, medecin, apoticaire; et vous remarquerez qu'il est _François_ pour comble de ridicule. L'auteur pour achever de le caracteriser suivant son idée, lui fait inventer des machines extrèmement composées pour les opérations les plus simples, comme celles de remettre un membre disloqué, ou de déboucher une bouteille.

"Je ne deciderai pas si l'auteur est aussi heureux dans le choix des objets de sa satire, quand il les prend parmi nous, que lorsqu'il les choisit parmi ceux de sa nation; mais il me semble qu'il doit mieux connoître ceux-ci; et je crois que cette planche vous en paroîtra un exemple bien marqué. Il tourne ici en ridicule ce que nous avons de moins mauvais; que deviendroit le reste s'il étoit vrai qu'il nous connût assez pour nous depeindre?"

[A] This circumstance seems to be implied by the broken comb, the pewter bason, and the horn so placed as to resemble a barber's pole, all which are exhibited either above, or within the glass case, in which the skeleton appears whispering a man who had been exsiccated by some mode of embalming at present unknown. About the time of the publication of this set of prints, a number of bodies thus preserved were discovered in a vault in _Whitechapel_ church.--Our Quack is likewise a virtuoso. An ancient spur, a high-crowned hat, old shoes, &c. together with a model of the gallows, are among his rarities.--On his table is a skull, rendered carious by the disease he is professing to cure.--These two last objects are monitory as well as characteristic.

[4] _Scotin_ engraved the first and sixth; _Baron_ the second and third; _Ravenet_ the fourth and fifth.

[5] The blunders in architecture in this unfinished nobleman's seat, on the same account, are seen to disadvantage.

[6] This edifice seems at a stand for want of money, no workman appearing on the scaffolds, or near them.

[7] In his advertisement for this set of plates, he had engaged to engrave all the faces with his own hand. See note 1 above.

[8] The account given in a former edition of this volume concerning the sale of the original pictures of _Marriage-à-la-mode_, being somewhat erroneous, I am happy in the present opportunity of acknowledging my obligations to Mr. _Lane_ abovementioned, who has corrected my mistakes by a communication of the following particulars relative to the purchase:

"Some time after they had been finished, perhaps six or seven years, during which period Mr. _Hogarth_ had been preparing and publishing prints from them, in the year 1750 he advertised the sale of the originals by a kind of auction not carried on by personal bidding, but by a written ticket on which every one was to put the price he would give, with his name subscribed to it. These papers were to be received by Mr. _Hogarth_ for the space of one month; and the highest bidder, at twelve o'clock on the last day of the month, was to be the purchaser: and none but those who had in writing made their biddings were to be admitted on the day that was to determine the sale. This nouvelle method of proceeding probably disobliged the public; and there seemed to be at that time a combination against poor _Hogarth_, who perhaps, from the extraordinary and frequent approbation of his works, might have imbibed some degree of vanity, which the town in general, friends and foes, seemed resolved to mortify. If this was the case (and to me it is very apparent), they fully effected their design; for on the memorable sixth of _June_ 1750, which was to decide the fate of this capital work, about eleven o'clock Mr. _Lane_, the fortunate purchaser, arrived at the _Golden Head_: when, to his great surprize, expecting (what he had been a witness to in 1745, when _Hogarth_ disposed of many of his pictures) to have found his painting-room full of noble and great personages, he only found the painter and his ingenious friend Dr. _Parsons_, secretary to the Royal Society, talking together, and expecting a number of spectators at least, if not of buyers. Mr. _Hogarth_ then produced the highest bidding, from a gentleman well known, of £120. Nobody coming in, about ten minutes before twelve, by the decisive clock in the room, Mr. _Lane_ told Mr. _Hogarth_ he would make the pounds guineas. The clock then struck twelve, and _Hogarth_ wished Mr. _Lane_ joy of his purchase, hoping it was an agreeable one. Mr. _Lane_ answered, Perfectly so. Now followed a scene of disturbance from _Hogarth's_ friend the Doctor, and, what more affected Mr. _Lane_, a great appearance of disappointment in the painter, and truly with great reason. The Doctor told him, he had hurt himself greatly by fixing the determination of the sale at so early an hour, when the people at that part of the town were hardly up. _Hogarth_, in a tone and manner that could not escape observation, said, Perhaps it may be so! Mr. _Lane_, after a short pause, declared himself to be of the same opinion, adding, that the artist was very poorly rewarded for his labour, and, if he thought it would be of service to him, would give him till three o'clock to find a better purchaser. _Hogarth_ warmly accepted the offer, and expressed his acknowledgements for the kindness in the strongest terms. The proposal likewise received great encomiums from the Doctor, who proposed to make it public. This was peremptorily forbidden by Mr. _Lane_, whose concession in favour of our artist was remembered by him to the time of his death.--About one o'clock, two hours sooner than the time appointed by Mr. _Lane, Hogarth_ said he would no longer trespass on his generosity, but that, if he was pleased with his purchase, he himself was abundantly so with the purchaser. He then desired Mr. _Lane_ to promise that he would not dispose of the pictures without previously acquainting him of his intention, and that he would never permit any person, under pretence of cleaning, to meddle with them, as he always desired to take that office on himself. This promise was readily made by Mr. _Lane_, who has been tempted more than once by _Hogarth_ to part with his bargain at a price to be named by himself. When Mr. _Lane_ bought the pictures, they were in Carlo Marratt frames which cost the painter four guineas apiece."

