Chapter 4

[1]History ofWestmoreland, Vol. I. p. 479.

[2]"I must leave you to the annals of Fame," says Mr.Walker, the ingenious Lecturer on Natural Philosophy, who favoured me with these particulars, "for the rest of the anecdotes of this great Genius; and shall endeavour to shew you, that his family possessed similar talents, but they were destined, like the wild rose,"'To waste their sweetness in the desart air.'"Happy should I be to rescue from oblivion the name ofAld Hogart, whose songs and quibbles have so often delighted my childhood! These simple strains of this mountainTheocrituswere fabricated while he held the plough, or was leading his fewel from the hills. He was as critical an observer of nature as his nephew, for the narrow field he had to view her in: not an incident or an absurdity in the neighbourhood escaped him. If any one was hardy enough to break through any decorum of old and established repute; if any one attempted to over-reach his neighbour, or cast a leering eye at his wife; he was sure to hear himself sung over the whole parish, nay, to the very boundaries of theWestmorelanddialect: so that his songs were said to have a greater effect on the manners of his neighbourhood, than even the sermons of the parson himself."But his poetical talents were not confined to the incidents of his village. I myself have had the honour to bear a part in one of his plays (I sayone, for there are several of them extant in MS. in the mountains ofWestmorelandat this hour). This play was called 'The Destruction ofTroy.' It was written in metre, much in the manner ofLopez de Vega, or the ancientFrenchdrama; the unities were not too strictly observed, for the siege of ten years was all represented; every hero was in the piece; so that the Dramatis Personæ consisted of every lad of genius in the whole parish. The wooden horse—Hectordragged by the heels—the fury ofDiomed—the flight ofÆneas—and the burning of the city, were all represented. I remember not what Fairies had to do in all this; but as I happened to be about three feet high at the time of this still-talked-of exhibition, I personated one of these tiny beings. The stage was a fabrication of boards placed about six feet high, on strong posts; the green-room was partitioned off with the same materials; it's cieling was the azure canopy of heaven; and the boxes, pit, and galleries, were laid into one by the Great Author of Nature, for they were the green slope of a fine hill. Despise not, reader, this humble state of the provincial drama; let me tell you, there were more spectators, for three days together, than your three theatres inLondonwould hold; and let me add, still more to your confusion, that you never saw an audience half so well pleased."The exhibition was begun with a grand procession, from the village to a great stone (dropt by the Devil about a quarter of a mile off, when he tried in vain to erect a bridge acrossWindermere; so the people, unlike the rest of the world, have remained a very good sort of people ever since). I say the procession was begun by the minstrels of five parishes, and were followed by a yeoman on bull-back—you stare!—stop then till I inform you that this adept had so far civilised his bull, that he would suffer the yeoman to mount his back, and even to play upon his fiddle there. The managers besought him to join the procession; but the bull, not being accustomed to much company, and particularly so much applause; whether he was intoxicated with praise; thought himself affronted, and made game of; or whether a favourite cow came across his imagination; certain it was, that he broke out of the procession; erected his tail, and, like anotherEuropa, carried off the affrighted yeoman and his fiddle, over hedge and ditch, till he arrived at his own field. This accident rather inflamed than depressed the good humour arising from the procession; and the clown, or jack-pudding of the piece, availed himself so well of the incident, that the lungs and ribs of the spectators were in manifest danger. This character was the most important personage in the whole play: for his office was to turn the most serious parts of the drama into burlesque and ridicule: he was a compound of Harlequin and the Merry Andrew, or rather the Arch-fool of our ancient kings. His dress was a white jacket, covered with bulls, bears, birds, fish, &c. cut in various coloured cloth. His trowsers were decorated in like manner, and hung round with small bells; and his cap was that of Folly, decorated with bells, and an otter's brush impending. The lath sword must be of great antiquity in this island, for it has been the appendage of a jack-pudding in the mountains ofWestmorelandtime out of mind."The play was opened by this character with a song, which answered the double purpose of a play-bill and a a prologue, for his ditty gave the audience a foretaste of the rueful incidents they were about to behold; and it called out the actors, one by one, to make the spectators acquainted with their names and characters, walking round and round till the whole Dramatis Personæ made one great circle on the stage. The audience being thus become acquainted with the actors, the play opened withParisrunning away withHelen, andMenelausscampering after them; then followed the death ofPatroclus, the rage ofAchilles, the persuasions ofUlysses,&c. &c. and the whole interlarded with apt songs, both serious and comic, all the production ofAld Hogart. The bard, however, at this time had been dead some years, and I believe this Fete was a Jubilee to his memory; but let it not detract from the invention of Mr.Garrick, to say that his atStratfordwas but a copy of one forty years ago on the banks ofWindermere. Was it any improvement, think you, to introduce severalbullsinto the procession instead of one? But I love not comparisons, and so conclude. Yours, &c.Adam Walker."HoweverAld Hogartmight have succeeded in the dramatic line, and before a rustic audience, his poems of a different form are every way contemptible. Want of grammar, metre, sense, and decency, are their invariable characteristics. This opinion is founded on a thorough examination of a whole bundle of them, transmitted by a friend since the first publication of this work.

"'To waste their sweetness in the desart air.'

"Happy should I be to rescue from oblivion the name ofAld Hogart, whose songs and quibbles have so often delighted my childhood! These simple strains of this mountainTheocrituswere fabricated while he held the plough, or was leading his fewel from the hills. He was as critical an observer of nature as his nephew, for the narrow field he had to view her in: not an incident or an absurdity in the neighbourhood escaped him. If any one was hardy enough to break through any decorum of old and established repute; if any one attempted to over-reach his neighbour, or cast a leering eye at his wife; he was sure to hear himself sung over the whole parish, nay, to the very boundaries of theWestmorelanddialect: so that his songs were said to have a greater effect on the manners of his neighbourhood, than even the sermons of the parson himself.

