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HOGARTH'S 
LONDON 








I ] B 
WHEATLEY 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



'To the student of History, these admirable works must be 
invaluable, as they give us the most complete and truthful 
picture of the manners and even the thoughts of the past 
century. We look and see pass before us the England of a 
hundred years ago the peer in his drawing-room, the lady of 
fashion in her apartment, foreign singers surrounding her, 
and her chamber filled with gewgaws in the mode of that day ; 
the church with its quaint florid architecture and singing 
congregation ; the parson with his great wig and the beadle with 
his cane ; all these are represented before us, and we are sure of 
the truth of the portrait." THACKERAY'S English Humourists. 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Pictures of the Manners of the 
Eighteenth Century 



BY 



HENRY B. WHEATLEY, F.S.A. 



ILLUSTRATED 



LONDON 

CONSTABLE AND COMPANY LTD. 
1909 



TO 

AUSTIN DOBSON, ESQ., LL.D. 

DEAR DOBSON, Some thirty years ago or more Dr. John 
Percy, F.R.S., the well-known metallurgist and Hogarth col- 
lector, after referring to the study of Hogarth's works as too 
big a subject for one man to deal with, advised me to under- 
take the division of Hogarth's London. I was pleased with the 
suggestion and I set to work to collect materials. This was 
before the publication of your first book on Hogarth, a volume 
of the greatest interest which has increased in value with each 
new edition until it is now the chief authority on the subject. 
From various causes I put the work aside, although I did not 
relinquish the idea. I have now taken it up again and com- 
pleted it for publication. 

You have done so much towards the elucidation of Hogarth's 
life and work that your name has become indissolubly linked 
with that of the great artist and satirist. I am therefore 
naturally anxious to associate your name with this book, in 
which an attempt is made to illustrate a side of Hogarth's art 
upon which you have expressed the opinion that it has not 
been sufficiently treated. You are so thoroughly master of 
this literature that I can scarcely hope to put forward anything 
that is not a commonplace to you. It is, however, a true 
pleasure to thank you publicly for constant help and to express 
my respect and esteem for a friend of many years' standing. 

You have delighted generations of readers with poetry and 
prose on a variety of subjects which are as illuminating 
and convincing as they are charming, and I am proud to range 
myself among your admirers, adding that I am always 
sincerely yours, 

HENRY B. WHEATLEY. 
October 1909. 



PREFACE 

To attempt the illustration of the manners of the 
eighteenth century as seen in London by the 
greatest graphic delineator of manners that ever 
lived, has been my object for several years. 

Hogarth was a devoted Londoner, and while 
illustrating the manners of Englishmen of his time, 
he drew his subjects from the inhabitants of London 
with whom he was in daily intercourse. Repre- 
sentations of streets and buildings in all parts of 
London are to be found in the collection of his works, 
and most of these are discussed in this book. 

It might be thought that enough has already been 
done, 1 but I hope it will be found that there is still 
room for a book specially devoted to one branch of 
Hogarth's work. 

I had at first the intention of arranging my 
materials in topographical order, but on second 
thoughts I felt that this would scarcely be the 
fittest manner of treating the subject, because it 

1 A short note on the literature which has sprung from the study of 
Hogarth's works will be found at the end of this book (Chapter xiv.). 



viii HOGARTH'S LONDON 

was not specially the object of the artist to repro- 
duce the topographical features of the Town. 
Rather is it the general appearance of the streets 
and the people that filled the streets that make so 
many of his pictures of such extraordinary interest 
to us now. 

The late Mr. James Hannay well said ' London 
had been much described before the days of which 
we are speaking, and especially by the Comic Writers 
of Charles the Second's time ; but there is a depth 
of philosophical humour in the way that Hogarth 
and his contemporaries undertake this task, such as 
had not been brought to bear upon it before. From 
their era dates town literature and town art.' 

Hogarth attained great fame in his own lifetime, 
and was the first English artist to be known and 
admired abroad. He was, however, admired for one 
side of his art, while the other side was neglected. 
His engravings were largely bought, but in many 
cases his pictures remained on his hands. 

The engravings were talked about on every side, 
and great anxiety was shown in order to find out 
the inner meaning of the plates and the characters 
of those who were satirised. Several authors came 
forward to give the information the public were 
thirsting to obtain. 

The first exhibition of his pictures in the year 1814 



PREFACE ix 

was a revelation to the many who knew him only 
from his engravings ; and from that time to this his 
fame as a very great painter has continued to in- 
crease. 

How great an attraction Hogarth's prints afforded 
to the sightseers of London may be seen in the 
remarks of the author of a pamphlet, published 
in 1748, on The Effects of Industry and Idleness 
Illustrated, in which * the moral of twelve celebrated 
Prints lately published and designed by the in- 
genious Mr. Hogarth ' is set forth. The author went 
the round of the print-shops of London, and found 
a crowd gathered at all of them, but he was dis- 
appointed to find that, instead of alluding to the 
moral, the crowd gave all their attention to the re- 
marks of those who could point out the individuals 
from whom the various characters were drawn. 

A selection of some of Hogarth's finest pictures 
and engravings have here been reproduced as 
illustrating the subjects of the different chapters. 
In the preface to the valuable Catalogue of the British 
Museum Satirical Prints, the late Mr. F. G. Stephens 
wrote, ' The Collection of " Hogarths " in the British 
Museum is incomparably the largest and most select 
in existence ; the same may be said for the copies, 
piratical as well as legitimate, which abound in the 
national depository. 



x HOGARTH'S LONDON 

'But with regard to the copies, even the Print 
Room and the Library do not contain all the 
English examples. ... It may be said that every 
nation which has attained Civilisation continues to 
produce such copies. In a very large number of 
cases these copies bear names differing from those 
Hogarth gave.' I have been greatly indebted to the 
descriptions in this Catalogue for much information 
and for numerous references to the literature of the 
time. 

In conclusion, I wish to express in this place 
my cordial thanks to Mr. Austin Dobson for his 
valuable suggestions; to the Earl of Portsmouth, 
Mr. D' Arcy Power, Mr. George Peachey, Mr. Robert 
Grey, Treasurer of the Foundling Hospital, and Mr. 
J. L. Spiers, Curator of the Soane Museum, for kind 
assistance; and to the Duke of Newcastle, John 
Murray, Esq., the Governors of St. George's 
Hospital, the President and Council of the Royal 
Academy, for allowing their pictures to be repro- 
duced; and especially to the authorities of the 
National Gallery, the British Museum, and the 
Soane Museum for assistance in respect to the 
reproduction of pictures and engravings. 



CONTENTS 



PAOE 



DEDICATION, ........ r 

PREFACE, ........ vii 

CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

Interest of the eighteenth century. Admirers of Hogarth's Engrav- 
ings. Hogarth a writer of Comedy. Praises of Fielding, 
Coleridge, Lamb, and Hazlitt. Acknowledgments of Hogarth's 
Merits as a Painter after the Exhibition of his Pictures in 1814. 
Increase of this appreciation at the present time. Delineator of 
Manners and Illustrator of London Topography. Gay's Trivia. 
Hogarth's reason for designing the ' Four Stages of Cruelty.' Char- 
acteristics of the century. Hogarth as a Moralist. Analysis of the 
different chapters of the book. Love of London. London Localities 
illustrated by Hogarth, 1 

CHAPTER II 
HOGARTH'S LIFB AND WORKS 

Particulars of Hogarth's life. Kichard Hogarth, Auld Hogart. 
Hogarth's want of Education. Apprenticed to a silver engraver. 
Set up in business as an engraver, maker of bookplates, and book 
illustrator. First two satirical engravings not successful. Attend- 
ance at Sir James Thornhill's School of Painting. Illustrations of 
Hudibras. Mary Tofts, the rabbit-breeder. Law case against 
Joshua Morris. Hogarth runs away with Thornhill's daughter. 
Father reconciled. Acquaintance with Tyers of Vauxhall Gardens. 
Objections to Academies. Painted Conversation Pieces. 'Harlot's 
Progress.' Important works following th'aFseries. Attainment of 
success. Prey of pirates. Copyright Act for artists called 
Hogarth's Act. His gratitude to Parliament. Attempts in the great 
style. Life in Leicester Square. J. T. Smith's absurd condemnation 
of Hogarth's character. Hogarth's fame abroad. Troubles in France. 
Quarrels with the Connoisseurs. Battle of the Pictures. Sale 
of some of his pictures. Marriage a la Mode. Athenian Stuart. 



xii HOGARTH'S LONDON 

PAGE 

' Sigismunda.' Bonnel Thornton's Exhibition of Sign-Paintings. 
Enmity of Paul Sandby. Society of Arts. Analysis of Beauty. 
Sterne's Praise. Pictorial Satires on Hogarth. Proposed History 
of the Arts. ' No Dedication.' 'The Times, No. 1.' Hogarth's own 
justification. Quarrel with Wilkes. The North Briton. Portraits 
of Wilkes and Churchill, 22 



CHAPTER III 
HIGH LIFE 

Resorts of Fashion. 'Lady's Last Stake.' Conversation Pieces. 
' Wanstead Assembly.' Wellesley Pole. Portraits and other Con- 
versation Pieces* Lord Charlemont's friendliness. Mrs. Thrale 
(Piozzi). Sir Richard Grosvenor and 'Sigismunda.' . Lord 
Charlemont's earldom. Scenes in Marriage a la Mode. The 
Wallop family. Dr. Misaubin. Italian Singers and Flute-players. 
Turk's Head Bagnio. 'Rake's Progress.' Farinelli. Pope and 
Burlington House. ' Taste in High Life,' 92 



CHAPTER IV 

LOW LIFE 

Extracts from the book on Low Life. Betty Ireland. ' Four Times of 
the Day.' Tom King's Coffee-House. French Church in Hog Lane. 
Charing Cross. The Cockpit. Art of Self-Defence : Figg Taylor, 
and Broughton. Gin Lane and Beer Street. Acts against the sale 
of gin, 128 



CHAPTER V 
POLITICAL LIFE 

Hogarth not a politician. Bribery and Corruption. Tibson the 
Politician. The House of Commons. Lord Lovat. 'The Stage 
Coach, or Country Inn Yard.' The Sailor from the Centurion. Four 
Pictures of the Election. ' The Times, Plate 1.' Wilkes's attack in the 
North Briton. Churchill's Epistle to William Hogarth. Portraits 
of Wilkes and Churchill. ' The Times, Plate 2,' .... 164 



CONTENTS xiii 

CHAPTER VI 

CHURCH AND DISSENT 

FADE 

Want of earnestness in Church and State. 'The Centaur not 
fabulous.' Bishops Gibson and Hoadly. Archbishop Herring. ' The 
Sleeping Congregation.' Dr. Desaguliers. London Churches. 
Johnson and the 'Idle Apprentice.' Kent's Altarpiece. Orator 
Henley. ' Enthusiasm Delineated ' and ' Credulity, Superstition, 
and Fanaticism,' 198 

CHAPTER VII 

PROFESSIONAL LIFE 

Law. ' The Bench.' The Lawyer in Butler's Hudibras. ' Paul before 
Felix.' Medicine. Portraits. Consultation of Physicians. St. 
Andr6 and Mary Tofts. Literature. 'The Distressed Poet.' 
Theobald and the Dunciad. Fielding's portrait. Sterne and 
Hogarth. Portrait of W. Huggins. Art. ' The Enraged Musician.' 
' The Modern Orpheus,' . 216 

CHAPTER VIII 

BUSINESS LIFE 

Business Cards and Shop-bills. Book-plates. Funeral tickets. ' In- 
dustry and Idleness.' Spitalfields Weavers' Workshop. Goodchild's 
Marriage. Banquet at Fishmongers' Hall. Trial in the Guildhall. 
Lord Mayor's Show. Bun upon Child's Bank, and Sarah, Duchess 
of Marlborough. ' The South Sea Bubble.' ' The Lottery,' . . 244 

CHAPTER IX 

TAVERN LIFE 

Taverns and City Inns. Pontack's. Devil Tavern. The Mitre. 
' Midnight Modern Conversation.' Chorus of Singers. The Elephant. 
Covent Garden. 'The Frolic.' Button's Coffee-House. Old 
Slaughter's. Isaac Hawkins Browne. Eummer Tavern. Man 
loaded with Mischief. White's Chocolate House, and White's Club, 272 

CHAPTER X 

THEATRICAL LIFE 

' Laughing Audience.' Beggar's Opera. Benefit tickets for actors. 
Portraits of actors : Theophilus Gibber, Garrick as ' Richard in.' 



xiv HOGARTH'S LONDON 

PAOE 

Portrait of Garrick and his wife. ' The Farmer's Return.' Garrick 
and Churchill. Green-room of Drury Lane Theatre. Miss Pritchanl. 
Fielding's plays. Pasquin ticket. Plays illustrated by Hogarth. 
Private Theatricals. Rich's Glory, Chorus of Singers. Burlington 
gate. Attack on Masquerades and Italian Operas. Heidegger. 
Fielding's condemnation of Masquerades, 302 

CHAPTER XI 

HOSPITALS 

Foundling Hospital. Hogarth's gifts to the Hospital. Pictures at 
St. Bartholomew's Hospital. Accuracy of Hogarth's representation 
of diseases. London Infirmary. Bedlam. Picture of St. George's 
Hospital, 360 

CHAPTER XII 
PRISONS AND CRIME 

Incompetence of the watchmen. Magistrates. Fielding, Saunders 
Welch, Sir Thomas de Veil, Sir John Gonson. Prisons. The Fleet. 
Examination of Bambridge. Bridewell. Sarah Malcolm. Elizabeth 
Canning. Earl Ferrers. Theodore Gardelle. The Idle Apprentice at 
Tyburn. ' Four Stages of Cruelty.' Surgeons' Theatre in Monkwell 
Street, 377 

CHAPTER XIII 

THE SUBURBS 

' March to Finchley.' Tottenham Court. Old Marylebone Church out- 
side and inside. Executions at Tyburn. Spitalfields. Vauxhall 
Gardens. Sadler's Wells. Southwark Fair. Johnson and Mallet 
at the Fair. Chiswick, Twickenham, and Cowley, .... 404 

CHAPTER XIV 

LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 

Books on Hogarth. Editions of his Works. Pamphlets on the 
principal series of his Engravings, 439 

INDEX, . . . 456 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

WILLIAM HOGARTH Frontispiece 

From Charles Townley's Mezzotint of an Original Portrait 
begun by Weltdon and finished by Hogarth, 1781. 

TO FACE PAGE 

DESIGN ON A SILVER TANKARD BY HOGARTH . 27 

Reproduced from S. Ireland's Graphic Illustrations, i. 77. 

SIR JAMES THORNHILL . . . . . . 31 

From S. Ireland's Graphic Illustrations, i. 86. The Original 
Oil Painting belonged to Mrs. Hogarth, who sold it to S. Ireland, 
and it was esteemed by her to be an excellent likeness. 

LADY THORNHILL .... .38 

From S. Ireland's Graphic Illustrations, ii. 12. 

LIFE SCHOOL AT THE ACADEMY IN PETER COURT, 

ST. MARTIN'S LANE 41 

From the Original Painting in the possession of the Royal 
Academy. 

FRONTISPIECE TO 'CATALOGUE OF PICTURES,' 1761 . 57 
TAILPIECE TO ' CATALOGUE OF PICTURES,' 1761 . 58 

BATTLE OF THE PICTURES, 1745 . . . 59 

TIME SMOKING A PICTURE, 1761 .... 63 

From Hogarth's Etching. (Subscription ticket for ' Sigis- 
munda.') 



xvi HOGARTH'S LONDON 

TO FACE PAGE 

A STATUARY'S YARD (The Analysis of Beauty, Plate 1), 1753 82 

JOHN THORN HILL (Brother-in-Law of Hogarth) . . 84 

From S. Ireland's Graphic Illustrations, ii. 14. 

MRS. HOGARTH 91 

From S. Ireland's Graphic Illustrations, ii. 4. 

' THE LADY'S LAST STAKE,' 1759 . .103 

From the Original Painting in the possession of Mr. J. 
Pierpont Morgan. 

THE MARRIAGE A LA MODE : No. 1, THE CONTRACT . 110 
From the Original Painting in the National Gallery. 

THE MARRIAGE A LA MODE : No. 6, THE DEATH OF THE 

COUNTESS ....... 120 

From the Original Painting in the National Gallery. 

THE MAN OF TASTE, 1731 (BURLINGTON GATE) . . 125 

From Hogarth's Engraving. 

TASTE IN HIGH LIFE, 1746 126 

MORNING (COVENT GARDEN) . . . . .132 

' Four Times of the Day,' 1738. (The scene is reversed in 
the Engraving.) 

THE COCKPIT, 1759 . . 141 

From the Original Engraving. 

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, 1730 . . . .166 

By Hogarth and Thornhill. From the Original Engraving, 
1803. (A portion of the Picture is omitted.) 

THE ELECTION : No. 2, CANVASSING FOR VOTES, 1757 . 178 

From the Painting in the Soane Museum. 



XV11 

TO FACE PAGE 

'THE TIMES, PLATE 1,' 1762 190 

From the third state of the Original Engraving with the 
figure of Pitt on stilts, which had previously represented 
Henry VIH. 

THE SLEEPING CONGKEGATION, 1736 . 205 

From the Original Engraving. 

OKATOR HENLEY CHRISTENING A CHILD . 212 

From S. Ireland's Graphic Illustrations, i. 

' THE BENCH,' 1758 . . .216 

From the third state of the Original Engraving. 

A CONSULTATION OF PHYSICIANS, 1736 . . .223 

THE SHRIMP GIRL . . 240 

From the Painting in the National Gallery. 

HEAD OF DIANA 240 

From S. Ireland's Etching, 1786, Graphic Illustrations, 
i. 170. The Original Sketch in oil was in Ireland's possession. 

HOGARTH'S SIX SERVANTS 241 

From the Painting in the National Gallery. 

THE ENRAGED MUSICIAN, 1741 . . . .242 

From the Original Engraving. 

HOGARTH'S BUSINESS CARD, 1720 . . 244 

SARAH, DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH, AT CHILD'S 

BANK 263 

From S. Ireland's Graphic Illitstration/s, ii. 117. The 
Original Painting, which belonged to Ireland, was sold in 
June 1899 at the Forman Sale for 53, 11s. 

THE INN YARD ('HARLOT'S PROGRESS,' PLATE 1) . .273 

From the Original Engraving. 
I 



xviii HOGARTH'S LONDON 

TO FACE PAGE 

BURNING OF THE KUMPS AT TEMPLE BAR (Hudibras, 

PLATE 11), 1726 ....... 276 

From Twelve large Prints for Hudibras. 

WHITE'S CHOCOLATE HOUSE ('A RAKE'S PROGRESS,' 

No. 6), 1735 .295 

From the Painting in the Soane Museum. 

ST. JAMES'S STREET ('A RAKE'S PROGRESS,' No. 4) . . 298 

From the Painting in the Soane Museum. 

THE LAUGHING AUDIENCE, 1733 . .303 

(Subscription ticket for ' A Rake'a Progress ' and ' South- 
wark Fair.') 

SCENE FROM THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, ACT 3 . . 305 

From the Painting in the possession of John Murray, Esq. 

LAVINIA FENTON (POLLY PEACHUM), AFTERWARDS DUCHESS 

or BOLTON . ... -. . . 310 

From the Painting in the National Gallery. 

DAVID GARRICK AND MRS. GARRICK, 1757 . ; .- 327 

GARRICK IN THE FARMER'S RETURN, 1762 . .329 

From James Basire's Engraving. 

PERFORMANCE OF DRYDEN'S INDIAN EMPEROR AT 

MR. CONDUITT'S HOUSE, 1731 . . . .341 

From Robert Dodd's Engraving, 1792. 

MASQUERADES AND OPERAS (BURLINGTON GATE), 1724 . 348 
From the first state of the Original Engraving. 

THE FOUNDLINGS .... .362 

Heading to a power of attorney. The Hospital still possesses 
the Original Plate. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix 

TO FACE PAGE 

CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM, 1739 . 362 

From Nutter's Engraving, 1796. 

BEDLAM ( ' A RAKE'S PROGRESS,' No. 8) ... 370 

From the Painting in the Soane Museum. 

MICHAEL SOLEIROL WITH ST. GEORGE'S HOSPITAL 

IN THE DISTANCE, 1748 . . . . 374 

From the Painting in the Hospital. 

There is some difficulty as to the spelling of the name, so 
that the title on the plate does not exactly agree with this 
description, which is probably the most correct. 

SCENE IN THE FLEET PRISON ('BAMBRIDGE BEFORE A 

COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS'), 1729 . . 389 

From the Original Engraving. 

BRIDEWELL ('A HARLOT'S PROGRESS,' PLATE 4), 1732 . 393 

From the Original Engraving. 

THE IDLE APPRENTICE EXECUTED AT TYBURN ('!K-\ 

Srf 

DUSTRY AND IDLENESS,' PLATE 11), 1747 . . . 399 

From the Original Engraving. 

THE MARCH TO FINCHLEY, 1750 . . . v . 404 

From the Original Engraving. 

MARYLEBONE CHURCH ( ' A RAKE'S PROGRESS,' No. 5), 1735 411 
From the Painting in the Soane Museum. 

SOUTHWARK FAIR, 1733 424 

From the Painting in the possession of the Duke of 
Newcastle. 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

To those who live in the twentieth century a study 
of the manners of the eighteenth century is singularly 
fascinating, as that is near enough for its aims to be 
understood and its philosophy to be sympathised 
with, and yet distant enough to be fresh and piquant 
to those of a later age. 

It may be said to have been, not so very long ago, 
the Cinderella of the Centuries, inasmuch as many 
writers have not tired in declaiming against it. Mr. 
Frederic Harrison is its most valiant defender, and 
completely answers the unmeasured abuse of Carlyle. 1 
He justly styles it ' the turning epoch of the 
modern world,' and asserts that although it was an 
age of prose, it was not prosaic. We are just at the 
right distance from this period to judge it without 
bias. At present the nineteenth century is too 
near us to be treated historically. Therefore we 
ought to understand the eighteenth century better, 
and to admire it in spite of its glaring faults. We 
know it better than most other centuries, because 

1 'The age of prose, of lying, of sham, the fraudulent bankrupt century, 
the reign of Beelzebub, the peculiar era of Cant.' 

A 




2 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

its authors have painted the manners and social life 
of their times more minutely than the authors of 
previous periods have done theirs. It was specially 
a friendly social century, and as we read the pages 
of Fielding, Richardson, Boswell, Walpole, Cowper, 
Fanny Burney, and Jane Austen we follow the life 
of the time in all its phases with breathless interest. 

What is most striking in this body of literature 
is that all classes are depicted. We never tire of 
reading of the men and women who 
by artificial barriers into different worlds, 
did Walpole' s world know of Johnson's world ? 
what did Cowper care for either ? 

There was, however, one man who 
all the others put together to help us to ~ under- 
stand the lif e of the eighteenth century at all events 
how it was lived by Londoners, for he appeals to 
the eye as well as to the intellect ; and that man 
was Hogarth. He was seldom absent from London, 
and no day passed without his eye finding something 
to record a line if not a picture, perhaps a thumb- 
nail sketch for future enlargement. Hogarth was 
immediately recognised by his contemporaries as a 
great pictorial satirist, and it was not long before 
his engravings became well known abroad. It has, 
however, taken longer for his other great qualities 
to be universally acknowledged. 

Horace Walpole had a great admiration for 
Hogarth, and he was one of the first to set the 
fashion of collecting Hogarth's prints. In com- 



I 

INTRODUCTION 3 

mencing the chapter on this great artist in his 
Anecdotes of Painting (vol. iv. 1771), he writes : 
' Having dispatched the herd of our painters in oil, 
I reserved to a class by himself that great and 
original genius, Hogarth ; considering him rather 
as a writer of comedy with a pencil, than as a 
painter. If catching the manners and follies of an 
age living as they rise, if general satire on vices 
and ridicules, familiarized by strokes of nature, and 
heightened by wit, and the whole animated by 
proper and just expressions of the passions be 
comedy, Hogarth composed comedies as much as 
Moliere ; in his " Marriage a la Mode " there is even 
an intrigue carried on throughout the piece. He is 
more true to character than Congreve ; each per- 
sonage is distinct from the rest, acts in his sphere, 
and cannot be confounded with any other of the 
dramatis personce.' 

Carrying on his comparison of Hogarth with the 
great French dramatist, Walpole writes : ' Moliere, 
inimitable as he has proved, brought a rude theatre 
to perfection. Hogarth had no model to follow and 
improve upon. He created his art and used colours 
instead of language.' 

Mr. Austin Dobson has drawn attention to an 
article in the Gray's Inn Journal, Feb. 9, 1754, 
apparently written by Arthur Murphy, in which 
Walpole' s description of the painter as a ' writer 
of comedy with a pencil' is forestalled. Replying 
to Voltaire, who had been accusing the English of a 



4 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

lack of genius for Painting and Music, the author 
of this article wrote: 'Hogarth, like a true genius, 
has formed a new school of Painting for himself. 
He may be truly styled the Cervantes of his art, 
as he has exhibited with such a masterly hand the 
ridiculous follies of Human Nature. . . . He may 
be said to be the first, who has wrote Comedy with his 
pencil. His " Harlot's Progress," and " Marriage a la 
Mode " are, in my opinion, as well drawn as anything 
hi Moliere, and the unity of character which is the 
perfection of Dramatic Poetry, is so skilfully pre- 
served, that we are surprised to see the same person- 
age thinking agreeably to his complexional habits 
in the many different situations in which we after- 
wards perceive him.' 

Mr. Dobson also quotes from a literary case in 
July 1773, when Lord Gardenstone, a Scottish judge, 
after defining Hogarth as ' the only true original 
author which this age has produced in England,' 
went on : ' I can read his works over and over . . . 
and every time I peruse them I discover new 
beauties, and feel fresh entertainment.' 

Fielding was one of Hogarth's greatest admirers. 
The first time we find their names united was in 1731, 
when Hogarth engraved a frontispiece for Fielding's 
Tragedy of Tragedies. In the preface to his first 
novel, Joseph Andrews, the novelist takes the 
earliest opportunity of introducing a brilliant 
criticism of the artist's insight in his own remarks on 
the Ridiculous : * He who should call the ingenious 



INTRODUCTION 5 

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 preposterous 
size, or to expose him in some absurd or monstrous 
attitude, than to express the affections of men on 
canvas. It hath 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.' In Tom Jones the 
references to Hogarth are continually occurring as 
illustrations of some of the characters. 

Three great writers, about the same time, claimed 
the highest position in his art for Hogarth : 
Coleridge in 1809, Charles Lamb in 1811, and 
Hazlitt in 1814. Hazlitt classes Hogarth with 
the Comic Writers, and Lamb says : ' His graphic 
representations are indeed books. They have the 
teeming, fruitful, suggestive meaning of words. 
Other pictures we look at his prints we read.' 1 
Coleridge beautifully expresses his appreciation of 
that sense of beauty which many ignorantly denied 
to Hogarth. He writes in The Friend (No. 16, Dec. 7, 
1809) : ' One of those beautiful female faces which 

1 A great friend of Charles Lamb was amusingly enthusiastic on 
Hogarth's art. This was Martin Burney, son of Admiral James Burney, 
and nephew of Dr. Charles Burney. Barry Cornwall (B. W. Procter) in 
his Memoirs of Lamb (1866) thus refers to Martin : ' The last time I saw 
Burney was at the corner of a street in London, when he was overflowing 
on the subject of Raffaelle and Hogarth. After a long and prolonged 
struggle, he said he had arrived at the conclusion that Raffaelle was the 
greater man of the two.' 



6 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Hogarth, in whom the satyrist never extinguished 
that love of beauty which belonged to him as a 
Poet, so often and so gladly introduces as the 
central figure in a crowd of humorous deformities, 
which figure (such is the power of true genius !) 
neither acts nor is meant to act as a contrast ; but 
diffuses through all, and over each of the group a 
spirit of reconciliation and human kindness ; and 
even when the attention is no longer consciously 
directed to the cause of this feeling, still blends its 
tenderness with our laughter ; and thus prevents the 
instructive merriment at the whims of nature or 
the foibles of our fellow-men from degenerating into 
the heart poison of contempt or hatred.' 

Walter Savage Landor wrote to John Forster: 
' What nonsense I see written of Hogarth's defects 
as a colourist. He was in truth far more than the 
most humorous, than the most pathetic, and most 
instructive, of painters. He excelled at once in 
composition, in drawing and in colouring ; and of 
what other can we say the same ? In his portraits 
he is as true as Gainsborough, as historical as Titian.' 

The need of acknowledging the realism of 
Hogarth's art is very important for our present 
purpose, as half the value of it to us would be lost 
if we did not understand the truthfulness of his work. 
We have the authority of Walpole for this. 

In a letter to Sir David Dalrymple (Lord Hailes), 
Dec. 11, 1780, he writes, ' I believe, Sir, that I may 
have been overcandid to Hogarth, and that his 



INTRODUCTION 7 

spirit and youth and talent may have hurried him 
into more real caricatures than I specified ; yet he 
certainly restrained his bent that way pretty early.' l 

Although so just and full of praise, for one side 
of Hogarth's art, Walpole was singularly blind to 
his merits on the technical side, for he says, ' As a 
painter he had but slender merit.' The distinction 
of his paintings was strangely ignored in his own time, 
and was not generally acknowledged until 1814, 
when fifty of his original pictures were exhibited 
at the British Institution. Richard Payne Knight, 
the writer of the preface to the Catalogue, ventured 
to praise the high qualities of his work, and he 
somewhat timidly wrote, ' His pictures often display 
beautiful colouring as well as accurate drawing.' 

When the public had the opportunity of seeing 
Hogarth's original pictures, and were able to 
criticise them as distinct from his engravings, they 
began to realise that the painter was a great master 
worthy to rank with the chief of his predecessors ; 
they found that, besides being a writer of comedy 
with a pencil, he was a brilliant artist in colour 
as well as in draughtsmanship. 

During a severe illness when James Whistler 
was little over twelve years old, he had the oppor- 
tunity of studying a large volume of Hogarth's 
engravings. His mother relates that he said on 
one occasion, ' Oh how I wish I were well, I want 
so to show these engravings to my drawing master, 

1 Letters, ed. Cunningham, vol. vii. p. 472. 



8 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

it is not every one who has a chance of seeing 
Hogarth's own engravings of his originals,' and 
then added, in his own happy way, ' And if I had 
not been ill, mother, perhaps no one would have 
thought of showing them to me.' 

Mr. and Mrs. Pennell remark : ' From this time 
until his death Whistler always believed Hogarth 
to be the greatest English artist who ever lived, 
and he seldom lost an opportunity of saying so. 
The long attack of illness in 1847 is therefore 
memorable as the beginning of his love of Hogarth, 
which became an article of faith with him.' l 

In an article by Mr. Sidney Colvin (Portfolio, iii. 
p. 153), Hogarth's high qualities as a painter are 
ungrudgingly praised : 

' Hogarth, in his best works, catches with a 
perfect subtlety the colour of rich or poor apparel, 
indoor furniture and outdoor litter, the satin, bows, 
jewels, ribbons of the bride, the fur coat and hose 
and waistcoat of the beau, lace, silk, velvet, broad- 
cloth, spangles, and brocade, rich carpets, rich 
wall hangings, the look of pictures on the wall ; 
or, on the other hand, the coarse appurtenances of 
the market-place or the street crossing : he catches 
them, and their tone and relations in the indoor 
or outdoor atmosphere with a perfect subtlety 
and sense of natural harmony. And not only so, 
but without a school, and without a precedent 
(for he is no imitator of the Dutchmen) he has 

1 Life o/J. M. Whistler, by E. R. and J. Pennell, 1908, vol. i. p. 21. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

found a way of expressing what he sees with the 
clearest simplicity, richness and directness.' 

Sir Walter Armstrong, in his Essay prefixed to 
Dobson's folio edition of his Hogarth, has done 
full justice to Hogarth's claim to a high place as a 
painter. He styles him a creator of beauty, a 
master of grace and a perfect craftsman, affirming 
that his ' supreme achievement as a painter lies 
in the completeness with which he gave artistic 
expression to ideas which were not essentially 
pictorial in themselves.' 

Now his position as a painter has been com- 
pletely established, and we can forgive the ill- 
judged remarks of Walpole, in the spirit of which, 
by the way, he was supported by the opinion of 
many of his contemporaries. 

While pointing out Hogarth's high position when 
he followed his natural bent, we have regretfully 
to acknowledge that he had his limits, and it is 
necessary to refer to the mistake he made when he 
endeavoured to essay a style entirely unsuited to 
his genius, although even in his religious subjects 
there are merits which have been unfairly overlooked. 

Mr. Dobson quotes the painter's extraordinary 
utterance respecting the great style of history 
painting, where he appears to value the Scripture 
scenes at St. Bartholomew's Hospital (1736) more 
than such pictures as the * Harlot's Progress.' 

Hogarth in his autobiography writes * I have 
endeavoured to treat my subjects as a dramatic 



10 

writer : my picture is my stage, and men and 
women my players, who by means of certain actions 
and gestures, are to exhibit a dumb show. Before 
I had done anything of much consequence in this 
walk, I entertained some hopes of succeeding in 
what the puffers in books call the great style of 
History painting ; so that without having had a 
stroke of this grand business before, I quitted small 
portraits and familiar conversations, and with a 
smile at my own temerity, commenced history 
painter, and on a great staircase at St. Bartholo- 
mew's, painted two Scripture stories, " The Pool of 
Bethesda" and " The Good Samaritan," with figures 
seven feet high.' l 

It is impossible with any success to compare 
Hogarth with other painters, as he stands absolutely 
alone. Mr. Dobson writes : * He was an exceptional 
genius, not to be conveniently ticketed off, by any 
preconceived theory respecting his race, his epoch, 
or his environment.' 

We can now pass on to consider Hogarth as a 
delineator of manners and an illustrator of London 
Topography. 

The manners and morals of a period form com- 
plex subjects for consideration. In order therefore 
to obtain any true understanding of the time, it 
is necessary to sort out the various subjects into 
classes, and when we have done this we shall find 

1 Anecdotes of W. Hogarth, written by Himself. Edited by J. B. Nichols. 
London, 1833, p. 9. 



INTRODUCTION 11 

how completely the works of Hogarth cover the 
ground in respect to the manners and life of the 
eighteenth century. The plan of this work is to deal 
with these subjects in separate chapters, but here a 
more general view of the whole field may be taken. 

The first thing to note is the similarity of aims 
among all classes of Society during a large part of 
the century. What has been styled The World 
was the pervading influence in the eighteenth 
century. Even then there were several Worlds, 
but they all had points of contact one with another. 
Now in the twentieth century the World has become 
too large to hang together, and the one is disinte- 
grated into the many, all of these having different 
orbits. In the eighteenth century good society 
met in London, in Bath, and abroad. Its members 
renewed old acquaintanceship at the different 
seasons in different places. But we must not 
generalise overmuch, for there are shades of difference 
which must be accounted for. The literary world 
of Johnson was very different from the fashionable 
world of Horace Walpole, and there were few points 
of contact between them, but there were some. 

For our present purpose that remarkable picture 
of Old London in Gay's Trivia is a help to the 
understanding of our subject, for Gay painted the 
very London that Hogarth loved and depicted, 
but he only drew the exterior of the streets, while 
Hogarth delineated the humours both of the insides 
and outsides of the houses. 



12 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

We ought to understand the eighteenth century 
because it has a special fascination for us, although 
it has strongly marked features which are often 
repulsive. 

The characteristic qualities are strength and unity 
of aims. No period exhibits more remarkably these 
qualities, shown at the beginning of the century hi 
calm chequered by Rebellion, and at the end in the 
fire of Revolution. Both of these characteristics 
had their evil side, the strength developed into 
coarseness, and the unity was largely a unity of 
want of refinement. There is no evidence in 
Walpole's Letters that the higher classes, who 
might be expected to have exhibited good manners 
(if not morality) were any better than other classes. 
In some respects they were much inferior to the 
middle classes. It is always dangerous and unjust 
to make sweeping charges against a whole nation, 
but all we read and all we see of the eighteenth 
century at all events parts of it seem to point it 
out as one of the worst-mannered periods in our 
history. There is much to disgust us in Hogarth's 
pictures of life, but the worst of all are the ' Four 
Stages of Cruelty,' which are simply appalling in 
their atrocity. 

The Restoration period is sometimes considered 
to be one of the worst in our annals, but there is 
some reason to think that after the Revolution 
there was exhibited a depth of turpitude in public 
and private life that had not been so widespread 



INTRODUCTION 13 

before. Great intellectual vigour and goodness 
within well-defined limits were also distinguishing 
features of the age ; among its many faults hypocrisy 
was not to be numbered. One of the striking faults 
of the century was its hatred of enthusiasm and its 
distrust of ideals, yet in studying its history we see 
the gradual emergence of a new spirit and a new 
life from the dull apathy of the early years to the 
burning hopes and faith in the future as exhibited 
in the midst of troubles at the end of the century. 

In referring to Hogarth's reproduction of the 
striking contrasts of his age, Mr. Dobson says : 
c He has peopled his canvas with its dramatis 
personce, with vivid portraits of the more strongly 
marked actors in that cynical and sensual, brave 
and boastful, corrupt and patriotic time.' 

The truth of Hogarth's pictures of his age has been 
acknowledged by all, and by no one more com- 
pletely than by Horace Walpole, who was one of 
the best of judges. Of the painter's interiors he 
wrote : ' It was reserved to Hogarth to write a scene 
of furniture. The rake's levee-room, the nobleman's 
dining-room, the apartments of the husband and 
wife in " Marriage a la Mode," the alderman's par- 
lour, the poet's bedchamber, and many others, are 
the history of the manners of the age.' 3 

Hogarth is styled a moralist, and in his great work, 
the ' Marriage a la Mode,' he is truly that. He has 
taken as his subject a life-history, which must 

1 Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, 1876, vol. iii. p. 7. 



14 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

have been repeated in every age, but he has treated 
it with so much of the power and insight of genius 
that he points a moral which we feel to be that of 
a drama worthy of the greatest tragic writer. In 
the * Progresses,' and ' Industry and Idleness,' he 
also shows himself a moralist, but in a more con- 
ventional manner. 

In some of his other works there is rather too 
evident a zest and interest in the incidents of a 
vicious life to allow the moral to be so strongly 
marked. He was in these more the moralist in the 
sense of an exhibitor of manners. 

Mrs. Oliphant speaks of his unimpassioned 
tragedy, and Mr. Dobson elaborates this point with 
his usual insight. He writes : ' He was a moralist 
after the manner of eighteenth century morality, 
not savage like Swift, not ironical like Fielding, 
not tender-hearted like Johnson and Goldsmith ; 
but unrelenting, uncompromising, uncompassionate. 
He drew vice and its consequences in a thoroughly 
literal and business-like way, neither sparing nor 
softening its features, wholly insensible to its 
seductions, incapable of flattering it even for a 
moment, preoccupied solely with catching its 
fugitive contortion of pleasure or of pain.' 

In order to obtain an idea of the chief features of 
the manners of the eighteenth century, it has been 
thought well to arrange the particulars under 
certain headings, which it is hoped will comprise 
all that need be discussed in this connection. 



INTRODUCTION 15 

The headings of the chapters of this book are 
the following, and some general remarks may here 
be set down, leaving discussion of the various points 
for the chapters themselves. 

High Life seems at first sight to be outside of 
Hogarth's ken, but his knowledge of human nature 
helped him to picture correctly a life which he had 
not lived. His many portraits were largely chosen 
from among the aristocracy, and the follies of the 
upper classes were as patent to the satirist as were 
those of men and women in a less exalted sphere. 
The picture of the nobleman in the ' Marriage a la 
Mode ' is as successful a portrait as Hogarth ever 
painted. 

The delineation of Low Life, however, was more 
congenial to Hogarth's taste, and he gloried in the 
humours which were to be found on all sides in 
the streets, in the prize-fighter's amphitheatre, in 
the cockpit, the prison, and the brothel. 

Such a view of the streets of London as we see hi 
' The Four Times of the Day ' is not elsewhere to be 
seen. The dangers of the streets must have been 
appalling, and yet Gay, who points out some of 
the dangers, apostrophises 

' Happy Augusta ! Law-defended town ! 
Here no dark lanthorns shade the villain's frown ; 
No Spanish jealousies thy lanes infest, 
Nor Roman vengeance stabs th' unwary breast ; 
Here tyranny ne'er lifts her purple hand, 
But liberty and justice guard the land ; 
No bravos here profess the bloody trade, 
Nor is the Church the murd'rer's refuge made,' 



16 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

There can be little doubt that the inhabitants 
of London who walked in the streets after dark 
took care to possess means of protection, and those 
who were defenceless kept within-doors. 

The man of quality had his sword which he could 
ordinarily use with skill, and others were pro- 
ficient with their fists. Johnson was a powerful 
man, and was well able to take care of himself as we 
know from several recorded adventures, especially 
the one in Grosvener Square when he caught the 
man who had stolen his handkerchief and knocked 
him down before the thief knew where he was. 

Swift paints a sorry picture of the state of the 
streets in his description of a City Shower, and Gay 
advises the walker to wear strong shoes. It was 
evidently a serious matter for men in decent apparel 
to walk the streets, for they were subject to the 
drippings of roofs as well as the splashing of passing 
carts and coaches : 

' When dirty waters from balconies drop, 
And dextrous damsels twirl the sprinkling mop, 
And cleanse the spatter'd sash, and scrub the stairs ; 
Know Saturday's conclusive morn appears.' 

The streets were cleansed in the middle ages, but they 
were evidently neglected in the eighteenth century. 
Political Life is well represented by Hogarth. 
He drew the tradesman-politician reading his paper, 
and a sitting of the House of Commons ; the Humours 
of a Country Election, and the unfortunate print of 
'The Times,' which made enemies of some of his 



INTRODUCTION 17 

former friends and caused much ill-will to be poured 
out upon the artist. 

In Church and Dissent we see the picture of the 
deadest time in the religious life of the country, 
when congregations slept and churchman and 
dissenter were alike the butt of the wits. 

Professional Life is well represented by the 
lawyers, the doctors and the soldiers as well as by 
the artists and the authors, but none of these classes 
was flattered. 

Business Life is seen in Hogarth's shop bills. In 
his pictures the creaking sign-boards are visible on all 
sides, and carts and drays lumber along the streets. 

This was the time of street cries, and artists 
have left us pictures of the men and women follow- 
ing peripatetic trades, all with their distinctive cries. 
Sleep fled from the eyes of the weary when these 
commenced their work in the early morning. 

' Successive cries the season's change declare, 
And mark the monthly progress of the year. 
Hark, how the streets with treble voices ring, 
To sell the bounteous product of the spring ! 
Sweet-smelling flowers, and elder's early bud, 
With nettle's tender shoots, to cleanse the blood : 
And when June's thunder cools the sultry skies, 
Ev'n Sundays are profan'd by mackerel cries.' 1 

The streets were doubtless noisier in the eigh- 
teenth century than now (although some of us 
complain of the present condition of things), and 
we are shown in the 'Enraged Musician' how difficult 

1 Trivia, Book u. 
B 



18 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

was the life of the intellectual worker in the midst of 
the turmoil around him. In his Voyage to Lisbon 
Fielding declared that to look at this picture was 
enough to make a man deaf. 

Tavern Life was a special feature of the century, 
and here social life flourished. Hogarth has per- 
petuated the names of many of the London taverns 
and coffee-houses which were largely patronised. 

Theatrical Life is painted very effectively in 
Hogarth's works. The playhouses and many of 
the actors, with Garrick at their head, are shown. 
The pictures of the Beggar's Opera, which was 
said to be the first great popular success known to 
the English stage, exhibit to us the audience on the 
stage, apparently very much in the way of the actors. 
This evil was not done away with altogether until 
Garrick made some of his chief improvements. 

In Hospitals, which found a true friend in Hogarth, 
we obtain a glimpse of the better side of human 
nature in the eighteenth century. 

Prisons and Crime, on the other hand, show us some 
of the worst evils of the age, and the impotence of 
the system of police to deal effectively with Crime. 
Pickpockets and cheats were found on all sides. 

The Suburbs in the eighteenth century were at 
the very doors of the City, although they have long 
since been swallowed up. The citizen walked with 
his family in the afternoon and evening to the tea- 
gardens of Hoxton, Islington, Hampstead, Totten- 
ham Court and Marylebone, and the humours of these 
places are to be found displayed in Hogarth's 



INTRODUCTION 19 

works. The general effect of the scenes painted by 
Hogarth and described by Gay is to impress upon us 
the evils of the time, and to leave us unimpressed 
by much good which must have existed, although 
it is left unnoticed. 

London has always exerted a great influence over 
its children, for it is a city of unique and indescrib- 
able charm. The Londoner is spoiled for living in 
other places, and however far he may have wandered, 
he is forced eventually to return to London, as the 
one place in which life is lived in all its completeness. 

Hogarth was a thorough Londoner. He was born 
in Bartholomew Close, lived in London all his life, 
and died in Leicester Square. He is known, with 
Londoners like himself, to have made a cockney 
tour from London to Sheerness and back again, but 
this five-days' trip comprised nearly the whole of his 
travels, and his life was spent chiefly between 
Leicester Square and Chiswick. From boyhood to 
his latest hour he never tired of exhibiting the life 
around him, and he may be said to bring that life 
before our eyes in a way no other artist before or 
since his time has ever done. From the East to the 
West, from the North to the South, the London of 
Hogarth's day can be traced topographically in his 
pictures and sketches. 

Mr. Dobson points out the need of a Commentary 
to illustrate some of the intricacies of Hogarth's 
London Topography, 1 and it is hoped that this book 

1 ' If the chief circumstances of the painter's career should remain 
unsupplemented, there will always be a side of his work which must 



20 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

may to some extent carry out the object he has in 
view. 

It may be well here to set down a short indication 
of the extent of the topographical illustrations. 

Hogarth's picture of the streets is singularly 
vivid, the kennels and the cobbled roads, the creak- 
ing sign-boards and the oil lamps and the atten- 
dant inconveniences are all brought before our eyes. 
The traffic, consisting of heavy carts and carriages 
and the lighter chairs with their chairmen, made the 
art of walking the streets as expounded by Gay in 
his Trivia a specially difficult one. 

The localities represented in Hogarth's pictures 
may be divided into the City, the West End and 
Westminster, and the Suburbs; and there is little 
that goes to the making of the Great London of the 
eighteenth century which is unrepresented in this 
gallery. This London was large in itself, although 
when compared with the London of to-day it may 
seem small to us. 

Taking the City first, there is the district round 
Fleet Street, and that round the Bank. Newgate 
is shown in the scene from the Beggar's Opera ; the 
Old Bailey (' Industry and Idleness,' Plate 10) ; 

continue to need interpretation. In addition to delineating the faults and 
follies of his time, he was pre-eminently the pictorial chronicler of its 
fashions and its furniture. The follies endure ; but the fashions pass away. 
In our day a day which has witnessed the demolition of Northumberland 
House, the translation of Temple Bar, and the removal of we know not 
what other time-honoured and venerated landmarks, much in Hogarth's 
plates must seem as obscure as the cartouches on Cleopatra's Needle. Much 
more is speedily becoming so ; and without guidance the student will 
scarcely venture into that dark and doubtful rookery of tortuous streets 
and unnumbered houses the London of the eighteenth century.' 



INTRODUCTION 21 

Bridewell in the ' Harlot's Progress,' Fleet Prison in 
the ' Rake's Progress ' ; Temple Bar in the eleventh 
plate of Hudibras (' Burning of the Rumps ') is Wren's 
Bar (1672), of a later date than the scene itself 
(1660) ; Hanging Sword Alley, Water Lane, Fleet 
Street in ' Industry and Idleness ' ; Chick Lane, 
West Smithfield in the same series ; Little Britain 
Gate (King's Arms), and the Cock Lane Ghost in 
1 A Medley. 5 

Round the Bank we find the Lord Mayor's Show 
in Cheapside (' Industry and Idleness,' Plate 12), 
the Bell in Wood Street (' Harlot's Progress,' 
Plate 1), Old London Bridge through the Window 
(' Marriage a la Mode,' Plate 6), Fishmongers Hall 
(' Industry and Idleness,' Plate 8), the base of the 
Monument on Fish Street Hill in the same series, 
Plate 6, and Bedlam, Moorfields (' Rake's Progress,' 
Plate 8). West of the City there are still more scenes 
as in St. Giles's, Soho, Co vent Garden, Drury Lane, 
St. Martin's Lane, and last and best of all, St. 
James's Street (' Rake's Progress,' Plate 4) an 
admirable view of London's premier street. In the 
Suburbs we see Tyburn in the execution of the Idle 
Apprentice at the Triple Tree (Plate 11), Marylebone 
Church (' Rake's Progress,' Plate 5), Tottenham 
Court in the ' March to Finchley ' and Sadler's 
Wells (Evening). This is only a selection of places 
in London represented in Hogarth's pictures and 
prints, but it is sufficient to show the wealth of 
illustrations which is to be found in the wonderful 
variety of his works. 



22 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER II 
HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 

FROM one point of view the life of Hogarth may 
be said to have been uneventful, but when we con- 
sider the amount of varied work which he carried on 
with a single-minded aim throughout a long life, as 
well as the sterling character of the man himself, 
which enabled him to carry out all his undertakings 
with decision, we shall find his life full of stirring 
events and replete with interest. 

The main object of this work is to direct special 
attention to the illustrations of London life and 
manners to be found in Hogarth's work, but in order 
to show the relation of this part to the whole, it is 
necessary to set down the leading particulars of his 
life, and mark his position in the world in respect to 
friends and enemies, completing this chapter with a 
chronological notice of his most famous productions. 

William Hogarth was born in Bartholomew 
Close, West Smithfield, on the 10th of November 
1697, and baptized on the 28th of the same month 
at the parish church of St. Bartholomew the Great. 1 

1 Hogarth's two sisters Mary, born Nov. 23, 1699, and Ann, born Oct. 
1701, were baptized Mary also at St. Bartholomew's on Dec. 10, and Ann 
at St. Sepulchre's on Nov. 6. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 23 

His father, Richard Hogarth, was the third son 
of a yeoman farmer who lived in the vale of 
Bampton, about fifteen miles north of Kendal. He 
was educated at Archbishop Grindal's Free School 
at St. Bees, and afterwards kept a school in his 
native county of Westmorland. This proving un- 
successful, he removed to London. 1 He married 
Anne Gibbons, and he and his wife were living in 
Bartholomew Close when their distinguished son 
was born. Afterwards he kept a school in Ship 
Court, on the west side of the Old Bailey. The 
house, with others, was pulled down in 1862 to make 
room for the warehouse of Messrs John Dickinson 
and Co., paper-makers, which was built on the site. 

He was also employed as a hack writer and 
corrector of the press to Mr. Downinge the printer, 
whose acquaintance he probably made when he was 
Irving next door to him in Bartholomew Close. He 
appears to have been a man possessed of much out 
of the way learning, for he made large additions to 
Littleton's Latin Dictionary, but these marginal 
additions were never printed, and his interleaved 
copy remained in the possession of his son. In 1689 
he published Thesaurarium Trilingue Publicum, 
a copy of which is in the possession of Mr. Austin 
Dobson, and in 1712 was issued his little work 
entitled Disputationes Grammaticales. 

1 ' He came to London in company with Dr. Gibson, the late Bishop of 
London's brother, and was employed as corrector of the press, which in 
those days was not considered as a mean employment.' John Ireland, 
Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 6. 



24 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Richard Hogarth made scarcely enough to live 
upon, and he was able to give his son little or no 
education. As his son himself says in his autobio- 
graphical sketch (John Ireland, 1798), * My father's 
pen, like that of many other authors, did not enable 
him to do more than put me in the way of shifting 
for myself.' 

There has been much discussion as to the origin 
of the family, and some have, with very little cause, 
supposed the surname to come from France. There 
is a village in Westmorland named Hogarth, but 
doubtless the family originally came from Berwick, 
or even further north. The name Hoggert has 
been found in Scotland as early as 1494, and an 
Aberdeen family of the name has been traced. 
There was a George Hogarth in London in the reign 
of Elizabeth. The name was originally pronounced 
hard and the final h was not sounded, as Swift 
rhymes it in his satire on the Irish Parliament en- 
titled 'A Character, Panegyric and Description of 
the Legion Club, 1736.' These lines are more than 
interesting as proving this point, and are worth 
transcribing in full: 

' How I want thee, humorous Hogarth ! 
Thou I hear a pleasant rogue art. 
Were but you and I acquainted, 
Every monster should be painted ; 
You should try your graving tools 
On this odious group of fools ; 
Draw the beasts as I describe them : 
From their features, while I gibe them ; 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 25 

Draw them like ; for I assure you, 
You will need no car'catura ; 
Draw them so that we may trace 
All the soul in every face.' 

There was little likeness between father and son, 
but Thomas Hogarth of Troutbeck, an uncle of 
William, known as Auld or Aid Hoggart, was a rustic 
dramatist and satirist. He is referred to by Nichols 
as an original genius, but his Remains are very 
commonplace. Nevertheless some of his Remnants 
of Rhyme, selected from an old MS. collection of 
his writings preserved by his descendants, were 
published at Kendal as late as 1853. 1 

From boyhood to his latest hour William Hogarth 
devoted himself to the study of the life around him, 
and he never tired of exhibiting that life in his 
pictures and engravings. Moreover, to the end he 
ceaselessly strove to excel. He himself refers in his 
autobiography to this early bent : ' As I had 
naturally a good eye, and a fondness for drawing, 
shows of all sorts gave me uncommon pleasure 
when an infant ; and mimicry, common to all 
children, was remarkable in me. An early access 
to a neighbouring painter drew my attention from 
play ; and I was, at every possible opportunity, 
employed in making drawings. I picked up an 
acquaintance of the same turn, and soon learnt to 

1 Professor G. Baldwin Brown, in Appendix iv. to his interesting little 
book on Hogarth (1905), quotes one of Aid Hoggart's songs (Momus and 
Marina), and says that a selection of Hoggart's poems has been reprinted 
by Mr. George Middleton, Ambleside. 



26 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

draw the alphabet with great correctness. My 
exercises when at school were more remarkable for 
the ornaments that adorned them than for the 
exercise itself.' l 

As a boy he was in the habit of making pencil 
sketches on his thumb-nails of whatever struck him. 
This practice he continued, and J. Ireland says that 
when he came home he copied the sketch on paper 
and kept it for future use. He adds, ' Several of 
these sketches I have seen, and in them may be 
traced the first thoughts for many of the characters 
which he afterwards introduced into his works.' 2 

His schooldays were soon brought to an end, and 
he entered in 1712 into an apprenticeship to Ellis 
Gamble, a silver-plate engraver in Cranbourne Alley, 
which ended about 1718. Mr. Dobson points out 
that Gamble was probably a connection of the 
Hogarth family, as there is a notice in 1707 of the 
marriage of a Sarah Gambell to Edmund Hogarth 
in Colonel Chester's London Marriage Licenses, 
1521-1869. 

Hogarth must have done much good work when 
hi the employment of Gamble, although he himself 
refers to his engraving on silver as causing him to 
have to do with ' the monsters ' of heraldry instead 
of learning * to draw objects something like nature.' 3 

1 John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, 1798, vol. iii. p. 4. 

3 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 12 (note). 

3 There is a list of prints of coats-of-arms from those engraved by 
Hogarth in John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 369 ; and another 
in J. B. Nichols's Anecdotes, 1833, p. 292. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 27 

John Thomas Smith in his Life of Nollekens says, 
4 1 am inclined to believe it very possible that some 
curious specimens of Hogarth's dawning genius 
may yet be rescued from future furnaces,' and he 
mentions two silversmiths who collected articles 
of the artist's handicraft. Panton Betew, of Old 
Compton Street, Soho, was intimate with Hogarth, 
and frequently purchased pieces of plate engraved 
with armorial bearings by him. Richard Morison, 
a silversmith hi Cheapside, took off twenty-five 
impressions of the coat-of-arms of Sir Gregory Page 
engraved on a silver tea-table by Hogarth. These 
impressions he not only numbered, but also attested 
each by his signature. Morison after taking the 
impressions melted the plate, which he had bought 
at Sir Gregory's sale. J. T. Smith is wrong in 
stating that the engraving was on a large silver dish. 
Another of his works was an elegant design engraved 
on a large silver tankard used by the members of 
the weekly club (of which Hogarth was a member) 
held at the Spiller's Head in Clare Market. A copy 
of this was given by Samuel Ireland in his Graphic 
Illustrations (1794). One of the earliest of Hogarth's 
works to be catalogued is a reproduction of 

' Sir Plume, of amber snuff-box justly vain, 
And the nice conduct of a clouded cane,' 

in the Eape of the Lock, taken from the lid of a 
gold snuff-box supposed to have been engraved 
about the year 1717. How successfully Hogarth 
engraved the heraldic subjects he undertook, may 



28 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

be seen from the very fine etching of the arms of 
the Duchess of Kendal, mistress of George I., 
also reproduced by Samuel Ireland. In spite of his 
success, he felt truly that for him there was no 
future in silver-plate engraving, and in his auto- 
biography he writes : * Engraving on copper was, at 
twenty years of age, my utmost ambition.' He 
probably practised this art while he was still with 
Gamble, for he engraved a charming little book- 
plate as well as a bold and effective shopbill for his 
master. 1 

An anecdote which John Thomas Smith relates 
in his Nollekens comes in at this time, and shows 
Hogarth's kindly nature ' I have several times 
heard Mr. Nollekens observe that he frequently 
had seen Hogarth, when a young man, saunter 
round Leicester Fields with his master's sickly 
child hanging its head over his shoulder.' 

Richard Hogarth, then residing in Long Lane, 
West Smithfield, died at that place in May 1718. 
Soon afterwards his son William set up in business 
for himself. His shop card is inscribed ' W. 
Hogarth, Engraver. Aprill y e 23, 1720.' A copy 
on which Hogarth had written ' Near the Black 
Bull, Long Lane,' was seen by John Ireland. From 
this address it might be assumed that he continued 
for a time to live with his mother and sisters, but 

1 The name of ' Ellis Gamble of Leicester Fields, Goldsmith,' is among 
the list of bankrupts in 1733 printed in Gentleman's Magazine, vol. iii. 
(1733), p. 48. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 29 

Nichols's copy (Genuine Works, ii. 20) has the inscrip- 
tion ' At y e Golden Ball y e Corner of Cranborne 
Alley, little Newport Street. April y e 29, 1720.' 

In the new business which he started by himself 
Hogarth began to design and engrave plates for the 
booksellers and printsellers, and he continued the 
making of book-plates which he apparently com- 
menced when he was an apprentice of Gamble. 
In the preface to the British Museum Catalogue of 
the Franks Collection of Book-plates (1903, vol. i.), 
it is stated that ' perhaps the most interesting 
plates of the eighteenth century are the four engraved 
by Hogarth, viz. Gamble ; the two states of the 
plate of John Holland, the Herald painter ; George 
Lambart (sic) ; and a plate engraved for some mem- 
ber of the Paulet or Powlett family. The impressions 
of the Gamble and Lambart plates are believed to 
be unique, and to be the same from which [Samuel] 
Ireland made his well-known copies.' 

Hogarth's own plate, which consists of a mono- 
gram of his initials W. H. in a Jacobean frame, is 
not here mentioned. The late Mr. Walter Hamilton, 
Treasurer of the Ex-Libris Society, adopted and 
copied Hogarth's plate as his own, the initials being 
the same. 

In his autobiography Hogarth writes : ' The 
instant I became master of my own time, I deter- 
mined to qualify myself for engraving on copper. 
In this I readily got employment ; and frontispieces 
to books . . . soon brought me into the way. But the 



30 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

tribe of booksellers remained as my father had left 
them, when he died ... of an illness occasioned 
partly by the treatment he met with from this set 
of people ... so that I doubly felt this usage.' 

Hogarth found his proper sphere in 1721 when he 
produced his two earliest satirical engravings 
' An Emblematical print on the South Sea Scheme,' 
and ' The Lottery.' He thus early commenced 
what was to be the main feature of his life-work, 
but these prints were wanting in the chief merits 
of his later productions, which stand easily at the 
head of their class. They did not catch the popular 
taste, and he continued his work for the booksellers 
for some years. 

The late Mr. Frederic George Stephens, in the 
British Museum Catalogue of Satirical Prints (vol. ii. 
p. 15), says, * Hogarth, the originator of English art 
in its modern and current phase, began about 1725 
to do for English artistic satire almost as much as 
he afterwards did, technically and intellectually, for 
English painting. In fact Hogarth created modern 
English satire : he needed no help from inscriptions 
or textual side of any kind, and after 1725 only 
once employed the former ; he drew and there is 
no mistaking his meaning.' 

Mr. Stephens goes on to refer to the two prints 
of 1721 : ' The first work of this designer is, 
however, strikingly enough, cumbrous, and its 
humour is far-fetched ..." The Lottery " is hardly 
less cumbrous, but its humour is spontaneous.' 




S? JAMES THQRNHILL 

Lhl'.l 6y if/re/and from. n. par fra.it mi aU ik<? fame , 





PORTRAIT OF SIR JAMES THORNHILL. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 31 

Hogarth was twenty-eight years of age in 1725, 
so that this date fairly coincides with what he 
himself says : ' Owing to this and other circum- 
stances, by engraving until I was near thirty, I 
could do little more than maintain myself ; but 
even then I was a punctual paymaster.' 

He is reported to have said of himself on one 
occasion, ' I remember the time when I have gone 
moping into the city with scarce a shilling in my 
pocket ; but as soon as I had received ten guineas 
there for a plate I have returned home, put on my 
sword, and sallied out again with all the confidence 
of a man who had ten thousand pounds in his 
pocket.' 

The great turning-point in Hogarth's life was 
his attendance at the painting-school of Sir James 
Thornhill, in the Piazza at the east corne.n o James 
Street, Covent Garden, which was established in 
1724. Hogarth appears from his autobiography 
to have been early moved by Thornhill' s painting, 
which he wished to emulate. He writes : ' I soon 
found this business in every respect too limited. 
The paintings of St. Paul's Cathedral and Green- 
wich Hospital, which were at that time going on, 
ran in my head, and I determined that silver-plate 
engraving should be followed no longer than 
necessity obliged me to it.' 

From this it became certain that Hogarth would 
take the very first opportunity of obtaining the 
advantage of instruction from an artist he so much 



32 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

admired. He is said to have gained the good 
graces of his master by ' Masquerades and Operas, 
Burlington Gate,' also called by Hogarth ' The 
Taste of the Town ' (1724), in which he attacked the 
feeble Kent. This was followed in the following 
year by the severe satire of Kent's altar-piece at 
St. Clement Danes. Kent was the b&te noire of 
Thornhill, and Hogarth completely sympathised 
with him in his dislike. Kent was a bad painter, a 
passable architect, and a good landscape gardener. 

The plates which Hogarth designed for books 
had their merits, but they are distinctly uninterest- 
ing, and this was probably caused by reason of the 
artist not having a free hand, and being interfered 
with by the booksellers. In 1726 Hogarth produced 
the most important of these in a series of illus- 
trations-^ Hudibras, which he specially mentions 
in his autobiography as representative items in this 
department of his work. He must have been 
peculiarly interested in the pleasant task of illus- 
trating the wonderful poem of so congenial a spirit 
as Butler's. The history of these illustrations is a 
very curious one, and can only be stated briefly here, 
but as we have little or no information besides what 
is contained in the books themselves, there are 
many points which are difficult to understand. 
The whole subject, consisting largely of the relative 
chronology of the engravings, the paintings and the 
drawings, requires full investigation. Hudibras was 
first published in 1663-64, and the first edition 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 33 

* adorned with cuts ' was printed for John Baker 
in 1710 with a correct portrait of Butler. In the 
following year another edition with plates from the 
same designs was issued by R. Chiswell. In 1716 
another edition ' adorned with cuts ' was printed 
for T. Home [and others]. This contains the 
same plates as the previous edition, but they 
are somewhat varied, and a correct likeness of 
Butler. It is not stated who was the artist who 
produced these plates. In 1726 appeared the 
edition which was illustrated by Hogarth, printed 
for D. Browne [and others]. The plates were 
founded upon those in the former illustrated editions, 
but were considerably altered, and not always for 
the better. The portrait which serves as frontis- 
piece is not that of Butler, but a copy of White's 
mezzotint of Jean Baptiste Monnoyer the painter. 
This edition was reprinted in 1732 and 1739, and 
each of these reprints contains a correct portrait of 
Butler. All these are printed in duodecimo, and 
there are sixteen small prints by Hogarth. 

Early in the year 1726 (February 24) Hogarth 
issued twelve large prints entirely different from the 
small ones and of an altogether superior character. 
The title-page is as follows : ' Twelve Excellent 
and most Diverting Prints ; taken from the cele- 
brated Poem of Hudibras, wrote by Mr. Samuel 
Butler. Exposing the Villany and Hypocrisy of 
those Times. Invented and Engraved on Twelve 
Copper-Plates by William Hogarth . . . Printed 



34 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and sold by Philip Overtoil, Printer and Map- 
seller at the Golden Buck near St. Dunstan's Church 
in Fleet street ; and John Cooper in James street 
Co vent Garden, 1726,' l and are humbly dedicated 
to William Ward, Esq., of Great Houghton in 
Northamptonshire, and Mr. Allan Ramsay of 
Edinburgh. 

There must be some secret history respecting these 
illustrations of which at present we know nothing. 
It is an extraordinary circumstance for Hogarth to 
bring out almost simultaneously two sets of illustra- 
tions one published with the text by the booksellers, 
and the other without text by printsellers. It 
would seem as if the smaller set had been in hand for 
some time before publication, and the artist being 
discontented with it as being mostly an adaptation 
of other men's work had set to work on his own 
account and with a free hand to produce something 
worthier of the great classic of which he might be 
truly proud. These twelve larger prints must have 
taken a considerable time ' to invent and engrave,' 
and their publication can scarcely have been con- 
sidered as a friendly act by the publishers of the 
small prints. 

They do the greatest credit to Hogarth's invention 
and skill, and form without question the most im- 
portant piece of work which up to this year, 1726, 
he had produced. In some subsequent editions of 

1 The author possesses a series of the first impressions of these prints 
which form a fine (in fact a magnificent) volume. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 35 

Hudibras the small series of prints were repeated, 
and in one at least Hogarth's name is omitted. 
The plates were enlarged and slightly varied by 
J. Mynde for Dr. Zachary Grey's octavo edition. 

Some pictures of incidents in Hudibras attributed 
to Hogarth were exhibited at the Winter Exhibition 
of the Royal Academy (1908). 

Mr. Dobson mentions four series of paintings of 
subjects from Hudibras on the authority of J. B. 
Nichols (Anecdotes, 1833, pp. 349-50). 

1. A set, since sold in November 1872 at the 
death of Mrs. Sawbridge, the owner of East Haddon 
Hall, Northamptonshire, is supposed to have been 
painted by Hogarth subsequent to the issue of the 
large series of prints. Mr, Dobson points out that 
the proprietor of East Haddon in 1726 was the 
William Ward to whom Hogarth dedicated the 
prints, and that therefore it is probable that the 
pictures were painted from the prints by com- 
mission. 

2. A set belonging to John Ireland and believed 
by him to be Hogarth's originals, but thought by 
others to be by Heemskirk. These, Mr. Dobson 
informs me, now belong to Mrs. G. E. Twining, of 
Dulwich. 

3. A set of twelve designs on panel belonging 
in 1833 to J. Britton and believed by him to be 
Hogarth's. Sir Thomas Lawrence pronounced them 
to be by Vandergucht. 

4. A set belonging in 1816 to Mr. W. Davies, 



36 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

bookseller in the Strand. Attributed to Francis 
Le Piper or Lepipre. Several drawings in illustration 
of Hudibras attributed to Hogarth were exhibited 
at Whitechapel in 1906. There are also specimens 
of the same series at Windsor Castle. 1 

Three painted sketches illustrating scenes from 
Hudibras, cantos n. and m., were lent to the Royal 
Academy Winter Exhibition of Old Masters, 1908 
(Nos. 97, 98, and 101), by Mrs. Howard Stormont. 

In connection with these illustrations, an instance 
of Hogarth's familiarity with Hudibras may be seen 
in the print of ' Cunicularii or the Wise Men of 
Godliman in Consultation ' : 

' They hold their Talents most adroit 
For any Mystical Exploit.' Hvdib. 

which was published in December 26, 1726, at the 
time when the mind of the public was much exer- 
cised by the impostures of Mary Tofts, the rabbit- 
breeder. It is referred to here on account of an 
interesting fact recorded by John Nichols in his 
Biographical Anecdotes (1785, p. 23). * In the year 
1726, when the affair of Mary Tofts, the rabbit- 
breeder of Godalming, engaged the public attention, 
a few of our principal surgeons subscribed their 
guinea a-piece to Hogarth, for an engraving from a 

1 John Ireland writes (Hogarth Illustrated, 1793, vol. i. p. xxxii.) : 
' Seven of the drawings are in the possession of Mr. Samuel Ireland, three 
are in Holland ; and two are said to have been in the collection of a person 
in one of the northern provinces about twenty years ago, but are now 
probably destroyed. Thus are the works of genius scattered like the 
SybilPs leaves.' 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 37 

ludicrous sketch he had made on that very popular 
subject.' Some further notice of this print will be 
found in Chapter vi. in connection with the prints 
* Enthusiasm Delineated,' and * Credulity, Supersti- 
tion and Fanaticism : a Medley.' 

In 1728 Hogarth found it necessary to go to law 
with a tradesman, who refused to pay for work done 
for him. The artist in December 1727 agreed with 
Joshua Morris, an upholsterer, who kept a shop in 
Pall Mall at the sign of the Golden Ball, to furnish 
him with a design on canvas, representing the 
element of Earth as a pattern for tapestry, 
apparently a very intractable subject. Morris 
when he received the work was so dissatisfied with 
it that he rejected it and refused payment. He 
had previously been uneasy on being told that 
Hogarth ' was an engraver and no painter.' 

Hogarth sued him for the money, and the suit 
was tried before Lord Chief -Justice Eyre at West- 
minster on May 28, 1728. Nichols prints the 
defendant's case in his Biographical Anecdotes, and 
says that the suit was determined in favour of 
Hogarth. 1 Mr. Dobson writes : ' As to the fate of 
the Element of Earth history is silent. It is not 
likely, however, that it was more fortunate than 
some of Hogarth's subsequent efforts in the " grand 
style." ' 

1 This is the statement in the third edition (1785). In the second edition 
(1782) it is written : ' What was the event of the suit we do not learn, but 
it is probable that Hogarth was non-suited.' Between these two dates the 
author may be supposed to hare learned the truth. 



38 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

One of the artist's witnesses to ability was Sir 
James Thornhill, who was interested in his future 
son-in-law as a pupil and a critic of his arch-enemy 
Kent. Hogarth returned his good offices by gaining 
the affections of the painter's daughter. He felt 
sure that his suit would not receive the sanction of 
Thornhill, so he took the matter in his own hand, 
and running away with his sweetheart was married 
at old Paddington Church on March 23, 1729, as 
appears by the parish register. 

It is supposed that the young couple had the 
active sympathy of Lady Thornhill, and there is 
no doubt that it was not long before the pair were 
forgiven. In 1730, Hogarth was certainly engaged 
with his father-in-law in the production of the well- 
known picture entitled ' The House of Commons,' 
which contains portraits of the Speaker Onslow, 
Sir Robert Walpole, Sidney Godolphin, Colonel R. 
Onslow, Thornhill and the two clerks. 

There is a tradition that Hogarth was engaged at 
the time of his marriage in preparing for his first 
great series of pictures, * A Harlot's Progress,' 
which are dated 1731. The judicious placing a few 
of the sketches in the way of the father-in-law 
caused him to exclaim, ' The man who did those can 
afford to keep a wife.' For a time Hogarth and his 
wife went to live at South Lambeth, but Thornhill 
soon seems to have relented, and we find that at the 
time of engraving of the ' Harlot's Progress ' Hogarth 
was domiciled in the Piazza with his father-in-law, 




PORTRAIT OF LADY THORNHILL. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 39 

who found the assistance of a competent artist 
in some of his pictures of use to him. According to 
Nichols, when Thornhill painted an allegorical 
ceiling, illustrating the story of Zephyrus and 
Flora, at Headley Park, Hants, the figure of a 
satyr was put in by Hogarth, some of whose work 
is also to be seen in the staircase pictures painted 
by Thornhill at the house No. 75 Dean Street, 
Soho. 

About this time Hogarth appears to have been 
initiated into Masonry, probably through the 
influence of Thornhill, who was Senior Grand 
Warden in 1728. The dates are rather uncertain, 
but Hogarth was certainly a Grand Steward in 
1735. 

Mr. G. W. Speth gives, in a note on the picture of 
Night, some particulars of Hogarth's Masonic career. 
In the Grand Lodge Register he appears as a member 
of the lodge meeting at the * Hand and Apple Tree,' 
Little Queen Street. This lodge was constituted 
10th May 1725, met in 1728 at the ' King's Arms/ 
Westminster, in 1729 at the ' Vine,' Holborn, and 
was erased in 1737. It cannot be determined 
whether he remained a member of the lodge till 
its erasure or at what period he joined it. The 
Grand Lodge Register shows that he was also a 
member of the' Corner Stone Lodge ' in 1731. This 
name, however, was not assumed till 1779. It 
started in its career in 1730 at the ' Bear and 
Harrow ' in Butcher Row, and its list of members 



40 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

shows it has been one of the most distinguished 
lodges of the day. 1 

When Hogarth lived at South Lambeth he 
renewed his acquaintance with Jonathan Tyers, 
who re-founded Vauxhall Gardens hi 1732, and 
helped him with advice as well as more material 
services. He presented Tyers with his picture of 
Henry vni. and Anna Bullen in 1729, which was hung 
in the Rotunda. While preparing for the opening 
of the gardens, Tyers became very depressed respect- 
ing the probable success of his undertaking. Hogarth 
suggested that the gardens should be opened with a 
Ridotto al fresco, which took place on Wednesday, 
the 7th of June 1732, and proved a great success. 
Several years afterwards he allowed Francis Hayman 
to copy his * Four Times of the Day.' In consequence 
Hayman's pictures at Vauxhall were often mistaken 
for the work of Hogarth. 

In return for all his valuable assistance, Tyers 
presented Hogarth with a free pass (gold ticket) to 
admit a coachful (six persons) to the gardens. Mrs. 
Hogarth had it after her husband's death, and in 
1856 it was in the possession of Mr. Frederick 
Gye, who bought it for 20. It was subsequently 
sold at Sotheby's for 310. The design of the pass 
was attributed to Hogarth, but Mr. Warwick Wroth 
thinks that probably it was the work of Richard 
Yeo. 

We have now come to the parting of the ways. 

1 Transactions of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, vol. ii., 1889, p. 116. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 41 

The artist was beginning to be recognised, but he 
was only recognised as * an ingenious designer and 
engraver.' Sir James Thornhill died on May 13, 
1734, and in an obituary notice after a mention of 
his only son it is added, ' He left no other issue but 
one daughter, now the wife of Mr. Wm. Hogarth, 
admired for his curious miniature conversation 
paintings.' This is about the earliest mention of the 
paintings, and these were soon to be eclipsed by his 
brilliant satires which gave him a European reputa- 
tion. His marriage had stirred him to greater 
endeavours, and he had begun to mount the ladder 
of success. 

On the death of Thornhill, the properties con- 
nected with the art school formed by him in a room 
built at the back of his house came into the pos- 
session of Hogarth, and were transferred to the 
studio in Peter's Court, St. Martin's Lane, which 
Roubiliac had left. ' Thinking,' Hogarth remarks, 
' that an academy conducted on proper and moderate 
principles had some use, [I] proposed that a number 
of artists should enter into a subscription for the hire 
of a place large enough to admit thirty or forty 
people to draw after a naked figure.' Hogarth did 
not approve of the plan adopted by Thornhill of 
admitting all who required admission without pay- 
ment, and he writes : ' I proposed that every 
member should contribute an equal sum to the 
establishment, and have an equal right to vote in 
every question relative to the society. As to 



42 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

electing presidents, directors, professors, etc., I 
considered it as a ridiculous imitation of the foolish 
parade of the French Academy.' He adds, writing 
in 1762 : ' To return to our own Academy; by the 
regulations I have mentioned, of a general equality, 
etc., it has now subsisted near thirty years, and is, 
to every useful purpose, equal to that in France or 
any other ; but this does not satisfy.' 

Hogarth disapproved of the formation of the Royal 
Academy (which was largely formed by the members 
of his own society), and ' refused to assign to the 
society the property which I had before lent them. 
I am accused of acrimony, ill-nature, and spleen, 
and held forth as an enemy to the arts and artists. 
How far their mighty project will succeed, I neither 
know nor care ; certain I am it deserves to be 
laughed at, and laughed at it has been.' 

After his marriage Hogarth had to undertake 
work which was likely to be more profitable than 
what he had previously been engaged in, so he took 
in hand the painting of portraits and conversation 
pieces, but these did not pay him so well as he 
expected. He writes in his autobiography : ' I 
then married and commenced painter of small 
conversation pieces, from twelve to fifteen inches 
high. This having novelty, succeeded for a few 
years. But though it gave somewhat more scope 
to the fancy, was still but a less kind of drudgery ; 
and as I could not bring to act like some of my 
brethren and make it a sort of a manufactory, to be 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 43 

carried on by the help of background and drapery 
painters, it was not sufficiently profitable to pay the 
expences my family required. I therefore turned 
my thoughts to a still more novel mode, viz. painting 
and engraving modern moral subjects, a field not 
broken up in any country or any age.' 

Joseph Mitchell, for whose opera, The Highland 
Fair, Hogarth designed a frontispiece, wrote in 
1730 'A Poetical Epistle to Mr. Hogarth, an 
eminent historical and Conversation Painter,' in 
which he introduced this couplet : 

' Large families obey your hand ; 
Assemblies rise at your command.' 

These family pictures were styled respectively 
Conversations and Assemblies. A Conversation was 
a group of persons, generally of one family, and an 
Assembly was a still larger collection of persons ; 
but now that the special meaning of the two words is 
lost there has been some confusion in the use of the 
terms. Thus the picture which was sold on June 3, 
1905, by Messrs. Christie, amongst Lord Tweed- 
mouth's collection, and was exhibited at the Winter 
Exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1906 by Mr. 
C. Morland Agnew, was catalogued as an Assembly 
at Wanstead House, although it was described on 
the frame as *A Conversation.' This picture is 
further alluded to in Chapter m. 

Most of these Conversation pieces were painted 
within a few years of the painter's marriage, 



44 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

although it has been difficult to fix the date of many 
of them. Samuel Ireland engraved in the Graphic 
Illustrations (1799) a ' Conversation in the Manner of 
Vandyck,' from a painting which he bought from 
Charles Catton, R.A. It was said to be painted by 
Hogarth to prove he could do as good work as 
Vandyck, a pretension which was disputed by his 
colleagues in the Academy of St. Martin's Lane. 
Ireland declares that the picture was painted about 
1740. He illustrates his narrative by the well- 
known and amusing anecdote of John Freke, the 
famous surgeon. 

' Hogarth one day dining with some friends, 
amongst whom was Cheselden, a surgeon of great 
eminence, was told, that it had been asserted by 
Mr. Freke, a surgeon, in a public company, that Dr. 
Greene, the musician, was as eminent and skilful 
a composer as Handel. On which Hogarth replied : 
That Freke is always shooting his bolt absurdly: 
Handel is a giant in music ; Greene is only a light 
Florimel kind of composer. True, said another of 
the company, but that same Freke declared you 
were as good a portrait-painter as Vandyck. There 
he was in the right, adds Hogarth, and so I am, give 
me my time and let me choose my subject.' 

His composition of these small pictures with 
numerous figures taught him the great art of 
arranging his materials with skill an art which he 
can scarcely be said to display in his illustrations of 
books except in the case of the plates to Hudibras. 






HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 45 

He thus taught himself to become pre-eminent in 
the orderly arrangement of a multitude of details 
in his pictures, where the less important accessories 
are always subordinated to the main theme of the 
composition. 

Hogarth himself admirably describes the ideas 
he had formed in his own mind as to the plan of 
composition of his great series of moral satires : 
' The reasons which induced me to adopt this mode 
of designing were, that I thought both writers 
and painters had, in the historical style, totally 
overlooked that intermediate species of subject, 
which may be placed between the sublime and 
grotesque. I therefore wished to compose pictures 
on canvas, similar to representations on the stage, 
and farther hope, that they will be tried by the same 
test, and criticised by the same criterion. . . . 
Ocular demonstration will carry more conviction 
to the mind of a sensible man, than all he would 
find in a thousand volumes ; and this has been 
attempted in the prints I have composed. Let the 
decision be left to every unprejudiced eye ; let the 
figures in either pictures or prints, be considered 
as players dressed either for the sublime, for 
genteel comedy, or farce, for high or low life. I 
have endeavoured to treat my subjects as a 
dramatic writer ; my picture is my stage, and men 
and women my players, who by means of certain 
actions and gestures, are to exhibit a dumb show. 9 

During the period between 1728 and 1735, which 



46 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

saw his marriage and the death of his father-in-law, 
Hogarth did an immense amount of work, both in 
painting and engraving, and doubtless much of his 
progress in painting was due to what he learned 
from his association with Thornhill. 

His time was chiefly employed in the production 
of illustrations to books, conversation pieces, the 
six pictures and plates of the * Harlot's Progress ' 
(1731-2), and such important pictures and engrav- 
ings as the ' Committee of the House of Commons 
examining Bambridge ' (1729), 'Scene in the Indian 
Emperor' (1731), ' Southwark Fair' (1733), and 
' A Midnight Modern Conversation ' (1733). These 
pictures will be considered in later chapters. ' The 
Rake's Progress' was undertaken in 1735, and the 
'Four Times of the Day' in 1738. He had there- 
fore already proved to the world what a great and 
original artist he was, although it was not until the 
year 1745 that he produced his masterpiece the 
six pictures of the ' Marriage a la Mode.' 

This was the turning-point in Hogarth's career. 
He had been gradually preparing himself for the 
position which he knew he was capable of occupying, 
and now the world was ready to acclaim him victor. 
He exhibited a rare instance of the union of the 
man of business with an original genius. He 
entirely made his own career by continued progress 
and experience, and by so working as to cause 
everything to lead to the desired end. 

With the brilliant power of original conception, 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 47 

but escaping the impetuosity of genius, he was willing 
to work continuously in the most laborious manner 
to perfect himself in whatever he undertook. 
Genius has been denied to him by some, but it is 
safe either to claim or deny because it is impossible 
to define genius. Whatever else it may be, 
originality is its very essence, and there never 
lived a man with a more original mind than Hogarth. 
In his own particular line the world has never seen 
his equal, and probably never will. 

Though success came, it was not unalloyed. 
Annoyance and persecution followed the man during 
the remainder of his life. The popularity of his 
work caused him to become the prey of the pirates 
who instantly copied and spoiled the sale of his 
original engravings; for instance, Steevens tells us 
that he had seen eight piratical imitations of the 
' Harlot's Progress.' The earliest and best of these, 
published by Bowles, contained verses on the 
different scenes. Hogarth saw the advantage of 
these, and added verses written by Chancellor 
Hoadly to the plates of the ' Rake's Progress.' 

The evils of this widespread practice of piracy 
were so great that it became imperative to take 
action in the matter. In concert with George 
Vertue, Gerard Vandergucht, Pine, and Lambert, 
besides several others, he petitioned Parliament for 
leave to bring in a bill to vest in designers and 
engravers an exclusive right to their own works 
and to restrain the multiplying of copies without 



48 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

their consent. Hogarth applied to William Huggins, 
author of the oratorio of Judith, who drafted the 
bill on the statute of Queen Anne in favour of 
literary property. It was not satisfactory in 
practice, and as Mr. Stephens says, ' gave, although 
it did not secure, copyright to artists.' In a cause 
which came before Lord Hardwicke in Chancery, 
he determined that no assignee, claiming under an 
assignment from the original inventor, could take 
any benefit by the Act. According to Sir John 
Hawkins, Hogarth lamented to him 'that he had 
employed Huggins to 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.' 

