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Title: Hogarth's Works: Volume 3 (of 3) - With life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures
Author: Nichols, John Gough, Ireland, John
Language: English
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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
A superscript is denoted by ^; for example M^R, y^e.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Footnotes have been moved to the end of the book text. Some Footnotes
are very long.
More detail can be found at the end of the book.
HOGARTH'S WORKS:
WITH
_LIFE AND ANECDOTAL DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS PICTURES._
THIRD SERIES.
[Illustration: _HOGARTH'S DEDICATION, WRITTEN FOR A HISTORY OF THE
ARTS, &c., WHICH HE INTENDED PUBLISHING AS A SUPPLEMENT TO THE
ANALYSIS OF BEAUTY. COPIED FROM HIS MANUSCRIPT IN THE POSSESSION OF
JOHN IRELAND._]
The no Dedication
Not Dedicated to any Prince in Christendom
for fear it might be thought an
Idle piece of Arrogance.
Not Dedicated to any man of quality
for fear it might be thought too assuming.
Not Dedicated to any learned body
of Man, as either of the universityes, or the
Royal Society, for fear it might be thought
an uncommon piece of Vanity.
Nor Dedicated to any one particular Friend
for fear of offending another.
Therefore Dedicated to nobody.
But if for once we may suppose
Nobody to be every body, as Every body
is often said to be nobody, then is this work
Dedicated to every body.
by their most humble
and devoted W: Hogarth.
HOGARTH'S WORKS:
WITH
_LIFE AND ANECDOTAL DESCRIPTIONS OF HIS PICTURES_.
BY
JOHN IRELAND AND JOHN NICHOLS, F.S.A.
[Illustration: (The Dolphin Candlestick)]
_THE WHOLE OF THE PLATES REDUCED IN EXACT
FAC-SIMILE OF THE ORIGINALS._
Third Series.
London:
CHATTO AND WINDUS, PUBLISHERS.
(_SUCCESSORS TO JOHN CAMDEN HOTTEN._)
LIST OF PLATES
DESCRIBED IN THE THIRD SERIES.
PAGE
FAC-SIMILE AUTOGRAPH--"THE NO DEDICATION," _Frontispiece to
face Title._
DOLPHIN CANDLESTICK, _Title Page._
Do. (described), 123
KENT'S ALTAR-PIECE, 24
THE RAPE OF THE LOCK, 26
ARMS OF THE DUCHESS OF KENDAL, 28
FRONTISPIECE TO ARTISTS' CATALOGUE, 78
TAIL-PIECE TO Do., 78
THE VASE, 114
Do. (described), 112
HINTS FOR A NEW CAPITAL, 114
ROUND AND SQUARE HEADS, 114
Do. (described), 116
HERCULES, HENRY VIII., AND A FRENCH DANCING-MASTER, 114
Do. (described), 119
CHARLES I., HENRIETTA MARIA, ITALIAN JUPITER, ETC., 124
THE DANCE, 124
FRONTISPIECE TO THE PERSPECTIVE OF ARCHITECTURE, 132
TASTE IN HIGH LIFE, 180
FARINELLI, CUZZONI, AND SENESINO, 184
A WOMAN SWEARING HER CHILD TO A GRAVE CITIZEN, 188
THE FOUNDLINGS, 192
CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM, 192
FRONTISPIECE TO TERRÆ FILIUS, 194
THE SEPULCHRE, 194
THE POLITICIAN, 198
THE MATCHMAKER, 200
THE MAN OF TASTE, 202
HENRY FIELDING, 206
SIMON LORD LOVAT, 210
NINE PLATES FOR DON QUIXOTE:
PLATE I. The First Sally in Quest of Adventure, 220
PLATE II. The Innkeeper, 220
PLATE III. The Funeral of Chrysostom, 222
PLATE IV. The Innkeeper's Wife and Daughter administering
Chirurgical Assistance to the poor Knight of
La Mancha, 222
PLATE V. Don Quixote seizes the Barber's Basin for
Mambrino's Helmet, 224
PLATE VI. Don Quixote releases the Galley Slaves, 224
PLATE VII. First Interview of Don Quixote with the
Knight of the Rock, 226
PLATE VIII. The Curate and Barber disguising themselves
to convey Don Quixote home, 226
PLATE IX. Sancho's Feast, 228
HEIDEGGER IN A RAGE, 230
LARGE MASQUERADE TICKET, 230
THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE, 238
THE LOTTERY, 238
MASQUERADES AND OPERAS--BURLINGTON GATE, 238
BEGGARS' OPERA BURLESQUED, 242
TWELVE PLATES OF BUTLER'S HUDIBRAS, 242
JUST VIEW OF THE BRITISH STAGE, 246
EXAMINATION OF BAMBRIDGE, 246
HENRY VIII. AND ANNA BULLEYN, 248
CROWNS, MITRES, MACES, ETC., 246
Do. (described), 249
THE ROYAL MASQUERADE, 252
RICH'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY, 254
MR. RANBY'S HOUSE AT CHISWICK, 254
Do. (described), 262
HYMEN AND CUPID, 254
Do. (described), 263
THE POOL OF BETHESDA, 256
THE GOOD SAMARITAN, 256
MARTIN FOLKES, Esq., 260
BISHOP HOADLEY, 262
FALSE PERSPECTIVE, 264
INHABITANTS OF THE MOON, 264
RECEIPT FOR PRINT OF MARCH TO FINCHLEY, 264
THE FARMER'S RETURN, 266
GRAVITY, 266
FRONTISPIECES TO TRISTRAM SHANDY, 266
FOUR HEADS FROM THE CARTOONS, 268
THE SHRIMP-GIRL, 268
LORD HOLLAND, 268
EARL OF CHARLEMONT, 268
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 270
DEBATES ON PALMISTRY, 270
THE STAYMAKER, 270
CHARITY IN THE CELLAR, 270
SIX TICKETS, 272
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
ADVERTISEMENT.
The manuscripts from which the principal parts of this volume are
compiled were written by the late Mr. Hogarth; had he lived a
little longer, he would have methodized and published them.[1] On
his decease, they devolved to his widow, who kept them sacred and
entire[2] until her death, when they became the property of her
relation and executrix, Mrs. Lewis, of Chiswick, by whose kindness
and friendship they are now in my possession.
This is the fair and honest pedigree of the Papers, which may be thus
divided:--
I. Hogarth's life, comprehending his course of study, correspondence,
political quarrels, etc.
II. A manuscript volume, containing the autographs of the
subscribers to his "Elections," and intended print of "Sigismunda;"
and letters to and from Lord Grosvenor relative to that picture.
III. The manuscript of the _Analysis of Beauty_, corrected by the
author, with the original sketches, and many remarks omitted in the
printed copy.
IV. A supplement to the _Analysis_, never published; comprising a
succinct history of the arts in his own time, his account of the
institution of the Royal Academy, etc.
V. Sundry memoranda relative to the subject of his satire in several
of his prints.
These manuscripts being written in a careless hand, generally on
loose pieces of paper, and not paged, my first endeavour was to
find the connection, separate the subjects, and place each in its
proper class. This, in such a mass of papers, I found no very easy
task; especially as the author, when dissatisfied with his first
expression, has frequently varied the form of the same sentence
two or three times: in such instances I have selected that which I
thought best constructed. Every paper has been attentively examined,
and is to the best of my judgment arranged as the author intended.
I have incorporated Hogarth's account of the Arts, Academy, etc.,
with his narrative of his own life; and to keep distinct the various
subjects on which he treats, divided the whole into chapters. Where
from negligence or haste he has omitted a word, I have supplied it
with that which the context leads me to believe he would have used.
Where the sentences have been very long, I have occasionally broken
them into shorter paragraphs, and sometimes tried to render the style
more perspicuous, by the retrenchment of redundant expressions; but
in every case the sense of the author is faithfully adhered to.
As he has usually given the progress of his life, opinions, etc. in
the first person, I have adopted the same rule; and to distinguish my
own remarks from Hogarth's narrative, the beginning of each sentence
written by him is marked with inverted commas. His correspondence is
regulated by the dates of the letters; and the copies from sketches
in the MS. _Analysis_ are placed in the chapter which contains
Hogarth's account of that publication.
In the papers which relate to the subject of his satire in some of
his prints, he appears to have projected more than his life allowed
him to perform; the few remarks which he made are inserted in the
Appendix.
Prints are in general designed to illustrate books, but the
Editor's part of this volume is written to illustrate Prints. He is
apprehensive that the whole will stand in need of much indulgence,
but certain that the errors, whatever they may be, do not originate
in a want of diligence. To his thanks for the flattering reception of
the first Edition, and rapid sale of the first and second Editions
of the two preceding volumes, he has only to add his reasons for
bringing forward this third. When they were published, he had
neither seen the MSS., nor ever heard that Hogarth had written
anything for the press, except the _Analysis of Beauty_. When he
some time after obtained the papers, he considered them as a very
valuable acquisition, and was vain enough to think that by arranging
them he could compile a volume which would gratify the admirers of
Hogarth; and in the hope that the life, opinions, criticisms, and
correspondence of this great and original genius will excite and
gratify curiosity, he respectfully submits the following pages to the
candour and indulgence of the public.
J. I.
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
HOGARTH.
INTRODUCTION.
Mr. Walpole (in p. 160 of his _Anecdotes_) gravely declares that
Hogarth had but slender merit as a painter, and in colouring proved
no greater a master. By the six pictures of "Marriage à la Mode,"
both these declarations are answered and refuted.
Mr. Nichols (in p. 449 of his _Anecdotes_), at the same time that
he kindly acknowledges "Hogarth's hand was faithful to character,"
roundly asserts that as an engraver his merits are inconsiderable;
that he wants clearness; that his strokes sometimes look as if
fortuitously disposed, and sometimes thwart each other in almost
every possible direction. He adds, "that what the artist wanted in
skill, he strove to make up in labour; but the result of it was a
universal haze and indistinctness, that, by excluding force and
transparency, rendered several of his larger plates less captivating
than they would have been had he entrusted the sole execution of
them to either Ravenet or Sullivan." This is very severe; but is
it true? If the "Harlot's" and "Rake's Progress," the "Enraged
Musician," "Strolling Actresses," "Medley," and many other prints
produced by his own graver, are attentively examined, I think the
strokes will not be found to be fortuitously disposed: every touch
tells, and gives that expression which the artist intended. As to
his striving to make up for his want of skill by labour, I believe
him to have been a prodigy of industry, but do not discover the
result that is suggested by Mr. Nichols. We may possibly annex
different ideas to the words. Johnson describes a universal _haze_
as a fog, a mist; and _indistinctness_ he defines to be confusion,
uncertainty, obscurity,--faults which were never attributed to
William Hogarth. Neither have I before heard it said that his prints
want force: energy is in general their leading characteristic. As to
transparency, if Mr. Nichols means that they have not that gauzy,
glittering tone which marks many of our modern productions, I humbly
conceive the artist did not desire such distinction; neither did he
wish his works to be classed with such _pretty performances_: he was
superior to the tricks of art, rejected all unnecessary flourish, and
aimed at convincing the mind rather than dazzling the eye.
The two most difficult things in painting are character and drawing;
and they are least understood by the crowd, who are invariably
attracted by colour and glare. But for my own part, so far am I from
thinking his style unsuitable to his subject, that I cannot conceive
any manner in which his prints could be engraved that would be
equal to his own. I prefer it to the most laboured copies of those
miniature masters who, by fine finishing, fritter away all force.
Thus much may suffice for Mr. Nichols, from whom I am sorry to
differ, as I owe him thanks for much useful information; but with the
next critic upon the list it is dangerous to disagree.
For the talents of Mr. James Barry, Professor of Painting to the
Royal Academy, I have the highest respect; his pictures in the
Adelphi are an honour to the artist, and to the nation. In the sixth,
representing the state of final retribution, he gives Hogarth a
seat in Elysium; but in p. 162 of his description of the picture,
etc. (published for Cadell), he has drawn this great artist in so
motley a garb as leaves the reader in some doubt whether censure or
praise predominates, and confers on poor Hogarth a sort of degrading
immortality.
The Professor begins by admitting that "Hogarth's merit entitles
him to an honourable place amongst the artists in Elysium, and that
his little compositions 'tell' their own story with more facility
than is often found in the elevated and more noble inventions of
Raphael;" yet adds, "it must be honestly confessed that in what is
called knowledge of the figure, foreigners have justly observed
Hogarth is often so raw and unformed as hardly to deserve the name of
an artist." Though he is often thus raw and unformed, yet Mr. Barry
acknowledges that "this capital defect is not often perceivable, as
examples of the naked and of elevated nature but rarely occur in his
subjects, which are for the most part filled with characters that in
their nature tend to deformity." Sometimes, I admit; but surely not
for the most part. "Besides, his figures are small, and the junctures
and other difficulties of drawing that might occur in their limbs
are artfully concealed with their clothes, rags, etc." Mr. Barry
surely does not mean that Hogarth needed any artifice to conceal
an ignorance of anatomy, because Mr. Barry knows that many of his
works prove a perfect knowledge of the figure. The Professor thus
continues:--
"What would atone for all his defects, even if they were twice
told, is his admirable fund of invention, ever inexhaustible in its
resources; and his satire, which is always sharp and pertinent, and
often highly moral, was (except in a few instances, where he weakly
and meanly suffered his integrity to give way to his envy) seldom or
never employed in a dishonest or unmanly way." A few instances! I do
not believe it possible to point out one. Seldom or never! Why is
the Professor so parsimonious in his praise? He might safely have
said never. It has been the fashion to call Hogarth an envious man; I
cannot conjecture why. The critic surely does not mean to insinuate
that there was any violation of integrity in Hogarth's retaliating
the pictured shapes upon Wilkes and Churchill, or that he envied the
character of the late worthy Chamberlain of the city of London!
Mr. Barry goes on: "Few have attempted to rival him in his moral
walk. The line of art pursued by my very ingenious predecessor and
brother Academician, Mr. Penny, is quite distinct from that of
Hogarth, and is of a much more delicate and superior relish; he
attempts the heart, and reaches it, whilst Hogarth's general aim
is only to shake the sides." Whoever will turn over a portfolio of
Hogarth's prints, will find that his satire had sometimes a higher
aim. "In other respects no comparison can be thought of,"--in good
truth, it cannot,--"as Mr. Penny has all that knowledge of the figure
and academical skill which the other wanted." Can Mr. Barry conceive
it possible that posterity will think Mr. Penny's line of art of a
superior relish to that of Hogarth! Mr. Penny's academical skill I
do not contest; but to say that Hogarth wanted all that knowledge of
the figure, etc., is rather too much. I know that imperfections may
be pointed out in some of his works, but they had their origin in
carelessness rather than ignorance.
Mr. Barry concludes by remarking, that "perhaps it may be reasonably
doubted whether the being much conversant with Hogarth's method of
exposing meanness, deformity, and vice, in many of his works, is not
rather a dangerous, or at least a worthless pursuit; which, if it
does not find a false relish, and a love of, and search after, satire
and buffoonery in the spectator, is at least not unlikely to give him
one."
That the Professor of Painting, after acknowledging Hogarth's satire
was highly moral, should be apprehensive that contemplating such of
his works as expose meanness, deformity, and vice, is dangerous, I
cannot comprehend!
Considering their genius, general good tendency, and boundless
variety, it would have been more candid to have viewed them through
the medium of his beauties, than thus have distorted his faults, and
reluctantly admitted his merits; but to such criticism his own works
supply a short answer.
An instance of this occurred in 1762, when the author of the _North
Briton_, among some other malign remarks, inserted the following
paragraph:--"I have for some time observed Hogarth's setting sun: he
has long been very dim, and almost shorn of his beams." A few weeks
after the appearance of this candid critique, Hogarth published his
"Medley," which, considered in the first and second state, has more
mind, and is marked with deeper satire, than all his other works!
By fastidious connoisseurs it has been said that his scenes are
sometimes low and vulgar; but he carried into every subject the
energy of genius, and marked every countenance with the emotions of
the soul. He had powers more than equal to ascending into a higher
region, though, as he might have lost in utility what he gained in
dignity, this adherence to terrestrial objects is not much to be
regretted. Had he wandered in heathen mythology, and chosen to people
his canvas with demigods instead of the "Harlot's Progress," we might
have had the "Loves of Venus and Adonis;" and in the place of the
"Stages of Cruelty," the "Labours of Hercules."
To enumerate the little critics that stepped forth with the _kind_
intention of unpluming this "eagle tow'ring in his pride of place,"
would be waste of ink; had they succeeded to their wish, not a
feather would have been left in his wing. As an artist, he might have
soared superior to their efforts; but when he commenced author, they
found him within their reach, and renewed their attack with redoubled
acrimony.
Mr. Wilkes, in the _North Briton_ above quoted, calls him the
supposed author of the _Analysis_. By some he was said to have
borrowed a part of the work, and by others to have stolen the whole;
nay, I have more than once been seriously assured that every line
was written by his friends. To this I can now reply in a style
similar to that of the peripatetic, who, being told by a philosopher
that there was no such thing as motion, gravely rose from his seat
and walked across the room. I can produce the original manuscript,
with the red chalk corrections by his own hand.[3] This supplement to
that work, Hogarth wrote to vindicate himself from these and similar
aspersions. In explaining his motives, he is led into stating his
professional opinions; and in that part which relates to the Royal
Academy, predicts that, on the plan they set out, the institution
could never be of material use to the Arts. For one who is neither
artist, associate, nor academician, to assert that Hogarth's prophecy
is fulfilled, might be deemed too assuming. But, with little more
claim to connoisseurship than I derive from a long and unreserved
intimacy with some of the first painters of this country, I am led
to fear that the wish their late President expressed in his first
discourse is not likely to be speedily realized. He hopes that "the
present age may vie in Arts with that of Leo the Tenth; and that 'the
dignity of the dying Art' (to make use of an expression of Pliny) may
be revived under the reign of George the Third."
This discourse was read in 1769; yet (let it not be told in Gath, nor
whispered in the streets of Askelon), when in 1797 the students of
the Royal Academy produced their drawings for the silver medal, not
one of them was found worthy of the prize; and what (considering the
recent discovery of the Venetian secret) was still more strange, all
the pictures sent by the candidates for the prize of painting were
rejected, and voted out of the room! This circumstance the Professor
of Painting has recorded in his letter to the Dilettanti Society, and
candidly admits that the fault does not lie with the students, but is
in the Institution!
If it should be thought that Hogarth, in the course of his narration,
seems too tremblingly alive, and sometimes offended where offence
was not meant, let it be recollected that he must have felt superior
to men whom the public preferred. To rank him with Kent, Jervas,
Highmore, Hudson, Hayman, or any of that school of mannerists who
figured in the different periods of his life, is classing a giant
among pigmies. His works will bear the relative test of times when
the Arts may be higher than they were then or are now; and I am
fully conscious that this Memoir must derive its principal interest
from the celebrity of the artist, who, like Louis de Camoëns, was a
distinguished actor in the scenes he describes.
ANECDOTES OF AN ARTIST,
_WHO HELD, AS 'TWERE, THE MIRROR UP TO NATURE_.
CONTAINING MANY CIRCUMSTANCES RELATIVE TO HIS LIFE, AND OPINIONS OF
THE ARTS, ARTISTS, ETC. OF THE TIMES IN WHICH HE LIVED; AND SUNDRY
MEMORANDA RELATIVE TO HIS PRINTS.
_Compiled from his Original Manuscripts, in the possession of_
JOHN IRELAND.
CHAPTER I.
HOGARTH'S OWN ACCOUNT OF HIS BIRTH AND EARLY EDUCATION. REASONS
FOR HIS BEING APPRENTICED TO A SILVER-PLATE ENGRAVER; WITH
WHICH EMPLOYMENT BECOMING DISGUSTED, HE COMMENCES AN ENGRAVER
ON COPPER. METHOD OF STUDY. THE FATE OF THE FIRST PRINT HE
PUBLISHED, ETC.
"As many sets of my works have been lately sent to foreign
countries, and others sold to persons who, from their ignorance
of the particular circumstances at which I aimed, have mistaken
their meaning and tendency, I have been told that a short
account of such parts as are obscure, or have been most liable
to misconstruction, in those prints that are not noticed in Mr.
Rouquet's book,[4] would be highly acceptable.
"I am further told, that the public have sometimes expressed a
curiosity to know what were the motives by which the author was
induced to make choice of subjects so different from those of
other painters, and what were his modes of study in a walk which
had not been trode by any other man. These reasons will, I hope,
be deemed a sufficient apology for my attempting the following
brief history; in which must necessarily be introduced my opinion
of the present state of the arts, and conduct of contemporary
artists, and a vindication of myself and my productions from the
aspersions which they have so liberally bestowed upon each.
"With respect to my life,--to begin sufficiently early,--I was
born in the city of London, on the 10th day of November 1697, and
baptized the 28th of the same month. My father's pen, like that
of many other authors, did not enable him to do more than put me
in a way of shifting for myself. As I had naturally a good eye
and a fondness for drawing, shows of all sorts gave me uncommon
pleasure when an infant; and mimicry, common to all children, was
remarkable in me. An early access to a neighbouring painter drew
my attention from play, and I was at every possible opportunity
employed in making drawings. I picked up an acquaintance of
the same turn, and soon learnt to draw the alphabet with great
correctness. My exercises when at school were more remarkable
for the ornaments which adorned them, than for the exercise
itself.[5] In the former I soon found that blockheads with
better memories could much surpass me, but for the latter I was
particularly distinguished.
"Besides the natural turn I had for drawing rather than learning
languages, I had before my eyes the precarious situation of men
of classical education. I saw the difficulties under which my
father laboured, and the many inconveniences he endured from his
dependence being chiefly on his pen, and the cruel treatment
he met with from booksellers and printers, particularly in
the affair of a _Latin Dictionary_,[6] the compiling of which
had been a work of some years. It was deposited in confidence
in the hands of a certain printer; and during the time it was
left, letters of approbation were received from the greatest
scholars in England, Scotland, and Ireland. But these flattering
testimonies from his acquaintance (who, as appears from their
letters which I have still by me, were of the first class)
produced no profit to the author.[7] It was therefore very
conformable to my own wishes that I was taken from school and
served a long apprenticeship to a silver-plate engraver.
"I soon found this business in every respect too limited. The
paintings of St. Paul's Cathedral and Greenwich Hospital,[8]
which were at that time going on, ran in my head, and I
determined that silver-plate engraving should be followed no
longer than necessity obliged me to it. Engraving on copper
was, at twenty years of age, my utmost ambition. To attain this
it was necessary that I should learn to draw objects something
like nature instead of the monsters of heraldry; and the common
methods of study were much too tedious for one who loved his
pleasure and came so late to it, for the time necessary to
learn in the usual mode would leave me none to spare for the
ordinary enjoyments of life. This led me to considering whether
a shorter road than that usually travelled was not to be found.
The early part of my life had been employed in a business rather
detrimental than advantageous to those branches of the art which
I wished to pursue, and have since professed. I had learned by
practice to copy with tolerable exactness in the usual way, but
it occurred to me that there were many disadvantages attending
this method of study, as having faulty originals, etc.; and even
when the pictures or prints to be imitated were by the best
masters, it was little more than pouring water out of one vessel
into another. Drawing in an academy, though it should be after
the life, will not make the student an artist; for as the eye
is often taken from the original to draw a bit at a time, it is
possible he may know no more of what he has been copying when his
work is finished than he did before it was begun.
"There may be, and I believe are, some who, like the engrossers
of deeds, copy every line without remembering a word; and if
the deed should be in law Latin or old French, probably without
understanding a word of their original,--happy is it for them,
for to retain would be indeed dreadful.
"A dull transcriber who, in copying Milton's _Paradise Lost_,
hath not omitted a line, has almost as much right to be compared
to Milton as an exact copier of a fine picture by Rubens hath to
be compared to Rubens. In both cases the hand is employed about
minute parts, but the mind scarcely ever embraces the whole.
Besides this, there is an essential difference between the man
who transcribes the deed and he who copies the figure; for
though what is written may be line for line the same with the
original, it is not probable that this will often be the case
with the copied figure: frequently far from it. Yet the performer
will be much more likely to retain a recollection of his own
imperfect work than of the original from which he took it.
"More reasons, not necessary to enumerate, struck me as strong
objections to this practice, and led me to wish that I could
find the shorter path; fix forms and characters in my mind, and,
instead of copying the lines, try to read the language, and, if
possible, find the grammar of the art, by bringing into one focus
the various observations I had made, and then trying by my power
on the canvas how far my plan enabled me to combine and apply
them to practice.
"For this purpose I considered what various ways, and to what
different purposes, the memory might be applied, and fell
upon one which I found most suitable to my situation and idle
disposition.
"Laying it down first as an axiom, that he who could by any means
acquire and retain in his memory perfect ideas of the subjects
he meant to draw, would have as clear a knowledge of the figure
as a man who can write freely hath of the twenty-four letters
of the alphabet and their infinite combinations (each of these
being composed of lines), and would consequently be an accurate
designer.
"This I thought my only chance for eminence, as I found that
the beauty and delicacy of the stroke in engraving was not to
be learnt without much practice, and demanded a larger portion
of patience than I felt myself disposed to exercise. Added to
this, I saw little probability of acquiring the full command of
the graver in a sufficient degree to distinguish myself in that
walk; nor was I, at twenty years of age, much disposed to enter
on so barren and unprofitable a study as that of merely making
fine lines. I thought it still more unlikely, that by pursuing
the common method and copying old drawings, I could ever attain
the power of making new designs, which was my first and greatest
ambition. I therefore endeavoured to habituate myself to the
exercise of a sort of technical memory; and by repeating in my
own mind the parts of which objects were composed, I could by
degrees combine and put them down with my pencil. Thus, with
all the drawbacks which resulted from the circumstances I have
mentioned, I had one material advantage over my competitors,
viz. the early habit I thus acquired of retaining in my mind's
eye, without coldly copying it on the spot, whatever I intended
to imitate.[9] Sometimes, but too seldom, I took the life for
correcting the parts I had not perfectly enough remembered, and
then I transferred them to my compositions.
"My pleasures and my studies thus going hand in hand, the most
striking objects that presented themselves, either comic or
tragic, made the strongest impression on my mind; but had not I
sedulously practised what I had thus acquired, I should very soon
have lost the power of performing it.
"Instead of burdening the memory with musty rules, or tiring
the eyes with copying dry and damaged pictures, I have ever
found studying from nature the shortest and safest way of
attaining knowledge in my art.[10] By adopting this method I
found a redundancy of matter continually occurring. A choice
of composition was the next thing to be considered, and my
constitutional idleness[11] naturally led me to the use of such
materials as I had previously collected; and to this I was
further induced by thinking that, if properly combined, they
might be made the most useful to society, in painting, although
similar subjects had often failed in writing and preaching.
"To return to my narrative: the instant I became master of my own
time, I determined to qualify myself for engraving on copper. In
this I readily got employment; and frontispieces to books, such
as prints to _Hudibras_, in twelves, etc., soon brought me into
the way. But the tribe of booksellers remained as my father had
left them when he died about five years before this time,[12]
which was of an illness occasioned partly by the treatment he met
with from this set of people, and partly by disappointment from
great men's promises; so that I doubly felt this usage, which put
me upon publishing on my own account. But here again I had to
encounter a monopoly of printsellers equally mean and destructive
to the ingenious; for the first plate I published, called the
'Taste of the Town,' in which the reigning follies were lashed,
had no sooner begun to take a run, than I found copies of it in
the print-shops, vending at half price, while the original prints
were returned to me again; and I was thus obliged to sell the
plate for whatever these pirates pleased to give me, as there was
no place of sale but at their shops.
"Owing to this and other circumstances, by engraving, until I was
near thirty, I could do little more than maintain myself; but
even then I was a punctual paymaster."
The print here alluded to, I apprehend to be that now entitled the
"Small Masquerade Ticket," or "Burlington Gate," published in 1724,
in which the follies of the town are very severely satirized by the
representation of multitudes, properly habited, crowding to the
masquerade,[13] opera, pantomime of _Doctor Faustus_, etc., while
the works of our greatest dramatic writers are trundled through the
streets in a wheel-barrow, and cried as waste paper for shops.
As a further illustration of the taste of the times, the artist
has given a view of Burlington Gate, with a figure, I believe,
intended to represent the then fashionable artist, William Kent, on
the summit, brandishing his palette and pencils, and placed in a
more elevated situation than either Michael Angelo or Raphael, who,
seated beneath, become the two supporters to this favourite of Lord
Burlington.
To this popular artist, architect, and improver of gardens, Hogarth
seems to have had an early dislike, founded in some degree on his
being, as he really was, a most contemptible painter; and probably
heightened by his ranking higher, with those who led the fashion of
the day, than that very superior artist, Sir James Thornhill.
Hogarth the year following published his
COPY OF KENT'S ALTAR-PIECE,[14]
[Illustration: KENT'S ALTAR-PIECE]
which, combined with the inscription engraved beneath, is a very
bitter satire on the painter; though it must be acknowledged that the
original, which has been for many years in the vestry-room of St.
Clement Danes, amply justifies the ridicule.
This picture produced a small tract, with the following title:--
"A letter from a parishioner of St. Clement Danes, to Edmund
(Gibson), Lord Bishop of London, occasioned by his Lordship's causing
the picture over the altar to be taken down, with some observations
on the use and abuse of church paintings in general, and of that
picture in particular."
In this tract, after some compliments to the prelate, the writer
works himself into a violent rage at the introduction of this
piece of popish foppery, and asks some questions which in a degree
elucidate part of the inscription under Hogarth's copy:--
"To what end or purpose was it put there, but to affront our
most gracious sovereign, by placing at our very altar the known
resemblance of a person who is the wife of his utter enemy, and
pensioner to the whore of Babylon?
"When I say the known resemblance, I speak not only according to my
own knowledge, but appeal to all mankind who have seen the Princess
Sobieski, or any picture or resemblance of her, if the picture of
that angel in the white garment and blue mantle, which is there
supposed to be beating time to the music, is not directly a great
likeness of that princess.
"Whether it was done by chance or on purpose, I shall not determine;
but be it which it will, it has given great offence, and your
Lordship has acted the part of a wise and good prelate to order
its removal."
It was probably during the time of Hogarth's apprenticeship that he
engraved the annexed print, entitled
THE RAPE OF THE LOCK.
[Illustration: THE RAPE OF THE LOCK.]
I by no means think, as Mr. Nichols asserts, that this is one of
the poorest of Hogarth's performances; for though slight, and
not intended to be impressed on paper, the air of the figures is
easy, and the faces, especially those of Sir Plume and the heroine
of the story, extremely characteristic. It is said to have been
engraven on the lid of a snuff-box for some gentleman characterized
in Pope's admirable mock-heroic poem, probably Lord Petre, who is
here represented as holding the lock of hair in his left hand. Sir
Plume,--the round-faced and insignificant Sir Plume,--
"Of amber snuff-box justly vain,
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane;"
for Sir George Brown, who was the only one of the party that took
the thing serious. He was angry that the poet should make him talk
nothing but nonsense; and, in truth (as Mr. Warburton adds), one
could not well blame him.
As this little story was intended to be viewed on gold, the figures
in the copy are not reversed, but left as they were originally
engraven on the box; from which I believe there are only three
impressions extant, one of which was sold by Greenwood at Mr.
Gulston's sale, on the 7th of February 1786, for £33.
The following account of the persons for whom Hogarth painted several
of his early pictures is copied from his own handwriting, and may
sometimes be useful in tracing the pedigree of a portrait.
By this list, it appears that the two pictures of "Before and
After" were painted for a Mr. Thomson; but as it is not probable
that Hogarth delineated this subject twice, I think that these two
pictures were the property of the late Lord Besborough. They were
sold on his Lordship's demise, in February 1801, at Christie's rooms.
"_Account taken, January 1, 1731, of all the pictures that remain
unfinished.--Half payment received._
A family piece, consisting of four figures, for Mr. Rich, 1728.
An assembly of twenty-five figures, for Lord Castlemain, August
28, 1729.
Family of four figures; Mr. Wood, 1728.
A conversation of six figures; Mr. Cock, Nov. 1728.
A family of five figures; Mr. Jones, March 1730.
The Committee of the House of Commons, for Sir Archibald Grant,
Nov. 5, 1729.
The Beggar's Opera; ditto.
Single figure; Mr. Kirkham, April 18, 1730.
Family of nine; Mr. Vernon, Feb. 27, 1730.
Another of two; Mr. Cooper.
Another of five; Duke of Montague.
Two little pictures; ditto.
Single figure; Sir Robert Pye, Nov. 18, 1730.
Two little pictures, called "Before and After," for Mr. Thomson,
Dec. 7, 1730.
A head, for Mr. Sarmond, Jan. 12, 1730-31.
Pictures bespoke for the present year 1731."
With this his memorandum ends; and I regret that he has not recorded
the prices he received for the pictures. Mr. Nichols conjectures
that they were originally very low; he is most probably right with
respect to those that were painted in the early part of Hogarth's
life. But let it be recollected that for the portrait of Garrick in
Richard III. he received two hundred pounds, which, as the artist
himself remarks, was a more liberal remuneration than had been paid
to any contemporary painter. When my late friend Mr. Gainsborough
began to paint portraits at Bath (at a period when much higher prices
were paid), his general rule was five guineas for a three-quarters
portrait.
Below is inserted a copy from one of Hogarth's early engravings,
the arms of the Duchess of Kendal, mistress to George I., probably
done on a piece of plate at the time he was Gamble's apprentice. The
original, of the same size, is in the Editor's possession. It is
drawn in a correct and spirited style; and considering the age of the
artist, and the purpose for which it was engraven, not demanding much
attention or exertion, gave some promise of the excellence which he
afterwards attained.
In this point of view, to an admirer of Hogarth it becomes in some
degree interesting, which will, I hope, plead my apology for the
insertion of this solitary specimen of his boyish heraldry. On no
other ground should so insignificant a production as a coat of arms
have found a place in this volume.
[Illustration: THE KENDAL ARMS.]
CHAPTER II.
MARRIES. PAINTS SMALL CONVERSATIONS, WHICH SUBJECTS HE QUITS
FOR FAMILIAR PRINTS. ATTEMPTS HISTORY; BUT FINDING IT IS NOT
ENCOURAGED IN ENGLAND, RETURNS TO ENGRAVING FROM HIS OWN DESIGNS.
OCCASIONALLY TAKES PORTRAITS LARGE AS LIFE, FOR WHICH HE INCURS
MUCH ABUSE. TO PROVE HIS POWERS AND VINDICATE HIS FAME, PAINTS
THE ADMIRABLE PORTRAIT OF CAPTAIN CORAM, AND PRESENTS IT TO THE
FOUNDLING HOSPITAL.
"I then married, and commenced painter of small conversation
pieces, from twelve to fifteen inches high. This having novelty,
succeeded for a few years. But though it gave somewhat more
scope to the fancy, was still but a less kind of drudgery; and
as I could not bring myself to act like some of my brethren, and
make it a sort of a manufactory to be carried on by the help
of background and drapery painters, it was not sufficiently
profitable to pay the expenses my family required. I therefore
turned my thoughts to a still more novel mode, viz. painting and
engraving modern moral subjects, a field not broken up in any
country or any age.
"The reasons which induced me to adopt this mode of designing
were, that I thought both writers and painters had, in the
historical style, totally overlooked that intermediate species of
subjects which may be placed between the sublime and grotesque;
I therefore wished to compose pictures on canvas, similar to
representations on the stage, and further hope that they will be
tried by the same test, and criticised by the same criterion. Let
it be observed, that I mean to speak only of those scenes where
the human species are actors, and these I think have not often
been delineated in a way of which they are worthy and capable.
"In these compositions, those subjects that will both entertain
and improve the mind bid fair to be of the greatest public
utility, and must therefore be entitled to rank in the highest
class. If the execution is difficult (though that is but a
secondary merit), the author has a claim to a higher degree
of praise. If this be admitted, comedy in painting as well as
writing ought to be allotted the first place, as most capable
of all these perfections, though the sublime, as it is called,
has been opposed to it. Ocular demonstration will carry more
conviction to the mind of a sensible man, than all he would find
in a thousand volumes; and this has been attempted in the prints
I have composed. Let the decision be left to every unprejudiced
eye; let the figures in either pictures or prints be considered
as players dressed either for the sublime,--for genteel
comedy,[15] or farce,--for high or low life. I have endeavoured
to treat my subjects as a dramatic writer: my picture is my
stage, and men and women my players, who by means of certain
actions and gestures are to exhibit a dumb show.
"Before I had done anything of much consequence in this walk,
I entertained some hopes of succeeding in what the puffers in
books call the great style of history painting; so that without
having had a stroke of this grand business before, I quitted
small portraits and familiar conversations, and with a smile
at my own temerity, commenced history painter, and on a great
staircase at St. Bartholomew's Hospital painted two Scripture
stories (the 'Pool of Bethesda' and the 'Good Samaritan'), with
figures seven feet high. These I presented to the charity,[16]
and thought they might serve as a specimen to show that were
there an inclination in England for encouraging historical
pictures, such a first essay might prove the painting them more
easily attainable than is generally imagined. But as religion,
the great promoter of this style in other countries, rejected it
in England, I was unwilling to sink into a portrait manufacturer;
and, still ambitious of being singular, dropped all expectations
of advantage from that source, and returned to the pursuit of
my former dealings with the public at large. This I found was
most likely to answer my purpose, provided I could strike the
passions, and by small sums from many, by the sale of prints
which I could engrave from my own pictures, thus secure my
property to myself.
"In pursuing my studies, I made all possible use of the
technical memory which I have before described, by observing and
endeavouring to retain in my mind lineally such objects as best
suited my purpose; so that be where I would, while my eyes were
open, I was at my studies, and acquiring something useful to my
profession. By this means, whatever I saw, whether a remarkable
incident or a trifling subject, became more truly a picture
than one that was drawn by a camera-obscura. And thus the most
striking objects, whether of beauty or deformity, were by habit
the most easily impressed and retained in my imagination. A
redundancy of matter being by this means acquired, it is natural
to suppose I introduced it into my works on every occasion that I
could.
"By this idle way of proceeding I grew so profane as to admire
nature beyond the first productions of art, and acknowledged I
saw, or fancied, delicacies in the life so far surpassing the
utmost efforts of imitation, that when I drew the comparison
in my mind, I could not help uttering blasphemous expressions
against the divinity even of Raphael Urbino, Correggio,
and Michael Angelo. For this, though my brethren have most
unmercifully abused me, I hope to be forgiven. I confess to have
frequently said, that I thought the style of painting which I had
adopted, admitting that _my_ powers were not equal to doing it
justice, might one time or other come into better hands, and be
made more entertaining and more useful than the eternal blazonry
and tedious repetition of hackneyed, beaten subjects, either from
the Scriptures or the old ridiculous stories of heathen gods; as
neither the religion of one or the other requires promoting among
Protestants, as it formerly did in Greece, and at a later period
in Rome.[17]
"For these and other heretical opinions, as I have before
observed, I was deemed vain, and accused of enviously attempting
what I was unable to execute.
"The chief things that have brought much obloquy on me are:
First, the attempting portrait-painting; Secondly, writing
the _Analysis of Beauty_; Thirdly, painting the picture of
'Sigismunda;' and, Fourthly, publishing the first print of 'The
Times.'
"In the ensuing pages it shall be my endeavour to vindicate
myself from these aspersions, and each of the subjects taken in
the order they occurred shall be occasionally interspersed with
some thoughts by the way on the state of the arts, institution of
a Royal Academy, Society of Arts, etc., as being remotely, if not
immediately, connected with my own pursuits.
"Though small whole lengths and prints of familiar conversations
were my principal pursuit, yet by those who were partial to
me I was sometimes employed to paint portraits as large as
life, and for this I was most barbarously abused. My opponents
acknowledged, that in the particular branches to which I had
devoted my attention I had some little merit; but as neither
history nor portrait were my province, nothing but what they were
pleased to term extreme vanity could induce me to attempt either
one or the other; for it would be interfering in that branch of
which I had no knowledge, and in which I had therefore no concern.
"At this I was rather piqued, and, as well as I could, defended
my conduct and explained my motives. Some part of this defence
it will be necessary to repeat; and it will also be proper to
recollect, that after having had my plates pirated in almost
all sizes, I, in 1735, applied to Parliament for redress, and
obtained it in so liberal a manner as hath not only answered
my own purpose, but made prints a considerable article in the
commerce of this country; there being now more business of this
kind done here than in Paris, or anywhere else, and as well.
"The dealers in pictures and prints found their craft in danger
by what they called a new-fangled innovation. Their trade of
living and getting fortunes by the ingenuity of the industrious
has, I know, suffered much by my interference; and if the
detection of this band of public cheats and oppressors of the
rising artists be a crime, I confess myself most guilty.
"To put this matter in a fair point of view, it will be necessary
to state the situation of the arts and artists at this period.
In doing which, I shall probably differ from every other author,
as I think the books hitherto written on the subject have had a
tendency to confirm prejudice and error, rather than diffuse
information and truth. My notions of painting differ not only
from those who have formed their opinions from books, but from
those who have taken them upon trust.
"I am therefore under the necessity of submitting to the public
what may possibly be deemed peculiar opinions, but without
the least hope of bringing over either men whose interests
are concerned, or who implicitly rely upon the authority of a
tribe of picture dealers and puny judges that delight in the
marvellous, and determine to admire what they do not understand;
but I have hope of succeeding a little with such as dare to think
for themselves, and can believe their own eyes.
"As introductory to the subject, let us begin with considering
that branch of the art which is termed _still life_--a species of
painting which ought to be held in the lowest estimation.
"Whatever is or can be perfectly fixed, from the plainest to the
most complicated object, from a bottle and glass to a statue
of the human figure, may be denominated _still life_. Ship and
landscape painting ought unquestionably to come into the same
class; for if copied exactly as they chance to appear, the
painters have no occasion of judgment; yet with those who do not
consider the few talents necessary, even this tribe sometimes
pass for very capital artists.
"'Well painted, and finely pencilled!' are phrases perpetually
repeated by coach and sign painters. Merely well painted or
pencilled is chiefly the effect of much practice; and we
frequently see that those who are in these particulars very
excellent cannot advance a step further.
"As to portrait-painting, the chief branch of the art by which
a painter can procure himself a tolerable livelihood, and the
only one by which a lover of money can get a fortune; a man
of very moderate talents may have great success in it, as the
artifice and address of a mercer is infinitely more useful than
the abilities of a painter. By the manner in which the present
race of professors in England conduct it, that also becomes
_still life_ as much as any of the preceding. Admitting that the
artist has no further view than merely copying the figure, this
must be admitted to its full extent; for the sitter ought to be
still as a statue, and no one will dispute a statue being as much
_still life_ as fruit, flowers, a gallipot, or a broken earthen
pan. It must, indeed, be acknowledged they do not seem ashamed
of the title, for their figures are frequently so executed as to
be _as still as a post_. Posture and drapery, as it is called,
is usually supplied by a journeyman, who puts a coat, etc. on a
wooden figure like a jointed doll, which they call a layman, and
copies it in every fold as it chances to come; and all this is
done at so easy a rate, as enables the principal to get more
money in a week than a man of the first professional talents can
in three months. If they have a sufficient quantity of silks,
satins, and velvets to dress their layman, they may thus carry on
a very profitable manufactory without a ray of genius. There is
a living instance well known to the connoisseurs in this town,
of one of the best copiers of pictures, particularly those by
Rubens, who is almost an idiot.[18] Mere correctness, therefore,
if in still life, from an apple or a rose, to the face,--nay,
even the whole figure, if you take it merely as it presents
itself,--requires only an exact eye and an adroit hand. Their
pattern is before them, and much practice with little study is
usually sufficient to bring them into high vogue. By perpetual
attention to this branch only, one should imagine they would
attain a certain stroke--quite the reverse; for though the whole
business lies in an oval of four inches long, which they have
before them, they are obliged to repeat and alter the eyes,
mouth, and nose, three or four times before they can make it what
they think right. The little praise due to their productions
ought, in most cases, to be given to the drapery-man, whose pay
is only one part in ten, while the other nine, as well as all
the reputation, is engrossed by the master phiz-monger for a
proportion which he may complete in five or six hours; and even
this, little as it is, gives him so much importance in his own
eyes, that he assumes a consequential air, sets his arms akimbo,
and, strutting among the historical artists, cries, 'How we
apples swim!'
"For men who drudge in this mechanical part merely for gain, to
commence dealers in pictures is natural. In this, also, great
advantage may accrue from the labour and ingenuity of others.
They stand in the catalogue of painters; and having little
to study in their own way, become great connoisseurs, not in
the points where real perfection lies, for there they must be
deficient, as their ideas have been confined to the oval; but
their great inquiry is, how the old masters stand in the public
estimation, that they may regulate their prices accordingly,
both in buying and selling. You may know these painter-dealers
by their constant attendance at auctions. They collect under
pretence of a love for the arts, but sell, knowing the reputation
they have stamped on the commodity they have once purchased, in
the opinion of the ignorant admirer of pictures, drawings, and
prints, which, thus warranted, almost invariably produce them
treble their original purchase money, and treble their real
worth. Unsanctioned by their authority,[19] and unascertained
by tradition, the best preserved and highest finished picture
(though it should have been painted by Raphael) will not, at
a public auction, produce five shillings; while a despicable,
damaged, and repaired old canvas, sanctioned by their praise,
shall be purchased at any price, and find a place in the noblest
collections. All this is very well understood by the dealers,
who, on every occasion where their own interest is concerned,
are wondrously loquacious in adoring the mysterious beauties!
spirited touches! brilliant colours! and the Lord knows what, of
these ancient worn-out wonders! But whoever should dare to hint
that (admitting them to be originally painted by Raphael) there
is little left to admire in them, would be instantly stigmatized
as vilifying the great masters, and, to invalidate his judgment,
accused of envy and self-conceit. By these misrepresentations,
if he has an independent fortune, he only suffers the odium; but
if a young man, without any other property than his talents,
presumes boldly to give an opinion, he may be undone by his
temerity; for the whole herd will unite and try to hunt him down.
"Such is the situation of the arts and artists at this
time. Credulity,--an implicit confidence in the opinions of
others,--and not daring to think for themselves, leads the whole
town into error, and thus they become the prey of ignorant and
designing knaves.
"With respect to portrait-painting, whatever talents a professor
may have, if he is not in fashion, and cannot afford to hire
a drapery-man, he will not do; but if he is in vogue, and can
employ a journeyman and place a layman in the garret of his
manufactory, his fortune is made, and, as his two coadjutors are
kept in the background, his own fame is established.
"If a painter comes from abroad, his being an exotic will be
much in his favour; and if he has address enough to persuade the
public that he had brought a new discovered mode of colouring,
and paints his faces all red, all blue, or all purple, he has
nothing to do but to hire one of these painted tailors as an
assistant, for without him the manufactory cannot go on, and my
life for his success.
"Vanloo,[20] a French portrait-painter, being told that the
English were to be cajoled by any one who had a sufficient
portion of assurance, came to this country, set his trumpeters to
work, and by the assistance of puffing monopolized all the people
of fashion in the kingdom. Down went at once *,--*,--*,--*,--*,--
etc. etc. etc.,[21] painters who before his arrival were highly
fashionable and eminent, but by this foreign interloper were
driven into the greatest distress and poverty.
"By this inundation of folly and fuss, I must confess I was much
disgusted, and determined to try if by any means I could stem the
torrent, and 'by opposing end it.' I laughed at the pretensions
of these quacks in colouring, ridiculed their productions as
feeble and contemptible, and asserted that it required neither
taste nor talents to excel their most popular performances.
This interference excited much enmity, because, as my opponents
told me, my studies were in another way. You talk, added they,
with ineffable contempt of portrait-painting; if it is so easy a
task, why do not you convince the world by painting a portrait
yourself? Provoked at this language, I one day at the Academy
in St. Martin's Lane put the following question: Supposing any
man at this time were to paint a portrait as well as Vandyke,
would it be seen or acknowledged, and could the artist enjoy the
benefit or acquire the reputation due to his performance?
"They asked me in reply if I could paint one as well? and I
frankly answered, 'I believed I could.'[22] My query as to the
credit I should obtain if I did, was replied to by Mr. Ramsay,
and confirmed by the president and about twenty members present:
'Our opinions must be consulted, and we will never allow it.'
Piqued at this cavalier treatment, I resolved to try my own
powers; and if I did what I attempted, determined to affirm
that _I had done it_. In this decided manner I had a habit of
speaking; and if I only did myself justice, to have adopted half
words would have been affectation. Vanity, as I understand it,
consists in affirming you have done that which you have not
done, not in frankly asserting what you are convinced is truth.
"A watchmaker may say, 'The watch which I have made for you is
as good as Quare, or Tompion, or any other man could have made.'
If it really is so, he is neither called vain nor branded with
infamy, but deemed an honest and fair man for being as good
as his word. Why should not the same privilege be allowed to
a painter? The modern artist, though he will not warrant his
works as the watchmaker, has the impudence to demand twice as
much money for painting them as was charged by those whom he
acknowledges his superiors in the art.
"Of the mighty talents said to be requisite for portrait-painting
I had not the most exalted opinion, and thought that, if I
chose to practise in this branch, I could at least equal my
contemporaries, for whose glittering productions I really had not
much reverence. In answer to this there are who will say with
Peachum in the play, 'All professions be-rogue one another;' but
let it be taken into the account that men with the same pursuits
are naturally rivals, and when put in competition with each
other must necessarily be so,--what racer ever wished that his
opponent might outrun him? what boxer ever chose to be beat in
pure complaisance to his antagonist? The artist who pretends to
be pleased and gratified when he sees himself excelled by his
competitor must have lost all reverence for truth, or be totally
dead to that spirit which I believe to be one great source
of excellence in all human attempts; and if he is so polite
and civil as to confess superiority in one he knows to be his
inferior, he must be either a fool or an hypocrite, perhaps both.
If he has temper enough to be silent, it is surely sufficient;
but this I have seldom seen, even amongst the most complaisant
and liberal of the faculty.
"Those who will honestly speak their feelings must confess that
all this is natural to man. One of the highest gratifications of
superiority arises from the pleasure which attends instructing
men who do not know so much as ourselves; but when they verge
on being rivals, the pleasure in a degree ceases. Hence the
story of Rubens advising Vandyke to paint horses and faces, to
prevent, as it is said, his being put in competition with himself
in history-painting. Had either of these great artists lived in
England at this time, they would have found men of very moderate
parts--mere face painters--who, if they chanced to be in vogue,
might with ease get a thousand a year, when they with all their
talents would scarcely have found employment.
"To return to my dispute with Mr. Ramsay on the abilities
necessary for portrait-painting: as I found the performances
of professors in this branch of the art were held in such
estimation, I determined to have a brush at it. I had
occasionally painted portraits; but as they required constant
practice to take a likeness with facility, and the life must not
be rigidly followed, my portraitures met with a fate somewhat
similar to those of Rembrandt. By some they were said to be
nature itself, by others declared most execrable; so that time
only can decide whether I was the best or the worst face painter
of my day, for a medium was never so much as suggested.
"The portrait which I painted with most pleasure, and in which
I particularly wished to excel, was that of Captain Coram, for
the Foundling Hospital; and if I am so wretched an artist as my
enemies assert, it is somewhat strange that this, which was one
of the first I painted the size of life, should stand the test
of twenty years' competition, and be generally thought the best
portrait in the place, notwithstanding the first painters in the
kingdom exerted all their talents to vie with it.[23] To this
I refer Mr. _Rams-eye_[24] and his quick-sighted and impartial
coadjutors."
CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM
was born in the year 1668, bred to the sea, and passed the first part
of his life as master of a vessel trading to the colonies. While he
resided in the vicinity of Rotherhithe, his avocations obliging him
to go early into the city and return late, he frequently saw deserted
infants exposed to the inclemencies of the seasons, and through
the indigence or cruelty of their parents left to casual relief or
untimely death. This naturally excited his compassion, and led him to
project the establishment of an hospital for the reception of exposed
and deserted young children; in which humane design he laboured more
than seventeen years, and at last, by his unwearied application,
obtained the Royal Charter, bearing date the 17th of October 1739,
for its incorporation.