"But his poetical talents were not confined to the incidents of his village. I myself have had the honour to bear a part in one of his plays (I sayone, for there are several of them extant in MS. in the mountains ofWestmorelandat this hour). This play was called 'The Destruction ofTroy.' It was written in metre, much in the manner ofLopez de Vega, or the ancientFrenchdrama; the unities were not too strictly observed, for the siege of ten years was all represented; every hero was in the piece; so that the Dramatis Personæ consisted of every lad of genius in the whole parish. The wooden horse—Hectordragged by the heels—the fury ofDiomed—the flight ofÆneas—and the burning of the city, were all represented. I remember not what Fairies had to do in all this; but as I happened to be about three feet high at the time of this still-talked-of exhibition, I personated one of these tiny beings. The stage was a fabrication of boards placed about six feet high, on strong posts; the green-room was partitioned off with the same materials; it's cieling was the azure canopy of heaven; and the boxes, pit, and galleries, were laid into one by the Great Author of Nature, for they were the green slope of a fine hill. Despise not, reader, this humble state of the provincial drama; let me tell you, there were more spectators, for three days together, than your three theatres inLondonwould hold; and let me add, still more to your confusion, that you never saw an audience half so well pleased.

"The exhibition was begun with a grand procession, from the village to a great stone (dropt by the Devil about a quarter of a mile off, when he tried in vain to erect a bridge acrossWindermere; so the people, unlike the rest of the world, have remained a very good sort of people ever since). I say the procession was begun by the minstrels of five parishes, and were followed by a yeoman on bull-back—you stare!—stop then till I inform you that this adept had so far civilised his bull, that he would suffer the yeoman to mount his back, and even to play upon his fiddle there. The managers besought him to join the procession; but the bull, not being accustomed to much company, and particularly so much applause; whether he was intoxicated with praise; thought himself affronted, and made game of; or whether a favourite cow came across his imagination; certain it was, that he broke out of the procession; erected his tail, and, like anotherEuropa, carried off the affrighted yeoman and his fiddle, over hedge and ditch, till he arrived at his own field. This accident rather inflamed than depressed the good humour arising from the procession; and the clown, or jack-pudding of the piece, availed himself so well of the incident, that the lungs and ribs of the spectators were in manifest danger. This character was the most important personage in the whole play: for his office was to turn the most serious parts of the drama into burlesque and ridicule: he was a compound of Harlequin and the Merry Andrew, or rather the Arch-fool of our ancient kings. His dress was a white jacket, covered with bulls, bears, birds, fish, &c. cut in various coloured cloth. His trowsers were decorated in like manner, and hung round with small bells; and his cap was that of Folly, decorated with bells, and an otter's brush impending. The lath sword must be of great antiquity in this island, for it has been the appendage of a jack-pudding in the mountains ofWestmorelandtime out of mind.

"The play was opened by this character with a song, which answered the double purpose of a play-bill and a a prologue, for his ditty gave the audience a foretaste of the rueful incidents they were about to behold; and it called out the actors, one by one, to make the spectators acquainted with their names and characters, walking round and round till the whole Dramatis Personæ made one great circle on the stage. The audience being thus become acquainted with the actors, the play opened withParisrunning away withHelen, andMenelausscampering after them; then followed the death ofPatroclus, the rage ofAchilles, the persuasions ofUlysses,&c. &c. and the whole interlarded with apt songs, both serious and comic, all the production ofAld Hogart. The bard, however, at this time had been dead some years, and I believe this Fete was a Jubilee to his memory; but let it not detract from the invention of Mr.Garrick, to say that his atStratfordwas but a copy of one forty years ago on the banks ofWindermere. Was it any improvement, think you, to introduce severalbullsinto the procession instead of one? But I love not comparisons, and so conclude. Yours, &c.Adam Walker."

HoweverAld Hogartmight have succeeded in the dramatic line, and before a rustic audience, his poems of a different form are every way contemptible. Want of grammar, metre, sense, and decency, are their invariable characteristics. This opinion is founded on a thorough examination of a whole bundle of them, transmitted by a friend since the first publication of this work.

[3]Vir Clarissime, ExcussoMalpighiointra sex vel plurimum septem septimanas te tamen per totum inconsulto, culpa est in Bibliopolam conferenda, qui adeo festinanter urgebat opus ut moras nectere nequivimus. Utut sit, tamen mihimet adulor me satis recte authoris & verba & mentem cepisse (diligenter enim noctes atque dies opere incubui ne tibi vel ulli regiorum tuorum sodalium molestus forem). Rudiora tamen quorum specimen infra exhibere placuit, &Italico-Latina, juxta præceptum tuum,similia fecialiter si fecissem, totus fere liber mutationem sul iisset. Authorem tam pueriliter & barbare loquentem nunquam antehac evolvi quod meminerim; faciat ergo lector, ut solent nautæ, qui dum fœtet aqua, nares pilissando comprimunt, spretis enim verbis sensum, si quis est, attendat. Multa (infinita pœnè dixerim) authoris errata emendavi, quædam tamen non animadversa vereor;Augeæenim stabulum non nisiHerculesrepurgavit. PartemItalicosermone conscriptam præetermitto, istam enim provinciam adornare suscepit DoctorPragestee Italus; quam bene rem gessit, ipse viderit. Menda Typographica, spero, aut nulla, aut levia apparebunt. Tuam tamen & Regiæ Societatis censuram exoptat facilem, Tibi omni studio addictissimus,"RICHARDUS HOGARTH, ...Preli Curator."

"RICHARDUS HOGARTH, ...Preli Curator."

[4]He published "Grammar Disputations; or, an Examination of the eight parts of speech by way of question and answer,EnglishandLatin, whereby children in a very little time will learn, not only the knowledge of grammar, but likewise to speak and writeLatin; as I have found by good experience. At the end is added a short Chronological index of men and things of the greatest note, alphabetically digested, chiefly relating to the Sacred andRomanHistory, from the beginning of the World to the Year of Christ 1640, and downwards. Written for the use of schools ofGreat-Britain, byRichard HogarthSchoolmaster, 1712." This little book has also aLatintitle-page to the same purpose, "Disputationes Grammaticales, &c." and is dedicated, "Scholarchis, Ludimagistris,et Hypodidascalis Magnæ Britanniæ."

