To hear them sing----
The preacher, reader, and clerk, with many of the small figures in the
gallery and beneath, are truly ludicrous, and we regret their being on
so reduced a scale, that they are scarce perceptible to the naked eye.
It was necessary that the artist should exhibit a crowded congregation;
but it must be acknowledged he has neglected the rules of perspective.
The print wants depth. In the countenance of Miss West and her lover
there is a resemblance. Their faces have not much expression; but this
is atoned for by a natural and pleasing simplicity. Character was not
necessary.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 2.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE PERFORMING THE DUTY OF A CHRISTIAN.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE III.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE AT PLAY IN THE CHURCH-YARD DURING DIVINE SERVICE.
"Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of
fools."
Proverbs, chap. xix. verse 29.
As a contrast to the preceding plate, of the industrious young man
performing the duties of a Christian, is this, representing the idle
'prentice at play in the church-yard during divine service. As an
observance of religion is allowed to be the foundation of virtue, so a
neglect of religious duties has ever been acknowledged the forerunner of
every wickedness; the confession of malefactors at the place of
execution being a melancholy confirmation of this truth. Here we see
him, while others are intent on the holy service, transgressing the laws
both of God and man, gambling on a tomb-stone with the off-scouring of
the people, the meanest of the human species, shoe-blacks,
chimney-sweepers, &c. for none but such would deign to be his
companions. Their amusement seems to be the favourite old English game
of hustle-cap, and our idle and unprincipled youth is endeavouring to
cheat, by concealing some of the half-pence under the broad brim of his
hat. This is perceived by the shoe-black, and warmly resented by the
fellow with the black patch over his eye, who loudly insists on the
hat's being fairly removed. The eager anxiety which marks these mean
gamblers, is equal to that of two peers playing for an estate. The
latter could not have more solicitude for the turn of a die which was to
determine who was the proprietor of ten thousand acres, than is
displayed in the countenance of young Idle. Indeed, so callous is his
heart, so wilfully blind is he to every thing tending to his future
welfare, that the tombs, those standing monuments of mortality, cannot
move him: even the new-dug grave, the sculls and bones, those lively and
awakening monitors, cannot rouse him from his sinful lethargy, open his
eyes, or pierce his heart with the least reflection; so hardened is he
with vice, and so intent on the pursuit of his evil course. The hand of
the boy, employed upon his head, and that of the shoe-black, in his
bosom, are expressive of filth and vermin; and show that our hero is
within a step of being overspread with the beggarly contagion. His
obstinate continuance in his course, until awakened by the blows of the
watchful beadle, point out to us, that "stripes are prepared for the
backs of fools;" that disgrace and infamy are the natural attendants of
the slothful and the scorner; and that there are but little hopes of his
alteration, until he is overtaken in his iniquity, by the avenging hand
of Omnipotence, and feels with horror and amazement, the unexpected and
inevitable approach of death. Thus do the obstinate and incorrigible
shut their ears against the alarming calls of Providence, and sin away
even the possibility of salvation.
The figures in this print are admirably grouped, and the countenances of
the gamblers and beadle strikingly characteristic.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 3.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE AT PLAY IN THE CHURCH YARD.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE IV.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE A FAVOURITE AND INTRUSTED BY HIS MASTER.
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful
over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things."
Matthew, chap. xxv. verse 21.
The industrious apprentice, by a discreet and steady conduct, attracts
the notice of his master, and becomes a favourite: accordingly, we
behold him here (exquisitely continued from the first and second prints)
in the counting-house (with a distant view of the looms, and of the
quilsters, winding quills for the shuttles, from whence he was removed)
entrusted with the books, receiving and giving orders, (the general
reward of honesty, care, and diligence,) as appears from the delivery of
some stuffs by a city porter, from Blackwell-hall. By the keys in one
hand and the bag in the other, we are shown that he has behaved himself
with so much prudence and discretion, and given such proofs of fidelity,
as to become the keeper of untold gold: the greatest mark of confidence
he could be favoured with. The integrity of his heart is visible in his
face. The modesty and tranquillity of his countenance tell us, that
though the great trust reposed in him is an addition to his happiness,
yet, that he discharges his duty with such becoming diffidence and care,
as not to betray any of that pride which attends so great a promotion.
