"The Secretary stood alone; modern degeneracy had not reached him;
original and unaccommodating--the features of his character had the
hardihood of antiquity. No State chicanery, no narrow system of
vicious politics, no idle contest for ministerial victories, sunk him
to the vulgar level of the great; but overbearing and persuasive,
his object was--England; his ambition--fame! Without dividing, he
destroyed party; without corrupting, he made a venal age unanimous.
France sunk beneath him. With one hand he smote the house of Bourbon,
and wielded with the other the democracy of England. The sight of his
mind was infinite; and his schemes were to affect, not England and
the present age only, but Europe and posterity. Wonderful were the
means by which these schemes were accomplished; always seasonable,
always adequate, the suggestion of an understanding animated by
ardour, and enlightened by prophecy. The ordinary feelings which
make life amiable and indolent--those sensations which allure and
vulgarize--were unknown to him. A character so exalted, so strenuous,
so various, so authoritative, astonished a corrupt age, and the
Treasury trembled at the name of Pitt through all her classes of
venality. Corruption imagined, indeed, that she found defects in
this statesman, and talked much of the inconsistency of his glory,
and much of the ruin of his victories; but the history of his
country and the calamity of his enemies answered and refuted her.
Nor were his political abilities his only talents; his eloquence
was an era in the senate, peculiar and spontaneous, familiarly
expressing gigantic sentiments and instinctive wisdom: not like the
torrent of Demosthenes, or the conflagration of Tully; it resembled
sometimes the thunder and sometimes the music of the spheres. He
did not conduct the understanding through the painful subtlety
of argumentation; nor was he for ever on the rack of exertion,
but rather lightened on the subject, and reached the point by the
flashings of the mind, which, like those of his eye, were felt,
but could not be followed. Upon the whole, there was in this man
something that could create, reform, or subvert; an understanding, a
spirit, and an eloquence to summon mankind to society, or to break
the bonds of slavery asunder, and rule the wildness of free minds
with unbounded authority: something that could establish or overwhelm
empire, and strike a blow in the world that should resound through
the universe."
At the time of Lord Chatham being interred, it was intimated in the
public prints that an epitaph descriptive of his talents and services
was to be inscribed on his tombstone; and that any one writing such
an epitaph would render an acceptable service to the committee who
had the management of his monument. The following was sent, but as it
was unkindly rejected by them, it is here inserted:--
"HERE LIES THE BODY OF WILLIAM PITT, EARL OF CHATHAM;
A GREAT AND ELOQUENT STATESMAN,
WHOM THE KING DID NOT CONSULT OR EMPLOY,
AND WHOM THE KING WAS RESOLVED NEVER TO CONSULT
OR EMPLOY;
A MOST INFORMED AND ENLIGHTENED SENATOR,
A MOST CONVINCING AND PERSUASIVE ORATOR,
WHOSE OPINIONS AND ADVICE THE PARLIAMENT HEARD WITH MOST
ILLIBERAL IMPATIENCE,
AND WHOSE ARGUMENTS THEY TREATED WITH MOST
SOVEREIGN CONTEMPT.
THESE WERE THE SENTIMENTS,
AND THIS THE CONDUCT, OF BOTH KING AND PARLIAMENT.
TO PERPETUATE THE MEMORY OF HIS ABILITIES,
AND THEIR WISDOM,
THAT KING AND THAT PARLIAMENT HAVE
ERECTED THIS MONUMENT."
[136] It has been generally called a Cheshire cheese. Having never
seen this pride of the English dairy with a hole bored through the
middle, I have ventured to pronounce it a millstone.
[137] Lord Bute is said to be personified by one of the Highlanders:
as I cannot ascertain which, my reader must discover it--if he can.
The fireman is probably intended for the Duke of Bedford.
[138] If Hogarth must be so unmercifully abused for what he inserted,
he is entitled to some credit for what he erased. I hope this blot in
his original design will not be considered as an additional blot on
his escutcheon.
[139] The small pyramid upon a little pedestal immediately behind
him is, I think, an afterthought. It much resembles the ornament
inscribed "Cyprus," which was painted on Hogarth's chariot, and might
possibly be intended to carry some allusion to himself, for the
stream of water from one of the garretteers just touches the point.
[140] Hogarth seems to have had a strong antipathy to the politics of
this year. In later impressions of Plate 8 of "The Rake's Progress"
will be found a halfpenny with the same date, in which Britannia is
represented in the character of a maniac, with dishevelled hair, etc.
[141] If this sign of the Castle were not inscribed "_New_castle
Inn," we should take it for a very old castle indeed. Its being in so
ruinous a state, the frame shattered, and off one hook, describes the
Duke's interest at that time. His Grace might be termed a Father of
the Church, for he had promoted almost every bishop in the kingdom,
and during the continuance of his administration an archbishop's
levee could not have a more sable appearance. He resigned, or
was turned out, which the reader pleaseth; and at his succeeding
levee--there was not one ecclesiastic!
[142] Lord Besborough and the Honourable Robert Hampden were, I
think, joint Postmasters-General this year; a short time after, Lord
Egmont had the situation of Lord Besborough, but soon resigned.
[143] The Prince of Wales was born on the 12th of August 1762.
Just after her Majesty was safely in her bed, the waggons with the
treasure of the Hermione entered Saint James's Street, on which the
king and the nobility went to the window over the palace gate to see
them, and joined their acclamations on two such joyful occasions.
From hence the procession, consisting of twenty waggons, etc.,
proceeded to the tower.--_Annual Register, 1762, Art. August_.