He was highly instrumental in promoting another good design, viz.
the procuring a bounty upon naval stores imported from the colonies
to Georgia and Nova Scotia. But the charitable plan which he lived
to make some progress in, though not to complete, was a scheme for
uniting the Indians in North America more closely with the British
Government, by an establishment for the education of Indian girls.
Indeed, he spent a great part of his life in serving the public, and
with so total a disregard to his private interest, that in his old
age he was himself supported by a pension of somewhat more than an
hundred pounds a year,[25] raised for him at the solicitation of Sir
Sampson Gideon and Dr. Brocklesby, by the voluntary subscriptions of
public-spirited persons, at the head of whom was the late Frederick
Prince of Wales. On application being made to this venerable and
good old man to know whether a subscription being opened for his
benefit would not offend him, he gave this noble answer: "I have
not wasted the little wealth of which I was formerly possessed in
self-indulgence or vain expenses, and am not ashamed to confess that
in this my old age I am poor."
This singularly humane, persevering, and memorable man died at his
lodgings near Leicester Square, March 29, 1751, and was interred,
pursuant to his own desire, in the vault under the chapel of the
Foundling Hospital, where an historic epitaph records his virtues, as
Hogarth's portrait has preserved his honest countenance.
Hogarth thus resumes his narrative:--
"For the portrait of Mr. Garrick in Richard III. I was paid two
hundred pounds[26] (which was more than any English artist ever
received for a single portrait), and that, too, by the sanction
of several painters who had been previously consulted about the
price, which was not given without mature consideration.
"Notwithstanding all this, the current remark was, that portraits
were not my province, and I was tempted to abandon the only
lucrative branch of my art, for the practice brought the whole
nest of phiz-mongers on my back, where they buzzed like so
many hornets. All these people have their friends, whom they
incessantly teach to call my women harlots, my 'Essay on Beauty'
borrowed,[27] and my composition and engraving contemptible.
"This so much disgusted me, that I sometimes declared I would
never paint another portrait, and frequently refused when applied
to; for I found by mortifying experience, that whoever would
succeed in this branch must adopt the mode recommended in one
of Gay's fables, and make divinities of all who sit to him.[28]
Whether or not this childish affectation will ever be done away,
is a doubtful question: none of those who have attempted to
reform it have yet succeeded; nor, unless portrait-painters in
general become more honest, and their customers less vain, is
there much reason to expect they ever will."
Though thus in a state of warfare with his brother artists, he was
occasionally gratified by the praise of men whose judgment was
universally acknowledged, and whose sanction became an higher honour,
from its being neither lightly nor indiscriminately given. The
following letter from the facetious Mr. George Faulkner notices the
estimation in which the author of _The Battle of the Books_ held the
painter of "The Battle of the Pictures:"--
_To Mr. William Hogarth, at his house in Leicester Fields, London._
"SIR,--I was favoured with a letter from Mr. Delany, who tells me
that you are going to publish three prints.[29] Your reputation
here is sufficiently known to recommend anything of yours, and I
shall be glad to serve you. The duty on prints is ten per cent.
in Ireland. You may send me fifty sets, provided you will take
back what I cannot sell. I desire no other profit than what you
allow in London to those who sell them again. I have often the
favour of drinking your health with Doctor Swift, who is a great
admirer of yours, and hath made mention of you in his poems with
great honour,[30] and desired me to thank you for your kind
present, and to accept of his service.--I am, Sir, your most
obedient and most humble servant,
"GEORGE FAULKNER.
"DUBLIN, _Nov. 15, 1740_."
Hogarth about this time painted the portrait of Dr. Benjamin Hoadley,
Bishop of Winchester, which, though rather French, is in a grand
style. Concerning it, Dr. John Hoadley wrote the following whimsical
epistle to the artist:--
_To Mr. Wm. Hogarth._
"DEAR BILLY.--You were so kind as to say you would touch up
the Doctor if I would send it to town. Lo! it is here. I am at
Alresford for a day or two, to shear my flock and to feed 'em
(money, you know, is the sinews of war); and having this morning
taken down all my pictures, in order to have my room painted,
I thought I might as well pack up Dr. Benjamin, and send him
packing to London. My love to him, and desire him, when his wife
says he looks charmingly, to drive immediately to Leicester
Fields (Square I mean, I beg your pardon), and sit an hour or
two, or three, in your painting-room. Do not set it by and forget
it now,--don't you. My humble service waits upon Mrs. Hogarth,
and all good wishes upon your honour; and I am, dear Sir, your
obliged and affectionate
"J. HOADLEY."
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
CHAPTER III.
OF ACADEMIES. HOGARTH'S OPINION OF THAT NOW DENOMINATED ROYAL;
AND OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE ENCOURAGEMENT OF ARTS, MANUFACTURES,
AND COMMERCE, GIVING PREMIUMS FOR PICTURES AND DRAWINGS.
Among Hogarth's loose papers I found the rough draft of a
letter (addressed but not directed) to a nobleman, declaring
his disapprobation of a scheme by which certain projectors were
endeavouring to establish a Royal Academy, and stating that he had
a plan which would be much more useful. I do not know that he ever
sent the epistle, or admitting he did, that it was honoured with an
answer. But as I think it probable he had given the subject some
consideration, with the hope of bringing his project to bear, and
that in the following pages relative to the Royal Academy he has
stated what he meant to have said to the Peer, I have inserted it:--
"MY LORD,--Mr. Martin has informed me that when some of my
thoughts relative to the establishment of a public academy are
put into writing, you will peruse them. I have made a rough
sketch, but to fit it for inspection will require much time,
which it will be needless to take till I have your Lordship's
opinion on two or three leading points on which the whole will
turn, and which I cannot with propriety commit to paper. A verbal
statement of them will not take up more than half an hour; and
if, when known, they are not concurred in, I will not take up
your Lordship's time by arguing on their propriety. But I am
vain enough to think, that though I must say strong, and perhaps
startling things, with regard to myself and others, I can prove
every position which I shall advance.
"I have reason to believe that another project is in hand: this
the author will naturally defend in opposition to mine, but it
shall not create controversy; for being now upwards of sixty
years of age, and in a very poor state of health, I would rather
lose a favourite point than break a night's rest.
"Mr. Ramsey, if I judge right, is no stranger to the plan I
allude to, and I know his opinion differs from mine, and am
firmly persuaded his interest will induce him to support it.--I
am, my Lord, etc.,
"W. H."
"Much has been said about the immense benefit likely to result
from the establishment of an academy in this country; but as I
do not see it in the same light with many of my contemporaries,
I shall take the freedom of making my objections to the plan on
which they propose forming it; and as a sort of preliminary to
the subject, state some slight particulars concerning the fate of
former attempts at similar establishments.
"The first place of this sort was in Queen Street, about sixty
years ago; it was begun by some gentlemen-painters of the first
rank, who in their general forms imitated the plan of that in
France, but conducted their business with far less fuss and
solemnity; yet the little that there was, in a very short time
became the object of ridicule. Jealousies arose, parties were
formed, and the president and all his adherents found themselves
comically represented as marching in ridiculous procession round
the walls of the room. The first proprietors soon put a padlock
on the door; the rest, by their right as subscribers, did the
same, and thus ended this academy.
"Sir James Thornhill, at the head of one of these parties,
then set up another in a room he built at the back of his own
house,--now next the playhouse,--and furnished tickets gratis
to all that required admission; but so few would lay themselves
under such an obligation, that this also soon sunk into
insignificance. Mr. Vanderbank headed the rebellious party, and
converted an old Presbyterian meeting-house into an academy,
with the addition of a woman figure, to make it the more inviting
to subscribers. This lasted a few years; but the treasurer
sinking the subscription money, the lamp, stove, etc. were seized
for rent, and that also dropped.
"Sir James dying, I became possessed of his neglected apparatus;
and thinking that an academy conducted on proper and moderate
principles had some use, proposed that a number of artists should
enter into a subscription for the hire of a place large enough to
admit thirty or forty people to draw after a naked figure. This
was soon agreed to, and a room taken in St. Martin's Lane. To
serve the society, I lent them the furniture which had belonged
to Sir James Thornhill's academy; and as I attributed the failure
of that and Mr. Vanderbank's to the leading members assuming
a superiority which their fellow-students could not brook, I
proposed that every member should contribute an equal sum to the
establishment, and have an equal right to vote in every question
relative to the society. As to electing presidents, directors,
professors, etc., I considered it as a ridiculous imitation of
the foolish parade of the French Academy, by the establishment of
which Louis XIV. got a large portion of fame and flattery on very
easy terms. But I could never learn that the arts were benefited,
or that members acquired any other advantages than what arose
to a few leaders from their paltry salaries, not more I am
told than £50 a year; which, as must always be the case, were
engrossed by those who had most influence, without any regard
to their relative merit.[31] As a proof of the little benefit
the arts derived from this Royal Academy, Voltaire asserts that,
after its establishment, no one work of genius appeared in the
country: the whole band, adds the same lively and sensible
writer, became mannerists and imitators.[32] It may be said in
answer to this, that all painting is but imitation. Granted;
but if we go no further than copying what has been done before,
without entering into the spirit, causes, and effects, what are
we doing? If we vary from our original, we fall off from it, and
it ceases to be a copy; and if we strictly adhere to it, we can
have no hopes of getting beyond it; for 'if two men ride on a
horse, one of them must be behind.'
"To return to our own academy. By the regulations I have
mentioned of a general equality, etc., it has now subsisted near
thirty years, and is, to every useful purpose, equal to that in
France, or any other; but this does not satisfy. The members,
finding his present Majesty's partiality to the arts, met at the
Turk's Head in Gerard Street, Soho, laid out the public money in
advertisements to call all sorts of artists together, and have
resolved to draw up and present a ridiculous address to King,
Lords, and Commons to do for them what they have (as well as
it can be) done for themselves. Thus to pester the three great
estates of the empire, about twenty or thirty students, drawing
after a man or a horse, appears, as it must be acknowledged,
foolish enough; but the real motive is, that a few bustling
characters, who have access to people of rank, think they can
thus get a superiority over their brethren, be appointed to
places, and have salaries as in France, for telling a lad when an
arm or a leg is too long or too short.
"Not approving of this plan, I opposed it; and having refused
to assign to the society the property which I had before lent
them, I am accused of acrimony, ill-nature, and spleen, and held
forth as an enemy to the arts and artists. How far their mighty
project will succeed, I neither know nor care; certain I am it
deserves to be laughed at, and laughed at it has been.[33] The
business rests in the breast of Majesty, and the simple question
now is, whether he will do what Sir James Thornhill did before
him, _i.e._ establish an academy with the little addition of a
royal name, and salaries for those professors who can make most
interest and obtain the greatest patronage. As his Majesty's
beneficence to the arts will unquestionably induce him to do that
which he thinks most likely to promote them, would it not be more
useful if he were to furnish his own gallery with one picture by
each of the most eminent painters among his own subjects? This
might possibly set an example to a few of the opulent nobility;
but even then it is to be feared that there never can be a
market in this country, for the great number of works which, by
encouraging parents to place their children in this line, it
would probably cause to be painted. The world is already glutted
with these commodities, which do not perish fast enough to want
such a supply.
"In answer to this and other objections which I have sometimes
made to those who display so much zeal for increasing learners,
and crowding the profession, I am asked if I consider what the
arts were in Greece, what immense benefits accrued to the city
of Rome from the possession of their works, and what advantages
the people of France derive from the encouragement given by
their Royal Academy? It is added, why cannot we have one on the
same principles? That we may not be led away by sounds without
meaning, let us take a cursory view of these things separately,
and in the same order that they occurred.
"The height to which the arts were carried in Greece was owing
to a variety of causes, concerning some of which we can now
only form conjectures. They made a part of their system of
government, and were connected with their modes of worship. Their
temples were crowded with deities of their own manufacture, and
in places of public resort were depicted such actions of their
fellow-citizens as deserved commemoration; which, being displayed
in a language legible to all, incited the spectator to emulate
the virtues they represented. The artists who could perform such
wonders were held in an estimation of which we can hardly form an
idea; and could we ascertain the rewards they received, I think
it would be found that they were most liberally paid for their
works, and might therefore devote much more time than we can
afford to rendering them perfect.
"With all this, even there, the arts had but a slow rise; and
when they had attained their highest state of perfection, the
Romans (having previously plundered and butchered their own
neighbours) attacked and conquered the Greeks, and robbed them
also of their portable treasures, particularly their statues
and pictures.[34] To sculpture and painting, war is a most
destructive enemy; the rage of conquest, civil broils, and
intestine quarrels, necessarily put a stop to the exercise of
the imitative arts, which lay in a dormant state until they
were revived by the introduction of a new religion; this, in
the magnificent style it was there brought forward, called upon
sculpture and painting for their auxiliary aid. The admirable
specimens that during the perturbed period above alluded to
had been hidden in the earth, were now restored to light,
eagerly sought for, and in some cases appropriated to purposes
diametrically opposite to their pagan origin.[35] Even those that
were mutilated were held in the most enthusiastic admiration.
The 'Torso,' and many other inimitable specimens, prove that
their admiration was just. The contemplation of such works would
naturally produce imitators, who in time rivalled, but never
could equal, their originals. These remains of ancient grandeur
being thus added to their new productions, and both interwoven,
forming a sort of ornamental fringe to their gaudy religion, Rome
became a kind of puppet-show to the rest of Europe; and, whatever
it might be to their visitors, was certainly very advantageous
to themselves. The arts are much indebted to Popery, and that
religion owes much of its universality to the arts.
"France, ever aping the magnificence of other nations, has in its
turn assumed a foppish kind of splendour sufficient to dazzle
the eyes of neighbouring states, and draw vast sums of money
from this country. We cannot vie with these Italian and Gallic
theatres of art, and to enter into competition with them is
ridiculous; we are a commercial people, and can purchase their
curiosities ready made, as in fact we do, and thereby prevent
their thriving in our native clime. If I may be permitted to
compare great things with small, this nation labours under
similar disadvantage to the playhouse in Goodman's Fields, which,
though it might injure, could never rival the two established
theatres, so much more properly situated, in any degree material
to itself.
"In Holland, selfishness is the ruling passion; in England,
vanity is united with it. Portrait-painting therefore ever
has, and ever will succeed better in this country than in any
other.[36] The demand will be as constant as new faces arise; and
with this we must be contented, for it will be vain to attempt
to force what can never be accomplished, or at least can never
be accomplished by such institutions as Royal Academies on the
system now in agitation. Upon the whole, it must be acknowledged
that the artists and the age are fitted for each other. If
hereafter the times alter, the arts, like water, will find their
level.
"Among other causes that militate against either painting or
sculpture succeeding in this nation, we must place our religion;
which, inculcating unadorned simplicity, does not require--nay,
absolutely forbids--images for worship, or pictures to excite
enthusiasm. Paintings are considered as pieces of furniture,
and Europe is already overstocked with the works of other ages.
These, with copies countless as the sands on the sea-shore,
are bartered to and fro, and quite sufficient for the demands
of the curious, who naturally prefer scarce, expensive, and
far-fetched productions to those which they might have on low
terms at home. Who can be expected to give forty guineas for a
modern landscape, though in ever so superior a style, when he
can purchase one which, for little more than double the sum,
shall be sanctioned by a sounding name, and warranted original
by a solemn-faced connoisseur? This considered, can it excite
wonder that the arts have not taken such deep root in this soil
as in places where the people cultivate them from a kind of
religious necessity, and where proficients have so much more
profit in the pursuit? Whether it is to our honour or disgrace,
I will not presume to say, but the fact is indisputable, that
the public encourage trade and mechanics rather than painting
and sculpture. Is it then reasonable to think that the artist,
who, to attain essential excellence in his profession, should
have the talents of a Shakspeare, a Milton, or a Swift, will
follow this tedious and laborious study merely for fame, when his
next-door neighbour, perhaps a porter-brewer or an haberdasher of
smallwares, can without any genius accumulate an enormous fortune
in a few years, become a lord mayor or a member of Parliament,
and purchase a title for his heir? Surely no; for as very few
painters get even moderately rich, it is not reasonable to expect
that they should waste their lives in cultivating the higher
branch of the art until their country becomes more alive to its
importance, and better disposed to reward their labours.
"These are the true causes that have retarded our progress; and
for this shall a nation, which has in all ages abounded in men
of sound understanding and the brightest parts, be branded with
incapacity by a set of pedantic dreamers, who seem to imagine
that the degrees of genius are to be measured like the degrees on
a globe, determine a man's powers from the latitude in which he
was born, and think that a painter, like certain tender plants,
can only thrive in a hothouse? Gross as are these absurdities,
there will always be a band of profound blockheads ready to adopt
and circulate them, if it were only upon the authority of the
great names by which they are sanctioned.[37]
"To return to our Royal Academy. I am told that one of their
leading objects will be sending young men abroad to study the
antique statues, etc. Such kind of studies may sometimes improve
an exalted genius, but they will not create it; and whatever has
been the cause, this same travelling to Italy has, in several
instances that I have seen, seduced the student from nature, and
led him to paint marble figures,--in which he has availed himself
of the great works of antiquity, as a coward does when he puts
on the armour of an Alexander; for with similar pretensions and
similar vanity, the painter supposes he shall be adored as a
second Raphael Urbino.
"The fact is, that everything necessary for the student in
sculpture or painting may at this time be procured in London.
Of the 'Venus' and the 'Gladiator' we have small casts; and
even the 'Torso,' by which Michael Angelo asserted he learned
all he knew of the art, has been copied in a reduced size, and
the cast, by which the principle may be clearly seen, is sold
for a few shillings. These small casts, if quite correct, are
full as useful to the student as the originals; the parts are
easier comprehended, they are more portable to place in different
lights, and of an even colour, while the old Parian marbles are
apt to shine, dazzle, and confound the eye. If this be doubted,
let a plaster figure be smoked and oiled, and the true dimensions
of the muscles can be no more distinguished than those of a sooty
chimney-sweeper.
"After all, though the best statues are unquestionably in parts
superlatively fine, and superior to nature, yet they have
invariably a something that is inferior.
"As to pictures, there are enough in England to seduce us from
studying nature, which every man ought to do if he aims at any
higher rank than being an imitator of the works of others; and to
such servile spirits I will offer no advice.
"In one word, I think that young men by studying in Italy have
seldom learnt much more than the names of the painters; though
sometimes they have attained the amazing power of distinguishing
styles,[38] and knowing by the hue of the picture the hard name
of the artist,--a power which, highly as they pride themselves
upon it, is little more than knowing one handwriting from
another. For this they gain great credit, and are supposed
vast proficients because they have travelled. They are gravely
attended to by people of rank, with whom they claim acquaintance,
and talk of the antique in a cant phraseology made up of half
or whole Italian, to the great surprise of their hearers, who
become gulls in order to pass for connoisseurs,--wonder with a
foolish face of praise, and bestow unqualified admiration on the
marvellous bad copies of marvellous bad originals which they have
brought home as trophies, and triumphantly display to prove their
discernment and taste.
"Neither England nor Italy ever produced a more contemptible
dauber than the late Mr. Kent; and yet he gained the prize at
Rome, in England had the first people for his patrons, and, to
crown the whole, was appointed Painter to the King. But in this
country such men meet with the greatest encouragement, and
soonest work their way into noblemen's houses and palaces.[39]
"To conclude, I think that this ostentatious establishment
can answer no one valuable purpose to the arts, nor be of the
least use to any individual, except those who are to be elected
professors and receive salaries for the _kind superintendence_
they will exercise over such of their brethren as have not so
much interest as themselves.[40]
"Many of the objections which I have to the institution of
this Royal Academy apply with equal force to the project of
the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and
Commerce, for distributing premiums for drawings and pictures;
subjects of which they are totally ignorant, and in which they
can do no possible service to the community.
"It is extremely natural for noblemen, or young people of
fortune who have travelled and seen fine pictures and statues,
to be planet-struck with a desire of being celebrated in books,
like those great men of whom they have read in the lives of
the painters, etc.; for it must be recollected that the popes,
princes, and cardinals who patronized these painters, have been
celebrated as creators of the men who created those great works:
'Shar'd all their honours, and partook their fame.'
"The 'Dilettanti' had all this in prospect when they offered
to establish a drawing-school, etc. at their own expense; for
here they expected to be paramount. But when those painters who
projected the scheme presumed to bear a part in the direction of
the school, the 'Dilettanti' kept their money, and rejected them
with scorn,--the whole castle fell to the ground, and has been no
more heard of.[41]
"This society of castle-builders have a similar idea. They wish
first to persuade the world that no genius can deserve notice
without being first cultivated under their direction, and will
ultimately neither foster nor encourage any artist that has not
been brought up by themselves.
"The sounding title of a society for the encouragement of arts,
manufactures, and commerce, with two or three people of rank
at their head, attracted a multitude of subscribers. Men when
repeatedly applied to were unwilling to refuse two guineas a
year; people of leisure, tired of public amusements, found
themselves entertained with formal speeches from men who had
still more pleasure in displaying their talents for oratory.
Artificers of all descriptions were invited, and those who were
not bidden strained every nerve to become members, and appear
upon the printed list as promoters of the fine arts. By this
means they were consulted in their several professions, and happy
was he who could assume courage enough to speak, though ever so
little to the purpose.
"The intention of this great society is unquestionably laudable;
their success in subscriptions astonishing. How far their
performances have been equal to their promises, it is not my
business to inquire; but as, while I had the honour of being a
member, my opinion was frequently asked on some points relating
to my own profession, I venture to lay it before the reader with
the same frankness that I then gave it.
"When the society was in its infancy they gave premiums for
children's drawings, and for this--'Let children lisp their
praise.'[42] It was asserted that we should thus improve our own
manufactures, and gravely asked by these _professed_ encouragers
of the commerce of their country, if the French children being
instructed in drawing did not enable that people to give a
better air to all the articles they fabricated. I answered
positively, NO; and added, that thus trumpeting their praise was
a degradation of our own country, and giving to our rivals a
character which they had no right to. Were this point debated,
French superiority would be supported by fashionable ladies,
travelled gentlemen, and picture-dealers. In opposition to
them, would be those who are capable of judging for themselves,
the few that are not led away by popular prejudices, and the
first artists in the kingdom. These, I am conscious, would be
a minority, but composed of men that ought to have weight, and
whose opinion and advice should have been taken before the plan
was put in execution.
"Of the immense improvement that is to take place in our
manufactures from boys of almost every profession being taught to
draw, I form no very sanguine expectations.
"To attain the power of imitating the forms of letters with
freedom and precision in all their due proportions and various
elegant turns, as Snell has given them, requires as much
skill as to copy different forms of columns and cornices in
architecture, and might with some show of propriety be said to
demand a knowledge of design; yet common sense and experience
convince us that the proper place for acquiring a fine hand is
a writing-school. As measuring is but measuring, I do not think
that a tailor would make a suit of clothes fit better from
having been employed twice seven years in taking the dimensions
of all the bits of antiquity that remain in Greece.[43] How
absurd would it be to see periwig-makers and shoemakers' boys
learning the art of drawing, that they might give grace to a
peruke or a slipper! If the study of Claude's landscapes would
benefit the carver of a picture-frame, or the contemplation
of a finely-painted saucepan by Teniers or Bassan would be an
improvement to a tinman, it would be highly proper for this
society to encourage them in the practice of the arts. But as
this is not the case, giving lads of all ranks a little knowledge
of everything is almost as absurd as it would be to instruct
shopkeepers in oratory, that they may be thus enabled to talk
people into buying their goods, because oratory is necessary at
the bar and in the pulpit. As to giving premiums to those that
design flowers, etc. for silks and linens, let it be recollected
that these artisans copy the objects they introduce from
nature,--a much surer guide than all the childish and ridiculous
absurdities of temples, dragons, pagodas, and other fantastic
fripperies which have been imported from China.
"As from all these causes (and many more might be added) it
appears that a smattering in the arts can be of little use except
to those who make painting their sole pursuit, why should we
tempt such multitudes to embark in a profession by which they
never can be supported? For historical pictures there never can
be a demand:[44] our churches reject them; the nobility prefer
foreign productions; and the generality of our apartments are too
small to contain them. A certain number of portrait-painters, if
they can get patronized by people of rank, may find employment;
but the majority even of these must either shift how they can
amongst their acquaintance, or live by travelling from town to
town like gipsies. Yet, as many will be allured by flattering
appearances, and form vague hopes of success, some of the
candidates must be unsuccessful; and men will be rendered
miserable who might have lived comfortably enough by almost any
manufactory, and will wish that they had been taught to make
a shoe, rather than thus devoted to the polite arts.[45] When
I once stated something like this to the society, a member
_humanely_ remarked, that the poorer we kept the artists, the
cheaper we might purchase their works."
These two societies, of whose projects and practice Hogarth seems to
have entertained very similar opinions, became for a short time so
far connected, that where one held their meetings the other exhibited
their pictures. The donations in painting which Hogarth and several
other artists had made to the Foundling Hospital had much engaged the
public attention; and the painters finding the effects they produced,
determined to try the fate of an exhibition of their work; in
consequence of which, on the 27th of February 1760, Mr. Hayman, then
chairman of the committee of artists, wrote a letter to the society
for encouragement of arts, requesting permission for the painters
to exhibit at their great room opposite Beaufort Buildings in the
Strand; and in the following May they accordingly made their first
Exhibition. This proved very attractive; and, from the money paid for
admission, they were soon enabled to relieve not only the indigent of
their own body, but also aliens; and to establish themselves into a
regular institution by the name of "A Society of Artists, associated
for the relief of the distressed and decayed of their own body, their
widows, and children." For these humane purposes they agreed to form
a fund. As far as this plan went it had Hogarth's approbation; and
for their Exhibition Catalogue of 1761 he made two designs, which
were engraved by Mr. Charles Grignion, and of which the following are
copies:--
FRONTISPIECE
TO THE CATALOGUE OF THE ARTISTS' EXHIBITION, 1761.
"Et spes et ratio studiorum in Cæsare tantum."[46]--JUV.
[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE TO ARTISTS' CATALOGUE]
Erected in the cleft of a rock, we have here a building intended
for a reservoir of water; and by the bust of his present Majesty
being placed in a niche of an arch, which is lined with a shell and
surmounted by a crown, we must suppose it a royal reservoir. The
mouth of a mask of the British lion is made the water-spout for
conveying a stream into a garden-pot, which a figure of Britannia
holds in her right hand, and, with her spear in the left, is employed
in sprinkling three young trees, the trunks of which are entwined
together, and inscribed, "Painting, Sculpture, Architecture." These
promising saplings are planted upon a gentle declivity. Painting is
on the highest ground, and Sculpture on the lowest. It is worthy
of remark that the fructifying stream which issues from the
watering-pot falls short of the surface on which is planted the
tree inscribed Painting, and goes beyond the root of that termed
Sculpture; so that Architecture, which is much the loftiest and
most healthy tree, will have the principal benefit of the water.
If the tree of Painting is attentively inspected, it will be found
stunted in its growth, withered at the top, and blest with only one
flourishing branch, which, if viewed with an eye to what the artist
has previously written, seems intended for portrait-painting. The
tree which is the symbol for Sculpture appears to bend and withdraw
itself from the reservoir;[47] one branch from the centre of the
trunk is probably funereal, and intended to intimate sepulchral
monuments. The top, being out of sight, is left to the imagination.
Those who wish to inquire how far this allegorical and sylvan symbol
has proved prophetic of the unequal encouragement now given to the
different branches of the arts, may go to Somerset House, contemplate
the building, pay their shilling, and walk through the rooms of the
Royal Academy during the time of their annual exhibition!
TAIL-PIECE
TO THE ARTISTS' CATALOGUE.
"Esse quid hoc dicam? vivis quod fama negatur!"[48]--MART.
[Illustration: TAILPIECE TO ARTISTS' CATALOGUE]
As a contrast to Britannia nurturing the trees that are introduced
in the last print, a travelling monkey in full dress is in this
industriously watering three withered and sapless stems of what
might once have been flowering shrubs, and are inscribed "Exotics."
These wretched remnants of things which were, are carefully placed
in labelled flower-pots: on the first is written, "_Obiit_ 1502;" on
the second, "_Obiit_ 1600;" and on the third, "_Obiit_ 1606." Still
adhering to the hieroglyphics in his frontispiece, Hogarth introduces
these three dwarfish importations of decayed nature to indicate the
state of those old and damaged pictures which are venerated merely
for their antiquity, and exalted above all modern productions, from
the name of a great master, rather than any intrinsic merit. To
heighten the ridicule, he has given his monkey a magnifying glass
that will draw forth hidden beauties, which to common optics are
invisible.
So great was the demand for the catalogues with the illustrative
prints of Hogarth, that the two first done were soon worn down, and
Mr. Grignion was employed to engrave others from the same drawings.
Beneath those that were first made there are no mottoes; and the word
_obiit_ is written _obit_. This was perhaps a mistake of either the
painter or writing engraver, though I think it barely possible that
the former might mean to pun on the connoisseurs being bubbled by
dealers in old pictures--O! BIT.
The opinion Hogarth has, in the preceding pages, given of the
taste and judgment of the public in his own day may at first sight
seem rather harsh, but was in a degree justified by the scandalous
inattention with which the town received his six inimitable pictures
of "Marriage à la Mode;" they were, on the 6th of June 1750, sold
by a kind of auction to Mr. Lane of Hillingdon for one hundred and
twenty guineas! Being in Carlo Maratt frames that cost the artist
four guineas each, his real remuneration for painting this admirable
series was but a few shillings more than one hundred pounds.[49] Such
are the rewards of genius. Low as this sum was, a Mr. Perry, being
eleven months afterwards erroneously informed that still less had
been the highest sum offered, and that they were not sold, wrote the
following letter with an increased bidding. This gentleman's name is
inserted in Hogarth's subscription book as a subscriber for four sets
of "The Elections," with this remarkable memorandum:--"_4th April
1754._--The whole eight guineas paid at the time of subscribing."
Out of near six hundred names, I find only two (viz. Henry Raper,
Esq., and Mr. Perry) who paid more than half the money in the first
subscription.
_To Mr. Hogarth._
"DEAR SIR,--I was this day informed by a friend of mine in the
city that seventy-five pounds only was bid for your pictures of
'Marriage à la Mode;' and this I hope will excuse my bidding you
so small a sum as one hundred and twenty pounds for them; so much
are they worth of my money; with a promise never to sell them
to any picture-trader or connoisseur-monger so long as you or I
shall live.
"If in this foolish and grossly-imposed on generation there
should not be found one man wiser than myself, I must insist on
having this bidding deposited in your cabinet.--I am, dear Sir,
your most obedient servant,
CAR. PERRY.
"_May 15, 1751._"
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
CHAPTER IV.
THE MOTIVES BY WHICH HOGARTH WAS INDUCED TO PUBLISH HIS ANALYSIS
OF BEAUTY; THE ABUSE IT DREW UPON HIM, AND HIS VINDICATION OF
HIMSELF AND THE VOLUME. HE IS ELECTED A MEMBER OF THE IMPERIAL
ACADEMY AT AUGSBURG, AND APPOINTED SERJEANT PAINTER TO THE KING.
Hogarth finding his prints were become sufficiently numerous to form
a handsome volume, in the year 1745[50] engraved his own portrait
as a frontispiece. In one corner of the plate he introduced a
painter's palette, on which was a waving line inscribed "The Line of
Beauty." This created much curious speculation, and, as he himself
expresses it, "The bait soon took, and no Egyptian hieroglyphic ever
amused more than it did for a time. Painters and sculptors came
to me to know the meaning of it, being as much puzzled with it as
other people, till it came to have some explanation; then, indeed,
but not till then, some found it out to be an old acquaintance of
theirs,[51] though the account they could give of its properties
was very near as satisfactory as that which a day-labourer, who
constantly uses the lever, could give of that machine as a mechanical
power." "They knew it as Falstaff did Prince Henry--by instinct!"
This crooked line drew upon him a numerous band of opponents, and
involved him in so many disputes, that he at length determined to
write a book, explain his system, and silence his adversaries.
When his intentions were known, those who acknowledged his claim
to superiority as an artist were apprehensive that, by thus
wandering out of his sphere and commencing author, he would lessen
his reputation. Those who ridiculed his system presumed that he
would thus overturn it; and the few who envied and hated the man,
rejoiced in sure and certain hope that he would write himself into
disgrace. All this he laughed at, and in the following little epigram
whimsically enough describes his own feelings:--
"What! a book, and by Hogarth! then twenty to ten,
All he's gained by the pencil he'll lose by the pen.
Perhaps it may be so; howe'er, miss or hit,
He will publish,--here goes,--it's double or quit."
Notwithstanding this pleasantry preceding the publication, he
frankly acknowledges that the uncharitable spirit with which he was
in consequence assailed, and the squabbles it drew him into with
those of his own profession, and the dabblers in the arts, gave him
greater uneasiness than was balanced by its general success. Thus
does he express himself:--
"My preface and introduction to the _Analysis_ contain a general
explanation of the circumstances which led me to commence
author; but this has not deterred my opponents from loading me
with much gross and, I think, unmerited obloquy; it therefore
becomes necessary that I should try to defend myself from their
aspersions.
"Among many other high crimes and misdemeanours of which I am
accused, it is asserted that I have abused the great masters.
This is so far from being just, that when the truth is fairly
stated it may possibly appear that the professional reputation
of these luminaries of the arts is more injured by the wild
and enthusiastic admiration of those who denominate themselves
their fast friends, than by men who are falsely classed as their
enemies.
"Let us put a case: suppose a brilliant landscape had been so
finely painted by a first-rate artist, that the trees, water,
sky, etc. were boldly though tenderly relieved from each other,
and the eye of the spectator might, as it were, travel into
the scenery; and suppose this landscape, by the heat of the
sun, the ravages of time, or the still more fatal ravages of
picture-cleaners, was shorn of its beams and deprived of all its
original brightness; let me ask whether the man who will affirm
that this almost obliterated, unharmonious, spotty, patchwork
piece of antiquity is in the state that it first came out of the
artist's hands, does not abuse the painter?[52] and whether he
who asserts that though it might once have been bright and clear
it is now faded, does not thus place the defects to the proper
account, and consequently defend him?
"So far from attempting to lower the ancients, I have always
thought, and it is universally admitted, that they knew some
fundamental principles in nature which enabled them to produce
works that have been the admiration of succeeding ages; but I
have not allowed this merit to those leaden-headed imitators,
who, having no consciousness of either symmetry or propriety,
have attempted to mend nature, and in their truly ideal figures
gave similar proportions to a Mercury and a Hercules.
"This, and many other opinions which I have ventured to advance,
has roused a nest of hornets from whose stings I would wish to
guard myself, as I am conscious that they will try to condemn
all my works by my own rules. To disappoint these insects I
have, in my explanatory prints, done the Antinous, Venus, etc.
in a slighter style than the other figures, to show that they
are introduced as mere references to the originals; and I will
not now attempt to paint my Goddess of Beauty.[53] Who can
tell how long the artist was employed in giving such exquisite
grace to the Grecian Venus? he might perhaps think that a
single super-excellent statue would confer immortality, and was
sufficient for a whole life. Can any one expect to see equal
perfection in that which is done in little, and in a short space
of time?
"With respect to beauty, though men felt its effects, yet
both artists and others appeared to me to be totally ignorant
of its principles, and contented themselves with bestowing
undistinguishing praise, and giving us cold and servile copies
of the fine models of antiquity, without making any inquiry
into the system by which they were produced. The few who wished
to learn the principles found themselves so bewildered and
confounded by the vague and contradictory opinions which they
had heard and read concerning beauty and grace, that they began
to suspect the whole to be an illusion, and that neither one nor
the other existed except in fancy and imagination. This should
excite less surprise, from its having sometimes happened in a
matter of an infinitely higher and more important nature; and
were it politically right, it is possible that a small octavo
might be written, which would start as many folios of theological
controversy as would fill Westminster Hall, though the whole put
together might be mere lumber, and of no more use than waste
paper. But this by the by. To return into my own path, and resume
the reasons that induced me to tread it in a new character. In
doing this, it will be proper to give a succinct statement of the
strange way in which this subject has been treated by preceding
writers.
"The first attempts that were made to fix true ideas of taste
upon a surer basis, were by natural philosophers, who, in their
amplified contemplations on the universal beauty displayed in
the harmony and order of nature, very soon lost themselves; an
event that, from the way in which they set out, was inevitable:
for, if I may be permitted to adopt an allegorical figure, it
necessarily led them into the wide road of Order and Regularity,
which they unexpectedly found crossed and intersected by many
other paths that led into the Labyrinths of Variety; where, not
having passed through the Province of Painting, they became
confused, and could never find their way. To explaining the
order and usefulness of nature they might be equal; but of her
sportiveness and fancy they were totally ignorant. To extricate
themselves from these difficulties, they ascended the Mound of
Moral Beauty, contiguous to the open field of Divinity, where,
rambling and ranging at large, they lost all remembrance of their
former pursuit.
"These gentlemen having failed, it was next suggested that the
deeply read and travelled man was the only person fully qualified
to undertake the task of analyzing beauty. But here let it be
observed, that a few things well seen, and thoroughly understood,
are more likely to furnish proper materials for this purpose than
the cursory view of all that can be met with in a hasty journey
through Europe.
"Nature is simple, plain, and true in all her works; and those
who strictly adhere to her laws, and closely attend to her
appearances in their infinite varieties, are guarded against
any prejudiced bias from truth; while those who have seen many
things that they cannot well understand, and read many books
which they do not fully comprehend, notwithstanding all their
pompous parade of knowledge, are apt to wander about it and about
it, perpetually perplexing themselves and their readers with the
various opinions of other men.
"The knowledge necessary for writing a work on the arts, differs
as much from that acquired by the simple traveller, as the art of
simpling doth from the science of botany. Taking the grand tour
to see and pick up curiosities, which the travellers are taught
nicely to distinguish from each other by certain cramp marks and
hard names, may, with no great impropriety, be termed 'going a
simpling;' but with this special difference, that your 'field
simpler' never picks up a nettle for a marsh-mallow,--a mistake
which your 'tour simpler' is very liable to.
"As to those painters who have written treatises on painting,
they were in general too much taken up with giving rules for
the operative part of the art to enter into physiological
disquisitions on the nature of the objects. With respect to
myself, I thought I was sufficiently grounded in the principles
of my profession to throw some new lights on the subject; and
though the pen was to me a new instrument, yet, as the mechanic
at his loom may possibly give as satisfactory an account of the
materials and composition of the rich brocade he weaves as the
smooth-tongued mercer surrounded with all his parade of showy
silks, I trusted that I might make myself tolerably understood
by those who would take the trouble of examining my book and
prints together; for as one who makes use of signs and gestures
to convey his meaning in a language of which he has little
knowledge, I have occasionally had recourse to my pencil. For
this I have been assailed by every profligate scribbler in town,
and told that though 'words are man's province,' they are not my
province; and that though I have put my name to the _Analysis of
Beauty_, yet (as I acknowledge having received some assistance
from two or three friends) I am only the _supposed_ author. By
those of my own profession I am treated with still more severity;
pestered with caricature drawings, and hung up in effigy in
prints; accused of vanity, ignorance, and envy; called a mean and
contemptible dauber; represented in the strangest employments,
and pictured in the strangest shapes,--sometimes under the
hieroglyphical semblance of a satyr, and at others under the
still more ingenious one of an ass.[54]
"Not satisfied with this, finding that they could not overturn my
system, they endeavoured to wound the peace of my family. This
was a cruelty hardly to be forgiven: to say that such malicious
attacks and caricatures did not discompose me, would be untrue,
for to be held up to public ridicule would discompose any man;
but I must at the same time add that they did not much distress
me. I knew that those who venture to oppose received opinions
must in return have public abuse: so that, feeling I had no right
to exemption from the common tribute, and conscious that my book
had been generally well received, I consoled myself with the
trite observation that every success or advantage in this world
must be attended by some sort of a reverse; and that though the
worst writers and worst painters have traduced me, by the best
I have had more than justice done me. The partiality with which
the world has received my works, and the patronage and friendship
with which some of the best characters in it have honoured the
author, ought to excite my warmest gratitude, and demands my
best thanks. It enables me to despise this cloud of insects; for
happily, though their buzzing may tease, their stings are not
mortal."
That these hard blows of his adversaries were felt, and felt keenly,
appears from the whole tenor of his language; but his mortifications
were in a degree balanced. The annexed letter, from a man of
Warburton's literary fame, was a flattering testimony to his talents,
though a gentleman to whom I read it observed, that the Doctor might
be as much actuated by a fear of his satire as admiration of his
abilities. It enclosed a £10 bank note. By his friend Rouquet he was
informed that his book was eagerly expected in Paris, and told in
a note from the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, that it would have a
place in the University library:--
_For Mr. Hogarth._
"DEAR SIR,--I was pleased to find by the public papers that you
have determined to give us your original and masterly thoughts on
the great principles of your profession.
"You ow[55] this to your country, for you are both an honour to
your profession and a shame to that worthless crew professing
vertu[55] and connoisseurship, to whom all that grovel in the
splendid poverty of wealth and taste are the miserable bubbles.
"I beg you would give me leave to contribute my mite towards this
work, and permit the enclosed to entitle me to a subscription for
two copies.
"I am, dear Sir (with a true sense of your superior talents),
your very affectionate humble servant,
"W. WARBURTON.
"P. P., _March 28, 1752_."
_To Mr. Hogarth._
"DEAR SIR,--I expected to have been in England about this time,
but find myself disappointed by the tediousness of the progress
of what I have begun; and business coming in very smartly, I
believe I shall stay here some months longer than I proposed
at first, therefore shall indulge myself with the pleasure of
writing these till I enjoy that of your conversation. I have a
thousand observations to impart to you when we meet--some that
will please you, some that you will think inaccurate, but all
such as will not allow us time to yawn when we see one another.
First, I hope you are in perfect health, and the next news I
want to hear is, when your book is to be published. I have raised
some expectations about it amongst artists and virtuosi here, and
hope to have the first that shall come over, that I may boast
of your friendship, by being the first usher of a performance
which I am sure will make many people wish they were acquainted
with you. The humbug virtu is much more out of fashion here than
in England. Free-thinking, upon that and other topics, is, if
possible, more prevalent here than amongst you. Old paintings and
old stories fare much alike. A dark picture is become a damned
picture, as the soul of the dealer; and, consequently, modern
performances are much encouraged,--and mine amongst them,--for I
have met with a reception much beyond what I expected, or they
deserved. This circumstance has made Paris more agreeable to me
than it would have been without it. I pass my time in it very
swiftly, perpetually employed in a great variety of unavoidable
business. The days succeed one another with great rapidity.
Nevertheless, I think I don't enjoy so good a health as in
England, though I was often ill there; but the hurry I have been
in this six months, which cannot be described, may be the reason
of it. I am afflicted with a continual headache, which I have
not been subject to this five-and-twenty years, and which, if it
should not abate, will occasion my return before business will
well admit. I suppose you have before this time some spring
days at Ivy Hall. I shall have no country air this year, but am
going to lodge in the most open part of the town, which I hope
will do instead, that is, upon the Quay de Conti, next to College
Mazarine, where I shall be in three weeks ready to receive the
answer that I beg you will favour me with.--I am, Sir, your
humble servant,
"ROUQUET.
"PARIS, _March 22, 1753_."
_To Mr. Hogarth, in Leicester Fields._
"CAMBRIDGE, _Nov. 28, 1753_.
"SIR,--I return you thanks for your book, which came to my hand
last night, and for which I will find a place in the University
library. I have read it over with pleasure, and have no doubt but
that many others will do the same, as there can be no one here to
whom Mr. Hogarth's name will not be an inducement to inquire into
anything that comes from his hand.--I am, Sir, your most obedient
humble servant,
"P. YONGE."
Hogarth presented another copy to the Royal Society; and by several
of his books that were sent abroad, he found that, however captiously
the work had been treated by some of his own countrymen, it had
its admirers on the Continent. From Mr. Reiffsten of Cassel, in
consequence of this publication, he received a letter couched in most
complimentary terms, inviting him to become a counsellor and member
of the Imperial Academy at Augsburg,--an invitation which, by his
reply, he appears to have accepted.
An Italian translation of his _Analysis_ was published at Leghorn,
dedicated, "All' illustrissime Signora Diana Molineux Dama Inglese."
It had been previously done into German by Mr. Mylins, a new edition
of whose translation is thus pompously announced by Mr. C. F. Vok, in
a written paper I found among Hogarth's manuscripts:--
_Advertisement for a New Edition of Mr. Hogarth's "Analysis of
Beauty."_
"If ever a work met with great applause and deserved still more,
it was certainly Mr. Hogarth's _Analysis of Beauty_. The literary
journals and newspapers have amply and handsomely noticed it. The
author made the beauty of forms, which was the object of his art,
at the same time the subject of his philosophical meditations,
and fell at last upon a system which was meant to ascertain in
some degree the various conceptions of mankind concerning the
agreeable, and to banish from the learned as well as the vulgar
the absurd proverb, that men neither can nor ought to dispute
about Taste. 'Tis therefore to him we are indebted if the word
beautiful, to which people daily fix a thousand different ideas,
becomes for the future as much an object of reflection as it
has hitherto been of sensation. Yet this work does not contain
empty and fruitless speculations, which, when they are not of
practical use, justly merit the name of whim and chimera; but its
utility is equally extensive with its subject, viz. the beauty
of forms, and all arts and sciences that have a relation to it
will borrow new light from the performance. The philosopher, the
naturalist, the antiquarian, the orator (both in the pulpit and
on the stage), the painter, the statuary, the dancing-master,
must consider it as a book essentially necessary to them; and not
only to them, but also to those persons who are vain of being
thought connoisseurs, yet often form such contradictory and
inadequate judgment of what relates to the imitation of natural
beauty, that they but too plainly betray their want of fixed and
determinate ideas. One may venture to affirm that the utility of
Mr. Hogarth's system will soon extend itself into the empire of
fashion; for even there, where nothing reigned but occasional
caprice, now something of certainty may take its place by the
assistance of this theory.
"Mr. Mylins when in England translated it into German, under the
author's inspection; his translation was printed in London, and
contains only twenty-two sheets in quarto, and the two prints,
yet was it sold for five dollars."
Mr. Vok proposes taking subscriptions of one dollar for his edition,
which is not to be sold under two dollars to non-subscribers. He
further promises to annex a short description of Mr. Hogarth's
prints, translated from the French, and engages that the work shall
be ready in six weeks from the time of his proposals, which he dates
from Berlin, 1st July 1754.
_Mr. Reiffsten's Letter to Mr. Hogarth._
"SIR,--An universal reputation, and undisputed title to
superiority, cannot but draw upon you the importunities of those
who are ambitious of an acquaintance with men of genius. Ever
since my first perusing the _Analysis of Beauty_, in which the
author is no less to be admired than the artist, I have been
on the watch for a favourable opportunity of contributing my
share, though ever so small, to the thanks of the public. In that
ingenious and elaborate composition you are allowed by all men
of taste to have dispelled the mist and cleared the difficulties
that had previously attended a problem in painting, of exquisite
nicety and the greatest moment. The most eminent masters and
most sagacious theorists had travelled in the dark, or wandered
through mazes in a fruitless search after beauty. To you alone it
was reserved to unravel her windings, reveal her charms to open
view, and fix her hidden though genuine excellence.
"At length, sir, the opportunity I had so long coveted seems
to offer itself, of course. It is owing to the erection of an
Imperial Academy at Augsburg, for the study and improvement
of arts and letters. I am commissioned as a deputy from the
whole body to interpret their sentiments, and to inform you
how highly they value and respect your uncommon talents and
capacity. Proud of the acquisition of one no less distinguished
in the republic of letters than in the commonwealth of arts,
they earnestly desire you would accept the diploma of counsellor
and honorary member of their Academy. It is ready to be drawn
up, and will not fail being despatched so soon as they are sure
of your approbation; which, 'tis hoped, will not be refused by
one who has deserved so well of all lovers of taste and genius.
But before you take this step it is but natural you should ask
in what consists the Academy of which you are solicited to
become a member, and whose existence, probably enough, is not so
much as suspected in England. To obviate so proper an inquiry,
suffer me, sir, to acquaint you in a few words with its origin,
constitution, and design.
"About three or four years since, some artists of Augsburg formed
themselves into a society, in order to promote and encourage the
imitative arts, especially painting and engraving. They applied
to the Emperor for protection, which was graciously granted.
Soon after they published, at their own expense, a few select
pieces; but finding that the polite arts cannot be brought to
perfection without the help of literature, and that to excel an
artist must be something of a scholar himself, or be assisted
by men of learning, they associated those to their body by whom
they might be furnished with instructions in writing upon the two
above-mentioned branches, and a correspondence both within the
empire and abroad properly carried on. Having thus far met with
success, they began to extend their views, and endeavoured to
fix an institution for teaching methodically the art of drawing
or designing--an establishment much wanted here in Germany. This
scheme being laid before the Imperial Court, the society obtained
an ample charter and considerable privileges. It was incorporated
under the denomination of 'an Academy of Arts and Letters,' and
the Emperor was pleased to illustrate it with his own name. He
conferred the honour of knighthood upon the president, and the
title of imperial counsellor on the director, empowering the
members to choose those officers themselves; and, moreover,
to appoint counsellors and professors to direct the teaching
publicly the learned languages and the liberal arts, with several
other concessions concerning the printing and publishing of their
works.
"To crown their hopes, a common stock was still wanting for the
supply of unavoidable expenses, such as salaries to masters
and teachers, charges of the press, etc. On this account they
had recourse to a tontine,--a kind of lottery, consisting of
annuities for life,--which has met with tolerable success,
and will produce a capital sufficient to defray all necessary
disbursements. But till this end be compassed, the Academy
confines itself to the publishing (by means of artist members)
plates engraved after the original paintings of the best masters;
and by the help of such members as are men of letters, a
journal or periodical pamphlet, consisting of memoirs or essays
concerning those arts whose foundation is laid in designing. The
first part, by way of specimen, is to come out before the close
of this year, and it will be regularly continued every month in
the next.
"The chief materials are to be compiled by members settled at
Rome, Paris, Dresden, Stuttgard, Copenhagen, Cassel, etc.
"How happy should we think ourselves, sir, if, not only suffering
your name to be joined in our lists to those of Mengs, Lelio,
Meilens, De Marcii, Wille Schmid, Preissler, etc., you would,
like those artists, assist us with your pen, and give us a sketch
of the present improved state of the imitative arts in Great
Britain! What can be conceived more conducive to form and refine
our taste, elevate our ideas, and kindle our emulation, than to
be informed by yourself, with your manner of operating in those
unparalleled originals, whose striking beauties and glowing
expressions we closely study in the printed copies; and to be
favoured at least with some hints of those pieces we still expect
from your warm and masterly pencil?
"But I have too much reason to apprehend that, for a first
letter, this will appear tedious; a favourable answer I shall
look upon as a permission to explain myself more at large. In
hopes of receiving it, I remain, with the highest esteem and
regard, Sir, etc. etc. etc.
"I. F. REIFFSTEN.
"CASSEL, _March 25th, 1757_.
"My address is, Governor of the Payes."
_Mr. Hogarth's Answer._
"SIR,--On the receipt of your polite letter, dated Cassel, March
25th, I was most agreeably surprised, nor could I help being much
elated, at finding the very handsome invitation therein given to
me to become a member of so worthy and respectable a corporation
as the Imperial Society of Augsburg; on which account let me
request it as a favour that you will be so good as to pay my
proper compliments to the gentlemen belonging to it, and at the
same time assure them that I with eagerness accept the honour
they are pleased to confer upon me, and that they may depend
upon my best endeavours to merit their good opinion, by strictly
obeying to the utmost of my power such commands as they may think
fit to honour me with, tending to the advancement of the laudable
design they wisely began, and have since so successfully carried
on.
"With respect to the kind opinion you are pleased to entertain
of me and my performances, I sincerely return you thanks. And
believe me, Sir, the above valuable mark of distinction, which
must always tend greatly to my reputation, is still the more
grateful to me, as it may occasionally be the means of my
corresponding with you,--a happiness much to be coveted by, Sir,
etc. etc.,
"WM. HOGARTH.
"LONDON, _April 18, 1757_.
"A Monsieur Reiffsten."