In the London Daily Post, June 27, 1735, there is 
a special reference to the acts of the pirates. 
' Certain Printsellers in London, intending not only 
to injure Mr. Hogarth in his Property, but also to 
impose their base imitations on the Publick, which 
they being oblig'd to do only [by] what they could 
carry away by memory from the sight of the 
Paintings, have executed most wretchedly both in 
Design and Drawing, as will be very obvious when 
they are expos' d.' 

The ' Rake's Progress ' was printed by Boitard on 
one very large sheet of paper, and came out about 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 49 

a fortnight before the genuine set. Hogarth's 
originals were kept back until ' Hogarth's Act ' 
(8 Geo. n. cap. 13) received the Royal Assent on 
May 15, 1735. His attempt to issue cheap sets in 
order to drive out the pirates was not successful. 
In spite of the faults of the new Act, Hogarth seems 
to have been fairly satisfied with the result as an 
improvement upon the previous lawless condition 
of things. 

He wrote in his autobiography: 'After having 
had my plates pirated almost in all sizes, I in 1735 
applied to Parliament for redress, and obtained it 
in so liberal a manner, as hath not only answered 
my own purpose, but made prints a considerable 
article in the commerce of this country ; there 
being now more business of this kind done here, 
than in Paris, or any where else and as well. The 
dealers in pictures and prints found their craft in 
danger by what they called a new-fangled innova- 
tion. Their trade of living and getting fortunes by 
the ingenuity of the industrious has I know, suffered 
much by my interference ; and if the detection of 
this band of public cheats, and oppressors of the 
rising artists, be a crime, I confess myself most 
guilty.' 

Hogarth commemorated the passing of the Act by 
publishing a small print with emblematical devices 
entitled ' Crowns, Mitres, Maces, etc,' and the follow- 
ing inscription quoted from Nichols's Biographical 
Anecdotes : 



50 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

In humble and grateful acknowledgment 
of the grace and goodness of the Legislature 

Manifested 

In the Act of Parliament for the Encouragement 
Of the Arts of Designing, Engraving, &c. 

obtained 

By the Endeavours, and almost at the sole Expence, 
Of the Designer of this Print in the Year 1735 ; 

By which 

Not only the Professors of those Arts were rescued 
From the Tyranny, Frauds, and Piracies 

Of Monopolizing Dealers, 
And legally entitled to the Fruits of their own Labours ; 

But Genius and Industry were also prompted 
By the most noble and generous Inducements to exert themselves ; 

Emulation was excited, 

Ornamental Compositions were better understood ; 
And every Manufacture, where Fancy has any concern, 
Was gradually raised to a Pitch of Perfection before unknown ; 
Insomuch, that those of Great-Britain 

Are at present the most Elegant 
And the most in Esteem of Any in Europe. 

This etching was converted into a receipt for the 
subscription to the Election Series, and inscribed 
' Designed, Etch'd and Publish'd as the Act directs 
by Wm. Hogarth, March 20th, 1754.' 

On a scroll is written, ' An Act for the Encourage- 
ment of the Arts of Designing, Engraving, and Etch- 
ing, by vesting the Properties thereof in the Inventors 
and Engravers, during the time therein mentioned.' l 
About this time the engravings of Hogarth began 

1 After Hogarth's death his widow was granted (7 Geo. in. cap. 38) a 
further exclusive term of twenty years in the property of her husband's 
works. Mr. Stephens remarks respecting this, ' Even " Mrs. Hogarth's 
Act," which became law many years after this date, did little more than 
declare the wishes of Parliament.' B.M. Catalogue, vol. iv. p. 55. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 51 

to attract crowds around the shop windows which 
contained them, and besides these the frequent 
satires on the artist were eagerly sought after. 

Mr. Stephens writes of a rather later date : ' His 
figure was so well known that everybody recognised 
it in "A Stir in the City," where he appears in a 
crowd before the Guildhall.' ] 

It seems strange, after Hogarth had mastered 
the secret of success by a series of carefully considered 
steps, each of which led him higher on the ladder of 
fame, that he should for a time have turned aside 
to follow a style of art that was not in accord with 
his taste and practice. He makes in his auto- 
biography a sort of ' Apologia ' for doing this, 
although he is far too modest in the opening 
sentence as to the importance of the two 
' Progresses ' already published : ' Before I had done 
anything of much consequence in this walk, I 
entertained some hopes of succeeding in what 
the puffers in books call the great style of history 
painting ; so that without having had a stroke of 
this grand business before : I quitted small portraits 
and familiar conversations, and with a smile at my 
own temerity, commenced history painter, and on 
a great staircase at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 
painted two Scripture stories, " The Pool of 
Bethesda," and " The Good Samaritan," with figures 

1 A further proof of Hogarth's popularity is to be seen in the note 
of publication of this print, ' Sold by John Smith at Hogarth's Head 
opposite Wood Street, Cheapside.' B.M. Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 911. 



52 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

seven feet high. These I presented to the Charity, 
and thought they might serve as a specimen, to 
show that were there an inclination in England for 
encouraging historical pictures, such a first essay 
might prove the painting more easily attainable 
than is generally imagined. But as religion, the 
great promoter of this style in other countries, 
rejected it in England, I was unwilling to sink into 
a portrait manufacturer, and still ambitious of being 
singular, dropped all expectations of advantage from 
that source, and returned to the pursuit of my 
former dealings with the public at large. This I 
found was most likely to answer my purpose, pro- 
vided I could strike the passions, and by small 
sums from many, by the sale of prints, which I 
could engrave from my own pictures, thus secure 
my property to myself.' 

We here see that Hogarth was not altogether 
satisfied with the result. Although he condemns 
the attitude of Protestantism towards the inclusion 
of religious pictures in churches, he must have felt 
that such painting was uncongenial to him. He 
did, however, return to the painting of religious 
subjects after 1736, for in 1748 he painted 'Paul 
before Felix ' for the Honourable Society of 
Lincoln's Inn ; in 1751 ' Moses brought to Pharaoh's 
Daughter' for the Foundling Hospital, and in 1756 
the altar-piece for St. Mary Redcliffe, Bristol. 
The latter consists of three compartments: the 
centre division, which is much the largest, represents 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 53 

the Ascension, and has not been engraved. The 
subject of the right compartment is ' The Sealing 
of the Sepulchre,' that of the left ' The Three Maries 
visiting the Sepulchre.' The two side pictures were 
engraved by Isaac Jenner. 

Some further remarks will be found in subsequent 
chapters on the pictures at St. Bartholomew's and 
Foundling Hospitals and at Lincoln's Inn, but as 
those at Bristol have nothing to do with London life 
a few words respecting them may be added in this 
place. Hogarth received 525 for these pictures, 
but they have never been favourites, and by some 
have been unconditionally condemned. They were 
presented by the Vestry of St. Mary Redclifife to the 
Fine Arts Academy of Clifton in 1857. 

A writer in the Critical Review (June 1756), just 
after the completion of the altar-piece, remarks 
' that the purchasing such a picture for their church 
does great honour to the opulent city for which it 
was painted, and is the likeliest means to raise a 
British School of Artists,' although he adds, ' It 
would be a just subject for public regret if Mr. 
Hogarth should abandon a branch of painting in 
which he stands alone, unrivalled and inimitable, 
to pursue another in which so many have already 
excelled.' Britton in his Historical and Architectural 
Essay on Redcliffe Church, 1813, says of the pictures 
' they possess much merit, and may be viewed with 
advantage by the young artist, but in the forms and 
expressions of the figures, and in their attitudes 



54 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and grouping, we seek in vain for propriety, dignity 
or elegance.' This is too severe a criticism, and the 
chief objection to Hogarth's religious pictures is 
that they are not conceived with the spirituality 
and the lofty aim which we expect in religious 
subjects, but we know Hogarth was not capable 
of throwing into his work. It is necessary to 
remember, however, that few if any painters of the 
eighteenth century rose to this height. 

Professor Baldwin Brown in his book on Hogarth 
has some admirable remarks on this subject. He 
writes : ' The blunderers in the matter of historical 
painting were not Hogarth or his predecessors, 
but the later men of the period after Reynolds, who 
took themselves seriously as professed votaries of 
the " grand style." . . . Reynolds' s own efforts 
in the grand style are theatrical and unreal, while 
Haydon and other men of genius who broke their 
hearts over unsuccessful efforts, were stumbling 
in the dark with no guidance but a noble ambition. 
... If Hogarth's work in this style is cold and 
uninspired, at any rate it is better than the blunder- 
ing efforts of some of his successors in the school.' 

Hogarth appears to have lived nearly the whole 
of his working life in Leicester Square and its 
immediate neighbourhood. Although he occasion- 
ally frequented the lowest haunts of London life 
for the purposes of his art, he was no Bohemian. 
He lived a quiet and respectable life, and kept a 
comfortable home for his wife and himself. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 55 

John Thomas Smith in his Nollekens absurdly 
attacks his moral character, and sets down in his 
Table of Contents the entry ' Immorality of 
Hogarth. 5 In justification of this he writes : 
' Great as Hogarth was in his display of every 
variety of character, I should never think of 
exhibiting a portfolio of his prints to a youthful 
inquirer ; nor can I agree that the man who was so 
accustomed to visit, so fond of delineating, and 
who gave up so much of his time to the vices of the 
most abandoned classes, was in truth a " moral 
teacher of mankind." My father knew Hogarth 
well, and I have often heard him declare, that he 
revelled in the company of the drunken and the 
profligate : Churchill, Wilkes, Hayman, etc., were 
among his constant companions. Dr. John Hoadly, 
though in my opinion it reflected no credit on him, 
delighted in his company ; but he did not approve 
of all the prints produced by him, particularly that 
of the first state of " Enthusiasm Displayed " (sic) 
which had Mr. Garrick or Dr. Johnson seen, they 
could never for a moment have entertained their 
high esteem of so irreligious a character.' 

It is quite possible to condemn several of Hogarth's 
prints without agreeing with this sweeping con- 
demnation, which contains nothing that can justify 
a charge of immorality. The character of the 
friends who will be specially mentioned later on is 
sufficient answer to such an unwarrantable attack. 
When a boy, as we have already seen, Hogarth was 



56 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

apprenticed to Ellis Gamble in Cranbourne Alley. 
After living for a short time with his family in Long 
Lane, he set up for himself in 1720, apparently at 
the corner of Cranbourne Alley by Little Newport 
Street, but we have no evidence as to how long he 
remained there. 

After his marriage he moved about for a time ; 
but in 1733 he had taken the house at the south- 
east corner of Leicester Fields, which was rebuilt a 
few years ago. 

Here he remained for the rest of his life, with the 
villa at Chiswick as his country house. His widow 
remained in the Square after her husband's death. 
Taking up again the chronology of Hogarth's life, 
we find that after finishing his Scripture pictures 
at St. Bartholomew's Hospital he occupied himself 
with success in painting portraits. His grand por- 
trait of Captain Coram at the Foundling Hospital 
was painted in 1739, that of Martin Folkes, P.R.S., 
in 1741, and his own portrait in the National Gallery 
in 1745, the year of the publication of the ' Marriage a 
la Mode,' his masterpiece, which was preceded in 1738 
by the ' Four Times of the Day,' the most interest- 
ing of his London prints. Other great works by him 
which should be mentioned here are the ' March to 
Finchley' (1750), and the Four Pictures of an 
Election (1755). To these must be added the 
twelve prints of ' Industry and Idleness ' (1747). 

Comparatively early in his career, Hogarth's 
prints were known on the Continent ; in fact he was 




FRONTISPIECE TO "CATALOGUE OF PICTURES." 1761. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 57 

little over thirty years of age when his pictures 
were copied on fans and pottery and reproduced 
for the benefit of foreigners. The ' Midnight 
Modern Conversation ' (1733) was the first English 
print to be re-engraved and republished abroad; 
and a passage in one of Walpole's Letters to Sir 
Horace Mann (Dec. 15, 1748), referring to ' The 
Gate of Calais ' (1749), seems to show that the 
Governor and the people about him were acquainted 
with Hogarth's fame, and in spite of the satire 
enjoyed the humour of his sketches. 

Hogarth went to France, and was so imprudent 
as to take a sketch of the drawbridge at Calais. 
He was seized and carried to the Governor, where 
he was forced to prove his vocation by producing 
several caricatures of the French ; particularly a 
scene of the shore, with an immense piece of beef 
landing for the 'Lion d' Argent, the English inn at 
Calais, and several hungry friars following it. They 
were much diverted with his drawings, and dis- 
missed him.' This occurrence was immediately 
after the Peace of Aix la Chapelle. There are three 
versions of the story, the first by the painter him- 
self, another in Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes, 
and the third as above. 1 Hogarth was ready on all 

1 The original picture of Calais Gate was bought from the painter by the 
Earl of Charlemont. It was sold in 1874 for .945 and formed part of the 
Bolckow collection until May 1891, when it was bought by Messrs. Agnew 
for 2450 guineas. It was afterwards in the collection of the Duke of 
Westminster, who in July 1895 presented it to the National Gallery. 
The picture was engraved and published in March 1749, and entitled ' 
the Roust Beef of Old England, etc.' DOBSON. 



58 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

occasions to condemn the connoisseurs and those 
who advocated 'foreign fashions.' He was con- 
tented with English Art, but he was not so narrow- 
minded as his enemies attempted to prove. He 
did not care to waste his time in arguing or answering 
his opponents. He launched his thunderbolts and 
was satisfied if they took effect. 

Soured by the neglect of his pictures, on the sale 
of which alone he could not have existed, we cannot 
be surprised at his strong opinions adverse to those 
who neglected English painters but spent large 
sums upon what he was pleased to call the ' Black 
Masters.' There is no doubt that these connoisseurs 
laid themselves open to his satire, and this was often 
exceedingly good, as for instance the tailpiece to 
the catalogue of pictures exhibited in Spring Gardens 
(1761), when a travelled Monkey with fine clothes and 
an eye-glass is seen watering ' exoticks ' in two pots. 

In one of Mrs. Piozzi's anecdotes of Hogarth we 
learn how he really felt with respect to the great 
masters. He said that Johnson's conversation was 
to that of other men like Titian's painting com- 
pared with Hudson's ' but don't you tell people 
now that I say so, for the connoisseurs and I are 
at war, you know ; and because I hate them, they 
think I hate Titian, and let them ! ' 

We have excellent authority for Reynolds's 
contempt of ignorant criticism : 

' When they talked of their Raphaels, Correggios, and stuff, 
He shifted his trumpet and only took snuff.' 




I- ' 

o,*_i 



o b 



TAILPIECE TO "CATALOGUE OF PICTURES." 1761. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 59 

Hogarth was indignant with and intemperate in 
his language towards the connoisseurs from the time 
he first began to paint, and it must be allowed that 
he had cause. His first pictorial attack was con- 
tained in ' The Battle of the Pictures,' prepared in 
the beginning of the year 1745, as a ticket for the 
sale of his paintings which was arranged to take place 
at this time. Above the design is engraved : ' The 
bearer hereof is entitled (if he thinks proper) to be a 
bidder for Mr. Hogarth's pictures, which are to be sold 
on the last day of this month ' (February 1744-5). 

It is the old battle between the Moderns and the 
Ancients, which fired Swift in the Battle of the Books. 
In this print there are at the left of the plate 
three rows or battalions of old pictures, true and 
false, ready to be sold, and above them there is a 
flag with an auctioneer's hammer displayed. The 
outside of the saleroom is surmounted by a vane 
having the four points of the compass lettered 
p, u, f, s. The weathercock is intended as a play 
upon the name of the fashionable auctioneer Cock, 
of the Piazza, Covent Garden. Some of the ancient 
pictures are flying in the air, attacking and injuring 
some of Hogarth's works, but the Moderns are not 
allowed to be beaten, and in the end the damage 
to each side is about equal. An old ' St. Francis ' 
injures the modern ' Noon,' and a copy of the 
antique mural painting styled ' The Aldobrandini 
Marriage ' makes a serious rent in one of the scenes 
in the tragedy of the ' Marriage a la Mode,' but 



60 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Hogarth's pictures have their opportunity and are 
enabled to injure some of the Black Masters. 

If the English painter was mad before the sale, 
he must have been madder when he found what 
ridiculous prices his pictures fetched. 

It is strange that Hogarth, who was business-like 
in his work, should be so thoroughly unbusiness-like 
in so important a matter as the selling of his pictures. 
He published rules and regulations respecting the 
biddings, which must have been singularly irritating 
to those who proposed to be purchasers. The 
biddings were to remain open from the first to the 
last day of February. No person was to bid on 
the last day, except those whose names were before 
entered in the book. The printed proposals con- 
clude with this note : ' As Mr. Hogarth's room is but 
small, he begs the favour that no persons, except 
those whose names are entered in the book, will come 
to view his paintings on the last day of sale.' 

The miserable result of the sale of nineteen of 
Hogarth's chief pictures under these absurd con- 
ditions was the realisation of 427, 7s. Od. 



'Harlot's Progress,' six at 14 guineas each, . 88 4 

' Rake's Progress,' eight at 22 guineas, . . 184 16 

' Morning,' 20 guineas, . . . ' ; . 21 

' Noon,' 37 guineas, . . . . . 38 17 

' Evening,' 38 guineas, . . . ... 39 18 

' Night,' 26 guineas, 27 6 

' Strolling Players,' 26 guineas, . 07 n 



27 6 



427 7 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 61 

At this sale it was announced that the six pictures 
of the ' Marriage a la Mode ' would be sold in the 
same manner as soon as the plates then being taken 
from them should be completed. 

The sale was delayed until June 1751, when these 
masterpieces were obtained by the highest bidder 
for 126 or twenty guineas each, that is, a little 
more than the ' Harlot's Progress,' and less than 
the ' Rake's Progress.' As the frames, which cost 
the painter four guineas each, were included, the 
actual receipt was only sixteen guineas each. The 
purchaser was Mr. Lane, of Hillingdon near Ux- 
bridge, who was the only attendant in Leicester 
Square on June 6 (the last day of sale), with the 
exception of Hogarth himself, and his friend Dr. 
James Parsons. It was announced that the highest 
written offer was 120, on which Lane offered 
guineas, with the expression of a desire that they 
should wait until the fixed hour of closure in case a 
purchaser willing to give more should arrive. 

The painter allowed his hatred of the picture- 
dealer to injure the value of his property by ruling 
that ' no dealers in pictures were to be admitted 
as bidders,' thus greatly limiting the possibility of 
competition. Surely some of these men would have 
had the wisdom to prevent the sale of such precious 
works of art at so low a price. 

Hogarth satirised the Society of Dilettanti and 
' Athenian ' Stuart in his print ' The Five Orders of 
Perriwigs as they were worn at the late Coronation, 



62 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

measured Architectonically,' in 1761, which, oddly 
enough, is intended to make fun of a book, the first 
volume of which was not published until the follow- 
ing year, viz. The Antiquities of Athens measured 
and delineated by James Stuart and Nicholas 
Revett, 1762. The explanation of this anticipation 
of the book is given in the History of the Society 
(1898), where in a note we read, ' It would appear 
that even before the publication of the work, Stuart 
had expatiated freely upon its merits and those of 
the artists concerned.' 

John Ireland quotes from Hogarth's MSS. the 
foUowing passage, which shows the object of his 
satire : ' It requires no more skill to take the 
dimensions of a pillar or cornice, than to measure a 
square box, and yet the man who does the latter is 
neglected, and he who accomplishes the former 
is considered as a miracle of genius, but I suppose 
he receives his honours for the distance he has 
travelled to do his business.' Stuart took all this 
in good part, and was willing that the public should 
think that he himself was pleased even with the 
adverse criticism of a genius. J. T. Smith in his 
Nollekens says his parlour in his house on the 
south side of Leicester Square * was decorated 
with some of Hogarth's most popular prints, and 
upon a fire-screen he had pasted an impression of 
the plate called the " Periwigs," a print which Mr. 
Stuart always showed his visitors as Hogarth's 
satire on his first volume of Athenian Antiquities.' 




As StatuesmoulderintfAVbrth.^/V//- 



r ~f>- //////r 0m/ ; v w ' 

f ^1 ,'/-/Sfr/vt i> i-//ifj;/,Tt'I>rlf'fo 



"TIME SMOKING A PICTURE." 1761. 

Subscription Ticket for Sigismunda. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 63 

Horace Walpole, in a letter to George Montagu, 
Nov. 7, 1761, referring to a copy of the ' Periwigs,' 
which he sent, writes, ' The Athenian head [the 
barber's block] was intended for Stuart ; but was 
so like, that Hogarth was forced to cut off the nose.' 
A curious satire on Hogarth's satire entitled ' A 
Sett of Blocks for Hogarth's wigs,' was published in 
October 1762. 1 

To return to the subject of Hogarth's warfare 
against the ' Black Masters,' which about this time 
became a specially deadly struggle owing to the 
personal interests introduced by the malignant 
criticism of his painting of ' Sigismunda,' in 1759. 
He kept up the feud until his death, for the tail- 
piece ' Finis ' or ' The Bathos or Manner of Sinking, 
in Sublime Paintings, inscribed to the Dealers in Dark 
Pictures,' was his last published work (March 3, 1764). 

' Time Smoking a Picture ' (1761) was the 
subscription ticket for the print of ' Sigismunda,' 
which did not appear until many years after 
Hogarth's death. 

Time as an aged man seated on a fragment of a 
statue, is seen puffing smoke from his pipe against 
the surface of a landscape painting on an easel 

1 Mr. F. G. Stephens gives a very full account of this etching in the 
B.M. Catalogue (vol. iv. p. 11), and quotes the Advertisement below the 
design. ' In about seventeen years will be compleated in six volumes folio, 
price fifteen guineas, the exact measurements of the Perriwigs of the 
ancients ; taken from the Bustos and Basso Eilievos of Athens, Palmira, 
Balbec and Home ; by Modesto, Perriwig-meter from Lagado. N.B. None 
will be sold but to Subscribers.' A description of ' a Sett of Blocks ' will 
be found in the same catalogue (vol. iv. p. 137). 



64 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

before him, and near the easel is a large jar of varnish. 
Time's scythe is seen to have pierced the canvas, 
so that here are figured the various causes for the 
dark character of some of the pictures of the old 
masters that have been looked upon as giving added 
value to them. Mr. Stephens says of the original 
print, ' In order to enhance the characteristic 
depth of tone in the representation of the picture 
on which Time is operating, Hogarth mezzotinted 
the landscape, and etched the remainder of the 
work. This distinction of parts is not observable 
in copies from this print.' 1 This subscription 
ticket contains a very effective attack upon the 
artist's enemies, who had greatly increased in con- 
sequence of the painting of ' Sigismunda.' 

The story of this picture is so well-known that 
any notice of it here must be brief, but as it formed 
one of the most important incidents in this quarrel 
that embittered Hogarth's later years, the case must 
be stated. 

We have Hogarth's own narrative of the origin 
of the painting of ' Sigismunda weeping over the 
heart of her murdered lover Guiscardo,' from 
Dryden's version of Boccaccio's story. Sir Richard 
Grosvenor urged Hogarth to paint him a picture, 
which was undertaken with reluctance, although the 
choice of a subject was left to the artist. Having 
been disgusted at the high prices paid for the old 
masters at Sir Luke Schaub's sale, and especially at 

1 .B..lf. Catalogue, vol. iv. p. 43. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 65 

400 being realised for a picture of ' Sigismunda ' 
attributed to Correggio, but believed to be by 
Furini, Hogarth chose the same subject and at once 
put himself in competition with the Italian in order 
to prove that he could paint a better picture. While 
it was being painted the patron expressed himself 
pleased with it, but subsequently he changed his 
mind in consequence of adverse criticism which was 
aroused by the enemies of Hogarth, who himself 
expressed himself strongly on the subject. He wrote : 
* As the most violent and virulent abuse thrown 
on "Sigismunda" was from a set of miscreants, 
with whom I am proud of having been ever at war, 
I mean the expounders of the mysteries of old 
pictures; I have been sometimes told they were 
beneath my notice. This is true of them individu- 
ally, but as they have access to people of rank, who 
seem as happy in being cheated, as these merchants 
are in cheating them, they have a power of doing 
much mischief to a modern artist.' 

The correspondence between Grosvenor and 
Hogarth has been printed in the third volume of 
John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, and it does not 
do much credit to Sir Richard Grosvenor 's courtesy 
or good taste. Hogarth fixed the price of the 
picture at 400, for which sum the old picture sold, 
but he gave Sir Richard the option of refusing it. 
He only asked him to make up his mind, as Hoare 
the banker wanted a picture painted. In answer 
Sir Richard did not give his real reason for being 

E 



66 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

disappointed with the picture, but wrote : ' If he 
[Mr. Hoare] should have taken a fancy to the 
" Sigismunda," I have no sort of objection to your 
letting him have it ; for I really think the per- 
formance so striking and inimitable, that the 
constantly having it before one's eyes would be too 
often occasioning melancholy ideas to arise in one's 
mind, which a curtain's being drawn before it would 
not diminish in the least.' 

This letter was not likely to give much satis- 
faction to Hogarth, and he settled the matter as 
soon as he could by giving the picture to his wife and 
desiring her not to sell it for less than 500. What 
hurt the painter in this most unfortunate affair was 
the disgusting manner in which his enemies de- 
scribed 'Sigismunda' as a representation of a vile 
woman, although they knew well enough that the 
figure was taken from his beloved wife. But if 
Wilkes and Churchill mixed abuse of the picture with 
their attack upon the painter on political grounds, 
Robert Lloyd, their friend and his, wrote : 

' While Sigismunda's deep distress, 
Which looks the soul of wretchedness, 
When I [i.e. Time], with slow and soft'ning pen, 
Have gone o'er all the tints agen, 
Shall urge a bold and proper claim 
To level half the ancient fame ; 
While future ages yet unknown 
With critic air shall proudly own 
Thy Hogarth first of every clime, 
For humour keen, or strong sublime, 
And hail him from his fire and spirit, 
The Child of Genius and of Merit.' 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 67 

Walpole, who chose to praise the older painting in 
extravagant terms and in contrast to abuse Hogarth's 
picture most unjustly, adopted the same image 
respecting the strange woman in an exaggerated 
form. We have the privilege of seeing the picture 
in the National Gallery and knowing how ludicrously 
untrue Walpole' s criticism is : ' Hogarth's per- 
formance was more ridiculous than anything he had 
ever ridiculed.' Hogarth wishing to vindicate his 
fame by the production of a good engraving of 
the picture, engaged Ravenet to undertake the 
work, but afterwards it appeared that Ravenet 
was under articles not to work for any one except 
Mr. Boydell for three years then to come, so the 
subscription was stopped and the money returned 
to the subscribers.' 1 The following notice (dated 
January 2, 1764) was issued : * All efforts to this 
time to get the picture finely engraved proving in 
vain, Mr. Hogarth humbly hopes his best endeavours 
to engrave it himself will be acceptable to his friends.' 

Under the painter's direction, a drawing in oil 
was made by Edward Edwards, A.R.A., and from 
this, Basire made an outline ; but it was not until 
1793 that Dunkarton's mezzotint was published. 
In 1795 appeared Benjamin Smith's engraving. 

The vicissitudes of the picture itself are interesting. 
Mrs. Hogarth kept it during her lifetime as her 

1 In a MS. volume in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 22,394), there is 
a list of subscribers' names to a Print of Sigismunda and Guiscardo, 
March 2, 1761. Most of the names are struck through with the note 
' money returned.' In one or two cases there is a note ' money refused.' 



68 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

husband wished, and at the sale of her effects (1790) 
it was bought by Alderman Boy dell for 58, 16s. 
It was sold again in 1807 for 420, and was be- 
queathed to the National Gallery in 1879 by Mr. 
James Hughes Anderdon. 

In 1762 Bonnel Thornton opened an Exhibition 
of Sign Paintings at * the large Room the Upper End 
of Bow Street; Covent Garden, nearly opposite the 
Playhouse Passage,' in which Hogarth took some 
interest. This was a freak and a joke on the part 
of Thornton, but as it gave an opportunity for a 
gibe at the buyers of old pictures, Hogarth entered 
into the joke with deadly earnest intention. John 
Nichols (Biographical Anecdotes) was informed that 
Hogarth ' contributed no otherwise towards this 
display, than by a few touches of chalk. Among 
the heads of distinguished personages finding those 
of the King of Prussia and the Empress of Hungary, 
he changed the cast of their eyes so as to make 
them leer significantly at each other. This is 
related on the authority of Mr. Colman.' * 

The catalogue of the Exhibition presents many 
evidences of Hogarth's hand both hi the notes and 
various satirical touches such as ' Portrait of a 
justly celebrated Painter, though an Englishman 

1 These two portraits are numbered in the Catalogue 53 and 54, but 
Nichols is not accurate in the description, which stands thus in the 
Catalogue ' 53, an Original Portrait of the present Emperor of Russia. 
54, Ditto of the Empress Queen of Hungary. Its antagonist. Drawn by 
Sheerman.' Colman was a good authority for the information, as he was an 
intimate friend of Bonnel Thornton. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 69 

and a Modern,' or this note, * N.B. that the merit 
of the Modern Masters may be fairly examined into, 
it has been thought proper to place some admired 
works of the most eminent old masters in this room, 
and along the Passage thro' the Yard.' Several 
of the paintings are stated to be by Hagarty. 

In the St. James's Chronicle for Tuesday, 23rd of 
March 1762, there was published a notice of the 
forthcoming exhibition : ' The Society of Sign- 
painters are preparing a most magnificent Collection 
of Portraits, Landscapes, Fancy Pieces, Flower 
Pieces, History Pieces, Night Pieces, Sea Pieces, 
Sculpture Pieces, etc. etc., designed by the ablest 
Masters and executed by the best Hands in these 
kingdoms. The Virtuosi will have a new oppor- 
tunity of displaying their taste on this occasion by 
discovering the different stile of the several masters 
employed and pointing out by what hand each 
piece is drawn. A remarkable cognoscente who 
has attended at the Society's great Room with his 
glass for several mornings, has already piqued him- 
self on discovering the famous Painter of the Rising 
Sun, a modern Claude Lorraine, in an elegant 
Night-piece of the Man-in-the-Moon. He is also 
convinced that no other than the famous artists 
who drew the Red Lion at Brentford, can be 
equal to the bold figures in the London 'Prentice, 
and that the exquisite colouring in the piece called 
Pyramus and Thisbe must be by the same hand 
as the Hole-in-the-Wall.' 



70 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The public seem to have supposed that the whole 
announcement was merely intended as a hoax, but 
this soon proved to be a mistake by the opening of 
the exhibition in April. The hours of admission 
were from nine till four. The price of the tickets, 
which included a catalogue, was one shilling. It is 
said that the names of the sign-board painters given 
in the catalogue were those of the journeymen in 
Baldwin's printing office where it was printed. 

The exhibition naturally created a sensation, 
and the newspapers of the day were full of corre- 
spondence respecting this very original show. 
Churchill refers to it in his poem of The Ghost 
(Book iii.) : 

1 Of sign-post exhibitions, raised 
For laughter more than to be praised, 
(Though by the way we cannot see 
Why praise and laughter mayn't agree) 
Where genuine humour runs to waste, 
And justly chides our want of taste, 
Censured, like other things, though good, 
Because they are not understood.' 

The exhibition was an admirable subject for the 
pictorial satirists, and the chief of the prints of the 
time alluding to it was ' A Brush for the Sign- 
Painters, lustitia Rubweel Inv. et del. Aquafortis 
Sculp. Price 6^.,' which was published in April. 
In these satires Hogarth and his works occupy 
prominent positions. Advantage is taken of 
several of the items in the catalogue which bear 
some allusion to Hogarth. 1 

1 See British Museum Catalogue, vol. iv. pp. 48-50. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 71 

It is unfortunate that we know so little as to 
Hogarth's connection with this exhibition. As has 
already been pointed out, his hand is to be suspected 
in many of the descriptions in the catalogue, but at 
the same time he allowed many allusions to himself 
to appear, which were eagerly taken up by the 
critics; thus No. 2 is ' A crooked Billet formed exactly 
in the Line of Beauty,' and No. 5 ' The Light Heart. 
A Sign for a Vintner. By Hagarty. [N.B. This is 
an elegant Invention of Ben Jonson, who in The 
New Inn or Light Heart, makes the landlord say, 
speaking of his Sign : 

An Heart weighed with a feather, and outweighed too ; 
A Brain child of my one and I am proud on 't.'] 

This is alluded to in ' A Brush for the Sign-Painters,' 
where there is a signboard on an easel showing a 
caricature of Sigismunda bearing the inscription 
' The sign of a Heavy Heart.' Below the figure is 
a caricature of the ' Line of Beauty,' designated 
' A Lame Principle.' 

In the King's Library at the British Museum is a 
small pamphlet strangely printed as follows, to 
form a sort of companion to the exhibition : 

First Leaf. 

Gentlemen and Ladies | are desired | to tear off this 
Leaf, | which | will serve as a Ticket to introduce j them to 
the | London | Printed for W Nichol at the Paper- 
Mill, in | St Paul's Churchyard | MDCCLXH | 

Second Leaf. 

Ha! Ha! Ha! | and | in due Time | they | will gain 
admission to the I 



72 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Third Leaf. 
He! He! He! 

Pages 7-24 a succession of short paragraphs plentifully 
supplied with dashes. 

It is impossible not to charge Hogarth with incon- 
sistency in his action connected with the training 
of artists, because although he did great things by 
means of his school in St. Martin's Lane, yet he 
set himself in opposition to the natural outcome of 
his own work in the establishment of an ' Academy 
for the Better Cultivation, Improvement and En- 
couragement of Painting, Sculpture, Architecture, 
and the Arts of Design in General.' His opposition 
to this scheme set many of his fellow-artists against 
him, and of these enemies Thomas and Paul Sandby 
were prominent. 

Hogarth's reasons for his opposition in this 
matter are set out by himself in manuscripts which 
were printed by John Ireland in the third volume of 
Hogarth Illustrated. 

He further stated that ' Many of the objections 
which I have to the institution of this Royal 
Academy, apply with equal force to the project of 
the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manu- 
factures, and Commerce, distributing premiums for 
drawings and pictures ; subjects of which they are 
totally ignorant, and in which they can do no 
possible service to the community.' 

Hogarth had been a member of the Society, and 
chairman of one of the committees; therefore at 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 73 

one time he had approved generally of its action, 
but subsequently he changed his mind, and parodied 
the inscription of ' Arts Promoted.' He was quite 
consistent, for he had early satirised the Dilettanti 
Society. It would be improper to leave this instance 
of Hogarth's individualism without notice, but this 
is not the place to discuss it fully. 

By entering fully into Hogarth's quarrel with the 
advocates of the Black Masters, we have passed 
over the period of the publication of the Analysis 
of Beauty, in 1753, which first caused his enemies 
to swarm around him and satirise him on his own 
ground. 

It is now therefore time to turn back a few years, 
and to point out briefly the position that this 
remarkable book occupies in the author's life. 
Wilkes chooses in his vindictive remarks to refer to 
the Analysis as attributed to Hogarth ; such a 
sneer is, as he must have known, perfectly ground- 
less. Men of learning such as Townley and Morell 
gave what literary help to the author he required 
for the production of his book, not that he himself 
was without considerable ability in expressing in 
suitable terms the view he wished to present to 
his readers. Hogarth had long thought over the 
central idea and drawn the line of beauty in his 
own portrait (1745), thus appropriating the symbol 
to himself. 

The idea was elaborated in his own mind and 
grew out of the teaching of the ancient philosophers. 



74 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

This is seen from a passage in the book itself, 
quoted by Mr. Dobson, where Hogarth gives his 
version of a story from Pliny : * Apelles having 
heard of the fame of Protogenes went to Rhodes to 
pay him a visit, but not finding him at home asked 
for a board, on which he drew a line, telling the 
servant-maid, that line would signify to her master 
who had been to see him ; we are not clearly told 
what sort of a line it was that could so particularly 
signify one of the first of his profession : if it was 
only a stroke (tho' as fine as a hair as Pliny seems 
to think), it could not possibly, by any means, 
denote the abilities of a great painter. But if we 
suppose it to be a line of some extraordinary quality, 
such as the serpentine line will appear to be, Apelles 
could not have left a more satisfactory signature 
of the compliment he had paid him. Protogenes 
when he came home took the hint, and drew a 
finer, or rather more expressive line, within it to show 
Apelles when he came again, that he understood his 
meaning. He soon returning was well pleased with 
the answer Protogenes had left for him, by which 
he was convinced that fame had done him justice, 
and so correcting the line again, perhaps by making 
it more precisely elegant, he took his leave. The 
story thus may be reconcil'd to common sense, 
which, as it has been generally receiv'd could never 
be understood as a ridiculous tale.' Matthew Prior 
versified this tale, from which the following lines are 
taken : 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 75 

' Piqued by Protogenes's fame 
From Co to Ehodes Apelles came 
To see a rival and a friend, 
Prepar'd to censure or commend. 

Does squire Protogenes live here 1 
Yes, sir, says she, with gracious air, 
And court'sy low, but just call'd out 
By lords peculiarly devout. 

And sir, at present would you please, 
To leave your name ? Fair maiden, yes, 
Reach me that board. No sooner spoke 
But done. With one judicious stroke, 
On the plain ground Apelles drew 
A circle regularly true. 

Again at six Apelles came, 
Found the same prating civil dame, 
Sir, that my master has been here, 
Will by the board itself appear. 
If from the perfect line he found 
He has presum'd to swell the round, 
Or colours on the draught to lay, 
'Tis thus (he order'd me to say) 
Thus write the painters of this isle : 
Let those of Co remark the style.' 

Horace Walpole related the same story in Mdzs 
Walpoliance, and made the line a straight one. 

John Ireland printed the following anagram 
containing an amusing prediction which he found 
among Hogarth's papers in the handwriting of his 
friend Townley : ' From an old Greek fragment. 
There was an ancient oracle delivered at Delphos, 
which says, " That the source of beauty should 
never be again rightly discovered, till a person 



76 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

should arise, whose name was perfectly included 
in the name of Pythagoras ; which person should 
again restore the ancient principle upon which all 
beauty is founded. 

TlvOdyopas, . . PYTHAGORAS. 

"QyapO, . . . HOGARTH.' 1 

The Analysis of Beauty was no ordinary book, 
although it may have outlived any utility it once 
possessed, and it attracted no ordinary attention. 
A work which was translated into German, Italian 
and French, 2 and was praised by such men as Burke, 
Lessing and Goethe, must be treated as something 
out of the common run. Doubtless Hogarth was 
possessed of a brilliant idea and saw its boundless 
possibilities, but he had not the philosophic grasp 
of mind to save him from confusion in the present- 
ment of his case. 

Burke' s Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful was 
first published in 1756, three years after the publica- 
tion of the Analysis, but it contains no allusion to 
the book. In the second edition, published in 1757, 
Burke mentions Hogarth's work with approval. 

The German translation contained a preface by 
Lessing, and the book was enthusiastically welcomed 
by him in the Vossische Zeitung in 1754. Mr. 
Bosanquet says that in his preface the great German 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 146. 

2 German : Zergliederung der Schoenheit, die schwankenden Begriffe 
von dem Geschmack festzusetzen, von C Mylius. Berlin, 1754. Italian : 
L'Analisi della Bellezza, con figure. Livorno, 1761. French : Analyse de 
la Beaut^ de Guillaume Hogarth. Paris an xm (1805). 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 77 

authority ' lays his finger on the point of difficulty 
in its conception, viz. the question of determining 
on general grounds, the degree and kind of 
curvature that constitutes beauty of line.' The 
same writer further remarks that ' Hogarth's un- 
dulating line supplied Goethe with a name for the 
tendency which he ranks as the polar opposite of 
the characteristic.' l 

The French translation, which was made by 
Henri Jansen, librarian to Talleyrand, contains also 
a translation of Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes, 
and was published in two volumes. It will be seen 
that Hogarth had done a considerable thing, but 
unfortunately he had made many enemies, and 
these men, waiting for the opportunity to attack, 
chose the subject of this book as the battle-ground 
for which they had long sought. The author, 
however, preferred censure to neglect, and cared 
little for attacks so long as these did not touch 
his private life. 

His friends stood by him and lauded his discovery. 
Laurence Sterne was one of these, who highly 
praised the Analysis in the second volume of 
Tristram Shandy, and Bishop Warburton expressed 
his opinions in a letter to the author thus : ' I was 
pleased to find from the public papers that you 
have determined to give us your original and 
masterly thoughts on the great principles of your 
profession. You owe this to your country, for you 

1 History of the Esthetic, 1892, pp. 207-208, 



78 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

are both an honour to your profession, and a shame 
to that worthless crew professing virtu and con- 
noisseurship, to whom all that grovel in the splendid 
poverty of wealth and taste are the miserable 
bubbles.' 

Hogarth's enemies both literary and artistic 
critics forgot their manners and good sense. 
Benjamin West's opinion of the book is therefore 
worth something. He said in answer to J. T. 
Smith's question as to his opinion of the Analysis 
'It is a work, my man, of the highest value to 
every one studying the Art. Hogarth was a strut- 
ting, consequential little man, and made himself 
many enemies by that book ; but now that most of 
them are dead, it is examined by disinterested 
readers, unbiassed by personal animosities, and will 
be yet more and more read, studied, and under- 
stood.' 

A satirist must expect to be satirised, but Hogarth 
was more bitterly attacked than he deserved to be 
because, although he was very severe in his satire, 
he was never personal except under severe pro- 
vocation, as in the quarrel with Wilkes and Churchill. 

The pictorial satires are fully dealt with by F. G. 
Stephens in the British Museum Catalogue. Some 
of these satires were contemptible and produced 
by unknown men, but it is specially painful to find 
so distinguished a man as Paul Sandby attacking in 
so violent and unkind a manner his brother artist. 

* Burlesque sur le Burlesque,' published December 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 79 

1, 1753, is full of violent ridicule of Hogarth's work 
and represents various insulting ways of disposing 
of the Analysis of Beauty. ' Pugg's Graces etched 
from his original Daubing' contains an infinity of 
abuse, an item of which is an open book inscribed 
' No Salary, Reasons against a Publick Academy,' 
1753, and ' Reasons to prove erecting a Publick 
Academy without [space] a wicked Design to 
introduce Popery and Slavery in to this Kingdom. 5 
Beneath a figure of a decrepit old man whose person 
is curved to ridicule Hogarth's ' line ' is this 
scurrilous inscription : 

' Behold a wretch who Nature form'd in spight, 
Scorn'd by the Wise ; he gave the Fools delight, 
Yet not contented in his Sphere to move 
Beyond mere Instinct, and his Senses drove 
From false examples hop'd to pilfer fame 
And scribl'd nonsense in his daubing name. 
Deformity her self his figures place, 
She spreads an Uglines on every face, 
He then admires their ellegance and grace, 
Dunce Connoisseurs extol the author Pugg, 
The senseless, tasteless, impudent Hum Bugg.' 

Another of Sandby's discreditable productions is 
' The Author run mad,' an etching showing Hogarth 
in a lunatic asylum, clad in a fantastic dress, wearing 
a crown of straw, and holding an ink-bottle as a 
crown stuck on his head, one of his legs being bound 
with straw, his palette hanging round his neck, 
his mahlstick being curved to resemble the ' Line 
of Beauty.' ] Among the multiplicity of references 

1 Mr. Stephens's description in the British Museum Catalogue of Satires, 
vol. iii. p. 894. 



80 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

to the painter in this plate there is a special attack 
on his paintings of religious subjects with this 
epigram : 

' Shou'd we thy Study'd Labours trace 
In search of Beauty Air or Grace 

Are they to us y e Rule 1 
Has Phara's daughter got them all 1 
Are they in Felix seen 1 or Paul 

or at Bethesda's pool 1 ' 

It is not necessary to describe the whole series of 
these deplorable exhibitions of rancour which are fully 
analysed in Mr. Stephens's British Museum Catalogue, 
but astonishment must be expressed that an artist 
so capable of appreciating the beauty of the ' March 
to Finchley ' could caricature that picture as ' The 
Painter's March from Finchly,' or throw mud upon 
a man he knew to be an honour to English art, 
and style him a ' Mountebank Painter,' and 
inscribe on his print such lying words as these : 
' This arrogant Quacking Analist who blinded by 
the darkest ignorance of y 6 principles of painting, 
has spoke so foolishly of the works of y e greatest 
masters is hereby challeng'd to produce one piece 
of his either in painting or on Copper plate, that 
has y e least grace, beauty or so much knowledge 
in Proportion as may be found in common signs in 
every street Will thy impudence is the certain 
consequence of thy ignorance.' 

Hogarth was not without friends to support him 
against these attacks by satirising his opponents, 
but he himself did not retaliate, for he was too proud 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 81 

to descend to such methods. We have, however, 
the good fortune to be able to read in his auto- 
biography his own admirable expression of the 
natural disgust he felt at the unworthy treatment 
he had received. He wrote : 

' I have been assailed by every profligate scribbler 
in town, and told, that though words are man's 
province, they are not my province ; and that 
though I have put my name to the Analysis of 
Beauty, yet (as I acknowledge having received 
some assistance from two or three friends) I am 
only the supposed author. By those of my own 
profession I am treated with still more severity. 
Pestered with caricature drawings, and hung up hi 
effigy in prints ; accused of vanity, ignorance and 
envy ; called a mean and contemptible dauber ; 
represented in the strangest employments and pic- 
tured in the strangest shapes ; sometimes under the 
hieroglyphical semblance of a satyr, and at others, 
under the still more ingenious one, of an ass. 

* Not satisfied with this ; finding that they could 
not overturn my system, they endeavoured to 
wound the peace of my family. This was a cruelty 
hardly to be forgiven ; to say that such malicious 
attacks, and caricatures, did not discompose me, 
would be untrue ; for to be held up to public 
ridicule would discompose any man ; but I must 
at the same time add, that they did not much 
distress me. I knew that those who venture to 
oppose received opinions, must in return have 

F 



82 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

public abuse: so that feeling I had no right to 
exemption from the common tribute, and conscious 
that my book had been generally well received, I 
consoled myself with the trite observation, that 
every success or advantage in this world must be 
attended by some sort of a reverse ; and that though 
the worst writers and the worst painters have 
traduced me ; by the best I have had more than 
justice done me. The partiality with which the 
world have received my works, and the patronage 
and friendship with which some of the best characters 
in it have honoured the author, ought to excite my 
warmest gratitude, and demands my best thanks ; 
it enables me to despise this cloud of insects ; for 
happily, though their buzzing may tease, their 
stings are not mortal.' 

In 1753, the date of the publication of the 
Analysis of Beauty, most of Hogarth's great works 
had been produced, although he had still to paint 
his fine series of four pictures of the ' Election ' 
(1755), and the ' Lady's Last Stake ' (1759), so that 
his maligners had no excuse in respect to any 
incompleteness in the brilliant harvest of the 
greater portion of his life. Mr. William Sandby, in 
his account of Thomas and Paul Sandby (1892), 
makes the best of Paul Sandby 's libels and praises 
them highly, but in spite of artistic design they form 
a pitiable instance of unjust defamation of a great 
man. 

It is said that Hogarth proposed to draw up a 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 83 

succinct history of the Arts in his own time, as a 
sort of supplement to the Analysis : some notes for 
this were printed by John Ireland in his Hogarth 
Illustrated (vol. iii.) in connection with dispersed 
portions of autobiography, but nothing continuous 
has survived, and nothing to prove the intention of 
publication except the well-known ' No Dedication/ 
of which a facsimile will be found in John Ireland's 
Hogarth Illustrated, 1798 (vol. iii.). The manuscript 
(which is hi the Morrison Collection of Autographs) 
was lent to the Guelph Exhibition (1891) by the 
late Mr. Alfred Morrison : 

' The No-Dedication ; not dedicated to any Prince 
in Christendom, for fear it might be thought an 
idle piece of arrogance ; not dedicated to any man 
of quality, for fear it might be thought too assuming ; 
not dedicated to any learned body of men, as 
either of the Universityes or the Royal Society, for 
fear it might be thought an uncommon piece of 
vanity, nor dedicated to any one particular friend, 
for fear of offending another ; therefore dedicated to 
nobody ; but if for once we may suppose nobody 
to be everybody, as everybody is often said to be 
nobody, then is this work dedicated to everybody, 
' By their most humble and devoted 

' W. HOGARTH.' 

The year 1762 is an ominous date in the life of 
Hogarth, for in that year he made the grievous 
mistake of producing a political print entitled 



84 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

' The Times, Plate 1,' in which Lords Chatham and 
Temple were satirised and ridiculed, and thus he 
made dangerous enemies of two former friends 
Wilkes and Churchill. 

Hogarth was no politician and had not previously 
interfered hi politics, of which he knew little or 
nothing. Mr. Stephens seems to think he shows 
definite opinions in the pictures of the Election, but 
there is every reason to believe that he chose the 
characters he thought the most effective, without 
any bias from his own opinions. One would have 
expected sufficient patriotism in Hogarth to save 
him from treating Pitt's thoroughly deserved 
pension as discreditable to the great statesman, 
but it may be that he was one of those who yearned 
for peace after * expensive ' wars. We need take 
no account of the turbulent Temple, although he 
was greatly admired by Wilkes and Churchill. 

It may be supposed that Bute was ready to pay 
liberally for the support of Hogarth, which he so 
much required, but it is quite incorrect to say that 
he received a pension. He had received the 
appointment of Serjeant Painter to the King in 
succession to his brother in-law, John Thornhill. 

The f ollowing lines * To the Author of the Times ' 
are quoted in John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated 
(vol. iii. p. 216) : 

1 Why, Billy, in the vale of life, 
Show so much rancour, spleen and strife 1 
Why, Billy, at a statesman's whistle, 
Drag dirty loads, and feed on thistle 1 




arikflute'. ' f/7/,'..v7/..v* 

PORTRAIT OF JOHN THORNHILL. (BROTHER-IN-LAW OF HOGARTH.) 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 85 

Did any of the long-ear'd tribe 
E'er swallow half so mean a bribe ? 
Pray, have you no sinister end, 
Thus to abuse the nation's friend ? 
His country's and his monarch's glory.' 

In his autobiography Hogarth catalogued under 
four headings the chief causes of complaint against 
him : the first three are too absurd for words and 
require no refutation from the painter, although he 
condescends to answer them. He writes : ' The 
chief things that have brought much obloquy on 
me are, first, the attempting portrait painting. 
Secondly, writing the Analysis of Beauty. Thirdly, 
painting the picture of Sigismunda ; and fourthly, 
publishing the first print of the Times.' 

Of the last count in the indictment he says : 
4 The anxiety that attends endeavouring to recollect 
ideas long dormant, and the misfortunes which 
clung to this transaction, coming at a time when 
nature demands quiet, and something besides 
exercise to cheer it, added to my long sedentary 
life, brought on an illness which continued twelve 
months. But when I got well enough to ride on 
horseback I soon recovered. This being at a 
period when war abroad and contention at home 
engrossed every one's mind, prints were thrown 
into the back-ground ; and the stagnation rendered 
it necessary that I should do some timed thing, to 
recover my lost time, and stop a gap in my income. 
This drew forth my print of " The Times," a subject 
which tended to the restoration of peace and 



86 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

unanimity, and put the opposers of these humane 
objects in a light, which gave great offence to those 
who were trying to foment destruction in the 
minds of the populace. One of the most notorious 
among them, till now rather my friend and flatterer, 
attacked me in a North Briton, in so infamous and 
malign a style, that he himself when pushed even 
by his best friends, was driven to so poor an excuse 
as to say he was drunk when he wrote it. Being 
at that time very weak, and in a kind of slow fever, 
it could not but seize on a feeling mind. My 
philosophical friends advise me to laugh at the 
nonsense of party-writing who would mind it ? 
but I cannot rest myself : 

" Who steals my purse, steals trash ; 'tis something, nothing ; 
'Twas mine, 'tis his, and has been slave to thousands : 
But he that filches my good name, 
Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
And makes me poor indeed." 

Such being my feelings, my great object was to 
return the compliment, and turn it to some 
advantage.' 

Paul Sandby and others renewed their caricatures 
of Hogarth on account of 'The Times, No. 1,' but 
these the artist could treat with contempt. It 
was the virulent defamation of his moral character 
contained in No. 17 of the North Briton by Wilkes, 
which embittered his last days. He could neither 
forget nor forgive the references to his wife or such 
passages as this : ' The public never had the least 



87 

share of his regard, or even good will. Gain and 
vanity have steered his little light bark quite 
through life. He has never been consistent but to 
those two principles.' 

Mrs. Hogarth gave Samuel Ireland a worn copy 
of this number, which had been purchased by her 
husband and carried in his pocket many days to 
show his friends. 

We cannot but regret that the print of ' The Times, 
Plate 1,' was ever published, as it has no particular 
merits and the consequences of its appearance 
were disastrous. We can understand the disgust 
of Wilkes and Churchill at the position taken by 
Hogarth, but nothing can excuse their rancorous 
writings. The passage above from the auto- 
biography is of the greatest interest as expressing 
Hogarth's feelings of the necessity of peace, and we 
have such confidence in his inherent truthfulness 
that we do not doubt that his words describe 
correctly his own feelings. Possibly many of the 
public held similar opinions. 1 

Mr. Saunders Welch, who appreciated the delicacy 
of Hogarth's feelings, tried to persuade him not to 
publish his satirical print against Wilkes and 
Churchill ('The Times'). He observed 'that the 
mind that had been accustomed for a length of 
years to receive only merited and uniform applause, 
would be ill calculated to bear a reverse from the 
bitter sarcasms of adversaries whose wit and genius 

1 This subject is more fully discussed in Chapter v. on Political Life. 



88 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

would enable them to retort with severity such an 
attack.* 

Hogarth took his revenge when he drew the 
sinister portrait of Wilkes and the caricature of 
Churchill, which have added to the artistic wealth 
of the world, and proved that his powers of satire 
continued to be as great and brilliant as they had 
ever been, but nevertheless the contemplation of 
this enmity makes an unhappy ending to the story 
of Hogarth's life. 

There is little to record of work done after these 
wonderful portraits, which gibbeted these men for 
all time. The artist was indeed revenged for the 
libels of the authors. 

Hogarth was broken down although he still 
worked, and the end came suddenly on October 25, 
1764. He was conveyed in a weak condition from 
Chiswick to London, and soon after going to bed in 
his house in Leicester Square, he died in the arms 
of Mrs. Mary Lewis, who was called up to attend 
to him. The cause of death was the bursting of 
an aneurism. The last thing he did was to write a 
rough draft of an answer to an agreeable letter 
received from Benjamin Franklin. 

The house in Leicester Square has been rebuilt, 
and his residence can no longer be seen except in 
engravings, but the Chiswick house, thanks to 
Lieut. -Colonel Shipway, who bought it in 1902, and 
as Mr. Dobson says, preserved it to the nation, 1 

1 It has now been definitely transferred to the Middlesex County Council 
(Evening Standard, April 29, 1909). 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 89 

can be visited as a museum sacred to the memory 
of Hogarth. Not far off is the pleasant churchyard, 
with its important-looking monument, upon which 
can still be read Garrick's epitaph : 

1 Farewel, great painter of mankind, 

Who reach'd the noblest point of Art, 
Whose pictur'd morals charm the mind, 
And through the eye correct the heart. 

If genius fire thee, reader, stay ; 

If Nature touch thee, drop a tear ; 
If neither move thee, turn away, 

For HOGARTH'S honour'd dust lies here.' 

Garrick submitted his first draft of the epitaph 
to Johnson, and the latter rather severely criticised 
it in a letter to the former, dated December 12, 1771. 
He considered * pictured morals' a beautiful ex- 
pression which he wished retained, but he praised 
little else. It will be seen from the following 
emendation by Johnson that Garrick availed him- 
self of the valued suggestion : 

' The Hand of Art here torpid lies 

That traced the essential form of Grace ; 
Here Death has closed the curious eyes 
That saw the manners in the face. 

If Genius warm thee, Reader, stay, 

If Merit touch thee, shed a tear ; 
Be Vice and Dulness far away ! 

Great Hogarth's honour'd dust is here.' 

Dr. Townley wrote a laudatory inscription to 
Hogarth's memory which was printed in the Public 
Ledger of November 19, 1764, and will be found in 
John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated (vol. iii.). 



90 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

In closing this chapter we may record his chief 
characteristics. Rough and unpolished, he had 
a kindly heart ; honest and truthful, he did his 
duty through life. He was considerate to his 
friends and thoroughly companionable, full of talk 
on subjects interesting to him, although, when 
Horace Walpole asked him to meet Gray at dinner, 
the dilettante found the two men equally silent 
and unsympathetic. 

He was light-hearted, and equal to playing the 
fool when with congenial spirits, as he did when on 
that memorable Frolic on the Thames and Medway 
in May 1732, in the company of John Thornhill, 
Samuel Scott, painter, William Tothall, draper, and 
Ebenezer Forrest, attorney. 

To his enemies he was ever on his guard, as he 
was thoroughly convinced that they were malignant, 
and therefore dangerous. No doubt he had a good 
opinion of himself, but he had reason for this 
opinion. This, and a consequential air, are for- 
givable sins where there are ever present virtues 
to counterbalance them, as was certainly the case 
in respect to Hogarth. 

We know that the charge made by some of his 
enemies that he was filled with greed for money 
was ridiculously untrue. He was the most indus- 
trious of men, and his main object was to make 
a comfortable home for his wife and himself, and 
there is no evidence that he lived extravagantly, 
although he was generous. 




PORTRAIT OK MRS. HOGARTH. 



HOGARTH'S LIFE AND WORKS 91 

He made his chief income from the sale of his 
prints, the sale of some of which was considerable, 
but here he was robbed on all sides by piratical 
printsellers. He made but little out of his splendid 
paintings, partly because the market price of 
English pictures was not high, but partly on account 
of his adopting an ill-judged mode of selling them, 
as we have already seen. 

He was able to leave Mrs. Hogarth little but the 
stock of his plates and engravings, and, living as she 
did twenty-five years after her husband, she became 
straitened in her means, so that she was glad to 
accept a pension of 40 from the Royal Academy. 



92 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER III 

HIGH LIFE 

THE popular idea of Hogarth's genius is probably 
that he possessed little understanding of High Life, 
and that the study of Low Life was his forte. There 
is some truth in this, because he delighted to paint 
strong exhibitions of character which are more 
commonly to be found among classes who do not 
hide their feelings. Although it may be said that the 
incidents of low life are the chief objects of his 
pencil, it is equally true that he took all human 
nature under his charge, and when he did paint 
scenes of high life, he showed himself equally at 
home as in those of low life. Nothing finer than 
some of the episodes in the ' Marriage a la Mode ' 
has ever been produced, and in the first picture the 
figure of the Earl is superb in his haughty grandeur. 
In the ' Rake's Progress ' we see the man's attempt 
to shine in so-called good society, but perhaps at 
no time in our history were a large portion of the 
upper classes so essentially vulgar as in the 
eighteenth century. 

Although we are delighted with the vivid pictures 



HIGH LIFE 93 

in the pages of Horace Walpole of those who moved 
in the highest circles of society, we are not able 
to say that we are edified. Walpole himself was 
fastidious, but his records of the proceedings of his 
friends prove that their doings must be largely 
condemned as being as low in taste as in morals. 
There is plenty of evidence of exclusiveness, but 
little of refinement. 

The fashionable parts of town are shown in many 
of Hogarth's pictures, as St. James's Street in the 
fourth plate of the * Rake's Progress,' Lord 
Burlington's house in Piccadilly in the ' Taste of 
the Town ' and in the ' Man of Taste,' and in St. 
James's Park Rosamond's Pond, Spencer House, 
and the Treasury are all pictured by him. 

The Park continued to be the resort of Fashion 
in the eighteenth, as it had been in the seventeenth 
century. It was thronged before dinner between 
twelve and two, and from seven till midnight in 
the summer. On Sundays the Park was crowded 
by another class, who were busy on week-days. 
' Taste in High Life ' is pure caricature, but in the 
* Lady's Last Stake ' we find an elegant West End 
interior quite perfect in its design, with a terrible 
story told in a strong but reticent manner. It 
exhibits as fine an instance of harmony as any 
picture ever painted by Hogarth. Everything is 
in keeping, and nothing is exaggerated. Well might 
Horace Walpole write : ' The very furniture of 
his rooms describe the characters of the persons to 



94 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

whom they belong : a lesson that might be of use 
to comic authors.' ] 

In his Portraits and Conversation Pieces, Hogarth 
exhibited High Life from the King (George n.) and 
his family downwards. Many of these require some 
special notice. 

It was hi the painting of these that he attained 
that dexterity of treatment and brilliancy of com- 
position, which stood him in good stead in his more 
original work. We can therefore trace in these 
pictures the growth of the painter's art; but this 
could not have been done before the days of 
exhibitions, as the pictures passed into the hands 
of those for whom they were painted. We have to 
bear this in mind when we feel surprise at the neglect 
of the public for Hogarth's eminent powers as a 
painter. All knew the engravings and admired 
them, but few were acquainted with the pictures. 

The best known of these Conversations is that 
styled indifferently the ' Wanstead Assembly,' or * A 
Conversation at Wanstead House.' This, belonging 
to Lord Tweedmouth, was sold by auction by Messrs. 
Christie on June 3, 1905, when it was bought by 
Messrs. Agnew for 2750 guineas. The picture is 
thus described in the catalogue : 

' An Assembly at Wanstead House. Containing 
portraits of Richard Child, first Earl of Tylney, 
and many of his friends and relations. Interior of 
a saloon : twenty-six full-length figures ; on the 

1 Anecdotes of Painting in England, 1876, vol. iii. p. 7. 



HIGH LIFE 95 

left [right] a gentleman and two ladies seated at a 
table, drinking tea ; in the centre, a party of four 
people playing cards ; on the right [left] a girl and 
two boys ; one of whom is riding a poodle, the other 
ladies and gentlemen stand about, while the servant 
lights the candles in a chandelier. Said to be the 
earliest known picture by the painter. Painted for 
Lord Castlemain in 1728 ' [25 in. by 29J in.]. 

The date here given is certainly wrong, for hi a 
memorandum of Hogarth's with the heading, 
' Account taken, January 1, 1731, of all the pictures 
that remain unfinished half -payment received/ 
there is this entry, ' An Assembly of twenty-five 
figures, for Lord Castlemaine, August 28, 1729.' l 

The picture must therefore have been finished 
after 1731, and the extra figure added. The 
painter himself describes the picture in the above 
memorandum as an Assembly, but on the old 
frame was the inscription : ' A Conversation at 
Wanstead House.' This same picture was ex- 
hibited at the Winter Exhibition of the Royal 
Academy, 1906 (No. 20), with a similar description 
to that in Christie's Catalogue, but the words ' right ' 
and ' left ' are as given between brackets in the 
above quotation. 

J. B. Nichols (1833) describes the picture thus : 
' The Wanstead Assembly, painted for Lord 
Castlemain. This was the first picture that brought 
Hogarth into notice. It was exhibited in the British 

1 John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 23. 



96 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Gallery in 1814, and was then the property of 
W. Long Wellesley, Esq. It was in the catalogue 
of his effects in 1822, but was bought in by the 
family.' Elsewhere he writes : ' A beautiful small 
painting, a family group, was at Tilney House, 
Wanstead, and was in the catalogue of Mr. Wel- 
lesley's effects in 1822, but was bought in by the 
family.' l 

Much confusion has arisen in this case owing to 
the fact that a picture described as the ' Wanstead 
Assembly' was known to be hi the possession of 
Mr. William Carpenter of Forest Hill. When he 
died he left it to the South London Art Gallery, 
and on examination it turned out to be the dance 
in the Analysis of Beauty, one of the Happy Marriage 
set, and not executed until 1750 or thereabouts. 
(Of. A. Dobson's Hogarth, 1907, pp. 196, 198, 310.) 

It may be well to add here a note as to Wanstead 
and its proprietors in order to clear up the difficulty 
as to the names and titles of the proprietors. 

The history of the Manor of Wanstead, Essex 
(six miles from Whitechapel Church), commences 
before the Norman Conquest, and the manor is 
registered in Domesday. Coming to later times, 
Pepys visited Sir Robert Brooke at Wanstead House 
on May 14, 1665. Two years after this the property 
was sold to Sir Josiah Child, the great merchant 
and banker, who spent large sums of money upon it, 
planting walnut-trees and making fishponds, as 

1 Anecdotes of William Hogarth, pp. 350, 376. 



HIGH LIFE 97 

Evelyn, who visited him on March 16, 1682-3, 
tells us in his Diary. Sir Josiah's son, Sir 
Richard Child, was created Viscount Castlemaine 
in 1718, and Earl Tylney of Castlemaine in 1731, 
both titles in the Peerage of Ireland. He it was 
who pulled down the old mansion about 1715, and 
erected a new Wanstead House from the design of 
Colin Campbell, which was pronounced by con- 
temporaries to be ' one of the noblest houses not 
only in England, but in Europe.' The reception- 
rooms were very magnificent, and the walls hung 
with pictures. 

It was one of these rooms that is depicted in 
Hogarth's painting. On the death without issue of 
John, second Earl Tylney, in 1784, the manor passed 
to the Earl's sister, from whom it devolved to her 
granddaughter, Catherine, the daughter of Sir James 
Tylney Long. During Miss Tylney Long's minority 
the house was the residence of the Prince de Conde 
(father of the Due d'Enghien), and occasionally of 
Louis xvni. The hand of Miss Tylney Long was 
much sought after, and she unfortunately married 
a very worthless man the Hon. William Wellesley 
Pole, who added his wife's name to his own and 
became William Pole Tylney Long Wellesley. 
The authors of the Rejected Addresses thought the 
names would make a good line, and introduced 
them in their first parody ' Long may Long 
Tilney Wellesley Long Pole live.' Wellesley Pole 
soon dissipated the heiress's wealth, and in June 

G 



98 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

1822 the contents of Wanstead were sold by 
auction by George Robins. The sale occupied 
thirty-two days, and realised 41,000. No 
purchaser for the mansion being found, it was 
pulled down and the materials sold. The family 
portraits were reserved, but in 1851 these too were 
sold by Messrs. Christie and Manson in consequence, 
as the catalogue states, 'of the non-payment of 
expenses for warehousing room.' 

Wellesley Pole was Viscount Wellesley from 
1842 to 1845, and in the latter year he succeeded 
his father as Earl of Mornington. He died in 
poverty on the 1st July 1857, at lodgings in Thayer 
Street, Marylebone. 

There is considerable difficulty in fixing the date 
of these several conversation pieces, but it will be 
seen from the various pictures of distinguished 
families which are known, that Hogarth was well 
patronised when he undertook this branch of work. 

A picture of ' The Devonshire Family ' was 
exhibited at the Guelph Exhibition in 1891 by the 
late Duke of Devonshire. The scene is at Chiswick, 
and the persons represented are Lady Caroline 
Cavendish, William, fourth Duke of Devonshire, 
Lord George Cavendish, and Lord Frederick 
Cavendish. The same picture was shown in the 
Winter Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1908. 

Mr. Dobson mentions a single portrait of the 
fourth Duke, signed ' W. Hogarth, Pinx* 1741,' 
which in 1833 was in the possession of the Hon. 



HIGH LIFE 99 

Charles Compton Cavendish, at Latimers, Bucks. 
Another ducal family is said to have been painted 
by Hogarth. In the Winter Exhibition of the 
Royal Academy (1908) was a picture lent by Mr. 
C. Newton Robinson and described as the Walpole 
family. 

A picture of the Shelley family belonging to Sir 
G. A. C. Russell, Bart., of Swallowfield Park, Reading, 
contains portraits of Lady Shelley, wife of Sir John 
Shelley, and sister to Holies, Duke of Newcastle, 
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Shelley, their two daughters 
Fanny and Martha Rose (who married Sir Charles 
Whitworth), Captain the Hon. William Fitz- 
William, Mr. Richard Benyon, Governor of Fort 
St. George, and Mrs. Beard. 

A very interesting picture, containing the two 
heads of the Fox family and others styled ' A Con- 
versation,' belonging to the Earl of Ilchester, is at 
Melbury House, Dorchester. Starting from the 
left, Mr. Villemain, a clergyman in black gown and 
bands, is seen standing upon a chair, rather insecurely 
placed, with a telescope to his eye ; next, sitting at 
a table, is Stephen, first Earl of Ilchester, then next 
to him is Henry, first Lord Holland, with a plan of 
a building in his hands. John, first Lord Hervey, 
points to the plan, both standing. To the right of 
these two is Charles, second Duke of Marlborough 
(died 1758), sitting, and to the extreme right is 
the standing figure of the Right Hon. Thomas 
Winnington. The scene is a terrace by the side 



100 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

of a river with a large gate at the back. Hogarth 
painted a separate portrait of Lord Holland, which 
was exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter 
Exhibition, 1908, by Mary Countess of Ilchester. 
Hogarth told the subject that he would paint him a 
good portrait. Hogarth, in mentioning his appoint- 
ment in 1757 to the office of Serjeant Painter to the 
King, wrote in his autobiography that, as he had to 
paint some portraits of the royal family, the position 
might be worth to him two hundred per annum. 

The picture of * George n. and his family,' which 
belonged to Samuel Ireland, and is now in the 
National Gallery of Dublin, is reproduced in his 
Graphic Illustrations (vol. ii. p. 137). The portraits 
are those of George n., Queen Caroline, the Prince 
of Wales (Frederick), the Duke of Cumberland, 
the Princess of Hesse, etc. The King is much too 
youthful in appearance. The Corporation of York 
possess a portrait of Queen Charlotte by Hogarth, 
who also painted portraits of two Dukes of Cum- 
berland William Augustus (third son of George n.), 
K.G., and Captain-General of the Army (d. 1765) ; 
and Henry Frederick (third brother of George m.), 
as a boy. He was created K.G. in 1767, and died 
in 1790. The former picture is in the Jones 
Collection at the Victoria and Albert Museum, 
South Kensington ; the latter was exhibited in 
1888 by the late Sir Charles Tennant, Bart. 

Hogarth also painted separate portraits of many 
distinguished noblemen. One of Henry Pelham- 



HIGH LIFE 101 

Clinton, second Duke of Newcastle, K.G. (1720-94), 
was exhibited at the Grosvenor Gallery in 1888 by 
Sir John Fender. One of George Parker, second 
Earl of Macclesfield, President of the Royal Society, 
and a prominent promoter of the change of the 
style, was exhibited in 1882 by the Earl of Maccles- 
field. A picture of Captain Lord George Graham 
(who commanded the Diana frigate at the reduc- 
tion of Quebec) in his cabin, was exhibited in the 
Royal Naval Exhibition in 1891. 

A portrait of Gustavus Lord Viscount Boyne is 
now in the National Gallery of Ireland. One of 
Horace Walpole in his youth was exhibited at the 
Guelph Exhibition in 1891, and at Whitechapel 
by Mr. H. S. Vade Walpole. Another portrait 
of Walpole at the age of ten was at Strawberry Hill, 
and Mr. Dobson tells us it belonged in 1856 to Mrs. 
Bedford, and in 1866 was bought by Mr. H. Farrer 
for 213, 3s. The stated age dates this picture as 
painted in 1727. A picture of George William, 
sixth Earl of Coventry, and his wife (the beautiful 
Maria Gunning) was exhibited at the Guelph 
Exhibition in 1891 by the Earl of Coventry. 

Laurence Shirley, Earl Ferrers, was painted by 
Hogarth, but as he was executed at Tyburn on May 
5, 1760, he does no honour to this list. 

The two children of William, fourth Lord Byron, 
with a dog were painted by Hogarth, and the 
picture was originally at Newstead. It was sold 
in 1870 for 57, 15s. by Lord W. G. Osborne. A 



102 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

portrait of Frances Lady Byron was exhibited in 
1814 by the Earl of Mulgrave, and is now at Lowther 
Castle. An engraving, ' W. Hogarth pinx* , I. Faber 
fecit,' was published and ' sold by Faber at the 
Golden Head in Bloomsbury Square ' in 1736. 
Samuel Ireland in the Graphic Illustrations (vol. ii. 
p. 102) gives an engraving by T. Ryder from a 
sketch of Lady Pembroke made by Hogarth from 
recollection about 1740. He gave no particulars 
of the drawing, nor any justification for the 
attribution. The Lady Pembroke of 1740 must 
have been Mary, eldest daughter of Richard, fifth 
Viscount Fitzwilliam, who married Henry, ninth 
Earl of Pembroke, in 1733. 

This is a goodly list of aristocratic patrons (and 
possibly there were more that have not been 
recorded), which is quite sufficient to prove that 
Hogarth had many opportunities of association 
with people of high social position. We have no 
information as to how cordial the relations between 
Hogarth and these patrons may have been, and 
it is therefore pleasant to refer to Lord Charlemont's 
friendly communications with the painter. 

The portrait of Lord Charlemont does not appear 
to have been painted for the Earl, as it was in the 
possession of Samuel Ireland, who published an 
etching made by Joseph Haynes in 1782. ' The 
Right Hon. James Caulfield, Earl of Charlemount,' 
etc., ' From an Original Portrait by Hogarth in the 
possession of Mr. Samuel Ireland.' 




"I 



HIGH LIFE 103 

The picture entitled ' The Lady's Last Stake,' or 
' Picquet,' or * Virtue in Danger,' already referred to, 
is one of the artist's most charming works. Hogarth 
has himself given an account of its origin : ' While 
I was making arrangements to confine myself 
entirely to my graver, an amiable nobleman (Lord 
Charlemont) requested that before I bade a final 
adieu to the pencil, I would paint him one picture. 
The subject to be my own choice, and the reward, 
whatever I demanded. The story I pitched upon, 
was a young and virtuous married lady, who, by 
playing at cards with an officer, loses her money, 
watches and jewels ; the moment when he offers 
them back in return for her honour, and she is 
wavering at his suit, was my point of time* 

' The picture was highly approved of, and the 
payment was noble; but the manner in which it 
was made, by a note inclosed in one of the following 
letters, was to me infinitely more gratifying than 
treble the sum.' The first letter was dated from 
Mount Street, 19th August 1759, and in it Lord 
Charlemont expresses his thanks for the picture, 
for which he says ' I am still your debtor, more so 
indeed than I ever shall be able to pay.' He also 
says : ' I have not been able to wait upon you 
according to my promise, nor even to find time to 
sit for my picture ; as I am obliged to set out for 
Ireland to-morrow.' 

The second letter is so pleasing that it must be 
copied in extenso. 



104 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

'DUBLIN, 29^ January 1760. 
1 To Mr. Hogarth. 

'DEAR SIB, Inclosed I send you a note upon 
Nesbitt, for one hundred pounds ; and considering 
the name of the author, and the surprising merit 
of your performance, I am really much ashamed 
to offer such a trifle in recompence for the pains you 
have taken, and the pleasure your picture has 
afforded me. I beg you would think that I by no 
means attempt to pay you according to your merit, 
but according to my own abilities. Were I to pay 
your deserts, I fear I should leave myself poor 
indeed. Imagine that you have made me a present 
of the picture, for literally, as such I take it, and 
that I have begged your acceptance of the inclosed 
trifle. As this is really the case, with how much 
reason do I subscribe myself, Your most obliged 
humble servant, CHARLEMONT.' 

John Ireland adds to Hogarth's own description 
of the picture : ' It may fairly be considered as a 
moral lesson against gaming. The clock denotes 
five in the morning. The lady has lost her money, 
jewels, a miniature of her husband, and the half of 
a 500 bank note, which by a letter lying on the 
floor, she appears to have recently received from him. 
In fine, all is lost, except her honour ; and in this 
dangerous moment she is represented perplexed, 
agitated and irresolute.' * 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 198 (note). 



HIGH LIFE 105 

The picture was exhibited at Spring Gardens in 
the year 1761, with the title of ' Picquet, or Virtue 
in Danger.' 

Mrs. Piozzi (Hester Lynch Salusbury, 1741-1821) 
asserted that she sat for the portrait of the heroine, 
but Mr. Dobson points out that, as her accounts 
of the circumstance differed, we cannot consider 
them to be conclusive. Doubtless Hogarth did 
remark to her when he was painting the picture, 
' Take you care, I see an ardour for play in your eyes 
and in your heart ; don't indulge it.' When 
Abraham Hayward published Mrs. Piozzi' s auto- 
biography, he prefixed an engraving from this 
picture to the second volume at the suggestion of 
Lord Macaulay. 

Lord Charlemont's conduct towards Hogarth 
was very different from that of Sir Richard 
Grosvenor, who certainly acted meanly in the 
rejection of ' Sigismunda,' and the painter himself 
alluded in his autobiography to the contrast. He 
writes, in commenting on Lord Charlemont's letters : 
' This elevating circumstance had its contrast, and 
brought on a train of most dissatisfactory cir- 
cumstances, which by happening at a time when I 
thought myself as it were, landed, and secure from 
tugging any longer at the oar, were rendered doubly 
distressing.' 

The acceptance of 100 as ' a noble payment ' 
for such a picture shows how little grasping the 
painter was, and it also illustrates how largely 



106 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

he was guided by sentiment. He rated the 
' Sigismunda ' at 400 (four times the price of 
' Picquet '), because the so-called Correggio was 
sold for that sum, and because his interest in the 
picture increased as the prejudice against it was 
increased by the active exertions of his enemies. 
The atrocious libels written on the female figure 
hurt him the more in that the original of it was his 
own wife. Therefore he requested her not to sell 
the picture during her lifetime for less than 500, 
which he had sufficient experience of the sale of his 
pictures to know was the same as to request her to 
keep the picture in her own possession for life. 

There, however, is something to be said for Sir 
Richard Grosvenor who, having been pleased with 
' Picquet,' pressed Hogarth with much vehemence 
to paint another for him, and received a picture 
which was certainly very different in subject. 
' Picquet ' remained in the possession of Lord Charle- 
mont's family at the Villa Marina near Dublin 
for many years. 

It was sold at Christie's in 1874 for 1585, 10s., 
and is now in the possession of Mr. J. Pierpont 
Morgan. 

Lord Charlemont was a Viscount when his 
portrait and this picture were painted, but he was 
created an Earl in December 1763. As all lovers 
of Hogarth must feel interest in Lord Charlemont, 
it will interest them to learn, on the authority of 
an old edition of Debrett's Peerage, the remarkable 



HIGH LIFE 107 

reason for this creation the revival of an order 
given by James I. one hundred and forty years 
before : ' It appearing from the rolls of the Court 
of Chancery that James I. by letters under his sign 
manual, dated at Westminster, July 16, 1622, 
directed the chief governor of Ireland to cause 
letters patent to pass under the great seal, containing 
a grant of the dignity of an earl to the first Lord 
Charlemont (Toby Caulfield), but which was never 
put in execution.' Hogarth's Earl died on August 4, 
1799. 

We now come to consider two of the great series 
of pictured morals the 'Marriage a la Mode,' and 
the ' Rake's Progress.' 

Some have attempted to show points of connection 
between Dryden's comedy of Marriage a la Mode 
and Hogarth's pictures owing to similarity of 
title, but there is certainly no likeness between the 
two. The names of the characters in the play 
sufficiently disprove this Polydamas, Usurper of 
Sicily, Leonidas, Argaleon, Hermogenes, Eubulus, 
Rhodophil, Palamede, Palmyra, Amalthea, Doralice, 
Melantha, Philotis, Belisa, Artemis. 

It is almost equally difficult to see any hint of 
the incidents in the Clandestine Marriage (1766) 
in the series of plates illustrating the ' Marriage a 
la Mode,' although Garrick in his prologue alludes 
very cleverly to the connection : 

1 To-night, your matchless Hogarth gives the thought, 
Which from his canvas to the Stage is brought, 



108 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

And who so fit to warm the Poet's mind, 
As he who pictur'd Morals and Mankind 1 
But not the same their characters and scenes ; 
Both labour for one end, by different means : 
Each as it suits him, takes a separate Road, 
Their one great Object, MARRiAGE-A-LA-MoDE, 
Where titles deign with Cits to have and hold, 
And change rich blood for more substantial gold, 
And honour'd Trade from interest turns aside 
To hazard happiness for titled Pride.' 

All the pictures of the series are of Interiors, 
and all these interiors are of London houses. They 
form Hogarth's masterpiece and his chief illus- 
tration of High Life. 

The following advertisement appeared hi the 
London Daily Post, April 2, 1743: 'Mr. Hogarth 
intends to publish by subscription, Six Prints from 
Copper-plates engrav'd by the best masters in Paris, 
after his own paintings, representing a variety of 
Modern Occurrences in High - Life, and called 
Marriage-d-la-Mode. Particular care will be taken, 
that there may not be the least objection to the 
Decency or Elegancy of the whole work, and that 
none of the characters represented shall be personal.' * 
The engravings were issued at the end of May 1745. 

Plates 1 and 6 were engraved by Scotin ; Plates 2 
and 3 by Baron ; Plates 4 and 5 by Ravenet. 
' Characters and Caricatures,' * W. Hogarth Fecit 
1743,' was the subscription ticket for the ' Marriage.' 

1 To the advertisement of April 4 and subsequent issues was added : 
' The Heads for the better Preservation of the Characters and Expressions 
to be done by the Author.' 



HIGH LIFE 109 

Under the design is inscribed : ' For a f arthar (sic) 
Explanation of the difference betwixt Character 
& Caricatura See y e Preface to Jo h Andrews.' 
This is a reference to that delightful passage where 
Fielding repudiates for Hogarth the charge of his 
being a Burlesque Painter, and claims that his 
figures not only seem to breathe but appear to think. 
The prints soon became popular, and the subject 
formed the groundwork of a novel called The 
Marriage Act, by Dr. John Shebbeare. In 1746 
was published a tract of 59 pages entitled 
' Marriage a la Mode : an Humourous Tale in six 
Cantos, in Hudibrastic Verse, being an Explanation 
of the six prints lately published by the ingenious 
Mr. Hogarth. London. . . .' 

In the second quarter of the nineteenth century, 
the story was dramatised and a broadside com- 
prising five woodcuts of the scenes was prepared 
as a playbill : * Davidge's Royal Surrey Theatre. 
On Easter Monday, April 1st, and during the week 
will be presented an Original Pictorial Drama in 
five Tableaux entitled the Curse of Mammon ! or 
the Earl's son and the Citizen's daughter ! Form- 
ing a facsimile embodiment of Hogarth's justly 
celebrated Pictures : Marriage-a-la-Mode.' 

Plate 1. The Contract. 

This picture contains a representation of an 
ostentatiously grand saloon, the walls of which are 
covered with paintings. Here the beginnings of the 



110 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

sad drama are at work. The unfinished building 
seen from the window with no workmen about shows 
that expensive tastes have exhausted the Earl's 
treasury. The attentions of Councillor Silvertongue 
to the bride already appear to be pronounced, and 
the young Viscount Squanderfield is too much 
engaged with his own thoughts to pay any attention 
to the merchant's daughter soon to be his wife. 
Hazlitt says of him : ' He is the Narcissus of the 
reign of George n. ; whose powdered peruke, ruffles, 
gold lace, and patches divide his self-love unequally 
with his own person, the true Sir Plume of his day. ' 
The prominent personage is the Earl, who appears 
no more in the drama after this. Racked with the 
gout, he is still grand in his manner, and he presents 
a wonderful picture of a haughty aristocrat. There 
is a tradition, although I have not seen it referred to 
in any of the books on Hogarth, that this striking 
character was drawn from a man with great pride 
in his ancestry, which he traced farther back than 
the William Duke of Normandy of the Earl's 
pedigree. John Wallop, Baron Wallop of Farleigh 
Wallop and Viscount Lymington, had been created 
Earl of Portsmouth in 1743, just about the time 
Hogarth was engaged upon these pictures, and his 
well-known pride of birth might cause Hogarth to 
take him as a model. The family of Wallop is 
said in Burke' s Peerage to have been settled at 
Wallop, Hants, at a period antecedent to the 
Conquest. The building operations of the Earl 




I.I 



HIGH LIFE 111 

in the painting may bear some reference to 
the fact that the manor-house of Farley, destroyed 
by fire in 1667, was rebuilt by Lord Lymington in 
1733. If there is truth in this tradition, it shows 
forcibly the spirit of Hogarth's work. When he used 
a particular person as a representative in his pictures 
of a special characteristic, he took care that nothing 
else in the picture should bear in any way upon 
his family history. Lord Portsmouth's son, Lord 
Lymington, married Catherine Conduit, great- 
niece of Sir Isaac Newton, the daughter of Mrs. 
Barton (afterwards Mrs. Conduit). His son became 
the second Earl of Portsmouth, and by this con- 
nection the Portsmouth family became the repre- 
sentatives of the great philosopher. The fourth 
Earl was named Newton Fellowes, and the fifth 
Earl, Isaac Newton Wallop. 