[144] In the _London Magazine_ for September 1762, I find the
following explanation:--
"The subject of this print is, as its title expresses it, 'The
Times.' The first object is a quarter of the globe on fire, supposed
to be Europe; and France, Germany, and Spain, denoted by their
respective arms, are represented in flames, which appear to be
extending themselves to Great Britain itself. And this desolation
is continued and increased by Mr. P----, who is represented by the
figure of Henry VIII., with a pair of bellows blowing up those
flames which others are endeavouring to extinguish. He is mounted
on the stilts of the populace. There is a Cheshire cheese hanging
between his legs, and round the same '£3000 per annum.' The manager
of the engine-pipe is L---- B----, who is assisted in working the
engine by sailors, English soldiers, and Highlanders; but their good
offices are impeded by a man with a wheel-barrow, overladen with
_Monitors_ and _North Britons_, brought to be thrown in to keep up
the flame. The respectable body depictured under Mr. P----, are the
m---- of London, who are worshipping the idol they had formerly set
up; whilst a German prince, who alone is sure to profit by the war,
is amusing himself with a violin among his miserable countrymen. It
is sufficiently apparent who is meant by the fine gentleman at the
dining-room window of the Temple Coffeehouse, who is squirting at
the director of the engine-pipe, whilst his garretteers are engaged
in the same employment. The picture of the Indian alludes to the
advocates for the retaining our West India conquests, which, they
say, will only increase excess and debauchery; and the breaking down
the Newcastle Arms, and the drawing up the patriotic ones, refer to
the resignation of a noble Duke, and the appointment of a successor.
The Dutchman smoking his pipe, with a fox peeping out beneath him,
the emblem of cunning, waiting the issue; the waggon with the
treasures of the Hermione; the unnecessary marching of the militia,
signified by the Norfolk jig; the dove with the olive branch; and the
miseries of war, are obvious, and need no explication."
In a newspaper of the day is the following whimsical description of
the characters the writer chooses to say were really intended:--
"The principal figure, in the character of Henry VIII., appears
to be not Mr. P----, but another person, whose power is signified
by his bulk of carcase, treading on Mr. P----, represented by
3000. The bellows may signify his well-meant though ineffectual
endeavours to extinguish the fire by wind, which, though it will
put out a small flame, will cherish a large one. The guider of the
engine-pipe I should think can only mean his M----, who unweariedly
tries, by a more proper method, to stop the flames of war, in which
he is assisted by all his good subjects both by sea and land,
notwithstanding any interruption from _Auditors_ or _Britons_,
_Monitors_ or _North Britons_. The respectable body at the bottom can
never mean the magistrates of London: Mr. H---- has more sense than
to abuse so respectable a body. Much less can it mean the judges. I
think it may as likely be the Court of Session in Scotland, either
in the attitude of adoration, or with outspread arms, intending to
catch their patron should his stilts give way. The Frenchman may
very well sit at his ease among his miserable countrywomen, as he
is not unacquainted that France has always gained by negotiating
what she lost in fighting. The fine gentleman at the window, with
his garretteers, and the barrow of periodical papers, refers to the
present contending parties of every denomination. The breaking of
the Newcastle Arms alludes to the resignation of a great personage;
and the replacing of them by the sign of the Four Clenched Fists
may be thought emblematical of the great economy of his successor.
The Norfolk jig signifies in a lively manner the alacrity of all
his Majesty's forces during the war; and G. T. (George Townshend)
_fecit_, is an opportune compliment paid to Lord Townshend, who, in
conjunction with Mr. Wyndham, published _A Plan of Discipline for
the use of the Norfolk Militia_, quarto, and had been the greatest
advocate for the establishment of our present militia. The picture of
the Indian alive from America, is a satire on our late uncivilised
behaviour to the three chiefs of the Cherokee nation who were lately
in this kingdom, and the bags of money set this in a still clearer
point of view, signifying the sums gained by showing them at our
public gardens. The sly Dutchman with his pipe seems pleased with the
combustion, from which he thinks he shall be a gainer; and the Duke
of Nivernois, under the figure of a dove, is coming from France to
give a cessation of hostilities to Europe."
[145] In the first impressions, considering Mr. Pitt as a tyrant, he
introduced him in the character of Henry VIII.; this was afterwards
properly altered.
[146] "There are strong prejudices in favour of straight lines, as
constituting true beauty in the human form, where they never should
appear. A middling connoisseur thinks no profile has beauty without
a very straight nose; and if the forehead be continued straight with
it, he thinks it is still more sublime. The common notion that a
person should be straight as an arrow, and perfectly erect, is of
this kind. If a dancing-master were to see his scholar in the easy
and gracefully turned attitude of the Antinous, he would cry shame
on him, and tell him he looked as crooked as a ram's horn, and bid
him hold up his head as he himself did."--_Preface to the Analysis of
Beauty_, p. 8.
[147] Of Ramsay's manner, Churchill had an opinion similar to
Hogarth's. Speaking of Scotland, he says,
"From thence the Ramsays, men of 'special note,
Of whom one paints as well as t'other wrote."
--_Prophecy of Famine._
[148] The British Lion seems by no means delighted at the
distribution he is forced to make. The strong arm, drawing a long
lever, has distorted his mouth, and, though gagged, his wry face
shows his agony.
[149] Among the admirable things recorded as Mr. Wilkes' jests, is a
remark upon this same _red_ book: "Sir, it is the only book now red"
(_read_).
[150] See the _North Briton_.
[151] As a paint-pot and brushes are placed in the corner, it is
supposed Hogarth intended to represent Himself as one of the group:
perhaps this may be the figure.
[152] The porter with his knot upon his head, and a pipe in his
mouth, leans against the pillory.
[153] Let it be observed, that in this, as well as in many more of
Mr. Hogarth's prints, the buildings are reversed: in the drawing from
whence the engraving was made they were right.