In addition to the high and sounding title of Counsellor and Honorary
Member of the Imperial Academy at Augsburg, conferred upon Hogarth
in the German diploma, he was, on the 6th of June 1757, still
further dignified by being appointed Serjeant Painter to the King
of Great Britain, and entered on the duties of his office on the
16th of the following July. On the demise of George the Second, his
post necessarily became vacant; his present Majesty's warrant for
reinstating him is in my possession. I have annexed a copy, which
shows that the salary was ten pounds per annum, payable quarterly.
In one of his manuscripts I find the following memorandum of the
interest by which he obtained the place, and its annual profits:--
"Having, just after my brother's death, obtained, by means of my
friend Mr. Manning and the Duke of Devonshire, which might not have
exceeded one hundred a year to me for trouble and attendance; but by
two portraits at more than eighty pounds each, the last occasioned
by his present Majesty's accession, and some other things, it has
for these last five years been, one way or other, worth two hundred
pounds per annum."
Who these portraits were, or for whom they were painted, I know not.
By his manner of expressing himself, I should suppose that they were
royal, and, as is customary, presented to some of the ambassadors, in
which case they were probably sent to the Continent.
"GEORGE R.
"Whereas the King, our late royal grandfather, of glorious and
happy memory, by his letters patent, under his Great Seal of
Great Britain, and bearing date the sixth day of June, in the
thirtieth year of his reign, did grant unto William Hogarth,
Esq., the office of Serjeant Painter of all his said late
Majesty's works, as well belonging to his royal palaces or houses
as to his great wardrobe, or otherwise to hold the said office to
the said William Hogarth during his said late Majesty's pleasure:
And by the force of a statute made in the sixth year of the reign
of Queen Anne, the said William Hogarth did continue in the said
office for the space of six months, computed next after the
demise of his said late Majesty, and he the said William Hogarth
still continues therein, by or under our royal proclamation, in
such behalf issued: AND WHEREAS our gracious intentions are to
re-grant the said office to the said William Hogarth, our will
and pleasure is, that you forthwith prepare a Bill for our royal
signature, to pass our Great Seal of Great Britain, to revoke
and determine the said recited letters patent of our said late
royal grandfather, and to remove and discharge the said William
Hogarth from the office whereunto he was thereby appointed; and
to contain our grant unto our trusty and well-beloved, the said
William Hogarth, of the office of Serjeant Painter of all our
works, as well belonging to all our royal palaces or houses as to
our great wardrobe, or otherwise, to hold and exercise and enjoy
the said office to the said William Hogarth, during our pleasure
by himself, or his sufficient deputy or deputies, together with
the yearly fee or salary of ten pounds, payable at the receipt of
our Exchequer, out of any of our revenues there applicable to the
uses of our civil government, unto the said William Hogarth, for
the exercise and execution of the said office, and to commence
from the time to which he was last paid thereupon, by virtue of
or under the letters patent before recited, and to be computed
payable and paid from such the commencement thereof by the day,
or for the quarter, as the case may require, to and for the then
next ensuing usual quarterly day of payment in the year; and from
thenceforth quarterly, at the four most usual quarterly days
of payment in the year, by even and equal portions during his
continuance in the said office; and together with all other fees,
liveries, profits, commodities, and advantages to the said office
belonging, or in any wise appertaining, and in as full, ample,
and beneficial manner and form to all intents and purposes as he
the said William Hogarth held, exercised, and enjoyed, or might
have held, exercised, and enjoyed in the said office, by virtue
of or under the said recited letters patent of our said royal
grandfather; and you are to insert in the said Bill all such apt
clauses, directions, authorities, and powers as were contained in
the said former grant of the said office, and such others as you
shall think necessary for our service, and for making our grant
hereby intended to the said William Hogarth most firm, valid, and
effectual; and for so doing this shall be your warrant.
"Given at our Court at St. James's, the 30th day of October 1761,
in the second year of our reign.
"By his Majesty's command,
"HOLLES NEWCASTLE.
"NORTH.
"JAMES OSWALD.
"_To our Attorney or Solicitor General._
"William Hogarth, Esq., Serjeant Painter of his
Majesty's Works.--Office renewed."
The following oracular prediction I found among his papers, in the
handwriting of his friend Townley:--
"_From an old Greek Fragment._
"There was an ancient oracle delivered at Delphos which says that
the source of beauty should never again be rightly discovered
till a person should arise whose name was perfectly included in
the name of Pythagoras; which person should again restore the
ancient principle on which all beauty is founded.
"Πυθάγορας PYTHAGORAS.
"Ὄγαρϑ HOGARTH."
THE VASE.
"Is man no more than this? consider him well."--SHAKSPEARE.
[Illustration: THE VASE.]
As Dr. Townley, in the foregoing mythological fragment, chooses to
suppose that in the Greek particles which compounded the name of
Pythagoras were to be found the letters H O G A R T H; Hogarth,
with a whimsicality somewhat similar, sported an opinion that the
first man who made a well-formed vase took another man for his
model. In page 78 of his _Analysis_, he remarks "that the exact
cross of two equal lines cutting each other in the middle, as fig.
69, would confine the figure of a man drawn conformably to them, to
the disagreeable character of his being as broad as he is long. And
the two lines crossing each other, to make the height and breadth of
a figure, will want variety a contrary way, by one line being very
short in proportion to the other, and are therefore also incapable of
producing a figure of tolerable variety. To prove this, it will be
very easy for the reader to make the experiment by drawing a figure
or two (though ever so imperfectly), confined within these limits.
"There is a medium between these, proper for every character, which
the eye will easily and accurately determine.
"Thus, if the lines, fig. 70, were to be the measure of the extreme
length or breadth, set out either for the figure of a man or a vase,
the eye soon sees the longest of these is not quite sufficiently so
in proportion to the other for a genteel man, and yet it would make a
vase too taper to be elegant; no rule or compasses would decide this
matter either so quickly or so precisely as a good eye."
I apprehend that Hogarth intended to have introduced this vase into
the second print of his _Analysis_, but found he had not room; for,
on the same piece of paper with the drawing, he thus continues the
subject:
"We cannot wonder that many writers should have imagined that the
different orders of architecture have been taken from the human
form, since both are governed by the same principles of _fitness_,
_strength_, and _beauty_.[56] The general opinion that the
Corinthian capital was taken from a basket and dock leaves, may be
supported on the same grounds."
This leads him to one of his favourite ideas, a new order of
architecture.
HINTS FOR A NEW CAPITAL.
[Illustration: DESIGNS FOR CAPITALS.]
Three of the examples are selected from the most grotesque and
ridiculous objects; the other two from flowers; and the Bohemian
feathers seem slight essays to prove what he frequently advanced,
that though he considered the ancient orders with reverence, yet
being the productions of men, men might without heresy venture to
vary from them. He remarks: "That churches, palaces, prisons, common
houses, and summer houses might be built more in distinct characters
than they are, by contriving orders suitable to each; whereas, were
a modern architect to build a palace in Lapland or the West Indies,
Palladio must be his guide, nor would he dare to stir a step without
his book."
"This architects peremptorily assert is the only rule, nor dare they
deviate from the established orders. Should you press them hard for
a reason, they will tell you no man has yet been able to equal what
has been already done; which though I admit, yet have I ventured
to assert, and now repeat, that the most beautiful order in the
architecture of the ancients will perfectly agree with the rules of
composition laid down in the _Analysis_, and that new orders, adapted
to various purposes, may be still invented. I cannot help thinking it
is possible that a man who understood drawing, though he had never
seen a column, might, by applying the straight and waving line, and
correcting simplicity by variety, produce one with equal beauty to
any of them.
"In architecture, after FITNESS hath been strictly and geometrically
complied with, all the additional members or parts may, by attention
to the proper rules of composition, be continually varied and yet
be pleasing. For example, if the capitals composed of the confined
shapes of hats and wigs can be rendered tolerable, what might not
be done by selecting the elegant varieties which are displayed in
feathers, flowers, shells, etc.?"[57]
ROUND AND SQUARE HEADS.
[Illustration: SQUARE & ROUND HEADS.]
The five heads in the annexed plate are copied from sketches in
my possession, and all of them seem to have been intended for the
illustration of his _Analysis_, in which he remarks, that "the
particular expressions of a face or movement of a feature which
becomes one person shall be disagreeable in another, just as such
expressions or turns happen to fall in with the lines of beauty or
the reverse; for this reason there are pretty frowns and disagreeable
smiles: the lines that form a pleasing smile about the corners of
the mouth have gentle windings, as fig. 1,[58] but lose their beauty
in the full laugh; the expression of excessive laughter, oftener
than any other, gives a sensible face a silly or disagreeable look,
as it is apt to form regular plain lines about the mouth (like a
parenthesis), which sometimes appear like crying."
"In what we call plain lines there is this constant and remarkable
effect, that as they are more or less conspicuous in any kind of
character or expression in the face, they bring along with them
certain degrees of a foolish or a ridiculous aspect. The inimitable
Butler knew this, and describes the beard of Hudibras, fig. 2:
'In cut and dye so like a tile,
A sudden view it would beguile.'
"To set this in an _outréd_ light, see fig. 4,[59] a face almost as
square as a die; and fig. 5, as truly round as a globe. The effect of
the latter is rather ridiculous than ugly. Sir Plume's empty look,
described in the 'Rape of the Lock,' would not be near so vacant
without the idea of roundness:
'With round unthinking face.'
"The dialogue between Cleopatra and the Messenger, relative to the
person of Octavia, proves that Shakspeare, who seems to have seen
through all nature, saw this in the same light."[60]
To No. 3 he thus alludes in his _Analysis_, p. 128, but has not
engraved it in his explanatory plate, though it would certainly have
been a better example than his old man's head, fig. 98:--
"Human nature can hardly be represented more debased than in the
character of the Silenus, where the bulging line runs through all
the features of the face, as well as the other parts of this swinish
body; whereas, in the satyr of the wood, though the ancients have
joined the brute with the man, we still see preserved an elegant
display of serpentine lines that renders it graceful." His manuscript
continues:--
"The fine airs and graceful turns and windings of such a head were
produced by adhering to this line; and it was this Mr. Pope conceived
of Raphael and Guido in his epistle to Mr. Jarvis, the king's
painter, or he meant nothing:
'Each heavenly piece unwearied we compare,
Match Raphael's grace with thy loved Guido's air,
Carracci's strength, Correggio's softer line,
Paulo's free stroke,' etc.
"We must not seek for examples in any of the works Mr. Pope
recommends, for whatever was painted by his friends had his
unqualified praise.[61] He would have said the same of Mr. Kent.
Poets are the fountains of flattery, as kings are the fountains of
honour. The former can with as much ease make one man an inspired
painter, as the latter can create another right honourable, without
either of the parties producing their credentials."[62]
HERCULES, HENRY VIII., AND A FRENCH DANCING-MASTER.
[Illustration: HERCULES, HENRY 8^{TH} & A FRENCH DANCING MASTER.]
In Hogarth's manuscript of the _Analysis_, facing the chapter on
Fitness, I found a red-chalk sketch of these three figures, which
(with slight variations) he has introduced in his illustrative
prints. They are copied as an example of the manner in which he
sketched his first thoughts: they seem placed together to contrast
the easy and natural turn of the Hercules with the stiff and
artificial attitudes assumed by the other two figures, in both of
which uniformity is the leading principle. Relative to this, Hogarth,
in p. 20 of the _Analysis_, puts the following query:--
"If uniform objects were agreeable, why is there such care taken to
contrast and vary all the limbs of a statue? Were the eye pleased
with uniformity, the picture of Henry VIII. would be preferable
to the finely contrasted figures of Guido and Correggio; and the
Antinous' easy sway must submit to the stiff and straight figure of
the dancing-master.
"The 'Hercules' by Glycon (fig. 1) hath all its parts finely fitted
for purposes of the utmost strength that the texture of the human
form will bear. The back, breast, and shoulders have huge bones,
and muscles adequate to the supposed active strength of its upper
parts; but as less strength was required for the lower parts, the
judicious sculptor, contrary to all modern rule of enlarging every
part in proportion, lessened the size of the muscles gradually down
towards the feet, and for the same reason made the neck larger in
circumference than any part of the head; otherwise the figure would
have been burdened with an unnecessary weight, which would have been
a drawback from his strength, and, in consequence of that, from his
characteristic beauty. These seeming faults, which show the superior
anatomical knowledge as well as judgment of the ancients, are not to
be found in the leaden imitations near Hyde Park."
The bluff and boisterous Henry VIII. is described in the same volume
as forming a complete X with his legs and arms; and the pert and prim
dancing-master is so accomplished a person, that were he to see his
scholar in the easy and gracefully-turned attitude of the Antinous,
he would cry shame! tell him he looked as crooked as a ram's horn,
and bid him hold up his head, as he himself did. This figure is said
to be intended for Essex the dancing-master.
The very different position in which these three strongly contrasted
characters place their legs and feet is worthy of observation.
CHARLES I., ITALIAN JUPITER, ETC.
[Illustration: I. CHARLES I. II. HENRIETTA MARIA. III. GROTESQUE
ORNAMENT. IV. ITALIAN JUPITER.]
These figures, as well as the preceding, are copied from sketches in
the MS. of the _Analysis_; the Italian Jove, grasping a thunderbolt,
is intended for Monsieur Desnoyer dancing in a grand ballet. A
reduced copy of the figure is in the first plate to the _Analysis_,
placed as a companion to Quin in the character of Brutus; and it must
be acknowledged that the English actor, in a wig which Gorgon's self
might own, is as fair a representative of a Roman general as the
dancer is of a deity.
The figures 1 and 2 are from Vandyke's portraits of Charles I.
and Henrietta Maria. The former is copied from one of that great
painter's portraits, and almost wholly made up of straight lines; the
latter, though drawn with an easy and elegant air, Hogarth considers
as not composed on the principle of the waving line, which he says
Vandyke seems never to have thought of. Thus does he characterize
that artist in the page that faced the sketches:--
"Rubens knew the waving line, but his contours are rather
overcharged. Vandyke, his scholar, perhaps for fear of running into
what he might think gross in his master's manner, imitated nature
just as it chanced to present itself; and having an exact eye,
produced portraits which abound with delicacy and simplicity; but
when nature flagged he was tame, not knowing that principle which
might have raised his ideas. His best works are, however, marked with
grace."
No. 3 is intended to represent one of those clumsy, grotesque
ornaments with which our cathedrals abound, where a winged figure,
perched in the niche of an arch behind a shield, seems intended as
a guardian angel to the dust of the deceased hero, whose armorial
bearing is sometimes displayed in the front.
The last engraving which I have taken from the manuscript of the
_Analysis_, makes an easy and elegant form; and I have ventured to
introduce it in the title-page to this volume. The original drawing
is on the same leaf with two sketches of an ill-shaped candlestick
and torch thistle (Nos. 40 and 42), in the first plate to the
_Analysis_. I think it may be denominated "The Dolphin Candlestick,"
as it is composed of dolphins and snakes, so twisted as to combine
his favourite serpentine line, and crowned with the iris and lily.
In his MS., after remarking that "our furniture and utensils are
generally as tasteless and inelegant as straight and unvaried
lines can make them,"--and producing as examples the ill-shaped
candlesticks, etc., which are engraved in his first plate,--he
concludes by observing, "It is said in vindication of such forms,
that they are adhered to for the sake of simplicity; but this might
be preserved, and yet some portion of beauty introduced, did they
combine their little variations by the proper rules."
"Let the 'Dolphin Candlestick,' composed of serpentine lines varying
with each other, be compared with No. 40, plate I, which is made
up of plain unvaried parts, and it will show, in a much clearer
view than can be expressed by words, the necessity of variety to
constitute beauty.
"Nature gives us a few examples of tasteless forms in the torch
thistle, and some other ill-shaped exotics to be found in
green-houses, which form a striking contrast to such flowers as
the Chalcedonian iris and lily, whose enchanting beauty proceeds
from their variety--these two flowers united form a nozzle to the
candlestick above alluded to."
Notwithstanding Hogarth's perpetual reference to the line of grace
and analysis of the line of beauty, he has been generally said to
be totally incapable of imparting either one or the other to his
figures. Mr. Nichols, in his _Anecdotes_, insists on his notorious
deficiency in what is styled "the graceful," and in page 48 quotes
Mr. Garrick's opinion to corroborate his own. The writer of the
_North Briton_, No. 17, boldly asserts that he never caught a single
idea of beauty, grace, or elegance. Mr. Walpole, who is generally
candid and liberal in his praise, declares him totally devoid of
the principle, and, quoting the first plate of his _Analysis_ as an
example, concludes the sentence by remarking, that "the two figures
of a young lord and lady, which are added as samples of grace," are
strikingly stiff and affected. I do not know that the artist intended
them to be otherwise; he has not referred to them as models in his
book, and, it is but fair to think, meant them as leading figures,
less _outré_ in their forms, but nearly as affected in their graces,
as the other dancers. His object seems to be, exemplifying grace by
what it is not rather than by what it is. Whatever were his motives
for thus amplifying awkwardness in the Wandsworth assembly,[63] the
annexed design, which may be considered as its contrast, he has
either composed on a different principle, or, by a most happy and
singular accident, grouped some very easy and elegant forms with much
taste.
THE DANCE
[Illustration: THE DANCE.]
Was designed and engraved in the year 1723 for the first volume of
De la Mottraye's _Travels_. In p. 159, this tedious writer tells us,
in some very ill-arranged sentences, that the Greek women in the
isle of Scio, where the scene is laid, have a striking pre-eminence
over those of any other island in the Archipelago for beauty as well
as gaiety, and, some say, likewise for complaisance. They verify
the proverb, "Merry as a Greek," dance every Sunday or holiday in
the open air, and in ring, as represented in the print; and on such
occasions wine is not spared.[64] He describes fig. 1 as a chief
woman of Smyrna, and fig. 7 as her daughter; fig. 4 as a Greek woman
of Constantinople, and fig. 3 as a country girl of Scio, in a habit
peculiar to that place.
From these slender materials the artist made his design in a style
which proves (notwithstanding the total deficiency of taste alleged
by his biographers), that at this early period of his life he had the
power of delineating figures with some portion of grace.
It may possibly be asked, why examples of this do not more frequently
occur in his other works? To which I can only answer, that his
scenes were almost invariably laid in his own country, where he
painted objects as he saw them; and whatever grace the Grecian habit
might give to the beauties of Scio, the Germanic garb, in which the
beauties of Britain then disguised themselves,
"Chastely conceal'd each charm from every eye."
Mr. Benjamin Wilson the painter, in the letter that follows, puts a
query concerning a disputed point in perspective, which was adopted
by Hogarth, in support of his friend Kirby, who, in the epistle that
succeeds it, after returning his acknowledgments for the drawing
that Sullivan engraved for his book, requests the author of the
_Analysis_ to give him some supplementary support in his doctrine
of parallel columns, etc., for the volume he was then printing on
perspective. This Hogarth did not then comply with; but when Mr.
Highmore, a short time afterwards, attacked the system and its
author in the preface of a pamphlet, Hogarth, in support of both,
and to ridicule the erroneous principles of his opponent, wrote
Kirby some whimsical strictures, which have been already published
in the _Graphic Illustrations_. As they are immediately connected
with the letter which is subjoined, I have inserted them in a note,
and added such extracts from Highmore's and Kirby's prefaces as may
elucidate the subject in debate, and enable the reader to draw his
own conclusions:--
_To Wm. Hogarth, Esq., Chiswick._
"DEAR SIR,--When you come to town, I shall be very glad to show
you further advantages which I have gathered from your excellent
_Analysis_. I assure you I think myself greatly indebted to
you, and know of no method to repay you, but to acknowledge
it as I improve, that the world may have one instance of your
invariable principles being true. An odd appearance was mentioned
to me lately, which it seems is a fact. A parallelogram, viewed
obliquely at a given distance, forms a different representation
when seen through a telescope than it does when viewed with the
naked eye. In the one case the remote end of the parallelogram
appears larger than the near end, whilst in the other case it
appears smaller than the near end.
"_Q._ Do your disputants (in relation to the columns) suppose
a given point? If so, they will not regard the eye as you do.
Excuse haste.--I am, Sir, etc.,
"B. WILSON."
_For Mr. Hogarth._
"IPSWICH, _May 3d, 1753_.
"DEAR SIR,--Ever since I received the favour of your drawing, I
have been in expectation of having my Preface printed, but have
been continually disappointed, which was the reason of my not
returning you my most hearty thanks for the above favour long
before this time, and therefore I hope your goodness will excuse
it.
"The design which you have favoured me with is the best that
can be thought of for its intended purpose, as it tends to
recommend the study of perspective by exposing the mistakes of
those artists who are ignorant of it in such a striking manner
as is peculiar to the genius of Mr. Hogarth. I intend to have
it engraved by Mr. Sullivan, and shall send it to him as soon
as I know how to direct to him, unless any other person is more
agreeable to you for that purpose.
"I have enclosed my Preface for your inspection, and one page
of the work itself as a specimen of the paper and letter, and
shall be glad if they please you. My intention in the three last
paragraphs[65] will be obvious at first sight, and I hope you
will not think them unnecessary.
"But, good sir, give me leave to ask you (for you have given
me much assurance by your friendship, and particularly by your
promise), have you thought any more of what we have so often
discoursed upon in relation to parallel columns, etc.? I am more
and more convinced of the justness of your reasoning upon that
subject, and shall think myself prodigiously honoured if you
annex something of that kind to my work; for then I shall have
you both in my front and rear, and shall not be afraid even of
the d--l himself when I am so guarded. If the little witlings
despise the study of perspective, I'll give 'em a thrust with
my frontispiece which they cannot parry; and if there be any
that are too tenacious of mathematical rules, I'll give them
a cross-buttock with the 'Dissertations,' and crush them into
as ill-shaped figures as those they would draw by adhering too
strictly to the rules of perspective.
"I have nothing more to add but my humble thanks for all your
favours; and I shall be glad to know if you intend doing anything
as you proposed. And am, with compliments to Lady Thornhill, Mrs.
Hogarth, etc., your most obliged and obedient humble servant,
"JOS. KIRBY.
"_P.S._--I cannot fix the time when my work will be published,
but it is printing with the utmost expedition."
For another of Mr. Kirby's publications Hogarth designed a
frontispiece, which was engraved by Mr. Woollet, and is prefixed
to "_The Perspective of Architecture_, deduced from the principles
of Doctor Brook Taylor, begun by order of his present Majesty when
Prince of Wales." I have annexed a copy.
FRONTISPIECE TO THE PERSPECTIVE OF ARCHITECTURE.
[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE TO THE PERSPECTIVE OF ARCHITECTURE.]
It is thus explained by Mr. Malton in the appendix to his _Treatise
on Perspective_:--
"Here is a curious frontispiece, designed by Mr. Hogarth, but not
in the same ludicrous style as the former (_i.e._ the frontispiece
to Kirby's _Perspective_): it were to be wished that he had
explained its meaning; for, being symbolical, the meaning of it is
not so obvious as the other (that on false perspective). To me it
conveys the idea which Milton so poetically describes of the angel
Uriel gliding down to Paradise on a sunbeam; but the young gentleman
has dropped off before he had arrived at his journey's end, with
Palladio's book of architecture on his knees. A ray of light from the
sun, rising over a distant mountain, is directed to a scroll on the
ground on which are two or three scraps of perspective, over which,
supported by a large block of stone, is the upper part of a sceptre
broke off; the shaft, very obliquely and absurdly inclined, somewhat
resembling the Roman fasces, and girt above with the Prince of Wales'
coronet as an astragal, through which the fasces rise and swell
into a crown adorned with embroidered stars; this is the principal
object, but most vilely drawn. The ray passes through a round temple
at a considerable distance, which is also falsely represented, the
curves being, for the distance, too round, and consequently the
diminution of the columns is too great. It appears to pass over a
piece of water: on this side the ground is fertile and luxuriant
with vegetation, abounding with trees and shrubs; on the other side
it is rocky and barren. What is indicated by this seems to be, that
where the arts are encouraged by the rays of royal favour, they will
thrive and flourish; but where they are neglected, and do not find
encouragement, they will droop and languish."[66]
On the ray from the sun rising over a distant mountain, etc.,
so facetiously treated by Mr. Malton, some light is thrown in a
manuscript chapter of the _Analysis_, where Hogarth, describing
painters' colours, remarks that--
"Sir Isaac Newton's theory of light and colours, though excellent in
itself, is an inquiry of so different a nature from ours, that were
we to take this great philosopher as our guide, he would not assist
but mislead us, as he did Dr. Brook Taylor, the ingenious author
of the best book on perspective that ever was written. The Doctor
printed an appendix to this work, which he entitled, _A New Theory
for Mixing Colours_, taken from Sir Isaac Newton's optics; but his
project, though ingenious in speculation, is altogether impracticable
in painting."
This observation Hogarth follows by the annexed remarks on those
visionaries who had puzzled the doctrine of colours with minute
and unnecessary divisions, and adopted a strange notion that these
divisions were governed by the same laws as music:--
"Both Albert Durer and Lomazzo, who wrote on painting, had this
conceit; and so much was Père Castle, a French theoretical doctor,
impressed with the idea, that with infinite pains and trouble he
contrived a harpsichord to play _harmonious composition of colours_!
On this he wrote a book, and built a system in which prism colours
were his notes; these the keys of his instrument were to produce
at pleasure. But surely he could not have been drawn into such an
absurdity without having first persuaded himself that colours and
sounds were of the same nature, and that the like disposition of
them both would answer the same purpose, _i.e._ that a jig in notes
would be a jig in colours.[67] I should not be much surprised if
some native of that nation of _taste_ contrived an instrument for
cookery on a similar plan.[68] This would without doubt be adopted in
England, where it must unquestionably have great encouragement. How
pleasant would it be to mark Monsieur de Quisiney at his harpsichord,
composing a grand festino for the entertainment of foreign ministers;
and would the inventor compose a banquet for an installation, or a
feast for a Lord Mayor's day, it would ensure him the hearts of both
courtiers and citizens. What delight would it afford to a certain
eminent composer to see his two favourite sciences thus united![69]
"The fact is, that though compositions of music and colours may
illustrate each other in their principles, they very essentially
differ in their effects. The notes on a scale in music will range
similar to the colours in a rainbow, or to those separated by the
prism, but their operations are precisely opposite.
"For example, let all the keys of an harpsichord be pressed down
at one stroke, and the ear will be offended with harsh, jarring,
and confused sounds; but if you run your fingers along them in
succession, it produces a sort of harmony. In colours it is directly
the reverse; for though the varied hues of the rainbow strike the
eye agreeably at first sight, yet were flickering colours to follow
each other in quick succession, the optic nerve would suffer pain in
proportion as the tints were more or less vivid, and played in quick
or slow time."
These observations are followed by some hints on easy deportment,
and succeeded by the following desultory thoughts, which in his
manuscript Hogarth entitles "A Supplementary Chapter on Dress:"--
"Dress is so copious a topic, that it would afford sufficient
matter for a large volume. The amazing force and folly of fashion
is placed in a most ridiculous point of view in an old book
called the _Artificial Changeling_, where the author not only
describes the uncouth, wild, and extravagant mode of clothing
the body in different ages and countries, but also states many
detestable and barbarous customs of whole nations, who mould and
torture the human frame to destroy its original form. Some of
the customs that he enumerates are, I believe, still practised,
particularly in China, where the feet of the females are bandaged
to prevent their growing; and among the Hottentots, where, to
improve their children's faces, they break the gristles of
their noses. Such is the force of habit, that the eye is soon
reconciled, and these horrid disproportions and deformities are
considered as beauties.
"In this country, fancy and the love of change, to which we may
sometimes add public and private interest, have generally given
the lead to fashion; nor is it to be objected to,--sumptuary
laws are not consonant to the spirit of a free people. In dress
nothing need be restrained except the folly (I had almost said
wickedness) of changing the form or colour of nature.[70]
"As to the fashion of men's dresses, if they are not rendered
inconvenient, it is of little consequence: the tailors may
contrive them as they will.[71] But for the sex to whom nature
has been so bountiful to disguise their enchanting forms, and
sacrifice ease, elegance, and grace on the shrine of fashion, is
defying symmetry and thwarting nature, which, in their capricious
variations, they should sometimes suffer to take fancy by the
hand. The principles laid down for sculpture, etc., will apply
to dress; and fitness, propriety, and convenience being first
established, it should be rendered pleasing. Attention to a few
plain and simple rules would be conducive to its being made so.
"For a degree of uniformity there is a necessity, as without it
our habits would be neither commodious nor comfortable; but when
uniformity can be corrected by taste, or rendered less obtrusive
by slight variations, the appearance will be more graceful and
becoming. Thus, feathers, jewels, and flowers should usually be
worn on one side of the head.
"Painters describe this disposition of ornament, etc. by the word
picturesque, and have contrived what they call a fancy dress.
This is wholly at their own disposal, and they profess to combine
in it all the principles of beauty. But, unhappily, should their
figures walk across the room, these fantastic garments would drop
from their shoulders. Were they contrived with a little attention
to common sense, they might have their uses. Such a succedaneum
would not only keep their works out of the reach of ill-natured
critics, by covering false anatomy, etc., but give an artist
such latitude for light and shadow as might enable him to shine
in the grand historical style; though in painting the manners
of the present day, where dress forms a part of the character,
he might be totally at a loss. On the same ground that I think
it more difficult to delineate scenes built on real life than
to display such as originate in fiction, I believe it an easier
task to write tragedy than comedy: I mean true comedy, not a
Dutch droll. Dress is in some cases an index to the mind, and
characters in improper habits would destroy the illusion at the
best performed play.
"Simplicity, little as it is attended to, is the most attractive
principle of beauty. By this I mean that the habit should not be
divided into too many parts, like an old-fashioned furbelowed and
flounced petticoat: this preposterous mode confounds the eye, and
gives an idea of rags and tatters. The plain unadorned dress of a
country girl is often more engaging than the richest court habit,
in which beauty is frequently obscured, overwhelmed, and buried
by gaudy and heavy ornaments that totally destroy the effect they
are intended to produce. Yet here, as in composition, simplicity
must be corrected by intricacy, to prevent its degenerating into
meanness. Parts of every dress should be loose, and at liberty to
play into folds, some of which will move with the figure; nay, it
sometimes produces grace to contrive things to rest in winding
forms, as is demonstrated by the figure of a sphinx.
"Quantity, as I have before remarked, adds dignity; robes of
state are always made large and full; the long sweeping trains of
queens have a majestic effect. To attain this, the ladies endure
great fatigue, and encumber themselves with an enormous hoop
petticoat, as much as they would by carrying a pair of panniers
on their hips. While they preserve the figure of the pyramid,
this produces some degree of dignity, but excess renders it
ridiculous.
"The horse-grenadier, mounted, caparisoned with his sword and
other accoutrements, gives a good example of the noble effect of
quantity, so combined as to come within pyramidal lines. What
a contrast would it produce, to see the little jockey fitted,
trimmed, and pared down for a race, riding by the side of him!"
Hogarth concludes with a remark, which intimates that he had
originally intended to have inserted the preceding chapter in his
_Analysis_, but altered his plan and reserved it for his intended
Supplement:--
"The even and uniform colour of the hair, by encompassing the
face as a frame doth a picture, contrasts with harmonious
colour its variegated and enclosed composition, and adds more
or less beauty thereto, according to the manner it is disposed.
This graceful ornament may, with some propriety, be called the
head-dress, and comes under that class; but as dress in general
is a matter of no small importance to a great part of the world,
it deserves to be treated more copiously than this volume will
admit of. It shall therefore be deferred till a more convenient
opportunity offers, when the Supplement shall be published."
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
CHAPTER V.
HOGARTH'S INDUCEMENT TO PAINTING THE PICTURE OF SIGISMUNDA. HIS
CORRESPONDENCE WITH LORD GROSVENOR ON THIS SUBJECT, CONTRASTED
BY TWO LETTERS FROM LORD CHARLEMONT, FOR WHOM HE HAD PREVIOUSLY
PAINTED AN INTERESTING SCENE. ORIGIN OF THE QUARREL WITH WILKES
AND CHURCHILL, WHICH GAVE RISE TO THE PRINT OF THE BEAR, ETC.;
AND THE ARTIST'S DEATH.
The particulars relative to the picture of "Sigismunda," Hogarth
has himself inserted in his subscription-book, on the leaves of
which he has pasted his correspondence with Lord Charlemont and Lord
Grosvenor, and a proof print of MacArdell's copy from Correggio's
picture. In a little blue memorandum book he resumes the subject, and
concludes with a narrative of his quarrel with Wilkes and Churchill,
which ends with the word _Finis_.
In these and some other loose papers, after having stated the
professional injury which he had sustained from his opponents
asserting, and the public believing, that he could not paint
portraits, he continues:--
"Being thus driven out of the only profitable branch of
my profession, I at first thought of attaching myself to
history-painting; but in this there was no employment, for
in forty years I had only two orders of any consequence for
historical pictures. This was rather mortifying; and being, by
the profits of my former productions and the office of serjeant
painter, tolerably easy in my circumstances, and thoroughly sick
of the idle quackery of criticism, I determined to quit the
pencil for the graver. In this humble walk I had one advantage;
the perpetual fluctuations in the manners of the times enabled
me to introduce new characters, which being drawn from the
passing day, had a chance of more originality and less insipidity
than those which are repeated again, and again, and again from
old stories. Added to this, the prints which I had previously
engraved were now become a voluminous work, and circulated not
only through England, but over Europe. These being secured to
me by an Act which I had previously got passed, were a kind of
an estate; and as they wore, I could repair and re-touch them,
so that in some particulars they became better than when first
engraved.[72]
"While I was making arrangements to confine myself entirely
to my graver, an amiable nobleman (Lord Charlemont) requested
that, before I bade a final adieu to the pencil, I would paint
him one picture; the subject to be my own choice, and the
reward--whatever I demanded. The story I pitched upon was a young
and virtuous married lady, who, by playing at cards with an
officer, loses her money, watch, and jewels; the moment when he
offers them back in return for her honour, and she is wavering at
his suit, was my point of time.[73]
"The picture was highly approved of, and the payment was noble;
but the manner in which it was made, by a note enclosed in one of
the following letters, was to me infinitely more gratifying than
treble the sum:--
_From Lord Charlemont to Mr. Hogarth._
"MOUNT STREET, _19th Aug. 1759_.
"DEAR SIR,--I have been so excessively busied with ten thousand
troublesome affairs, that I have not been able to wait upon you
according to my promise, nor even to find time to sit for my
picture. As I am obliged to set out for Ireland to-morrow, we
must defer that till my return, which will be in the latter end
of January, or in the beginning of February at furthest. I am
still your debtor, more so indeed than I ever shall be able to
pay; and did intend to have sent you before my departure what
trifling recompense my abilities permit me to make you. But the
truth is, having wrong calculated my expenses, I find myself
unable for the present even to attempt paying you. However, if
you be in any present need of money, let me know it, and as
soon as I get to Ireland I will send you, not the price of your
picture, for that is inestimable, but as much as I can afford to
give for it.--Sir, I am, with the most sincere wishes for your
health and happiness, your most obedient humble servant,
CHARLEMONT.
_To Mr. Hogarth._
"DUBLIN, _29th January 1760_.
"DEAR SIR,--Enclosed I send you a note upon Nesbitt for one
hundred pounds; and considering the name of the author, and the
surprising merit of your performance, I am really much ashamed to
offer such a trifle in recompense for the pains you have taken,
and the pleasure your picture has afforded me. I beg you would
think that I by no means attempt to pay you according to your
merit, but according to my own abilities. Were I to pay your
deserts, I fear I should leave myself poor indeed. Imagine that
you have made me a present of the picture, for literally as such
I take it, and that I have begged your acceptance of the enclosed
trifle. As this is really the case, with how much reason do I
subscribe myself, Your most obliged humble servant,
CHARLEMONT.
"This elevating circumstance had its contrast, and brought on a
train of most dissatisfactory circumstances, which by happening
at a time when I thought myself, as it were, landed, and secure
from tugging any longer at the oar, were rendered doubly
distressing.
"A gentleman (now a nobleman) seeing this picture, pressed me
with much vehemence to paint another for him upon the same terms.
To this I reluctantly assented; and as I had been frequently
flattered for my power of giving expression, I thought the figure
of Sigismunda weeping over the heart of her lover would enable me
to display it. Impressed with this idea, I fixed upon this very
difficult subject. My object was dramatic, and my aim to draw
tears from the spectator,--an effect I have often witnessed at a
tragedy; and it therefore struck me that it was worth trying if
a painter could not produce the same effect, and touch the heart
through the eye, as the player does through the ear.[74] Thus far
I have been gratified: I have more than once seen the tear of
sympathy trickle down the cheek of a female while she has been
contemplating the picture.
"As four hundred pounds had a short time before been bid for a
picture of 'Sigismunda,' painted by a French master, but falsely
ascribed to Correggio, four hundred pounds was the price at which
I rated this.[75]
"By any other of my pursuits I could have got twice the sum
in the time I devoted to it; nor was it more than half what a
fashionable face-painter would have gained in the same period.
Upon these grounds I put it at this sum; see the letter, and
see the answer. It ended by my keeping the picture in my
painting-room, and his Lordship keeping his money in his pocket.
Had it been Charlemont!"
This transaction having given rise to many ridiculous falsehoods, the
following unvarnished tale will set the whole in its true light:--
"_January 1764._
"The picture of 'Sigismunda' was painted at the earnest request
of Sir Richard Grosvenor (now Lord Grosvenor) in the year 1759,
at a time when Mr. Hogarth had fully determined to leave off
painting, partly on account of ease and retirement, but more
particularly because he had found by thirty years' experience
that his pictures--except in an instance or two, mentioned in the
note[76]--had not produced him one quarter of the profit that
arose from his engravings. However, the flattering compliments,
as well as generous offers, made him by the above gentleman
(who was immensely rich), prevailed upon the unwary artist to
undertake this difficult subject, which being seen and fully
approved of by his Lordship whilst in hand, was, after much time,
and the utmost efforts, finished. _But how!_ the painter's death
(as usual) can only positively determine. The price required for
it was therefore not on account of its value as a picture, but
proportioned to the value of the time it took in painting.
"This nobleman in the interim fell into the clutches of the
dealers in old pictures; the treatment a man who painted new ones
was to expect where these gentry once get a footing[77] so much
alarmed the artist, that he thought it best to set his Lordship
at full liberty to take or reject the picture by writing the
following letter, and putting him in mind of the agreement which
was made when the work was undertaken:--
_Mr. Hogarth's Letter to Sir Richard Grosvenor._
"SIR,--I have done all I can to the picture of 'Sigismunda.' You
may remember you was pleased to say you would give me what price
I should think fit to set upon any subject I would paint for you;
and at the time that you made this generous offer, I in return
made it my request that you would use no ceremony in refusing the
picture when done, if you should not be thoroughly satisfied with
it. This you promised should be as I pleased, which I now entreat
you will comply with, without the least hesitation, if you think
four hundred too much money for it.[78] One more favour I have to
beg, which is, that you will determine on this matter as soon as
you can conveniently, that I may resolve whether I shall go about
another picture for Mr. Hoare the banker, on the same conditions,
or stop here.--I am, etc.
"_June 13, 1757._
_Sir Richard Grosvenor to Mr. Hogarth._
"SIR,--I should sooner have answered yours of the 13th instant,
but have been mostly out of town. I understand by it that you
have a commission from Mr. Hoare for a picture. If he should have
taken a fancy to the 'Sigismunda,' I have no sort of objection
to your letting him have it; for I really think the performance
so striking and inimitable, that the constantly having it before
one's eyes would be too often occasioning melancholy ideas to
arise in one's mind, which a curtain's being drawn before it
would not diminish in the least.--I am, Sir, your most obedient
servant,
RICHARD GROSVENOR.
"GROSVENOR SQUARE,
_Sunday morning, June 17_.
_Mr. Hogarth's Reply._
"SIR RICHARD,--As your obliging answer to my letter in regard to
the picture of 'Sigismunda' did not seem to be quite positive, I
beg leave to conclude you intend to comply with my request if I
do not hear from you within a week.--I am, etc.
W. H.
"His Lordship not thinking fit to take any further notice of
the affair, here it must have ended; but things having been
represented in favour of his Lordship, and much to Mr. Hogarth's
dishonour, the foregoing plain tale is therefore submitted to
such as may at any time think it worth while to see _the whole
truth_ in what has been so publicly talked of."
To vindicate his fame, Hogarth at one time determined to have the
picture engraved, and Mr. Ravenet undertaking it, "a subscription for
the print was begun March 2d, 1761;[79] but, some time afterwards,
finding that Mr. Ravenet was under articles not to work for any one
except Mr. Boydell for three years then to come, the subscription
was put a stop to, and the money returned to the subscribers, there
being no other engraver at leisure capable of doing it as it should
be done."
"_January 2, 1764._
"All efforts to this time to get the picture finely engraved
proving in vain, Mr. Hogarth humbly hopes his best endeavours to
engrave it himself will be acceptable to his friends."
CORREGGIO'S SIGISMUNDA.
"Mute, solemn sorrow, free from female noise."
--DRYDEN'S _Sigismunda_.
On the comparative merit of the two pictures of "Sigismunda"
there have been various opinions. By the foregoing narrative it
appears that Hogarth never paid so much attention to any preceding
production; but in works of imagination success is not always
proportionate to labour, and his performance might not be equal to
his exertions. Be that as it may, this was the criterion by which
he estimated its worth; and by the political disputes in which he
was afterwards engaged with Wilkes and Churchill, this estimation
was turned against himself. His opponents discovered his parental
partiality for "Sigismunda;" and to wound the artist in his most
vulnerable part, they mangled her without mercy.
Mr. Walpole's critique did not appear until after Hogarth's death;
but when he gravely states Hogarth's performance to be more
ridiculous than anything the artist had ever ridiculed, it ceases
to be criticism. The best reply to so extravagant an assertion,
is the original picture now in the possession of Messrs. Boydell,
which, though not well coloured, and rather French, is marked with
mind, and would probably have been better had it not been so often
altered on the suggestions of different critical friends. Mr.
Walpole contrasts it with that painted by Correggio (or Furino), on
which, at the expense of the poor English artist, he bestows most
extravagant and unqualified praise; asserting that it is impossible
"to see the picture, or read Dryden's inimitable tale, and not feel
that the same spirit animated both poet and painter." That the
reader may form his own opinion by comparison, I have annexed a
copy from MacArdell's admirable print; and as both sides ought to
be heard, I have subjoined the following remarks from the _Monthly
Register of Literature_, vol. ii., in which is a critique (possibly
written by Mr. Joshua Kirby), as extravagant in the abuse of this
picture as Mr. Walpole is in its praise. It is here stated that
these observations were written for private use by a professional
man whose name is well known as the author of a treatise on painting
and perspective; it begins with some remarks on Miss Edwards' sale
in 1746, and concludes with several strictures on Sir Luke Schaub's
in April 1756: "Sir Luke's pictures (only 178) sold for £7784! a
lucky collection for his heir, but unlucky for Sir Luke's reputation
as a judge of painting." After several severe remarks on some of the
preceding lots, the writer observes of "No. 59,--'Sigismunda Weeping
over the Heart of Tancred,' called a Correggio,--that this picture
is an undoubted copy; nothing in the character of Sigismunda but
sorrow to recommend it. The painter might take it from his cook-maid,
there being nothing elegant or delicate in her appearance. The
virtuosi ran it up to £400; but Sir Thomas Sebright, at the desire
of the proprietor, bought it in for £404, 5s. He soon discovered his
mistake, for in reality it was worth no more than ten guineas."
Though I cannot consent to view this picture through the medium
of Mr. Walpole's overcharged panegyric, which gives to the artist
a power that is not in the art, and seems heightened for the pure
purpose of sinking Hogarth by the contrast; yet I by no means meet
this indiscriminate and unfounded censure. It is many years since I
saw the picture in the Duke of Newcastle's collection, and I then
thought it sublimely conceived and finely coloured. MacArdell's print
gives a faithful representation of the character, and the annexed
head is a correct copy.
Hogarth still bearing in mind this transaction, in which he thought
himself very ill-used, continues his narrative, and concludes with
a recital of the circumstances which occasioned his quarrel with Mr.
Wilkes, etc.; this much hurt his feelings, and in the progress of it
I have ever thought he was unjustly and most inhumanly treated:--
"As the most violent and virulent abuse thrown on 'Sigismunda'
was from a set of miscreants, with whom I am proud of having
been ever at war, I mean the expounders of the mysteries of
old pictures, I have been sometimes told they were beneath my
notice. This is true of them individually; but as they have
access to people of rank, who seem as happy in being cheated
as these merchants are in cheating them, they have a power of
doing much mischief to a modern artist. However mean the vendor
of poisons, the mineral is destructive; to me its operation was
troublesome enough. Ill-nature spread so fast, that now was the
time for every little dog in the profession to bark, and revive
the old spleen which appeared at the time of the _Analysis_.[80]
The anxiety that attends endeavouring to recollect ideas long
dormant, and the misfortunes which clung to this transaction,
coming at a time when nature demands quiet, and something besides
exercise to cheer it, added to my long sedentary life, brought
on an illness which continued twelve months. But when I got well
enough to ride on horseback I soon recovered. This being at a
period when war abroad and contention at home engrossed every
one's mind, prints were thrown into the background; and the
stagnation rendered it necessary that I should do some timed
thing, to recover my lost time and stop a gap in my income. This
drew forth my print of 'The Times,' a subject which tended to
the restoration of peace and unanimity, and put the opposers
of these humane objects in a light which gave great offence to
those who were trying to foment destruction in the minds of the
populace. One of the most notorious among them, till now rather
my friend and flatterer, attacked me in a _North Briton_, in so
infamous and malign a style, that he himself, when pushed even by
his best friends, was driven to so poor an excuse as to say, 'he
was drunk when he wrote it.' Being at that time very weak, and in
a kind of slow fever, it could not but seize on a feeling mind.
My philosophical friends advise me to laugh at the nonsense of
party writing--who would mind it?--but I cannot rest myself:
'Who steals my gold steals trash; 'tis something, nothing;
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands:
But he that filches from me my good name,
Robs me of that which not enriches him,
And makes me poor indeed.'
"Such being my feelings, my great object was to return the
compliment, and turn it to some advantage.
"This renowned patriot's portrait drawn, like as I could as to
features, and marked with some indications of his mind, fully
answered my purpose. The ridiculous was apparent to every eye.
A Brutus! a saviour of his country with such an aspect! was so
arrant a farce, that, though it gave rise to much laughter in the
lookers-on, galled both him and his adherents to the bone. This
was proved by the papers being every day crammed with invectives
against the artist, till the town grew absolutely sick of thus
seeing me always at full length.
"Churchill, Wilkes' toad-eater, put the _North Briton_ into
verse in an epistle to Hogarth; but as the abuse was precisely
the same, except a little poetical heightening, which goes for
nothing, it made no impression, but perhaps in some measure
effaced or weakened the black strokes of the _North Briton_.
However, having an old plate by me, with some parts ready, such
as the background and a dog, I began to consider how I could turn
so much work laid aside to some account; so patched up a print
of Master Churchill in the character of a Bear. The pleasure and
pecuniary advantage which I derived from these two engravings,
together with occasionally riding on horseback, restored me to as
much health as can be expected at my time of life.
"Thus have I gone through the principal circumstances of a life
which, till lately, passed pretty much to my own satisfaction,
and, I hope, in no respect injurious to any other man. This I
can safely assert, I have invariably endeavoured to make those
about me tolerably happy, and my greatest enemy cannot say I
ever did an intentional injury; though, without ostentation, I
could produce many instances of men that have been essentially
benefited by me. What may follow, God knows.--FINIS."
Such is the candid and dispassionate appeal which this unequalled
artist and excellent man makes to his contemporaries and to posterity.
In October 1764, he died of an aneurism at his house in Leicester
Fields. His remains were removed to his family vault at Chiswick. The
epitaph by Dr. Johnson, and that written by Mr. Garrick and inscribed
on his monument, are in the first volume of _Hogarth Illustrated_.
In the _Public Ledger_ of November 19, 1764, his friend Doctor
Townley paid the following tribute to his talents and virtues:--
"_TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM HOGARTH, WHO WAS SUCH AM ACCURATE
OBSERVER OF MANKIND THAT NO CHARACTER ESCAPED HIM, AND SO HAPPY
IN EXPRESSING HIS CONCEPTIONS BY THE STRENGTH OF HIS PENCIL,
THAT, AS HIS OWN TIMES NEVER PRODUCED A RIVAL, POSTERITY WILL
SCARCE EVER SEE AN EQUAL TO HIM. HIS THOUGHTS WERE SO CONSTANTLY
EMPLOYED IN THE CAUSE OF TRUTH AND VIRTUE, THAT HE MAY BE JUSTLY
RANKED AMONGST THE BEST MORAL AUTHORS. WHILST HE FAITHFULLY
FOLLOWED NATURE THROUGH ALL HER VARIETIES, AND EXPOSED WITH
INIMITABLE SKILL THE INFINITE FOLLIES AND VICES OF THE WORLD,
HE WAS HIMSELF AN EXAMPLE OF MANY VIRTUES; AND WHEN, WITH
UNIVERSAL ADMIRATION AND APPLAUSE, HE HAD REPROVED, INSTRUCTED,
AND DELIGHTED THE AGE WHEREIN HE LIVED, HE RESIGNED THE UNCOMMON
GIFTS WHICH HE POSSESSED, AND PAID THE GREAT DEBT HE OWED TO
NATURE, OCT. 27, 1764._"
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRINTS, ETC.
With talents equally honourable to himself, his country, and the
age in which he lived, Hogarth did not leave his widow possessed of
much more than arose from the sale of his prints. But during the
twenty-five years which she survived him, she had the higher and more
exalted gratification of finding that his reputation increased, and
his fame acquired stability by time.
In the year 1780, the late Horace Lord Orford published his
_Anecdotes_, in which he has introduced Hogarth's catalogue and
character. The volume printed at Strawberry Hill, he (with the
preceding part of the work) presented to Mrs. Hogarth. The books were
accompanied with the following handsome apology for his strictures on
the genius of her husband:[81]--
_To Mrs. Hogarth._
"BERKELEY SQUARE, _October 4, 1780_.
"Mr. Walpole begs Mrs. Hogarth's acceptance of the volume that
accompanies this letter, and hopes she will be content with
his endeavours to do justice to the genius of Mr. Hogarth. If
there are some passages less agreeable to her than the rest,
Mr. Walpole will regard her disapprobation only as marks of
the goodness of her heart, and proofs of her affection to her
husband's memory; but she will, he is sure, be so candid as to
allow for the duty an historian owes to the public and himself,
which obliges him to say what he thinks, and which when he
obeys, his praise is corroborated by his censure. The first
page of his Preface will more fully make his apology;[82] and
his just admiration of Mr. Hogarth, Mr. W. flatters himself,
will, notwithstanding his impartiality, still rank him in Mrs.
Hogarth's mind as one of her husband's most zealous and sincere
friends."
In nine years after the receipt of this letter, Mrs. Hogarth died,
bequeathing her property to her relation, Mrs. Mary Lewis of
Chiswick, by whose kindness and friendship I am in possession of
the manuscripts which form the basis of the foregoing sheets, the
following most singular and curious print of "Enthusiasm Delineated,"
etc. etc. etc.
ENTHUSIASM DELINEATED,
CONTRASTED WITH THE PRINT ENTITLED
A MEDLEY;
TO WHICH HOGARTH AFTERWARDS ALTERED THE PLATE.[83]
"Idolatry is not only an accounting and worshipping that for God
which is not God, but it is also a worshipping the true God in a way
unsuitable to His nature, and particularly by the mediation of images
and corporeal resemblances."--SOUTH.
Such was the opinion of Dr. South, and such the opinion of Hogarth,
when he designed this very extraordinary print, the intention of
which is to give "a lineal representation of the strange effects
resulting from literal and low conceptions of sacred beings, as
also of the idolatrous tendency of pictures in churches, and prints
in religious books," etc. To exemplify this, he has parodied the
productions of several eminent masters, whose works, having been
generally painted under the direction of cardinals, popes, etc., are
chiefly on religious subjects; and by the artists absurdly attempting
to represent what are not properly objects of sight, that which they
intended to be sublime is rendered in the highest degree ridiculous.
To burlesque the idolatrous symbols with which they have peopled
their canvas, place the popish doctrine of transubstantiation[84] in
its true point of view, unmask hypocrisy, and check the progress of
those enthusiastic delusions which Bishop Lavington properly terms
"Religion run Mad,"[85] are the author's leading objects.