The memory of this occurrence ought always to attend the work which afforded Mr. _Lane_ an opportunity of displaying so much disinterested generosity.

Another correspondent begins the same story as follows--A little time before the auction, _Hogarth_ publickly declared, that no picture-dealer should be allowed to bid. He also called on his friends, requesting them not to appear at the sale, as his house was small, and the room might be over crowded. They obeyed his injunctions. Early in this mortifying day he dressed himself, put on his tye-wig, strutted away one hour, and fretted away two more, no bidder appearing, &c. &c.

2. A small print of Archbishop _Herring_, at the head of the speech he made to the clergy of _York, September_ 24, 1745. _William Hogarth pinx. C. Moseley sculp._

3. The same head cut out of the plate, and printed off without the speech.

4. The Battle of the Pictures. "_Ticket to admit persons to bid for his works at an auction._" On the plate called _The Battle of the Pictures_ is written, "The bearer hereof is entitled (if he thinks proper) to be a bidder for Mr. _Hogarth's_ pictures, which are to be sold on the last day of this month [_February_, 1744-5.]."

5. A festoon, with a mask, a roll of paper, a palette, and a laurel. Subscription ticket for _Garrick_ in _Richard_ the Third. A very faithful copy from this receipt was made by _R. Livesay_, 1781. It is to be sold at Mrs. _Hogarth's_ house in _Leicester-square_.

* * * * *

1746.

1. _Simon_ Lord _Lovat.[1] Drawn from the life, and etched in aquafortis by William Hogarth.--Hogarth_ said himself, that Lord _Lovat's_ portrait was taken (at the _White-Hart_, at _St. Alban's_) in the attitude of relating on his fingers the numbers of the rebel forces.--"Such a general had so many men, &c." and remarked, that the muscles of _Lovat's_ neck appeared of unusual strength, more so than he had ever seen. When the painter entered the room, his lordship, being under the barber's hands, received his old friend with a salute, which left much of the lather on his face.--The second impressions are marked, _Price One Shilling_. When _Hogarth_ had finished this plate, a printseller offered its weight in gold for it. The impressions could not be taken off so fast as they were wanted, though the rolling-press was at work all night for a week together. For several weeks afterwards he is said to have received at the rate of 12 _l._ per day.

