The statute, which took place June 24, 1735, was drawn up by our

artist's friend Mr. Huggins, who took for his model the eighth

of Queen Anne in favour of literary property. But it was not so

accurately executed as entirely to remedy the evil; for, in a cause

founded on it, which came before Lord Hardwicke in Chancery, that

excellent lawyer determined that no assignee, claiming under an

assignment from the original inventor, could take any benefit by it.

Hogarth, immediately after the passing of the Act, published this

print with the following inscription:--

"In humble and grateful acknowledgment

of the grace and goodness of the LEGISLATURE,

manifested in the ACT OF PARLIAMENT for the Encouragement

of the Arts of Designing, Engraving, etc.,

obtained by the Endeavours, and almost at the sole Expense,

of the Designer of this Print in the Year 1735;

by which,

not only the Professors of those Arts were rescued

from the Tyranny, Frauds, and Piracies

of Monopolizing Dealers,

and legally entitled to the Fruits of their own Labours;

but Genius and Industry were also prompted

by the most noble and generous Inducements to exert themselves.

Emulation was excited;

Ornamental Compositions were better understood;

and every Manufacture, where Fancy has any concern,

was gradually raised to a pitch of Perfection before unknown;

insomuch, that those of GREAT BRITAIN

are at present the most elegant

and the most in Esteem of any in EUROPE."

The royal Crown at the top is darting its rays on mitres, coronets,

the Chancellor's great seal, the Speaker's hat, etc. etc.; and on

a scroll is written, "An Act for the Encouragement of the Arts of

Designing, Engraving, and Etching, by vesting the properties thereof

in the inventors and engravers, during the time therein mentioned."

The plate was afterwards used as a receipt for the subscriptions to

his four prints of "The Election."

In 1767, three years after Hogarth's death, his widow stated, in

a petition to the House of Commons, "that she was informed that a

Bill was depending in the House to amend an Act made in the eighth

year of the reign of his late Majesty, for the encouragement of the

arts of designing, engraving, and etching: that her late husband was

the inventor, engraver, and publisher of various designs--moral,

humorous, and historical; the sole property whereof was vested in

him by the said Act for the term of fourteen years; that her chief

support arose from the sale of her late husband's works; that,

since his decease, many persons had copied, printed, and published

several of those works, and still continued to do so; and that the

sale of those spurious copies, both at home and for exportation, had

already been a great prejudice to the petitioner, and, unless timely

prevented, would deprive her of her chief support and dependence; and

praying that provision might be made for vesting in her the property

of her said husband's works." The petition was thought reasonable;

and a clause was added to the Bill for "vesting in, and securing to,

Jane Hogarth, widow, the property in certain prints."

THE ROYAL MASQUERADE.

[Illustration: ROYAL MASQUERADE, SOMERSET HOUSE.]

This very interesting scene, which may be dated early in 1755, is

thus anticipated by Mr. Walpole, in a letter to Mr. Richard Bentley,

Dec. 24, 1754:--"The Russian ambassador is to give a masquerade for

the birth of the little great prince (the Czar, Paul I.). The King

lends him Somerset House: he wanted to borrow the palace over against

me, and sent to ask it of the cardinal-nephew (Henry Earl of Lincoln,

nephew to the Duke of Newcastle, to whose title he succeeded), who

replied, 'Not for half Russia!'"

The print abounds with real portraits of personages of the first

distinction, of whom several may be identified by the following

extract from the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. xxv. p. 89:--"_Feb.

6._--The Russian ambassador gave a most magnificent ball at

Somerset House. His Majesty came a little after eight, dressed in

a black domino, tie-wig, and gold-laced hat. Her Royal Highness

the Princess of Wales was in a blue and silver robe, and her head

greatly ornamented with jewels. The Prince of Wales was in a pink

and silver dress. Prince Edward in a pink satin waistcoat, with a

belt adorned with diamonds. Princess Augusta in a rich gold stuff.

The Duke (of Cumberland) was in a Turkish dress, with a large bunch

of diamonds in his turban. A noble lady shone in the habit of a

nymph, embroidered over with stars studded with brilliants to the

amount of £100,000. In short, the dresses of the whole assembly were

the richest that could possibly be devised upon such an occasion;

and the whole entertainment, particularly the desert, was the most

elegant that expense could furnish. Few exhibitions of this kind have

equalled it,--none excelled it. The number of persons were above a

thousand."

The original painting formed part of the fine collection of the late

Roger Palmer, Esq., on whose death it devolved, with the rest of a

very ample property, to his only sister, Elizabeth, wife of the brave

and benevolent Captain Joseph Budworth, who assumed the name and arms

of Palmer.

RICH'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY.

[Illustration: RICH'S TRIUMPHANT ENTRY.]

This plate represents the removal of Rich, and his scenery, authors,

actors, etc., from Lincoln's-Inn Fields to the new house. The scene

is the area of Covent Garden, across which, leading toward the door

of the theatre, is a long procession, consisting of a cart loaded

with thunder and lightning, performers, etc.; and at the head of

them Mr. Rich (invested with the skin of the famous dog in _Perseus

and Andromeda_) riding with his mistress in a chariot driven by

harlequin, and drawn by satyrs.

Some indifferent verses, which accompanied the original publication,

allude to Walker and Hall, the original Macheath and Lockit, and

conclude thus:

"To the Piazza let us turn our eyes,

See Johnny Gay on Porter's shoulders rise,

Whilst a bright Man of Taste his works despise."

"Another author wheels his work with care,

In hopes to get a market at this fair,

For such a day he sees not every year."

By the "Man of Taste," Mr. Pope was apparently designed. He is

represented in his tie-wig, at a dark corner of the Piazza, amusing

himself (not very delicately) with the _Beggars' Opera_. The letter

P is over his head; his little sword is significantly placed, and

the peculiarity of his figure is well preserved. The reason why our

artist has assigned such an employment to him, we can only guess.

It seems, indeed, from Dr. Johnson's _Life of Gay_, that Pope did

not think the _Beggars' Opera_ would succeed. Swift, however, was

of the same opinion; and yet the former supported the piece on

the first night of exhibition, and the latter defended it in his

_Intelligencer_ against the attacks of Dr. Herring, then Preacher

to the Society of Lincoln's-Inn, and afterwards Archbishop of

Canterbury. Hogarth might be wanton in his satire, might have

founded it on an idle report, or might have sacrificed truth to the

prejudice of Sir James Thornhill, whose quarrel on another occasion

he is supposed to have taken up, when he ridiculed the translator of

_Homer_, in a view of "The Gate of Burlington House."

THE POOL OF BETHESDA, AND THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

[Illustration: THE POOL OF BETHESDA.]

[Illustration: THE GOOD SAMARITAN.]

These magnificent prints are placed among the early productions of

Hogarth, as the paintings from which they are copied were completed

in 1737; and in 1748 a small copy of the "Pool of Bethesda" was

engraved by Ravenet, as a frontispiece to Stackhouse's Family Bible.

Mr. Walpole observes, that "the burlesque turn of our artist's mind

mixed itself with his most serious compositions; and that, in the

'Pool of Bethesda,' a servant of a rich ulcerated lady beats back

a poor man (perhaps woman) who sought the same celestial remedy."

To this I may add, that the figure of the priest, in the "Good

Samaritan," is supremely comic, and rather resembles some purse-proud

burgomaster, than the character it was designed to represent.

In the "Pool of Bethesda" is introduced, as I was assured by Dr.

Ducarel, a faithful portrait of Nell Robinson, a celebrated

courtezan, at whose shrine both Hogarth and the Doctor had in early

life occasionally paid their _devoirs_.

On the subject of these two very fine prints, it will not only be

candid, but amusing and instructive, to transcribe Hogarth's own

unvarnished remarks:--

"As I could not bring myself to act like some of my brethren,

and make the painting of small conversation pieces a sort of

manufactory to be carried on by the help of background and

drapery painters, it was not sufficiently profitable to pay the

expenses my family required. I therefore turned my thoughts to

a still more novel trade, the painting and engraving modern

moral subjects, a field not broken up in any country or any age.

The reasons which induced me to adopt this mode of designing

were, that I thought both writers and painters had, in the

historical style, totally overlooked that intermediate species of

subjects, which may be placed between the sublime and grotesque.

I therefore wished to compose pictures on canvas, similar to

representations on the stage; and further hope that they will be

tried by the same test, and criticised by the same criterion.

Let it be observed, that I mean to speak only of those scenes

where the human species are actors; and these, I think, have

not often been delineated in a way of which they are worthy and

capable. In these compositions, those subjects that will both

entertain and improve the mind bid fair to be of the greatest

public utility, and must therefore be entitled to rank in the

highest class. If the execution is difficult (though that is but

a secondary merit), the author has a claim to a higher degree

of praise. If this be admitted, comedy, in painting as well as

writing, ought to be allotted the first place, as most capable

of all these perfections, though the sublime, as it is called,

has been opposed to it. Ocular demonstration will carry more

conviction to the mind of a sensible man than all he would find

in a thousand volumes; and this has been attempted in the prints

I have composed. Let the decision be left to every unprejudiced

eye; let the figures in either pictures or prints be considered

as players, dressed either for the sublime--for genteel comedy,

or farce--for high or low life. I have endeavoured to treat

my subjects as a dramatic writer; my picture is my stage, and

men and women my players, who, by means of certain actions and

gestures, are to exhibit a dumb show.

"Before I had done anything of much consequence in this walk,

I entertained some hopes of succeeding in what the puffers in

books call the great style of history-painting; so that, without

having had a stroke of this grand business before, I quitted

small portraits and familiar conversations, and, with a smile

at my own temerity, commenced history-painter; and on a great

staircase at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, painted two Scripture

stories, 'The Pool of Bethesda' and 'The Good Samaritan,' with

figures seven feet high. These I presented to the charity; and

thought they might serve as a specimen, to show that, were there

an inclination in England for encouraging historical pictures,

such a first essay might prove the painting them more easily

attainable than is generally imagined. But as religion, the

great promoter of this style in other countries, rejected it in

England, I was unwilling to sink into a portrait-manufacturer;

and, still ambitious of being singular, dropped all expectations

of advantage from that source, and returned to the pursuit of

my former dealings with the public at large. This I found was

most likely to answer my purpose, provided I could strike the

passions, and, by small sums from many, by the sale of prints

which I could engrave from my own pictures, thus secure my

property to myself."

While these pictures were in progress, it was announced that "among

the governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital was lately chosen Mr.

William Hogarth, the celebrated painter, who, we are told, designs

to paint the staircase of the said hospital, and thereby become a

benefactor to it by giving his labours gratis." And a newspaper of

July 14, 1737, says, "Yesterday the scaffolding was taken down from

before the picture of 'The Good Samaritan,' which is esteemed a very

curious piece."

Hogarth paid his friend Lambert for painting the landscape in

this picture; and to the imaginary merits of his coadjutor, the

_Analysis_, p. 26, thus bears testimony: "The sky always gradates

one way or other, and the rising or setting sun exhibits it in great

perfection; the imitating of which was Claude de Lorraine's peculiar

excellence, and it is now Mr. Lambert's."

Both pictures, which appear of an oblong square in the engravings,

in the originals are surrounded with scroll-work which cuts off the

corners of them, etc. All these ornaments, together with compartments

carved at the bottom, were the work of Mr. Richards. These the late

Mr. Alderman Boydell caused to be engraved on separate plates, and

appended to those above them, on which sufficient space had not

been left. Hogarth requested that these paintings might never be

varnished. They appear, therefore, to disadvantage, the decorations

about them having, within these few years past, been highly glazed.

"The Pool of Bethesda" has suffered much from the sun; and "The Good

Samaritan," when cleaned about the year 1780, was pressed so hard

against the straining frame, that several creases were made in the

canvas.