' While the proud Earl of Rollo's race 
Points to the peers his pompous parchment grace, 
Builds all his honours on a noble name, 
And on his father's deeds depends for fame ; 
The wary citizen, with heedful eye, 
Inspects what 's settled on posterity ; 
Pours out the pelf by rigid avarice pil'd 
To gain an empty title for his child.' 

It has been said by some that Lord Tylney was 
the original of the Earl, but this seems improbable. 
The person delivering the mortgage to the Earl is 
supposed to be one Peter Walter, the ' Peter Pounce ' 
of Fielding's Joseph Andrews. 



112 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Plate 2. The Breakfast Scene. 

We have here a very handsome room finely 
furnished in the style of the day, although with 
signs of confusion left from the rout of the previous 
night, and with the lights guttering in their candle- 
sticks. The apartment is said to be copied from 
the drawing-room of No. 5 Arlington Street, where 
Horace Walpole was living at this time, and where 
he remained until 1779. 

Of this Hazlitt wrote : ' The airy splendour of 
the view of the inner room in this picture is probably 
not exceeded by any of the productions of the 
Flemish School.' The husband appears to have 
just come home after a night of debauch, for which 
he left his wife to attend to her company. Of the 
latter Hazlitt writes : ' The expression of the Bride in 
the Morning Scene is the most highly seasoned, and 
at the same time the most vulgar of the series,' but 
adds, ' the figure, face, and attitude of the Husband, 
are inimitable.' Francis Hayman, Hogarth's friend 
and copyist, is said to have been the model for 
the dissipated husband, whose money has evidently 
almost come to an end. The poor steward, who can 
get no attention to his appeal and has to leave the 
room with his unpaid bills, is a prominent figure in 
the scene. There is considerable difference of opinion 
among the critics as to this man. The majority 
speak of the honesty and simplicity of the old 
faithful servant, and others think he is intended for 
a hypocritical fellow. 



HIGH LIFE 113 

' Behold how Vice her votary rewards, 
After a night of folly, frolic, cards, 
The phantom pleasure flies and in its place, 
Comes deep remorse, and torturing disgrace, 
Corroding care, and self-accusing fame ! ' 



Plate 3. The Scene with the Quack. 

The subject of this picture need not detain us 
long, as it has rather to do with low life than with 
high life, with which it has only an incidental 
connection. The explanations of the commen- 
tators are very conflicting, and therefore nothing 
can be said with certainty as to the meaning of the 
particular action although the general idea of the 
scene is apparent enough. 

Hazlitt's remarks on the painting of the girl are 
as usual most discriminating : ' The young girl 
in the third picture, who is represented as the 
victim of fashionable profligacy, is unquestionably 
one of the artist's chefs-d'oeuvre. The exquisite deli- 
cacy of the painting is only surpassed by the felicity 
and subtlety of the conception. Nothing can be more 
striking than the contrast between the extreme 
softness of her person, and the hardened indifference 
of her character. The vacant stillness, the docility 
to vice, the premature suppression of youthful 
sensibility, the doll-like mechanism of the whole 
figure, which seems to have no other feeling but a 
sickly sense of pain show the deepest insight into 
human nature.' 

The interest of the picture for us is almost con- 

H 



114 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

fined to its local character. John Ireland, in alluding 
to the miscellaneous contents of the Quack's 
Museum, quotes a passage from Garth's Dispensary, 
which with justice he thinks might have given 
Hogarth some hints for the scene : 

1 Here mummies lie, most reverently stale, 
And there, the tortoise hung her coat of mail : 
Not far from some huge shark's devouring head, 
The flying fish their finny pinions spread ; 
Aloft, in rows, large poppy-heads were strung, 
And near, a scaly alligator hung ; 
In this place, drugs in musty heaps decay'd, 
In that, dry'd bladders and drawn teeth were laid.' 

J. T. Smith, hi an interesting account of St. 
Martin's Lane contained in the second volume of 
his Nollekens and his Times, says that the large 
room behind No. 96 was the original of the scene 
of this picture, although he incorrectly describes it 
as a part of the ' Rake's Progress.' ' The house has 
a large staircase, curiously painted, of figures 
viewing a procession, which was executed for the 
famous Dr. Misaubin, about the year 1732 by a 
painter of the name of Clermont, a Frenchman, 
who boldly charged one thousand guineas for his 
labour, which charge, however, was contested, and 
the artist was obliged to take five hundred.' 

Whether the quack and the big woman in the 
picture were taken from Misaubin and his wife may 
be doubted, although probably Hogarth took that 
doctor as a type. 



HIGH LIFE 115 

Bramston, in his * Man of Taste,' contrasts him 
with the respectable practitioners : 

1 Should I perchance be fashionably ill, 
I 'd send for Misaubin, and take his pill. 
I should abhor, though in the utmost need, 
Arbuthnot, Hollins, Wigan, Lee or Mead ; 
But if I found that I grew worse and worse, 
I 'd turn off Misaubin and take a nurse.' 

Misaubin's father was a Huguenot clergyman who 
preached at the Spitalfields French Church, and 
was a well-known preacher. Fielding says in Tom 
Jones, bk. xiii. chap, ii., that the Doctor boasted 
that the proper direction for him was ' Dr. Misaubin 
in the World.' He is one of four medical men 
mentioned in that novel, the others being Syden- 
ham, John Freke and John Ranby. There is a 
miniature of the Doctor and his family by Joseph 
Goupy which Smith mentions as being in the pos- 
session of Mr. Henry Moyley. 

John Misaubin, M.D., licentiate of the College 
of Physicians, 25th June 1719, brought a famous 
pill into England, by which he made a fortune by 
questionable means. 

Misaubin died in 1734, but in August 1749 Martha 
Misaubin advertised in the London Evening Post 
that she continued the making and selling of Dr. 
Misaubin's Pills at her house in St. Martin's Lane. 
She affirms ' I am the only person that prepared 
them during the Doctor's life and since his death, 
nobody else having the secret but myself.' Mr. 



116 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Stephens thinks it probable that this was the same 
woman as the coarse virago in this picture. 1 

Plate 4. The Toilette Scene. 

A lady's boudoir and bedroom is represented 
in this picture, which is filled with a company of 
friends assembled at the Countess's levee. The 
Earl's coronet, seen on the bedstead, may indicate 
that the old Earl is now dead. We are not informed 
what was the Earl's title, and it could not well 
be Squanderfield, as some commentators seem to 
suppose it was, because that was the title of his son, 
Viscount Squanderfield. Probably Hogarth was 
himself confused in this matter, for the invitations 
on the floor are directed to Lady Squander. 

The new Countess and Silvertongue (who is 
pointing to representations of a masquerade on 
the screen), are arranging an appointment at a 
masquerade. On the couch where the Counsellor 
reclines is a book inscribed Sopha, referring to the 
licentious novel by Crebillon fils which was much 
read at this time. Hogarth took the opportunity 
of expressing his burning indignation against the 
infatuation of the upper classes for the Italian 
Opera. The singer at this reception is said to be 
Giovanni Carestini, 2 the famous counter-tenor, who 

1 See British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 733. 

2 Carestini made his debut in London on December 4, 1733, and with his 
support Handel was able to withstand the opposition of Farinelli. Handel 
was very indignant with him on one occasion when he sent back to the 
composer the song 'Verdi prati' in the Italian opera Altina (1736) as not 



HIGH LIFE 117 

according to Burney was one of the finest Italian 
singers ever heard ; he was also a good actor, tall, 
handsome, and commanding. He died about 1758. 
Some have supposed the figure to be intended for 
Farinelli. Behind him is the famous flute-player 
Weidemann, who is also the principal figure in the 
print of ' The Modern Orpheus,' published in 1807, 
from an original sketch by Hogarth in the pos- 
session of the Marquis of Bute (circa 1745). 

Below the engraving is printed in letterpress 
the following announcement : ' Speedily will be 
Published, Inscribed to all Lovers of Tweedledum 
Tweedle, the Art of Playing upon People, or, 
Memoirs of the German Flute, interspersed with the 
Character of Baron Steeple ; in which the effect 
of Harmony will be shown in instances of a more 
surprizing Nature than any related of Amphion, 
Linus, Musseus or the most celebrated Flutists 
of Antiquity. 

" Music hath charms to wheedle Guineas forth ; 
To draw, like Loadstone, Vituals, Drink and Clothes ; 
Shirts, Stockings, Hats, Wigs, Kapiers, Shoes and Boots. 
I Ve read that Misers (griping Sons of Mammon !) 
Have, out of Idol Gold, been oft cajol'd, 
By Magic Numbers and persuasive Sound." ' 

Weidemann was, soon after the accession of 
George in., appointed Assistant-Master of Music to 
the King under Dr. Boyce, and afterwards Composer 

suited to him. Handel ran to the singer's house and addressed him thus : 
' You tog ! don't I know petter as yourseluf vaat es pest for you to sing ? 
If you vill not sing all de song vaat I give you, I vill not pay you ein stiver.' 



118 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

of Minuets at the Court of St. James, and one of 
the band of musicians. He died May 24, 1782. 1 

Mrs. Fox Lane (afterwards Lady Bingley), is 
the striking lady in a state of excited admiration 
of Carestini's singing. She was the daughter of 
Robert Benson, Baron Bingley, and wife of George 
Fox Lane, who was created Lord Bingley of Bingley 
in 1762. Mrs. Fox Lane had a perfect passion for 
Italian music, and was a zealous friend and patroness 
of Madame Regina Mingotti, 2 siding with her in her 
disputes with Vaneschi. On one occasion she was 
earnestly declaiming to the Hon. General Crewe on 
the claims of her favourite to universal admiration, 
when her listener astonished her by asking, ' And 
pray, ma'am, who is Madame Mingotti ? ' ' Get out 
of my house,' cried the lady, ' you shall never hear 
her sing another song at my concerts, as long as you 
live.' Mingotti performed exclusively at Mrs. Lane's 
concerts, so there was no hope for the General. This 
anecdote is given on the authority of Dr. Burney. 

The gentleman in curl-papers who sits next to 
Carestini is said to be Herr Michel, Prussian Envoy. 
It is to be hoped that he was a better diplomatist 
than his vacant countenance would lead us to expect. 

The argument of the fourth canto of the poem on 
the ' Marriage a la Mode,' thus sums up this scene : 



1 British Museum Catalogue (F. G. Stephens), vol. iii. p. 591. 

2 This famous singer, born 1728 (nee Valentini), married Mingotti, im- 
presario of the Dresden Opera, and when she came to England retrieved 
the fortunes of the Opera. 



HIGH LIFE 119 

'Fresh honours on the Lady wait, 
A Countess now she shines in state ; 
The toilette is at large display'd 
Where, whilst the morning concert 's play'd, 
She listens to her lover's call, 
Who courts her to the midnight ball.' 

Plate 5. The Death of the Earl. 

The end of the great tragedy is now arrived, and 
it takes two pictures to tell the story. The dying 
Earl is seen in the centre of the bedroom of the 
Turk's Head Bagnio killed by Silvertongue, who is 
escaping through the window. This scene is too 
serious in itself to allow of many external references, 
and although there are several of these the con- 
sideration of them need not detain us here. Hazlitt 
is not at his best in his criticism of this scene. He 
says it is inferior to the rest of the series. 'The 
attitude of the husband who is just killed, is one in 
which it would be impossible for him to stand or 
even to fall. It resembles the loose paste-board 
figures they make for children.' Few will agree 
with this, and it is well that we have a brilliant 
passage, written with wonderful insight, to set 
against it. ' Look on that dying man his body 
dissolving, falling not like his sword, firm and entire, 
but as nothing but a dying thing could fall, his eyes 
dim with the shadow of death, in his ears the 
waters of that tremendous river, all its billows 
going over him, the life of his comely body flowing 
out like water, the life of his soul who knows what 
it is doing ? Fleeing through the open window, 



120 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

undressed, see the murderer and adulterer vanish 
into the outer darkness of night, anywhere rather 
than remain : and that guilty, beautiful, utterly 
miserable creature on her knee, her whole soul, 
her whole life in her eyes, fixed on her dying husband, 
dying for and by her ! . . . the night-watch with 
their professional faces the weary wind blowing 
through the room, the prelude, as it were, of that 
whirlwind in which that lost soul is soon to pass 
away. The man who could paint so as to suggest 
all this, is a great man and a great painter.' 

This was written by that delightful essayist, Dr. 
John Brown, the creator of Rob and his Friends, for 
Hugh Miller's Witness in 1846. 1 

Plate 6. The Death of the Countess. 

The last scene is far removed from ' High Life,' 
for the unhappy Countess has returned to the 
sordid home of her merchant father. She has seen 
the last dying speech of her paramour and in despair 
has taken laudanum. The callous father is seen 
taking a valuable ring from his dying daughter's 
finger. The only bit of feeling is exhibited in the 
parting of the poor child from her mother. Hazlitt 
writes : ' The characters in the last picture, in 
which the wife dies, are all masterly. We would 
particularly refer to the captious petulant self- 
sufficiency of the Apothecary, whose face and figure 
are constructed on the same physiognomical 

1 Horn Subsecivce, 1862, pp. 244-5, quoted by Mr. Austin Dobson. 




a v, 

o 

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a i 



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HIGH LIFE 121 

principles; and to the fine example of passive 
obedience and non-resistance in the servant whom 
he is taking to task, and whose coat of green and 
yellow livery is as long and melancholy as his face. 
. . . The harmony and gradations of colour in this 
picture are uniformly preserved with the greatest 
nicety, and are well worthy the attention of the 
artist.' The point of greatest interest in this 
picture in relation to London topography is the 
view of the old tumble-down houses on London 
Bridge, seen through the window of the room. 
This is one of the latest representations of these 
houses, as they were all cleared away about a dozen 
years after Hogarth painted this scene. 

It is fortunate for the world that these splendid 
pictures are in the possession of the nation, so that 
every one who wishes can see them at all times. 
They bear repeated study, and the tragedy is so 
vividly and truly painted that it is impossible not 
to feel you are in the presence of a great genius, who 
lives again in his great works. John Ireland very 
truly says : ' It will not be easy, perhaps not 
possible, to find six pictures painted by any artist, 
in any age or country, in which such variety of 
superlative merit is united.' 

' The Rake's Progress ' does not, as a whole, 
represent High Life as the * Marriage ' does, but as 
Tom Rakewell attempts to obtain an entrance into 
the ' inner circle ' it is necessary to take notice of 
some of the scenes. 



122 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The eight pictures are to be seen at the Soane 
Museum, they having been bought by Sir John 
Soane in 1802 for 598, 10s. Hogarth originally 
sold them hi February 1745 to Alderman Beckford 
for 184, 16s. They were sold at the Fonthill sale 
to Colonel Fullarton for 682, 10s. The engravings 
were published in June 1735. 

Plate 2, where the Rake is surrounded by artists 
and professors at his levee, may be taken as a sort 
of pendant to Plate 4 of the ' Marriage ' where 
the Countess is surrounded by her friends. The 
Rake is well attended by his instructors, some of 
whom are identified as characters of the day, while 
others remain anonymous. The bravo captain 
behind the Rake comes provided with a letter of 
recommendation from William Stab ; a jockey in 
front holds on his knee a large silver bowl on which 
are engraved a racing horse and its rider and the 
inscription ' Won at Epsom, Silly Tom.' The 
dancing-master, holding his kit and bow, capers on 
the Rake's right; apparently he is a Frenchman, 
but it has been affirmed that he was intended to 
represent a man named Essex. The fencing-master 
displaying his skill in making a thrust towards the 
front of the design was Dubois, a Frenchman, who 
was killed in a duel fought in Marylebone Fields 
on May 10, 1734, by an Irishman also named Dubois. 
The man with staves standing between the fencing- 
and dancing-masters was Figg the prize-fighter 
who died 1734. At the back between the Rake and 



HIGH LIFE 123 

the dancing-master is Bridgeman, the well-known 
landscape gardener, who holds in his hand a design 
which John Ireland does not consider to be worthy 
of the man who attempted to 'create landscape, 
to realise painting and improve nature.' Hogarth 
takes the opportunity of satirising the presenters 
of Italian Opera, so here is another instance of 
likeness to Plate 4 of the ' Marriage.' 

At the extreme left of the picture is a harpsichord 
inscribed ' I. Mahoan fecit,' at which a man is seen 
seated ; his back only is presented to the spectator, 
but it has been supposed by some to represent 
Handel. This, however, is unlikely. Over the back 
of the chair on which the musician sits a long scroll 
of paper extends on the floor, which is inscribed : 
' A list of the rich Presents Signor Farinello the 
Italian Singer condescended to accept of y e English 
Nobility and Gentry for one Night's performance in 
the opera of ArtaxerxesS The last of the presents on 
the list is ' A Gold Snuffbox chac'd with the Story of 
Orpheus charming y e Brutes, by T. Rake-well Esq.' 

On the floor near the end of the scroll is an 
engraving representing Farinelli seated on a 
pedestal, and with an altar between his feet on 
which two hearts are burning ; many ladies are offer- 
ing burning hearts to the popular idol. In Plate 4 
we see the Rake arrested on his way to Court, and 
the picture contains an admirable view of St. James's 
Street with the Palace at the foot. This street 
was the very centre of High Life in London, and it 



124 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

still remains its most distinguished street. Its 
position is unrivalled, and even now it has a little 
of the air of the eighteenth century left, although 
some tall new houses at the Piccadilly end have 
completely ruined the restful sense of proportion 
that once existed. 

Plate 4, and Plate 6, representing the gaming 
at White's Chocolate House, and the commencement 
of the fire that destroyed the building, are more 
fully dealt with in Chapter ix. on Tavern Life. The 
other pictures have little to do with High Life, and 
a notice of Plate 5, the Marriage in Marylebone 
Church, will be found in Chapter xm. (Suburbs) ; 
one on Plate 7, the Fleet Prison, in Chapter xn. 
(Prisons and Crime), and on Plate 8, Bedlam, in 
Chapter xi. (Hospitals). 

Hogarth made three satirical designs on what 
he considered (often truly), the perverted taste in 
High Life. The first in 1724, called * Masquerades 
and Operas,' also styled ' Taste of the Town,' which 
contains the gate of Burlington House, Piccadilly 
(described in Chapter x., Theatrical Life). The 
second in 1731, ' The Man of Taste,' or, 'Burlington 
House ' ; and the third in 1742, ' Taste in High Life.' 

' The Man of Taste ' (also called ' Taste a la Mode ') 
contains the best view in existence of the old wall 
and gate of Burlington House cleared away in 1866. 
It is a sort of three-sided satire on Burlington, 
Kent, and Pope. Against Lord Burlington because 
he patronised Kent, and against Pope because he 




"THE MAN OF TASTE." 1731. (BURLINGTON GATE.) 



HIGH LIFE 125 

satirised the Duke of Chandos under the name of 
Timon in his Moral Epistle (iv.) to Burlington on 
the false taste of magnificence. 

On the engraving is the following explanation : 

A P. a Plasterer white- washing and bespattering [Pope]. 

B Any body that comes in his way. 

C Not a Dukes Coach as appears by y e crescent of one 
corner [Duke of Chandos's coach]. 

D Taste [The pediment so marked]. 

E A standing proof [statue of Kent between recum- 
bent figures of ' Raphael Urb.' and ' Mi 1 Angelo ']. 

F A Labourer [Earl of Burlington]. 

The plate is said to have been suppressed, but it 
was reproduced as a frontispiece to a pirated edition 
of the first issue of the poem * Of Taste,' which was 
described as ' A Miscellany on Taste.' 

Pope never referred to Hogarth publicly, but he 
complained to friends, and he was evidently afraid 
of the satirist. 

Nichols, however, in Biographical Anecdotes, refers 
to a copy of this piratical edition having the following 
inscription written inside the book : ' Bo H this 
book of Mr. Wayte, at The Fountain Tavern, in the 
Strand, in the presence of Mr. Draper, who told me 
he had it of the Printer, Mr. W. Rayner. J. Cosins.' 

He says Cosins was an attorney, and as Pope was 
desirous on all occasions to make the law the engine 
of his revenge, he supposes this attested memoran- 
dum was intended for the purposes of a prosecution. 

' Taste in High Life ' was painted in ridicule of 



126 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the craze of the day for outre costumes and the 
collection of gimcracks of all kinds. Miss Edwardes 
of Kensington, an unmarried lady of great fortune, 
had been sharply satirised in Society for her 
oddities, and she thought that by employing Hogarth 
to perpetuate the absurdities of the dress worn by 
the most exalted personages of her time she would 
have ample revenge. 

The picture represents a room furnished in the 
extreme of fashion, the chief figures being a lady 
and gentleman extravagantly dressed and ' gushing ' 
over the beauties of some old china. The man has 
a saucer in his hand, and the woman a cup. The 
beau represents the Earl of Portmore in the dress 
he wore at the Birthday Drawing-Room of 1742. 
A monkey in the front of the picture is dressed like 
a gentleman of the period. The little black boy is 
said to be taken from Ignatius Sancho whose 
portrait in later life was painted by Gainsborough. 

The woman who is playing with the black boy is 
said to represent a courtesan of the day. On the 
wall, among a large collection of pictures, Desnoyers 
the great opera dancer is seen pirouetting. 

Hogarth received sixty guineas from Miss 
Edwardes for the picture, which was bought by 
Mr. Birch at the sale of her effects for five guineas. 
It belonged to Mr. John Birch, surgeon, of Essex 
Street, Strand, son of the former proprietor, when 
it was engraved by Samuel Phillips in 1798. He 
exhibited it in 1814. The picture was sold at the 



HIGH LIFE 127 

M'Murdo sale in July 1889 for 225, 15s., and is 
now in the possession of Mr. Fairfax Murray. 

As this picture was painted to the order of another, 
the painter took little interest in it and would not 
allow it to be engraved. An engraver managed 
surreptitiously to obtain sight of the picture and 
published a print of it at the price of sixpence. 

The publication was advertised in The General 
Advertiser of May 24, 1746. ' On Monday next 
will be published an entertaining new Print, called 
" Taste in High Life " (a companion to Taste a la 
Mode), from an incomparable Picture of Mr. 
Hogarth's (designed by a lady lately deceased) 
proving beyond contradiction, that the present 
polite assemblies of Drums, Routs, etc., are mere 
exotics and the supporters of such and other 
Divertissemens modernes a parcel of Insects. To 
be had at Mr. Jar vis's Print-shop in Bedford 
Court, Covent Garden, and the Printsellers of 
London and Westminster.' 



128 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER IV 

LOW LIFE 

Low Life is exhibited in its many phases in a large 
number of Hogarth's pictures, and so universally 
has the public opinion been directed to this side of 
the artist's art that we find an anonymous writer 
dedicating to Hogarth his work on ' Low Life,' 
which we have Mr. Dobson's authority for saying 
was first published in May 1752 (a second edition 
in November 1754, and a third in 1764), 1 and 
attributing the idea of its publication to his pictures 
of ' The Four Times of the Day,' painted and 
engraved in 1738. 

1 ' Low-Life : or One half the World, knows not how the Other half lives, 
being a critical account of what is transacted by People of almost all Religions, 
Nations, and Circumstances, in the Twenty-four hours between Saturday 
Night and Monday Morning. In a true description of a Sunday, as it is 
usually spent within the Bills of Mortality. Calculated for the Tenth 
[Twenty-first] of June. With an Address to the ingenious Mr. Hogarth. 
' Let Fancy guess the rest.' Buckingham. 

( London : Printed for the Author, and sold by T. Legg, at the Parrot and 
Crown in Green Arbour Court in the Little Old Baily,' etc. [n.d.] [Price 
one shilling.] 

The third edition. ' London : Printed for John Lever, at Little Moorgate, 
next London Wall near Moorfields, 1764' [Price one shilling and sixpence]. 
8vo, pp. viii., 103. 

The change of the date on the title-page of the third edition from the 
tenth to the twenty-first is of interest on account of the change in the 
calendar which took place between the publication of the two editions. 



LOW LIFE 129 

This remarkable book attracted the attention of 
Thackeray, Dickens, Sala (Twice Round the Clock, 
1859), and others, and it requires some special 
notice here, as it contains a curious illustration of 
the habits of the Londoners of Hogarth's day. Sir 
Walter Besant in his London in the Eighteenth 
Century, has a chapter on Low Life entitled ' Twice 
Round the Clock.' He wisely remarks that the reve- 
lations of the book must be accepted with caution, 
as the frequent is usually made to appear to be the 
universal. Moreover, the author assumes the garb, 
which he wears somewhat awkwardly, ' of the 
moralist that deplores and the Christian who 
exhorts.' With this caution we can proceed to 
consider the author's revelations as they occur. 

In the dedication to Hogarth we read : ' I say 
that this essay owes its existence partly to your 
works. And who will not believe me, when I direct 
them to those four pieces of yours, called "Morning," 
" Noon," " Evening," " Night " ? and where are 
many things made visible to the eye in the most 
elegant colours, which are here only recorded. But 
these I must leave the judicious Reader to 
compare.' 

We are told that hi the first hour from 12 to 1 A.M. 
4 The Salop man hi Fleet Street shuts up his Beggar's 
Coffee-house,' and hackney coachmen are full of 
employment about Charing Cross, Covent Garden, 
and the Inns of Court, carrying to their respective 
habitations such people as are either too drunk or 

i 



130 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

too lazy to walk. Later on, the watchman cries 
''Past four o'clock' at half an hour after three. 
About this time the beggars go to the parish nurses 
to borrow poor helpless children at fourpence a day 
each. The keepers of she-asses about Brompton, 
Knightsbridge, Hoxton and Stepney are getting 
ready to run with their cattle all over the town to 
be milked for the benefit of sick and infirm persons. 
From seven to eight people are seen ' wishing the 
compliments of the season, it being Whit Sunday.' 
About this time ' the whole cities of London, 
Westminster and the Borough of Southwark are 
covered by a cloud of smoak, most people being 
employed in lighting fires.' 

The account of the doings during the dark hours 
is full, and shows how dangerous the streets of 
London were at night, and sometimes in the 
day-time, owing to the incompetence and, in 
many cases, to the corruptibility of the old watch- 
men. 

Being Sunday morning, some of the early risers 
were off to the suburbs to breakfast at Sadler's Wells, 
but the larger number of the people waited till the 
afternoon and walked to the fields of Islington which 
were then filling with oxen and calves, sheep and 
lambs, placed there to be ready for Monday morning 
market at Smithfield. More will be found about 
these suburban resorts in the chapter on Suburbs. 
At the end of Low Life, there is an advertisement 
of * The Secret History of Betty Ireland, 6th edition, 



LOW LIFE 131 

price 6d.,' with these laudatory lines on this 
woman : 

' Read Flanders Moll, the German Princess scan, 
Then match our Irish Betty if you can ; 
In Wit and Vice she did them both excel 
And may be justly called, a Nonpareil.' 

In the Newgate Calendar a print called * Betty 
Ireland's Dexterity' is borrowed from the woman 
stealing the watch in Plate 3 of the ' Rake's Progress.' 

Turning from the follower to the originator, we 
can now consider the particular points of ' The Four 
Times of the Day,' which series is of the greatest 
interest for our present purpose as it illustrates 
London streets in three of the pictures and the 
suburbs in ' Evening.' Although the engravings 
from the original paintings were published in 1738, 
the pictures remained on Hogarth's hands until 1745, 
when they were sold by the artist's ill-advised system 
of auction for ridiculously low prices. 

' The Four Times of the Day ' were exhibited in 
1814, and Mr. Dobson tells us that 'Night' and 
' Morning ' (shown in the Winter Exhibition of the 
Royal Academy in 1885), belong to the Hursley 
Park Trustees, and were originally purchased by Sir 
WiUiam Heathcote for 27, 6s. and 21. ' Noon ' 
and ' Evening ' belonged to the Duke of Ancaster, 
who bought them for 38, 17s. and 39, 18s. 
respectively ; they are now in the possession of the 
Earl of Ancaster at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire. 

In the advertisement of the sale of pictures 



132 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

(Daily Advertiser, February 6 and 19, 1745), it is 
stated that they were ' All of them his own original 
Paintings, from which no other copies than the 
Prints have ever been taken.' Hogarth allowed 
Francis Hayman to reproduce the four pictures for 
Jonathan Tyers to ornament Vauxhall Gardens, 
but we have not the exact date when this was done. 
Mr. Dobson says that ' Evening ' and ' Night ' were 
still there in 1808. 

* Morning.' The first picture presents an admir- 
able view of Covent Garden Market on a cold winter 
morning, although some of the details are not quite 
correctly depicted in the engraving, so that Lord 
Archer's house (long afterwards Evans's) appears 
to stand on the south rather than on the north side 
of the church. The hour, as appears by the church 
clock, is 7.55, and the old maid followed by her 
shivering page is proceeding to attend the early 
morning service. 

John Ireland refers to this lady as ' this withered 
representative of Miss Bridget Allworthy,' but the 
remark is misleading as Fielding's novel was not 
published until 1749. It was Fielding who 
borrowed from Hogarth and drew Miss Bridget in 
words in accordance with the portrait of her in 
' Morning.' He writes : ' The lady, no more than 
her lover, was remarkable for beauty. I would 
attempt to draw her picture ; but that is done already 
by a more able master, Mr. Hogarth himself, to 
whom she sat many years ago, and hath been 




"MORNING" (COVENT GARDEN.) "FOUR TIMES OF THE DAY." 1738. 



LOW LIFE 133 

lately exhibited by that gentleman in his print of a 
Winter's Morning, of which she was no improper 
emblem and may be seen walking (for walk she doth 
in the print) to Covent Garden Church, with a 
starved footboy behind, carrying a prayer-book.' ' 

Another story told by John Nichols is that this 
figure was taken either from an acquaintance or 
relation of Hogarth. ' At first she was well enough 
satisfied with her resemblance ; but some designing 
people teaching her to be angry, she struck the 
painter out of her will, which had been made con- 
siderably in his favour.' Such are the troubles 
of the Satirist. 

Cowper was struck by this figure, and faithfully 
expounded it in eighteen lines of Truth commencing : 

1 Yon ancient prude, whose wither'd features show 
She might be young some forty years ago, 
Her elbows pinion'd close upon her hips, 
Her head erect, her fan upon her lips, 
Her eyebrows arch'd, her eyes both gone astray 
To watch yon am'rous couple in their play.' 

The church, which forms the principal object in 
the east end of the picture, represents Inigo Jones's 
original church. This building was entirely de- 
stroyed by fire on September 15, 1795, and was 
rebuilt by Thomas Hardwick, architect, on the plan 
and hi the proportions of the original. 

' Tom King's Coffee-House,' a notorious resort 
of the most unruly of the London rakes, forms a 

1 Tom Jones, book i. chap. XL 



134 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

prominent feature in the picture. Tom King was 
a native of West Ashton in Wiltshire and a scholar 
at Eton, who early began his ignoble career. In 
the account of the boys elected from Eton to King's 
College, Cambridge, given by Harwood (Alumni 
Etonensis), he writes: King 'went away (1713) 
scholar in apprehension that his fellowship would 
be denied him, and afterwards kept that coffee- 
house in Covent Garden which was called by his 
own name.' At the date of this picture Tom King 
probably had been succeeded in the possession 
of this place of entertainment by his widow, Moll 
King, who became notorious. In October 1737 was 
published a print entitled ' A Monument for Tom 
K-g.' 

Fielding frequently referred to King's Coffee- 
House. J. T. Smith places the shed, for it was 
little more, opposite to Tavistock Row, now cleared 
away for new market buildings with one side in 
Tavistock Street, and not in front of the church 
where, as Mr. Dobson says, Hogarth has by artistic 
licence placed it. Smith's localisation is corro- 
borated by the view in ' Tom K g*s : or the 
Paphian Grove, with the various Humours of 
Covent Garden &c., the second edition to which is 
added, a Dedication to Mrs. K g . . . London 
1738.' 

In this little book there is a portrait of Mrs. Mary 
K g opposite to the dedication. In the author's 
apology we are told : ' I have no private antipathy 



LOW LIFE 135 

to any person who may suppose himself to be here 
satyriz'd ; my sole design being to expose a place 
that has flourish'd for some years, either to the 
shame of our laws or the scandal of our Magistrates.' 
It is not clear whether this low place of entertain- 
ment, which must have been a scandal even in a 
scandalous neighbourhood, was ever changed in 
its position. The author of this 'Mock Heroic 
Poem ' thus describes the Market : 

1 Where a wide area opens to the sight 
A spacious Plain quadrangularly right, 
Whose large Frontiers with Pallisado's bound, 
From Trivia's filth inshrines the hallo w'd ground : 
In which Pomona keeps her fruitful court, 
And youthful Flora with her Nymphs resort.' 

Stacie wrote : ' Noblemen and the first beaux after 
leaving court would go to her house in full dress 
with swords and in rich brocaded silk coats, and 
walked and conversed with persons of every de- 
scription. She would serve chimney-sweepers, 
gardeners and market people in common with her 
lords of the knighted rank.' 

Moll King was not allowed much longer to con- 
tinue in her evil courses, and as we read in a news- 
paper cutting of May 24, 1739, ' Yesterday Mary 
King, mistress of King's Coffee House, Covent 
Garden, was brought to the King's Bench Bar to 
receive judgment, when the Court committed her 
to the King's Bench prison, Southwark, till they took 
time to consider of a punishment adequate to the 



136 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

offence.' We read further in the Weekly Miscellany, 
June 9, 1739 : * Monday, Mrs. Mary King of Co vent 
Garden was brought up to the King's Bench bar 
at Westminster, and received the following sentence, 
for keeping a disorderly house ; viz. to pay a fine of 
two hundred pounds, to suffer three months imprison- 
ment, to find security for her good behaviour for 
three years, and to remain in prison till the fine be 
paid.' This punishment may be said to have 
finished her career. She retired to Haverstock 
Hill and built three houses, in one of which she died 
on the 17th of September 1747. Nancy Dawson, 
the hornpipe dancer, lived here for a time. 1 The 
three houses remained until a few years ago and 
were known as Moll King's Row. 

After this woman's death a book was published 
entitled ' Covent Garden in Mourning, a Mock 
Heroick Poem, containing some Memoirs of the late 
Celebrated Moll King.' 

There was at Strawberry Hill a large drawing 
of the interior of Tom King's by Captain Laroon 
which Walpole bought from the artist. Another 
interior will be found in an engraving by Bickham 
jun. entitled ' The Rake's Rendez-vous, or the 
Midnight Revels. Wherein are delineated the 
Various Humours of Tom King's Coffee House in 

1 Nancy Dawson made her first appearance at Drury Lane Theatre on 
Sept. 23, 1760. She died May 27, 1767, and is buried in the burial- 
ground of St. George's, Bloomsbury, at the back of the Foundling Hospital. 
A portrait of her, attributed to Hogarth, was sold at the Johnson sale in 
1898 for ^13, 13s. 



LOW LIFE 137 

Co vent Garden,' which is a plagiarism of the Tavern 
Scene in the ' Rake's Progress/ 

In Boitard's 'Morning Frolic in Covent Garden' 
Laroon is seen brandishing an artichoke, Captain 
Montague seated on the top of Bet Careless's sedan, 
which is preceded by Little Casey. Justice Welsh 
said that Captain Laroon, his friend Montague, and 
their constant companion, Little Casey, were the three 
most troublesome of all his visitors at Bow Street. 

In the distance to the left of the picture is seen 
the quack Dr. Bock exhibiting his medicines for 
sale and expatiating on their virtues. John Ireland 
says that this was considered to be a striking likeness 
of the man, who made a practice of attending the 
market every morning. 

*Noon.' This picture does not properly come 
under the heading of Low Life, as it represents in 
vivid colours the issuing out of the congregation from 
the French Church in Hog Lane, afterwards Crown 
Street and now a part of Charing Cross Road. 
This district was the centre of a foreign quarter, and 
the church was well attended. It had previously 
been occupied as a Greek church, and there is still a 
Greek inscription over the west door, to the effect that 
the temple was created by the Greeks in 1677. An In- 
dependent chapel succeeded the French chapel, and 
the building is now the Anglican Church of St. Mary. 
The church is set back from the road, but additions 
have been made which front Charing Cross Road. 



138 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

St. Giles's Church is seen in the distance; and 
on the whole this is one of the best of Hogarth's 
pictures of the London streets and full of humorous 
incidents, especially the despair of the poor boy 
who has just broken his dish, containing the 
Sunday's dinner from the baker's, by setting it 
down too smartly on a post. 

* Evening ' will be found referred to in the chapter 
on the Suburbs (xin.) 

' Night.' This, the last of the four pictures, repre- 
sents the congested condition of the narrow part 
of Charing Cross, at a time of rejoicing, before it was 
opened out to Whitehall, and the neighbourhood of 
St. Martin's Church. This is the night of the 29th 
of May, as will be seen by the oaken bough on the 
barber's pole and the oak leaves fixed in some of 
the hats of the passers-by. The principal window 
is fully illuminated with tallow candles, and there 
is a bonfire in the middle of the road. 

The overturned coach, with its frightened 
passengers, occupies a prominent position in the 
picture. There is a tradition that the cause of the 
disaster was the Earl of Salisbury (James, fourth 
Earl: 1713-1780), whose hobby it was to drive 
coaches. Walpole describes him as driving the 
Hatfield stage, but this may only be a figure of 
speech. The conveyance is generally referred to 
as the Salisbury Flying Coach, but this may merely 
be some confusion with the name of the noble 



LOW LIFE 139 

driver. Pope alludes to him in the Dunciad (book 
iv. 11. 587-8) : 

' From stage to stage the licens'd Earl may run, 
Pair'd with his fellow-charioteer, the sun.' 

On either side of the road are the Rummer Tavern 
and the Cardigan's Head. The former was an old- 
established place of entertainment, and was kept 
in 1685 by Samuel Prior, the uncle of Matthew 
Prior. (It was at the Rhenish Wine Office in Canon 
Row that the Earl of Dorset found the young poet 
reading Horace.) In the distance is seen the statue 
of Charles I. 

The intoxicated freemason in the front of the 
picture who is being led to his home by the tyler 
of his lodge has been identified as Sir Thomas 
De Veil, the magistrate. This incident was fully 
discussed at a meeting of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati 
on the 3rd May and 8th November, 1889. Brother 
G. W. Speth alluded to it in a paper on the Founda- 
tion of Modern Freemasonry, and Brother W. 
Harry Rylands read a paper on Hogarth's Picture 
* Night ' at the latter date. 1 Both writers are willing 
to agree to the popular ascription to Sir Thomas 
De Veil. Mr. Speth writes : ' The badge [of the 
freemason] was a huge plain white apron, such as the 
drunken W.M. and the tavern waiter or Tyler are 
begirt with in Hogarth's well-known picture.' He 
cannot find that any lodge met at the Cardigan's 

1 Transactions of the Lodge Quatuor Coronati, vol. ii. 1889, pp. 90, 116, 
146. 



140 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Head previous to the date of the engraving, but 
from 1739 to 1742 a lodge, which was constituted 
15th April 1728 and erased in 1743, held its meetings 
at the ' Earl of Cardigan's Head,' Charing Cross. 
Mr. Speth gives excellent reasons for believing that 
the figure with the lantern was intended for a tyler 
and not, as most commentators suppose, a waiter. 
* The dress and wig are not those of a menial, and 
the masonic apron rather points also to a contrary 
conclusion. The sword under the arm at once 
suggests a Tyler, and distinct resemblance may be 
traced between Hogarth's picture and an engraved 
portrait dated 1738 of " Montgomerie, garder to y e 
Grand Lodge," or as we should say, Grand Tyler. 
The cut of the coat sleeve and arrangement of the 
linen are also identical in both plates. What more 
consonant with all we know of Hogarth than the 
supposition that the Grand Tyler having issued 
an engraving of himself in 1738, the very year of 
Hogarth's plate, he should seize the first oppor- 
tunity of caricaturing it ? ' 

Mr. Rylands enters very fully into the various 
pouits of the picture, more especially of the topo- 
graphy, but it is difficult to come to any definite 
conclusion as to the matter. He satisfactorily 
disproves Mr. Speth' s suggestion that the scene 
was laid in Hartshorn Lane (afterwards Northumber- 
land Street). It probably looks towards Charing 
Cross from the opening to Whitehall. Hogarth 
was not very particular as to these details. 



LOW LIFE 141 

The remarkable engraving of * The Cockpit ' is 
one of Hogarth's most vivid illustrations of the 
manners of his time. It was published in 1759, and 
is therefore one of his latest works. In 1747 he was 
invited by a writer of verses in the Gentleman's 
Magazine of that year to take the Cockpit as a 
subject for his art : 

' Come, Hogarth, thou whose art can best declare 
What forms, what features, human passions wear, 
Come with a painter's philosophic sight, 
Survey the circling judges of the fight. 
Touch'd with the sport of death, while every heart 
Springs to the changing face, exert thy art ; 
Mix with the smiles of Cruelty at pain, 
Whate'er looks anxious in the lust of gain ; 
And say, can aught that 's generous, just, or kind, 
Beneath this aspect, lurk within the mind.' 1 

Cock-fighting is a very ancient game, and as * the 
sport of kings' cockpits have been attached tC 
palaces, the one at Whitehall gave its name to the 
Council Chamber in St. James's Park. In the 
seventeenth century London was filled with cock- 
pits, but the most famous was the Royal Cockpit, 
which stood in Dartmouth Street near the top of 
Queen Street. The winding stone steps leading from 
Birdcage Walk to the site of the building still exist, 
and continue the name as Cockpit Steps. Mr. W. B. 
Boulton in his Amusements of Old London gives 
an advertisement of this place from one of the 
news sheets of 1700. 

* At the Royal Cockpit, on the south side of St. 

1 John Nichols, Biographical Anecdotes (1785), p. 368. 



142 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

James's Park, on Tuesday the llth of this instant 
February, will begin a very great cock match, and 
will continue all the week, wherein most of the 
considerablest cockers of England are concerned. 
There will be a battle down upon the pit every day 
precisely at three o'clock, in order to have done 
by daylight. Monday the 9th instant March will 
begin a great match of cock-fighting between the 
gentlemen of the city of Westminster and the 
gentlemen of the city of London, for six guineas 
a battle and one hundred guineas the odd battle, 
and the match continues all the week in Red Lion 
Fields.' 

It is the Royal Cockpit which is supposed to be 
the scene of Hogarth's engraving. The building 
was taken down hi 1816, as a renewal of the lease 
for the old purpose was refused. The cock-fighters 
removed to the Cockpit Royal in Tufton Street, 
Westminster, which remained until the year 1828. 
A few years afterwards the game was prohibited 
by Act of Parliament (5 and 6 Wm. iv. cap. 59). 

Mr. Boulton, who gives a learned account of 
cock-fighting, highly praises Pepys's word-picture 
of his single visit to a cockpit (Dec. 21, 1663). He 
writes : ' We think this wonderful plate [by Hogarth] 
may be placed by the side of Mr. Pepys's vivid 
description of his visit to Shoe Lane as one of the 
best presentments of the humours of the cockpit 
existing. The same "celestial spirit of anarchy" 
animates the other classic representation of a cock 



LOW LIFE 143 

match by Thomas Rowlandson which appeared in 
the Microcosm of London some sixty years later.' 

The expression ' celestial spirit ' used above is a 
quotation from Dr. Martin Sherlock's Letters to a 
Friend at Paris referred to by John Ireland : ' It is 
worth your while to come to England, were it only 
to see an Election and a Cock-match. There is a 
celestial spirit of anarchy and confusion, in these 
two scenes that words cannot paint, and of which 
no countryman of yours can form even an idea.' 

Ireland adds to this : ' Mr. Sherlock is perfectly 
right in his assertion, that neither of these scenes 
can be described by words ; but where the writer 
must have failed, the artist has succeeded, and the 
Parisian who has never visited England may, from 
Mr. Hogarth's prints, form a tolerably correct idea 
of the anarchy of an election, and the confusion of a 
Cockpit.' We have seen in the case of Samuel 
Pepys that it is not necessary for the writer to fail 
in the description of a cock-fight. It is a curious 
coincidence in Sherlock's remarks that, though he 
means two things when he speaks of an Election 
and a Cock-match, the word election was a recog- 
nised term in * cocking.' Election is the act of 
choosing, and ' in the election of a fighting cock, 
there are four things principally to be considered, 
and they are shape, colour, courage, and sharp heel.' 

The number of known characters, most of them 
taken from the life, in this picture gives great value 
to this representation of a scene full of the wildest 



144 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

excitement. The worst qualities of human nature 
are discovered in the company consisting of all 
classes, and on every man's face is seen the exhibition 
of the greed of gain. 

An ornamentation at the foot of the design 
represents an oval medallion containing the figure 
of a crowing cock ; on the ground of the medallion 
is inscribed ' Royal Sport.' This medallion is 
named ' Pit ticket,' and represents a token of 
admission to witness a cock-fight. 

The engraving represents a cockpit, as seen by 
artificial light during a combat between two fowls. 
This is interesting, as the advertisement quoted 
above speaks of the fight as taking place by daylight. 
The central figure is that of a blind man who occupies 
the central position. This was intended for Lord 
Albemarle Bertie, second son of Peregrine, second 
Duke of Ancaster. This gambler is also seen in the 
' March to Finchley ' as an attendant at a boxing 
match. The figure of the stout nobleman with the 
star and riband has not been recognised, but is 
evidently a portrait. The reflection on the table is 
the shadow of a man who has been drawn up to the 
ceiling as a punishment for having made bets for 
more money than he can pay. John Ireland 
quotes from the second canto of a poem entitled 
1 The Gamblers ' the following illustrative notes : 
' By the Cockpit laws, the man who cannot, or will 
not pay his debts of honour, is liable to exaltation 
in a basket.' ' Stephen's exaltation in a basket, 



LOW LIFE 145 

and his there continuing to bet, though unable to 
pay, is taken from a scene in one of Hogarth's 
prints, humorously setting forth, that there are 
men whom a passion for gaming does not forsake, 
even in the very hour that they stand proclaimed 
insolvents.' 

Mr. Dobson gives a further illustrative quotation 
from ' Another Occasional Letter from Mr. Gibber 
to Mr. Pope ' (1744) ' As the merry mob at a Cock- 
match hoist up a cheat into the basket, for having 
lost a bet he was not able to pay.' 

John Ireland says the scene is probably laid at 
Newmarket, but adds : ' This is mere conjecture, 
but from Jackson the hump-backed jockey, and some 
other sedate personages who are present, I think 
it is more likely to be designed for that place than 
any other.' On the wall hung the royal arms, 
and a full-length portrait of Nan Rawlings, a famous 
cock-feeder, well known at Newmarket, also known 
as Deptford Nan and Duchess of Deptford. 

The prominence of the royal arms is a strong 
argument in favour of the supposition that the 
scene was taken from the Royal Cockpit, which is 
reported to have been founded by Charles n. 
Hogarth was interested in pugilism and the Art 
of Self-Defence, which, however brutal it may be 
considered, was found by many in the eighteenth 
century to be a very useful accomplishment at a 
time when little protection could be expected from 
the watchmen in any possible street frays. Some 



146 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

who remember how well Samuel Johnson could use 
his fists when occasion called may think it unfair 
to place prize-fighters in a chapter on Low Life, 
but at all events the exhibitions of pugilism come 
fairly under that heading, even if they were generally 
supported by those who are usually supposed to 
belong to High Life. James Figg, who died on the 
7th December 1734, was much appreciated as a 
model by Hogarth, who introduced him into 
the Rake's Levee (Plate 2) and the ' Midnight 
Modern Conversation.' The most important is the 
figure in the corner of the picture of Southwark 
Fair, where Figg, bald-headed, seated on a pony, is 
seen starting to ride through the Fan 1 . It was the 
practice of a great Master of Defence to ride through 
the City preceded by trumpets and drums and 
colours flying. Figg kept a great tiled booth on 
the Bowling Green, Southwark, during the time of 
the Fair. There was a performance daily at noon, 
which closed at four. He established himself at the 
corner of Wells Street and Castle Street near the 
Oxford Road, and built a wooden structure on a 
piece of waste ground there. 

Samuel Ireland published in his Graphic Illus- 
trations (vol. i. p. 89) a copy by A. M. Ireland of an 
etching by Simpson of Hogarth's drawing for Figg's 
business card. Mr. Dobson notes that an original 
impression in the possession of Mr. Fairfax-Murray 
is from the Bessborough Collection. The in- 
scription below figures on a stage preparing for 



LOW LIFE 147 

an encounter, and spectators around, reads as 
follows : 

'JAMES FIGG 

Master of y Noble Science of Defence 

on y 6 right hand in Oxford Road 
near Adam and Eve Court teaches Gentle- 
men y 6 use of y 6 small back sword & 
Quarter-staff at home & abroad.' 

This was the first London School of Arms, and Figg 
is called the * Atlas of the Sword ' in Captain John 
Godfrey's Useful Art of Defence, 1747. 

Dr. Byrom wrote * Extempore Verses upon a Trial 
of Skill between the two great Masters of Defence, 
Messieurs Figg and Sutton,' which are printed in 
Dodsley's Collection of Poems (vol. vi. p. 286). They 
commence thus : 

' Long was the great Figg by the prize-fighting swains, 
Sole monarch acknowledg'd of Mary-bone plains, 
To the towns, far and near, did his valour extend, 
And swam down the river from Thames to Gravesend ; 
Where liv'd Mr. Sutton, pipe-maker by trade, 
Who, hearing that Figg was thought such a stout blade, 
Resolv'd to put in for a share of his fame, 
And so sent to challenge the Champion of Thame.' 

The end is a complete victory for Figg. 

' Though Sutton, disabled as soon as he hit him, 
Would still have fought on, but Jove would not permit him, 
'Twas his fate, not his fault, that constrain'd him to yield, 
And thus the great Figg became lord of the field.' 

Samuel Ireland says that Ellis, an artist who 
imitated the style of Hogarth in small conversations, 
painted a portrait of Figg which was engraved by 



148 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Faber in mezzotint, and published by Overton in 
1731. Mr. Dobson mentions a painting of Figg by 
Hogarth which belonged to S. Ireland, and was 
bought in 1801 by Mr. Vernon for eleven shillings, 
from which small sum it may be guessed that it is 
not a genuine work. J. P. Malcolm publishes an 
advertisement containing a challenge of Matthew 
Masterson and Rowland Bennet to James Figg, and 
Figg's acceptance of the challenge. He also notes 
that ' in December 1731 Figg and Sparks contended 
with the broadsword at the French or Little Theatre 
in the Haymarket before the Duke of Lorrain, 
Count Kinski, and many persons of distinction.' 
In one of the papers of the day we are told that 
' the beauty and judgement of the sword was 
delineated in a very extraordinary manner by 
those two champions, and with very little bloodshed.' l 

Samuel Ireland prints an advertisement of an 
encounter ' At Mr. Figg's Great Room at his house, 
the sign of the City of Oxford in Oxford Road . . . 
the Nobility and Gentry will be entertained (for 
the last time this season) hi a most extraordinary 
manner with a select trial of skill in the Science of 
Defence, by the four following masters,' viz. William 
Holmes and Felix MacGuire against Figg and 
Edward Sutton. 

Chetwood in his History of the Stage relates the 
ingenious way in which Figg supplied himself with 

1 Malcolm's Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the 
Eighteenth Century (1810), vol. ii. p. 176. 



LOW LIFE 149 

shirts at the expense of others. He told Chetwood 
that he had not bought a shirt for years. It was 
his practice when he fought in his Amphitheatre, 
to send round to some of his scholars to borrow a 
shirt for the ensuing combat. As most of the young 
nobility and gentry were in his train, he obtained a 
good many fine shirts from his admirers, the return 
of which was not accepted by the lenders, as they 
saw the cuts in the one Figg wore, and each man 
supposed this to be what he lent. Among Figg's 
chief pupils was George Taylor, or George the 
Barber, as he was called, who succeeded his master in 
the occupation of the amphitheatre in the Oxford 
Road. Captain Godfrey treats Taylor as a link 
between Figg, who was mainly a swordsman, and 
John Broughton, whose fame rested on his eminence 
as a pugilist. 

Taylor was very successful and opened an 
additional amphitheatre the Great Booth, Tot- 
tenham Court. 

There are two plates engraved by Richard Livesay 
from the original sketches of Hogarth ' in the 
Collection of Mr. Morrison.' They are entitled: 
* George Taylor the Pugilist wrestling with Death ' 
(1) In which Taylor who was celebrated for his 
skill in giving ' a back fall ' has overthrown Death 
and kneels on the chest of the skeleton. (2) ' George 
Taylor the Pugilist overcome by Death ' is here 
seen lying on his back and still grasping the wrists 
of his conqueror, who stoops over him. The two 



150 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

sketches were afterwards sold to the Marquis of 
Exeter. Taylor died on February 21, 1750, and 
was buried in Deptford churchyard. These prints 
were published on March 1, 1782, by R. Livesay, 
' at Mrs. Hogarth's, Leicester Fields, London.' 

John Broughton (1705-1789), was apprenticed 
to a Thames waterman, and when at work on his 
own account generally plied at Hungerford Stairs. 
A quarrel and successful fight with a brother 
waterman is said to have settled his future em- 
ployment as a pugilist. He attached himself to 
George Taylor's booth in Tottenham Court Road 
and remained there until 1742, when he quarrelled 
with Taylor. He set up a new amphitheatre in 
Hanway Yard on the 10th March 1743, and was 
acknowledged as the founder of the Prize-ring, 
and the head of his profession. He formed a code 
of rules which were accepted and remained without 
verbal alteration until 1838. Taylor acknowledged 
himself to be beaten by Broughton, and joined his 
rival's establishment in Hanway Yard. 

Broughton opened an Academy of Boxing in 
the Haymarket and invented boxing-gloves, or 
' mufflers ' as he called them. His advertisement of 
these novelties is quoted by Mr. Boulton from the 
Advertiser of February 1747. 

* Mr. Broughton proposes with proper assistance 
to open an academy at his house in the Haymarket 
for the instruction of those who are willing to be 
initiated in the mystery of boxing, where the whole 



LOW LIFE 151 

theory and practice of that truly British Art, with 
all the various blows, stops, cross buttocks, etc., 
incidental to combatants will be fully taught and 
explained ; and that persons of quality and dis- 
tinction may not be debarred from entering into 
a course of these lectures, they will be given with the 
utmost tenderness and regard to the delicacy of 
the frame and constitution of the pupil, for which 
reason mufflers will be provided that will effectu- 
ally secure them from the inconveniency of black 
eyes, broken jaws and bloody noses.' 

This school was attached to a public-house kept 
by Broughton, the sign of which was a portrait of 
himself. The house was opposite the Haymarket 
Theatre. Mr. Dobson mentions a portrait of 
Broughton by Hogarth which was exhibited in 
1817 by Lord Camden. It afterwards belonged to 
Mr. H. R. Willett, at whose sale in 1869 it was sold 
for 75, 12s. There is a version at Lowther Castle 
(Earl of Lonsdale). 

Less than two months after Taylor's death, 
Broughton was defeated and his career ended. 
He met a Norwich butcher named Slack, who was a 
pugilist of some note although he treated him with 
disdain, and when a meeting was arranged for llth 
April 1750, he had every confidence in his own 
success. Broughton started well, but suddenly 
Slack made a jump and dealt his opponent a pro- 
digious blow between the eyes which blinded him. 
Broughton' s patron the Duke of Cumberland, who 



152 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

had backed him to the amount of ten thousand 
pounds, was mad with excitement and called out : 
' What are you about, Broughton ? You can't 
fight ; you 're beat.' Broughton replied : ' I can't 
see my man, your Highness ; I 'm blind, not beat. 
Let me see my man, and he shall not gain the day.' 
Slack pursued his advantage and pummelled the 
blinded man into submission ' under fourteen 
minutes.' 1 

After this unfortunate occurrence Broughton 
retired on a small competence to Walcot Place, 
Lambeth. He died on the 21st January 1789, and 
was buried at Lambeth Church ; the pall-bearers by 
his own request consisted of certain noted pugilists. 

In the second volume of his Graphic Illustrations 
Samuel Ireland includes a sketch of Broughton and 
Slack fighting, which he says was intended ' as a 
card of admission to a great contest of skill,' 
but he gives no information as to its being 
the work of Hogarth; and although there is no 
improbability in the artist doing something for 
Broughton, it is rather unlikely that so late as 1750 
he should compose a ticket of this kind. Mr. Dobson 
merely mentions it, and does not say anything 
further respecting it. The description of the fight 
is not very good, and as Slack was only a common- 
place boxer with a provincial reputation it is rather 
absurd to speak of the ' two immortal heroes of the 
pugilistic art.' 

1 W. B. Boulton's Amusements of Old London, 1901, vol. ii. p. 91. 



LOW LIFE 153 

In the years 1750-51 Hogarth must have been 
very busy with his remarkable series of prints 
specially illustrating some of the most flagrant 
evils in the Low Life of his time. Gin Lane and 
Beer Street are of the utmost importance as 
exhibiting the appearance of the streets of London. 
The Four Stages of Cruelty are almost too horrible 
for representation, and they belong more properly 
to a later chapter on Prisons and Crimes (xn.). 

The announcement of the publication of these 
prints was made in the General Advertiser for 
February 13, 1750-51, as f oUows : 'On Friday 
next will be publish'd. Price 1 s . each. Two 
large prints design'd and etch'd by Mr. Hogarth, 
call'd Beer-Street and Gin-Lane. A number will 
be printed in a better manner for the curious at 
Is. 6d. each. And on Thursday following will be 
published, Four Prints on the subject of Cruelty. 
Price and size the same. N.B. As the subjects 
of these Prints are calculated to reform some 
reigning vices peculiar to the lower class of people 
in hopes to render them of more extensive use, the 
Author has published them in the cheapest manner 
possible. To be had at the Golden Head in Leicester- 
fields, where may be had all his other works.' 

Beer Street is usually put before Gin Lane, as in 
this advertisement, but elsewhere Hogarth himself 
gives the following account of their origin : ' When 
these two prints were designed and engraved, the 
dreadful consequences of gin drinking appeared 



154 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in every street. In Gin Lane every circumstance of 
its horrid effects is brought to view in terrorem. 
Idleness, poverty, misery and distress, which drives 
even to madness and death, are the only objects 
that are to be seen : and not a house in tolerable 
condition but the Pawnbroker's and Gin shop. 
Beer Street, its companion, was given as a contrast, 
where that invigorating liquor is recommended, in 
order to drive the other out of vogue. Here all is 
joyous and thriving. Industry and jollity go hand 
hi hand. In this happy place the Pawnbroker's is 
the only house going to ruin ; and even the small 
quantity of porter that he can procure is taken in 
at the wicket, for fear of farther distress.' 

G. Steevens supposes that Hogarth received his 
first idea for these prints from a pair by Peter 
Breughel, commonly called Breughel cFEnfer to 
distinguish him from his brother John, known as 
Breughel de velours. Of the two pictures referred 
to, ' the one is entitled La Gfrasse, the other La 
Maigre Cuisine. In the first all the personages 
are well-fed and plump ; in the second they are 
starved and slender. The latter of them also 
exhibits the figures of an emaciated mother and 
child, sitting on a straw mat upon the ground, 
whom I never saw without thinking on the female, 
etc., hi Gin Lane. In Hogarth the fat English 
blacksmith is insulting the gaunt Frenchman, and 
in Breughel the plump cook is kicking the lean one 
out of doors. Our artist was not unacquainted 



LOW LIFE 155 

with the works of this master.' If this be true, it 
shows the remarkable power Hogarth possessed 
of imbuing any idea he took from others with his 
own special character. 

Gin Lane consists of Hogarth's representation of 
a street in that part of St. Giles's known as the 
Rookery, and cleared away in the middle of the 
nineteenth century for the new junction of Oxford 
Street with Holborn, known as New Oxford Street. 
The foremost figure is too horrible for pictorial art. 
It represents a miserable diseased woman, hi 
tattered and scanty clothing, who sits at the top 
of a flight of stone steps, and, drunk with gin, lets 
the child she is suckling fall from her arms over the 
rail in the area. On the steps below her is an 
emaciated being, little more than a skeleton, who 
retails gin and ballads, but now is in a dying con- 
dition. This miserable creature is said to have 
been painted from nature after one whose cry was 
' Buy my ballads, and I '11 give you a glass of gin 
for nothing.' 

The steps lead to a gin-cellar, over the doorway 
of which a large sign like a gin measure and 
inscribed ' Gin Royal ' is suspended. Over the 
doorway is written : 

' Drunk for a Penny, 
Dead drunk for two pence, 
Clean straw for nothing.' 

Mr. Stephens refers to The Old Whig of February 
26, 1736, for the statement that a strong- water shop 



156 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

had lately been opened in Southwark with the 
inscription on the sign which Hogarth fifteen years 
afterwards used on his print. 

The Rev. James Townley's verses are engraved 
below the design : 

' Gin, cursed fiend ! with fury fraught, 

Makes human race a prey : 
It enters by a deadly draught, 
And steals our life away. 

Virtue and Truth, driven to despair, 

Its rage compels to fly, 
But cherishes, with hellish care, 

Theft, murder, perjury. 

Damn'd cup ! that on the vital preys, 

That liquid fire contains ! 
Which madness to the heart conveys 

And rolls it thro' the veins.' 

Gin or ' Hollands ' is said to have been brought 
to England by William in. It was cheap and 
was sold in the streets, so that the demoralisation 
caused by this facility of purchase was grievous 
and widespread. The Middlesex magistrates in- 
sisted on the necessity for legislation, and the first 
Gin Act was passed in 1729. By this Act a new 
and additional excise duty of five shillings per 
gallon was put upon gin and other compounded 
spirits, and the retailer was to pay 20 a year for a 
licence, hawking about the streets being prohibited. 
The Act was quite ineffectual, and led to the invention 
of new forms of spirit, one being called in derision 
' Parliament Brandy.' A satire on gin-drinking 



LOW LIFE 157 

designed by Heemskirck and engraved by Toms 
was published about 1730. The Act was repealed 
in 1733 on the plea that, while doing no good, it 
checked the sale of barley to the distillers. This 
repeal was disastrous in its effects, and the almost 
universal orgy was terrible. 

Another attempt to mitigate the evil was made 
by Sir Joseph Jekyll, Master of the Rolls, and the 
second Gin Act was passed in 1736. The prohibition 
led to riots, and it was found that the law could not 
be put in force. 1 As the 29th September 1736, the 
day on which the ' act for suppressing Geneva ' 
was to come into operation approached, the 
retailers in gin put their signs in mourning, and 
made a parade of mock ceremonies for Madame 
Geneva's lying in state and her funeral. 

Mr. Stephens quotes from the Grub Street Journal, 
the London Daily Post, the Daily Advertiser, and 
the Daily Journal particulars of the tumults that 
resulted. 2 The following are specimens : ' Mother 
Gin lay in state yesterday at a distiller's shop in 
Swallow Street near St. James's Church ; but to 
prevent the ill consequences from such a funeral, 
a neighbouring justice took the undertaker, his men 
and all the mourners into custody.' ' Yesterday 
morning double guard mounted at Kensington ; 
at noon the guards at St. James's, the Horse Guards 
and Whitehall were reinforced, and last night about 

1 Sidney and Beatrice Webb, History of Liquor Licensing in England 
from 1700 to 1830. 1903. 

2 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. iii. p. 192. 



158 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

300 life guards and horse-granidier guards paraded 
in Covent Garden, in order to suppress any tumult 
that might arise at the going down of Gin.' ' A 
party of foot-guards was posted at the house of 
Sir Joseph Jekyll, Master of the Rolls.' ' Two 
soldiers with their bayonets fixed were planted at 
the little door next Chancery Lane in case any 
persons should offer to attack the house . . . which 
the mob had tumultuously surrounded.' ' Several 
persons were committed, some to prison and some 
to hard labour, for publickly and riotously 
publishing, No GUI, No King.' 

In the year 1736 a large number of pamphlets on 
the subject were published, far too numerous to 
record here. Two of them may be mentioned 
* The Life of Mother Gin ... by an Impartial 
Hand,' and ' The Deposing and Death of Queen Gin 
... an Heroic Comi-Tragical Farce written by 
Jack Juniper a Distiller's Apprentice, just turn'd 
Poet, as it is acted at the New Theatre in the Hay- 
market.' The Act of 1736 was repealed in 1743, 
largely owing to the action of Lord Sandys. Lord 
Hervey made three orations against the repeal. 

Sir Charles Hanbury Williams wrote two poems 
to ridicule both Lord Sandys and Lord Hervey. 
One of these is printed in The Foundling Hospital 
for Wit : 

1 Deep, deep in S 's blund'ring Head, 

The new Gin Project sunk : 

happy Project ! sage, he cry'd, 

Let all the Kealm be drunk.' 



LOW LIFE 159 

On June 25, 1751, the royal assent was given to 
another Bill for restricting the sale of spirituous 
liquor, and in the following September an engraving, 
' The Funeral Procession of Madam Geneva, Sept r 
29, 1751,' was published. 1 Hogarth's ' Gin Lane ' 
was not published until February 1, 1751-2, but a 
drawing in Indian ink in the British Museum (' The 
Gin Drinkers, or the Gin Fiend ') is supposed to be 
a tracing from a scarce print ascribed to Hogarth 
and dated 1736. This statement, however, must be 
taken on the authority of Mr. Stephens. 2 

It is interesting to remember that Fielding pub- 
lished his most valuable Enquiry into the Causes of 
the late Increase of Bobbers, etc., in January 1751, 
shortly before the appearance of ' Gin Lane,' and in 
the second section of this book (' Of Drunkenness, 
a second consequence of Luxury among the Vulgar '), 
although he does not specially refer to Gin Acts, 
he strongly argues that nothing but complete 
prohibition of poisonous spirits ' will extirpate so 
stubborn an evil.' He concludes the chapter thus : 
* But if the difficulty be really insuperable, or if 
there be any political reason against the total 
demolition of this poison, so strong as to countervail 
the preservation of the morals, health and beings, 
of such numbers of his Majesty's subjects, let us 
however in some measure, palliate the evil, and 
lessen its immediate ill consequences, by a more 

1 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. iii. p. 808. 
1 Ibid., voL ill p. 217. 



160 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

effectual provision against drunkenness than any 
we have at present, in which the method of con- 
viction is too tedious and dilatory. Some little 
care on this head is surely necessary ; for though 
the increase of thieves, and the destruction of 
morality, though the loss of our labourers, our 
sailors and our soldiers, should not be sufficient 
reasons, there is one which seems to be unanswerable, 
and that is the loss of our gin-drinkers ; since 
should the drinking this poison be continued in its 
present height during the next twenty years, there 
will, by that time, be very few of the common 
people left to drink it.' 

Another Act relative to the distilleries was in 
contemplation in 1759, and an anonymous letter 
to Hogarth was found among his papers in which 
he was urged again to take part in the fray : 

'December 12, 1759. 

' SIB, When genius is made subservient to public 
good, it does honour to the possessor, as it is ex- 
pressive of gratitude to his Creator by exerting itself 
to further the happiness of his creatures. The 
poignancy and delicacy of your ridicule has been 
productive of more reformation than more elaborate 
pieces would have effected. On the apprehension 
of opening the distillery, methinks I hear all good 
men cry Fire ! it is therefore the duty of every 
citizen to try to extinguish it. Rub up then 
Gin Lane and Beer Street, that you may have the 



LOW LIFE 161 

honour and advantage of bringing the two first 
engines to the fire ; and work them manfully at 
each corner of the building, and instead of the paltry 
reward of thirty shillings allowed by Act of Parlia- 
ment, receive the glorious satisfaction of having 
extinguished those fierce flames which threaten a 
general conflagration to human nature, by pouring 
liquid fire into the veins of the now brave Britons, 
whose robust fabrics will soon fall in, when these 
dreadful flames have consumed the inside timbers 
and supporters. I am, Sir, yours, etc., 

' AN ENGLISHMAN.' l 

There is still the companion picture, ' Beer 
Street,' to be considered. The sentiment of this is 
the popular one of the glorifying our national drink, 
which when pure is well worthy of its great fame, 
for porter has been called the 4 British Burgundy.' 

Townley's lines on this print are as follows : 

' Beer, happy product of our isle, 
Can sinewy strength impart ; 
And wearied with fatigue and toil, 
Can cheer each manly heart. 

Labour and art, upheld by thee, 

Successfully advance ; 
We quaff the balmy juice with glee, 

And water leave to France. 

1 J. Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 353 (note). This letter or 
other suggestions seem to have caused Hogarth to draw attention to his 
prints, as The Public Advertiser, December 13, 1759, has the following 
announcement : ' By Desire. This day are republished Price Is. each, 
Two prints drawn and engraved by Mr. Hogarth call'd BEER STREET and 
GIN LANE ' (British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 818). 

L 



162 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Genius of health, thy grateful taste, 

Eivals the cup of Jove ; 
And warms each English generous breast, 

With liberty and love.' 

As in Gin Lane the pawnbroker's house is the 
handsome building, so in Beer Street it is the only 
one falling to decay. 

The scene is thus described by Mr. Stephens : 
' A street in London, with the steeple of a church 
visible over the tops of some of the houses, and near 
the middle of the design ; this structure being 
decorated with a flag, and formed in a peculiar 
manner, was probably intended for the steeple of 
St. Martin's in the Fields, Westminster. The day 
was an anniversary of the birth of George n. 
[October 30], the flag-hoisting being a practice in 
the so-called " royal parish " of St. Martin's, a 
practice familiar to Hogarth as a resident in Leicester 
Square.' 

The sign-painter is said to have been intended for 
John Stephen Liotard, a portrait-painter of merit, 
but there is little likeness in face, as Liotard grew a 
long beard when he travelled in the Levant and 
was in consequence known as ' The Turk.' He lived 
at the * Two Yellow Lamps ' in Golden Square. 
Two fishwomen are seated on the pavement in the 
front of the picture ; one reads from a broadsheet on 
which is printed ' A New Ballad on the Herring 
Fishery by Mr. Lockman.' John Lockman, known 
as ' The Herring Poet,' was a friend of Hogarth, who 



LOW LIFE 163 

designed for him the frontispiece to the first volume 
of his Travels of Mr. John Gulliver (1731). This 
plate is entitled 'Gulliver presented to the Queen 
of Babilary.' Lockman was secretary to the British 
White Herring Fishery Company. 

At the right-hand corner of the engraving is a 
porter drinking his beer, who has just set down 
his load, a large basket directed ' For Mr. Pastern 
the Trunk Maker in Pauls C h Y d ,' which is filled 
with books the artist had a dislike for, such as 
Hill on Royal Societies, Turnbul on Antpent] 
Painting, Lauder on Milton. The mountebank Hill 
and the forger Lauder deserved their position. Dr. 
George Turnbull had been too laudatory of the 
Black Masters to please the artist. 

Fielding's Causes of the late Increase of Robbers 
contains so much information and is so full of 
valuable suggestions for the correction of the 
rampant evils of Low Life that it may be recom- 
mended as a useful help to the intelligent study of 
Hogarth's works. 



164 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER V 

POLITICAL LIFE 

HOGABTH was in no sense a politician, and all his 
interests in the political life of his time were centred 
in the remarkable scenes which were acted in periods 
of excitement continually occurring, and the inci- 
dents which he introduced in his pictures as illus- 
trations of the manners of eighteenth-century 
men and women. Whatever private opinions he 
may have had, he was unable to resist the represen- 
tation of striking humours even when they were 
exhibited by his own friends. He was a friend of 
demagogues, as well as of those whose opinions were 
of a diametrically opposite character. At no time 
in our history were party politics so thoroughly 
unsatisfactory as they were in the middle of the 
eighteenth century. Walpole with his strong hand 
had passed away, and parties had divided into 
personal cliques. The division of Whigs and Tories 
was of little meaning, because the former had become 
so triumphant during the reigns of George I. and 
George n. that the condition of the Tories was 
almost hopeless unless they joined with some of 
the discontented Whigs. There were plenty of 



POLITICAL LIFE 165 

Tories in the country, but they had little political 
interest on account of their possible connection with 
Jacobites. 

Bribery and corruption had eaten into the hearts 
of all parties, and in consequence a man like William 
Pitt stood out as a name to conjure with because it 
stood for political purity. 

Hogarth's picture of ' The Politician,' who repre- 
sented one Tibson, a lace dealer in the Strand, read- 
ing with absorbed attention a copy of the Gazetteer, 
a paper which supported Sir Robert Walpole, was 
painted about the year 1730. An etching by 
J. K. Sherwin from the picture was not published 
until 1775, when Mrs. Hogarth issued it. 

The painter gave the picture to Theodosius 
Forrest, son of one of his companions of the Five 
Days' Tour of 1732. It belonged successively to 
Peter Coxe, W. Davies, bookseller, and George 
Watson Taylor. At the sale of the latter's property 
in 1832 it was bought by Count Woronzow for 
thirty guineas. 

The picture represents a man seated in a chair 
and wearing a broad-brimmed hat, who has taken a 
lighted candle from the candlestick on the table 
before him. Holding the candle in his right hand, 
he does not notice that the flame had set light to the 
projecting brim of his hat. 

There is an anecdote of Bishop Burnet, who took 
precautions to prevent a similar accident which 
Hogarth may have known. The Bishop is said to 



166 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

have made a hole in the broad brim of his hat and 
passed his pipe through it so that he could puff and 
write simultaneously. 1 

The picture of the House of Commons, painted 
in 1730 by Hogarth with the help of his father-in- 
law, Sir James Thornhill, is of great interest, giving 
us as it does an authentic view of the Old Chamber 
of the Lower House of Parliament, with striking 
portraits of Sir Robert Walpole and Speaker Onslow, 
Thornhill himself, Sydney Godolphin, the father of 
the House, Sir Joseph Jekyll and Colonel Onslow, 
with Mr. Edward Staples, clerk, and Mr. Aiskew, 
clerk-assistant. The picture is in the possession of 
the Earl of Onslow. It was engraved by A. Fogg 
and 'published Nov. 1, 1803, by E. Harding, No. 
100 PaU Mall.' 

The portrait of Simon Eraser, twelfth Lord Lovat 
(1746), must be alluded to in a chapter on Political 
Life, as that Jacobite intriguer was mixed up with 
many of the troubles which made the supporters of 
the Hanoverian dynasty uneasy. He was said to 
have united the manners of a wild Highland chieftain 
and general ruffian, with occasionally those of an 
educated gentleman. He was very wary, and cared 
little for the dangers of others if he were able to 
save his own skin. He had to give hi at last in spite 
of all his cunning, and he was taken prisoner after 
Culloden. The Westminster Journal (June 28, 1746) 
contains the following notice of the capture : ' We 

1 Kelt's Flowers of Wit, 1814, voL L p. 45. 




I 



"THE HOUSE OF COMMONS." 1730, 

Painted by Hogarth and Sir James Thorn/till. 



POLITICAL LIFE 167 

have advice that Lord Lovat was actually taken in 
a little Cabbin, dress'd in an old woman's habit 
a spining, and three Lords with him ; and that he 
was taken by an officer who had received intelligence 
of his lodging and habit at a little distance from 
where he was found.' 

Mr. Stephens describes two engravings of this 
incident entitled respectively ' The Beautiful 
Simone ' and ' Lord Lovat a spinning.' l 

Lovat was carried in a litter to Fort William, 
and from thence by easy stages to London. When 
he reached St. Albans he was attended by Dr. 
Webster, a physician of the town, for an alleged 
sickness. Webster invited Hogarth to St. Albans 
to take a likeness of the prisoner at the White Hart 
Inn. It is stated that when, on August 14, Hogarth 
was introduced to Lovat the latter was being shaved, 
and he rose to welcome the painter, kissing him 
in the French manner. Owing to this embrace 
Hogarth received some of the soap-suds on his face, 
and he did not accept the salute with much satisfac- 
tion. 

There is some doubt as to the original sketch from 
which the etching was made. There is one at the 
National Portrait Gallery which was purchased by 
the Trustees in June 1866, and another was, in 1879, 
hi the possession of Mr. Henry Graves of Pall 
Mall, and purchased by him for 31. The original 
drawing was said, hi the Illustrated London News of 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 601. 



168 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

April 30, 1859, to be then in the possession of Lord 
Saltoun. 

Lovat was not executed until 9th April 1747. 
Four small prints of Lord Lo vat's trial were pub- 
lished by W. Birch, Hampstead Heath, August 1, 
1791. These were from sketches belonging to 
Horace Walpole. One of these, in Indian ink and 
vermilion, is in the Print Room of the British 
Museum, having been purchased in August 1842 
(Dobson). A mezzotint entitled ' Lo vat's Ghost on 
Pilgrimage ' was published on June 15, 1747, but it 
is doubtful as a work of Hogarth. Samuel Ireland 
affirmed that this was given to him by Dr. J. Webster, 
who had it from Hogarth with an assurance that it 
was his own design. 1 

' The Stage Coach, or Country Inn Yard ' (1747) 
must be mentioned here on account of its connection 
with the general parliamentary election of that year, 
and its interest as the precursor of the famous series 
of the ' Election ' (1754). It can also be compared 
with the first scene of the tragedy of the ' Harlot's 
Progress ' (1731-2), which takes place hi a London 
inn yard. The engraving of the inn yard shows, 
in the foreground, the coach ready to start on its 
journey, with the travellers seated and grouped 
around. The fat woman entering requires to be 
pushed in order to pass through the door. The 
two men on the roof look as if they might easily roll 
off on the occurrence of a sudden jolt. They are 

1 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, voL iii. p. 636. 



POLITICAL LIFE 169 

an English sailor and a French lackey, not very 
congenial companions. In the ' basket ' is an old 
woman smoking a pipe and completing the picture 
of the preparations for what is likely to be a very 
uncomfortable journey, such as we read of in the real- 
istic novels of the time. The fat hostess in the bow 
window of the bar of the house, which projects into 
the yard, adds to the general uproar by vociferating 
and vigorously ringing a bell. The sailor's bundle 

is labelled ' of the Centurion. 9 This was the 

name of the ship hi which the famous Anson sailed 
from Portsmouth on September 18, 1740, with four 
other vessels of war, and gained many successes 
in his attacks upon the Spaniards. He was made 
Rear- Admiral of the Blue and took command of a 
fleet which left Plymouth April 9, 1747, and included 
the Centurion, a fifty-gun ship with three hundred 
men on board, then under the command of Captain 
Denis. In the action off Cape Finisterre on May 3 
the Centurion began the battle, but in the course of 
the fight its maintopmast was shot away. Captain 
Denis dropped out of the fight for a time in order to 
refit, and having done so returned to action and took 
part in the capture of the enemy's vessels. He 
brought news of the victory to England, and in 
consequence the Admiral was raised to the peerage 
as Baron Anson. 1 

Commander Charles Robinson, R.N., in his inter- 
esting volume on The British Tar in Fact and Fiction, 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 669. 



170 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

1909, writes respecting this : * The best example of 
the sailor of his period to be found in Hogarth's 
moral dramas in pictoria] form is the figure seen on 
the top of a coach in " The Stage Coach in a Country 
Inn Yard." This sailor has just returned to England 
in the Centurion. He has been round the world 
with Anson, and is on his way home.' 

At the back of the engraving (which was published 
on June 26) is seen a procession of men armed with 
sticks, some of the men carry a large effigy of a 
baby holding in one hand a child's rattle and in the 
other a hornbook. A flag is carried behind the 
chair in which the figure sits and is inscribed ' No 
Old Baby.' This refers to the cry used by the 
opponents of the Hon. John Child Tylney, Viscount 
Castlemaine, and afterwards Earl Tylney, who stood 
as candidate for the county of Essex as the opponent 
of Sir Robert Abdy and Mr. Bramstone. At the 
election a man was placed on a bulk with an infant 
in his arms and exclaimed as he whipped it, ' What, 
you little child, must you be a member ? ' Child 
Tylney was at this time only twenty years of age. 
There are three states of the plate : (1) in which the 
flag afterwards occupied by ' No Old Baby ' has no 
inscription ; (2) in which those words appear ; (3) in 
which they have been obliterated. On the wall of the 
house is the sign, a picture of an angel at full length, 
under which is inscribed ' The Old Angle In. Tom 
Bates from Lundun.' The galleries in the inn yard 
are filled with spectators. 



POLITICAL LIFE 171 

Before dealing somewhat fully with the splendid 
series of four pictures of ' The Election ' (1754), a 
slight reference must be made to the election of 
1734, which was largely fought on the opposition 
party's cry of ' No Excise.' An etching was 
published in this year entitled ' Sir Robert Fagg 
bribing a Woman,' which has been attributed to 
Hogarth. It shows an old man sitting on horseback 
holding a purse in one hand offering a piece to a 
young woman, who stands at his horse's head with 
a basket of eggs on her arm and laughs at him. 
Fagg was a well-known man in his day and interested 
in horse-racing. He was member for Steyning, 
Sussex, and is stated to be one of the audience hi 
Hogarth's picture of the ' Beggar's Opera.' There 
is a reference to him in Bramston's ' Art of Politicks' : 

' Leave you of mighty interest to brag, 
And poll two voices like Sir Robert Fagg.' 

The baronet died on September 14, 1740. 

In 1734 was also published a print in three divisions 
entitled ' The Humours of a Country Election,' 
and John Nichols hints that Hogarth may have 
borrowed the idea of illustrating the election of 
1754 from this outcome of the election of 1734. 
Mr. Stephens gives a full account of the old print, 
which certainly contains some points of resemblance 
in idea, if not in expression. 1 

Hogarth's four pictures are of the greatest interest 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 23. 



172 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and illustrate the manners of the time in a very 
remarkable degree. They are fine examples of the 
artist's best manner of painting, and are to be seen 
hi an excellent state of preservation at Sir John 
Soane's Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields. The 
incidents of all the scenes are in low comedy, but 
Hogarth has raised his treatment of these incidents 
with such distinction that they become instances 
of high comedy, with perhaps the exception of the 
first picture. In passing, it may be remarked that 
the pictures contain beauties of which the engravings 
give but little idea. 

Garrick with great judgment bought the pictures 
for the ridiculously small price of two hundred 
guineas. At Mrs. Garrick' s sale in 1823, Soane 
bought them for 1732, 10s. 

In justice to Garrick it is necessary to give the 
particulars of the purchase. Mr. Dobson, quoting 
from Gait's Life and Works of West, 1820, pt. ii. 17, 
gives an account of the disposal of the pictures. 
Hogarth arranged that they should be raffled for, 
with two hundred chances at two guineas the stake. 
Among a few subscribers, Garrick was the only one 
who appeared. Much mortified, Hogarth insisted 
that Garrick ' should go through the formality of 
throwing the dice,' but for himself only. The 
actor for some time opposed the irritated artist, 
but at last consented. On returning home he 
despatched a note to Hogarth stating that he could 
not persuade himself to remove works so valuable 



POLITICAL LIFE 173 

and admired without acquitting his conscience of 
an obligation to the painter, and to his own good 
fortune in obtaining them, and knowing the humour 
of the person he addressed, and that if he sent a 
cheque for the money it would in all probability 
be returned, he informed Hogarth that he had 
placed to his credit at his banker's two hundred 
guineas, which would remain there at his disposal or 
that of his hen's, if it were not accepted by himself. 1 
Garrick was very proud of these pictures and 
preserved them with care. When he was in Italy 
with his wife, he wrote to his man conjuring him to 
take care of them, and to keep them out of the 



sun. 2 



The parliamentary election following the dis- 
solution of April 8, 1754, was a noteworthy one* 
The Jews Naturalisation Bill, passed in June 1753, 
greatly increased the unpopularity of Henry 
Pelham, and after his death, hi order that his 
successors might the better be able to face the 
election, the Act was repealed. There were, how- 
ever, many other cries against the administration, 
and its members fought at a great disadvantage, 
while the opposition the True Blue Interest 
were more than ever jubilant and hopeful of success. 

The election for Oxfordshire was marked by a 
more animated conflict than what took place else- 
where. Some of the incidents in that contest 

1 Dobson's William Hogarth, 1907, p. 120. 

2 J. Knight's David Garrick, 1894, p. 203. 



174 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

survive in Hogarth's pictures. Although London 
is not the scene of these election incidents they are 
true to the manners of the eighteenth century both 
hi country and town, so that we may be allowed 
to consider the pictures as representing what also 
occurred in London. 

