Chapter 11 of 21 · 3910 words · ~20 min read

Part 11

[2] In some of the _English_ copies of this work, instead of Plate XXX. by _Hogarth_, we only find a very small and imperfect copy of it by another hand.

[3] This, strictly speaking, was not a re-publication; it is the identical edition of 1723, with the addition of a Preface and an Appendix. New title-pages were again printed to it, and a third volume added, in 1732.

2. Five _Muscovites_. This small print appears at the corner of one of the maps to the second volume of the foregoing work. It has no intelligible reference; but, in the _English_ copy now before me, is the last plate but one, and is marked. C--T. II. In a former edition of the present catalogue, it was enumerated as a separate article, but must now be reckoned as one of the fifteen plates to _Motraye's_ Travels.

To these I might add three plates more. If _Hogarth_ engraved the _Muscovites_ at the corner of the map already mentioned, he likewise furnished the figures in the corner of another, marked T. I.--B. And Plate T. I.--XVI. and T. I.--XXXVII. I have likewise reason to suppose were the works of our artist; eighteen plates in all; though the three latter being only conjectural, I have not ventured to set them down as indisputed performances. Of the _Muscovites_ there is a modern copy.[1]

I have just been assured by a gentleman of undoubted veracity, that he was once possessed of a set of plates engraved by _Hogarth_ for some treatise on mathematicks; but, considering them of little value, disposed of them at the price of the copper. As our artist could have displayed no marks of genius in representations of cycloids, diagrams, and equilateral triangles, the loss of these plates is not heavily to be lamented.

[1] Mr. _Walpole_ enumerates only 12 plates.

* * * * *

1724.

1. Seven small prints to "The New Metamorphosis of _Lucius Apuleius_ of _Medaura. London_, printed for _Sam. Briscoe_, 1724." 12mo. 2 vol. I. Frontispiece. II. Festivals of Gallantry, which the noblemen of _Rome_ make in the churches for the entertainment of their mistresses. III. The banditti's bringing home a beautiful virgin, called _Camilla_, from her mother's arms, the night before she was to have been married. Vol. I. p. 113. No name to this plate. IV. _Fantasio's_ arrival at the house of an old witch, who is afterwards changed into a beautiful young lady. V. The provincial of the Jesuits' recovery of his favourite dog from the cooper's wife. VI. _Psyche's_ admission of her unknown husband in the dark, who always departed before the return of light. VII. Cardinal _Ottoboni_ and his niece's visit to an Hermitage in the holy desart, called _Camaldule_; the Cardinal's discourse against solitude to the hermit, who had not been out of his cell, nor spoke a word, for forty years together. Plate IV. is the only one that has the least trait of character in it.

2. Masquerades and operas. _Burlington-gate. W. Hogarth inv. & sculp._ Of the three small figures in the center of this plate, the middle one is Lord _Burlington_, a man of considerable taste in Painting and Architecture, but who ranked Mr. _Kent_ (an indifferent artist) above his merit. On one side of the peer is Mr. _Campbell_, the architect; on the other, his lordship's postilion. On a show-cloth in this plate is also supposed to be the portrait of King _George_ II. who gave 1000 _l._ towards the masquerade; together with that of the Earl of _Peterborough_, who offers _Cuzzoni_, the _Italian_ singer, 8000 _l._ and she spurns at him.[1] Mr. _Heidegger_, the regulator of the Masquerade, is also exhibited, looking out at a window, with the letter _H._ under him. The substance of the foregoing remarks is taken from a collection lately belonging to Captain _Baillie_,[2] where it is said that they were furnished by an eminent Connoisseur.[3] A board is likewise displayed, with the words--"Long Room. _Fawks's_ dexterity of hand." It appears front the following advertisement in _Mist's Weekly Journal_ for _Saturday, December_ 25, 1725, that this artist was a man of great consequence in his profession. "Whereas the town hath lately been alarmed, that the famous _Fawks_ was robbed and murdered, returning from performing at the Dutchess of _Buckingham's_ house at _Chelsea_; which report being raised and printed by a person to gain money to himself, and prejudice the above mentioned Mr. _Fawks_, whose unparalleled performances have gained him so much applause from the greatest of quality, and most curious observers: We think, both in justice to the injured gentleman, and for the satisfaction of his admirers, that we cannot please our readers better than to acquaint them he is alive, and will not only perform his usual surprizing dexterity of hand, posture-master, and musical clock; but for the greater diversion of the quality and gentry, has agreed with the famous _Powell_ of _The Bath_ for the season, who has the largest, richest, and most natural figures, and finest machines in _England_, and whose former performances in _Covent Garden_ were so engaging to the town, as to gain the approbation of the best judges, to show his puppet-plays along with him, beginning in the _Christmas_ holidays next, at the old _Tennis-court_ in _James-Street_, near _The Haymarket_; where any incredulous persons may be satisfied he has not left this world, if they please to believe their hands, though they can't believe their eyes."--"_May_ 25," indeed, "1731, died Mr. _Fawkes_, famous for his dexterity of hand, by which he had honestly acquired a fortune of above 10,000 _l._ being no more than he really deserved for his great ingenuity, by which he had surpassed all that ever pretended to that art." Political State, vol. XLI. p. 543.

