To fortify man's arrogance, that those,
Who're fashion'd of some better sort of clay,
Much sooner than the common herd decay.
What bitter pangs must humbled GENIUS feel!
In their last hours, to view a SWIFT and STEELE!
How much ill-boding horrors fill her breast
When She beholds Men, mark'd above the rest
For qualities most dear, plung'd from that height,
And sunk, deep sunk, in second Childhood's night!
Are Men, indeed, such things, and are the best
More subject to this evil than the rest,
To drivel out whole years of Ideot Breath,
And sit the Monuments of living Death?
O, galling circumstance to human pride!
Abasing Thought, but not to be denied!
With curious Art the Brain, too finely wrought;
Preys on herself, and is destroy'd by Thought.
Constant Attention wears the active mind,
Blots out her powers, and leaves a blank behind.
But let not Youth, to insolence allied,
In heat of blood, in full career of pride,
Possess'd of GENIUS, with unhallow'd rage,
Mock the infirmities of reverend age.
The greatest GENIUS to this Fate may bow,
REYNOLDS, in time, may be like HOGARTH now."
3. The same; but on the palette is introduced the political print
described in p. 91. In the second impressions of the plate thus
altered,[1] we find the letters N B added on the club, as well as the
epithet _infamous_ prefixed to the word _Fallacy_. The shadows on the
political print are likewise changed, and deepened; and the words
"Dragon of _Wantley_" are added at the end of "I warrant ye."
[1] The first was price 1_s._; the second price 1_s._ 6_d._
4. Print Of the Weighing-house to "_Clubbe's_ Physiognomy;" a humourous
pamphlet in quarto, published in 1763, by Mr. _Clubbe_[1] (editor
of the History and Antiquities of _Wheatfield_ in _Suffolk_), and
dedicated to _Hogarth. W. Hogarth del. L. Sullivan sculp._ It was
likewise printed in a collection of this author's works, published at
_Ipswich_, 2 vols. 12mo. no date, with a new engraving of the plate.
There is also a third engraving of the same design, perhaps executed in
the country, for some octavo edition of Mr. _Clubbe's_ pamphlet.
[1] I had said in my first edition, that Mr. _Clubbe_ was drowned in
the moat that surrounded his house at _Wheatfield_; but readily retract
that assertion, having been since informed, that he died a natural
death, of old age and infirmities.
5. _Frontispiece to a pamphlet_ written by Dr. _Gregory Sharpe_, Master
of _The Temple_, against the _Hutchinsonians, but never published._
"_It represents a witch sitting on the moon, and watering on a
mountain, whence issue mice, who are devouring Sir Isaac Newton's
Optics; one mouse lies dead on Hutchinson's works, probably to imply
being choaked. The conundrum signifies, Front-is-piss._" The few
impressions from this plate that have strayed into the hands of
dealers, were originally presents from Dr. _Sharpe_ to his friends.
* * * * *
1764.
1. FINIS, or the Tail-piece. The Bathos, or manner of sinking in
sublime painting, inscribed to the dealers in dark pictures.[1] TIME
breathing out his _last_, a ruinous tower, and many other allegorical
devices; among the rest, he has introduced his own "Times."[2]
[1] On this print, which he called _Finis_, and represents the
destruction of all things, the following epigram, ascribed to _Charles
Churchill_ the poet, and said to have been written by him when at Mr.
_Dell's_, in _Kew-foot-lane, April_ 18, 1764, is printed from _The
Muse's Mirrour_, vol. I. p. 8.
On _Hogarth's_ print of the _Bathos_, or the Art of Sinking in
Painting.
All must old _Hogarth's_ gratitude declare,
Since he has nam'd old _Chaos_ for his heir;
And while his works hang round that _Anarch's_ throne,
The connoisseurs will take them for his own.
Mr. _Walpole's_ Anecdotes, 8vo. vol, IV. p. 191.
[2] A few months before this ingenious artist was seized with the
malady which deprived society of one of its greatest ornaments,
he proposed to his matchless pencil the work he has intituled a
_tail-piece_; the first idea of which is said to have been started
in company, while the convivial glass was circulating round his own
table. "My next undertaking," says _Hogarth_, "shall be the _End of
all Things_." "If that is the case," replied one of his friends,
"your _business will be finished_; for there will be _an end of the
painter_." "There _will_ so," answered _Hogarth_, sighing heavily;
"and, therefore, the sooner my _work is done_, the better." Accordingly
he began the next day, and continued his design with a diligence which
seemed to indicate an apprehension (as the report goes) that he should
not live till he had completed it. This, however, he did in the most
ingenious manner, by grouping every thing which could denote the _end
of all things_--a broken bottle--an old broom worn to the stump--the
butt-end of an old musket--a cracked bell--bow unstrung--a crown
tumbled in pieces--towers in ruins--the _sign-post_ of a tavern, called
_The World's End_, tumbling--the moon in her wane--the map of the globe
burning--a gibbet falling, the body gone, and the chain which held it
dropping down--_Phœbus_ and his horses dead in the clouds--a vessel
wrecked--Time, with his hour-glass and scythe broken; a tobacco-pipe in
his mouth, the last whiff of smoke going out--a play-book opened, with
_Exeunt omnes_ stamped in the corner--an empty purse--and a statute
of bankruptcy taken out against Nature.--"So far, so good," cried
_Hogarth_; "nothing remains but this,"--taking his pencil in a sort of
prophetic fury, and dashing off the similitude of a _painter's pallet
broken_--"_Finis_," exclaimed _Hogarth_, "_the deed is done--all is
over._"--It is remarkable, that he died in about a month after this
tail-piece. It is also well known he never again took the pencil in
hand.
2. The Bench.[1] The same described under the year 1758; but with
additions. The plate thus varied occurs in two states. In the first
of these we have only "This plate could have been better explained,
had the author lived a week longer." In the second impression of it we
are told, that "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 farther illustration of what is here said concerning _Character,
Caracatura,_ and _Outrè_. He worked upon it a day before his death,
which happened the 26th of that month." This plate exhibits the inside
of the _Common Pleas_, with portraits of the following judges then
belonging to that court:
Hon. _Wm. Sir _Edw. Sir _John Hon. Mr. Justice
Noel_. Clive_. Willes_, Ld. (now Earl)
Ch. Justice. _Bathurst_.
Mr. _Edwards's_ picture on this subject (see p. 367.) differs from both
the plates.
[1] A term peculiarly appropriated to the Court of _Common Pleas_.
3. Hell-Gate, Satan, Sin, and Death. _Milton's Paradise Lost._ Book
II. A large print. Engraved by _C. Townley_, and intended to have
been published _April_ 15, 1767. It was dedicated to the late Mr.
_Garrick_, who possessed the original (unfinished) picture painted by
_Hogarth_. The plate was destroyed, and only a few of the prints are
now remaining. The original is in the possession of Mrs. _Garrick_.
It is impossible to conclude my account of it without observing,
that the united labours of _Teniers, Heemskirk,_ and _Callot,_ could
not have furnished a more absolute burlesque of this noble subject,
than _Hogarth_, who went seriously to work on it, has here produced.
"How art thou fallen, O _Lucifer_, thou son of the Morning!" will
be the exclamation of every observer, on seeing this unaccountable
performance, in which _Satan_ and _Death_ have lost their terrors, and
_Sin_ herself is divested of all the powers of temptation.
* * * * *
1772.
1. The Good Samaritan; by _Ravenet_ and _Delatre_.
In _The Grub-Street Journal_ for _July_ 14, 1737, appeared the
following paragraph: "Yesterday the scaffolding was taken down
from before the picture of _The Good Samaritan_,[1] painted by Mr.
_Hogarth_, on the Stair Case in _St. Bartholomew's_ Hospital, which is
esteemed a very curious piece." _Hogarth_ paid his friend _Lambert_
for painting the landscape in this picture, and afterwards cleaned the
whole at his own expence. To the imaginary merits of his coadjutor,
the Analysis, p. 26, bears the following 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 _Claud de Lorain's_
peculiar excellence, and is now Mr. _Lambert's_."
[1] Of this picture Mr. _S. Ireland_ has a sketch in oil.
2. _The Pool of Bethesda_; large, by _Ravenet_ and _Picot_. A
small one, by _Ravenet_, has been mentioned under 1748. Both very
indifferent. Mr. _Walpole_ justly 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 remark 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.
On the top of the staircase at St. _Bartholomew's_ Hospital, and just
under 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 expence, A. D. 1736."
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, &c. All these ornaments, together with compartments
carved at the bottom, were the work of Mr. _Richards_. Mr. _Boydell_
had the latter engraved on separate plates, appended to those above
them, on which sufficient space had not been left.--_Hogarth_ requested
that these pictures 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 lately cleaned, was pressed so
hard against the straining frame, that several creases have been made
in the canvas.
* * * * *
1775.
1. The Politician [Mr. _Tibson_, lately a laceman in _The Strand_],
from a sketch in oil, by _Hogarth_. Etched by _J. K. Sherwin_.
Published _Oct._ 31, 1775.
* * * * *
1781.
1. Portrait of _Solfull_,[1] a maker of punches for engravers. _W.
Hogarth del. S. J. fecit aqua fort._ Mr. _S. Ireland_ has the original
sketch. This portrait is mentioned by Mr. _Walpole_ under the title
of "_Two small heads of men in profile in one plate, etched by Mr.
Ireland, from a sketch in his own collection._"
[1] This was etched a second time, Mr. _Ireland_ having accidentally
lost his first plate.
2. _Thomas Pellet_, M. D. President of the College of Physicians. _W.
Hogarth pinxit. C. Hall sculpsit._
3. _William Bullock_ the Comedian. _W. Hogarth pinxit. C. Hall
sculpsit._ It is by no means certain that these two last portraits were
painted by _Hogarth_.
4. North and South of _Great Britain. W. Hogarth delin. F. B._ [i.
e. _Francis Bartolozzi_] _sculp._ This little print represents a
_Scotchman_ scrubbing against a sign-post; no sign on it; with
_Edenborough_ castle in the back ground:--and an _Englishman_ reposing
on a post, with a pot of _London_ porter in his hand; the sign of an
Ox, with _roast and boild_, by way of inscription, over his head; and
a view of St. _Paul's_ at a distance. I do not believe it was designed
by our artist, whose satire was usually of a more exalted kind: neither
are the figures at all in his manner.
A sketch imputed to _Hogarth_, and engraved by this matchless
_Italian_, however, carries a double temptation with it, as it unites
with the works of both artists, which are so much the present objects
of pursuit. No man can entertain too high an idea of _Barlolozzi's_
talents; but yet, being sometimes apt to sacrifice similitude to grace,
_Emollit mores, nec finit esset feros._
He therefore is the last person from whom justice to the strong marked
characters of _Hogarth_ could be expected.
Since the above observations were communicated, a new impression of
this plate has appeared with the name of _Sandby_ annexed to it.
The history of so extraordinary a change deserves notoriety. The
publisher was at first assured that the sketch, from which he designed
the engraving, was not the production of _Hogarth_. He, however, on
his own judgement, pretended to affirm the contrary, being at least
convinced that, during the late rage for collecting the works of our
artist, no name was so likely as his to draw in purchasers. Having
disposed of as many copies as he could in consequence of hanging out
such false colours, he now sets sail again under those of _Sandby_,
and would probably make a third voyage with Mr. _Bunbury's_ flag at
his mast head, were not our second _Hogarth_ at hand, to detect the
imposture.--The price of this etching, originally 2 _s._ 6 _d._ is now
sold at 1 _s._ though the proprietor has incurred the fresh expence of
decorating it in _aqua tinta_. Should it henceforward fail to meet with
buyers, I shall not be ready to exclaim, with _Ovid_,
_Flebam successu posse carere dolo._
The three last published by _John Thane, Rupert-street, Haymarket_.
5. First sketch of arms for _The Foundling Hospital. Wm.
Hogarth inv._ 1747. Over the Crest and Supporters is written--A
Lamb--Nature--_Britannia_. In the shield is a naked Infant: the Motto
HELP.
This is an accurate fac simile from a drawing with a pen and ink
by _Hogarth_. Published as the Act directs _July_ 31, 1781, by _R.
Livesay_, at Mrs. _Hogarth's, Leicester Fields_. The original is in the
collection of the Earl of _Exeter_.