[154] To be told that I am wrong in some of their names will not
surprise me. The figure presenting a snuff-box, I judged to be
Earl Temple, from his face having been originally etched without
features, and a nose and chin added. Another with a riband, whose
back only is seen, from its similarity to an engraving after the
design of a noble marquis, I have denominated Lord Winchelsea. A
higher figure, on his left hand, is possibly the Duke of Bedford; the
interrogating profile, with a hat on, somewhat lower, has the air
of Mr. Rigby.[155] I have conjectured that a gentleman remarkably
rotund is intended for Lord Melcombe; the noble lord beneath him may
be designed for the Duke of Devonshire; and the grave senator in
spectacles, above the ear-trumpet, is perhaps Earl Bath.
[155] The rail, which I have said was perhaps intended to divide the
Commons from the Lords, might yet be designed to divide the men most
active in the Opposition from the Ministry. To either supposition
there are objections which I cannot solve.
[156] A man in a porter-house, classing himself as an eminent
literary character, was asked by one of his companions what right
he had to assume such a title? the reply was remarkable: "Sir, I'd
have you know, I had the honour of chalking Number 45 upon every door
between Temple Bar and Hyde Park Corner."
[157] The public must certainly have had the same opinion, for at
that period Mr. Wilkes was in the meridian of his popularity. Though
not exactly like Gay's hare in the fable, he had many friends, and
Mr. Nichols relates, that a copperplate printer informed him near
four thousand copies of this etching were worked off in a few weeks.
These must necessarily have been sold, and we may naturally infer
were bought by his friends.
[158] Equally memorable was his reply to a friend who requested
him to sit to Sir Joshua Reynolds, and have his portrait placed
in Guildhall, being then so popular a character that the Court of
Aldermen would willingly have paid the expense. "No," replied he,
"No! they shall never have a delineation of my face, that will carry
to posterity so damning a proof of what it was. Who knows but a time
may come when some future Horace Walpole will treat the world with
another quarto volume of historic doubts, in which he may prove that
the numerous squinting portraits on tobacco papers and halfpenny
ballads, inscribed with the name of John Wilkes, are 'a weak
invention of the enemy,' for that I was not only unlike them, but, if
any inference can be drawn from the general partiality of the fair
sex, the handsomest man of the age I lived in."
[159] If Hogarth at first intended it for a caricature, who knows but
the old lion might have repented himself, for he afterwards threw the
original drawing into the fire; it was snatched out by Mrs. Lewis.
[160] That Hogarth should be unseen by all, and yet seen by Virtue,
if not a blunder, is very nearly allied to it.
[161] This remark extends no further than to the figure of Churchill.
In the little design on a palette, which was added some time after
the print was published, there is much wit.
[162] These angry strains had, I suppose, their origin in Hogarth
having on some occasion charged Churchill with falsehood. The
accusation might probably allude to personal satire, and the bard's
warmest admirers must admit, that though his characters are highly
drawn, and still more highly coloured, they are rather political than
historical, rather poetical than biographical. An uneducated painter,
who had not taste enough to conceive that poetry, however animated,
could make that truth which he knew to be falsehood, might possibly
give his opinion in very displeasing terms.
[163] Porter was the poet's favourite beverage; but though he quaffed
more _entire butt than bard beseems_, he drank still deeper draughts
from the fountain of Helicon. Many of his stanzas breathe inspiration.
[164] Much wretched writing, in both verse and prose, concerning this
contest between the pencil and the pen, was inserted in the prints of
the day. The following explanation, indifferent as it may be thought,
is the best I happen to have seen:--
"The bear with a tattered band represents the former strength and
abilities of Mr. Hogarth; the full pot of beer likewise shows that
he was in a land of plenty. The stump of a headless tree, with the
notches, and on it written 'Lie,' signifies Mr. Hogarth's former art,
and the many productions thereof, wherein he has excelled even nature
itself, and which of course must be but lies, flattery, and fallacy,
the painter's prerogative; and the stump of a tree only being left,
shows that there can be no more fruit expected from thence, but that
it only stands as a record of his former services. The butcher's dog
trampling on Mr. Churchill's Epistle alludes to the present state
of Mr. Hogarth, who is now reduced from the strength of a bear to a
blind butcher's dog, not able to distinguish, but degrading, his best
friends; or perhaps giving the public a hint to read that Epistle,
where his case is more fully laid before them. The next matter to be
explained is the subscription-box, and under it is a book said to
contain _A List of Subscribers to the North Briton_, as well as one
of _A New Way to Pay Old Debts_. Mr. Hogarth mentioned the _North
Briton_ to avoid the censure of the rabble in the street, who he knew
would neither pity nor relieve him; and as Mr. Churchill was reputed
to be the writer of that paper, it would seem to give a colour in
their eyes of its being intended against Mr. Churchill. Mr. Hogarth
meant only to show his necessity, and that a book entitled _A List of
Subscribers to the North Briton_ contained in fact a list of those
who should contribute to the support of Mr. Hogarth in old age. By
the book entitled _A New Way to Pay Old Debts_, he can only mean
this, that when a man is become disabled to get his livelihood and
much in debt, the only shift he has left is to go a-begging to his
creditors.
"There are likewise in this print some of his old tools, without any
hand to use them."
[165] This thought might possibly be suggested by one of Shakspeare's
witches:
"Sleep shall neither night nor day
Hang upon his pent-house lid,
He shall live a man forbid," etc.
How admirable a contrast is formed by Robert Lloyd's description of
an opposite character!
"Dull folly,--not the wanton wild,
Imagination's younger child,
Had taken lodgings in his face,
As finding that a vacant place."
[166] "Little did the sportive satirist imagine that the power of
pleasing was so soon to cease in both! Hogarth died in four weeks
after the publication of this poem, and Churchill survived him but
nine days. In some lines which were printed in November 1764, the
compiler of these anecdotes took occasion to lament that
"'Scarce had the friendly tear,
For Hogarth shed, escap'd the generous eye
Of feeling pity, when again it flow'd
For Churchill's fate. Ill can we bear the loss
Of Fancy's twin-born offspring, close allied
In energy of thought, though different paths
They sought for fame!--Though jarring passions sway'd
The living artists, let the funeral wreath
Unite their memory!'"