[1] "This powerful laird, it has been observed, was one of the last Chieftains that preserved the rude manners and barbarous authority of the early feudal ages. He resided in a house which would be esteemed but an indifferent one for a very private, plain country gentleman in _England_; as it had, properly, only four rooms on a floor, and those not large. Here, however, he kept a sort of court, and several public tables; and had a numerous body of retainers always attending. His own constant residence, and the place where he received company, even at dinner, was in the very same room where he lodged; and his lady's sole apartment was her bed-room; and the only provision for the lodging of the servants, and retainers, was a quantity of straw, which they spread every night, on the floors of the lower rooms, where the whole inferior part of the family, consisting of a very great number of persons, took up their abode." See Mr. _King's_ observations on ancient Castles, in the _Archæologia_, vol. IV.

Sir _William Young_, one of the managers appointed by the Commons of _Great Britain_, for conducting the prosecution against this Nobleman for High Treason, in the year 1745, makes the following observation: "Your Lordships have already done national justice on some of the principal traitors, who appeared in open arms against his Majesty, by the ordinary course of law; but this noble Lord, who, in the whole course of his life, has boasted of his superior cunning in wickedness, and his ability to commit frequent treasons with impunity, vainly imagined that he might possibly be a traitor in private, and rebel only in his heart, by sending his son and his followers to join the Pretender, and remaining at home himself, to endeavour to deceive his Majesty's faithful subjects; hoping _he_ might be rewarded for his son's services, if successful; or his _son_ alone be the sufferer for _his_ offences, if the undertaking failed: diabolical cunning! monstrous impiety!" See _State Trials_, vol. IX. p. 627.

2. Mr. _Garrick_[1] in the character of _Richard_ III. _Painted by Wm. Hogarth; engraved by Wm. Hogarth and C. Grignion._ The late Mr. _Duncombe_, of _Duncombe Park_ in _Yorkshire_, gave 200 _l._ for the original picture, which is now in the possession of his family. The expression of the countenance is happily hit off, but the figure is abundantly too large and muscular. This print was afterwards, by _Hogarth's_ permission, copied for a watch-paper.

[1] "Mr. _Garrick_ had several of _Hogarth's_ paintings; and the latter designed for him, as president of the _Shakespeare_ club, a mahogany chair richly carved, on the back of which hangs a medal of the poet carved by _Hogarth_ out of the mulberry-tree planted at _Stratford_ by _Shakespeare_." Anecdotes of Painting, vol. IV. p. 180. edit. 8vo, 1782.

3. A stand of various weapons, bag-pipes, &c. and a pair of scissars cutting out the arms of _Scotland_. A subscription-ticket for the March to _Finchley_; of which the original price was only 7 _s._ 6 _d._ It was to be raised to 10 _s._ 6 _d._ on closing the subscription. The additional three shillings afforded the subscriber a chance for the original picture.

* * * * *

1747.

1. Stage-coach. An election procession in the yard. _Designed and engraved by William Hogarth._ In this plate there is a variation. The early impressions have a flag behind the wheel of the coach, inscribed NO OLD BABY, which was the cry used by the opponents of the honourable _John Child Tylney_ (then Viscount _Castlemain_ and now Earl _Tylney_[1]) when he stood member for the county of _Essex_, against Sir _Robert Abdy_ and Mr. _Bramston_. The figure still carries a horn-book, and a rattle in its hands. At the election, a man was placed on a bulk with an _infant_ in his arms, and exclaimed, as he whipt the child, "What, you little _Child_, must you be a member?" The family name was changed from _Child_ to _Tylney_ by an act of parliament in 1735. In this disputed election, it appeared from the register-book of the parish where Lord _Castlemain_ was born, that he was but 20 years of age. Some pains have been taken to ascertain the particular inn-yard in which the scene is laid, but without success, so many of the publick-houses between _Whitechapel_ and _Chelmsford_ in _Essex_ having been altered, or totally rebuilt.