6. Two Figures, &c. _Hogarth inv. F. B._ [i. e. _Francis Bartolozzi_]
_sculp._ These figures were designed for Lord _Melcombe_ and Lord
_Winchelsea_. From a drawing with a pen and ink by _Hogarth_.
Published as the Act directs, 31 _July_, 1781, by _R. Livesay_ at
Mrs. _Hogarth's, Leicester-fields_. I am informed, however, that this
drawing was certainly the work of Lord _Townshend_. The original is in
the collection of the Earl of _Exeter_.
7. A mezzotinto portrait of _Hogarth_ with his hat on, in a large oval,
"from an original begun by _Wheltdon_, and finished by himself, late
in the possession of the Rev. Mr. _Townley. Charles Townley fec._" The
family of _Hogarth_ affect to know nothing of this painting; and say,
if there is such a thing, it was only slightly touched over by him.
It must be confessed that it bears little, if any, resemblance to the
representations of our artist edited by himself. The original is now
in the possession of Mr. _James Townley_, as has been mentioned in p.
98.
* * * * *
1782.
1. The Staymaker.
2. Debates on Palmistry.
The humour in the first of the two preceding prints is not very strong,
and in the second it is scarce intelligible. 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 shews her pretended
love for the infant, by kissing its posteriors. A maid-servant 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.
The figures employed in the study of _Palmistry_ seem to be designed
for Physicians and Surgeons of an Hospital, who are debating on
the most commodious method of receiving a fee, unattentive to the
complaints of a lame female who solicits assistance. A spectre,
resembling the _Royal Dane_, comes out behind, perhaps to intimate
that physick 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 an
high stand. I suspect these two to have been discarded sketches--the
first of them too barren in its subject to deserve finishing, and the
second 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.
3. Portrait of _Henry Fox_ Lord _Holland_.
4. Portrait of _James Caulfield_ Earl of _Charlemont_.
The above four articles are all etched by _S. Haynes_, pupil to the
late Mr. _Mortimer_, from original drawings in the possession of Mr.
_S. Ireland_.
The six prints which follow, were published by subscription by
Mrs. _Hogarth_ in _April_ 1782; of these No. 5. was engraved by
_Bartolozzi_, and the rest by _R. Livesay_.
5. The Shrimp Girl, a head, from an original sketch in oil, in the
possession of Mrs. _Hogarth_.
This plate, which is executed in the dotted manner so much at present
in fashion, should have been etched or engraved like those excellent
performances by _Bartolozzi_ after the drawings of _Guercino_. Spirit,
rather than delicacy, is the characteristic of our artist's _Shrimp
Girl_.
6. 7. Portraits of _Gabriel Hunt_ and _Benjamin Read_, in _aqua tinta_,
from the original drawings in the possession of the late Mr. _Forrest_.
The drawing of Mr. _Hunt_ was taken in 1733, a period when, from the
number of street-robberies, it was usual to go armed. _Hunt's_ couteau
is stuck in one of his button-holes.
The figure of _Ben Read_ was taken in 1757. Coming one night to the
club after having taken a long journey, he fell asleep there. _Hogarth_
had got on his roquelaure, and was about to leave the room; but, struck
with the drollery of his friend's appearance, he exclaimed, "Heavens!
what a character!" and, calling for pen and ink, took the drawing
immediately, without sitting down.
To be recorded only as votaries of the bottle and pipe, is no very
flattering mark of distinction to these members of our artist's club.
There is scarce a meaner avenue to the Temple of Fame.
8. Three plates, from the original sketches of _Hogarth_, designed
for the epitaph and monument of _George Taylor_. The drawings are the
property of Mr. _Morrison_.
_George Taylor_ was a famous boxer, who died _February_ 21, 1750. A
writer already quoted speaks of him in these terms: "_George Taylor_,
known by the name of _George the Barber_, sprang up surprisingly.
He has beat all the chief boxers but _Broughton_. He, I think,
injudiciously fought him one of the first, and was obliged very soon
to give out. Doubtless it was a wrong step in him to commence a
boxer by fighting the standing champion: for _George_ was not then
twenty, and _Broughton_ was in the zenith of his age and art. Since
that he has greatly distinguished himself with others; but has never
engaged _Broughton_ more. He is a strong able boxer, who, with a skill
extraordinary, aided by his knowledge of the small and back swords,
and a remarkable judgement in the cross-buttock fall, may contest with
any. But, please or displease, I am resolved to be ingenuous in my
characters. Therefore I am of opinion, that he is not overstocked with
that necessary ingredient of a boxer, called a _bottom_; and am apt to
suspect that blows of equal strength with his too much affect him and
disconcert his conduct." _Godfrey on the Science of Defence_, p. 61.
On _Taylor's_ tombstone in _Deptford_ church-yard is the following
epitaph:
Farewell ye honours of my brow!
Victorious wreaths farewell!
One trip from Death has laid me low,
By whom such numbers fell.
Yet bravely I'll dispute the prize,
Nor yield, though out of breath:
'Tis but a fall--I yet shall rise,
And conquer--even DEATH.
The idea, however, is all that can merit praise in these rough outlines
by _Hogarth_. Some graver critics, indeed, may think our artist has
treated the most solemn of all events with too great a degree of levity.
9. Nine prints of _Hogarth's_ Tour from drawings by _Hogarth_, &c.
accompanied with nine pages of letter press. The frontispiece of this
work (Mr. _Somebody_) was designed by _Hogarth_, as emblematical of
their journey, _viz._ that it was a short Tour by land and water,
backwards and forwards, without head or tail. The 9th is the tail-piece
(Mr. _Nobody_) of the same whimsical nature with the first; the whole
being intended as a burlesque on historical writers recording a series
of insignificant events intirely uninteresting to the reader. "Some
few copies of the Tour," says Mr. _Walpole_,[1] "were printed by Mr.
_Nichols_ in the preceding year. It was a party of pleasure down the
river into _Kent_, undertaken by Mr. _Hogarth_, Mr. _Scott_, and three
of their friends, in which they intended to have more humour than they
accomplished, as is commonly the case in such meditated attempts. The
Tour was described in verse by one of the company, and the drawings
executed by the painters, but with little merit, except the views taken
by Mr. _Scott_."
I have transcribed this paragraph lest the readers of the truly
valuable work whence it is taken should imagine the Tour printed by
_J. N._ in 1781, was the same with that published by Mr. _Livesay_ in
1782. The former was the production of the ingenious Mr. _Gostling_ of
_Canterbury_; the latter was written by one of the company, and, with
the omission of a single glaring indelicacy, and many false spellings,
has been faithfully edited by Mr. _Livesay_.
[1] Vol. IV. 8vo. p. 192.
10. _Hogarth's_ Crest, exhibiting the Line of Beauty. _Cyprus_ and
_Variety_ subjoined by way of mottoes; but my readers will anticipate
me when I observe that the universe contains no place in which
_Hogarth_ had so little interest as in the _Cyprian_ isle, where
_Venus_ was attended by the Graces. _Hogarth's_ original sketch, which
he delivered to Mr. _Catton_ the coach-painter for the purpose of
having it transferred on his carriage, is now in the possession of Mr.
_Livesay_.
11. The card of invitation mentioned in p. 63. is introduced in the
title-page of the present publication. It is engraved by _J. Cary_,
a young artist, whose abilities, more particularly in the line of
map-engraving, will soon raise him into notice.
12. An Old Man's Head with a band. In the dotted stile. Published by
_Livesay_.
* * * * *
1785.
1. Orator _Henley_ Christening a Child. Etched by _Saml Ireland_
from an original sketch in oil--in his possession--by _Hogarth_.--To
_Francis Grose_, Esq; F. A. S. an encourager and promoter of the arts,
this etching, from his favourite _Hogarth_, is inscribed by his obliged
friend and servant, SAML IRELAND.
2. A Landscape. Etch'd by _Saml Ireland_, from an original picture
in his possession, said to be the only landscape ever painted by
_Hogarth_.--To the Right Honourable the Earl of _Exeter_, an admirer of
_Hogarth_, and encourager of the arts, this etching is inscribed by his
Lordship's most obliged and obedient servant. S. IRELAND.
The very considerable degree of skill and fidelity, displayed in
the execution of these two plates, entitles the gentleman who
etched them to the warmest thanks of every collector of the works of
_Hogarth_.--May a hope be added, that he will favour us with yet other
unpublished designs of the same master?
* * * * *
PRINTS _of uncertain Date_.
Before Mr. _Walpole's_ enumeration of the following shop-bills, coats
of arms, &c. made its appearance, perhaps few of them were known to our
collectors. Concerning the genuineness of some of these unimportant
engravings, no doubt can be entertained; but whence is it inferred that
_all_ of them were his productions? Do we receive them merely on the
faith of Mr. _Pond_? or are they imputed to our artist for any other
reason, or on the strength of any other testimony? I am assured, by a
gentleman who possesses the chief of them, and is well acquainted with
_Hogarth's_ manner, that from mere external evidence several of these
could not have been authenticated.
It is natural, however, to suppose that most of them (if _Hogarth's_)
were the fruits of his apprenticeship.[1] As such, therefore, they
should be placed at the beginning of every collection.
[1] Let it be remembered likewise, that being bound apprentice to the
single branch of engraving arms and cyphers, the majority of his works,
whether on base metal or silver, must have been long since melted down.
During the minority of _Hogarth_, the forms in which plate was made,
could contribute little to its chance of preservation. Pot-bellied
tankards, and salvers scalloped like old-fashioned minced-pies, were
the highest efforts of that period.
* * * * *
1. People in a shop under the King's arms: _Mary_ and _Ann Hogarth_.
"_A shop-bill_" for his two sisters, who for many years kept a
linen-draper's, or rather what is called a slop-shop.
_Mary_ and _Ann Hogarth_.
from the Old Frock-shop near the corner of _The
Long Walk_, facing _The Cloysters_, Removed to ye
_Kings Arms_ joyning to ye _Little Britain-gate_, near
_Long Walk_. Sells ye best and most Fashionable
Ready Made Frocks, sutes of Fustian, Ticken and
Holland, stript Dimmity and Flañel Wastcoats, blue
and canvas Frocks, and bluecoat Boys Drars.
Likewise Fustians, Tickens, Hollands, white stript
Dĩ̃mitys, white and stript Flañels in ye piece.
By wholesale or Retale, at Reasonable Rates.
2. His own cypher, with his name under it at length; "_a plate he used
for his books_." I have reason to think it was neither designed nor
engraved by _Hogarth_.
3. A _Turk's_ head. "_A shop bill_," for _John Barker_, goldsmith, at
the _Morocco_ Ambassador's head in _Lombard-Street_.--A copy of this
has been made.
4. A shop-bill, with emblems of Trade. Grand Duke of _Tuscany's_ arms
at the top; those of _Florence_ within the plate. At the four corners,
views of _Naples, Venice, Genoa,_ and _Leghorne_.
At Mrs. _Holt's,
Italian_ Warehouse,
at the two Olive Posts in ye broad part of _The
Strand_ almost opposite to _Exeter Change_ are sold all
Sorts of _Italian_ Silks, as Lustrings, Sattins, Padesois,
Velvets, Damasks, &c. Fans, Legorne Hats, Flowers,
Lute and Violin Strings, Books of Essences, Venice
Treacle, Balsomes, &c. And in a Back Warehouse
all Sorts of _Italian_ Wines, _Florence_ Cordials, Oyl,
Olives, Anchovies, Capers, Vermicelli, _Bolognia_ Sausidges,
_Parmesan_ Cheeses, _Naple_ Soap, &c.
5. A large angel, holding a palm in his left hand. "_A shop-bill_" for
_Ellis Gamble_
Goldsmith,
at the _Golden-Angel_ in _Cranbourn-street,
Leicester-Fields_.
Makes Buys and Sells all Sorts
of Plate, Rings and Jewels
&c.
_Ellis Gamble_
Orfeure,
a l'Enseigne de l'Ange d'Or
dans _Cranbourn-Street, Leicester-Fields_.
Fait, Achete,
& vend toutes sortes d'Argenterie,
Bagues & Bijouxs, &c.
6. A smaller angel. This is a contracted copy from the preceding, was
another shop-bill for our Artist's Master, and has the same inscription
as that already given.
7. Another small angel "almost the same as the preceding," in the
collection of Mr. _Walpole_.