MARTIN FOLKES, ESQ.

[Illustration: MARTIN FOLKES ESQ^{RE}]

This elegant scholar was a mathematician and antiquary of much

celebrity in the philosophical annals of literature. In 1713, at the

early age of 24, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and

in 1741 was elected President. Mr. Folkes was also an early Member

of the Society of Antiquaries, having been elected in 1719-20; and

his communications to both societies were numerous and valuable. His

knowledge in ancient and modern coins was very extensive; and the

most important work he produced, was _The History of the English Gold

and Silver Coin, from the Conquest to his own time_.

Algernon, the famous Duke of Somerset, who had been many years

President of the Society of Antiquaries, dying February 9, 1749-50,

Mr. Folkes, who was then one of the Vice-Presidents, was immediately

chosen to succeed his Grace; and was continued President by the

Charter of Incorporation of that Society, November 2, 1751. But he

was soon disabled from presiding in person either in that or the

Royal Society, being seized, on the 26th of September the same year,

with a palsy, which deprived him of the use of his left side. On the

30th of November 1753, he resigned the Presidentship of the Royal

Society; but continued President of the Society of Antiquaries

till his death. After having languished nearly three years, a second

attack of his disorder, on the 25th of June 1754, put an end to his

life on the 28th of that month.

The original portrait is preserved in the meeting-room of the Royal

Society.

BISHOP HOADLEY.

[Illustration: BISHOP HOADLEY.]

This portrait is in grand style, though rather in the French manner.

The painting, and the plate engraved from it by Baron, were carefully

preserved in the Bishop's family.

Dr. Benjamin Hoadley, a prelate of considerable eminence, was born

November 4, 1676; educated at Catharine Hall, Cambridge; elected

Lecturer of St. Mildred, Poultry, 1701; Rector of St. Peter-le-Poor

in 1704, and of Streatham in 1710; King's Chaplain, February 16,

1715-16; Bishop of Bangor, March 18 following; translated to Hereford

in 1721, to Salisbury in 1723, and in 1734 to Winchester, which he

held nearly twenty-seven years, till on April 17, 1761, at his house

at Chelsea, in the same calm he had enjoyed amidst all the storms

that blew around him, he died, full of years and honours, beloved and

regretted by all good men, in the 85th year of his age. Few writers

of eminence have been so frequently or so illiberally traduced; yet

fewer still have had the felicity of living till a nation became

their converts, and of knowing "that sons have blushed their fathers

were their foes." His useful labours, which will ever be esteemed by

all lovers of the natural, civil, and religious rights of Englishmen,

were collected in 1773, in three folio volumes.

The Bishop had two sons: Benjamin Hoadley, M.D., F.R.S., Physician

to Frederick Prince of Wales, and to George the Second; of high rank

in his profession; and well known by many valuable writings, more

especially by his comedy of _The Suspicious Husband_. He died, in his

father's lifetime, in 1757. The other son, the Rev. Dr. John Hoadley,

Chancellor of Winchester, was also a most amiable man, and an elegant

poet. He was the editor of his father's collected works, introduced

by a well-digested biographical memoir. He died March 10, 1776; and

with him the name of Hoadley became extinct. His relict, who long

survived him, possessed several original paintings by Hogarth, which

were afterwards the property of the late Mr. Archdeacon D'Oyley.

MR. RANBY'S HOUSE AT CHISWICK.

[Illustration: M^R RANBY'S HOUSE AT CHISWICK.]

This view, etched by Hogarth in 1748 without any inscription, was

first published by his widow in 1781.

HYMEN AND CUPID.

[Illustration: HYMEN & CUPID.]

This neat plate was engraved as a ticket for the masque of _Alfred_,

performed in 1748, at Cliveden House, before the Prince and Princess

of Wales, on the Princess Augusta's birthday. It was afterwards

intended as a receipt for "Sigismunda."

FALSE PERSPECTIVE.

[Illustration: FALSE PERSPECTIVE.]

Early in 1753, Hogarth presented to his friend Mr. Joshua Kirby

this whimsical satirical design; which arose from the mistakes of

Sir Edward Walpole, who was learning to draw without being taught

perspective: an anecdote recorded by Mr. Steevens, on Sir Edward's

own authority.

To point out in a strong light the errors which would be likely to

happen from the want of acquaintance with those principles, Hogarth's

design was produced.

A traveller is represented on an eminence, lighting his pipe from

a candle presented to him by a woman from a chamber-window at

the distance of at least a mile. We are also astonished at the

representation near it, of a crow seated on the spray of a tree,

without incommoding by its weight the tender sprouts issuing from

its branches; and our astonishment increases when we recollect that

this tree, if weighed in the balance with the bird, would hardly

be found to preponderate. The tree on which the feathered animal

is so securely stationed is, however, of a much greater height and

magnitude than those which are nearer, and which gradually diminish

as they approach the foreground. The sheep, taking example from the

trees, are very large at a distance, but regularly become minute by

their proximity, the nearest being almost invisible. Both ends of the

church, the top, and the whole extent of one side of it, are clearly

seen. To take the view which Hogarth has represented, we must, at

the same time, be above, at each end, and in front of that parochial

erection; but he has not been so complaisant as to favour us with the

sight of the road on the bridge, which the vessel seems determined to

sail over, while the waggon and horses appear floating on the other

side. A fellow in a boat, nearly under the bridge, is attempting to

shoot a swan on the other side of it; though, as he is situated,

he cannot possibly have a view of the object whose destruction he

pretends to be aiming at. The waggon and horses, which are supposed

to be on the bridge, are more distant than the tree which grows on

the further side.

Many other absurdities are visible in this curious perspective view,

which are too obvious to escape observation: such as the signpost

extending to a house at the distance of half a mile, and

the remote row of trees concealing part of the nearer sign of the

half-moon; the angler's line interfering with another belonging to

his patient brother, though at a considerable distance from each

other; and the tops and bottoms of the barrels being equally visible.

The favour of this communication was gratefully acknowledged by

Kirby, who in 1754 prefixed it to Dr. Brook Taylor's _Method of

Perspective made easy both in Theory and Practice_, with a dedication

to Hogarth, who subsequently furnished him with a serious design for

the plate which is described at page 132.

THE FARMER'S RETURN.

[Illustration: THE FARMER'S RETURN.]

The little drama by Mr. Garrick, in which this exquisite frontispiece

first appeared, was thus prefaced: "The following interlude was

prepared for the stage, merely with a view of assisting Mrs.

Pritchard at her benefit; and the desire of serving so good an

actress is a better excuse for its defects than the few days in

which it was written and represented. Notwithstanding the favourable

reception it has met with, the author would not have printed it, had

not his friend Mr. Hogarth flattered him most agreeably, by thinking

the farmer and his family not unworthy of a sketch of his pencil.

To him, therefore, this trifle, which he has so much honoured, is

inscribed, as a faint testimony of the sincere esteem which the

writer bears him, both as a man and an artist."

The original drawing was given to Mr. Garrick, and was in the

possession of his widow during her life.

The receipt for "The March to Finchley," which accompanies this

plate, has been already described.

[Illustration: INHABITANTS OF THE MOON.]

[Illustration:

_Rec'd._ _of_ _7^s 6^d being the whole_

_Payment for a Print Representing a March to Finchly in the Year 1746

which I promise to deliver when finished on sight hereof._

_N.B. Each Print will be half a Guinea after the Subscription is

over._]

[Illustration: A. _absolute Gravity._ B. Conatus _against absolute

Gravity._ C. _partial Gravity._ D. _comparative Gravity._ E.

_horizontal, or good sense._ F. _Wit._ G. _comparative Levity, or

Coxcomb._ H. _partial Levity, or pert Fool._ I. _absolute Levity, or

stark Fool._]

TRISTRAM SHANDY.

[Illustration: FRONTISPIECES TO TRISTRAM SHANDY.]

For this popular work of his friend Lawrence Sterne, Hogarth

furnished two frontispieces; one in 1759, for the second volume; the

other in 1761, for the fourth.

The first of these is taken from the chapter in which Corporal Trim

is represented reading a sermon to Tristram's father, Uncle Toby, and

Dr. Slop, the latter of whom is fallen asleep, and who was intended

for Dr. John Burton, a physician of great eminence at York, well

known as an able and industrious antiquary, and also as a sturdy

Jacobite.

The second frontispiece represents the christening, so humorously

described in the fourteenth chapter of the fourth volume of _Tristram

Shandy_.

FOUR HEADS FROM THE CARTOONS.

[Illustration: HEADS FROM RAFFAELLE'S CARTOONS.]

These heads were copied from the cartoons at Hampton Court; and

Mr. Walpole, speaking of Sir James Thornhill's attention to these

celebrated pictures, has the following remark: "He made copious

studies of the heads, hands, and feet, and intended to publish an

exact account of the whole for the use of students; but his work

never appeared."

As this plate was found among others engraved by Hogarth, it might

probably have been one of his early performances. His widow, in 1781,

directed a few impressions to be taken from it; which were sold in

Leicester Square.

THE SHRIMP-GIRL.

[Illustration: THE SHRIMP GIRL.]

In this portrait from the life, first published in 1782, from the

original sketch in oil, are united the talents of Hogarth and

Bartolozzi; but the plate, which is executed in the dotted manner

then so much in fashion, should have been etched, or engraved, like

those excellent performances by Bartolozzi after the drawings of

Guercino; as spirit, rather than delicacy, is the characteristic of

our artist's shrimp-girl.

LORD HOLLAND.

[Illustration: THE RIGHT HON. HENRY FOX. LORD HOLLAND.]

This is a serious portrait, from a drawing by Hogarth in 1757, of

that celebrated nobleman, whom he afterwards introduced in the second

plate of "The Times," as the powerful antagonist of Lord Bute.

The public life of this great statesman is too well known to need

recital here. Let it suffice to say, that in 1756 he resigned the

office of Secretary at War to Mr. Pitt; and in the following year

was appointed Paymaster of the Forces, which he retained until the

commencement of the reign of King George III. May 6, 1762, his lady

was created Baroness Holland; and April 16, 1763, he himself was

advanced to a peerage, by the title of Baron Holland of Foxley,

Wilts. In the latter part of his life he amused himself by building,

at a vast expense, a fantastic villa at Kingsgate, and died July 1,

1774, in his 69th year.

EARL OF CHARLEMONT.

[Illustration: THE RIGHT HON. JAMES CAULFIELD. EARL OF CHARLEMOUNT.]

James Caulfield, son of James Viscount Charlemont, was born August

18, 1728; succeeded to his hereditary honours, April 21, 1734; and in

December 1782, was raised to an earldom. He was F.R.S., F.S.A., and

LL.D.; and died August 4, 1799, aged 70.

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

[Illustration: THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.]

This fine print exhibits an inside view of the House of Commons, from

an original painting taken in 1726 or 1727, and now in the possession

of the Earl of Onslow.

The prominent portraits are those of the Right Hon. Arthur Onslow,

the then Speaker; Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister; Sidney

Godolphin, Esq., Father of the House; Colonel Onslow; Sir James

Thornhill; Sir Joseph Jekyll; Edward Stables, Esq., Clerk of the

House; Mr. Askew, Clerk-Assistant, and several others in the

background.

DEBATES ON PALMISTRY.

[Illustration: DEBATES ON PALMISTRY.]

The figures employed in the study of palmistry seem to have been

designed for physicians and surgeons of an hospital, who are debating

on the most commodious method of receiving a fee, inattentive to

the complaints of a lame female who solicits assistance. A spectre,

resembling the royal Dane, comes out behind, perhaps to intimate

that physic and poison will occasionally produce similar effects. A

glass-case containing skeletons is open; a crocodile hangs overhead;

and an owl, emblematic of this sapient consistory, is perched on a

high stand.