The engraving of these elaborate pictures occupied 
a considerable time. Plate 1, dedicated to the 
Right Hon. Henry Fox, was published on February 
24, 1755 ; Plate 2, to Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, 
on February 20, 1757; Plate 3, to Sir Edward 
Walpole, on February 20, 1758 ; and Plate 4, to Sir 
George Hay, Judge of the Prerogative Court and 
the High Court of Admiralty, on January 1, 1758-9. 
Hay was an intimate friend of Hogarth, and pos- 
sessed several of his paintings. He was a highly 
esteemed judge, praised for his enlightened judg- 
ment by Thurlow. The first plate was engraved 
entirely by Hogarth, the second entirely by C. 
Grignion, the third by Hogarth and Le Cave, and 
the fourth by Hogarth and F. Aviline. 

There is a folio volume, lettered 'Subscribers' 
names for Four Prints of Election, March 19, 1754,' 
in the British Museum (Add. MSS. 22,394). The 
list is headed by the names of H.R.H. the Prince 
of Wales and H.R.H. the Princess Dowager of 
Wales. We can now deal more particularly with 
the incidents of the different pictures. 

Plate 1, ' An Election Entertainment,' discovers 
a large room hi a country inn hi which members 



POLITICAL LIFE 175 

of one of the political parties l are holding a lively 
debauch not unlike in general effect that represented 
in the ' Midnight Modern Conversation ' (1733). 
One of the candidates, a young man, sits at the head 
of the table (Richard Slim), and on his left is an 
elderly man, his fellow candidate (Sir Commodity 
Taxem). A flag on which is inscribed ' Liberty and 
Loyalty,' is fixed at the back of the latter' s chair. 

The younger candidate was said to be taken from 
Thomas Potter, the very clever but worthless son 
of Archbishop Potter, although this has been denied 
by others, probably with truth. Hogarth told 
George Steevens that there was only one portrait 
in the picture ; this was Sir John Parnell, nephew of 
the poet Thomas Parnell, who desired to be put 
in because he was so generally known that the 
introduction of his face would be of service to the 
artist hi the sale of prints in Dublin. He is seen 
diverting the company by showing a face drawn 
with a burnt cork upon the back of his hand, while 
he sings the song entitled ' An old woman clothed 
in grey.' Mr. Dobson refers to Angela's Reminis- 
cences (1830, ii. 425) to show that this was the way 
in which the song was usually sung. 

1 It shows how impartial Hogarth is in his satire on the humours of the 
election that there is a difference of opinion among authorities as to which 
party is represented in this picture. John Ireland says that the company 
consists of the friends of the Court party, while Dr. Trusler expresses no 
doubt that ' the present are tories under false pretences.' The ' Poetical 
Description' said to be written under 'Mr. Hogarth's sanction and in- 
spection ' contains no hint either way. The painter was content to direct 
impartial attention to the humours of both parties. 



176 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

John Nichols refers to a pamphlet in which another 
of the characters is identified. 1 This is the portly 
clergyman sitting at the table who, having taken 
off his wig with one hand, is rubbing his bald head 
with the other. The writer of the pamphlet says 
this was the Rev. Dr. Cosserat, and he deals not 
over tenderly with ' the Doctor represented sitting 
among the freeholders and zealously eating and 
drinking for the sake of the New Interest.' 

The incidents in this riotous scene are so numerous 
and appeal so vividly to the eye that it is only 
necessary to refer to a few of them. Stones and 
brickbats are supposed to be thrown in at the open 
window by the opponents outside ; one of these stones 
strikes the lawyer, counting up the votes, on the 
forehead so that he falls back over his chair, but the 
compliment is vigorously returned by those inside. 
In the tobacco tray is a paper of Kirton's best, and 
a slip from the Act against bribery and corruption 
has been torn to light pipes with. Kirton was a 
tobacconist who kept a shop near St. Dunstan's 
Church, Fleet Street, and impaired his circumstances 
as well as ruined his constitution by wasting his 
time on the Oxfordshire election of 1754. On the 
butcher with pro patria on his cap and his wounded 
companion in the front of the picture, John Ireland 
found among his papers the following note by 

1 'The Last Blow, or an unanswerable Vindication of the Society of 
Exeter College, in reply to the Vice-Chancellor, Dr. King, and the Writers 
of the London Evening Post, 1755,' 4to, p. 21. 



POLITICAL LIFE 177 

Hogarth : ' These two patriots, who, let what party 
will prevail, can be no gainers, yet spend their time, 
which is their fortune, for what they suppose right, 
and for a glass of gin lose their blood, and sometimes 
their lives, in support of the cause, are, as far as I 
can see, entitled to an equal portion of fame with 
many of the emblazoned heroes of ancient Rome : 
but such is the effect of prejudice, that though the 
picture of an antique wrestler is admired as a grand 
character, we necessarily annex an idea of vulgarity 
to the portrait of a modern boxer. An old black- 
smith in his tattered garb is a coarse and low being ; 
strip him naked, tie his leathern apron round his 
loins, chisel out his figure in freestone or marble, 
precisely as it appears, he becomes elevated, and 
may pass for a philosopher, or a Deity.' l 

The one of these two men who is having gin 
poured upon his head is said to have been painted 
from Teague Carter of Oxford, a fighting man or 
' bruiser.' Another well-known character was the 
blind violinist who represents a woman called 
' Fiddling Nan,' who frequented the neighbourhood 
of Oxford. 

The elector's arms on the wall, ' A chevron, sable 
between three guineas, or,' with the crest of a gaping 
mouth and motto ' Speak and Have,' are quite ap- 
propriate to the evident sentiments of most of those 
present at this entertainment. The various election 
cries are curious, like the inscription on the flag 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 361. 
M 



178 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

thrown down on the floor, ' Give us our eleven days ' 
a shocking appeal to the ignorance of the populace 
against the valuable Act passed 1752 for the altera- 
tion of the Style in accordance with the Gregorian 
Calendar. 

' When the country folk first heard of this Act, 
That old father Style was condemned to be rack'd, 
And robb'd of his time, which appears to be fact, 

Which nobody can deny ; 

It puzzl'd their brains, their senses perplex'd, 

And all the old ladies were very much vex'd, 

Not dreaming that Levites would alter our text ; 

Which nobody can deny.' 

Outside the window is seen a cavalcade in the 
street following an effigy of the Duke of Newcastle, 
on the breast of which is inscribed ' No Jews.' The 
flags have these mottoes ' Liberty and Property 
and No Excise,' ' Marry and Multiply in spite of 
the Devil and the [Court],' alluding to the Marriage 
Act of 1753. 

Plate 2. Canvassing for Votes. 

In the village street of Guzzledown are seen in the 
foreground two places of entertainment : on the left 
hand an inn of some importance with the sign of the 
Royal Oak, and on the right hand the Porto Bello 
alehouse. At a table in front of the latter house 
the village cobbler and the barber are engaged in a 
discussion as to the taking of Portobello by Admiral 
Vernon in the year 1739 with six ships only. The 
barber is distinguished by the implements of his 
trade on the ground, and the cobbler by a pair of 



POLITICAL LIFE 179 

shoes on the table by his side. The barber, to illus- 
trate his argument, has broken from the stem of his 
pipe six pieces which he has arranged crescent- wise on 
the table, and points to this arrangement with the 
stump of his pipe. The cobbler appears to have 
won the bet, as he draws the stakes to himself. 
Over the doorway is a signboard with a painting of 
ships at sea and the name [Por]tobello. On the 
barber's pot of beer is inscribed the owner's name, 
* John Hill at the Porto Bello.' Admiral Vernon 
became so popular owing to his great victory that his 
head was painted on a large number of the signposts 
of the country, and at the next general election in 
1741 was elected for three different constituencies. 
In front of the bow window of the bar of the Royal 
Oak is seen the candidate talking to two ladies in 
the balcony. A kneeling porter offers him a letter 
addressed to Tim Partitool, Esq. 

Part of the sign of the inn is obscured by a large 
show cloth, at the foot of which is * Punch, Candidate 
for Guzzledown.' On the cloth two subjects are 
painted, which are divided horizontally near the 
middle. On the upper picture the Horse Guards 
and the Old Treasury building are represented. 
The lower picture displays the destiny of the money 
taken from the Treasury; in the upper picture 
Punch is seen trundling a wheelbarrow with one 
hand, while with the other he ladles out coins. In 
the barrow are two bags of money, respectively 
labelled 9000 and 7000. Two men with hats in 



180 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

their hands eagerly meet Punch and catch the coin 
he scatters. An old hunchbacked woman holds out 
her hand for a bribe. These pictures were intended 
to advertise the puppet show to be seen later in the 
inn yard. On one of the boxes set down by the 
porter previously mentioned is inscribed ' Punch's 
Theatre, Royal Oak Yard.' 

In describing the upper picture of the show cloth 
the commentators seem to have gone too far in 
their guesses as to Hogarth's meaning. J. Nichols 
writes : ' The height of The Treasury is contrasted 
with the squat solidity of The Horse Guards, where 
the arch is so low, that the State Coachman cannot 
pass through it with his head on ; and the turret on 
the top is so drawn as to resemble a beer-barrel. 
Ware the architect very gravely remarked, on this 
occasion, that the chief defect would have been 
sufficiently pointed out by making the coachman 
only stoop. He was hurt by Hogarth's stroke of 
satire.' John Ireland repeats this story, but Dr. 
Trusler, who wrote earlier, says nothing about Ware 
or the contrast between the Horse Guards and the 
Treasury. Both these buildings were really designed 
by Hogarth's enemy Kent. The Horse Guards was 
built hi 1751-53 by John Vardy, after a design 
furnished by William Kent. The Old Treasury, a 
stone building still fronting the Horse Guards 
Parade, was erected in 1733 from Kent's design for a 
much more extensive front. The explanation of the 
intrusion of Isaac Ware's name by Nichols and 



POLITICAL LIFE 181 

Ireland under the impression that he was the 
architect of the Horse Guards is to be found in the 
life of Ware in the Dictionary of National Biography. 
1 In 1751-2 and again in 1757-8 he was employed as 
draughtsman at a salary of 100 on the building of 
the Horse Guards from Kent's designs.' 

There is still to be mentioned the Crown Inn, 
which is inscribed * The Excise Office.' Trusler notes 
that in country places the excise office was generally 
held at public-houses. A crowd of men are assembled 
before this building with the intention of sacking it. 
Stones are thrown at the windows, and the landlord 
fires a blunderbuss which wounds one of the crowd. 
Another man, determined to destroy the sign of the 
Crown, has bestridden the beam which supports it, 
and saws the beam, forgetting that he must fall 
with it. At the back of the picture there is a rising 
ground with trees and fields, and on the ridge is a 
village with a church. 

We leave for the last a notice of the group of three 
men (a countryman between the hosts of the rival 
inns who both put coins into his hands) in the centre 
of the picture, which, without demanding the special 
attention of the spectator, forms the very pivot of 
the scene and gives a harmony to the whole, which 
presents a perfect marvel of pictorial composition. 
It has been said that the idea of Reynolds's picture 
of ' Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy ' was 
taken from this elegant group, but this seems to be a 
rather far-fetched suggestion. John Ireland writes : 



182 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

' I am tasteless enough to prefer this to " Garrick 
between Tragedy and Comedy." From Hogarth 
the hint was indisputably taken, but exquisite as is 
the face of Thalia (and it is perhaps not to be par- 
alleled in any other picture) the countenance of the 
actor from the contention of two passions has 
assumed a kind of idiotic stare of which our honest 
farmer has not an iota. In the true spirit of Falstaff 
he says, or seems to say : " D' ye think I do not 
know ye ? Ha ! ha ! ha ! he ! he ! he ! " ' l 

The remarkable circumstance about this is that 
the charm of this group is entirely due to the artist's 
innate conception of beauty as the persons them- 
selves, although true to life, are commonplace, with 
no pretence to charm. 

Plate 3. Polling at the Hustings. 

We have here the election polling-booth set up 
hi a meadow near the bank of a river which is crossed 
by a substantial bridge. The platform of the booth 
is approached by a flight of wooden steps. In the 
front is a voter, imbecile in body and mind. A man 
in a laced cocked hat is eagerly whispering into the 
voter's ear. It will be seen that on one of the man's 
legs there is a manacle. In his pocket is seen 
' The 6th Letter to the [People of England],' which 
proves that the man was the notorious Dr. Shebbeare, 
who was condemned by Lord Mansfield to the pillory 
for this treasonable letter. It was reported that he 

1 Ilogarth Illustrated, vol. ii p. 113. 



POLITICAL LIFE 183 

frequently said in the public coffee-house that he 
would have a pillory or a pension. He had both, 
for Lord Bute gave him the latter. The reserve 
voters, consisting of the blind and the halt, are 
being brought to the booth, and on the top of the 
steps a dying man wrapped in a blanket is carried 
by two porters. None of these horrors appear to be 
exaggerated, for any dangers would be risked to 
get a vote. John Ireland relates that Dr. Barrowby 
persuaded a dying man that, being much better, he 
might venture with him in his chariot to the hustings 
in Covent Garden, to poll for Sir George Vandeput. 
The unhappy voter took his physician's advice, and 
in less than an hour after his return, expired. In 
the midst of all these realistic incidents a bit of 
allegory seems somewhat out of place in the 
right corner of the picture Britannia's state coach 
is seen in a dangerous condition, while the coachman 
dropping his reins plays cards with the footman on 
the box. Britannia's attempts to attract their 
attention by pulling the check-string are quite 
unheeded. 

Plate 4. Chairing the Members. 

We have here a street in a country town where the 
road passes between a brook and the wall of a church. 
At the back of the picture is a building with a belfry 
on the roof, the pediment of which contains the 
royal arms. On the right are two houses ; the one at 
the back apparently has been wrecked by the mob : 



184 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the front one is full of life ; it is supposed to be the 
committee room of the defeated candidate at his 
lawyer's house. Many persons are at the window, 
and three cooks bearing dishes are seen entering the 
door. 

A blind and bearded fiddler leads the mob, fol- 
lowed by a bear carrying a monkey with a carbine 
over its shoulder which is accidentally discharged, 
to the imminent danger of the chimney-sweeps on 
the churchyard wall. This is said to allude to an 
incident which actually occurred at the Oxfordshire 
election of 1754. A mob attempted to throw a post- 
chaise into the river, when Captain T , who was 

in the carriage, shot a chimney-sweeper who was a 
ringleader in the assault, and his followers dispersed. 
The captain was tried and acquitted. Now comes 
the new member borne aloft on a chair by four 
strong men. A countryman in charge of a sow and 
her litter strikes the head of one of the bearers at 
his back with his flail. The bearer staggers and the 
member, terrified and in danger of falling, clutches 
the arms of the chair as his hat flies from his head. 
A young lady on the wall of the churchyard, one of 
the spectators of the procession, faints at the sudden- 
ness of the accident. A crowd follows the first 
member, amongst which is the second member, 
whose shadow only is seen on the side of the building 
at the back. 

The goose hovering over the chaired member is 
said to be intended as a parody of the eagle above 



POLITICAL LIFE 185 

the laurelled helmet of Alexander in Le Brim's 
picture of the ' Battle of the Granicus.' The little 
fat member previously dubbed Punch is generally 
supposed to be a vivid representation of the intrigu- 
ing manager of the Leicester House party Bubb 
Dodington (afterwards Lord Melcombe), although 
he does not seem to have had anything to do with 
this election. This is another instance of the 
generality of Hogarth's satire, which was never 
allowed to be completely personal. Dodington' s 
figure was too grotesque to be passed by, and his 
head was used as the first in the second row of 
the ' Five Orders of Periwigs.' Hogarth does not 
appear to have had any prejudice against the man 
himself in fact, he may have felt some interest in 
him on account of his connection with Sir James 
Thornhill. George Bubb Dodington (1691-1762) 
spent 140,000 hi completing a magnificent mansion 
begun by his uncle, George Dodington, at Eastbury 
in Dorsetshire, of which Vanbrugh was architect. 
Thornhill painted a ceiling there in 1719, and subse- 
quently represented Weymouth in Parliament as 
Dodington's nominee. Dodington's name does not 
stand high in political history ; he has been taken as 
the representative jobber of his day, partly owing 
to the full particulars of corruption given in his 
Diary. There is therefore all the more reason why 
any incident in his career that does him credit should 
be recorded. He showed great courage when, on 
the 22nd of February, 1757, he made a strong speech 



186 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in the House of Commons against the execution 
(or rather judicial murder) of Admiral Byng. The 
milestone at the extreme right of the picture is 
inscribed ' xix miles from London ' another attempt 
to confuse the locality of the Election. 

The inscription on the sun-dial fixed on the church 
contains an atrocious pun. There are two words, 
' We must,' and ' die all ' (dial) is inferred. 

Special reference is made in the second chapter of 
this book to the deadly quarrel between Hogarth 
and Wilkes near the end of the artist's life, but its 
political character must be more fully described in 
the present chapter. 

Hogarth was the aggressor by reason of his 
publication of ' The Times, Plate 1,' which was a 
satire strongly in favour of Lord Bute and against 
Pitt, Temple and Wilkes. One cannot be sur- 
prised at Wilkes' s anger, but the way he exhibited 
this anger was quite inexcusable, and is difficult 
to understand, as Wilkes was naturally a placable 
man. These are some of the vitriolic words in No. 
17 of the North Briton published on Saturday, 
September 25, 1762, which is entirely devoted to 
Hogarth : ' We all titter the instant he takes up a 
pen, but we tremble when we see the pencil in his 
hand.' ' I need only make my appeal to any one of 
his historical or portrait pieces which are now con- 
sidered as almost beneath criticism.' Then follows 
a ridiculous and unkind condemnation of * Sigis- 
munda.' ' He never caught a single idea of beauty, 



POLITICAL LIFE 187 

grace or elegance, but on the other hand he never 
missed the least flaw in almost any production of 
nature or of art. This is his true character. He 
has succeeded very happily in the way of humour, 
and has miscarried in every other attempt. This 
has arose in some measure from his head, but much 
more from his heart. After "Marriage a la Mode," 
the public wished for a series of prints of a happy 
marriage. Hogarth made the attempt, but the 
rancour and malevolence of his mind made him 
very soon turn with envy and disgust from objects 
of so pleasing contemplation, to dwell and feast a 
bad heart on others of a hateful cast, which he pur- 
sued, for he found them congenial, with the most 
unabating zeal and unrelenting gall.' 

Wilkes must have been ashamed of what he had 
written, as Hogarth said he was, and he wrote no 
more abuse. In his preliminary note for a reprint 
of the ' Epistle to William Hogarth ' in the collected 
edition of Churchill's Poems, he writes with a 
certain amenity, although he does not express 
regret for what Churchill wrote : ' Mr. Hogarth 
had for several years lived on terms of friendship 
if not intimacy with Mr. Wilkes. ... A friend wrote 
to him, that Mr. Hogarth intended soon to publish 
a political print of the Times, in which Mr. Pitt, 
Lord Temple, Mr. Churchill and himself were held 
out to the public as objects of ridicule. Mr. Wilkes 
on this notice remonstrated by two of their common 
friends to Mr. Hogarth that such a proceeding 



188 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

would not only be unfriendly in the highest degree, 
but extremely injudicious ; for such a pencil ought 
to be universal and moral, to speak to all ages and 
all nations, not to be dipped in the dirt of the 
faction of a day, of an insignificant part of the 
country, when it might command the admiration 
of the whole. An answer was sent, that neither 
Mr. Wilkes nor Mr. Churchill was attacked in the 
Times, though Lord Temple and Mr. Pitt were, and 
that the print would soon appear. A second 
message soon after told Mr. Hogarth that Mr. 
Wilkes would never think it worth his while to take 
notice of any reflections on himself ; but when his 
friends were attacked he found himself wounded 
in the most sensible part, and would as well as he 
could revenge their cause ; adding that if he thought 
the North Briton would insert what he should send, 
he would make an appeal to the public on the very 
Saturday following the publication of the print.' 

Churchill's poem is full of unjust and ill-bred 
abuse. The earlier part is poor stuff till we come 
to line 309, where the direct attack upon Hogarth 
commences, and then it becomes strong. Here is 
a bitter line : 

' He had desert, and Hogarth was his foe.' 

The vituperation now is in full swing : 

' When Wilkes, our countryman, or common friend, 
Arose his king, his country to defend : 

What could induce thee, at a time and place, 
Where manly foes had blush'd to shew their face, 



POLITICAL LIFE 189 

To make that effort which must damn thy name 
And sink thee deep, deep in thy grave with shame ? 
Did virtue move thee ? No, 'twas pride, rank pride, 
And if thou hadst not done it, thou hadst died.' 

Again : 

' Oft have I known thee, Hogarth, weak and vain, 
Thyself the idol of thy awkward strain, 
Through the dull measure of a summer's day, 
In phrase most vile, prate long, long hours away, 
Whilst friends with friends all gaping sit, and gaze 
To hear a Hogarth babble Hogarth's praise. 
But if athwart thee interruption came 
And mention'd with respect some ancient's name, 
Some ancient's name who in the days of yore, 
The crown of art with greatest honour wore. 
How have I seen thy coward cheek turn pale, 
And black confusion seize thy mangled tale ! 
How hath thy jealousy to madness grown, 
And deemed his praise injurious to thy own ! 
Then without mercy did thy wrath make way 
And arts and artists all became thy prey.' 

Churchill returned to his abuse in his last poem, 
Independence (published late in September 1764), 
where he parries the attack in Hogarth's caricature 
of him as the Bruiser and, accepting the figure of a 
Bear, draws a spirited description of himself ending 

thus : 

' A subject met with only now and then, 
Much fitter for the pencil than the pen ; 
Hogarth would draw him (Envy must allow) 
E'en to the life, was Hogarth living now.' 

In spite of Churchill taking the painter's death for 
granted, he did not die till four weeks later, and the 
poet only survived him nine days. It is very 
distressing that these unfortunate circumstances 



190 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

should have arisen from the publication of a print 
which has no particular merit and very little interest. 

' The Times, Plate I. Designed & Engraved 
by W. Hogarth. Published as the Act directs 
Sept. 7, 1762.' 

This engraving represents a street in London, 
most of the houses on one side of which are in flames. 
A house on the other side called the Temple Coffee- 
House (in allusion to Earl Temple) is occupied by 
firemen, who direct water from syringes, at a fireman 
who is aiming at the burning globe on one of the 
buildings. In the middle of the space in the fore- 
ground is the fire-engine of the Union Fire Office 
(distinguished by its emblem of the double hand-in- 
hand), worked by one of their firemen. The 
figure of Pitt on stilts with a pair of bellows in his 
hand is seen blowing up the flame hi opposition to 
the fireman's attempt to extinguish it. Hanging from 
his body is a large round object inscribed 3000 
per annum. This is most probably intended for a 
millstone with a hole in the middle through which 
is drawn a rope that passes over Pitt's neck. 1 

Nichols calls this a Cheshire cheese, and says 
that it refers to what Pitt said in Parliament * that 
he would rather live on a Cheshire cheese and a 
shoulder of mutton than submit to the enemies of 
Great Britain.' John Ireland justly observes that, 

1 In the two first states of the print Pitt was considered as a tyrant and 
made to represent Henry vni., but in the third state (the published 
plate) the figure of Henry vni. was altered to a direct portrait of Mr. Pitt. 
(Stephens, British Museum Catalogue, vol. iv. p. 191.) 



POLITICAL LIFE 191 

as he never saw a cheese with a hole bored through 
the middle, he ventures to pronounce it a millstone, 
which, by the way, the doggerel writer quoted by 
Nichols also does. 

The Highlander (Lord Bute) who helps to supply 
water in buckets from the spring to the fire is driven 
into by a man with a wheelbarrow loaded with 
waste paper described as Monitors and North Britons. 
These are to help increase the fire, and the man is 
trying to destroy the waterpipe with his wheel- 
barrow. The man is said to be intended for the 
Duke of Newcastle. One of the signs to the left of 
the picture is the Newcastle Arms ; this is to be 
superseded by the sign of the Patriot's Arms dated 
1762, which is being hoisted up a ladder. The 
arms consist of four clenched fists in direct 
opposition to each other. These are introduced 
here in contrast with the double hand-in-hand of 
the Union Office. John Ireland notes that 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.' 

As the year is specially distinguished on the 
Patriot's Arms, so the month of August is marked 
by the introduction of the treasure wagon marked 
Hermione. This treasure contained in twenty 
wagons passed through the streets of London in its 
way to the Tower on the 12th of that month. It 



192 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

was seen entering St. James's Street by the King 
and his Court from the windows of St. James's 
Palace, a large company being present, as George 
Prince of Wales was born on that day. 

The Hermione, a Spanish register ship, which left 
Lima on the 6th January bound for Cadiz, was taken 
on the 21st May off Cape St. Vincent by three English 
frigates and carried into Gibraltar. The introduc- 
tion of this treasure of immense value into the picture 
is a heavy asset for Pitt's party against all that is 
figured against it. There are many more points 
that might be added to this description, for the 
incidents included are innumerable. 

The two figures in the garret of the Temple Coffee- 
House were intended to represent Hogarth's former 
friends and present enemies, Wilkes and Churchill. 
Ireland says that previous to publication the faces 
were altered and adds : ' 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.' In 
considering this plate of ' The Times,' which presents 
so many points open to severe criticism, one cannot 
but feel astonishment that two such men as Wilkes 
and Churchill should so thoroughly have mis- 
managed their attack upon Hogarth. They neither 
touch the question at issue nor attempt to show 
where he is wrong. Instead of this, they merely 
abuse, and abuse in a particularly truculent and 



POLITICAL LIFE 193 

objectionable manner, which must have disgusted 
any respectable person who read their prose and verse. 
They exaggerate some of his faults, but the greater 
portion of their words are not only untrue but the 
exact opposite of the truth. When Churchill saw 
the portraits of himself and Wilkes he most certainly 
must have known how untrue were these words : 

' Thy feeble age ! in which, as in a glass, 
We see how men to dissolution pass. 
Thou wretched being, whom, on reason's plan 
So changed, so lost, I cannot call a man, 
What could persuade thee, at this time of life, 
To launch afresh into the sea of strife ? 
Better for thee scarce crawling on the earth, 
Almost as much a child as at thy birth, 
To have resign'd in peace thy parting breath, 
And sunk unnoticed in the arms of Death.' 

Hogarth's triumphant answers to Wilkes and 
Churchill were his portraits of them, which show 
the painter at his best in all his original vigour and 
versatility. The portrait of ' John Wilkes, Esq., 
drawn from the Life, and Etch'd in Aquafortis by 
Will m Hogarth,' was published on May 16, 1763. 
It can scarcely be considered as a caricature, and 
Wilkes himself acknowledged that he was daily 
becoming more like it. The etching was very 
rapidly made, for Hogarth did not draw the portrait 
until May 6th, when Wilkes was brought before 
Lord Chief-Justice Pratt (afterwards Lord Camden) 
at Westminster. Churchill was very indignant at 
the artist skulking behind a screen, as he expressed it. 



194 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

' The Bruiser, C. Churchill (once the Rev d !) 
in the character of a Russian Hercules, regaling 
himself after having kill'd the Monster Caricatura 
that so sorely call'd his Virtuous friend, the Heaven 
born Wilkes,' was published on August 1. For this 
caricature Hogarth took the copper-plate on which 
was engraved (1749) his own portrait from the picture 
now in the National Gallery, and erasing nearly all 
the work, leaving the dog and part of the curtain 
and palette, he drew the poet as a bear with a staff 
marked N.B. for North Briton, and covered with 
knots inscribed Lye 1, 2, 3, etc. In the fourth 
state of the plate a framed picture representing 
a tomb similar to that of Newton in Westminster 
Abbey, with Pitt reclining in place of Newton, 
concealed part of the palette. 

The production of these plates was an act of 
revenge, and instances of revenge are not pleasant 
to contemplate, but it certainly was just. The two 
men made their mark in the history of the eighteenth 
century and are not likely to be forgotten, but it 
may truly be said that they will be remembered 
more owing to Hogarth's caricatures than by their 
own writings. Sandby renewed his attacks upon 
Hogarth, and other caricaturists of less ability 
made fun of * The Times ' and its designer, but it is 
scarcely worth while to deal with these here because 
then* very existence was lost sight of by Hogarth in 
his indignation against the two writers. 

Soon after * The Times, Plate 1 ' was published 



POLITICAL LIFE 195 

' The Times, Plate 2 ' was prepared, probably in the 
same year 1762, but the sky and some parts of the 
plate were never finished. It is not easy to under- 
stand the intended object of the design. The 
general idea seems to be to represent a state of peace 
as Plate 1 showed a state of tumult and disorder. 
Mr. Stephens describes the plate fully and writes, 
' It is certain that whatever might have been the 
direction of the satire in " The Times, Plate 1," it 
was opposed in more than one direction by the sequel 
to that design.' l Hogarth was wisely dissuaded by 
his friends from publishing the print, and Mrs. 
Hogarth, knowing the reasons urged to her husband, 
adhered to the same resolution. At her death only 
one impression had been taken, and that had been 
sold to Lord Exeter for ten guineas. All the property 
was left to Mrs. Lewis, Hogarth's cousin, and she 
sold the plate to Alderman Boydell, who struck off 
prints from it in 1790 : ' Designed & engraved by 
W. Hogarth. Published May 29, 1790, by J. & J. 
Boydell, Cheapside, & at the Shakespeare Gallery, 
Pall Mall, London.' 

John Ireland writes of Mrs. Hogarth's decision: 
* In withholding this print from the public she acted 
prudently, in attempting to describe it, I may be 
thought to act otherwise.' In a large open space 
among buildings, the centre of which is a platform 
surrounded by a trench, the sides of which are 
supported by a brick wall, is a statue of George in. 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iv. p. 197. 



196 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in his coronation robes. The base of the statue is 
inscribed A. Ramsay del fc , and as the plummet may 
be taken as a guide to the squareness of the drapery, 
we may believe this to be a satirical reference to the 
portrait painter. The pedestal occupies the centre 
of the platform to indicate that here is the fountain 
of honour. A Scotch gardener, supposed to be Lord 
Bute, controls the passage of water in the pipe that 
supplies the fountain and nourishes the roses and 
oranges. The other gardener, supposed to be 
Henry Fox, afterwards Lord Holland, casts away 
the old-fashioned plants. 

On the left of the plate is a representation of the 
House of Commons, with Sir John Gust, the Speaker, 
in the chair. Various members of the House of 
Lords are also present. On the right of the plate are 
two figures in the pillory. ' Conspiracy,' ' M 8 Fanny ' 
refers to the fraud of the Cock Lane Ghost. The 
other figure is marked as Wilkes and the word 
' Defamation ' is inscribed on the top of the pillory. 
On the roof of a building which stands prominently 
forward are many workmen hoisting a huge palette 
marked ' Premium,' and having a sheaf of painters' 
brushes stuck hi the thumbhole. This is intended 
to represent the Society of Arts, but the building is 
entirely imaginary, as the Society did not occupy 
a building of importance until they removed to the 
Adelphi hi 1774. At this time they had apartments 
in Beaufort Buildings. In the distance is seen the 
steeple of the new church of St. Mary le Strand, 



POLITICAL LIFE 197 

Still further back is the Chinese pagoda in Kew 
Gardens, designed by Sir William Chambers, and to 
the left Somerset House, then in course of construc- 
tion, and also the work of Chambers. 

On 27th September 1762 was published an etching 
intended as a sequel and rejoinder to ' The Times, 
Plate 1.' It is entitled ' The Times, Plate 2,' and 
must not be confused with Hogarth's Plate 2, which 
was not published until 1790, and therefore unknown 
to the public in 1762. In the middle of a large open 
space among houses Hogarth is seen standing in a 
pillory. There are allusions to the incidents brought 
into Hogarth's Plate 1, but one of the best is the 
Patriot Arms, shown to be two hands clasped and 
enclosing a sword and an olive branch. 

In this chapter we have obtained a fair insight into 
the political life of the eighteenth century, but it is to 
be feared that most of the methods of politicians are 
seen to be coarse and revolting. 



198 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER VI 

CHURCH AND DISSENT 

HOGARTH was keenly alive to the existence of a 
widespread immorality throughout the country 
during his lifetime, and set himself to reform the 
world by satire of some of the worst evils which 
were open to the day. He also realised the want 
of earnestness in religious life, but he was equally 
opposed to a religious revival, and could only see 
evil hi the great movement of Wesley and Whitefield 
which helped to reform the world as the Coming of 
the Friars did, for a time at least, in a former age. 

The maui cause of the evils of the day was a want 
of earnestness in Church and State, or in other words 
the universal dread of enthusiasm a feeling which 
overlooked the fact that enthusiasm, tempered it is 
true by judgment, is the moving spirit of the world. 
Many of the great men of the eighteenth century 
were moved to do their fine work by enthusiasm, 
but they called the moving force by another name. 
Talleyrand's constant cry Pas de zele may some- 
times be a useful caution, but naturally it has a 
deadening effect upon the soul. 

In the middle of the eighteenth century Dr. 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 199 

Edward Young, the well-known author of Night 
Thoughts, wrote a book on the manners of his time 
which was long a popular work. It was entitled 
' The Centaur not Fabulous, in six Letters to a 
Friend on the Life in vogue.' He found ' as in the 
fabled centaur the Brute runs away with the Man,' 
and reviewing the Life then lived showed how 
Infidelity and Pleasure degraded the men and 
women. He then by preaching the dignity of 
man paints the centaur's restoration to humanity. 
No characteristic of at least a portion of the 
eighteenth century was more marked than the 
deadness or somnolence of the Church. The stability 
of the Hanoverian dynasty during a dangerous time 
made it necessary for the Ministry to choose the 
governors of the Church from men of the same 
political opinions as themselves. The High Church 
party were supposed to be too intimately connected 
with non jurors and Jacobites to be treated as safe 
men for office, and the field was thus limited so 
that it was often difficult to discover proper persons 
to fill the office of Bishop. The Broad Churchmen 
or Latitudinarians were mostly lifeless in their 
beliefs, while highflyers such as Sacheverell were 
equally unspiritual. However, it is unwise to 
condemn the clergy generally, for such names as 
those of Tillotson, Stillingfleet, and Tenison must 
not be forgotten on the other side. 

It is interesting to mark the difference between 
the government of the Church hi the seventeenth 



200 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and eighteenth centuries respectively. In spite of 
the dissoluteness of the Court, the appointments to 
bishoprics in the reign of Charles n. seem to have 
been carried out conscientiously, and many very 
distinguished men sat upon the episcopal bench, 
who were the superiors of such men as Gibson and 
Hoadly, who both find a place hi the Hogarth 
gallery. In the eighteenth century many of the 
Bishops were haughty and inactive, although there 
were a few exceptions as Thomas Herring, Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, whose portrait was painted 
by Hogarth. He was a strong Whig and zealous for 
the Hanoverian dynasty. He was colourless as a 
theologian, but the practical side of religion appealed 
to him, and he did his utmost to improve the 
religious feeling of his age. He was certainly more 
popular than Gibson and Hoadly, who were con- 
stantly caricatured in the pictorial satires of the 
day. Herring was Bishop of Bangor in 1737, and 
Archbishop of York in 1743. In the northern 
archbishopric he took a prominent part in pre- 
parations against the rebellion of 1745. As Arch- 
deacon Coxe writes hi his Life of Horatio Lord 
Walpole : ' He exerted himself with great zeal in 
favour of government ; having convened a public 
meeting in his diocese, he made a sensible and 
animated speech, obtained a subscription to a 
considerable amount, and contributed to raise and 
embody volunteers and other corps of troops, who 
performed essential services against the rebels.' 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 201 

The younger Horace Walpole writing to Sir Horace 
Mann (Oct. 4, 1745) was even more laudatory. He 
said : ' Dr. Herring has set an example that would 
rouse the most indifferent ; in two days after the 
news arrived at York of Cope's defeat (at Preston 
Pans), and when they every moment expected the 
victorious rebels at their gates, the Bishop made a 
speech to the assembled county, that had as much 
true spirit, honesty and bravery in it as ever was 
penned by an historian for an ancient hero.' 

A pictorial satire was published entitled ' The 
Mitred Champion ; or the Church Militant,' which 
consists of a full-length portrait of the Archbishop 
in a half-clerical, half-military costume, armed with 
a drawn sword, and wearing an officer's cocked and 
laced hat instead of his own mitre, which lies on the 
ground at his feet. He is marching at the head of a 
company of armed clergymen, who carry the royal 
standard of England. The Archbishop cries, 
' Religion ! Liberty ! my Country ! ' His lieu- 
tenant, who marches on the right of the company, 
says, ' King George and y e Church of England for 
ever.' 1 

This may be called a satire, but it is really little 
more than a representation of what actually occurred 
by putting words into action. The artist who de- 
signed the satire evidently approved of the action, 
and the lines engraved on the print are distinctly 
laudatory and end thus : 

1 F. G. Stephens, British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. iii. p. 508. 



202 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

' Our Civil Rights, and Sacred Worship shall 
Never a sacrifice to Bigots fall, 
But as our Birthright we '11 secure enjoy 
While Herring can his Sword and Eloquence employ.' 

Hogarth's portrait of Herring is dated in this same 
year 1745, and was engraved as a heading to the 
Archbishop's published speech at York, 24th Sept. 
1745. The portrait was engraved subsequently by 
B. Baron and was published in 1750. 

It is said that Herring did not admire the portrait, 
and an uncomplimentary epigram was made at the 

time : 

' Lovat's hard features Hogarth might command, 
A Herring's sweetness asks a Reynolds' hand.' 

Herring became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1747, 
and a copy of Hogarth's picture at York is included 
in the gallery of Lambeth Palace. 

Bishops Gibson and Hoadly were leaders of two 
different parties, and were both objects at which 
numerous satires were aimed. The latter was the 
leader of the Low Church party, and the former 
of a new High Church party dissociated from the 
Jacobites and equally loyal to the Hanoverian 
dynasty as the other party. Gibson is ridiculed 
in an engraving published in 1736 and entitled 
' Tartuff's Banquet (or Codex's Entertainment),' 
the design of which is ascribed to Hogarth, but the 
ascription is doubtful. The engraving by G. Vander- 
gucht is described by Mr. Stephens as showing the 
interior of a dining-room where a sleek divine is 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 203 

seated at table with three lean clergymen. The 
only person provided with a knife and fork is the 
sleek divine. Mr. Stephens says that this figure was 
previously supposed to be intended for Orator 
Henley, until he showed that it was aimed at Dr. 
Edmund Gibson, well known as ' Codex ' from his 
great work entitled Codex Juris Ecclesiastici 
Anglicani (1713). In another satirical print 
entitled 'The ParaUel ; or Laud & C[o]d[e]x 
compared,' published also in 1736, Britannia is 
shown seated and holding her spear; she rests her 
hand upon the British royal shield, and by pointing 
to medallion portraits of Archbishop Laud and 
Bishop Gibson, indicates their characters to be 
equally autocratic and overbearing. Two years 
before he had been satirised in an engraving entitled 
' The State Weathercocks,' and here he possesses 
a fellow-sufferer in Bishop Hoadly. Gibson was 
supposed to be ambitious of succeeding Archbishop 
Wake in the Primacy, but he died Bishop of London. 
In the verses attached to the engraving we read : 

' For gold Pastorius will exchange his soul, 
See how to La[mbe]th he does turn his face ; 
And views the Pa[la]ce with a sly grimace ; 
'Tis true, indeed, Pastorius pants for grace, 
This right-hand Man of Sidrophel's l first troop, 
This party -tool to anything will stoop; 
Say black is white and white does black appear.' 

The writer attacks both sides with equal injustice ; 
and later on Hoadly, who had been Rector of St. 

1 Sir Robert Walpole. 



204 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Peter le Poer, Bread Street, from 1704 to 1720, is 
satirised for tergiversation. 

' Whate'er the K r of St. P r P r 



By dint of Argument maintained before, 
The B[isho]p to reform the sinful age 
Mounted with intrepidity the stage, 
Benhada did with Benhada engage. 
In publick, but yet mildly, he disputes, 
And all his former Arguments refutes : 
If he no Kingdom in this World can have, 
Close to the Steeple's pinnacle he '11 cleave.' 

The last two lines refer to the text of the Bishop's 
sermon at Court, ' My kingdom is not of this world.' 
It was this sermon which occasioned the famous 
Bangorian Controversy. In 1709 the House of 
Commons voted an Address to Queen Anne ' that 
she would be graciously pleased to confer some 
dignity in the Church upon him [Hoadly] for his 
eminent services to the Church and State.' This 
unusual appeal had no effect, but Mrs. Rowland, a 
rich widow, presented him to the rectory of Streat- 
ham, ' to show that she was neither afraid nor 
ashamed to give him that mark of regard at that 
critical time.' Promotion came with the next reign, 
but Hoadly continued to hold both these livings 
after he became Bishop of Bangor, which diocese 
he never visited. He was successively Bishop of 
Hereford, Salisbury, and Winchester, and died at 
the latter city April 17, 1761. 

Hoadly and his family were great friends of 
Hogarth, who painted the Bishop's portrait in 




THE SLEEPING CONGREGATION. 1736. 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 205 

collaboration with the first Mrs. Hoadly (nee 
Sarah Curtis). This is now in the National Portrait 
Gallery. 

Hogarth has left a sad picture of the deadness of 
public services in the eighteenth century hi his 
' Sleeping Congregation ' (1736). If common sense 
was so predominant that enthusiasm and zeal were 
treated as objectionable, how was the preacher to 
attract his congregation without the exhibition of 
some vivid interest in his theme ? The preacher in 
Hogarth's picture looks as if he would have been 
dull in any age, but Churchill the poet was full of 
life and vigour, yet even he could not fix the atten- 
tion of his audience. 

' I kept those sheep, 

Which for my curse, I was ordain'd to keep. 
Ordain'd alas ! to keep through need, not choice, 
Whilst sacred dulness ever in my view 
Sleep at my bidding crept from pew to pew.' 

We are told that Sir Roger de Coverley would 
suffer none to sleep in church but himself. ' The 
Sleeping Congregation ' is referred to in Vincent 
Bourne's Conspicillum. The droning preacher has 
been supposed to represent the Rev. John Theophilus 
Desaguliers, F.R.S. (1683-1744), but there is reason 
to doubt this assumption as the head of the preacher 
does not resemble the portrait of Desaguliers by 
Hyssing. He was extremely short-sighted and his 
personal appearance unattractive, by reason of 
being short and thickset, with irregular features, so 



206 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the general appearance of the man may have been 
copied. 

Desaguliers was a man of science of some distinc- 
tion and held in high esteem by Newton. He 
received the Copley medal of the Royal Society in 
1742, and his lectures on physics were popular. In 
theology he only printed a thanksgiving sermon 
preached before George I. at Hampton Court in 1716. 

In the advertisement of the print it is stated that 
it represents the interior of a church in the country 
* A print representing a sleepy congregation hi a 
country church ' ; but Mr. Stephens points out that 
in ' one of the windows is emblazoned in stained glass 
an escutcheon resembling that of the City of London, 
thus suggesting it is a city church.' 1 

Desaguliers was Rector of Whitchurch or Little 
Stanmore, Middlesex, from 1715 until his death in 
1744. He initiated Frederick Prince of Wales into 
Freemasonry at a special lodge held at Kew on the 
5th October 1737. Hogarth painted a portrait of a 
Mrs. Desaguliers, wife of General Thomas Desagu- 
liers, which Mr. Dobson says is a beautiful head. 

It is possible to be too critical of the methods of the 
men of the eighteenth century, and Sir Walter Besant, 
after taking a careful survey of the Church of that 
time in London, wrote that ' the chief reason for 
calling the time of George n. a dead time for the 
Church seems to be, so far as London is concerned, 
that its clergy were not like our own.' He analysed 

1 British Miiseum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 204. 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 207 

the services in every London church in 1732, and 
found that daily services were general. He also con- 
sidered that there was no more immorality among 
the middle classes than at any other time. 

The names of several London churches represented 
in Hogarth's pictures may be set down here. St. 
Paul's, Co vent Garden, occupies a prominent position 
in ' Morning,' and the French Church, Hog Lane, hi 
4 Noon,' with St. Giles's in the background. St. 
George's, Bloomsbury, in ' GUI Lane,' and the in- 
terior of old Marylebone Church in the fifth plate of 
the ' Rake's Progress,' and St. Martin's in ' Industry 
and Idleness,' Plate 2. This last is only a sugges- 
tion, but it is a probable one. 

Mr. Stephens writes : ' The church represented . . . 
is probably that of St. Martin's in the Fields, West- 
minster, in respect to the architecture of which, and 
that of the print, there are several resemblances. 
The probability of this being the case is strengthened 
by the fact that a royal crown surmounts the chan- 
delier, which is pendant from the roof in the design. 
St. Martin's in the Fields is the so-called royal parish 
of Westminster. The design and the church differ, 
however, in many respects ; the architectural char- 
acteristics of the former are seemingly due to a rough 
sketch of the features of the latter, not to an inten- 
tion on the part of Hogarth to represent this, or any 
particular church.' l 

It is but fair to refer to this as a very complete 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 678. 



208 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

contrast to the ' Sleeping Congregation,' showing a 
service in which the congregation is thoroughly 
interested. 

Plate 3 of the same series shows the exterior of 
another church and ' the Idle 'Prentice at play in 
the churchyard, during Divine Service.' Respecting 
this Mr. Stephens writes : * The churchyard has not 
been identified, but it must have been in or near the 
City of London, as appears by the escutcheon over 
the door. There are points of resemblance between 
Hogarth's picture and the churches of St. Michael, 
Crooked Lane, and St. Paul, Shad well.' l 

Boswell supplies us with a delightful anecdote of 
the audacity of Topham Beauclerk, which must ever 
associate Samuel Johnson with the Idle Apprentice 
in the mind of all readers. 

' Johnson was some time with Beauclerk at his 
house at Windsor. . . . One Sunday, when the weather 
was very fine, Beauclerk enticed him, insensibly, to 
saunter about all the morning. They went into a 
churchyard in the time of divine service, and 
Johnson laid himself down at his ease upon one of 
the tomb-stones. Now, sir, (said Beauclerk), you 
are like Hogarth's Idle Apprentice.' 

The Church of St. Clement Danes, in the Strand, 
must be added to this list. It is not, however, on 
account of a representation of the church, but of a 
scathing satire on the altar-piece by Kent which 
once stood in this church. Hogarth's contempt for 

1 British Museum Catalogue, p. 682, 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 209 

Kent as a painter is well known, and he seldom 
lost an opportunity of publishing it. 

It has sometimes been supposed that Hogarth's 
engraving caused the removal of the original picture ; 
but this is a mistake, as the popular feeling against 
the altar-piece seems to have been caused partly by 
political feelings and partly from the strong dislike 
to the admission of pictures in churches. Hogarth 
took the opportunity of showing the absurdity of 
the drawing itself, and he declared that he neither 
' parodied ' nor ' burlesqued,' but produced a fair and 
honest representation of a contemptible performance. 

The explanation of the plate is as follows : ' This 
Print is exactly engraiv'd after y e Celebrated Altar- 
peice in St. Clement's Church, which has been taken 
down by order of y e Lord Bishop of London (as 'tis 
thought) to prevent disputs and laying of wagers 
among y e Parrishioners about y e artists meaning hi 
it. For publick satisfaction here is a particular 
explanation of it humbly offerd to be writ under 
y e Original that it may be put up again, by which 
means y e Parish' es 60 pounds, which they wisely gave 
for it, may not be entirely lost. 

1st. 'Tis not the Pretender's wife and children, 

as our weak brethren imagin. 
21y. Nor St. Cecilia, as the Connoisseurs think, 

but a choir of angells singing hi Consort.' 

[Below are letters from A to K as references to the 
points of the picture.] 



210 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

A violently-written pamphlet on Kent's picture, 
entitled ' A Letter from a Parishioner of St. Clement 
Danes, to the Right Reverend Father in God 
Edmund [Gibson], Lord Bishop of London, occasion'd 
by his Lordship's causing the picture over the altar 
to be taken down. With some observations on the 
use and abuse of Church Paintings in general, and 
of that picture in Particular,' was published on 
September 10, 1725. 

The author writes : ' And of all the abuses your 
Lordship has redress' d, none more timely, none more 
acceptable to all true Protestants than your last 
injunction to remove that ridiculous, superstitious 
piece of Popish foppery from our Communion table : 
this has gain'd you the applause and good-mill of all 
honest men, who were scandalized to see that holy 
Place denied with so vile and impertinent a representa- 
tion. To what end or purpose was it put there, but 
to affront our most gracious Sovereign by placing at 
our very altar, the known resemblance of a Person, 
who is wife of his utter enemy and Pensioner to the 
Whore of Babylon ? When I say the known re- 
semblance I speak not only according to my own 
knowledge, but appeal to all mankind who have seen 
the Princess Sobieski or any picture or resemblance 
of her.' The author further refers to ' a continual 
hurly burly of loiterers from all parts of the Town to 
see our popish Earee Show. 1 

When the picture was removed from the church it 
was placed in the old vestry-room of the parish, and 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 211 

was occasionally taken to the Crown and Anchor 
Tavern in the Strand for exhibition at the music 
meetings of the churchwardens of the parish. 

Of the regular dissenting ministers Hogarth has 
taken little or no note. Some of these were men 
of repute, but as a rule the worship in the Chapel 
was as dull as that in the Church and a 'revival' 
was required equally in both. 

John Henley, of St. John's College, Cambridge, 
known as Orator Henley (1692-1756), was a dissenter 
in that he broke off his connection with the Church 
because he considered that he was not appreciated, 
but he had nothing in common with any of the 
Nonconformist bodies. 

He was pompous, but with a ready wit and an 
effective elocution, and about 1726 he rented a 
large room over the market-house in Newport 
Market, and registered it as a place for religious 
worship. He then, by advertisements in the papers, 
invited all persons to come and take seats for two- 
pence apiece, promising them diversion under the 
titles of Voluntaries, Chimes of the Times, Rounde- 
lays, College Bobs, etc. Great numbers of people 
flocked to witness his buffooneries, until at last these 
were put an end to by a Presentment of the Grand 
Jury of Middlesex in January 1729. 

Henley then removed to Portsmouth Street, Clare 
Market, where he was more careful in the entertain- 
ment he provided. He called his chapel the Oratory, 
and every Sunday he preached a sermon in the 



212 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

morning and delivered an oration in the evening on 
some special theological theme, and lectured on 
weekdays, sometimes Tuesdays, Wednesdays and 
Fridays, on other subjects. 

The crowd of persons of all classes who flocked to 
his lectures was so great that he had to obtain more 
commodious quarters, which he found in the old 
Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in Bear Yard, Vere 
Street. 

Pope has pictured for us the Orator in his ' gilt tub ': 

' Embrown 'd with native bronze, lo ! Henley stands, 
Turning his voice, and balancing his hands, 
How fluent nonsense trickles from his tongue ! 
How sweet the periods, neither said, nor sung ! 
Still break the benches, Henley ! with thy strain, 
While Sherlock, Hare, and Gibson preach in vain.' 

Samuel Ireland gave two engravings of Orator 
Henley in the first volume of his Graphic Illustrations. 
One, Henley christening a child, he says is from a 
sketch in oil which he bought from Mrs. Hogarth, 
and supposes to have been painted by Hogarth 
about the year 1745. At Ireland's sale, May 6, 1797, 
it was sold or bought in for three guineas. It 
afterwards came into the possession of Payne Knight, 
and with the whole of his collection was bequeathed 
to the British Museum. Mr. Stephens says of the 
sketch, ' It is in perfect condition, painted with 
Hogarth's characteristic skill and fine sense of 
female beauty, and on a piece of canvas which was 
originally of a slightly greenish brown.' l 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 630. 




HK.VLKY r/inh/inin <W,t . 



ORATOR HENLEY CHRISTENING A CHILD. 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 213 

The other is the * Oratory Chappel,' which Ireland 
says * exhibits a true portrait of that place of which 
no other has come within our knowledge.' There is 
no doubt that this was not the work of Hogarth, 
although it is interesting in itself. Stephens says of 
the original that it is supposed to be a forgery by 
Powell, although it has ' W. Hogarth fee* ' at one 
corner of the print. 

Stephens thus describes the print : ' This etching 
shows Orator Henley preaching in a chapel ; his 
clerk is armed with a club. One side of the pulpit 
is decorated with a medallion of an imp resembling 
an owl. On the top of the sounding board is a 
dancing dog, in Scotch plaid, holding a board 
inscribed " Politicks and Divinity." The floor is 
covered with men standing or sitting, and more or 
less attentively listening to the Orator ; one man 
reads from a newspaper, another addresses Henley, 
although the latter is in the heat of his discourse. 
The gallery is filled with men who are shouting and 
brandishing clubs. Over them is written, "It is 
written my house shall be called y e house of prayer, 
but ye have made it a den of thieves." In a pew 
marked " Pens for y e Doctors Friends, etc," is a very 
rough-looking group, described thus on the pew : 

"Butcher Frenchman Scot and Tory, 
Join to rob Britain of its glory." ' l 

Another engraving of ' The Oratory,' showing 
* Henley in full canonicals addressing a few persons 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 621. 



214 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

who are standing below,' by George Bickham, has 
been attributed falsely to Hogarth. 1 

Ireland says that Henley frequently made Pope 
the object of his satire, which caused the poet to 
gibbet him in the Dunciad. George Alexander 
Stevens of the Lecture upon Heads was a perpetual 
nuisance to the Orator, who prosecuted him for 
breeding riots in the chapel. 

Henley was continually at loggerheads with the 
ministry, and on one occasion he parodied the text 
of Dr. Croxall with some effect. 

This Doctor preached a sermon on the 30th June 
1730 before the House of Commons from the text, 
* Take away the wicked from before the King, and 
his throne shall be established in righteousness.' 
This gave so much offence to Sir Robert Walpole 
that he prevented the thanks of the House being 
presented to the preacher. Henley was so pleased 
with this that he posted the following lines as a 
subject for his next address : 

1 Away with the wicked before the King, 
And away with the wicked behind him ; 

His throne it will bless 

With righteousness, 
And we shall know where to find him.' 

This chapter may be concluded with a short notice 
of Hogarth's two prints, ' Enthusiasm Delineated ' 
(n.d., published 1795), and 'Credulity, Superstition, 
and Fanaticism : a Medley ' (March 15, 1762). 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 746. 



CHURCH AND DISSENT 215 

' Enthusiasm Delineated ' appears to be intended 
as a general satire upon the evils of superstition. 
Its object is explained in an advertisement on the 
plate : * The intention of this Print is to give a lineal 
representation of the strange effects of literal and 
low conceptions of Sacred Beings, as also of the 
Idolatrous tendency of Pictures in Churches and 
Prints in Religious Books, etc.' The plate was 
dedicated to the Archbishop of Canterbury, but was 
never published. Only two impressions are in 
existence : both belonged to John Ireland, and now 
one is in the British Museum and the other in the 
possession of Mr. Fairfax Murray. 

At the end of his life Hogarth took the copper-plate 
which had been discarded and altered the whole 
scheme of the design completely, so as to satirise the 
Methodist and Evangelical revival and the popular 
follies of his own day. Almost every figure was 
altered, some more and some less. The result was 
the print entitled ' Credulity, Superstition, and 
Fanaticism.' The most unintelligible alteration is 
the introduction of Mary Tofts in the later plate to 
replace the figure of Mother Douglas in the original 
one. The Tofts imposture took place in 1726 before 
the date of the original plate, and was almost forgotten 
in 1762. The two prints are reproduced in John 
Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, and are placed opposite 
each other for purposes of comparison. 



216 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER VII 

PROFESSIONAL LIFE 

ONE of the Professions the Clerical is dealt with 
in the previous chapter. In this we have to consider 
the Law, Medicine, and the Army, as well as later 
additions to the Professions Art and Literature. 
Physic is fully represented in Hogarth's works, so 
also is the Law. Soldiers find little place there, and 
Art and Literature can hardly claim much dis- 
tinction, as exhibited in the * Enraged Musician ' of 
the first or the ' Distressed Poet ' of the second class. 

Law. The engraving of ' The Bench ' was first 
published on the 4th September 1758. In the first 
state above the heads of the four judges is seen a 
wall on which is painted the Royal arms of England 
with the motto ' Semper eadem,' the escutcheon being 
partly obliterated by the shaft of a column at the 
left of the picture. In the second state the 
escutcheon has been obliterated and replaced by a 
row of heads, eight in number, as examples of 
caricature. The shaft remains, and causes a curious 
effect to the caricature of an apostle which is partly 
in front and partly behind the column. 

The four judges are supposed to be sitting on the 




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*'ii/*n//ft<>tt.'/i/ u*'r/ Sr> Mr/trr/i/f/ffr /^Clirtrarter. . . 

' ' 



"THE BENCH." 1758. 

From the third state of the original engraving. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 217 

Bench of the Court of Common Pleas. The chief 
figure, a portly personage who is seen reading through 
his eyeglasses from notes made in a book held in his 
left hand. This was intended to represent Sir 
John Willes (born 1685), Chief Justice of the Court 
of Common Pleas, a man of great learning and 
ability, but little esteemed on account of the gross- 
ness of his manners and morals. He hoped to be 
Lord Chancellor in succession to Lord Hardwicke, 
but he had to content himself with being the first 
of three Commissioners for the Great Seal (1756-7). 
He was offered the Chancellorship in the Duke of 
Newcastle's and Pitt's administration, but he 
stipulated for a peerage which was refused, and Sir 
Robert Henley was appointed Lord Keeper instead. 
Horace Walpole tells an anecdote of Willes, which 
shows the kind of man he was. A grave person came 
to reprove the judge for the scandal he gave, observ- 
ing that the world talked of one of his maidservants 
being with child. Willes said: 'What is that to 
me ? ' The monitor answered : * Oh ! but they say 
it is by your lordship.' ' And what is that to you ? ' 
was the reply. 

The next figure is Henry Bathurst (son of Sir 
Allan Apsley, first Earl Bathurst), born 1714, 
Justice of the Common Pleas 1754, and Lord 
Chancellor in 1771. He succeeded his father as 
Earl Bathurst in 1775, and died in 1794. He was 
an amiable man, but not so companionable as his 
father. It is reported on one occasion when the 



218 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

son retired from a convivial party that Lord 
Bathurst said, ' Now, my good friends, since the old 
gentleman is off, I think we may venture to crush 
another bottle.' The third figure is the Hon. 
William Noel, born 1695, who is called by Horace 
Walpole ' a pompous man of little solidity.' On 
the trial of Lord Lovat in 1746, he was one of the 
managers for the House of Commons. He became 
a Justice of the Common Pleas in March 1757, and 
continued in that Court till his death on December 
8, 1762. Both Bathurst and Noel are pictured 
asleep. 

The fourth judge who is shown in profile to the 
left of Willes is Sir Edward Clive, born 1704. He 
was made a Baron of the Exchequer in 1745, and 
remained in that Court nearly eight years. He was 
removed to the Common Pleas in January 1753. 
He resigned in 1770, and died in 1771. Sir 
Edward Clive's brother George was the husband of 
Kitty Clive, the famous actress. 

The row of caricature heads added in the second 
state of the plate, already referred to, strengthen 
the portrayal of the difference between ' Character, 
Caricature and Outre,' which Hogarth had 
previously indicated in 1743, when he published 
' Characters and Caricaturas ' as the subscription 
ticket for the ' Marriage a la Mode.' The neglect 
of this distinction by others was a constant source 
of annoyance to him, as he hated to be treated as a 
caricaturist. He himself said with regard to this 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 219 

print of ' The Bench ' 'I have ever considered the 
knowledge of character, either high or low, to be 
the most sublime part of the art of painting or 
sculpture ; and caricature, as the lowest ; indeed as 
much so as the wild attempts of children, when 
they first try to draw : yet so it is, that the two 
words, from being similar in sound, are often con- 
founded. When I was at the house of a foreign 
face-painter, and looking over a legion of his 
portraits, Monsieur, with a low bow, told me that 
he infinitely admired my caricatures ! I returned his 
conge and informed him that I equally admired his.' 

The original picture differed from the print some- 
what. It was the property at one time of Sir 
George Hay, and afterwards of Mr. Edwards. It 
was exhibited by Mr. Fairfax Murray at the Winter 
Exhibition of the Royal Academy, 1908. 

The representation by Hogarth of the Lawyer 
in Butler's Hudibras must be mentioned here, as 
his character is so differently treated in Hogarth's 
two sets of illustrations : 

' To this brave man, the Knight repairs 
For counsel in his Law affairs, 
And found him mounted in his Pew, 
With Books and Money plac'd, for shew, 
Like Nest-eggs to make Clients lay, 
And for his false opinion pay : 
To whom the Knight, with comely grace 
Put off his hat, to put his case.' 

In the duodecimo edition of Hudibras (1726) the 
Lawyer is represented as sitting on a settle and 



220 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

writing at a desk in a corner of a room in front of a 
window, and with three shelves of books above 
his head. In the large series of engravings published 
by Hogarth without a text, the Lawyer is seen sitting 
in state on a sort of throne in a handsome apartment. 
In front of the Lawyer's desk sit two clerks busily 
engaged in writing. At the side of the room is a 
large bookcase filled with important-looking books. 
In front of the bookcase, and at the right-hand side 
of the picture, is a handsomely carved figure of 
Justice holding her scales. 

The picture of ' Paul before Felix,' which 
Hogarth painted for the decoration of the old 
Lincoln's Inn Hall in 1748, is still to be seen in 
the new buildings of Lincoln's Inn Hall. Thomas, 
Lord Wyndham, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, 
1726-39, who died in 1745, left a legacy of 200 for 
the decoration of the Hall, and Hogarth obtained the 
commission through the instrumentality of Lord 
Mansfield. Mr. Dobson gives in his book a facsimile of 
Hogarth's letter respecting the proposed position of 
the picture hi the hall, with his sketch of the de- 
sign of the frame. This letter was found among 
the archives of the Society of Lincoln's Inn. The 
receipt is as follows : 

'July the 8th, 1748. 

' Reced of Jn Wood Esq. Treasurer of the Hon ble 
Society of Lincoln's Inn by the hands of Rich d 
Farshall Chief Butler to the Said Society the sum of 
two hundred pounds being the Legacy given by the 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 221 

late Lord Wyndham to the Said Society laid out 
in a picture drawn by Mr. Hogarth. According to 
order of Council Dated the 27th day of June last. 

WILLIAM HOGARTH.' 
' 200. 

This picture was engraved and published in 1752, 
and in the previous year was prepared ' Paul before 
Felix Burlesqued.' ' Design'd and scratch'd in the 
true Dutch taste, by Wm. Hogarth,' to serve as a 
receipt for subscriptions to two prints to be published 
at the same time, viz. ' Paul before Felix,' and 
' Moses brought before Pharaoh's Daughter.' These 
receipts were not originally intended for sale, but 
they were given to subscribers and to Hogarth's 
friends, who begged them. The beggars became so 
numerous that the designer after a time resolved 
to part with none except at the price of five shillings 
each. 

What could have induced Hogarth to burlesque 
his own picture, which was already too much of a 
caricature, it is almost impossible to understand. 
The orator Tertullus who was retained against 
St. Paul is said to represent Dr. King, Principal of 
St. Mary Hall, Oxford. 

Leigh Hunt, in ' The Town,' described the serious 
' Paul before Felix ' as ' Hogarth's celebrated 
failure.' 

Medicine. Hogarth painted the portraits of 
several well-known physicians and surgeons, or 



222 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

introduced them into his works. The portrait of 
Thomas Pellett, M.D., President of the Royal College 
of Physicians, 1735-39, was exhibited at Whitechapel 
(Georgian England) in 1906 by Mr. W. C. Alexander. 
The painting was engraved by Charles Hall and 
published June 1, 1781, by J. Thane. Pellett and 
Martin Folkes (whose portrait was also painted by 
Hogarth), were joint editors of Sir Isaac Newton's 
Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms (1728). The 
College possesses a portrait of Pellett by Dahl. 

The portrait of Sir Caesar Hawkins, Bart., by 
Hogarth belongs to the Royal College of Surgeons, 
and was exhibited by the College at Whitechapel 
(Georgian England) in 1906. 

Cromwell Mortimer, M.D., was a man of consider- 
able importance in his day, a friend of Sir Hans 
Sloane, and Secretary of the Royal Society from 
1730 until his death in 1752. He was very un- 
popular with members of his own profession. In 
the Gentleman's Magazine, 1780, p. 510, he is styled 
' an impertinent assuming empiric.' The portrait of 
Mortimer, engraved by Rigou, from a sketch by 
Hogarth, is a severe satire, and probably some of the 
artist's professional friends suggested the need of 
some such satire. Mr. F. G. Stephens says that the 
date and immediate occasion of this print is not 
apparent, but he supposes that the circulation of 
Mortimer's letter, 1744, caused its publication. The 
letter was subsequently published in the Gentleman's 
Magazine, November 1779, and is described as 'the 




^^^fTum^oi^^^ 
/// Company ^Undertakers 

jsrurrtJ! ,fa/f, trn friiial finytei-. jtfnvtn jt Quack-Head] of e/tr Jffmtt/ <k J2 Cane Heads (7r, 
taut, fln a*('/i"-/'y~/f?'"/<r, (jrmtne, (?nr (~omn/<e<lt Dortor {Jtsaant, cAtfAte Jtestatntny 

of-' fAr *ftf<'tt</, ff .tn*o Cane Ilradi g6wa*\f of tde. fAjrf;t/%e/?ryf Aaitnp 0>ie.<5ue cffnfAanf,ttr- 
Et Hurima Mortis Juinj-o . 



Conful- 
/^ 






A CONSULTATION OF PHYSICIANS. 1736. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 223 

plan of Dr. Mortimer's present method of practice.' 
In it specifics for every disease are recommended. 1 

The original drawing in bistre was in the Standly 
Collection. 

Hogarth seems to have been in doubt as to the 
exact object of his biting satire on some of the 
healers of men when he gave his gallery of medical 
heads the double title of * The Company of Under- 
takers, or a Consultation of Physicians.' The title 
of the etching was originally intended to be ' Quacks 
hi Consultation,' and it was so advertised. This 
was first published on March 3, 1736, and the follow- 
ing burlesque heraldic description is engraved below 
the design : 

' The Company of Undertakers 
Beareih Sable, an Urinal proper between 12 Quack- 
Heads of the Second and 12 Cane Heads or consultant. 
On a chief Nebula, Ermine, one compleat Doctor 
issuant, chekie, sustaining in his Eight Hand a Baton 
of the Second. On his Dexter and Sinister sides two 
Demi-Doctors, issuant of the second and two Cane 
Heads issuant of the third ; The first having one eye 
couchant, towards the Dexter Side of the Escocheon ; 
the second faced per pale proper and gules, guardent. 
With this motto Et Plurima Mortis Imago.' 

The three half-length figures in the upper portion 
of the shield are intended to represent Mrs. Mapp 
in the centre, Chevalier Taylor on her right, and Dr. 
Joshua Ward, or ' Spot ' Ward, on the left. 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 541. 



224 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Sarah Mapp, the bone-setter or shape mistress, 
was a woman of masculine habits who distinguished 
herself by some extraordinary cures. Her father, a 
man named Wallin, was also a bone-setter settled at 
Hindon in Wiltshire, but his daughter quarrelled 
with him and wandered about the country calling 
herself Crazy Sally. She married Hill Mapp, a servant 
of Mr. Ibbetson, mercer, Ludgate Hill, on August 11, 
1736, but the husband ran away soon after the mar- 
riage, taking with him one hundred and two guineas. 

Mrs. Mapp set up a carriage and four, and the 
newspapers were full of her doings in this year 1736. 
A mare was named after her, and Mrs. Mapp's plate 
for ten guineas was run for at Epsom ; but her career 
was a short one, for she died in Seven Dials in 
December 1737 in great poverty. 

John Taylor (1703-1772) appears to have been an 
oculist of distinction who exhibited great skill as an 
operator, but he chose to advertise himself and act 
generally as a charlatan. Dr. Johnson said of him 
that he was ' an instance of how far impudence 
would carry ignorance.' He studied surgery under 
the great William Cheselden at St. Thomas's Hospital, 
and practised for some time at Norwich. He then 
travelled through the country and abroad, and was 
known as Chevalier Taylor. He early obtained a 
recognised position by his appointment as oculist 
to George n. in 1736. He published a vain-glorious 
account of himself and his adventures in 1761, and 
died in a convent at Prague in 1772. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 225 

John Ireland says that he saw Taylor once at 
Shrewsbury, and he recognised the likeness in 
Hogarth's drawing. He also tells some good anec- 
dotes of him which show his ready wit. On one 
occasion when he was enumerating the honours he 
had received from the different princes of Europe, 
and the orders with which he had been dignified by 
innumerable sovereigns, it was remarked that he 
had not named the King of Prussia. ' I suppose, 
sir, he never gave you an order ? ' ' You are 
mistaken, sir,' replied the Chevalier ; ' he gave me 
a very peremptory order to quit his dominions. 1 

On his return from a tour on the Continent he met 
a working man who, addressing him with great 
familiarity, was repulsed with a frown, and ' Sir, 
I really don't remember you.' ' Not remember me ! 
Why, my goodness, doctor, we once lodged in Round 
Court ' [out of Bow Street, Covent Garden]. ' 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.' l 

Joshua Ward (1685-1761) was a quack doctor, but 
it is said that he was a quack of genius. In 1717 he 
was returned Member of Parliament for Marlborough, 
but by a vote of the House of Commons he was 
declared not duly elected. It is supposed that he 
was mixed up with his brother John Ward in the 
troubles connected with the South Sea Bubble, as he 
left England rather abruptly. During his exile he 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. ii. p. 285 (note). 
P 



226 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

acquired his knowledge of medicine and chemistry, 
and then he became a Roman Catholic. 

About the year 1733 he began to practise medicine. 
Ward's famous drop was first made known in 
England, 1731-2, by Sir Thomas Robinson ('long Sir 
Thomas '), whose zeal was ridiculed in verse by Sir 
Charles Hanbury Williams: 

' Say, knight, for learning most renown'd, 

What is this wondrous drop ] 
Which friend ne'er knew nor can be found, 
In Grah'ms or Guerney's shop.' 1 

Horace Walpole affirms that ' the Duke of New- 
castle dragged poor Sir Thomas into light and ridi- 
cule.' Ward when called in to attend on George 
n. for an aifection of his hand, was successful in 
curing the disease. ' In lieu of a pecuniary com- 
pensation [he] 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 com- 
mission to his nephew, the late General Gansel.' 

In 1748 when the Apothecaries' Act was passed 
to restrain unqualified persons from compounding 
medicines, a special clause was inserted exempting 
Ward by name. 

Fielding paid a high tribute to Ward's kindness 
and sagacity in his Introduction to the Journal of a 
Voyage to Lisbon (1755). He wrote : * Obligations to 
Mr. Ward I shall always confess ; for I am con- 

1 Works, 1822, vol. ii. p. 1. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 227 

vinced that he omitted no care in endeavouring to 
serve me, without any expectation or desire of fee 
or reward. The powers of Mr. Ward's remedies 
want, indeed, no unfair puffs of mine to give them 
credit ; and tho' this distemper of the dropsy stands, 
I believe, first in the list of those over which he is 
always certain of triumphing, yet possibly, there 
might be something particular in my case, capable of 
eluding that radical force which had healed so many 
thousands.' 

Ward was generous to poor patients, and was very 
popular in consequence. He prided himself on the 
sad loss his death would be to the poor. Pope made 
an ill-natured reference to this : ' Ward try'd on 
Puppies, and the Poor, his Drop.' Ward ' left the 
receipts for compounding his medicines to Mr. Page, 
member for Chichester, who bestowed them on two 
charitable institutions which have derived consider- 
able advantage from the profits attending their 
sale.' * Ward made a fortune by his sulphuric acid 
patent, 1749, and it is to his improvement in the 
production of this important substance that he owes 
the posthumous honour of having his truculent-look- 
ing statue by Carlini preserved in the hall of the 
Royal Society of Arts. 

Of the dozen heads below the great trio there is 
little to be said. John Ireland affirms that many of 
them are unquestionably portraits, but there is no 
advantage in trying to discover what must at least 

1 J. Ireland, Hogarth Illustrated, vol. ii. p. 288 (note). 



228 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

be extremely doubtful. Mr. Stephens' s remarks 
upon these are very much to the point : ' Of the 
other doctors represented below the nebulous 
dividing line, each wears a big wig and carries a 
cane with a large head. All but two of them hold 
their canes at or near their nostrils ; some affect 
an air and expression of prof oundity of thought ; 
some smell at the heads of then* canes, thus illus- 
trating the original purpose of the gold heads, to 
hold a pomander or disinfectant. The urinal 
referred to hi the engraved description is in the hands 
of the quack in the centre of the composition. He 
is a fat fellow and holds the vessel, which is filled 
with liquor, in the palm of his left hand ... he 
has tucked his cane under his arm. Below this 
man, or in front of him, two other quacks are pre- 
tending to study the liquor through their eye- 
glasses. These heads are said to comprise portraits 
of Dr. Bamber and Dr. Pierce Dod. This is ex- 
tremely improbable, as these were not considered to 
be quacks, and were eminent in their profession.' 1 

The notorious quack John Misaubin, M.D. (who 
died in 1734), has already been described in 
Chapter m. (High Life) in connection with the 
third plate of the ' Marriage a la Mode.' It has also 
been suggested that the two Doctors quarrelling in 
the fifth plate of the ' Harlot's Progress ' represent 
Misaubin and Joshua Ward. Another quack in 
high places was Nathaniel St. Andre, who made a 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 209. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 229 

criminal blunder by supporting the gross imposture 
of Mary Tofts, the rabbit-breeder. In connection 
with this ' Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of Godliman 
in Consultation,' attributed to Hogarth, has already 
been mentioned. The reference-table below the 
design of this print describes the figure lettered 
A as c The Dancing Master, or Praeturnatural 
Anatomist.' This is St. Andre, who is shown with 
a fiddle under his arm in allusion to his having 
originally been a dancing-master. He was a 
native of Switzerland, who is supposed to have 
joined with this business that of teaching the French 
and German languages, in the knowledge of which 
he was a proficient. He afterwards studied under a 
surgeon of eminence, and was so fortunate as to be 
appointed in 1723 anatomist to the Royal house- 
hold. He was also surgeon to Westminster Hospital 
(then a dispensary), and delivered public lectures 
on anatomy, although apparently he was an un- 
qualified practitioner. He was living at this time 
in Northumberland Court, Strand. 

Queen Caroline was determined that a thorough 
investigation should be made of the story that Mrs. 
Mary Tofts, an illiterate woman of Godalming, had 
produced rabbits instead of children. St. Andre 
went to Godalming and was deceived by what he 
saw. Sir Richard Manningham, Dr. Douglas, Dr. 
Mowbray and Mr. Howard, surgeon of Guildford, 
expressed themselves satisfied of the truth of the 
miracle. Tofts' s imposture was so outrageous, that 



230 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

it could not have been carried out unless she had 
received considerable assistance. The nurse and 
Howard must, one would think, have been in 
collusion. The others may have only been foolish. 
The cheat was at length discovered by Sir Thomas 
Clarges, and the deluded medical men were over- 
whelmed with disgrace. St. Andre was particularly 
unfortunate, as he had been held in considerable 
favour by George I., but after this exposure, although 
he retained his office, he neither received a salary 
nor returned to Court again. 

George Steevens wrote a very severe account of 
St. Andre hi Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes, which 
was answered, but not very successfully. The 
answer with a reply by Steevens was added to the 
Anecdotes, and the remarks on St. Andre occupy a 
rather disproportionate part of the book. John 
Nichols seems to have considered that his colleague 
was rather too severe, but there can be no doubt 
St. Andre was a worthless character even if he did 
not murder his friend in order to marry the widow, 
a crime of which he was accused. 

St. Andre married Lady Elizabeth Molyneux 
after the death of her husband, Samuel Molyneux, 
secretary to George Prince of Wales (afterwards 
George n.). She is said to have left the house with 
St. Andre on the night her husband died. In con- 
sequence she was dismissed from attendance upon 
Queen Caroline. St. Andre was well off during her 
lifetime, but he died poor in 1776 at the age of ninety- 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 231 

six. A portrait of Mary Tofts was painted by 
Laguerre and engraved by Faber. ' She has a rabbit 
in her lap, and displays a countenance expressive 
of the utmost vulgarity.' This woman died in 
January 1763 at Godalming. 

Reference has already been made in the pre- 
vious chapter to Hogarth's late introduction of 
Mary Tofts into his ' Credulity, Superstition and 
Fanaticism ' (1762). 

This monstrous imposture created some stir 
abroad, and a print was published entitled 'Mr. Petit, 
a French Surgeon sent from Paris to Dr. Meagre to 
take an exact account from him of y e Preternatural 
Delivery of Rabbits,' etc. Dr. Meagre is meant to 
represent St. Andre. 1 

There is little about the Army in Hogarth's works 
except in the case of the contrast of the English 
and French soldiers, and the rabble disorder of the 

* March to Finchley ' which, although it is one of his 
finest pictures, was rather unfortunate in that it 
excited the displeasure of the King. 

Literature. The one picture in illustration of 
Literature by Hogarth is the spirited and charming 

* Distressed Poet,' which can scarcely be called a 
satire, as one's sympathy is entirely with the unfor- 
tunate poet and his pleasant and industrious wife. 

This picture is the more interesting if it be true 
that it was intended to allude to the troubles of 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 640. 



232 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Lewis Theobald, the highly respected commentator 
on Shakespeare, for one of whose plays, Perseus 
and Andromeda, 1730, Hogarth designed two illus- 
trations. But this point will be again referred to 
later on. The picture is a vivid representation of a 
garret in a Grub Street house, which we are told in 
Johnson's Dictionary was ' much inhabited by 
writers of small histories, dictionaries and small 
poems.' Pope made his Dunciad the standard 
epic of this place. However much we may admire 
Pope as a poet, we cannot but feel disgust at his 
rancorous attack upon his poorer brethren. It is 
therefore a satisfaction to find Hogarth continually 
satirising the poet, who was too afraid of the artist 
to reply to him. * The Distrest Poet ' was ' Invented 
Painted Engraved and Publish'd by Wm Hogarth 
March the 3 d , 1736. According to Act of Parlia- 
ment, Price 3 Shillings,' and was afterwards re- 
issued with some alterations on ' Decem ber the 15. 
1740.' 

The poet sits at a table by the window engaged in 
writing ' Poverty, a Poem,' but disturbed by the 
wrangling milkwoman. In front of him is a book 
inscribed ' Bysshe ' (intended for Bysshe's Art of 
Poetry, a once famous rhymers' manual). On the 
floor is the Grub Street Journal and the poet's sword. 
Above his head is an engraving of Pope thrashing 
Curll and crying out ' Veni, vidi, vici, 1735.' On a 
shelf below this are four books and three tobacco 
pipes. In the middle of the room sits the poet's 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 233 

comely wife mending a pair of her husband's 
breeches, and at her feet the poet's coat on which a 
cat, with her kittens, has made herself comfortable. 

Hartley Coleridge comments on the central figure 
and writes, ' The poet's wife is perhaps the most 
lovable figure that ever Hogarth drew ; while the 
milkwoman has as little milkiness about her as if 
she had been suckled on blue ruin [i.e. gin] and 
brimstone.' l Mr. Dobson asks if Goldsmith was 
thinking of this engraving when in 1758 he described 
himself to his friend Robert Bryanton as ' in a garret 
writing for bread and expecting to be dunned for a 
milk-score ' ? 

Mr. Stephens explains the curious object over the 
mantelpiece as * a circular mirror surrounded by 
eight smaller ones,' which seems to be a complete 
explanation. 2 John Ireland describes it as * a dare 
for larks ! ' 

Below the design an extract from the Dunciad 
(1729) is engraved : 

1 Studious he sate, with all his books around, 
Sinking, from thought to thought, a vast profound ! 
Plung'd for his sense, but found no bottom there ; 
Then writ and flounder'd on, in mere despair.' 

In the second state of the print (1740) the title of 
the poem is changed from Poverty to Riches, the 
engraving of Pope thrashing Curll replaced by a 
view of the gold mines of Peru, and the library on the 
shelf is reduced to two volumes. Pope's lines are also 

1 Essays and Marginalia, 1851, vol. ii. p. 217. 

2 British Museum Catalogue, vol. Hi. p. 213. 



234 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

omitted. The original picture was given by Hogarth 
to Mrs. Draper, a midwife, at whose death it was sold 
to Mr. Ward for five guineas. Lord Grosvenor gave 
fourteen guineas for it at Ward's sale, and it is now in 
the possession of the Duke of Westminster. 

It was George Steevens who, being unable to find 
a portrait of Theobald to add to those of the chief 
Shakespearian commentators, copied the ' Distrest 
Poet ' for one of these. Although Steevens is a very 
doubtful authority, there is plausibility in this, and 
two reasons given for associating Theobald with 
Hogarth's picture have much force. 

The quotation from the Dunciad just referred to is 
not from the final form of the poem, but is taken from 
the edition of 1729, where Theobald stands for the 
hero before he was pushed aside that Colley Gibber 
might take his place. The passage commences : 

' In each, she marks her image full exprest, 
But chief in Tibbald's monster-breeding breast.' 

Afterwards ' Bayes's ' replaced ' Tibbald's ' in the 
second line. 

Hogarth left out the most offensive of Pope's 
allusions, and only printed what suited his purpose 
in illustration of his design. 

Another point is that the earliest of Theobald's 
productions was ' The Cave of Poverty, a Poem,' 
which bears a striking likeness to the title of what 
the * Distrest Poet ' is writing. The alterations 
made in the second state are significant if we sup- 
pose that Hogarth was wishf ul to obliterate any hint 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 235 

of an allusion to a praiseworthy author who was no 
dunce, but an editor of far superior merit to Pope, 
and thus evoked the venomous poet's ire. 1 

Hogarth's severe satire on Pope has already been 
alluded to, and it was not likely ever to have been 
forgiven by the poet, but the latter had a wholesome 
fear of the painter, and did not venture to retaliate. 
But the chief literary portrait by Hogarth is that of 
Fielding, who was one of the artist's most ardent 
admirers. It is strange that we should have no 
first-rate portrait of so distinguished a man as the 
author of Tom Jones and the foremost magistrate of 
his time. It is satisfactory that what we have is 
due to his friend Hogarth. There is a curious 
history respecting this portrait which was engraved 
by James Basire from Hogarth's pen-and-ink sketch 
prepared as a frontispiece to the edition of Fielding's 
works published by Andrew Millar in 1762. Arthur 
Murphy gave an explanation of the origin of the 
portrait in the Life prefixed to the first volume. He 
wrote : ' After Mr. Hogarth had long laboured to try 
if he could bring out any likeness of him from images 
existing in his own fancy, and just as he was despair- 
ing of success, for want of some rules to go by in the 
dimensions and outlines of the face, fortune threw 
the grand desideratum in the way. A lady with a 
pair of scissors had cut a profile, which gave the 

1 A reprint of the original Dunciad (1729) which relates to Theobald 
will be found in Nichols's Literary Illustrations (vol. ii. pp. 716-728), In 
the same volume, pp. 745-747, are remarks by W. Richardson on the con- 
nection of Theobald with the 'Distrest Poet.' 



236 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

distances and proportions of his face sufficiently to 
restore his lost ideas of him. Glad of an opportunity 
of paying his last tribute to the memory of an author 
whom he admired, Mr. Hogarth caught at this out- 
line with pleasure, and worked, with all the attach- 
ment of friendship, till he finished that excellent 
drawing which stands at the head of this work, and 
recalls to all, who have seen the original, a corre- 
sponding image of the man.' This is a high tribute 
to the likeness. Mr. Dobson says that the lady 
mentioned by Murphy was Miss Margaret Collier, 
daughter of Arthur Collier the metaphysician, who 
accompanied Fielding and his wife to Lisbon in 1754. 

Mr. Knight hi his Life of Garrick writes that the 
story of Garrick making up his face as Fielding for 
Hogarth to paint was narrated in Paris, and caused 
some incredulity. Garrick in order to convince the 
most sceptical once more personated Fielding, and 
his personation won instant recognition. This story 
forms the basis of a comedy entitled Le Portrait de 
Fielding (1800), by M. de Segur. 

Neither George Steevens nor John Ireland would 
allow the truth of either of these stories. Steevens 
says in Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes : ' Our 
Roscius, however, I can assert, interfered no farther 
in this business than by urging Hogarth to attempt 
the likeness, as a necessary adjunct to the edition 
of Fielding's works. I am assured that our artist 
began and finished the head in the presence of his 
wife and another lady. He had no assistance but 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 237 

from his own memory, which on such occasions was 
remarkably tenacious.' 