[1] Since dead.--_Inter Socraticos notissima fossa cinædos_.

2. Industry and Idleness, in twelve plates.[1] Mr. _Walpole_ observes, that "they have more merit in the intention than execution." At first they were printed off on very thin paper. Plate V. The scene is _Cuckold's Point_, below _London Bridge_. Plate VI. In a few first impressions, "_Goodchild_ and _West_" is written under the sign, instead of "_West_ and _Goodchild_." _Hogarth_ had inadvertently placed the name of the junior partner first. Some mercantile friend, however, pointing out the mistake, when as yet only a few copies were taken off, our artist corrected it, to avoid the criticisms of _Cheapside_ and _Cornhill_. In this plate is a figure of _Philip in the Tub_, a well-known beggar and cripple, who was a constant epithalamist at weddings in _London_, and had visited _Ireland_ and _The Seven Provinces_. The _French_ clergyman in Plate VIII. was designed for Mr. _Platell_, curate of _Barnet_. Plate XI. The scene is in a cellar of a noted house that went by the name of "The Blood Bowl House," from the various scenes of blood that were there almost daily exhibited, and where there seldom passed a month without the commission of a murder. _Blood Bowl-alley_ is down by the fishmonger's, near _Water-lane, Fleet-street_; and I am assured, that the house and event, that gave rise to the name, were there. In Plate XI. is _Tiddy Doll_, the well-known vender of gingerbread. Just behind him, in a cart, to bring away the body of the criminal, is his mother. Though her face is concealed, she is distinguished by her excess of sorrow, and the black hood she has worn throughout the foregoing representations of her. Plate XII. _Frederick_ Prince of _Wales_, and the Princess of _Wales_, in the balcony. The standards of the Blacksmiths' and Stationers' Companies appear in the procession. The flag, at the corner of one of the stands, belongs to the Pinners and Needlers. The hint for this series of prints was evidently taken from the old comedy of _Eastward-hoe_, by _Jonson, Chapman,_ and _Marston_, reprinted in _Dodsley's_ Collection of Old Plays. "The scenes of _Bedlam_ and the gaming-house," as Mr. _Walpole_ well observes, "are inimitable representations of our serious follies, or unavoidable woes; and the concern shown by the lord-mayor, when the companion of his childhood is brought before him as a criminal, is a touching picture, and big with humane admonition and reflection." The late comedian Mr. _James Love_ (otherwise _Dance_, and brother to the painter of that name) dramatized this series of prints; and Mr. _King_, now deputy-manager of _Drury-lane_, performed the character of the Good 'Prentice.

These Plates were retouched by _Hogarth_; but, as usual, whatever they gained in respect to force, they lost in the article of clearness. They offer no variations, except such as are occasioned by his having thrown a few of the figures into shade, that others might appear more prominent. Dr. _Ducarel_ informed me, that the passages of Scripture applicable to the different scenes were selected for Mr. _Hogarth_, by his friend the Rev. Mr. _Arnold King_.

In the following year was published, price one shilling (being an explanation of the moral of twelve celebrated prints lately published, and designed by the ingenious Mr. _Hogarth_), "The Effects of Industry and Idleness, illustrated in the Life, Adventures, and various Fortunes of Two Fellow 'Prentices of the City of _London_: shewing the different Paths, as well as Rewards of Virtue and Vice; how the good and virtuous 'Prentice, by gradual Steps of Industry, rose to the highest Pitch of Grandeur; and how, by contrary Pursuits, his Fellow-'Prentice, by Laziness and Wickedness, came to die an ignominious Death at the Gallows. ¶ This little book ought to be read by every 'Prentice in _England_, to imprint in their hearts these two different examples, the contrary effects each will produce on their young minds being of more worth than a hundred times the price, _i. e._ an abhorrence of the vice and wickedness they perceive in the one boy, and, on the contrary, an endeavour after an imitation of the actions of the other. And is a more proper present to be given to the Chamber of _London_, at the binding and enrolling an apprentice, than any other book whatever. Printed by _Charles Corbett_, at _Addison's_ Head in _Fleet street_."