Mr. Steevens conjectured that this might have been a repented effort

of hasty spleen against the officers of St. Bartholomew's, who

might not have treated some recommendation of a patient from our

artist with all the respect and attention to which he thought it was

entitled: but this is mere supposition.

THE STAYMAKER.

[Illustration: THE STAY MAKER.]

The humour in this print is not very striking. The male staymaker

seems to be taking professional liberties with a female in the

very room where her husband sits, who is playing with one of his

children presented to him by a nurse, perhaps with a view to

call off his attention from what is going forward. The hag shows

her pretended love for the infant by the mode in which she is

kissing him. A maidservant holds a looking-glass for the lady, and

peeps significantly at the operator from behind it. A boy with a

cockade on, and a little sword by his side, appears to observe the

familiarities already mentioned, and is strutting up fiercely towards

the staymaker, while a girl is spilling some liquor in his hat.

CHARITY IN THE CELLAR.

[Illustration: CHARITY IN THE CELLAR.]

The original picture from which this print was engraved, was

painted for the late Lord Boyne. It represents a convivial

party assembled in a cellar over a hogshead of claret, who, it is

said, resolved not to separate till they had drunk all the wine

it contained. Whether such a circumstance really gave rise to the

picture or not, it is unnecessary to inquire. It is too well known

that the habit of drinking to excess, among all classes of society,

existed at the time of Hogarth to such a degree as to draw the

particular attention of this distinguished painter to it; and it is

not perhaps too much to say, that the most distinguished preachers,

or most able moral writers, have not done more to drive this odious

and degrading vice from society than has been effected by the

valuable pencil of Hogarth. The individuals here represented were

members of a society well known by the name of the "Hell-fire Club."

In the centre is the portrait of Sir Philip Hoby, seated on the cask.

Behind him, with his hand held up, is that of Mr. De Grey, and below

him is the portrait of Lord J. Cavendish, who has drawn a spigot

from the cask to let the wine flow into a bowl. Opposite to him Lord

Sandwich is represented kneeling down to draw in the intoxicating

draught; and behind him (extended on a form) is also Lord Galway.

The grouping of the four centre figures is an ingenious imitation

of a statue of Charity which is seen in the cellar. The position of

the bottles brings the comparison still nearer, and is one of those

little incidents for which Hogarth was so particularly distinguished

from all other painters, in omitting nothing that might carry out his

intention and make himself understood.

The devotedness of this group to the object for which they are

assembled is extremely well portrayed. The positions of the figures

are easy, and the principle of observing the pyramidal form (so often

insisted upon as necessary to beauty in the grouping of figures)

is here strikingly exemplified. It is impossible to show a more

unconquerable love for the intoxicating draught than is expressed in

the portrait of Lord Galway. Unable to stand, he has placed himself

on his back in such a manner that the liquor from the cask above him

is flowing into his mouth; and he has perhaps been represented by

Hogarth as thus persevering in the fatal habit, in order to show the

excess to which it was then carried, and is a forcible point in the

painter's composition.

The picture is now in the possession of the present Lord Boyne, and

the print from it, which we have added to our present edition, is not

to be found in any other of the collected works of Hogarth.

SIX TICKETS.

[Illustration: SIX TICKETS.]

The several designs collected in this plate require no particular

description. They are given as specimens of the facility with

which Hogarth descended to minor subjects, at the same time

embellishing them with strokes of his peculiar vein of pleasantry

and humour; and each of them sufficiently evinces the purpose it was

intended to recommend.

1. For the Mock Doctor. 2. For Pasquin. 3. For the Beggars' Opera. 4.

For Joe Miller. 5. Thomas Figg, the noted prize-fighter. 6. The Ram

Inn at Cirencester.

[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]

NOTES.

The following hints are offered principally with a view to assist in

identifying such characters in Hogarth's prints as are unnoticed,

or but slightly described, in the preceding volumes. A key to the

whole (for many of the figures not yet recognised were undoubtedly

meant by the artist as portraits) would, to the other merits of these

inimitable compositions, add the important one of making them an

assemblage of the similitudes of the leading remarkables of his day.

SOUTHWARK FAIR.

VOL. I. P. 162.

Although Hogarth, from a fear of creating himself enemies, disclaimed

individual portrait in his compositions, particularly of characters

in the higher walks of life, he was evidently not so scrupulous

in indulging his satire when representing more familiar scenes;

and accordingly his "Harlot's Progress," "Four Times of the Day,"

"Industry and Idleness," "March to Finchley," etc., are found to be

less peopled with ideal personages than the "Marriage à la Mode,"

and some others. "Southwark Fair" was an annual assemblage of

remarkables, whose follies and peculiarities he could hold up to the

derision of the public without the danger of retaliation; and he has

availed himself of the opportunity by bringing together a number of

persons then well known on the town, and placing them in the most

ludicrous situations.

This Fair, the humours of which an ingenious author truly observes,

"will never be forgotten while Hogarth's inimitable print of it

exists," was anciently called "Our Lady Fair," and lasted fourteen

days. Like most others in the kingdom, it was originally established

for the purposes of trade; but having become in process of time a

mere scene of low riot and debauchery, its duration was shortened to

three days; and it was at length totally abolished as a nuisance to

the neighbourhood, and an encouragement to vice and dissipation. It

was held at the top of Blackman Street, on the open space opposite

the walls of the King's Bench prison, and began yearly a fortnight

after Bartholomew Tide.

The following characters in this print have been identified, in

addition to others before noticed: Middle group.--The person whom

the bailiffs are arresting, and who is supposed to have been playing

(not Alexander the Great, but the part of Paris) in the _Siege of

Troy_ (announced for representation on one of the neighbouring

show-cloths), was intended for Walker, afterwards the famous Macheath

in the _Beggars' Opera_, whose portrait it exactly resembles. It is

introduced in this place with strict propriety, as we learn that

Walker kept a great theatrical booth in Southwark Fair, as did

Penkethman. "He also acted," says one of his biographers, "in the

same way at Bartholomew Fair, where Booth saw him playing the part

of Paris in the _Siege of Troy_."[121] The painter probably placed

him in the ridiculous situation we see him, on account of his known

extravagancy and consequent embarrassments, which often procured him

a visit from the bailiffs.

Figg, the prize-fighter, who in another part of the print is making

his triumphal entry on a blind horse, and brandishing his sword in

defiance, was a native of Thame in Oxfordshire, and attained so high

a celebrity as a master of the "noble science of defence," that we

find him praised in the _Tatler_, _Guardian_, _Craftsman_, and almost

all the periodical works of the time. The mezzotinto portrait of

him by Faber represents him exactly as here--with a bald head and

open collar. His own school was in Oxford Road, but he was probably

accustomed to exhibit his skill at fairs, or he may be introduced

here merely as a well-known character. The Bear Garden, a famous

place for prize-fighting, anciently stood in this neighbourhood, and

had then been but recently demolished. The manner of the combatants

at this place, parading the streets previous to their encounters,

as described by a French traveller in 1672, and the way in which

Figg is represented, strictly agree. "Commonly," says he, "when any

fencing-masters belonging to the Bear Garden are desirous of showing

their courage and their great skill, they issue mutual challenges;

and before they engage, parade the town on horseback, with drums and

trumpets sounding, to inform the public there is a challenge between

two brave masters of the science of defence, and that the battle will

be fought on such a day." Figg's public challenges were the very acme

of bombast. This extraordinary character died in the year 1734.

Miller, the tall man, whose effigies are exhibited on a show-cloth,

was a native of Saxony, and probably came into England in the reign

of George I. This gigantic personage was eight feet high, the

stature, within a few inches, of the late O'Brien. He died in 1734,

aged 60. Boitard engraved a portrait of him the year before his death.

The two jugglers in senatorial wigs, who are displaying their magic

wonders with cups and balls, etc., seem to have been intended

likewise for two real characters (Fawkes and Neve), the Breslaw and

Katterfelto of their day. Fawkes is most certainly introduced in

the print of "Burlington Gate," where, on a board, the "Long Room"

is announced, and "Fawkes' dexterity of hand." Portraits of these

worthies still exist, and bear a sufficient resemblance to identify

them with their representatives in the plate. Neve in a wood print

prefixed to his "_Merry Companion_, teaching tricks in legerdemain;"

and Fawkes in a large sheet print by Sutton Nichols, where he stands

in the midst of his performances. Fawkes was no indifferent wit. When

Breslaw, a more modern performer of the same kind, was at Canterbury,

the former requested permission to display his cunning a little

longer, promising Mr. Mayor that if he was indulged with permission,

he would give such a night (naming a particular one) for the benefit

of the poor. The benevolent magistrate acceded to the proposition,

and he had a crowded house. Hearing nothing about the money collected

on the specified evening, the Mayor waited on the man of trick,

and in a delicate way expressed his surprise. "Mr. Mayor, I have

distributed the money myself." Still more surprised, "Pray, Sir, to

whom?" "To my own company; none can be poorer." "This is a trick."

"We live, Sir, by tricks."

MARRIAGE A LA MODE.

VOL. II. P. 28.

PLATE III.--The Procuress at the Quack's in this print is said to be

designed for the once celebrated Betty Careless, and the remark is

countenanced by the initials "B. C." on her bosom. This woman, by

a very natural transition, from being one of the most fashionable

of the Cyprian corps, became lady abbess of a brothel; and, after

frequent arrests and imprisonments, was buried from the poorhouse of

St. Paul's, Covent Garden, April 22, 1752. Fielding, in his _Amelia_,

says: "It is impossible to conceive a greater appearance of modesty,

innocence, and simplicity, than what nature had displayed in the

countenance of that girl,"--meaning her whom he in another place

calls "the inimitable Betsy Careless."

_Ib._ Plate IV.--A card on the floor in this print is inscribed:

"Count Basset desire to no how Lade Squander sleep last nite?"

A fashionable foreign adventurer, of the name of Count Basset, occurs

as one of the characters in the _Provoked Husband, or a Journey to

London_, which might have suggested the hint for this name. But,

query, whether a real person? or the artist might have meant to

satirize the game of Basset.

_N.B._--The set of prints of "Marriage à la Mode" is said to have

furnished the idea for the comedy of the _Clandestine Marriage_.

HARLOT'S PROGRESS.

VOL. I. Pp. 102-114.

PLATE II.--The commentators on Hogarth do not seem to have assigned

a satisfactory reason for the particular subjects of the two

paintings which ornament the Harlot's apartment in this plate, viz.

"David dancing before the Ark," and "Jonah sitting under a Gourd."

One supposes them merely intended to convey a ridicule on the old

masters, or placed here to satirize the impropriety of adorning rooms

with inappropriate subjects. Another, as stories selected at random,

but having a reference to the nation of the Harlot's Jew keeper. But

as Hogarth's incidents have all a meaning, a better reason must be

sought for. They undoubtedly conceal a moral applicable to the two

principal figures in the print. David's known breach of chastity in

the affair of Uriah's wife, and "uncovering himself" when dancing

before the ark, "in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one

of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself," which his wife

charges him with on that occasion, evidently typify the backsliding

Jew; while Jonah sitting under the shelter of his gourd, which sprang

up in the night, and which the worm destroyed in the morning, as

ingeniously points out the girl's upstart grandeur, and the frail

nature of her protection, which even now a worm (her infidelity to

her keeper) is rapidly undermining.

Plate V.--Dr. Misaubin, or Mizenbank as Trusler calls him (the

lean doctor in this print), was a notorious foreign quack of the

day, whose ignorant consequence Fielding thus laughably exposes in

one of his introductory chapters in _Tom Jones_:--"The learned Dr.

Misaubin used to say, that the proper direction to him was, 'To Dr.

Misaubin, in the world,' intimating that there were few people in it

to whom his great reputation was not known. And, perhaps, upon a nice

examination into the matter, we shall find that this circumstance

bears no inconsiderable part among the many blessings of human

grandeur."