John Ireland (Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 291) 
says much the same. ' These are trifling tales to 
please children, and echoed from one to another, 
because the multitude love the marvellous. . . . 
Hogarth . . . sketched this from memory.' 

These denials seem to be too sweeping. It is 
quite possible that the artist was helped by a 
silhouette in fact a portrait entirely from memory 
is scarcely likely to be a profile, and the accentuation 
of the appearance of the nose reminds one of a 
silhouette. Moreover, it is scarcely likely that 
Murphy invented the story which he so particularly 
relates. 

John Ireland says that the ' etching is so nearly 
a facsimile of the original, that when it was brought 
home Hogarth mistook it for his own drawing, 
which, considering of no value, he threw in the fire, 
whence it was snatched by Mrs. Lewis, though not 
before the paper was scorched.' 

There is an engraving ' from a miniature in the 
possession of Miss Sophia Fielding ' in Nichols's 
Literary Anecdotes (vol. iii. p. 356), but this is evi- 
dently taken from Hogarth's portrait. 

Another great novelist, Laurence Sterne, was 
friendly with Hogarth, and praised the Analysis of 
Beauty in the second volume of Tristram Shandy. 
' Such were the outlines of Dr. Slop's figure, which 
if you have read Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty, and 



238 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

if you have not, I wish you would you must know 
may as certainly be caricatured, and conveyed to 
the mind, by three strokes as three hundred.' 

This compliment doubtless induced Hogarth to 
design the frontispiece to the novel, containing a 
portrait of Dr. Burton of York, the Jacobite 
physician and antiquary in the character of Dr. 
Slop, which appears in the second volume of Tristram 
Shandy. He designed another frontispiece for the 
fourth volume. 

Mr. Dobson refers to a letter sold at Sotheby's hi 
November 1891. 'It was addressed by Sterne to 
Mr. Berenger of Suffolk Street, and begged him to go 
to Leicester Fields, and persuade Hogarth (" How- 
garth," he calls him) to make a drawing, to clap at 
the front of my next edition of Shandy.' . . . ' The 
loosest sketch in Nature of Trim's reading the 
sermon to my Father w d do the business and it 
w^ mutually illustrate his [Hogarth's] System and 
mine ! ' * 

Hogarth painted or sketched portraits of his 
literary friends as T. Morell (engraved 1762), the 
Hoadlys, etc., which have already been alluded to. 
The portrait of William Huggins, a translator of 
Ariosto and Dante, was engraved by Major in 1760 
for the Dante, but was not published, as Huggins 
died in July 1761. There is a pencil drawing of the 
translator with a bust of Ariosto in the Royal 
Collection. William Huggins of Headly Park, 

1 Dobson's William Hogarth, 1907, p. 258. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 239 

Hants, was the son of John Huggins, warden of the 
Fleet and a great friend of Hogarth, who employed 
him to draft the bill to vest in designers and en- 
gravers an exclusive right to their own works 
(Act 8, Geo. n. cap. 13), and Hogarth also 
designed the frontispiece to Huggins' s oratorio of 
Judith (1733). In the official catalogue of the 
Art Treasures and Industrial Exhibition at Brad- 
ford, 1870, No. 109 is described as a portrait of Dr. 
Johnson painted by Hogarth and contributed by 
the late Marquess of Ripon (then Earl de Grey 
and Ripon). There is no other record of a portrait 
of Johnson by Hogarth, and it would be interesting 
to know more of this picture. 

Art. Pictorial art was a subject so near to 
Hogarth's heart that it naturally pervades the whole 
scheme of this book, and need not be mentioned in a 
division of it. He was chiefly interested in girding 
at connoisseurs for the neglect of British Art, and 
did not as a rule introduce his colleagues and rivals 
into his works. He painted Bonamy showing a 
picture, and portraits of James Gibbs the architect 
and Michael Rysbrach, sculptor. 

One of the cleverest of his satires on the con- 
noisseurs will be seen in the tailpiece which he 
produced for the Catalogue of the Exhibition of 
Pictures which was held in 1761. In the frontispiece 
to this same Catalogue he was not so succesful, as 
his humour is lost in the elaboration of the allegory. 



240 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Mention may be here made of three pictures which 
have nothing to do with London Topography, but 
need some notice as good examples of the variety 
and wide range of Hogarth's pictorial power. The 
first of these is the beautiful group of heads repre- 
senting his six servants, which was added to the 
National Gallery quite recently. We have little 
information respecting this triumph of portraiture, 
and we are therefore unable to give the names of 
the individuals forming the group. 

The marvellous oil sketch of the ' Shrimp-girl ' 
was added as lately as 1884, and is a great addi- 
tion to the National Gallery. The critic Richard 
Muther uses strong words of praise when he calls it 
' a masterpiece to which the nineteenth century 
can hardly produce a rival.' This picture was 
engraved in 1781 by Bartolozzi. 

The head of Diana here reproduced is of special 
interest as an illustration of Hogarth's sense of 
female beauty. We have no further information 
respecting the original than that it belonged to 
Samuel Ireland in 1794. The engraving was 
published by him in his Graphic Illustrations (i. 170), 
with the following interesting anecdote respecting 
it : ' Mr. Garrick chanced to visit Hogarth one 
morning, when the artist was engaged in his painting- 
room ; and being about to retire hastily from the 
door, Old Ben Ives, the servant, called out to him, 
to beg he would step back, as he had something to 
shew him, that he was sure would please ; and then 





THE SHRIMP GIRL. 

from the original painting in the National Gallery. 




HEAD OF DIANA. 

Reproduced from S. Ireland 's etching from an original sketch in oil by Hogarth. 




l/j -3 

^ -s 

X *. 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 241 

taking him into the parlour, exclaimed in raptures, 
" There, sir ! there 's a picture ! they say my 
master can't paint a portrait, and does not know 
what true beauty is ; there is a head, that I think 
must confound and put all his enemies to the blush." 
One would be glad to know if Ben Ives was one of 
those represented in the group of servants. 

Hogarth advertised that the prints of the 
' Distressed Poet ' and the ' Enraged Musician ' 
would be followed by a third on Painting. It is not 
known if this was really contemplated or was merely 
the notification of a possibility. There is nothing 
extant to guide us hi forming an idea as to how the 
subject would be treated. 

An advertisement in the London Daily Post 
(November 24, 1740) announces: 'Shortly will be 
published, a new Print, call'd THE PROVOKED 
MUSICIAN. Designed and Engraved by Mr. William 
Hogarth ; being a Companion to a Print, represent- 
ing a Distressed Poet, published some time since, 
to which will be added a Third on Painting, which 
will compleat the set ; but as the subject may 
turn upon an affair depending between the L d 
M r and the Author it may be retarded for some 
time.' 

' The Enraged Musician ' is one of Hogarth's most 
interesting prints. The arrangement of the mis- 
cellaneous collection of discordant noises which the 
artist has collected together is perfect, dominated 
as the whole picture is by the charming milkmaid in 

Q 



242 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the centre of the picture. At the same time the 
musician at the open window gives the key to the 
effect of the riot of confused sound that, as we 
have said, caused Fielding to write in his Journal of 
a Voyage to Lisbon that the picture is 'enough to 
make a man deaf to look at.' 

As to the musician who was used as a model, a 
great amount of ingenuity has been expended, and 
the following names have been put forward : Signor 
Cervetto, a bass player at the theatres ; and Mr. 
John Foster, a player on the German flute when a 
boy ; and Castrucci, a violinist of repute ; but there 
appears to be more authority for supposing the 
figure was taken from Michael Christian Festin, who 
was known to Hogarth and related the circumstances 
of the interruption of his studies which have been 
added to by the artist. 

George Colman wrote a musical entertainment for 
the Haymarket Theatre founded on this picture, 
the music for which was composed by Dr. Arnold. 

' The Modern Orpheus,' which was etched by D. 
Smith from an original sketch in the possession of 
the Marquis of Bute and published in 1807, is a satire 
on the performances of the celebrated flautist, C. 
Weidemann, who is introduced into the fourth plate 
of the ' Marriage a la Mode.' The engraving dis- 
covers a street where a man is walking and playing 
on a flute, while he is attended by an enraptured 
audience. An effect of his music is to compel legs 
of mutton and other objects to move towards him 



PROFESSIONAL LIFE 243 

through the air. In the distance stand Sir Robert 
Wai pole and George n., the latter speaking in delight 
to the former, while coins issue from his pocket and 
pass to that of Weidemann. 

This engraving was reproduced in the Genuine 
Works (Nichols and Steevens, 1817, voL iii.), but Mr. 
Dobson is doubtful as to the genuineness of 'The 
Modern Orpheus ' as actually the edsign of Hogarth. 

We know that Hogarth had a high opinion of 
Handel in spite of his connection with the hated 
Italian opera. Some one suggested that the player 
on the harpsichord in Plate 2 of the ' Rake's 
Progress ' was intended for the great composer, but 
this is most improbable. Mr. Felix Cobbold, M.P., 
is in possession of an oil painting of Handel by 
Hogarth, which was engraved by Charles Turner in 
1821. This engraving is dedicated 'To the Noble- 
men, Directors and Patrons of the Antient Music,' 
but it is not stated in whose possession the picture 
then was. 

There are other portraits of Handel attributed 
to Hogarth, but there is no definite information 
respecting them. 



244 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER VIII 

BUSINESS LIFE 

THE subject of Business Life is intimately asso- 
ciated with Hogarth's first start in business by 
himself, and we have his own card as an engraver 
(which has already been alluded to) to guide us as 
to the date of the various business cards which have 
been attributed to him. The charming card 
' W. Hogarth Engraver ' in an elegant border after 
the manner of Callot is dated 1720, and most of the 
other cards can probably be placed about the same 
date. It is a question difficult, or rather impossible, 
to settle whether Hogarth prepared the book-plate 
and shop-bill for Ellis Gamble before he left the 
service of that goldsmith, or after he had set up his 
own business, in the immediate neighbourhood of 
his old master's shop. 

The shop-bill representing an angel with a very 
large palm branch in her left hand is a bold and 
spirited production. Beneath the figure is inscribed 
Gamble's name and description in English and 
French. The English inscription to the left is as 
follows : 



BUSINESS LIFE 245 

Ellis Gamble 

GOLDSMITH, 
at the Golden Angel in 

Cranbourn-Street, 

LEICESTER - FIELDS, 

Makes, Buys & Sells all 

sorts of Plate, Rings, <Ss 

Jewells &c. 

Samuel Ireland says of this bill : ' Whether by 
accident or design we know not, but he [Hogarth] 
has given to the right hand of the angel a finger too 
much. A redundancy of the same kind, we observe 
in his print of The Sleeping Congregation, where 
he has intentionally added a joint more to the thigh 
of the Angel, than is usually found in the works 
of Nature. The original of this print is become 
extremely scarce, and although an early production, 
and without name or date, has yet established itself, 
in the minds of the most scrupulous connoisseur, 
as a genuine work of Hogarth.' l 

Hogarth's book-plates have already been alluded 
to, but it seems necessary to mention again the 
delightful little book-plate which Hogarth made for 
Gamble. This goldsmith must have been a superior 
man if he possessed a sufficient number of books to 
require book-labels. 

Respecting the Lambert (engraved Lambart) 
plate Samuel Ireland writes : ' Hogarth's great 
intimacy with George Lambert, the landscape- 
painter, for whom the annexed coat-of-arms was 

1 S. Ireland, Graphic Illustrations, vol. i. 1794, pp. 7-8. 



246 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

engraved by him as a book-plate, is well known ; 
the design is simple, and the execution masterly ; 
yet the principal motive for introducing it here is, 
that the original is a unique print. This circum- 
stance is the more extraordinary as I am informed 
by Mr. Richards, secretary to the Royal Academy, 
and who was a pupil of George Lambert, that it was 
stuck in all his books ; and that his library consisted 
of seven or eight hundred volumes.' 1 

Samuel Ireland reproduces a shop-bill of William 
Hardy engraved in the manner of Callot from a 
unique copy with a corner torn off. He adds that 
the original was given to him ' as an early per- 
formance of Hogarth's by his friend the late Mr. 
Bonneau, who received it from him as a very early 
production.' 2 The inscription is as follows : 

Witt* Hardy 

GOLDSMITH 

and Jeweller in Eatcliff highway 
near Sun Tavern Fields 

Sells all sorts of 
Gold and Silver Plate &c. 

In the Genuine Works (vol. iii.) is reproduced a 
shop-bill of a Soho goldsmith which presents the 
interior of a shop with figures and a furnace in the 
left-hand corner. The inscription is : 

Peter De La Fontaine, GOLDSMITH 

At the Golden Cup in Litchfield Street 

Soho. Makes and Sells all sorts of Gold and Silver 

Plate, Swords, Rings, Jewells, &c., at y 8 lowest prices. 

1 Graphic Illustrations, vol. i p. 115. 2 Ibid., voL i. p. 3. 



BUSINESS LIFE 247 

The shop-bill of Hogarth's two sisters is of great 
interest, but must be placed a few years later in 
date than those already described, as Mary and 
Ann Hogarth did not commence business until the 
year 1725. Samuel Ireland writes : ' The originality 
of this print has never yet been doubted, even by 
the most scrupulous ; its ornaments are bold and 
animated ; and the masterly though careless touch 
of the graver justly gives it a claim to approbation ' 
Mr. Dobson notes that there is an impression of the 
original bill in the British Museum. The design 
of the interior of a shop of the period is of much 
value, and is of rather imposing proportions. The 
inscription is as follows : 

Mary & Anne Hogarth 

from the old Frock-shop the corner of the 
Long Walk facing the Cloysters, Removed 
to y e King's Arms joyning to y e Little Britain- 
gate, near Long Walk. Sells y e best & most Fashi- 
onable Ready Made Frocks, sutes of Fustian, 
Ticken & Holland, stript Dimmity & Flanel 
Wastcoats, blue and Canvas Frocks and bluecoat Boys Dra rs . 

Likewise Fustians, Tickens, Hollands, white 

stript Dimity s, white & stript Flanels in y e piece, 

by Wholesale or Retale, at Reasonable Rates. 

Mrs. Holt's shop-bill, also reproduced by Samuel 
Ireland in his Graphic Illustrations (vol. i. p. 17) is 
of considerable interest, and the design shows much 
originality of invention although its ascription to 
Hogarth has been doubted. 

1 Graphic Illustrations, vol. i. p. 16. 



248 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Ireland writes thus of this shop-bill : ' The 
following print is selected as a farther specimen of 
the early talent of Hogarth in the line of his pro- 
fession. . . . This print, though intended merely 
as a shop-bill, is put together with no small degree 
of knowledge in the ordinary affairs of commerce 
in our quarter of the globe. Mercury, the god of 
merchandize and gain, whether lawfully or un- 
lawfully obtained, is here judiciously placed hi the 
midst of the scene of action : he seems assiduous 
in executing the orders of the civic figure, who 
represents Florence the capital of Tuscany, and who 
is pointing to a jar of oil, one of the principal articles 
of Commerce of that country. This fair city seems 
pouring its richest treasures into the lap of Britain, 
as we may collect from the arms of England seen at 
the stern of the vessel, which they are busily loading. 
Nor has Hogarth forgot to introduce [at the four 
corners of the design] the other principal states 
of Italy, Naples, Venice, Leghorn and Genoa, as 
equally emulous to trade with our city of London, 
the great emporium of Europe.' The inscription 

is as follows : 

AT MRS. HOLTS, 
Italian Ware House 

at y e two Olive Posts in y e Broad part of the Strand almost 

opposite to Exeter Change are sold all Sorts of Italian Silks as 

Lustrings, Sattins, Padesois, Velvets, Damasks, 

&c. 

Fans, Legorne Hats, Flowers Lute tfc Violin Strings, 
Books of Essences, Venice Treacle, Balsomes } 



BUSINESS LIFE 249 

And in a Back Warehouse all Sorts of Italian 
Wines, Florence Cordials, Oyl, Olives, Anchovies, 
Capers, Vermicelli, Bolognia Sausidges, Par- 
mesan Cheeses, Maple Soap, 



This description is very instructive. A particular 
kind of grocer's shop was formerly styled an Italian 
warehouse, and the name is not entirely unused now. 
This shows that in the original Italian warehouse 
there were two departments the silk mercer's and 
the wine merchant's and grocer's. 

Samuel Ireland has reproduced something much 
more doubtful than anything already described, 
and that is what he calls a ' Design for a Shop-bill.' 
The picture represents a room with several persons 
in different positions ; one, supposed to be Hogarth 
himself, is showing a portrait of St. Luke with his 
ox and book, inscribed ' W. Hogarth Painter.' Ire- 
land gives Charles Catton, R.A., as his authority for 
supposing that Hogarth for a time worked as a sign- 
painter, and he reproduces the two sides of a sign 
for a Paviour which he attributes to Hogarth. 
These were painted on a thick piece of mahogany 
that had been divided by a saw before they came 
into the possession of Ireland. They are interesting 
illustrations of London streets with paviours at 
work mending the roads. In the background of 
one side is a rough sketch of the Dome of St. Paul's. 

There is another shop-bill that of ' Richard Lee 
at y e Golden Tobacco Roll in Panton Street near 



250 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Leicester Fields ' which is entirely different from 
those which have been previously described. 

It is reproduced by Samuel Ireland in his Graphic 
Illustrations from an original in his possession, which 
he supposed to be unique. There is one in the 
British Museum which is dated circa 1730, and 
described by Mr. Stephens as follows : ' It is an 
oblong enclosing an oval, the spandrels being occu- 
pied by leaves of the tobacco plant tied in bundles ; 
the above title is on a frame which encloses the oval. 
Within the latter the design represents the ulterior 
of a room, with ten gentlemen gathered near a round 
table on which is a bowl of punch ; several of the 
gentlemen are smoking tobacco in long pipes ; one 
of them stands up on our right and vomits ; another, 
who is intoxicated, lies on the floor by the side of a 
chair ; a fire of wood burns in the grate ; on the wall 
hang two pictures . . . three men's hats hang on 
pegs on the wall.' * 

Ireland expresses the opinion that this engraving 
contains the germ of the idea which at a later 
period was developed by Hogarth in a ' Midnight 
Modern Conversation.' 

Mr. Dobson, however, doubts the ' shop-bill ' 
being the work of Hogarth, and he suggests that the 
design is based upon the ' Midnight Modern Conversa- 
tion.' This is probable, but it is but fair to Ireland 
to quote what he says as to its authenticity. ' This 
little print is so very like the other early works of 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 728. 



BUSINESS LIFE 251 

Hogarth both in the style and manner of engraving, 
as well as the ornaments and even the writing that 
is round it, as to place its authenticity out of all 
question. A farther proof might be urged if neces- 
sary. It is totally unlike the manner of his con- 
temporaries ; amongst whom it stood in such a 
degree of repute as to induce them repeatedly to 
copy it : three of these copies are now before us, and 
so ill executed as to be deemed mere servile imita- 
tions.' 1 

Nearly allied to Shop-bills are Undertakers' 
Funeral Tickets, one of which was the work of 
Hogarth. 

A reproduction from the scarce original will be 
found in Ireland's Graphic Illustrations. It repre- 
sents the front of a London church, where a funeral 
party is about to ascend the steps. The pall over 
the coffin is surmounted by plumes and enriched by 
coats-of-arms. The mourners (men and women) 
follow in pairs. Below the design is the inscription : 

' You are desired to accompany y e Corps of from 

h late Dwelling in to 

on next at of the Clock in the Evening. 

Perform'd by Humphrey Drew, Undertaker, in King 
Street, Westminster.' 

Samuel Ireland only knew of three copies of the 
original engraving, the one which he reproduced, 
one belonging to Horace Walpole on which he wrote 
' W. Hogarth sc.' This is now in the British 

1 Graphic Illustrations, vol. i. pp. 12-13. 



252 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Museum. 1 The third copy is in the Royal Collec- 
tion. 

This funeral ticket is a gloomy-looking thing as is 
natural, but is also, as might be expected, very 
superior to those then in general use. Mr. John 
Ashton, in a chapter on Death and Burial in his 
Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, reprints one 
of these Invitations to a Funeral, the ornaments 
round which are Time, skeletons, skulls, cross-bones, 
pick-axe and shovel, shroud, etc. 

When the funeral was in the evening the mourners 
were usually supplied with wax tapers. These 
sometimes excited the cupidity of the roughs who 
were always to be found in case of public gatherings. 
An advertisement in the Daily Courant for September 
30, 1713 (quoted by Mr. Ashton) shows what might 
be expected : ' Riots and Robberies. Committed 
in and about Stepney Churchyard, at a Funeral 
Solemnity, on Wednesday the 23rd day of September; 
and whereas many Persons, who being appointed to 
attend the Funeral with white Wax lights of a 
considerable value, were assaulted in a most violent 
manner, and the said white Wax lights, taken from 
them. Whoever shall discover any of the Persons, 
guilty of the said crimes, so as they may be convicted 
of the same, shall receive of Mr. William Prince, Wax 
Chandler in the Poultry, London, Ten shillings for 
each person so discovered,' etc. It may be mentioned 
that at this time it was the custom to make a 

1 British Museum Catalogue^ vol. ii. p. 725. 



BUSINESS LIFE 253 

distinction in the mourning for the married and the 
unmarried ; thus white and black was used for maids 
and bachelors. In the fine engraving of the west 
front of Covent Garden Church (St. Paul's) drawn 
by Paul Sandby, R.A., and engraved by E. Hooker, 
will be noticed the funeral of an unmarried girl, 
where the women mourners are in white and the men 
wear white sashes. 

The instructive series of twelve plates of ' Industry 
and Idleness,' illustrating the Adventures of an In- 
dustrious and an Idle Apprentice, is full of information 
respecting the progress of business life in London, 
and in this chapter we shall have to deal almost 
entirely with the Industrious Apprentice as the Idle 
one has little to do with business. 

Hogarth's design in producing these plates is 
described by himself in a paper published by John 
Ireland in his Hogarth Illustrated (vol. i. p. 185). 
* Industry and Idleness exemplified, in the conduct of 
two fellow 'prentices : where the one by taking good 
courses, and pursuing points for which he was put 
apprentice, becomes a valuable man, and an orna- 
ment to his country : the other by giving way to 
idleness, naturally falls into poverty, and ends 
fatally, as is expressed in the last print. As the 
prints were intended more for use than ornament, 
they were done in a way that might bring them 
within the purchase of whom they might most 
concern ; and lest any print should be mistaken, the 
description of each print is engraved at top.' 



254 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The General Advertiser for Saturday, October 
17, 1747, contains the following announcement: 
' This Day is publish' d, Price 12s. Design' d and 
Engrav'd by Mr. Hogarth. Twelve Prints call'd 
" Industry and Idleness," shewing the advantages 
attending the former and the miserable effects of 
the latter, in the different Fortunes of Two Ap- 
prentices. To be had at the Golden Head in 
Leicester Fields, and at the Print-shops. There are 
some printed on a better paper for the curious at 
14s. each set, to be had only at the Author's in Lei- 
cester Fields. Where may be had all his other works.' 

The moralists of the eighteenth century paid little 
attention to fine distinctions and drew the difference 
between good and evil with the clearest-cut contrast. 
It was this that induced Thackeray to express his 
sympathy with Tom Idle, who he thought never had 
a chance in life. 

Commentators have found considerable likeness 
in the story of Hogarth's prints to the plot of the old 
play, Eastward Hoe, by Ben Jonson, Chapman and 
Marston (1605), and in the year 1751 it was revived at 
Drury Lane for Lord Mayor's Day. This alteration 
was not successful, but another made by Mrs. Lenox 
and called Old City Manners was favourably received. 

There is sufficient justification for calling attention 
to the likeness, although there does not seem much 
probability that Hogarth should seek for so very 
evident a story in an old play. Golding (Goodchild) 
marries Touchstone's (West's) daughter and becomes 



BUSINESS LIFE 255 

a magistrate, when Quicksilver (Idle) is brought 
before him as a criminal. 

The first plate shows the interior of a weaver's 
workshop in Spitalfields. Francis Goodchild is 
seen working busily while Tom Idle is sleeping. In 
front of the latter on the loom is a quart pot which 
has engraved upon it * Spittle Fields.' The door of 
the room has been opened by the master of the 
apprentices, who calls to the sleeper and threatens 
him with his stick. In the fourth plate Goodchild 
has been transferred to the office, and his master is 
seen leaning affectionately upon his shoulder. The 
master extending his right hand points to the looms 
in the background * as if he intended to give the 
apprentice control in his place.' John Ireland 
writes : ' A partnership, on the eve of taking place, 
is covertly intimated by a pair of gloves upon the 
writing-desk.' The position of the gloves indicates 
the clasping of hands, and the London Almanac 
on the side of the desk is headed by a design above 
the calendar of Industry taking Father Time by the 
forelock. 

A city porter at the left of the plate is delivering 
stuffs from Backwell Hall, addressed to ' Mr. West.' 
These two plates give an excellent illustration of a 
business establishment in Spitalfields where the 
silk trade once flourished in London. 

In Plate 6 the Industrious Apprentice out of his 
time obtains the fulness of his reward for good 
conduct by marrying the daughter of his master 



256 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and becoming a partner in the firm. In the first 
state of the plate Hogarth made the mistake of 
placing the junior partner's name first on the sign, 
but ' Goodchild and West ' of the first state became 
' West and Goodchild ' in the second state. 

Mr. Stephens thus describes this plate: 'The 
engraving shows part of a street in London, near 
the Fire Monument, the Pedestal of which appears 
in the middle distance with part of an inscription 
thus : " In remembrance of Burning y e Pro- 
testant City by the treachery of the Papish Faction 

In year of our Lo d 1666." A band 

of musicians, including a butcher who performs 
on a cleaver with a bone, and his companion, 
another such performer, are assembled before a 
house to celebrate in their noisy way the wedding 
of the Industrious 'Prentice with the daughter of his 
Master, Mr. West. . . . The musicians appear to 
be making a great noise, their instruments are 
mostly drums . . . One of the drummers has ap- 
proached a window of the house of Messrs. West and 
Goodchild ; the lower sash of this window is pushed 
up and the Industrious 'Prentice appears there, 
holding a teacup in one hand while with the other 
he gives a coin to the drummer, who bows obsequi- 
ously and has taken off his hat. Goodchild wears 
his dressing-gown and cap, having put aside his coat 
and wig on returning home from the church after 
his marriage to Miss West. The bride is seen in 
the interior of the room, with a patch on her fore- 



BUSINESS LIFE 257 

head . . sipping her tea and looking very happy. 
The door of the house is open and a footman, 
wearing a shoulder-knot, stands on the threshold, 
pouring a plateful of broken victuals into the apron 
of a woman, who kneels on the step to receive the 
alms ; a child's face appears at the shoulder of the 
woman.' l 

John Ireland identifies the cripple to the left of 
the picture holding a broadside of the ballad of 
' Jesse or the Happy Pair ' as ' a man known by 
the name of Philip in the Tub, who had visited 
Ireland, and the United Provinces, and in the 
memory of many persons now living [1793] was a 
general attendant at weddings.' ! 

The abstract of the monstrous inscription on the 
Monument given above is not correct, in that the 
inscription occupied four sides of the plinth and 
therefore could not all be seen at one view. The 
offensive words were not the original inscription, 
but were added at the time of the terror caused by 
the so-called Popish plot. They were obliterated 
hi the reign of James n., recut after the Revolution, 
but finally erased by an Act of Common Council, 
January 26, 1831. 

Pope was unusually accurate when he wrote the 
lines : 

' Where London's column, pointing at the skies, 
Like a tall bully lifts the head and lies.' 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. pp. 693-694. 

2 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. i. pp. 198-199. 

R 



258 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

In Plate 8 we find Goodchild grown rich and become 
Sheriff of London, dining at one of the City Com- 
panies' halls. John Ireland describes the Banquet- 
ing Hall as the Guildhall, but this is clearly a 
mistake, and the whole-length figure of Sir William 
Walworth in a niche between the windows proves 
that this is intended for the old hall of the Fish- 
monger's Company which was built by Edward 
Jerman, the City Surveyor, after the Great Fire. The 
present hall, built 1831-33, is not on the site of the 
old hall, but in an improved position formed in con- 
nection with the opening for the new London Bridge. 

The imposing beadle in his state gown stands at 
the entrance door with a letter in his hand directed 

1 To the Worship " Fra " Goodchild Es. Sher 

Londo ,' which has been delivered by a messenger 
who, bareheaded and holding a hat in his hand, 
awaits an answer. The principal seats are occupied 
by the Sheriff and his wife, and a number of ladies 
are seen sitting at the feast. 

This picture is of great interest as showing the 
manners at table in the eighteenth century. All 
the dishes were put on at once and no wine was 
placed upon the table. A black waiter is seen 
handing it round. Sir Walter Besant says that a 
writer in 1790 notes the fact that it had only lately 
become the fashion to put wines upon the table, 
and that the new custom was then very far from 
being general. The dinner at the time of this print 
was in the daytime, and the company retired to~the 



BUSINESS LIFE 259 

gardens, which were generally attached to the 
various halls, for dessert and wine. 

The trees in the garden are seen through the 
windows in this plate. 

It was not until well on into the nineteenth 
century when an improved system of service and 
better manners among the guests became general. 

In Plate 10 the two former fellow-apprentices 
are brought together again under most painful 
circumstances. Goodchild having become an Alder- 
man sits as a magistrate in the Guildhall, when 
Idle is brought before him as a criminal. The 
clerk is busily writing on a paper addressed ' To 
the Turnkey of Newgate,' a warrant for the com- 
mittal of Thomas Idle to Newgate on the charge of 
having murdered the man whose plunder was shown 
in Plate 9 referred to in the Chapter on Crime. 
The appearance of the prisoner is abject. Mr. 
Stephens says of the man next him who is swearing 
on the book : ' The man in the knitted cap and 
having the patch over one of his eyes, appears as a 
witness against his accomplice and stands next to 
him in the character of a " King's evidence," 
swearing to the truth of his deposition by placing 
his left hand on the book held by an attendant of 
the court, who stands within the bar. This attendant 
has one of his hands behind his back, into that hand 
a slatternly woman is secretly placing a piece of 
money. This act of bribery is performed in order 
that the official may be induced not to notice that 



260 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the witness uses his left instead of his right hand in 
attesting his oath on the book. An assertion that 
an oath taken in this fashion was not binding on the 
swearer was frequently made by the vulgar before, 
at, and since the period in question. 5 1 

The concluding Plate (12), in which Francis 
Goodchild is seen to have reached the summit of his 
ambition as Lord Mayor of London, contains a view 
of the greatest interest from a topographical point of 
view. 

It is a brilliant representation of the west end of 
Cheapside. Looking southwards across St. Paul's 
Churchyard, we see the eastern extremity of the 
cathedral. In front a balcony projects from the 
first floor of a house at the corner of Paternoster Row. 
In the balcony are several personages, including 
Frederick, Prince of Wales, and his wife Augusta 
under a canopy of state. As to the persons attendant 
on royalty we have no information, with the ex- 
ception of ' the lady hi profile with a French cap, 
lappet and cloak' to the extreme right of the 
balcony, and we have Horace Walpole's authority 
for saying that this figure is intended for the Countess 
of Middlesex, Mistress of the Robes. 2 The front of 
the balcony is decorated with two pieces of tapestry, 
the subjects of which have not been recognised. 

The right of using these balconies was often 

1 British Museum Catalogue, voL iii. pp. 708-709. 

8 This information is given in a MS. note in a copy of the first edition of 
Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes, 1781 (p. 109), in the author's possession, 
which originally belonged to Horace Walpole who annotated it. 



BUSINESS LIFE 261 

reserved, and John Ireland refers to Wood's Body of 
Conveyancing, in which book (vol. ii. p. 180) there is a 
London lease ; one of the clauses gives a right to the 
landlord and his friends to stand in the balcony 
* during the time of the shews or pastimes, upon the 
day commonly called Lord Mayor's day.' 

The favourite place for royalty to see the show 
was at Bow Church, but it is recorded that Frederick, 
Prince of Wales, on a previous occasion, wished to see 
it privately and he entered the city in disguise. He 
was discovered by some members of the Saddlers' 
Company, and was requested to occupy the Com- 
pany's stand. He accepted the invitation and soon 
afterwards became a saddler. 

The old Seldam or shed which was made by order 
of Edward in. on the north side of Bow Church for 
the purpose of accommodating the royal party on 
the occasions of shows and processions, was after- 
wards superseded by the balcony. In September 
1677 Charles n. had advice at Newmarket that the 
Fifth Monarchy men had a design to murder him 
and the Duke of York on Lord Mayor's day in this 
balcony. 

The crowded scene of Hogarth's plate is full of 
interesting details which it is needless to particularise 
here, although there is one which requires special 
attention as it helps to complete the series and 
causes us to remember the connection between the 
two apprentices. At the right-hand corner of the 
engraving is an emaciated boy, a hawker of broad- 



262 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

sides, who holds a paper on which is printed, ' Aiull 
and true account of y e Ghost of Tho. Idle which ' 

We have, however, Chaucer's authority for the 
fact that every apprentice who is idle and neglects 
his proper duties does not necessarily come to the 
violent end of Hogarth's Idle Apprentice. 

'A prentis whilom dwelled in our citee, 

At every bridale wolde he sing and hoppe ; 
He loved bet the taverne than the shoppe ; 
For whan ther eny Eiding was in Chepe, 
Out of the shoppe thider wold he lepe ; 
Til that he had al the sight yseyn, 
And danced wel he would nat come ageyn.' 1 

The passages from the Bible which are attached to 
the several plates of ' Industry and Idleness ' were 
selected by Hogarth's friend, the Rev. Dr. Arnold 
King. John Nichols obtained this information from 
Dr. Ducarel. 

There are a series of drawings by Hogarth for the 
engravings of ' Industry and Idleness ' in the Print 
Room of the British Museum. Some of these are 
first thoughts, freely sketched ; others represent more 
developed studies ; others, again, are the final designs 
made for transfer to the copper. The description of 
these is very interesting (see Binyon's British 
Museum Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists, 
vol. ii. p. 316). There are also drawings for two 
subjects which were not engraved, viz. ' The In- 
dustrious 'Prentice when a Merchant giving Money 

1 The Coke's Tale. 




Scene at a 



. fir J! Ireland Mav UJ<JQ. 



SARAH, DUCHESS or MARLBOROUGH, AT CHILD'S BANK. 



BUSINESS LIFE 263 

to his Parents,' and ' The Idle Apprentice stealing 
from his Mother.' l 

There is a very interesting tradition connecting 
Hogarth with sketches of the run upon Child's 
Bank, which was stopped with the help of Sarah, 
Duchess of Marlborough, but the accounts of this are 
so confused that it is difficult to obtain a satisfactory 
solution. A plain statement may help to draw 
attention to the subject and end in an explanation 
being suggested. 

Samuel Ireland published in the second volume 
of his Graphic Illustrations (1799) an engraving by 
Barlow from a small picture in oil by Hogarth in his 
possession, which he entitled ' Scene at a Banking 
House in 1745.' Mr. Dobson says that the picture 
was bought at Ireland's sale in 1801 by George 
Baker for 3, 10s. At Baker's sale in 1825 it fetched 
60, 18s. It was sold again in June 1899 at Forman's 
sale for 53, 11s. 

Ireland's account of the picture is shortly as 
follows : ' The figure in the chair was intended for 
Sarah, the celebrated Dutchess of Marlborough. 
This circumstance is corroborated by the Ducal 
coronet on the back of the chair, which is supported 
by two boys. The figures represented in a sitting 
posture, are the principals of the banking-house of 
Mess ra Child and Co., who seem amply prepared to 
discharge all the demands pressing upon them. . . . 

1 Hogarth's original intention was to call the Idle Apprentice ' Thomas 
Fowler.' 



264 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The wealth of the house is allegorically represented 
by the bags of gold, which are piled over each other 
in the background of the picture.' 

Ireland then relates the circumstances of the run 
upon the bank and relief supplied by the Duchess of 
Marlborough, which he says he obtained from an 
authority not to be doubted. In 1745, owing to the 
Jacobite Rebellion, Bank of England notes were at a 
considerable discount, while the notes issued by 
Child's Bank and that of Hoare and Co. maintained 
their credit and circulated at par. The directors of 
the Bank of England attempted to injure the credit 
of Child's Bank by collecting their notes with the 
intention of pouring them in for payment on the same 
day. The Duchess heard of this plot and informed 
Messrs. Child, at the same time supplying them 
* with a sum of money more than sufficient to answer 
the amplest demand ' that could be made upon them. 
The scheme was carried out, and the Bank of England 
was paid hi its own paper to its own very great loss. 
This story breaks down owing to Ireland having 
overlooked the fact that the redoubtable Duchess 
Sarah was not alive in 1745, she having died in 
October 1744. 

The late Mr. Hilton Price, partner in Child's Bank, 
gave an altogether different account of this ' run ' 
in his octavo volume entitled Ye Mary gold, 1875. 
He wrote : ' Child's Bank was saved from a run in 
1689 by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough (then Lady 
Churchill), who collected among her friends as much 



BUSINESS LIFE 265 

gold as she was able, which she brought down to the 
bank in her coach. Hogarth made a spirited sketch 
of the Duchess's coach stopping at Temple Bar, and 
another sketch of her Grace appearing in the bank 
following porters carrying bags of gold. No entry 
in the books of the firm respecting this, but there is 
no reason to doubt the fact.' l 

We are not told where these sketches of Hogarth's 
are to be found ; and if they were made by him, they 
must have been drawn from a relation of the events 
and not from sight, as the painter was not then born. 

In 1902 Mr. Hilton Price published a larger book 
on the same subject, entitled The Mary gold by Temple 
Bar (4to). He there repeats what is quoted above, 
and adds an account of the run or * push,' as it was 
then called, made upon Child's from John Francis's 
History of the Bank of England. Francis gives 
Samuel Ireland as his authority, but adds some 
figures, and to some extent gets over the difficulty 
of the Duchess Sarah's death by dating the affair 
about 1745. He says that Child's * got scent of the 
plot ' and ' applied to the celebrated Duchess of 
Marlborough who gave them a single cheque of 
700,000 on their opponents.' Francis, while giving 
all this information, expresses the opinion that it is 
difficult to believe that any body of men could act 
so disgraceful a part. 

Mr. Price adds that ' no entry of the above can be 
met with in the books of the firm, but we think it 

1 F. G. H. Price, Ye Marygold, 1875, p. 17 (privately printed). 



266 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

worth mentioning as we have no reason for doubting 
it, these and other stories being mostly founded to a 
certain degree on facts.' It is to be hoped that some 
further facts may come to light which will settle the 
particular points of a story which is of interest both 
in the life of the Duchess of Marlborough and in that 
of Hogarth. 

There are two more publications of Hogarth which, 
to a certain extent, belong to business life, although 
they are both instances of gambling in its worst 
form, viz. the * South Sea Bubble ' and the * Lottery.' 
Both are dated 1721, and they form Hogarth's 
earliest contributions to pictorial satire. In the 
preface to the second volume of the British Museum 
Catalogue of Prints and Drawings (satires) it is said : 
' The most numerous, the richest, and most varied 
series of satires in this Catalogue is that on the 
catastrophe of the South Sea Company and its allies 
the Mississippi and West India Companies, which 
begins with " The Bubblers Medley," and concludes 
with but few intervals in the sequence of entries 
with Hogarth's early work, " An Emblematical 
Print on the South Sea Scheme," comprising about 
one hundred entries which describe not fewer than 
two hundred and fifty distinct designs.' 

The ' South Sea Bubble ' print represents a fancy 
London street at the foot of the Monument, the 
pedestal of which is decorated with statues of two 
foxes, emblematical of the directors of the South Sea 
Company, and inscribed : ' THIS MONUMENT WAS 



BUSINESS LIFE 267 

ERECTED IN MEMORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THIS 
CITY BY THE SOUTH SEA IN 1720.' 

In the centre of the print is a roundabout worked 
by South Sea directors and carrying persons of 
various grades a Scotch nobleman, with his ribbon, 
an old woman, a shoeblack, a divine and a wanton, 
who chucks the last under the chin as he laughs at 
her. On the top of the machine is a goat with the 
label ' Who '11 Ride.' A crowd of women rush into 
a building, the gable of which is surmounted with 
horns ; over the door is written, ' Baffleing for 
Husbands with Lottery Fortunes in Here. 9 1 

In the extreme right corner of the print is a figure 
lying exhausted or dead, which is labelled TRADE. 
This is one of Hogarth's early prints in which he 
followed the prevalent custom of using labels and 
letters to inform the spectator as to what is intended. 
D is Honesty, stretched upon a wheel, whose limbs 
are being broken by G Self-interest. F, a man 
with a dagger and mask, is flogging E Honour 
fastened to a pillory. In front of the roundabout 
are three men, one of whom is said to be intended 
for Pope. Respecting this group it is said in a note 
by a friend contributed to Nichols's Biographical 
Anecdotes : ' That Pope was silent on the merits of 
Hogarth (as one of your readers has observed) should 
excite little astonishment, as our artist's print on 
the South Sea exhibits the translator of Homer is no 
very flattering point of view. He is represented 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 590. 



268 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

with one of his hands in the pocket of a fat personage, 
who wears a horn-book at his girdle. For whom this 
figure was designed, is doubtful. Perhaps it was 
meant for Gay, who was a fat man, and a loser in the 
same scheme.' 

If these two figures were intended for Pope and 
Gay, their relative sizes can be illustrated by some 
lines in Pope's poem of The Challenge (1717) : 

' At Leicester Fields a house full high, 

With door all painted green, 
Where ribbons wave upon the tie 

(A milliner I mean) ; 
There may you meet us three to three, 
For Gay can well make two of me.' 

The widespread misery caused by the Bubble 
Companies, chief of which was the South Sea 
Company, is so well known that it is unnecessary to 
expatiate upon it here. In spite of all this know- 
ledge, it comes as a shock to find so many men 
distinguished in the State, literature, science, and 
even trade, who were mixed up in the scandals 
caused by this madness for gambling. Gay's stock 
given to him by Young Craggs was once worth 
20,000. He was urged to sell, but he waited for a 
higher price, and even when importuned to sell so 
much as would make him sure of * a clean shirt and 
a shoulder of mutton every day,' he still delayed 
till he lost all. Pope was more fortunate, as his 
stock was worth at one time between twenty and 
thirty thousand pounds, and he was one of the 



BUSINESS LIFE 269 

lucky few who had ' the good fortune to remain 
with half they imagined they had ' (letter to Atter- 
bury). The learned Nonconformist divine, Samuel 
Chandler, D.D., F.R.S. (a fine portrait of whom, by 
M. Chamberlain, is in the possession of the Royal 
Society), in early life was ruined by the loss of his 
wife's fortune, and was forced to open a bookshop. 
A grandfather of Edward Gibbon was a Commis- 
sioner of Customs and a director of the South Sea 
Company. He was deprived of his whole fortune 
by the House of Commons, but the historian tells 
us in his autobiography that his grandfather lived 
to make another fortune which he bequeathed to his 
son. 

The South Sea Company was formed in 1711 with 
the object of trading with Spanish America, but it 
was a swindle pure and simple. It was worse than 
Law's Mississippi Scheme, because England had very 
limited rights of trading with South America, while 
France possessed Louisiana. The verses engraved 
below the design are sad doggrel, and respecting 
them Nichols writes in his Biographical Anecdotes : 
' It may be observed, that London always affords a 
set of itinerant poets, whose office it is to furnish 
inscriptions for satirical engravings. I lately over- 
heard one of these unfortunate sons of the Muse mak- 
ing a bargain with his employer. " Your print," 
says he, " is a taking one, and why don't you go to 
the price of a half-crown epigram ? " From such 
hireling bards, I suppose, our artist purchased not a 



270 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

few of the wretched rhimes under his early perform- 
ances ; unless he himself be considered as the author 
of them.' 

The last line of the inscription is ' Guess at the 
rest, you find out more,' and it has been said 
that seems ' to imply a consciousness of such 
personal satire as it was not prudent to explain.' 

' The Lottery ' (1721) is quite one of the least 
interesting of Hogarth's productions, and does not 
need much description. 

Mr. Stephens describes the print as representing 
' the interior of a large room with figures, having 
various meanings, placed upon a raised platform. 
In the centre is a pedestal of three stages, on the 
topmost of which is a female figure representing 
National Credit holding a church in her right hand, 
and resting her cheek on her left hand, the elbow 
of which is placed upon the summit of a pillar ; on 
the next or middle stage sit Apollo and Justice with 
their appropriate emblems. The former points out 
to Britannia, who sits on the lowest stage of the 
pedestal, a picture which hangs on the wall behind 
them. . . . On our right of the platform is Fortune, 
a naked woman, blinded and standing on a wheel, in 
the act of putting her hand into a great lottery 
wheel or circular rotatory box which is placed on the 
side of the platform.' 1 

There is a description or explanation added to the 
design by the artist himself ; and, as Nichols says 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 597. 



BUSINESS LIFE 271 

in his Biographical Anecdotes, ' Had not Hogarth, 
on this occasion, condescended to explain his own 
meaning, it must have remained in several places 
inexplicable.' The corrupting influence of lotteries 
on the public, more particularly as they were 
arranged by the State, was considerable, and so far 
was a good subject for the satirist, but the subject is 
too confined to allow of a broad arid interesting 
treatment. 



272 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER IX 

TAVERN LIFE 

THE eighteenth century was essentially a pleasure- 
seeking period. The men met nightly in taverns 
and coffee-houses for social converse, and often for 
gaming and other amusements. There was then a 
greater mixture of classes than in later times, and 
here all ranks met on equal terms. This doubtless 
became irksome to some, and in order that persons 
of similar tastes should be able to meet together 
without mixture with uncongenial spirits Clubs 
were formed. 

These meetings had been general in the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries, but coffee-houses 
increased greatly in the reign of Queen Anne, and 
still more so in the times of the Georges. References 
to many of these are found in Hogarth's works, 
but doubtless he frequented many more than we 
have authority to mention. Nowhere could the 
great satirist find more ample material for his 
pencil than in the taverns and coffee-houses of 
London. 

In the City mention may be made of the Bell Inn 
in Wood Street, Cheapside, Pontack's Head in 



TAVERN LIFE 273 

Abchurch Lane, the Devil, and the Mitre in Fleet 
Street, the Bible in Shire Lane, and the Elephant hi 
Fenchurch Street. 

In Covent Garden the Bedford Coffee-House in 
the Great Piazza, the Bedford Arms in the Little 
Piazza, Button's in Russell Street, the Rose Tavern 
in Brydges Street, and Tom King's in the Market. 

In Clare Market the Spiller's Head, in Gerrard 
Street, Soho, the Turk's Head, intimately associated 
with Samuel Johnson, the Feathers in Leicester 
Square, and the Rummer at Charing Cross. 

The first plate of the ' Harlot's Progress ' shows 
us one of the old inn yards so common in the 
eighteenth century at which the lumbering York 
wagon has just arrived. The sign of the Bell is 
seen by the door, and John Ireland informs us that 
this was situated in Wood Street, Cheapside. It is 
scarcely possible that Hogarth intended the poor 
clergyman on his half -starved horse to be the girl's 
father. If he had been such, he could not have 
allowed his daughter to fall into the hands of the 
brazen procuress, who is named as the notorious 
Mother Needham of Park Place, St. James's. This 
woman in 1731 (three years before the publication 
of the ' Harlot's Progress) was committed to the 
Gatehouse for keeping a disorderly house, and was 
so ill-used by the populace during her exposure hi 
the pillory that she died shortly afterwards. In 
the doorway of the inn is her employer, Colonel 
Charteris, attended by his confidant, John Gourlay. 



274 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The very name of Charteris is a synonym for un- 
mitigated villainy, and no more withering condemna- 
tion of a human being has ever been written than 
Arbuthnot's epitaph on ' Francis Chartres, who 
with an inflexible constancy, and inimitable uni- 
formity of life, persisted in spite of age and 
infirmities, in the practice of every human vice, 
excepting prodigality and hypocrisy. His insatiable 
avarice exempted him from the first ; his matchless 
impudence from the second.' 

This London inn-yard, taken in conjunction with 
the more lively and exciting ' Stage Coach or 
Country Inn Yard ' (1747), gives us an excellent idea 
of the humours and troubles of travelling in Hogarth's 
day. 

Pontack's eating-house hi Abchurch Lane was 
the most expensive and esteemed resort of the 
fashionable world from the Restoration to about the 
year 1780. Misson, the French refugee, did not 
greatly esteem our mode of living, but he made an 
exception in the case of Pontack's. He says in his 
Travels, ' Those who would dine at one or two 
guineas per head are handsomely accommodated 
at our famous Pontack's.' The place was noted 
for its wine, and Swift (Journal to Stella) says : 
* Pontack told us, although his wine was so good, 
he sold it cheaper than others ; he took but seven 
shillings a flask. Are not these pretty rates ? ' 

A tract entitled ' The Metamorphoses of the Town 
or a view of the Present Fashion ' (1730), shows 



TAVERN LIFE 275 

the position of Pontack's as the chief resort of 
extravagant epicures. Among the items in the bill- 
of-f are of a guinea ordinary figure ' a ragout of 
fatted snails,' and ' chickens not two hours from the 
shell.' l 

The site of this ordinary was occupied before the 
Great Fire by the White Bear, but on the rebuilding 
a Frenchman, described by Evelyn as M. Pontack, 
the son of the President of Bordeaux, owner of a 
district whence are imported to England some of 
the most esteemed claret, was encouraged to establish 
a tavern with all the novelties of French cookery. 
Pontack was somewhat of a character, well read in 
philosophy, but chiefly of the rabbins, exceedingly 
addicted to cabalistic fancies and ' an eternal 
babbler.' He set up as his sign the portrait of his 
distinguished father. Pontack's portrait is intro- 
duced in the third plate of the ' Rake's Progress ' as 
having been put up in place of that of Julius Caesar. 

In the early years of the Royal Society the 
Fellows dined at Pontack's, and this shows that the 
philosophers at that day had a taste for good 
living. Mrs. Susannah Austin, who kept the 
Pontack's Head in Hogarth's day, married William 
Pepys, banker in Lombard Street, at St. Clement's 
Church on January 15, 1736. 

1 Perhaps Bramston was thinking of this when he wrote in his Man of 
Taste, 1733, 

' Dishes I chuse though little, yet genteel, 
Snails the first course, and Peepers crown the meal ! ' 

' Peepers ' are young chickens (Dobson's De Libris, 1908, p. 35 and notes). 



276 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The famous Devil Tavern in Fleet Street, so 
intimately associated with Ben Jonson, is shown in 
Hogarth's illustration of Hudibras (Part iii. canto 2) 
entitled ' Burning the Rumps at Temple Bar ' : 

' That beastly rabble that came down 
From all the garrats in the Town, 
And Stalls and Shop-boards, in vast swarms 
With new chalk'd Bills, and rusty arms, 
To cry the Cause up heretofore, 
And bawl the Bishops out of door ; 
Are now drawn up in greater Shoals, 
To roast and broil us on the Coals. 
And all the grandees of our Members 
Are Carbonading on the Embers ; 
Knights, citizens and burgesses 
Held forth by Rumps of pigs and geese, 
That serve for characters and badges 
To represent their personages, 
Each bon-fire is a funeral pile, 
In which they roast and scorch and broil, 
And ev'ry representative 
Have vow'd to roast and broil alive. 
And 'tis a miracle we are not 
Already sacrific'd incarnate. 
For while we wrangle here and jar, 
W are grilly'd all at Temple-bar. 
Some on the sign-post of an alehouse 
Hang in effigy, for the gallows, 
Made up of rags to personate 
Respective Officers of State.' 

Although the third part of Hudibras was not 
published until 1678, six years after Wren's Temple 
Bar was built, Hogarth would have been more 
correct if he had drawn the old bar which existed 
until the Great Fire of 1666 ; as the depicted scene 
occurred when that bar still stood on its old site. 



TAVERN LIFE 277 

He could have seen a figure of the timber bar in 
Hollar's seven-sheet map of London, but it is 
perhaps too much to expect such rigid accuracy 
from the artist. He painted what he saw. 1 

The original sign of the Devil Tavern represented 
St. Dunstan pulling the Devil by the nose, and 
probably originated from the house being situated 
opposite to St. Dunstan's Church. At the time the 
tavern was in chief repute, the Devil may be said to 
have been the more popular of the two personages, 
and his name formed a sufficient designation. At 
the latter end of the eighteenth century the house 
fell on evil days, and its history and brilliant associa- 
tions were not sufficient to save it from decay. 
Messrs. Child the bankers, who occupied the next- 
door house (which in James the First's reign was a 
public ordinary with the sign of a Marygold), 
purchased in 1787 the freehold of the Devil, and 
added the premises to their own. 

Close by was the Mitre, to which tavern Hogarth 
invited to dinner his friend Dr. Arnold King, who 
selected the texts for the series of prints of the two 
apprentices. John Nichols reproduced this drawing 
on the engraved title to his Biographical Anecdotes, 
and describes it as follows : A specimen of Hogarth's 
propensity to merriment on the most trivial occasions 
is observable in one of his cards requesting the 
company of Dr. Arnold King to dine with him at the 

1 The history of Hogarth's different illustrations of Hiidibras is very com- 
plicated, and some notes on the subject will be found in the second chapter- 



278 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Mitre. Within a circle, to which a knife and fork 
are the supporters, the written part is contained. In 
the centre is drawn a pye, with a mitre on the top of 
it ; and the invitation of our artist concludes with 
the following sport on three of the Greek letters 
to Eta Beta Pi. The rest of the inscription is not 
very accurately spelt. A quibble by Hogarth is 
surely as respectable as a conundrum by Swift.' 

The complete inscription is : ' Mr. Hogarth's 
comp ts to Mr. King and desires the Honnor of his 
company at dinner on thursday next to Eta Beta Py.' 

In a note Nichols gives the information that the 
original is now (1782) in Park Place in the possession 
of Dr. Wright. Some persons had doubted the 
existence of the card. The Mitre was a favourite 
sign, and many celebrated houses with this name 
were to be found in different parts of London. The 
two most famous were situated in Cheapside and 
in Fleet Street. The latter after many vicissitudes 
ceased to exist, and the site (No. 39 Fleet Street) 
was added to the banking house of Messrs. Hoare in 
1829. This tavern was frequented (among other 
celebrities) by Ben Jonson, Samuel Pepys, and 
Samuel Johnson. Hogarth also appears to have 
found in it a convenient resort. 1 

The Royal Society and the Society of Antiquaries 

1 In London, Past and Present it is asserted, largely on the authority 
of T. C. Noble and R. H. Burn (London Trade Tokens) that Johnson's 
Mitre was a later house situated in Mitre Court, Fleet Street ; but my 
friend Dr. Philip Norman, Treasurer of the Society of Antiquaries, has 
kindly given particulars which force nie to the conclusion that this opinion 
is untenable. 



TAVERN LIFE 279 

were in the habit of dining there. Of the latter 
Cawthorn wrote : 

' Some Antiquarians, grave and loyal, 
Incorporate by Charter Royal, 
Last winter on a Thursday night were 
Met in full senate at the Mitre.' 

' A Midnight Modern Conversation ' (1734) is one 
of Hogarth's first-rate performances, in which eleven 
persons are brought together in various stages of 
intoxication. There have been many conjectures as 
to the scene of these orgies two places have been 
suggested the St. John's Coffee-House in Shire 
Lane and the Bible in the same place. The landlord 
of the latter was a bookbinder named Chandler who 
worked for Hogarth. John Ireland tells us this, and 
adds that the conjecture is founded on the strong 
resemblance of the man with a nightcap to Chandler, 
who was very deaf. At the same time he himself 
was inclined to pronounce the man from his conse- 
quential manner to be a justice of the peace. The 
clergyman who is seen ladling out the punch is said 
by Sir John Hawkins to be intended for Orator 
Henley, but this has been disputed, and Dr. Johnson's 
dissolute kinsman Parson Ford has been named 
by some for the ' honourable ' post. Doubtless all 
the characters introduced are taken from the life, 
but it was only occasionally that Hogarth was 
personal in his satire, and he seldom named his 
subjects, as alluded to in the verses under the print : 

' Think not to find one meant resemblance there, 
We lash the vices but the persons spare.' 



280 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

His annotators were not so reticent, and attempted 
to name all the persons in his pictures, often without 
much probability. In this picture, besides those 
already mentioned, one of the characters is said to 
represent Kettleby, a blatant advocate, and another 
John Harrison the tobacconist, who sold papers of 
tobacco at the taverns he frequented. In this 
picture there is a paper inscribed * Freeman's Best.' 
James Figg has also been named as one of the 
company, but this is very doubtful. John Ireland 
says that he was told that the original picture was 
found in an inn in Gloucestershire, and ' is now (1793) 
in the possession of J. Calverley, Esq. of Leeds.' 

The engraving was very popular in France and 
Germany as well as in England, and was transferred 
to pottery and to fans. Mr. Dobson mentions 
several copies one, which had previously belonged 
to Lord Chesterfield, was exhibited at Richmond in 
1881 by the late Mr. Henry George Bohn ; another 
was sent to the Guelph Exhibition in 1891 by Mrs. 
Morrison, of Basildon. There is a version in Lord 
Leconfield's gallery at Petworth, and another is 
referred to by Mr. J. Wade in the Athenaeum 
(September 24, 1881). 

1 A Chorus of Singers ' (1733) was the subscription 
ticket for ' A Midnight Modern Conversation.' 
John Ireland reports that * On the 22nd of March 
1742 for the benefit of Mr. Hippisley, was acted at 
Covent Garden theatre, a new scene, called a Modern 
Midnight Conversation taken from Hogarth's print, 



TAVERN LIFE 281 

in which was introduced Hippisley's Drunken Man, 
with a comic tale of what really passed between 
himself and his old Aunt at her house on Mendip 
Hills, in Somersetshire.' 

Samuel Ireland includes in his Graphic Illustrations 
(ii. 105) a portrait of John Hippisley as Sir Francis 
Gripe in the Busy Body, which shows the distortion 
on the actor's face caused by an accidental burn in 
his youth. This portrait is not generally accepted 
as Hogarth's work, and as it is signed as engraver by 
Sykes, who was well known as a forger, it must be 
considered as more than doubtful. 

Hogarth's name is associated by tradition with the 
Elephant Tavern in Fenchurch Street. The original 
house, named the Elephant and Castle, existed long 
before the Fire of London and was situated on the 
north side of the street between the Mitre and the 
Angel. The house was rebuilt soon after the Fire, 
and had a long life until 1826, when it was pulled 
down. Tradition reported that Hogarth in his early 
days of poverty lived at the Elephant, and ran in 
debt to the landlady. In order to wipe out his 
heavy score he is supposed to have painted on the 
walls of the tap-room four pictures. These repre- 
sented Fenchurch in the eighteenth century, a Parish 
Club scene, the Humour of Harlow Bush Fair, and 
the Hudson Bay Company's Porters going to dinner. 

When the building was condemned many persons 
flocked to the Elephant to see the supposed Hogarth 
pictures. A picture dealer bought the pictures and 



282 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

had them carefully transferred from the walls to 
canvas. They were exhibited in Pall Mall, but it is 
understood that experts were by no means convinced 
that they were Hogarth's work. 1 

Covent Garden must have been a happy hunting- 
ground for Hogarth, and he doubtless knew every 
inch of the place where all classes met, and where the 
manners of the society rakes were as bad as those of 
the lowest classes. First must be mentioned the 
Bedford Arms Tavern where Hogarth and several 
friends held a club, a few members of which in 1732 
agreed together to go for a short tour in the Isle of 
Sheppey, and on their return the journal of their 
travels was read to the members of the club collected 
at the tavern. The original MS. with its illustra- 
tions is preserved in the British Museum. 

Its title is ' An Account of what seem'd most 
remarkable in the Five Days perigrination of the five 
following persons viz* Messieurs Tothall, Scott, 
Hogarth, Thornhill & Forrest. Begun on Saturday 
May the 27th 1732 and Finish'd on the 31st of the 
same month.' Of these men William Tothall was 
the son of an apothecary in Fleet Street, who after 
many vicissitudes became a woollen-draper and 
earned a competence ; Samuel Scott was the excellent 
painter known as the English Canaletto ; John 
Thornhill was the brother-in-law of Hogarth; and 

1 In a highly fanciful article in the Builder of Sept. 9, 1875, the scene of 
the meeting of the Parish Club is supposed to be the original of the ' Mid- 
night Modern Conversation,' 



TAVERN LIFE 283 

Ebenezer Forrest was an attorney who lived in 
George Street, Adelphi. On the ninth illustration 
by Hogarth a comical figure of Nobody, a head and 
two legs is written by Forrest the following illustra- 
tion : ' I think I cannot better conclude than with 
taking notice that not one of the Company was 
unemployed, For Mr. Thornhill made the map, Mr. 
Hogarth and Mr. Scott all the other drawings, Mr. 
Tothall was our Treasurer which (tho' a place of 
the greatest Trust) he faithfully Discharg'd, & the 
foregoing Memoirs was the work of E. Forrest.' 

This was a most amusing freak, and the account 
contains much curious matter. When the party 
stopped at Rochester ' Hogarth and Scott . . . 
played at hop-scotch in the Colonnade under the 
Town Hall.' This is almost exactly opposite the 
Bull Hotel. 

The headpiece representing a sort of human torso 
by Hogarth, is said to be representative of the journey 
which * was a short tour by land and water, back- 
wards and forwards without head or tail.' 

The travellers sent the manuscript of their tour 
to the Rev. W. Gostling, a minor canon of Canterbury 
and author of A Walk in and about Canterbury. 
He wrote an imitation in Hudibrastic verse with 
additions of his own, twenty copies of which were 
printed in 1781 by John Nichols, who afterwards 
added it to his Biographical Anecdotes (second edition, 
1782). The original was published in 1782 by 
Richard Livesay, who lived in Mrs. Hogarth's house 



284 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in Leicester Square. Two other members of the 
Club had their portraits drawn by Hogarth, viz. 
Gabriel Hunt about 1733, and Benjamin Read about 
1757. These were engraved by Livesay in 1781. 

The original drawings hung for many years on the 
walls of the club-room, and afterwards came into the 
possession of Theodosius Forrest, son of the author 
of the Five Days' Peregrination. He gave them 
to Mrs. Hogarth, who afterwards presented them to 
the Marquis of Exeter. It is said that Read came 
one night to the Bedford Arms after a long journey 
and fell asleep there. Hogarth was about to leave 
the club, but, struck by his friend's appearance, he 
exclaimed * Heavens ! what a character ! ' and took 
the portrait immediately, without sitting down. 
The Bedford Arms was situated in the Little Piazza 
on the east side of the square, which was cleared 
away and only partially rebuilt. 

The Bedford Coffee-House, in the Great Piazza 
near the entrance to the theatre, was another haunt 
of Hogarth's ; and John Nichols was told by a friend 
that, being once there with the painter, he observed 
him to draw something with a pencil on his nail. 
Inquiring what had been his employment, he was 
shown the countenance (a whimsical one) of a person 
who was then at a short distance off. 

In Tavistock Street Richard Leveridge the singer 
kept a famous house of entertainment. Hogarth 
engraved a frontispiece to ' A Collection of Songs, 
with the Musick, by Mr. Leveridge ' (1727). Captain 



TAVERN LIFE 285 

Coram was very poor in his later days, and a pension 
of a little over one hundred pounds a year was raised 
for him at the instigation of Sir Sampson Gideon and 
Dr. Brocklesby by voluntary subscription. On 
Coram's death in 1751 that pension was transferred 
to Leveridge, who at the age of ninety had scarcely 
any other prospect than that of parish relief. 1 

The Rose Tavern in Russell Street and Brydges 
Street, Covent Garden, was next door to Drury Lane 
Theatre, and afterwards, when that was enlarged 
by Garrick in 1776, was cleared away and the site 
added to that of the theatre. The Rose had a bad 
name as the resort of the worst characters of the 
town both male and female, who made it the head- 
quarters of midnight orgies and drunken broils where 
murderous assaults were frequently occurring among 
the bullies of the time. It stood pre-eminent among 
the dangerous houses in the neighbourhood. We 
learn this from Dryden and Shadwell and other 
dramatists of the seventeenth century, and it had not 
improved in the eighteenth century. In the ' Rake 
Reformed,' 1718, we read : 

' Not far from thence appears a pendant sign, 
Whose bush declares the product of the vine, 
Where to the traveller's sight the full-blown Kose 
Its dazzling beauties doth in gold disclose, 
And painted faces flock in tallied cloaths.' 

It is supposed that the night scene in the tavern 
where Thomas Rakewell is surrounded by women of 
the town (' Rake's Progress,' Plate 3) is laid at the 

1 John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 54. 



286 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Rose. On the rim of the large pewter dish on which 
the female posturist was about to perform is in- 
scribed ' John Bonvine at the Rose Tavern Drury 
Lane.' The porter of the Rose, known as Leather- 
coat, was a notorious man, and is supposed to be the 
bearer of the dish. Fielding makes this man a 
principal character in his highly-objectionable Covent 
Garden Tragedy, although he names him Leather- 
sides. It is amazing that such a play could have 
been acted even in the eighteenth century, and that 
so distinguished an actress as Miss Raftor (after- 
wards Mrs. Clive and the ' Clivey Pivey ' of Garrick) 
should have demeaned herself by taking a part hi it. 

Leathercoat was a remarkably strong man, and 
for a pot of beer he would lie down in the street and 
allow a carriage to pass over him. ' After his death 
he was dissected by Dr. Hunter, and the appearance 
of muscular strength was extraordinary, both hi 
form of the muscles and in the remarkable processes 
of bones into which they were inserted.' ] 

In spite of its evil repute, some of us are apt to feel 
a special interest in the tavern from the mistaken idea 
that ' sweet Molly Mog ' of the Rose was a waitress 
here. Her charms happily bloomed in a purer air. 

The delightful ballad we owe to John Gay 

' The schoolboy's desire is a play-day, 
The schoolmaster's joy is to flog ; 
The milkmaid's delight is May-day, 
But mine is sweet Molly Mog ' 

1 London Chronicle, Aug. 26-29, 1806. 



TAVERN LIFE 287 

was written at the Rose Inn at Wokingham, in 
Berkshire, the landlord of which was John Mog, 
the father of Molly. Mr. Stander of Arborfield, 
who died in 1730, is said to have been the enamoured 
swain to whom the ballad alludes. 

It is a curious fact that such taverns as the Rose 
in Covent Garden were fairly respectable resorts in 
the daytime, and we learn from the historian 
Gibbon that on January 19, 1763, the night of the 
production of Mallet's tragedy of Elvira, he and his 
father went to the Rose on their way to the play- 
house. They met Mallet and about thirty friends, 
dined together and then went to the pit, c where we 
took our places in a body, ready to silence all opposi- 
tion. However, we had no occasion to exert our- 
selves.' 

Tom King's Coffee-House (after his death known 
as Moll King's), described by Arthur Murphy as 
' well-known to all gentlemen to whom beds are 
unknown,' was one of the institutions of Covent 
Garden. It occupies an important position in 
Hogarth's ' Morning,' but it is needless to say more 
about it here as it is fully described in Chapter m. 
(Low Life). 

Night houses were common enough in Covent 
Garden, and probably the death scene of the Earl 
of Squanderfield in the fifth plate of the ' Marriage 
a la Mode ' took place in one of them. On the floor 
of the room is a bill inscribed ' The Bagnio,' with a 
cut of the Turk's Head. 



288 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The 'Marriage' series was engraved by Ravenet, 
and John Nichols says that the background of Plate 
5 was the work of Ravenet's wife. This is, however, 
a mistake, and Charles Grignion, who knew Ravenet 
intimately, told John Ireland that Mrs. Ravenet 
could not engrave. ' Concerning the background of 
this print, Ravenet had a violent quarrel with 
Hogarth ; who thinking the figures in the tapestry, 
etc., too obtrusive, obliged him to bring them to a 
lower tone (without any additional remuneration), 
a process that must have taken him up a length of 
time, which no man but an engraver can form an 
idea of.' 1 

Samuel Ireland published in the first volume of 
his Graphic Illustrations (1794) four engravings of 
characters at Button's Coffee-House, taken from 
drawings in Indian ink in his possession, which 
he attributes to Hogarth. Ireland says that he 
purchased the originals ' (with three of the original 
drawings of Hudibras) from the executors of a 
Mr. Brent, an old gentleman, who was for many 
years in habits of intimacy with Hogarth.' He 
dates the drawings as having been made in 1720, 
which is possible, although Addison, who is figured 
in one of the drawings, died in 1719. Horace 
Walpole appears to have seen the drawings and 
to have named one of the figures in Plate 3 as 
that of Count Viviani, and George Steevens does not 
seem to have doubted the genuineness of the draw- 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 345. 



TAVERN LIFE 289 

ings. 1 The originals are now in the Print Room of 
the British Museum. Button's Coffee-House was 
on the south side of Russell Street. Dryden made 
Will's the great resort of the wits, and Addison 
lorded it at Button's, which house was founded by 
Daniel Button in 1713, the year in which Addison' s 
great reputation was confirmed by the success of 
Cato. James Moore Smythe, writing to Teresa 
Blount on August 13, 1713, says, ' The wits are 
removed from Will's over the way.' 

Pope said that Button had been a servant of 
Addison' s, but Johnson affirmed that he was a 
servant in the Countess of Warwick's family. We 
must remember that he did not marry the Countess 
until three years after he had become a constant 
habitue of Button's. Johnson's further statement 
that when Addison suffered any vexation from the 
Countess, ' he withdrew the company from Button's 
house ' is incredible, and no one who loves Addison 
can for a moment believe in such an instance of 
littleness. 

Plate 1 contains a portrait of Daniel Button 
repulsing a mendicant. 

Plate 2. Martin Folkes, afterwards President of 
the Royal Society, whose portrait Hogarth painted ; 
and Addison. 

Plate 3, four figures : the one in the centre is Dr. 
Arbuthnot, and the one to the right Count Viviani. 

Walpole says that this Florentine nobleman 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ii. p. 567. 
T 



290 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

showing the triumphal arch at Florence to Prince 
San Severino, assured him and insisted upon it, that 
it was begun and finished in twenty-four hours. 
Walpole writing to Mann on April 27, 1753, says, 
* If you could send me Viviani with his invisible 
architects out of the Arabian tales I might get my 
house ready at a day's warning.' Viviani was a 
constant attendant at coffee-houses. 

Plate 4, four figures : the left-hand one, Dr. Garth 
(died 1719), and the middle one Pope, who was a 
frequent visitor at Button's. He said that he met 
Addison there almost every day. 

These sketches of coffee-house frequenters are 
fully described in Binyon's British Museum Cata- 
logue of Drawings of British Artists (vol. ii. p. 321). 
The cataloguer says : ' These drawings are un- 
doubtedly by Hogarth, but that is all that can be 
said with certainty about them. The assertions of 
a man of such unscrupulous credulity as Samuel 
Ireland must be well sifted. In the first state of his 
engravings from these sketches he made the date 
1730, and this is perhaps about the actual date to 
which they belong, although it is probably nearer 
1740. But while publishing them as drawings of 
1730, he boldly claimed to recognise in them portraits 
of Addison and of Garth, who both died in 1719. 
The famous circle at Button's broke up on Addison's 
death, and Pope quarrelled with Addison and his 
coterie in 1713.' 

These drawings are here critically discussed for 



TAVERN LIFE 291 

the first time, with the result that we may accept 
them as Hogarth's, but must reject most of the 
ascriptions. It is to be hoped that further evidence 
respecting them may be found, so that we may 
know who it was that Hogarth sketched. 

Old Slaughter's Coffee-House was one of Hogarth's 
most favourite haunts ; it was conveniently near his 
home, and it was largely the resort of his most 
intimate friends. A club of artists and literary men 
met regularly twice a week, and here authors, painters 
and sculptors were in the habit of showing any work 
they had produced before it was exhibited to the 
public. On these occasions the merits of the special 
work were discussed among the members, and pos- 
sibly its demerits also. 

Highmore, Roubiliac and Jonathan Richardson 
were among Hogarth's fellow- members ; so also was 
that curious character, Dr. Mounsey, the physician 
to Chelsea Hospital, who, when he met Fanny 
Burney there, asked if she was the Queen's Miss 
Burney. I once possessed a letter from Mounsey to 
Garrick which was endorsed by the latter ' One of 
Mounsey 's long lying epistles.' 

Samuel Ireland says that Dr. Johnson and Isaac 
Hawkins Browne were members also, and relates an 
anecdote on the authority of Highmore of Johnson's 
remarkably retentive memory, which is not recorded 
in Boswell. 

On one occasion at the club Browne ' entertained 
the company with a recital of his excellent Latin 



292 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

poem, De Animi Immortalitate ; this recital met with 
great applause from the parties present, and was 
accompanied by a strong wish on the part of some of 
them, to be favoured with the whole or extracts from 
it ; to which Mr. Browne replied that he could not 
comply with their request, as he had no copy of it. 
Dr. Johnson, who had listened with great attention 
during the recital, sent the next morning a manu- 
script of it to the author, which he had collected from 
his memory.' ] 

This coffee-house was established by Thomas 
Slaughter in the year 1692 on the west side of St. 
Martin's Lane three doors from Newport Street. 
Slaughter continued to be landlord for nearly fifty 
years, and was an attendant at the club. In 1741 he 
was dead, and his business was carried on by 
Humphrey Bailey. About 1760 another coffee- 
house called ' New Slaughter's ' was established in 
St. Martha's Lane, and the original house came to be 
called ' Old Slaughter's,' a name which it retained 
until it was demolished in 1843 to make way for the 
new opening into Leicester Square. 

' The Complicated Richardson,' in ridicule of 
Jonathan Richardson and his son, is so exceedingly 
coarse, and unkind as well that one can only hope that 
the engraving in the first volume of Graphic Illustra- 
tions (p. 118) is a forgery. Highmore says that 
Hogarth made a sketch, but finding that it hurt the 

1 The poem in two books was published in 1754. See Graphic Illustra- 
tions, vol. i. p. 121. 



TAVERN LIFE 293 

feelings of Richardson, * he threw the paper in the 
fire and there ended the dissatisfaction.' l 

The Rummer Tavern at Charing Cross is intro- 
duced into the picture of ' Night ' (' Four Times of 
the Day '), which is said to represent the annual 
rejoicing on the night of the 29th of May. 

This was a famous place of entertainment kept in 
the reign of Charles n. by Samuel Prior, uncle of 
Matthew Prior, who was apprenticed to him and did 
not like the business, as is seen from his poems. The 
Prior family ceased to be connected with it in 1702, 
and the tavern was burnt down in 1750. A full 
account of the incidents in the picture of ' Night ' 
will be found in Chapter iv. (Low Life). 

At a tavern in Oxford Street, The Man loaded with 
Mischief, there was a painted sign attributed to 
Hogarth, and an engraving of this was exhibited in 
the window. It represented a man carrying a 
woman, a magpie and a monkey, the woman with a 
glass of gin in her hand. This house was numbered 
414, but some years ago the painted sign was re- 
moved and the name of the public-house was cut 
down to The Mischief. The house is now numbered 
53, and the sign is the Shamrock. The sign had been 
so often renewed that if it was originally painted by 
Hogarth little of his work can have remained to our 
day. 

The last place of entertainment to be mentioned 
is the most important of all, viz. White's Chocolate- 

1 Graphic Illustrations, vol. i. p. 120. 



294 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

House in St. James's Street. Clubs were established 
at most of the coffee-houses and taverns, but these 
were only given accommodation, and the houses 
where they were held continued to be free to the 
public who paid their fees. The clubs often moved 
from house to house, but the club at White's became 
so important that in course of time it drove out the 
public altogether and retained the house for itself, 
becoming a proprietary club. This occurred in 
1755, twenty years after the publication of the 
' Rake's Progress,' two of the plates of which 
relate to White's. The history of White's has been 
found a very complicated and difficult one to recount 
by the different writers on London topography, but 
the Hon. Algernon Bourke has now made it clear, by 
a thorough investigation of the books of the Club, and 
the memoirs of the men of the time, in his most 
interesting volumes entitled The History of Whites 
(1892). He writes: 'When at the end of the seven- 
teenth century a company of gentlemen founded the 
club at White's by drawing up a few simple rules 
to regulate their private meetings at the Chocolate- 
House, there were few clubs in existence, and none 
that have survived to the present day. Clubs then, 
were either assemblies of men bound together by 
strong political feeling like the October ; small groups 
of philosophers and rhetoricians who met to discuss 
abstract theories of ethics like the Rota ; or bands of 
choice spirits, such as those whose very questionable 
doings found a historian in Ned Ward of the London 



TAVERN LIFE 295 

Spy. Club life as we know it, began with the estab- 
lishment of White's nearly two centuries ago, and 
during those two centuries White's has seen the 
origin of every other institution of its own kind 
existing to-day, and the development of club life 
into its huge modern proportions.' 

White's Chocolate-House was opened in 1693 by 
Francis White at a house on the site of Boodle's 
Club (No. 38 St. James's Street). Francis White 
removed the Chocolate-House in 1697 to the site of 
the present Arthur's Club (69 and 70) on the opposite 
side of the street. About this time the Old Club 
was founded. White died in 1711, and his widow 
succeeded him as proprietress. John Arthur suc- 
ceeded Madam White as proprietor in 1725. 

On April 28, 1733, White's at four o'clock in the 
morning was entirely destroyed by fire, with two 
houses adjoining. ' Young Mr. Arthur's wife leaped 
out of a window two pair of stairs upon a feather bed 
without much hurt.' 

The King and Prince of Wales came from St. 
James's Palace, and stayed above an hour encourag- 
ing the firemen and people to work at the engines. 
The King ordered twenty guineas among the firemen 
and others, and five guineas to the guard. The 
Prince ordered the firemen to receive ten guineas. 

This was the fire, the commencement of which is 
seen in Plate 6 of the ' Rake's Progress.' Here, as 
John Ireland writes, every one present is so engrossed 
by his own situation that the flames, which are 



296 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

sufficiently visible, are disregarded, and it needs the 
entrance of the watchman crying ' Fire ' to draw 
attention to the serious danger in which all the 
company are placed. The Rake is seen kneeling in 
the front of the picture imprecating vengeance on 
his own head. He has pulled off his wig and dashed 
it on the floor in a frenzy of rage and despair at the 
loss of his fortune. The loss of his all drives him to 
the Fleet Prison in the next plate, to be followed in the 
last one by his incarceration in Bedlam as a hopeless 
maniac. J. B. Nichols points out that in the original 
sketch in oil belonging to Mrs. Hogarth the Rake is 
sitting, and not, as in the finished picture, on his 
knees. 

The scene in the sixth plate shows how miscellane- 
ous was the company gathered together at White's. 
By the fire is a highwayman, with a horse pistol and 
black mask in a skirt pocket of his coat. He wears 
long horseman's boots with spurs and a large riding- 
coat, and carries a hat under his arm. He is so 
engrossed hi his thoughts that he observes nothing 
that is going on around him, and he does not observe 
the boy by his side, who endeavours to attract atten- 
tion to the glass of liquor which he carries on a tray. 1 

In connection with this we may quote Farquhar's 
Beaux Stratagem (act iii. sc. 2), where Aimwell says 
to Gibbet, who is a highwayman, ' Pray, sir, ha'nt 
I seen your face at Will's Coffee-House ?' ' Yes, sir, 
and at White's too,' answers the highwayman. 

1 British Museum Catalogue, voL iii. p. 155. 



TAVERN LIFE 297 

It would appear that some of the frequenters of the 
Club, not satisfied with the possibilities of gambling 
in the club-room, searched for further opportunities 
in the public room. The figure in the background 
who is giving his note of hand to a usurer is said to 
represent ' Old Manners,' brother to the Duke of 
Rutland, who is reported to have been the only 
person of rank of his time who amassed a consider- 
able fortune by the profession of a gamester. 

White's was always the headquarters of gaming, 
and Robert Harley, Earl of Oxford, in the time of his 
ministry never passed the house ' without bestowing 
a curse upon that famous academy, as the bane of 
half the English nobility.' l On the left of the picture 
is a richly-dressed nobleman borrowing from a 
moneylender, who is writing in a memorandum book 
' Lent to L d Cogg 5001' On the wall above the 
highwayman is a card bearing the royal arms and an 
inscription, ' R Justian, Card-maker to his Majfesty] 
royal family.' 

As an instance of the serious losses of members of 
the aristocracy by gaming, John Ireland relates that 

a Lord C lost in one night thirty-three thousand 

pounds to General Scott. He was warned of his 
probable complete ruin by three ladies dressed as 
witches at a masquerade. He was much struck by 
the warning, and vowed never to lose more than one 
hundred pounds at a sitting, and by keeping his vow 
he retrieved his fortune ! 

1 Swift's Essay on Modern Education. Works (Bell's edition), vol. xi. p. 53. 



298 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

After the fire the Club and Chocolate-House were 
removed to Gaunt' s Coffee-House on the west side 
of the street and two doors from the end of the street 
and Cleveland Row. This removal is announced in 
the Daily Post of May 3 : * This is to acquaint all 
noblemen and gentlemen that Mr. Arthur having 
had the misfortune to be burnt out of White's 
Chocolate-House is removed toGaunt's Coffee-House, 
next the St. James's Coffee-House in St. James's 
Street, where he humbly begs they will favour him 
with their company as usual.' 

The fourth plate represents St. James's Street with 
the palace in the background closing the vista ; the 
clock on the gateway indicates the hour as 1.40 P.M. 
The time of the year is shown by the Welshman on 
the right of the picture wearing a large leek, which 
fixes the day as the 1st of March (St. David's Day). 
He also carries a muff. The fact that it was the 
anniversary of St. David is only an incident; the 
really important event connected with March 1 then 
was that it was Queen Caroline's birthday and there- 
fore a Court day. The Rake overwhelmed with 
debt is apparently proceeding to Court, and with 
the blinds of his sedan-chair drawn hopes to escape 
the bailiffs who are hi search of him. He is, 
however, stopped, and the faithful woman (Sarah 
Young) whom he deserted sets him at liberty 
by paying the present demand. The lamp-cleaner 
behind the Rake is so much interested in the 
arrest that he pours the oil from his can over 



TAVERN LIFE 299 

the lamp to the inconvenience of any one beneath 
him. 

Hogarth appears to have made alterations in the 
plate after the fire, as in the second state he indicated 
the site of Gaunt' s Coffee-House with a label marked 
Black's, and specially points to it by means of a 
flash of lightning. In this second state a group of 
gambling boys take the place of the shoeblack who 
steals the Rake's cane. 

The posts which marked the edge of the pavement 
in most of the London streets are seen in this picture. 
John Ireland (i. 43) alludes to this in a note on this 
plate. ' On new paving the streets soon after his 
present Majesty's accession [George in.] they were 
removed. During the short time of Lord Bute's 
administration an English gentleman reprobated the 
idea of making a Scotch pavement in the vicinity 
of St. James's. Being asked by a North Briton, 
who was present, how he or any other Englishman 
could reasonably object to even Scotchmen mending 
their ways in the neighbourhood of a palace ? " We 
do not object to your mending our ways," replied 
the other, " but you have taken away all our posts." 

In 1736 the Club was removed to the premises 
rebuilt on the site of the present Arthur's Club. 
Robert Arthur succeeded John Arthur as proprietor. 

In 1753 a little book was published entitled * The 
Polite Gamester ; or the Humours of Whist : % a 
dramatick satyre as acted every day at White's 
and other coffee houses and assemblies.' Mr. Bourke 



300 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

quotes from this : ' In the Club at White's being a 
select company above stairs, where no person of what 
rank soever is admitted without first being proposed 
by one of the Club.' Mr. Bourke says that this is the 
last mention of the Chocolate-House which he has 
found, and he adds ' there is little doubt that the 
Chocolate-House was extinguished on the removal of 
the Clubs [Old and New] to the present building in 
1755.' 

It is interesting to notice in The History of White's 
that, although so great stress is laid upon the im- 
portance and greatness of the Club, the historian is 
proud to illustrate his book with two plates from the 
' Rake's Progress,' hi order to show its interest is 
enhanced by the fact that Hogarth saw fit to make 
it the subject of his satire. 