The familiar position of his master, leaning on his shoulder, is a
further proof of his esteem, declaring that he dwells, as it were, in
his bosom, and possesses the utmost share of his affection;
circumstances that must sweeten even a state of servitude, and make a
pleasant and lasting impression on the mind. The head-piece to the
London Almanack, representing Industry taking Time by the fore-lock, is
not the least of the beauties in this plate, as it intimates the danger
of delay, and advises us to make the best use of time, whilst we have it
in our power; nor will the position of the gloves, on the flap of the
escritoire, be unobserved by a curious examiner, being expressive of
that union that subsists between an indulgent master and an industrious
apprentice.
The strong-beer nose and pimpled face of the porter, though they have no
connexion with the moral of the piece, are a fine caricatura, and show
that our author let slip no opportunity of ridiculing the vices and
follies of the age, and particularly here, in laying before us the
strange infatuation of this class of people, who, because a good deal of
labour requires some extraordinary refreshment, will even drink to the
deprivation of their reason, and the destruction of their health. The
surly mastiff, keeping close to his master, and quarrelling with the
house-cat for admittance, though introduced to fill up the piece,
represents the faithfulness of these animals in general, and is no mean
emblem of the honesty and fidelity of the porter.
In this print, neither the cat, dog, nor the porter are well drawn, nor
is much regard paid to perspective; but the general design is carried on
by such easy and natural gradations, and the consequent success of an
attentive conduct displayed in colours so plain and perspicuous, that
these little errors in execution will readily be overlooked.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 4.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE A FAVOURITE, AND ENTRUSTED BY HIS MASTER.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE V.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE TURNED AWAY AND SENT TO SEA.
"A foolish son is the heaviness of his mother." Proverbs, chap. x.
verse 1.
Corrupted by sloth and contaminated by evil company, the idle
apprentice, having tired the patience of his master, is sent to sea, in
the hope that the being removed from the vices of the town, and the
influence of his wicked companions, joined with the hardships and perils
of a seafaring life, might effect that reformation of which his friends
despaired while he continued on shore. See him then in the ship's boat,
accompanied by his afflicted mother, making towards the vessel in which
he is to embark. The disposition of the different figures in the boat,
and the expression of their countenances, tell us plainly, that his evil
pursuits and incorrigible wickedness are the subjects of their
discourse. The waterman significantly directs his attention to a figure
on a gibbet, as emblematical of his future fate, should he not turn from
the evil of his ways; and the boy shows him a cat-o'-nine-tails,
expressive of the discipline that awaits him on board of ship; these
admonitions, however, he notices only by the application of his fingers
to his forehead, in the form of horns, jestingly telling them to look at
Cuckold's Point, which they have just passed; he then throws his
indentures into the water with an air of contempt, that proves how
little he is affected by his present condition, and how little he
regards the persuasions and tears of a fond mother, whose heart seems
ready to burst with grief at the fate of her darling son, and perhaps
her only stay; for her dress seems to intimate that she is a widow. Well
then might Solomon say, that "a foolish son is the heaviness of his
mother;" for we here behold her who had often rejoiced in the prospect
of her child being a prop to her in the decline of life, lamenting his
depravity, and anticipating with horror the termination of his evil
course. One would naturally imagine, from the common course of things,
that this scene would have awakened his reflection, and been the means
of softening the ruggedness of his disposition,--that some tender ideas
would have crossed his mind and melted the obduracy of his heart; but he
continues hardened and callous to every admonition.
The group of figures composing this print has been copied by the
ingenious Lavater; with whose appropriate remarks we conclude our
present description. "Observe," says this great analyst of the human
countenance, "in the annexed group, that unnatural wretch, with the
infernal visage, insulting his supplicating mother; the predominant
character on the three other villain-faces, though all disfigured by
effrontery, is cunning and ironical malignity. Every face is a seal with
this truth engraved on it: 'Nothing makes a man so ugly as vice; nothing
renders the countenance so hideous as villainy.'"