8. A large oval coat of arms, with terms of the four seasons.
9. A coat of arms, with two slaves and trophies. Plate for books.
10. Another coat of arms, and two boys as terms.
11. A foreign coat of arms; supporters a savage and an angel. Ditto.
12. Lord _Aylmer's_ coat of arms.
13. Two ditto of the Duchess of _Kendal_; one of them, an impression
from a silver tea table.
14. The Earl of _Radnor's_ arms, from a silver cup and cover.
15. A grifon, with a flag. A crest.
16. _Minerva_, sitting and holding the arms of _Holland_, four _Cupids_
round her. "_Done for the books of_ John Holland, _herald-painter._"
Of this there are two plates. The _Fleurs de Lys_ in the one are more
numerous and crowded than in the other.
17. A ticket for a burial.
For the same purpose our artist's contemporary _Coypel_ likewise
engraved a plate, which is still in use.
18. Two small for _Milton. W. Hogarth inv. & sculp._
It is so singular, that only plates referring to the first and third
books of _Paradise Lost_ should be discovered with our artist's name
subscribed to them, that I almost suspect they were not executed for
any edition of that work, but rather for some oratorio or operatical
performance founded thereon, though neither performed nor printed. An
example of two prints by _Hogarth_ to a single dramatic piece, we have
already met with in _Perseus and Andromeda_.
If the first of the present designs was made for the first book of
_Paradise Lost_, one might almost swear that _Hogarth_ had never read
it, or he could not have fallen into the strange absurdities and
incoherences that his engraving displays. We have on one side a Dæmon
exalted in a kind of pulpit, at the foot of which another infernal
spirit lies bound in chains, while a cannon is pointed at his head.
At a distance, in the centre of an arcade adorned with statues, is a
throne with a personage seated on it. Over his head are little beings
supporting an emblem of eternity. Stars, &c. appear above them.
Whether this dignified character was designed for "a spirit of health,
or goblin damn'd," it would be difficult from his figure and attributes
to determine. Perhaps several works of fancy might be named, with which
the present representation would as naturally connect as with the first
book of _Milton's_ Poem.
The following plate exhibits two celestial characters of equal age.
They sit aloft in the clouds, and listen to a concert of angels playing
on various instruments, and, among the rest, on a clumsy organ. A ray
of light darts down on a distant orb, designed, I suppose, for the
new-created world, towards which the figure of a little being, scarce
bigger than a bird, though meant for _Satan_, is seen directing its
flight.[1]
A bookseller of common sagacity would have been justified in rejecting
these designs, if prepared for _Milton_. Indeed, had I not been
taught by Mr. _Walpole's_ catalogue that such was their destination,
I should not hastily have conjectured that the former of them had the
least reference to the Poet's _Pandæmonium_. Let it be remembered,
however, that these must have been among the earliest of _Hogarth's_
performances, and, like his prints for _Don Quixote_, were in all
probability thrown aside, as unsuited to the purpose for which they
were engraved. I have been told, indeed, that a couple of plates,
by our artist, to the comedy of _The Spanish Friar_, are still
existing.[2] If _Hogarth_, therefore, was once employed in preparing
cuts to the plays of _Dryden_, the designs already mentioned might have
been intended for two different scenes in _The State of Innocence, or
the Fall of Man_.
[1] In justice, however, to one of these designs, I transcribe part of
a letter that appeared in _The Gentleman's Magazine_ for _March_ 1782.
"_Twickenham, March_ 12.
"MR. URBAN,
"Throughout Mr. _Nichols's_ excellent but unequal account of
_Hogarth_ and his works, there is no decision I am so much inclined
to controvert, as that respecting the first of the two plates to
_Milton_. Perhaps the critic had only seen some imperfect copy of the
_Pandæmonium_, or formed his idea of it on the vague description of
those who who had considered it with less attention than it really
deserves. In my opinion, our artist's arrangement of the infernal
senate affords a happy instance of his power to exhibit scenes of
picturesque sublimity. The ample space within the arcade, containing
myriads of subordinate spirits; the vault above, illuminated by
supernatural fires; the magnificence and elevation of _Satan's_
throne; his superior stature, and the characteristic symbols over the
seats of his peers; are circumstances entitled to a more flattering
reception than they have met with. That this print has likewise
absurdities, I am ready to allow: yet a _Voltaire_ might ask whether
most of them are not inseparable from its subject. I wish, for
the sake of those who acknowledge the genius of _Hogarth_ only in
familiar combinations, that the plate in question were less rare.
Our connoisseurs in general might then decide on its merits. The
only known impression of it, as well as of its companion, is in the
collection of Mr. _Walpole_,[A] who once indulged me with a sight of
them both.
"I am content, however, that the second of these plates should be
abandoned to the austerities of criticism. The architecture in the
skies is every way unsuitable to its place. The characters of the
Almighty and our Redeemer have little, if any, discrimination of
attributes or years. They appear swinging on a festoon composed of
tiny cherubs, clustered together like a swarm of bees. The Father
rests his arm on one of these childish satellites; and the Son holds
another by the wing, like _Domitian_ catching a fly. Beneath, is a
concert of angels, who perform on different instruments, and among
others (as Mr. _Nichols's_ book expresses it) on a clumsy organ.
_Lucifer_, approaching the new-created world, appears but as an
insect, flying towards an apple. This part of _Hogarth's_ subject
is beyond the compass of any design on a contracted scale. _Satan_
might be delineated in the act of alighting on a promontory, a part
of the earth; but when its complete orb is exhibited on a slip of
paper measuring about six inches by four, the enterprizing fiend must
be reduced to very insignificant dimensions. Such a circumstance may
therefore succeed in a poet's comprehensive description, but will fail
on any plate designed for the ornament of a little volume.
"Let me add, that these two are the neatest and most finished of all
the engravings by _Hogarth_. The second might have been mistaken for
one of the smaller works of _Picart_. Perhaps the high price demanded
for the plates, was the reason why a series of them was not continued
through the other books of _Paradise Lost_."
[A] These two plates are also in the collection of Mr. _Steevens_.
[2] These are in the collection of the Earl of _Exeter_, and are said
to have the name of our artist fallaciously affixed to them. I speak,
however, with uncertainty.
19. A coat of arms from a large silver tea table. Under these arms are
a shepherd and his flock, exactly the same as those on the tankard,
N° 25. A shepherd and shepherdess also are the supporters. This has
been ascribed to _Hogarth_, but I suspect it to be a copy, and am told
indeed that it was engraved by _Pelitreau_.
20. Impression from a coat of arms engraved on a silver dish made
by _Delemery_; purchased, at some distance of time, by Sir _Gregory
Page_, Bart. who erased the original arms from the escutcheon, and had
his own put in. The dish was afterwards bought at _Christie's_ at a
sale of Sir _Gregory's_ plate; and when 25 impressions only had been
taken from it, was cut to pieces by _R. Morrison_, 1781. I wish some
of these discoveries of _Hogarth's_ engravings had been made by people
who had no immediate view to their own profit, and the sale of their
acquisitions. Too many of our collectors are become dealers.
21. Small oval print for the Rape of the Lock. This was not designed
for any edition of it. A few impressions only were taken off from the
lid of a snuff-box engraved by Mr. _Hogarth_, as it is believed, for
some gentleman characterized by _Pope_ in his celebrated mock-heroic
poem. It is one of the poorest of _Hogarth's_ performances.
22. An emblematic print, representing Agriculture and Arts. "_It seems
to be a ticket for some society._"
23. A ticket for the benefit of _Milward_ the tragedian. A scene
in _The Beggar's Opera_; "Pitt 3 _s._" inserted with a pen between
"Theatre" and "Royal," in a scroll at the bottom of it. I have seen
an impression of it, under which is engraved, "_Lincolns-Inn Fields,
Tuesday, Aprill_ 23. _A Bold Stroke for a Wife_, with Entertainments,
for the benefit of Mr. _Milward_." This careless, but spirited little
engraving, has more of _Hogarth's_ manner than several other more
laboured pieces, which of late have been imputed to him.--Let the
connoisseur judge.
This ticket (as is already observed) must have been issued before 1733,
when the Theatre in _Lincolns-Inn-Fields_ was shut up, and all the
actors, _Milward_ among the rest, removed to _Covent Garden_.
24. The Mystery of Masonry brought to Light by the _Gormagons_.
A. _Chin Quaw-Kypo'_ _Done from ye Original._
1st _Emperor of China_. _Painted at Pekin by Matt-chauter,_
B. _The sage Confucius._ _Grav'd by Ho-ge_
C. _In Chin present_ _and sold by ye Printsellers_
_Oecumenical Volgi._ _of London Paris and Rome._
D. _The Mandarin Hangchi._ _Hogarth inv. et sculp._
To the earliest impressions of this plate, the name of _Sayer_ (for
whom it has since been retouched) is wanting. "_Stolen from_ Coypel's
Don Quixote." Underneath, these verses:
From Eastern climes, transplanted to our coasts,
Two oldest orders that creation boasts
Here meet in miniature, expos'd to view
That by their conduct men may judge their due.
The _Gormagons_, a venerable race,
Appear distinguish'd with peculiar grace:
What honour! wisdom! truth! and social love!
Sure such an order had its birth, above.
But mark Free Masons! what a farce is this?
How wild their mystery! what a _Bum_ they kiss![1]
Who would not laugh,[2] who such occasions had?
Who should not weep, to think the world so mad?
I should suspect that this plate was published about 1742, when the
Procession[3] of _Scald Miserables_ had been produced[4] to parody
the cavalcade of the _Free Masons_, who ever afterwards discontinued
their annual procession. _Hogarth_ was always ready to avail himself
of any popular subject that afforded a scope to ridicule. Among _Harry
Carey's_ Poems, however, 1729, third edition, is the following;
"The Moderator between the Free-Masons and Gormogons.
"The Masons and the Gormogons
Are laughing at one another,
While all mankind are laughing at them;
Then why do they make such a pother?
"They bait their hook for simple gulls,
And truth with bam they smother;
But when they've taken in their culls,
Why then 'tis--Welcome Brother!"
The particular disputes between the parties referred to by this poem,
it is not easy to ascertain. Perhaps the humourous writer alludes to
some schism or dissention now forgotten. Mr. _Gray_, in one of his
letters to Mr. _Walpole_, says, "I reckon next week to hear you are a
Free Mason, or a _Gormogon_ at least." 4to edition, p. 188.
I learn from _Masonry Dissected_, &c. a pamphlet published in 1730,
by _Samuel Prichard_, late member of a Constituted Lodge, that "From
the Accepted Mason sprang the real Masons, and from both sprang the
_Gormogons_, whose grand master the _Volgi_ deduces his original
from the _Chinese_, whose writings, if to be credited, maintain the
hypotheses of the Pre-adamites, and consequently must be more antique
than Masonry."--This circumstance will account for the _Chinese_ names
and habits in our artist's plate.
[1] On this occasion the print exhibits a trait of humour that may
hitherto have escaped observation. To render the part presented for
salutation more tempting, it has patches on, such as women wore at the
time when the plate was published.
[2] _Who would not laugh_, &c. Parody on the concluding couplet of
_Pope's_ character of _Addison_.
[3] The contrivers of the Mock Procession were at that time said to be
_Paul Whitehead_, esq. and his intimate friend (whose real Christian
name was _Esquire_) _Carey_, of _Pall Mall_, surgeon to _Frederic_
Prince of _Wales_. The city officers did not suffer this procession
to go through _Temple-Bar_, the common report then being, that its
real intent was to affront the annual procession of the Free Masons.
The Prince was so much offended at this piece of ridicule, that he
immediately removed _Carey_ from the office he held under him.
[4] The print, representing a View of _Somerset-House_ and of _The
Strand_, is 3 feet 11½ inches in length, and ten inches in width;
and is intituled, "A Geometrical View of the grand Procession of the
scald-miserable Masons, designed as they were drawn up over against
_Somerset-House_ in _The Strand_, on the Twenty-seventh of _April_, An°
1742. Invented and engraved by _A. Benoist_, at his Lodgings, at Mr.
_Jordan's_, a Grocer, the North East Corner of _Compton-street, So-ho_;
and sold by the Printsellers of _London_ and _Westminster_.--Note, _A.
Benoist_ teaches Drawing abroad.
"N° 1. The grand Swoard Bearer, or Tyler, carrying the Swoard of State
(a Present of _Ishmael Abiff_ to old _Hyram_ King of the _Saracens_) to
his Grace of _Wattin_, Grand Master of the Holy Lodge of _St. John of
Jerusalem_ in _Clerkenwell_.