To effect these purposes, he has delineated what we may fairly
denominate a powerful preacher, who from his countenance, and what
is hinted at in the scale of vociferation at his left hand, seems
treating his congregation with _a bull roar_. He may be considered
as either a Methodistical Papist or a Popish Methodist, for his
shaven crown intimates that he is a Jesuit; and the harlequin's
jacket underneath his gown denotes the versatility of his religious
professions. This Proteus of the pulpit poises a puppet in each hand;
that in the left represents the devil grasping a gridiron; in his
right he holds the triple figure with the triangular emblem, by which
Raphael and some other painters have profanely presumed to personify
the Deity.[86]
Exemplifying sacred mysteries by these absurd theorems is surely open
to the severest satire; and to heighten his ridicule, the artist has,
by adding three legs to the triangle, rendered it a complete trivet,
and given to his jesuitical and theatrical declaimer (who, as his
text intimates, "speaks as a fool") a pointed antithesis,--"If you
do not believe in this trivet, you shall broil on that gridiron."
Dangling on pegs around the pulpit, and to be exhibited as there
shall be occasion, are six other puppets, copied from the absurd
misrepresentations which some of the old masters have made of Adam
and Eve, Peter and Paul, Moses and Aaron. Adam and Eve are a little
caricatured, but evidently intended to hint at the dry designs of
Albert Durer. Adam, though naked, has the air of a first-rate
coxcomb. Eve, encircled with a zone of fig leaves, has neither
grace in her step nor dignity in her gesture. Peter, displaying his
ponderous key, and pulling off Paul's black periwig, is copied from
Rembrandt, and to him referred in Hogarth's inscription. Paul, with a
beard of Hudibrastic cut and dye, being low of stature, is elevated
by high-heeled shoes, and armed with two swords: that in his hand,
massy as the weapon wielded by John a Gaunt; the other, which, like
the dagger of Hudibras, might serve as its page, tucked to his side.
Moses and Aaron, one bearing the tables and the other an incense
pot, are retreating to the other side. The Jewish lawgiver's having
made many ordinances concerning food, may be hinted at by his being
crowned with a porridge pot; the two feet may serve for horns. The
bells on the hem of Aaron's garments are sufficiently obvious, and,
as saith Master Thomas Goodwin, in his _Civil and Ecclesiastical
Rites_--"By the bells are typed the sound of his doctrine."
The nobleman in a pew beneath, unquestionably refers to some known
character; but for whom it is meant I am unable to determine. He may
either be a peer who was at that time very constant in his attendance
at the Tabernacle, or a wolf who has found his way into the fold,
and is prowling among the lambs of the flock. His face presents the
index of a mind in which hypocrisy is united with another passion,
and is in an eminent degree characteristic. The holy fervour[87] of
the female, who, seduced by the tender touches of an earthly lover,
lets her celestial model fall to the ground, is equally remarkable.
A ragged figure[88] in the same pew, dropping his tears into a
bottle, we know, by his rueful countenance, his handcuffs, and the
letter T marked on his cheek, to be a repentant thief. A tattered and
coal-black proselyte at the foot of the reading-desk, inspired with
the epidemical enthusiasm of the place, is embracing the idolatrous
image of her adoration, which in colour is similar to herself.
As sculptors and painters have thought fit to denominate a child's
head, with duck wings, "Cherubin;"[89] Hogarth, to one of these
infantine fancies, has whimsically enough added a pair of duck's
feet. The well-fed figure in the desk may perhaps be meant as an
overcharged portrait of Whitfield. The fainting female in the corner
of the print was intended for Mrs. Douglas of the Piazza, who, after
a most licentious life, became a rigid devotee, and was Sam. Foote's
original for Mother Cole. The Jew, with an insect between his nails,
has a fine air of head. On the book open before him is a print of
"Abraham offering up Isaac."[90]
The figures in the background it is not necessary to enumerate:
they are sighing, weeping, groaning! The four most obtrusive convey
a severe satire on transubstantiation. A Turk looking through the
window, is evidently laughing at their absurdities, and thanking
Mahomet that he has been early initiated in the Koran. A dog, with
"Whitfield" on his collar, seated upon a hassock, and howling in
concert with the preacher, is admirably designed.
The figure of a pigeon impressed on the Methodist's brain, is
intended to intimate that if the Holy Spirit gets into the head
instead of the heart, it will create that confusion of intellect
described in the mental thermometer which rises out of it, and which
is crowned by a dove on the point of a triangle.
Thus did this great artist express his "First Thought," but
afterwards erased, or essentially altered every figure except
two, and _on the same piece of copper_: we find his variations so
multifarious as to render it nearly a new print, which he entitled
CREDULITY, SUPERSTITION, AND FANATICISM.
A MEDLEY.
The preacher and the devil, except in a few shadows added to a
handkerchief, are left as in the first state, and these are the
only figures that are so left; from them and the background it is
positively ascertained that the first and second engravings are on
the same copperplate. Raphael's strange symbol of the Deity the
artist has struck out, and in the place of it inserted a witch upon a
broomstick; instead of the puppets representing Adam and Eve, Peter
and Paul, Moses and Aaron, we have Mrs. Veale's ghost, Julius Cæsar's
apparition, and the shade of Sir George Villiers.
The nobleman, and lady dropping her deified image in the pew beneath
the pulpit, are discarded, and a pair of vulgar and uninteresting
characters put in their room. The handcuffed felon is obliterated,
and his place supplied by two figures, one weeping, the other asleep.
The ragged woman hugging a model is altered to the boy of Bilson; and
on the hassock, where was the howling dog, is a shoeblack's basket,
with Whitfield's _Journal_ placed upon King James's _Demonology_.
The characters of cherubin and seraph are changed; and though the
duck's wings are left, the legs are lopped off. In the place of
the corpulent and consequential clerk, the artist has inserted a
meagre and moon-eyed monster, with wings that either grow out of his
shoulders, or appertain to a foul fiend planted behind him and acting
as his prompter. Mother Douglas is beaten out of the copper, and in
her room Hogarth has introduced Mrs. Tofts and her rabbits, one of
the popular impositions of his own day. The smelling-bottle applied
to recover Mrs. Douglas from fainting, is with Mrs. Tofts very
properly changed to a dram glass. The Jew is altered, and altered
for the worse: the print of "Abraham and Isaac," in a book before
him, is obliterated, and a knife inscribed "bloody," and laid upon
an altar, supplies its place. In the characters of the common people
of the congregation there are several variations; the models which
some of them held in their arms are totally changed. The pigeon in
the Methodist's brain is discarded; in the place of the inscription
in the top division of the thermometer he has inserted the Cock
Lane ghost; and instead of the glory, which in the "First Thought"
crowned the whole, we have the Tedworth Drummer, a tale which, had
it not given the subject for Addison's comedy, would have been long
since forgotten. On the scale of vociferation and the chandelier, the
names of W--d and Romaine are only to be found in the present state
of the plate; in the scale of the thermometer there are numerous
alterations. In "The Medley," the artist has made an addition,
and placed Wesley's _Sermons_ and Glanville's book _On Witches_
as supporters to the Methodist's brain. To do this, and introduce
the rabbits on the foreground, he has brought his work so near the
bottom of his plate as not to leave room for a title, which, with the
quotation from St. John, "Believe not every spirit," etc., is, in the
present state of the plate, engraven on another piece of copper.
Many little variations besides those I have noted will appear by a
comparison of the two designs; one is worthy of particular attention.
In the print of "Enthusiasm Delineated," the inscriptions on the
thermometer, etc., are evidently from the burin of Hogarth; in
the print of "The Medley," every inscription, even those which in
each impression contain the same words, are the work of a writing
engraver, from which I am inclined to believe, that in the first
state the artist never trusted the plate out of his own hands.
With respect to the comparative merit of the two prints, I think
of the "First Thought" what Mr. Walpole in his _Anecdotes_ asserts
of the "Second," that "for useful and deep satire, it is the most
sublime of all his works." It forms one great whole; and the skill
with which he has appropriated the absurd symbols of painters,
and combined the idolatrous emblems of Popery with the mummery of
modern enthusiasts, presents a trait of his genius hitherto unknown;
displays the powers of his mind on subjects new to his pencil, and
shows an extent of information and depth of thought that is not to be
found in any of his other works.
In "The Medley" the artist has changed his ground, attacked follies
of another description, and in the place of Enthusiasm introduced
Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism. In his management of them
he has shown much genius, and by his transition from one object to
another, and the many metamorphoses of his characters, displayed a
power of assimilating, aptness of appropriating, and versatility
of pencil hardly to be paralleled, and proved that his invention
was inexhaustible. With all this, it must be acknowledged that
some of the local credulities which he has there depicted were of
so temporary and trifling a nature, that even now they are hardly
recollected by any other circumstances than having been introduced in
this print.
Ten or twelve figures engraved on the background are not in the
"First Thought:" two of them, viz. a crazed convert terrified by a
lay preacher, are admirably descriptive; but as to the residue of
this half-price audience, met together to be miserable, they add to
the number without much increasing the force, destroy the pyramid,
and hurt the general effect;--if they are intended to stand on the
floor, they are too high; if on benches, too low. The effect of this
print is further injured by the alteration of the clerk. In the
first state, his ample breadth of face and black periwig render him
a leading character, and give him the rank of principal figure. The
thin-visaged, hungry harpy in "The Medley" has no importance, neither
is there any principal figure in that print. A little cherub Mercury,
crowned with a postilion's cap, and bearing in his mouth a letter
directed to St. Moneytrap, is an afterthought, and only to be found
in the second impression.
If I am asked what were the artist's inducements for making so
many alterations, I can account for it in no other way than by
supposing some friend suggested that the satire would be mistaken,
and that there might be those who would suppose his arrows were
aimed at religion, though every shaft is pointed at the preposterous
masquerade habit in which it has been frequently disguised.
Considering the time that must have been employed in beating out the
old figures, the trouble of polishing the copper, etc., it seems
rather extraordinary that he should not have wholly discarded his
plate of the "First Thought," and taken another piece of copper for
the second. It is probable that the alterations were made by degrees,
and before the author was fully satisfied with his design, became
much more numerous than he had at first intended.[91]
TASTE IN HIGH LIFE
IN THE YEAR 1742.
[Illustration: TASTE IN HIGH LIFE.]
The picture from which this print was copied, Hogarth painted by
the order of Miss Edwards, a woman of large fortune, who, having
been laughed at for some singularities in her manners, requested the
artist to recriminate on her opponents, and paid him sixty guineas
for his production.
It is professedly intended to ridicule the reigning fashions of
high life in the year 1742. To do this the painter has brought into
one group an old beau and an old lady of the Chesterfield school,
a fashionable young lady, a little black boy, and a full-dressed
monkey. The old lady, with a most affected air, poises between her
finger and thumb a small tea-cup, with the beauties of which she
appears to be highly enamoured.
The gentleman, gazing with vacant wonder at that and the companion
saucer which he holds in his hand, joins in admiration of its
astonishing beauties!
"Each varied colour of the brightest hue,
The green, the red, the yellow, and the blue,
In every part their dazzled eyes behold,
Here streak'd with silver--there enrich'd with gold."
This gentleman is said to be intended for Lord Portmore, in the
habit he first appeared at Court on his return from France. The
cane dangling from his wrist, large muff, long queue, black stock,
feathered _chapeau_, and shoes, give him the air of
"An old and finish'd fop,
All cork at heel, and feather all at top."
The old lady's habit, formed of stiff brocade, gives her the
appearance of a squat pyramid, with a grotesque head at the top of
it. The young one is fondling a little black boy, who on his part
is playing with a _petite_ pagoda. This miniature Othello has been
said to be intended for the late Ignatius Sancho, whose talents and
virtues were an honour to his colour. At the time the picture was
painted he would have been rather older than the figure; but as he
was then honoured by the partiality and protection of a noble family,
the painter might possibly mean to delineate what his figure had been
a few years before.
The little monkey, with a magnifying glass, bag-wig, solitaire,
laced hat, and ruffles, is eagerly inspecting a bill of fare, with
the following articles _pour_ dinner: cocks' combs, ducks' tongues,
rabbits' ears, fricasey of snails, _grande d'œuts beurre_.[92]
In the centre of the room is a capacious china jar; in one corner
a tremendous pyramid composed of packs of cards; and on the floor,
close to them, a bill inscribed, "Lady Basto D^r to John Pip, for
cards--£300."
The room is ornamented with several pictures; the principal
represents the Medicean Venus on a pedestal, in stays and high-heeled
shoes, and holding before her a hoop petticoat somewhat larger than
a fig-leaf; a Cupid paring down a fat lady to a thin proportion,
and another Cupid blowing up a fire to burn a hoop petticoat, muff,
bag, and queue wig, etc. On the dexter side is another picture
representing Monsieur Desnoyer, operatically habited, dancing in
a grand ballet, and surrounded by butterflies, etc., inscribed
"Insects," and evidently of the same genus with this deity of dance.
On the sinister is a drawing, denominated "Exotics," consisting of
queue and bag-wigs, muffs, solitaires, petticoats, French-heeled
shoes, and other fantastic fripperies.
Beneath this is a lady in a pyramidical habit walking the park; and,
as the companion picture, we have a blind man walking the streets.
The fire-screen is adorned with a drawing of a lady in a sedan chair--
"To conceive how she looks, you must call to your mind
The lady you've seen in a lobster confin'd,
Or a pagod in some little corner enshrin'd."
As Hogarth made this design from the ideas of Miss Edwards, it has
been said that he had no great partiality for his own performance,
and that, as he never would consent to its being engraved, the
drawing from which the print is copied was made by the connivance
of one of her servants.[93] Be that as it may, his ridicule on
the absurdities of fashion,--on the folly of collecting old
china,--cookery,--card-playing, etc., is pointed, and highly wrought.
At the sale of Miss Edwards' effects at Kensington, the original
picture was purchased by the father of Mr. Birch, surgeon, of Essex
Street, Strand.
FARINELLI, CUZZONI, AND SENESINO,
IN THE CHARACTERS OF
PTOLEMY, CLEOPATRA, AND JULIUS CÆSAR.
"To banish nature and to vary art,
To fix the ear but never reach the heart,
To mangle sense and dress up meagre sound,
While the same tasteless unison goes round;
And still the point of excellence to place
In execution, cadence, and grimace;
To ravish with unnatural sounds the ear,
While beaux applaud and belles with rapture hear,[94]
The song we raise."
[Illustration: FARINELLI, CUZZONI, & SENESINO.]
This dignified heroine and the two heroes--of a class--
"By their smooth chins and simple simper known,"
are here the representatives of "the majesty of Egypt, a morsel for
a monarch," and "the foremost man of all this world;"[95] they were
the three principal performers in Handel's opera of _Ptolomeo_,
performed in the year 1728. There have been some suspicions of
its not being Hogarth's design, and from the characters more than
bordering on caricature, etc., I once inclined to that opinion; but
from the general spirit of the satire, and the same figures being
introduced in nearly the same attitudes in the first print Hogarth
ever published (see p. 22), there is little doubt of its being his
production.
The position (for it can hardly be called an attitude) in which the
painter has placed Farinelli, is fully warranted by the writer
of a pamphlet, entitled _Reflections on Theatrical Expression in
Tragedy, etc._, published in 1755. These _Reflections_ are admirably
contrasted by the exaggerated compliment with which the author of the
_Divine Legation_ honours the divine Senesino. The two quotations
follow:--
"I shall therefore, in my further remarks on this article, go
back to the old Italian theatre, when Farinelli drew everybody to
the Haymarket. What a pipe! what modulation! what ecstasy to the
ear!--but, heavens! what clumsiness! what stupidity! what offence to
the eye! Reader, if of the city, thou mayst probably have seen in
the fields of Islington or Mile-End, or if thou art in the environs
of St. James's, thou must have observed in the park, with what ease
and agility a cow, heavy with calf, has rose up at the command of
the milkwoman's foot. Thus from the mossy bank sprung up the divine
Farinelli. Then with long strides, advancing a few paces, his left
hand settled upon his hip in a beautiful bend, like that of an
old-fashioned caudle-cup, his right hand remained immoveable across
his manly breast till numbness called its partner to supply its
place, when it relieved itself in the position of the other handle to
the caudle-cup, etc."--_Reflections, etc._
With respect to the other genius of Italian song, Mr. Nichols very
justly observes that his dignity must have been wonderful, or the
following passage in Dr. Warburton's _Inquiry into the Causes of
Prodigies and Miracles_ (printed in 1727) affords a most notorious
example of the bathos:--
"Observe," says he (p. 60), "Sir Walter Raleigh's great manner of
ending the first part of the _History of the World_: 'By this, which
we have already set down, is seen the beginning and end of the three
first monarchies of the world, whereof the founders and erectors
thought that they never could have ended; that of Rome, which made
the fourth, was also at this time almost at the highest. We have
left it flourishing in the middle of the field, have rooted up or
cut down all that kept it from the eyes and admiration of the world;
but after some continuance it shall begin to lose the beauty it had,
the storms of ambition shall beat the great boughs and branches one
against another, her leaves shall fall off, her limbs wither, and a
rabble of barbarous nations enter the field and cut her down.' What
strength of colouring! what grace, what nobleness of expression! with
what a majesty does he close his immortal labour! It puts one in
mind of the so much admired exit of the late famed Italian singer!"
(Senesino.[96]) What a climax!
A WOMAN SWEARING HER CHILD TO A GRAVE CITIZEN.
"Here Justice triumphs in his elbow chair,
And makes his market of the trading fair;
His office shelves with parish laws are grac'd,
But spelling-books and guides between 'em plac'd.[97]
Here pregnant madam screens the real sire,
And falsely swears her bastard child for hire
Upon a rich old leecher, who denies
The fact, and vows the naughty hussif lies.
His wife enrag'd, exclaims against her spouse,
And swears she'll be reveng'd upon his brows;
The jade, the justice, and churchward'ns agree,
And force him to provide security."
[Illustration: WOMAN SWEARING A CHILD.]
These curious rhymes, engraven under the original print, in a degree
describe the plot of the play, and the characters of the performers
in this religious ceremony; for as such does Picart class a copy
which he has introduced in the fourth volume of his work,[98]
accompanied with the following explanation:--
"Many other customs might find a place here, and delight the
readers by their comical singularity, but we dare not crowd
in too great a number of those trifles, as not being properly
religious ceremonies; which therefore, till approved of by the
church, or by the governor of it, prescribed by ecclesiastical
laws or formularies, we shall omit, except two or three of the
most remarkable. The first is what the description here annexed
calls the breeding woman's oath,--a custom not to be met with
in other countries,--which is so fantastical, or rather unjust,
that it would be a prejudice to the laws of England if we were
to judge of their equity by that practice. Suppose any of these
girls, which may be called amphibious (being neither wives nor
virgins), is found to be with child. She does not, or will not,
pretend to know the father of this child. In order to free
herself from the trouble of maintaining it when born, she looks
out for some rich man, upon whom she intends to father it.
Generally they say she pitches upon some good citizen, though she
does not know him, or maybe has never seen him. Then she goes
before a Justice of the Peace, summons the pretended father to
appear before him, and in his presence swears upon the Bible,
which the clerk holds to her, that she owns and declares that
such a one whom she has summoned to appear is the father of the
child. How far the equivocal expressions and restrictions of
that oath may excuse her from perjury, let a good casuist be the
judge. However, the man thus named and sworn to by this formality
of law is obliged to pay an arbitrary fine, and to agree upon
a sum of money for the maintenance of the child."--Picart's
_Religious Ceremonies_, p. 83.
The original picture from which this print was engraven was one of
Hogarth's early productions, and is in the possession of the Rev.
Mr. Whalley, at Ecton, Northamptonshire. In the disposition of the
figures, etc., it has a more than accidental resemblance to a picture
by Heemskirk, which was in the possession of Mr. Watson, surgeon,
Rathbone Place, where all the male figures are monkeys; all the
females, cats; and which in the year 1772 was engraved in mezzotinto
by Dickinson, and entitled "The Village Magistrate."
A small copy from Hogarth's print is introduced as the headpiece
to a tale printed in Banks' _Works_, vol. i. p. 248, entitled "The
Substitute Father."
THE FOUNDLINGS.
"No mother's care
Shielded our infant innocence with prayer;
No father's guardian hand our youth maintain'd,
Call'd forth our virtues, and from vice restrain'd;
But strangers,--pitying strangers,--hear our cry,
And with parental care each want supply."
[Illustration: THE FOUNDLINGS.]
The last print represented what Mr. Picart chose to call a religious
ceremony,--in this we have a scene which may properly be so
denominated; for surely rescuing deserted, unoffending, and helpless
innocence from destruction, providing an asylum for childhood,
initiating youth in habits of industry, and rendering those whose
parents were unable to protect them useful members of society, is a
religious as well as a political institution.
"Cold on Canadian hills or Minden's[99] plain,
Perhaps the mother mourn'd her soldier slain,
Bent o'er her babe, her eye dissolv'd in dew,
The big drop mingling with the milk it drew;
Gave the sad presage of his future years,
The child of misery, baptiz'd in tears."
Hogarth, by presenting some of his works to the Foundling Hospital,
was in fact an early benefactor to the charity. He made the annexed
design for the use of this institution; it was engraved by F.
Morellon la Cave, as the headpiece to a power of attorney from the
trustees of the charity to those gentlemen who were appointed to
receive subscriptions towards the building, etc.
[Illustration: CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM.]
The artist has made his old friend Captain Coram a principal figure;
and as this excellent and venerable man was in fact the founder of
the charity, it is with great propriety he is introduced. Before
him the beadle of the Hospital carries an infant, whose mother,
having dropped a dagger with which she might have been momentarily
tempted to destroy her child, kneels at his feet; while he, with that
benevolence with which his countenance was so eminently marked, bids
her be comforted, for her babe will be nursed and protected.
On the dexter side of the print is a new-born infant, left close to a
stream of water, which runs under the arch of a bridge. Near a gate,
on a little eminence in the pathway above, a woman leaves another
child to the casual care of the next person who passes by. In the
distance is a village with a church.
In the other corner are three boys coming out of a door with the
king's arms over it; as emblems of their future employments, one of
them poises a plummet, a second holds a trowel, and a third, whose
mother is fondly pressing him to her bosom, has in his hand a
card for combing wool. The next group, headed by a lad elevating a
mathematical instrument, are in sailors' jacket and trousers; those
on their right hand, one of whom has a rake, are in the uniform of
the school.
The attributes of the three little girls in the foreground--a
spinning-wheel, sampler, and broom--indicate female industry and
ingenuity.
It must be admitted that the scene here represented is a painter's
anticipation, for the charter was not granted until October 1739, and
this design was made only three years afterwards; but the manner in
which the charity has been since conducted has realized the scene.
FRONTISPIECE TO TERRÆ FILIUS.
[Illustration: TERRÆ FILIUS.]
The work to which this is a frontispiece was written by Nicholas
Amhurst, author of the _Craftsman_, and published in the year 1726.
The leading object of this writer is to satirize the Tory principles
of the University of Oxford; but as the book does not abound in
subjects for the pencil, Hogarth has selected a scene described
in No. 33, published 8th May 1721, which contains "Advice to all
gentlemen schoolboys, etc., who are designed for the University of
Oxford." In the part which forms the subject for this print, the
writer thus cautions them:--
"Have a particular regard how you speak of those gaudy things which
flutter about Oxford in prodigious numbers in summer time, called
'Toasts;' take care how you reflect on their parentage, their
condition, their virtue, or their beauty,--ever remembering that
'Hell has no fury like a woman scorn'd;'
especially when they have spiritual bravoes on their side, to revenge
their cause on every audacious contemner of Venus and her altars.
"Not long ago a bitter lampoon was published on the most celebrated
of these petticoat professors. As soon as it came out the town was
in an uproar, and a very severe sentence was passed upon the author
of this anonymous libel, to discover whom no pains were spared. All
the disgusted ill-natured fellows in the University were, one after
another, suspected upon this occasion. At last, I know not how, it
was peremptorily fixed upon one, whether justly or not I cannot say;
but the parties offended resolved to make an example of somebody for
such an enormous crime, and one of them (more enraged than the rest)
was heard to declare, 'that right or wrong, that impudent scoundrel
(mentioning his name) should be expelled by G--; and that she had
interest enough with the President and Senior Fellows of his
College to get his business done.' Accordingly, within a year after
this, he was (almost unanimously) expelled from his fellowship, in
the presence of some of the persons injured, who came thither to see
the execution.
'Felix quam faciunt aliena pericula cautum'
was the thesis pitched upon by the excluding doctors for the
under-graduates to moralize upon, in a public exercise upon this
occasion; and as it is a very wholesome maxim, I leave it, my little
lads, to your serious meditation."
To the figures introduced in this print the original artist has given
a spirit worthy of Callot; and the copy hereto annexed has been
thought correct and animated.
THE SEPULCHRE.
[Illustration: THE SEPULCHRE.]
It has been frequently and truly remarked, that in either historical
or serious subjects Hogarth did not excel; but to prove that even in
this walk he was considerably above mediocrity, and that the reader
may be enabled to judge for himself, I have selected the annexed
print, which forms one compartment of the altar-piece to St. Mary
Redcliffe's, Bristol, for the painting of which he received five
hundred pounds.
The centre division, which is much the largest, represents the
Ascension. The rays emanating from the ascending Deity, and beaming
through the interstices of the surrounding clouds, are tenderly and
brilliantly touched. In the foreground, St. Thomas on one knee, with
his hands clasped together, is eagerly looking up with an expression
of wonder and astonishment. On the other side is St. Peter, in a
reclining posture. Near the centre, St. John, with a group made up of
the other Apostles, attentively listening to the two men in white,
who appeared on this occasion. The background is on one side closed
with tremendous rocks; on the other, under the skirts of low-hung
clouds in the distance, appears part of the magnificent city of
Jerusalem, illuminated by a flash of lightning, which, darting from a
darkened sky, casts a livid gloom over the whole.
The compartment on the right hand represents the rolling of the stone
and sealing the sepulchre in the presence of the high priest; the
exertion displayed in this is happily contrasted by the tenderness
and elegant softness displayed in the companion picture here copied,
where the Marys approach the empty sepulchre. The angel, speaking and
pointing up to heaven with an expression which explains itself--to
singular beauty, sweetness, and benevolence, unites great elevation
of character, and the native dignity of a superior being.
The foregoing remarks, with some little variations, are extracted
from an article in the _Critical Review_ for June 1756, which, being
written while the artist was living, were possibly seen and approved
by himself.
The writer concludes by remarking, that the purchasing such a picture
for their church does great honour to the opulent city for which it
was painted, and is the likeliest means to raise a British School of
Artists; though it would be a just subject of public regret if Mr.
Hogarth should abandon a branch of painting in which he stands alone,
unrivalled and inimitable, to pursue another in which so many have
already excelled.
From the "Sealing the Sepulchre" and this print there are two large
mezzotintos by J. Jenner. The centre compartment has not been
engraved.
THE POLITICIAN.
A politician should (as I have read)
Be furnished in the first place with a head!
[Illustration: THE POLITICIAN.]
One of our old writers gives it as his opinion, that "there are
only two subjects which are worthy the study of a wise man, _i.e._
religion and politics." For the first, it does not come under
inquiry in this print; but certain it is, that too sedulously
studying the second has frequently involved its votaries in many
most tedious and unprofitable disputes, and been the source of much
evil to many well-meaning and honest men. Under this class comes
the "Quidnunc" here portrayed; it is said to be intended for a
Mr. Tibson, laceman in the Strand, who paid more attention to the
affairs of Europe than to those of his own shop. He is represented
in a style somewhat similar to that in which Schalcken painted
William the Third,[100]--holding a candle in his right hand, and
eagerly inspecting the _Gazetteer_ of the day. Deeply interested
in the intelligence it contains concerning the flames that rage on
the Continent, he is totally insensible of domestic danger, and
regardless of a flame which, ascending to his hat,
"Threatens destruction to his three-tail'd wig."
From the tie-wig, stockings, high-quartered shoes, and sword, I
should suppose it was painted about the year 1730, when street
robberies were so frequent in the metropolis that it was customary
for men in trade to wear swords; not as now (1803), to preserve their
religion and liberty from foreign invasion, but to defend their own
pockets from _domestic collectors_.
The original sketch Hogarth presented to his friend Forrest; it was
etched by Sherwin, and published 1775.
THE MATCHMAKER.
"Wanted immediately--A HUSBAND."
--_Vide the daily papers._
[Illustration: THE MATCH MAKER.]
The two agreeable persons here introduced formed part of a group in
an unfinished picture painted by Hogarth. They were some years since
engraved on two copperplates; but as I thought that was placing
still further apart the hands of those twain whom the holy service
of matrimony was soon to unite, I have here brought them into one,
and in this we are presented with the bride and that useful agent of
Hymen, denominated a Matchmaker. We see nothing of the bridegroom
but his hand and arm; from which, the countenance of the lady, and
the character of the go-between, we may fairly infer he is young,
and regret that the artist did not complete the trio, and place him
as a contrast to the antiquated virgin with whom he is to be united.
By the beauty spots on her face, she wishes to conceal the ravages
of time; and from her laced lappets, cuffs, robings, and brocaded
silk, we may suppose she is rich. As to the share which the venerable
person who provides her with a husband is to have for his reward--it
depends upon the bargain. I have been told that in this masquerade
matrimony, the master of the ceremonies, or lord of the bedchamber
(which the reader pleases), is paid by both the contracting parties.
Some of my readers may possibly imagine that the tribe of
Matchmakers, like the race of wolves, is extinct in England; but this
is so far from being the case, that there is now in the neighbourhood
of Piccadilly a regular office,[101] where any gentleman or
gentlewoman, first paying a stipulated sum for entrance money, may
disclose their virtuous wishes, and be provided with partners for
life,--or as long as they can agree.
THE MAN OF TASTE.
[Illustration: THE MAN OF TASTE.]
The circumstance on which this print is built is thus described by
Dr. Johnson:--
"Mr. Pope published in 1731 a poem called _False Taste_, in which he
very particularly and severely criticises the house, the furniture,
the gardens, and the entertainments of Timon, a man of great wealth
and little taste. By Timon he was universally supposed, and by the
Earl of Burlington, to whom the poem is addressed, was privately
said, to mean the Duke of Chandos, a man perhaps too much delighted
with pomp and show, but of a temper kind and beneficent, and who had
consequently the voice of the public in his favour. A violent outcry
was therefore raised against the ingratitude and treachery of Pope,
who was said to have been indebted to the patronage of Chandos for
a present of a thousand pounds, and who gained the opportunity of
insulting him by the kindness of his invitation. The receipt of the
thousand pounds Pope publicly denied; but from the reproach which the
attack on a character so amiable brought upon him, he tried all means
of escaping. The name of Cleland was employed in an apology[102] by
which no man was satisfied; and he was at last reduced to shelter
his temerity behind dissimulation, and endeavoured to make that
disbelieved which he never had confidence openly to deny. He wrote
an exculpatory letter to the Duke, which was answered with great
magnanimity by a man who accepted his excuse without believing
his professions. He said, that to have ridiculed his taste or his
buildings had been an indifferent action in another man, but that in
Pope, after the reciprocal kindness that had been exchanged between
them, it had been less easily excused."--Johnson's _Life of Pope_.
Soon after the publication of the poem alluded to, Hogarth made this
design, which presents a view of Burlington Gate. On the front, as a
crooked compliment to the noble proprietor, he has inscribed the word
"Taste;" and as a standing proof of the projector being entitled to
the appellation, placed a statue of his grand favourite William Kent
triumphantly brandishing his palette and pencils on the summit,
with two reclining figures representing Raphael and Michael Angelo
for his supporters.[103] Standing on a scaffold board beneath them,
Mr. Pope, in the character of a plasterer, is whitewashing the front,
and whirling his brush with a spirit that produces a shower of liquid
pearl which dismays and defiles the passengers beneath; the principal
of these, intended for the Duke of Chandos, holds his hat over his
head to shelter himself in his retreat. The torrent is not confined
to his Grace's person, but lavishly scattered over his carriage
and attendants, among whom is a blackamoor in the way of being
whitewashed. The clergyman, whom I believe intended for the duke's
chaplain,[104] is escaping round the carriage.
An old military character, who as well as the chaplain is got out of
the poet's vortex, is rubbing off the stains which he has previously
contracted.
Climbing a ladder reared against the scaffold, we have Lord
Burlington doing the office of a labourer, and arrayed in a tie-wig,
with a pair of compasses[106] suspended to the riband of his order,
and carrying to his little active workman a hand-hawk, on which is
a portion of what I am told the bricklayers call "fine stuff," to
mix up more whitening for beautifying the front of his own gate,
and defiling the garments of every passenger. This, it must be
acknowledged, our poetical plasterer performs with distinguished
dexterity: he at the same time covers the corrosions in the front,
dashes a plenteous shower on those that come near it, and so kicks
the bottom of a pail which hangs to his short ladder, that a copious
stream flows on the head of a gentleman beneath.
This double distribution of flattery and satire is amply exemplified
in the Epistle to Lord Burlington; where the poet, by contrasting the
feeble and imperfect efforts of those he abuses with the superior and
superlative genius of the peer,[107] elevates the powers of his own
patron, and sinks those of all his competitors.
The print from which this is copied was prefixed to a pamphlet,
entitled _A Miscellany of Taste_, by Mr. Pope, etc., containing his
epistles, with notes, etc. There are two other engravings from the
same design, one larger and one smaller than the print annexed. In
the former of these, Mr. Pope has a tie-wig on.[109]
HENRY FIELDING.
[Illustration: HENRY FIELDING.]
This admirable writer was born at Sharpham Park, in Somersetshire,
near Glastonbury, April 22, 1707. His father, Edmund Fielding, served
in the wars under the Duke of Marlborough, and arrived at the rank
of lieutenant-general at the latter end of George I. or beginning of
George II. He was grandson to an Earl of Denbigh, and nearly related
to the Duke of Kingston, and many other noble families. His mother
was the daughter of Judge Gould, the grandfather of Sir Henry Gould,
one of the Barons of the Exchequer.
Henry received the first rudiments of his education from the Rev. Mr.
Oliver, to whom we may judge he was not under very considerable
obligations, from the humorous and striking portrait given of him
afterwards, under the name of Parson Trulliber, in _Joseph Andrews_.
From Mr. Oliver's care he was removed to Eton school, where he had
the advantage of being early known to many of the first people in
the kingdom,--namely, Lord Lyttelton, Mr. Fox, Mr. Pitt, Sir Charles
Hanbury Williams, and the late Mr. Winnington.
At this great seminary of education he gave distinguished proofs of
strong and peculiar powers; and when he left the place, was said to
be uncommonly versed in the Greek authors, and an early master of the
Latin classics: for both which he retained a strong predilection in
all the subsequent periods of his life. Thus accomplished, he went
from Eton to Leyden, and there continued to show an eager thirst for
knowledge, and to study the civilians with unwearied assiduity for
two years; when, remittances failing, he was obliged to return to
London, not then quite twenty years old.
The comedy called _Don Quixote in England_, was planned at Leyden,
and completed on his return to London; where, from some cause or
other, he was induced to bring it on the stage before it was properly
wrought up, so that by this first essay he gained no dramatic
reputation. Nor were his other productions for the playhouse much
more popular; for though he wrote eight comedies and fifteen farces,
they have not generally proved what are termed stock plays;[110] and
yet from several of them, particularly _Pasquin_, succeeding and
successful writers for the stage have borrowed some of their best
speeches.
He died at Lisbon, to which place he went for the recovery of his
health, in the year 1754, aged 47.
Of his talents, he has left memorials that will never die while the
English nation retains a taste for genuine and Cervantic humour: his
features posterity would have only known by description, had not
his friend Hogarth, to whom he had often promised to sit, made this
drawing; for, singular as it may seem, though this admirable writer
lived on intimate terms with the best artists of the day, no portrait
of him was ever painted.
Many strange stories have been told of the manner in which the
drawing was made, such as, the hint being taken from a shade which a
lady cut with scissors; of Mr. Garrick having put on a suit of his
old friend's clothes, and making up his features and assuming his
attitude for the painter to copy, etc. etc. These are trifling tales
to please children, and echoed from one to another, because the
multitude love the marvellous.
The simple fact is, that the painter of the "Distressed Poet," and
the author of _Tom Jones_, having talents of a similar texture, lived
in habits of strict intimacy; and Hogarth being told, after his
friend's death, that a portrait was wanted as a frontispiece to his
works, sketched this from memory.
The drawing was engraved by Mr. Basire, and is said, by those who
knew the original, to be a faithful resemblance. This print is copied
from a proof I had from Mrs. Lewis, and taken before the ornaments
were inserted.[111]
SIMON LORD LOVAT.
[Illustration: SIMON, LORD LOVAT.]
Simon Lord Lovat was born in the year 1667; his father was the
twenty-second person who had enjoyed the title of Lovat in lineal
descent. His mother was Dame Sybilla Macleod, daughter of the Chief
of the clan of the Macleods, so famous for its unalterable loyalty to
its princes.
Buchanan relates a marvellous story of the family at the battle of
Loch Lochlie, 1544. In this battle Lord Lovat, his four brothers, his
three sons, and the whole clan of the Frazers, were cut to pieces;
but if we are to believe this tale, the clan was afterwards restored
by a kind of miracle. The passage is curious:--
"About this time, by the instigation, as it is thought, of the Earl
of Huntly, a battle was fought in which almost the whole clan of
the Frazers was exterminated. There was an old quarrel between the
Frazers and the Macdonalds, which had been rendered illustrious by
the many bloody engagements to which it had given birth. Huntly, in
the meantime, was deeply irritated that the Frazers alone, among so
many neighbouring clans, should reject his protection. He had just
collected the neighbouring islanders, and made an incursion upon the
estates of the Earl of Argyll; and while every other clan had exerted
its whole force in his favour, there was scarcely an individual
in the whole clan of Frazer that had not ranged himself under the
enemy's standard. For this time, however, the feud was composed
without an engagement; and the forces of each party having disbanded
themselves, returned to the respective clans. The Macdonalds
meantime, instructed by the Earl of Huntly, collected their whole
force, and, having taken their enemy by surprise, engaged in a
most obstinate battle. The unfortunate clan, overpowered by the
greatest inequality of numbers, were killed to a man. Thus a family
the most numerous, and who had often deserved well of the Scottish
weal, had wholly perished, unless, as it seems just to believe, the
Divine Providence had not interfered in their favour. Of the heads
of the clan, eighty persons had left their wives pregnant at home,
and each of them in her turn was delivered of a male child, who all
attained safe to man's estate."--_Buchanan_, lib. xv. p. 532. Pity
but they had been twins!
Thus much may suffice for the character of his progenitors; as to
his own,[112] he wrote a narrative in French stating his conduct,
connections, treatment at the Court of St. Germains, etc. These
memoirs,[113] which are brought no further than the year 1715, were
translated and printed several years ago; but, for some political
or family reasons, not published until 1797. They contain many
curious particulars of his life, much of which, both then and in
every subsequent period, had great need of an apology. On his
tergiversation in the rebellion of 1745, Sir William Young, one of
the managers appointed for conducting the prosecution, makes the
following observations:--"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! Atrocious impiety!"--_State Trials_, vol. iv. p.
627.
These are hard and heavy accusations; but the fact is, that whoever
becomes the biographical advocate of Lord Lovat will find it useful
to adopt the plan recommended to the writer who wished to draw
a _fair character_ of that _all-accomplished statesman_, William
Pulteney, Earl of Bath:
"Leave a blank here and there, in each page,
To enrol the fair deeds of his youth!
When you mention the acts of his age,
Leave a blank for his honour and truth."
Notwithstanding all this, his conduct previous to execution was
manly and spirited. When advised by his friends to throw himself at
his Majesty's feet and petition for mercy, he absolutely refused,
said that he was old and infirm, and his life not worth asking. When
informed that an engine was to be made for his execution like that
called "the Maiden," provided long since for state criminals in
Scotland, he commended the contrivance, observing that, as his neck
was short, the executioner would be puzzled to find it out with his
axe; and if such a machine were used, it would get the name of "Lord
Lovat's Maiden."[114]
When he was brought from Scotland to be tried in London, Hogarth
having previously known him, went to meet him at St. Albans for the
purpose of taking his portrait, and at the "White Hart" in that town
found the hoary peer under the hands of his barber. The old nobleman
rose to salute him (according to the Scotch and French fashion) with
so much eagerness, that he left a large portion of the lather from
his beard on the face of his old friend.
He is drawn in the attitude of enumerating by his fingers the rebel
forces, "Such a general had so many men," etc.; and I am informed
the portrait is in air, character, and feature, a most faithful
resemblance of the original.
NINE PRINTS FOR DON QUIXOTE.
The first of these prints is copied from a plate in Jarvis' quarto
translation of this inimitable work; it has neither painter nor
engraver's name, but carries indisputable marks of the pencil and
burin of Hogarth. The second is from an unfinished print in my
possession, which I think by the same artist. The six which follow
were designed for Lord Carteret's Spanish edition, published in the
year 1738; but as they are etched in a bold and masterly style, I
suppose the noble peer did not think they were pretty enough to
embellish his volume, and therefore laid them aside for Vandergucht's
engravings from Vanderbank's designs. Hogarth's six plates remaining
in the hands of Mr. Tonson, his Lordship's publisher, were at his
death bought by Mr. Dodsley, from whom they were purchased by
Messrs. Boydell, in whose possession they now remain. While in
Dodsley's hands, references to the chapters and corresponding pages
in Jarvis' translation were engraved under each.
The last scene, representing "Sancho's Feast," is copied from an
incomparable print engraved at an early period of Hogarth's life,
and published by Overton and Hoole, price one shilling. The subject
of this is exactly consonant to Hogarth's genius, and was probably
selected by the artist to show how happily he could enter into the
spirit of a writer whose turn of mind seems so congenial to his own.
Had Cervantes been an Englishman, I think he would have contemplated
our national follies through the same medium that they were seen by
Hogarth, and probably selected similar scenes as subjects for his
satire. He lived in an age and country where one gigantic folly
"In proud pre-eminence stalk'd through the land!"
He touched the phantom with his pen, and it vanished; but as folly
is in some cases the parent of virtue, may not chivalry and romance,
ridiculous as they are in the eye of reason, give birth to an ardour
of spirit which aggrandizes and elevates a nation? To a sedate and
saturnine people, a spice of absurdity may have its use, were it only
to give motion to those virtues which without it might stagnate.
Divested of that frenzy, which at the same time that it ruffles
and impairs their reason, awakes and rouses their spirits, a whole
nation, like a man-of-war becalmed, may be undulated by ineffectual
motion, until they drop into a sort of mental stupor, unmarked by
any other distinctions than those that arise from stately indolence,
haughty solemnity, and supercilious dignity.
I will not presume to say that Spain is exactly in this situation;
but if it were, other causes may have contributed to the change.
If such are to be the consequences of a nation's becoming wise, a
tincture of folly is rather to be desired than dreaded.
As to the hero of this admirable tale, the Knight of the Sorrowful
Countenance, who has been the cause of more laughter than either the
Knights of Arthur's Round Table, or any other knights ancient or
modern, how can we sufficiently admire him! A paragon of patience
and perseverance, unconquerable fortitude and proud honour, who in
his lucid intervals reasoned like a philosopher, and was invariably
actuated by the most exalted motives; deemed himself bound to defend
the weak against the strong, chastise indolence, redress injuries,
and free those who were in bonds! That this ardent, heroic, and
dignified character, with motives so pure, an heart so excellent, and
virtues that elevate, adorn, and irradiate human nature, should be
led by an enthusiasm which fevered his imagination into absurdities
that expose him to derision, and, like Samson, brought forth to
make sport for the multitude, is mortifying to humanity; and I must
confess, that with me, the laugh which the author's irresistible
humour invariably excites is accompanied by a pitying sigh for the
hero of this history, who is, after all, so superlatively happy in
his ideal importance, that there is a degree of cruelty in destroying
the illusion. The adage, "You think you are _happy_ because you are
_wise_; I think I am _wise_ because I am _happy_," is not easily
confuted.[115]
But this admirable romance carries me further than I intended. I was
led into it by considering the comparative merit of Cervantes and
Hogarth, in doing which, it is proper to observe that the motley
follies of England (diametrically opposite to those of Spain) are
changeable as an April day. Our English moralist (for surely he is
worthy of the title) transferred them to his canvas or copper, and
exposed them by pointed ridicule.
But his satiric histories had a higher and still more useful
direction. They were calculated to encourage industry, and promote
humanity in the lower orders of society, by exhibiting the baneful
consequences of idleness and cruelty; and to check the ostentatious
follies of those in a higher rank, by pointing out the happiness
attendant on the practice of virtue, and the consequent misery of
dissipation, sensuality, and vice.
I hope the warmest admirers of Cervantes will not be offended if
I venture to assert that these were objects of more national and
individual importance than was the extirpation of knight-errantry.
Both these great men may be considered as universal classics; for
while Cervantes delights the learned and the illiterate in his
own country, and is translated and eagerly read in France, Italy,
Germany, and England, while the artists of all these nations emulate
each other in delineating the scenes he has described, and every age
and rank peruse _Don Quixote_ with pleasure,--the fame of Hogarth
is not bounded by the shores of Albion, but takes as wide a circuit
through Europe, and his pictured stories are contemplated with
admiration by men of every clime.[116]
Could their congenial spirits witness the tribute posterity pay to
their talents, how would they be gratified! Large as is their portion
of fame, they were little favoured by fortune. Hogarth, after a
long life of persevering industry, died comparatively poor. As to
the maimed hero of Spain, when the learned Don Gregorio Mayans y
Siscar, at the request of Lord Carteret, collected materials for his
life, he could neither learn where he was born nor where he died.
Sevilla, Madrid, Esquivias, Toledo, Lucena, and Alcazor de San Juan,
contended for the honour of his birth, whom living they had suffered
to languish in a prison.
He was born in Alcala de Henares, in the year 1547, and died at
Madrid, April 23, 1616, on the same nominal day with Shakspeare; so
that Spain and England lost their two great luminaries at the same
period, nor have succeeding centuries produced a successor worthy of
ascending either of their vacant thrones.
From the similarity of their genius, it was reasonable to expect
that Hogarth would excel in delineating the scenes described by
Cervantes; and though our great painter of nature succeeded better
in subjects drawn from the rich storehouse of his own mind than in
those described by others, yet in the portraits of the knight, and
knight companions, he has adhered very closely to their leading
characteristics, which are thus depicted by Cervantes:--
"The age of our gentleman bordered upon fifty years; he was of a
robust constitution, spare-bodied, of a meagre visage, and a very
keen sportsman.
"Rozinanté was so long and lank, so thin and lean, so like one
labouring with an incurable consumption, as did clearly show with
what propriety his master so entitled him. Sancho Panza, or Canzas,
was so called, because he had a great belly, a short stature, and
thick legs."[117]
To attempt a description of the nine following prints in any other
words than those of Cervantes, would be absurd and vain; to suppose
that the greatest part of my readers had not perused _Don Quixote_,
would be an insult on their taste. I will therefore take it for
granted that the following scenes are in their recollection. The few
that have not read this admirable romance have a pleasure to come;
as an inducement to their embracing it, I will insert little more
than a reference to the page in Shelton, whose quaint old English
has perhaps more serious Cervantic humour than either Jarvis' or
Smollett's modern translations. My edition is that of 1675.
PLATE I.
THE FIRST SALLY IN QUEST OF ADVENTURES.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE I.]
The original from which this plate is copied is in Jarvis' quarto
translation, without either painter's or engraver's name; but the
style of the etching, and air of the figures, indisputably
determine the artist. It represents our heroic candidate for fame,
before he had received the honour of knighthood, at the door of an
inn, which he considered as a castle; the host holding his horse's
bridle, and two young female travellers looking with astonishment
at his figure. In the distance is a swineherd blowing his horn,
which our adventurer mistakes for a trumpet sounded by a dwarf on
the battlements, to announce his approaching the portico of the
castle.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 3.
PLATE II.
THE INNKEEPER.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE II.]
The original of this print is in my possession, and was designed
to represent the innkeeper conferring the order of knighthood on
Don Quixote, but for some cause, not now known, never finished. The
artist probably intended that it should form a part of the series
begun for Lord Carteret, but the other six being discarded, never
completed his design; though a slight outline of the Don kneeling to
receive his new honours is discernible in the corner of the print.
Mine host, though a large man, is a less portly personage than the
author describes. This print is not in any of the catalogues of
Hogarth's works, but the style leaves little doubt of the artist.
In the plate from Vanderbank, in Jarvis' quarto, representing the
whole scene, the innkeeper has a more than accidental resemblance to
this figure.
PLATE III.
THE FUNERAL OF CHRYSOSTOM.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE III.]
The stern attention which our Don gives to the Shepherdess Marcella,
who is vindicating herself to those that surround the corpse, well
expresses his determination to defend her cause, and protect her
from insult. The shepherd in a similar attitude to the soldier in
Vandyke's "Belisarius," and Sancho blubbering with his finger in his
eye, are well-imagined; but the figure of Marcella is affected and
stiff, and the shepherd on her right hand has more city pertness than
rural simplicity.
Vanderbank has taken this scene for one of the prints in Jarvis'
translation, and by placing Marcella where she ought to be, on
the summit of the rock, rendered his design more picturesque than
Hogarth's.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 10.
PLATE IV.
THE INNKEEPER'S WIFE AND DAUGHTER ADMINISTERING CHIRURGICAL
ASSISTANCE TO THE POOR KNIGHT OF LA MANCHA.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE IV.]
Don Quixote's adventure with the Yanguessian carriers having
terminated in his being most bountifully beaten, he is here
represented in the hay-loft of a very sorry inn, attended by the
hostess and her daughter, Maritornes, and his faithful squire; the
two former administering comfort to his sufferings, the third holding
a candle; and the last, with a most rueful countenance, bewailing
his own unfortunate participation in the buffetings of his lord and
master.
The picture which Cervantes draws of Maritornes, Hogarth has well
transferred to the copper. Thus is she portrayed:--
"From head to heel she was not seven palms[118] high, and burdened
with shoulders that forced her to look down more than she wished.
Added to this, she was broad-faced, flat-pated, saddle-nosed, blind
of one eye, and could scarcely see out of the other."
The hostess could not have been better marked by the pencil of
Teniers; the owl perched over her head should not be overlooked.
That, as well as the rope hung to a beam, cracked walls, etc. etc.,
added to the miserable figure of the knight reclined on his hard
pallet, display variety of wretchedness. I do not recollect to have
seen a print in which the light is more judiciously distributed; in
this and every other particular, I think it much superior to the same
scene designed by Vanderbank in Jarvis' quarto translation.--_Vide
Shelton_, p. 29.
PLATE V.
DON QUIXOTE SEIZES THE BARBER'S BASIN FOR MAMBRINO'S HELMET.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE V.]
In this print the face and figure of the fierce knight is spirited;
the terror and astonishment of the discomfited barber well expressed,
and the triumphant shout of Sancho in the distance admirably
characteristic. Notwithstanding this, I think that Vanderbank's
design for Jarvis, where the squire is brought into the foreground,
contemplating the glittering prize, is a better chosen point of time.
To Sancho he has given a mixture of cunning and simplicity which I
have seldom seen so happily displayed; and taken as a whole, it is
perhaps a superior plate to Hogarth's.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 42.
PLATE VI.
DON QUIXOTE RELEASES THE GALLEY SLAVES.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE VI.]
The moment taken in this busy scene is when our valorous knight,
after having unhorsed one of the guards, is engaged with the other;
while Sancho, willing to bear his part in the adventure, helps to
extricate Gines de Passamonte from his bonds.
In this, as in some other of Hogarth's designs, the artist not
having taken the trouble of reversing his drawing, the figures are
left-handed. The character of Sancho, and two or three of the slaves,
is admirable.
I think the whole design much superior to Vanderbank's in Jarvis'
translation, where the scene is chosen after the discomfiture of
the Guards; for to two or three of the thieves Vanderbank has given
the countenances of apostles. His whole print is tame, feeble, and
spiritless.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 47.
PLATE VII.
THE FIRST INTERVIEW OF THE VALOROUS KNIGHT OF LA MANCHA WITH THE
UNFORTUNATE KNIGHT OF THE ROCK.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE VII.]