This satirical performance of _Hogarth_, however, was thought to be invented and drawn at the mitigation of Sir _James Thornhill_, out of revenge, because Lord _Burlington_ had preferred Mr. _Kent_ before him to paint for the king at his palace at _Kensington_. Dr. _Faustus_ was a pantomime performed to crowded houses throughout two seasons, to the utter neglect of plays, for which reason they are cried about in a wheel-barrow.[4] We may add that there are three prints of this small masquerade, &c. one a copy from the first. The originals have _Hogarth's_ name within the frame of the plate, and the eight verses are different from those under the other. It is sometimes found without any lines at all; those in the first instance having been engraved on a separate piece of copper, so that they could either be retained, dismissed, or exchanged, at pleasure. In the first copy of this print, instead of _Ben Jonson's_ name on a label, we have _Pasquin_, N° XI. This was a periodical paper published in 1722-3, and the number specified is particularly severe on operas, &c. The verses to the first impression of this plate, are,

Could now dumb _Faustus_, to reform the age, Conjure up _Shakespear's_ or _Ben Johnson's_ ghost, They'd blush for shame, to see the _English_ stage Debauch'd by fool'ries, at so great a cost. What would their manes say? Should they behold Monsters and masquerades, where useful plays Adorn'd the fruitfull theatre of old, And rival wits contended for the bays. _Price_ 1 _shilling_ 1724.

To the second impression of it:

O how refin'd, how elegant we're grown! What noble Entertainments charm the town! Whether to hear the Dragon's roar we go, Or gaze surpriz'd on _Fawks's_ matchless show, Or to the Operas, or to the Masques, To eat up ortelans, and t' empty flasques, And rifle pies from _Shakespear's_ clinging page, Good gods! how great's the gusto of the age.

In this print our artist has imitated the engraving of _Callot_.

To the third impression, i. e. the copy:

Long has the stage productive been Of offsprings it could brag on, But never till this age was seen A Windmill and a Dragon.

O _Congreve_, lay thy pen aside, _Shakespear_, thy works disown, Since monsters grim, and nought beside, Can please this senseless town.

I should have observed, that the idea of the foregoing plate was stolen from an anonymous one on the same subject. It represents _Hercules_ chaining follies and destroying monsters. He is beating _Heidegger_, till the money he had amassed falls out of his pocket. The situation of the buildings, &c. on the sides, &c. has been followed by our artist. _Mercury_ aloft sustains a scroll, on which is written "The Mascarade destroy'd." The inscription under this print is "Hei Degeror. O! I am undone." _Price One Shilling._

[1] She is rather drawing the money towards her with a rake.

[2] This collection, consisting of 241 prints, in three portfeuilles, was sold at _Christie's, April_ 7, 1781, for 59 guineas, to Mr. _Ingham Foster_, a wealthy ironmonger, since dead. A set, containing only 100 prints, had been sold some time before, at the same place, for 47 guineas. The Hon. _Topham Beauclerk's_ set, of only 99 prints, was sold in 1781 (while this note was printing off for the first edition) for 34_l._ 10_s._

[3] It is not, indeed, inconvenient for the reputation of this famous connoisseur, that his name continues to be a secret. Either he could not spell, or his copier was unable to read what he undertook to transcribe. _Postilion_ must be a mistake for some other word. The whole note, in the original, appears to have been the production of a male _Slip-slop_, perhaps of high fashion. His petulant invective against Lord _Burlington_ is here omitted.