This chapter contains some miscellaneous notes 
on tavern life in London in the eighteenth century, 
but it may be well to show succinctly how the life of 
the man of the world was daily spent. Pope has 
told us how Addison apportioned his day : 

1 Addison' s chief companions, before he married 
Lady Warwick (in 1716) were Steele, Budgell, 
Philips, Carey, Davenant and Colonel Brett. He used 
to breakfast with one or other of them at his lodgings 
in St. James's Place, dine at taverns with them, then 
to Button's, and then to some tavern again, for 
supper, in the evening, and this was the usual round 
of his life.' l 

1 Spence's Anecdotes, ed. Singer, 1829, p. 196. 



TAVERN LIFE 301 

This does not seem to leave much time for work or 
study, but such a life was general. 

A distinction continued to be made between 
taverns and coffee-houses, but the latter seem to 
have encroached very largely upon the privileges of 
the former. Taverns did not sell coffee, but coffee- 
houses occasionally did provide dinners. 



302 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER X 

THEATRICAL LIFE 

HOGARTH was quite at home at the theatre, and he 
was well acquainted with many actors, so that we 
find sufficient materials from his pencil to help us to 
form a very accurate idea of the theatre in the 
eighteenth century. In fact a very large number 
of his engravings bear upon the various phases of 
theatrical life, so that the present chapter has grown 
to be one of the longest in the book. 

The pleasures of all classes were catered for with 
eagerness by a large number of persons who made 
their living by the frivolity of the people. Probably 
at no period of our history were the various forms of 
dissipation more generally sought after by large 
numbers of the population of great cities than in the 
first half of the eighteenth century. The satirical 
representation of some of the many features of this 
life was specially agreeable to Hogarth, who found 
on all sides an endless exhibition of character suited 
for his particular purpose. Two of his pictures give 
us a vivid representation of the interior of a play- 
house of his time, viz. the ' Beggar's Opera ' (1728) 
and the ' Laughing Audience ' (1733). 




"THE LAUGHING AUDIENCE." 1733. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 303 

The ' Laughing Audience ' was at one time styled 
' A Pleased Audience at a Play.' It was used as the 
subscription ticket for ' Southwark Fair ' and a 
' Rake's Progress.' Below the design the folio whig 
form of receipt was engraved : * Rec d of 

Half a guinea being the first Payment 
for Nine Prints, 8 of which represent a Rake's 
Progress and the 9th a Fair, which I Promise to 
Deliver at Michaelmas next on receiving One Guinea 
more, the Print of the Fair being Deliver'd at the 
time of Subscribing.' 

There are three varieties of this inscription : the 
above is in the first state ; in the second ' when 
finish'd ' is substituted for ' at Michaelmas next,' and 
the price was raised after the subscription was closed. 
Hogarth filled in the receipt himself. 

After this etching had served its purpose as a 
subscription ticket it was issued separately as a 
distinct print. 

The original picture belonged to Richard Brinsley 
Sheridan in 1814, when it was exhibited at the 
British Institution. In 1832 it realised twenty 
guineas at G. Watson Taylor's sale, and in 1848 
forty-nine guineas, when were sold the effects of 
Richard Sanderson of Belgrave Square. In the 
engraving a part of the orchestra, pit, and boxes are 
represented. The heads of three musicians are 
shown in the orchestra, and eleven men and women 
sit in the pit. The latter are the only persons in the 
audience who seem to be enjoying the performance, 



304 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and the expressions of their faces are varied and full 
of humour. The figures in the boxes are too much 
interested in their own concerns to pay attention to 
what is going on upon the stage. Two points are 
worthy of special attention, one being the iron spikes 
on the wooden barrier between the orchestra and the 
pit. This awkward protection was also common 
to French theatres until a serious mishap caused its 
abolition. A young English nobleman visiting Paris 
near the end of William the Third's reign, had a 
quarrel at the opera with a French gentleman and 
pitched him bodily from the box tier into the 
orchestra. In his fall the Frenchman was impaled 
upon the spikes. After this the management cleared 
them away from the barrier. In Churchill's earlier 
days in London, when he was gathering materials for 
his Rosciad, he sat in the front row of the pit, and 
it was noticed that he grasped the spikes on the 
partition between the orchestra and pit. Arthur 
Murphy, in his ' Ode to the Naiads of the Fleet 
Ditch,' described how Churchill used to sit 

' In foremost row before th' astonish 'd pit, 
And grin dislike, 
And kiss the spike, 
And twist his mouth and roll his head awry.' 

In those days Churchill was a somewhat unclerical 
fop with ruffles, leathern breeches, and gold-laced hat. 
The other point for notice is the mode of lighting, 
which must have been very inefficient. Candles in 
sconces will be seen in front of the boxes. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 305 

This picture shows the front of the house, that of 
the ' Beggar's Opera ' gives us a representation of the 
stage of the period. 

The picture which represents the scene of Lucy 
and Polly wrangling over Macheath, and appealing 
to their respective fathers, as represented in the third 
act, is said to have been painted for Rich, the 
manager, in 1729. Another picture of the same scene 
was painted in the same year for Sir Archibald 
Grant ; this afterwards came into the possession of 
Mr. William Huggins, at the sale of whose effects it 
was bought by Dr. Monkhouse of Queen's College, 
Oxford. 1 John Ireland says that the frame had a 
carved bust of Gay on the top, which proves that this 
is the picture now in possession of Mr. John Murray 
who lent it to the exhibition in the Whitechapel Art 
Gallery, 1906, and to the Royal Academy Winter 
Exhibition, 1908. 

At the sale of Rich's pictures in 1762 the first- 
mentioned picture was purchased by the Duke of 
Leeds for 35, 14s., and it is now in the possession of 
the present Duke. It was not engraved until 1790, 
when it was undertaken by William Blake and 
published by Messrs. Boydell. 2 Another picture was 
in the possession of Mr. Louis Huth. 

The Beggar's Opera was written by Gay in 1727 on 
the suggestion by Swift that a Newgate Pastoral 
would be effective. Although Gay took the hint so 

1 John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, 1793, vol. ii. p. 330. 

2 J. Ireland says that it was ' engraven by Mr. Tew.' Hogarth Illus- 
trated, vol. ii. p. 328. 

U 



306 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

far as to choose his characters from the dangerous 
classes, he really threw his work into the form of a 
parody of Italian opera, which, for a time, he caused 
to be less popular than it was before he figured as the 
Orpheus of highwaymen. John Ireland relates that 
an Italian he knew ' concluded an harangue calcu- 
lated to throw Gay's taste and talents into contempt 
with " Saire, this simple signer did tri to pelt mi 
countrymen out of England with lumps of pudding " ' * 
(one of the tunes used by Gay). 

The Beggar's Opera was first offered to Colley 
Gibber for Drury Lane Theatre, but was refused by 
him. It was then accepted by John Rich (son of 
Christopher Rich), and brought out at Lincoln's Inn 
Fields Theatre on January 29, 1728. It was not 
only Gibber who was doubtful of success, for, accord- 
ing to Boswell, the Duke of Queensberry said, ' This 
is a very odd thing, Gay ; it is either a very good 
thing or a bad thing.' At its first appearance success 
was not certain for some time after the opening of 
the play. Pope and a party of Gay's friends at- 
tended the first night ' in very great uncertainty of 
the event,' until they overheard the Duke of Argyll 
in the next box say, * It will do, it must do. I see it 
in the eyes of them.' Pope told Spence that this 
gave them all ease of mind, ' for that duke (besides 
his own good taste) has a particular knack, as any one 
living, in discovering the taste of the public. He 
was quite right in this as usual.' 

1 Sogarth Illustrated, vol. ii. p. 328. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 307 

Mackliii was present at the first representation, 
and from him we learn that success was doubtful 
until the opening of the second act, when, after the 
chorus song of ' Let us take the road,' the applause 
was as universal as unbounded. Others affirm with 
more probability that success was assured rather 
when Polly sang her pathetic appeal to her parents : 

' Oh ponder well ! be not severe ; 

To save a wretched wife ; 
For, on the rope that hangs my dear, 
Depends poor Polly's life.' 

There were several circumstances that went to 
make the play a success. (1) It was a thoroughly 
English production, so that those who resented the 
popularity of Italian opera were whole-hearted in 
their support of the Beggar's Opera. (2) All the wits 
of the day supported and assisted the author. (3) The 
bitter satire levelled at Sir Robert Walpole and his 
ministry was eagerly taken up by his many enemies. 

The minister was not a coward, however, and he 
attended the performance. The following anecdote 
of what happened is related in Baker's Biographia 
Dramatica : ' Being in the stage boxes at its first 
representation, a most universal encore attended the 
following air of Lockit, and all eyes were directed 
on the minister at the instant of its being repeated : 

" When you censure the age, 

Be cautious and sage, 
Lest the courtiers offended should be ; 

If you mention vice or bribe 

Tis so pat to all the tribe, 
Each cries That was levelled at me." 



308 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

' Sir Robert, observing the pointed manner in which 
the audience applied the last line to him, parried the 
thrust by encoring it with his single voice, and thus 
not only blunted the poetical shaft, but gained a 
general huzza from the audience.' 

In addition to these causes of success we must 
remember that the play had great merits, was quite 
fresh, and the songs and music were sufficiently 
pretty not only to carry it triumphantly through the 
longest run that the English stage had ever known up 
to that date, but also to continue it as a stock piece 
for considerably more than a century. 

Not being an experienced playwright Gay did not 
introduce his songs until about the middle of the 
play. This had to be remedied, so the wits set to 
work to help their colleague and produced a series 
of additional songs. ' Virgins are like the fair 
flower in its lustre,' was written by Sir Charles 
Hanbury Williams ; ' The gamesters and lawyers 
are jugglers alike,' by William Fortescue, Master of 
the Rolls ; ' When you censure the age,' by Swift, 
and ' The modes of the court so common are grown,' 
by Lord Chesterfield. 1 

It was originally intended that no music should 
accompany the songs, as the junto of wits objected to 
it. Music was, however, tried at a rehearsal, and the 
Duchess of Queensberry (Gay's kind patroness) was 
so strongly in favour of introducing an orchestra 
that she settled its adoption. This was not large, as 

Lady Townskend (European Magazine, 1800, voL xxxvii p. 25). 



THEATRICAL LIFE 309 

it consisted only of three or four fiddles, a hautboy, 
and an occasional drum. Dr. Pepusch arranged and 
scored the notes. 

Henry Angelo in his Reminiscences claims for Pope 
the success of the Beggar's Opera, on account of his 
having contributed the most satirical hits at the 
Court. 

He wrote : 

' And the statesman, because he 's so great 
Thinks his trade is as honest as mine.' 

These lines stood in Gay's MS. : 

' And there 's many arrive to be great 
By a trade not more honest than mine.' 

Also Pope contributed these lines in the song of 
Macheath : 

' Since Laws were made for every degree, 
To curb vice in others as well as in me, 
I wonder we hadn't better company 
Upon Tyburn tree.' 

The question must often have been asked, What 
was the meaning of the title of the Beggar's Opera ? 
This was answered in the original edition, when in 
the Introduction a beggar offers his opera to the 
players. He says : 

' The piece I own was originally writ for the cele- 
brating the marriage of James Chanter and Moll 
Lay, two most excellent ballad singers. I have 
introduced the similes that are in all your celebrated 
operas : the Swallow, the Moth, the Bee, the Ship, 
the Flower, etc. Besides I have a prison scene, 



310 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

which the ladies always reckon charmingly pathetic. 
As to the parts, I have observed such a nice imparti- 
ality to our two ladies, that it is impossible for either 
of them to take offence.' 

This was not considered a good beginning, and 
was perhaps wisely struck out. 

The parts of the Beggar and the Player are left in 
at the end, and therefore they appear to come from 
nowhere. The Player complains that the play has 
an unhappy ending, which is against all precedent, so 
the Beggar says that can be easily changed. ' So 
you rabble there run and cry, A Reprieve ! Let the 
prisoner be brought back to his wives in triumph.' 
Macheath returns, and the opera ends happily with a 
dance. We all know the saying that the success of 
the Beggar's Opera made Gay rich and Rich gay ; but 
it did more than this, for it made the fortunes of the 
two principal actors who had not previously been 
possessed of much fame. 

Lavinia Fenton (1708-1760) made her first ap- 
pearance on the stage in 1726 as Monimia in 
Otway's Orphans at the New Theatre in the Hay- 
market. John Rich was so much struck with her 
appearance as Cherry in the Beaux' Stratagem that 
he tempted her away from the Haymarket with the 
' magnificent ' offer of 15s. per week. 

When shortly afterwards he was arranging for the 
presentation of the Beggar's Opera, in order to secure 
the services of Miss Fenton for the principal female 
character, he doubled her salary. She appeared as 




LAVINIA FKNTON (POLLY PEACH UM), AFTERWARDS DUCHESS OF BOLTON. 

From the original painting in the National Gallery. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 311 

Polly Peachum on the opening night, January 29, 
1728, and at once became the idol of the town. On 
June 19 the opera was played for the sixty-second 
and last time that season, when she made her last 
appearance on the boards of a theatre, so that her 
career as an actress was a short one. She was 
succeeded in the character of Polly by Miss 
Warren. 

Charles Paulet, third Duke of Bolton, said that he 
was first captivated by Polly's song, ' Oh, ponder 
well,' which has already been alluded to as the 
turning-point in the success of the performance. 
The Duke was a constant attendant at the theatre, 
and after the first season he took Miss Fenton from 
the stage and she remained his mistress for twenty- 
three years. Soon after the death of the Duchess, 
from whom he had been separated for many years, 
the Duke married Lavinia at Aix in Provence (on the 
20th of September 1751). She was highly thought of 
in her new sphere, and the famous Dr. Joseph 
Warton gave her a high character. 

1 She was a very accomplished and most agreeable 
companion, had much wit, good strong sense, and 
a just taste in polite literature. Her person was 
agreeable and well made, though I think she could 
never be called a beauty. I have had the pleasure of 
being at table with her, when her conversation was 
much admired by the first characters of the age, 
particularly old Lord Bathurst and Lord Granville.' 

Hogarth's portrait of her, now in the National 



312 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Gallery, is a fine work, and gives a pleasing idea of 
the charming actress. 1 

Gay wished his friend Quin to take the part of 
Macheath, but that great actor had no taste for the 
part, for which he felt he was unfitted, although he 
had a good ear for music and was famous for singing 
ballads with ease. He did, however, drudge through 
two rehearsals, but at the close of the second Tom 
Walker was observed behind the scenes humming 
some of the songs in a tone and manner that attracted 
notice. Quin laid hold of this circumstance to get 
rid of the part, and exclaimed : ' Ay, there is a man 
who is more qualified to do you justice than I am.' 
Walker was called on to make the experiment, and 
Gay, who instantly saw the difference, accepted him 
as the hero of his piece. 

Walker was an indifferent musician and knew little 
of music scientifically, but he could sing a song in 
good ballad time. He had a speaking eye and 
admirable action; the ease and gaiety of his style was 
very marked. He showed great judgment in his 
treatment of the character which he created and 
made as great a success as Lavinia Fenton did in 
Polly. He did not make Macheath a town beau or a 
gentleman, but his manner, deportment, and voice 

1 This picture was in the possession of Samuel Ireland who published an 
engraving of it by C. Aposteel in 1797. It faces p. 49 of Graphic Illustra- 
tions, vol. ii. The picture was bought by Mr. William Seguier at Ireland's 
sale in 1801 for 5, 7s. 6d., and was afterwards in the collection of Mr. 
George Watson Taylor. He exhibited it in 1814, and at his sale it fetched 
52, 10s. It was purchased for the National Gallery in 1884 from Sir Philip 
Miles's collection for 800 guineas. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 313 

all partook of the roughness and simplicity of the 
character. Walker was not famous before the 
opportunity of his life occurred, but he had made his 
mark in his profession. His Macheath, however, 
obliterated all remembrance of his former successes. 

Barton Booth saw Walker playing Paris in a droll 
named The Siege of Troy, and at once recommended 
him to the management of Drury Lane. Davies tells 
us that his Bajazet and Hotspur had hardly been 
rivalled, and that his Falconbridge was better than 
that of Garrick, Sheridan, Delane, and Barry, which 
indeed is high praise. 

In the same year that he gained his great fame as 
Macheath he brought out at Lee and Harper's booth 
in Bartholomew Fair a sort of imitation of the 
Beggar's Opera entitled the Quaker's Opera. 

During the run of the Beggar's Opera and for many 
years afterwards Walker was more in requisition with 
the public than the highest performers on the stage. 
To have spent an evening with him at the tavern was 
a feather in the town buck's cap, and not to know 
him personally off the stage was reckoned a piece of 
gross incuriosity. His portrait was set in every 
print-shop, and all the fashionable fans and screens of 
the day represented some scene between him and 
Lavinia Fenton as Macheath and Polly. 

This popularity was his ruin, as he gave way to 
intemperance and lost his memory, with the conse- 
quence that he was discharged from the London 
stage. He attempted to recover his character and 



314 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

went to Ireland to change the scene, but bad habits 
were too deeply fixed, and he died in Dublin in great 
wretchedness in 1744. 

Mrs. Egleton was the original Lucy Lockit, and she 
shared with Polly much of the appreciation of the 
public. She had been much admired as a good 
comic actress before she undertook this part. 

John Hippisley was the original Peachum, a char- 
acter drawn after Jonathan Wild. He was well 
known for his acting of many of Shakespeare's low 
comedy characters, and his representation of Fluellen 
was considered an artistic performance. Davies de- 
scribes him as a comedian of lively humour and droll 
pleasantry. 

There is a portrait of him at the Garrick Club 
attributed to Hogarth. 

John Hall was the original Lockit. He was a 
dancing-master before he took to the stage, and he 
was not much known until he acted this character, 
but by it he acquired a great reputation. 

Mrs. Martin was the original Mrs. Peachum, and 
she also took the character of Diana Trapes. 

To return to Hogarth's picture after this digression 
respecting the chief actors and actresses. It repre- 
sents Macheath in the centre of the stage with Lucy 
on the left pleading for him to her father Lockit, and 
Polly on the right pleading to Peachum. 

Hogarth has given us a good representation of the 
stage of the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and no 
other picture of the interior of this old playhouse 



THEATRICAL LIFE 315 

is known. It shows how inconvenient it must have 
been to have a crowd of fashionable loungers seated 
on the stage and leaving little room for the actors. 
This was a bad old custom which continued for many 
years in spite of protests. A royal proclamation of 
Queen Anne, dated November 15, 1711, forbade the 
practice, but no notice was taken of the prohibition. 

' Whereas we are informed that the orders we have 
already given for the reformation of the stage by not 
permitting anything to be acted contrary to religion 
or good manners, have in great measure had their 
good effect we proposed and being further desirous 
of reforming all other indecencies and disorders of the 
stage, our will and pleasure therefore is, and we do 
hereby command that no person of what quality 
soever shall presume to stand behind the scenes, or 
go upon the stage either before or during the acting 
of any opera or play, and that no person go into 
either of our houses for opera or comedy without first 
paying the established prices for their respective 
places.' 

Originally the portion of the audience who were 
allowed on the stage sat about in chairs, but here, in 
1728, we find that the visitors were confined in boxes 
or pews. 

It was Garrick who cleared away from the stage 
every one but the actors. 

On the right hand of the stage we see the Duke of 
Bolton (who sits in front) giving all his attention to 
Polly ; next to him is Major Paunceford, and then in 



316 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the following order Sir Robert Fagg, M.P., Rich the 
manager, Cock the auctioneer, and Gay the author. 

On the left-hand side is Lady Jane Cook, Anthony 
Henley, Lord Gage, Sir Conyers d'Arcy, and Sir 
Thomas Robinson. 

The lights on the stage consisted of candles set 
round in a hoop of tin sockets. This mode of lighting 
continued till Garrick's return to the stage in 1765, 
when he introduced side lights, invisible to the 
audience. 

In the same year (1728) Hogarth produced a plate 
entitled ' The Beggar's Opera Burlesqued,' of which 
there are five states. Under the design are engraved 
the following four lines : 

' Brittons attend view this harmonious stage, 
And listen to those notes which charm the age : 
Thus shall your taste in sounds and sense be shown, 
And Beggar's Op'ras ever be your own.' 

The design is rather confused and difficult of 
comprehension. It shows a representation of the 
Beggar's Opera and a rehearsal of an Italian opera. 
The characters of the former are drawn with the 
heads of different animals, as Polly with a cat's ; 
Lucy with a sow's ; Macheath with an ass's ; Lockit, 
Peachum and Mrs. Peachum with an ox, a dog, and 
an owl respectively. 

It is not clear why Hogarth burlesqued the char- 
acters in this way, as he evidently wished to point 
out the inferiority of the Italian opera. 

Mr. F. G. Stephens explains this as follows : 



THEATRICAL LIFE 317 

' At our left are the boxes of a theatre, and on the 
right is a scene at the Italian Opera, where a female 
singer is surrounded by noblemen offering homage 
and presents ; this, by the motto at the top of the 
plate " et cantare pares et respondere paratae," seems 
to be held out as worthy of equal estimation with the 
satirical representation of The Beggars Opera, which 
occupies the left of the design.' l 

A copy from Hogarth's print was published in 
1735 with the title ' The Opera House or the Italian 
Eunuch's Glory, Humbly Inscribed to those Generous 
Encouragers of Foreigners and Burners of England.' 2 

The dangerous tendency of the Beggar's Opera has 
been the subject of a considerable amount of dispute. 

Dr. Herring, preacher at Lincoln's Inn and after- 
wards Archbishop of Canterbury, ' censured it as 
giving encouragement not only to vice but to crimes, 
by making a highwayman the hero, and dismissing 
him at last unpunished.' On the other side Swift 
defended the opera against the attacks of his fellow 
Churchmen. 

Sir John Fielding, the Bow Street magistrate, tried 
to stop the performance on more than one occasion, 
but unsuccessfully. He once told Hugh Kelly that 
ever since the first representation of this piece there 
had been on every successful run a proportionate 
number of highwaymen brought to the office, as he 

1 British Museum Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires, voL ii. 
p. 670. 

3 British Museum Catalogue, vol. ill p. 95. 



318 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

would show him by the books any morning he took 
the trouble to look over them. Kelly had the 
curiosity to do so, and found the observation to be 
strictly true. 1 

About the year 1772 Fielding sent letters to the 
managers of Drury Lane and Covent Garden urging 
them not to perform the Beggar's Opera, as it tended 
to increase the number of beggars. Garrick, not 
having any good singers, expressed his approval of 
the magistrate's suggestion ; but Colman was not so 
complacent, and sent this answer : ' Mr. Colman' s 
compliments to Sir John Fielding, he does not think 
his the only house in Bow Street where thieves 
are hardened and encouraged and will persist in 
offering the representation of that admirable satire 
the Beggar's Opera. 1 (Lee Lewes' s Memoirs.) 

John Ireland corroborated Sir John Fielding's 
judgment by cases which came under his own 
observation. ' With three instances that I had an 
accidental opportunity of seeing, I was very forcibly 
impressed. Two boys, under nineteen years of age 
children of worthy and respectable parents fled 
from their friends, and pursued courses that threat- 
ened an ignominious termination to their lives. 
After much search they were found engaged in 
midnight dissipations, and in each of their pockets 
was the Beggar's Opera.' 

The third case was more conclusive. ' A lad of 
seventeen, some years since tried at the Old Bailey, 

1 European Magazine, Jan. 1800, voL xxxvii p. 26. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 319 

for what there was every reason to think his first 
offence, acknowledged himself so delighted with the 
spirited and heroic character of Macheath, that on 
quitting the theatre, he laid out his last guinea in the 
purchase of a pair of pistols, and stopped a gentleman 
on the highway.' l 

It will be remembered that Dr. Johnson took a 
different view both in conversation and in writing. 
In his Life of Gay (Lives of the Poets), after referring to 
Dr. Herring's condemnation and the observation 'that 
after the exhibition of the Beggar's Opera, the gangs of 
robbers were evidently multiplied,' Johnson writes : 
' Both these decisions are surely exaggerated. The 
play, like many others, was plainly written only to 
divert, without any moral purpose, and is therefore 
not likely to do good ; nor can it be conceived, 
without more speculation than life requires or admits, 
to be productive of much evil. Highwaymen and 
house-breakers seldom frequent the playhouse, or 
mingle in any elegant diversion ; nor is it possible 
for any one to imagine he may rob with safety, 
because he sees Macheath reprieved upon the stage.' 

Boswell tells us that Johnson expressed the opinion 
that more influence had been ascribed to the play 
than it in reality ever had, and he added, ' At the 
same time I do not deny that it may have some in- 
fluence by making the character of a rogue familiar 
and in some degree pleasing ! Then collecting him- 
self as it were, to give a heavy stroke : There is 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. ii. p. 324. 



320 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in it such a labefactation of all principles as may 
be injurious to morality.' 

This discussion on the influence of the Beggar's 
Opera was a favourite one with Boswell, and he had 
made collections for the purpose of publishing a 
quarto volume. Mr. Percy Fitzgerald says that it is 
supposed that his many visits to Newgate, attending 
on convicts, etc., were made with a view to this 
publication. 

One can hardly expect any instance of a bad 
influence to follow a performance of the opera in the 
present day, but in a time when highwaymen were 
admired as heroes by persons of weak and ill- 
regulated minds it was likely to have an evil effect. 

Samuel Ireland mentions benefit theatre tickets 
for three of the actors in the Beggar's Opera, which he 
attributes to Hogarth, viz. for Walker, Milward, and 
Spiller. The one * For the benefit of Mr. Walker,' 
represents the same scene in the play as Hogarth 
painted which has already been described. It is 
not, however, a copy, but an entirely different treat- 
ment of the five chief characters. Below is the 
inscription : ' Theatre Royal Co vent Garden. Pitt. 5 
The etching is signed ' W. Hogarth in*, J. Sympson 
Jun. sculp.' The original is in the Royal Collection. 
S. Ireland published a copy ' A. M. Ireland sculp* ' in 
his Graphic Illustrations (vol. i. p. 58). 

J. B.Nichols (Anecdotes of W.Hogarth, 1833, p. 300) 
quotes the following MS. note by W. Richardson 
(printseller, Strand), in the Graphic Illustrations : ' A 



THEATRICAL LIFE 321 

palpable fiction ; Sympson etched much better. 
See the frontispiece to Ned Ward's Works. Powell's 
daughter brought me this, with a few common 
prints, for sale. She asked for them 15s. I said 
' Why do you ask me so much for such trumpery?" 
She said there was one of Hogarth's worth a good 
deal more. She then sold them to N. Smith, May's 
Buildings, who sold this print to S. Ireland for eight 
guineas a proof that neither of them was possessed 
of much real judgement in Hogarth's works.' 

This is a very interesting piece of information, but 
Nichols is not inclined entirely to agree with Richard- 
son's decision. 

The benefit ticket for Milward represents a scene 
from the Beggar's Opera, in which that actor re- 
presented the Player who disputes with the Beggar, 
the supposed author of the play. The inscription is : 
* Theatre Royal, Lincolns Inn Fields, Tuesday April 
23. A Bold Stroke for a Wife w th Entertainments 
for y e Benefit of M r Milward.' 

John Nichols (Anecdotes, 1785, p. 423) refers to this 
benefit ticket, and writes : ' This careless but spirited 
engraving has more of Hogarth's manner than 
several other more laboured pieces which of late have 
been imputed to him. Let the connoisseur judge.' 

The date of Milward' s benefit is not positively 
recorded, but it must have been after 1728 and before 
1733. Mrs. Centlivre's play, A Bold Stroke for a 
Wife, was first performed in 1718. Ireland etched a 
copy of the original print which was published by 



322 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Motton and Co. in 1788, and another impression was 
issued in the Graphic Illustrations (vol. i. p. 98). 

James Spiller, who sustained the character of 
Mat o' the Mint, was reduced to a state of great 
distress soon after the first success of the Beggar's 
Opera. The ticket for his benefit is mentioned by 
John Nichols and J. B. Nichols. The former describes 
it as a ' beautiful little print,' and the latter expressed 
the opinion that ' this is immeasurably superior to all 
the other tickets both in design and execution. It 
makes one suspect all the rest to be not by Hogarth.' 
(Anecdotes of Hogarth, 1833, p. 299.) Samuel Ireland 
etched a copy from the original print hi 1788 ; subse- 
quently it was included in the Graphic Illustrations. 
The ' print represents a large balance, suspended in 
the open space before a prison on the one hand, and 
on the other a tavern, in front of which is the sign of 
the " Sun." A leg of mutton hangs before the ad- 
joining house, which is thus probably indicated to 
be that of Spiller himself. Entwined with the beam 
of the balance is a label with " For the benefit of 
Spiller." Under the beam stands Spiller, eagerly 
selling tickets for his benefit at the theatre in 
Lincoln's Inn Fields to several gentlemen.' 1 

Spiller was a publican in Clare Market, where a 
club was held of which Hogarth was a member. 
The original sign was the Bull and Butcher, but on 
Laguerre painting Spiller's portrait, which he pre- 
sented to the Club, it was changed to the Spiller's 

1 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. ii. p. 677. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 323 

Head. This was the scene of a picture by Hogarth 
called ' Oysters ; or St. James's Day.' l 

Spiller's last appearance on the stage was on 
January 31, 1729. He died on February 7 following, 
aged thirty-seven years, and was buried at the 
expense of Rich the manager in the churchyard of 
St. Clement Danes. He was a favourite of the 
public, but intemperance was the bane of his career. 

Hogarth produced several portraits of actors, and 
he must have had a varied acquaintance with the 
players at the different theatres, but his associations 
were more ultimate with the actors of the chief 
theatre Drury Lane. 

Joe Miller took his benefit as Sir Joseph Wittol in 
Congreve's Old Bachelor at Drury Lane on April 25, 
1717. There is a theatre ticket for this occasion 
representing a scene in the third act of this play. 
Samuel Ireland attributes this to Hogarth, and 
suggests that it was designed about the time of the 
publication of the * Rake's Progress ' (1735). 2 

It is generally believed to be a forgery, and W. 
Richardson supposes the forger to have been Powell. 

S. Ireland also gives a copy of a ticket for the 
benefit of Fielding, author of the Mock Doctor, which 
occurred on April 20, 1732. 3 Theophilus Gibber 
filled the part of the Mock Doctor, and the scene 
represented in the picture contains a portrait of him* 
This is not accepted as a true work of Hogarth. 

1 Dobson's Hogarth, 1907, p. 218. 

2 Graphic Illustrations, vol. i. p. 128. 3 Ibid., p. 104. 



324 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

'A just View of the British Stage, or three Heads are 
better than one. Scene Newgate, by M. D[e]v[o]to ' 
(1725), has been attributed to Hogarth, but it is 
of very doubtful authenticity. Devoto was scene- 
painter at Drury Lane, Lincoln's Inn Fields, and 
Goodman's Fields. This print is called in Walpole's 
Catalogue, ' Booth, Wilks and Gibber contriving a 
Pantomime.' 

In 1733 Theophilus Gibber produced at Drury 
Lane a short grotesque pantomime entitled The 
Harlofs Progress, or the Ridotto al Fresco, founded on 
Hogarth's pictures. It was printed with a dedica- 
tion to the painter. The tract is very rare, and 
some copies contain portraits of Hogarth and Gibber, 
the latter in his favourite character of Pistol. 

In this same year Theophilus Gibber promoted a 
quarrel between the manager of Drury Lane and 
some of the actors, which caused a secession of the 
latter to the Haymarket. John Laguerre, the scene- 
painter, produced an interesting etching on the 
subject entitled 'The Stage Mutiny,' 1 which is 
worthy of special mention here because Hogarth 
used the design on a show-cloth in his representation 
of Southwark Fair. Laguerre was a friend of 
Hogarth, who obtained his services as a witness in 
his action against Joshua Morris. He is said also to 
have designed a benefit ticket for him. 

The manager of Covent Garden Theatre was glad 
to have a laugh at his rivals, and in 1734 a tragi- 

1 See British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. ii. p. 794. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 325 

comi-farcical opera called The Stage Mutineers, or a 
Playhouse to be Let, was produced with some success. 

The pit ticket for Fielding's benefit, already 
alluded to, brings the names of Fielding and Theo- 
philus Gibber in conjunction in 1732, but in the 
following year they are found on different sides. 
Fielding considered that Highmore, the manager, 
was ill-used, and he stuck to the fortunes of Drury 
Lane Theatre. He has been said, on little authority, 
to be the author of the 'Apology for the Life of Mr. 
The. Gibber, being a Proper Sequel to the Apology 
for the Life of Mr. Colley Gibber, Comedian,' in 
which the actor is unmercifully satirised in a vein 
of sustained irony. We must now pass on to notice 
the friendship of Hogarth and Garrick, which is in 
every way pleasing to the admirers of both men, for it 
is said that they never had a misunderstanding. Mr. 
Joseph Knight, in his valuable Life of Garrick (1894), 
gives us several glimpses of their mutual relations. 

On one occasion it had been hinted to Garrick that 
he had been remiss in his visits to Hogarth. In 
consequence of these hints he wrote a very agreeable 
letter of which this is the concluding part : 

c If Mrs. Hogarth has observed my neglect I am 
flattered by it, but if it is your observation woe 
betide you ! 

' Could I follow my own wishes I would see you 
every day in the week, and not care whether it was 
in Leicester Fields or Southampton Street, but what 



326 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

with an indifferent state of health and the care of a 
large family [Drury Lane Theatre], in which there 
are many froward children, I have scarce half an 
hour to myself. However, since you are grown a 
polite devil, and have a mind to play at lords and 
ladies, have at you. I will certainly call upon you 
soon ; and if you should not be at home I will leave 
my card. Dear Hogarth, yours most sincerely, 

'D. GARRICK.' 1 

Hogarth painted Garrick as Richard m. hi 1746 
for Mr. Duncombe of Duncombe Park, and he was 
proud of receiving two hundred pounds forthe picture, 
which he observed in his Autobiography, ' was more 
than any English artist ever received for a simple 
portrait.' It still remains in the possession of Mr. 
Duncombe's descendant, the Earl of Feversham. 

The picture was engraved by Hogarth and Charles 
Grignion. The latter informed John Ireland ' that 
Hogarth etched the head and hand, but finding the 
head too large he erased it, and etched it in a second 
time, when seeing it wrong (sic) placed upon the 
shoulders, he again rubbed it out, and replaced it as 
it now stands, remarking, "I never was right until I 
had been wrong." 

On October 21, 1746, Hogarth sent a sketch of 
Garrick and Quin to a member of a literary society 
at Norwich, styled the Argonauts. He wrote, 
* S r , If the exact figure of M r Quin were to be 
reduc'd to the size of the print of M r Garrick it 

1 Knight's David Garrick, p. 157. 




DAVID GARRICK AND MRS. GARRICK. 1757. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 327 

would seem to be the shortest man of the two, 
because M r Garrick is of a taller proportion.' 

A facsimile of this letter was published in 1797 by 
Laurie and Whittle, and a print of the two figures is 
included in Hogarth's works. 1 

The portrait of Garrick writing the prologue to 
Foote's comedy of Taste, with Mrs. Garrick behind 
him taking the pen from his hand, is interesting on 
account of the anecdote connected with it. The 
actor found fault with the picture. Hogarth, in a 
fit of irritation, drew his brush across the face of 
Garrick, and the picture remained hi his possession 
till his death. Mrs. Hogarth sent the portrait to 
Garrick after the painter's death. At Mrs. Garrick's 
sale in 1823 the picture was bought by Mr. Edward 
Hawke Locker of Greenwich Hospital for 75, 11s. 
Mr. Locker sold it to George iv., and it is now 
at Windsor. Mr. Austin Dobson, who gives this 
account, quotes from Mr. F. G. Stephens (Grosvenor 
Gallery Catalogue, 1888) the corroboration of 
Hogarth's supposed action: 'The eyes of Garrick 
being coarsely painted, ill-drawn, and evidently by 
another hand than Hogarth's, attest the truth of 
this story.' It is related by Murphy that Hogarth 
saw Garrick hi Richard III. on one night, and on the 
following night in Abel Drugger. He was so much 
struck that he said to the actor, ' You are in your 
element when you are begrimed with dirt or up to 
your elbows in blood.' 

1 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. iii. p. 618. 



328 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Garrick is said to have allowed himself to be 
drawn as a rustic whose height is being taken by a 
recruiting sergeant in Plate 2 of the * Invasion.' 

He wrote the descriptive verses to the two prints, 
twelve lines each. The verses are : 

Plate 1, ' France.' 

' With lantern jaws, and croaking gut, 
See how the half-star v'd Frenchmen strut, 

And call us English dogs ! 
But soon we '11 teach these bragging foes, 
That beef and beer give heavier blows, 

Than soup and toasted frogs. 

The priests inflam'd with righteous hopes, 
Prepare their axes, wheels and ropes, 

To bend the stiff-neck'd sinner ! 
But should they sink in coming over, 
Old Nick may fish 'twixt France and Dover 

And catch a glorious dinner.' 

Plate 2, c England.' 

' See John the soldier, Jack the Tar, 
With sword and pistol arm'd for war, 

Should Mounseer dare come here ! 
The hungry slaves have smelt our food, 
They long to taste our flesh and blood, 

Old England's beef and beer ! 

Britons to arms ! and let 'em come, 
Be you but Britons still, strike home, 

And lion-like attack 'em ; 
No power can stand the deadly stroke, 
That 's given from hands and hearts of oak, 

With Liberty to back 'em.' 

In 1762 Hogarth drew an excellent frontispiece 
for Garrick' s successful interlude of The Farmer's 




GARRICK IN "THE FARMER'S RETURN." 1762. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 329 

Return from London, which was dedicated to the 
artist ' as a faint testimony of the sincere esteem 
which the writer bears him.' 

Forster, in his Life of Goldsmith, among some 
disparaging remarks on Boswell, relates the follow- 
ing improbable story: 'The youthful Scot . . . 
had seen Garrick in the new farce of the Farmer's 
Return, and gone and peeped over Hogarth's shoulder 
as he sketched little David in the Farmer, hitting 
off in half a dozen minutes with magical facility of 
pencil, a likeness that was held to be marvellous ' 
(vol. i. p. 295). 1 

Garrick and his wife went to Italy in 1763. From 
Savoy he wrote to his man George, bidding him 
' take care of Hogarth's pictures and keep them out 
of the sun by which they might be spoilt.' '' 

A little later, when Churchill was writing his 
Epistle to William Hogarth, Garrick wrote to ' The 
Bruiser ' with admirable loyalty though without 
success : 

' 1 must entreat of you by the regard you profess 
to me that you don't tilt at my friend Hogarth before 
you see me. . . . He is a great and original genius. 
I love him as a man and reverence him as an artist.' 

In connection with the history of Drury Lane 

1 To the recent Fasciculus J. W, Clark dicatus, Cambridge, 1909 (pp. 
406-422), Mr. Sidney Colvin contributed a learned and very interesting 
study of Hogarth's original sketch for The Farmer's Return, now in the 
possession of the Hon. Mrs. A. E. Gathorne- Hardy. It originally belonged 
to Mr. H. P. Standly, afterwards to Mr. William Mitchell. Mr. Colvin's 
paper includes a facsimile of Hogarth's pen-drawing. 

J Knight's David Garrick, 1894, p. 203. 



330 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

there are two pictures of the green-room attributed 
to Hogarth which claim our special attention. Both 
were exhibited at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 
1906. 

No. 50, ' Garrick in the Green Room,' lent by Mr. 
J. E. Reiss, 1 and No. 70, ' Green Room, Drury Lane,' 
lent by the late Sir Charles Tennant. ' Garrick in 
the Green Room ' is the title of a picture which was 
discovered early in the nineteenth century and 
purchased for a few shillings. It was ' engraved in 
mezzotinto by William Ward Jan. 1, 1829,' for the 
possessor, James Webb Southgate, who published 
it at 22 Fleet Street. George Daniel wrote a 
description of the picture, also published in 1829, and 
entitled ' Garrick in the Green Room ! a Biographi- 
cal and Critical Analysis of a Picture.' 

The key given of the persons represented is as 
follows : 1, Mr. Beard ; 2, Mr. Baddeley ; 3, Mrs. 
Garrick ; 4, Mr. Woodward ; 5, Unknown ; 6, 
Gentleman Aickin ; 7, Mr. Macklin ; 8, Gentleman 
Smith ; 9, Mrs. Yates ; 10, Mrs. Abingdon ; 11, 
Mr. Hogarth ; 12, Mr. O'Brien ; 13, David Garrick ; 
14, P. Garrick. This is a distinguished party, and 
the figures are arranged in a well-grouped picture, 
but one would like to know more of its history before 
accepting it as an undoubted original. One would 
have expected that such collectors of Hogarthiana as 
Walpole, Nichols, the two Irelands, and Trusler 
would have heard of the picture from Mrs. Hogarth 

1 This picture was exhibited in 1880 by Mr. Samuel Addington. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 331 

if they had not seen it themselves. J. B. Nichols 
expressed his doubt as to its authenticity, although 
he considered it a carefully-painted picture. He 
writes : * I cannot believe it to have been painted 
by Hogarth. It is not unlikely to be a French 
painting, with alterations adapted to the English 
market.' 1 

There does not appear to be any good reason for 
the latter suggestion. 

Of the picture styled ' The Green Room, Drury 
Lane,' we know even less than we do of ' Garrick in 
the Green Room.' We have neither information as 
to the date of the picture, nor of how or where it 
was discovered. 

The catalogue of the Whitechapel Gallery contains 
a very strongly- worded eulogy of the picture, and the 
writer places it in the very front rank of Hogarth's 
work. He writes : ' A magnificent work, unequalled 
for brilliance among the painter's achievements. The 
grave lighting is magical in its arresting power ; the 
way this light seems to come and go, now discovering 
and now obscuring the objects, means illumination 
profoundly understood, and the result is a picture 
inevitable and mysterious as life itself.' I do not 
question this statement respecting the technique, 
although it appears somewhat exaggerated, and I 
should not have quoted this criticism if I had found 
any earlier description of the picture in the literature 
of Hogarth's work. 

1 Anecdotes of W. Hogarth, 1833, p. 314. 



332 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

As a picture it is certainly much inferior in interest 
to the ' Garrick in the Green Room.' The figures are 
fewer and not so representative of ' Old Drury.' 

The picture is reproduced in Mr. Austin Dobson's 
folio Hogarth (Heinemann), and the names of the 
persons represented are there given, as they appear 
on the frame. They are : Miss Pritchard, Mrs. Prit- 
chard, Barry, Fielding, Quin, and Lavinia Fenton. 
The figures between Barry and Quin are in the back- 
ground and are very indistinct ; one is said to be 
intended for Fielding, and the other is unnamed. 

Two points in the picture which are worthy of 
special attention are the portraits of Quin and Lavinia 
Fenton. The former is a mere caricature and quite 
unworthy of Hogarth, who knew the actor well and 
painted his portrait more than once. Lavinia 
Fenton seems out of place in this green-room, as she 
never had any connection with Drury Lane, and she 
was not likely to be a frequenter of a green-room 
after 1728 when she finally left the stage. 

In dealing with the authenticity of the picture the 
first thing to find out is the supposed date of the 
scene represented. A clue to this seems to present 
itself in the presence of Mrs. Pritchard and her 
daughter. 

Miss Pritchard made her debut at Drury Lane as 
Juliet to Garrick' s Romeo in 1756. Her appearance 
caused a great sensation, but she was not able to 
keep up her high reputation. We may therefore 
take the year 1756 as the date of the picture, and if 



THEATRICAL LIFE 333 

we do so we cannot but be astonished at the absence 
from the green-room of Drury Lane of Garrick 
himself and of such stars as Mrs. Gibber and Kitty 
Clive, not to mention the names of Woodward, 
Palmer, and Mossop. 

Of those persons who are represented, Fielding 
had been dead two years in 1756 ; Quin was sixty- 
three years of age, and had retired from the stage 
five years before ; Lavinia Fenton was forty-eight, 
and, moreover, was the widowed Duchess of 
Bolton. 1 

Having referred to that great actress, Mrs. 
Pritchard, one of the mainstays of Drury Lane 
Theatre, we cannot resist the temptation of inserting 
here an anecdote from an old magazine, which places 
her in a pleasing light. 

4 Mrs. Pritchard, in one of her summer rambles 
went with a large party to see the Beggar's Opera at 
a remote country town, where it was so mangled as 
to render it almost impossible to resist laughing at 
some of the passages. Mrs. Pritchard perhaps might 
have indulged this too much, considering one of her 
profession ; however she escaped unnoticed till after 
the end of the performance, it was necessary for her 
and company to cross the stage to go to their carriages 
the only musician who filled the orchestra hap- 
pened likewise to be the manager, and having no 

1 I have no wish to dispute the authenticity of this picture, but until -we 
know more of its history and pedigree it seems necessary to set down the 
apparent difficulties in the way of accepting it as an undoubted work of 
Hogarth. 



334 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

other way of showing his revenge, he immediately 
struck up the opening tune 

" Through all the employments of life, 
Each neighbour abuses his brother." 

* This had such an effect on Mrs. Pritchard that she 
felt the rebuke, and threw Crowdero a crown for his 
wit, as well as a tribute of her own humiliation.' l 

Passing from Drury Lane to the Haymarket we 
have to take note of some of Fielding's successes hi 
which his friend Hogarth was interested. 

Fielding's version of Moliere's Medecin Malgre lui, 
which he called The Mock Doctor, or The Dumb Lady 
Cured, has already been alluded to because it was 
acted at Drury Lane. 

Fielding's first play, Love in Several Masques, was 
performed at Drury Lane hi February 1728, and on 
publication the author acknowledged in his preface 
the kindness of Wilkes and Gibber the managers. 

His Tom Thumb, a Tragedy (hi two acts), was 
brought out at the Haymarket in 1730. In the follow- 
ing year Fielding enlarged it into three acts. It was 
published in 1731 with the following title : Tragedy 
of Tragedies, or the Life and Death of Tom Thumb 
the Great . . . with the annotations of H. Scriblerus 
Secundus. London, J. Roberts, 1731.' Hogarth de- 
signed a frontispiece (1731) for this book, which was 
engraved by G. Vandergucht. 

This is an excellent burlesque written on the same 
principle as The Rehearsal. The scene between 

1 European Magazine, 1800, vol. xxxvii. p. 26. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 335 

Glumdalca and Huncamunca is a parody of the 
meeting between Octavia and Cleopatra in Dryden's 
AH for Love. Swift told Mrs. Pilkington that he had 
only laughed twice in his life, and one of the occasions 
was when he saw Tom Thumb killing the ghost. 1 
This, however, was omitted after the first edition of 
the piece. 

On the 3rd of May 1732 the play was transferred 
to Drury Lane, and was acted on that day for the 
benefit of William Ruf us Chetwood, the well-known 
prompter and bookseller in Covent Garden. 

The authenticity of the ' Pasquin ' ticket for the 
benefit of the author, Henry Fielding, has been 
doubted, but many will agree with Mr. Dobson when 
he writes : * There is a doubt whether this is really the 
work of Hogarth, but the strokes at political morality 
in that " dramatic satire on the times " would have 
been so much to the taste of the artist who later 
designed the inimitable Election Prints, that one is 
inclined to give him the benefit of any uncertainty.' 

Moreover, Hogarth was so great a friend of Field- 
ing that to assist him at his benefit was just what he 
would be glad to do. 

Mr. Stephens gives a description of this ticket, and 
a facsimile of it by A. M. Ireland will be found hi 
the first volume of his Graphic Illustrations. ' The 
design represents a stage scene, the background 

1 ' Mrs. Pilkington's memory served her imperfectly, since it is not Tom 
Thumb who kills the ghost, but the ghost of Tom Thumb which is killed by 
his jealous rival, Lord Grizzle ' (Dobson's Fielding, 1907, p. 22). 



336 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

comprising a colonnade from the respective wings of 
which a tight-rope is stretched. On this rope dancers 
are performing and holding their balancing poles ; 
an ape sits astride of the rope on our right.' 1 

The inscription on the ticket is ' The Author's 
Benefit Pasquin. At y e Theatre in the Haymarket.' 
On S. Ireland's copy is written in Fielding's hand- 
writing, ' Tuesday, April 25th. Boxes.' 

The success of the Beggar's Opera is the first in- 
stance of a long run on the English stage, and Field- 
ing's Pasquin, eight years afterwards (1736), had 
almost as long a one. It contained severe satirical 
reflections on the Ministry, which were greatly ap- 
preciated by the audience. The Government, natur- 
ally, did not appreciate the satire, and in consequence 
they passed the Licensing Act by which the number 
of playhouses was limited and the liberty of the stage 
was restrained. As Mr. Cyril Maude says in his 
Records of the Haymarket Theatre, it is indirectly to 
the little theatre in the Haymarket that Mr. George 
Redford enjoys ' his enviable position of Examiner of 
Plays.' 

The scene of action shown in the ticket is at the 
conclusion of the fifth act, where the Queen of 
Common Sense is stabbed by Firebrand, and the 
Queen of Ignorance declares to Harlequin, his allies, 
and to Squeekaronelli that she will be to them all a 
most propitious queen. 

Samuel Ireland says in his Graphic Illustrations 

1 British Museum, Catalogue of Satires, vol. iii. p. 186. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 337 

that he had a larger print on this subject from a 
design by Hogarth that includes all the characters 
in the piece ; in a corner of which Pope appears to be 
quitting the theatre, and by the label issuing out of 
his mouth is exclaiming, ' There is no whitewashing 
this stuff.' l 

This is very suspicious, and the larger print 
mentioned is certainly a forgery, for Hogarth did 
not use labels containing speeches at this date. It 
may be remarked, however, that Pope was said to 
have been present at one of the performances. 
Some verses were written on seeing ' Mr. Pope at the 
Dramatic Satire call'd Pasquin.' The satirists of the 
time were busy with making fun over the * illegiti- 
mate ' drama of the period, and Hogarth was to the 
fore with his * Masquerades and Operas,' etc., which 
will be referred to later in this chapter. 

In this year, 1736, was issued an engraving 
entitled ' The Judgment of the Queen o' Common 
Sense. Address'd to Henry Fielding, Esq r . A Satire 
on Pantomimes, and the professors of Divinity, Law 
and Physic.' This is described by Mr. Stephens as 
1 representing the stage of a theatre, with an alcove 
in the background on which, raised a step above the 
floor, stands a crowned female, the Queen of Common 
Sense, who holds in her right hand a well-filled purse, 
and hi her left hand an halter. On her right kneels 
a gentleman, Henry Fielding, offering to the Queen 
a piece of paper inscribed PASQUIN ; to him she is 

1 Graphic Illustrations, vol. i. p. 131. 

y 



338 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

giving the contents of the purse ; the halter she 
extends to her left, and its extremity is in the hand of 
a harlequin, who is capering on the stage in front of 
the design.' The description is too long to copy 
here. Below the design are engraved some verses 
commencing : 

' With bounteous hands y e Queen of Common Sense, 
Appears her honest favours to dispence, 
On Pasquin's Author show'rs of Gold bestows, 
And Hamlet's Ghost the impartial Poet shows 
Tho' Shakespear's merit in his bosom glows.' l 

The last production of George Colman, the elder, 
was acted at the Haymarket in 1789. It was a 
slight musical interlude of little merit entitled, Ut 
Pictura Poesis, or The Enraged Musician. As its 
title indicates, it was founded upon Hogarth's 
celebrated picture. 

Hogarth painted several portraits of actors which 
are of interest, such as those of Lavinia Fenton, 
already alluded to as in the National Gallery, Quin 
and William Bullock. There are two portraits of 
Peg Woffington in a reclining position at the Garrick 
Club, one by Hogarth and the other by Mercier. 
Hogarth's picture was sold by Henry Angelo to 
Charles Matthews. The one by Mercier is the more 
pleasing picture. 

Among the books illustrated by Hogarth are 
several plays for which he designed frontispieces. 
Two of these have already been referred to, viz. 

1 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. iii. p. 200. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 339 

Fielding's Tom Thumb (1731), and Garrick's Farmer's 
Return (1762). 

Others are * The Humours of Oxford, a Comedy. 
By a Gentleman of Wadham College ' [Rev. James 
Miller], 1729, which was acted at Drury Lane. 

' The Highland Fair, or The Union of the Clans, 
an Opera. Written by Mr. [Joseph] Mitchell,' 1731, 
also acted at Drury Lane. Fielding tells us in The 
Covent Garden Journal (No. 19) an amusing anecdote 
of the dulness of the author : 

' A certain comic author produced a piece on Drury 
Lane stage called The Highland Fair, in which he 
intended to display the comical humours of the 
Highlanders ; the audience, who had for three nights 
together sat staring at each other, scarce knowing 
what to make of their entertainment, on the fourth 
joined in an unanimous exploding laugh. This they 
had continued through an act ; when the author, 
who unhappily mistook the peals of laughter which 
he heard for applause, went up to Mr. Wilks, and 
with an air of triumph, said, " Deel o' my sal, Sare, 
they begin to tauk the humour at last." 

' The Lawyer's Fortune, or Love in a Hollow Tree, 
a Comedy,' 1705, is somewhat of a curiosity. It 
was written when its author, William Grimston, was 
only thirteen years of age, and was never acted 
except by a strolling company of actors at Windsor. 
The author was in 1719 created Baron of Dunboyne 
and Viscount Grimston in the Peerage of Ireland. 
He was unfortunate in the strong opposition of the 



340 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

old Duchess of Maryborough, when he contested 
successfully the borough of St. Albans. He had 
attempted to suppress his play, but the Duchess 
reprinted it in order to make him ridiculous. 

Lord Grimston was apparently an estimable man, 
but the wits were against him. Alluding to his 
residence at Gorhambury Pope wrote : 

' Shades that to Bacon could retreat afford, 
Become the portion of a booby Lord.' 

And Swift, attacking him for his unfortunate play, 

said : 

' The leaden crown devolved to thee, 
Great poet of the Hollow Tree' 

Hogarth's frontispieces to these three plays were 
all engraved by Gerard Vandergucht. 

The frontispiece to Henry Carey's Chrononhoton- 
thologos (1734) is attributed to Hogarth, but this 
attribution is very doubtful, and it has not received 
a favourable reception. 

' The Tragedy of Chrononhotonthologos. Written 
by Benjamin Bounce. London. Printed by J. 
Suckburgh.' 

The engraving represents a scene in a prison-cell. 

There is a picture in existence representing a scene 
from Dr. Benjamin Hoadly's Suspicious Husband. 
This belonged to Mrs. Hoadly in 1782. 

Dr. John Hoadly, the younger son of Bishop 
Hoadly, had a private theatre in his house. Few 
visitors were allowed to leave until they had ex- 
hibited their powers here as amateur actors. Hogarth 




P 31 



THEATRICAL LIFE 341 

was one of Hoadly's failures, for when he performed 
with Garrick and Hoadly in a parody of the scene in 
Julius Ccesar, where the ghost appears to Brutus, he 
entirely forgot the few words he had to recite. The 
host was not to be disappointed, so to help his friend 
he had the verses written in large letters on the paper 
lantern which the ghost carried in his hand when on 
the stage. Hogarth designed a playbill with char- 
acteristic ornaments which was preserved but not 
engraved. 

Hogarth was interested in two instances of private 
theatricals. He painted a picture of the perform- 
ance of Dryden's Indian Emperor, or the Conquest of 
Mexico at Mr. Conduit's house, and designed a ticket 
for an entertainment at Cliefden, given on August 1, 
1740, before the Prince and Princess of Wales, that 
being the birthday of their daughter the Princess 
Augusta. The picture of the fourth scene of the 
fourth act of the Indian Emperor is preserved at 
Holland House. 

John Conduit was the Master of the Mint in suc- 
cession to Sir Isaac Newton, whose niece (Mrs. 
Catherine Barton) he married. Their only child 
(also Catherine), who acted in this piece, married 
on the 8th of July 1740 Viscount Lymington, the 
eldest son of the first Earl of Portsmouth, who died 
before his father, and his son succeeded the first 
Earl in the title. The eldest sons of this noble 
family have usually borne the name of Newton. 
The four characters on the stage are : 1, Cortez, 



342 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

acted by Lord Lempster ; 2, Cydaria, by Lady 
Caroline Lennox ; 3, Almeria, by Lady Sophia 
Fermor; 4, Alibeck, by Miss Conduit. 

Hogarth appears to have continued his acquain- 
tanceship with Lady Lymington from her childhood. 
There is a tradition that he was proud to be allowed 
to draw figures from her, and that she was so 
obliging as to sit to him for the Viscountess in the 
* Marriage a la Mode.' 

The audience included in the picture are : 5, the 
Duke of Cumberland ; 6, Princess Mary ; 7, Princess 
Louisa ; 8, Lady Deloraine ; 9 and 10, her daughters ; 
11, Duchess of Richmond ; 12, Duke of Richmond ; 
13, Earl of Pomfret ; 14, Duke of Montague ; 15, 
Tom Hill or Captain Poyntz ; 16 (on the stage), Dr. 
Desaguliers. 

The picture was engraved by Robert Dodd, and 
published by J. and J. Boydell in 1792. There is a 
key-plate in John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated 
(ii. 331). 

Leslie in his Handbook for Young Painters (1855, 
p. 151) praises this picture very highly. He writes : 
' Three girls and a boy are on the stage, and seem to 
be very seriously doing their best ; but the attitude 
and expression of one little girl in a front seat 
among the audience, is matchless. She is so entirely 
absorbed in the performance, that she sits bolt up- 
right, and will sit, we are sure, immovably, to the 
end of the play, enjoying it as a child only can, and 
much the more because the actors are children.' 



THEATRICAL LIFE 343 

The ticket for the performance of Thomson and 
Mallet's Masque of Alfred, written by command of 
the Prince of Wales, and performed in the gardens of 
Cliefden House in 1740, has had more than one date 
given to it. It consists of an oval with the two 
figures of Hymen and Cupid in the foreground, and a 
view of a handsome mansion (Cliefden) in the back- 
ground. 

When originally acted, the chief character of the 
Masque was the Hermit, taken by Quin, Alfred by 
Milward, the Earl of Devon by Mills, Corin by 
Salway, Eltruda by Mrs. Horton, and Emma by Mrs. 
Clive. Mallet remodelled the Masque, making Alfred 
the chief character, when it was acted at Drury Lane 
in February 1751. Garrick took Alfred, Berry the 
Hermit, Lee the Earl of Devon, Miss Bellamy 
Eltruda, and Mrs. Bennet Emma. The play was 
revived at Drury Lane in October 1773, when 
Reddish played Alfred. 

John Nichols (in his Biographical Anecdotes, 1785, 
p. 436), says that the ' print was intended as a ticket 
for Sigismunda, which Hogarth proposed to be raffled 
for. It is often marked with ink 21. 2s. The number 
of each ticket was to have been inserted on the scroll 
hanging down from the knee of the principal figure. 
Perhaps none of them were ever disposed of. This 
plate however must have been engraved about 1762 
or 3. Had I not seen many copies of it marked by the 
hand of Hogarth, I should have supposed it to have 
been only a ticket for a concert or music-meeting.' 



344 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The suggested date is much too late, but the guess 
as to a ticket is a shrewd one. 

J. B. Nichols says that the ticket was used as a 
receipt for the Election Prints as well as for ' Sigis- 
munda.' The subscription for the latter was 10s. 6d. 
and that for the former two guineas. Mr. Standly 
had a copy on which is written ' N 12 ' in the scroll, 
and under the print ' Election Entertainment 21 2s 
Wm. Hogarth.' l 

No copy of the original ticket (1740) is registered, 
but 1748 is given as the date of the reprint by John 
Ireland. 2 

Hogarth was greatly interested in everything that 
tended towards the amusement of the people, and he 
had many opportunities of understanding the history 
of the theatre. He was well acquainted with actors, 
and he was the honoured friend of three of the great 
managers of the chief theatres of London. 

Of Garrick at Drury Lane little further need be 
added. The Haymarket, at which Fielding presided 
for a time, was the small theatre which was super- 
seded by the present building in 1821. 

Fielding's fame will ever live in English literature 
on account of his immortal novels. His plays 
occupy five octavo volumes of the most modern 
edition of his works, 3 but his fame cannot be aug- 

1 Anecdotes of W. Hogarth, 1833, p. 334. 

2 Hogarth Illustrated, Supplement, p. 349. 

3 Complete Works of Henry Fielding. New York : Printed for Sub- 
scribers only by Croscop and Sterling Company, and published in England 
by W. Heinemann. 16 vols. 8vo. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 345 

mented by them. Although his Tom Thumb and 
Pasquln are productions of great power and were 
highly successful on the stage, they do not affect the 
truth of the general verdict that his genius naturally 
tended to narrative rather than to the dramatic. 

John Rich, the manager of Lincoln's Inn Fields 
and introducer of pantomimes, was successful, and 
will ever be remembered for his production of the 
Beggar's Opera. His theatre was the third and last 
house to bear the name of Lincoln's Inn Fields. 

In December 1732 Rich removed to Co vent Garden 
Theatre, which was built for him. There is a print 
entitled ' Rich's Glory, or his Triumphant Entry into 
Covent Garden,' which is attributed to Hogarth, but 
is of very doubtful authenticity. It is, however, an 
interesting illustration of Hogarth's London. 

Although the works of Hogarth, already alluded 
to in this chapter, are satirical, the actors at the 
ordinary theatres were acceptable to him because 
they were English and their performances racy of the 
soil. The most intense prejudice in Hogarth's 
nature was a hatred of the introduction of foreign 
customs into this country, and Italian opera excited 
his keenest displeasure as he considered it an un- 
welcome exotic. He satirised the great Italian 
singers who were the fashion, and thus displayed his 
national prejudice. We are, however, grateful, be- 
cause his sketches help us to understand the intense 
feeling exhibited in favour of and against the Italian 
opera which forced itself upon the country, and in 



346 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

the end became an established institution. Before 
treating of Hogarth's attitude towards this branch 
of the stage, reference must be made to his altogether 
admirable ' A Chorus of Singers ; or, the Oratorio.' 
This was reproduced in small by George Cruik- 
shank for Major's edition of Trusler (1831), but the 
later artist cannot be said to have done justice 
to his original, although his ' Four Groups of 
Heads,' given in that book, are excellent in them- 
selves. 

The original print was used as the subscription 
ticket for ' A Midnight Modern Conversation.' 

Below the design is engraved a form of receipt : 

c Rec d of 

Five shillings being the whole Payment for a Print 
call'd the Midnight Moddern Conversation which I 
Promise to Deliver on y e 1 st of March next at farthest. 
But Provoided the number already Printed shall 
be sooner Subscribed for, then y e Prints shall be 
sooner Delivered & time of Delivery will be 
advertiz'd.' 

In the British Museum copy the blank spaces are 
filled in, probably by Hogarth, thus : 'December 22 th , 
1732,' and ' M r Tho. Wright.' In the second state 
of this plate the word ' Provoided ' is corrected to 
* Provided.' 

The print represents a rehearsal of ' Judith : an 
Oratorio or Sacred Drama.' The author of this was 
Hogarth's friend, William Huggins, and the com- 
poser of the music was William Defesch. Some of 



THEATRICAL LIFE 347 

the editors of Hogarth supposed the composer to be 
Handel, and stated absurdly enough that the con- 
ductor was intended for the great composer himself, 
whose portrait he did at one time paint. 1 

Huggins was painted by Hogarth and his portrait 
was engraved. An original of the ticket has been 
spoken of, and Bishop Luscombe bought such a 
picture in Paris. Sir William Knighton told the 
Bishop that Hogarth's picture had belonged to the 
Dukes of Richmond, and had been in their house in 
Paris until the first Revolution, since which time it 
had not been heard of. 2 

Besides this design, Hogarth prepared a frontispiece 
for the Oratorio when Huggins published it in 
1733. 

In his Autobiography Hogarth writes : ' But here 
again I had to encounter a monopoly of printsellers, 
equally mean, and destructive to the ingenious ; for 
the first plate I published, called The Taste of the 
Town, in which the reigning follies were lashed, had 
no sooner begun to take a run, than I found copies of 
it in the printshops, vending at half price, while the 
original prints were returned to me again ; and I was 
thus obliged to sell the plate for whatever these 
pirates pleased to give me, as there was no place of 
sale but at their shops.' 3 

1 A portrait of Handel was engraved by C. Turner and published in 
1821 (see Chapter VIL, Professional Life). 

2 Notes and Queries, First Series, vol. vii. p. 484. 

3 For further particulars respecting Hogarth's fight with the pirates see 
Chapter n. 



348 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

John Ireland writes respecting this : ' The print 
here alluded to, I apprehend to be that now entitled 
the small Masquerade Ticket or Burlington Gate, 
published in 1724, in which the follies of the town 
are very severely satirised, by the representation 
of multitudes, properly habited, crowding to the 
Masquerade, Opera, pantomime of Doctor Faustus, 
etc., while the works of our greatest dramatic writers 
are trundled through the streets in a wheel-barrow, 
and cried as waste paper for shops.' 1 

This plate, also named ' Masquerades and Operas,' 
is very interesting from its richness of detail. In 
the background is the entrance gate of Burlington 
House, surmounted by a statue of Kent standing 
between two reclining figures of Michael Angelo and 
Raphael. It is quite possible to understand Hogarth's 
hatred of Kent, who was a contemptible painter set 
up as a rival to Sir James Thornhill, although he had 
some merit as an architect and a landscape gardener. 
In the front are three figures looking up at the gate : 
these are the Earl of Burlington, accompanied by 
his architect, Colin Campbell, and another person 
who, as Mr. Stephens says, has been ' erroneously 
called his lordship's postilion.' We can understand 
Hogarth's feeling towards Burlington, although we 
may judge that it was unjust. The inscription on 
the gate ' Academy of Arts ' is prophetic, for the 
enlarged Burlington House is now the home of the 
Royal Academy of Arts, which did not then exist. 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, 1798, vol. iii p. 16. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 349 

In the foreground on the left is the home of Masquer- 
ades. John Ireland notes that the leader of the 
figures hurrying to a masquerade crowned with a cap 
and bells and a garter round his right leg, has been 
supposed to be intended for George the Second, who 
was very partial to these nocturnal amusements, and 
is said to have bestowed a thousand pounds towards 
their support. The purse with the label 1000, 
which the satyr holds immediately before him, gives 
some probability to the supposition. 

Heidegger, the great promoter of masquerades, is 
seen looking out of a window. Of him there will be 
more to be said later on. A show-cloth hanging from 
the front of the building is inscribed ' Opera.' It 
represents the famous singers Berenstadt, Senesino, 
and Cuzzoni. To the right are three figures kneeling ; 
the foremost, the Earl of Peterborough, a prominent 
supporter of the opera, exclaims, ' Pray accept 
8000.' Cuzzoni is seen raking in the gold which 
the Earl pours out of a purse. A signboard next to 
the show-cloth is inscribed ' The Long Room. 
FAUX. Dexterity of Hand.' Fawkes was a famous 
mounteback of the time, who gave entertainments at 
Bartholomew Fair and elsewhere. His portrait will 
be found in Caulfield's Portraits, etc., of Remarkable 
Characters. 

To the right of the plate opposite to the masquer- 
ade building is the theatre where Rich performed his 
pantomimes. A crowd is seen rushing into a colon- 
nade over which is a harlequin pointing to a show- 



350 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

cloth representing the head of a devil, which is 
inscribed * Dr. Faustus is Here.' 

The pantomime entitled The Necromancer, or 
Harlequin Doctor Faustus was brought out at 
Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1723, and was so great a 
success that Rich's rival managers were forced to 
imitate his example. 

It will be seen from this description that there 
was but little of topographical accuracy in the 
introduction of these different buildings in one 
picture. The print entitled ' Berenstat, Cuzzoni 
and Senesino ' has been the cause of a considerable 
amount of dispute. It represents the stage of a 
theatre at the performance of the opera of Julius 
Ccesar, the three singers taking the characters in 
the following order : Julius Csesar, Cleopatra, and 
Mark Antony, and a child representing the train- 
bearer of Cleopatra. This is nothing but a caricature, 
and it has been supposed not to be Hogarth's work. 
Mr. Stephens points out that under the Duchess of 
Portland's copy is written ' This print of Senesino, 
Berenstadt and Cuzzoni was given me by Vanderbank 
the younger' s mother. He drew it from seeing it at 
the opera.' The chief reason for believing it to be 
the work of Hogarth is the fact that he repeated the 
three figures in his picture of ' Masquerades and 
Operas,' already described, but this is not a very 
strong argument, as Hogarth imitated other artists' 
work in some of his pictures ; as, for instance, we have 
seen that he copied Laguerre in ' Southwark Fair.' 



THEATRICAL LIFE 351 

John Ireland replaces the name of Farinelli for 
that of Berenstadt, but this necessitates our dating 
this print after 1734, when Farinelli came to England, 
and this is not very probable, as the 'Masquerades 
and Operas ' was produced in 1724. Ireland also 
says that the characters are Ptolemy, Cleopatra, and 
Julius Csesar, from Handel's opera Ptolomeo, which 
was first performed in 1728. 1 

A picture of Farinelli seated on a pedestal lies on 
the floor hi the second plate of the ' Rake's Progress.' 

A print entitled ' A Satire on Cuzzoni, Farinelli and 
Heidegger ' has been attributed to Hogarth, but it is 
believed to be the design of Dorothy, Countess of 
Burlington, who is said to have had it etched by 
Goupy. In Mr. Stephens' s Catalogue of Satirical 
Prints in the British Museum there are notices of 
several satirical prints connected with the celebrated 
Italian singers by others than Hogarth. 

The opera dancers were not overlooked, and 
Hogarth produced in 1742 a print in ridicule of Des- 
noyers, the dancing-master, and Signora Barberini, 
under the title of ' The Charmers of the Age.' An 
original print was in the Strawberry Hill Collection. 
It was re-engraved by R. Livesay, and published by 
him in 1782 at Mrs. Hogarth's. 

At the Whitechapel Exhibition, 1906, a picture 
entitled ' A Pantomime Ballet on the English 
Stage (about 1750),' attributed to Hogarth, was 
lent by Mr. Charles E. Newton Robinson. It 

1 The priat is reproduced in Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 255. 



352 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

is an interesting picture, but the ascription is 
doubtful. 

As has already been noticed, the fashion for 
masquerades in connection with the foreign intro- 
duction of opera became very general, and the 
fosterers of these entertainments were in many 
instances the same persons. 

There is no doubt that very great evils were caused 
by the public welcome of masquerades, and therefore 
Hogarth's attacks upon them did him credit. 
Reference has already been made to the print of 
' Masquerades and Operas,' or the small Masquerade 
Ticket (1724). The large Masquerade Ticket was 
published in 1727 at the price of one shilling. This 
is engraved as a frontispiece to the third volume of 
Hogarth Illustrated from the original print given to 
John Ireland by Sir James Lake. There is a full 
description by Ireland, and also one in Mr. Stephens' s 
British Museum Catalogue. 1 The print shows the 
interior of a large room which serves as a vestibule 
to the chamber where the masquerade is held. A 
multitude of grotesque characters press towards the 
door. It is not necessary to describe fully the 
surroundings of the place which are all indicative of 
the orgies performed there. The head of the high 
priest of the mysteries, the renowned Heidegger, is 
placed on the front of a large dial, fixed lozenge 
fashion at the top of the print. The ball of the 
pendulum is labelled nonsense. On the minute 

1 Vol. ii. p. 661. 



THEATRICAL LIFE 353 

hand is written impertinence, and on the hour 
hand wit. 

Recumbent on the upper line of this print and 
resting against the sides of the dial the lion and the 
unicorn are seen lying on their backs, and this 
parody of the royal supporters is supposed to allude 
to George H.'S patronage of masquerades. 

John James Heidegger was a remarkable man. 
He was the son of the Swiss pastor of Zurich, and 
came to England at the age of about fifty, after 
having lived a Bohemian life for some years in almost 
every capital in Europe. In 1713 he was manager of 
the Opera House in the Haymarket. Again in 1728 
he was connected with Handel in the same venture. 
He was appointed by George n. Master of the Revels, 
and in his attempts to introduce masquerades he 
was supported by the King. 

For some years great opposition to this form of 
amusement was set in motion by the more sober 
portion of the population. On January 6, 1726, a 
sermon was preached at Bow Church by the Bishop 
of London before the Society for the Reformation 
of Manners, which created a great effect. Futile 
attempts were made to obtain an Act of Parliament 
for the suppression of masquerades, but a royal 
proclamation against the evils produced by them 
was published. 

In 1729 a Middlesex Grand Jury presented 
Heidegger ' as the principal promoter of vice and 
immorality.' In spite of all this opposition there 



354 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

was no abatement of the evil, and the only concession 
to the popular outcry was to change the name of a 
masquerade to a Ridotto. 

Bramston in his M an of Taste alludes to this : 

' Thou Heidegger, the English taste has found, 
And rul'st the mob of quality with sound ; 
In Lent if Masquerades displease the town, 
Call 'em Ridottos, and they still go down. 
Go on, Prince Phiz, to please the British nation, 
Call thy next Masquerade a Convocation.' 

The name ' Prince Phiz ' refers to Heidegger's 
ugliness, which was so patent to all that he himself 
made a jest of it. Mrs. Delany describes him as 
' the most ugly man that ever was formed. 5 Fielding 
introduces him as Count Ugly in the puppet show 
called The Pleasures of the Town at the end of The 
Author's Farce. 
The Count speaks : 

' I disdain 

O'er the poor ragged tribe of bards to reign. 
Me did my stars to happier fates prefer, 
Sur-intendant des plaisirs d'Angleterre ; 
If Masquerades you have, let those be mine, 
But on the Signior let the laurel shine.' 

When asked, ' Hast written ? ' he answers : 

' No, nor read. 

But if from dulness any may succeed, 
To that and nonsense I good title plead. 
Nought else was ever in my masquerade.' 

He was, however, a highly successful man, and 
starting with nothing he soon made about five 
thousand pounds a year. He was a member of 



THEATRICAL LIFE 355 

White's exclusive club, and entertained George n. 
at his house at Barn Elms. 

John Nichols gives an anecdote which shows the 
careless humour which caused him to succeed in this 
country. 

' Being once at supper with a large company, when 
a question was debated, which nationalist of Europe 
had the greatest ingenuity ; to the surprise of all 
present, he claimed that character for the Swiss, and 
appealed to himself for the truth of it. "I was born 
a Swiss," said he, " and came to England without a 
farthing, where I have found means to gain 5000 
a year, and to spend it. Now I defy the most able 
Englishman to go to Switzerland, and either to gain 
that income or to spend it there in eating and 
drinking." ' 

A slight pencil sketch entitled ' Heidegger in a 
Rage ' (circa 1740) belonged to John Ireland, who 
engraved it in the third volume of his Hogarth 
Illustrated. The ascription is untenable, but the 
well-known anecdote of Heidegger's confusion which 
is here represented is just such an incident as would 
appeal to the humour of Hogarth. The sketch is 
now in the Print Room of the British Museum, and is 
described by Mr. Stephens in his Catalogue (vol. iii. 
p. 360). Mr. Binyon catalogues it under Philip 
Mercier's name. 1 

1 This little sketch (a black-chalk drawing) belonged to John Ireland who 
inserted a facsimile of it by J. Mills in his Hogarth Illustrated, 1798, vol. 
iii. p. 323. He attributed it to Hogarth on little or no evidence, but 
having been given this authority it has been treated as one of his works, 



356 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Heidegger would never allow any portrait of 
himself to be taken, and he managed to evade 
George H.'S expressed wish that he should be painted. 
What could not be obtained by fair means was 
undertaken by a ruse. The Duke of Montagu, who 
was a prince of practical jokers, succeeded where 
others had failed. He invited Heidegger to make 
one of a choice party at the Devil Tavern. The rest 
of the company, all chosen for their powers of hard 
drinking, were in the plot, and a few hours after 
dinner the Swiss Count was carried out of the room 
dead drunk. A daughter of Mr. Salmon, the wax- 
work maker, was in attendance, and took a model 
from the unconscious man's face, from which she 
was ordered to make a cast in wax, and colour it to 
nature. 

The Duke bribed Heidegger's valet to give him 
information as to the clothes his master would wear 
at the next masquerade. A man of a similar figure 
was found, and with the help of the mask was made 
up into a striking reproduction of the Master of the 
Revels. 

George n. was apprised of the plot and he promised 
to be present with the Countess of Yarmouth. On 
the King's arrival Heidegger at once bade the band 
play ' God save the King,' but no sooner was his 

The drawing was purchased for the British Museum in 1858. Mr. 
Laurence Binyon says that it was originally attributed to Philip Mercier 
(1689-1760), and as that ascription is doubtless correct it is described 
under his name in his Catalogue of Drawings by British Artists in the 
Department of Prints in the British Museum (vol. ii. p. 326 ; vol. iii. 
p. 102). 



THEATRICAL LIFE 357 

back turned than the impostor with a fine assump- 
tion of the voice and manner of the true master 
ordered the Jacobite song ' Charlie over the Water ' 
to be struck up. Heidegger then raged, stamped 
and swore, commanding the continuation of ' God 
save the King.' Immediately he retired the im- 
postor returned and ordered the band to resume 
' Charlie.' The musicians thought their master was 
drunk, but dared not disobey the order. All this 
confusion caused an uproar, and the courtiers who 
were not in the plot were in dismay. Some of the 
officers of the guard who attended the King wished 
to turn the musicians out of the gallery, but the 
Duke of Cumberland interposed. The Duke then 
told Heidegger that the King was hi a violent 
passion and advised him to go instantly and make 
an apology. At the same time he told the impostor 
to do the same. When the two met Heidegger 
stared, staggered, grew pale and could not utter a 
word. Montagu then explained the situation, but 
Heidegger swore that he would never attend any 
public entertainment if the waxwork-maker did not 
break the mould, and melt down the mask before his 
face. 

Samuel Ireland contributed to the second volume 
of his Graphic Illustrations an etching by Le Coeur 
(1797), from a slight sketch by Hogarth, entitled 
' 111 Effects of Masquerades.' The picture speaks for 
itself, but Ireland gives a rather florid description of 
it which may be condensed. 



358 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

A husband called away to the country for a short 
time left his young wife with her sister. During his 
absence the two ladies resolved to go to a masquerade, 
the wife adopting the dress of a gallant and the sister 
acting as his betrothed. All went well, and they 
returned home. The husband unexpectedly followed 
them, and rushing with impatience to his wife's 
apartment saw on the floor the clothes of a man. 
Imagining that he had full proof of his wife's in- 
constancy he stabbed both sisters in a frenzy of 
revenge. The picture shows the fatal ending and 
the man's remorse. A not very probable story, 
unless he was completely blinded by passion. 

Mr. Dobson notes that the picture belonged to Mr. 
Peacock of Marylebone Street. There is still another 
picture of a masquerade attributed to Hogarth, 
which was engraved in 1804 by T. Cook, ' from an 
original picture painted by Hogarth in the collection 
of Roger Palmer, Esq.' It is described as ' Royal 
Masquerade, Somerset House.' There are several 
masquerades recorded as having been held at 
Somerset House ; thus one, in 1716, which is amus- 
ingly described in the Freeholder, and the more 
famous one in 1749, when the scandalous Elizabeth 
Chudleigh (afterwards Duchess of Kingston) ap- 
peared so thinly clothed that the Princess of Wales 
thought it expedient to throw a thick veil over her 
maid of honour. Horace Walpole told Mann in one 
of his letters that ' Miss Chudleigh was Iphigenia, but 
so naked you would have taken her for Andromeda.' 



THEATRICAL LIFE 359 

It is difficult to fix the date of the masquerade 
shown in this picture, as the figures are not very 
accurately described in J. B. Nichols's Anecdotes, 
1833, p. 287 ; but perhaps this does not matter, as 
it is very doubtful if Hogarth had anything to do 
with the painting of it. 

In concluding this long notice of masquerades and 
Hogarth's strong feeling as to the evils connected 
with them, it will be appropriate to quote from 
Fielding, who was capable of giving an unbiassed 
opinion. He writes : ' I cannot dismiss this head, 
without mentioning a notorious nuisance which hath 
lately arisen in this town ; I mean, those balls where 
men and women of loose reputation meet in dis- 
guised habits. As to the masquerade in the Hay- 
market, I have nothing to say ; I think really it is a 
silly, rather than a vicious, entertainment ; but the 
case is very different with those inferior masquerades; 
for these are indeed no other than the temples of 
drunkenness, lewdness, and all kinds of debauchery.' 1 

1 An Enquiry into the Causes of the late Increase of Bobbers, etc., 1751 
(Section i.). 



360 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER XI 

HOSPITALS 

THE subject of the present chapter is one that shows 
Hogarth on his best side, and exhibits instances of 
his great charity and kindness of heart. After many 
struggles and much hard work he succeeded hi 
obtaining a competence, but he does not appear to 
have been at any time what we may call a rich man. 
In spite of this he was munificent in his presenta- 
tions to the Foundling and St. Bartholomew's 
Hospitals, and of both these institutions he was made 
a governor. 

The Foundling is not what one now under- 
stands by a hospital, but as in the case of Christ's 
Hospital, the term is unalterably attached to it. 

The Foundling Hospital is one of the most interest- 
ing institutions in London, and at the same time the 
very form and body of the eighteenth century at its 
very best pervades the buildings and the gardens. A 
continued sense of responsibility in respecting the 
tradition of its originators united with a proper 
determination to keep it abreast of the times has 
been the great aim of the management. The rooms 
are filled with works of art, and as the delighted 



HOSPITALS 361 

visitor passes through them he feels that a shrine 
has been reserved for the good men who founded 
and fostered the Hospital Coram, Hogarth, Handel, 
and many others. It is the earliest home of repre- 
sentative English pictorial art, and it possesses a 
proud claim to distinction as one of three places in 
London where Hogarth may be seen at his best. 
The National Gallery contains the ' Marriage a la 
Mode ' and many other fine pictures, the Soane 
Museum the ' Rake's Progress ' and the ' Election,' 
and the Foundling Hospital the grand portrait of 
Captain Coram, the ' March to Finchley,' and ' Moses 
brought to Pharaoh's Daughter.' The contents of 
the rooms and the beauty of the gardens glorify the 
plain old building, and as we look around our eyes are 
satisfied and our minds are full of thankfulness that 
no imp of mischief has been allowed to put into 
the minds of the governors a wish to replace the 
delightful old buildings by some important-looking 
new structure without charm or association. 

May the rural beauties of the Foundling Hospital 
in the midst of London long remain an oasis hi a 
barren land ! The house where Hogarth lived for so 
many years in Leicester Square has been rebuilt, and 
few of the places associated with him still exist, so 
that the Foundling Hospital, which he so often 
visited, is of special interest in connection with his 
fame, and the more so that his memory is specially 
cherished there, and the rulers are proud of what he 
did for the institution. The Foundling Hospital 



362 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

was founded by Captain Thomas Coram in 1739, the 
date of the charter in which Hogarth figures as ' a 
Governor and Guardian.' Its first home was in 
Hatton Garden, and the arms in an heraldic shield 
which Hogarth designed were placed over the door 
of this house. 1 The engraving of the arms was 
published hi 1781, and is described as being engraved 
from the original in the possession of the Earl of 
Exeter. The artist also designed the pleasing 
heading to a Power of Attorney for collecting 
subscriptions, the plate of which is still in the 
possession of the Hospital. It represents Coram 
with the charter under his arm and a mother kneeling 
to him, while a beadle, bearing a mace and carrying 
a child in his arms, is leading the way to the door of 
the Hospital, around which are congregated many 
children. A village church is seen to the left hi the 
distance, and the sea with ships on it in the middle 
of the design. 

Hogarth was busy with work for the Foundling in 
1739-40, for in May of the latter year he presented the 
noble full-length portrait of the founder, which is so 
well known from the numerous engravings, but the 
painting itself requires to be seen by any one who 
wishes to obtain an adequate idea of Hogarth's great 
merits as a portrait painter. Although there are 
several good portraits in the gallery, one of them by 

1 Hogarth's original draft for these arms will be found in the Genuine 
Works (vol. iii. p. 139). The arms are a naked child, the crest a lamb, and 
the motto ' Help.' The supporters are ' Nature ' and ' Britannia.' 




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"THE FOUNDLINGS." 1739. 




CAPTAIN THOMAS CORAM. 1739. 

Front Nutter s engraving, 7796. 



HOSPITALS 363 

Reynolds, this picture dominates its surroundings, 
and proves itself pre-eminent as a work of art of 
which all Englishmen may be proud. 