This interview, which took place in the mountains of Sierra Morena,
Cervantes thus describes:--
"Cardenio approached with a grave pace, and in a hoarse voice saluted
them with great courtesy. Don Quixote returned his greeting with no
less complaisance, and pressed him strongly in his arms, as if they
had been long acquainted. The Knight of the Rock, after he had been
thus embraced, retreated a few steps, and, laying his hand on the
Don's shoulder, perused his face with such earnestness, as though he
were desirous of recollecting if he had ever seen him before, and no
less admired Don Quixote's strange figure than himself was admired by
our heroic knight-errant."
This is the point of time which Hogarth has chosen; and the wild
eye of Cardenio, the placid benevolence of Don Quixote, and the
shrewdness of the goatherd, are well opposed. From the air,
attitude, and action of Sancho, I should have imagined the period to
be after he had been mauled by the madman, did not the two knights so
strongly determine it to be before.
In Vanderbank's design of the same subject (_vide_ Jarvis' quarto),
the figure of Sancho is tolerable, but the Don is vapid and
ill-drawn; and Cardenio's head, like that of Medusa, looks as if it
were encircled with snakes.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 51.
PLATE VIII.
THE CURATE AND BARBER DISGUISING THEMSELVES TO CONVEY DON QUIXOTE
HOME.
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE VIII.]
Don Quixote's old neighbours, the curate and barber, being desirous
of checking his wandering disposition, are here disguising themselves
for an interview, in which they hoped to bring him home, where
they trusted he might again live as an old Christian ought to do.
In pursuance of this plan, the barber procured an ample beard made
from the tail of a pied ox; and the curate assumed the habit of a
distressed virgin, and framed a tale of having been wronged by a
naughty knight, to punish whom the Don was to be entreated to follow
wherever this afflicted fair one should lead.
The dressing-room for this masquerade is the kitchen of an inn;
out of the door, astride on a bench, inhaling copious draughts from a
leathern bottle, Sancho gives some life to a little landscape in the
distance.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 60.
PLATE IX.
SANCHO'S FEAST.
"Sancho's dread doctor and his wand were there."
[Illustration: DON QUIXOTE PLATE IX.]
Though Don Quixote is the ostensible hero of this admirable history,
I have sometimes thought that Sancho was the author's favourite
character. He is here represented as Governor of Barataria, and
seated in the spacious hall of a sumptuous palace, surrounded with
all the pompous parade of high rank, and encircled by numerous
attendants.[119] A band of musicians in an adjoining gallery strike
up a symphony to gratify his ear, and a table is spread with every
dainty to feast his eye and fret his soul; for however magnificent
the appendages of this mock monarch, the instant he attempts to taste
the solid comforts of government, the loaves and fishes evade his
grasp, are touched by the black rod, and vanish!
"In plenty starving, tantaliz'd in state,"
he curses the gaudy unsubstantial pageant, vows vengeance on the
Doctor, and swears that he will offer up both him and every physical
impostor in the island as a sacrifice to his injured and insulted
appetite.
Hogarth has here caught the true spirit of the author, and given to
this scene the genuine humour of Cervantes. The rising choler of our
Governor is admirably contrasted by the assumed gravity of Doctor
Pedro Rezio. The starch and serious solemnity of a straight-haired
student who officiates as chaplain, is well opposed by the broad
grin of a curl-pated blackamoor. The suppressed laughter of a man
who holds a napkin to his mouth forms a good antithesis to the open
chuckle of a fat cook. Sancho's two pages bear a strong resemblance
to the little punch-maker in the Election Feast, and though well
conceived, might have had more variety; they present a front and back
view of the same figure. To two females on the Viceroy's right hand
there may be a similar objection.
The original print was designed and engraved at a very early period
of Hogarth's life. As it was finished with more neatness than any of
the eight which he afterwards etched for the same work, the copy is
attempted in a similar style.
In the drawing, Sancho was originally portrayed with a full face; but
Hogarth, judiciously thinking a profile would be preferable, fixed a
bit of paper over his first thought, and altered it to the state
in which it is here engraved.
The design that Vanderbank made from the same scene is cold and
uninteresting; in another by Hayman, prefixed to Smollett's coarse
translation, Sancho is fat enough for Falstaff, and the Doctor
looks like a fellow dressed up to play the part of a conjuror in a
puppet-show.--_Vide Shelton_, p. 221.
HEIDEGGER IN A RAGE.
[Illustration: HEIDEGGER IN A RAGE.]
The spirited sketch from which this is copied has been thought the
work of P. Mercier; but some of my subscribers thinking it bore a
strong resemblance to Hogarth, I at their request submitted it to
public opinion. It arose from the following circumstance:--
The late Duke of Montagu invited Heidegger to a tavern, where he was
made drunk, and fell asleep; in that situation a mould of his face
was taken, from which was made a mask; and the Duke provided a man
of the same stature to appear in a similar dress, and wear it to
personate Heidegger on the night of the next masquerade, when George
the Second (who was apprised of the plot) was to be present. On his
Majesty's entrance, Heidegger, as was usual, bade the music play "God
save the King;" but no sooner was his back turned, than the impostor,
assuming his voice and manner, ordered them to play "Charley over
the Water." On this Heidegger raged, stamped, swore, and commanded
"God save the King." The instant he retired, the impostor returned
and ordered them to resume "Charley." The musicians thought their
master drunk, but durst not disobey. The scene now became truly
comic. Shame! shame! resounded from all parts of the theatre.
Heidegger offered to discharge his band, when the impostor advanced
and cried out in a plaintive tone, Sire, the whole fault lies with
that devil in my likeness. This was too much: poor Heidegger turned
round, grew pale, but could not speak. The Duke, seeing it take so
serious a turn, ordered the fellow to unmask. Heidegger retired in
great wrath, seated himself in an arm-chair, furiously commanded his
attendants to extinguish the lights, and swore he would never again
superintend the masquerade, unless the mask was defaced and the mould
broken in his presence. For this purpose the man on his knee has a
mallet stuck in his girdle.
THE LARGE MASQUERADE TICKET.
[Illustration: MASQUERADE TICKET.]
As the first print which Hogarth published on his own account,
usually denominated "The Small Masquerade Ticket," represents a large
company eagerly pressing to the door of a masquerade, we have here
the interior of the room crowded with a countless multitude of
grotesque characters, celebrating the orgies of the place, which, in
the following references engraved under the original print, are thus
described:--
"_A_, a sacrifice to Priapus. _B_, a pair of Lecherometors, showing
y^e company's inclinations as they approach 'em. Invented for the use
of ladys and gentlemen by y^e ingenious Mr. H----r" (Heidegger).
This titular divinity of the gardens being thus considered as the
god of their idolatry, his Term is entitled to the first notice.
The arched niche in which it is placed is terminated by a goat's
head, ornamented with a pair of branching antlers, and decorated
with festooned curtains. Beneath is an altar, the base of which is
relieved with rams' heads and flowers; and three pair of stags' horns
are fixed to the top.
As a companion to it, the united statues of a Venus and Cupid, both
of them masked, are placed on the opposite side of the print. Cupid,
who is a very well-drawn and spirited little figure, "has bent his
bow to shoot at random," and Venus seems contemplating the rise and
fall of the mercury in one of those instruments which the reference
informs us is to show the inclinations of all that approach it. The
niche in which these divinities are placed is not only decorated with
curtains, but crowned with cooing doves. An altar beneath has on it
three or four bleeding hearts, which, being close to the blaze, are
in the way of being broiled. On the base are queue-wigs, bag-wigs,
etc.
This may suffice for the presiding deities of the diversion; the head
of their high priest, the renowned Heidegger, master of the mysteries
and manager in chief, is placed on the front of a large dial, fixed
lozenge-fashion at the top of the print, and I believe intended to
vibrate with the pendulum, the ball of which hangs beneath, and is
labelled "Nonsense." On the minute finger is written "Impertinence,"
and on the hour hand, "Wit:" which seems to intimate nonsense every
second, impertinence every minute, and wit once an hour! The time is
half-past one--the witching hour of night; 1727, the date of the year
this print was published, is on the corners of the clock.
Recumbent on the upper line of this print, and resting against the
sides of the dial, the artist has placed our British lion and unicorn
renverse (such, I think, is the term in heraldry), lying on their
backs, and each of them playing with its own tail; the lion sinister,
and the unicorn dexter. The supporters of our regal arms being thus
ludicrously introduced, may perhaps allude to the encouragement
George the Second gave to Heidegger, who at that period might be said
to
"Teach kings to fiddle, and make senates dance;"
and who, by thus kindly superintending the pleasures of our nobles,
gained an income of £5000 a year, and, as he frequently boasted, laid
out the whole in this country.
Beneath is a framed picture of a Bacchanalian scene; and on each
side, shelves with pyramids of jellies, sweetmeats, etc., inscribed
"Provocatives." On two labels placed before them is written, "Supper
below."
A pair of instruments, somewhat similar to the mental thermometer in
"The Medley," are fixed on each side: on that next to Venus and Cupid
is written, "cool, warm, dry, changeable, hot, moist, fixt;" on the
other, "expectation, hope, hot desire, extreme hot, moist, sudden
cold."
The motley crew who make up the crowd it is not easy to describe, for
every one present assumes a false character.
"Here tottering old age essays to prance
With feeble feet, and joins th' imperfect dance;
There, supercilious youth assumes the air
And reverend mien which hoary sages wear.
'Tis thus, like Proteus, Folly joys to range,
Her name to vary, and her shape to change."
Here are priests of all persuasions--Brahmins, friars, drones, monks,
and monkeys not a few.
A figure of Time with his scythe, eagerly pressing towards the
altar with rams' heads, is arrested in his course by a sort of
slaughterman, with a mask, shaven crown, and short apron, who
violently grasps his wing with one hand, and with the other lifts up
a hatchet, which with fatal force he aims at his head. For sanctuary,
this feeble figure lays hold of one of the horns of the altar, but
is frustrated in his attempt to reach the steps by a bishop, who,
with his sacrificing knife, coolly stabs him to the heart; while
a monkey, in the habit of a chorister, holds a basin to catch the
blood, the fumes from which he snuffs up with ineffable delight. This
I apprehend to be a metaphorical view of a prelate _killing Time_ at
a masquerade.
Next to this group is a Mother Shipton, hooking on the arms of a
clown; and near them a harlequin endeavouring to draw the attention
of a graceful columbine from a turban'd Turk, who attempts to seduce
her from her party-coloured gallant. A female, with the mask of
a monkey's head, salutes a nun in a black veil; and while an old
Capuchin, with the face of an ape, whispers soft things to a young
girl, a fellow somewhat like Tiddy-doll draws up her head-dress to a
point, like a fool's cap. A man in the right-hand corner, solicitous
to give a glass of wine to one of the sisterhood, lifts up her veil
for the purpose of her drinking it.[120]
ADDENDA.
ADDENDA.
AN EMBLEMATIC PRINT ON THE SOUTH SEA.
[Illustration: THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE.]
The two prints here given are selected as two of the earliest avowed
productions of Hogarth. The allegory in both is somewhat obscure;
but the figures are in the manner of Callot, and in a spirited and
masterly style. They were both published in 1721, and are a proof
that at this early period the admirable vein of satire which he
possessed was directed against the vices and follies of the age.
In the first of them we see (to use an expression of Mr. Walpole)
"the Devil cutting Fortune into collops," to gratify the avaricious
hopes of the adventurers in the South Sea Bubble; and persons
ascending the ladder to ride upon wooden horses; alluding to the
desperate game which was played by the South Sea Directors in England
in the year 1720, to the utter destruction of many opulent families.
The little figure with his hand in the pocket of a fat personage
was supposed by Mr. Steevens to have been intended for Pope, who
profited by the South Sea scheme; and the fat man to be meant for
Gay, who was a loser in that iniquitous project. Mr. John Law, a
native of Edinburgh, was the projector of this bubble; and was also
author of the famous Mississippi scheme in France, by which he ruined
thousands. To escape popular vengeance he fled to Venice, where he
died in poverty in 1729.
THE LOTTERY.
[Illustration: THE LOTTERY.]
Under the print of "The Lottery," the artist has given a full
description of his own ideas, which otherwise, at this distance of
time, it would have been difficult to elucidate.
MASQUERADES AND OPERAS--BURLINGTON GATE.
[Illustration: MASQUERADES & OPERAS, BURLINGTON GATE.]
This satirical performance of Hogarth, which is commonly called "The
Small Masquerade Ticket," is supposed to have been invented and drawn
at the instigation of Sir James Thornhill, out of revenge, because
Lord Burlington had preferred Mr. Kent before him to paint for
George the Second at his palace at Kensington; and the leader of the
figures hurrying to a masquerade, crowned with a cap and bells, and
a garter round his right leg, has been said to be intended for that
monarch, who was very partial to those nocturnal amusements,
and bestowed a thousand pounds towards their support. The purse with
a label "£1000," which the satyr holds immediately before him, gives
some probability to the supposition.
The kneeling figure on the show-cloth, pouring gold at the feet of
Cuzzoni the Italian singer (who is drawing the money towards her
with a rake), represents the Earl of Peterborough; and on the label
is written, "Pray accept £8000." Mr. Heidegger, the regulator of the
masquerade, is also exhibited at a window, with the letter H under
him. Of the three figures in the centre of the plate, the middle one
is Lord Burlington, a nobleman of considerable taste in painting and
architecture. On one side of him is Mr. Campbell the architect; on
the other, some artist now unknown. On a board is a display of the
words, "Long Room: Fawkes' dexterity of hand." On the opposite corner
is the figure of Harlequin, pointing to a label, on which is written,
"Dr. Faustus is here." This was a pantomime performed to crowded
houses throughout two seasons.
In this print all the figures have a strong resemblance to those of
Callot; and the follies of the town are very severely satirized by
the representation of multitudes, properly habited, crowding to the
masquerade, opera, and pantomime; whilst the works of our greatest
dramatic writers are trundled through the streets in a wheel-barrow,
and cried as waste paper for shops; among these may be distinguished
Shakspeare, Ben Jonson, Dryden, Congreve, Otway, Farquhar, and
Addison. In the first copy of this print, instead of Ben Jonson's
name on a label, we have "Pasquin, N^o XI." This was a periodical
paper published in 1722-3; and the number specified is particularly
severe on operas, etc.
As a further illustration of the taste of the times, the artist has
given a view of Burlington Gate, with a figure, I believe, intended
to represent the then fashionable artist William Kent, on the summit,
brandishing his palette and pencils, and placed in a more elevated
situation than either Michael Angelo or Raphael, who, seated beneath,
become the two supporters to this favourite of Lord Burlington.
Some verses (and those not always the same) engraved on a separate
piece of copper are found under the first impressions. For example,
under the earliest impressions of 1724:
"Could now dumb Faustus, to reform the age,
Conjure up Shakspeare's or Ben Jonson's Ghost,
They'd blush for shame, to see the English stage
Debauch'd by fool'ries, at so great a cost.
"What would their manes say, should they behold
Monsters and masquerades, where useful plays
Adorn'd the fruitful theatre of old,
And rival wits contended for the bays?"
Under another impression:
"Long has the stage productive been
Of offsprings it could brag on,
But never till this age was seen
A windmill and a dragon.
"O Congreve! lay thy pen aside,
Shakspeare, thy works disown,
Since monsters grim, and nought beside,
Can please this senseless town."
I have been the more particular in describing this plate, as it
appears to have been the first which Hogarth published on his own
account, and respecting which he pathetically says: "I had to
encounter a monopoly of printsellers, equally mean and destructive to
the ingenious; for the first plate I published, called 'The Taste of
the Town,' in which the reigning follies were lashed, had no sooner
begun to take a run, than I found copies of it in the print-shops
vending at half price, while the original prints were returned to me
again; and I was thus obliged to sell the plate for whatever these
pirates pleased to give me, as there was no place of sale but their
shops. Owing to this and other circumstances, by engraving, until I
was near thirty, I could do little more than maintain myself; but
even then I was a punctual paymaster."
BEGGARS' OPERA BURLESQUED.
[Illustration: BEGGARS' OPERA BURLESQUED.]
This plate seems at once to represent the exhibition of _The Beggars'
Opera_, and the rehearsal of an Italian one. In the former, all the
characters are drawn with the heads of different animals: as Polly
with a cat's; Lucy with a sow's; Macheath with that of an ass;
Lockit, and Mr. and Mrs. Peachum, with those of an ox, a dog, and
an owl. In the latter, several noblemen appear conducting the chief
female singer forward on the stage; and perhaps are offering her
money, or protection from a figure that is rushing towards her with a
drawn sword.
Harmony, flying in the air, turns her back on the English playhouse,
and hastens towards the rival theatre. Musicians stand in front of
the former, playing on the Jew's harp, the salt-box, the bladder
and string, bagpipes, etc. On one side are people of distinction,
some of whom kneel, as if making an offer to Polly, or paying their
adorations to her. To these are opposed a butcher, etc., expressing
similar applause. Apollo and one of the muses are fast asleep
beneath the stage. A man is indelicately seated under a wall hung
with ballads, and showing his contempt of such compositions by the
use he makes of them. A sign of the star, a gibbet, and some other
circumstances less intelligible, appear in the background.
TWELVE PRINTS OF HUDIBRAS.
[Illustration: FRONTISPIECE TO HUDIBRAS PLATE I.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE II.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE III.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE IV.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE V.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE VI.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE VII.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE VIII.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE IX.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE X.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE XI.]
[Illustration: HUDIBRAS, PLATE XII.]
This well-imagined series of plates was designed by Hogarth, and
engraved by himself, for the matchless poem of Butler. Each plate is
illustrated by an appropriate quotation from the facetious satirist;
and as our ingenious artist formed his designs from an attentive
perusal of the poem, his engravings, and the extracts selected under
each of them, reciprocally explain each other. "His 'Hudibras,'" says
Mr. Walpole, "was the first of his works that marked him as a man
above the common; yet," adds the critic, somewhat too fastidiously,
"what made him then noticed now surprises us, to find so little
humour in an undertaking so congenial to his talents."
The original title ran thus: "Twelve excellent and most diverting
Prints, taken from the celebrated Poem of Hudibras, wrote by Samuel
Butler; exposing the villany and hypocrisy of the times. Invented
and engraved on twelve copperplates by William Hogarth; and are
humbly dedicated to William Ware, Esq., of Great Houghton, in
Northamptonshire, and Mr. Allan Ramsay, of Edinburgh."
"What excellence can brass or marble claim?
These papers better do secure thy fame;
Thy verse all monuments does far surpass,
No mausoleum's like thy 'Hudibras.'"
Allan Ramsay subscribed for thirty sets, and the number of
subscribers amounted to one hundred and ninety-two. The original
plates were afterwards purchased by Mr. Philip Overton. They
subsequently passed into the hands of the late Mr. Robert Sayer; and
it is certain that Hogarth often lamented the having parted with his
property in them without ever having had an opportunity to improve
them.
In the first of these plates is a portrait inscribed, "Mr. Samuel
Butler, born 1612, Author of Hudibras, died 1680." The basso-relievo
of the pedestal represents Butler's Genius in a car, lashing round
Mount Parnassus, in the persons of Hudibras and Ralpho, Rebellion,
Hypocrisy, and Ignorance, the reigning vices and follies of the time.
In the scene of the Committee (Plate IX.), one of the members has his
gloves on his head. "I am told," says Mr. Steevens, "this whimsical
custom once prevailed among our sanctified fraternity; but it is in
vain, I suppose, to ask the reason why." This doubt, however, has
since produced from a respectable divine an intimation that he has
frequently heard his father, who died some years ago at an advanced
age, notice the custom of placing the gloves on the head at church as
not uncommon in cold weather.
In the earliest impressions of Plate XI., the words "Down with the
Rumps" are not inserted on the scroll.
JUST VIEW OF THE BRITISH STAGE.
[Illustration: JUST VIEW OF THE BRITISH STAGE.]
Mr. Walpole, in his _Catalogue_, thus describes this plate: "Booth,
Wilkes, and Cibber, contriving a Pantomime; a Satire on Farces."
Though the inscription engraved under it is sufficiently explanatory,
it may be added that Mr. Devoto was scene-painter either to Drury
Lane or Lincoln's-Inn Fields, and also to Goodman's Fields Theatre;
that the ropes mentioned in the inscription are no other than
halters, suspended over the heads of the three managers; and that
the labels issuing from their respective mouths convey the following
characteristic words. The airy Wilkes, who dangles the effigies of
Punch, exclaims, "Poor R--ch! faith, I _pitty_ him." The Laureate
Cibber, who is amusing himself with playing with harlequin, invokes
the muse painted on the ceiling: "Assist, ye sacred Nine!" And the
solemn Booth, letting down the figure of Jack Hall into the _forica_,
is most tragically exclaiming, with an oath, "Ha! this will do." At
the same instant Ben Jonson's ghost is rising through the stage,
and insulting a pantomime statue fallen from its base. Over the
figure of Hall is suspended a parcel of waste paper, consisting of
leaves torn from _The Way of the World_, _Hamlet_, _Macbeth_, and
_Julius Cæsar_. A fiddler is seen hanging by a cord in the air, and
performing, with a scroll before him, which proclaims, "Music for
the What" [meaning perhaps the "What d'ye call it"] entertainment.
A pamphlet on the table exhibits a print of Jack Sheppard in
confinement. A dragon is also preparing to fly; a dog thrusts his
head out of the kennel; a flask acquires motion by machinery, etc.
The countenances of Tragedy and Comedy, on each side of the stage,
are concealed by the bills for _Harlequin Dr. Faustus_, _Harlequin
Shepherd_, _etc._
_Vivetur ingenio_ is the motto over the curtain.
EXAMINATION OF BAMBRIDGE.
[Illustration: BAMBRIDGE ON TRIAL FOR MURDER.]
This very fine picture, Hogarth himself tells us, was painted in 1729
for Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk, Bart., at that time Knight of
the Shire for Aberdeen, and one of the Committee represented in the
painting,--many of whom attended daily, and some of them twice a day.
That every other figure in this print is a genuine portrait, there
cannot be the least doubt, though at this distant period it is not
possible to identify the particular persons; they are all, however,
to be found in the following list of the names of the Committee:--
James Oglethorpe, Esq., Chairman.
{ Finch.
The Right Hon. { Morpeth.
the Lords { Inchequin.
{ Percival.
{ Limerick.
Sir Robert Sutton.
Sir Robert Clifton.
Sir Abraham Elton.
Sir Edward Knatchbull.
Sir Humphrey Herries.
Hon. James Bertie.
Sir Gregory Page.
Sir Archibald Grant.
Sir James Thomhill.
Gyles Earle, Esq.
General Wade.
Humphrey Parsons, Esq.
Hon. Robert Byng.
Edward Houghton, Esq.
(Judge-Advocate.)
Captain Vernon.
Charles Selwyn, Esq.
Velters Cornwall, Esq.
Thomas Scawen, Esq.
Francis Child, Esq.
William Hucks, Esq.
Stampe Brooksbank, Esq.
Charles Withers, Esq.
John La Roche, Esq.
Mr. Thomas Martin.
"The scene," says Mr. Walpole, "is the Committee. On the table are
the instruments of torture. A prisoner in rags, half-starved, appears
before them; the poor man has a good countenance, that adds to the
interest. On the other hand is the inhuman gaoler. It is the very
figure that Salvator Rosa would have drawn for Iago in the moment
of detection. Villany, fear, and conscience are mixed in yellow and
livid on his countenance; his lips are contracted by tremor, his face
advances as eager to lie, his legs step back as thinking to make his
escape; one hand is thrust precipitately into his bosom, the fingers
of the other are catching uncertainly at his button-holes. If this
was a portrait, it is the most striking that ever was drawn; if it
was not, it is still finer."
This Committee was first appointed, Feb. 25, 1728-9, to examine into
the state of the gaols within the kingdom; and the persons here
represented under examination were--Thomas Bambridge, then Warden of
the Fleet Prison, and John Huggins, his predecessor in that office.
Both were declared "notoriously guilty of great breaches of trust,
extortions, cruelties, and other high crimes and misdemeanours."
It was the unanimous resolution of the Committee, "That Thomas
Bambridge, the acting Warden of the Prison of the Fleet, hath
wilfully permitted several debtors to the Crown in great sums of
money, as well as debtors to divers of his Majesty's subjects, to
escape; hath been guilty of the most notorious breaches of his trust,
great extortions, and the highest crimes and misdemeanours in the
execution of his said office; and hath arbitrarily and unlawfully
loaded with irons, put into dungeons, and destroyed, prisoners for
debt under his charge, treating them in the most barbarous and cruel
manner, in high violation and contempt of the laws of this kingdom."
Bambridge was in consequence disqualified by Act of Parliament; and
he cut his throat twenty years after.
It was also resolved, "That John Huggins, Esq., late Warden of the
Prison of the Fleet, did, during the time of his wardenship, wilfully
permit several considerable debtors in his custody to escape; and
was notoriously guilty of great breaches of his trust, extortions,
cruelties, and other high crimes and misdemeanours, in the execution
of the said office;" and he was for some time committed to Newgate,
but afterwards lived in credit to the age of ninety.
KING HENRY VIII. AND ANNA BULLEYN.
[Illustration: HENRY THE EIGHTH & ANNE BOLEYNE.]
This plate, copied from a painting in the portico of the old great
room in Vauxhall Gardens, has very idly been imagined to contain
the portraits of Frederick Prince of Wales, and the beautiful but
unfortunate Lady Vane; but the stature and faces both of the lady and
Henry are totally unlike their supposed originals.
CROWNS, MITRES, MACES, ETC.
[Illustration: CROWNS, MITRES, MACES &^c.]
This plate forms so important a feature in the annals of Hogarth,
that it requires his own elucidation:--
"After having had my plates pirated in almost all sizes, I
applied to Parliament for redress, and obtained it in so liberal
a manner, as hath not only answered my own purpose, but made
prints a considerable article in the commerce of this country,
there being now more business of that kind done here than at
Paris, or anywhere else, and as well."
The statute, which took place June 24, 1735, was drawn up by our
artist's friend Mr. Huggins, who took for his model the eighth
of Queen Anne in favour of literary property. But it was not so
accurately executed as entirely to remedy the evil; for, in a cause
founded on it, which came before Lord Hardwicke in Chancery, that
excellent lawyer determined that no assignee, claiming under an
assignment from the original inventor, could take any benefit by it.
Hogarth, immediately after the passing of the Act, published this
print with the following inscription:--
"In humble and grateful acknowledgment
of the grace and goodness of the LEGISLATURE,
manifested in the ACT OF PARLIAMENT for the Encouragement
of the Arts of Designing, Engraving, etc.,
obtained by the Endeavours, and almost at the sole Expense,
of the Designer of this Print in the Year 1735;
by which,
not only the Professors of those Arts were rescued
from the Tyranny, Frauds, and Piracies
of Monopolizing Dealers,
and legally entitled to the Fruits of their own Labours;
but Genius and Industry were also prompted
by the most noble and generous Inducements to exert themselves.
Emulation was excited;
Ornamental Compositions were better understood;
and every Manufacture, where Fancy has any concern,
was gradually raised to a pitch of Perfection before unknown;
insomuch, that those of GREAT BRITAIN
are at present the most elegant
and the most in Esteem of any in EUROPE."
The royal Crown at the top is darting its rays on mitres, coronets,
the Chancellor's great seal, the Speaker's hat, etc. etc.; and on
a scroll is written, "An Act for the Encouragement of the Arts of
Designing, Engraving, and Etching, by vesting the properties thereof
in the inventors and engravers, during the time therein mentioned."
The plate was afterwards used as a receipt for the subscriptions to
his four prints of "The Election."
In 1767, three years after Hogarth's death, his widow stated, in
a petition to the House of Commons, "that she was informed that a
Bill was depending in the House to amend an Act made in the eighth
year of the reign of his late Majesty, for the encouragement of the
arts of designing, engraving, and etching: that her late husband was
the inventor, engraver, and publisher of various designs--moral,
humorous, and historical; the sole property whereof was vested in
him by the said Act for the term of fourteen years; that her chief
support arose from the sale of her late husband's works; that,
since his decease, many persons had copied, printed, and published
several of those works, and still continued to do so; and that the
sale of those spurious copies, both at home and for exportation, had
already been a great prejudice to the petitioner, and, unless timely
prevented, would deprive her of her chief support and dependence; and
praying that provision might be made for vesting in her the property
of her said husband's works." The petition was thought reasonable;
and a clause was added to the Bill for "vesting in, and securing to,
Jane Hogarth, widow, the property in certain prints."
THE ROYAL MASQUERADE.
[Illustration: ROYAL MASQUERADE, SOMERSET HOUSE.]
This very interesting scene, which may be dated early in 1755, is
thus anticipated by Mr. Walpole, in a letter to Mr. Richard Bentley,
Dec. 24, 1754:--"The Russian ambassador is to give a masquerade for
the birth of the little great prince (the Czar, Paul I.). The King
lends him Somerset House: he wanted to borrow the palace over against
me, and sent to ask it of the cardinal-nephew (Henry Earl of Lincoln,
nephew to the Duke of Newcastle, to whose title he succeeded), who
replied, 'Not for half Russia!'"
The print abounds with real portraits of personages of the first
distinction, of whom several may be identified by the following
extract from the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. xxv. p. 89:--"_Feb.
6._--The Russian ambassador gave a most magnificent ball at
Somerset House. His Majesty came a little after eight, dressed in
a black domino, tie-wig, and gold-laced hat. Her Royal Highness
the Princess of Wales was in a blue and silver robe, and her head
greatly ornamented with jewels. The Prince of Wales was in a pink
and silver dress. Prince Edward in a pink satin waistcoat, with a
belt adorned with diamonds. Princess Augusta in a rich gold stuff.
The Duke (of Cumberland) was in a Turkish dress, with a large bunch
of diamonds in his turban. A noble lady shone in the habit of a
nymph, embroidered over with stars studded with brilliants to the
amount of £100,000. In short, the dresses of the whole assembly were
the richest that could possibly be devised upon such an occasion;
and the whole entertainment, particularly the desert, was the most
elegant that expense could furnish. Few exhibitions of this kind have
equalled it,--none excelled it. The number of persons were above a
thousand."
The original painting formed part of the fine collection of the late
Roger Palmer, Esq., on whose death it devolved, with the rest of a
very ample property, to his only sister, Elizabeth, wife of the brave
and benevolent Captain Joseph Budworth, who assumed the name and arms
of Palmer.
RICH'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY.
[Illustration: RICH'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY.]
This plate represents the removal of Rich, and his scenery, authors,
actors, etc., from Lincoln's-Inn Fields to the new house. The scene
is the area of Covent Garden, across which, leading toward the door
of the theatre, is a long procession, consisting of a cart loaded
with thunder and lightning, performers, etc.; and at the head of
them Mr. Rich (invested with the skin of the famous dog in _Perseus
and Andromeda_) riding with his mistress in a chariot driven by
harlequin, and drawn by satyrs.
Some indifferent verses, which accompanied the original publication,
allude to Walker and Hall, the original Macheath and Lockit, and
conclude thus:
"To the Piazza let us turn our eyes,
See Johnny Gay on Porter's shoulders rise,
Whilst a bright Man of Taste his works despise."
"Another author wheels his work with care,
In hopes to get a market at this fair,
For such a day he sees not every year."
By the "Man of Taste," Mr. Pope was apparently designed. He is
represented in his tie-wig, at a dark corner of the Piazza, amusing
himself (not very delicately) with the _Beggars' Opera_. The letter
P is over his head; his little sword is significantly placed, and
the peculiarity of his figure is well preserved. The reason why our
artist has assigned such an employment to him, we can only guess.
It seems, indeed, from Dr. Johnson's _Life of Gay_, that Pope did
not think the _Beggars' Opera_ would succeed. Swift, however, was
of the same opinion; and yet the former supported the piece on
the first night of exhibition, and the latter defended it in his
_Intelligencer_ against the attacks of Dr. Herring, then Preacher
to the Society of Lincoln's-Inn, and afterwards Archbishop of
Canterbury. Hogarth might be wanton in his satire, might have
founded it on an idle report, or might have sacrificed truth to the
prejudice of Sir James Thornhill, whose quarrel on another occasion
he is supposed to have taken up, when he ridiculed the translator of
_Homer_, in a view of "The Gate of Burlington House."
THE POOL OF BETHESDA, AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN.
[Illustration: THE POOL OF BETHESDA.]
[Illustration: THE GOOD SAMARITAN.]
These magnificent prints are placed among the early productions of
Hogarth, as the paintings from which they are copied were completed
in 1737; and in 1748 a small copy of the "Pool of Bethesda" was
engraved by Ravenet, as a frontispiece to Stackhouse's Family Bible.
Mr. Walpole observes, that "the burlesque turn of our artist's mind
mixed itself with his most serious compositions; and that, in the
'Pool of Bethesda,' a servant of a rich ulcerated lady beats back
a poor man (perhaps woman) who sought the same celestial remedy."
To this I may add, that the figure of the priest, in the "Good
Samaritan," is supremely comic, and rather resembles some purse-proud
burgomaster, than the character it was designed to represent.
In the "Pool of Bethesda" is introduced, as I was assured by Dr.
Ducarel, a faithful portrait of Nell Robinson, a celebrated
courtezan, at whose shrine both Hogarth and the Doctor had in early
life occasionally paid their _devoirs_.
On the subject of these two very fine prints, it will not only be
candid, but amusing and instructive, to transcribe Hogarth's own
unvarnished remarks:--
"As I could not bring myself to act like some of my brethren,
and make the painting of small conversation pieces a sort of
manufactory to be carried on by the help of background and
drapery painters, it was not sufficiently profitable to pay the
expenses my family required. I therefore turned my thoughts to
a still more novel trade, the painting and engraving modern
moral subjects, a field not broken up in any country or any age.
The reasons which induced me to adopt this mode of designing
were, that I thought both writers and painters had, in the
historical style, totally overlooked that intermediate species of
subjects, which may be placed between the sublime and grotesque.
I therefore wished to compose pictures on canvas, similar to
representations on the stage; and further hope that they will be
tried by the same test, and criticised by the same criterion.
Let it be observed, that I mean to speak only of those scenes
where the human species are actors; and these, I think, have
not often been delineated in a way of which they are worthy and
capable. In these compositions, those subjects that will both
entertain and improve the mind bid fair to be of the greatest
public utility, and must therefore be entitled to rank in the
highest class. If the execution is difficult (though that is but
a secondary merit), the author has a claim to a higher degree
of praise. If this be admitted, comedy, in painting as well as
writing, ought to be allotted the first place, as most capable
of all these perfections, though the sublime, as it is called,
has been opposed to it. Ocular demonstration will carry more
conviction to the mind of a sensible man than all he would find
in a thousand volumes; and this has been attempted in the prints
I have composed. Let the decision be left to every unprejudiced
eye; let the figures in either pictures or prints be considered
as players, dressed either for the sublime--for genteel comedy,
or farce--for high or low life. I have endeavoured to treat
my subjects as a dramatic writer; my picture is my stage, and
men and women my players, who, by means of certain actions and
gestures, are to exhibit a dumb show.
"Before I had done anything of much consequence in this walk,
I entertained some hopes of succeeding in what the puffers in
books call the great style of history-painting; so that, without
having had a stroke of this grand business before, I quitted
small portraits and familiar conversations, and, with a smile
at my own temerity, commenced history-painter; and on a great
staircase at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, painted two Scripture
stories, 'The Pool of Bethesda' and 'The Good Samaritan,' with
figures seven feet high. These I presented to the charity; and
thought they might serve as a specimen, to show that, were there
an inclination in England for encouraging historical pictures,
such a first essay might prove the painting them more easily
attainable than is generally imagined. But as religion, the
great promoter of this style in other countries, rejected it in
England, I was unwilling to sink into a portrait-manufacturer;
and, still ambitious of being singular, dropped all expectations
of advantage from that source, and returned to the pursuit of
my former dealings with the public at large. This I found was
most likely to answer my purpose, provided I could strike the
passions, and, by small sums from many, by the sale of prints
which I could engrave from my own pictures, thus secure my
property to myself."
While these pictures were in progress, it was announced that "among
the governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital was lately chosen Mr.
William Hogarth, the celebrated painter, who, we are told, designs
to paint the staircase of the said hospital, and thereby become a
benefactor to it by giving his labours gratis." And a newspaper of
July 14, 1737, says, "Yesterday the scaffolding was taken down from
before the picture of 'The Good Samaritan,' which is esteemed a very
curious piece."
Hogarth paid his friend Lambert for painting the landscape in
this picture; and to the imaginary merits of his coadjutor, the
_Analysis_, p. 26, thus bears testimony: "The sky always gradates
one way or other, and the rising or setting sun exhibits it in great
perfection; the imitating of which was Claude de Lorraine's peculiar
excellence, and it is now Mr. Lambert's."
Both pictures, which appear of an oblong square in the engravings,
in the originals are surrounded with scroll-work which cuts off the
corners of them, etc. All these ornaments, together with compartments
carved at the bottom, were the work of Mr. Richards. These the late
Mr. Alderman Boydell caused to be engraved on separate plates, and
appended to those above them, on which sufficient space had not
been left. Hogarth requested that these paintings might never be
varnished. They appear, therefore, to disadvantage, the decorations
about them having, within these few years past, been highly glazed.
"The Pool of Bethesda" has suffered much from the sun; and "The Good
Samaritan," when cleaned about the year 1780, was pressed so hard
against the straining frame, that several creases were made in the
canvas.
MARTIN FOLKES, ESQ.
[Illustration: MARTIN FOLKES ESQ^{RE}]
This elegant scholar was a mathematician and antiquary of much
celebrity in the philosophical annals of literature. In 1713, at the
early age of 24, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and
in 1741 was elected President. Mr. Folkes was also an early Member
of the Society of Antiquaries, having been elected in 1719-20; and
his communications to both societies were numerous and valuable. His
knowledge in ancient and modern coins was very extensive; and the
most important work he produced, was _The History of the English Gold
and Silver Coin, from the Conquest to his own time_.
Algernon, the famous Duke of Somerset, who had been many years
President of the Society of Antiquaries, dying February 9, 1749-50,
Mr. Folkes, who was then one of the Vice-Presidents, was immediately
chosen to succeed his Grace; and was continued President by the
Charter of Incorporation of that Society, November 2, 1751. But he
was soon disabled from presiding in person either in that or the
Royal Society, being seized, on the 26th of September the same year,
with a palsy, which deprived him of the use of his left side. On the
30th of November 1753, he resigned the Presidentship of the Royal
Society; but continued President of the Society of Antiquaries
till his death. After having languished nearly three years, a second
attack of his disorder, on the 25th of June 1754, put an end to his
life on the 28th of that month.
The original portrait is preserved in the meeting-room of the Royal
Society.
BISHOP HOADLEY.
[Illustration: BISHOP HOADLEY.]
This portrait is in grand style, though rather in the French manner.
The painting, and the plate engraved from it by Baron, were carefully
preserved in the Bishop's family.
Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, a prelate of considerable eminence, was born
November 4, 1676; educated at Catharine Hall, Cambridge; elected
Lecturer of St. Mildred, Poultry, 1701; Rector of St. Peter-le-Poor
in 1704, and of Streatham in 1710; King's Chaplain, February 16,
1715-16; Bishop of Bangor, March 18 following; translated to Hereford
in 1721, to Salisbury in 1723, and in 1734 to Winchester, which he
held nearly twenty-seven years, till on April 17, 1761, at his house
at Chelsea, in the same calm he had enjoyed amidst all the storms
that blew around him, he died, full of years and honours, beloved and
regretted by all good men, in the 85th year of his age. Few writers
of eminence have been so frequently or so illiberally traduced; yet
fewer still have had the felicity of living till a nation became
their converts, and of knowing "that sons have blushed their fathers
were their foes." His useful labours, which will ever be esteemed by
all lovers of the natural, civil, and religious rights of Englishmen,
were collected in 1773, in three folio volumes.
The Bishop had two sons: Benjamin Hoadley, M.D., F.R.S., Physician
to Frederick Prince of Wales, and to George the Second; of high rank
in his profession; and well known by many valuable writings, more
especially by his comedy of _The Suspicious Husband_. He died, in his
father's lifetime, in 1757. The other son, the Rev. Dr. John Hoadley,
Chancellor of Winchester, was also a most amiable man, and an elegant
poet. He was the editor of his father's collected works, introduced
by a well-digested biographical memoir. He died March 10, 1776; and
with him the name of Hoadley became extinct. His relict, who long
survived him, possessed several original paintings by Hogarth, which
were afterwards the property of the late Mr. Archdeacon D'Oyley.
MR. RANBY'S HOUSE AT CHISWICK.
[Illustration: M^R RANBY'S HOUSE AT CHISWICK.]
This view, etched by Hogarth in 1748 without any inscription, was
first published by his widow in 1781.
HYMEN AND CUPID.
[Illustration: HYMEN & CUPID.]
This neat plate was engraved as a ticket for the masque of _Alfred_,
performed in 1748, at Cliveden House, before the Prince and Princess
of Wales, on the Princess Augusta's birthday. It was afterwards
intended as a receipt for "Sigismunda."
FALSE PERSPECTIVE.
[Illustration: FALSE PERSPECTIVE.]
Early in 1753, Hogarth presented to his friend Mr. Joshua Kirby
this whimsical satirical design; which arose from the mistakes of
Sir Edward Walpole, who was learning to draw without being taught
perspective: an anecdote recorded by Mr. Steevens, on Sir Edward's
own authority.
To point out in a strong light the errors which would be likely to
happen from the want of acquaintance with those principles, Hogarth's
design was produced.
A traveller is represented on an eminence, lighting his pipe from
a candle presented to him by a woman from a chamber-window at
the distance of at least a mile. We are also astonished at the
representation near it, of a crow seated on the spray of a tree,
without incommoding by its weight the tender sprouts issuing from
its branches; and our astonishment increases when we recollect that
this tree, if weighed in the balance with the bird, would hardly
be found to preponderate. The tree on which the feathered animal
is so securely stationed is, however, of a much greater height and
magnitude than those which are nearer, and which gradually diminish
as they approach the foreground. The sheep, taking example from the
trees, are very large at a distance, but regularly become minute by
their proximity, the nearest being almost invisible. Both ends of the
church, the top, and the whole extent of one side of it, are clearly
seen. To take the view which Hogarth has represented, we must, at
the same time, be above, at each end, and in front of that parochial
erection; but he has not been so complaisant as to favour us with the
sight of the road on the bridge, which the vessel seems determined to
sail over, while the waggon and horses appear floating on the other
side. A fellow in a boat, nearly under the bridge, is attempting to
shoot a swan on the other side of it; though, as he is situated,
he cannot possibly have a view of the object whose destruction he
pretends to be aiming at. The waggon and horses, which are supposed
to be on the bridge, are more distant than the tree which grows on
the further side.
Many other absurdities are visible in this curious perspective view,
which are too obvious to escape observation: such as the signpost
extending to a house at the distance of half a mile, and
the remote row of trees concealing part of the nearer sign of the
half-moon; the angler's line interfering with another belonging to
his patient brother, though at a considerable distance from each
other; and the tops and bottoms of the barrels being equally visible.
The favour of this communication was gratefully acknowledged by
Kirby, who in 1754 prefixed it to Dr. Brook Taylor's _Method of
Perspective made easy both in Theory and Practice_, with a dedication
to Hogarth, who subsequently furnished him with a serious design for
the plate which is described at page 132.
THE FARMER'S RETURN.
[Illustration: THE FARMER'S RETURN.]
The little drama by Mr. Garrick, in which this exquisite frontispiece
first appeared, was thus prefaced: "The following interlude was
prepared for the stage, merely with a view of assisting Mrs.
Pritchard at her benefit; and the desire of serving so good an
actress is a better excuse for its defects than the few days in
which it was written and represented. Notwithstanding the favourable
reception it has met with, the author would not have printed it, had
not his friend Mr. Hogarth flattered him most agreeably, by thinking
the farmer and his family not unworthy of a sketch of his pencil.
To him, therefore, this trifle, which he has so much honoured, is
inscribed, as a faint testimony of the sincere esteem which the
writer bears him, both as a man and an artist."
The original drawing was given to Mr. Garrick, and was in the
possession of his widow during her life.
The receipt for "The March to Finchley," which accompanies this
plate, has been already described.
[Illustration: INHABITANTS OF THE MOON.]
[Illustration:
_Rec'd._ _of_ _7^s 6^d being the whole_
_Payment for a Print Representing a March to Finchly in the Year 1746
which I promise to deliver when finished on sight hereof._
_N.B. Each Print will be half a Guinea after the Subscription is
over._]
[Illustration: A. _absolute Gravity._ B. Conatus _against absolute
Gravity._ C. _partial Gravity._ D. _comparative Gravity._ E.
_horizontal, or good sense._ F. _Wit._ G. _comparative Levity, or
Coxcomb._ H. _partial Levity, or pert Fool._ I. _absolute Levity, or
stark Fool._]
TRISTRAM SHANDY.
[Illustration: FRONTISPIECES TO TRISTRAM SHANDY.]
For this popular work of his friend Lawrence Sterne, Hogarth
furnished two frontispieces; one in 1759, for the second volume; the
other in 1761, for the fourth.
The first of these is taken from the chapter in which Corporal Trim
is represented reading a sermon to Tristram's father, Uncle Toby, and
Dr. Slop, the latter of whom is fallen asleep, and who was intended
for Dr. John Burton, a physician of great eminence at York, well
known as an able and industrious antiquary, and also as a sturdy
Jacobite.
The second frontispiece represents the christening, so humorously
described in the fourteenth chapter of the fourth volume of _Tristram
Shandy_.
FOUR HEADS FROM THE CARTOONS.
[Illustration: HEADS FROM RAFFAELLE'S CARTOONS.]
These heads were copied from the cartoons at Hampton Court; and
Mr. Walpole, speaking of Sir James Thornhill's attention to these
celebrated pictures, has the following remark: "He made copious
studies of the heads, hands, and feet, and intended to publish an
exact account of the whole for the use of students; but his work
never appeared."
As this plate was found among others engraved by Hogarth, it might
probably have been one of his early performances. His widow, in 1781,
directed a few impressions to be taken from it; which were sold in
Leicester Square.
THE SHRIMP-GIRL.
[Illustration: THE SHRIMP GIRL.]
In this portrait from the life, first published in 1782, from the
original sketch in oil, are united the talents of Hogarth and
Bartolozzi; but the plate, which is executed in the dotted manner
then so much in fashion, should have been etched, or engraved, like
those excellent performances by Bartolozzi after the drawings of
Guercino; as spirit, rather than delicacy, is the characteristic of
our artist's shrimp-girl.
LORD HOLLAND.
[Illustration: THE RIGHT HON. HENRY FOX. LORD HOLLAND.]
This is a serious portrait, from a drawing by Hogarth in 1757, of
that celebrated nobleman, whom he afterwards introduced in the second
plate of "The Times," as the powerful antagonist of Lord Bute.
The public life of this great statesman is too well known to need
recital here. Let it suffice to say, that in 1756 he resigned the
office of Secretary at War to Mr. Pitt; and in the following year
was appointed Paymaster of the Forces, which he retained until the
commencement of the reign of King George III. May 6, 1762, his lady
was created Baroness Holland; and April 16, 1763, he himself was
advanced to a peerage, by the title of Baron Holland of Foxley,
Wilts. In the latter part of his life he amused himself by building,
at a vast expense, a fantastic villa at Kingsgate, and died July 1,
1774, in his 69th year.
EARL OF CHARLEMONT.
[Illustration: THE RIGHT HON. JAMES CAULFIELD. EARL OF CHARLEMOUNT.]
James Caulfield, son of James Viscount Charlemont, was born August
18, 1728; succeeded to his hereditary honours, April 21, 1734; and in
December 1782, was raised to an earldom. He was F.R.S., F.S.A., and
LL.D.; and died August 4, 1799, aged 70.
THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.
[Illustration: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.]
This fine print exhibits an inside view of the House of Commons, from
an original painting taken in 1726 or 1727, and now in the possession
of the Earl of Onslow.
The prominent portraits are those of the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow,
the then Speaker; Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister; Sidney
Godolphin, Esq., Father of the House; Colonel Onslow; Sir James
Thornhill; Sir Joseph Jekyll; Edward Stables, Esq., Clerk of the
House; Mr. Askew, Clerk-Assistant, and several others in the
background.
DEBATES ON PALMISTRY.
[Illustration: DEBATES ON PALMISTRY.]
The figures employed in the study of palmistry seem to have been
designed for physicians and surgeons of an hospital, who are debating
on the most commodious method of receiving a fee, inattentive to
the complaints of a lame female who solicits assistance. A spectre,
resembling the royal Dane, comes out behind, perhaps to intimate
that physic and poison will occasionally produce similar effects. A
glass-case containing skeletons is open; a crocodile hangs overhead;
and an owl, emblematic of this sapient consistory, is perched on a
high stand.
Mr. Steevens conjectured that this might have been a repented effort
of hasty spleen against the officers of St. Bartholomew's, who
might not have treated some recommendation of a patient from our
artist with all the respect and attention to which he thought it was
entitled: but this is mere supposition.
THE STAYMAKER.
[Illustration: THE STAY MAKER.]
The humour in this print is not very striking. The male staymaker
seems to be taking professional liberties with a female in the
very room where her husband sits, who is playing with one of his
children presented to him by a nurse, perhaps with a view to
call off his attention from what is going forward. The hag shows
her pretended love for the infant by the mode in which she is
kissing him. A maidservant holds a looking-glass for the lady, and
peeps significantly at the operator from behind it. A boy with a
cockade on, and a little sword by his side, appears to observe the
familiarities already mentioned, and is strutting up fiercely towards
the staymaker, while a girl is spilling some liquor in his hat.
CHARITY IN THE CELLAR.
[Illustration: CHARITY IN THE CELLAR.]
The original picture from which this print was engraved, was
painted for the late Lord Boyne. It represents a convivial
party assembled in a cellar over a hogshead of claret, who, it is
said, resolved not to separate till they had drunk all the wine
it contained. Whether such a circumstance really gave rise to the
picture or not, it is unnecessary to inquire. It is too well known
that the habit of drinking to excess, among all classes of society,
existed at the time of Hogarth to such a degree as to draw the
particular attention of this distinguished painter to it; and it is
not perhaps too much to say, that the most distinguished preachers,
or most able moral writers, have not done more to drive this odious
and degrading vice from society than has been effected by the
valuable pencil of Hogarth. The individuals here represented were
members of a society well known by the name of the "Hell-fire Club."
In the centre is the portrait of Sir Philip Hoby, seated on the cask.
Behind him, with his hand held up, is that of Mr. De Grey, and below
him is the portrait of Lord J. Cavendish, who has drawn a spigot
from the cask to let the wine flow into a bowl. Opposite to him Lord
Sandwich is represented kneeling down to draw in the intoxicating
draught; and behind him (extended on a form) is also Lord Galway.
The grouping of the four centre figures is an ingenious imitation
of a statue of Charity which is seen in the cellar. The position of
the bottles brings the comparison still nearer, and is one of those
little incidents for which Hogarth was so particularly distinguished
from all other painters, in omitting nothing that might carry out his
intention and make himself understood.
The devotedness of this group to the object for which they are
assembled is extremely well portrayed. The positions of the figures
are easy, and the principle of observing the pyramidal form (so often
insisted upon as necessary to beauty in the grouping of figures)
is here strikingly exemplified. It is impossible to show a more
unconquerable love for the intoxicating draught than is expressed in
the portrait of Lord Galway. Unable to stand, he has placed himself
on his back in such a manner that the liquor from the cask above him
is flowing into his mouth; and he has perhaps been represented by
Hogarth as thus persevering in the fatal habit, in order to show the
excess to which it was then carried, and is a forcible point in the
painter's composition.
The picture is now in the possession of the present Lord Boyne, and
the print from it, which we have added to our present edition, is not
to be found in any other of the collected works of Hogarth.
SIX TICKETS.
[Illustration: SIX TICKETS.]
The several designs collected in this plate require no particular
description. They are given as specimens of the facility with
which Hogarth descended to minor subjects, at the same time
embellishing them with strokes of his peculiar vein of pleasantry
and humour; and each of them sufficiently evinces the purpose it was
intended to recommend.