[1] The following description of _Hogarth's_ design is copied from his own hand-writing: "Industry and Idleness exemplified in the conduct of two Fellow 'Prentices: where the one, by taking good courses, and pursuing points for which he was put apprentice, becomes a valuable man and an ornament to his country; the other, by giving way to idleness, naturally falls into poverty, and ends fatally, as is expressed in the last print. As the prints were intended more for use than ornament, they were done in a way that might bring them within the purchase of whom they might most concern; and, lest any print should be mistaken, the description of each print is engraved at top."

3. _Jacobus Gibbs_, architectus. _W. Hogarth delin. B. Baron sculp._

4. _Jacobus Gibbs_, architectus. _W. Hogarth delin. J. Mc Ardell fec._ Partly mezzotinto, partly graved. No date.

5. To this period may be referred the arms of _The Foundling Hospital_, printed off on the tops of the indentures; together with

6. The same, but smaller; employed as a frontispiece to "Psalms, Hymns, and Anthems; for the Use of the Children of the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of exposed and deserted Young Children."

They are both classed here, because the original drawing (see under the year 1781) is dated in 1747.

* * * * *

1748.

1. A monk leading an ass with a _Scotch_ man and woman on it, &c. A wooden cut. Head-piece to the "Jacobite's Journal." This was a news-paper set up and supported by _Henry Fielding_, and carried on for a few months with some success. The wooden-cut was only prefixed to six or seven of the papers. Being faintly executed, it was soon worn out, and has lately been copied in aqua tinta by Mr. _Livesay_.

2. Pool of _Bethesda_, from the picture[1] he painted for _St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Engraved by Ravenet for S. Austen_, as a frontispiece for _Stackhouse's_ Bible. In this plate, I am assured by an old acquaintance of Mr. _Hogarth_, is a faithful portrait of _Nell Robinson_, a celebrated courtezan, with whom, in early life, they had both been intimately acquainted.

[1] Of this picture Mr. _S. Ireland_ has a large sketch in oil.

* * * * *

1749.

1.[1] The Gate of _Calais_.[2] Engraved by C. _Mosley_ and _W. Hogarth. "His own head sketching the view. He was arrested when he was making the drawing, but set at liberty when his purpose was known."_ See above, p. 49. Mr. _Walpole_ also observes, that in this piece, though it has great merit, "the caricatura is carried to excess." Mr. _Pine_ the engraver sat for the portrait of the Friar, a circumstance of which he afterwards repented;[3] for, thereby obtaining the nick-name of _Friar Pine_, and being much persecuted and laughed at, he strove to prevail on _Hogarth_ to give his Ghostly father another face. Indeed, when he sat to our artist, he did not know to what purpose his similitude would afterwards be applied. The original picture is in the possession of the Earl of _Charlemont_. Soon after it was finished, it fell down by accident, and a nail ran through the cross on the top of the gate. _Hogarth_ strove in vain to mend it with the same colour, so as to conceal the blemish. He therefore introduced a starved crow, looking down on the roast-beef, and thus completely covered the defect.

The figure of the half-starved _French_ centinel has since been copied at the top of more than one of the printed advertisements for recruits, where it is opposed to the representation of a well-fed _British_ soldier. Thus the genius of _Hogarth_ still militates in the cause of his country.

A copy of this print was likewise engraved at the top of a Cantata, intituled, _The Roast Beef of Old England_. As it is probable that the latter was published under the sanction of our artist, I shall, without scruple, transcribe it.