"2. Tylers or Guarders.
"3. Grand Chorus of Instruments.
"4. The Stewards, in three Gutt Carts, drawn by Asses.
"5. Two famous Pillars, _Jachin_ and _Boaz_.
"6. Three great Lights: the Sun Hieroglyphical to rule the Day, the
Moon Emblematical to rule the Night; a Master Mason Political to rule
his--Lodge.
"7. The Entered Prentice's Token.
"8. The Letter G famous in Masonry for differencing the Fellow Craft's
Lodge from that of Prentices.
"9. The Funeral of a Grand Master, according to the Rites of the Order,
with the 15 loving Brethren.
"10. A Master Mason's Lodge.
"11. Grand Band of Musick.
"12. Two Trophies; one being that of a Black-shoe Boy and Link Boy, the
other that of a Chimney Sweeper.
"13. The Equipage of the Grand Master, all the Attendants wearing
Mystical Jewels."
A different, but a smaller, print of this Mock Procession was printed
in _May_ 1742, with the following memoranda, viz. "The great Demand
there has been for _The Westminster Journal_, of the 8th instant,
occasion'd reprinting the following piece.
"From my own Apartments in _Spring Gardens_.
"Though I do not belong to the Fraternity mentioned in the following
piece, and therefore am little concerned in the annual disputes, I
think it my duty, as a Watchman of the city of _Westminster_, to
preserve the memory of the late extraordinary Cavalcade, the like to
which hath never happened since I have been in office. As more solemn
processions have of late years been very rare, it cannot surely be
taken amiss, either by the _Free Masons_, or the _Scald-Miserables_,
that I give so much distinction to this.
"_T. Touchit._
"The Free Mason's Downfall, or the Restoration of the Scald-Miserables."
After the print follows: "A Key, or Explanation of the solemn and
stately Procession of the Scald-Miserable Masons, as it was martial'd
on _Tuesday_ the 27th past, by their _Scald-Pursuivant_ Black
Mantle--set forth by Order of the Grand Master _Poncy_."--Printed by
_J. Mechell_, at _The Kings Arms_ in _Fleet-street_, and sold by the
Pamphlet-shops, &c. Price Two-pence.
Extracts from _The London Daily Post, March_ 20, 1740-1, &c. "Yesterday
some mock Free-Masons marched through _Pall-Mall_ and _The Strand_, as
far as _Temple-Bar_, in procession; first went fellows on jack-asses,
with cows horns in their hands; then a kettle-drummer on a jack-ass,
having two butter-firkins for kettle-drums; then followed two carts
drawn by jack-asses, having in them the stewards with several badges of
their order; then came a mourning coach drawn by six horses, each of a
different colour and size, in which were the grand master and wardens;
the whole attended by a vast mob. They stayed without _Temple Bar_ till
the Masons came by, and paid their compliments to them, who returned
the same with an agreeable humour that possibly disappointed the witty
contriver of this mock scene, whole misfortune is, that though he has
some wit, his subjects are generally so ill chosen, that he loses by it
as many friends as other people of more judgement gain."
Again, _April_ 28, 1742. "Yesterday being the annual feast of the
ancient and honourable society of Free and Accepted Masons, they made
a grand procession from _Brook-street_ to _Haberdashers Hall_, where
an elegant entertainment was provided for them, and the evening was
concluded with that harmony and decency peculiar to the society."
"Some time before the society began their cavalcade, a number of
shoe-cleaners, chimney-sweepers, &c. on foot and in carts, with
ridiculous pageants carried before them, went in procession to
_Temple-Bar_, by way of jest on the Free-Masons, at the expence, as we
hear, of one hundred pounds sterling, which occasioned a great deal of
diversion."
Again, _May_ 3, 1744. "Yesterday several of the mock masons were taken
up by the constable empowered to impress men for his Majesty's service,
and confined till they can be examined by the justices."
24. _Sancho_, at the magnificent feast, &c. starved by his Physician.
On the top of this plate are the following words: "This original print
was invented and engraved by _William Hogarth_. Price 1 _s._" At bottom
we read, _W. Hogarth inv. & sculp. Printed for H. Overton and J.
Hoole._ Perhaps this design was meant as a rival to that of _Coypel_ on
the same subject; or might be intended by way of specimen of a complete
set of plates for _Don Quixote_. Mr. _S. Ireland_ has the original
drawing.
25. Impression from a tankard belonging to a club of artists, who
met weekly at _The Bull's Head_ in _Clare-Market_. Of this society
_Hogarth_ was a member. A shepherd and his flock are here represented.
26. The Gin Drinkers. This may have been one of _Hogarth's_ early
performances; and, if such, is to be considered as a rude fore-runner
of his _Gin-Lane_. But I do not vouch for its authencity.
27. The Oratory.[1] Orator _Henley_ on a scaffold, a monkey (over whom
is written _Amen_) by his side. A box of pills and the Hyp Doctor
lying beside him. Over his head, "The ORATORY. _Inveniam viam, aut
faciam._"[2] Over the door. "_Ingredere ut proficias._"[3] A Parson
receiving the money for admission. Under him, "The Treasury." A Butcher
stands as porter. On the left hand, Modesty in a cloud; Folly in a
coach; and a gibbet prepared for Merit; people laughing. One marked THE
SCOUT,[4] introducing a Puritan Divine. A Boy easing nature. Several
grotesque figures, one of them (marked TEE-HEE) in a violent fit of
laughter. I discover no reason for regarding this as a production of
_Hogarth_, though his name, cut from the bottom of one of his smaller
works, was fraudulently affixed to an impression of it belonging
to the late worthy Mr. _Ingham Foster_, whose prints were sold at
_Barford's_, in _March_ 1783. _Hogarth_, whose resources, both from
fancy and observation, were large, was never, like the author of this
plate, reduced to the poor necessity of peopling his comic designs with
_Pierot, Scaramouch_, and the other hackneyed rabble of _French_ and
_Italian_ farces.
Underneath a second impression of it, is the following inscription:
"_An extempore Epigram, made at the Oratory:_
"O Orator! with brazen face and lungs,
Whose jargon's form'd of ten unlearned tongues,
Why stand'st thou there a whole long hour haranguing,
When half the time fits better men for hanging!"
_Geo. B--k--h[5] jun. Copper-scratcher
and Grub-Street invent. sculp._
[1] There are such coincidences between this print and that of _The
Beggar's Opera_, as incline me to think they were both by the same hand.
[2] The motto on the medals which Mr _Henley_ dispersed as tickets to
his subscribers. See Note on _Dunciad_, III. 199.
[3] This inscription is over the outer door of St. _Paul's_ school.
[4] On what personage the name of _Scout_ was bestowed, I am unable to
inform the reader, though I recollect having seen the same figure in
several other prints, particularly one from which it appears that he
was at last murdered.
[5] _B--k--h._ Perhaps this was an intended mistake for _B--k--m._
28. Orator _Henley_ christening a child. _John Sympson jun. fecit._
Mezzotinto (commonly of a greenish colour), with the following verses
under it:
Behold _Vilaria_ lately brought to bed,
Her cheeks now strangers to their rosy red;
Languid her eyes, yet lovely she appears!
And oh! what fondness her lord's visage wears!
The pamper'd priest, in whose extended arms
The female infant lies, with budding charms,
Seeming to ask the name e'er he baptise,
Casts at the handsome gossips his wanton eyes,
While gay Sir _Fopling_, an accomplish'd ass,
Is courting his own dear image in the glass:
The _Midwife_ busied too, with mighty care,
Adjusts the cap, shews innocency fair.
Behind her stands the _Clerk_, on whose grave face
Sleek _Abigal_ cannot forbear to gaze:
But master, without thought, poor harmless child,
Has on the floor the _holy-water_ spill'd,
Thrown down the hat; the lap-dog gnaws the rose;
And at the fire the _Nurse_ is warming cloaths.
One guest enquires the _Parson's_ name;--says _Friendly_,
Why, dont you know, Sir?--'tis _Hyp-Doctor[1] H----y_.
_Sold by J. Sympson, at the Dove in Russel-Court, Drury-Lane._ An
original sketch in oil, on the same subject, is in the possession of
Mr. _S. Ireland_.[2]
[1] He wrote a periodical paper under that title.
[2] See p. 415. for an etching from it.
29. A woman swearing a child to a grave citizen.[1] _W. Hogarth pinx.
J. Sympson jun. sculp. Sold by J. Sympson_ engraver and print-seller,
at _The Dove_ in _Russel-Court, Drury-Lane_. This Mr. _Walpole_
observes to be a very bad print. Perhaps he had only seen some wretched
impression, or copy of it (for there are two, the one in a small size,
the other large, but fit for no other purpose than to adorn the walls
of a country Inn), and therefore spoke with contempt of a performance
which hardly deserves so unfavourable a character. This entire design,
however, is stolen from a picture of _Heemskirk_, which has been since
engraved in mezzotinto by _W. Dickinson_ of _New Bond-street_, and
published _March 10_, 1772. The original picture is in the possession
of Mr. _Watson_, surgeon, in _Rathbone Place_.
The title given to this plate by the ingenious engraver, is _The
Village Magistrate_. All the male figures are monkies; all the female
ones, cats. _Hogarth_ has likewise been indebted to its companion--_The
Constable of the Night_. Few impressions from these plates having been
hitherto sold, they are both in excellent condition, and the former of
them exhibits an indisputable instance of _Hogarth's_ plagiarism.
While _Picart_ was preparing his _Religious Ceremonies_, he wrote to
some friend here, to supply him with representations illustrative of
his subject. His correspondent, either through ignorance or design,
furnished him with the two preceding plates by _Hogarth. Picart_
has engraved the former with a few variations, and the latter with
the utmost fidelity. The one is called by him _Le Serment de la
Fille qui se trouve enceinte_; the other, _Le Baptême domestique_.
The first contains a supposed portrait of Sir _Thomas de Veil_.
For the conversion of a _civil_ into a _religious_ ceremony, let
the _Frenchman_, or his purveyor, be answerable. The lines under
_Hogarth's_ performance are as follows:
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 placed
Here pregnant madam screens the real fire,
And falsely swears her bastard child for hire
Upon a rich old letcher, 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 church ward'ns agree,
And force him to provide security.
_Hogarth's_ picture is in the possession of the Rev. Mr. _Whalley_, at
_Ecton, Northamptonshire_.
Mr. _Whalley_ is the nephew of _John Palmer_, whose portrait is
mentioned among the works of _Hogarth_. See p. 295. This picture too
is at _Ecton_. The foregoing print (as already observed, p. 121.) must
have been published before the year 1735.
[1] A copy of this forms the head-piece to a tale printed in _Banks's_
Works, vol, I. p. 248, intituled, "The Substitute Father."
30. Right Hon. _Gustavus_ Lord Viscount _Boyne_, &c. &c. Whole length,
mezzotinto. _W. Hogarth pinx. Andrew Miller fecit._ "_A very bad print,
done in Ireland._"
I have since met with an early impression of this mezzotinto. The
inscription, dedication, &c. underneath it, are as follows:
"_W. Hogarth pinx. Ford fecit._ The Rt. Honble. _Gustavus_ Lord
Visct. _Boyne_, Baron of _Stackallen_, one of his Majesty's most
Honble. Priuy Council, one of the Comrs. of the Revenue of
_Ireland_, &c.
"To the Rt. Honble. the Earl of _Kildare_ this plate is humbly
dedicated by his Lordship's most obedient humble servt. _Mich.
Ford_.
"Published and sold by _Mich. Ford_, Painter and Print-seller on _Cork
Hill_. Price 5s. 5.d. [i. e. five thirteens."]
Mr. _Walpole's_ is probably a later or a retouched impression from the
same plate, after it had fallen into the hands of one _Andrew Miller_,
who effaced the name of _Ford_, and substituted his own.
This scarce print will undoubtedly suffer from comparison with the
works of _Smith, M'Ardell, Earlom, Jones,_ &c. and yet perhaps it is
the best mezzotinto that _Ireland_ has hitherto produced. It must
be confessed, however, that _Hogarth's_ whole-length figure of Lord
_Boyne_ is equally void of grace, meaning, and proportion; but these
defects have no connection with the labours of _Ford_, which would have
appeared to more advantage had they been exerted on a better subject.
31. Mr. _Pine_ (the celebrated engraver), in the manner of _Rembrandt_.
Mezzotinto (about the year 1746), by _M'Ardell, Price_ 2 _s._ The
original was in the possession of the late Mr. _Ranby_ the surgeon.