Watteau painted the portrait of this Esculapius, from which a print

was engraved by Pond. The likeness strikingly resembles Hogarth's

representation, and is inscribed "Prenez des pillules." The

similitude of his opponent Dr. Rock, though not authenticated in

the same manner, is, from the testimony of those who recollect him,

equally correct.

This "great man" is said to have been originally a porter; for which

his strong, squat figure excellently adapted him. An anecdote, in

some degree confirmed, is told of him, that passing one day by the

end of Fleet Market, with his gold-laced hat and cane, a brother

porter, who knew his origin, and was resting his load near the spot,

said, "Dr. Rock, you once carried a knot as well as myself." "Yes;

and had I been as great a dunce as you," replied the pill merchant,

"I should have carried a knot still."

RAKE'S PROGRESS.

VOL. I. Pp. 132-154.

PLATE III.--_Tavern Scene._--In the second state of this plate,

Pontac's head is introduced in the place of a mutilated Cæsar. Pontac

was a celebrated purveyor at this time. In the "Hind and Panther"

transversed, Pontac's eating-house is mentioned with epicurean

honours:

"When at Pontac's he may regale himself."

It was chiefly frequented as a chop-house, but every other luxury

might be had there.

Plate VIII.--The maniac chained to the floor of his cell in this

print is noticed by Mr. Ireland as being a copy from one of Cibber's

figures over the gate of Bedlam. He might have added, that the person

of the Rake himself, whose expression of madness Mr. Mortimer so

much admired, is, as to features, a copy of the companion figure

over the same gate. This plagiarism, if it may be so called, was to

the credit of Hogarth's taste; for with all his own amazing powers

of expression, he could scarcely have hoped to equal such inimitable

representations. Time, and an injudicious attempt, some years since,

at restoration, have wofully injured these masterpieces of Cibber's

chisel.

It may be observed of this print (the inside of Bedlam), in addition

to what has been before said, that the scene portrayed is not only

a most faithful representation of those doleful regions, but that

most of the persons are certainly intended as real portraits. One

at least may, with every appearance of probability, be added to the

list of names of those already identified--the man sitting by the

figure inscribed "Charming Betty Careless," who is supposed to have

gone mad for love. Such a person was actually confined there for that

malady some years previous, whose history so exactly corresponds with

Hogarth's representation, and whom he must have remembered, that it

can scarcely be doubted but he had him in his eye. The portrait of

the person alluded to is thus described in a modern biographical

work: "William Ellis. Printed and sold by Sutton Nichols, in

Aldersgate Street, Æt. 45, 1709." Sitting on the rails of Moorfields.

Printed with his life and character written by himself, etc. This

poor maniac lost his reason through love for his Betty, who seems to

have been a real character. Ellis is represented with a chaplet of

laurel on his right, and a Cupid drawing his bow on the left. Under

the chaplet is inscribed--

"Tell her I burn with noble vestal fire,

Tell her she's all I wish or can desire."

And under the Cupid, amongst others, these lines:

"My years of minority I spent at school;

But love--that sweet passion--my reason would rule;

And yielding obedience to its potent sway,

The charming dear Betty my heart stole away.

Deny'd her enjoyment, at last I grew mad,

And nothing but Betty, dear Betty, I cry'd:

Such charms has that phœnix, she shall be my bride.

But Bedlam became my sad portion and lot,

By loving a fair one that knew of it not."

The eight paintings of "The Rake's Progress," which had been

originally purchased of Hogarth by Francis Beckford, Esq., for £88,

4s., were, at the sale of William Beckford, Esq. of Fonthill, in

18--, sold by the elder Mr. Christie for the sum of 850 guineas. The

buyer was Colonel Fullarton, M.P.

IDLE AND INDUSTRIOUS APPRENTICE.

VOL. I. P. 284.

PLATE VIII.--Speaking of the disposition of a crowd in a picture,

Mr. Gilpin says:--"I do not recollect having seen a crowd better

managed than Hogarth has managed one in the last print of his 'Idle

'Prentice.' In combining the multifarious company which attends the

spectacle of an execution, he hath exemplified all the observations I

have made. I have not the print before me, but I have often admired

it in this light; nor do I recollect observing anything offensive

in it, which is rare in the management of such a multitude of

figures."--_Observation on the Wye_, p. 123.

THE TIMES.

VOL. II. P. 180.

The wild Indian painted on a show-cloth, with the inscription

underneath, "Alive from America," is meant as a satire on Alderman

Beckford, for whose recent uncourtly speech to Majesty (see the

_Guildhall Statue_) the painter has represented him as a savage.

FOUR TIMES OF THE DAY.

VOL. I. Pp. 222-226.

PLATE II.--_Noon._--The boy who has had the misfortune to break

the baked pudding, a commentator on Hogarth asserts was the late

Mr. Henderson the player, who often sportively assured his friends

that he stood to Hogarth for the sketch when he was with Fournier

the drawing-master. But this is impossible, as the prints in the

receipt are promised to be delivered by Lady-day 1738, several years

before Henderson was born. A correspondent has assured us that he

has repeatedly heard his grandfather, an individual unknown to the

public, refer to that figure in the print as a portrait of himself,

asserting that he had just such an accident when a boy on the very

spot, and was at that period remarkable for such a head of hair

(which was of a very light colour) as is shown in the print.

_But query._--With more certainty we may venture to suggest, that the

idea of the woman throwing the shoulder of mutton out of the window

is borrowed from the old song:

"Now John he was no great eater, and Joan she was no great glutton,

So the better to pamper their stomachs, they bought them a

shoulder of mutton:

But Joan in an angry mood took the shoulder of mutton in hand,

And out of the window she threw it,--poor John, he was at a stand,"

etc.

Plate III.--_Evening._--The scene of this picture is laid at

Islington, near Sadlers Wells, which was then a famous place for

tea-drinking, and the antitype for low dissipation of the late

"Dog and Duck." The view represents it correctly previous to its

being rebuilt in its present form, and exactly similar to a small

copperplate delineation of it over an old song, called "A Song

in praise of Sadlers Wells," in which its various amusements are

described. The adjoining alehouse window, in which we behold a group

enveloped in their own smoke, is the "Sir Hugh Middleton's Head,"

a sign still remaining. A celebrated knot of drinkers and smokers

actually met at this place about the period alluded to, at the head

of which was old Rosamond, the proprietor of the Wells; and it is not

improbable but that Hogarth might have known and meant to satirize

this fraternity. The portraits of these gentlemen are still preserved

in a large painting at the very same public-house, under the name of

the "Sadlers Wells Club."

ENRAGED MUSICIAN.

VOL. I. P. 206.

Cervetto, well known by the name of "Nosee," has been generally

supposed to be intended by the character of the musician; but

there are others who apply it to Dr. Arne; for though not a strict

likeness of that great composer, the figure and face bear so near a

resemblance (and he was extremely remarkable) as fully to authorize

the application. The known irritability of the Doctor in musical

business might not have been the only cause of Hogarth's placing him

in this ludicrous situation; his habits of intrigue, and singularly

plain person, made him so fair an object for caricature, that one of

his portraits, printed with a song of his composing, has ironically

written under it, "Beauty and Virtue." This song, with the portrait,

was eagerly purchased up, and is now very scarce. Some years since

Mr. Colman got up a little interlude at the Haymarket Theatre from

the idea of this print, called "Ut Pictura Poesis, or the Enraged

Musician," when the character of the musician was purposely given to

a performer who was thought in figure and face to resemble Dr. Arne.

SIGISMUNDA.

VOL. I. P. 75.

This celebrated picture, which, at the time of first publishing the

preceding volumes, was in the possession of Messrs. Boydell & Co.,

but has since been in other hands, was advertised to be sold by

auction, with other effects, by Mr. Jacques, May 12, 1812, on the

premises, Great James Street, Bedford Row, and was to be seen by

applying for tickets for that purpose to the auctioneer.

THE BEGGARS' OPERA.

VOL. II. P. 292.

In addition to the value of this print as a collection of portraits,

it may be observed that it contains the only known representation of

the inside of the Lincoln's-Inn Fields Theatre. This playhouse was

opened under the management of Betterton, with the comedy of _Love

for Love_, which had a very considerable run. The _Beggars' Opera_,

however, was of still superior attraction, and it carried all before

it. After continuing open with various success for several seasons,

the Lincoln's-Inn Fields playhouse finally closed, on the removal of

the company to the new theatre in Covent Garden, and the building

(the exterior of which is still entire) is now occupied as Spode's

pottery warehouse.

SLEEPY CONGREGATION.

VOL. I. P. 192.

The clergyman preaching is supposed to represent Dr. Desaguliers. But

why Hogarth has assigned him this post of honour, does not appear.

This gentleman was the son of a French Protestant clergyman; was

educated at Cambridge, and held the donative of Whitchurch, in

Middlesex. He was the first lecturer on experimental philosophy in

the capital, and published his lectures in two vols. 4to. He died

at his lodgings at the Bedford Coffeehouse, Covent Garden, Feb. 29,

1744, and was buried, March 26, at the Savoy. He is spoken of as a

man of considerable talents, but possibly might have had a peculiarly

inanimate mode of delivering his sermons, which occasioned Hogarth's

satire. The original painting from which this print was engraved

was lately in the possession of the late John Follett, Esq., of the

Temple, London. It differs in some little particulars from the print.

[Illustration: (end of section floral icon)]

CHRONOLOGICAL LIST

OF

HOGARTH'S WORKS,

WITH THE VARIATIONS, ETC.

1720.

1. W. Hogarth, engraver, with two figures and two Cupids, "April y^e

20. 1720." I have seen a print on which was written, in Hogarth's

hand, "Near the Black Bull, Long Lane." Of this card there is a

modern copy.

1721.

1. An Emblematic Print on the South Sea; W. Hogarth, _inv. et

sc._ Sold by Mrs. Chilcot in Westminster Hall, and B. Caldwell,

printseller, in Newgate Street. _Second state_--Printed for Bowles.

_Third state_--Without any publisher's name. Some wretched stanzas

are engraved beneath the print.

2. The Lottery; W. Hogarth, _inv. et sculp._ Sold by Chilcot and

Caldwell, price 1s. _Second state_--Printed for Chilcot. _Third

state_--For Sympson. And in a _fourth_--For Bowles--"price 1s." is

erased. An explanation with references is engraved beneath.

The allegory of both these prints is obscure, but the figures are in

the manner of Callot, and in a spirited and masterly style.

1723.

Eighteen plates to Aubry de la Mottraye's _Travels_. Hogarth's name

on fourteen of them. As these prints have such references as are

hardly intelligible, and as Mr. Nichols' numbers and mine do not

exactly agree, I have given a slight hint of the subject of each.

5. Vas mirabile ex integro Smaragdo, Genoæ, etc.

Tom. i. No. 9.--Tiara Patriarchalis Græca.

Tom. i. No. 10.--A Lady and Black in a Bath. No name legible.

Tom. i. No. 11.--Dance of Elegant Female Figures. _Vide_ p. 125.

No. 15.--A Procession.

Tom. i. No. 17.--A Group of Figures in Turbans.

Tom. i. No. 18.--A Scene in the Seraglio.

Tom. ii. No. 3.--Park of the Artillery.

Tom. ii. No. 5.--"Bender."--Portrait of Charles XII.

Tom. ii. No. 8.--Head of Charles XII., etc.

Tom. ii. No. 9, Plate I.--Fodina Argentea Sahlensis.

Tom. ii. No. 9, Plate I.--Ditto.

Tom. ii. No. 11.--Fodina Terrea Danmorensis.

Tom. ii. No. 14.--A Lapland Hut, with Reindeer, etc.

To this catalogue, I think we may add No. 13, Tom. i., and Tom. i.