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 5.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE TURNED AWAY AND SENT TO SEA.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE VI.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE OUT OF HIS TIME, AND MARRIED TO HIS MASTER'S
DAUGHTER.
"The virtuous woman is a crown to her husband." Proverbs, chap.
xiii. verse 4.
The reward of industry is success. Our prudent and attentive youth is
now become partner with his master, and married to his daughter. The
sign, by which this circumstance is intimated, was at first inscribed
GOODCHILD and WEST. Some of Mr. Hogarth's city friends informing him
that it was usual for the senior partner's name to precede, it was
altered.
To show that plenty reigns in this mansion, a servant distributes the
remains of the table to a poor woman, and the bridegroom pays one of the
drummers, who, according to ancient custom, attend with their thundering
gratulations the day after a wedding. A performer on the bass viol, and
a herd of butchers armed with marrow-bones and cleavers, form an English
concert. (Madame Pompadour, in her remarks on the English taste for
music, says, they are invariably fond of every thing that is full in the
mouth.) A cripple with the ballad of Jesse, or the Happy Pair,
represents a man known by the name of Philip in the Tub, who had visited
Ireland and the United Provinces; and, in the memory of some persons now
living, was a general attendant at weddings. From those votaries of
Hymen who were honoured with his epithalamiums, he received a small
reward. To show that Messrs. West and Goodchild's habitation is near the
monument, the base of that stately column appears in the back-ground.
The inscription which until lately graced this structure, used to remind
every reader of Pope's lines,
Where London's column, pointing to the skies,
Like a tall bully, rears its head, and lies, &c.
The duke of Buckingham's epigram on this magnificent pillar is not so
generally known:
Here stand I,
The Lord knows why;
But if I fall--
Have at ye all!
A footman and butcher, at the opposite corner, compared with the other
figures, are gigantic; they might serve for the Gog and Magog of
Guildhall.
It has been said that the thoughts in this print are trite, and the
actions mean, which must be in part acknowledged, but they are natural,
and appropriate to the rank and situation of the parties, and to the
fashions of the time at which it was published.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 6.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE OUT OF HIS TIME & MARRIED TO HIS MASTER'S
DAUGHTER.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE VII.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE RETURNED FROM SEA, AND IN A GARRET WITH A COMMON
PROSTITUTE.
"The sound of a shaken leaf shall chase him." Leviticus, chap. xxvi.
verse 26.
The idle apprentice, as appears by this print, is advancing with rapid
strides towards his fate. We are to suppose him returned from sea after
a long voyage; and to have met with such correction abroad for his
obstinacy, during his absence from England, that though it was found
insufficient to alter his disposition, yet it determined him to pursue
some other way of life; and what he entered on is here but too evident
(from the pistols by the bed-side, and the trinkets his companion is
examining, in order to strip him of) to be that of the highway. He is
represented in a garret, with a common prostitute, the partaker of his
infamy, awaking, after a night spent in robbery and plunder, from one of
those broken slumbers which are ever the consequences of a life of
dishonesty and debauchery. Though the designs of Providence are visible
in every thing, yet they are never more conspicuous than in this,--that
whatever these unhappy wretches possess by wicked and illegal means,
they seldom comfortably enjoy. In this scene we have one of the finest
pictures imaginable of the horrors of a guilty conscience. Though the
door is fastened in the strongest manner with a lock and two bolts, and
with the addition of some planks from the flooring, so as to make his
retreat as secure as possible; though he has attempted to drive away
thought by the powerful effects of spirituous liquors, plain from the
glass and bottle upon the floor, still he is not able to brave out his
guilt, or steel his breast against reflection. Behold him roused by the
accidental circumstance of a cat's coming down the chimney, and the
falling of a few bricks, which he believes to be the noise of his
pursuers! Observe his starting up in bed, and all the tortures of his
mind imprinted in his face! He first stiffens into stone, then all his
nerves and muscles relax, a cold sweat seizes him, his hair stands on
end, his teeth chatter, and dismay and horror stalk before his eyes. How
different is the countenance of his wretched bed-fellow! in whom
unconcern and indifference to every thing but the plunder are plainly
apparent. She is looking at an ear-ring, which, with two watches, an
etwee, and a couple of rings, are spread upon the bed, as part of last
night's plunder. The phials on the mantel-piece show that sickness and
disease are ever attendant on prostitution; and the beggarly appearance
of the room, its wretched furniture, the hole by way of window, (by the
light of which she is examining her valuable acquisition, and against
which she had hung her old hoop-petticoat in order to keep out the
cold,) and the rat's running across the floor, are just and sufficient
indications that misery and want are the constant companions of a guilty
life.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 7.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE RETURNED FROM SEA, AND IN THE A GARRET WITH A
PROSTITUTE.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE VIII.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE GROWN RICH, AND SHERIFF OF LONDON.