There is a second head of Mr. _Pine_, a mezzotinto; both his hands
leaning on a cane. Printed for _George Pulley_, at _Rembrandt's Head_,
the corner of _Bride-court, Fleet-street_.
I have called this "a second head," but know not which of the two was
first published.
In the first edition of the present work I had described this plate as
an unfinished one, but have since met with it in a perfect state.
32. A View of Mr. _Ranby's_ house at _Chiswick. Etched by Hogarth._
This view, I am informed, was taken in 1750, but was not designed for
sale.
33. _Daniel Lock_, Esq. F. S. A. formerly an architect. He retired from
business with a good fortune, lived in _Surrey-street_, and was buried
in the chapel of _Trinity College, Cambridge_. Mezzotinto. _W. Hogarth
pinx. J. M'Ardell fecit. Price_ 1 _s._ 6 _d._
34. Christ and his disciples; persons at a distance carried to an
hospital. "In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me." _St. Matt._ xxv. ver. 40. _W.
Hogarth inv. C. Grignion sculp._ Ticket for _The London Hospital_.
As this charitable foundation was instituted in 1740, probably the
ticket was engraved soon afterwards.
35. Original of the same, in a smaller size, with the Duke of
_Richmond's_ arms as president.
36. Another, almost the same as N° 34, but with a view of _The London
Hospital_.
37. Six prints for _Don Quixote. W. Hogarth inv. & sculp._
When Lord _Carteret_, about the year 1737, was seeking artists to
design, &c. plates for his _Spanish_ edition of this famous novel,
published in 1738, _Hogarth_, of course, was not overlooked. His
performances, however, gave so little satisfaction to his noble
employer, that they were paid for, and then laid aside in favour
of _Vandrebank's_ drawings, afterwards engraved by _Vandergucht_.
The plates remaining in the hands of Mr. _Tonson_, his lordship's
publisher, at his death, were bought by Mr. _Dodsley_, who, finding
they exhibited no descriptions that could render them welcome to the
possessors of any copy of _Don Quixote_ whatever, had the titles of
the chapters, &c. to which they belong, together with references to
the corresponding pages in _Jarvis's_ translation, engraved under each
of them. The subjects of them are, I. Funeral of _Chrysostom_, and
_Marcella_ vindicating herself; vol. I. p. 71. II. The Inn-keeper's
wife and daughter taking care of the Don after being beaten and
bruised, p. 129. III. _Don Quixote_ releases the galley slaves, p. 129.
IV. The unfortunate Knight of the Rock meeting _Don Quixote_, p. 140.
V. _Don Quixote_ seizes the barber's bason for _Mambrino's_ helmet, p.
155. VI. The Curate and Barber disguising themselves to convey _Don
Quixote_ home, p. 166. _Tonson_ had several specimens of plates, both
in quarto and octavo sizes, executed for editions of _Shakspeare_, but
they shared the same fate with the others prepared for _Don Quixote_.
38. An oval, with two figures representing _Hymen_ and _Cupid_. A view
of a magnificent villa at a distance. This print was intended as a
ticket for _Sigismunda_, which _Hogarth_ proposed to be raffled for. It
is often marked with ink 2 _l._ 2 _s._ The number of each ticket was
to have been inserted on the scroll hanging down from the knee of the
principal figure. Perhaps none of them were ever disposed of. This
plate, however, must have been engraved about 1762 or 3. Had I not
seen many copies of it marked by the hand of _Hogarth_, I should have
supposed it to have been only a ticket for a concert or music-meeting.
39. Four heads from the cartoons at _Hampton-Court_. An etching.
Mr. _Walpole_, in his _Anecdotes of Painting_, &c. vol. IV. p. 22.
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 has
directed a few impressions to be taken from it, and they are sold at
her house in _Leicester-square_.
40. A Scene in a Pantomime Entertainment lately exhibited; designed
by a Knight of _Malta_. A satire on the Royal Incorporated Society of
Artists of _Great Britain_. No name.
This design is difficult to be explained, as it alludes to some
forgotten dissentions among the artists before the Royal Academy
was founded. Sir _William Chambers, Kirby, Rooker_ the Engraver and
Harlequin, _Liotard_, remarkable for having adopted the _Turkish_
dress, and others, are introduced in it. The hat and head of _Hogarth_
also appear on one of the necks of a Hydra. It is hardly credible,
therefore, that he should have rendered himself an object of his own
satire. A mere etched outline of the same design, with additions, was
afterwards published, and is marked plate II. It is larger than the
original plate, and must be considered as a slight temporary sketch, of
which the author is uncertain.
41. A Ticket-porter carrying a load of chamber-pots to some place of
public resort, from the entrance of which three grenadiers are keeping
off the crowd. At the bottom is written.
"_Jack_ in an Office, or _Peter Necessary_, with Choice of
Chamber-pots.
"A Ticket for the--------------------Price 6 _d._"
Of the following articles the 49th, and 53d, are the undoubted
productions of _Hogarth_. Some of the rest may admit of dispute. Those
marked * I have not yet seen in any collection but that of Mr. _S.
Ireland_.
* 42. Arms of _George Lambart_ [_Lambert_] the painter, an intimate
friend of our artist.
* 43. Arms of _Gore_, engraved on a silver waiter.
* 44. Arms of a Duke of _Kendal_. N. B. There never was a _Duke_ of
_Kendal_, but an infant son of _James_ II. The arms mentioned are
certainly those of the Dutchess of _Kendal_. The male shield must be a
mistake.
* 45. Arms of _Chudleigh_; motto "Aut vincam, aut peribo." Done for
Major _L'Emery_, whilst _Hogarth_ was apprentice.
46. The Great Seal of _England_, from a large silver table. This
was given to Mr. _S. Ireland_ by a Mr. _Bonneau_, who took off the
impression before the year 1740.
47. Twenty-six figures, on two large sheets, engraved for "A Compendium
of Military Discipline, as it is practised by the Honourable the
Artillery Company of the City of _London_, for the initiating and
instructing Officers of the Trained Bands of the said City, &c. Most
humbly dedicated to his Royal Highness _George_ Prince of _Wales_,
Captain General of the Honourable the Artillery Company. By _John
Blackwell_, Adjutant and Clerk to the said Company.
"_London_. Printed for the Author; and are to be sold at his house in
_Well-Court_ in _Queen-Street_, near _Cheapside_, 1726."
48. _Farinelli, Cuzzoni,_ and _Heydegger. Cuzzoni_ and _Farinelli_ are
singing a duet. The latter is in the character of a prisoner, being
chained by his little finger. _Heydegger_ sits behind, and is supposed
to utter the eight following lines, which are engraved under the plate:
Thou tuneful scarecrow, and thou warbling bird,
No shelter for your notes these lands afford.
This town protects no more the singsong strain,
Whilst Balls and Masquerades triumphant reign.
Sooner than midnight revels ere should fail,
And ore Ridottos Harmony prevail;
The cap (a refuge once) my head shall grace,
And save from ruin this harmonious face.[1]
I am told, however, that this plate was designed by the last Countess
of _Burlington_, and etched by _Goupy_. I may add, that the figures in
it, though slightly done on the whole, consist of more than a single
stroke, being retouched and heightened by the burin in several places.
On the contrary, _Hogarth's_ plate, intituled _The Charmers of the
Age_, only offers an etched outline, which at once afforded the extent
of his design, leaving no room for improvement. The former print
exhibits traces of perseverance and assiduity; the latter is an effort
of genius that completes its purpose without elaboration.
[1] He had once enlisted as a private soldier in the Guards, for a
protection. See p. 152.
49. The Discovery. This scarce plate is acknowledged as genuine by
Mrs. _Hogarth_. The subject is a black woman in bed; her eyes archly
turned on her gallant just risen, who expresses his astonishment on the
entrance of three laughing friends, one of them with a candle in his
hand. Underneath the print is this apposite motto:
_Qui color albus erat nunc est contrarius albo_.
A similar circumstance occurs in _Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas_, and in
_Foote's Cozeners_.
I know not of any among our artist's works that displays so little
character. It must have been one of his early performances.
It should be observed that, being founded on a private occurrence, this
print was never designed for general circulation. Mr. _Highmore_ the
manager of _Drury-Lane_, who bought _Cibber's_ share in the patent, is
the Hero of it. A few copies only were distributed among _Hogarth's_
particular friends, and the gentlemen whose portraits it contains. At
the bottom of the plate there is no descriptive title. _The Discovery_
was that by which Mrs. _Hogarth_ mentioned it when she recollected the
very laughable circumstance here commemorated by her husband's pencil.
* 50. The Cottage. An impression from a breeches-button, the size of a
crown-piece; a sketch made for Mr. _Camfield_, a surgeon, on a subject
that will not bear explanation. There is a copy of this little plate by
Mr. _S. Ireland_.
51. _Pug_ the Painter. This has been usually understood as a satire _on
Hogarth_, rather than a design _by_ him. Mr. _Ireland_ once told me it
was etched by _Dawes_, and that our artist gave a copy of it, as his
own design, to Mr. _Kirby_. But I am assured with superior confidence
by another gentleman, that the true author of it is to be sought among
those artists whom _Hogarth_ had provoked by his contemptuous treatment
of their works. If _Pug_ was not designed as his representative, why is
the animal exhibited in the act of painting the ridiculous figure of
the _Priest_ in _The Good Samaritan_?
52. A Head in an oval, coarsely engraved, and subscribed "_Samuel
Butler_ Author of _Hudibras_." Several connoisseurs, beside Mr.
_Thane_ who possesses the plate, conceive it to be an undoubted work of
_Hogarth_. For what purpose it was executed, and why suppressed (for no
one has hitherto met with even a proof from it) it is vain to enquire.
I am silent on the subject, heartily wishing that throughout this work
I had had the opinions of more friends to record, and had offered fewer
sentiments of my own.
53. "A very rare hieroglyphic print; representing Royalty, Episcopacy,
and Law, composed of emblematic attributes, and no human features
or limbs; with attendants of similar ingredients. Beneath is this
inscription. Some of the principal inhabitants of the Moon, as they
were discovered by a telescope, brought to the greatest perfection
since the last eclipse; exactly engraved from the objects, whereby the
Curious may guess at their Religion, Manners, &c. Price Six-pence."
A kind of scaffold above the clouds is the theatre of this
representation. Monarchy, Episcopacy, and Law, appear
characteristically seated. Their faces are--a Crown-piece--a _Jew's_
Harp, and--a Mallet. The monarch holds a globe and sceptre, with
crescents on the tops of them. Instead of a collar of _esses_, he wears
a string of bubbles; his side is ornamented with a pointed star; and a
circle, the emblem of perpetuity, is embroidered on the cloth under
his throne. Episcopacy is working at a pump (a type I suppose of the
Church) by the assistance of a bell-rope. The Bible is fastened to the
handle of the pump, and out of the nose of it issues money that falls
into a chest discriminated by an armorial escutcheon, containing a
knife and fork, properly emblazoned, with a mitre by way of crest. The
lid of the coffer leans against a pillar, that serves also to support a
triple pile of cushions. Over the top of the pump (which is fashioned
much like a steeple) is a weathercock on a small pyramid supported
by balls; and below it, through a circular opening, a little bell
appears to ring. Under the sacerdotal robe, a cloven foot peeps out.
Law sustains a sword; and behind him appears a dagger thrust through
the bottom of a sieve. The attendants on Monarchy are of various
materials. The bodies and legs of such as seem designed for soldiers,
are composed of circular fire-screens resembling shields. The trunks
of the courtiers are large looking-glasses, the sconces with candles
in them serving for hands and arms. The face of the chief of these is
the reverse of a sixpence; and a key significantly appended to his
sash, at once denotes his sex and office. Under the figure of law are
a male and female modishly drest. Her head is a tea-pot, her neck a
drinking-glass, and her body a fan half spread. On the oval that forms
the countenance of her paramour, is a coat of arms with supporters.
His right honourable legs are fan-sticks, and he seems in the act
of courtship. How this couple are immediately connected with Law, is
not very clearly pointed out. _Hogarth_, however, we may suppose, had
planned some explanation of his hieroglyphics, as the letters _a, b, c,
d, e, f, g,_ are placed over some of them, and beneath others.
From the form of the perukes exhibited in this design, I should suppose
it was made above forty years ago. Other circumstances in it need no
decyphering.