No. 16, as well as the figures at the comers of Tom. ii. No. 26 A,

and those in Tom. ii. C, of which there is a modern copy under the

name of The Five Muscovites.

1724.

1. Seven small prints to the new _Metamorphosis of Lucius Apuleius of

Medaura_; printed for Sam. Briscoe, 12mo, 2 vols.; one of the plates

without Hogarth's name. The hints for these figures are taken from

the prints in a translation, 2 vols. octavo, printed for the same

bookseller in 1708. A most contemptible modern imposition sometimes

appears under the title of _An Eighth Apuleius_.

2. Masquerades and Operas--Burlington Gate; W. Hogarth, _inv. et

sculp._ _Vide_ p. 22. In the early impressions, the name of Pasquin,

No. 11, is inserted as a label on a book in a wheel-barrow, where

we have now Ben Jonson. Eight lines engraved on a separate piece of

copper are sometimes found under the first impression: they begin--

"Could now dumb Faustus, to reform the age," etc.

Beneath them is, "price 1s." To the second impression--

"O how refined, how elegant we're grown!" etc.

The print is sometimes found without any lines. In this Hogarth's

name is inserted within the frame of the plate. To the copy there are

also eight lines, beginning--

"Long has the stage productive been," etc.

1725.

1. Five Small Prints for the translation of _Cassandra_, in 5 vols.

duodecimo; W. Hogarth, _inv. et sculp._

2. Fifteen Headpieces for the _Roman Military Punishments_, by John

Beaver, Esq., engraved in the style of Callot.

The Plate to chap. xvii., "Pay stopped wholly or in part," etc.,

differs from that sold with the set. At the bottom of the former,

in the book we read, "W. Hogarth, _invent. sculpt._;" the latter

has, "W. Hogarth, _invent. et fec._" The former has a range of tents

behind the pay-table. These are omitted in the latter, which likewise

exhibits an additional soldier, attendant on measuring out the corn,

etc.

A little figure of a Roman General in the title-page may possibly be

by Hogarth, though his name is not to it.

3. A Copy from Kent's Altar-Piece, _vide_ p. 23. This was usually

printed on blue paper. In the original the word "_wings_" is

terminated with a long _ſ_. In a modern copy this error is corrected.

4. A Scene in Handel's opera of _Ptolomeo_. _Vide_ p. 184. There is a

copy of the same size.

5. Booth, Wilkes, and Cibber, contriving a Pantomime.

1726.

1. Frontispiece to _Terræ-filius_. _Vide_ p. 193.

2. Twenty-six Figures on two large sheets; engraved for a _Compendium

of Military Discipline_, by J. Blackwell. No engraver's name.

3. Twelve Prints for _Hudibras_--the large set. In Plate II (the

earliest impressions) the words, "Down with the Rumps," are not

inserted on the scroll. "Printed and sold by P. Overton, near St.

Dunstan's Church, in Fleet Street, and J. Cooper, in James Street,

Covent Garden."

Now printed for Sayer, Fleet Street.

A Print representing Hudibras and Sidrophel, and taken off in

colours, was in 1782 engraved by T. Gaugain.

3. Seventeen Small Prints for _Hudibras_, with Butler's head.

The portrait is evidently copied from White's mezzotinto of John

Baptist Monnoyer. The same designs on a large scale, with some

slight variations, were engraved by J. Mynde for Grey's edition of

_Hudibras_, published in 1724. Hogarth has evidently taken the hints

for his figures, grouping, etc., from a small edition of this poem

published in 1710.

Copies are inserted in Townley's translation of _Hudibras_ into

French, published in 1757.

Many of them were copied by Ross, with violent alterations, for Dr.

Nashe's splendid edition of _Hudibras_, published in 1795.

4. Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godliman in Consultation. A

burlesque on the Believers in Mrs. Tofts, the rabbit-breeder.

1727.

1. Music introduced to Apollo by Minerva; Hogarth, _fecit_.

Frontispiece to some book of music, or ticket for a concert.

2. Large Masquerade Ticket. _Vide_ Frontispiece and p. 230. In the

earliest impressions, the word "Provocatives" has instead of V the

open vowel U. It was afterwards amended, but the mark remains.

3. Frontispiece to _Leveridge's Songs_; no engraver's name. Mr.

Molteno informs me he has seen an impression of this, with the sky

partly erased, and a player's ticket engraved in the place. The

title-page to this work is, I believe, also by Hogarth.

1728.

1. Head of Hesiod, from the bust at Wilton; for Cook's translation.

Rich's Glory, or his Triumphant Entry into Covent Garden. W. H. E^t

SULP. Contemptible!

Of this there is a modern copy.

3. The Beggars' Opera. The title over the print in letters

disproportionably large.

4. The same; the lines under it engraved in a different manner. "Sold

at the print shop in the Strand," etc.

5. A copy of the same, under the title of "The Opera House, or the

Italian Eunuchs' Glory," etc.

1729.

1. Henry Eighth and Anne Bullen; with lines by Allan Ramsay,

beginning--

"Here struts old pious Harry, once the Great."

2. The same plate without any verses.

There is a coarse copy, I think engraved on pewter.

The original picture was painted for the portico at Vauxhall.

3. Frontispiece to Miller's _Comedy of the Humours of Oxford_;

engraved by Vandergucht.

1730.

1. Two Prints for _Perseus and Andromeda_.

2. Gulliver presented to the Queen of Babilary; engraved by

Vandergucht. Frontispiece to Lockman's translation of _John

Gulliver's Travels_. A wretched design.

1731.

1. Frontispiece to Molière's _L'Avare_.

2. To _Le Cocu Imaginaire_; prefixed to Molière's Plays in French and

English.

3. Frontispiece to Fielding's _Tom Thumb_; engraved by Vandergucht.

Grotesque, and good.

4. Frontispiece to Mitchell's _Opera of the Highland Fair_; engraved

by Vandergucht.

1732.

1. Sarah Malcolm, executed March 7th, 1732, etc.; W. Hogarth (_ad

vivum_), _pinxit et sculpsit_.

2. An engraved copy of ditto.

3. Ditto mezzotinto.

4. Part graven and part mezzotinto.

5. Another copy, with the addition of a clergyman holding a ring.

6. A wooden cut in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for March 1733.

7. A small copy from a small whole length, in the possession of

Josiah Boydell, Esq.

The first, Hogarth _sculpsit_, is very scarce.

8. The Man of Taste. Pope with a tie-wig on.

9. The same in a smaller size; Pope in a cap. Prefixed to a pamphlet

entitled "_A Miscellany of Taste_, by Mr. Pope, etc." _Vide_ p. 201.

10. The same, in a still smaller size, coarsely engraved.

1733.

1. The Laughing Audience. Subscription-ticket to the Rake's Progress,

and Southwark Fair, which were originally delivered to subscribers at

a guinea and a half.

The receipt was afterwards cut off. Of this print there is a coarse

copy.

2. Southwark Fair. The show-cloth, representing the Stage Mutiny, is

copied from an etching by John Laguerre. The paint-pot and brushes,

which Hogarth has added to the figure with a cudgel in his hand, has

been said to allude to John Ellis the painter; is it not quite as

probable that it alludes to Jack Laguerre?

3. Judith and Holofernes. Engraved by Vandergucht. Frontispiece to

the Oratorio of Judith, by William Huggins, Esq.

4. Boys Peeping at Nature. Subscription-ticket to the Harlot's

Progress. The receipt was afterwards erased, and the following

receipt, very neatly engraved, supplied its place:

"Received ----, 1737, half a guinea, being the first payment for

five large prints--one representing a Strolling Company of Actresses

dressing themselves in a barn; and the other four--Morning, Noon,

Evening, and Night; which I promise to deliver on Lady-day next, on

receiving half a guinea more."

"_N.B._--They will be twenty-five shillings after the subscription is

over."

A modern copy of this receipt in aquatinta was published in 1781.

2. Another print on the same subject, with considerable variations,

designed as a receipt for Moses brought to Pharaoh's Daughter, and

St. Paul before Felix, for which he afterwards substituted the

burlesque Paul.

In one of Hogarth's MSS., introductory to his intended description

of his prints, I find the following notices of the pictures of the

Harlot's and Rake's Progresses:

"Mr. Rouquet's account of my prints finishes with a description

of the March to Finchley. The picture was disposed of by lottery

(the only way a living painter has any chance of being paid for his

time) for three hundred pounds; by the like means most of my former

pictures were sold. Those of the Harlot's and Rake's Progress have,

it seems, been since destroyed by fire,[122] with many other fine

pictures, at the country house of the gentleman who bought them.[123]

It is reported, and very remarkable if true, that a most magnificent

clock-work organ, being left exposed to the conflagration, was heard

in the midst of the flames to play several pleasing airs."

1733 and 1734.

The Harlot's Progress, in six plates.

Plate 1. _Second state_--Feet to the old woman. Shadow thrown by one

house upon another. London added to the letter the parson is reading.

Cross put in the centre of the margin, as indeed it is to the second

state of the five that follow.

Plate 2. The shadows on the black boy's drapery, etc. are so sudden

that he looks like a magpie. I have a copy of this print, of the same

size, and well engraved; the situation of the figures reversed, with

the strange variations of a shepherd and shepherdess, in the two

pictures that were of Jonah and David, in the original.

Plate 3. A sort of sugar dish placed near the punch-bowl, in the

first state, is in the second changed to a bottle. In a set of

wretched copies, possibly made from the original pictures, and

exhibited at Christie's in the year 1792, the woman dangling a watch

is painted without stockings.

Plate 4. _Second state_--Damages in the ceiling stopped up: shadow

added on the wall close to the hoop petticoat: the dog much blacker.

In a print in my possession, the cross is inserted before any of

these variations were made.

Plate 5. _Second state_--Dr. Rock's name inscribed on the paper: cap

of the woman near the dying figure lowered.

Plate 6. The mask on the bottle inscribed "Nants," has a most

ludicrous appearance. The shadows, especially that on the forehead

of the girl near the clergyman, are much heightened in the _second

state_.

2. Rehearsal of the Oratorio of Judith.

Ticket for a Modern Midnight Conversation. The singers of the

different parts of bass, tenor, and treble, may be easily

distinguished; and it is worthy of remark, that the notes before them

are in the same key with the performers' voices. The receipt was

afterwards cut off the plate.

3. A Midnight Modern Conversation.

_Second state_--The right hand and skirt of a man fallen on the

ground stronger shadowed, and the lines over a vessel in the corner

intersected.

1735.

1. The Rake's Progress, in eight plates.

Plate 1. _First state_--A book "Mem^{dum} 1721, May 3d. My son Tom

came from Oxford. 4th, dined at the French Ordinary. 5th of June, put

off my bad shilling." _Second state_--The book erased to insert the

cover of a Bible as the sole of a shoe. The girl's face altered for

the worse. Woollen-draper's shop-bill omitted.

Plate 2. _First state_--"Prosperity with Horlots smile." _Second

state_--Altered to Harlots.

Plate 3. _First state_--Dated June y^e 24th, 1735. _Second

state_--June 25th, and a laced hat put on the head of the girl

sitting next to the Rake. Pontac's head introduced in the place of a

mutilated Cæsar.

Plate 4. _Second state_--Shoeblack stealing the cane, erased, and

his place supplied by a group of gambling boys. This design is

unquestionably much improved by the alterations.

Plate 5. _Second state_--The right foot of the bridegroom, which gave

a tottering awkwardness to the figure, omitted. The maidservant's

face altered. The hand of the figure looking out of the gallery

blackened. In this print the artist has introduced a portrait of his

favourite dog Trump.

Plate 6. _Second state_--Rays round the candle stronger.

In the original sketch, the principal figure was not, as now, upon

his knees, but seated.