--_Nichols' Biographical Anecdotes of Hogarth._
[167] In Mr. Churchill's will was the following item:--
"I desire my dear friend John Wilkes, Esq., to collect and publish
my works, with the remarks and explanations he has prepared, and any
other he thinks proper to make."
Could Mr. Churchill really think it was possible that notes by Mr.
Wilkes, or any other man, would justify his malignant attack upon
Hogarth?
[168] What a satire upon himself! What an apology for Hogarth's print!
[169] This is a very singular acknowledgment: it is, I believe, the
first instance of a person feeling himself flattered at being told
that he had murdered an old man.
[170] He frequently engraved a ticket for one series of prints, and
presented it with another.
[171] See the engraved title-page to vol. ii.
[172] In the reduced copy I have ventured to abridge this title,
though the very ingenious baptisms of sundry modern prints would have
given ample countenance to the old inscription. For example: A girl
hugging a dog in her arms is, with great attention to analogy, called
"Nature;" and a woman with a large mallet in one hand, and a tenpenny
nail in the other, "Art."
A female with a consumptive curd-and-whey countenance, that would not
have got her a lover even in Otaheite, they have miscalled "Beauty;"
and a little gorged misshapen boy, with swollen cheeks, and a bow and
arrow, they kindly inform you is "Love."
A farmer's daughter with a basket on her arm, in which are two
pigeons quarrelling for a straw, and drawing it different ways, is
christened "Conjugal Peace;" and a very picturesque landscape, with a
crowd of figures in the background, baptized "Solitude!"
Innumerable other instances might be given; but these are sufficient
to prove, that in erroneous inscription Hogarth is not alone.
[173] This good gentleman was undoubtedly designed to place his hand
upon his heart; but Hogarth had either heard of some examples similar
to one which was lately seen at Dr. John Hunter's, or has, as in many
other instances, reversed the drawing.
[174] The Countess Spencer, who has dignified the arts by making
several very elegant drawings, has given a sanction to this baptism
in a print lately engraved by Bartolozzi.
[175] The pit was formerly the seat of the critics, and dread of
authors; our critics of the present day have _taken to_ the green
boxes.
[176] The father of Huggins was warden of the Fleet Prison, and in
that office guilty of extortion, cruelty, breach of trust, and many
other crimes; he accumulated a considerable fortune, and died at
ninety years of age. His son William was educated for holy orders,
and sent to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he took the degree of
M.A., but on the death of his elder brother gave up all thoughts
of entering into the church. In 1757 some flattering verses were
addressed to him on his version of Ariosto: they are preserved in
the _Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. xxvii. p. 180; but, except by the
author and the person to whom they are written, were probably never
read through. A specimen of his translation from Dante, which was
published in the _British Magazine_ for 1760, exhibits an unequivocal
proof that Mr. Huggins was worthy of his encomiast. He died the 2d
of July 1761, and left to posterity a MS. tragedy, a MS. translation
of Dante, a MS. farce, and though last, not least in estimation--two
thousand pounds per annum.
[177] He was a respectable performer on the violin, some years
chapelmaster at Antwerp, and several seasons leader of the band at
Marybone Gardens. He published a collection of musical compositions,
to which was annexed a portrait of himself, characterized by three
lines from Milton:
"Thou honour'dst verse, and verse must lend her wing
To honour thee, the priest of Phœbus' quire,
That tun'st her happiest lines in hymn or song."
He died in 1750, aged seventy years, and gives one additional name
to a catalogue I have somewhere seen of very old professors of
music, who, saith my author, "generally live unto a greater age than
persons in any other way of life, from their souls being so attuned
unto harmony, that they enjoy a perpetual peace of mind." It has
been observed, and I believe justly, that thinking is a great enemy
to longevity, and that, consequently, they who think least will be
likely to live longest. The quantity of thought necessary to make an
adept in this divine science must be determined by those who have
studied it.
[178] In thus bringing to shame the ignorant or prejudiced audience
who could be blind to his genius, he hath been right worthily
imitated by sundry great writers in this our day.
[179] I once saw the following MS. note in the marginal leaf of this
oratorio: "If the writer of this had his desserts,
"Full soon would injur'd Judith slay him,
Or pious Jael, Siser-a him."
[180] At a time when Doctor Shippen, I mean the astronomical Shippen,
was principal of Brazennose College, the musical professor died,
and the Doctor offered himself as a candidate for the place. To the
science he was a total stranger, but by strength of interest carried
the election, though opposed by a gentleman highly eminent for his
musical abilities.
In less than twelve moons the professor of astronomy died, and the
electors, ashamed of their former conduct, went in a body to the
musical gentleman they had before rejected, and offered him the
vacant astronomical chair. He was weak enough to refuse; because,
forsooth, he did not understand astronomy, and died without place,
pension, or university honour.
Even now these things are managed in much the same way. A nobleman
who had the privilege of appointing a chorister to Christ Church,
Cambridge, sent them one who was not only ignorant of music, but
croaked like an old raven, because the fellow had a vote for a
Huntingdonshire borough. This gave rise to the following epigram:--
"A singing man, and cannot sing!
From whence arose your patron's bounty?
Give us a song!--Excuse me, sir,
My voice is in another county."
[181] "A chief betokeneth a senatour, or honourable personage,
borrowed from the Greek, and is a word signifying a head; and as the
head is the chief part in a man, so the chief in the escocheon should
be a reward of such only, whose high merites have procured them chief
places, esteem, or love amongst men."--GUILLIM.
[182] "The bearing of clouds in armes (saith Upton) doth import some
excellencie."
[183] Originally printed _docter_, but altered.