1. For the Mock Doctor. 2. For Pasquin. 3. For the Beggars' Opera. 4.
For Joe Miller. 5. Thomas Figg, the noted prize-fighter. 6. The Ram
Inn at Cirencester.
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
NOTES.
The following hints are offered principally with a view to assist in
identifying such characters in Hogarth's prints as are unnoticed,
or but slightly described, in the preceding volumes. A key to the
whole (for many of the figures not yet recognised were undoubtedly
meant by the artist as portraits) would, to the other merits of these
inimitable compositions, add the important one of making them an
assemblage of the similitudes of the leading remarkables of his day.
SOUTHWARK FAIR.
VOL. I. P. 162.
Although Hogarth, from a fear of creating himself enemies, disclaimed
individual portrait in his compositions, particularly of characters
in the higher walks of life, he was evidently not so scrupulous
in indulging his satire when representing more familiar scenes;
and accordingly his "Harlot's Progress," "Four Times of the Day,"
"Industry and Idleness," "March to Finchley," etc., are found to be
less peopled with ideal personages than the "Marriage à la Mode,"
and some others. "Southwark Fair" was an annual assemblage of
remarkables, whose follies and peculiarities he could hold up to the
derision of the public without the danger of retaliation; and he has
availed himself of the opportunity by bringing together a number of
persons then well known on the town, and placing them in the most
ludicrous situations.
This Fair, the humours of which an ingenious author truly observes,
"will never be forgotten while Hogarth's inimitable print of it
exists," was anciently called "Our Lady Fair," and lasted fourteen
days. Like most others in the kingdom, it was originally established
for the purposes of trade; but having become in process of time a
mere scene of low riot and debauchery, its duration was shortened to
three days; and it was at length totally abolished as a nuisance to
the neighbourhood, and an encouragement to vice and dissipation. It
was held at the top of Blackman Street, on the open space opposite
the walls of the King's Bench prison, and began yearly a fortnight
after Bartholomew Tide.
The following characters in this print have been identified, in
addition to others before noticed: Middle group.--The person whom
the bailiffs are arresting, and who is supposed to have been playing
(not Alexander the Great, but the part of Paris) in the _Siege of
Troy_ (announced for representation on one of the neighbouring
show-cloths), was intended for Walker, afterwards the famous Macheath
in the _Beggars' Opera_, whose portrait it exactly resembles. It is
introduced in this place with strict propriety, as we learn that
Walker kept a great theatrical booth in Southwark Fair, as did
Penkethman. "He also acted," says one of his biographers, "in the
same way at Bartholomew Fair, where Booth saw him playing the part
of Paris in the _Siege of Troy_."[121] The painter probably placed
him in the ridiculous situation we see him, on account of his known
extravagancy and consequent embarrassments, which often procured him
a visit from the bailiffs.
Figg, the prize-fighter, who in another part of the print is making
his triumphal entry on a blind horse, and brandishing his sword in
defiance, was a native of Thame in Oxfordshire, and attained so high
a celebrity as a master of the "noble science of defence," that we
find him praised in the _Tatler_, _Guardian_, _Craftsman_, and almost
all the periodical works of the time. The mezzotinto portrait of
him by Faber represents him exactly as here--with a bald head and
open collar. His own school was in Oxford Road, but he was probably
accustomed to exhibit his skill at fairs, or he may be introduced
here merely as a well-known character. The Bear Garden, a famous
place for prize-fighting, anciently stood in this neighbourhood, and
had then been but recently demolished. The manner of the combatants
at this place, parading the streets previous to their encounters,
as described by a French traveller in 1672, and the way in which
Figg is represented, strictly agree. "Commonly," says he, "when any
fencing-masters belonging to the Bear Garden are desirous of showing
their courage and their great skill, they issue mutual challenges;
and before they engage, parade the town on horseback, with drums and
trumpets sounding, to inform the public there is a challenge between
two brave masters of the science of defence, and that the battle will
be fought on such a day." Figg's public challenges were the very acme
of bombast. This extraordinary character died in the year 1734.
Miller, the tall man, whose effigies are exhibited on a show-cloth,
was a native of Saxony, and probably came into England in the reign
of George I. This gigantic personage was eight feet high, the
stature, within a few inches, of the late O'Brien. He died in 1734,
aged 60. Boitard engraved a portrait of him the year before his death.
The two jugglers in senatorial wigs, who are displaying their magic
wonders with cups and balls, etc., seem to have been intended
likewise for two real characters (Fawkes and Neve), the Breslaw and
Katterfelto of their day. Fawkes is most certainly introduced in
the print of "Burlington Gate," where, on a board, the "Long Room"
is announced, and "Fawkes' dexterity of hand." Portraits of these
worthies still exist, and bear a sufficient resemblance to identify
them with their representatives in the plate. Neve in a wood print
prefixed to his "_Merry Companion_, teaching tricks in legerdemain;"
and Fawkes in a large sheet print by Sutton Nichols, where he stands
in the midst of his performances. Fawkes was no indifferent wit. When
Breslaw, a more modern performer of the same kind, was at Canterbury,
the former requested permission to display his cunning a little
longer, promising Mr. Mayor that if he was indulged with permission,
he would give such a night (naming a particular one) for the benefit
of the poor. The benevolent magistrate acceded to the proposition,
and he had a crowded house. Hearing nothing about the money collected
on the specified evening, the Mayor waited on the man of trick,
and in a delicate way expressed his surprise. "Mr. Mayor, I have
distributed the money myself." Still more surprised, "Pray, Sir, to
whom?" "To my own company; none can be poorer." "This is a trick."
"We live, Sir, by tricks."
MARRIAGE A LA MODE.
VOL. II. P. 28.
PLATE III.--The Procuress at the Quack's in this print is said to be
designed for the once celebrated Betty Careless, and the remark is
countenanced by the initials "B. C." on her bosom. This woman, by
a very natural transition, from being one of the most fashionable
of the Cyprian corps, became lady abbess of a brothel; and, after
frequent arrests and imprisonments, was buried from the poorhouse of
St. Paul's, Covent Garden, April 22, 1752. Fielding, in his _Amelia_,
says: "It is impossible to conceive a greater appearance of modesty,
innocence, and simplicity, than what nature had displayed in the
countenance of that girl,"--meaning her whom he in another place
calls "the inimitable Betsy Careless."
_Ib._ Plate IV.--A card on the floor in this print is inscribed:
"Count Basset desire to no how Lade Squander sleep last nite?"
A fashionable foreign adventurer, of the name of Count Basset, occurs
as one of the characters in the _Provoked Husband, or a Journey to
London_, which might have suggested the hint for this name. But,
query, whether a real person? or the artist might have meant to
satirize the game of Basset.
_N.B._--The set of prints of "Marriage à la Mode" is said to have
furnished the idea for the comedy of the _Clandestine Marriage_.
HARLOT'S PROGRESS.
VOL. I. Pp. 102-114.
PLATE II.--The commentators on Hogarth do not seem to have assigned
a satisfactory reason for the particular subjects of the two
paintings which ornament the Harlot's apartment in this plate, viz.
"David dancing before the Ark," and "Jonah sitting under a Gourd."
One supposes them merely intended to convey a ridicule on the old
masters, or placed here to satirize the impropriety of adorning rooms
with inappropriate subjects. Another, as stories selected at random,
but having a reference to the nation of the Harlot's Jew keeper. But
as Hogarth's incidents have all a meaning, a better reason must be
sought for. They undoubtedly conceal a moral applicable to the two
principal figures in the print. David's known breach of chastity in
the affair of Uriah's wife, and "uncovering himself" when dancing
before the ark, "in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one
of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself," which his wife
charges him with on that occasion, evidently typify the backsliding
Jew; while Jonah sitting under the shelter of his gourd, which sprang
up in the night, and which the worm destroyed in the morning, as
ingeniously points out the girl's upstart grandeur, and the frail
nature of her protection, which even now a worm (her infidelity to
her keeper) is rapidly undermining.
Plate V.--Dr. Misaubin, or Mizenbank as Trusler calls him (the
lean doctor in this print), was a notorious foreign quack of the
day, whose ignorant consequence Fielding thus laughably exposes in
one of his introductory chapters in _Tom Jones_:--"The learned Dr.
Misaubin used to say, that the proper direction to him was, 'To Dr.
Misaubin, in the world,' intimating that there were few people in it
to whom his great reputation was not known. And, perhaps, upon a nice
examination into the matter, we shall find that this circumstance
bears no inconsiderable part among the many blessings of human
grandeur."
Watteau painted the portrait of this Esculapius, from which a print
was engraved by Pond. The likeness strikingly resembles Hogarth's
representation, and is inscribed "Prenez des pillules." The
similitude of his opponent Dr. Rock, though not authenticated in
the same manner, is, from the testimony of those who recollect him,
equally correct.
This "great man" is said to have been originally a porter; for which
his strong, squat figure excellently adapted him. An anecdote, in
some degree confirmed, is told of him, that passing one day by the
end of Fleet Market, with his gold-laced hat and cane, a brother
porter, who knew his origin, and was resting his load near the spot,
said, "Dr. Rock, you once carried a knot as well as myself." "Yes;
and had I been as great a dunce as you," replied the pill merchant,
"I should have carried a knot still."
RAKE'S PROGRESS.
VOL. I. Pp. 132-154.
PLATE III.--_Tavern Scene._--In the second state of this plate,
Pontac's head is introduced in the place of a mutilated Cæsar. Pontac
was a celebrated purveyor at this time. In the "Hind and Panther"
transversed, Pontac's eating-house is mentioned with epicurean
honours:
"When at Pontac's he may regale himself."
It was chiefly frequented as a chop-house, but every other luxury
might be had there.
Plate VIII.--The maniac chained to the floor of his cell in this
print is noticed by Mr. Ireland as being a copy from one of Cibber's
figures over the gate of Bedlam. He might have added, that the person
of the Rake himself, whose expression of madness Mr. Mortimer so
much admired, is, as to features, a copy of the companion figure
over the same gate. This plagiarism, if it may be so called, was to
the credit of Hogarth's taste; for with all his own amazing powers
of expression, he could scarcely have hoped to equal such inimitable
representations. Time, and an injudicious attempt, some years since,
at restoration, have wofully injured these masterpieces of Cibber's
chisel.
It may be observed of this print (the inside of Bedlam), in addition
to what has been before said, that the scene portrayed is not only
a most faithful representation of those doleful regions, but that
most of the persons are certainly intended as real portraits. One
at least may, with every appearance of probability, be added to the
list of names of those already identified--the man sitting by the
figure inscribed "Charming Betty Careless," who is supposed to have
gone mad for love. Such a person was actually confined there for that
malady some years previous, whose history so exactly corresponds with
Hogarth's representation, and whom he must have remembered, that it
can scarcely be doubted but he had him in his eye. The portrait of
the person alluded to is thus described in a modern biographical
work: "William Ellis. Printed and sold by Sutton Nichols, in
Aldersgate Street, Æt. 45, 1709." Sitting on the rails of Moorfields.
Printed with his life and character written by himself, etc. This
poor maniac lost his reason through love for his Betty, who seems to
have been a real character. Ellis is represented with a chaplet of
laurel on his right, and a Cupid drawing his bow on the left. Under
the chaplet is inscribed--
"Tell her I burn with noble vestal fire,
Tell her she's all I wish or can desire."
And under the Cupid, amongst others, these lines:
"My years of minority I spent at school;
But love--that sweet passion--my reason would rule;
And yielding obedience to its potent sway,
The charming dear Betty my heart stole away.
Deny'd her enjoyment, at last I grew mad,
And nothing but Betty, dear Betty, I cry'd:
Such charms has that phœnix, she shall be my bride.
But Bedlam became my sad portion and lot,
By loving a fair one that knew of it not."
The eight paintings of "The Rake's Progress," which had been
originally purchased of Hogarth by Francis Beckford, Esq., for £88,
4s., were, at the sale of William Beckford, Esq. of Fonthill, in
18--, sold by the elder Mr. Christie for the sum of 850 guineas. The
buyer was Colonel Fullarton, M.P.
IDLE AND INDUSTRIOUS APPRENTICE.
VOL. I. P. 284.
PLATE VIII.--Speaking of the disposition of a crowd in a picture,
Mr. Gilpin says:--"I do not recollect having seen a crowd better
managed than Hogarth has managed one in the last print of his 'Idle
'Prentice.' In combining the multifarious company which attends the
spectacle of an execution, he hath exemplified all the observations I
have made. I have not the print before me, but I have often admired
it in this light; nor do I recollect observing anything offensive
in it, which is rare in the management of such a multitude of
figures."--_Observation on the Wye_, p. 123.
THE TIMES.
VOL. II. P. 180.
The wild Indian painted on a show-cloth, with the inscription
underneath, "Alive from America," is meant as a satire on Alderman
Beckford, for whose recent uncourtly speech to Majesty (see the
_Guildhall Statue_) the painter has represented him as a savage.
FOUR TIMES OF THE DAY.
VOL. I. Pp. 222-226.
PLATE II.--_Noon._--The boy who has had the misfortune to break
the baked pudding, a commentator on Hogarth asserts was the late
Mr. Henderson the player, who often sportively assured his friends
that he stood to Hogarth for the sketch when he was with Fournier
the drawing-master. But this is impossible, as the prints in the
receipt are promised to be delivered by Lady-day 1738, several years
before Henderson was born. A correspondent has assured us that he
has repeatedly heard his grandfather, an individual unknown to the
public, refer to that figure in the print as a portrait of himself,
asserting that he had just such an accident when a boy on the very
spot, and was at that period remarkable for such a head of hair
(which was of a very light colour) as is shown in the print.
_But query._--With more certainty we may venture to suggest, that the
idea of the woman throwing the shoulder of mutton out of the window
is borrowed from the old song:
"Now John he was no great eater, and Joan she was no great glutton,
So the better to pamper their stomachs, they bought them a
shoulder of mutton:
But Joan in an angry mood took the shoulder of mutton in hand,
And out of the window she threw it,--poor John, he was at a stand,"
etc.
Plate III.--_Evening._--The scene of this picture is laid at
Islington, near Sadlers Wells, which was then a famous place for
tea-drinking, and the antitype for low dissipation of the late
"Dog and Duck." The view represents it correctly previous to its
being rebuilt in its present form, and exactly similar to a small
copperplate delineation of it over an old song, called "A Song
in praise of Sadlers Wells," in which its various amusements are
described. The adjoining alehouse window, in which we behold a group
enveloped in their own smoke, is the "Sir Hugh Middleton's Head,"
a sign still remaining. A celebrated knot of drinkers and smokers
actually met at this place about the period alluded to, at the head
of which was old Rosamond, the proprietor of the Wells; and it is not
improbable but that Hogarth might have known and meant to satirize
this fraternity. The portraits of these gentlemen are still preserved
in a large painting at the very same public-house, under the name of
the "Sadlers Wells Club."
ENRAGED MUSICIAN.
VOL. I. P. 206.
Cervetto, well known by the name of "Nosee," has been generally
supposed to be intended by the character of the musician; but
there are others who apply it to Dr. Arne; for though not a strict
likeness of that great composer, the figure and face bear so near a
resemblance (and he was extremely remarkable) as fully to authorize
the application. The known irritability of the Doctor in musical
business might not have been the only cause of Hogarth's placing him
in this ludicrous situation; his habits of intrigue, and singularly
plain person, made him so fair an object for caricature, that one of
his portraits, printed with a song of his composing, has ironically
written under it, "Beauty and Virtue." This song, with the portrait,
was eagerly purchased up, and is now very scarce. Some years since
Mr. Colman got up a little interlude at the Haymarket Theatre from
the idea of this print, called "Ut Pictura Poesis, or the Enraged
Musician," when the character of the musician was purposely given to
a performer who was thought in figure and face to resemble Dr. Arne.
SIGISMUNDA.
VOL. I. P. 75.
This celebrated picture, which, at the time of first publishing the
preceding volumes, was in the possession of Messrs. Boydell & Co.,
but has since been in other hands, was advertised to be sold by
auction, with other effects, by Mr. Jacques, May 12, 1812, on the
premises, Great James Street, Bedford Row, and was to be seen by
applying for tickets for that purpose to the auctioneer.
THE BEGGARS' OPERA.
VOL. II. P. 292.
In addition to the value of this print as a collection of portraits,
it may be observed that it contains the only known representation of
the inside of the Lincoln's-Inn Fields Theatre. This playhouse was
opened under the management of Betterton, with the comedy of _Love
for Love_, which had a very considerable run. The _Beggars' Opera_,
however, was of still superior attraction, and it carried all before
it. After continuing open with various success for several seasons,
the Lincoln's-Inn Fields playhouse finally closed, on the removal of
the company to the new theatre in Covent Garden, and the building
(the exterior of which is still entire) is now occupied as Spode's
pottery warehouse.
SLEEPY CONGREGATION.
VOL. I. P. 192.
The clergyman preaching is supposed to represent Dr. Desaguliers. But
why Hogarth has assigned him this post of honour, does not appear.
This gentleman was the son of a French Protestant clergyman; was
educated at Cambridge, and held the donative of Whitchurch, in
Middlesex. He was the first lecturer on experimental philosophy in
the capital, and published his lectures in two vols. 4to. He died
at his lodgings at the Bedford Coffeehouse, Covent Garden, Feb. 29,
1744, and was buried, March 26, at the Savoy. He is spoken of as a
man of considerable talents, but possibly might have had a peculiarly
inanimate mode of delivering his sermons, which occasioned Hogarth's
satire. The original painting from which this print was engraved
was lately in the possession of the late John Follett, Esq., of the
Temple, London. It differs in some little particulars from the print.
[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]
CHRONOLOGICAL LIST
OF
HOGARTH'S WORKS,
WITH THE VARIATIONS, ETC.
1720.
1. W. Hogarth, engraver, with two figures and two Cupids, "April y^e
20. 1720." I have seen a print on which was written, in Hogarth's
hand, "Near the Black Bull, Long Lane." Of this card there is a
modern copy.
1721.
1. An Emblematic Print on the South Sea; W. Hogarth, _inv. et
sc._ Sold by Mrs. Chilcot in Westminster Hall, and B. Caldwell,
printseller, in Newgate Street. _Second state_--Printed for Bowles.
_Third state_--Without any publisher's name. Some wretched stanzas
are engraved beneath the print.
2. The Lottery; W. Hogarth, _inv. et sculp._ Sold by Chilcot and
Caldwell, price 1s. _Second state_--Printed for Chilcot. _Third
state_--For Sympson. And in a _fourth_--For Bowles--"price 1s." is
erased. An explanation with references is engraved beneath.
The allegory of both these prints is obscure, but the figures are in
the manner of Callot, and in a spirited and masterly style.
1723.
Eighteen plates to Aubry de la Mottraye's _Travels_. Hogarth's name
on fourteen of them. As these prints have such references as are
hardly intelligible, and as Mr. Nichols' numbers and mine do not
exactly agree, I have given a slight hint of the subject of each.
5. Vas mirabile ex integro Smaragdo, Genoæ, etc.
Tom. i. No. 9.--Tiara Patriarchalis Græca.
Tom. i. No. 10.--A Lady and Black in a Bath. No name legible.
Tom. i. No. 11.--Dance of Elegant Female Figures. _Vide_ p. 125.
No. 15.--A Procession.
Tom. i. No. 17.--A Group of Figures in Turbans.
Tom. i. No. 18.--A Scene in the Seraglio.
Tom. ii. No. 3.--Park of the Artillery.
Tom. ii. No. 5.--"Bender."--Portrait of Charles XII.
Tom. ii. No. 8.--Head of Charles XII., etc.
Tom. ii. No. 9, Plate I.--Fodina Argentea Sahlensis.
Tom. ii. No. 9, Plate I.--Ditto.
Tom. ii. No. 11.--Fodina Terrea Danmorensis.
Tom. ii. No. 14.--A Lapland Hut, with Reindeer, etc.
To this catalogue, I think we may add No. 13, Tom. i., and Tom. i.
No. 16, as well as the figures at the comers of Tom. ii. No. 26 A,
and those in Tom. ii. C, of which there is a modern copy under the
name of The Five Muscovites.
1724.
1. Seven small prints to the new _Metamorphosis of Lucius Apuleius of
Medaura_; printed for Sam. Briscoe, 12mo, 2 vols.; one of the plates
without Hogarth's name. The hints for these figures are taken from
the prints in a translation, 2 vols. octavo, printed for the same
bookseller in 1708. A most contemptible modern imposition sometimes
appears under the title of _An Eighth Apuleius_.
2. Masquerades and Operas--Burlington Gate; W. Hogarth, _inv. et
sculp._ _Vide_ p. 22. In the early impressions, the name of Pasquin,
No. 11, is inserted as a label on a book in a wheel-barrow, where
we have now Ben Jonson. Eight lines engraved on a separate piece of
copper are sometimes found under the first impression: they begin--
"Could now dumb Faustus, to reform the age," etc.
Beneath them is, "price 1s." To the second impression--
"O how refined, how elegant we're grown!" etc.
The print is sometimes found without any lines. In this Hogarth's
name is inserted within the frame of the plate. To the copy there are
also eight lines, beginning--
"Long has the stage productive been," etc.
1725.
1. Five Small Prints for the translation of _Cassandra_, in 5 vols.
duodecimo; W. Hogarth, _inv. et sculp._
2. Fifteen Headpieces for the _Roman Military Punishments_, by John
Beaver, Esq., engraved in the style of Callot.
The Plate to chap. xvii., "Pay stopped wholly or in part," etc.,
differs from that sold with the set. At the bottom of the former,
in the book we read, "W. Hogarth, _invent. sculpt._;" the latter
has, "W. Hogarth, _invent. et fec._" The former has a range of tents
behind the pay-table. These are omitted in the latter, which likewise
exhibits an additional soldier, attendant on measuring out the corn,
etc.
A little figure of a Roman General in the title-page may possibly be
by Hogarth, though his name is not to it.
3. A Copy from Kent's Altar-Piece, _vide_ p. 23. This was usually
printed on blue paper. In the original the word "_wings_" is
terminated with a long _ſ_. In a modern copy this error is corrected.
4. A Scene in Handel's opera of _Ptolomeo_. _Vide_ p. 184. There is a
copy of the same size.
5. Booth, Wilkes, and Cibber, contriving a Pantomime.
1726.
1. Frontispiece to _Terræ-filius_. _Vide_ p. 193.
2. Twenty-six Figures on two large sheets; engraved for a _Compendium
of Military Discipline_, by J. Blackwell. No engraver's name.
3. Twelve Prints for _Hudibras_--the large set. In Plate II (the
earliest impressions) the words, "Down with the Rumps," are not
inserted on the scroll. "Printed and sold by P. Overton, near St.
Dunstan's Church, in Fleet Street, and J. Cooper, in James Street,
Covent Garden."
Now printed for Sayer, Fleet Street.
A Print representing Hudibras and Sidrophel, and taken off in
colours, was in 1782 engraved by T. Gaugain.
3. Seventeen Small Prints for _Hudibras_, with Butler's head.
The portrait is evidently copied from White's mezzotinto of John
Baptist Monnoyer. The same designs on a large scale, with some
slight variations, were engraved by J. Mynde for Grey's edition of
_Hudibras_, published in 1724. Hogarth has evidently taken the hints
for his figures, grouping, etc., from a small edition of this poem
published in 1710.
Copies are inserted in Townley's translation of _Hudibras_ into
French, published in 1757.
Many of them were copied by Ross, with violent alterations, for Dr.
Nashe's splendid edition of _Hudibras_, published in 1795.
4. Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godliman in Consultation. A
burlesque on the Believers in Mrs. Tofts, the rabbit-breeder.
1727.
1. Music introduced to Apollo by Minerva; Hogarth, _fecit_.
Frontispiece to some book of music, or ticket for a concert.
2. Large Masquerade Ticket. _Vide_ Frontispiece and p. 230. In the
earliest impressions, the word "Provocatives" has instead of V the
open vowel U. It was afterwards amended, but the mark remains.
3. Frontispiece to _Leveridge's Songs_; no engraver's name. Mr.
Molteno informs me he has seen an impression of this, with the sky
partly erased, and a player's ticket engraved in the place. The
title-page to this work is, I believe, also by Hogarth.
1728.
1. Head of Hesiod, from the bust at Wilton; for Cook's translation.
Rich's Glory, or his Triumphant Entry into Covent Garden. W. H. E^t
SULP. Contemptible!
Of this there is a modern copy.
3. The Beggars' Opera. The title over the print in letters
disproportionably large.
4. The same; the lines under it engraved in a different manner. "Sold
at the print shop in the Strand," etc.
5. A copy of the same, under the title of "The Opera House, or the
Italian Eunuchs' Glory," etc.
1729.
1. Henry Eighth and Anne Bullen; with lines by Allan Ramsay,
beginning--
"Here struts old pious Harry, once the Great."
2. The same plate without any verses.
There is a coarse copy, I think engraved on pewter.
The original picture was painted for the portico at Vauxhall.
3. Frontispiece to Miller's _Comedy of the Humours of Oxford_;
engraved by Vandergucht.
1730.
1. Two Prints for _Perseus and Andromeda_.
2. Gulliver presented to the Queen of Babilary; engraved by
Vandergucht. Frontispiece to Lockman's translation of _John
Gulliver's Travels_. A wretched design.
1731.
1. Frontispiece to Molière's _L'Avare_.
2. To _Le Cocu Imaginaire_; prefixed to Molière's Plays in French and
English.
3. Frontispiece to Fielding's _Tom Thumb_; engraved by Vandergucht.
Grotesque, and good.
4. Frontispiece to Mitchell's _Opera of the Highland Fair_; engraved
by Vandergucht.
1732.
1. Sarah Malcolm, executed March 7th, 1732, etc.; W. Hogarth (_ad
vivum_), _pinxit et sculpsit_.
2. An engraved copy of ditto.
3. Ditto mezzotinto.
4. Part graven and part mezzotinto.
5. Another copy, with the addition of a clergyman holding a ring.
6. A wooden cut in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for March 1733.
7. A small copy from a small whole length, in the possession of
Josiah Boydell, Esq.
The first, Hogarth _sculpsit_, is very scarce.
8. The Man of Taste. Pope with a tie-wig on.
9. The same in a smaller size; Pope in a cap. Prefixed to a pamphlet
entitled "_A Miscellany of Taste_, by Mr. Pope, etc." _Vide_ p. 201.
10. The same, in a still smaller size, coarsely engraved.
1733.
1. The Laughing Audience. Subscription-ticket to the Rake's Progress,
and Southwark Fair, which were originally delivered to subscribers at
a guinea and a half.
The receipt was afterwards cut off. Of this print there is a coarse
copy.
2. Southwark Fair. The show-cloth, representing the Stage Mutiny, is
copied from an etching by John Laguerre. The paint-pot and brushes,
which Hogarth has added to the figure with a cudgel in his hand, has
been said to allude to John Ellis the painter; is it not quite as
probable that it alludes to Jack Laguerre?
3. Judith and Holofernes. Engraved by Vandergucht. Frontispiece to
the Oratorio of Judith, by William Huggins, Esq.
4. Boys Peeping at Nature. Subscription-ticket to the Harlot's
Progress. The receipt was afterwards erased, and the following
receipt, very neatly engraved, supplied its place:
"Received ----, 1737, half a guinea, being the first payment for
five large prints--one representing a Strolling Company of Actresses
dressing themselves in a barn; and the other four--Morning, Noon,
Evening, and Night; which I promise to deliver on Lady-day next, on
receiving half a guinea more."
"_N.B._--They will be twenty-five shillings after the subscription is
over."
A modern copy of this receipt in aquatinta was published in 1781.
2. Another print on the same subject, with considerable variations,
designed as a receipt for Moses brought to Pharaoh's Daughter, and
St. Paul before Felix, for which he afterwards substituted the
burlesque Paul.
In one of Hogarth's MSS., introductory to his intended description
of his prints, I find the following notices of the pictures of the
Harlot's and Rake's Progresses:
"Mr. Rouquet's account of my prints finishes with a description
of the March to Finchley. The picture was disposed of by lottery
(the only way a living painter has any chance of being paid for his
time) for three hundred pounds; by the like means most of my former
pictures were sold. Those of the Harlot's and Rake's Progress have,
it seems, been since destroyed by fire,[122] with many other fine
pictures, at the country house of the gentleman who bought them.[123]
It is reported, and very remarkable if true, that a most magnificent
clock-work organ, being left exposed to the conflagration, was heard
in the midst of the flames to play several pleasing airs."
1733 and 1734.
The Harlot's Progress, in six plates.
Plate 1. _Second state_--Feet to the old woman. Shadow thrown by one
house upon another. London added to the letter the parson is reading.
Cross put in the centre of the margin, as indeed it is to the second
state of the five that follow.
Plate 2. The shadows on the black boy's drapery, etc. are so sudden
that he looks like a magpie. I have a copy of this print, of the same
size, and well engraved; the situation of the figures reversed, with
the strange variations of a shepherd and shepherdess, in the two
pictures that were of Jonah and David, in the original.
Plate 3. A sort of sugar dish placed near the punch-bowl, in the
first state, is in the second changed to a bottle. In a set of
wretched copies, possibly made from the original pictures, and
exhibited at Christie's in the year 1792, the woman dangling a watch
is painted without stockings.
Plate 4. _Second state_--Damages in the ceiling stopped up: shadow
added on the wall close to the hoop petticoat: the dog much blacker.
In a print in my possession, the cross is inserted before any of
these variations were made.
Plate 5. _Second state_--Dr. Rock's name inscribed on the paper: cap
of the woman near the dying figure lowered.
Plate 6. The mask on the bottle inscribed "Nants," has a most
ludicrous appearance. The shadows, especially that on the forehead
of the girl near the clergyman, are much heightened in the _second
state_.
2. Rehearsal of the Oratorio of Judith.
Ticket for a Modern Midnight Conversation. The singers of the
different parts of bass, tenor, and treble, may be easily
distinguished; and it is worthy of remark, that the notes before them
are in the same key with the performers' voices. The receipt was
afterwards cut off the plate.
3. A Midnight Modern Conversation.
_Second state_--The right hand and skirt of a man fallen on the
ground stronger shadowed, and the lines over a vessel in the corner
intersected.
1735.
1. The Rake's Progress, in eight plates.
Plate 1. _First state_--A book "Mem^{dum} 1721, May 3d. My son Tom
came from Oxford. 4th, dined at the French Ordinary. 5th of June, put
off my bad shilling." _Second state_--The book erased to insert the
cover of a Bible as the sole of a shoe. The girl's face altered for
the worse. Woollen-draper's shop-bill omitted.
Plate 2. _First state_--"Prosperity with Horlots smile." _Second
state_--Altered to Harlots.
Plate 3. _First state_--Dated June y^e 24th, 1735. _Second
state_--June 25th, and a laced hat put on the head of the girl
sitting next to the Rake. Pontac's head introduced in the place of a
mutilated Cæsar.
Plate 4. _Second state_--Shoeblack stealing the cane, erased, and
his place supplied by a group of gambling boys. This design is
unquestionably much improved by the alterations.
Plate 5. _Second state_--The right foot of the bridegroom, which gave
a tottering awkwardness to the figure, omitted. The maidservant's
face altered. The hand of the figure looking out of the gallery
blackened. In this print the artist has introduced a portrait of his
favourite dog Trump.
Plate 6. _Second state_--Rays round the candle stronger.
In the original sketch, the principal figure was not, as now, upon
his knees, but seated.
Plate 7. In the very earliest impressions, Plate 7 is not inserted in
the margin.
Plate 8. _Second state_--Head of the woman with a fan altered, and
affectedly turning away from the mad monarch. A halfpenny, with a
figure of Britannia, 1763, fixed against the wall, to intimate what
the artist thought the state of the nation. "Retouch'd by the author,
1763."
It should seem that the man sitting by the figure inscribed
"Charming Betty Careless," went mad for love. Dr. Monro, I am told,
asserts that not more than one or two men have become mad from love
in the course of a hundred years. Shakspeare has not, as I recollect,
drawn one _man_ mad from that cause. I find by Hogarth's memorandum
that the original pictures were sold to Francis Beckford, Esq., for
£184, 16s.
1736.
1. Two prints of Before and After. See p. 26.
2. The Sleeping Congregation.
_First state_--"Dieu et mon droit," under the king's arms, not
inserted: the angel has a pipe in his mouth. _Second state_--The
above motto added, the angel's pipe effaced, and the lines of the
triangle doubled. _Third state_--Inscribed on the side of the print:
"Retouched and improved, April 21, 1762, by the author."
3. The Distressed Poet.
_First state_--Pope thrashing Curl, and four lines from the _Dunciad_
inscribed under the print. _Second state_--In the place of Pope,
etc., view of the gold mines of Peru; and the four lines from the
_Dunciad_ erased. This has been conjectured to be a portrait of
Lewis Theobald, and in 1794 a copy of the head with his name annexed
to it was published for Richardson. The original picture is in the
collection of Lord Grosvenor.
4. Right Honourable Frances Lady Byron.
Whole-length mezzotinto by Faber. The best impressions are usually in
brown ink. The plate was afterwards cut down to a half-length.
5. Arms of the Undertakers' Company.
The three figures at top are Dr. Ward, Chevalier Taylor, and Mrs.
Mapp, the bone-setter; though it has been said, that the figure
supposed to be Mrs. Mapp was intended for Sir Hans Sloane. _First
state_--"One compleat Docter," etc. _Second state_--The spelling
corrected.
1737.
1. The Lecture, "Datur vacuum." In the early impressions, the words
"datur vacuum" are not printed. Hogarth sometimes wrote them in with
a pen.
Æneas in a Storm.
1738.
1. The four parts of the Day.
Morning. The sky singularly muddy to express snow. The figure of the
shivering boy was, in 1739, copied by F. Sykes, and is strangely
enough christened by collectors, The Half-starved Boy.
Noon. In the _second state_--Shadows heightened.
Evening. In early impressions the man's hands are printed in blue,
and the woman's face and neck in red; but they have been sometimes
so stamped in later impressions, where the rail-post is crossed with
intersecting lines, and the clearness of the water much injured.
In Hogarth's first design (engraved by Baron), the little girl with
the fan was omitted; but the artist thinking his delineation would
be improved by it, afterwards inserted it with his own burin. I have
seen three impressions in this state; one of them, then thought to be
unique, was purchased at Greenwood's Rooms, at Mr. Gulston's sale, by
Mr. Thane, for the late Mr. G. Stevens, at the price of £47.
Night. The Salisbury flying coach has been thought to be a burlesque
on a late noble peer, who delighted in driving his own horses.
I find by Hogarth's memorandum, that Sir William Heathcote purchased
the picture of Morning for twenty guineas, and that of Night for £27,
6s. Noon was sold for £38, 17s., and Evening for £39, 18s., to the
Duke of Ancaster.
2. Strolling Actresses dressing in a Barn.
_Second state_--The woman holding a cat has her coiffure lowered,
and the female greasing her hair with a candle is divested of her
feathers. Head of the sable goddess Night blacker, and her hair more
woolly. Damages in the roof of the barn repaired; all the shallows
darker.
By an account in one of Hogarth's books, the original picture was
first sold to Francis Beckford, Esq., for £27, 6s. By him, though at
so low a price, returned! and afterwards sold for the same sum to Mr.
Wood of Littleton, in whose possession it still remains.
1739.
1. The Foundlings.
Engraved by Morrellon la Cave. _Vide_ p. 191.
1741.
The Enraged Musician.
Mr. Cricket has an impression, taken before the man blowing a horn,
cats, steeple, play-bill, or drag were introduced. In this very
curious, and I believe unique print, the dustman is without a nose,
the chimney-sweeper has a grenadier's cap on, and a doll is placed
under the trap, composed of bricks, etc.
In the early impressions, the horse's head is white; in its present
state, black: and the dog, drag, hatchet, etc. considerably darker
than when first engraved.
1742.
1. Martin Folks, Esq., half-length; W. Hogarth, _pinxit et sculpsit_.
In early impressions, the name of W. Hogarth, etc. is not inserted.
2. The same, in mezzotinto, engraved by Faber. The original picture
from which both these prints are taken is in the meeting-room of the
Royal Society, Somerset Place.
3. The Charmers of the Age. A sketch, no name. Of this there is a
spirited modern copy.
4. Taste in High Life. _Vide_ p. 186.
1743.
1. Benjamin Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester; engraved by Baron.
A small oval from the same picture was, in 1759, engraved by Sherlock.
2. Captain Thomas Coram; a three-quarters mezzotinto; admirably
engraved by M'Ardell.
3. Coarsely copied in the _London Magazine_.
A copy of the full-length picture in the Foundling Hospital was, in
1797, engraved by Nutter, and published by Mr. Cribb of Holborn.
_Vide_ p. 47.
5. Characters and Caricaturas; subscription-ticket to Marriage à la
Mode. "For a further explanation of the difference betwixt Character
and Caricatura, see y^e Preface to _Jo^h Andrews_."
"Received April ----, of ----, half a guinea, being the first payment
for six prints called Marriage à la Mode, which I promise to deliver
when finished, on receiving half a guinea more.
"_N.B._--The price will be one guinea and an half after the time of
subscribing."
On this print Hogarth makes the following remark:--
"Being perpetually plagued, from the mistakes made among the
illiterate, by the similitude in the sound of the words _character_
and _caricatura_, I, ten years ago, endeavoured to explain the
distinction by the above print; and as I was then publishing Marriage
à la Mode, wherein were characters of high life, I introduced
the great number of faces there delineated (none of which are
exaggerated), varied at random, to prevent, if possible, personal
application when the prints should come out.
'We neither this nor that Sir Fopling call,
He's knight o' th' shire, and represents you all.'
This, however, did not prevent a likeness being found for each head,
for a general character will always bear some resemblance to a
particular one."
1745.
1. Marriage à la Mode, in six plates.
Plate 1. The coronet impressed on the dog in the print is not in the
picture. I have this series of prints in the state they were left by
the original engravers, and all of them, though delicately engraved,
are in some degree spotty. In the _second state_ of Plate 1, there
are evident marks of the burin of Hogarth in the faces of the Citizen
and Peer; and each of the characters, especially the latter, is
improved. The French portrait he has designedly thrown more out
of harmony than it was at first; the fringe to the canopy over
the nobleman is much darker; a shadow thrown on the building seen
out of the window, and on the light parts of the two dogs. _Third
state_--All the shadows blacker. Engraved by G. Scotin. Guido's
Judith, which forms the subject of one of the pictures, Hogarth
copied from a print engraved by Dupuis.
Plate 2. _First state_--A lock of hair on the forehead of the lady,
generally inserted with Indian ink, but sometimes left without.
_Second state_--Lock of hair engraved, and shadows on the carpet,
etc. stronger. Engraved by B. Baron.
Plate 3. In the original picture, an alembic under the table is seen
through the cloth. In the _second state_ of the print, the character
of the nobleman's face is altered; the bow under his chin is
broader, and the shadows on the sole of his right shoe considerably
strengthened. Girl's cloak and woman's apron darker than at first.
_Third state_--I discover no alterations, except the shadows being
darkened. Engraved by B. Baron.
Plate 4. One of the newspapers of March 1798, in a critique upon the
opera, remarked, that "in playing upon the pianoforte, the celebrated
Dusek displayed _a brilliancy of finger_ which no eulogium could
do justice to!" This is lofty language, and might be very properly
applied to the figure of Carestini in this print, for that mountain
of mummy displays a glittering ring upon every finger of his left
hand. His face, as well as that of the Countess, is in the third
impression essentially altered; the curtains, frames, etc. are also
of a much darker hue. Engraved by S. Ravenet.
Plate 5. _Second state_--All the lights, figures on the tapestry,
etc., are kept down, and the whole print brought to a more still and
sombre hue. Woman's eye, eyebrow, and neck strengthened: nostril
made wider. Counsellor's leg and thigh intersected with black lines,
instead of the delicate marks and dots first inserted. _Third
state_--Bears evident marks of a coarser burin than that of Ravenet.
Engraved by R. F. Ravenet.[124]
Mr. Nichols states that this background was engraved by Ravenet's
wife; but I am informed by Mr. Charles Grignion, who at that period
knew the family intimately, that she could not engrave. That,
concerning the background of this print, Ravenet had a violent
quarrel with Hogarth; who, thinking the figures in the tapestry, etc.
too obtrusive, obliged him to bring them to a lower tone (without any
additional remuneration), a process that must have taken him up a
length of time, which no man but an engraver can form an idea of.
Plate 6. With a slight alteration, the crying old woman would be very
like one of the laughing old women in the Laughing Audience. _Second
state_--The whole of the print rendered less brilliant, but more in
harmony. Drapery of the dying woman improved. _Third state_--The
shadows of this, as of the other five, were rendered still stronger
by the last alterations, made a short time before Hogarth's death.
Of the original pictures, now in Mr. Angerstein's collection, I have
already spoken. If considered in the various relations of invention,
composition, drawing, colouring, character, and moral tendency, I do
not think it will be easy to point out any series of six pictures,
painted by any artist of either ancient or modern times, from which
they will not bear away the palm.
Among Mr. Lane's papers was found a written description of Marriage à
la Mode, which the family believe to be Hogarth's explanation, either
copied from his own handwriting, or given verbally to Mr. Lane at
the time he purchased the pictures. This was copied and inserted in
the second edition of _Hogarth Illustrated_, and may be had gratis by
any of the purchasers of the first.
Messrs. Boydell have employed Mr. Earlom to engrave the whole series,
in the same size as the original pictures.
2. A small portrait of Archbishop Herring, surrounded with a trophy,
placed as a headpiece to the printed speech addressed to the Clergy
of York, September 24th, 1745. William Hogarth, _pinx._; C. Mosely,
_sculp._
3. The same head was afterwards cut off the plate, and printed
without the speech.
A larger portrait was in the year 1750 engraved by Baron.
4. The Battle of the Pictures. Ticket to admit persons to bid for his
works at an auction.
5. Mask and Palette. Subscription-ticket to Garrick in Richard III. A
copy from this was published in 1781.
1746.
1. Simon Lord Lovat. _Vide_ p. 209.
The second impressions are marked "price 1s."
Of this there have been several copies; I have one of the head in a
watch paper.
Lavater has introduced this print in his _Essays on Physiognomy_.
2. Mr. Garrick in the character of Richard III.
Engraved by Wm. Hogarth and C. Grignion.
Mr. Charles Grignion (whose professional talents have for more than
half a century been an honour to the arts) informed me that Hogarth
etched the head and hand, but finding the head too large, he erased
it and etched it a second time, when seeing it wrong placed upon the
shoulders, he again rubbed it out, and replaced it as it now stands,
remarking--"I never was right until I had been wrong."
3. Subscription-ticket to the March to Finchley, which was originally
published at 7s. 6d.
Among a stand of various weapons, bagpipes, etc., the artist has
introduced a pair of scissors cutting out the Arms of Scotland.
1747.
1. The Stage Coach, or Country Inn Yard. In the very earliest
impressions, a flag behind the wheel of the coach is without an
inscription. In the second, "No Old Baby;" which words, in the
present state of the plate, are done away, and the flag obliterated.
2. Industry and Idleness, in twelve plates, designed and engraved by
Wm. Hogarth.
Plate 1. In the very early impressions, Plate 1 is not inserted.
_Second state_--Shadows strengthened.
Plate 2. _Second state_--Shadows on the organ, etc. deeper.
Plate 3. _Second state_--Lines stronger.
Plate 4. _Second state_--Lines strengthened. The cat in this print is
vilely drawn.
Plate 5. Tender lines in the offing worn out, broader lines in the
faces. Lavater has introduced a small outline of this print in his
_Essays on Physiognomy_.
Plate 6. _First state_--Goodchild and West, instead of West and
Goodchild, to which the sign was afterwards altered.
Plate 7. _Second state_--Darker shadows behind the broken cup, and
bottles on the chimney-piece, etc.
Plate 8. _Second state_--Shadows strengthened. The head of the fat
Citizen in a tie-wig has been copied in a larger size by Bartolozzi.
The scene is laid in Fishmonger's Hall, where the effigies of
Sir William Walworth still remain, with the following quaint and
memorable inscription beneath:--
"Brave Walworth, knight, Lord Maior, that slew
Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;
The king therefore did give in lieu,
The dagger to the city arms."
Plate 9. _Second state_--Character of the woman taking a bribe
altered; the whole print more black.
Plate 10. _Second state_--Shadows heightened.
Plate 11. _Second state_--Shadows in the parson's face, pigeon, etc.,
stronger.
Plate 12. _Second state_--Coachman's coat darker, and a stripe of
lace down the arm obliterated. The mass of figures that surround the
coach made much darker. In the original they come too forward, but
the characters are now hurt by the intersecting lines.
Of these twelve plates there are tolerably correct copies of the same
size.
The following memoranda relative to this series, which I found among
Hogarth's papers, seems addressed to some one whom he intended to
continue Rouquet's descriptions:--
"The effects of Idleness and Industry, exemplified in the conduct
of two fellow-'prentices. These twelve prints were calculated for
the instruction of young people; and everything addressed to them
is fully described in words as well as figures. Yet to foreigners a
translation of the mottoes,[125] the intention of the story, and some
little description of each print, may be necessary. To this may be
added, a slight account of our customs--as boys being usually bound
for seven years, etc.
"Considering the persons they were intended to serve, I have
endeavoured to render them intelligible, and cheap as possible.[126]
Fine engraving is not necessary for such subjects, if what is
infinitely more material, viz. character and expression, is properly
preserved. Suppose the whole story were made into a kind of tale,
describing in episode the nature of a night-cellar, a marrow-bone
concert, a Lord Mayor's show, etc.
"These prints I have found sell much more rapidly at Christmas than
at any other season."
3. Jacobus Gibbs Architectus; W. Hogarth, _delin._; J. M'Ardell,
_fecit_. Partly mezzotinto, partly graved. No date.
4. Ditto, engraved by Baron.
5. Ditto, by ditto.
6. Another copy, with the addition of "Architectus, A.M. and F.R.S.,"
was published 1750. Of the last print I have an impression where the
background is completed, but nothing more of the head than the bare
outline. This is a curiosity somewhat similar to a picture without a
horse by Wouvermans.
Besides these, there is a small profile of Gibbs in a circle, which I
do not think Hogarth's,--at least it is uncertain.
7. Arms of the Foundling Hospital, printed on the tops of the
indenture.
8. The same in a smaller size, employed as a vignette to _Psalms,
Hymns, and Anthems_, and also to an account of the institution of the
hospital, etc.
Of the original pen-and-ink drawing there is a modern copy.
9. A Wooden Cut--headpiece to the _Jacobites' Journal_; a newspaper
set up and supported by Henry Fielding. This print (of which there
is a modern copy in aquatinta) was prefixed to six or seven of the
earliest papers, and then set aside. Mine is dated "2d January 1747.
No. 5."
1748.
1. View of Mr. Ranby's House at Chiswick; etched by Hogarth, without
any inscription. Afterwards "published for Jane Hogarth," etc., 1st
May 1781.
2. Hymen and Cupid; two figures, with the view of a magnificent villa
in the distance. No inscription. This was engraved as a ticket for
the _Masque of Alfred_, performed at Cliveden House before the Prince
and Princess of Wales on the Princess Augusta's birthday. It was
afterwards intended to be used as a receipt to the Sigismunda; on the
earliest impressions, "£2, 2s." is usually _written_.
1749.
The Gate of Calais; engraved by C. Mosely. The original picture is in
the possession of the Earl of Charlemont.
Of this print Hogarth thus writes:--"After the March to Finchley,
the next print I engraved was the Roast Beef of Old England,[127]
which took its rise from a visit I paid to France the preceding year.
The first time an Englishman goes from Dover to Calais, he must be
struck with the different face of things at so little a distance. A
farcical pomp of war, pompous parade of religion, and much bustle
with very little business. To sum up all, poverty, slavery, and
innate insolence, covered with an affectation of politeness, give you
even here a true picture of the manners of the whole nation. Nor are
the priests less opposite to those of Dover than the two shores. The
friars are dirty, sleek, and solemn; the soldiery are lean, ragged,
and tawdry; and as to the fishwomen, their faces are absolute leather.
"As I was sauntering about and observing them, near the gate
which, it seems, was built by the English when the place was in
our possession, I remarked some appearance of the arms of England
on the front. By this and idle curiosity I was prompted to make a
sketch of it, which being observed, I was taken into custody; but not
attempting to cancel any of my sketches or memorandums, which were
found to be merely those of a painter for his private use, without
any relation to fortification, it was not thought necessary to send
me back to Paris.[128] I was only closely confined to my own lodgings
till the wind changed for England, where I no sooner arrived than I
set about the picture; made the gate my background; and in one corner
introduced my own portrait,[129] which has generally been thought a
correct likeness, with the soldier's hand upon my shoulder. By the
fat friar who stops the lean cook that is sinking under the weight of
a vast sirloin of beef, and two of the military bearing off a great
kettle of _soup maigre_, I meant to display to my own countrymen the
striking difference between the food, priests, soldiers, etc. of two
nations so contiguous, that in a clear day one coast may be seen from
the other. The melancholy and miserable Highlander, browsing on his
scanty fare, consisting of a bit of bread and an onion, is intended
for one of the many that fled from this country after the rebellion
in 1745."
2. Portrait of John Palmer, Esq.; W. Hogarth, _pinx._; B. Baron,
_sculp._ A small head inserted under a view of the church of Ecton,
Northamptonshire.
3. Head of Hogarth in a cap, with a pug dog, and a palette with the
line of beauty, etc.; inscribed "Gulielmus Hogarth _se ipse pinxit et
sculpsit_, 1749."
The same portrait in mezzotinto.
(The engraving was copied from a picture now in the collection of J.
J. Angerstein, Esq., from which another copy, engraved by Benjamin
Smith, was in 1795 published by Messrs. Boydell. In this the three
books are lettered _Shakspeare_, _Swift_, _Milton's Paradise Lost_,
and the line on the palette inscribed, "The Line of Beauty and
Grace.")
In the year 1763 Hogarth erased his own head from the plate, and in
its place inserted "The Bruiser, C. Churchill (once the Rev^d.!), in
the character of a Russian Hercules, regaling himself after having
killed the monster Caricatura, that so sorely galled his _virtuous_
friend the heaven-born Wilkes."
_First state_--Three of the upper knots on the club are left white
(white lies), and a line inscribed "the line of Beauty," drawn on
the palette. _Second state_--The knots shaded, and a political print
introduced on the palette.
_Third state_--The letters "N. B.," and the word "Infamous"
inscribed on the club; and "Dragon of Wantley" added at the end of
"I warrant ye." "Price 1s. 6d." instead of "1s."
In the year 1758 Hogarth published a full-length of his own portrait,
painting the Comic Muse; inscribed "W. Hogarth, serjeant painter to
his Majesty,"--"Engraved by W. Hogarth." This being a mistake of the
writing engraver, the painter altered it to "the face engraved by
W. Hogarth." _Third impression_--"The face engraved by W. Hogarth"
omitted. _Fourth state_--"Serjeant painter," etc. scratched over with
the graver. _Present state_--The face retouched. Comedy also has
the face and mask marked with black; and on the pillar is written,
"Comedy, 1764." No other inscription beneath the print but "W.
Hogarth, 1764."
The original small whole-length picture from which it is copied was
sold by Greenwood after Mrs. Hogarth's death. The companion portrait
of Mrs. Hogarth is in the possession of Mrs. Lewis of Chiswick.
A portrait of Hogarth was in 1781 engraved in mezzotinto by Charles
Townley from a picture painted by Weltdon, and finished by Hogarth,
now in the possession of James Townley, Esq. A portrait, copied from
that in the Gate of Calais, I have seen prefixed to a dull pamphlet,
published in 1781, entitled _A Dissertation on Mr. Hogarth's six
Prints lately published, viz. Gin Lane, Beer Street, and the Four
Stages of Cruelty_. I have a small engraving of his head, I believe
done for the _Universal Magazine_, in which he looks like a village
schoolmaster. An etching of his head by S. Ireland was prefixed to
a catalogue of Hogarth's works, sold by Christie, in May 1797. Two
small portraits have been engraved for watch-papers. A head in the
dotted style has been engraved for Mr. Jeffrey, Pall Mall, but is not
published.
1750.