[5]Hogartwas the family name, probably a corruption ofHogherd, for the latter is more like the local pronunciation than the first. This name disgusted Mrs.Hogart; and before the birth of her son, she prevailed upon her husband to liquify it intoHogarth. This circumstance was told to me by Mr.Walker, who is a native ofWestmoreland. By Dr.Morell, I was informed that his real name wasHoggard, orHogard, which, himself altered, by changingdinto ð, the Saxonth.

[6]On what authority this is said, I am yet to learn. The registers ofSt. Bartholomew the Great, and ofSt. Bartholomew the Less, have both been searched for the same information, with fruitless solicitude. The school ofHogarth'sfather, in 1712, was in the parish ofSt. Martin's Ludgate. In the register of that parish, therefore, the births of his children, and his own death, may probably be found.[A][A]The register ofSt. Martin's Ludgate, has also been searched to no purpose.

[A]The register ofSt. Martin's Ludgate, has also been searched to no purpose.

[7]This circumstance has, since it was first written, been verified by a gentleman who has often heard a similar account from one of thelast Head Assay-MastersatGoldsmiths-Hall, who was apprentice to a silversmith in the same street withHogarth, and intimate with him during the greatest part of his life.

[8]Universal Museum, 1764. p. 549. The same kind of revenge, however, was taken byVerrio, who, on the cieling ofSt. George's HallatWindsor, borrowed the face of Mrs.Marriot, the housekeeper, for one of the Furies.

[9]This picture is noticed in the articleThornhill, in theBiographia Britannica, where, instead ofWanstead, it is called theWandsworthassembly. There seems to be a reference to it in "A Poetical Epistle to Mr.Hogarth, an eminent History and Conversation Painter," writtenJune1730, and published by the author (Mr.Mitchell), with two other epistles, in 1731, 4to."Large families obey your hand;Assembliesrise at your command."Mr.Hogarthdesigned that year the frontispiece to Mr.Mitchell'sOpera,The Highland Clans.

"Large families obey your hand;Assembliesrise at your command."

Mr.Hogarthdesigned that year the frontispiece to Mr.Mitchell'sOpera,The Highland Clans.

[10]Of all these a more particular account will be given in the Catalogue annexed.

[11]Brother toHenry Overton, the well-known publisher of ordinary prints, who lived over againstSt. Sepulchre's Church, and sold many ofHogarth'searly pieces coarsely copied, as has since been done byDiceyinBow Church-yard.

[12]This conceit is borrowed fromVanloo'spicture ofColley Cibber, whose daughter has the same employment.

[13]It appears that Mr.G.was dissatisfied with his likeness, or that some dispute arose between him and the painter, who then struck his pencil across the face, and damaged it. The picture was unpaid for at the time of his death. His widow then sent it home to MrGarrick, without any demand.

[14]Afterwards rector ofCrawleyinHampshire; author of "Ben Mordecai'sLetters," "Confusion worse confounded," and many other celebrated works.

[15]He died of the small-pox, Aug. 12, 1729, and is said, in the "Political State," to have possessed 5000 l. a year. He married a sister of lordBateman, by whom he left a son and two daughters.

[16]I have heard that he continually took sketches from nature as he met with them, and put them into his works; and it is natural to suppose he did so.

[17]See theCatalogueat the end of these Anecdotes. A very considerable number of personalities are there pointed out under the account of each plate in which they are found.

[18]The late MrCole, ofMilton, in his copy of these Memoirs, had written against the name ofBambridge, "Father to the late attorney of that name, a worthy son of such a father. He lived atCambridge." And in a copy of the first edition on occasion of a note (afterwards withdrawn) which mentioned "Mr.Baker'shaving quarrelled withHearne;" Mr.Colewrote, "Mr.Bakerquarrelled with no man: he might coolly debate with Mr.Hearneon a disputable point. It is, therefore, a misrepresentation of Mr.Baker'sprivate character, agreeable to the petulance of this age."

[19]The wardenship ofThe Fleet, a patent office, was purchased of the earl ofClarendon, for 5000l.byJohn Huggins, esq. who was in high favour withSunderlandandCraggs, and consequently obnoxious to their successors.Huggins'sterm in the patent was for his own life and his son's. But, inAugust1728, being far advanced in years, and his son not caring to take upon him so troublesome an office, he sold their term in the patent for the same sum it had cost him, toThomas BambridgeandDougal Cuthbert. Hugginslived to the age of 90.

[20]Mr.Rayner, in his reading on Stat. 2Geo.II. chap. 32. wherebyBambridgewas incapacitated to enjoy the office of warden ofThe Fleet, has given the reader a very circumstantial account, with remarks, on the notorious breaches of trust, &c. committed byBambridgeand other keepers ofThe Fleet-Prison. For this publication, seeWorral'sBibliotheca Legum byBrooke, 1777, p. 16."A report from the Committee appointed to enquire into the State of the Gaols of this Kingdom, relating to theMarshalseaprison; with the Resolutions of the House of Commons thereupon," was published in 4to. 1729; and reprinted in 8vo, atDublinthe same year. It appears by a MS. note ofOldys, cited inBritish Topography, vol. I. p. 636, thatBambridgecut his throat 20 years after.

"A report from the Committee appointed to enquire into the State of the Gaols of this Kingdom, relating to theMarshalseaprison; with the Resolutions of the House of Commons thereupon," was published in 4to. 1729; and reprinted in 8vo, atDublinthe same year. It appears by a MS. note ofOldys, cited inBritish Topography, vol. I. p. 636, thatBambridgecut his throat 20 years after.