RECITATIVE.
'Twas at the Gates of _Calais, Hogarth_ tells,
Where sad Despair and Famine always dwells,
A meagre _Frenchman_, Madam _Grandsire's_ cook,
As home he steer'd his carcase, that way took,
Bending beneath the weight of fam'd _Sir-loin_,
On whom he often wish'd in vain to dine.
Good Father _Dominick_ by chance came by,
With rosy gills, round paunch, and greedy eye;
Who, when he first beheld the greasy load,
His benediction on it he bestow'd;
And while the solid fat his finger press'd,
He lick'd his chaps, and thus the knight address'd:

AIR.
_A lovely Lass to a Friar came_, &c.
O rare _Roast Beef!_ lov'd by all mankind,
If I was doom'd to have thee,
When dress'd and garnish'd to my mind,
And swimming in thy gravy,
Not all thy country's force combin'd
Should from my fury save thee.

Renown'd _Sir-loin_, oft-times decreed
The theme of _English_ ballad,
E'en kings on thee have deign'd to feed,
Unknown to _Frenchman's_ palate;
Then how much more thy taste exceeds
Soup-meagre, frogs, and sallad.

RECITATIVE.
A half-starv'd soldier, shirtless, pale and lean,
Who such a sight before had never seen,
Like _Garrick's_ frighted _Hamlet_, gaping stood,
And gaz'd with wonder on the _British_ food.
His morning's mess forsook the friendly bowl,
And in small streams along the pavement stole;
He heav'd a sigh, which gave his heart relief,
And then in plaintive tone declar'd his grief.

AIR.
Ah, sacre Dieu! vat do I see yonder,
Dat looks so tempting, red and white?
Begar I see it is de _Roast Beef_ from _Londre_,
O grant to me one letel bite.
But to my guts if you give no heeding,
And cruel Fate dis boon denies,
In kind compassion to my pleading,
Return, and let me feast my eyes.

RECITATIVE.
His fellow guard, of right _Hibernian_ clay,
Whose brazen front his country did betray,
From _Tyburn's_ fatal tree had hither fled,
By honest means to get his daily bread;
Soon as the well-known prospect he espy'd,
In blubbering accents dolefully he cried:

AIR.
_Ellen a Roon_, &c.
Sweet _Beef_, that now causes my stomach to rise.
Sweet _Beef_, that now causes my stomach to rise,
So taking thy sight is,
My joy that so light is,
To view thee, by pailfuls runs out at my eyes.

While here I remain, my life's not worth a farthing,
While here I remain, my life's not worth a farthing,
Ah! hard-hearted _Lewy_,
Why did I come to ye?
The gallows, more kind, would have sav'd me from starving.

RECITATIVE.
Upon the ground hard by poor _Sawney_ sate,
Who fed his nose, and scratch'd his ruddy pate;
But when _Old England's_ bulwark he descry'd,
His dear-lov'd mull, alas! was thrown aside.
With lifted hands he bless'd his native place,
Then scrub'd himself, and thus bewail'd his case:

AIR.
_The Broom of Cowdenknows_, &c.
How hard, O _Sawney!_ is thy lot,
Who was so blyth of late,
To see such meat as can't be got,
When hunger is so great!
_O the Beef, the bonny bonny Beef!
When roasted nice and brown,
I wish I had a slice of thee,
How sweet it would gang down._
Ah, _Charley!_ hadst thou not been seen,
This ne'er had hapt to me:
I would the De'el had pickt mine eyne
Ere I had gang'd with thee.
_O the Beef_, &c.

RECITATIVE.
But see! my Muse to _England_ takes her flight,
Where _Health_ and _Plenty_ chearfully unite.
Where smiling _Freedom_ guards great _George's_ throne,
And chains, and racks, and tortures are not known;
Whose _Fame_ superior bards have often wrote.--
An ancient fable give me leave to quote.

AIR.
_The Roast Beef of Old England._
As once on a time a young _Frog_, pert and vain,
Beheld a large _Ox_ grazing on the wide plain,
He boasted his size he could quickly attain.
_Oh! the Roast Beef,_ &c.