Plate 7. In the very earliest impressions, Plate 7 is not inserted in

the margin.

Plate 8. _Second state_--Head of the woman with a fan altered, and

affectedly turning away from the mad monarch. A halfpenny, with a

figure of Britannia, 1763, fixed against the wall, to intimate what

the artist thought the state of the nation. "Retouch'd by the author,

1763."

It should seem that the man sitting by the figure inscribed

"Charming Betty Careless," went mad for love. Dr. Monro, I am told,

asserts that not more than one or two men have become mad from love

in the course of a hundred years. Shakspeare has not, as I recollect,

drawn one _man_ mad from that cause. I find by Hogarth's memorandum

that the original pictures were sold to Francis Beckford, Esq., for

£184, 16s.

1736.

1. Two prints of Before and After. See p. 26.

2. The Sleeping Congregation.

_First state_--"Dieu et mon droit," under the king's arms, not

inserted: the angel has a pipe in his mouth. _Second state_--The

above motto added, the angel's pipe effaced, and the lines of the

triangle doubled. _Third state_--Inscribed on the side of the print:

"Retouched and improved, April 21, 1762, by the author."

3. The Distressed Poet.

_First state_--Pope thrashing Curl, and four lines from the _Dunciad_

inscribed under the print. _Second state_--In the place of Pope,

etc., view of the gold mines of Peru; and the four lines from the

_Dunciad_ erased. This has been conjectured to be a portrait of

Lewis Theobald, and in 1794 a copy of the head with his name annexed

to it was published for Richardson. The original picture is in the

collection of Lord Grosvenor.

4. Right Honourable Frances Lady Byron.

Whole-length mezzotinto by Faber. The best impressions are usually in

brown ink. The plate was afterwards cut down to a half-length.

5. Arms of the Undertakers' Company.

The three figures at top are Dr. Ward, Chevalier Taylor, and Mrs.

Mapp, the bone-setter; though it has been said, that the figure

supposed to be Mrs. Mapp was intended for Sir Hans Sloane. _First

state_--"One compleat Docter," etc. _Second state_--The spelling

corrected.

1737.

1. The Lecture, "Datur vacuum." In the early impressions, the words

"datur vacuum" are not printed. Hogarth sometimes wrote them in with

a pen.

Æneas in a Storm.

1738.

1. The four parts of the Day.

Morning. The sky singularly muddy to express snow. The figure of the

shivering boy was, in 1739, copied by F. Sykes, and is strangely

enough christened by collectors, The Half-starved Boy.

Noon. In the _second state_--Shadows heightened.

Evening. In early impressions the man's hands are printed in blue,

and the woman's face and neck in red; but they have been sometimes

so stamped in later impressions, where the rail-post is crossed with

intersecting lines, and the clearness of the water much injured.

In Hogarth's first design (engraved by Baron), the little girl with

the fan was omitted; but the artist thinking his delineation would

be improved by it, afterwards inserted it with his own burin. I have

seen three impressions in this state; one of them, then thought to be

unique, was purchased at Greenwood's Rooms, at Mr. Gulston's sale, by

Mr. Thane, for the late Mr. G. Stevens, at the price of £47.

Night. The Salisbury flying coach has been thought to be a burlesque

on a late noble peer, who delighted in driving his own horses.

I find by Hogarth's memorandum, that Sir William Heathcote purchased

the picture of Morning for twenty guineas, and that of Night for £27,

6s. Noon was sold for £38, 17s., and Evening for £39, 18s., to the

Duke of Ancaster.

2. Strolling Actresses dressing in a Barn.

_Second state_--The woman holding a cat has her coiffure lowered,

and the female greasing her hair with a candle is divested of her

feathers. Head of the sable goddess Night blacker, and her hair more

woolly. Damages in the roof of the barn repaired; all the shallows

darker.

By an account in one of Hogarth's books, the original picture was

first sold to Francis Beckford, Esq., for £27, 6s. By him, though at

so low a price, returned! and afterwards sold for the same sum to Mr.

Wood of Littleton, in whose possession it still remains.

1739.

1. The Foundlings.

Engraved by Morrellon la Cave. _Vide_ p. 191.

1741.

The Enraged Musician.

Mr. Cricket has an impression, taken before the man blowing a horn,

cats, steeple, play-bill, or drag were introduced. In this very

curious, and I believe unique print, the dustman is without a nose,

the chimney-sweeper has a grenadier's cap on, and a doll is placed

under the trap, composed of bricks, etc.

In the early impressions, the horse's head is white; in its present

state, black: and the dog, drag, hatchet, etc. considerably darker

than when first engraved.

1742.

1. Martin Folks, Esq., half-length; W. Hogarth, _pinxit et sculpsit_.

In early impressions, the name of W. Hogarth, etc. is not inserted.

2. The same, in mezzotinto, engraved by Faber. The original picture

from which both these prints are taken is in the meeting-room of the

Royal Society, Somerset Place.

3. The Charmers of the Age. A sketch, no name. Of this there is a

spirited modern copy.

4. Taste in High Life. _Vide_ p. 186.

1743.

1. Benjamin Hoadley, Bishop of Winchester; engraved by Baron.

A small oval from the same picture was, in 1759, engraved by Sherlock.

2. Captain Thomas Coram; a three-quarters mezzotinto; admirably

engraved by M'Ardell.

3. Coarsely copied in the _London Magazine_.

A copy of the full-length picture in the Foundling Hospital was, in

1797, engraved by Nutter, and published by Mr. Cribb of Holborn.

_Vide_ p. 47.

5. Characters and Caricaturas; subscription-ticket to Marriage à la

Mode. "For a further explanation of the difference betwixt Character

and Caricatura, see y^e Preface to _Jo^h Andrews_."

"Received April ----, of ----, half a guinea, being the first payment

for six prints called Marriage à la Mode, which I promise to deliver

when finished, on receiving half a guinea more.

"_N.B._--The price will be one guinea and an half after the time of

subscribing."

On this print Hogarth makes the following remark:--

"Being perpetually plagued, from the mistakes made among the

illiterate, by the similitude in the sound of the words _character_

and _caricatura_, I, ten years ago, endeavoured to explain the

distinction by the above print; and as I was then publishing Marriage

à la Mode, wherein were characters of high life, I introduced

the great number of faces there delineated (none of which are

exaggerated), varied at random, to prevent, if possible, personal

application when the prints should come out.

'We neither this nor that Sir Fopling call,

He's knight o' th' shire, and represents you all.'

This, however, did not prevent a likeness being found for each head,

for a general character will always bear some resemblance to a

particular one."

1745.

1. Marriage à la Mode, in six plates.

Plate 1. The coronet impressed on the dog in the print is not in the

picture. I have this series of prints in the state they were left by

the original engravers, and all of them, though delicately engraved,

are in some degree spotty. In the _second state_ of Plate 1, there

are evident marks of the burin of Hogarth in the faces of the Citizen

and Peer; and each of the characters, especially the latter, is

improved. The French portrait he has designedly thrown more out

of harmony than it was at first; the fringe to the canopy over

the nobleman is much darker; a shadow thrown on the building seen

out of the window, and on the light parts of the two dogs. _Third

state_--All the shadows blacker. Engraved by G. Scotin. Guido's

Judith, which forms the subject of one of the pictures, Hogarth

copied from a print engraved by Dupuis.

Plate 2. _First state_--A lock of hair on the forehead of the lady,

generally inserted with Indian ink, but sometimes left without.

_Second state_--Lock of hair engraved, and shadows on the carpet,

etc. stronger. Engraved by B. Baron.

Plate 3. In the original picture, an alembic under the table is seen

through the cloth. In the _second state_ of the print, the character

of the nobleman's face is altered; the bow under his chin is

broader, and the shadows on the sole of his right shoe considerably

strengthened. Girl's cloak and woman's apron darker than at first.

_Third state_--I discover no alterations, except the shadows being

darkened. Engraved by B. Baron.

Plate 4. One of the newspapers of March 1798, in a critique upon the

opera, remarked, that "in playing upon the pianoforte, the celebrated

Dusek displayed _a brilliancy of finger_ which no eulogium could

do justice to!" This is lofty language, and might be very properly

applied to the figure of Carestini in this print, for that mountain

of mummy displays a glittering ring upon every finger of his left

hand. His face, as well as that of the Countess, is in the third

impression essentially altered; the curtains, frames, etc. are also

of a much darker hue. Engraved by S. Ravenet.

Plate 5. _Second state_--All the lights, figures on the tapestry,

etc., are kept down, and the whole print brought to a more still and

sombre hue. Woman's eye, eyebrow, and neck strengthened: nostril

made wider. Counsellor's leg and thigh intersected with black lines,

instead of the delicate marks and dots first inserted. _Third

state_--Bears evident marks of a coarser burin than that of Ravenet.

Engraved by R. F. Ravenet.[124]

Mr. Nichols states that this background was engraved by Ravenet's

wife; but I am informed by Mr. Charles Grignion, who at that period

knew the family intimately, that she could not engrave. That,

concerning the background of this print, Ravenet had a violent

quarrel with Hogarth; who, thinking the figures in the tapestry, etc.

too obtrusive, obliged him to bring them to a lower tone (without any

additional remuneration), a process that must have taken him up a

length of time, which no man but an engraver can form an idea of.

Plate 6. With a slight alteration, the crying old woman would be very

like one of the laughing old women in the Laughing Audience. _Second

state_--The whole of the print rendered less brilliant, but more in

harmony. Drapery of the dying woman improved. _Third state_--The

shadows of this, as of the other five, were rendered still stronger

by the last alterations, made a short time before Hogarth's death.

Of the original pictures, now in Mr. Angerstein's collection, I have

already spoken. If considered in the various relations of invention,

composition, drawing, colouring, character, and moral tendency, I do

not think it will be easy to point out any series of six pictures,

painted by any artist of either ancient or modern times, from which

they will not bear away the palm.

Among Mr. Lane's papers was found a written description of Marriage à

la Mode, which the family believe to be Hogarth's explanation, either

copied from his own handwriting, or given verbally to Mr. Lane at

the time he purchased the pictures. This was copied and inserted in

the second edition of _Hogarth Illustrated_, and may be had gratis by

any of the purchasers of the first.

Messrs. Boydell have employed Mr. Earlom to engrave the whole series,

in the same size as the original pictures.

2. A small portrait of Archbishop Herring, surrounded with a trophy,

placed as a headpiece to the printed speech addressed to the Clergy

of York, September 24th, 1745. William Hogarth, _pinx._; C. Mosely,

_sculp._

3. The same head was afterwards cut off the plate, and printed

without the speech.

A larger portrait was in the year 1750 engraved by Baron.

4. The Battle of the Pictures. Ticket to admit persons to bid for his

works at an auction.

5. Mask and Palette. Subscription-ticket to Garrick in Richard III. A

copy from this was published in 1781.

1746.

1. Simon Lord Lovat. _Vide_ p. 209.

The second impressions are marked "price 1s."

Of this there have been several copies; I have one of the head in a

watch paper.

Lavater has introduced this print in his _Essays on Physiognomy_.

2. Mr. Garrick in the character of Richard III.

Engraved by Wm. Hogarth and C. Grignion.

Mr. Charles Grignion (whose professional talents have for more than

half a century been an honour to the arts) informed me that Hogarth

etched the head and hand, but finding the head too large, he erased

it and etched it a second time, when seeing it wrong placed upon the

shoulders, he again rubbed it out, and replaced it as it now stands,

remarking--"I never was right until I had been wrong."

3. Subscription-ticket to the March to Finchley, which was originally

published at 7s. 6d.

Among a stand of various weapons, bagpipes, etc., the artist has

introduced a pair of scissors cutting out the Arms of Scotland.

1747.