[21]William Huggins, esq. ofHeadly Park, Hants,well-known by his translation of theOrlando FuriosoofAriosto. Being intended for holy orders, he was sent toMagdalen College, Oxford,where he took the degree of M. A.April30, 1761; but, on the death of his elder brother in 1756, declined all thoughts of entering into the church. He diedJuly2, 1761; and left in MS. a tragedy, a farce, and a translation ofDante, of which a specimen was published in theBritish Magazine, 1760. Some flattering verses were addressed to him in 1757, on his version ofAriosto; which are preserved in theGentleman's Magazine, vol. XXVII. p. 180; but are not worth copying. The last Mr.Hugginsleft an estate of 2000l.a year to his two sons-in-lawThomas Gatehouse, Esq; and Dr.MusgraveofChinnor.

[22]SirFrancis Page's, "Character," bySavage, thus gibbets him to public detestation:"Fair Truth, in courts where Justice should preside,Alike the Judge and Advocate would guide;And these would vie each dubious point to clear,To stop the widow's and the orphan's tear;Were all, likeYorke,[A]of delicate address,Strength to discern, and sweetness to express,Learn'd, just, polite, born every heart to gain,LikeComyns[B]mild; likeFortescue[C]humane,All-eloquent of truth, divinely known,So deep, so clear, all Science is his own."Of heart impure, and impotent of head,In history, rhetoric, ethics, law, unread;How far unlike such worthies, once a drudge,From floundering in low cases, rose a Judge.Form'd to make pleaders laugh, his nonsense thunders,And on low juries breathes contagious blunders.His brothers blush, because no blush he knows,Nor e'er 'one uncorrupted finger shows.'[D]See, drunk with power, the circuit-lord exprest!Full, in his eye, his betters stand confest;Whose wealth, birth, virtue, from a tongue so loose,'Scape not provincial, vile, buffoon abuse.Still to what circuit is assigned his name,There, swift before him, flies the warner—Fame.Contest stops short, Consent yields every causeTo Cost; Delay endures them, and withdraws.But how 'scape prisoners? To their trial chain'd,All, all shall stand condemn'd, who stand arraign'd,Dire guilt, which else would detestation cause,Prejudg'd with insult, wondrous pity draws.But 'scapes e'en Innocence his harsh harangue?Alas!—e'en Innocence itself must hang;Must hang to please him, when of spleen possest,Must hang to bring forth an abortive jest."Why liv'd he not ere Star-chambers had fail'd,When fine, tax, censure, all but law prevail'd;Or law, subservient to some murderous will,Became a precedent to murder still?Yet e'en when portraits did for traitors bleed,Was e'er the jobb to such a slave decreed,Whose savage mind wants sophist-art to draw,O'er murder'd virtue, specious veils of law?"Why, Student, when the bench your youth admits,Where, though the worst, with the best rank'd he sits;Where sound opinions you attentive write,As once aRaymond, now aLeeto cite,Why pause you scornful when he dins the court?Note well his cruel quirks, and well report.Let his own words against himself point clear,Satire more sharp than verse when most severe."Nor wasSavageless severe in his prose. On the trial of this unfortunate poet, for the murder ofJames Sinclairin 1727, JudgePage, who was then on the bench, treated him with his usual insolence and severity; and, when he had summed up the evidence, endeavoured to exasperate the jury, as Mr.Savageused to relate it, with this eloquent harangue: "Gentlemen of the Jury, you are to consider that Mr.Savageis a very great man, a much greater man than you or I, gentlemen of the jury; that he wears very fine cloaths, much finer cloaths than you or I, gentlemen of the jury; that he has abundance of money in his pocket, much more money than you or I, gentlemen of the jury: but, gentlemen of the jury, is it not a very hard case, gentlemen of the jury, that Mr.Savageshould therefore kill you or me, gentlemen of the jury?"Popealso,Horace, B. II. Sat. r, has the following line:"Hard words or hanging, if your judge bePage."AndFielding, inTom Jones, makesPartridgesay, with greatnaiveté, after premising that judgePagewas a very brave man, and a man of great wit, "It is indeed charming sport to hear trials on life and death!"[A]SirPhilip Yorke, chief justice of the King's Bench, afterwards lord-chancellor and earlHardwicke.[B]SirJohn Comyns, chief baron of the Exchequer.[C]Hon.William Fortescue, then one of the justices of the court of Common Pleas, afterwards master of the Rolls.[D]"WhenPageone uncorrupted finger shows." D. ofWharton.

[22]SirFrancis Page's, "Character," bySavage, thus gibbets him to public detestation:

"Fair Truth, in courts where Justice should preside,Alike the Judge and Advocate would guide;And these would vie each dubious point to clear,To stop the widow's and the orphan's tear;Were all, likeYorke,[A]of delicate address,Strength to discern, and sweetness to express,Learn'd, just, polite, born every heart to gain,LikeComyns[B]mild; likeFortescue[C]humane,All-eloquent of truth, divinely known,So deep, so clear, all Science is his own."Of heart impure, and impotent of head,In history, rhetoric, ethics, law, unread;How far unlike such worthies, once a drudge,From floundering in low cases, rose a Judge.Form'd to make pleaders laugh, his nonsense thunders,And on low juries breathes contagious blunders.His brothers blush, because no blush he knows,Nor e'er 'one uncorrupted finger shows.'[D]See, drunk with power, the circuit-lord exprest!Full, in his eye, his betters stand confest;Whose wealth, birth, virtue, from a tongue so loose,'Scape not provincial, vile, buffoon abuse.Still to what circuit is assigned his name,There, swift before him, flies the warner—Fame.Contest stops short, Consent yields every causeTo Cost; Delay endures them, and withdraws.But how 'scape prisoners? To their trial chain'd,All, all shall stand condemn'd, who stand arraign'd,Dire guilt, which else would detestation cause,Prejudg'd with insult, wondrous pity draws.But 'scapes e'en Innocence his harsh harangue?Alas!—e'en Innocence itself must hang;Must hang to please him, when of spleen possest,Must hang to bring forth an abortive jest."Why liv'd he not ere Star-chambers had fail'd,When fine, tax, censure, all but law prevail'd;Or law, subservient to some murderous will,Became a precedent to murder still?Yet e'en when portraits did for traitors bleed,Was e'er the jobb to such a slave decreed,Whose savage mind wants sophist-art to draw,O'er murder'd virtue, specious veils of law?"Why, Student, when the bench your youth admits,Where, though the worst, with the best rank'd he sits;Where sound opinions you attentive write,As once aRaymond, now aLeeto cite,Why pause you scornful when he dins the court?Note well his cruel quirks, and well report.Let his own words against himself point clear,Satire more sharp than verse when most severe."