Then eagerly stretching his weak little frame,
Mamma, who stood by, like a knowing old dame,
Cried, "Son, to attempt it you're greatly to blame."
_Oh! the Roast Beef,_ &c.

But, deaf to advice, he for glory did thirst,
An effort he ventured, more strong than the first,
Till swelling and straining too hard, made him burst.
_Oh! the Roast Beef,_ &c.

Then, _Britons_, be valiant; the moral is clear:
The _Ox_ is _Old England_, the _Frog_ is _Monsieur_,
Whose puffs and bravadoes we need never fear.
_Oh! the Roast Beef,_ &c.

For while by our commerce and arts we are able
To see the brave _Ox_ smoaking hot on our table,
The _French_ must e'en croak, like the _Frog_ in the fable.
_Oh! the Roast Beef,_ &c.

Printed for _R. Sayer_, at the _Golden Buck_ in _Fleet-street_; and _J. Smith_, at _Hogarth's Head_ in _Cheapside_.

At the end of a pamphlet which I shall have occasion to mention under the year 1755, was announced, as speedily to be published under the auspices of our artist, "A Poetical Description of Mr. _Hogarth's_ celebrated print, _The Roast Beef of Old England_, or the _French_ surprized at the Gate of _Calais_."

[1] In _The General Advertiser, March_ 9, 1748-9, appeared the following:

"This day is published, price 5_s._ A Print, designed and engraved by Mr. _Hogarth_, representing a PRODIGY which lately appeared before the Gate of _Calais_.

"O the Roast Beef of _Old England!_

"To be had at the _Golden-Head_, in _Leicester-Square_, and at the Print Shops."

[2] The following lines were written by the Rev. Mr. _Townley_, Master of _Merchant Taylors' School_, and spoken by one of the Scholars, _October_ 22, 1767,

ASSA BUBULA.

Littore in opposito, quâ turrim _Dubris_ in altum
Ostentans, undas imperiosa regit,
Ferrea stat, multo cum milite, porta _Calesi_:
(Ingenium pinxit talia, _Hogarthe_, tuum).
Eo! sudans carnis portat latus ille bovile,
Quem, trepidis genibus, grande fatigat onus;
Obstupet hic fixis oculis atque ore patenti,
Et tenue, invitus, jus cito mittit humi:
Accedit monachus, digito tangente rubentem
Carnem, divinum prodigiumque colit.
Omnia visa placent animum; non pascis inani
Picturâ, pariter quæ placet atque docet.
Egregius patriæ proprios dat pictor honores;
Et palmam jussa est ferre bovina caro.

[3] Mr. _Walpole's_ new edition of his "Anecdotes of Painting" having been published whilst the present page was preparing for the second edition, I took the earliest opportunity of letting that admirable writer speak for himself, in answer to a particular in which I had presumed to differ from him. "If _Hogarth_ indulged his spirit of ridicule in personalities," (I now use the words of Mr. _Walpole_) "it never proceeded beyond sketches and drawings; his prints touched the folly, but spared the person. Early he drew a noted miser, one of the sheriffs, trying a mastiff that had robbed his kitchen, but the magistrate's son went to his house and cut the picture in pieces.[A] I have been reproved for this assertion," continues our agreeable Biographer, "and instances have been pointed out that contradict me. I am far from persevering in an error, and do allow that my position was too positive. Still some of the instances adduced were by no means caricaturas. Sir _John Gonson_ and Dr. _Misaubin_ in the _Harlot's Progress_ were rather examples identified than satires. Others, as Mr. _Pine's_, were mere portraits, introduced by their own desire, or with their consent."

[A] See above, p. 69.

2. Portrait of _John Palmer_, esq. lord of the manor of _Cogenhoe_ or _Cooknoe_, and patron of the church, of _Ecton_ in _Northamptonshire. W. Hogarth pinx. B. Baron sculp._ This small head is inserted under a view of _Ecton_ Church.