The Hospital was opened on March 25, 1741, for 
the reception of nineteen boys and eleven girls. 
The first boy was named Thomas Coram and the 
first girl Eunice Coram, after the Captain and his 
wife. In an account of the opening in the Gentle- 
man's Magazine (vol. xi. p. 163) it is said that * the 
orphans received into the Hospital were baptised 
there some nobility of the first rank standing god- 
fathers and godmothers. . . . The most robust boys 
being designed for the sea service, were named 
Drake, Norris, Blake, etc., after our most famous 
admirals.' 

The house in Hatton Garden was only a temporary 
residence, and a very advantageous purchase of 
fifty-six acres of land in Lamb's Conduit Fields was 
made from the Earl of Salisbury for 6500. It is 
believed that there was a good-humoured contro- 
versy as to price. The hospital would only give 
5000, and the Earl asked 7000. He offered to 
take off 500, but he would not budge a jot from 
his price of 6500. However, he allowed it to 
be understood that as he was an admirer of the 
charity he would be pleased to subscribe 500. As 
there was more land than was required for the 
buildings and ground, the unused portion was let 
on building leases, which has produced a valuable 
source of income to the institution. 



364 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The new ground was laid out and the building was 
designed by Theodore Jacobsen, architect. The 
west wing was completed in December 1746, and the 
chapel in 1747, in the vaults under which the founder 
was buried, pursuant to his own desire. Coram died 
at his lodging near Leicester Square on March 29, 
1751. 

When the new building was ready for occupation 
an annual dinner was instituted. Many artists had 
followed the lead of Hogarth in painting and pre- 
senting works to the Hospital, so that the rooms 
became a fashionable lounge as being a sort of head- 
quarters of British art. 

Mr. Dobson says regarding the annual dinners: 
' The assembled painters were accustomed to com- 
memorate the landing of William the Third, using for 
their loyal libations a fine old white and blue dragon 
china punch bowl, generally described as Hogarth's, 
which is still carefully preserved in one of the cases 
of the Court room, and is beautifully copied in Pye's 
Patronage of British ArC In illustration of this 
there is an interesting entry in Stukeley's Diary: 
' November 4, 1752. Dined at the annual feast at 
the Foundling Hospital : Present : Judge Taylor 
White, treasurer ; Hayman, Wills, Hogarth, Hudson, 
Scot, Brown, Dalton, painters ; Roubiliac, statuary ; 
Pine, engraver; Houbraken, Jacobsen, the archi- 
tect of the house, etc., a cozen of my late friend, 
Chancellor Stukeley.' 

The fine picture of ' The March to Finchley,' one 



HOSPITALS 365 

of the painter's masterpieces, was disposed of by 
public lottery, and owing to Hogarth's generosity 
in giving the unsold tickets to the Foundling 
Hospital it came into the possession of that institu- 
tion. 

The result is announced in the General Advertiser 
of May 1, 1750, as follows : * Yesterday Mr. 
Hogarth's subscription was closed. Eighteen hundred 
and forty-three chances being subscrib'd for, Mr. 
Hogarth gave the remaining hundred and sixty- 
seven chances to the Foundling Hospital ; at two 
o'clock the Box was open'd, and the fortunate chance 
was Number 1941 which belongs to the said Hospital ; 
and the same night Mr. Hogarth delivered the 
Picture to the Governors.' 

J. B. Nichols in his Anecdotes of W. Hogarth (1833, 
p. 360) quotes a very improbable story from the 
Gentleman's Magazine for November 1832 (p. 390), 
which is too late in date to be of any value, but 
must be noted as he refers to it in his book : 'A lady 
was in possession of the fortunate number, and 
intended to present it to the infant institution ; but 
some persons having suggested that a door would be 
open for scandal were any of her sex to make such 
a present, it was given to Hogarth, on the express 
understanding that it should be presented in his own 
name.' 

John Ireland says that Hogarth acquainted the 
Treasurer ' that if the Trustees thought proper they 
were at liberty to dispose of the picture by auction,' 



366 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

but afterwards he changed his mind and requested 
that they would not dispose of it. 1 

This Hospital holds a remarkable position in the 
history of British art through the liberality of our 
painters. 

John Nichols quotes from Sir Robert Strange' s 
Inquiry into the Rise and Establishment of the Royal 
Academy of Arts in London, 1775, the author's opinion 
as to the origin of the Academy : ' The donations in 
painting which several artists presented to the 
Foundling Hospital, first led to the idea of those 
Exhibitions which are at present so lucrative to our 
Royal Academy, and so entertaining to the publick. 
Hogarth must certainly be considered as the chief of 
these benefactors.' 2 

Mr. Dobson writes (p. 62 n.): 'To complete the 
record of Hogarth's connection with the Foundling 
Hospital, it may here be added that his patronage 
of the institution took the practical form of watch- 
ing over the welfare of some of the children, who 
in accordance with custom were put out to nurse. 
In a case in the court room is still to be seen his 
discharged account for the keep, etc., at Chiswick, 
of two little girls, Susan Wyndham and Mary 
Woolaston, who, when he died, were sent back to 
the Hospital by his widow.' 

The Hospital was not only distinguished for its 
gallery of pictures, but through the liberality of 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. ii. p. 134. 

2 Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes (1782), p. 247. 



HOSPITALS 367 

Handel it was a gathering-place for musicians and 
lovers of music. The great composer frequently 
performed his Messiah in the chapel, and as he 
engaged most of the performers to contribute their 
assistance gratis, the profits to the charity were 
very considerable. These performances were gener- 
ally crowded, and in the notices the audience were 
desired to leave at home the ladies their hoops and 
the men their swords. Handel bequeathed the score 
of the Messiah to the Hospital. 

Hogarth's presentation of two large pictures to St. 
Bartholomew's Hospital took place before his gifts 
to the Foundling Hospital ; they are dated 1736. 
He was so well acquainted with Smithfield and its 
neighbourhood that he must early have been 
interested in the Hospital. 

' The Good Samaritan ' (16 ft. 9 in. by 13 ft. 8 in.) 
and ' The Pool of Bethesda ' (20 ft. 3 in. by 13 ft. 
8 in.) on the grand staircase were painted gratuitously 
by Hogarth, and for this generosity he was made a 
Governor of the Hospital. The subjects are sur- 
rounded with scrollwork painted at Hogarth's 
expense by his pupils. These pictures are very 
uninspiring, particularly ' The Good Samaritan,' but 
the painter does not appear to have been dissatisfied 
with the result, although he acknowledged that they 
did not suit the taste of the public at large. The 
pictures were not engraved until after his death, but 
were published by John Boydell in 1772. 

They have, however, an interest for us which has 



368 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

not been specially alluded to by writers on Hogarth. 
Dr. Norman Moore has made a particular study of 
the pictures from a medical and surgical point of view, 
with the remarkable result that that accomplished 
student is able to praise the correct delineations of 
disease by the great painter. He says : ' The Good 
Samaritan employs the method of treating a wound 
by pouring oil into it which was in use till the time of 
Ambroise Pare ; while the Physicians will admire in 
the painting of the Pool of Bethesda the accurate 
representation of the distribution of psoriasis on the 
well-rounded limbs of one patient, the contrast of 
hypertrophy and atrophy on the left of the picture, 
the wasted figure with malignant disease of the liver 
and the rickety infant.' 

Dr. Leonard Mark, in an interesting address on 
' Art and Medicine ' (1906), has given more fully the 
views of Dr. Moore on the subject with the addition 
of his own observations. He says the tradition at 
the Hospital is that the woman with patches of 
psoriasis on both knees and on her right elbow, who 
turns her face away from the Saviour, is a portrait of 
a courtesan named Wood who lived at the time in 
the City. Gout, acute melancholia, cancer of the 
liver, and abscess of the breast are all represented in 
the picture. He adds : ' The last two female figures 
represent the two different forms of consumption 
that used to be talked of. The extremely emaciated 
woman is clearly a case of very advanced phthisis. 
The other one with the red cheeks, the thick lips, 



HOSPITALS 369 

the short, thick nose, represents the strumous or 
scrofulous type. In the front there is a woman 
with bandaged feet.' Dr. Mark says further : 
' Hogarth has been very successful in representing 
sufferers, and no doubt had excellent opportunities 
for choosing his subjects from patients in the 
hospital.' 

This is a singularly interesting illustration of the 
care with which Hogarth worked on his paintings. 
Doubtless he was not contented with observing the 
cases in the wards, but consulted the physicians and 
surgeons of the Hospital. If he had not done so he 
would scarcely have escaped some rebuke from the 
authorities of to-day. John Freke (1688-1756), a 
surgeon of St. Bartholomew's, we know to have been 
a friend of the painter from the well-known anec- 
dote told to Nichols by John Belchier, F.R.S., the 
surgeon. 1 

Hogarth designed a ticket for the * London 
Infirmary for relieving sick and diseased manu- 
facturers, seamen, etc.,' with the arms of the Duke 
of Richmond as President, which was engraved by 
T. Ramsay. It was used as a certificate for pupils in 
surgery and anatomy. The background was after- 
wards altered to a view of the Infirmary. It was 
engraved on a large scale in an oval by C. Grignion, 
1745. It is not known whether this was done in the 
way of business or was a gift to the institution. 

The London Hospital was originally instituted in 

1 See ante, p. 44. 
2 A 



370 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

1740 in Prescot Street, Goodman's Fields, but it soon 
outgrew the accommodation there provided, and a 
new site was purchased ' in an airy situation near 
the Mount in Whitechapel Road,' and the first stone 
of the new hospital was laid on June 10, 1752. 

The last scene (Plate 8) of ' A Rake's Progress ' 
contains a remarkable picture of the horrors of 
the great madhouse known as Bedlam, which was 
situated in Moorfields, on the south side of what is 
now Finsbury Square. The original hospital stood 
in Bishopsgate Without on the site of the North 
London and Great Eastern Railway Stations in 
Liverpool Street. It was originally founded as ' a 
Priory of Canons with brethren and sisters ' in 1246 
by Simon Fitzmary, one of the sheriffs of London. 
On the petition of Sir John Gresham, Lord Mayor, 
Henry vni. gave hi 1547 the building of the dissolved 
priory to the City of London in order that it might 
be converted into a hospital for lunatics. In 1557 
the management was given to the governors of 
Bridewell Hospital. 

The old building escaped the Great Fire, but being 
found to have become very dilapidated and quite 
inadequate for its purpose, a new one was built in 
Moorfields from the designs of Robert Hooke, which 
was finished in July 1676. Like its predecessor it 
was open as an exhibition, payment being made for 
admission. There were ' spacious and agreeable 
walks ' in front of the building, which became a 
favourite promenade. At one time the Hospital 




H 

22 



HOSPITALS 371 

* derived a revenue of at least 400 a year from 
the indiscriminate admission of visitants.' An illus- 
tration of the practice is seen in Hogarth's picture, 
where two fashionable and well-dressed women 
(apparently a lady and her maid) are seen in the 
background, their frivolity being singularly out of 
place in such a scene of terror. In 1770 it appeared 
at last to have dawned upon the intelligence of the 
authorities that the introduction of visitors ' tended 
to disturb the tranquillity of the patients.' In May 
1775 Johnson and Boswell visited the Hospital, but 
in July 1784 Cowper writing to Newton speaks of 
the custom having been abolished. He writes : ' In 
those days when Bedlam was open to the cruel 
curiosity of holiday ramblers I have been a visitor 
there. Though a boy, I was not altogether insensible 
of the misery of the poor captives nor destitute of 
feeling for them. But the madness of some of them 
had such a humorous air, and displayed itself in so 
many whimsical freaks, that it was impossible not to 
be entertained, at the same time that I was angry 
with myself for being so.' 

Hogarth's picture of the interior of a room in 
Bedlam is one of the most valuable of his illustrations 
of London Life, which gives a terrible picture of the 
sufferings of the poor afflicted patients. 

The wealth and variety of physiognomical display 
in this picture is extraordinary, and it might be made 
the subject of a volume of illustrations and comment. 
The main incident of the Rake in the foreground is 



372 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

appalling in its reality, while the faithful Sarah 
Young, who, after all her ill-usage, is present at 
the last to soothe her dying lover by her tears and 
self-devotion, helps to humanise the whole scene. 

John Ireland makes some just remarks on the 
preposterous comment of the Rev. William Gilpin 
on the presence of this ill-fated woman. ' The 
Reverend Mr. Gilpin, in his elucidation of these eight 
prints, asserts that this thought is rather unnatural, 
and the moral certainly culpable ! With the utmost 
deference for his critical abilities, I must entertain 
a different opinion. We have many examples of 
female attachment being carried still farther. If it 
be culpable to forgive those who have despitef ully 
used us, to free those which are in bonds, to visit 
those which are in prison, and to comfort those 
which are in affliction, what meaning have the 
divine precepts of our holy religion ? ' l 

Respecting the Rake himself Gilpin appears to 
have affirmed that ' the expression of the principal 
figure is rather unmeaning.' In answer to this 
Ireland refers to the opinion of John Hamilton 
Mortimer, A.R.A. We are told that Mortimer was 
once requested to delineate several of the Passions as 
personified by Gray. One of the subjects proposed 
was ' Moody madness, laughing wild, amid severest 
woe.' The instant this line was read to him, he 
opened a portfolio, took out the eighth plate of the 
' Rake's Progress,' and pointing to the principal 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, 1793, L 61. 



HOSPITALS 373 

figure, exclaimed, ' Sir, if I had never seen this print, 
I should say it was not possible to paint these 
contending passions in the same countenance. 
Having seen this, which displays Mr. Gray's idea 
with the faithfulness of a mirror, I dare not attempt 
it. I could only make a correct copy ; for a devia- 
tion from this portrait in a single line would be a 
departure from the character.' 

In the cell out of the principal room is seen a 
reclining figure with a cross leaning against the wall. 
Ireland says that it is designed from one of the stone 
figures of Madness by Caius Gabriel Gibber, which 
formerly stood on the outer gates of the Hospital, 
and are now preserved in the Victoria and Albert 
Museum at South Kensington. J. B. Nichols refers 
to a painting by Hogarth, ' A View of Bethlehem 
Hospital,' exhibited in 1814 by Mr. Jones (Anecdotes 
of William Hogarth, 1833, p. 364). The Hospital 
was removed to St. George's Fields in 1815, and it 
still remains there. 

In Low Life (1764), already referred to, we read 
under Hour xiii., from twelve till one o'clock on 
Sunday noon : * The nurses of Bethlehem Hospital, 
carrying the appointed messes in wooden bowls, to 
the poor people under their care, and putting by the 
best part of it for their ancient relations and most 
intimate friends, who are to come and visit them in 
the afternoon.' 

In Hour i., from twelve o'clock on Saturday night 
to one o'clock on Sunday morning, we are told of 



374 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

* the unhappy Lunaticks in Bethlehem Hospital in 
Moorfields, rattling their chains and making terrible 
out-cry, occasioned by the Heat of the weather 
having too great an effect over then 1 rambling 
brains.' We also read of some disagreeable things 
done by nurses and ' women called Watchers hi 
Hospitals,' which need not be quoted here. 

The Governors of St. George's Hospital possess a 
picture of the building at Hyde Park Corner with 
a portrait on horseback of Michael, the son of the 
last Count Soleirol, a Huguenot, who fled to Eng- 
land on account of his religion. It was exhibited 
at Whitechapel (Georgian England) in 1906, No. 26, 
the horseman being described as * Count Solacio,' 
the name given to him by a writer in Notes and 
Queries, sixth series, i. 125. 

In 1713 Michael Soleirol, the son of John and 
Jeanne, was born at Monteile [?], and was subse- 
quently naturalised in England. 

The picture was presented to the Hospital in 1870 
by Mr. Charles Hawkins, F.B.C.S., perhaps the 

* C. H. ' of Notes and Queries, who was Treasurer of 
St. George's Hospital, 1865-70. The following par- 
ticulars are obtained from a letter of Mr. Robert 
F. D. Campbell, engineer and surveyor, a descendant 
of the Count, who sold it to Mr. Hawkins, which is 
preserved in the Minute Book of the Hospital. 1 

1 I am greatly indebted to Mr. George Peachey, who has kindly com- 
municat ed this information to me. The engraving here given is taken from 
the original picture, which does not appear to have been previously repro- 
duced. 




X . 

H 3 

2 -S 

" I 

< ^ 

H 

= a 
- 



o f 



14 



HOSPITALS 375 

The view of the Hospital and Hyde Park is merely 
a background for the portrait of the horseman 
painted by Hogarth. Michael Soleirol was the 
proprietor of the Cocoa Tree Club, originally in Pall 
Mall and afterwards in St. James's Street, and was 
friendly with Steele, Addison, and others connected 
with the Spectator. It has even been hinted that 
he wrote himself an occasional contribution. The 
picture is said to have been painted at the expense 
of the club, and a sum of sixty guineas was voted and 
paid to Hogarth. Apparently he only painted the 
figure, as the horse was the work of John Sartorius 
(father of Francis Sartorius and, according to the 
Dictionary of National Biography, the first of four 
generations of animal painters) ; and the view was 
by a third artist whose name is not recorded. The 
horse is a portrait, as also is the dog named Rose. 
Mr. Peachey says that the only signature he can 
discover on the picture is ' J. S. 1748.' The proprietor 
of the Cocoa Tree had four daughters, and one of 
them married Mr. Burke. Mrs. Burke had two 
sons and one daughter, Maria, who married James 
O'Brien. The eldest daughter of the latter, Eliza- 
beth Helen, married a Mr. Campbell. The picture 
came into the possession of Mr. O'Brien in the early 
part of the nineteenth century, and he gave it to 
Mrs. Campbell. She bequeathed it to her son, 
who sold it to Mr. Hawkins, so that the history 
of the picture is fully traced. Mr. R. F. D. 
Campbell says that two of the daughters of Soleirol, 



376 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

proprietor of the Cocoa Tree Club, were either 
brought up by Hogarth or lived at his house. They 
survived to a considerable age, as they did not die 
until a period between the years 1812 and 1820. 
These ladies affirmed that the picture was very much 
approved of on account of its accuracy, in respect to 
the representations of the man, the horse, the dog 
and the view. The pose of the rider was said 
to be a faithful representation of his resolute air 
and mien. 



PRISONS AND CRIME 377 



CHAPTER XII 

PRISONS AND CRIME 

CRIMES of violence were common in the eighteenth 
century, and at few times in our history was Society 
coarser and more depraved than during a portion of 
the period when there was little or no fear of public 
odium on account of ill-conduct. The Court, during 
the reigns of George I. and n., did not set a good 
example to those who are apt to follow persons in 
high places. 

Criminals figure largely in Hogarth's works, and 
those in authority whose duty it was to bring 
criminals to justice were sometimes little behind 
those whom they condemned. The system by which 
magistrates were appointed and governed was not 
satisfactory, but the magistrates seem to have been 
vigilant, and gradually a better system grew up. 

It is evident that in the eighteenth century people 
did not depend upon the protection of the police. 
The watchmen were quite incompetent and unable to 
keep the roughs in order. The men of the day 
therefore took the matter in their own hands and 
made themselves capable of carrying out their own 
means of protection by instruction in the use of the 



378 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

sword or of their fists. Watchmen were either feeble 
old men, or if they were of any use they often received 
pay from the housebreakers to keep out of the way. 
The author of Low Life makes this special charge : 
* Watchmen taking fees from House-breakers for 
liberty to commit burglaries within their beats, and 
at the same time promise to give them notice, if 
there is any danger of their being taken or even 
disturbed in their villainies.' 

Gay's Trivia contains a description of the watch- 
men's less criminal venality. To understand the 
picture it is needful to remember that the watch 
consisted of watchmen with staves and lanterns led 
by a constable, who carried a staff but not a lantern. 
The scene scarcely differed in any respect from the 
immortal one in which Dogberry and Verges figured. 

' Yet there are Watchmen who with friendly light 
Will teach thy reeling steps to tread aright ; 
For sixpence will support thy helpless arm, 
And home conduct thee, safe from nightly harm ; 
But if they shake their lanthorns, from afar 
To call their brethren to confed'rate war 
When rakes resist their power ; if hapless you 
Should chance to wander with the scowring crew ; 
Though fortune yield thee captive, ne'er despair, 
But seek the constable's consid'rate ear ; 
He will reverse the watchman's harsh decree, 
Moved by the rhet'ric of a silver fee. 
Thus would you gain some fav'rite courtier's word, 
Fee not the petty clerks, but bribe my Lord.' 

Ned Ward gives a vivid sketch of the constable's 
authority when a ' strayed reveller ' is said to be 
drunk. ' My friend puts his hand in his pocket, 



PRISONS AND CRIME 379 

plucks out a shilling. Indeed, Mr. Constable, says 
he, we tell you nothing but the Naked Truth. There 
is something for your Watch to drink. We know it 
is a late hour, but hope you will detain us no longer. 
With that Mr. Surly Cuff directs himself to his right 
Janizary : Hem hah, Aminadab, I believe they are 
civil gentlemen ; Ay, ay, said he, Master you need 
not question it ; they don't look as if they had fire 
balls about 'em. Well gentlemen you may pass ; 
but pray go civilly home. Here Colly, light the 
gentlemen down the hill, they may chance to 
stumble in the dark and break their shins against 
the Monument.' 

Of the more capable officers of the law the 
vocation of a bailiff or catchpole or a sheriff's officer 
was considered infamous by Englishmen, and in 
consequence of this a large number of them were 
Dutchmen or Flemings. 

Three active magistrates were associated with 
Hogarth, viz. Saunders Welch, Sir Thomas de Veil, 
and Sir John Gonson. The first was a personal friend 
of the painter, the other two were introduced in- 
cidentally into his pictures ; but the greatest magis- 
trate was Henry Fielding, who, with his brother and 
successor Sir John Fielding, did more than any one 
else at this period to improve the police and the 
administration of justice. The novelist worked for 
this improvement both as a magistrate and a writer. 

Fielding was appointed a justice of the peace 
for Westminster, in December 1748, and moved to 



380 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Bow Street to a house belonging to the Duke of 
Bedford. 

In the dedication of Tom Jones to George Lyttelton 
(afterwards Lord Lyttelton) Fielding seems to refer 
to this appointment. He writes : ' Lastly, it is owing 
to you that the history appears what it now is. If 
there be in this work, as some have been pleased to 
say, a stronger picture of a truly benevolent mind 
than is to be found in any other, who that knows you, 
and a particular acquaintance of yours, will doubt 
whence that benevolence hath been copied ? The 
world will not, I believe, make me the compliment 
of thinking I took it from myself. I care not : this 
they shall own, that the two persons from whom I 
have taken it, that is to say, two of the best and 
worthiest men in the world, are strongly and zeal- 
ously my friends. I might be contented with this, 
and yet my vanity will add a third to the number ; 
and him one of the greatest and noblest, not only in 
his rank, but in every public and private virtue. 
But here, whilst my gratitude for the princely bene- 
factions of the Duke of Bedford bursts from my heart, 
you must forgive me reminding you that it was you 
who first recommended me to the notice of my 
benefactor.' 

Fielding was shortly afterwards qualified to act for 
Middlesex, and on May 12, 1749, he was unanimously 
chosen Chairman of Quarter Sessions at Hicks' s Hall. 
His charge to the Westminster Grand Jury on June 
29, 1749, was published, and is well worth reading 



PRISONS AND CRIME 381 

now. In it he said, ' The fury after licentious and 
luxurious pleasures is grown to so enormous a height, 
that it may be called the characteristic of the pre- 
sent age.' 

Fielding's Enquiry into the Causes of the late 
Increase of Robbers, etc., with some Proposals for 
remedying this growing Evil, is a practical and most 
interesting book which had a great effect. Sir John 
Fielding, who was blind from birth, was associated 
with his brother as assisting magistrate for three or 
four years, and succeeded him in office on his death 
in 1754. He carried on Henry Fielding's plan for 
breaking up bands of robbers and died in 1780. 
Sir Walter Besant (Eighteenth Century] refers to a 
scandalous book published hi 1755 and entitled, 
' Memoirs of the Shakespear's Head in Covent Garden, 
by the Ghost of Shakespear,' one chapter of which ' is 
devoted to the most venomous delineation of Henry 
Fielding in his official capacity. That there should 
be no possible mistake as to the person intended, he 
is mentioned by name without any disguise at all.' 
One of the most discreditable circumstances con- 
nected with the eighteenth century was the very exist- 
ence of such an unmitigated scoundrel as Jonathan 
Wild, and the scathing satire The Life of Mr. Jonathan 
Wild the Great will keep the recollection of this mis- 
creant alive. Fielding did honour to an office which 
sadly wanted it. He was partly paid in fees, and he 
said himself that his appointment did not bring him 
in, ' of the dirtiest money upon earth,' 300 a year. 



382 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Saunders Welch, a magistrate of Westminster, 
was a great friend of Fielding, and saw the last of 
him when he set forth on his voyage to Lisbon. 
The novelist wrote in his Journal, ' By the assistance 
of my friend Mr. Welch, whom I never think or speak 
of but with love and esteem, I conquered this diffi- 
culty.' This was when he was getting into the vessel 
at Rotherhithe. When they were at Gravesend, 
Monday, July 1, 1754, he says, ' This day Mr. Welch 
took his leave of me, after dinner.' 

Welch was also a friend of Johnson, and in a letter 
from the latter to him when at Rome, dated February 
3, 1778, we learn the doctor's feelings towards him : 

' DEAR SIR, To have suffered one of my best and 
dearest friends to pass almost two years in foreign 
countries without a letter has a very shameful 
appearance of inattention. But the truth is that 
there was no particular time in which I had anything 
particular to say ; and general expressions of good 
will, I hope our long friendship is grown too solid to 
want.' 

Welch's second daughter Mary was married to 
Joseph Nollekens, R.A., and it is said that Johnson 
had serious thoughts of marrying her, and jokingly 
observed on one occasion, ' Yes, I think Mary would 
have been mine if little Joe had not stepped in.' 

If this were so, and J. T. Smith is correct in his 
character of Mrs. Nollekens, we may consider Johnson 
as happy in his escape. It was partly through 



PRISONS AND CRIME 383 

Johnson's influence that Welch obtained two years' 
leave of absence to visit Italy for his health. 

Boswell tells a very amusing and instructive 
anecdote of Johnson's power of simple speech, when 
he found it necessary. In his ' eager and unceasing 
curiosity to know human life in all its variety ' he 
attended Welch's office for a whole winter ' to hear 
the examinations of the culprits, but he found an 
almost uniform terror of misfortune, wretchedness 
and profligacy.' Sir Joshua Reynolds happened to 
be present at an examination of a little blackguard 
boy. ' Welch, who imagined he was exalting himself 
in Dr. Johnson's eyes by using big words, spoke in a 
manner that was utterly unintelligible to the boy ; 
Dr. Johnson perceiving it, addressed himself to 
him, and changed the pompous phraseology into 
colloquial language. Sir Joshua Reynolds, who was 
much amused by this procedure, which seemed a kind 
of reversing of what might have been expected from 
the two men, took notice of it to Dr. Johnson as they 
walked away by themselves. Johnson said that it 
was continually the case ; and that he was always 
obliged to translate the justice's swelling diction 
(smiling) so that his meaning might be understood 
by the vulgar, from whom information was to be 
obtained.' 

It speaks well for the character of Welch that he 
possessed three such distinguished friends as Hogarth, 
Fielding, and Johnson. He wrote an excellent de- 
scription of the ' March to Finchley ' in Christopher 



384 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Smart's publication The, Student. Hogarth and 
Welch differed on some points in the article, but very 
amicably, and the former is said to have observed, 
' I generally thought with the author of this paper, 
and whenever I differed from him I have found reason 
to take shame to myself.' 

Miss (Anne) Welch said that ' when Mr. Hogarth 
advertised the sale of his pictures without reserve, 
her father, apprehensive of the event, mentioned his 
intention of bidding for them on his own account, as 
he knew Mr. Hogarth would not permit a fictitious 
bidding. To this Mr. H. strenuously objected, and 
with great earnestness intreated him not to attempt 
it; "for," said Mr. Hogarth, "you are known to be 
my friend ; I have promised to sell my pictures 
without reserve, and your bidding will ruin my 
reputation with the public, as it will be supposed I 
have broke my word and the pictures were bought 



in." 



J. T. Smith, in Nollekens and his Times, tells us 
that Welch was born at Aylesbury, educated in the 
workhouse of that town, and apprenticed to Mr. 
Clements, the trunkmaker at the corner of St. Paul's 
Churchyard. For some years he was a grocer in 
Queen Street, Bloomsbury (now Museum Street). 

Smith does not tell us how Welch's improved 
fortunes came about, but he states that William 
Packer of Great Baddow, Essex, and many other 
venerable persons, recollected * seeing him as High 

1 S. Ireland, Graphic Illustrations, voL i. p. 157. 



PRISONS AND CRIME 385 

Constable of Westminster dressed in black, with a 
large nine-story George n.'s wig, highly powdered, 
with long flowing curls over his shoulders, a high 
three-cornered hat, and his black baton tipped with 
silver at either end, riding on a white horse to Tyburn 
with the malefactors.' Hogarth painted (it is said 
in a quarter of an hour) a portrait of Welch in a short 
wig, which is engraved and published in S. Ireland's 
Graphic Illustrations (1794). Welch was popular on 
account of the justness of his actions and his kindness 
to the poor. 

The questionable honour was done him of taking 
his portrait as the sign of a low public-house in 
Dyot Street, Bloomsbury. A story is told that hi 
1766 he went unattended into Cranbourne Alley to 
quell the riotous meetings of the journeymen shoe- 
makers there who had struck for an advance of 
wages. One of the crowd recognised him and he 
was at once mounted on a beer barrel, when the 
men patiently listened to his expostulations. He 
quieted the rioters, and prevailed on the master 
shoemakers to grant an additional amount to the 
workmen's wages. 

Sir Thomas de Veil (1684-1746) was a most un- 
popular magistrate. John Ireland said that he 
' raised himself from the rank of a common soldier 
to a station in which he made a considerable figure,' 
and he was ' both intelligent and active.' * Mr. 
Dobson writes of him : ' Sir Thomas De Veil was an 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 260 note. 
2B 



386 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

able but not very worshipful Justice of the Peace for 
London and Westminster, and a predecessor of Henry 
Fielding at Bow Street.' His figure in the picture of 
' Night ' as a drunken Freemason is fully described 
in Chapter iv. (Low Life). 

Fielding's comedy, The Coffee-House Politician, or 
the Justice caught in his own Trap, 1730, contains an 
exposure of Justice Squeezum's unmitigated villainies, 
and Squeezum is believed to represent de Veil. 

So well was this man known among the dangerous 
classes that it is said an elegy published on his death 
went through nine editions, and that there was 
hardly a thief or a harlot who did not buy a copy. 

John Ireland has a note in the first volume of his 
Hogarth Illustrated to the effect that ' on the resigna- 
tion of Mr. [Charles] Horatio Walpole in February 
1738 de Veil was appointed Inspector- General of the 
imports and exports, and was so severe against 
retailers of spirituous liquors, that one Allen headed 
a gang of rioters for the purpose of pulling down his 
house, and bringing to a summary punishment two 
informers who were there concealed. Allen was 
tried for this offence, and acquitted, upon the jury's 
verdict declaring him lunatic.' There is a life of 
de Veil in the Gentleman's Magazine, 1747, p. 562, 
and Memoirs of the Life and Times of Sir Thomas de 
Veil were published in the same year. Mr. Stephens 
says that the justice in the picture of ' A Woman 
swearing a Child to a grave Citizen ' is intended to 
represent Sir Thomas de Veil, 



PRISONS AND CRIME 387 

The magistrate in Plate 3 of the ' Harlot's Pro- 
gress,' who apprehends the heroine, is intended to 
represent Sir John Gonson, who gained the name 
of the 'harlot-hunting justice.' The introduction 
of this figure conduced to the success of the prints. 

Nichols relates, in the Biographical Anecdotes, an 
interesting anecdote respecting this plate. ' At a 
board of Treasury which was held a day or two after 
the appearance of that print, a copy of it was shewn 
by one of the lords as containing among other 
excellencies a striking likeness of Sir John Gonson. 
It gave universal satisfaction ; from the Treasury 
each lord repaired to the print shop for a copy of it, 
and Hogarth rose completely into fame. This anec- 
dote was related to Mr. Huggins by Christopher 
Tilson, Esq., one of the four chief clerks in the 
Treasury, and at that period under secretary of 
state. He died August 25, 1742, after having enjoyed 
the former of these offices fifty-eight years. I should 
add however that Sir John Gonson is not here intro- 
duced to be made ridiculous, but is only to be 
considered as the image of an active magistrate 
identified.' In The Lure of Venus, or a Harlot's 
Progress, by Captain Breval, under the name of 
Joseph Gay, Gonson is specially mentioned in the 
third canto: 

' Sir John and all his myrmidons appear 'd, 
With clubs and staves equipt, a numerous Herd, 
The surly Knight intrepid, led the van.' 

Gonson' s charges to juries were very energetic, and 



388 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

frequently referred to in the newspapers of the time. 
Pope alludes to ' the storm of Gonson's lungs.' 

PRISONS. Newgate is supposed to be represented 
in the scenes from the ' Beggar's Opera,' but the 
only two prisons actually pictured by Hogarth are 
the Fleet and Bridewell. The painting of the 
Committee of the House of Commons examining 
Bambridge is one of the greatest importance as 
a record of the attempted reformation of the long- 
continued enormities permitted in ancient prisons. 
There is every reason to believe that in giving 
way to his abominably cruel nature Bambridge 
was following the precedent set by former Wardens 
of the Fleet. In the Calendar of State Papers 
(Domestic, 1619-23) there is note of a letter from 
Rookwood to Sir Clement Edmondes (August 2, 
1619), in which it is stated that ' the Warden has 
put into the dungeon called Boulton's Ward, a place 
newly made to exercise his cruelty, three poor men, 
Pecke, Seager and Myners, notwithstanding the 
express command of the Council that they should be 
favourably dealt with till further orders, they are 
starving from want of food.' In the spring of 1727 a 
Committee of the House of Commons was appointed 
to inquire into the management of Debtors' Prisons, 
and they brought to light a series of extortions and 
cruelties which would have been considered incredible 
were not the evidence so incontrovertible. When the 
Committee paid their first and unexpected visit to 






PRISONS AND CRIME 389 

the Fleet Prison, they found Sir William Rich con- 
fined in a loathsome dungeon and loaded with irons 
because he had given some slight offence to Barn- 
bridge. It was reported that a poor Portuguese, who 
had been manacled in a filthy hole for months, on 
being examined, supposed from something that was 
said that Bambridge might return to his post, and 
was so overcome with fear that he fainted and 
blood started out of his mouth and nose. 

The picture was painted in 1729 by Hogarth for 
Sir Archibald Grant of Monymusk, a member of the 
Committee, and it is suggested that Hogarth may 
have obtained facilities for painting the picture 
through the good offices of Sir James Thornhill, who 
was also a member of the Committee. 

The Committee appointed February 25, 1728-9, 
' to examine the state of the gaols within the King- 
dom ' was a large one. John Nichols gives in 
Genuine Works, vol. iii. (1817), the following as the 
principal members : James Oglethorpe, Esq., Chair- 
man ; The Right Hon. the Lords Finch, Morpeth, 
Inchiquin, Percival, Limerick; Sir Robert Sutton, 
Sir Robert Clifton, Sir Abraham Elton, Sir Edward 
Knatchbull, Sir Humphrey Herries, Hon. James 
Bertie, Sir Gregory Page, Sir Archibald Grant, Sir 
James Thornhill, Gyles Earle, Esq., General Wade, 
Humphrey Parsons, Esq., Hon. Robert Byng, 
Edward Houghton, Esq., Judge Advocate, Captain 
Vernon, Charles Selwyn, Esq., Vetters Cornwall, 
Esq., Thomas Scawen, Esq., Francis Child, Esq., 



390 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

William Hucks, Esq., Stampe Brookshank, Esq., 
Charles Withers, Esq., John La Roche, Esq., Mr. 
Thomas Martin. Many attended daily, and some 
of them twice a day. 

In the foreground of the picture a prisoner explains 
the mode by which his hands and neck were fastened 
together by metal clasps. Some of the Committee 
are examining other instruments of torture in which 
the heads and necks of prisoners were screwed, and 
which seem rather to belong to the dungeons of the 
Inquisition than to a London debtors' prison. 

The chairman (General Oglethorpe) is seen in an 
arm-chair at the head of the table. Sir Andrew 
Fountaine is on the chairman's left, and Lord 
Percival behind him. The prominent figure seated 
to the right of the table, examining the instrument of 
torture worn by a prisoner, is Sir William Wyndham. 
The man to the left addressed by the chairman is 
Bambridge. 1 

Hogarth gave his oil sketch for the picture to 
Horace Walpole, who greatly appreciated it. At the 

1 This picture and the ' Beggar's Opera ' both belonged to Sir Archibald 
Grant and afterwards passed into the possession of William Huggins, son 
of the (at one time) Warden of the Fleet. Nichols thinks it probable that 
Huggins bought the pictures in 1731 when Sir Archibald was expelled 
from the House of Commons owing to an irregularity connected with the 
financial affairs of a Corporation for Believing the Poor. Both pictures 
possessed a similarity in the ornamentation of the frames. The frame of 
the ' Committee ' was surmounted by a bust of Sir Francis Page with a 
halter round his neck, that of the 'Beggar's Opera' has a bust of Gay 
above. The picture of the ' Committee ' at the National Portrait Gallery 
has no bust on its frame, but Mr. John Murray's picture of the ' Beggar's 
Opera ' is still ornamented with Gay's bust. 



PRISONS AND CRIME 391 

Strawberry Hill sale it fetched 8, 5s., and now it is 
in the possession of Mr. Fairfax Murray. Walpole 
described this in his Anecdotes of Painting : 

' The scene is the Committee ; on the table are the 
instruments of torture. A prisoner in rags, half 
starved, appears before them ; the poor man has a 
good countenance, which adds to the interest. On 
the other hand is the inhuman gaoler [Bambridge]. 
It is the very figure that Salvator Rosa would have 
drawn for lago in the moment of detection. Villainy, 
fear and conscience are mixed in yellow and livid on 
his countenance ; his lips are contracted by tremor, 
his face advances as eager to lie ; his legs step back 
as thinking to make his escape ; one hand is thrust 
precipitately into his bosom, the fingers of the other 
are catching uncertainly at his button holes. If 
this was a portrait, it is the most striking that ever 
was drawn ; if it was not it is still finer.' 

John Huggins purchased the Wardenship of the 
Fleet (a patent office) from the Earl of Clarendon 
for 5000. The term of the patent was for his own 
and his son's life, but his son William Huggins 
having no wish to take upon himself the responsi- 
bility of such an office, John Huggins, in August 
1728, sold it to Thomas Bambridge and Dougal 
Cuthbert for the same amount he paid for it. 

Huggins, no doubt, had much to answer for ; 
but Bambridge managed to better such instructions 
as he had received, and bring things to a crisis within 
a year. The late G. A. Sala, in his little book on 



392 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Hogarth, draws a sort of distinction between the two 
men. He says Huggins's chief delight was to starve 
his prisoners unless they were rich enough to bribe 
him, but Bambridge's genius lay more towards 
confining his victims, charged with fetters, in under- 
ground dungeons, with the occasional recreation of 
attempting to pistol and stab them. The moneyed 
debtors both rascals smiled upon. Both Bambridge 
and Huggins were declared ' notoriously guilty of 
great breaches of trust, extortions, cruelties, and 
other high crimes and misdemeanors.' They were 
sent to Newgate, and Bambridge was disqualified 
by Act of Parliament from enjoying the office of 
Warden of the Fleet. 

John Nichols, in a note on p. 19 of his Biographical 
Anecdotes, says that Mr. Rayner in his Reading on 
Stat. 2 Geo. n., chap, xxxii., whereby Bambridge was 
incapacitated to enjoy the office of Warden of the 
Fleet, has given the reader a very circumstantial 
account, with remarks on the notorious breaches 
of trust, etc., committed by Bambridge and other 
keepers of the Fleet Prison. For this publication see 
Worral's Biblioiheca Legum, by Brooke (1777), p. 16. 

The picture painted for Sir Archibald Grant after- 
wards passed into the possession of William Huggins 
of Headly Park, Hants, at whose death in 1761 it was 
purchased by the Earl of Carlisle. It was exhibited 
in 1814, and in 1892 it was presented to the National 
Portrait Gallery by the present Earl. 

The seventh plate of ' A Rake's Progress ' (Prison 



PRISONS AND CRIME 393 

Scene) represents the interior of a stone cell in the 
Fleet where Rakewell is confined after his ruin in a 
gambling-house (White's), as seen in Plate 6. Sarah 
Young falls into convulsions and is attended by three 
persons. At Rake well's side stands his one-eyed 
wife, with clenched fists, vehemently denouncing 
him. The man sits helpless, bewildered, and de- 
spairing amid the overwhelming troubles that have 
fallen upon him. 1 He is in the first stage of that 
madness that has fallen upon him hi the eighth and 
last scene. 

The Fleet Prison was burned down in the Great 
Fire of 1666, rebuilt four years later ; destroyed in 
the Gordon Riots 1780, and rebuilt in 1781. It was 
finally taken down in 1844. 

The fourth plate of the ' Harlot's Progress ' 
exhibits a scene in Bridewell, in which the peculiar 
features of that miserable place are shown. Men 
and women are beating hemp under the eye of a 
savage taskmaster, and a lad, too idle to work, is 
seen standing on tiptoe to reach the stocks, in which 
his hands are fixed, while over his head is written, 
' Better to work than stand thus.' The harlot is the 
principal figure standing at the left of the picture 
handsomely dressed in a flowered brocade petticoat. 
She is about to beat with a heavy mallet a thick 
hank of oakum which lies before her on a large 
wooden block ; very little of her work has been 
performed, and the warder who stands beside her 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 162. 



394 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

angrily points to the state of the oakum and, holding 
a rattan, is about to beat his prisoner. 

The flogging at Bridewell is described by Ned 
Ward in his London Spy. Both men and women 
were whipped on their naked backs before the 
Court of Governors. The president sat with his 
hammer in his hand, and the culprit was taken from 
the whipping-post when the hammer fell. The calls 
to knock, when women were flogged, were loud and 
incessant : ' O good Sir Robert, knock ! Pray, good 
Sir Robert, knock ! ' This became a common cry of 
reproach among the lower orders, to denote that a 
woman had been whipped as a harlot in Bridewell. 

As a specimen of the atrocious manners of the time 
it may be noted that it was one of the sights to see the 
women flogged. 

John Ireland quotes a paragraph from the Grub 
Street Journal (1730) to show that there is no 
exaggeration in respect to the dress of the harlot. 
Here one Mary Moffat is described ' as beating hemp 
hi a gown very richly laced with silver.' 

As a corroboration of the fact that Sir John 
Gonson was the magistrate who apprehended the 
harlot and committed her to Bridewell is seen, in 
the hanging figure drawn in chalk on the wall, with 
the inscription over it, ' Sir J. G.' Mr Stephens 
expresses the opinion that this print was used as a 
plea for the amelioration of the treatment of these 
unfortunates in the prisons. 1 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. IxL 



PRISONS AND GRIME 395 

Bridewell continued for many years to be used as a 
' house of correction,' but on the erection of the City 
Prison at Hollo way in 1863 the materials of the 
Bridewell Prison were sold by auction and cleared 
away in the following years. 

Hogarth made portraits of such criminals as Mary 
Malcolm (1733), Elizabeth Canning (1753), Lord 
Ferrers (1760), and Theodore GardeUe (1761). 

Those miscreants, Francis Charteris and Mother 
Needham, who are represented in the first plate of the 
' Harlot's Progress,' have been already mentioned in 
Chapter ix. (Tavern Life). 

A highwayman is among the company at White's 
in the sixth plate of the ' Rake's Progress,' and in the 
third plate of the ' Harlot's Progress ' the wig-box of 
James Dalton, another notorious highwayman, is 
seen among the miscellaneous contents of the harlot's 
room, when she is about to be apprehended by Sir 
John Gonson. 

Sarah Malcolm, a laundress in the Temple, was 
executed in March 1733 at the Fetter Lane end of 
Fleet Street, opposite Mitre Court, for three murders, 
viz. Mrs. Lydia Duncomb and her two servants, 
Elizabeth Harrison and Ann Price, living in Tanfield 
Court, Temple. When she sat to Hogarth for her 
portrait in the condemned cell she had, according to 
Walpole, put on red to look the better. When he 
was at work the painter said to Sir James Thornhill, 
' I see by this woman's features that she is capable of 
any wickedness.' 



396 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The portrait was painted for Horace Walpole, who 
gave Hogarth five guineas for it. It was sold at the 
Strawberry Hill sale in 1842 to Charles Kirkpatrick 
Sharpe for 24, 3s. 

Hogarth painted another portrait, a whole 
length (the original being three-quarters), which was 
in the possession of Joshua Boydell in 1793. An 
engraving of this is to be found in John Ireland's 
Hogarth Illustrated (vol. ii.). It was exhibited in 
1814 by the Earl of Mulgrave. 

She was twenty years of age when she was executed, 
and therefore a fine portrait of a comely middle-aged 
woman exhibited by Sir Frederick Cook, Bart., at 
the Winter Exhibition of the Royal Academy (1908) 
cannot well be a portrait of the murderess. 

A portrait of Elizabeth Canning, painted in prison, 
belonged to the Earl of Mulgrave in 1833. The 
extraordinary case of this woman's false swearing 
produced a great public excitement. She fully de- 
scribed her alleged abduction and ill-treatment, and 
on her false statement Mary Squires, a gypsy, and 
Susannah Wells were indicted. Being found guilty 
Squires was condemned to death, and Wells to be 
branded and imprisoned for six months. The case 
is not likely to be forgotten, for one reason, that 
Fielding was deceived by the woman and wrote a 
pamphlet in her favour, entitled A Clear State of 
the Case of Elizabeth Canning, 1733. Sir Crisp 
Gascoyne, the Lord Mayor, was convinced of the 
fraud, and succeeded in obtaining the pardon of 



PRISONS AND CRIME 397 

Squires. Canning was brought to trial in 1754 and 
found guilty of perjury. She was transported to 
New England, but was afterwards released, and a 
subscription being raised for her she became a 
schoolmistress. She married a Quaker and lived till 
1773. The public feeling was all along strongly in 
favour of Canning, and Gascoyne suffered much 
obloquy from his labours in bringing her to justice. 
The full-length portrait of Lawrence Shirley, Earl 
Ferrers, the murderer, who was executed in 1763, 
was exhibited at Whitechapel (Georgian England) 
1906, by Mr. Frederick M. Cutbush of The Hobby, 
Maidstone. 

A portrait of Theodore Gardelle, engraved by 
S. Ireland, will be found in his Graphic Illustrations, 
1794. The sketch was by Mr. Richards, and only 
touched on by Hogarth. Gardelle was born hi 
Geneva in 1721, and only arrived in London from 
Paris in 1760. He found employment as a miniature 
painter, and lived in Leicester Square at the house 
of a Mrs. Anne King. He murdered her in a brutal 
manner and concealed her body. He was arrested 
on the 27th of February 1761, and was executed at 
the corner of Panton Street, Haymarket, on the 
following 4th of April. His body was hung in chains 
on Hounslow Heath. 

We have already dealt hi Chapter vin. (Business 
Life) with the incidents of the life of the Industri- 
ous Apprentice, who was Hogarth's favourite, which 
are all of the greatest interest. The incidents of the 



398 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

life of the Idle Apprentice, naturally, come under 
the heading of crime, but they need not detain 
us long. The artist was not careful to mark his 
fall with the same elaboration, and in consequence 
it seems to be too violent. Plate 3, where the Idle 
Apprentice is seen at play in the churchyard, is one 
of the best of the series. Plate 5 shows him sent to 
sea, and contains a view of a reach in the Thames 
known as Cuckold's Point in the distance, and three 
vessels off that promontory ; the pathetic element of 
the picture centres in the poor widowed mother, who 
is weeping over the sad state of her son, and filled 
with horror at his recklessness. In Plate 7 Tom Idle 
returned from sea is in a garret with a prostitute. 
In Plate 9 he is betrayed by this woman. The cellar 
in which he is found is said to have been a notorious 
place called Blood Bowl House, Blood Bowl Alley, 
Fleet Street, afterwards known as Hanging Sword 
Alley, Whitefriars. 1 The latter appears always to 
have been the official name, and the former to have 
been only the popular name. Dickens refers to 
Hanging Sword Alley in Bleak House ; Mr. Marks, in 
his Tyburn Tree, gives an account of the robbery of 
Mr. or Captain George Morgan by James Stansbury 
and Mary his wife. He writes : ' The case is very 

1 In Chapter vm. (Business Life) there is a notice of a series of drawings 
by Hogarth for the engravings of ' Industry and Idleness ; in the Print 
Room of the British Museum. Mr. Dobson points out that in the sketch 
for Plate 7 a rat is added, and there is a sword in place of the petticoat 
over the bed, and he suggests that probably this is intended to indicate 
that the garret was in Hanging Sword Alley, the scene of the cellar in 
Plate 9. (See W. Hogarth, 1907, p. 250, note.) 



PRISONS AND CRIME 399 

interesting as having furnished to Hogarth the 
motive of one of his prints in the series of " The 
Effects of Industry and Idleness." Captain Morgan 
going home in the early hours of the morning of 
July 17, 1743, seeing a lady in the street, feared for 
her safety and gallantly offered to escort her home. 
He was taken into a house where he was robbed 
and assaulted. The house in Hanging Sword Alley, 
Fleet Street, bore an execrable reputation, in virtue 
of which it was known as * Blood Bowl House.' At 
the trial Mary Stansbury asked a witness, ' Have I 
not let you go all over the house, to see if there were 
any trap-doors as it was represented ? ' The witness 
Sharrock replied that he had looked all over the house 
and saw no trap-door. It will be recollected that 
in Hogarth's print the body of a murdered man is 
being thrust through a trap-door. The same witness 
spoke of the house as ' Blood Bowl House.' Stans- 
bury asked him how he came to know of the Blood 
Bowl, to which Sharrock replied that he had seen it 
in the newspapers. Mr. Marks adds that he had 
been less fortunate ; he had not found accounts in 
contemporary newspapers referring to the name 
or to the trap-door. 

Plate 10, where Tom Idle is brought up before 
his former comrade, now an Alderman of London, 
in the Court-house at Guildhall, has already been 
referred to. We now come to Plate 11, the finest 
picture of all, in which Idle is executed at Tyburn. 
This is the best view of Tyburn in existence, and 



400 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

gives a vivid picture of the scenes which were con- 
stantly occurring. The Rev. Mr. Gilpin wrote : 
' We seldom see a crowd more beautifully managed 
than in this print,' and he is quite right. The 
composition, in spite of innumerable details, is 
thoroughly harmonious. Mr. Marks gives this as 
the best illustration of the Triple Tree in 1747 in his 
interesting work on Tyburn Tree, which is a monu- 
ment of well-planned research and by far the best 
authority on the subject. 

Like the ' March to Finchley,' the picture of the 
execution of the Idle Apprentice is admirably ar- 
ranged and the figures grouped with all Hogarth's 
remarkable facility. In the background are seen 
the hills of Hampstead and Highgate. 

An execution was made the occasion of regular 
holiday-making and a round of diversions. It was 
one of the sorriest sights to be seen in the eighteenth 
century, and naturally the vivid delineator of the 
manners of the century painted the scene. Neverthe- 
less the very thought of such orgies taking place on 
the occasion of the ignominious death of a human 
being fills one with horror, and sorrow for the 
brutality of our ancestors. 

The ' Four Stages of Cruelty ' (1751) are the most 
painful and repulsive of Hogarth's works, and one's 
first impulse is to pass them by, but this cannot be 
done. The atrocities of Tom Nero seem to be too 
horrible for representation, but the artist had his 
reasons for his work. He remarks : ' The leading 



PRISONS AND CRIME 401 

points in these, as well as the two preceding prints 
(i.e. ' Beer Street ' and ' Gin Lane ') were made as 
obvious as possible in the hope that their tendency 
might be seen by men of the lowest rank. Neither 
minute accuracy of design, nor fine engraving were 
deemed necessary, as the latter would render them 
too expensive for the persons to whom they were 
intended to be useful. And the fact is, that the 
passions may be more frankly expressed by a strong 
bold stroke, than by the most delicate engraving. 
To expressing them as I felt them I have paid the 
utmost attention, and as they were addressed to 
hard hearts, have rather preferred leaving them 
hard, and giving the effect, by a quick touch, to 
rendering them languid and feeble by fine strokes 
and soft engraving ; which require more care and 
practice than can often be obtained, except by a 
man of a very quiet turn of mind. . . . The prints 
were engraved with the hope of in some degree 
correcting that barbarous treatment of animals the 
very sight of which renders the streets of our Metro- 
polis so distressing to every feeling mind. If they 
have had that effect and checked the progress of 
cruelty, I am more proud of having been the author, 
than I should be of having painted Raffaelle's 
Cartoons.' l 

We may pass by the First Stage in which Tom 
Nero is shown as one of the boys in St. Giles's Charity 
School. In the Second Stage he is a hackney coach- 

1 Anecdotes of William Hogarth, by J. B. Nichols, 1833, pp. 64-5. 

2 C 



402 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

man. The scene is laid at the gate of Thavie's Inn, 
Holborn. The longest shilling fare in London was 
from that Inn of Chancery to Westminster, and the 
foreground of the picture is occupied by four lawyers 
in wigs and gowns who have clubbed their three- 
pence each for the hackney coach No. 24, T. Nero, 
driver, to carry them to Westminster Hall. The 
coach comes to a stop from the horse having fallen 
on its knees, broken its legs and overthrown the 
vehicle. The driver beats the horse on its head 
with the butt of a whip. 

John Ireland says with respect to this scene : 
' A man taking the number of the coach is marked by 
traits of benevolence, which separate him from the 
savage ferocity of Nero, or the guilty terror of these 
affrighted lawyers.' 

' Cruelty in Perfection ' shows Nero as a prisoner 
brought to view the body of his murdered mistress. 
The last scene, ' The Reward of Cruelty,' requires 
some fuller comment, although it is singularly 
repulsive. 

The scene of the dissection of Tom Nero takes 
place in the theatre of the Barber-Surgeons Company 
in Monkwell Street. It was built in 1636-7 after the 
design of Inigo Jones. It was restored under the 
direction of the Earl of Burlington in 1730-1, and 
pulled down in 1783. It has been supposed by some 
that the dissecting theatre represented the Surgeons' 
Hall in the Old Bailey, and there is this reason for 
the opinion that the surgeons separated from the 



PRISONS AND CRIME 403 

barbers in 1745. Although this was the case, the 
surgeons had not a dissecting theatre ready, and it 
was necessary for a time to continue at the old 
theatre. The first Court of Assistants of the 
Surgeons Company was held at their new theatre in 
the Old Bailey in August 1751, but it was not until 
1753 that the first Masters of Anatomy were selected 
and the first dissections were undertaken in accord- 
ance with the Act of 1752. 

Mr. Marks gives in his Tyburn Tree an illustration 
of the body of a murderer dissected according to the 
Act of 1752, which is inscribed ' The Body of a 
Murderer exposed in the Theatre of the Surgeons' Hall 
Old Bailey.' This is a different building from that 
represented in Hogarth's print, which has two 
windows at the back that are not seen in the other 
engraving. John Ireland suggests that the President 
in the Chair much resembles the eminent surgeon 
John Freke. 



404 HOGARTH'S LONDON 



CHAPTER XIII 

THE SUBURBS 

THE suburbs of Hogarth's day have now become an 
integral part of the town, and in some cases almost its 
heart. Marylebone and Tyburn were in his time 
country villages, and in the Evening Post of March 16, 
1715, we read that ' On Wednesday last, four gentle- 
men were robbed and stripped in the fields between 
London and Marylebon.' 

The New Road (now the Marylebone, Euston and 
Pentonville Roads) was formed in 1756 through a 
rural district, and all north of the road was country. 
The Duke of Bedford, who then lived on the north 
side of Bloomsbury Square, unsuccessfully opposed 
its construction on the ground that the dust created 
by the traffic would completely spoil the gardens at 
the back of his mansion. 

Tottenham Court Road was quite rural until the 
beginning of the nineteenth century, and on the east 
side of the road there was an extensive farm. 

Hogarth has immortalised the upper part of the 
road where it joins the Hampstead Road, and the 
turnpike was placed in one of his finest pictures, 
presented by the artist to the Foundling Hospital, 
and known as ' The March to Finchley.' 



THE SUBURBS 405 

After the Jacobite rising in 1745 a camp was 
formed at Finchley, and the Foot Guards represented 
in this picture, who had been hurriedly recalled from 
the Low Countries and Germany, are bound for 
Scotland and on their way to the camp. 

Mr. Stephens gives a very full description of the 
incidents in the picture in his Catalogue of Satires in 
the British Museum (vol. iii. p. 512). 

The two public - houses form the prominent 
features in the picture, viz. the Adam and Eve on 
the west side and the King's Head on the east 
side. The Adam and Eve still stands at the corner 
of the Hampstead and Marylebone Roads, and the 
King's Head was only taken down in the summer 
of 1906 in order to allow of the widening of the 
Hampstead Road. The Adam and Eve was originally 
the manor-house of the prebendal manor of Tothill, 
Totenhall, or Tottenham Court, described in Domes- 
day and originally appertaining to the Dean and 
Chapter of St. Paul's. The first notice of it as a place 
of public entertainment is contained in the books of 
the parish of St. Giles's in the Fields under the year 
1645, when Mrs. Stacye's maid and two others were 
fined a shilling apiece 'for drinking at Tottenhall 
Court on the Sabbath daie.' Ben Jonson, however, 
appears to allude to the place at a rather earlier date, 
when he makes Quarlous say to Win- Wife in Bar- 
tholomew Fair, 1614, ' Because she is in possibility to 
be your daughter-in-law, and may ask your blessing 
hereafter when she courts it to Totnam to eat cream.' 



406 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

The tea-gardens were for many years a popular 
resort, and here on May 16, 1785, Vincent Lunardi 
effected the second descent from his balloon. 

In course of time the gardens lost their credit and 
became the resort of highwaymen and footpads, 
when about 1811 the music-room was abolished, the 
skittle-grounds destroyed, and the gardens dug up for 
the foundation of the present Eden Street, a name 
more appropriate to the association with Adam and 
Eve than to the beauty of the situation. 

Under the signboard of the inn is inscribed 
Tottenham Court Nursery, in allusion to the boxing- 
booth at which the celebrated pugilist Broughton 
exhibited his prowess. In the background beneath 
the signboard are two combatants. John Ireland 
says that a little fellow of meagre frame who joins in 
the fray is a portrait of a well-known man usually 
styled Jockey James. ' Jockey had a son who 
rendered himself eminent by boxing with Smallwood, 
and many other athletic pugilists. The French 
pyeman, grenadier and chimney sweeper are also 
taken from the life, and said by those who recollect 
their persons, to be very faithful resemblances of the 
persons intended.' l 

Lord Albemarle Bertie, who is the chief character 
in the picture of the * Cockpit,' is also introduced into 
the ' March to Finchley.' John Nichols informs us 
that the chimney-sweeper and one of the young 
fifers were hired by Hogarth, 'who gave each of 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, voL ii. p. 139 (note). 



THE SUBURBS 407 

them half a crown for his patience in sitting while his 
likeness was taken.' l 

The King's Head on the opposite side of the road 
has a sign of the portrait of Charles n., but the house 
that has lately been destroyed had the head of 
Henry vm. On the roof of the King's Arms is a 
meeting of cats, which is intended to give a key to the 
character of the women who fill every window of the 
house and are presided over by the infamous Mother 
Douglas. 

This picture, which represents a scene of confusion 
and disorder, is a triumphant example of Hogarth's 
supreme power in the arrangement and grouping of 
his characters. 

Arthur Murphy in an article in the Gray's Inn 
Journal draws attention to the dramatic power of the 
picture, and to the genius of Hogarth in speaking 
directly to the spectator by means of the eye alone 
he, at least, uses a universal language: 'The aera 
may arrive, when, through the instability of the 
English language, the style of Joseph Andrews and 
Tom Jones shall be obliterated, when the characters 
shall be unintelligible, and the humour lose its 
relish ; but the many personages which the manner- 
painting hand of Hogarth has called forth into mimic 
life will not fade so soon from the canvas, and that ad- 
mirable picturesque comedy, The March to Finchley, 
will perhaps divert posterity as long as the Foundling 
Hospital shall do honour to the British nation.' 

1 Biographical Anecdotes, p. 246. 



408 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

An account of how the picture came into the pos- 
session of the Foundling will be found in Chapter xi. 
(Hospitals). 

Hogarth wished to dedicate the print of his great 
picture to George n., and arrangements were made 
for the King to see the painting. The incident of 
its reception by the man who hated ' bainting and 
boetry ' is too well known to be repeated here in its 
entirety. Suffice it to say, that George n. ended his 
inspection of the picture with the indignant speech, 
* What ! a bainter burlesque a soldier ? he deserves 
to be bicketed for his insolence ! Take his drum- 
pery out of my sight.' l 

Hogarth was so chagrined that in revenge he 
inscribed the engraving to Frederick the Great, the 
King of Prussia, as ' an encourager of Arts and 
Sciences.' The ' March to Finchley ' was engraved 
by Luke Sullivan, who is described by John Ireland 
as follows : ' Sullivan was so eccentric a character 
that while he was engraving this print Hogarth held 
out every possible inducement to his remaining at his 
house in Leicester Square night and day, for if Luke 
quitted it, he was not visible for a month. It has 
been said, but I know not on what authority, that 
for engraving it he was paid only one hundred 
pounds.' 2 

Mr. Austin Dobson refers to the ' March to 
Finchley ' as Sullivan's masterpiece as an engraver. 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. ii. p. 133. 

2 Ibid., vol. ill p. 353. 



THE SUBURBS 409 

He also tells us that Sullivan was the angel in ' Paul 
before Felix.' 

Mr. Stephens enumerates nine states of the plate, 
and adds that the engraver's outline in pencil is in 
the Print Room of the British Museum. 

The States 1 to 6 are as follows : * 

1. The etching in the British Museum. 

2. The finished plate without writing below (very 
rare). 

3. Inscribed 'Painted by Will m Hogarth & 
Publish'd Dec br 30 1750. According to Act of 
Parliament. A Representation of the March of the 
Guards towards Scotland, in the year 1745. To his 
Majesty the King of Prusia, an encourager of Arts 
and Sciences ! This Plate is most humbly dedicated. 
Engrav'd by Luke Sullivan.' 

4. The first part of the inscription is changed to 
' Painted & Publish'd by Will m Hogarth Dec br 30 
1750.' 

3 and 4 constitute what is called ' the Sunday 
print,' because it was found that the 30th December 
1750 fell on a Sunday. 

5. The date is altered to Dec br 31st. 

6. The dedication line stopped out, preparatory 
to correcting the error in spelling the word ' Prussia.' 

In States 3, 4, 5 and 6 the word ' Prussia ' has been 
engraved with one ' s ' only, another ' s ' has been 
added above the line, but without a caret, with a 
pen and ink. 1 

1 British Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. p. 517. 



410 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Respecting this John Nichols writes : 1 1 have 
been assured that only twenty-five were worked off 
with this literal imperfection, as Hogarth grew tired 
of adding the mark - with a pen over one S, to supply 
the want of the other. He therefore ordered the 
inscription to be corrected before any greater number 
of impressions were taken. Though this circum- 
stance was mentioned by Mr. Thane, to whose ver- 
acity and experience in such matters the greatest 
attention is due, it is difficult to suppose that 
Hogarth was fatigued with correcting his own 
mistake in so small a number of the first impressions. 
I may venture to add, that I have seen, at least, five 
and twenty marked in the manner already described ; 
and it is scarce possible, considering the multitudes 
of these plates dispersed in the world, that I should 
have met with all that were so distinguished.' l 

With regard to No. 6 John Ireland wrote : ' I have 
an early impression of this print, in which the dedica- 
tion to the King of Prussia does not appear, and it 
might pass for a proof. On inquiry I find that upon 
one of Hogarth's fastidious friends objecting to its 
being dedicated to a foreign potentate, he replied, 
" If you disapprove of it you shall have one without 
any dedication," and took off a few impressions, 
covering the dedication with fan paper.' 2 

7. The spelling of ' Prussia ' is corrected, and the 
following addition below the engraver's name : 

1 Biographical Anecdotes, 1782, p. 243 (note). 

2 Hogarth Illustrated, voL iii. p. 353. 




;i 

2 .s 
~" .'> 



II 

H 
Z 

o 



THE SUBURBS 411 

' Retouched and Improved by Wm. Hogarth, re- 
publish'd June 12th 1761.' 

Respecting this inscription John Nichols writes : 
' The improvements in it, however, remain to be 
discovered by better eyes than mine.' l 

8. Mr. Stephens says the plate has been worked 
on by another and less skilful hand. 

9. Much worked on and used for James Heath's 
edition of Hogarth's works. 2 

The subscription ticket for the ' March to 
Finchley ' represents a trophy of military weapons, 
tools and musical instruments used in war (bagpipes, 
etc.) designed and engraved by Hogarth. 

The interior of old Marylebone Church (originally 
built in the year 1400) is seen in the fifth plate of the 
' Rake's Progress,' which was published in 1735. 
The church was then nearing the end of its days, for 
in 1741 it was pulled down and the old church now 
hi High Street, Marylebone, was built on its site. 
The Bishop of London of the day gave orders that 
all the old tablets should be fixed as nearly as 
possible in their former places, and the inscription 
on the front of the gallery pews in the picture is still 
to be seen. 

The great Francis Bacon was married in Hogarth's 
church in 1606, and Sheridan was married to Miss 
Linley in the still standing church in 1773. John 

1 Biographical Anecdotes, 1782, p. 243. 

2 Mr. Stephens's description of the nine states is given in the British 
Museum Catalogue, vol. iii. pp. 517-18. 



412 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Ireland says that in Hogarth's time Marylebone 
Church was at such a distance from London that it 
became the favoured resort of those who desired to 
be privately married. The Rake would naturally 
not wish to show his deformed wife before a large 
audience. A great change was about to take place 
in the relative position of the suburbs to the town, 
for at the end of the eighteenth century London had 
joined Marylebone. Ireland notes that while at the 
date of the Revolution (1688) ' the annual amount of 
the taxes for the whole parish was four and twenty 
pounds ; in 1788 the annual amount was four and 
twenty thousand.' l There are three satirical points 
in the picture which should be noted. The Com- 
mandments are broken and the Creed is destroyed by 
the damp, but the third is the most striking the 
poor-box is covered with a cobweb, so that alms- 
giving evidently had been neglected. Ireland sug- 
gests that the broken Commandments ' probably 
gave the hint to a lady's reply, on being told that 
thieves had the preceding night broken into the 
church, and stolen the communion plate and the 
Ten Commandments. " I can suppose," added the 
informant, " that they may melt and sell the plate ; 
but can you divine for what possible purpose they 
could steal the Commandments ? " "To break 
them, to be sure," replied she ; "to break them." 
The Rev. William Gilpin points out that the church 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. i. p. 46 (note). 

2 Ibid., vol. i. p. 47 (note). 



THE SUBURBS 413 

is too small, and that it is divided disagreeably down 
the centre ; but he was answered that, although he 
is right in his criticism, Hogarth painted what he 
saw. 

A dog making friends with a one-eyed comrade is 
said to be drawn from the painter's favourite Trump. 

The outside of Marylebone Church is supposed to 
be represented in the Third Stage of ' Cruelty,' or 
' Cruelty in Perfection,' where the vile Tom Nero is 
taken prisoner for the murder of the girl who trusted 
in him and robbed her mistress for his sake. 

' To lawless love, when once betray'd 

Soon crime to crime succeeds ; 
At length beguil'd to theft, the maid 
By her beguiler bleeds.' 

There is little of the church to judge from, and it 
may, as some suggest, represent old St. Pancras 
Church. 

The scene of the * Idle Apprentice at Play in the 
Churchyard during Divine Service ' (Plate 3) has not 
been identified, but it is either in London or the 
suburbs. Mr. Stephens, as previously noted, sug- 
gests that there are points of resemblance to the 
churches of St. Michael, Crooked Lane, and St. Paul, 
Shadwell. The parish beadle in the background, 
dressed in his gown and gold-laced hat, as well as the 
shield bearing the arms of the City of London over 
the door, seem to point to its being a City church. 

Mr. Austin Dobson writes : ' There is no more 
eloquent stroke in the whole of Hogarth than that by 



414 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

which the miserable player at " halfpenny tinder the 
hat," in Plate 3, is shown to have but a plank between 
him and the grave.' 

Tyburn was an extreme western suburb of London, 
and executions took place there for many centuries. 
The last person executed at Tyburn was John Austin 
on November 3, 1783, and although the executions 
before Newgate remained for many years a gross 
scandal, the scenes exhibited there never equalled in 
atrocity those which continually occurred at Tyburn. 

Tyburn gallows was a triangle in plan, having three 
legs to stand upon. The Elizabethan writers con- 
stantly alluded to it and used it often in an idealised 
form, as Biron in Love's Labour 's Lost : 

' Thou mak'st the triumphery, the corner cap of society, 
The shape of Love's Tyburn, that hangs up simplicity.' 

The Triple Tree first came into existence in 1571 
at the execution of Dr. John Story, and Hogarth's 
picture (referred to in the last chapter) of the execu- 
tion of the Idle Apprentice shows it not long before 
its abolition. It was fixed in the open space at the 
end of Edgware Road, formed by the junction of 
the roads near where the Marble Arch now stands. 
Between June 18 and October 23, 1759, the old 
triangular gallows, hi use for nearly two hundred 
years, was removed, and the new movable gallows 
superseded it. This was ordinarily set up near the 
union of Bryanston Street and Edgware Road. 
The site of the fixed gallows was afterwards occupied 



THE SUBURBS 415 

by the toll-house of the turnpike removed from the 
east corner of Park Lane. 1 

Spitalfields, situated in the east of London between 
Bishopsgate and Bethnal Green, has been the 
favoured home of the silk weavers since the French 
Protestant refugees settled in this country after the 
iniquitous revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. 
This suburb is the scene of the first plate of the 
* Fellow Apprentices at the Looms,' where Thomas 
Idle is asleep and the cat on the floor is playing with 
his shuttle, while Goodchild is busily engaged in his 
proper occupation. 

The two chief places of entertainment of eighteenth- 
century London were Ranelagh and Vauxhall 
Gardens. To the first Hogarth does not appear to 
have made any allusion, although he must have been 
an attendant of the Gardens. The Rotunda was a 
favoured scene of the masquerades arranged by the 
famous Heidegger, about which something has been 
said in a former chapter. Ranelagh flourished from 
1742 to 1803, but no traces of it exist now. The site 
is included in Chelsea Hospital Garden, between 
Church Row and the river to the end of the hospital, 
the roadway, and the barracks. 

Hogarth was intimately connected with Jonathan 
Tyers and Vauxhall Gardens. Although he did not 
make any sketch of them, or introduce them into any 
of his pictures, he suggested their decoration by 
paintings, and helped that object forward. 

1 Alfred Marks, Tyburn Tree, pp. 69, 70, 249. 



416 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

South Lambeth (which included Vauxhall) was 
considered to have a pleasant climate, and many 
Londoners went there in the summer for change of 
air. Hogarth married in 1729, and soon afterwards 
went with his wife to South Lambeth. In 1733 he 
settled in Leicester Fields. When he was in the 
country he made the acquaintance of Tyers. Vaux- 
hall Gardens had a long life, for we know that it 
was a favourite resort in the time of Samuel Pepys, 
although its real period of success was inaugurated 
by Tyers, who took a lease of the place in 1728, and 
eventually acquired the freehold of the original 
Gardens and of some acres of land which he added to 
them. For a time he did little with the place until 
in 1732 he started his famous Ridotto al fresco. 

There is a tradition that Tyers was becoming tired 
of his venture when he took Hogarth into his con- 
fidence, with the result that on the painter's advice 
steps were taken which assured the success of the 
Gardens. There is no definite authority for this, and 
it seems strange that Hogarth, who was so violent an 
opponent of Heidegger's masquerades, should have 
suggested their adoption at Vauxhall. It may be, 
however, that his objection was chiefly to the close 
rooms of the Opera House, and that he saw no harm 
in a modified form of the same amusement in the 
fresh air. We do know, however, that Hogarth was 
a friend to Tyers, and enthusiastic hi the support of 
his friend's management of Vauxhall Gardens. 

On Wednesday, June 7, 1732, Tyers held his first 



THE SUBURBS 417 

grand Ridotto al fresco, the price of admission to 
which was one guinea. About four hundred of the 
elite of London Society came in boat-loads from town, 
and Frederick, Prince of Wales (who continued a 
patron of the Gardens till his death) came down the 
river from Kew in his barge. 

Thus set in the prosperity of the Gardens which 
continued well into the nineteenth century. Then 
came a time of decay and a discreditable old age 
ending in 1859. 

For a century the Gardens filled a distinguished 
place in English life the novelists and the essayists 
are full of its glories ; the letter-writers also, for is 
not Horace Walpole's description of the supper-party 
at Vauxhall, of which the writer, Lady Caroline 
Petersham, and the ' Pollard ' Ashe were the princi- 
pal characters, one of the most brilliant and delightful 
pages in the correspondence of that most charming of 
gossips ? 

Mr. Warwick Wroth tells us that ' when Tyers 
leased the Gardens there was in the dwelling-house a 
" Ham room," so that this famous Vauxhall viand 
must have been already in request. The thinness of 
the slices was proverbial. A journal of 1762, for 
instance, complains that you could read the news- 
paper through a slice of Tyers's ham or beef. A 
certain carver, hardly perhaps mythical, readily 
obtained employment from the proprietor when he 
promised to cut a ham so thin that the slices would 
cover the whole garden like a carpet of red and 

2 D 



418 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

white.' 1 It was considered unsafe to carry a plateful 
of ham from one box to another in case the slices 
were blown away. 

There must have been a long succession of these 
ham-cutters, for Thackeray speaks of ' almost in- 
visible slices of ham,' and a friend of the writer's tells 
how his father enlarged on the wonderful perform- 
ances of this artist. 

Why was it that these Gardens kept up their 
character for so long a period of time ? It was 
because the respectable classes continued to visit 
them, and their presence kept the vicious in order. 
Families went there in glass coaches or boats and 
kept together the whole evening. The novelists are 
full of the dangers attending those who strayed and 
found themselves unprotected in the dark walks. 

Mr. W. B. Boulton writes : ' During the height of 
their vogue there was a certain etiquette at the 
Gardens ; ladies came in full evening dress, and the 
men walked bareheaded, with their hats under their 
arms. A stately promenade of the main walks of the 
garden was usually a function which began the 
delights of the evening for the more fashionable of 
the company. Then followed the concert, invariably 
composed of sixteen pieces, songs alternating with 
instrumental performances the songs of a very 
sentimental cast the sonatas and symphonies for 
the band being often of a higher musical quality. 
Tyers, however, engaged the finest voices of his day 

1 The London Pleasure Gardens, 1896, p. 299. 



THE SUBURBS 419 

to warble the tender ballads for which the place was 
famous ; and men like Thomas Lowe and Vernon, 
and lady singers like Mrs. Arne, Miss Stevenson, Miss 
Wright, Mrs. Baddeley and Mrs. Weichsell, no doubt 
supplied the charm which the songs themselves all 
about Strephon and Delia and Cupid seem to lack 
to-day.' l 

To return to Hogarth. He painted for one of 
the larger saloons the picture of Henry the Eighth 
and Anne Boleyn, which was engraved by the artist 
himself and published in 1729. He is said to have 
drawn the King from Frederick, Prince of Wales, 
and Anne Boleyn from the Prince's mistress, Anne 
Vane. 

' Yet Vane could tell what ills from beauty spring.' 

This was not one of the pictures sold in 1841 at 
the sale of movable property in the Gardens. Hogarth 
allowed his ' Four Times of the Day ' to be copied by 
Hay man. At the sale just referred to, five pictures 
attributed to Hogarth were sold at the prices here 
noted : ' Drunken Man,' 4, 4s. ; 'A Woman pulling 
out an Old Man's Grey Hairs,' 3, 3s. ; ' Harper and 
Miss Raftor (afterwards Mrs. Clive), as Jobson the 
Cobbler and his Wife Nell in Coffey's farce of the 
Devil to Pay,' 4, 4s. ; ' The Happy Family,' 3, 15s. ; 
' Children at Play,' 4, 1 Is. 6d. Whether any of these, 
or any part of them, were by Hogarth it is impos- 
sible to say. Mr. Dobson states that the picture of 
4 Harper and Mrs. Clive ' is attributed to Hayman 

1 The Amusements of Old London, 1901, vol. ii. p. 27. 



420 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in L. Truchy's contemporary print from the paint- 
ing. Certainly they were in a bad condition from 
constant exposure ; the canvas was nailed to boards, 
and little remained of any beauty they once may 
have possessed. The free pass presented by Tyers 
to Hogarth, which now belongs to Mr. Fairfax 
Murray, has already been referred to. (See ante, 
p. 40.) 

In the eighteenth century tea-gardens were to be 
found all over the suburbs, and the author of an 
article in an old magazine estimated that the 
number of visitors to these gardens every Sunday 
amounted to at least 20,000, and the money spent 
in the course of the day on refreshments to about 
25,000. In fine weather these gardens were not 
large enough to accommodate all the people that 
came out of the town for entertainment, and the 
fields around were also crowded. 

Hogarth has taken Sadler's Wells, or rather the 
New River opposite Sadler's Wells, as the subject of 
' Evening.' This place was opened in 1684, in which 
year was published, by Dr. Thomas Guidott, a 
pamphlet setting forth the virtues of the medicinal 
water ; and for a time the gardens were styled New 
Tunbridge Wells, but the latter designation was 
given up when the Islington Spa took the additional 
name of ' New Tunbridge Wells.' The natural 
confusion between Islington Wells and Sadler's Wells 
shows how close to each other these tea-gardens were 
placed. 



THE SUBURBS 421 

Sadler, who gave his name to the gardens, made 
the most of the virtues of the waters, so that Epsom 
and Tunbridge Wells found them to be a formidable 
rival, and a pamphlet was published in the interest of 
the country wells protesting against the horrid plot 
to injure them. This may have had some effect, for 
the Clerkenwell Gardens went out of fashion for a 
time ; but in the eighteenth century the water- 
drinking was discontinued and the Gardens became 
a favourite resort of the Londoners. 

Hogarth's picture was engraved in 1738, and is 
described as follows by Mr. F. G. Stephens in his 
British Museum Catalogue (vol. iii. p. 268) : ' This 
engraving represents a rural suburb on the north side 
of London, with the entrance to a building marked 
" Sadler's Wells " over the porch, a covered gateway 
in the garden wall on our left ; on our right, nearer 
the foreground, is a public-house with a sign, com- 
prising in an oval medallion a portrait of " S r Hugh 
Midleton." Through a window open in the side of 
the house a party of men appear within, smoking 
most energetically. The background is a landscape 
including two cottages, one of which has a pendent 
signboard, and hills and trees.' 

The building at Sadler's Wells was at this time a 
music house ; and it was not turned into a theatre 
until later in the century, although miscellaneous 
entertainments of rope-dancing and tumbling took 
place in the old house. 

The rural character of the Gardens continued for 



422 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

many years, and the man and his wife who are 
walking in the heat along the road one would expect 
to be eager to rest themselves under ' the shady 
trees ' in a scene which is enthusiastically described 
in a ' New Song on Sadler's Wells, 1740 ' : 

' These pleasant streams of Middleton 
In gentle murmurs glide along, 
In which the sporting fishes play 
To close each wearied Summer's day. 
And Musick's charms in welling sounds 
Of mirth and harmony abounds ; 
While nymphs and swains with beaux and belles 
All praise the joys of Sadler's Wells. 
The herds around o'er herbage green 
And bleating flocks are sporting seen, 
While Phoebus with its brightest rays 
The fertile soil doth seem to praise.' 

Mr. Wroth, who quotes this song, adds : ' As late as 
1803 mention is made of the tall poplars, graceful 
willows, sloping banks and flowers of Sadler's Wells.' 1 

The man and his wife and children in the fore- 
ground of the picture are in fact turning their backs 
on Sadler's Wells. The artist goes out of his way 
to show contempt for the unfortunate husband by 
making the horns of the cow behind fit upon his head. 
John Ireland says of them : ' It is not easy to 
imagine fatigue better delineated than in the ap- 
pearance of this amiable pair. In a few of the earliest 
impressions, Hogarth painted the man's hands in 
blue, to shew that he was a dyer, and the woman's 
face in red to intimate her extreme heat. The lady's 

1 London Pleasure Gardens, 1896, p. 45. 



THE SUBURBS 423 

aspect at once explains her character ; we are certain 
that she was born to command. As to her husband, 
God made him, and he must pass for a man ; what his 
wife has made him, is indicated by the cow's horns, 
which are so placed as to become his own. The hope 
of the family, with a cockade, riding upon papa's 
cane, seems much dissatisfied with female sway. A 
face with more of the shrew in embryo than that 
of the girl, is scarcely possible to conceive.' l 

Mr. Stephens describes three states of the plate. 
Of the first, three copies only are known ; in this 
the figure of the scolding girl does not occur, nor the 
inscription over the door of ' Sadler's Wells.' On 
the margin of the copy in the Print Room of the 
British Museum is the following MS. note : ' This 
proof was deliver'd by Mr. Baron to Mr. Hogarth, 
& it being told him, this boy has no apparent cause 
to wimper (sic) he put in his sister, threatening him to 
deliver his gingerbread King, now he put in Cause. 
The character Hogarth altered where he is crying.' 
Also ' Engrav'd by M. Baron price 5 Shillings.' 2 

It is worthy of mention that, although the New 
River is only indicated by a few lines in the fore- 
ground, yet its object is clearly indicated by a piece 
of wooden piping on the bank, such as was used 
to convey the water to the waterworks and houses. 

Although Southwark was not strictly a suburb, 
Hogarth's great picture, ' A Fair, the Humours of a 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. i. p. 142. 

2 Catalogue of Satires in the British Museum, vol. iii. p. 269. 



424 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Fair,' which presents one of the finest of his arrange- 
ments of a crowd, naturally comes in for notice in this 
chapter. Walpole refers to it as Bartholomew Fair, 
but this is a mistake on his part by reason of his 
confusing the two fairs. 

Southwark Fair was called also Our Lady Fair, and 
St. Margaret's Fair. It was held in the highway of 
the borough, and in the courts and inn-yards between 
the Tabard and the church of St. George the Martyr. 
It was one of the three great fairs of importance 
described in a Proclamation of Charles I. as ' unto 
which there is usually extraordinary resort out of all 
parts of the kingdom.' The others were Bartholomew 
Fair, and Sturbridge Fair near Cambridge. Our 
Lady's Fair was of considerable antiquity, and liberty 
to hold it on September 7, 8, 9 was granted to the 
City of London by the charter of 2 Edward iv. 
(November 2, 1462). It had probably been held 
informally long before this. Although the time 
allowed by charter was only three days, the fair 
continued, like other fairs, for fourteen days. The 
amusements of Southwark Fair were much the same 
as those at St. Bartholomew's, and the booth pro- 
prietors moved from one to the other, but at South- 
wark the acrobat and rope-dancer were the most 
popular among the performers. 

Pepys went to Southwark Fair on September 21, 
1668, where he saw a puppet-show and was much 
interested in Jacob Hall's dancing on the ropes 
* mightily worth seeing.' He asked Hall ' whether he 



THE SUBURBS 425 

had ever any mischief by falls in his time. He told 
me " Yes, many, but never to the breaking of a 
limb." He seems a mighty strong man.' Rather 
later than this, but before Hogarth's time, William 
Joyce, a strong man, exhibited here. Ward describes 
him as ' the Southwark Sampson, who breaks 
Carmen's Ribs with a hug, snaps Cables like Twine 
Thread, and throws Dray Horses upon their backs, 
with as much ease as a Westphalia Hog can crack a 
Cocoa Nut.' When he exhibited before William m. he 
lifted 1 ton and 14J Ibs. of lead, tied a very strong rope 
round himself to which was attached a strong horse, 
and although the horse was whipped it failed to 
move him ; the rope he afterwards snapped like 
packthread. ' We are credibly inform'd that the 
said Mr. Joyce pull'd up a tree of near a yard and a 
half circumference by the roots at Hampstead on 
Tuesday last in the open view of some hundreds of 
people, it being modestly computed to weigh near 
2000 pounds weight.' l 

When Hogarth painted his picture, which was in 
1733, the Fair was nearing its end, for in 1762 it was 
suppressed. The engraving, although dated 1733 
' Invented, Painted and Engrav'd 1733 ' was not 
printed and issued until June 1735, having been kept 
back for the purpose of securing the protection 
afforded by the Act of Parliament known as 
Hogarth's Act. 