1. The Stage Coach, or Country Inn Yard. In the very earliest

impressions, a flag behind the wheel of the coach is without an

inscription. In the second, "No Old Baby;" which words, in the

present state of the plate, are done away, and the flag obliterated.

2. Industry and Idleness, in twelve plates, designed and engraved by

Wm. Hogarth.

Plate 1. In the very early impressions, Plate 1 is not inserted.

_Second state_--Shadows strengthened.

Plate 2. _Second state_--Shadows on the organ, etc. deeper.

Plate 3. _Second state_--Lines stronger.

Plate 4. _Second state_--Lines strengthened. The cat in this print is

vilely drawn.

Plate 5. Tender lines in the offing worn out, broader lines in the

faces. Lavater has introduced a small outline of this print in his

_Essays on Physiognomy_.

Plate 6. _First state_--Goodchild and West, instead of West and

Goodchild, to which the sign was afterwards altered.

Plate 7. _Second state_--Darker shadows behind the broken cup, and

bottles on the chimney-piece, etc.

Plate 8. _Second state_--Shadows strengthened. The head of the fat

Citizen in a tie-wig has been copied in a larger size by Bartolozzi.

The scene is laid in Fishmonger's Hall, where the effigies of

Sir William Walworth still remain, with the following quaint and

memorable inscription beneath:--

"Brave Walworth, knight, Lord Maior, that slew

Rebellious Tyler in his alarms;

The king therefore did give in lieu,

The dagger to the city arms."

Plate 9. _Second state_--Character of the woman taking a bribe

altered; the whole print more black.

Plate 10. _Second state_--Shadows heightened.

Plate 11. _Second state_--Shadows in the parson's face, pigeon, etc.,

stronger.

Plate 12. _Second state_--Coachman's coat darker, and a stripe of

lace down the arm obliterated. The mass of figures that surround the

coach made much darker. In the original they come too forward, but

the characters are now hurt by the intersecting lines.

Of these twelve plates there are tolerably correct copies of the same

size.

The following memoranda relative to this series, which I found among

Hogarth's papers, seems addressed to some one whom he intended to

continue Rouquet's descriptions:--

"The effects of Idleness and Industry, exemplified in the conduct

of two fellow-'prentices. These twelve prints were calculated for

the instruction of young people; and everything addressed to them

is fully described in words as well as figures. Yet to foreigners a

translation of the mottoes,[125] the intention of the story, and some

little description of each print, may be necessary. To this may be

added, a slight account of our customs--as boys being usually bound

for seven years, etc.

"Considering the persons they were intended to serve, I have

endeavoured to render them intelligible, and cheap as possible.[126]

Fine engraving is not necessary for such subjects, if what is

infinitely more material, viz. character and expression, is properly

preserved. Suppose the whole story were made into a kind of tale,

describing in episode the nature of a night-cellar, a marrow-bone

concert, a Lord Mayor's show, etc.

"These prints I have found sell much more rapidly at Christmas than

at any other season."

3. Jacobus Gibbs Architectus; W. Hogarth, _delin._; J. M'Ardell,

_fecit_. Partly mezzotinto, partly graved. No date.

4. Ditto, engraved by Baron.

5. Ditto, by ditto.

6. Another copy, with the addition of "Architectus, A.M. and F.R.S.,"

was published 1750. Of the last print I have an impression where the

background is completed, but nothing more of the head than the bare

outline. This is a curiosity somewhat similar to a picture without a

horse by Wouvermans.

Besides these, there is a small profile of Gibbs in a circle, which I

do not think Hogarth's,--at least it is uncertain.

7. Arms of the Foundling Hospital, printed on the tops of the

indenture.

8. The same in a smaller size, employed as a vignette to _Psalms,

Hymns, and Anthems_, and also to an account of the institution of the

hospital, etc.

Of the original pen-and-ink drawing there is a modern copy.

9. A Wooden Cut--headpiece to the _Jacobites' Journal_; a newspaper

set up and supported by Henry Fielding. This print (of which there

is a modern copy in aquatinta) was prefixed to six or seven of the

earliest papers, and then set aside. Mine is dated "2d January 1747.

No. 5."

1748.

1. View of Mr. Ranby's House at Chiswick; etched by Hogarth, without

any inscription. Afterwards "published for Jane Hogarth," etc., 1st

May 1781.

2. Hymen and Cupid; two figures, with the view of a magnificent villa

in the distance. No inscription. This was engraved as a ticket for

the _Masque of Alfred_, performed at Cliveden House before the Prince

and Princess of Wales on the Princess Augusta's birthday. It was

afterwards intended to be used as a receipt to the Sigismunda; on the

earliest impressions, "£2, 2s." is usually _written_.

1749.

The Gate of Calais; engraved by C. Mosely. The original picture is in

the possession of the Earl of Charlemont.

Of this print Hogarth thus writes:--"After the March to Finchley,

the next print I engraved was the Roast Beef of Old England,[127]

which took its rise from a visit I paid to France the preceding year.

The first time an Englishman goes from Dover to Calais, he must be

struck with the different face of things at so little a distance. A

farcical pomp of war, pompous parade of religion, and much bustle

with very little business. To sum up all, poverty, slavery, and

innate insolence, covered with an affectation of politeness, give you

even here a true picture of the manners of the whole nation. Nor are

the priests less opposite to those of Dover than the two shores. The

friars are dirty, sleek, and solemn; the soldiery are lean, ragged,

and tawdry; and as to the fishwomen, their faces are absolute leather.

"As I was sauntering about and observing them, near the gate

which, it seems, was built by the English when the place was in

our possession, I remarked some appearance of the arms of England

on the front. By this and idle curiosity I was prompted to make a

sketch of it, which being observed, I was taken into custody; but not

attempting to cancel any of my sketches or memorandums, which were

found to be merely those of a painter for his private use, without

any relation to fortification, it was not thought necessary to send

me back to Paris.[128] I was only closely confined to my own lodgings

till the wind changed for England, where I no sooner arrived than I

set about the picture; made the gate my background; and in one corner

introduced my own portrait,[129] which has generally been thought a

correct likeness, with the soldier's hand upon my shoulder. By the

fat friar who stops the lean cook that is sinking under the weight of

a vast sirloin of beef, and two of the military bearing off a great

kettle of _soup maigre_, I meant to display to my own countrymen the

striking difference between the food, priests, soldiers, etc. of two

nations so contiguous, that in a clear day one coast may be seen from

the other. The melancholy and miserable Highlander, browsing on his

scanty fare, consisting of a bit of bread and an onion, is intended

for one of the many that fled from this country after the rebellion

in 1745."

2. Portrait of John Palmer, Esq.; W. Hogarth, _pinx._; B. Baron,

_sculp._ A small head inserted under a view of the church of Ecton,

Northamptonshire.

3. Head of Hogarth in a cap, with a pug dog, and a palette with the

line of beauty, etc.; inscribed "Gulielmus Hogarth _se ipse pinxit et

sculpsit_, 1749."

The same portrait in mezzotinto.

(The engraving was copied from a picture now in the collection of J.

J. Angerstein, Esq., from which another copy, engraved by Benjamin

Smith, was in 1795 published by Messrs. Boydell. In this the three

books are lettered _Shakspeare_, _Swift_, _Milton's Paradise Lost_,

and the line on the palette inscribed, "The Line of Beauty and

Grace.")

In the year 1763 Hogarth erased his own head from the plate, and in

its place inserted "The Bruiser, C. Churchill (once the Rev^d.!), in

the character of a Russian Hercules, regaling himself after having

killed the monster Caricatura, that so sorely galled his _virtuous_

friend the heaven-born Wilkes."

_First state_--Three of the upper knots on the club are left white

(white lies), and a line inscribed "the line of Beauty," drawn on

the palette. _Second state_--The knots shaded, and a political print

introduced on the palette.

_Third state_--The letters "N. B.," and the word "Infamous"

inscribed on the club; and "Dragon of Wantley" added at the end of

"I warrant ye." "Price 1s. 6d." instead of "1s."

In the year 1758 Hogarth published a full-length of his own portrait,

painting the Comic Muse; inscribed "W. Hogarth, serjeant painter to

his Majesty,"--"Engraved by W. Hogarth." This being a mistake of the

writing engraver, the painter altered it to "the face engraved by

W. Hogarth." _Third impression_--"The face engraved by W. Hogarth"

omitted. _Fourth state_--"Serjeant painter," etc. scratched over with

the graver. _Present state_--The face retouched. Comedy also has

the face and mask marked with black; and on the pillar is written,

"Comedy, 1764." No other inscription beneath the print but "W.

Hogarth, 1764."

The original small whole-length picture from which it is copied was

sold by Greenwood after Mrs. Hogarth's death. The companion portrait

of Mrs. Hogarth is in the possession of Mrs. Lewis of Chiswick.

A portrait of Hogarth was in 1781 engraved in mezzotinto by Charles

Townley from a picture painted by Weltdon, and finished by Hogarth,

now in the possession of James Townley, Esq. A portrait, copied from

that in the Gate of Calais, I have seen prefixed to a dull pamphlet,

published in 1781, entitled _A Dissertation on Mr. Hogarth's six

Prints lately published, viz. Gin Lane, Beer Street, and the Four

Stages of Cruelty_. I have a small engraving of his head, I believe

done for the _Universal Magazine_, in which he looks like a village

schoolmaster. An etching of his head by S. Ireland was prefixed to

a catalogue of Hogarth's works, sold by Christie, in May 1797. Two

small portraits have been engraved for watch-papers. A head in the

dotted style has been engraved for Mr. Jeffrey, Pall Mall, but is not

published.

1750.

The March to Finchley; engraved by Luke Sullivan. Dedicated to the

King of Prusia: thus was the word spelt in the prints delivered to

the subscribers. A few early impressions were dated 30th December

1750; but the 30th being that year on a Sunday, it was altered to the

31st. A print in the collection of Dr. Ford is inscribed "Printed and

published by W^m. Hogarth," instead of " Printed for W^m. Hogarth,

and published," etc. In the etching, of which very few were struck

off, the woman to whom an officer presents a letter on the point of

a pike, turns her head the contrary way to what she does in the print.

_Second impression_--The spelling of Prussia corrected; bunch of

grapes at the Adam and Eve enlarged; catching lights given to the

laced hats in the group beneath it; belt added to the Duke of

Cumberland's portrait. _Third state_--"Retouched and improved by W^m.

Hogarth; and republished June 12th, 1761."

I have an early impression of this print in which the dedication

to the King of Prussia does not appear, and it might pass for a

proof. On inquiry I find that, upon one of Hogarth's fastidious

friends objecting to its being dedicated to a foreign potentate, he

replied, "If you disapprove of it, _you_ shall have one without any

dedication;" and took off a few impressions, covering the dedication

with fan paper.

Sullivan was so eccentric a character, that while he was employed in

engraving this print, Hogarth held out every possible inducement to

his remaining at his house in Leicester Square night and day; for if

once Luke quitted it, he was not visible for a month. It has been

said, but I know not on what authority, that for engraving it he was

paid only one hundred pounds.

In the original picture, which is in the Foundling Hospital, the old

man to whom a Frenchman is giving a letter has a plaid waistcoat.

1751.

1. Beer Street. In the _first state_--The blacksmith is lifting up a

Frenchman; in the _second_--The Frenchman is properly discarded, and

a shoulder of mutton supplies his place.

2. Gin Lane. I have been told that in a print in the collection of

Lord Exeter there are numerous though trifling variations; but I

never saw it.[130]

Of their intentions, Hogarth gives the following account:--"When

these two prints were designed and engraved, the dreadful

consequences of gin-drinking appeared in every street. In Gin Lane,

every circumstance of its horrid effects is brought to view _in

terrorem_. Idleness, poverty, misery, and distress, which drives even

to madness and death, are the only objects that are to be seen; and

not a house in tolerable condition but the pawnbroker's and gin-shop.