Nor wasSavageless severe in his prose. On the trial of this unfortunate poet, for the murder ofJames Sinclairin 1727, JudgePage, who was then on the bench, treated him with his usual insolence and severity; and, when he had summed up the evidence, endeavoured to exasperate the jury, as Mr.Savageused to relate it, with this eloquent harangue: "Gentlemen of the Jury, you are to consider that Mr.Savageis a very great man, a much greater man than you or I, gentlemen of the jury; that he wears very fine cloaths, much finer cloaths than you or I, gentlemen of the jury; that he has abundance of money in his pocket, much more money than you or I, gentlemen of the jury: but, gentlemen of the jury, is it not a very hard case, gentlemen of the jury, that Mr.Savageshould therefore kill you or me, gentlemen of the jury?"

Popealso,Horace, B. II. Sat. r, has the following line:

"Hard words or hanging, if your judge bePage."

AndFielding, inTom Jones, makesPartridgesay, with greatnaiveté, after premising that judgePagewas a very brave man, and a man of great wit, "It is indeed charming sport to hear trials on life and death!"

[A]SirPhilip Yorke, chief justice of the King's Bench, afterwards lord-chancellor and earlHardwicke.

[B]SirJohn Comyns, chief baron of the Exchequer.

[C]Hon.William Fortescue, then one of the justices of the court of Common Pleas, afterwards master of the Rolls.

[D]"WhenPageone uncorrupted finger shows." D. ofWharton.

[23]The truth and propriety of these strictures having been disputed by an ingenious correspondent in thePublic Advertiser, his letter, with remarks on it, is subjoined by way of appendix to the present work. In this place performances of such a length would have interrupted the narrative respectingHogarthand his productions. SeeAppendix I.

[24]In co'i Banco.William Hogarth, Plaintiff.Joshua Morris, Defendant.Middlesex.The Plaintiff declares, that on the 20th ofDecember, 1727, atWestminsteraforesaid, Defendant was indebted to him 30l. for painter's work, and for divers materials laid out for the said work; which Defendant faithfully promised to pay when demanded.Plaintiff also declares, that Defendant promised to pay for the said work and other materials, as much as the same was worth; and Plaintiff in fact says the same was worth other 30l.Plaintiff also declares for another sum of 30lfor money laid out and expended for Defendant's use, which he promised to pay.The said Defendant not performing his several promises, the Plaintiff hath brought this action to his damage 30l. for which this action is brought.To which the Defendant hath pleadednon assumpsitand thereupon issue is joined.CASE.The Defendant is an upholsterer and tapestry-worker, and was recommended to Plaintiff as a person skilful in painting patterns for that purpose; the Plaintiff accordingly came to Defendant, who informing him that he had occasion for a tapestry design of the Element of Earth, to be painted on canvas, Plaintiff told Defendant he was well skilled in painting that way, and promised to perform it in a workmanlike manner; which if he did, Defendant undertook to pay him for it twenty guineas.Defendant, soon after, hearing that Plaintiff was an engraver, and no painter, was very uneasy about the work, and ordered his servant to go and acquaint Plaintiff what he had heard; and Plaintiff then told the said servant, 'that it was a bold undertaking, for that he never did any thing of that kind before; and that, if his master did not like it, he should not pay for it.'That several times sending after Plaintiff to bring the same to Defendant's house, he did not think fit so to do; but carried the same to a private place where Defendant keeps some people at work, and there left it. As soon as Defendant was informed of it, he sent for it home, and consulted with his workmen whether the design was so painted as they could work tapestry by it, and they were all unanimous that it was not finished in a workmanlike manner, and that it was impossible for them to work tapestry by it.Upon this, Defendant sent the painting back to Plaintiff by his servant, who acquainted him, 'that the same did not answer the Defendant's purpose, and that it was of no use to him; but if he would finish it in a proper manner, Defendant would take it, and pay for it.'Defendant employs some of the finest hands inEuropein working tapestry, who are most of them foreigners, and have worked abroad as well as here, and are perfect judges of performances of this kind.The Plaintiff undertook to finish said piece in a month, but it was near three months before he sent to the Defendant to view it; who, when he saw it, told him that he could not make any use of it, and was so disappointed for want of it, that he was forced to put his workmen upon working other tapestry that was not bespoke, to the value of 200l.which now lies by him, and another painter is now painting another proper pattern for the said piece of tapestry.To prove the case as above set forth, call Mr.William Bradshaw.To prove the painting not to be performed in a workmanlike manner, and that it was impossible to make tapestry by it, and that it was of no use to Plaintiff, call Mr.Bernard Dorrider, Mr.Phillips, Mr.De Friend, Mr.Danten, and Mr.Pajon.By the counsel's memoranda on this brief it appears, that the witnesses examined for the Plaintiff wereThomas King, Vanderbank, Le Gard, Thornhill,andCullumpton.

[24]In co'i Banco.

William Hogarth, Plaintiff.Joshua Morris, Defendant.

Middlesex.

The Plaintiff declares, that on the 20th ofDecember, 1727, atWestminsteraforesaid, Defendant was indebted to him 30l. for painter's work, and for divers materials laid out for the said work; which Defendant faithfully promised to pay when demanded.

Plaintiff also declares, that Defendant promised to pay for the said work and other materials, as much as the same was worth; and Plaintiff in fact says the same was worth other 30l.

Plaintiff also declares for another sum of 30lfor money laid out and expended for Defendant's use, which he promised to pay.

The said Defendant not performing his several promises, the Plaintiff hath brought this action to his damage 30l. for which this action is brought.