'With all thy gettings get understanding. Exalt her and she shall
promote thee; she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace
her.' Proverbs, chap. iv. verse 7, 8.
From industry become opulent, from integrity and punctuality
respectable, our young merchant is now sheriff of London, and dining
with the different companies in Guildhall. A group on the left side are
admirably characteristic; their whole souls seem absorbed in the
pleasures of the table. A divine, true to his cloth, swallows his soup
with the highest _gout_. Not less gratified is the gentleman palating a
glass of wine. The man in a black wig is a positive representative of
famine; and the portly and oily citizen, with a napkin tucked in his
button-hole, has evidently burnt his mouth by extreme eagerness.
The backs of those in the distance, behung with bags, major perukes,
pinners, &c. are most laughably ludicrous. Every person present is so
attentive to business, that one may fairly conclude they live to eat,
rather than eat to live.
But though this must be admitted to be the case with this party, the
following instance of city temperance proves that there are some
exceptions. When the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs, Aldermen, Chamberlain, &c. of
the city of London were once seated round the table at a public and
splendid dinner at Guildhall, Mr. Chamberlain Wilkes lisped out, "Mr.
Alderman B----, shall I help you to a plate of turtle, or a slice of the
haunch,--I am within reach of both, sir?" "Neither one nor t'other, I
thank you, Sir," replied the Alderman, "I think I shall dine on the
beans and bacon which are at this end of the table." "Mr. Alderman
A----," continued the Chamberlain, "which would you choose, sir?" "Sir,
I will not trouble you for either, for I believe I shall follow the
example of my brother B----, and dine on beans and bacon," was the
reply. On this second refusal the old Chamberlain rose from his seat,
and, with every mark of astonishment in his countenance, curled up the
corners of his mouth, cast his eyes round the table, and in a voice as
loud and articulate as he was able, called "Silence!" which being
obtained, he thus addressed the pretorian magistrate, who sat in the
Chair: "My Lord Mayor, the wicked have accused us of intemperance, and
branded us with the imputation of gluttony; that they may be put to open
shame, and their profane tongues be from this day utterly silenced, I
humbly move, that your Lordship command the proper officer to record in
our annals, that two Aldermen of the city of London prefer beans and
bacon to either turtle soup or venison."
Notwithstanding all this, there are men, who, looking on the dark side,
and perhaps rendered splenetic, and soured by not being invited to these
sumptuous entertainments, have affected to fear, that their frequent
repetition would have a tendency to produce a famine, or at least to
check the increase, if not extirpate the species, of those birds,
beasts, and fish, with which the tables of the rich are now so
plentifully supplied. But these half reasoners do not take into their
calculation the number of gentlemen so laudably associated for
encouraging cattle being fed so fat that there is no lean left; or that
more ancient association, sanctioned and supported by severe acts of
parliament, for the preservation of the game. From the exertions of
these and similar societies, we may reasonably hope there is no occasion
to dread any such calamity taking place; though the Guildhall tables
often groaning under such hecatombs as are recorded in the following
account, may make a man of weak nerves and strong digestion, shake his
head, and shudder a little. "On the 29th October, 1727, when George II.
and Queen Caroline honoured the city with their presence at Guildhall,
there were 19 tables, covered with 1075 dishes. The whole expense of
this entertainment to the city was 4889_l._ 4_s._"
To return to the print;--a self-sufficient and consequential beadle,
reading the direction of a letter to Francis Goodchild, Esq. Sheriff of
London, has all the insolence of office. The important and overbearing
air of this dignified personage is well contrasted by the humble
simplicity of the straight-haired messenger behind the bar. The gallery
is well furnished with musicians busily employed in their vocation.