[184] One of them, but I know not which, is said to be intended for
Doctor Pierce Dod, physician to St. Bartholomew's Hospital, who died
August 6, 1754. Another for Doctor Bamber, a celebrated anatomist,
physician, and accoucheur, to whose estate the present Gascoyne
family succeeded, and by whose surname two of them have been baptized.
[185] When very young, I was once in company with the Chevalier at
the house of a Doctor Cheyne Harte, in Shrewsbury, and I remember his
person having a strong resemblance to this print. I also recollect
that he carried his gold, silver, and copper coin in his coat pocket.
He had uncommon skill in his profession, but was ridiculously
ostentatious, and is said to have expended near a thousand guineas
in a set of gold instruments. At this species of foppery Hogarth has
well hinted, in the laced or Dresden ruffles with which he alone is
decorated. His portrait was painted at Rome by the Chevalier Riche.
Beneath it is the following inscription: "Joannes Taylor, Medicus in
Optica expertissimus, multisque in Academiis celeberrimis Socius."
[186] To this volume there is the longest title I remember to have
seen: it might serve for a table of contents; and containing a sort
of brief abstract of his adventures, I have inserted it:--
"_The Life and Extraordinary History of Chevalier John Taylor_,
Member of the most celebrated Academies, Universities, and Societies
of the learned--Chevalier in several of the first courts of the
world--illustrious (by patent) in the apartments of many of the
greatest Princes,[187] Ophthalmiater Pontifical, Imperial, and
Royal--to his late Majesty--to the Pontifical Court--to the Person
of her Imperial Majesty--to the Kings of Poland, Denmark, Sweden,
etc.--to the several Electors of the Holy Empire--to the Royal
Infant Duke of Parma--to the Prince of Saxe-Gotha, Serenissime,
brother to her Royal Highness the Princess Dowager of Wales--to the
Prince Royal of Poland--to the late Prince of Orange--to the present
princes of Bavaria, Modena, Lorraine, Brunswick, Anspach, Bareith,
Liege, Salzbourg, Middlebourg, Hesse Cassel, Holstein, Zerbst,
Georgia, etc.--Citizen of Rome, by a public act in the name of the
senate and people--Fellow of that College of Physicians--Professor
in Optics--Doctor in Medicine, and Doctor in Chirurgery, in several
universities abroad; who has been on his travels upwards of thirty
years, with little or no interruption, during which he has not only
been several times in every town in these kingdoms, but in every
kingdom, province, state, and city of the least consideration--in
every court,[188] presented to every crowned head and sovereign
prince in all Europe, without exception: containing the greatest
variety of the most entertaining and interesting adventures, that,
it is presumed, has ever yet been published in any country or in any
language."
[187] When he was once enumerating the honours he had received
from the different princes of Europe, and the orders with which he
had been dignified by innumerable sovereigns, a gentleman present
remarked that he had not named the King of Prussia; and added, "I
suppose, sir, he never gave you any order?" "You are mistaken, sir,"
replied the Chevalier: "he gave me a very peremptory order to quit
his dominions."
[188] On his return from a tour on the Continent, he once met a plain
man, who, addressing him with great familiarity, was repulsed with
a cold formal frown,--and, "Sir, I really don't remember you." "Not
remember me! why, my goodness, Doctor! we both lodged on one floor in
Round Court." "Round Court,--Round Court,--Round Court?--Sir, I have
been in every court in Europe, but of such a court as Round Court I
have no recollection."
[189] _September 16, 1736._ "On Thursday Mrs. Mapp's plate of ten
guineas was run for at Epsom. A mare, called Mrs. Mapp, won the first
heat, when Mrs. Mapp gave the rider a guinea, and swore, if he won
the plate she would give him a hundred."
_September 23, 1736._ "Mrs. Mapp continues making extraordinary
cures: she has now set up an equipage, and on Sunday waited on her
Majesty."
_October 19, 1736, London Daily Post._ "Mrs. Mapp being present
at the acting of _The Wife's Relief_, concurred in the universal
applause of a crowded audience. This play was advertised by the
desire of Mrs. Mapp, the famous bone-setter from Epsom."
_October 21, 1736._ "On Saturday evening there was such a concourse
of people at the Theatre Royal in Lincoln's-Inn Fields to see the
famous Mrs. Mapp, that several ladies and gentlemen were obliged to
return for want of room. The confusion at going out was so great,
that several ladies and gentlemen had their pockets picked, and many
of the former lost their fans, etc. Yesterday she was elegantly
entertained by Doctor Ward, at his house in Pall Mall."
"On Saturday, and yesterday, Mrs. Mapp performed several operations
at the Grecian Coffeehouse, particularly one upon a niece of Sir Hans
Sloane,[190] to his great satisfaction, and her credit. The patient
had her shoulder-bone out for about nine years."
_December 22, 1737._ "Died last week, at her lodgings near Seven
Dials, the much talked of Mrs. Mapp, the bone-setter, so miserably
poor, that the parish was obliged to bury her."
[190] I have heard it suggested that this harlequin figure, received
as Mrs. Mapp, was really intended for Sir Hans Sloane.
[191] He was originally in partnership with his brother, a drysalter
in Thames Street. By a fire which broke out in an adjoining house,
their joint property was destroyed, and Mr. Ward escaped by
clambering over the tops of several houses in his shirt.
In the year 1717 he was returned member for Marlborough, but by
a vote of the House of Commons declared not duly elected. It is
imagined that he was in some manner connected with his brother John
Ward (immortalized by Mr Pope) in the South Sea Bubble, for he left
England rather abruptly; and during his residence abroad, is supposed
to have turned Roman Catholic.