To which the Defendant hath pleadednon assumpsitand thereupon issue is joined.

CASE.

The Defendant is an upholsterer and tapestry-worker, and was recommended to Plaintiff as a person skilful in painting patterns for that purpose; the Plaintiff accordingly came to Defendant, who informing him that he had occasion for a tapestry design of the Element of Earth, to be painted on canvas, Plaintiff told Defendant he was well skilled in painting that way, and promised to perform it in a workmanlike manner; which if he did, Defendant undertook to pay him for it twenty guineas.

Defendant, soon after, hearing that Plaintiff was an engraver, and no painter, was very uneasy about the work, and ordered his servant to go and acquaint Plaintiff what he had heard; and Plaintiff then told the said servant, 'that it was a bold undertaking, for that he never did any thing of that kind before; and that, if his master did not like it, he should not pay for it.'

That several times sending after Plaintiff to bring the same to Defendant's house, he did not think fit so to do; but carried the same to a private place where Defendant keeps some people at work, and there left it. As soon as Defendant was informed of it, he sent for it home, and consulted with his workmen whether the design was so painted as they could work tapestry by it, and they were all unanimous that it was not finished in a workmanlike manner, and that it was impossible for them to work tapestry by it.

Upon this, Defendant sent the painting back to Plaintiff by his servant, who acquainted him, 'that the same did not answer the Defendant's purpose, and that it was of no use to him; but if he would finish it in a proper manner, Defendant would take it, and pay for it.'

Defendant employs some of the finest hands inEuropein working tapestry, who are most of them foreigners, and have worked abroad as well as here, and are perfect judges of performances of this kind.

The Plaintiff undertook to finish said piece in a month, but it was near three months before he sent to the Defendant to view it; who, when he saw it, told him that he could not make any use of it, and was so disappointed for want of it, that he was forced to put his workmen upon working other tapestry that was not bespoke, to the value of 200l.which now lies by him, and another painter is now painting another proper pattern for the said piece of tapestry.

To prove the case as above set forth, call Mr.William Bradshaw.

To prove the painting not to be performed in a workmanlike manner, and that it was impossible to make tapestry by it, and that it was of no use to Plaintiff, call Mr.Bernard Dorrider, Mr.Phillips, Mr.De Friend, Mr.Danten, and Mr.Pajon.

By the counsel's memoranda on this brief it appears, that the witnesses examined for the Plaintiff wereThomas King, Vanderbank, Le Gard, Thornhill,andCullumpton.

[25]James Thornhill, esq. serjeant-painter and history-painter to KingGeorgeI. InJune1715, he agreed to paint the cupola ofSt. Paul'schurch for 4000l.and was knighted inApril1720. In a flattering account given of him immediately after his death, which happenedMay13, 1734, in his 57th year, he is said to have been "the greatest history-painter this kingdom ever produced, witness his elaborate works inGreenwich-Hospital, the cupola ofSt. Paul's, the altar-pieces ofAll-Souls CollegeinOxford, and in the church ofWeymouth, where he was born; a cieling in the palace ofHampton-Court, by order of the late Earl ofHalifax:his other works shine in divers noblemens' and gentlemens' houses. His later years were employed in copying the rich cartoons ofRaphaelin the gallery ofHampton-Court, which, though in decay, will be revived by his curious pencil, not only in their full proportions, but in many other sizes and shapes, he in a course of years had drawn them. He was chosen representative in the two last parliaments forWeymouth, and having, by his own industry, acquired a considerable estate, re-purchased the seat of his ancestors, which he re-edified and embellished. He was not only by patents appointed history-painter to their late and present majesties, but serjeant-painter, by which he was to paint all the royal palaces, coaches, barges, and the royal navy. This late patent he surrendered in favour of his only sonJohn Thornhill, Esq. He left no other issue but one daughter, now the wife of MrWm. Hogarth, admired for his curious miniature conversation paintings. SirJameshas left a most valuable Collection of pictures and other curiosities."

[26]He was called on this occasion, in the Craftsman, "Mr.Hogarth, an ingenious designer and engraver."

[27]"Popepublished in 1731 a poem calledFalse Taste, in which he very particularly and severely criticises the house, the furniture, the gardens, and the entertainments ofTimon, a man of great wealth and little taste. ByTimonhe was universally supposed, and by the Earl ofBurlington, to whom the poem is addressed, was privately said to mean the Duke ofChandos; a man perhaps too much delighted with pomp and shew, but of a temper kind and beneficent, and who had consequently the voice of the publick in his favour. A violent outcry was therefore raised against the ingratitude and treachery ofPope, who was said to have been indebted to the patronage ofChandosfor a present of a thousand pounds, and who gained the opportunity of insulting him by the kindness of his invitation. The receipt of the thousand poundsPopepublickly denied; but from the reproach which the attack on a character so amiable brought upon him, he tried all means of escaping. The name ofClelandwas employed in an apology, by which no man was satisfied; and he was at last reduced to shelter his temerity behind dissimulation, and endeavour to make that disbelieved which he never had confidence openly to deny. He wrote an exculpatory letter to the Duke, which was answered with great magnanimity, as by a man who accepted his excuse without believing his professions. He said, that to have ridiculed his taste, or his buildings, had been an indifferent action in another man; but that inPope, after the reciprocal kindness that had been exchanged between them, it had been less easily excused."Dr. Johnson, in his Life of Pope.