* 54. The Master of the Vineyard. St. _Matthew_ chap. xxi. v. 28. "Son,
go work to-day in my Vineyard."
* 55. The _London_ Infirmary for charitably relieving sick and diseased
Manufacturers and Seamen in the Merchants' service, their Wives and
Children. A blank certificate for Pupils in Surgery and Anatomy,
printed on a half sheet, folio.
56. A ticket for the benefit of _Spiller_ the player. He died in the
year 1729.
In the plate before us, which possesses no small share of humour, poor
_Spiller_ is represented in a melancholy posture. His finances are
weighed against his debts, and outweighed by them. His taylor's bill
appears to be of great length, and many others for ale, gin, &c. are
on the ground near him. A bailiff is clapping him on the shoulder--a
prison is in sight--ladies and gentlemen are taking tickets, &c. This
very uncommon and beautiful little print is, at present, found only in
the collection of Mr. _Ireland_.
57. St. _Mary's Chapel_. Five at night. Several performers playing on
different instruments. _William Hogarth inv. G. Vandergucht sculpt._
This was certainly an ornament at the top of a ticket for a
music-meeting. The name of _Hogarth_ is affixed to it, and the whole
design _might_ have been his. I do not, however, believe it _was_ so. A
few of the figures appear to have been collected from his works by some
other hand, rather than grouped by his own. _Vandergucht_ too was so
thoroughly a mannerist, and especially in small subjects, that he was
rarely faithful to the expressions of countenance he undertook to trace
on copper. There is no humour, and indeed little merit of any kind, in
this performance. It has not hitherto been met with on the entire piece
of paper to which it must originally have belonged.
A print called _The Scotch Congregation_, by _Hogarth_, is almost
unique, on account of its extreme indecency. One copy of it was in a
collection of his works belonging to Mr. _Alexander_ of _Edinburgh_. He
is said to have had it from Mrs. _Hogarth_. A second copy is reported
to exist in the possession of another gentleman. No more impressions of
it are known.
* * * * *
A correspondent at _Dublin_ informs me, that in the collection of Dr.
_Hopkins_ of that city are the following seven prints by _Hogarth_:
1. _The History of Witchcraft_. Humbly dedicated to the Wise.
Allegorically modernized. Part the First. Published according to act
of Parliament. _Hogarth inv. et sculpt._
Half sheet print. At one end, Witches attending the punishment of two
human figures; at the other, several at their different occupations.
2. _The History of Witchcraft_. Part the Second. Published according to
act of Parliament. _Hogarth inv. et sculpt._
Same size as the former. Witches dancing; others at various amusements.
These two prints contain a great variety of distorted figures.
3. _A Suit of Law fits me better than a Suit of Clothes_. Invented and
engraved by _W. H._ and published pursuant to an Act of Parliament,
1740.
An upright half-sheet. A Man in embroidered clothes, his hat under his
arm. A scroll in his left hand, inscribed, "I'll go to Law." Huntsmen,
dogs, and horses in the back ground. Four lines in verse underneath.
Useful in all families. Invented and engraved by _W. H._ and published
pursuant to an Act of Parliament, 1740.
4. The same man in a tattered garment in a wild country; a staff in his
right hand, and a scroll in his left, inscribed, "To shew that I went
to law, and got the better." Four lines at the bottom.
These two may be classed among his indifferent prints.
5. _The Caledonian March and Embarkation. Hogarth invent. London_,
printed for _T. Baldwin_.
A number of _Scotchmen_ embarking in the _Caledonian_ Transport. Labels
issuing from their mouths.
_The Laird of the Posts, or the Bonnets exalted._ Printed for _T.
Baldwin, London. Hogarth inv._
6. _A Scotch Nobleman and his Friends taking possession of several
posts, having kick'd down the former Possessors_. Labels from their
mouths too tedious to copy. A Lion on the fore-ground, hood-winked by a
_Scotch_ plaid.
Supposed to be printed for _The London Magazine_.
7. _The Lion entranced_. Printed for _T. Baldwin, London. Hogarth inv._
1762.
A Lion in a Coffin. A plate on the cover, inscribed, "Leo _Britanicus_,
Ob. An. 1762. Requiescat in pace." Attended by state mourners with
labels as above. In one corner _Hibernia_ supplicating for her Sister's
interest.
A respect for the obliging communicator has induced me to publish this
_supposed_ addition to the foregoing catalogue of _Hogarth's_ works.
But, without ocular proof, I cannot receive as genuine any one of the
plates enumerated. The name of our Artist has more than once been
subscribed to the wretched productions of others; and a collector at
_Dublin_ must have had singular good fortune indeed, if he has met with
seven authentic curiosities unknown to the most confidential friends
of _Hogarth_, and the most industrious connoisseurs about _London_. I
may add, that two, if not three, of the above-mentioned anti-ministeral
pieces, appeared in 1762, the very year in which our artist was
appointed _Serjeant Painter_. Till that period he is unsuspected of
having engaged his pencil in the service of politicks; and _T. Baldwin_
(perhaps a fictitious name) is not known to have been on any former
occasion his publisher. So much for the probability of _Hogarth's_
having ushered performances like these into the world.
* * * * *
Chance, and the kindness of my friends, have not enabled me to form a
more accurate series of _Hogarth's_ labours. Those of the collector,
however, are still incomplete, unless he can furnish himself with a
specimen of several other pieces, said, I think, to have been produced
a little before our artist's marriage. I forbear to keep my readers in
suspense on the occasion. _Hogarth_ once taking up some plain ivory
fishes that lay on his future wife's card-table, observed how much was
wanting to render them natural representations. Having delivered this
remark with becoming gravity, he proceeded to engrave scales, fins,
&c. on each of them. A few impressions have been taken from these
curiosities, which remain in Mrs. _Hogarth's_ possession. As a _button_
decorated by her husband has been received into the foregoing catalogue
of his works, it can hardly be disgraced by this brief mention of the
ornaments he bestowed on a _counter_.
* * * * *
There are three large volumes in quarto by _Lavater_, a minister at
_Zurich_ (with great numbers of plates), on Physiognomy. Among these
are two containing several groups of figures from different prints of
_Hogarth_, together with the portraits of Lord _Lovat_ and _Wilkes_.
For what particular purpose they are introduced, remains to me a
secret.[1]
In "An Address of Thanks to the Broad Bottoms, for the good things
they have done, and the evil things they have not done, since their
elevation, 1745," is what the author calls "A curious emblematic
Frontispiece, taken from an original painting of the ingenious Mr.
_H----th_;" a palpable imposition.
Mr. _Walpole, Anecdotes of Painting_, Vol. IV. 63, observes, that
"_Hogarth_ drew the supposed funeral of _Vanaken_, attended by the
painters he worked for, discovering every mark of grief and despair."
To explain this passage, it should be added, that "he was employed by
several considerable artists here, to draw the attitudes, and dress the
figures in their pictures."
The merits of _Hogarth_, as an engraver, are inconsiderable. His hand
was faithful to character, but had little acquaintance with the powers
of light and shade. In some of his early prints he was an assiduous
imitator of _Callot_, but deviated at last into a manner of his
own, which suffers much by comparison with that of his coadjutors,
_Ravenet_ and _Sullivan_. In the pieces finished by these masters of
their art, there is a clearness that _Hogarth_ could never reach. His
strokes sometimes look as if fortuitously disposed, and sometimes
confusedly thwart each other in almost every possible direction. What
he 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, has rendered several of his larger plates
less captivating than they would have been, had he entrusted the
sole execution of them to either of the artists already mentioned.
His smaller etchings, indeed, such as _The Laughing Pit_, &c. cannot
receive too much commendation.
Mr. _Walpole_ has justly observed, that "many wretched prints came
out to ridicule" the _Analysis of Beauty._ He might have added, that
no small number of the same quality were produced immediately after
the _Times_ made its appearance. I wish it had been in my power to
have afforded my readers a complete list of these performances, that
as little as possible might have been wanting to the history of poor
_Hogarth's_ first and second persecution. Such a catalogue, however,
not being necessary to the explanation of his works, it is with the
less regret omitted.[2]
The scarceness of the good impressions of _Hogarth's_ larger works is
in great measure owing to their having been pasted on canvas or boards,
to be framed and glazed for furniture. There were few people who
collected his prints for any other purpose at their first appearance.
The majority of these sets being hung up in _London_ houses, have been
utterly spoiled by smoke. Since foreigners have learned the value of
the same performances, they have also been exported in considerable
numbers. Wherever a taste for the fine arts has prevailed, the works
of this great master are to be found. Messieurs _Torré_ have frequent
commissions to send them into _Italy_. I am credibly informed that the
Empress of _Russia_ has expressed uncommon pleasure in examining such
genuine representations of _English_ manners; and I have seen a set
of cups and saucers with _The Harlot's Progress_ painted on them in
_China_ about the year 1739.
Of all such engravings as are Mrs. _Hogarth's_ property, the later
impressions continue selling on terms specified many years ago in
her printed catalogue, which the reader will find at the end of this
pamphlet. The few elder proofs that remain undisposed of, may be
likewise had from her agent at an advance of price. As to the plates
which our artist had not retained as his own property, when any of
these desiderata are found (perhaps in a state of corrosion), they
are immediately vamped up, and impressions from them are offered
to sale, at three, four, or five times their original value. They
are also stained to give them the appearance of age; and on these
occasions we are confidently assured, that only a few copies, which
had lurked in some obscure warehouse, or neglected port-feuille,
had been just discovered. This information is usually accompanied by
sober advice to buy while we may, as the vender has scarce a moment
free from the repeated solicitations of the nobility and gentry, whom
he always wishes to oblige, still affording that preference to the
connoisseur which he withholds from the less enlightened purchaser. It
is scarce needful to observe, that no man ever visited the shops of
these polite dealers, without soon fancying himself entitled to the
more creditable of the aforesaid distinctions. Thus becoming a dupe to
his own vanity, as well as to the artifice of the tradesman, he has
speedily the mortification to find his supposed rarities are to be met
with in every collection, and not long afterwards on every stall. The
caution may not prove useless to those who are ambitious to assemble
the works of _Hogarth_. Such a pursuit needs no apology; for sure, of
all his fraternity, whether ancient or modern, he bent the keenest eye
on the follies and vices of mankind, and expressed them with a degree
of variety and force, which it would be vain to seek among the satiric
compositions of any other painters. In short, what is observed by
_Hamlet_ concerning a player's office, may, with some few exceptions,
be applied to the designs of _Hogarth_. "Their end, both at the first,
and now, was, and is, to hold as 'twere the mirror up to nature; to
shew virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and
body of the time his own form and pressure."
I may add, that, since the appearance of Mr. _Walpole's_ Catalogue,
a disposition to attribute several anonymous plates, on ludicrous
subjects, to _Hogarth_, has betrayed itself in more than a single
instance:[3] a supposition has also prevailed that there was a time
when _Hogarth_ had the whole field of satire to himself, and we could
boast of no designers whose performances could be mistaken for his own.
The latter notion is undoubtedly true, if real judges are to decide;
and yet many prints, very slightly impregnated with humour, continue
to be ascribed to him. It should therefore be observed, that, at the
same period, _Bickham, Vandergucht, Boitard, Gravelot, Laguerre_ the
younger, &c. were occasionally publishing satirical Sketches, and
engraving laughable frontispieces for books and pamphlets. To many of
these, for various reasons, they forbore to set their names; and we
have at present collectors, who, to obtain the credit of having made
discoveries, are willing to adopt such performances as the genuine
effusions of _Hogarth_, although every way beneath his talents,
and repugnant to his style of engraving. Perhaps also the names of
other painters and designers have been occasionally obliterated, to
countenance the same fallacy. Copies likewise have been palmed on the
unwary for originals. "Therefore" (gentle reader) for once be content
to follow the advice of _Pistol_, "Go clear thy chrystals, and _Caveto_
be thy counsellor." For if all such fatherless engravings, as the
vanity of some, and the interest, or the ignorance, of others, would
introduce among the works of our artist, were to be admitted, when
would the collector's labour and expence be at end?
Among other anonymous plates ascribed to _Hogarth_, but omitted in the
present catalogue, is the following, _A living Dog is better than a
dead Lion_, or, _The Vanity of human Glory; a design for the Monument
of General Wolfe_, 1760. A medallion of our hero appears on the side of
a pyramid. On the base of it is the well known speech of _Shakespeare's
Brutus_,
_Set Honour in one hand, and Death in t' other,
And I will look on both indifferent:
And let the Gods so speed me, as I love
The name of Honour more than I fear Death_.