It was during his exile that he acquired such a knowledge of medicine
and chemistry as was afterwards the means of raising him to a state
of affluence. About the year 1733 he began to practise physic, and
combated for some time the united efforts of argument, jealousy, and
ridicule, by each of which he was opposed. By some lucky cures, and
particularly one on a relation of Sir Joseph Jekyl, Master of the
Rolls, he triumphed over his enemies; was, by a vote of the House of
Commons, exempted from being visited by the censors of the college,
and called in to the assistance of George the Second, whose hand
he cured; and in lieu of a pecuniary compensation, was, at his own
request, permitted to ride in his gaudy and heavy equipage through
St. James's Park, an honour seldom granted to any but persons of
rank. Besides this, the King gave a commission to his nephew, the
late General Gansel.
He distributed medicine and advice to the poor gratis. There is as
bad a print as I have seen representing him thus employed. By such
conduct he acquired great popularity, and was, indeed, entitled to
great praise.
He died December 21, 1761, at a very advanced age, and left the
receipts for compounding his medicines to Mr. Page, member for
Chichester, who bestowed them on two charitable institutions, which
have derived considerable advantage from the profits attending their
sale.
In the _London Chronicle_ for February 27, 1762, is the following
intimation:--
"A monument is going to be erected in Westminster Abbey, next to that
of Mr. Dryden's, to the memory of Joshua Ward, of Whitehall, Esq., on
which will be placed a fine bust of the deceased, that had been long
in his possession."
[192] The veil which was then spread over this science has been
partly removed by the publication of Doctor Buchan's _Domestic
Medicine_,--a treatise which I have frequently heard reprobated by
gentlemen of the Faculty, for laying open to the world, in language
so perspicuous, those mysterious secrets which had been before
disguised in dog Latin: it has, however, gone through more editions
than any book in this language, except _Robinson Crusoe_ and the
_Pilgrim's Progress_.
[193] The poet, in this instance, laboureth under a mistake; for I
am informed by a gentleman learned in the law, that if a physician
neglecteth to receive his fees, and his patient recovereth, he hath
no legal claim, neither will an action lie; but if his patient dieth,
an action against the executors is good: the Court will admit the
claim, and the jury find a verdict, with full costs of suit.
This is very proper, and proveth that _law_ and _equity_ are the
same; and that if a physician _doth his business_, he can recover his
reward; but if he neglecteth, and _his patient doth not die_, why
should he have any remuneration?
[194] What caricature is in painting, burlesque is in writing; and in
the same manner the comic writer and painter correlate to each other.
But here I shall observe, that as in the former the painter seems to
have the advantage, so it is in the latter infinitely on the side of
the writer; for the monstrous is much easier to paint than describe,
and the ridiculous to describe than paint. And though perhaps this
latter species doth not in either science so strongly affect and
agitate the muscles as the other, yet it will be owned, I believe,
that a more rational and useful pleasure arises to us from it.
"He who should call the ingenious Hogarth a burlesque painter, would,
in my opinion, do him very little honour; for sure it is much easier,
much less the subject of admiration, to paint a man with a nose or
any other feature of a monstrous size, or to expose him in some
absurd or monstrous attitude, than to express the affections of men
on canvas. It has been thought a vast commendation of a painter to
say, his figures seem to breathe; but surely it is a much greater and
nobler applause, that they appear to think."
This is Fielding's opinion, and the _fiat_ of such a writer ought
to have great weight; for his characters and Hogarth's pictures are
drawn from the same source.
[195] I have adhered to Hogarth's orthography.
[196] She was suspected to have been concerned in the murder of Mr.
Nesbit in 1729, near Drury Lane, for which one Kelly, _alias_ Owen,
suffered death. The only ground of his conviction was a bloodied
razor, that was known to be his property, being found under the
murdered man's head. Kelly died protesting his innocence, and
solemnly asserted that he had lent the razor to a woman whose name
and habitation he did not know.
[197] It appeared on the trial that Mrs. Duncombe had only fifty-four
pounds in her box; and fifty-three pounds eleven shillings and
sixpence were found upon Malcolm.
[198] One part of her defence was, it must be acknowledged, rather
weak: she declared that seventeen pounds of the money found in her
hair was sent to her by her father; but on inquiry, it was proved
that he lived in a state of extreme and pitiable poverty in the city
of Dublin, where she was born.
[199] The crowd was so great, that a Mrs. Strangeways, who lived in
Fleet Street, near Serjeants' Inn, crossed the street from her own
house to Mrs. Coulthurst's, on the opposite side of the way, over the
heads and shoulders of the populace.
[200] This paper he sold for twenty pounds; and the substance of it
was printed in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for 1733. Peddington died
September 18, 1734.
[201] The late Mr. Barry, whose works are an honour to his age and
country, and would alone give celebrity and immortality to the
English school, in his picture of "Elysium," or the state of final
retribution, has introduced Sir Isaac Newton looking at the solar
system, which an angel is to him uncovering. This is one of the most
sublime and poetical thoughts I ever saw expressed upon canvas.
[202] That his conquests have in their consequences rendered the
people he subdued unhappy, must be admitted, and is to be lamented.
Though I am inclined to suspect that the narrations of Bartholomew
de las Casas, and some other writers, are greatly exaggerated, we
have indisputable evidence of such oppression, murder, and massacre,
as must make every reader shudder. If the same system is still
pursued,--and I fear it has been but little softened,--the evil will
correct itself; and who will not rejoice at the total extirpation
of these merciless tyrants, and emancipation of that unhappy race
whom they have so long enslaved? Let us not, from this, censure the
extension of commerce, or civilisation of the savage; for both these
great objects ultimately tend to make men wiser, better, and happier.
To the beardless philosopher, who adopts the fascinating visions
of Rousseau, is an advocate for the blessings of barbarism, and
contends for the superiority of the savage to the civilised animal,
I earnestly recommend the perusal of Mickle's _Introduction to the
Lusiad_. If the arguments adduced by that excellent writer--and, from
intimate personal knowledge, I venture to add, excellent man--will
not convince him, and he still languishes for pathless wilds, let him
retreat from civilised society to the frozen rocks of Kamtschatka, or
join the Aborigines of New Holland.