"Beer Street, its companion, was given as a contrast, where that

invigorating liquor is recommended in order to drive the other out of

vogue. Here all is joyous and thriving: industry and jollity go hand

in hand. In this happy place the pawnbroker's is the only house going

to ruin; and even the small quantity of porter that he can procure is

taken in at the wicket, for fear of further distress."

3. The Four Stages of Cruelty--

Plate 1. Shadows strengthened.

Plate 2. Shadows heightened.

Plate 3. The whole print somewhat darker.

Plate 4. This, and the five last-mentioned prints, were, on common

paper, marked "price 1s.;" on superior paper, "1s. 6d." The stamp by

which the artist marked the "6d." was cut by himself on a halfpenny,

now in my possession. Of Plates 3 and 4 there are wooden cuts, which

were engraved under Hogarth's inspection.

The motives by which Hogarth was induced to make the designs, he thus

describes:--

"The leading points in these as well as the two preceding prints,

were made as obvious as possible, in the hope that their tendency

might be seen by men of the lowest rank. Neither minute accuracy

of design nor fine engraving were deemed necessary, as the latter

would render them too expensive for the persons to whom they were

intended to be useful; and the fact is, that the passions may be

more forcibly expressed by a strong, bold stroke, than by the most

delicate engraving. To expressing them as I felt them, I have paid

the utmost attention; and as they were addressed to hard hearts, have

rather preferred leaving them hard, and giving the effect, by a quick

touch, to rendering them languid and feeble by fine strokes and soft

engraving, which require more care and practice than can often be

attained, except by a man of a very quiet turn of mind. Masson, who

gave two strokes to every particular hair that he engraved, merited

great admiration; but at such admiration I never aspired, neither was

I capable of obtaining it if I had.

"The prints were engraved with the hope of, in some degree,

correcting that barbarous treatment of animals, the very sight of

which renders the streets of our metropolis so distressing to every

feeling mind. If they have had this effect, and check the progress of

cruelty, I am more proud of having been the author than I should be

of having painted Raphael's Cartoons.

"The French, among their other mistakes respecting our tragedies,

etc., assert that such scenes could not be represented except by a

barbarous people. Whatever may be our _national character_, I trust

that our _national conduct_ will be an unanswerable refutation."[131]

4. Paul before Felix; "designed and scratched in the true Dutch taste

by W^m. Hogarth." Under the second impression, "designed and etched

in the ridiculous manner of Rembrandt by W^m. Hogarth." The drowsy

angel was (I have been told) intended as a portrait of Luke Sullivan.

The advocate is said to be designed for Dr. King. See Worlidge's

_View of Lord Westmoreland's Installation_.

_Second state_--A little devil sawing off the leg of the apostle's

stool.

This very whimsical print was originally given as a receipt to the

Pharaoh's Daughter and the serious Paul before Felix, and sealed

with a palette and pencils, engraven on a small ring which Hogarth

usually wore, and which Mrs. Lewis has since presented to me. The

early proofs are usually stained with bister. Hogarth always gave the

print to such of his friends as wished for it; but finding demands

too frequent, cut the engraved receipt from the copper, and sold it

at 5s. From this print in its first state he took a few reverses.

1752.

1. Paul before Felix.

"And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to

come, Felix trembled."

"Engraved by W^m. Hogarth, from his original painting in

Lincoln's-Inn Hall, and published as the Act directs, Feb. 5, 1752."

2. The same subject, with fewer figures, and those reversed on

the plate. This, though not good, is, in arrangement, design,

and engraving, much superior to the preceding. The same text and

inscription, "from his original painting," etc., is continued, though

that first mentioned is the copy from the picture in Lincoln's-Inn

Hall.

"Published Feb. 5, 1752. Engraved by Luke Sullivan."

In the _second state_--A quotation from Dr. Warton's _Essay on

the Genius and Writings of Pope_ was inserted in one corner of

the margin; but the critique which it contained being founded in

a mistake, which the Doctor in the second edition very liberally

retracted, Hogarth, in some of the succeeding impressions, covered

the quotation with paper when the print was taken off, and afterwards

entirely effaced it from the copper.

In the present state of the plate, the date of publication and name

of the engraver are taken out.

3. Moses brought to Pharaoh's Daughter.

"From the original painting in the Foundling Hospital; engraved by

Will^m. Hogarth and Luke Sullivan."

"Published Feb. 5, 1752, according to Act of Parliament; W. Hogarth,

_pinxt._"

The _second state_ has the same quotation from Dr. Warton as the

preceding print, and for the same cause it was afterwards effaced

from the copper.

Third impression; "W. Hogarth, _pinxt._, and published according

to," etc., effaced, and its place supplied by "published as the Act

directs, Feb. 5, 1752."

Columbus breaking the Egg. Ticket to the _Analysis_. "Rec^d. Nov^r.

30, 1752, of Nath^l. Garland, Esq., five shillings, being the first

payment for a short tract in quarto, called the _Analysis of Beauty_,

wherein forms are considered in a new light," etc.

1753.

The receipt cut off and inscribed, "designed and etched by W^m.

Hogarth, Dec^r. 1, 1753."

2. Analysis of Beauty, two plates.

Plate 1. In an impression in the possession of Mr. Baker, "ET TU

BRUTE" is engraved on the pedestal on which Quin stands in the

character of Brutus.

In the _second state_, though this inscription is erased, on close

inspection some of the letters are still visible.

Plate 2. _First state_--A vacant chair under the figure of Henry

VIII. The principal figure is said to be a portrait of the Duke of

Kingston.

_Second state_--Altered to a portrait of his present Majesty: the

position of the right hand, etc. changed; the riband to the necklace

of the principal female figure lengthened, and a sleeping figure put

in the vacant chair. In the _present state_--The necklace riband is

made still longer.

3. Frontispiece to Kilby's _Perspective_; engraved by Sullivan.

1754.

ELECTION ENTERTAINMENTS, ETC.

Hogarth's subscription-book, with the names of all, and autographs

of most of the subscribers, is in my possession; and by this it

appears that the subscription to the first print of an Election

Entertainment, or to the complete set, commenced 28th March

1754. From this time to the 31st of May in the same year, there

were 461 subscribers to the first print, and 127 to the complete

set. The leading names on the list are the Prince of Wales, the

Princess-Dowager of Wales, and Prince Edward; but the first person

that has any money annexed to his signature is the Right Hon. Henry

Fox, afterwards Lord Holland.

The subscription for the remaining three prints was opened 24th

Feb. 1755, and closed 28th August 1756. To this there were only 165

subscribers, so that there were 296 names to the first print who did

not continue to subscribe to the other three.

As a receipt to these prints, he gave the following engraving, with

emblematical devices of Crowns, Mitres, etc., published in the year

1736, as a headpiece to an inscription expressing his gratitude to

the Legislature for passing the Act to protect prints from piracy,

etc.:--

_Crowns, Mitres, Maces, etc._

"Received 4th May 1754, of Mr. King, 5s., being the first payment for

a print representing an Election Entertainment, which I promise to

deliver when finished on the receipt of five shillings and sixpence

more. Wm. Hogarth."

"_N.B._--The price will be raised when the subscription is over."

_Second state_--Receipt for one guinea, being the first payment for

the four prints. In this, the receipt for 5s. appears to have been

covered with paper while the impressions were taken off, and that for

a guinea, engraved on another piece of copper, stamped beneath.

_Third state_--Receipt for 15s., being the first payment "for three

prints representing the polling," etc.

FOUR PRINTS OF AN ELECTION.

Plate 1. An Election Entertainment.

It has been said that Hogarth attempted to finish this plate

without taking a single proof from it, to examine the effect as he

proceeded in his work. Be that as it may, the _little_ alterations

are more numerous than in any of his other prints; and that in the

inscription, stating the _whole_ to be engraved by Hogarth, being so

often inserted and repeatedly effaced, I am unable to account for.

_First state_--"Painted, and the whole engraved by W^m. Hogarth,"

"Published 24th Feb. 1755," and "Inscribed to the Right Honourable

Henry Fox, etc. etc. etc."

Seven cut lemons on a piece of paper close to the punch-tub; four

hats in the corner; "For our Country," on the riband in the striped

cap of the butcher pouring out gin. A salt-cellar and a bit of bread

near the fork upon the table.

_Second state_--The two words, "the whole," in the inscription,

scratched over with black lines; the drapery, stockings, etc. on

the table before Richard Slim made much darker; the hand of the fat

old woman, close to the candidate, removed from under her apron,

and hanging down by her side, by which the shoulder, elbow, etc.

are thrown out of drawing; her countenance less clear, and a single

tooth, very conspicuous in the first impression, is here removed.

Shadow on the top of the wainscot in the left corner effaced.

Half a casement near the painting of a landscape changed to a

window-shutter; the king's head, frame, and background behind it,

lighter; the salt-cellar and bit of bread removed from the table;

lemons taken out, and the tub, pail, and foreground below them much

lighter; the boy's napkin darker. The butcher's cap, in which was

"For our Country," has now "PRO PATRIA," and is not striped; the

open-back chair in which he was seated in the _first state_, is here

filled up to a cushion back. The words, "sure votes" and "doubtful,"

in the attorney's book, are re-engraved. Both leaves are shadowed,

and the centre line from top to bottom, which in the _first state_

was with the "sure votes," is here transferred to the "doubtful."

Two pearly drops are trickling from the parson's forehead. Four

windows are added to a house seen out of the open casement; a pair

of scissors suspended to the Methodist tailor's apron-string, and the

pen, stuck under the wig of the fellow who offers him a bribe, which

in the _first state_ was with the feather outwards, is now properly

altered to the quill outwards. There are several other little

variations in the shadows which seem generally intended to bring the

print into harmony; and I think have their effect, for it is more

still, and in better keeping than in the _first state_.

_Third state_--The cross strokes of the graver on the words "the

whole," in the inscription, nearly burnished out. One hat added in

the corner, and another placed on the bench near the scabbard and

gloves. The face, knot, etc. of the little girl near the candidate

darkened; and the hair of the fellow smoking him much shadowed, and

rendered less woolly. Character of face of the boy pouring punch

altered, and hair made much darker.

_Fourth state_--The words "the whole" again inserted; the W is

different, and engraving not so good as in the _first state_: the

shadow on the top of the wainscot, close to the landscape, again

restored. A strong shadow on the lower part of the round table in the

corner burnished down.

_Fifth_, which is the _present state_--The words "the whole" again

completely effaced by black lines. The masses somewhat stronger, and

the shadows on the round table in the corner, especially on the edge,

made darker.

I have this print in all the states here described, and believe that

the third and fourth are very uncommon.

On the butcher with "PRO PATRIA" in his cap, and his wounded

companion, Hogarth makes the following remark:--

"These two patriots, who, let what party will prevail, can be no

gainers, yet spend their time, which is _their_ fortune, for what

they suppose right, and for a glass of gin lose their blood, and

sometimes their lives, in support of _the cause_, are, as far

as I can see, entitled to an equal portion of fame with many of

the emblazoned heroes of ancient Rome; but such is the effect of

prejudice, that though the picture of an antique wrestler is admired

as a grand character, we necessarily annex an idea of vulgarity to

the portrait of a modern boxer. An old blacksmith in his tattered

garb is a coarse and low being; strip him naked, tie his leathern

apron round his loins, chisel out his figure in freestone or marble,

precisely as it appears--he becomes elevated, and may pass for a

philosopher, or a Deity."

Plate 2. Canvassing for Votes.

"Engraved by C. Grignion, published 20th February 1757," and

inscribed to Sir Charles Hanbury Williams.

In this admirable print I discover no variations, except that the

lion's teeth are, in the _second impression_, removed; and the lines

throughout having been re-entered, are somewhat darker than in the

_first state_.

Plate 3. The Polling.