At the bottom a dying Lion is extended, while a Dog (with _Minden_ on
his collar, and _Honour's a jest_, &c. issuing from his mouth) is at
once lifting up his leg against the noble brute, and treading on a
wreath of laurel. _Here lies Honour_, is also written on the side of
the expiring animal. I have since been assured that this print was by
another artist, whose name I omit to mention, because perhaps he would
wish it, on the present occasion, suppressed.
[1] This book, I am told, is now translated into _French_.
[2] One of these productions, however, should be singled from the rest.
The print, entitled _The Connoisseurs_, was suspected to be a work
of _Hogarth_ himself. It is placed with some of his other undisputed
designs in the back-ground of _The Author run Mad_ (which is known
to be one of Mr. _Sandby's_ performances), and has the following
reference--"_A._ his own _Dunciad_."
[3] Thus the frontispiece to _Taste_, designed, if not etched by
_Worsdale_ (for whose benefit this dramatic piece was performed), and
_Sawney in the Bog-house_, an anonymous satire on the _Scotch_, that
made its appearance near forty years ago, and was revived during the
administration of Lord _Bute_, are at present imputed to our artist,
whose name is already engraved at the bottom of the latter.
POSTSCRIPT.
The Author of this pamphlet, being convinced that, in spite of all his
care and attention, some errors may still be found in his catalogue,
list of variations, &c. will think himself highly obliged by any
gentlemen who will point them out, and enable him to correct them. Such
favours shall be gratefully acknowledged, if the present rude Essay
towards an account of _Hogarth's_ different performances should happen
to reach another edition.
As in consequence of the extraordinary prices lately paid for the
collected works of this great master, certain dealers, &c. are supposed
to be assembling as many of his prints as they can meet with,--binding
them up in pompous volumes,--writing "fine old impressions" either
over or under them--specifying the precise sums pretended to have been
disbursed for several of them (perhaps a guinea for a three shilling
article)--preparing to offer a few rare trifles to sale, overloaded
with a heap of wretched proofs from our artist's more capital
performances;--exhibiting imperfect suites of such as are cut out of
books; and intending to station puffers at future auctions, whose
office will be to intimate they have received commissions to bid up as
far as such or such an amount (i. e. the sum under which the concealed
proprietor resolves not to part with his ware), &c. &c. it is hoped
the reader will excuse a few parting words of admonition. Perhaps it
may be in the power of Mrs. _Hogarth_ to select a few sets from such
of her husband's pieces as have remained in her own custody from the
hour of their publication. Let the multitude, who of course cannot be
supplied with these, become their own collectors. Even ignorance is a
more trusty guide than professional artifice. It may be urged, indeed,
that the proportionate value of impressions[1] can be ascertained only
by those who have examined many of them in their various states, with
diligence and acuteness. But surely to qualify ourselves for estimating
the merit of the curiosities we are ambitious to purchase, is wiser
than to rely altogether on the information of people whose interest is
commonly the reverse of our own. Let it also be remembered, that the
least precious of all _Hogarth's_ productions are by far the scarcest;
and that when, at an immoderate expence, we have procured impressions
from tankards ornamented by him, or armorial ensigns engraved for the
books of his customers, we shall be found at last to have added nothing
to his fame, or the entertaining quality of our own collections. By
such means, however, we may open a door to imposition. A work like
_The Harlot's Progress_ will certainly remain unimitated as well as
inimitable; but it is in the power of every bungler to create fresh
coats of arms, or shop bills with our artist's name subscribed to them:
and wherein will the Lion or Griffin of _Hogarth_ be discovered to
excell the same representation by a meaner hand? A crafty selection of
paper, and a slight attention to chronology and choice of subjects,
with the aid of the hot-press, may, in the end, prove an overmatch for
the sagacity of the ablest connoisseur. A single detection of such a
forgery would at least give rise to suspicions that might operate even
where no fallacy had been designed. How many fraudulent imitations of
the smaller works of _Rembrandt_ are known to have been circulated
with success!--But it may be asked, perhaps, from what source the
author of this pamphlet derives his knowledge of such transactions. His
answer is, from the majority of collectors whom he has talked with in
consequence of his present undertaking.
He ought not, however, to conclude without observing, that several
_genuine_ works of _Hogarth_ yet remain to be engraved. He is happy
also to add that a young artist, every way qualified for such a task,
has already published a few of these by subscription.
_J. N._
[1] Prints have, of late years, been judiciously rated according to
the quality of their _impressions_. But the very term _impression_, as
applied to copper-plates, perhaps is a novelty among us. If we refer to
the earliest and most valuable assemblage of portraits (such as that
catalogued by _Ames_, afterwards purchased by Dr. _Fothergill_, and
lately sold to Mr. _Thane_), we shall have little reason to suppose any
regard was once paid to a particular of so much importance. As fast
as heads were met with, they were indiscriminately received; and the
faintest proofs do not appear to have been excluded at a time when the
strongest might easily have been procured. In consequence of an _àmás_
so carelessly formed, the volumes already mentioned, were found to
display alternately the most beautiful and the most defective specimens
of the graphic art.
* * * * *
_J. N._ had once thoughts of adding a list of the copies made from
the works _of Hogarth_; but finding them to be numerous, beyond
expectation, has desisted from a task he could not easily accomplish.
This pursuit, however, has enabled him to suggest yet another caution
to his readers. Some of the early invaders of _Hogarth's_ property
were less audacious than the rest; and, forbearing to make exact
imitations of his plates, were content with only borrowing particular
circumstances from each of them, which they worked up into a similar
fable. A set of _The Rake's Progress_, in which the figures were thus
disguised and differently grouped, has been lately found. But since the
rage of collection broke out with its present vehemence, those dealers
who have met with any such diversified copies, have been desirous of
putting them off either as the first thoughts of _Hogarth_, or as the
inferior productions of elder artists on whose designs he had improved.
There, is also a very small set of _The Rake's Progress_, contrived
and executed with the varieties already mentioned; and even this has
been offered to sale under the former of these descriptions. Thus,
as _Shakspeare_ says, _While we shut the gate upon one_ imposition,
_another knocks at the door_.
It may not be impertinent to conclude these cautions with another
notice for the benefit of unexperienced collectors, who in their
choice of prints usually prefer the blackest. The earliest copies of
_Hogarth's_ works are often fainter than such as have been retouched.
The excellence of the former consists in clearness as well as strength;
but strength only is the characteristic of the latter. The first and
third copies of _The Harlot's Progress_ will abundantly illustrate my
remark, which, however, is confined to good impressions of the plates
in either state; for some are now to be met with that no more possess
the recommendation of transparency than that of force. I may add,
that when plates are much worn, it is customary to load them with a
double quantity of colour, that their weakness, as far as possible,
may escape the eye of the purchaser. This practice the copper-plate
printers facetiously entitle--_coaxing_; and, by the aid of it, the
deeper strokes of the graver which are not wholly obliterated, become
clogged with ink, while every finer trace, which was of a nature less
permanent, is no longer visible. Thus in the modern proofs of _Garrick_
in _King Richard III._ the armour, tent, and habit, continue to have
considerable strength, though the delicate markings in the face, and
the shadows on the inside of the hand, have long since disappeared.
Yet this print, even in its faintest state, is still preferable to
such smutty impositions as have been recently described. The modern
impressions of _The Fair_, and _The March to Finchley_, will yet more
forcibly illustrate the same remark.
* * * * *
To the original paintings of _Hogarth_ already enumerated may be added
a Breakfast-piece, preserved in _Hill-Street, Berkeley-Square_, in the
possession of _William Strode_, Esq; of _Northaw, Herts_. It contains
portraits of his father the late _William Strode_, Esq; his mother
Lady _Anne_ (who was sister to the late Earl of _Salisbury_), Colonel
_Strode_, and Dr. _Arthur Smith_ (afterwards Archbishop of _Dublin_).
ADDITION.
_Four Times of the Day_, p. 250.
It should have been observed, that the third of these plates was
engraved by _Baron_, the figure of the girl excepted, which, being an
after-thought, was added by our artist's own hand.
APPENDIX.
N° 1. [See p. 23.]
The following letter, printed in _The Public Advertiser_ soon after the
first edition of the present work made its appearance, may possibly
contain some authentic particulars of the early life of the famous
Monsieur _St. André_. Mr. _Woodfall's_ ingenious correspondent does
not, however, dispose me to retract a syllable of what is advanced in
the text; for he fails throughout in his attempts to exculpate our hero
from any one of the charges alledged against him. On the contrary, he
confirms, with additions, a considerable part of them, and strives only
to evade or overwhelm the rest by studied amplifications of the little
good which industrious partiality could pick out of its favourite
character. I shall now subjoin his epistle, with a few unconnected
remarks appended to it. A rambling performance must apologize for a
desultory refutation.
"SIR,
"The entertaining author of the last biography of the admirable
_Hogarth_, in the excess of commendation of a particular risible
subject for his pencil, has written too disadvantageously of the late
Mr. _St. André_. One who knew him intimately (but was never under the
smallest obligation to him) for the last twenty years of his life,
and has learned the tradition of his earlier conduct seemingly better
than the editor of the article in question, takes the liberty to give
a more favourable idea of him, and without intending to enter into a
controversy with this agreeable Collector of Anecdotes, to vindicate
this _notorious man_, who must be allowed to have been such; but it
is to be hoped in the milder sense Lord _Clarendon_ often or always
uses the epithet. The making a subject of Mr. _St. André_ is therefore
merely accidental. The writer expects to derive no praise from
exhibiting that person as the Hero of a page. He thinks it is only
doing justice (for the Dead deserve justice as well as the Living)
when he draws his pen against some very injurious insinuations, thrown
out with more inadvertence and at a venture than in malice, against
the memory of an acquaintance and of a foreigner (to whom perhaps more
mercy is due than to a native), who is more roughly handled than he
appears to deserve.
"Mr. _Nathaniel St. André_ came over, or rather was brought over,
very early from _Switzerland_, his native country, in the train of
a _Mendez_, or _Salvadore_, or some _Jewish_ family. Next to his
countryman _Heidegger_, he became the most considerable person that
has been imported from thence. He probably arrived in _England_
in no better than a menial station. Possibly his family was not
originally obscure, for he has been heard to declare, that he had
a rightful claim to a title, but it was not worth while to take it
up so late in life. He had undoubtedly all the qualifications of
a _Swiss_. He talked _French_ in all its provincial dialects, and
superintended the press, if the information is to be depended upon,
and perhaps taught it, as his sister did at _Chelsea_ boarding-school.
He was early initiated in music, for he played upon some musical
instrument as soon as he was old enough to handle one, to entertain
his benefactors. He had the good fortune to be placed by them with a
surgeon of eminence, and became very skilful in his profession. His
duty and gratitude to his father, whom he maintained when he was no
longer able to maintain himself, was exemplary and deserving of high
commendation. Let this charity cover a multitude of his sins! His
great thirst for anatomical knowledge (for which he became afterwards
so famous as to have books dedicated to him on that subject), and
his unwearied application, soon made him so compleat an anatomist,
that he undertook to read public lectures (and he was the first in
_London_ who read any), which gave general satisfaction. The most
ingenious and considerable men in the kingdom became his pupils. Dr.
_Hunter_, now at the head of his profession, speaks highly of his
predecessor, and considers him (if the information is genuine) as the
wonder of his time. He continued his love of anatomy to the last,
and left noble preparations behind him, which he was continually
improving. The time of his introduction into Mr. _Molyneux's_ family
is not known to the writer of this account. Whether anatomy, surgery,
knowledge, or music, or his performance on the _Viol de Gambo_, on
which he was the greatest master, got him the intimacy with Mr.