[203] "When he promised a new hemisphere, it was insisted upon
that no such hemisphere could exist; and when he had discovered
it, asserted that it had been known long before. The honour was
given to the Carthaginians; and, to prove they deserved it, a book
of Aristotle's was quoted, which Aristole never wrote. It was
further said, that one Martin Behem went from Nuremburg to the
Straits of Magellan, in 1460, with a patent from the Duchess of
Burgundy, who, as she was not alive at that time, could not issue
patents."--VOLTAIRE.
[204] Some authors have said from the port of Gomera, and dated his
departure on the 6th of September. This _momentous_ point must be
decided by those who study minute chronology; and we are so fortunate
as to live in the same age with a writer who can determine the day of
the month and day of the week when Adam was created:
"Adam created, Friday, October 28, 4004; died, 3034 before Christ,
aged 930."--Trusler's _Chronology_.
[205] Americus Vespucius, a merchant of Florence, had the honour
of giving his name to this new half of the globe, in which he did
not possess one acre of land; and pretended to be the first who
discovered the continent. Admitting it true that he first discovered
it, the glory is due to the man who had the penetration to see that
the voyage was practicable, and the courage to perform it. Columbus
made three voyages, as viceroy and admiral, five years before
Americus made one as a geographer; but Vespucius writing to his
friends at Florence that he had discovered a new world, they took his
word, and the citizens decreed that a grand illumination should be
made before the door of his house every three years, on the feast of
All Saints. Such are the accidents by which honours are attained. A
merchant gives his name to one half of the globe from happening to be
on board a fleet that in 1489 sailed along the coast of Brazil!
[206] This story has been told of Brunelleschi, who improved the
architecture of Florence many years before Columbus was born, and it
has been since related of many others. These ambulatory anecdotes are
transferred from one traveller to another, like the wishing-cap of
Fortunatus, that was made to fit every head on which it was placed.
[207] "There is scarce an Egyptian, Greek, or Roman deity, but hath a
twisted serpent, twisted cornucopia, or some symbol winding in this
manner, to accompany it."--_Preface to Analysis of Beauty_, p. 18.
[208] Some of these were in wood, and some in copper. The painter,
when once asked why he did not answer them, replied, that "he had not
seen one which promised to live so long as it would take to engrave
a plate." A few of these poignant satires I have seen; but they have
now attained a black letter value, and are seldom to be found except
in the cabinets of the curious. A series of six or eight, beginning
with one entitled "The Butifyer, or a Touch on the Times," Plate I.,
were designed and engraved by an artist of deserved celebrity.[209]
With a frankness for which he is remarkable, and which does him
honour, he once acknowledged to me, that being a very young man, he
was deceived by the loud clamours of certain veterans, at that time
leaders in the arts; but had he seen Hogarth's merit then as he does
now, nothing should have induced him to attempt the ridicule of such
talents.
[209] Mr. Paul Sandby.
[210] This alludes to the time Hogarth thought would elapse before
Stuart's plan was completed; and the prediction was amply verified,
for the second volume of _Athens_ was not published until 1789 or 90,
though the title-page is dated 1787.
[211] Stuart being once questioned by Frank Hayman upon his right
to assume both these titles, said that "Poetry was his wife, and
Architecture his mistress." "You may call them so," said Hayman, "but
I never heard that you had living issue by either."
[212] The mortification Hogarth naturally felt at seeing more money
given for a drawing of an ancient pig-sty than he received for his
most capital work, was unquestionably the strongest inducement.
[213] A description of this print was published in _The Beauties of
all the Magazines_ for 1761; part of it I have subjoined:--
"Over the first row is written the title Episcopal. The first capital
discovers only a forked nose, lips, and one eye; the rest of the
face is eclipsed by the wig's protuberance. The next three etchings
are only the hinder parts of heads; by these Mr. Hogarth satirizes
the present age for their immoralities, which are so notorious, that
three-fifths of the religious orders turn their backs upon us, not
being able to behold such wickedness.
"The last visage in the line is marked with true pedantic contempt;
the wig's fore-top is like the forked hill of Parnassus, and there is
a roll round the forehead, like a MS. scroll; the eyelids are almost
closed, which denotes _the wise man's wink_, or that he can see the
world with half an eye. The muscles of the countenance are curled up
into disdain, and he seems to say, 'I despise ye, ye illiterati!'
"The immense quantity of grizzle which is wove into the wigs carries
a twofold design--for reverence and for warmth. The make of these
canonicals evinces the care this order take of themselves, for the
sake of those committed to their trust; and the profusion of curls or
friz in each denotes the wearer must be most learned, because, as the
country folk say, Why should they put a double coat of thatch upon a
barn, without there was a greater proportion than ordinary of grain
housed therein?
"The next row is inscribed Aldermanic. The first wig has two ends,
exactly like the dropsical legs of some over-gorged glutton; and the
three-quartered face indicates Plenty, Porter, and Politics. On the
brow, domestical significancy is seated; a look necessary to each
master who dozes in his arm-chair on the Sunday evening, while his
lady reads prayers to the rest of the family. It is a countenance
which carries dignity with it even at the upper end of a table at a
turtle-eating.
"The second has one lock dependent like a sheep's bushy tail. This
man could make speeches, knew the nature of debentures, and was much
harassed by cent. per cent. commerce. Many are the sleepless nights
he has passed in scheming how to fix, if for only half a day, the
fluctuating chances of 'Change Alley.
"The third wig is, as the sailors say, 'all aback.' By the swelling
of the full bottom, we have an idea of Magna Charta consequence, and
guess that the wearer would say something--if he could but see it.
"The next is parted triangular-wise, to fall each side the shoulders.
This design was originally taken from a nutting-stick. Thus one of
our finest capitals was delineated from a square tile, a weed, and a
basket.