The March to Finchley; engraved by Luke Sullivan. Dedicated to the
King of Prusia: thus was the word spelt in the prints delivered to
the subscribers. A few early impressions were dated 30th December
1750; but the 30th being that year on a Sunday, it was altered to the
31st. A print in the collection of Dr. Ford is inscribed "Printed and
published by W^m. Hogarth," instead of " Printed for W^m. Hogarth,
and published," etc. In the etching, of which very few were struck
off, the woman to whom an officer presents a letter on the point of
a pike, turns her head the contrary way to what she does in the print.
_Second impression_--The spelling of Prussia corrected; bunch of
grapes at the Adam and Eve enlarged; catching lights given to the
laced hats in the group beneath it; belt added to the Duke of
Cumberland's portrait. _Third state_--"Retouched and improved by W^m.
Hogarth; and republished June 12th, 1761."
I have an early impression of this print in which the dedication
to the King of Prussia does not appear, and it might pass for a
proof. On inquiry I find that, upon one of Hogarth's fastidious
friends objecting to its being dedicated to a foreign potentate, he
replied, "If you disapprove of it, _you_ shall have one without any
dedication;" and took off a few impressions, covering the dedication
with fan paper.
Sullivan was so eccentric a character, that while he was employed in
engraving this print, Hogarth held out every possible inducement to
his remaining at his house in Leicester Square night and day; for if
once Luke quitted it, he was not visible for a month. It has been
said, but I know not on what authority, that for engraving it he was
paid only one hundred pounds.
In the original picture, which is in the Foundling Hospital, the old
man to whom a Frenchman is giving a letter has a plaid waistcoat.
1751.
1. Beer Street. In the _first state_--The blacksmith is lifting up a
Frenchman; in the _second_--The Frenchman is properly discarded, and
a shoulder of mutton supplies his place.
2. Gin Lane. I have been told that in a print in the collection of
Lord Exeter there are numerous though trifling variations; but I
never saw it.[130]
Of their intentions, Hogarth gives the following account:--"When
these two prints were designed and engraved, the dreadful
consequences of gin-drinking appeared in every street. In Gin Lane,
every circumstance of its horrid effects is brought to view _in
terrorem_. Idleness, poverty, misery, and distress, which drives even
to madness and death, are the only objects that are to be seen; and
not a house in tolerable condition but the pawnbroker's and gin-shop.
"Beer Street, its companion, was given as a contrast, where that
invigorating liquor is recommended in order to drive the other out of
vogue. Here all is joyous and thriving: industry and jollity go hand
in hand. In this happy place the pawnbroker's is the only house going
to ruin; and even the small quantity of porter that he can procure is
taken in at the wicket, for fear of further distress."
3. The Four Stages of Cruelty--
Plate 1. Shadows strengthened.
Plate 2. Shadows heightened.
Plate 3. The whole print somewhat darker.
Plate 4. This, and the five last-mentioned prints, were, on common
paper, marked "price 1s.;" on superior paper, "1s. 6d." The stamp by
which the artist marked the "6d." was cut by himself on a halfpenny,
now in my possession. Of Plates 3 and 4 there are wooden cuts, which
were engraved under Hogarth's inspection.
The motives by which Hogarth was induced to make the designs, he thus
describes:--
"The leading points in these as well as the two preceding prints,
were made as obvious as possible, in the hope that their tendency
might be seen by men of the lowest rank. Neither minute accuracy
of design nor fine engraving were deemed necessary, as the latter
would render them too expensive for the persons to whom they were
intended to be useful; and the fact is, that the passions may be
more forcibly expressed by a strong, bold stroke, than by the most
delicate engraving. To expressing them as I felt them, I have paid
the utmost attention; and as they were addressed to hard hearts, have
rather preferred leaving them hard, and giving the effect, by a quick
touch, to rendering them languid and feeble by fine strokes and soft
engraving, which require more care and practice than can often be
attained, except by a man of a very quiet turn of mind. Masson, who
gave two strokes to every particular hair that he engraved, merited
great admiration; but at such admiration I never aspired, neither was
I capable of obtaining it if I had.
"The prints were engraved with the hope of, in some degree,
correcting that barbarous treatment of animals, the very sight of
which renders the streets of our metropolis so distressing to every
feeling mind. If they have had this effect, and check the progress of
cruelty, I am more proud of having been the author than I should be
of having painted Raphael's Cartoons.
"The French, among their other mistakes respecting our tragedies,
etc., assert that such scenes could not be represented except by a
barbarous people. Whatever may be our _national character_, I trust
that our _national conduct_ will be an unanswerable refutation."[131]
4. Paul before Felix; "designed and scratched in the true Dutch taste
by W^m. Hogarth." Under the second impression, "designed and etched
in the ridiculous manner of Rembrandt by W^m. Hogarth." The drowsy
angel was (I have been told) intended as a portrait of Luke Sullivan.
The advocate is said to be designed for Dr. King. See Worlidge's
_View of Lord Westmoreland's Installation_.
_Second state_--A little devil sawing off the leg of the apostle's
stool.
This very whimsical print was originally given as a receipt to the
Pharaoh's Daughter and the serious Paul before Felix, and sealed
with a palette and pencils, engraven on a small ring which Hogarth
usually wore, and which Mrs. Lewis has since presented to me. The
early proofs are usually stained with bister. Hogarth always gave the
print to such of his friends as wished for it; but finding demands
too frequent, cut the engraved receipt from the copper, and sold it
at 5s. From this print in its first state he took a few reverses.
1752.
1. Paul before Felix.
"And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to
come, Felix trembled."
"Engraved by W^m. Hogarth, from his original painting in
Lincoln's-Inn Hall, and published as the Act directs, Feb. 5, 1752."
2. The same subject, with fewer figures, and those reversed on
the plate. This, though not good, is, in arrangement, design,
and engraving, much superior to the preceding. The same text and
inscription, "from his original painting," etc., is continued, though
that first mentioned is the copy from the picture in Lincoln's-Inn
Hall.
"Published Feb. 5, 1752. Engraved by Luke Sullivan."
In the _second state_--A quotation from Dr. Warton's _Essay on
the Genius and Writings of Pope_ was inserted in one corner of
the margin; but the critique which it contained being founded in
a mistake, which the Doctor in the second edition very liberally
retracted, Hogarth, in some of the succeeding impressions, covered
the quotation with paper when the print was taken off, and afterwards
entirely effaced it from the copper.
In the present state of the plate, the date of publication and name
of the engraver are taken out.
3. Moses brought to Pharaoh's Daughter.
"From the original painting in the Foundling Hospital; engraved by
Will^m. Hogarth and Luke Sullivan."
"Published Feb. 5, 1752, according to Act of Parliament; W. Hogarth,
_pinxt._"
The _second state_ has the same quotation from Dr. Warton as the
preceding print, and for the same cause it was afterwards effaced
from the copper.
Third impression; "W. Hogarth, _pinxt._, and published according
to," etc., effaced, and its place supplied by "published as the Act
directs, Feb. 5, 1752."
Columbus breaking the Egg. Ticket to the _Analysis_. "Rec^d. Nov^r.
30, 1752, of Nath^l. Garland, Esq., five shillings, being the first
payment for a short tract in quarto, called the _Analysis of Beauty_,
wherein forms are considered in a new light," etc.
1753.
The receipt cut off and inscribed, "designed and etched by W^m.
Hogarth, Dec^r. 1, 1753."
2. Analysis of Beauty, two plates.
Plate 1. In an impression in the possession of Mr. Baker, "ET TU
BRUTE" is engraved on the pedestal on which Quin stands in the
character of Brutus.
In the _second state_, though this inscription is erased, on close
inspection some of the letters are still visible.
Plate 2. _First state_--A vacant chair under the figure of Henry
VIII. The principal figure is said to be a portrait of the Duke of
Kingston.
_Second state_--Altered to a portrait of his present Majesty: the
position of the right hand, etc. changed; the riband to the necklace
of the principal female figure lengthened, and a sleeping figure put
in the vacant chair. In the _present state_--The necklace riband is
made still longer.
3. Frontispiece to Kilby's _Perspective_; engraved by Sullivan.
1754.
ELECTION ENTERTAINMENTS, ETC.
Hogarth's subscription-book, with the names of all, and autographs
of most of the subscribers, is in my possession; and by this it
appears that the subscription to the first print of an Election
Entertainment, or to the complete set, commenced 28th March
1754. From this time to the 31st of May in the same year, there
were 461 subscribers to the first print, and 127 to the complete
set. The leading names on the list are the Prince of Wales, the
Princess-Dowager of Wales, and Prince Edward; but the first person
that has any money annexed to his signature is the Right Hon. Henry
Fox, afterwards Lord Holland.
The subscription for the remaining three prints was opened 24th
Feb. 1755, and closed 28th August 1756. To this there were only 165
subscribers, so that there were 296 names to the first print who did
not continue to subscribe to the other three.
As a receipt to these prints, he gave the following engraving, with
emblematical devices of Crowns, Mitres, etc., published in the year
1736, as a headpiece to an inscription expressing his gratitude to
the Legislature for passing the Act to protect prints from piracy,
etc.:--
_Crowns, Mitres, Maces, etc._
"Received 4th May 1754, of Mr. King, 5s., being the first payment for
a print representing an Election Entertainment, which I promise to
deliver when finished on the receipt of five shillings and sixpence
more. Wm. Hogarth."
"_N.B._--The price will be raised when the subscription is over."
_Second state_--Receipt for one guinea, being the first payment for
the four prints. In this, the receipt for 5s. appears to have been
covered with paper while the impressions were taken off, and that for
a guinea, engraved on another piece of copper, stamped beneath.
_Third state_--Receipt for 15s., being the first payment "for three
prints representing the polling," etc.
FOUR PRINTS OF AN ELECTION.
Plate 1. An Election Entertainment.
It has been said that Hogarth attempted to finish this plate
without taking a single proof from it, to examine the effect as he
proceeded in his work. Be that as it may, the _little_ alterations
are more numerous than in any of his other prints; and that in the
inscription, stating the _whole_ to be engraved by Hogarth, being so
often inserted and repeatedly effaced, I am unable to account for.
_First state_--"Painted, and the whole engraved by W^m. Hogarth,"
"Published 24th Feb. 1755," and "Inscribed to the Right Honourable
Henry Fox, etc. etc. etc."
Seven cut lemons on a piece of paper close to the punch-tub; four
hats in the corner; "For our Country," on the riband in the striped
cap of the butcher pouring out gin. A salt-cellar and a bit of bread
near the fork upon the table.
_Second state_--The two words, "the whole," in the inscription,
scratched over with black lines; the drapery, stockings, etc. on
the table before Richard Slim made much darker; the hand of the fat
old woman, close to the candidate, removed from under her apron,
and hanging down by her side, by which the shoulder, elbow, etc.
are thrown out of drawing; her countenance less clear, and a single
tooth, very conspicuous in the first impression, is here removed.
Shadow on the top of the wainscot in the left corner effaced.
Half a casement near the painting of a landscape changed to a
window-shutter; the king's head, frame, and background behind it,
lighter; the salt-cellar and bit of bread removed from the table;
lemons taken out, and the tub, pail, and foreground below them much
lighter; the boy's napkin darker. The butcher's cap, in which was
"For our Country," has now "PRO PATRIA," and is not striped; the
open-back chair in which he was seated in the _first state_, is here
filled up to a cushion back. The words, "sure votes" and "doubtful,"
in the attorney's book, are re-engraved. Both leaves are shadowed,
and the centre line from top to bottom, which in the _first state_
was with the "sure votes," is here transferred to the "doubtful."
Two pearly drops are trickling from the parson's forehead. Four
windows are added to a house seen out of the open casement; a pair
of scissors suspended to the Methodist tailor's apron-string, and the
pen, stuck under the wig of the fellow who offers him a bribe, which
in the _first state_ was with the feather outwards, is now properly
altered to the quill outwards. There are several other little
variations in the shadows which seem generally intended to bring the
print into harmony; and I think have their effect, for it is more
still, and in better keeping than in the _first state_.
_Third state_--The cross strokes of the graver on the words "the
whole," in the inscription, nearly burnished out. One hat added in
the corner, and another placed on the bench near the scabbard and
gloves. The face, knot, etc. of the little girl near the candidate
darkened; and the hair of the fellow smoking him much shadowed, and
rendered less woolly. Character of face of the boy pouring punch
altered, and hair made much darker.
_Fourth state_--The words "the whole" again inserted; the W is
different, and engraving not so good as in the _first state_: the
shadow on the top of the wainscot, close to the landscape, again
restored. A strong shadow on the lower part of the round table in the
corner burnished down.
_Fifth_, which is the _present state_--The words "the whole" again
completely effaced by black lines. The masses somewhat stronger, and
the shadows on the round table in the corner, especially on the edge,
made darker.
I have this print in all the states here described, and believe that
the third and fourth are very uncommon.
On the butcher with "PRO PATRIA" in his cap, and his wounded
companion, Hogarth makes the following remark:--
"These two patriots, who, let what party will prevail, can be no
gainers, yet spend their time, which is _their_ fortune, for what
they suppose right, and for a glass of gin lose their blood, and
sometimes their lives, in support of _the cause_, are, as far
as I can see, entitled to an equal portion of fame with many of
the emblazoned heroes of ancient Rome; but such is the effect of
prejudice, that though the picture of an antique wrestler is admired
as a grand character, we necessarily annex an idea of vulgarity to
the portrait of a modern boxer. An old blacksmith in his tattered
garb is a coarse and low being; strip him naked, tie his leathern
apron round his loins, chisel out his figure in freestone or marble,
precisely as it appears--he becomes elevated, and may pass for a
philosopher, or a Deity."
Plate 2. Canvassing for Votes.
"Engraved by C. Grignion, published 20th February 1757," and
inscribed to Sir Charles Hanbury Williams.
In this admirable print I discover no variations, except that the
lion's teeth are, in the _second impression_, removed; and the lines
throughout having been re-entered, are somewhat darker than in the
_first state_.
Plate 3. The Polling.
"Engraved by Hogarth and Le Cave, published 20th February 1758," and
inscribed to the Hon. Sir Ed. Walpole.
In an etching (touched in the shadows by Hogarth) which I have of
this plate, the blind voter going up the steps has not any bandage
over his eyes. The cockade of the sick figure just before him is
not of sufficient length for the words "true blue" now inserted,
and probably an afterthought. The fellow before him with a pipe in
his mouth, in the print is without a nose, but in the etching has a
very large one; while the man to whom this old smoker is presenting
tobacco, and who in the print has so speculative and carbuncled a
proboscis, has, in the etching, scarcely any nose at all. The book
in the pocket of Dr. Shebeare is so much intersected as not to admit
of the inscription, afterwards added, of ("the 6th letter to the"),
without the strokes being burnished out.
_Second impression_--"Milicia Bill," awkwardly inscribed on the
maimed voter's skirt, intended to appear as a paper hanging out of
his pocket.
Plate 4. Chairing the Members.
"Engraved by W. Hogarth and F. Aviline; published 1st January 1758,"
and inscribed to the Hon. George Hay, one of the Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty.
_Second impression_--The word INDINTUR (indenture) written on the
scroll hanging out of the attorney's window.
1756.
1. France and England, in two plates, "designed and etched by
Hogarth," and published March 8, 1756.
In the very early impressions of these prints, the titles France and
England are not inserted.
1758.
The Bench, "designed and engraved by W. Hogarth," and published 4th
September 1758.
This plate, in its _first state_, exhibits the inside of the Court
of Common Pleas, the king's arms at top. Portraits of the following
judges are beneath it:--Hon. William Noel; Sir John Willes, Lord
Chief Justice; Hon. Mr. Justice, afterwards Earl Bathurst; Sir Edward
Clive.
Over the print is written "Character;" under it, "Of the different
meanings of the words Character, Caricatura, and _Outré_, in painting
and drawing." This is followed by a long explanatory inscription
engraved on another piece of copper. The original picture, which
is somewhat different from the print, was once the property of Sir
George Hay, and is now in the possession of Mr. Edwards.
_Present state_ of the plate--The word Character is effaced, and the
king's arms discarded, and its place supplied by eight caricatured
heads, on which the artist worked the day before he died. Below the
inscription is inserted--
"The unfinished group of heads in the upper part of this print was
added by the author in October 1764, and was intended as a further
illustration of what is here said concerning character, caricatura,
and _outré_. He worked upon it the day before his death, which
happened the 26th of that month."
The mistakes which Hogarth's friends frequently made in the meaning
of the words character, caricatura, etc., seem to have dwelt much on
his mind. In one of his MSS. he has given the following thoughts on
the subject:--
"I have ever considered the knowledge of character, either high or
low, to be the most sublime part of the art of painting or sculpture,
and caricatura as the lowest--indeed, as much so as the wild attempts
of children when they first try to draw: yet so it is, that the two
words, from being similar in sound, are often confounded. When I
was once at the house of a foreign face-painter, and looking over
a legion of his portraits, Monsieur, with a low bow, told me that
he infinitely admired my caricatures! I returned his _congé_, and
assured him that I equally admired his.
"I have often thought that much of this confusion might be done away,
by recurring to the three branches of the drama, and considering the
difference between comedy, tragedy, and farce. Dramatic dialogue,
which represents nature as it really is, though neither in the most
elevated nor yet the most familiar style, may fairly be denominated
comedy: for every incident introduced might have thus happened; every
syllable have been thus spoken, and so acted in common life. Tragedy
is made up of more extraordinary events. The language is in a degree
inflated, and the action and emphasis heightened. The performer
swells his voice, and assumes a consequence in his gait; even his
habit is full and ample, to keep it on a par with his deportment.
Every feature of his character is so much above common nature, that
were people off the stage to act, speak, and dress in a similar
style, they would be thought fit for Bedlam. Yet with all this, if
the player does not o'erstep the proper bounds, and, by attempting
too much, become swoln, it is not caricatura, but elevated character.
I will go further, and admit, that with the drama of Shakspeare, and
action of Garrick, it may be a nobler species of entertainment than
comedy.
"As to farce, where it is exaggerated, and _outré_, I have no
objection to its being called caricature, for such is the proper
title."
1759.
1. The Cockpit. "Designed and engraved by Wm. Hogarth," and published
November 5, 1759.
2. Frontispiece to _Tristram Shandy_, vol. 2; engraved by S. Ravenet.
3. Another copy, by the same engraver, in which a hat and cloak are
introduced, and the faces of his father and uncle Toby much inferior
to the former plate. A print for the 4th volume, representing the
christening, was published in 1761. "F. Ravanet, _sculp._"--for thus
is the name here written. A print of the same size was engraved
from the same design by J. Ryland. The original drawings are in the
possession of Mrs. Nicol.
1760.
1. Frontispiece to Brook Taylor's _Perspective of Architecture_. "W.
Hogarth, 1760; W. Woollet, _sculp._" _Vide_ p. 132.
2. Mr. Huggins, a small circular plate. Hogarth, _pinx._; Major,
_sculp._ Engraved for a translation of _Dante_, of which a specimen
only was published.
1761.
1. Frontispiece to the catalogue of pictures exhibited at Spring
Gardens; engraved by Grignion. _Vide_ p. 77.
2. Another print from this design, by the same engraver.
3. Tail-piece to the catalogue. The word _obiit_ spelt _obit_. _Vide_
p. 79. In a second plate this error is corrected.
4. Hogarth's Gate of Calais; and Relapse, or Virtue in Danger, and
three portraits, were in this exhibition.
5. Time Smoking a Picture. Subscription-ticket to Sigismunda. I have
seen an impression of this print without the name "Crates" in the
inscription.
6. "The Five Orders of Periwigs, as they were worn at the late
coronation, measured architectonically."
_Second impression_--The spelling in the word "advertisement"
corrected, by an _e_ inserted on the neck of the Duchess of
Northumberland. This is a pointed ridicule on Stewart's _Antiquities
of Athens_, in which the measurements of all the members of the Greek
architecture are given with minute accuracy. Hogarth's opinion of his
labours may be gathered from the following fragment, which he wrote
concerning this print:--
"There is no great difficulty in measuring the length, breadth, or
height of any figures, where the parts are made up of plain lines. It
requires no more skill to take the dimensions of a pillar or cornice,
than to measure a square box; and yet the man who does the latter
is neglected, and he who accomplishes the former is considered as
a miracle of genius; but I suppose he receives his honours for the
distance he has travelled to do his business."
7. Frontispiece to the _Farmer's Return from London_; engraved by J.
Basire. Of this plate there is an admirable copy with the same name,
and a vile imitation without any name.
Enthusiasm Delineated.
A reduced copy and description of this very singular print, which was
the first thought for the Medley, is in p. 169. A copy of the same
size was published by the editor of this volume in 1796.
1762.
1. Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism: A Medley. "Designed and
engraved by Wm. Hogarth," and published March 15, 1762. _Vide_ p. 175.
2. The Times, Plate 1; "designed and engraved by W. Hogarth," and
published Sept. 7, 1762. In the _first impression_--A figure of
Henry VIII. is exalted on stilts, and blowing up the flames; in
the _second_--The monarch is erased, and Mr. Pitt, afterwards Lord
Chatham, introduced in his place.
The Times, Plate 2, was engraved soon after, but withheld from the
public until Mrs. Hogarth's death, when the plate was purchased by
Messrs. Boydell, and published May 29, 1790. Part of the sky is left
unfinished.
3. T. Morell, S. T. P. S. S. A.; "W. Hogarth, _delin._;" "James
Basire, _sculp._" Some impressions are without either the inscription
of "Thesaurus" or "_Ætat. 60._"
A correct copy has the same painter and engraver's name.
4. Henry Fielding, _Ætatis 48_; "W. Hogarth, _delin._;" "James
Basire, _sculp._" A few impressions were taken off before the frame
and ornaments were inserted. The copy in p. 206 is taken from one of
them in my possession.
1763.
1. "John Wilkes, Esq., drawn from the life, and etched in aquafortis
by William Hogarth. Price 1s."
4. The Weighing House. Frontispiece to Clubbe's _Physiognomy_; W.
Hogarth, _del._; Luke Sullivan, _sculp._
Another copy, without either painter or engraver's name, which the
late W. Ryland told me was engraved by him, and the heads afterwards
touched upon by Hogarth. Prefixed to Clubbe's works, in two vols.
A small copy was engraved for an octavo edition of the same pamphlet.
1764.
The Bathos. "Designed and engraved by Wm. Hogarth," and published
March 3, 1764.
1767.
Satan, Sin, and Death: Milton's _Paradise Lost_, B. 2. Engraved by
C. Townley, and intended to have been published April 15, 1767; but
when a few impressions were taken off, the plate was destroyed. One
of the copies of this strange and incomprehensible print is in the
possession of Mr. Bellamy, Charlotte Row.
A print of a smaller size, with some variations, has been since
engraved by Ogbourne, and I have seen one of a larger size, of a
similar description, without any name.
The Good Samaritan. Engraved by Ravenet and Delatre, and published
Feb. 24, 1772, by J. Boydell. Hogarth's first sketch is in the
possession of Mr. Bellamy.
The Pool of Bethesda. Engraved by Ravenet and Picot as a companion
to the preceding print. These engravings were copied from the
pictures in St. Bartholomew's Hospital. A small copy of the latter
was, in 1748, engraved by Ravenet for S. Austen, as a frontispiece to
Stackhouse's _Bible_.
1775.
The Politician; etched by J. K. Sherwin, and published by Jane
Hogarth, 1774, Oct. 31. _Vide_ p. 197. In the early impressions the
figure "5" and 31st October, are usually inserted with a pen.
1781.
1. A small and slight etching, conjectured to be Solsull, a maker of
punches for engravers. "S. J. _fecu._, 1781."
2. Four Heads from the Cartoons at Hampton Court; an early etching by
Hogarth, published by Mrs. Hogarth, May 14, 1781.
The Matchmaker. _Vide_ p. 199.
1782.
1. The Staymaker.
2. Debates in Palmistry.
3. Portrait of Henry Fox, Lord Holland.
4. Portrait of James Caulfield, Earl of Charlemont.
The four last articles are slightly etched by Joseph Haynes, from
very bald and unfinished sketches by Hogarth. The plates are in the
possession of Mr. Jeffrey, Pall Mall.
5. The Shrimp Girl. Engraved in the dotted style by Bartolozzi.
Had this unrivalled artist etched this print in the manner he did
Guercino's drawings, he would have transferred the true spirit of the
original. As it is, we have Hogarth translated into Italian.
It was published by Mrs. Hogarth in 1782, by subscription, with the
five following prints engraved by Livesay.
6 and 7. Portraits of Gabriel Hunt and Benjamin Read.
8, 9, and 10. Three plates from sketches by Hogarth, designed for the
monument and epitaph of George Taylor.
11. Nine prints for Hogarth's _Tour_, from drawings by Scott, etc.,
engraved by Livesay, accompanied with nine pages of letterpress.
12. Hogarth's Crest. A spiral shell painted on his carriage, and
since his death copied by Livesay.
13. Eta Beta Py. Prefixed to the title of the second edition of Mr.
Nichols' _Anecdotes_.
14. An Old Parson's Head, most admirably marked; engraved in the
dotted style.
1785.
The four which follow were etched by S. Ireland.
1. Orator Henley Christening a Child. From an unfinished sketch by
Hogarth.
2. A Small Landscape.
3. Head of a Female Moor.
4. Head of Diana.
The Portrait of a Young Girl, from a picture in the possession of
Mrs. Hogarth, was about this time very delicately engraved by Martha
Knight, Brompton.
1790.
1. The Beggars' Opera. Engraved by Blake, and published by Messrs.
Boydell, from a picture in the collection of the Duke of Leeds.
2. Sealing the Sepulchre: from the Altar-piece in St. Mary
Redcliffe's, Bristol; engraved in a large mezzotinto by J. Jenner.
3. The Sepulchre; engraved from the same altar-piece as a companion,
with the title of The Resurrection. _Vide_ p. 195.
1792.
1. The Indian Emperor, or Conquest of Mexico; from the original
picture in the collection of Lord Holland; engraved by R. Dodd, and
published by Messrs. Boydell.
2. Sigismunda. Engraved by Benj. Smith, and published by Messrs.
Boydell, who possess the original picture, from which there was an
etching by Basire in Hogarth's lifetime; and from the sketch a print
in mezzotinto was a few years since engraved by Dunkarton.
PRINTS OF UNCERTAIN DATE.
Some of the following prints are insignificant enough, others are
curious, but all derive their principal value from being the work of
Hogarth. I have noted the prices at which a few of them sold, and
think it probable that No. 30 produced more money at Mr. Gulston's
sale than the artist received for engraving the twenty-nine preceding
prints:--
_Coats of Arms._
1. A Gryffon with a Flag. A crest.
2. Lord Aylmer's Coat of Arms. A copy sold for £7, 10s. in Mr.
Gulston's sale.
3. Lord Radnor's Coat of Arms.
4. A large Coat of Arms, with Terms of the Four Seasons.
5. A Coat of Arms, with two Slaves as trophies.
6. Another with two Boys as Terms.
7. Foreign Coat of Arms; supporters, a Savage and Angel.
8. The Duchess of Kendal's Arms. _Vide_ p. 28. A copy sold in Mr.
Gulston's sale for £4.
9. Another, for a silver tea-table, larger, but not so neatly
engraved. Sold in the same sale for £6.
10. Another.
11. With a male shield, probably a mistake of the engraver's.
12. A Coat of Arms, engraved on a silver tea-table.
13. The same ornaments left, and Sir Gregory Page's arms inserted in
their place. At Sir Gregory's sale, the table was purchased by Mr.
Morrison, who, after taking off twenty-five impressions, melted the
plate.
14. The Chudleigh Arms. Motto: _Aut vincam, aut peribo_.
15. Arms of Gore, engraved on a silver waiter.
16. Arms of John Holland, herald painter; a book plate. In the second
impressions the lion is of a smaller size, and eight _fleur-de-lis_
instead of the seven originally inserted.
17. Arms of George Lambart. Said to have been a book-plate for
Lambert the painter. If it was so, it is passing strange that the
name should be thus spelt.
_Shop-bills._
18. A large Angel, holding a palm in his left hand: a shop-bill
for Ellis Gamble, at the Golden Angel, Cranbourn Street, Leicester
Fields, has sold for £7, 7s.
19. A contracted copy of the above.
20. Another, somewhat different, in the collection of Mr. Walpole.
21. A Turk's Head: a shop-bill for John Barker, goldsmith, Lombard
Street.
Of the head there is a modern copy.
22. A shop-bill for Mrs. Holt, at the Italian Warehouse in the
Strand; with the Duke of Tuscany's and the Florence arms; and views
of Naples, Venice, Genoa, and Leghorn at the four corners. A copy
sold in Mr. Gulston's sale for £6, 6s.
23. Shop-bill, for his sisters, Mary and Ann Hogarth, at the King's
Arms, joining to the Little Britain gate. People in a shop, etc., has
sold for £8, 8s.
_Tickets, etc._
24. A Ticket for the benefit of Spiller the player.
25. A Ticket for the benefit of Millward.
26. Ticket for a burial. Sold in Gulston's sale for £5, 7s. 6d.
27. A Ticket for the school at Tiverton, Devonshire.
28. The Great Seal of England.
29. Impression from a tankard belonging to a club of artists, who,
as I have been told, met at the sign of a Shepherd and his Flock,
Clare Market. This design is in a good taste. On the dexter side,
as a supporter, a man making a drawing; and on the sinister, a man
modelling a figure. In the centre is a Shepherd and his Flock, etc. A
copy sold in Mr. Gulston's sale for £10.
_Miscellaneous._
30. A small oval print of the Rape of the Lock, engraved on a
snuff-box. _Vide_ p. 25. Sold, Feb. 7, 1786, at Mr. Gulston's sale
for £33.
31. An Emblematic Print, representing Agriculture, etc.
32. A Hieroglyphic Print, representing Royalty, Episcopacy, and Law,
composed of emblematic attributes, etc., abounds in wit and satire.
Of this there is a good copy by Samuel Ireland.
33. Two small prints for books 1st and 3d of Milton's _Paradise
Lost_. W. Hogarth, _inv. et sculp._ These two prints were in Mr.
Gulston's sale sold for sixteen guineas; but the original plate
of that for book 3d has been lately discovered, and is now in the
possession of Mr. Vincent.
34. A Woman swearing a Child to a grave Citizen. W. Hogarth, _pinx._;
J. Sympson, jun., _fecit_. _Vide_ p. 188. Another copy is in Picart's
_Religious Ceremonies_.
35. Orator Henley Christening a Child. John Sympson, jun., _fecit_.
The impressions are usually taken off in green. A copy of this also
is in Picart's _Religious Ceremonies_.
36. The Mystery of Masonry brought to light by the Gormagons.
Hogarth, _inv. et sculp._
The second impression published for Sayer.
37. The Political Glyster, "Nahtanoi Tfiws" (Swift's name spelt
backwards), engraved on one corner, and on the other, Dr. O'Garth,
_sculp._ It was originally inscribed, "the punishment inflicted on
Samuel Gulliver," etc.; but when the plate came into the hands of Mr.
Sayer, he added the present retrograde and ridiculous inscription.
38. Six small prints, engraved for an early edition of King's
_Pantheon_.
NINE PRINTS FOR "DON QUIXOTE."
39. Plate 1.--Is inserted without either painter or engraver's name,
is in Jarvis' quarto translation. _Vide_ p. 220.
40. Plate 2.--Was probably engraved for Lord Carteret's _Don
Quixote_, but not introduced; one figure only being finished, and the
plate cut. _Vide_ p. 221.
41. Plate 3.--Engraved for the same work, but never inserted. _Vide_
p. 222.
42. Plate 4.--Had the same fate. _Vide_ p. 222.
43. Plate 5.--Was equally unfortunate. _Vide_ p. 224.
44. Plate 6.--Not approved. _Vide_ p. 224.
45. Plate 7.--Not inserted. _Vide_ p. 225.
46. Plate 8.--Not introduced; but with the other five came into
the hands of Mr. Dodsley, who sold a few of the first impressions,
and afterwards inserted references corresponding with Jarvis'
translation. _Vide_ p. 226.
47. Plate 9.--Sancho's Feast. _Vide_ p. 227.
48. The Master of the Vineyard, engraved for Horneck's _Happy
Ascetic_.
49. Gustavus, Lord Viscount Boyne, etc. Whole-length mezzotinto,
engraved in Ireland. W. Hogarth, _pinx._; Ford, _fecit_. The original
picture is in the possession of Mr. Bellamy. A copy of the print sold
in Gulston's sale for £2, 13s.
50. Mr. Pine (the mezzotinto engraver), in the manner of Rembrandt,
both his hands resting upon a cane. Printed for George Pulley, etc.
51. Another head of Mr. Pine; mezzotinto by M'Ardell. I am much
inclined to think that this is an alteration of the Plate No. 50. Be
that as it may, it is in every respect superior. Repaired copies,
with the inscription erased, are sometimes sold as Proofs.
52. Daniel Lock, Esq., F.S.A., mezzotinto. W. Hogarth, _pinx._; J.
M'Ardell, _fecit_. Price 1s. 6d.
53. Ticket for the London Hospital, with Richmond Arms.
54. The same, larger, without the Arms, by Grignion.
55. Another, with a view of the London Hospital.
56. The London Infirmary for charitably relieving sick and diseased
manufacturers, seamen, etc. A blank certificate for pupils in surgery
and anatomy.
57. A Witch on a Broomstick. Frontispiece to a pamphlet written by
Dr. Gregory Sharpe, but never published, inscribed Front-is-piss.
58. The Discovery, or a Black Woman in Bed.
A copy from Hogarth's Piquet, or Virtue in Danger, has been engraved
by Cheesman, and will be shortly published. The portraits of five
gentlemen who met to drink a hogshead of claret, which they finished
before they separated; of a nobleman and gentleman fighting with a
watchman; and an etching, copied from a small picture on the back of
a copperplate, have been some years advertised.
A portrait of Sir Alexander Schomberg, engraved by Townley from a
portrait by Hogarth.
A work, consisting of copies, the same size as the original prints,
and modestly entitled "_Hogarth Restored_," is now publishing in
numbers. The twelve originals of Industry and Idleness, Hogarth
published at twelve shillings. In this Restoration, the twelve copies
amount to thirty!
_An Illustration of Hogarth_, in the German language, by J. C.
Lichtenberg, with reduced copies from the prints, by J. Ripenhausen,
has been published at Gottingen, in numbers at 15s. each. The same
plates are used for a work, also publishing at Gottingen, on a
similar plan, with the illustrations in French.
Many of the following articles, and others not worth enumeration,
imputed trash and libel not his own, have been foisted into
auctioneers' catalogues, sold for large sums, warranted originals, and
ASCRIBED TO HOGARTH.
1. Coat of Arms, from a large silver tea-table. Under the Arms are a
Shepherd and his Flock.
2. Shop-bill for Peter de la Fontaine.
3. The Oratory. Orator Henley on a scaffold.
4. A Ticket for H. Fielding. Scene Pasquin.
5. A Ticket for H. Fielding. Scene the Mock Doctor.
6. A Ticket for James Figg the prize-fighter.
7. A Ticket for the benefit of Joe Miller.
8. The Gin-drinkers.
9. Jack in Office; a Ticket-porter, etc.
10. The complicated Richardson. Nauseous!
11. Pug the Painter. Sometimes ascribed to Hogarth.
12. St. Mary's Chapel, 12 at Night. Probably Vandergucht's. Sold as
Hogarth's in Gulston's sale for £3, 4s.
13. Farinelli, Cuzzoni, and Heidegger: said to be designed by the
Countess of Burlington, and etched by Goupy.
14. Frontispiece to eight views in Richmond gardens.
15. Frontispiece to Love in a Hollow Tree.
16. Ten prints to Butler's posthumous works; published in 1730. The
same designs were published in 2 vols. twelves, in 1717. Some of them
are much like Hogarth.
17. Samuel Butler, author of _Hudibras_. Coarsely engraved in an oval.
18. Thomas Pellet, M.D., President of the College of Physicians. W.
Hogarth, _pinx._; C. Hall, _sculp._
19. William Bullock, the comedian. W. Hogarth, _pinx._; C. Hall,
_sculp._
20. A scene of a pantomime entertainment lately exhibited, designed
by a Knight of Malta. Satire on the royal incorporated artists.
An etched outline of a larger size, with some additions, was
afterwards published, and inscribed No. 2.
21. The Calves' Head Club. I think, designed and engraved by
Vandergucht.
22. Rape of the Smock. A palpable imposition.
23. Lovat's Ghost on Pilgrimage. A mezzotinto copy was published May
1, 1788.
24. Four small prints of Lord Lovat's Trial, etc.
25. A dotted print of Jenny Cameron.
26. Two figures, designed for Lord Melcombe and Lord Winchelsea.
Hogarth, _inv._; F. B. (F. Bartolozzi), _sculp._; designed by Lord
Townshend.
27. North and South of Great Britain. W. Hogarth, _del._; F. B.
(Bartolozzi), _sculp._ Really designed by Sandby.
28. Inside of an Opera House, scene a prison, sold as Hogarth's at
Gulston's sale, March 1, 1786, for £2, 4s.
29. The Scotch Congregation.
30. The Search Night. J. Fielding, _sculp._ Two cards were afterwards
engraved from the same design.
31. Hogarth's cypher, with his name under it. A plate for books.
32. A living Dog is better than a dead Lion; or, the Vanity of Human
Glory: a design for the monument of General Wolfe, 1760.
33. The Five Muscovites. Copied from De la Mottraye's _Travels_.
A full-length print of a Savoyard Girl has been lately engraved from
a picture painted by Hogarth.
PRINTS PUBLISHED TO RIDICULE THE "ANALYSIS," "TIMES," ETC.
1. "A New _Dunciad_; done with a view of fixing the fluctuating ideas
of taste," etc.
2. A Mountebank demonstrating to his admiring audience that
crookedness is most beautiful.
3. The Author run mad.
4. An Author sinking under the weight of his _Analysis_.
5. "The Analyst," etc. etc. "in his own Taste." A vile, nauseous, and
vulgar print.
6. Pugg's Graces, etched from his original daubing.
7. The Temple of Ephesus in Flames, etc.; inscribed "A self-conceited
Dauber," etc., and extremely well etched.
8. "Burlesque sur le Burlesque," with a French inscription: a large
print.
9. "The second edition," with an English inscription, and some slight
variations.
10. Burlesque of the Burlesque Paul; magic lantern, etc.
11. The Painter's March from Finchley. "Dedicated to the King of the
Gypsies, as an encourager of Art, etc."
12. The Butifyer, a touch upon the Times, Plate 1.
13. The Times, Plate 2.
14. The Times, Plate 1, 1762. Hogarth's head, with the body of an
ass, at the top of a ballad.
15. The Raree Show, a political contrast to the Times.
16. The Boot and the Blockhead.
17. The Vision, or M----n--st--l Monster.
18. John Bull's House in Flames.
19. The Bruiser Triumphant, with a curtain inscribed, "A Harlot
blubbering over a Bullock's Heart."
20. Tit for Tat.
21. The Bear and Pugg: a small print.
22. The Snarling Cur chastised.
23. The Hungry Tribe of Scribblers and Etchers.
24. The Grand Triumvirate, or Champions of Liberty; with three
foolish acrostics of Wilkes, Bute, and Hogarth.
I had nearly forgotten two curiosities, which, though received in all
the catalogues, and unquestionably genuine, can hardly be classed as
prints. One is entitled Hogarth's Cottage, engraved for Mr. Camfield,
a surgeon, on a breeches button the size of a half-crown, from
Hogarth's design, of which an etched copy by S. Ireland was published
March 1, 1786. The other, being impressions taken from nine quadrille
fish, was published in 1792, with the title of--
Pisces, one of the signs of the Zodiac.
To enter into the spirit of the last article, the reader must be
informed that Hogarth never played at cards; and that while his wife
and a party of friends were so employed, he occasionally took the
quadrille fish, and cut upon them scales, fins, heads, etc., so as
to give them some degree of character. Three of these little aquatic
curiosities which remained in the possession of Mrs. Lewis, she
presented to me, and I have ventured to insert them as
A TAIL-PIECE.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The Dedication, of which I have prefixed a fac-simile, was
written for that work.
[2] I am authorized to say that during her life Mrs. Hogarth never
parted with any of his papers, except a loose leaf or some such
trifle, which in one or two instances she gave to such as wished to
possess a little specimen of Hogarth's handwriting.
[3] The printed sheets were occasionally corrected by his friend
Townley, etc. The Editor will have great pleasure in showing the MSS.
to any gentleman who will do him the honour of inspecting them.
[4] Rouquet's book was written in French, and describes the
"Harlot's" and "Rake's Progress," "Marriage à la Mode," and "March to
Finchley."
[5] When I wrote the two former volumes of _Hogarth Illustrated_,
I had not seen the MSS. which I now lay before the reader, nor
did I know that there were any such papers. His own declaration
corroborates the following conjecture relative to his early bias
to the arts:--"Young Hogarth had an early predilection for the
arts, and his future acquirements give us a right to suppose he
must have studied the curious sculptures which adorned his father's
spelling-books, though he neglected the letterpress; and when he
ought to have been storing his memory with the eight parts of
speech, was examining the allegorical apple-tree which decorates the
grammar."--_Hogarth Illustrated_, vol. i. p. 27.
[6] The dictionary here alluded to, Mrs. Lewis of Chiswick presented
to the Editor of this volume. It is a thick quarto, containing an
early edition of Littleton's _Dictionary_, and also Robertson's
_Phrases_, with numerous corrections to each, and about 400 pages
of manuscript close written. On the marginal leaf is inscripted in
Hogarth's handwriting, "The manuscript part of this dictionary was
the work of Mr. Richard Hogarth." Another volume of this work is in
the possession of J. Bindley, Esq., of the Stamp Office.
[7] Hogarth's father came to the metropolis in company with Dr.
Gibson, the late Bishop of London's brother, and was employed as
corrector of the press, which in those days was not considered as a
mean employment.
[8] By Sir James Thornhill, afterwards his father-in-law.
[9] Though averse, as he himself expresses it, to coldly copying on
the spot any objects that struck him, it was usual with him when
he saw a singular character, either in the street or elsewhere, to
pencil the leading features and prominent markings upon his nail,
and when he came home, to copy the sketch on paper, and afterwards
introduce it in a print. Several of these sketches I have seen, and
in them may be traced the first thoughts for many of the characters
which he afterwards introduced in his works.
[10] As this was the doctrine I preached as well as practised, an
arch brother of the pencil once gave it this turn, that the only way
to draw well, was not to draw at all; and, on the same principle, he
supposed that if I wrote an essay on the art of swimming, I should
prohibit my pupil from going into the water until he had learnt.
[11] If Hogarth calls himself idle, who shall dare to denominate
himself industrious?
[12] _Hudibras_ was published in 1726, so that his father probably
died about the year 1721, leaving two daughters, Mary and Anne,
besides his son William, who, on the leaf of an old memorandum book
in my possession, after mentioning the time of his own birth and
baptism, thus continues:
"Mary Hogarth was born November 10th, 1699.
Ann Hogarth, two years after in the same month.
Taken from the Register at Great St. Bartholomew's."
[13] The leader of the figures hurrying to a masquerade, crowned
with a cap and bells, and a garter round his right leg, has been
supposed to be intended for George II., who was very partial to these
nocturnal amusements, and is said to have bestowed a thousand pounds
towards their support. The purse with the label £1000, which the
satyr holds immediately before him, gives some probability to the
supposition. The kneeling figure on the show-cloth, pouring gold at
the feet of Cuzzoni, the Italian singer (with the label, "Pray accept
£8000"), has been said to be designed for Lord Peterborough.
[14] As this print, to heighten the burlesque, was almost invariably
impressed on blue paper, I have stamped the annexed copy on the same
colour.
[15] It has been truly observed that comedy exhibits the character of
a species,--farce of an individual. Of the class in which Hogarth has
a right to be placed, there can be little doubt: he wrote comedies
with a pencil.
[16] For these pictures he was elected a governor of the hospital.
On the top of the staircase, beneath the cornice, is the following
inscription: "The historical paintings of this staircase were painted
and given by Mr. William Hogarth, and the ornamental paintings at his
expense, A.D. 1736."
[17] The Reformed religion is, in almost all its branches, rather a
drawback than an assistance to art. Thus are its effects described by
Mr. Barry: "Where religion is affirmative and extended, it gives a
loose and enthusiasm to the fancy, which throws a spirit into the air
and manners, and stamps a diversity, life, quickness, sensibility,
and expressive significance over everything they do. In another place
it is more negative and contracted: being formed in direct opposition
to the first, its measures were regulated accordingly; much pains
were taken to root out and to remove everything that might give
wing to imagination, and so to regulate the outward man by a torpid
inanimate composure, gravity, and indifference, that it may attend
to nothing but mere acts of necessity, everything else being reputed
idle and vain. They have had as few words as buttons, the tongue
spoke almost without moving the lips, and the circumstances of a
murder were related with as little emotion as an ordinary mercantile
transaction."--_Barry on the Arts_, p. 214.
[18] Hogarth may possibly allude to Ranelagh Barret, who, I learn
from Mr. Walpole, was thus employed; and, being countenanced by
Sir Robert Walpole, copied several of his collection, and others for
the Duke of Devonshire and Dr. Mead. He was indefatigable,--executed
a vast number of works,--succeeded greatly in copying Rubens, and
died in 1768. His pictures were sold by auction in the December of
that year.
[19] In part of this violent philippic Hogarth may possibly glance
at the late President of the Royal Academy, whom, it has been said,
but I think unjustly, he envied. In Sir Joshua's very early pictures
there is not much to envy; they gave little promise of the taste and
talents which blaze in his later works.
[20] Vanloo came to England with his son in the year 1737.--Walpole's
_Anecdotes_.
[21] I am not sufficiently versed in the palette biography of the
day to know who are the painters that these stars, etc. etc. etc.
allude to. Abbé le Blanc, in his letter to the Abbé du Bos on the
state of painting and sculpture in England, notices the whole body
in the following _very flattering_ terms: "The portrait painters are
at this day more numerous and worse in London than ever they have
been. Since Mr. Vanloo came hither, they strive in vain to run him
down; for nobody is painted but by him. I have been to see the most
noted of them; at some distance one might easily mistake a dozen of
their portraits for twelve copies of the same original. Some have the
head turned to the left, others to the right; and this is the most
sensible difference to be observed between them. Moreover, excepting
the face, you find in all the same neck, the same arms, the same
flesh, the same attitude; and to say all, you observe no more life
than design in those pretended portraits. Properly speaking, they are
not painters; they know how to lay colours on the canvas, but they
know not how to animate it. Nature exists in vain for them; they see
her not, or if they see her, they have not the art of expressing her."
[22] Sir Francis Bacon somewhere remarks, that in the flight of Fame
she will make but slow progress without some feathers of ostentation.
[23] The rival portraits here alluded to are: George the Second,
patron of the foundation, by Shackleton; Lord Dartmouth, one of the
vice-presidents, by Mr. Reynolds (afterwards Sir Joshua); Taylor
White, treasurer of the Hospital, in crayons, by Coates; Mr. Milner
and Mr. Jackson, by Hudson; Dr. Mead, by Ramsay; Mr. Emmerson, by
Highmore; and Francis Fauquier, Esq., by Wilson.
To say that it is superior to these is but slight praise; independent
of this relative superiority, it will not be easy to point out a
better painted portrait. The head, which is marked with uncommon
benevolence, was in 1739 engraved in mezzotinto by M'Ardell.
[24] Thus does Hogarth pun upon the name of Mr. Ramsay, who he seems
to think peered too closely into his prints, though he acknowledges
that, in a book entitled _The Investigator_, Ramsay has treated him
with more candour than any of his other opponents.
[25] Upon the death of Coram this pension was continued to poor old
Leveridge, for whose volume of songs Hogarth had, in 1727, engraved
a title-page and frontispiece, and who at the age of ninety had
scarcely any other prospect than that of a parish subsistence.
[26] How very inferior was this to the portrait of Coram! But the
genuine benevolence and simplicity which beams in the countenance
of the friend and protector of helpless infancy is not calculated
to strike the million so forcibly as the dramatic perturbation of a
guilty tyrant. In this, as in some other cases, the purchaser seems
to have paid for the player rather than the picture. It was painted
for the late Mr. Duncombe, of Duncombe Park, Yorkshire.
[27] By both the artists and connoisseurs of his own day he was
accused of having stolen the ideas contained in his "Essay" from
Lomazzo. Several prints which were published in support of this
opinion will be noticed.
[28] The fable here alluded to is entitled, _A Painter who pleased
everybody and nobody_:
"So very like a painter drew,
That every eye the picture knew.--
His honest pencil touch'd with truth,
And mark'd the date of age and youth;"
But see the consequence:
"In dusty piles his pictures lay,
For no one sent the second pay."
Finding the result of truth so unpropitious to his fame and fortune,
he changed his practice:
"Two bustos fraught with every grace,
A Venus, and Apollo's, face
He placed in view;--resolved to please,
Whoever sat, he drew from these."
This succeeded to a tittle:
"Through all the town his art they prais'd,
His custom grew, his price was rais'd."
[29] The "Distressed Poet," "Enraged Musician," and a companion print
on painting which, though advertised, was never published, are the
three here alluded to.
[30] In his description of the Legion Club, after portraying many of
the characters with most pointed severity, Swift thus exclaims:
"How I want thee, humorous Hogarth!
Thou, I hear, a pleasant rogue art!
Were but you and I acquainted,
Every monster should be painted.
You should try your graving tools
On this odious group of fools;
Draw the beasts as I describe them;
Form their features while I gibe them;
Draw them like, for I assure ye,
You will need no _caricatura_.
Draw them so that we may trace
All the soul in every face."
[31] The designer of a print which was published in 1753, and
intended to burlesque some of the figures in the _Analysis of
Beauty_, seems to have believed that Hogarth intended to have
published his objections to the establishment of the academy. The
print is entitled "Pugg's Graces," and the artist is represented with
the legs of a satyr, and painting "Moses before Pharaoh's Daughter."
One of his hoofs rests on three books, the lowest of which is
labelled _Analysis of Beauty_. A little lower in the print is an open
volume, on one page of which is written, _Reasons against a Public
Academy_, 1753; and on the other, _No Salary_.
[32] Louis XIV. founded an academy for the French at Rome; but
Poussin and Le Sueur, painters who have done the most credit to
France, were prior to the establishment.
[33] The late Sir Robert Strange seems to have entertained an opinion
somewhat similar:--"Academies, under proper regulations, are no doubt
the best nurseries of the fine arts. But when the establishment of
the Royal Academy at London is impartially examined, it will not, I
am afraid, reflect that credit we wish upon the annals of its royal
founder."--Strange's _Inquiry_, p. 61.
[34] "Of the estimation in which they were held, and the taste with
which they were contemplated by the Romans, we may form some judgment
by a general assuring a soldier, to whom he gave in charge a statue
which was the work of Praxiteles, that if he broke it, he should get
another as good made in its place."
[35] Transmigrations of heathen deities into apostles, etc., have
been too frequent to need particular enumeration.
[36] Sir Godfrey Kneller knew this, and made the most of his labours.
He used to say, in his own vindication, that historical painting only
revived the memory of the dead, who could give no testimony of their
gratitude; but when he painted the living, he gained what enabled him
to live from their bounty.
[37] The president Montesquieu, the Abbés Winckelmann, Du Bos, and Le
Blanc, have gravely asserted, that from the coldness of our climate,
and other causes equally curious, we can never succeed in anything
that requires genius.
[38] "Their mode of judging subjects them to continual imposition;
for what is called manner is easily copied by the lowest performer:
he only fails in beauty, delicacy, and spirit!"
[39] One specimen of Mr. Kent's talents in painting is in page 39.
Mr. Walpole's description of some of his other pictures, and the
history of his patronage, amply illustrate Hogarth's opinion of the
artist's abilities in that branch.
[40] How far the present situation of the Royal Academy and the arts
has fulfilled or contradicted this opinion, I will not presume to
determine.
[41] Mr. Strange, in his _Inquiry into the Rise and Establishment
of the Royal Academy of Arts of London_, places the causes of this
disagreement in a point of view somewhat different from Mr. Hogarth's
narrative; but in their account of the consequences the narrators
precisely agree:--
"A society, composed of a number of the most respectable persons in
this country, commonly known by the name of the 'Dilettanti,' made
the first step towards an establishment of this nature. That society
having accumulated a considerable fund, and being really promoters
of the fine arts, generously offered to appropriate it to support a
public academy.