Music hath charms to sooth the savage breast,
And therefore proper at a sheriff's feast.
Besides a portrait of William the Third, and a judge, the hall is
ornamented with a full length of that illustrious hero Sir William
Walworth, in commemoration of whose valour the weapon with which he slew
Wat Tyler was introduced into the city arms.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 8.
THE INDUSTRIOUS 'PRENTICE GROWN RICH, AND SHERIFF OF LONDON.]
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE IX.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE BETRAYED BY A PROSTITUTE, AND TAKEN IN A NIGHT CELLAR
WITH HIS ACCOMPLICE.
"The adulteress will hunt for precious life." Proverbs, chap. vi.
verse 26.
From the picture of the reward of diligence, we return to take a further
view of the progress of sloth and infamy; by following the idle
'prentice a step nearer to the approach of his unhappy end. We see him
in the third plate herding with the worst of the human species, the very
dregs of the people; one of his companions, at that time, being a
one-eyed wretch, who seemed hackneyed in the ways of vice. To break this
vile connexion he was sent to sea; but, no sooner did he return, than
his wicked disposition took its natural course, and every day he lived
served only to habituate him to acts of greater criminality. He
presently discovered his old acquaintance, who, no doubt, rejoiced to
find him so ripe for mischief: with this worthless, abandoned fellow, he
enters into engagements of the worst kind, even those of robbery and
murder. Thus blindly will men sometimes run headlong to their own
destruction.
About the time when these plates were first published, which was in the
year 1747, there was a noted house in Chick Lane, Smithfield, that went
by the name of the Blood-Bowl House, so called from the numerous scenes
of blood that were almost daily carried on there; it being a receptacle
for prostitutes and thieves; where every species of delinquency was
practised; and where, indeed, there seldom passed a month without the
commission of some act of murder. To this subterraneous abode of
iniquity (it being a cellar) was our hero soon introduced; where he is
now represented in company with his accomplice, and others of the same
stamp, having just committed a most horrid act of barbarity, (that of
killing a passer-by, and conveying him into a place under ground,
contrived for this purpose,) dividing among them the ill-gotten booty,
which consists of two watches, a snuff-box, and some other trinkets. In
the midst of this wickedness, he is betrayed by his strumpet (a proof of
the treachery of such wretches) into the hands of the high constable and
his attendants, who had, with better success than heretofore, traced him
to this wretched haunt. The back-ground of this print serves rather as a
representation of night-cellars in general, those infamous receptacles
for the dissolute and abandoned of both sexes, than a further
illustration of our artist's chief design; however, as it was Mr.
Hogarth's intention, in the history before us, to encourage virtue and
expose vice, by placing the one in an amiable light, and exhibiting the
other in its most heightened scenes of wickedness and impiety, in hopes
of deterring the half-depraved youth of this metropolis, from even the
possibility of the commission of such actions, by frightening them from
these abodes of wretchedness; as this was manifestly his intention, it
cannot be deemed a deviation from the subject. By the skirmish behind,
the woman without a nose, the scattered cards upon the floor, &c. we are
shown that drunkenness and riot, disease, prostitution, and ruin are the
dreadful attendants of sloth, and the general fore-runners of crimes of
the deepest die; and by the halter suspended from the ceiling, over the
head of the sleeper, we are to learn two things--the indifference of
mankind, even in a state of danger, and the insecurity of guilt in every
situation.
[Illustration: INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 9.
THE IDLE 'PRENTICE BETRAYED BY A PROSTITUTE.]