"With all modest conjecture we presume, from our intense application
to mathematics, that the semicircular sweep at the end of the last
full bottom signifies a gold chain. But as we are Englishmen, and
will have nothing to do with chains, we shall hasten to the wigs and
chins in the third, entitled 'Lexonical.'
"Great men are always celebrated for great things: Cicero for his
wart; Ovid for a nose almost equal to Slawkenbergius'; and this
portrait seems to be ushered into notice by the curvature of the
chin. How venerably elegant do these Lexonicals appear! Here is
indeed law at full length. Special pleadings in the fore-top;
declarations, replications, rejoinders, issues, and demurrers in
every buckle. The knotty points of practice in the intricacies of the
twisted tail, and the depth of the whole wig, emblematically express
the length of a Chancery suit, while the black coif behind looks like
a blister."
[214] A term peculiarly appropriated to the Court of Common Pleas.
[215] To the honour of Sir John Fielding, he once attempted to
prevent its being performed, but the attempt failed. Since that time
it has been so completely disfigured by Mr. Charles Bannister being
disguised in the character of Polly, and Macheath personated by Mrs.
Cargill, etc. etc. etc., that no person who had the least pretensions
to taste would be seen at such a drama in masquerade.
[216] "_Johnson._ I am of opinion that more influence has been
ascribed to the _Beggars' Opera_ than it in reality ever had; for I
do not believe that any man was ever made a rogue by being present at
its representation. At the same time, I do not deny that it may have
some influence, by making the character of a rogue familiar, and in
some degree pleasing." Then collecting himself, as it were to give a
heavy stroke; "There is in it such a labefaction of all principles,
as may be injurious to morality."--Boswell's _Johnson_.
[217] A very eminent physician, whose discernment is as acute and
penetrating in judging of the human character as it is in his own
profession, remarked once at a club where I was, that a lively young
man would hardly resist a solicitation from his mistress to go upon
the highway, immediately after being present at the _Beggars' Opera_.
I have been told of an ingenious observation by Mr. Gibbon, that "the
_Beggars' Opera_ may perhaps have sometimes increased the number of
highwaymen, but that it has had a beneficial effect in refining that
class of men, making them less ferocious, more polite, in short,
more like gentlemen." Upon this Mr. Courtenay said, that Gay was the
Orpheus of highwaymen.--Note upon Boswell's _Johnson_, vol. i. p. 488.
[218] Glory be to great Apollo! At that auspicious period his lyre
should have been new strung, and exalted in Britain; for her nobles
were as much interested in the disputes between a trio of Italian
singers, as they now are in those on which depends the salvation of
the empire.
[219] The Ridiculous Travellers returned to Italy.
An Italian I was once talking with upon this crotchet contest,
concluded an harangue, calculated to throw Gay's talents and taste
into ridicule, with "Saire, this simple signor did tri to pelt mine
countrymen out of England with _Lumps of Pudding_," another of the
_Beggars' Opera_ tunes.
[220] Doctor Arbuthnot, describing the declining state of operas (in
a letter printed in the _Daily Journal_), says, "I take the _Beggars'
Opera_ to be the touchstone to try British taste on, and it has
accordingly proved effectual in discovering our true inclinations,
which, how artfully soever they may be disguised by a childish
fondness for Italian poetry and music, in preference to our own,
will, in one way or other, start up and disclose themselves."
[221] In the _London Chronicle_ for April 6, 1762, is the following
paragraph: "On Friday last, at the sale of the late Mr. Rich's
pictures, jewels, etc., a clock by Graham was bought by the Right
Honourable the Earl of Chesterfield for £42; and a scene in the
_Beggars' Opera_, where Lucy and Polly are pleading for Macheath,
painted by Hogarth, was sold for £32, 14s. to his Grace the Duke of
Leeds. The money arising from the whole sale amounted to £683, 14s."
[222] The name of that right cunning workman, Filch, is not
introduced in the description of the outline; by an edition of the
opera, published in 1729, I find he was personated by a Mr. Clark.
[223] The part of this hero of the highway being originally cast for
Quin, intimates the style in which it was thought characteristic to
play it. Walker was praised for performing it with dignity!
[224] In this are several portraits; one of Sir Francis Page of
severe memory, with a halter round his neck--
"Hard words or hanging, if your judge be Page."
[225] In this, as in almost all his dedications, the poet is very
lavish of his panegyric. Thus does it begin:--
"MAY IT PLEASE YOUR GRACE,--The favour which heroic plays have lately
found upon our theatres, has been wholly derived to them from the
countenance and approbation they have received at Court. The most
eminent persons for wit and honour in the royal circle having so far
owned them, that they have judged no way so fit as verse to entertain
a noble audience or to express a noble passion. And among the rest
which have been written in this kind, they have been so indulgent to
this poem, as to allow it no inconsiderable place. Since, therefore,
to the Court I owe its fortune on the stage; so, being now more
publicly exposed in print, I humbly recommend it to your Grace's
protection, who by all knowing persons is esteemed a principal
ornament of the Court. But though the rank which you hold in the
royal family might direct the eyes of a poet to you, yet your beauty
and goodness detain and fix them," etc. etc. etc.
In the fourth act is the line about which Dryden has been so
unmercifully laughed at, and which I have invariably seen quoted:
"I follow fate, which does too fast pursue."
This might be, and has been defended, by supposing that the race was
run in a circle; but the line in a song, warbled by an Indian woman
at the side of a fountain, is as follows:--
"Ah, fading joy, how quickly art thou past!
Yet we thy ruin haste:
As if the cares of human life were few,
We seek out new,
And follow fate, which would too fast pursue," etc.
[226] The following was given to me by a collector of dramatic
curiosities, who in the course of a long life has raked together
as many quires of ancient and modern play-bills as would cover
every dead wall in the metropolis, and I am assured that of the
above-mentioned handbill it is