[28]That SirJohn Gonsontook a very active part against the Ladies of Pleasure, is recorded by more than one of their votaries: In "A View of the Town, 1735," by Mr.T. Gilbert, a fellow ofPeter House Cambridge, and an intimate companion ofLoveling,[A]I meet with these lines:"Though laws severe to punish guilt were made,What honest man is of these laws afraid?All felons against judges will exclaim,As harlots startle at aGonson'sname."The magistrate entering with his myrmidons was designed as the representative of this gentleman, whose vigilance on like occasions is recorded in the following elegant Sapphic Ode, by Mr.Loveling. This gentleman was educated atWinchester-school, became a commoner ofTrinity College, Oxford, was ordained deacon, lived gaily, and died young. His style, however, appears to have been formed on a general acquaintance with the language ofRomanpoetry; nor do any of his effusions betray that poverty of expression so conspicuous in the poems ofNicholas Hardinge, esq. who writes as ifHoracewas the only classic author he had ever read.AdJohannem Gonsonum, Equitem.Pellicum,Gonsone, animosus hostis,Per minus castasDruriætabernasLenis incedens, abeasDionesÆquus alumnis!Nuper (ah dictu miserum!)OliveraFlevit ereptas viduata mœchas,Quas tuum vidit genibus minoresAnte tribunal.Dure, cur tantâ inVenerisministrasÆstuas irâ? posito furoreHuc ades, multà & prece te vocantemGratior audi!Nonne sat mœchas malè feriatasUrget infestis fera sors procellis?Adderis quid tu ulterior puellisCausa doloris?Incolunt, eheu! thalamos supernos,Nota quæ sedes fuerat Poetis;Nec domum argento gravis, ut solebat,Dextra revertit.Nympha quæ nuper nituit theatro,Nunc stat obscuro misera angiportu,Supplici vellens tunicam rogatqueVoceLyæum.Te voco rebusDruriæmentis;Voci communiBritonumJuventusTe vocat, nunc ô! dare te benignumIncipe votis.Singulum tunc dona feret lupanar:Liberum mittetRosaLusitanum,GalliciHaywardaet generosa mittetMuneraBacchi.Sive te forsan moveat libido,Aridis pellex requiescet ulnis,Callida effœtas renovare lentoVerbere vires.The same poet, speaking of the exhilarating effects of Gin, which had just been an object of Parliamentary notice, has the following stanza:Utilis mœchae fuit & Poetæ;Sprevit hinc Vates Dolopum catervas,MœchaGonsonumtetricâ minantemFronte laborem.Thus, between the poet and the painter, the fame of our harlot-hunting Justice is preserved. But as a slave anciently rode in the same chariot with the conqueror, the memory of a celebrated street-robber and highwayman will descend with that of the magistrate to posterity,James Dalton'swig-box being placed on the tester of the Harlot's bed. I learn from theGrubstreet Journal, that he was executed on the 12th ofMay, 1730. SirJohn GonsondiedJanuary9, 1765. He was remarkable for the charges which he used to deliver to the grand juries, which are said to have been written by OratorHenley. The following puffs, or sneers, concerning them, are found in the first number of theGrubstreet Journal, datedJanuary8, 1730. "Yesterday began the General Quarter Sessions, &c. when SirJohn Gonson, being in the chair, gave a mostincomparable, learned,andfinecharge to the Grand Jury."Daily Post."TheMorning Postcalls SirJohn'schargeexcellent, learnedandloyal. TheEvening Postcalls it anexcellent lectureanduseful charge."Three of these performances had been published in 1728.[B]SirJohn'sname is also preserved in MrPope'sworks:"Talkers I've learn'd to bear:MotteuxI knew;Henleyhimself I've heard, andBudgelltoo.The Doctor's wormwood style, the hash of tonguesA pedant makes, the storm ofGonson'slungs."Fourth Sat. of Dr.Donneversified.[A]In the collection ofLoveling'sPoems, 1741, are two byGilbert. Lovelingalso addressed a poem, not printed in his works, "Gilberto suo," and inGilbert'sPoems, published 1747, is "A familiar Epistle to my friendBen Loveling."[B]One charge by SirJohn Gonsonis in the Political State, vol. XXXV. p. 50; and two others in vol. XXXVI. pp 314. 333.

"Though laws severe to punish guilt were made,What honest man is of these laws afraid?All felons against judges will exclaim,As harlots startle at aGonson'sname."

The magistrate entering with his myrmidons was designed as the representative of this gentleman, whose vigilance on like occasions is recorded in the following elegant Sapphic Ode, by Mr.Loveling. This gentleman was educated atWinchester-school, became a commoner ofTrinity College, Oxford, was ordained deacon, lived gaily, and died young. His style, however, appears to have been formed on a general acquaintance with the language ofRomanpoetry; nor do any of his effusions betray that poverty of expression so conspicuous in the poems ofNicholas Hardinge, esq. who writes as ifHoracewas the only classic author he had ever read.

AdJohannem Gonsonum, Equitem.Pellicum,Gonsone, animosus hostis,Per minus castasDruriætabernasLenis incedens, abeasDionesÆquus alumnis!Nuper (ah dictu miserum!)OliveraFlevit ereptas viduata mœchas,Quas tuum vidit genibus minoresAnte tribunal.Dure, cur tantâ inVenerisministrasÆstuas irâ? posito furoreHuc ades, multà & prece te vocantemGratior audi!Nonne sat mœchas malè feriatasUrget infestis fera sors procellis?Adderis quid tu ulterior puellisCausa doloris?Incolunt, eheu! thalamos supernos,Nota quæ sedes fuerat Poetis;Nec domum argento gravis, ut solebat,Dextra revertit.Nympha quæ nuper nituit theatro,Nunc stat obscuro misera angiportu,Supplici vellens tunicam rogatqueVoceLyæum.Te voco rebusDruriæmentis;Voci communiBritonumJuventusTe vocat, nunc ô! dare te benignumIncipe votis.Singulum tunc dona feret lupanar:Liberum mittetRosaLusitanum,GalliciHaywardaet generosa mittetMuneraBacchi.Sive te forsan moveat libido,Aridis pellex requiescet ulnis,Callida effœtas renovare lentoVerbere vires.

The same poet, speaking of the exhilarating effects of Gin, which had just been an object of Parliamentary notice, has the following stanza:

Utilis mœchae fuit & Poetæ;Sprevit hinc Vates Dolopum catervas,MœchaGonsonumtetricâ minantemFronte laborem.