_Molyneux_, is not easy to determine. Certain it is, that he attended
his friend in his last illness, who died of a dangerous disorder (but
not under his hands), which Mr. _Molyneux_ is said to have pronounced,
from the first, would be fatal. Scandal, and Mr. _Pope's_ satirical
half-line, talked afterwards of 'The Poisoning Wife.' She, perhaps,
was in too great a hurry, as the report ran, in marrying when she
did, according to the practised delicacy of her sex, and her very
high quality. The unlucky business in which one _Howard_, a surgeon
at _Guildford_, involved him, who was the projector, or accessary of
the impudent imposture of _Mary Tofts_, alias the Rabbit-woman of
_Godalmin_, occasioned him to become the talk and ridicule of the
whole kingdom. The report made by _St. André_, and others, induced
many inconsiderately to take it for a reality. The public horror
was so great, that the rent of rabbit-warrens sunk to nothing; and
nobody, till the delusion was over, presumed to eat a rabbit. The
credulous _Whiston_ believed the story (for to some people every thing
is credible that comes from a credible witness), and wrote a pamphlet,
to prove this _monstrous conception_ to be the exact completion of an
old prophecy in _Esdras_. The part _St. André_ acted in this affair
ruined his interest at Court, where he had before been so great a
favourite with King _George_ I. that he presented him with a sword
which he wore himself. Now, on his return out of the country, he
met with a personal affront, and never went to Court again. But he
continued anatomist to the Royal Houshold to his dying day, though he
never took the salary. He probably was imposed upon in this matter.
And has it not been the lot of men, in intellectual accomplishments
vastly above his, such as _Boyle_, for instance, a man infinitely
his superior, to be over-reached and misled? He took up the pen on
the occasion (and it was not the first time, for he wrote some years
before a bantering pamphlet on Dr. _Mead_), which could at best but
demonstrate his sincerity, but exposed the weakness of his judgement,
on that case. It had been insinuated he adopted this scheme, to
ruin some persons of his own profession. If he had a mind to make
an experiment upon the national belief, and to tamper with their
willingness to swallow any absurdity (which a certain nobleman [Duke
of _Montagu_] ventured to do, in the affair of a man who undertook to
jump into a quart bottle), he was deservedly punished with contempt.
_Swift_ (according to _Whiston_), and perhaps _Arbuthnot_, exercised
their pens upon him. The cheat was soon discovered, and rabbits began
to make their appearance again at table as usual. But they were not at
his own table, nor made a dish, in any form of cookery, at that of his
friends. Perhaps they imagined that the name or sight of that animal
might be as offensive to him, as the mention of _Formosa_ is said to
have been to _Psalmanazar_. It is told, that, on his asking for some
parsly of a market-woman of _Southampton_, and demanding why she had
not more to sell, she, in a banter, assured him, 'That his rabbits had
eat it up.' The fortune he acquired by marrying into a noble family
(though it set all the lady's relations against him, and occasioned
her being dismissed from her attendance on Queen _Caroline_) was a
sufficient compensation for the laughter or censure of the publick.
His high spirit and confidence in himself made him superior to all
clamor. So that people did but talk about him, he seldom seemed to
care what they talked against him. And yet he had the fortitude
to bring an action for defamation in _Westminster-Hall_ against a
certain doctor in divinity, and got the better of his adversary. He
was not supposed, in the judgement of the wiser and more candid part
of mankind, to have contributed, by any chirurgical administration,
to the death of his friend Mr. _Molyneux_, nor to have set up the
imposture at _Godalmin_. Though he was disgraced at Court, he was not
abandoned by all his noble friends. The great Lord _Peterborough_,
who was his patron and patient long before he went to _Lisbon_,
entertained a very high opinion of him to the last. His capacity in
all kinds, the reception he gave to his table and his garden, with his
liberality to the infirm and distressed, made him visited by persons
of the highest quality, and by all strangers and foreigners. He did
not continue to enjoy the great fortune his marriage is supposed to
have brought him, to the end of his life, for a great part went from
him on the death of Lady _Betty_. He by no means left so much property
behind him as to have it said, he died rich. His profession as a
surgeon, in a reasonable terms of years, would probably have put more
money into his pocket than fell in the golden shower so inauspiciously
into his lap, and have given him plenty, without envy or blame. He
was turned of ninety-six when he died; and though subject to the
gout, of which he used to get the better by blisters upon his knees,
and by rigid abstinence, yet, when he took to his bed (where he said
he should not lie long), and permitted a physician to be called in
to him, he cannot be said to have died of any disease. In one sum of
generosity, he gave the celebrated _Geminiani_ three hundred pounds,
to help him to discharge his incumbrances, and to end his days in
comfort. The strength and agility of his body were great, and are
well known. He was famous for his skill in fencing, in riding the
great horse, and for running and jumping, in his younger days. He, at
one time, was able to play the game at chess with the best masters.
After a slight instruction at _Slaughter's_ coffee-house, he did not
rest till, in the course of two nights sitting up, he was able to
vanquish his instructor. He was so earnest in acquiring knowledge,
that he whimsically, as he told the story, cut off his eye-lashes,
that he might not sleep till he arrived at what he wanted. His face
was muscular and fierce. One of his eyes, to external appearance,
seemed to be a mass of obscurity (as he expressed it of _Handel's_,
when he became stark-blind), at least it had not the uncommon vivacity
of the other. His language was full of energy, but loaded with foreign
idioms. His conversation was seasoned sufficiently with satire and
irony, which he was not afraid to display, though he ought never to
have forgot that he was once a proper subject for it. He built; he
planted; he had almost 'from the Cedar of _Lebanon_ to the hyssop that
groweth upon the wall,' in his hot-house, green-house, and garden. If
he was not deep in every art and science (for even his long life was
not sufficient for universal attainment), he cannot be reckoned to
have been ignorant of any thing. He was admired for his knowledge in
architecture, in gardening, and in botany, by those who should have
been above flattery. But praise, from whatever quarter it comes, is
of an intoxicating nature. Those who found out that he loved praise,
took care he should have enough of it. He kept a list of the wretched
and the indigent, whom he constantly maintained; and their names
might be written alphabetically. The poor of _Southampton_ know they
have lost their best friend. Call it, reader, ostentation or vanity,
if you will; but till you know it did not proceed from his goodness
of heart, this tributary pen considers his giving away his money to
relieve the necessitous, as a spark of the spirit of the Man of _Ross_
or the Man of _Bath_. He was all his life too much addicted to amours,
and sometimes with the lower part of the sex. His conversation, which
he was always able to make entertaining and instructive, was too
often tinctured with _double entendre_ (a vice that increases with
age), but hardly ever with prophaneness. He may be thought to have
copied _Hermippus_, and to have considered women as the prolongers
of life. How far he was made a dupe by any of them at last, is not
necessary for relation. He died, as he lived, without fear; for to
his standers-by he gave no sign of a ruffled mind, or a disturbed
conscience, in his last moments.
"If the preceding memoir of _St. André_ had not been composed entirely
from memory (a faculty which, like the sieve of the _Danaids_, is
apt to lose as much as it receives), and had not been conveyed
to the press with so much precipitancy, the writer, by a second
recollection, might have made supplementary anecdotes less necessary.
Whilst _St. André_ was basking in the sun-shine of public favour
in _Northumberland-Court_, near _Charing-Cross_, under pretence of
being wanted in his profession at some house in the neighbourhood,
he was hurried through so many passages, and up and down so many
stair-cases, that he did not know where he was, nor what the untoward
scene was to end in, till the horrid conclusion presented itself,
of which he published an extraordinary account in _The Gazette_ of
_Feb._ 23, 1724-5, no less than of his being poisoned, and of his more
extraordinary recovery. Such uncommon men must be visited through
life with uncommon incidents. The bowl of poison must have been for
ever present to his imagination. _Socrates_ himself could not expect
more certain destruction from the noxious draught he was forced to
take down, than seemed inevitable to _St. André_. Nay, a double death
seems to have threatened him. Probably it was not any public or
private virtue for which _Socrates_ was famous, and which occasioned
him to suffer, that endangered our hero's life. His constitution was
so good, that he got the better of the internal potion. The truth
and circumstances of the story could only be known to himself, who
authenticated it upon oath. His narrative partakes of the marvellous;
and the reader of _July_, 1781, is left in total ignorance of the
actor, and the provocation to such a barbarous termination. His case
was reported, and he was attended, by the ablest of the faculty:
and the Privy Council issued a reward of two hundred pounds towards
a discovery. A note in the second supplemental volume of _Swift_
informed the writer of this sketch, a day or two ago (who takes to
himself the reproof of _Prior_, 'Authors, before they write, should
read!'), that _St. André_ was convinced he had been imposed upon
respecting the woman of _Godalmin_, and that he apologised handsomely
to the public in an advertisement, dated _Dec._ 8, 1726.--'He's half
absolv'd, who has confest.'--In the autumn, before the heat of the
town-talk on this affair was over, he was sent for to attend Mr.
_Pope_, who, on his return home from _Dawley_ in Lord _Bolingbroke's_
coach and six, was overturned in a river, and lost the use of two
fingers of his left-hand (happy for the lovers of poetry they were
not the servants of the right one!), and gave him assurance, that
none of the broken glass was likely to be fatal to him. It is highly
improbable, that _Pope_ and _Bolingbroke_ would have suffered _St.
André_ to have come near them, if he had been branded as a cheat
and an impostor. He died in _March_, 1776, having survived all his
contemporary enemies, and, which is the consequence of living long,
most of his ancient friends. Such men do not arise every day for our
censure or our applause; to gratify the pen or the pencil of character
or caricature. He may be considered, as _Voltaire_ pronounces of
_Charles_ the Twelfth, an extraordinary, rather than a great man, and
fitter to be admired than imitated.
"IMPARTIAL."
In the first place, I avow that the epithet _notorious_ was not
meant to be employed in the milder sense of Lord _Clarendon_. Had
I undertaken to compile the life of a man eminent for virtue, I
should have been happy to have borrowed the softer application of
the aforesaid term from our noble historian. But having engaged to
delineate a mere impostor's character, there is greater propriety in
adopting the disputed word with that constant signification affixed to
it by the biographers of _Bet Canning_, or _Fanny_ the Phantom of _Cock
Lane_.--I shall absolve myself no farther from the charge of "malice,"
than by observing that there are always people who think _somewhat much
too rough has been said of Chartres_.
The dead, declares our apologist, deserve justice as well as their
survivors. This is an uncontested truth; nor will the precept be
violated by me. I may observe however, with impunity, that the
interests of the living, for whose sake a line of separation between
good and bad characters is drawn, should be consulted, rather than
the memories of the flagitious, who can no longer be affected by human
praise or censure, should be spared.
Our apologist next assures us, that perhaps more tenderness is due to
a foreigner than to a native. The boasted _amor patriæ_ is not very
conspicuous in this remark, which indeed was dropped, to as little
purpose, by a learned counsel on the trial of the _French Spy_ who was
lately executed.
"Next to his countryman _Heidegger_," adds our apologist, "Mr. _St.
André_ became the most _considerable_ person that has been imported
from _Switzerland_." To judge of the comparative value of the latter,
we must estimate the merits of the former. _Heidegger_ is known to us
only by the uncommon ugliness of his visage, and his adroitness in
conducting Operas and Masquerades. If _St. André_ is to be regarded
as a person still _less considerable_ than _Heidegger_, can his
consequence be rated very high?
That _St. André_ arrived here in a menial station, is not improbable.
The servility of his youth afforded a natural introduction to the
insolence of his riper years. He was indeed (if I am not mis-informed)
of the same family with the fencing and dancing-master whom _Dryden_
has immortalized in _MacFlecknoe_;
"_St. André's_ feet ne'er kept more equal time;"[1]
and was intended for the same professions; a circumstance often hinted
at by his opponents during the Rabbit controversy. Having been thus
early instructed in the management of the foil and kitt, no marvel that
he so often prated about the art of defence, or that "his gratitude to
his benefactors" broke out in the language of a minuet or a rigadoon.
That he became famous enough in his profession to have anatomical works
occasionally dedicated to him, will easily obtain credit among our
apologist's readers; for many of them must have seen a book on surgery
inscribed to Dr. _Rock_, a political poem addressed to _Buckhorse_, and
a treatise on religion sheltering itself under the patronage of the
late Lord _Baltimore. St. André_, however, was not the earliest reader
of anatomical lectures in _London. Bussiere_, the surgeon who attended
_Guiscard_ (the assassin of _Harley_), was our hero's predecessor in
this office, and I am told even he was not the first who offered public
instructions to the students at our hospitals. Dr. _Hunter_, who has
been applied to for intelligence on this occasion, declares that he
never described _St. André_ as "the wonder of his time," but as a man
who had passed through no regular course of study, and was competent
only in the article of injections, a task as happily suited to minute
abilities as to those of a larger grasp.
_Æmilium circà ludum faber imus et ungues
Exprimet, et molles imitabitur ære capillos_.