In the London Evening Post for June 3 and 14, 

1 J. Ashton's Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, 1882, vol. i. p. 267. 



426 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

1735, it was announced that the nine prints (' A 
Rake's Progress ' and ' Southwark Fair ') were ' now 
printing off and will be ready for delivery on the 
25th instant. N.B. Mr. Hogarth was, and is, 
obliged to defer the publication and delivery of the 
aforesaid Prints till the 25th of June in order to 
secure his property, pursuant to an Act lately passed 
both Houses of Parliament to secure all new-invented 
prints that shall be published after the 24th instant, 
from being copied without the consent of the 
proprietor, and thereby preventing a scandalous and 
unjust custom (hitherto practised with impunity) of 
making and vending base copies of Original Prints to 
the manifest injury of the Author, and the great dis- 
couragement of the Arts of Painting and Engraving.' 

4 Southwark Fair ' is one of the most valuable 
of Hogarth's pictures as a vivid representation of 
a phase in the life of his times, and one in which 
he must have been unusually interested, as he has 
filled it with an immense amount of detail. He was 
most careful in representing the different groups, 
but the topography is not very clear in fact, some 
critics have expressed doubts as to the locality. 

Pervading the whole scene there is so general a 
feeling of varied life and action that it has been 
described as ' painted noise.' Hogarth's amazing 
power in harmonising the miscellaneous groups into 
one consistent whole is here displayed in an equal 
degree to that in the case of the ' March to Finchley.' 

The chief figure in the centre group of the picture 



THE SUBURBS 427 

is a buxom young woman beating a drum to draw an 
audience for the entertainment with which she is 
connected. She is deservedly admired by the men 
around her, and moreover she is a worthy repre- 
sentative of the painter's favourite style of beauty. 
Samuel Ireland tells that ' the heroine of this print 
... is a portrait of whom Mrs. Hogarth gave me 
the following particulars, that H. passing through the 
fair, on seeing the master of the company strike her 
and otherwise use her ill, he took her part and gave 
the fellow a sound drubbing ; whether this chastise- 
ment arose from a liking to her person or respect for 
the sex we know not, but it is certain that she was 
the kind of woman for whom he entertained a strong 
partiality. A proof of this may be adduced in many 
of his works ; where he has occasion to introduce a 
good-looking female he has generally given us a form 
not unlike hers, and it must be confessed that her face 
and figure seem to be of that attractive quality which 
will never fail to gain admirers in this country.' l 

Mr. Stephens, after quoting this passage, adds 
that ' the strongest proof of this figure exhibiting 
something not remote from Hogarth's ideal of 
English beauty is to be found by comparing the 
model's aspect and physique with the like in his 
portrait of Mrs. Hogarth.' 2 A striking scene is 
being acted at the left of the picture, where an insecure 
scaffolding has given way, and the actors are falling 

1 Graphic Illustrations, 1794, vol. i. pp. 110-11. 

2 British Museum Catalogue of Satires, vol. ii. p. 836 (note). 



428 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

in confusion. A lantern hanging beneath the stage 
is inscribed ' Giber and Bullock,' and ' The Fall of 
Bajazet.' 

John Ireland tells us that a booth was built in the 
year that this picture was painted (1733) ' for the use 
of T[heophilus] Gibber, Bullock and H. Hallam, at 
which the tragedy of Tamerlane, with the Fall of 
Bajazet, intermixed with the Comedy of the Miser, 
was actually represented.' : 

We thus see that Hogarth transferred Gibber's 
booth from St. Bartholomew's to Southwark, 
although it is possible that Gibber may (as was com- 
mon then) have removed from Smithfield to South- 
wark Fair. The show-cloth above the scaffolding is 
a copy of ' The Stage Mutiny,' etched by John 
Laguerre, which has already been referred to in 
Chapter x. (Theatrical Life). This represents the 
secession of some actors from Covent Garden under 
the leadership of Theophilus Gibber. 

In the middle of the picture but in the background 
is one of the chief booths ornamented with a show- 
cloth on which the Trojan Horse is painted with 
an inscription announcing The Siege of Troy is here. 
This was a droll written by Elkanah Settle. Beneath 
the show-cloth is a company rehearsing some parts 
of the play. A lantern affixed to the booth is 
inscribed ' Lee and Harper's Great Booth.' Mr. 
Stephens quotes an advertisement from The County 
Journal, or The Craftsman, September 8, 1733 : 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, 1793, vol. L p. 72 (note). 



THE SUBURBS 429 

' At Lee and Harper's Great Theatrical Booth, on 
the Bowling Green behind the Marshalsea in South- 
wark during the Fair, will be performed that cele- 
brated Droll, which has given such entire satisfaction 
to all that ever saw it,' etc., etc. The entertainments 
are not the same as are shown in the picture, but 
Hogarth gave the correct representation of the booth 
quite up to date. In a later advertisement notice is 
given of ' a Grotesque Pantomime Entertainment 
call'd, The Harlot's Progress or The Ridotto al 
Fresco,' which was performed at Lee's booth. This 
was a piece by Theophilus Gibber, first acted in 
April 1733 at Drury Lane. 

In connection with The Siege of Troy, J. Ireland 
quotes the following interesting information from 
Victor's eulogium on Boheme the actor : ' His first 
appearance was at a booth in Southwark Fair, which 
in those days lasted two weeks, and was much 
frequented by persons of all distinctions, of both 
sexes. He acted the part of Menelaus, in the best 
droll I ever saw called the Siege of Troy.' 1 

To the right of the Trojan Horse are show-cloths 
representing Adam and Eve, and the puppet-show 
of Punch wheeling Judy into the jaws of destruction. 
At the extreme right of the picture is an alehouse 
with the sign of The Royal Oak, and chequers over 
the door. On a paper lantern is written, ' Royal 
Wax Worke,' and ' The Whole Court of France is 
here,' and at an open window above is a dwarf 

1 Victor's History of the Theatres (1761), vol. ii. p. 74. 



430 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

drummer and a little wax figure. Below hangs a 
show-cloth, and a juggler stands in front with a bird 
in his hand. This was a famous performer named 
Fawkes, who is said to have acquired 10,000 by his 
dexterity of hand. He is introduced into the print 
of Masquerades and Operas, already alluded to in 
Chapter x. (Theatrical Life). Mr. Stephens refers to 
James Caulfield's Portraits, Memoirs, and Characters 
of Remarkable Persons (1819, vol. ii. p. 65), where 
there is a portrait of Fawkes standing at a table, and 
in the act of shaking balls from a bag. Below this 
is a representation of three men tumbling, one of 
them being like the tumbler painted on the show- 
cloth of Hogarth's picture. Fawkes died May 25, 
1731, so that according to strict chronological 
accuracy he should not have been included in a 
drawing taken hi 1733. 

In this representation of all the fun of the fair we 
find two well-known performers on the rope. To 
the left of the Trojan Horse is the celebrated Violante, 
and to the right of the church is a rope fixed from the 
tower of St. George's Church to the Mint, which is 
out of the picture. The performer on this rope was 
Cadman, or Kidman as he is named by John Nichols. 
Cadman later came to a sad end by attempting 
a similar feat of flying across the Severn at Shrews- 
bury. The unfortunate man was buried at that 
town, and on his tombstone were these lines inscribed: 

' No, no, a faulty cord being drawn too tight, 
Hurried his soul on high to take her flight, 
Which bid the body here beneath, good-night.' 



THE SUBURBS 431 

A similar performance took place at St. Martin's 
in the Fields when an acrobat descended a slack rope 
from the steeple of the church to the Royal Mews, 
which stood on the site of the present National 
Gallery. There is some doubt whether this feat was 
due to Cadman or Violante. John Nichols and John 
Ireland both give the credit to Cadman, but later 
writers say it was Violante. If we consult Walpole' s 
Letters we shall find that the doubt is unsolved. 

Walpole, writing to Sir Horace Mann respecting 
balloons (December 2, 1783), says : ' Very early in 
my life I remember this town at gaze on a man who 
flew down a rope from the top of St. Martin's steeple ; 
now late in my day, people are staring at a voyage to 
the moon. The former Icarus broke his neck at a 
subsequent flight : when a similar accident happens 
to modern knights errant, adieu to air-balloons.' 

John Wright, in editing Walpole, wrote : ' On the 
1st of June 1727, one Violante, an Italian, descended 
head-foremost by a rope, with his legs and arms 
extended, from top of the steeple of St. Martin's 
Church, over the houses in St. Martin's Lane l to the 
furthest side of the Mews, a distance of about three 
hundred yards, in half a minute. The crowd was 
immense, and the young princesses, with several of 
the nobility, were in the Mews.' Here is a definite 
statement, but it will be noticed that Walpole says 
that the rope-flier subsequently broke his neck, 

1 It must be remembered that at this time St. Martin's Lane, instead of 
stopping, as now, at Chandos Street, passed the church and led to the Strand 
opposite Northumberland House. 



432 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

and he would therefore probably be thinking of 
Cadman. 

John Nichols records that the latter applied to a 
bishop for permission to fix a line to the steeple of 
his cathedral church. The prelate replied that the 
man might fly to the church whenever he pleased, but 
he should never give his consent to any one's flying 
from it. 

The Weekly Miscellany for April 17, 1736, notices 
that ' Thomas Kidman, the famous flyer, who has 
flown from several of the highest precipices in 
England, and was the person who flew off Bromham 
steeple in Wiltshire, when it fell down, flew on 
Monday last, from the highest of the rocks near the 
Hotwells at Bristol with fireworks and pistols ; after 
which he went up the rope, and performed several 
surprising dexterities on it, in sight of thousands of 
spectators, both from Somersetshire and Gloucester- 
shire.' It will be seen from this that Nichols had 
authority for his form of the man's name, viz. 
Kidman. 

One figure of special importance at the Fair is 
James Figg, the ' Master of the Noble Science of Self- 
Defence,' who, sitting complacently on his horse and 
holding his sword with the point upwards, is seen at 
the extreme right of the picture. His booth is round 
the corner, and he is about to ride through the fair to 
gather those sightseers who are desirous of witnessing 
a fight between himself and some other professor of 
the art. He has his coat off and his bare head is 



THE SUBURBS 433 

covered with black patches, indicating the scars left 
from former combats. A fuller description of James 
Figg will be found in Chapter iv. (Low Life). 

We have now considered the more important of the 
incidents illustrated in this remarkable picture of 
Southwark Fair, but it is so rich in the illustration of 
London life that more might be added. Sufficient 
for our purpose has, however, been said, and those 
who wish for a complete account of the picture can 
refer to Mr. Stephens' s full description in the British 
Museum Catalogue (vol. ii. pp. 832-9). 

Other amusement-providers might have been 
introduced into the picture had there been room, 
such as Timothy Fielding, the actor (often confused 
with Henry Fielding, the author), who had a booth 
in the Fair. Greater actors, such, among others, as 
Powell, Booth, and Macklin, were introduced to the 
stage in these public and by no means select scenes. 

As to the visitors, many men of distinction have 
figured here, and John Ireland tells an anecdote of 
Samuel Johnson on one occasion visiting the Fair in 
company with Mallet. 

' When the Doctor first became acquainted with 
David Mallet, they once went with some other gentle- 
men to laugh away an hour at Southwark Fair. At 
one of the booths where wild beasts were exhibited 
to the wondering crowd, was a very large bear, which 
the showman assured them was catched in the 
undiscovered deserts of the remotest Russia. The 
bear was muzzled, and might therefore be approached 

2 E 



434 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

with safety, but to all the company, except Johnson, 
was very surly and ill-tempered : of the philosopher 
he appeared extremely fond, rubbed against him, and 
displayed every mark of awkward partiality, and 
subdued kindness. " How is it," said one of the 
company, " that this savage animal is so attached 
to Mr. Johnson ? " " From a very natural cause," 
replied Mallet, " the bear is a Russian philosopher, 
and he knows that Linnaeus would have placed him 
in the same class with the English moralist. They 
are two barbarous animals of one species." ' l 

Johnson never liked Mallet, and if this anecdote 
is true it is not probable that after this outrageous 
expression of contempt Johnson had any further 
intercourse with the man whose name was introduced 
into the Dictionary as an illustration of the word alias. 

J. B. Nichols in his Anecdotes of William Hogarth 
says that the picture was sold in 1746 at the sale of 
Mrs. Edwards's effects for 19, 8s. 6d. It was after- 
wards at Valentines, Ilford, Essex, and was sold in 
1797 and again in 1800, but the price it realised is 
not mentioned. Nichols says that the picture was 
destroyed in the fire at Colonel Thomas Johnes's 
mansion at Hafod on March 13, 1807 ; but this is a 
mistake, for it was saved from the fire, and after Mr. 
Johnes's death Hafod having come into the posses- 
sion of the Duke of Newcastle, his son exhibited the 
picture at the Manchester Art Treasures Exhibition, 
1857. In the catalogue of that famous exhibition 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, 1793, voL L p. 89 (note). 



THE SUBURBS 435 

there is the following note : ' Painted in 1733. 
Formerly at Valentines in Essex, afterwards the 
property of Johnes of Hafod (the translator of 
Froissart), from whom it passed with the Hafod 
estate to the father of the present possessor.' 

Johnes himself lent it to the Exhibition of 
Hogarth's Works at the British Institution in 1814. 

Here ends the notice of Hogarth's pictures of the 
suburbs, but there are three pictures that may be 
mentioned here. Chiswick and Twickenham may be 
treated as suburbs, although some may think Cowley 
is too far from town to be mentioned in this chapter. 

Mr. Dobson gives the following notice of Hogarth's 
etching of Mr. Ranby's house at Chiswick : ' There is 
a copy in the British Museum without the writing, 
but with the manuscript title " A view of Mr. 
Ranby the Surgeon's house. Taken from Hogarth's 
window at Chiswick." It is there dated 1748.' 

John Nichols writes : ' This view, I am informed, 
was taken in 1750 ; but was not designed for sale.' l 

It was ' publish' d as the Act directs by Jane 
Hogarth at the Golden Head, Leicester Fields, 1st 
May 1781.' 

Mr. Dobson mentions the picture of 'Garrick's 
Villa ' in his list of paintings of uncertain date, and 
there are some further particulars in J. B. Nichols's 
Anecdotes (p. 368) as follows : ' Garrick's villa by 
Lambert, with figures of Mr. and Mrs. Garrick by 
Hogarth, was bought by Colnaghi at Gwennap's sale 

1 Biographical Anecdotes, 1782, p. 341. 



436 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

April 5, 1821, for 7, 17s. 6d., and a companion to 
the above, a villa near Blackheath, was bought in 
the same sale by Adams for 3, 3s.' 

Samuel Ireland has given, in the second volume of 
his Graphic Illustrations (1799), a pretty engraving 
of a ' Garden Scene at Cowley, the residence of the 
late Thomas Rich, Esq.,' a which he dedicated to 
Abraham Langf ord, the auctioneer, the possessor of 
the picture. Cowley is situated near Uxbridge, and 
not far from Hillingdon, the residence of Mr. Lane the 
original purchaser of the Marriage a la Mode. Cowley 
has also an interesting association with the great actor 
Barton Booth, the original * Cato ' in Addison's play 
of that name, who was buried there. Two well- 
known streets in Westminster, Barton and Cowley 
Streets, were named after the actor, who possessed 
property in Westminster. Rich the manager, already 
referred to in Chapter x., died at an advanced age 
in 1761, and Ireland supposes that the picture was 
painted about the year 1750. It contains portraits 
of Rich and his wife, and Mrs. Cock to the left of 
the picture, and to the right are portraits of three 
men. Cock, the auctioneer, is admiring a picture 
held up by a servant and explained by Hogarth 
himself. Ireland describes the picture at the time of 
the publication of his book as in as fine preservation 
as when it left the easel. At the Garrick Club 
there is a small picture by Hogarth of John Rich 
and his family. 

1 This is a blunder made by Samuel Ireland. It should be John Rich. 



THE SUBURBS 437 

We here come to the end of these desultory 
chapters on the associations of Hogarth with the life 
of his time. I trust that something has been done 
to elucidate the most interesting incidents of the 
London of the eighteenth century, which he did so 
much to make live in his pictures, and also to prove 
by examples the enormous labour devoted by the 
artist to his work. The more we study the outcome 
of Hogarth's life the more we must admire his single- 
minded devotion to his studies. It was some time 
before he found his place, but when he did so he 
ever pressed forward, labouring hard in taking pains, 
which, with ordinary ability, in the end always 
achieves success. He was, however, guided through 
all this hard labour with the spirit which we call 
genius a something we know exists but which we 
cannot well define. This genius is sometimes attri- 
buted by enthusiastic admirers to those who have it 
not ; but every one who studies the life and work of 
this great man, to one side of whose large heart and 
mind this book is devoted, must know that it existed 
in no small measure in William Hogarth. 

A trivial anecdote sometimes tells more of the 
life of the subject than others apparently of more 
importance. Such is one related by John Ireland : 
' Hogarth never played at cards, and while his wife 
and a party of friends were so employed he occasion- 
ally took the quadrille fish, and cut upon them scales, 
fins, heads, etc., so as to give them some degree of 
character. Three of these little aquatic curiosities 



438 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

which remained in the possession of Mrs. Lewis, she 
presented to me, and I have ventured to insert them 
as a Tailpiece.' 1 This corroborates what is other- 
wise evident in every incident of the painter's life 
that he never was idle. 

The fame of Hogarth sprang into life immediately 
the public had the opportunity of admiring his 
engravings and seeing what a wealth of meaning 
there was crowded into the designs, but it has taken 
many generations to arise and pass away before the 
world has awakened to the undoubted fact that he 
was one of the greatest painters of the modern school. 

That position he has now attained, and he can 
never lose it while the love and understanding of art 
still exist in our land. 

1 Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii. p. 377. 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 439 



CHAPTER XIV 

LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 

MR. AUSTIN DOBSON has compiled so comprehensive 
' A Bibliography of the Principal Books, Pamphlets, 
etc., relating to Hogarth and his Works ' that it 
would be useless to attempt to form a new one. 
Those who want to know all the literature of Hogarth 
must consult his volume. It seemed, however, ad- 
visable to say a few words as to the authorities which 
will be of most use to the student of Hogarth's 
works. 

First, Mr. Dobson's William Hogarth is indispen- 
sable. This was originally published in 1879 and 
since that date has gone through several editions, 
being continuously improved and enlarged. The 
last edition (1907) is published at the small price of 
six shillings ; it is fully illustrated and has an 
excellent index, supplying the reader with the infor- 
mation it contains in a thoroughly handy form. 

The most important contemporary account of 
Hogarth's Pictures and Engravings is the Biographi- 
cal Anecdotes of William Hogarth ; and a Catalogue 
of his Works Chronologically Arranged, with Occa- 
sional Remarks, published by John Nichols, 1781. 



440 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Nichols himself explains the origin of this book in his 
Literary Anecdotes of the Eighteenth Century, 1812 
(vol. iii. p. 9), as a note on the reference to Trusler's 
Hogarth Moralized (1768) : * Of this great, this inimit- 
able Artist, I had (more than thirty years ago) col- 
lected some materials with a view to an article in the 
first edition of these Anecdotes. But my intelligence 
(aided by the acute and elegant criticism of the late 
George Steevens, Esq.) was so greatly extended 
beyond the limits of a note, that I formed from them 
a separate publication, intituled, " Biographical 
Memoirs (sic) of William Hogarth, 1781," which by 
the indulgence of the publick, arrived at a second 
edition in 1782, and to a third in 1785 ; and at a 
distance of 25 years, having been revised and new 
modelled, was again re-published in two handsome 
quarto volumes, illustrated with CLX. beautiful 
Plates in 1810' [1808-10]. 

In the Library of the British Museum is a thin 
volume of sixty-four pages, bound in russia and 
lettered, Anecdotes of Hogarth, a Fragment. At the 
beginning is the following MS. note by Isaac Reed : 
4 This imperfect Pamphlet is curious as being the 
first Essay towards the Life of Hogarth. About 
half a Dozen were printed and all destroyed except 
this copy. Whoever will take the pains of compar- 
ing this with the published one will observe some 
very material alterations. See particularly P. 22 
where the severe reflections on Mr. Walpole were 
almost wholly omitted. That part of the Pamphlet 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 441 

was written by Mr. Steevens, much of the remfainder] 
by myself, some by Mr. Nichols and many correc- 
tions by other hands. I c - REED.' 

The paragraphs alluded to are offensive remarks 
to prove that Walpole is ' unfortunate in his attempts 
to expose the indelicacy of the Flemish painters by 
comparing it with the purity of Hogarth.' 

The following note on page 23, which was modified 
in the published work, is interesting : 

' Might we not however, on this occasion com- 
pare the manner of the Artist with that of his 
Biographer, who talks of " eyes red with rage and 
usquebaugh," and of a " maudlin strumpet's fingers 
blooded by the sheep's heart designed for her dinner." 
It is whispered (we know not with how much truth) 
that even the delicacy of Mrs. H. was shocked by this 
description, and that she returned no thanks for the 
volume that contains it, when it was sent to her as a 
present by its author.' 

Nichols, in the Genuine Works of William Hogarth 
(vol. i. p. 437), referring to Reed's note, writes : 
' Preparatory to the First Edition, an impression of 
only twelve copies was printed for the purpose of 
obtaining correct information from those who were 
best able to communicate it.' He further expresses 
surprise that Reed should have written as he did. 
' The above note (the more curious as Mr. Reed was 
always extremely averse to his name appearing in 
print),' etc. etc. 

The author of this book possesses Horace Walpole' s 



442 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

copy of the first edition which is embellished with one 
of his bookplates (containing a view of Strawberry 
Hill) and annotated with his manuscript criticisms. 
The printed note in Reed's fragment was only 
partially omitted, and the paragraph beginning ' It 
is whispered ' is retained. Opposite this, on page 
44 of the first edition, Walpole inserted a ' Copy of 
my letter sent with the 4th vol. of my Anecdotes of 
Painting to Mrs. Hogarth, to which she returned no 
answer. H. W.' 

The letter is as follows : 

' Mr. Walpole begs Mrs. Hogarth's acceptance of 
the Volume that accompanies this letter, and hopes 
she will be content with his Endeavours to do justice 
to the genius of Mr. Hogarth. If there are some 
Passages less agreeable to her than the rest, Mr. 
Walpole will regard her disapprobation only as 
marks of the goodness of her heart and proof of her 
affection to her Husband's memory but she will, 
he is sure, be so candid as to allow for the Duty an 
Historian owes to the Public and himself, which 
obliges him to say what he thinks ; and which when 
he obeys, his Praise is corroborated by his Censure. 
The first page of the Preface will more fully make his 
Apology ; and his just Admiration of Mr. Hogarth, 
Mr. W. flatters himself, will, notwithstanding his 
Impartiality, still rank him in Mrs. Hogarth's mind 
as one of her Husband's most zealous and sincere 
Friends.' 

The original letter is in the British Museum Library. 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 443 

The second edition of the Biographical Anecdotes 
(greatly enlarged) was published in 1782. Mr. 
Austin Dobson possesses Nichols's own copy of this 
edition filled with the MS. corrections and addenda 
subsequently inserted in the third edition of 1785. 
A slip pasted at the beginning is inscribed : ' This 
Vol. belongs to Mr. Nichols, Printer, Red Lion 
Passage, Fleet Street. Gfeorge] S[teevens]. J 

There is a copy of the third edition (1785) 
with a large number of MS. notes, in the British 
Museum (Add. MSS. 27,996), in which the latest 
note is dated 1819. 

' The Genuine Works of William Hogarth ; illus- 
trated with Biographical Anecdotes, a Chronological 
Catalogue, and Commentary. By John Nichols and 
George Steevens,' 2 vols. 4to, 1808-10, and vol. iii., 
1817, is practically a fourth edition of the Biographi- 
cal Anecdotes greatly enlarged, and with the addition 
of plates engraved by T. Cook from the original 
pictures or proof impressions of the original engrav- 
ings. 

These books are full of valuable information, and 
the original compilation of the Anecdotes has a curious 
history. The idea of the book was entirely John 
Nichols's, but he was considerably assisted by the 
Shakespearean commentator George Steevens, with 
great advantage to the literary value of the book, 
but with considerable injury to its amenity. Nichols 
was himself a courteous and considerate man, but 
Steevens was reckless in assertion and determined to 



444 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

have his own way. Therefore if Nichols desired the 
help of his friend he was forced to take it in what- 
ever form Steevens was inclined to present it. Two 
illustrations of Steevens' s venomous character may 
be here given. 

On page 30 of the third edition he goes out of his 
way to make a spiteful remark respecting Nicholas 
Hardinge, Joint Secretary of the Treasury, which 
was singularly untrue. He is referring to an 
' elegant Sapphic Ode,' by Benjamin Leveling, and 
adds : ' His style, however, appears to have been 
formed on a general acquaintance with the language 
of Roman poetry ; nor do any of his effusions 
betray that poverty of expression so conspicuous 
in the poems of Nicholas Hardinge, Esq., who writes 
as if Horace was the only classic author he had ever 
read.' 

Hardinge, a friend of Nichols's master Bowyer, 
was educated at Eton and became a Fellow of King's 
College, Cambridge. Nichols says of him : ' At 
Eton and Cambridge he had the fame of the most 
eminent scholar of his time ; and had very singular 
powers in Latin verse, perhaps inferior to none since 
the Augustan Age.' 1 

The brutal allusion to Mary Lewis (Mrs. Hogarth's 
cousin and executrix) on page 114, where she is 
likened to the old maid in Hogarth's 'Morning,' 
is so disgraceful that the author is forced to bear 
some of the obloquy attached to its appearance in 

1 Literary Anecdotes, vol. v. p. 339. 






LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 445 

his book. Steevens died July 1800, and when Nichols 
was free to deal with his text as he wished these 
references were expunged. John Nichols is held in 
so high esteem by all literary men that we cannot 
but regret that he allowed such a scandalous attack 
as that on Mary Lewis to be printed. Steevens's 
character was, of course, well known, as may be seen 
by the observation of two distinguished men. 

When Lord Mansfield remarked that one could 
only believe half of what Steevens said, Johnson 
retorted that the difficulty was to tell which half 
deserved credence. If the collector possesses a set 
of the original plates of Hogarth's Works he is 
fortunate, but the fame of the artist has been sadly 
dimmed by the large number of worn impressions of 
his plates in circulation. 

George Steevens collected the first and best 
impressions of Hogarth's plates, and also the last 
and worst of re-touched plates, so that the con- 
trast between them might be seen, and the good 
ones might gain by comparison with the common 
ones. 

Those, therefore, who cannot obtain the best 
impressions of the original plates will be wise to 
content themselves with the three volumes of the 
Genuine Works, published by John Nichols, 1808-17, 
especially in large paper, as in this form the im- 
pressions are better than in the small paper. 

John Bowyer Nichols, son and successor of John 
Nichols, published in 1833 a very useful handbook 



446 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

to the study of Hogarth, entitled, ' Anecdotes of 
William Hogarth, Written by Himself ; with Essays 
on his Life and Genius, and Criticisms on his Works, 
selected from Walpole, Gilpin, J. Ireland, Lamb, 
Phillips, and others. To which are added a Cata- 
logue of his Prints, Account of their variations and 
principal copies ; Lists of Paintings, Drawings, etc.,' 
1833. 

The next book of importance in the literature of 
Hogarth, after Nichols's Biographical Anecdotes, is 
John Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated (2 vols. 8vo, 1791, 
and Supplement, 1798, vol. iii.), which contains a 
large amount of valuable matter. The Supplement 
contains Hogarth's autobiography. The first and 
second volumes were reprinted in 1793. The whole 
work was reprinted in 1806 and 1812. 

The plates are too small to be of much use as 
pictures, although they are useful for identification. 
This is, however, a valuable work, full of important 
information, and written with much discrimina- 
tion and some authority; but it sadly needs an 
index. 

John Ireland was originally a watchmaker in 
Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, and was employed by 
Messrs. Boy dell to produce this book. 1 He fre- 
quented the Three Feathers Coffee-House, and was a 
friend of John Henderson the actor. 

* Graphic Illustrations of Hogarth, from Pictures, 

1 The third volume is described as 'Published March 1798 for John 
Ireland, Poet's Corner, Palace Yard, Westminster.' 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 447 

Drawings and Scarce Prints in the possession of 
Samuel Ireland, Author of this work,' is a book of 
considerable interest, and contains much useful 
information respecting Hogarth, as well as many 
illustrations not elsewhere to be found. 

Knowing Samuel Ireland's character and his 
connection with the Shakespeare forgeries of his son 
William Henry Ireland as we do, it is impossible not 
to feel considerable doubt respecting the genuineness 
of many of his ascriptions. It would be of much 
value if some authority would make a searching 
investigation as to all the plates that do not occur 
in other books on Hogarth. This would help the 
student greatly, and would doubtless, in many 
instances, restore confidence in the illustrations to 
this book. Mr. Laurence Binyon's valuable ' Cata- 
logue of Drawings by British Artists, etc., preserved 
in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the 
British Museum,' contains references to such of the 
originals of the engravings as are in the British 
Museum. 1 There is no index to S. Ireland's book. 
The ' Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British 
Museum : Division I. Political and Personal Satires,' 
with full and most elaborate descriptions by the late 
Mr. Frederic George Stephens, forms a most valu- 
able help to the study of a large number of Hogarth's 
works, but it is not so well known to the public as it 
deserves to be. I am greatly indebted for much 
information contained in it which I have been able 

1 Volume ii. (1900), pp. 316-26. 



448 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

to utilise, as will be seen from many notes in this 
book. 

Mr. Dobson writes of this Catalogue : ' These 
volumes are, in truth, as far as the subject comes 
within their scope, a vast storehouse of Hogarth- 
iana, not to be safely neglected by any student of 
Hogarth's work and epoch.' 1 Having mentioned 
the books that are positively necessary to the 
Hogarth collector, we may return to make a rapid 
survey of the general literature of the subject. 

The first book referred to in Mr. Dobson' s Biblio- 
graphy is * Three Poetical Epistles. To Mr. Hogarth, 
Mr. Dandridge, and Mr. Lambert, Masters in the 
Art of Painting. Written by Mr. Mitchell,' 1781 ; 
which is of considerable interest, as Hogarth is called 
in the Epistle to him, ' Shakespeare in Painting.' 
This is dated June 12, 1730, just before Hogarth had 
begun his triumphant career as social satirist by the 
publication of ' The Harlot's Progress.' The first 
commentator on Hogarth was Jean Rouquet, a 
Swiss of French extraction, settled in England as an 
enameller, who published in 1746 ' Lettres de 
Monsieur . . . . a un de ses Amis a Paris pour lui 
expliquer les Estampes de Monsieur Hogarth.' In 
this pamphlet the two ' Progresses,' ' Marriage,' 

1 The Hogarth items will be found in volumes ii., iii., and iv. Vol. ii. 
(1873), No. 1722, first entry of Hogarth's 'South Sea Scheme' ; No. 2012, 

4 Mr D s ye Critick,' the last. Vol. iii. (pts. 1, 2, 1877), 2018, ' The 

Complicated R n,' first entry ; 3743, ' Sir Francis Dashwood,' the last. 

Vol. iv. (1883), 3808, ' Frontispiece to the Catalogue of Pictures,' the first ; 
4106, ' Finis,' the last. 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 449 

and nine other prints are described. Walpole says 
that it was drawn up for the use of Marshal Belleisle, 
who was then a prisoner in the Round Tower at 
Windsor Castle ; but Steevens, in Nichols's Bio- 
graphical Anecdotes, corrects this statement by 
saying that it was the ' Description du Tableau de 
M. Hogarth, qui represente la Marche des Gardes a 
leur rendezvous de Finchley, dans leur route en 
ficosse,' published a few years later, "which alone 
was the letter intended for the Marshal. Steevens 
also states that the Letters (1746) were ' certainly 
suggested by Hogarth, and drawn up at his im- 
mediate request ' ; and he further says : ' He 
[Rouquet] was liberally paid by Hogarth for having 
clothed his sentiments and illustrations in a foreign 
dress. This pamphlet was designed, and continues 
to be employed, as a constant companion to all 
such sets of his prints as go abroad.' x 

Rouquet also printed in 1755 another work 
entitled IS $ tat des Arts en Angleterre, in which he 
alludes to Hogarth's pictures. It was not until 
after Hogarth's death that the notorious Dr. Trusler 
compiled the pretentious commentary which he con- 
tributed to the first collection of Hogarth's Works, 
issued in 1766-68. 

Hogarth Moralized is a foolish attempt to point out 
not the philosophy of the painter's art, but that 
which is on the surface and evident to the most 
unimaginative of observers. The constant reprint 

1 Biographical Anecdotes, ed. 1785, p. 103. 
2 F 



450 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

of his vapid remarks has lowered the value of much 
of the literature of Hogarth, and the unfortunate 
circumstance of a cadging bookmaker having by a 
bit of sharp practice become the first to publish a 
popular edition of these masterpieces has given his 
commonplace criticism a certain amount of vogue. 
One can only imagine how much disgust Hogarth 
himself would have felt if he had had the misfortune 
to live to see the publication of this book. 

It was issued in fourteen parts at varied prices, 
and the cost of the bound volume was one pound 
sixteen shillings. 

George Steevens gives in Biographical Anecdotes 
(1785, p. 105) the following notice of the book: 
' Hogarth Moralized will ... in some small degree (a 
very small one) contribute to preserve the memory of 
those temporary circumstances, which Mr. Walpole 
is so justly apprehensive will be lost to posterity. 
Such an undertaking, indeed, requires a more inti- 
mate acquaintance with fleeting customs and past 
occurrences, than the compiler of this work can 
pretend to.' In a note the history of the work is 
thus given : ' The Rev. John Trusler engaged with 
some engravers in this design, after Hogarth's death, 
when they could carry it into execution with im- 
punity. Mrs. Hogarth, finding her property would 
be much affected by it, was glad to accept an offer 
they made her, of entering into partnership with 
them ; and they were very glad to receive her, 
knowing her name would give credit to the publica- 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 451 

tion, and that she would certainly supply many 
anecdotes to explain the plates. Such as are found 
in the work are probably all hers. The other stuff 
was introduced by the editor to eke out the book. 
We are informed, that when the undertaking was 
completed, in order to get rid of her partners, she 
was glad to buy out their shares, so that the whole 
expense which fell on her amounted to at least 
700.' 

Mr. Dobson quotes from Mrs. Hogarth's own 
advertisement of the first number of Hogarth 
Moralized in the London Chronicle for August 16-19, 
1766, where she says that she has ' engaged a Gentle- 
man to explain each Print, and moralize on it in such 
a Manner as to make them as well instructive as 
entertaining.' 

For those who desire a fair selection of Hogarth 
literature a good copy of the first edition of Hogarth 
Moralized is worth adding to their collection, as is 
also Major's beautiful edition, 1831, 1841. There is 
a special interest in Major's edition in that it contains 
George Cruikshank's woodcut copies of the four 
groups ' The Laughing Audience,' ' The Company 
of Undertakers,' ' The Oratorio,' and the ' Public 
Lecture.' It is therefore possible to compare our 
two great satirical artists. 

The first collection of Hogarth's Works in atlas 
folio was the Original Works, published by Boydell 
in 1790. The next collection was almost con- 
temporaneous with the publications of John and 



452 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Samuel Ireland, and emanated from Germany. It 
was in octavo and was commenced in 1794, being 
continued for some years. This was ' G. C. Lichten- 
berg's ausfiihrliche Erklarung der Hogarthischen 
Kupferstiche, mit verkleinerten aber vollstandigen 
Copien derselben von E. Riepenhausen,' published at 
Gottingen. 1 

Then came ' Hogarth Restored. The Whole Works 
... as Originally published. Now Re-engraved by 
Thomas Cook. . . . London (G. and J. Robinson),' 
1802. Atlas folio. 

The Genuine Works, already referred to, were 
published in three volumes, dated respectively 1808, 
1810, and 1817. 4to. 

The Works were published in two volumes 8vo by 
Thomas Clerk, London (R. Scholey), 1810. 

Another edition of the Works, ' from the original 
Plates restored by James Heath, Esq., R.A.,' was 
published in 1822 in atlas folio: 'Printed for Baldwin, 
Cradock & Joy, Paternoster Row, by J. Nichols & 
Son.' This has continued to be re-issued and 
reprinted until there is little pleasure to be obtained 
from looking at the worn plates. 

Several quarto editions of Hogarth's re-engraved 
works have been published. One of these is worthy 
of special mention, as it contains a very interesting 
Introductory Essay by James Hannay, entitled 
' Hogarth as a Satirist.' This is ' The Complete 

1 An article on Lichtenberg and Hogarth was published in the Foreign 
Quarterly Review (No. xxxn., 1836). 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 453 

Works of William Hogarth : in a series of one hundred 
and fifty steel Engravings. . . . London : Richard 
Griffin and Company.' The book is undated, but Mr. 
Dobson supposes it to have been published in 1860. 
The descriptive letterpress is not of much value, as 
it consists of Trusler's vapourings and some rather 
odd imaginings of E. F. Roberts. 

Another edition, ' reproduced from the Original 
Engravings in permanent Photographs,' was pub- 
lished by Bell and Daldy in 1872 in two volumes 
quarto. 

The last folio edition of Hogarth's Works is the 
special issue in 1902 of Mr. Austin Dobson' s Memoir 
by Mr. Heinemann as one of his art monographs. 
This handsome volume contains a large number of 
photogravures from the original pictures. 

There is a considerable literature of pamphlets 
(mostly catchpenny publications) containing accounts 
of the various series of engravings by Hogarth, of 
some of which the following is a list : 

Harlot's Progress. The Lure of Venus ; or a 
Harlot's Progress. An Heroi-Comical Poem by 
Mr. Joseph Gay [Captain John Durant Breval], 1733. 

Rake's Progress. Explanation of the Eight Prints 
copied from the Originals by Thomas Bakewell, 
Printseller, Fleet Street, 1735 (broadside). 

The Rake's Progress, or the Humours of Drury 
Lane, a Poem. (J. Chettwood), 1735. 

Marriage a-la-Mode : an Humorous Tale, in six 
Cantos. (Weaver Bickerton), 1746. 



454 HOGARTH'S LONDON 

Industry and Idleness. The Effects of I. and I. 
Illustrated. . . . Being an Explanation of the 
Moral of Twelve celebrated Prints. (C. Corbett, 
1748.) 

Gin Lane, etc. A Dissertation 011 Mr. Hogarth's 
Six Prints lately publish' d, viz. Gin Lane, Beer- 
street, and the Four Stages of Cruelty. . . . (B. 
Dickinson), 1751. 

An Election. A Poetical Description of Mr. 
Hogarth's Election Prints, in four Cantos. Printed 
for T. Caslon and sold by J. Smith, at Hogarth's 
Head in Cheapside, 1759. 

Roast Beef of Old England. A Cantata. Taken 
from a celebrated Print of the Ingenious Mr. Hogarth. 
(John Smith), n.d. 

Enraged Musician. Ut Pictura Poesis ! or the 
Enraged Musician. A Musical Entertainment 
Founded on Hogarth. Written by George Colman. 
T. Cadell, 1789. 

In the first two volumes of the Cornhill Magazine 
(1860) George Augustus Sala contributed a series of 
nine interesting articles on Hogarth as Painter, 
Engraver and Philosopher, which were republished 
as a book by Smith, Elder and Co. in 1866. There is 
a good deal of conjecture and not much new matter, 
but the book is well worth reading. 

Mr. Dobson's Bibliography fills thirty-five pages 
of his work, and contains a full description of a large 
number of books and pamphlets as well as references 
to articles in reviews and magazines. 



LITERATURE OF HOGARTH 455 

In spite of the magnitude of this literature, there 
is still no absolutely exhaustive account of all 
Hogarth's engravings and their various states. A 
reprint of the entries in Stephens' s British Museum 
Catalogue, with a description of all those engravings 
which do not come under the division of Satires 
added, would be of great value ; it would, however, 
be a work of considerable labour. 

A rigid examination of some of the pictures 
attributed to Hogarth which have no authenticated 
history is also much required, and a search for 
painted portraits by Hogarth is imperative. There 
seems to be good reason for the belief that there are 
still many in private hands which have not yet been 
registered. 



456 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



INDEX 



' ACADEMY of Arts,' or Burlington 

Gate, 348. 
Addison at Button's, 289 ; how he 

apportioned his day, 300. 
Apelles and Protogenes, story of, 74. 
Argonauts, a literary society at Nor- 
wich, 326. 
Argyll (Duke of), prophesies the 

success of the Beggar's Opera, 

306. 
Arlington Street, No. 5, scene of the 

Breakfast Scene of the ' Marriage a 

la Mode,' 112. 
Armstrong (Sir Walter), on Hogarth's 

high qualities as a painter, 9. 
Arthur's Club, 299. 
Arts, Society of, Hogarth first a 

member, and then opposed to its 

action, 72. 
' Assemblies ' and ' Conversations ' 

distinguished, 43. 

BALCONIES used for observing Lord 
Mayors' shows, 260. 

Bambridge (Thomas), examined be- 
fore a Committee of the House of 
Commons, 388 ; members of the 
Committee, 389. 

Barber - Surgeons Hall, Monkwell 
Street, dissection theatre, 402. 

Bathurst (Lord Chancellor), 217. 

' Battle of the Pictures,' 59. 

Beauty, Analysis of, 73. 

Bedford Arms Tavern, Little Piazza 
(Hogarth's club), 282, 284. 

Bedford Coffee-House, Great Piazza, 
284. 

Bedlam, picture of (Plate 8 of ' A 
Rake's Progress'), 370; ill-con- 
sidered criticism of Rev. W. 
Gilpin, 372 ; view of the hospital 
by Hogarth, 373. 



' Beer Street' aud ' Gin Lane,' 401 ; 

advertisement of publication, 153. 
Beggar's Opera, illustrated by 

Hogarth, 305 ; its history, 306 ; 

songs in it by various wits, 308 ; 

meaning of the title, 309 ; dispute 

on its dangerous tendency, 317 ; 

benefit theatre tickets supposed to 

be by Hogarth, 320. 
Beggar's Opera Burlesqued, 316. 
Bench (the), Hogarth's engraving, 

216. 
' Berenstadt, Cuzzoni and Senesino,' 

350; the print believed to be by the 

Countess of Burlington, 351. 
Bertie (Lord Albemarle), frequenter 

of cockpits. 144, 406. 
Betew (Panton), collected specimens 

of Hogarth's silver-work, 27. 
Bible (the), in Shire Lane, 279. 
Binyon's British Museum Catalogue 

of drawings by British artists 

referred to, 262, 290. 
Black Masters, Hogarth's abuse of 

them, 58, 63. 
Blake's (William) engraving of the 

Beggar's Opera, 305. 
Blood Bowl Alley, Fleet Street, 

398. 
Boheme the actor, at Southwark 

Fair, 429. 
Boitard's ' Morning Frolic in Covent 

Garden,' 137. 
Bolton (Duke of) marries Lavinia 

Fenton, 311. 
'Bonamy showing a picture,' by 

Hogarth, 239. 
Bonvine (John), of the Rose Tavern, 

Drury Lane, 286. 
Boswell's interest in the discussion on 

the dangerous tendency of the 

Beggars Opera, 320. 



INDEX 



457 



Boulton's (W. B.) Amusements of 

Old London, quoted, 141. 
Bourke's History of White's, 300. 
Boyne (Gustavus Viscount), portrait 

by Hogarth, 101. 
Bridewell, scene of the fourth plate 

of the ' Harlot's Progress,' 393 ; 

flogging of men and women, 394. 
Briclgeman, the landscape gardener, 

introduced into 'A Rake's Pro- 
gress,' 123. 
Brooke (Sir Robert), at Wanstead 

House, 96. 
Broughton (John), founder of the 

Prize Ring and inventor of boxing 

gloves, 150 ; portrait of him by 

Hogarth, 151; boxing -booth at 

Tottenham Court, 406. 
Brown's (Dr. John) criticism of the 

dying Earl in the fifth scene of 

'Marriage a la Mode,' 119. 
Browne (Isaac Hawkins),at Slaughter's 

Coffee-House, 291. 
Bullock (William), portrait by 

Hogarth, 338. 

Burlington House, 124, 348. 
Burnet (Bishop), and his hat, anecdote, 

165. 
Burney (Martin), his appreciation of 

Hogarth, 5 (note). 
Business Life, 17, 244-271. 
Bute (Earl of), supported by Hogarth, 

190. 

Butler's Hudibras, Hogarth's illus- 
trations to, 32-36. 

Button (Daniel), portrait of him, 289. 
Button's Coffee-House, characters at, 

288. 
Byron (Frances Lady), portrait by 

Hogarth, 102. 
Byron (fourth Lord), his children 

painted by Hogarth, 101. 

C ADM AN or Kidman, acrobat at South- 

wark Fair, 430. 
Calais Gate, painting of, 57. 
Canning (Elizabeth), portrait by 

Hogarth, 395, 396. 
Carestini (Giovanni), introduced in 

the Toilette Scene of the ' Marriage 

a la Mode,' 116. 
Carlyle's abuse of the eighteenth 

century, 1. 



Carter (Teague), of Oxford, a fighting 

man, 177. 
Castlemaine (Viscount), at Wanstead 

House, 97. 
Castrucci, supposed original of 

' Enraged Musician,' 242. 
Catalogue of Exhibition of Pictures 

in 1761 ; Hogarth's frontispiece 

and tailpiece, 239. 
Centurion (The), sailor from, in the 

the ' Country Inn Yard,' 169. 
Cervetto (Signer), supposed original 

of ' Enraged Musician, ' 242. 
Character and Caricatura, distinction 

between, 218. 
Charlemont (Earl of), portrait by 

Hogarth, 103 ; ' The Lady's Last 

Stake' painted for him, 103; 

Hogarth's appreciation of his 

friendship, 103 ; origin of his 

Earldom, 107. 
Charlotte (Queen), portrait by 

Hogarth, 100. 
' Charmers of the Age,' 351. 
Charteris (Colonel Francis), 273, 

395. 
Child (Sir Josiah), proprietor of 

Wanstead House, 96. 
Child's Bank, picture of a run upon 

it stopped by Sarah, Duchess of 

Maryborough, 263. 
Child Tylney, satires against, when 

he was candidate for Essex, 170. 
Chiswick, Hogarth's house at, 88. 
'Chorus of Singers, or the Oratorio,' 

346. 
Chrononhotonthologos, frontispiece 

attributed to Hogarth, 340. 
Church and Dissent, 17, 198-215. 
Churches of London in Hogarth's 

pictures, 207. 
Churchill (Charles), at the theatre, 

304 ; his quarrel with Hogarth, 

186; Hogarth's portrait of him as 

the Bruiser, 88, 194. 
Gibber (Theophilus), as the Mock 

Doctor, 323 ; his pantomime of The 

Harlot's Profrress, 324. 
Clarges (Sir Thomas), discoverer of 

Mary Toft's cheat, 230. 
Clive (Sir Edward), 218. 
Clubs in the eighteenth century, 

294. 



458 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



' Cockpit ' (the), good illustration of 

the ancient game, 141. 
Coleridge (Hartley), on the ' Dis- 
tressed Poet,' 233. 
Coleridge (S. T.), criticism of 

Hogarth, 5. 
Colmau's (George) answer to Sir 

John Fielding's condemnation of 

the Beggar's Opera, 318. 
Colvin (Sidney), on Hogarth's high 

qualities as a painter, 8 ; on original 

sketch for the Farmer's Return, 329 

(note). 
Conduitt (John), Master of the Mint, 

341. 
' Conversation in the manner of Van- 

dyck ' by Hogarth at Vauxhall, 

44. 
Conversation pieces by Hogarth, 41- 

94. 
Coram (Capt.), pension provided for 

him, 285 ; portrait by Hogarth, 

362. 
Cosserat (Rev. Dr.), in the first 

picture of the 'Election,' 176. 
Covent Garden, 282 ; Church, 133 ; 

Market, 132. 
Coventry (Earl and Countess of), 

portraits by Hogarth, 101. 
Cowper on the old maid in ' Morn- 
ing,' 133. 

Crebillon's Sopha alluded to, 116. 
' Crowns, Mitres, Maces, etc.,' 49. 
Croxall's (Dr.) text of his sermon 

before the House of Commons, 

214. 
Cruikshank's (George) copies of 

Hogarth's' Chorus of Singers,' etc., 

346. 
Cumberland (Henry Frederick, Duke 

of), portrait by Hogarth, 100. 
Cumberland (William Augustus, Duke 

of), portrait by Hogarth, 100 ; his 

brutality towards Broughton, 151. 
' Cunicularii, or the Wise Men of 

Godliman,' 36. 

DALTON (JAMES), highwayman, 395. 

Daniel's (George) description of 
' Garrick in the Green Room,' 330. 

Dawson (Nancy) 136 (note). 

De la Fontaine (Peter), his shop- 
bill by Hogarth, 246. 



Desaguliers (Rev. John Theophilus), 
205. 

Desaguliers (Mrs.), portrait by 
Hogarth, 206. 

De Veil (Sir Thomas), as a drunken 
Freemason, 139, 386 ; an unpopular 
magistrate, satirised by Fielding 
as Justice Squeezum, 386. 

Devil Tavern in Fleet Street, 276. 

Devonshire family, portrait by 
Hogarth, 98. 

Devoto, scene-painter at Drury Lane, 
324. 

Diana, head of, 240. 

' Distressed Poet,' 231. 

Dobson (Austin), dedication of this 
book to, v. ; on Hogarth's excep- 
tional genius, 10; on Hogarth as 
a moralist, 14 ; bibliography of 
Hogarth, 439 ; opinion that Hog- 
arth's London Topography requires 
a commentary, 20. 

Dodington (George Bubb), Lord Mel- 
combe, the Punch of the Election 
Series, 185. 

' Drury Lane, Green Room,' 330. 

Dryden's Indian Emperor, or the 
Conqtieft of Mexico, acted by 
children at Mr. Conduitt's house, 
341. 

Dubois, the fencing-master in 'A 
Rake's Progress,' 123. 

Dunciad, Theobald as the hero, 234. 

' EARTH,' subject for design by Hog- 
arth, 37. 

Edwardes (Miss), of Kensington, 
126. 

Egleton (Mrs.), the original Lucy 
Lockit in the Beggar's Opera, 
314. 

Eighteenth century, interest of, 1, 
11. 

Election (the), four pictures described, 
171; their sale, 172. 

Elephant and Castle in Fenchurch 
Street, 281 ; supposed pictures by 
Hogarth, 281. 

' Enraged Musician,' 17 ; the founda- 
tion of musical interlude, by George 
Colman the elder, 338. 

Enthusiasm, dread of, in the eigh- 
teenth centnrr, 198. 



INDEX 



459 



'Enthusiasm Delineated,' compared 
with ' Credulity, Superstition, and 
Fanaticism,' 214. 

Excise office at the Crown Inn, 
181. 

Executions at Tyburn, 414. 

FAGG (SiR ROBERT), 171. 

Farinelli satirised, 123, 350. 

Fawkes the juggler, 430. 

Fenton (Lavinia), her great success 
in the Beggars Opera, 310; her 
portrait at the National Gallery, 
311 ; in the 'Green Room, Drury 
Lane,' 332. 

Ferrers (Earl), portrait by Hogarth, 
395-397. 

Festin (Michael Christian), supposed 
original of the ' Enraged Musician,' 
242. 

Fielding (Henry), one of Hogarth's 
greatest admirers, 4, 18 ; Hogarth's 
portrait of him, 230 ; miniature, 
237 ; Bridget Allworthy from the 
Old Maid in 'Morning,' 132; 
successes at Drury Lane, 334 ; 
plays, 344; benefit tickets, 323, 
325, 335 ; great success of Pas- 
quin, 336 ; its satire offends the 
Ministry, who in consequence 
passed the Licensing Act, 336 ; 
Tom Thumb, a Tragedy, frontis- 
piece by Hogarth, 334 ; Peter 
Pounce in Joseph Andrews, 111 ; 
allusion to Dr. Misaubin in Tom 
Jones, 115 ; praise of Joshua 
Ward, 226 ; introduction of 
Leathercoat into the Cove.nl 
Garden Tragedy, 286 ; Fielding as 
a police magistrate, 379 ; Enquiry 
into the Cause* of the Increase of 
Robber*, 163, 381; deceived by 
Elizabeth Canning, 396. 

Fielding (Sir John), carried out the 
plans of his brother, 381 ; condemns 
the tendency of the Beggar's Opera, 
317. 

Fielding (Timothy), at Southwark 
Fair, 433. 

Figg (James), the prize-6ghter in 'A 
Rake's Progress,' 123; his busi- 
ness card, 147; his feats, 147; 
at Sonthwark Fair, 432. 



' Finis,' or ' The Bathos or Manner of 
Sinking,' 63. 

Fishmongers Hall, banquet at, 258. 

Fleet Prison, 388 ; scene of 7th plate 
of 'A Rake's Progress,' 392. 

Folkes (Martiu), portraits, 289. 

Ford (Parson), in 'A Midnight 
Modern Conversation,' 279. 

Forrest (Theodosius), possessor of 
drawings for 'Five Days' Pere- 
grination,' 284. 

Foster (John), supposed original of 
1 Enraged Musician,' 242. 

Foundling Hospital, 360 ; annual 
dinners, 364 ; presentation by 
Hogarth of ' March to Finchley,' 
1 Moses brought to Pharaoh's 
Daughter,' and portrait of Coram, 
361, 362, 364. 

' Four Stages of Cruelty,' 400. 

' Four Times of the Day,' 131. 

Fowler (Thomas), Hogarth's original 
name for the Idle Apprentice, 263 
(note). 

'Fox Family,' picture containing 
portraits of first Earl of Ilchester, 
and first Lord Holland, 99. 

' Freeman's Best, ' 280. 

Freemasonry, Hogarth a mason, 39 ; 
Thornhill a grand warden in 1728, 
39 ; Hogarth grand steward in 
1735, 39; Sir Thomas Veil in 
'Night,' 139. 

Freke (John), his opinion of Hogarth, 
44. 

Funeral tickets, 252. 

Furniture (eighteenth century), illus- 
trated by Hogarth, 13. 

GAMBLE (ELLIS), probably a connec- 
tion of the Hogarth family, 26 ; 
bookplate and shopbill, 28, 29, 
244. 

Gamester (Polite), 299. 

Gaming at White's, 296. 

Gardelle (Theodore), portrait by 
Hogarth, 395, 397. 

Gardenstone (Lord), his description 
of Hogarth as a true original 
author, 4. 

Garrick (David), as Richard in., 
326 ; price paid for the picture, 
326 ; as a Rustic in Plate 2 of 



460 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



Garrick continued. 

'Invasion,' 328; in the Farmer's 
Return, sketch by Hogarth, 328 ; 
purchase of the four pictures of 
The Election,' 172; his care of 
the pictures, 329 ; portrait of him 
with Mrs. Garrick, 327 ; Hogarth 
irritated because Garrick did not 
like the picture, 327 ; Garrick 
making up his face for Hogarth to 
paint a portrait of Fielding, 236 ; 
Garrick's close friendship with 
Hogarth, 325 ; ' Garrick in the 
Green Room,' 330; epitaph on 
Hogarth, 89 ; Samuel Johnson's 
suggested alterations, 89 ; Gar- 
rick's Villa, painting with figures, 
by Hogarth, 435 ; sketch of Garrick 
and Quin, 326. 

Garth (Dr.), portraits, 296. 

Gascoyne (Sir Crisp), 396. 

Gaunt's Coffee-House, 298. 

Gay's (John) losses in the South Sea 
Bubble, 268 ; Trivia as a help to 
the study of Hogarth's works, 1 1 ; 
Beggar's Opera, 18 (see Beggar's 
Opera). 

George n. and family, picture by 
Hogarth, 100. 

Gibbon and his father at the Rose 
in Coveut Garden, 287. 

Gibbs (James), the architect, por- 
trait by Hogarth, 239. 

Gibson (Bishop), satires on, 202. 

Gin Lane and the Gin Acts, 1 53, 401. 

Gonson (Sir John), the ' harlot-hunt- 
ing Justice,' 387, 394. 

Gostling (Rev. W.), his paraphrase of 
the 'Five Days' Peregrination, '283. 

Gourlay (John), 273. 

Graham (Captain Lord George), por- 
trait by Hogarth, 101. 

Grant (Sir Archibald), 390 (note). 

Grimston (Viscount), satirised for a 
comedy written when he was 
thirteen years of age, 339. 

Grosvenor (Sir Richard), and the 
picture of 'Sigismnnda,' 105. 

Guildhall, Idle brought before Good- 
child, 259. 

HALL (JOHN), the original Lockit in 
the Beggar's Opera, 314. 



Sam-cutting at Vauxhall, 417. 

Sainpstead Road, scene of the 
' March to Finchley,' 404. 

Handel, supposed introduction into 
Plate 2 of the ' Rake's Progress,' 
123 ; Messiah performed at Found- 
ling Hospital, 367 ; portrait by 
Hogarth, 243. 

Hanging Sword Alley. Whitefriars, 
398. 

Hardy (William), his shopbill by 
Hogarth, 246. 

' Harlot's Progress,' 38. 

Harpsichord introduced into the 
second picture of ' A Rake's Pro- 
gress,' 123. 

Harrison (Frederic), defender of the 
eighteenth century, 1. 

Harrison (John), the tobacconist, 
280. 

Hawkins (Sir Caesar), portrait by 
Hogarth, 222. 

Hayman (Francis), the original of the 
husband in ' Marriage a 1 Mode,' 
112; his pictures at Vauxhall mis- 
taken for Hogarth's, 40. 

Haymarket Theatre, 344. 

Hazlitt's remarks on the ' Marriage 
a la Mode,' 110, 112, 113, 119. 

Heidegger (John James), the pro- 
moter of masquerades, 349 ; in a 
rage, 355. 

Henley (Orator), satires on, 211; in 
the ' Midnight Modern Conversa- 
tion,' 279. 

Hermione, wagons containing the 
treasure from the, in the streets 
of London, 191. 

Herring (Archbishop), on the dan- 
gerous tendency of the Beggar's 
Opera, 317 ; his portrait by Hog- 
arth, 200 ; his boldness at the 
time of Rebellion of 1745, 200. 

High Life, 15, 92-127. 

Highland Fair, an opera, frontispiece 
by Hogarth, 339. 

Highwayman at White's, 296. 

Hippisley (John), the original 
Peachum in the Beggar's Opera, 
314 ; portrait at Garrick Club, 
314; drunken man, 281 ; portrait 
as Sir Francis Gripe, 281. 

Hoadly (Bishop), satires on, 202. 



INDEX 



461 



Hoadly's (Dr. John) private theatre, 
340. 

Hoadlys, portraits of the, by Hog- 
arth, 238. 

Hogarth family, origin of, 24 ; pro- 
nunciation of the name, 24. 

Hogarth (Anne), William's mother, 
23. 

Hogarth (Mary and Ann), shopbill by 
their brother, 247. 

Hogarth (Richard), William's father, 
23 ; his literary work, 23 ; died in 
1718, 28. 

Hogarth (Thomas), or ' AuldHoggart,' 
his songs and poems, 25. 

Hogarth (William), a great pictorial 
satirist, 2 ; 'a writer of comedy 
with a pencil,' 3 ; Fielding denied 
that he was a burlesque writer, 5 ; 
his love of beauty, 6 ; truthfulness 
of his work, 6 ; his merits as a 
painter, 7 ; his mistake in trying 
' the great style of history paint- 
ing,' 9 ; as a delineator of the 
manners and life of the eighteenth 
century, 11; as a moralist, 13; 
a thorough Londoner, 19 ; his life 
and works, 22-91 ; his education, 

25 ; his pencil sketches as a boy, 

26 ; apprenticed to Ellis Gamble, 
26 ; specimens of his silver-plate 
engraving, 27 ; carried Gamble's 
child, 28 ; engraved book-plates, 

29 ; earliest satirical engravings, 

30 ; his shop card, 28, 244 ; his 
addresses, 28 ; supposed to have 
been a sign painter for a time, 

249 ; attendance at Sir James 
Thornhill's painting school, 31 ; 
acquaintanceship with him, 38 ; 
his illustrations of books, 32 ; of 
Hudibras, 32-36 ; married Jane 
Thornhill, 38 ; removed to South 
Lambeth, 38 ; reconciliation with 
Thornhill, 38 ; living with Thorn- 
hill in the Piazza, 38 ; a Free- 
mason, 39 ; grand steward, 1735, 
39 ; friendship with Jonathan 
Tyers, and interest in Vauxhall 
Gardens, 40 ; his free pass, 40 ; 
first mention of his Conversation 
pieces, 41, 42 ; foundation of Art 
school in Peter's Court, St. Martin's 



Lane (removed from the Piazza), 
41 ; his ' Conversation in the 
manner of Vandyck ' at Vauxhall, 
44 ; the plan of composition of his 
moral satires, 45 ; his great success, 
46 ; prey to pirates who copied his 
engravings, 47 ; ' Hogarth's Act ' 
(1735) to protect artists, 47 ; his 
gratitude to Parliament for pass- 
ing the Act, 50 ; popularity of his 
engravings, 51 ; pictures for St. 
Bartholomew's Hospital, 51 ;' Paul 
before Felix ' for Lincoln's Inn, 
52 ; altar-piece for St. Mary Red- 
cliffe, Bristol, 52 ; critical opinions 
on his religious pictures, 53 ; 
settled in Leicester Fields, 56 ; 
fame of his works abroad, 56 ; his 
indiscretion in painting ' Calais 
Gate,' 57 ; sale of his pictures at 
ridiculously low prices, 60 ; sale of 
the 'Marriage a la Mode,' 61; 
trouble over the sale of ' Sigis- 
munda,' 65 ; publication of the 
Analysis of Beauty, 73 ; portraits 
of his six servants, 240 ; anagram 
of his name, 75 ; his protest against 
unfair attacks upon him, 81 ; his 
proposed history of the Arts, 
83 ; the 'No-Dedication,' 83 ; his 
ill-omened print, 'The Times, 
Plate 1,' 83, 84 ; his explanation 
of reasons for publishing it, 83 ; 
his death, 88 ; Garrick's epi- 
taph, 89 ; his character, 90 ; ap- 
pointment of Serjeant Painter, 
100 ; value of the office, 100 ; 
sales of his pictures, 132 ; freedom 
from party prejudice, 175 ; quarrel 
with Wilkes and Churchill, 186 ; 
' Account of the Five Days' Pere- 
grination,' 282; his unsuccessful at- 
tempt to act on the amateur stage, 
341 ; munificence towards Found- 
ling Hospital, 366 ; truthfulness of 
his pictures painted for St. Bartho- 
lomew's Hospital, 368 ; engraved 
fish for cards, 437 ; Genuine Works, 
by John Nichols and George 
Steevens, 443 ; folio editions of 
Hogarth's works, 451 ; smaller 
editions, 452 ; pamphlets on the 
various series of Hogarth's en- 



462 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



gravings, 453 ; literature of Hog- 
arth, 439-455. 

' Hogarth's wigs, Sett of Blocks for,' 
63. 

Holland (Henry, first Lord), portraits 
by Hogarth, 99, 100. 

Holt's (Mrs.) shopbill by Hogarth, 
247. 

Horse Guards in the second picture 
of the Election Series, 180. 

Hospitals, 18, 360-376. 

' House of Commons,' picture painted 
by Ho-arth and Thornhill, 38, 166. 

Hudibras, Hogarth's illustrations to, 
32-36. 

Huggins (John), purchased the War- 
denship of the Fleet from the Earl 
of Clarendon, 391 ; sold it to 
Thomas Bambridge and Dougal 
Cuthbert, 391. 

Huggins (William), portrait by Hog- 
arth, '238, 346. 

Hunt (Gabriel), portrait by Hogarth, 
284. 

IDLE (Toia), scenes in his life, 397. 

'Industry and Idleness,' object de- 
scribed by Hogarth, 253 ; adver- 
tisement, 254 ; Industrious Appren- 
tice, 253 ; Idle Apprentice, 398 ; 
(original in Eastward Hoe), 254 ; 
earliest original sketches for the 
series in the British Museum, 
262. 

Inn yards represented in first plate 
of 'Harlot's Progress' and the 
' Stage Coach,' 273. 

Introduction, 1-21. 

Ireland (Betty), Secret History of, 
130. 

Ireland's (John) Hogarth Illustrated, 
446. 

his agreement with Sir John 

Fielding's condemnation of the 
Beggar's Opera, 318. 

Ireland (Samuel), Graphic Illustra- 
tions of Hogarth, 446 ; man of un- 
scrupulous credulity, 290. 

Italian Opera introduced into Eng- 
land, 345. 

Ives (Ben), his praise to Garrick of 
his master's portrait painting, 
241. 



JOHNSON (SAMUEL), his suggested 
emendations to Garrick's epitaph 
on Hogarth, 89 ; likened to the 
Idle Apprentice by Topham Beau- 
clerk, 2'.i8; friend of Saunders 
Welch, 382; in love with Mary 
Welch (afterwards Mrs. Nollekens), 
382 ; sat on the Bench with 
Welch and made Welch's fine 
language intelligible to those 
examined, 383 ; visit to Southwark 
Fair in company with David 
Mallet, 4H3 ; Mallet's rudeness to 
him, 433; at Slaughter's Coffee- 
House, 291 ; opinion of the Beg- 
gar's Opera, 319; portrait attri- 
buted to Hogarth, 239. 

Judith, rehearsal of, 346 ; frontis- 
piece for the Oratorio, 347. 

KKNDAL (Duchess of), her arms en- 
graved by Hogarth, 28. 

Kent (William), Hogarth's satires, 
124, 180, 208, 348 ; abuse of him 
a bond of sympathy between 
Hogarth and Thornhill, 38. 

Kettleby in a ' Midnight Modern 
Conversation,' 280. 

Kidman (Thomas), at Southwark 
Fair, 430. 

King (Dr. Arnold), selected the 
mottoes from the Bible for 'In- 
dustry and Idleness,' 262, 277. 

King's (Tom) Coffee-House, 133, 
iJS7; Moll King, succeeded her 
husband as keeper of Tom King's 
Coffee-House, 133, 287. 

Kirton, the tobacconist, 176. 

Knight (Richard Payne), his praise of 
Hogarth's painting, 7. 

'LADY'S LAST STAKE,' by Hogarth, 

103. 

Laguerre's ' Stage Mutiny,' 324. 
Lamb (Charles), criticism of Hogarth, 

5. 
Lambert (George), his bookplate by 

Hogarth, 245. 
Lambeth (South), a summer resort, 

416. 
Landor (Walter Savage), his opinion 

of Hogarth as a great painter, 

6. 



INDEX 



463 



Lane's (Mr.) purcnase of the 'Mar- 
riage i la Mode,' 61. 
Lane (Mrs. Fox), afterwards Lady 

Bingley, 118. 
Laroon (Captain), in Covent Garden, 

137. 

' Laughing Audience,' 303. 
Lawyer in Hudibras, Hogarth's two 

engravings, 217. 

Lawyer's Fortune, a comedy, fron- 
tispiece by Hogarth, 339. 
Leathercoat, porter at the Rose, 286. 
Lee (Richard), tobacconist, his shop 

bill supposed to be the original of 

a ' Midnight Modern Conversation,' 

250. 
Leicester Square, Hogarth's house in, 

88. 
Leveridge (Richard), in Tavistock 

Street, 284 ; Coram's pension 

transferred to him, 285. 
Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, 314. 
Liotard (J. S.), the sign painter in 

' Beer Street,' 162. 
Literature of Hogarth, 439-455. 
Livesay (Richard), 283. 
Lloyd (Robert), his praise of Hogarth, 

66. 
Lockman (John), ' the Herring Poet,' 

Hogarth's friend, 163. 
London, streets of, 11, 15; their 

dangers, 16, 130. 
London Infirmary, ticket for, 369 ; 

title changed to London Hospital, 

370. 
London Topography of Hogarth 

requires a commentary, 19. 
Lord Mayor's Day in Cheapside, 260. 
'Lottery' (the), print by Hogarth, 

30, 266, 270. 
Lovat (Simon Lord), portrait by 

Hogarth, 166 ; sketches at his trial, 

168. 

Low Life, 15, 128-163. 
' Low Life ; or One Half the World 

knows not how the Other Half 

lives,' 1752-64, 128, 373. 
Lymington (Lady), great-niece of 

Newton, acted when a child at her 

father's house in Dryden's Indian 

Emperor, 341 ; her sitting for the 

Viscountess in the ' Marriage a la 

Mode,' 342. 



MACCLESFIKLD (Earl of), portrait by 
Hogarth, 101. 

Magistrates introduced into Hogarth's 
works, 379. 

Malcolm (Sarah), portraits by Hog- 
arth, S95, 396. 

' Man loaded with Mischief.' 293. 

'Man of Taste '(or ' Taste a la Mode '), 
124. 

Manners (Old), brother to Duke of 
Northumberland, 297. 

Mapp (Mrs. Sarah), 223. 

'March to Finchky,' 364, 404, 
408. 

Marlborough (Sarah, Duchess of), 
supposed to have stopped a run 
upon Child's Bank, 263. 

' Marriage a la Mode,' description of 
the series, 107-122 ; dramatised, 
110 ; sale of the pictures, 61. 

Marrow-bones and cleavers at Good- 
child's marriage, 256. 

Martin (Mrs.), the original Mrs. 
Peachum in the Beggar's Opera, 
314. 

Marylebone Church, interior repre- 
sented in the fifth plate of 'A 
Rake's Progress,' 411; marriages 
of Bacon and Sheridan, 411 ; out- 
side in the Third Stage of 'Cruelty,' 
413. 

Masquerade (large) ticket, 352. 

(small) ticket on 'Burlington 

Gate,' 348. 

(Royal), ' Somerset House,' 358. 

Masquerades, ill effects of, 357 ; and 
operas (or 'Taste of the Town'), 
32, 124. 

Mercier (Philip), probable designer of 
'Heidegger in a Rage,' 355. 

Michel (Herr), Prussian Envoy, in 
' Marriage a la Mode,' 118. 

Middlesex (Countess of), Mistress of 
the Robes, 260. 

' Midnight Modern Conversation, ' sub- 
scription ticket, 279, 346. 

Miller (Joe), his benefit theatre ticket, 
323. 

Mingotti (Madame), ' boomed ' by 
Mrs. Fox Lane, 118. 

Misaubin (John, M.D.), the Quack of 
the 'Marriage a la Mode,' 114, 
228. 



464 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



Mitchell's (Joseph) Three Poetical 
Epistles, 448 ; described Hogarth in 
1730 as an eminent historical and 
conversation painter, 43. 

Mitre (the), in Fleet Street, 277 ; 
not in Mitre Court, 278 (note). 

' Modern Orpheus,' 242. 

Mog (Molly), of the Rose at Woking- 
ham, 287. 

Moliere compared with Hogarth, 3-4. 

Monument, inscription on, 257. 

Morality, respective, of the seven- 
teenth and eighteenth centuries, 
12. 

Morell (T.), portrait by Hogarth, 
238. 

Morison (Richard), collected speci- 
mens of Hogarth's silver-work, 27. 

'Morning,' view of Covent Garden 
Market, 132. 

Morris (Joshua), upholsterer, 37 ; 
lawsuit with Hogarth, 37. 

Mortimer (Cromwell, M.D.), portrait 
by Hogarth, 222. 

Mounsey (Dr.), 291. 

Murphy (Arthur), his criticism of 
Hogarth, 3, 407. 

Musician (Enraged), 241 ; advertised 
in November 1740 as the 'Pro- 
voked Musician,' 241. 

NEEDHAM (MOTHER), 273, 395. 
New River represented in ' Evening,' 

420, 423. 
Newcastle (Henry, second Duke of), 

portrait by Hogarth, 101. 
Newgate represented in scene from 

the Beggar's Opera, 388. 
Nichols's (John) Biographical Anec- 
dotes, 439 ; annotated copies, 442, 

443. 
Nichols (J. B.), Anecdotes of Hogarth, 

445. 

'Night' (Charing Cross), 138. 
Noel (Justice William), 218. 
' Noon ' (French Church in Hog Lane), 

137. 
North Briton, No. 17, savage attack 

on Hogarth by Wilkes, 86, 186. 

OPERA (ITALIAN), satirised by Hog- 
arth, 123, 345. 
Opera Dancers, 35 1 . 



Oxford, Humours of, a comedy, 
frontispiece by Hogarth, 339. 

PARLIAMENTARY ELECTION of 1734, 
171 ; of 1754, 173. 

Parnell (Sir John), his portrait in the 
first picture of ' The Election,' 175. 

' Paul before Felix,' painted for Lin- 
coln's Inn Hall, 220. 

Peepers = young chickens, 275. 

Pellett (Thomas, M.D.), portrait by 
Hogarth, 222. 

Pembroke (Mary, Countess of), por- 
trait by Hogarth, 102. 

Pepys's visit to a cockpit, 142. 

Periwigs, Five Orders of, 61. 

Philip in the Tub, a cripple who 
attended weddings, 257. 

' Picquet, ' or ' Virtue in Danger,' by 
Hogarth, 103. 

Piozzi's (Mrs.) anecdotes of Hogarth, 
58 ; supposed to be the original 
of the lady in ' Picquet,' 105. 

Pitt (William) (1) and the Cheshire 
cheese, 190. 

Police, insufficiency of, in the eigh- 
teenth century, 377. 

Polite Gamester, 299. 

Political Life, 16, 164-197. 

Pontack's Eating-House in Abchurch 
Lane, 274. 

Pope (Alexander), at Button's, 290 ; 
satirised by Hogarth, 124, 232, 
234 ; contributions to the Beggar's 
Opera, 309 ; losses in the South 
Sea Bubble, 268; Pope and Gay 
supposed to be represented in Hog- 
arth's 'South Sea Bubble,' 267. 

Portobello, Admiral Vernon and the 
battle of, 178; alehouse, 178. 

Portsmouth (John Wallop, first Earl 
of), possible original of the Earl in 
the ' Marriage a la Mode,' 110. 

Posts in the streets of London, 299. 

Potter (Thomas), 175. 

Powell, maker of Hogarthian forg- 
eries, 323. 

Price's (Hilton) Ye Marygold re- 
ferred to, 264, 265. 

Prior (Samuel), 293. 

Prisons and Crime, 18, 377-403. 

Pritchard (Miss), in the ' Green 
Room, Drury Lane,' 333. 



INDEX 



465 



Pritchard, Mrs., in the ' Greeu Room, 

Drtiry Lane,' 332. 
Professional Life, 17, 216-243. 
Puppet shows at Southwark Fair, 

429. 

QUACK'S Museum in Garth's Dis- 
pensary, 115. 

Quin, intended to personate Mac- 
heath, but renounced the char- 
acter, 312; portrait by Hogarth, 
338 ; portrait in the ' Green Room, 
Drury Lane,' 332. 

and Garrick, sketch of, 326. 

RAKE'S PROORESS ' described, 122- 
124. 

Ranby's house at Chiswick, Hogarth's 
etching, 435. 

Ranelagh Gardens, 415. 

Ravenet and Ravenet's wife as en- 
gravers for Hogarth, 2S8. 

Read, Benjamin, portrait by Hogarth, 
284. 

Rich, John, manager of Lincoln's Inn 
Fields Theatre, 345. 

' Rich's Glory, or his Triumphant 
Entry into Covent Garden, 5 345. 

garden at Cowley, 436. 

picture of Rich and his family 

at the Garrick Club, 436. 

Richardson, the Complicated, 292. 

Rochester, Hogarth and Scott played 
at hop-scotch there, 283. 

Rock, Dr., in Covent Garden, 137. 

Rose Tavern in Russell Street, bad 
reputation of, 285 ; scene of Plate 
3 of ' Rake's Progress,' 285. 

Rouquet, Jean, ' Lettres a un de ses 
amis a Paris pour lui expliquer 
les Estampes de M. Hogarth,' 448. 

Royal Academy, formation of, dis- 
approved of by Hogarth, 42, 72. 

Rummer Tavern at Charing Cross, 
293. 

Rysbrach, Michael, sculptor, portrait 
by Hogarth, 239. 

SADLER'S WELLS, 420. 

St. Andre, Nicholas, 228 ; married to 

Lady Elizabeth Molyneux, 230. 
St. Bartholomew's Hospital, Hogarth 

presents two large pictures, ' The 



Good Samaritan,' and ' The Pool 
of Bethesda,' 51, 367. 

St. David's Day, 298. 

St. George's Hospital, picture of the 
building with portrait on horse- 
back of Michael Soleirol, 374. 

St. Giles's Church, 138. 

St. James's Street, represented in ' A 
Rake's Progress,' 124; alterations 
in, 299. 

St. John's Coffee-House in Shire 
Lane, 279. 

St. Martin's Lane, room at No. 26 
the original of the Quack's residence 
in 'Marriage a la Mode,' 114. 

Salisbury (James, fourth Earl of), 
driver of coaches, 138. 

Sandby's (Paul) rancorous satires on 
Hogarth, 78, 86. 

Seldam or shed made by order of 
Edward in. on the north side of 
Bow Church, 261. 

Shebbeare, Dr., 182. 

Shelley family, picture by Hogarth, 
99. 

Sherlock's (Martin) Letters to a 
Friend in Paris, 143. 

c Shrimp-girl,' by Hogarth, 240. 

'Siege of Troy,' by Elkanah Settle, 
428, 429. 

' Sigismunda, ' Sir Richard Gros- 
venor's refusal of the picture, 65 ; 
malignant criticism of, 63, 65, by 
Walpole, 67 ; delay in engraving 
the picture, 67 ; in the National 
Gallery, 67. 

Sign Paintings, Exhibition of, pro- 
moted by Bonnel Thornton, assist- 
ed by Hogarth, 68 ; Humours of 
the Catalogue, 68. 

' Sir Plume ' in the Rape of the Lock, 
engraved on the lid of a gold snuff- 
box, 27. 

Slack overcomes Broughton in a box- 
ing match, 151. 

Slaughter's (New) Coffee - House, 
292. 

(Old) Coffee-house, 291 ; club 

of artists held there, 291. 

'Sleeping Congregation,' picture of 
the deadness of public services, 205. 

Smith (John Thomas), quoted, 27, 
28. 



2G 



466 



HOGARTH'S LONDON 



Soleirol (Michael), 374. 

'South Sea Bubble' described, 30, 
266. 

Southwark Fair, 424 ; anecdote re- 
lating to the young woman beating 
a drum, 427. 

Spikes (iron), between the orchestra 
and pit in theatres, 3. 

Spiller (James), original Mat o j the 
Mint in the Beggar's Opera, 322. 

Spiller's Head, club held there, 
322. 

Spitalfields, in the series of ' Industry 
and Idleness,' 255, 415. 

' Stage Coach, or Country Inn Vard,' 
168. 

' Stage Mutiny,' by Laguerre, 428. 

Steevens (George), his use of the 
' Distressed Poet ' as a portrait of 
Theobald the Shakespearean com- 
mentator, 234 ; his venomous re- 
marks in Nichols's Biographical 
Anecdotes, 445. 

Stephens (Frederic George), Cata- 
logue of Prints and Drawings in 
the British Museum Satires, 30, 
447. 

Sterne (Laurence), praises the Analy- 
sis of Beauty in Tristram Shandy, 
77, 237 ; frontispieces for Tristram 
Shandy by Hogarth, 238. 

Stir (A) in the City, 51. 

Street cries, 17. 

Stuart (Athenian), satirised by 
Hogarth, 61. 

Suburbs of London, 18, 404-438. 

Swift's lines on ' humorous Hog- 
arth,' 24. 

TANKARD (Silver), used by members 

of the Club held at the Spiller's 

Head, 27. 

'Taste in High Life,' 125. 
'Taste of the Town,' 32, 347. 
Tavern Life, 18, 272-301. 
Taylor (George), successor to Figg at 

the Amphitheatre in Oxford Road, 

149. 

Taylor (Chevalier John), 223. 
Temple Bar and the ' Burning of the 

Rumps,' 276. 
Temple Coffee-House in ' The Times, 

Plate 1,' 192. 



Thavies Inn, Holborn, 402. 

Theatrical Life, 18, 302-359. 

Theobald (Lewis), the supposed 
original of the ' Distressed Poet,' 
232. 

Thomson and Mallet's Masque oj 
Alfred, ticket for performance at 
Cliefden, 343. 

Thornhill (Sir James), Hogarth's 
admiration of, 31 ; witness for 
Hogarth, 38 ; a grand warden in 
1728, 39 ; death, 41 ; his art 
school removed from the Piazza to 
Peter's Court, St. Martin's Lane, 
41. 

Tibson (Christopher), original of ' The 
Politician,' 165 ; 387. 

' Time Smoking a Picture,' 63. 

Times (The), Plate 1, 186. 

Plate 2, by Hogarth, left un- 
published until 1790, 195 ; re- 
joinder to Plate 1, not to be con- 
fused with Hogarth's engraving, 
197. 

Titian, Hogarth's appreciation of, 58. 

Tofts (Mary), the Rabbit Breeder,' 
36, 215, 229. 

Tothill, Totenhall, or Tottenham 
Court, 405. 

Townley's (Dr.) laudatory inscription 
to Hogarth's memory, 89. 

Treasury (the), in the second picture 
of the Election Series, 180. 

Trusler's Hogarth Moralized, 449 ; 
Mrs. Hogarth's advertisement re- 
specting this book, 451. 

Turk's Head Bagnio, death of the 
Earl in the ' Marriage a la Mode,' 
119. 

Tyburn, execution at, 399. 

Gallows (the Triple Tree), 414 ; 

position, 414. 

Tyers (Jonathan), refounded Vaux- 
hall Gardens in 1732, 40. 

Tylney (Earl), at Wanstead House, 
97 ; supposed by some to be the 
original of the Earl in the ' Mar- 
riage & la Mode,' 111. 

UNDERTAKERS, The Company of, or 
a Consultation of Physicians, 223. 

Undertaker's funeral ticket by 
Hogarth, 251. 



INDEX 



467 



VAUXHALL GARDENS, Hogarth's in- 
terest hi them, 40, 415, 419. 

Violante, acrobat at Southwark Fair, 

430. 

Virtue in Danger,' by Hogarth, 
103. 

Viviani (Count), as a romancer, 288, 
289, 290. 

WALKER (ToM), his great success as 
Macheath, 312; other characters 
undertaken by him, 313. 

Walpole (Horace), denies Hogarth's 
merits as a painter, 7 ; letter to 
Mrs. Hogarth, 442 ; one of the 
first to collect Hogarth's prints, 2 ; 
portraits by Hogarth, 101. 

Walpole (Sir Robert), at the perform- 
ance of the Beggar's Opera, 307. 

Walpole family, picture by Hogarth, 
99. 

Walter (Peter), supposed original of 
the Steward in the Breakfast 
Scene of ' Marriage & la Mode,' 
111. 

1 Wanstead Assembly,' 43, 94. 

Manor of, 96. 

Warbur ton's (Bishop) praise of the 
Analysis of Beauty, 77. 

Ward (Dr. Joshua), 223 ; his famous 
drop, 226. 



Ware (Isaac), 180. 

Watchmen, venality of, 378. 

Weidemann the flautist, 117. 

Welch (Saunders), 382 ; praised by 
Fielding, 382 ; friend of Johnson, 
382 ; just and kind, therefore 
popular, 385 ; public-house named 
after him, 385 ; tried to persuade 
Hogarth not to publish ' The Times, 
Plate 1,' 87. 

Wellesley-Pole (William), afterwards 
Earl of Mornington, 97. 

West's (Benjamin) opinion of the 
Analysis of Beauty, 78. 

Whistler (James), his opinion that 
Hogarth was the greatest English 
painter that ever lived, 8. 

White's Chocolate House, 124, 293 ; 
fire at, 295; head-quarters of 
gaming, 296. 

Wilkes's attack upon Hogarth in the 
Wor'h Briton, 86 ; his quarrel with 
Hogarth, 186 ; portrait by Hogarth, 
88, 193. 

Willes (Lord Chief -Justice), 217. 

Woffington ( Peg), portrait by Hogarth, 
338. 

YOUNG'S Centaur not Fabulous, 
199. 



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at the Edinburgh University Press 




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