Thus, between the poet and the painter, the fame of our harlot-hunting Justice is preserved. But as a slave anciently rode in the same chariot with the conqueror, the memory of a celebrated street-robber and highwayman will descend with that of the magistrate to posterity,James Dalton'swig-box being placed on the tester of the Harlot's bed. I learn from theGrubstreet Journal, that he was executed on the 12th ofMay, 1730. SirJohn GonsondiedJanuary9, 1765. He was remarkable for the charges which he used to deliver to the grand juries, which are said to have been written by OratorHenley. The following puffs, or sneers, concerning them, are found in the first number of theGrubstreet Journal, datedJanuary8, 1730. "Yesterday began the General Quarter Sessions, &c. when SirJohn Gonson, being in the chair, gave a mostincomparable, learned,andfinecharge to the Grand Jury."Daily Post.

"TheMorning Postcalls SirJohn'schargeexcellent, learnedandloyal. TheEvening Postcalls it anexcellent lectureanduseful charge."

Three of these performances had been published in 1728.[B]SirJohn'sname is also preserved in MrPope'sworks:

"Talkers I've learn'd to bear:MotteuxI knew;Henleyhimself I've heard, andBudgelltoo.The Doctor's wormwood style, the hash of tonguesA pedant makes, the storm ofGonson'slungs."Fourth Sat. of Dr.Donneversified.

[A]In the collection ofLoveling'sPoems, 1741, are two byGilbert. Lovelingalso addressed a poem, not printed in his works, "Gilberto suo," and inGilbert'sPoems, published 1747, is "A familiar Epistle to my friendBen Loveling."

[B]One charge by SirJohn Gonsonis in the Political State, vol. XXXV. p. 50; and two others in vol. XXXVI. pp 314. 333.

[29]It was customary inHogarth'sfamily to give these fans to the maids.

[30]Among the small articles of furniture in the scenes ofHogarth, a few objects may speedily become unintelligible, because their archetypes, being out of use, and of perishable natures, can no longer be found. Such is theDare for Larks(a circular board with pieces of looking-glass inserted in it), hung up over the chimney-piece of theDistress'd Poet; and theJews Cake(a dry tasteless biscuit perforated with many holes, and formerly given away in great quantities at the Feast of Passover), generally used only as a fly-trap, and hung up as such against the wall in the sixth plate of theHarlot's Progress. I have frequently met with both these articles in mean houses.

[31]The fire began at the house of Mrs.Calloway, who kept a brandy-shop. This woman was committed toNewgate, it appearing among other circumstances, that she had threatened "to be even with the landlord for having given her warning, and that she would have a bonfire on the 20th ofJune, that should warm all her rascally neighbours."

[32]Hogarthattempted to improve it, but without much success. The additional figures are quite episodical. See theCatalogue.

[33]InSeymour'shistory ofLondon, vol. II. p. 883. is the following notice of our artist:"Among the Governors ofSt. Bartholomew's Hospital, was lately chosen Mr.William Hogarththe celebrated printer, who, we are told, designs to paint the stair-case of the said hospital, and thereby become a benefactor to it, by giving his labour gratis."

[33]InSeymour'shistory ofLondon, vol. II. p. 883. is the following notice of our artist:

"Among the Governors ofSt. Bartholomew's Hospital, was lately chosen Mr.William Hogarththe celebrated printer, who, we are told, designs to paint the stair-case of the said hospital, and thereby become a benefactor to it, by giving his labour gratis."

[34]He bought up great quantities of the copies of his works; and they still remain in possession of his widow. The "Harlot's" and the "Rake's" Progress, in a smaller size than the original, were published, with his permission, byThomas Bakewell, a printseller, near theHorn Tavern, Fleet-street.

[35]Of theHarlot's ProgressI have seen no less than eight piratical imitations.

[36]Lord Gardenston, one of the lords of session inScotland, on delivering his opinion in the court of session upon the question of literary property, in the cause ofHintonandDonaldsonand others, all booksellers, inJuly1773 thus introduced the works ofHogarth: "There is nothing can be more similar than the work of engraving is to literary composition. I will illustrate this proposition by the works of MrHogarth, who, in my humble opinion, is the only true original artist which this age has produced inEngland. There is hardly any character of an excellent author, which is not justly applicable to his works. What composition, what variety, what sentiment, what fancy, invention, and humour, we discover in all his performances! In every one of them an entertaining history, a natural description of characters, and an excellent moral. I can read his works over and over,Horace'scharacteristic of excellency in writing,decies repetita placebit; and every time I peruse them, I discover new beauties, and feel fresh entertainment: can I say more in commendation of the literary compositions of aButleror aSwift? There is great authority for this parallel; the legislature has considered the works of authors and engravers in the same light; they have granted the same protection to both; and it is remarkable, that the act of parliament for the protection of those who invent new engravings, or prints, is almost in the same words with the act for the protection and encouragement of literary compositions." This is taken from a 4to pamphlet, published in 1774 byJames Boswell, esq. advocate, one of the counsel in the cause.

[37]"ThatHugginspenned the statute, I was told by Mr.Hogarthhimself. The determination of LordHardwickewas thus occasioned.Jefferys, the printseller at the corner ofSt. Martin's Lane, had employed an artist to draw and engrave a print representing theBritishHerring Fishery; and, having paid him for it, took an assignment of the right to the property in it accruing to the artist by the act of parliament. The proprietors of one of the magazines pirated it in a similar size, andJefferysbrought his bill for an injunction, to which the defendants demurred: and, upon argument of the demurrer, the same was allowed, for the reason abovementioned, and the bill dismissed.Hogarthattended the hearing; and lamented to me that he had employedHugginsto draw the act, adding, that, when he first projected it, he hoped it would be such an encouragement to engraving and printselling, that printsellers would soon become as numerous as bakers' shops; which hope, notwithstanding the above check, does at this time seem to be pretty nearly gratified."For this note my readers are indebted to SirJohn Hawkins.

[38]"What Caricatura is in painting," saysFielding, "Burlesque is in writing; and in the same manner the comic writer and painter correlate to each other. And 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."

Back to Index Next