3. His own head in a cap, a pug-dog, and a palette with the line of beauty, &c. inscribed _Gulielmus Hogarth. Seipse pinxit & sculpsit._ Very scarce, because _Hogarth_ erased his own portrait, and introduced that of Mr. _Churchill_, under the character of a bear, in its room. See under the year 1763.

On this print, in its original state, the _Scandalizade_, a satire published about 1749, has the following lines. The author represents himself as standing before the window of a print-shop.

"There elbowing in 'mong the crowd with a jog,
Lo! good father _Tobit_, said I, with his dog!
But the artist is wrong; for the dog should be drawn
At the heels of his master in trot o'er the lawn,--
To your idle remarks I take leave to demur,
'Tis not _Tobit_, nor yet his canonical cur,
(Quoth a sage in the crowd) for I'd have you to know, Sir,
'Tis _Hogarth_ himself and his honest friend _Towser_,
Inseparate companions! and therefore you see
Cheek by jowl they are drawn in familiar degree;
Both striking the eye with an equal eclat,
The biped _This_ here, and the quadruped _That_--
You mean--the great dog and the man, I suppose,
Or the man and the dog--be't just as you chuse.--
You correct yourself rightly--when much to be blam'd,
For the worthiest person you first should have nam'd,
Great dog! why great man I methinks you should say.
Split the difference, my friend, they're both great in their way.
Is't he then so famous for drawing a punk,
A harlot, a rake, and a parson so drunk,
Whom _Trotplaid_[1] delivers to praise as his friend?
Thus a jacknapes a lion would fain recommend.--
The very self same--how boldly they strike,
And I can't forbear thinking they're somewhat alike.--
Oh fie! to a dog would you _Hogarth_ compare?--
Not so--I say only they're alike as it were,
A respectable pair! all spectators allow,
And that they deserve a description below
In capital letters, _Behold we are Two_."

[1] The name under which _Fielding_ wrote a news-paper called _The Jacobite's Journal_, the frontispiece by _Hogarth_.

4. Portrait of _Hogarth_, small circle. Mr. _Basire_ (to whom this plate has been ascribed) says it is much in our artist's manner. On enquiry, however, it appears to be no other than a watch-paper "Published according to Act of Parliament by _R. Sayer_, opposite _Fetter-lane, Sept._ 29, 1749," and certainly copied from the small portrait of our artist introduced in _The Roast Beef of Old England_. Another head of him, with a fur cap on, was also edited by the same printseller, at the same time. There is likewise a third head of _Hogarth_, in an oval, prefixed as a frontispiece to "A Dissertation" on his six prints, &c. _Gin Lane_, &c. which appeared in 1751.

* * * * *

1750.

1. _Thomas Herring_, Archbishop of _Canterbury. W. Hogarth p. B. Baron sculp._ Of this picture (which is preserved in _Lambeth-Palace_) the Archbishop, in a letter to Mr. _Duncombe_, says, "None of my friends can bear _Hogarth's_ picture;" and Mr. _Duncombe_, the son, in a note to this epistle, observes, that "this picture (as appears by the print engraved by _Baron_ in 1750) exhibits rather a caricature than a likeness, the figure being gigantic, the features all aggravated and _outrés_, and, on the whole, so far from conveying an idea of that _os placidum, moresque benigni_, as Dr. _Jortin_ expresses it, that engaging sweetness and benevolence, which were characteristic of this prelate, that they seem rather expressive of a _Bonner_, who could burn a heretic.

"_Lovat's_ hard features _Hogarth_ might command;
A _Herring's_ sweetness asks a _Reynolds'_ hand."

_Hogarth_ however made the following observation while the Archbishop was sitting to him: "Your Grace, perhaps, does not know that some of our chief dignitaries in the church have had the best luck in their portraits. The most excellent heads painted by _Vandyck_ and _Kneller_, were those of _Laud_ and _Tillotson_. The crown of my works will be the representation of your Grace."