"General Gray, a gentleman distinguished by his public spirit and
fine taste, was deputed by that society to treat with the artists.
I was present at their meeting. On the part of our intended
benefactors, I observed that generosity and benevolence which are
peculiar to true greatness; but on the part of the majority of the
leading artists, I was sorry to remark motives, apparently limited
to their own views and ambition to govern, diametrically opposite to
the liberality with which we were treated. After various conferences,
the 'Dilettanti' finding that they were to be allowed no share in the
government of the academy, or in the appropriating their own fund,
the negotiation ended."--Strange's _Inquiry_, p. 62.
[42] This society was first projected by Mr. William Shipley, who
was very active in his endeavours to establish it. Their original
proposal was, to "give premiums for the revival and advancement of
those arts and sciences which are at a low ebb amongst us; as poetry,
painting, tapestry, architecture, etc." The plan, in the latter end
of the year 1753, was laid before Dr. Hales and Mr. Baker, by whom
it was introduced to Lord Romney and Lord Folkestone, who warmly
patronized the institution.
In March 1754, they met at Rathmell's Coffeehouse, Henrietta Street,
Covent Garden. Their first premium for the best drawing by boys and
girls under fourteen years of age was £15; but as the subscribers
were then too few in number to raise the proposed sum, the two
above-named noblemen made good a considerable deficiency. They next
met at the Circulating Library, in Crane Court, Fleet Street, and
on the 10th of January 1755 at Peele's Coffeehouse, where the first
premium of £5 for the best drawing by boys under the age of fourteen
was adjudged to Mr. Richard Cosway.
[43] "Swift's Laputa tailor made all his clothes by mathematical
rules, and there was no objection to them,--except that they never
fitted those for whom they were made."
[44] Little did Hogarth imagine that a man lived in his own time,
who, by a great commercial enterprise, should awaken the spirit of
the nation to historical and poetical paintings from the drama of
Shakspeare. This drama has been a school for the representation
of all the passions, and opened to the artist a new mine of rich
materials for displaying the mirror of life in the colours of nature.
The Shakspeare Gallery has been followed by undertakings of a similar
description, and, all united, have afforded a patronage to the arts
which had been vainly sought for among the nobility, and given to
such painters as had the power, a fair opportunity of confuting the
visionary assertion, that it was not possible for an Englishman to
paint a good historical picture.
[45] How far Hogarth's prediction has been fulfilled, by the
repentance of some painters who may have been thus dragged into the
temple of taste, those painters only can determine.
[46] The hope of the arts is in the patronage of the sovereign.
[47] A great personage once remarked that sculpture was too cold and
chilling for this climate.
[48] What shall we say of these, if fame is denied to the living?
[49] On Mr. Lane's death they became the property of his nephew,
Colonel Cawthorn; and on the 5th of February 1797, were sold by
auction at Christie's room, and purchased by Mr. Angerstein for one
thousand guineas.
It has frequently been the fate of painters, as well as poets, to
have their works disregarded until the authors were out of the
hearing of praise or censure. Young, in his _Love of Fame_, speaking
of the value which a writer's death gave to his productions, neatly
enough concludes with an allusion to Tonson the bookseller:
"This truth sagacious Tonson knew full well,
And starv'd his authors that their works might sell."
[50] Such is the date both in his MS. and the preface to the
_Analysis_, though under the print he has engraven, "_Se ipse pinxit
et sculpsit_, 1749." It is probable that in the first instance he
meant to speak of the painting it was taken from, which is now in the
possession of Mr. Angerstein.
[51] To this he evidently alludes in giving the well-known story of
Columbus breaking the egg as a subscription-receipt to his _Analysis
of Beauty_.
[52] Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose lectures are, generally speaking,
the best rules conveyed in the best language, in his discourse, read
December 11th, 1769, acknowledges "that old pictures celebrated for
their colouring are often so changed by dirt and varnish, that we
ought not to wonder if they do not appear equal to their reputation
in the eyes of unexperienced painters or young students." But he
asserts "that an artist whose judgment is matured by long observation
considers rather what the picture once was than what it is at
present. He has acquired a power by habit of seeing the brilliancy of
tints through the cloud by which it is obscured."
Don Quixote, through the cloud of dirt and deformity which obscured
a vulgar country wench, discovered the brilliant beauties of that
peerless princess, the Lady Dulcinea del Toboso! Such is the power of
enchantment.
[53] I do not know what Hogarth here alludes to; perhaps to some
figure that he had threatened to paint as an exemplification of his
system.
[54] In this notice of the writers by whom he was attacked, he
particularly alludes to the _North Briton_, No. 17. As to the crooked
compliments paid him by his brethren in art, they were numerous
indeed.
Among his papers I found a tolerably spirited drawing in pen
and ink, entitled "A Christmas Gambol from Leicester Square to
Westminster Hall," representing the artist with ass's ears,
stripped, and tied to a cart's tail, and an old fellow with a long
wig and cat-o'-nine-tails in his hand, lashing his naked back, and
exclaiming, "You'll write books, will ye!" A barber's block, fixed
on a straight pole, is stuck at the head of the cart, and labelled,
"Perpendicular and beautiful blockhead." The horse is led by a vulgar
drayman, whose locks being so dishevelled as to form a kind of glory,
are inscribed, "Lines of beauty." Over the head of the painter is
this motto: "'Twere better a millstone had been tied about thy neck,
and (THOU) cast into the sea."
The following specimen of polite satire and curious orthography
crowns the whole:--
"_N.B._--Speedily will be published, an apology, in quarto, called
_Beauty's Defiance to Charicature_; with a very extraordinary
frontispiece, a just portraiture (printed on fool's-cap paper), and
descriptive of the punishment that ought to be inflicted on him that
dare give false and unnatural descriptions of beauty, or charicature
great personages; it being an illegal as well as a mean practice;
at the same time flying in the face of all regular bred gentlemen
painters, sculptures, architects--in fine--arts and sciences."
Numerous prints were published in ridicule of his system and himself.
In a set of engravings, entitled "The New Dunciad, done with a view
of fixing the fluctuating ideas of taste, dedicated to his friend
Beauty's Analyzer," I find several prints with mottoes, which, in
most vile and vulgar phrase, ridiculed both author and book. Some of
them are not destitute of humour; but all would ere now have been
consigned to oblivion, had not they been occasionally collected as
relatives to Hogarth. One of them is entitled "Pugg's Graces, etched
from his ORIGINAL daubing."
In this the artist is represented at his easel, with _Lomazzo_ in
his pocket, and with a satyr's feet (one of which rests on some
copies of his _Analysis_), and painting the picture of "Pharaoh's
Daughter." He is accompanied by a fat and a lean connoisseur; the
former shows evident marks of admiration, but the latter holds the
_Analysis_ in his left hand, and appears rather puzzled. A figure
in the background, who, to show that he is a judge, is arrayed in
a gown, a band, and ample periwig, shows evident marks of disgust.
Three naked and most filthy female figures, one of them fat as was
Bright of Malden, and another tall and thin as a splinter of the
Monument, are intended to represent "Pugg's graceless Graces." One of
these _beauties_ rests her foot on a box inscribed, "For the March
presented to the Foundling Hospital, with a gilded frame for the
admiration of the public." The other is seated on a chest of drawers,
on which are written under the word FOLLY, "Bid for by Pugg's
friends, £50, £100, £120." This most pointed piece of wit evidently
alludes to the auction of "Marriage à la Mode," which has been
already noticed. On the upper part of the print is a head, entitled
"A modern cherubin," with a bag-wig on, and a stick bent into a
waving line in his mouth, a satyr holding a medallion, on which is a
head with a cap and bells, and many other curious allusions to the
serpentine line. On the floor are a pair of stays, a pair of boots,
a pair of candlesticks, etc. etc., allusive to the prints to the
_Analysis_. Beneath is a grotesque figure of a devil, with a little
incubus, masks, etc., holding in his hand a piece of paper, which
seems a leaf of the book, and is inscribed, "To be continued."
A. C. _Invt. et Sculp._--Published according to Act of Parliament,
1753-4.
On the back of this delicate satire is printed the following
address:--
"TO THE PUBLIC.
"I propose to publish by subscription an _Analysis of the Sun_,
in which I will show the constituent parts of which it is
composed, and of which it ought to have been composed.
"I will compute exactly its magnitude and quantity of matter,
both as it is, and as it ought to have been constructed.
"As to the supposed motion of the sun or earth, I shall prove
that Ptolemy and Copernicus were neither of them right in any
part of their conjectures; and that consequently Kepler, Des
Cartes, Cassini, Leibnitz, and Sir Isaac Newton are absolutely
wrong.
"I will likewise refute that vulgar error, that the sun, with
respect to our earth, is the cause of light and heat; and I will
show how they are caused.
"I will prove that the figure of our earth is an inverted ∽. And
lastly, I will demonstrate that their systems show nothing of my
line of beauty.
"This work will be printed on a new invented fool's-cap paper, at
half a guinea to subscribers; but to those who do not subscribe,
it will be fifteen shillings.
"Subscriptions will be taken in by the etcher of this plate, and
at my house, at the sign of the Harlot's Head in Leicester Fields.
"_N.B._--It will be in vain for astronomers, foreign or domestic,
to crowd my house for information in their art; I grant them
leave to subscribe, which is all the favour they are to expect
from me.
"W. H."
In a well-etched print which, on a monumental stone placed in the
corner, the engraver has chosen to denominate "A self-conceited
arrogant dauber, grovelling in vain to undermine the ever-sacred
temple of the best painters, sculptors, architects, etc., in
imitation of the impious Herostratus, who with sacrilegious flame
destroyed the temple of Diana to perpetuate his name to posterity."
We have here a very rich and well-imagined column, the base
ornamented with historical bas-relief; and between a serpent,
which is spirally twisted round a circular pillar, are portraits
of painters, sculptors, etc. At the bottom of this, on his knees,
and still with satyr's legs and feet, and a pen stuck in his hat,
the artist has represented Hogarth; who, attended by a well-dressed
connoisseur in the character of his torch-bearer, accompanied by
his favourite dog, and armed with his palette knife, is grubbing up
whatever he can find under it. No. 3, the inscription informs us, is
"A satyr ready to lash the scribbler away;" and by the same authority
we learn that No. 4 are "Geese," which being placed close to this
emulator of the fame of Erostratus, "greedily swallows whatever he
can rake up with his palette knife," etc. etc. etc. The print is
enriched with cypress trees, capitals, well-formed vases, and superb
edifices; the whole (for it is a night scene) is lighted up by the
temple of Diana in flames. Beneath it is the waving line in a small
triangle, and the following verses:--
"The vile Ephesian, to obtain
A name--a temple fires;
Observe, friend H--g--th, 'twas in vain,
He had not his desires.
You might with reason, sure, expect
Your fate would be the same;
Men first thy labours will neglect,
Next quite forget thy name."
One nauseous delineation is entitled, "The Artist in his own Taste;"
and another, "The Author run mad." In one he is represented as "A
mountebank, demonstrating to his admiring audience that crookedness
is most beautiful;" and in another of a larger size, entitled "The
Burlesquer Burlesqued," depicted with satyr's legs, painting what the
designer calls "A history piece, suitable to the painter's capacity,
from a Dutch manuscript." This history piece is a copy of the Dutch
delineation of Abraham sacrificing Isaac, by pointing a blunderbuss
at his head, with an angel hovering over the figures, etc. The lives
of Rembrandt, Rubens, Vandyke, and other eminent painters, are
ingeniously imagined to be torn in pieces to make a window-blind for
the author of the _Analysis of Beauty_; which book, with allusions to
it, are displayed in different parts of the print, and in a storied
border at the bottom it appears to be selling for waste paper.
Of this engraving, the satire of which is principally levelled at the
burlesque "Paul before Felix," there are two editions; the first, for
the more extensive circulation of Hogarth's fame, and the benefit of
such foreigners as do not understand English, has an explanation in
French.
[55] The Doctor's orthography is adhered to.
[56] Mr. Emlyn, of Windsor, who in 1782 published _A Proposition
for a New Order in Architecture_, thus divides them: "The Doric was
composed on the system of manly figure and strength, of robust and
Herculean proportions; the Ionic, on the model of the easy, delicate,
and simple graces of female beauty, to which the Corinthian on a
similar design adapted a system of more artificial and complicated
elegance."
[57] Among Hogarth's papers I found the following notice, in which he
evidently glances at Athenian Stuart:--
"Now in hand, and will be published in about two months' time, a
short addenda or supplement to the _Analysis of Beauty_, wherein, by
the doctrine of varying lines, it will plainly be shown that a man
who had never seen or heard of Roman architecture might, by adhering
to these lines, produce new and original forms.
"The number of pompous and expensive books of architecture which have
been lately published, consist of little more than examples of the
variations that were made among the ancients; and nice and useless
disputes about which were the most elegant, without assigning any
other reason for their choice than the authority of the columns they
have measured, which gives them no other merit than that of mere
pattern drawers."
[58] This quotation is from p. 130, and refers to two heads in the
second plate, Nos. 108 and 9, one of which has a slight tendency to a
smile, and the other has a broad grin. The head here copied, in point
of character, comes between them.
[59] This is copied from the MS. of the _Analysis_, where he had made
the drawings of the "Round and Square Heads," which he evidently
intended to have introduced in his plate.
[60] "_Cleop._ Bear'st thou her face in mind?
Is't long or round?
"_Mess._ Round even to faultiness.
"_Cleop._ For the most part, they are foolish that are so."
[61] This truth is amply verified in the epistle above quoted:
"Oh, lasting as thy colours may they shine,
Free as thy stroke, yet faultless as thy line!
New graces yearly like thy works display,
Soft without weakness, without glaring gay;
Led by some rule that guides but not constrains,
And finish'd more through happiness than pains."
In what light can we consider the character painted by the bard when
we compare it with the pictures painted by the artist? It has been
truly said, that "the poet has enshrined the feeble talents of the
painter in the lucid amber of his glowing lines."
The conclusion of his epitaph on Sir Godfrey Kneller affords another
notable example:--
"Living, great Nature fear'd he might outvie
Her works; and dying, fears herself may die."
[62] Were the head of the "Satyr of the Wood" (No. 3) close shaved,
and dignified with a clerical periwig, it would bear a strong
resemblance to Sir Joshua Reynolds' portrait of the author of
_Tristram Shandy_.
[63] Which he is said to have caricatured in this plate.
[64] "Sing--we will drink nothing but Lipari wine."--_Rehearsal._
[65] The last paragraph in his preface, p. 10, begins as follows:--
"That perspective is an essential requisite to a good painter, is
attested by all our most eminent artists, and confirmed by almost
every author who has wrote upon painting. Nay, the very term
'painting' implies perspective; for to draw a good picture is to
draw the representation of nature as it appears to the eye; and to
draw the perspective representation of any object, is to draw the
representation of that object as it appears to the eye. Therefore the
terms 'painting' and 'perspective' seem to be synonymous, though I
know there is a critical difference between the words. I would not
be understood to mean that a person is always to follow the rigid
rules of perspective, for there are some cases in which it may be
necessary to deviate from them; but then he must do it with modesty,
and for some good reason, as we have shown in the course of this
work. Nor would I be thought to desire the artist to make use of
scale or compasses upon all occasions, and to draw out every line
and point to a mathematical exactness, as the design of this work is
quite the reverse: it is to teach the general rules of perspective,
and to enforce the practice of it by easy and almost self-evident
principles; to assist the judgment and to direct the hand, and not to
perplex either by unnecessary lines or dry theorems."
The publication of this drew forth Mr. Highmore, who, in the preface
of a pamphlet with the following title, now become very scarce, gave
his decided opposition to the system:--
"A Critical Examination of those two Paintings on the ceiling of
Whitehall, in which Architecture is introduced, so far as relates to
the Perspective, together with the discussion of a question which has
been the subject of debate among painters. Written many years since,
but now first published, by J. Highmore. Printed for Nourse, 1754."
The question Mr. Highmore professes to discuss is by himself stated
as follows, viz.:--
"Whether a range of columns, standing on a line parallel to the
picture, ought to be painted according to the strict rules of
perspective; that is, whether those columns, in proportion as they
recede from the centre of the picture, should be drawn broader than
that directly opposite to the eye, as the rules require; or whether
(because they really in nature appear less, in proportion as they are
more distant) they ought not to be made less, or at most, equal to
each other in the picture?...
"Mr. Kirby says, p. 70 of his first part: 'Since the fallacies of
vision are so many and great, etc., it seems reasonable not to comply
with the strict rules of mathematical perspective, in some particular
cases (as in this before us), but to draw the representations of
objects as they appear to the eye,' etc. But I would ask, How? By
guess, or by some rule? And if by any, by what rule are they to
be drawn contrary to, or different from, the strict mathematical
perspective rules?"
In reply to these and many other strictures contained in the preface,
Hogarth wrote some remarks to Mr. Kirby, in which he asks, "Whether
an oval or egg can be the true representation of a sphere or ball?
or whether buildings should be drawn by any such rule as would make
them appear tumbling down, and be allowed to be truly represented,
because the designer of them is able to show how a spectator may, in
half an hour's time, be placed at such a point as would make them all
appear upright? as by a like trick or contrivance the oval may be
foreshortened so as to appear a circle."
He further asks, "Would a carpenter allow fourteen inches to be the
true representation of a foot-rule, since in no situation whatever
can the eye possibly see it so?"
Again: "Did ever any history-painter widen or distort his figures as
they are removed from the centre of his picture? Or would he draw a
file of musqueteers in that manner, when the last man in the rank
would be broader than high? Why would he then serve a poor column or
pedestal thus, when, poor dumb things, they cannot help themselves?
And are all objects exempt from the rules of perspective except
buildings? Did Highmore ever so much as dream of an intervening plane
when he had been drawing a family piece with four or five people
in a row, so as to distort the bodies and forms of those who had
the misfortune to be placed nearest to the side of the frame? And
what satisfaction would it be to his customers to tell them they
were only disposed by the true rules of perspective, and might be
seen in their proper shape again if they would give themselves the
trouble of looking through a pin hole at a certain distance, which,
by learning perspective, they might be able to find in half an
hour's time; or, to save themselves that trouble, they might get a
painter to lug them about till their eye was brought to the proper
point. He then observes, that he would not have the intervening plane
wholly rejected, but that it should be laid aside when it begins
to do mischief, or is of no use; for it is no doubt as necessary
to painters of architecture as scaffolding is to builders; but,
like the latter, is always to be taken away when the work comes
to be finished; and every defect that either may have occasioned
must be corrected by the eye, which is capable to judge of the most
complicated objects, perspectively true, where the dry mathematics
of the art are left far behind as incapable of lending the least
assistance.
"These things our mathematicians are strangers to,--therefore, in my
opinion, have rated them too high. Dr. Swift thought mere Philos a
ridiculous sort of people, as appears by a song of his on two very
remarkable ones--Whiston and Ditton. I forget it particularly, but it
was about the longitude being mist on by Whiston, and not better hit
on by Ditton: sing Whiston, etc. etc. Ditton has wrote a good book on
speculative perspective."
Hogarth then alludes to Highmore's critique on Rubens' ceiling at
Whitehall, and asks, "What is it but what almost every child knows,
even without the knowledge of perspective? viz. that parallel lines
always meet in a point, and that he has with penetration discovered.
Oh, wonderful discovery! that Rubens, unskilfully, has kept them
parallel in his column, to embellish which he has tacked two fibs:
one, that the error was owing to the drawing them as they would
appear to the eye; the other, that the historical figures are truly
in perspective; whereas King James, the principal, has a head widened
or distorted, though it goes off from the eye almost as much as he
would have the side columns, which are the subjects of controversy."
[66] Though Mr. Malton's description is built on fancy as much as Mr.
Hogarth's design, it must be acknowledged that some of his criticism
is just. With respect to the column, nothing either elevated or
grand has yet been produced by violently deviating from the first
models. Mr. Emlyn, in the year 1782, published a proposition for a
sixth order, which in some points resembles Hogarth's. The plan of
_his_ column is to represent the particular character of our English
chivalry in its most illustrious order--the order of the Garter: it
is to be composed of the single trunks of trees; his capitals are
to be copied from the plumage of the knights' caps, with the Ionic
volutes interwoven and bound together in the front, with the star
of the order between them. The fluting of the trunk is cabled, and
the cables hollow and filled with the English arrow, the feathered
end rising out of each of them. The ornament of the frieze over the
columns is a plume of three ostrich feathers, etc. etc. etc.
Sir Joshua Reynolds, in his discourse delivered December 10, 1776,
gives the following strong reasons against any new order succeeding:--
"Though it is from the prejudice we have in favour of the ancients,
who have taught us architecture, that we had adopted likewise their
ornaments; and though we are satisfied that neither nature nor reason
are the foundation of those beauties which we imagine we see in that
art; yet if any one, persuaded of this truth, should therefore invent
new orders of equal beauty, which we will suppose to be possible,
yet they would not please; nor ought he to complain, since the old
has that great advantage of having custom and prejudice on its side.
In this case we leave what has every prejudice in its favour, to
take that which will have no advantage over what we have left, but
novelty, which soon destroys itself, and at any rate is but a weak
antagonist against custom."
[67] "On our own stage we have seen dances in which the ingenious
composer thought he represented the four seasons, the four elements,
and the five senses. These jigs conveyed about as much meaning as
dancing odes or dancing sermons."
[68] Mr. Rouquet, enamel painter to the King of France, in his
book on _The Present State of the Arts in England_, printed for
Nourse in 1755, after enumerating chasing, engraving, painting,
sculpture, architecture, etc., as arts that are practised in England,
concludes with a chapter on the Art of Cookery, which he thus gravely
introduces:--
"There is an art, the only one that can justly pretend to unite
pleasure with absolute utility; but this art, born in servitude, to
which it is still condemned, notwithstanding its extreme importance,
is reckoned ignoble, for which reason some perhaps will be surprised
at seeing me give it a place in this work; I mean the art of
preparing aliments."
[69] This is a palpable hit at Handel. In a caricatured portrait,
entitled "The Charming Brute," this great composer is delineated
sitting on a hogshead with the profile of a boar, a bill of fare, and
other emblems of voluptuousness scattered round him. Published March
21, 1754. Motto on a scroll, "I am myself alone," and under the print
these lines:--
"The figure's odd, yet who would think,
Within this tomb of meat and drink
There dwells the soul of soft desires,
And all that harmony inspires?
Can contrast such as this be found
Upon the globe's extensive round?
There can! yon hogshead is his seat,
His sole diversion is to eat."
When Handel had once a large party to dinner, the cloth being
removed, he introduced plain port. Having drank four or five glasses
with his guests, he suddenly started up--exclaimed--"I have a
thought!" and stalked out of the room, to which after a short absence
he returned. Having drank a few more glasses he uttered the same
sentence--again retreated, and again returned. It was naturally
supposed that he wished to commit to paper some idea that struck him
at the moment, and passed over; but, when in less than an hour he a
third time started--growled out--"I have a thought!" and a third time
left the company, one of the gentlemen privately followed, and traced
him into another apartment, where, on looking through the keyhole, he
saw this great master of music kneel down to a hamper of champagne,
that he might more conveniently reach out a flask, which having
nearly finished, he returned to his friends!
[70] In Hogarth's time the forms of nature were tortured and
disguised by stiff stays: the ladies of the present day are not
guilty of _this_ error. As to _the bloom of Circassia_, the less that
is said about it the better.
[71] However unimportant Hogarth thought the cut of a coat, certain
adepts in the art, about two years since, published a half-guinea
book, on the scientific acquisitions necessary to make a perfect
tailor!
"This day is published, price 10s. 6d., _The Tailor's Complete
Guide, or a Comprehensive Analysis of Beauty and Elegance of Dress_;
containing rules for cutting out garments of every kind, and fitting
any person with the greatest accuracy and precision. Also plain
directions how to avoid the errors of the trade in misfitting, and
pointing out the method of rectifying what may be done amiss; to
which is added a description to cut out and make the patent plastic
habits and clothes without the usual seams, now in the highest
estimation with the nobility and gentry, according to the patent
granted by his Majesty; the whole concerted and devised by a society
of adepts in the profession.
*** "This work was undertaken solely for the benefit of the trade,
to instruct the rising generation, and perfectly to complete them in
the art and science of cutting out clothes. The copperplates consist
of each separated part, which will on the first view convince the
uninformed mind that with a little attention he may be a complete
tailor."
[72] Hogarth might conceive that, by rendering the habits of his
early figures more conformable to the fashion of the times, when they
were altered he improved them. Collectors are of a different opinion,
though it must be acknowledged that, in Plate IV. of "The Rake's
Progress," the humour is much heightened by introducing a group of
vulgar minor gamblers in the place of the shoeblack.
[73] The picture was exhibited at Spring Gardens in the year 1761,
with the title of "Piquet, or Virtue in Danger," and is still in the
collection of the nobleman for whom it was painted.
It may fairly be considered as a moral lesson against gaming. The
clock denotes five in the morning. The lady has lost her money,
jewels, a miniature of her husband, and the half of a £500 bank note,
which, by a letter lying on the floor, she appears to have recently
received from him. In fine, all is lost except her honour; and in
this dangerous moment she is represented perplexed, agitated, and
irresolute. A print of it has lately been finely engraved by Mr.
Cheesman.
[74] In the little memorandum book from which I extracted this,
Hogarth has inserted the following note (without the translation)
from _Horace_. I do not produce it as a proof that he was a Latin
scholar, but suppose that the lines were pointed out by some literary
friend, and he thus applied them:--
"Segnius irritant animos dimissa per aures,
Quam quæ sunt oculis commissa fidelibus."
"What we hear,
With weaker passion will affect the ear,
Than when the faithful eye beholds the part."
--FRANCIS.
[75] The artist requested his widow would not sell it during her
lifetime for less than £500. She abided by his injunction. Since her
death it was put up to auction at Greenwood's rooms, and purchased by
Messrs. Boydell: it is in their possession now.
I some years since saw a picture of "Lucretia," by Domenichino, in
the collection of Mr. Welbore Ellis Agar, which in air, attitude, and
expression, bore a strong resemblance to Hogarth's "Sigismunda."
[76] "The Altar-piece to St. Mary Redcliffe's, Bristol," for which he
received five hundred pounds, and the "Paul before Felix," painted
for Lincoln's-Inn Hall.
[77] That this picture was much abused is certain, but it is
equally certain that the painter had occasionally some consolatory
compliments. Robert Lloyd, in one of his fables, asserts that
"Sigismunda"
"Shall urge a bold and proper claim
To level half the ancient fame."
A writer in the _Public Advertiser_, March 7, 1761, honours it with
the following stanzas:--
"_Upon seeing the picture of 'Sigismunda,' painted by Hogarth._
"Antiquity, be dumb! no longer boast
Arts yet unrivall'd or invention lost:
From Greece, whose taste was fashion'd into law,
From far-fam'd Greece, one instance let us draw.
Atrides' grief Timanthes strove to paint,
But found his art was foil'd, his colours faint:
A veil conceal'd the inexpressive face,
And what was want of power was call'd 'a grace.'
In Sigismund the mind no want supplies,
The painter trusts his genius to your eyes;
Passion's warm tints beneath his pencil glow,
And from the canvas starts the living woe.
At length be just--throw prejudice aside;
The modern shows--what the Greek could but hide.
Then from the ancient take the palm away,
And crown the greatest Artist of his day."
--HOWARD.
[78] _N.B._--At Sir Luke Schaub's sale, Sir Richard Grosvenor bid
four hundred pounds for a less picture, said to be a "Correggio," but
really painted by an obscure French artist.
[79] It appears by the subscription-book that it closed March 26.
During this time there were fifty subscribers at half a guinea each;
the receipts were given on the print of "Time Smoking a Picture." The
first name is that of Dr. Garnier, for two prints; the last, who also
subscribes for two prints, is Mr. Thomas Hollis. This gentleman would
not receive back the guinea he had paid, and it was given to a public
charity. Among the names are the late Philip Thicknesse, Dr. Hunter,
Samuel Curteis of Wapping, and David Garrick; against each of the
subscriptions is marked, "Money returned."
Under the direction of Hogarth, Mr. Basire made an etching from
"Sigismunda," but it was never finished. A drawing in oil was made
from it by Mr. Edwards, and it was a few years since engraved in
mezzotinto by Dunkerton. Mr. Ridley engraved it for Messrs. Boydell,
and a reduced copy is in the first volume of _Hogarth Illustrated_.
[80] The chosen band who then directed the storm, having dragged poor
"Sigismunda" into their political vortex, the cannibal caricaturists
of the day tore her in pieces as a carcase for the hounds, and rioted
over her mangled remains.
One of these political slaughtermen, in a print entitled "The Bruiser
Triumphant," describes Sigismunda in the character of a harlot
blubbering over a bullock's heart. In another, elegantly inscribed
"Tit for Tat," Hogarth is represented painting Wilkes' portrait, and
a bloated and filthy figure displayed in the background baptized
Sigismunda. Many other wretched and contemptible squibs were hurled
about on the same occasion. Besides this public abuse, some of the
anonymous versifiers of the day, who were not yet important enough
to figure in a newspaper or flutter in a magazine, condescended to
notice his political errors, and for the gratification of the artist
transmitted their effusions to Leicester Fields.
The following stanzas I found among his other papers, addressed
"_To the Author of the Times._
"Why, Billy, in the vale of life,
Show so much rancour, spleen, and strife?
Why, Billy, at a statesman's whistle,
Drag dirty loads and feed on thistle?
Did any of the long-ear'd tribe
E'er swallow half so mean a bribe?
Pray have you no sinister end,
Thus to abuse the nation's friend?
His country's and his monarch's glory,
Who prais'd no man as Whig or Tory.
His country is his dearest mother,
And every honest man his brother.
Not so your patron can appear,
He buys up scrip, and stops the arrear;
His practice still, in every station,
To serve himself and starve the nation.
Then, Billy, in the vale of life,
Desist from all this noise and strife;
For though the hint perhaps is bold,
I tell thee thou art growing old.
Read coolly, o'er thy evening glass,
Toledo's bishop in _Gil Blas_."
Christening the author of the _North Briton_ "his country's and his
monarch's glory," leads us to suspect that the ingenious gentleman
who fabricated the above rhymes had some little portion of party
prejudice. The Quaker who wrote the annexed letter and epigram,
which, as well as the verses that follow, were amongst Hogarth's
manuscripts, was moved by a very different spirit:--
"_Of the eighth month, the 20th day, 1763._
"FRIEND HOGARTH,--I am one of those people, by a sort of
disrespectful appellation, called Quakers; for we strive to
abound in the milk of human kindness, and prefer the dove to
the serpent. I know thee not but by thy works and fame as an
ingenious artist in thine own way. I have seen thy compositions
and handy works, and think them not only ingenious, but moral,
and even more than dramatic, perfectly epic; so that I think thou
deservest the character of _the Epic painter_, which I hereby
bestow upon thee, and by which thou shalt be distinguished in
future generations; for if I do not much mistake the matter,
thy name will be had in honour when thine adversaries shall
have perished,--I would have said, and shall stink,--but _that_
they do already. I have hereby sent thee an epigram, such as my
spirit dictated to me. I fear it hath too much in it of the gall
of bitterness. But I will tell thee, friend Hogarth, I am a man
of some small property and authority, having cattle under me;
and when the brutes are poisoned, I cure them with wormwood. Let
not thy noble spirit that is in thee be diverted from its true
and masterly turn of exposing licentiousness, vice, hypocrisy,
faction, and apostasy.--Thine in all brotherly and good wishes,
"EPHRAIM KNOX."
AN EPIGRAM.
_To the Rev. Charles Churchill, Esquire, etc._
"Thou boast'st, vain Churchill, with thy gray goose quill,
Thou'st kill'd, or surely wilt poor Hogarth kill.
Alas! he (with the world) will only smile
At self-importance in a frippery style.
'Churchill, stand forth!'--I call thee not my friend;--
The sober dictates of my lines attend.
"Wast thou, like Hogarth, _in thine own way good_,
Thou in the reading-desk might'st yet have stood;
Though poor,--perhaps a reputable curate,--
Sad! that thy stubborn heart is yet obdurate.
Without fair hope of pension or of place,
To make a shipwreck of _divinest grace_!"
--EPHRAIM KNOX.
_To Mr. Hogarth._
"BRIGHTHELMSTONE, _July 9, 1763_.
"SIR,--You see the effects of the salt waters here; they incline
us to scribble by way of amusement. I have sent you the following
stanzas, which you may print or do what you please with:--
_To the Rev. C. Churchill._
"Non ut pictura poesis."
"Dear Churchill, what ill-fated hour
Has put thee into Hogarth's power?
This railing shows how much you're hurt,
While Hogarth nothing meant but sport;
Transmitting unto future times
What might not live in Churchill's rhymes,--
The perfect hero, poet, sage!
The pride, the wonder of the age!
That form,--which eating Peers admired,--
Which heaven-born liberty inspir'd!
Which keeps our ministers in awe,
And is from justice screen'd by law!
"The sad resource to which you're driven,
Appears by your appeal to heaven:
A place ne'er thought on once before,--
Withdraw th' appeal and give it o'er.
You must proceed by different ways;
_Your_ only court's the Common Pleas.
"Horace was wrong when once he said,
Hogarth and he were of a trade.
No varying verse, howe'er divine,
Can match with Raphael's stronger line.
The pencil, like contracted light,
Strikes with superior force the sight.
"Churchill, be wise: in time retire,
While Hogarth yet suspends his fire;
There's something in thee like a spell,
Though we can't love,--we wish thee well.
You ne'er can wish to purchase shame,
By driving on a losing game:
His feeble hand, though you despise it,
Will make you tremble, should he rise it:
Already has his fancy hit on
A frontispiece for the _North Briton_;
Where in full view the virtuous pair
Shall thus their various merits share.
"Thy rose and Bible thrown aside,
And the long cassock's tatter'd pride;
His liberal hand shall in their stead
Place nettles circling round thy head,
Entwin'd with thistles fully blown,
To wear these honours _all thy own_!
"Next, round thy friend, and all in taste,
See every social _virtue_ plac'd;
Fair Truth and modest Candour joined,--
Those softer emblems of the mind;
Faction expiring by his pen,
And Loyalty restor'd again;
Whilst he regards not this or that,
Secure of T---- and of P----.
"The piece thus finish'd for our view,
The lines correct, the likeness true,
Hogarth, ensur'd of future fame,
Shall consecrate to Churchill's name."
[81] I think the reader will agree with me, that such assertions as
the following demanded an apology:--
"His (Hogarth's) works are his history. As a painter he had but
slender merit; in colouring he proved no greater a master: his force
lay in expression, not in tints and chiaroscuro."--_Anecdotes of
Painting_, vol. iv. p. 160.
How was it possible for Mr. Walpole to have written the foregoing
lines after having seen the pictures of "Marriage à la Mode"?
[82] The last volume was not published till October 9, 1780, though
printed in 1771.--_Advertisement_ to vol. iv.
[83] The reader is referred to Vol. II. Plate 70, where the picture
is given in its perfected state.
[84] Archbishop Tillotson remarks in one of his sermons, that _Hocus
Pocus_ is derived from _Hoc est Corpus_.
[85] "This new dispensation (Methodism) is a composition of
enthusiasm, superstition, and imposture. When the blood and spirits
run high, inflaming the brain and imagination, it is most properly
enthusiasm, which is religion run mad. When low and dejected, causing
groundless terrors, or the placing the great duty of man in little
observances, it is superstition, which is religion scared out of its
senses. When any fraudulent dealings are made use of, and any wrong
projects carried on under the mask of piety, it is imposture, and may
be termed religion turned hypocrite."--Lavington's _Enthusiasm of
Methodists and Papists Compared_, vol. i. p. 79.
[86] Mahomet being once asked, What is this Alla, whom thou declarest
unto the people? with much more exalted and sublime ideas, replied,
"It is he who derives being from himself; from whom all others derive
their being; and to whom there is no likeness in the whole extent of
space."
[87] Bishop Lavington, after quoting many of the legends of St.
Catherine and St. Teresa, and the journals of modern Methodists,
which in a very similar style describe their divine love, concludes
as follows:--
"'Tis true indeed, as the legendaries own, that St. Catherine was
slandered as a fond and light woman, and St. Teresa kept such bad
company, that most persons concluded celestial visions were not
compatible with her kind of life; but all this may be reconciled;
for these excesses of the spiritual and carnal affections are nearer
allied than is generally thought, arising from the same irregular
emotions of the blood and animal spirits; and the patient is hurried
on either way, according to the nature of the object; and I am much
mistaken, and so is history too, if some of the warmest and most
enthusiastic pretenders to the love of God have not entertained
the same violence of passion (not quite so spiritual) for their
neighbours."--Lavington's _Enthusiasm of Papists and Methodists
Compared_, vol. i. p. 57.
[88] Let it not be supposed that because the female mendicant and her
handcuffed neighbour are half naked, they are in any degree ashamed.
"Among the Papists there are religious orders who profess to prefer
food, bed, and raiment of the vilest sort for their greater spiritual
proficiency; and St. Philip Nerius was such a lover of poverty, that
he frequently besought Almighty God to bring him to such a state as
to stand in need of a penny, and find nobody that would give him
one."--Lavington's _Enthusiasm_, etc.
[89] What renders this still more curious is, that the word signifies
"oxen."
[90] When this circumstance was once mentioned to Dr. Rundle, as a
striking instance of Abraham's obedience, the Doctor in reply said,
that however it might be generally understood,--if he had been
a Justice of Peace in Abraham's parish, he would have committed
him till he found sufficient bail for his good behaviour. Some
good-natured friend repeated this speech to Queen Caroline, and it
retarded Rundle's promotion for many years.
[91] Of the plate in its first state there are only two impressions,
both of them in the possession of the Editor, who has published a
correct copy of the same size, which may be had from him or from
Messrs. Boydell.
On the margin of these two prints Hogarth has inserted slight
pen-and-ink sketches of "A Monk as a Windmill," "the Hopper of a
Mill," etc. These are copied in the annexed plate of reference, and
in a degree elucidated by the following passage in Burnet's _Travels
through Switzerland_, etc., p. 232:--
"Over a popish altar at Worms is a picture one would think invented
to ridicule transubstantiation. There is a windmill, and the Virgin
throws Christ into the hopper, and he comes out at the eye of the
mill all in wafers, which some priest takes up to give to the people.
This is so coarse an emblem, that one would think it was too gross
even for Laplanders; but a man that can swallow transubstantiation
will digest this likewise."
Of painters presuming to explain the Trinity by a triangle, Hogarth
and Swift thought alike:
"If God should please to reveal unto us this great mystery of the
Trinity, or some other mysteries in our holy religion, we should not
be able to understand them unless He would bestow on us some new
faculties of the mind."--SWIFT.
[92]
"For eating and drinking _we_ know the best rules,
Our fathers and mothers were blockheads and fools;
'Tis dress, cards, and dancing, alone should engage
This highly enlighten'd and delicate age."
[93] Since the publication of the first edition of this volume, a
print of a larger size has been copied from the picture by Mr. T.
Philips.
[94] These raptures were expensive. The lavish profusion which our
people of rank then displayed in their presents to this band of
quavering exotics is scarcely credible. The _Daily Advertiser_ gives
a list of some of the contributors, and states Farinelli's share
at more than £2000 a year; to which if we add his salary £1500 and
casual presents, his annual income must have been more than four
thousand pounds!
[95] See Shakspeare's _Julius Cæsar_ and _Antony and Cleopatra_.
[96] Of this gentleman there is a tolerably good mezzotinto print,
engraved by Kirkall from a picture by Goupy, with the following
curious inscription from the Italian:--
"Renown'd Sienna gave him birth and name,
Kind Heaven his voice, and harmony his fame.
While here the great and fair their tribute bring,
The deaf may wonder whence his merits spring,
But all think Fortune just that hear him sing."
There is a portrait of Carlo Broschi Detto Farinelli, Amiconi pinxit.
C. Grignion sculp. small circle.
[97] _Art of Spelling, The Complete Justice, etc._ This austere
magistrate has been said to be intended for Sir Thomas De Veil, who
raised himself from the rank of a common soldier to a station in
which he made a considerable figure; but De Veil wrote French and
English, and was both intelligent and active.
[98] _Religious Ceremonies of all Nations_, published at Amsterdam in
1735. He entitles this print, "_Le Serment de la Fille qui se trouve
enceinte_." On the same page he has introduced a copy from Sympson's
print of orator Henley christening a child, and calls it "_Le Baptême
Domestique_."
[99] The gates of this charity were for several years open to the
orphans of those who fell in the battles of their country. A great
number of the children who became orphans by the battle of Minden
were admitted into this Hospital.
[100] When Schalcken once painted a portrait of King William, he
requested his Majesty to hold the candle; this the monarch did till
the tallow ran down upon his fingers. To justify this piece of
ill-breeding, the painter drew his own portrait in the same situation.
[101] The conductors of this office have printed proposals, stating
their terms, etc.; but the business is sometimes transacted by
individuals, through the medium of the public prints. The following
advertisements are copied from the daily papers:--
MATRIMONY.
"A gentleman of honour and property having in his disposal at
present a young lady of good family, with a fortune of sixty
thousand pounds on her marrying with his approbation, would be
very happy to treat with a man of fortune and family, who may
think it worth his while to give the advertiser a gratuity of
five thousand pounds. Direct, etc."
MATRIMONY.
"A gentleman who hath filled two succeeding seats in Parliament,
is near sixty years of age, lives in great splendour and
hospitality, and from whom a considerable estate must pass if he
dies without issue, hath no objection to marry any single lady,
provided the party be of genteel birth, polite manners, and five,
six, seven, or eight months advanced in her pregnancy. Address to
---- Brecknock, Esq., etc."--_Pub. Adv., April 16, 1776._
[102] The apology here alluded to was made in a letter to the author
of the _Beggars' Opera_, dated December 16, 1731, and ushered into
the world as written by a Mr. Cleland, who had a few years before
sent a letter to the publisher of the _Dunciad_, explaining the
author's motives for writing the poem, and subjoining a list of the
books in which he had been abused, etc. This Pope printed; and this,
as well as the letter to Mr. Gay, it was universally believed was
written by Pope. In a note to the letter to Gay, printed in the same
volume with the _Dunciad_, the poet, after giving Mr. Cleland a very
high character for diligence, punctuality, etc., concludes: "and yet
for all this, the public will not allow him to be the author of this
letter."
[103] Hogarth has introduced these three figures in rather a better
style, in his print of "The Small Masquerade Ticket, or Burlington
Gate."
[104] Mr. Pope has honoured this dignified divine with a slight
stroke in the Epistle to Lord Burlington, and note on the lines--
"To rest, the cushion and soft Dean invite,
Who never mentions hell to ears polite."[105]
[105] "A reverend Dean, preaching at Court, threatened the sinner
with punishment in a place he thought it not decent to name in so
polite an assembly."--P.
[106] To this architectural ornament he has an unquestionable right.
His Lordship (besides other buildings) designed the Dormitory at
Westminster School, the Assembly Room at York, Lord Harrington's at
Petersham, and General Wade's in Cork Street. The latter, though
ill-contrived and inconvenient, had so beautiful a front, that Lord
Chesterfield said, "As the General could not live in it at his ease,
he had better take a house over against it, and look at it."
[107]
"Yet shall (my Lord) your just, your noble rules,
Fill half the land with imitating fools,
Who random drawings from your sheets shall take,
And of one beauty many blunders make."
His Lordship was then publishing copies from the designs of Palladio
and Inigo Jones.
The elegant but ill-natured stanzas which allude to the Duke of
Chandos, beginning, "At Timon's villa let us pass a day," everybody
knows. The delicately turned compliments to Lord Burlington display
the poet's art; his precepts on ornamental gardening prove his taste
and judgment. I cannot resist the temptation of recalling six or
eight lines to the reader's recollection, were it only to subjoin Dr.
Warburton's curious note, which admirably illustrates the remark that
"A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that its author writ:"--
"Consult the Genius of the place in all;[108]
That tells the waters or to rise or fall;
Or helps the ambitious hill the heavens to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatre the vale;
Calls in the country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades.
Now breaks or now directs th' intending lines,
Paints as you plant, and as you work designs."
[108] THE NOTE!
"First, the Genius of the place 'tells the waters,' or only simply
gives directions: then he 'helps the ambitious hill,' or is a
fellow-labourer: then again, he 'scoops the circling theatre,' or
works alone, or in chief. Afterwards, rising fast in our idea of
dignity, he 'calls in the country,' alluding to the orders of princes
in their progress, when accustomed to display all their state and
magnificence. His character then grows sacred, 'he joins willing
woods,' a metaphor taken from one of the offices of the priesthood,
till at length he becomes a divinity, and creates, and presides over
the whole."--Warburton's edit. of _Pope_, 1752, vol. iii. p. 285.
Would the reader wish a better specimen of the Bishop's taste!
[109] An artist in the year 1762 stole Hogarth's thunder, and aimed
the bolt at the head of him who had forged it. In a print entitled
"The Butifyer, or a Touch upon the Times," he is represented in
the character of a shoeblack, blackening a great jack-boot, and
bespattering the surrounding crowd.
Beneath is inscribed, "With what judgment ye judge, shall ye be
judged."--Matt. chap. vii. ver. 2; and,
"In justice to Mr. Hogarth, the engraver of this plate declares
to the public he took the hint of 'The Butifyer' from a print of
Mr. Pope whitewashing Lord Burlington's gate, and at the same time
bespattering the rest of the nobility."
[110] Fielding and Hogarth had in some respects similar powers and
similar want of success in things for which they seemed peculiarly
gifted. Admirable as was the dialogue of the comic characters in
Fielding's novels, he was unable to give them stage effect; and
though Hogarth saw nature in all her varieties, and gave to every
face the index of their mind, he rarely succeeded in historical
pictures.
[111] This etching is so nearly a fac-simile of the original, that
when it was brought home Hogarth mistook it for his own drawing,
which, considering of no value, he threw into the fire, whence it was
snatched by Mrs. Lewis, though not before the paper was scorched.
Hogarth made a very whimsical design for Fielding's tragedy of
tragedies, _Tom Thumb the Great_. It was engraved by Vandergucht, and
is prefixed to the play published by Lowndes, etc.
[112] Mr. King, in his _Observations on Ancient Castles_, observes
that "Lord Lovat 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 a numerous body
of retainers always attending. His own constant residence, and the
place where he always received company, even at dinner, was the very
same room where he lodged; and his lady's sole apartment was her
bedroom; 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!"--_Archæologia_, vol. iv.
[113] By a book on the table, inscribed _Memoirs_, Hogarth seems to
allude to the manuscript.
[114] In the name by which the old peer supposed the Maiden was to be
distinguished in a future age, he was mistaken. The Guillotine is an
improvement of the Maiden; so that, though France has been the first
to bring it into universal practice, Scotland is entitled to the
whole honour of the invention.
[115] The mad peer in Pope's imitation of Horace was not very
grateful to the d--d doctor:
"Who, from a patriot of distinguished note,
Blister'd and bled him to a single vote."
[116] A complete set of reduced copies from his prints are now
publishing at Gottingen, with illustrations in the German and French
languages.
[117] Jarvis and Smollett have strangely translated it
"spindle-shanked," which by no means accords with the rest of his
figure.
[118] Jarvis oddly enough translates it seven feet.
[119] Let it not be said in objection that many of the attendants are
idle lookers on, and most of them laughing at their governor; for I
am told a similar practice has sometimes prevailed in more regular
governments.
[120] The original and scarce print from which this was copied, I owe
to the kindness of Sir James Lake, Bart., who did me the honour of
presenting it to me.
[121] Noble's _Contin. to Grang._, B. iii. p. 418.
[122] In this circumstance the artist must have been misinformed. At
the fire he mentions, five of the Harlot's Progress were burnt; the
sixth is now in the possession of Lord Charlemont. The eight of the
Rake's Progress were not destroyed.
[123] Francis Beckford, Esq., to whom I find, by one of Hogarth's
memorandums, they were sold for £88, 4s.
[124] The R must have been a mistake of the writing-engraver.
Ravenet's christened names were Simon Francis.
[125] The mottoes were selected by the Reverend Arnold King.
[126] The twelve prints were originally published at 12s.
[127] So does he express himself in the MS., though the Roast Beef
was published March 6, 1749, and the March, December 31, 1750.
[128] It has been said that Hogarth never went farther into France
than Calais; this proves he had reached Paris.
[129] This was afterwards copied for a watch-paper.
[130] About eight years after the publication of these prints, when
there was an Act in contemplation relative to the distilleries,
Hogarth received the following anonymous letter:--
"_December 12, 1759._
"SIR,--When genius is made subservient to public good, it does
honour to the possessor, as it is expressive of gratitude to
his Creator, by exerting itself to further the happiness of His
creatures. The poignancy and delicacy of your ridicule has been
productive of more reformation than more elaborate pieces would
have effected. On the apprehension of opening the distillery,
methinks I hear all good men cry, Fire!--it is therefore the
duty of every citizen to try to extinguish it. Rub up, then, Gin
Lane and Beer Street, that you may have the honour and advantage
of bringing the two first engines to the fire; and work them
manfully at each corner of the building; and instead of the
paltry reward of thirty shillings allowed by Act of Parliament,
receive the glorious satisfaction of having extinguished those
fierce flames which threaten a general conflagration to human
nature, by pouring liquid fire into the veins of the now
brave Britons, whose robust fabrics will soon fall in when
these dreadful flames have consumed the inside timbers and
supporters.--I am, Sir, yours, etc.,
"AN ENGLISHMAN."
[131] Humanity and tenderness of mind were the leading
characteristics of my most valued and most regretted friend Mortimer:
he would not have trod on a worm; yet in painting subjects from which
the common eye would revolt, he had the greatest delight.
TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Italic text is denoted by _underscores_.
A superscript is denoted by ^; for example M^R, y^e.
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
the text and consultation of external sources.
Footnotes have been moved to the end of the book text. Some Footnotes
are very long.
One occurrence of the 3-star asterism symbol is denoted by ***.
One occurrence of the old long-form s is denoted by ſ.
Footnotes [105] and [108] are referenced from the prior Footnotes
[104] and [107], and not from the text itself.
Footnote [55] is referenced by two anchors in the same paragraph.
For consistency and to follow the intent of the publisher, the Plate
illustrations have been moved to the beginning of the section
describing them. In most cases this was only one or two paragraphs
earlier than the original book layout.
Quotations of Hogarth himself, and all letters, have been indented
in the main text (but not the Addenda, Notes, or Footnotes). All
other quotations have not. The original text was not completely
consistent in its use of vertical whitespace to end letters and
Hogarth quotations.
Three illustrations listed in the 'List of Plates' have no description
in the text, and have been placed after 'The Farmer's Return' section.
The three are:
'Inhabitants of the Moon'
'Receipt for Print of March to Finchley'
'Gravity'.
The item numbering in the 'Chronological List' at the end of the book
is sometimes inconsistent or incorrect. This has been left unchanged.
Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example,
face-painter, face painter; Boleyne, Bulleyn; dissatisfactory;
confuting; unascertained; personate.
Pg vii, 'MARTIN FOULKES, ESQ.' replaced by 'MARTIN FOLKES, ESQ.'.
Pg 38 Footnote [18], 'countenanced by by Sir' replaced by 'countenanced
by Sir'.
Pg 102, 'acquintance with men' replaced by 'acquaintance with men'.
Pg 107, 'A Monsieur Monsieur Reiffsten' replaced by 'A Monsieur
Reiffsten'.
Pg 170 Footnote [85], 'Enthasiasm of Methodists' replaced by 'Enthusiasm
of Methodists'.
Pg 233, 'jellies, sweatmeats' replaced by 'jellies, sweetmeats'.
Pg 289, 'Grostesque, and good' replaced by 'Grotesque, and good'.
Pg 292, 'June y_{e} ' [subscript] replaced by 'June y^e ' [superscript].
Pg 302, 'Churchil (once' replaced by 'Churchill (once'.
Pg 314, '_Vide_ 175' replaced by '_Vide_ p. 175'.
Pg 316, '_Vide_ 199' replaced by '_Vide_ p. 199'.
Pg 320, 'mezzottinto by' replaced by 'mezzotinto by'.
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Hogarth's Works: Volume 3 (of 3) - With life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures" ***
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