[4] Dr. _Faustus_ was first brought out at _Lincoln's-Inn Fields_ in 1723, and the success of it reduced the rival theatre to produce a like entertainment at their house in 1725. From a scarce pamphlet in octavo, without date, called "Tragi-comical Reflections, of a moral and political Tendency, occasioned by the present State of the two Rival Theatres in _Drury-Lane_ and _Lincoln's-Inn Fields_, by _Gabriel Rennel_, Esq." I shall transcribe an illustration of these plates: "A few years ago, by the help of _Harleykin_, and Dr. _Faustus_, and _Pluto_ and _Proserpine_, and other infernal persons, the New-House was raised to as high a pitch of popularity and renown as ever it had been known to arrive at. Tho' the actors there consisted chiefly of _Scotch_, and _Irish_, and _French_ Strollers, who were utterly unacquainted with the _English_ Stage, and were remarkably deficient in elocution and gesture: yet so much was the art of juggling at that time in vogue, and so extreamly was the nation delighted with Raree-Shows, and foreign representations, that all people flocked to the New-House, whilst the Old one was altogether deserted, tho' it then could glory in as excellent a set of _English_ actors as ever had trod upon any stage. In the midst of this joyful prosperity and success, the Managers of the New-House were not without secret uneasiness and discontent, whenever they considered how slippery a ground they stood upon, and how much a juster title their rivals had to the favour and affections of the people. They were therefore always intent upon forming designs and concerting measures for the entire subversion of the Old-House. For this purpose, they constantly kept in pay a standing army of Scaramouches, who were sent about the town to possess it with aversion and resentment against the Old Players, whose virtues had rendered them formidable, and whose merit was their greatest crime. These Scaramouches, in so corrupt and degenerate a time, when blindness and folly, and a false taste every where reigned, were every where looked on as men of a superior skill to all other actors, and consequently had a greater influence than the rest, and could lead after them a larger number of followers. It was by means of the incessant clamour and outcry that these miscreants raised, and of the lies and forgeries which they scattered about the nation, that the common people were spirited up to commit the most extravagant acts of insolence and outrage on the Managers of the Old-House. They were made the sport and derision of fools, and were delivered up to an enraged and deluded populace, as a prey to the fury of wild beasts. Their enemies were continually plotting and conspiring their destruction, and yet were continually prosecuting them for Sham-Plots and pretended Conspiracies, and suborning witnesses to prove them guilty of attempts to undermine and blow up the New-House.

"During the course of those violent and illegal proceedings, the New Actors were not wanting in any pains or expence to gratify and increase the then popular taste for Raree-Shows, and Hocus-Pocus Tricks. Scenes and Machines, and Puppets, and Posture-Masters, and Actors, and Singers, with a new set of Heathen Gods and Goddesses, and several other foreign Decorations and Inventions, were sent for from _France_ _and Italy_, and were ready to be imported with the first fair wind. But quarrels falling out among the Managers of the House, and one or two of the principal Actors happening to quit the Stage, and the people growing tired with so much foul play, and with the same _deceptio visus_ so often repeated, the scene changed at once, the _vox populi_ turned against the New-House, which sunk under a load of infamy and contempt, and was deserted not only by the Spectators, but even by its Actors, who, to save themselves from the justice of an abused and enraged people, were forced to fly out of the nation, and to beg for protection and subsistence from their wicked Confederates and Fellow-Jugglers abroad."

* * * * *

1725.

1. Five small prints for the translation of _Cassandra_, in five volumes duodecimo. _W. Hogarth inv. & sculp._

2. Fifteen head pieces for "The _Roman_ Military Punishments, by _John Beaver_, Esq. _London_. From the happy Revolution, Anno xxxvii." (i. e. 1725.) Small quarto, pp. 155. From the preface it should seem that the author had been Judge Advocate. The book is divided into seventeen chapters, each of which, except the second, third, seventh, and twelfth, have small head-pieces prefixed, of ancient military punishments, in the manner of _Callot's_ Small Miseries of War. _W. Hogarth inv. & sculp._ In 1779, were first sold by a printseller ten of these prints, together with two others not in the book, being scenes of modern war; a pair of drums being in one, and a soldier armed with a musket in the other. Thus are there three prints in the book not in this set; viz. Chap. 9. Soldiers sold for slaves. 10. Degradation. 16. Banishment. There is also in the title-page a little figure of a _Roman_ General sitting; probably done by _Hogarth_, though his name is not under it.

In the year 1774, these plates were in the possession of a Button-manufacturer at _Birmingham_. There are only eleven, one of them being engraved on both sides. They were given by him, however, to my informant, who parted with them to _S. Harding_ an engraver, who sold them to _Humphry_ the printseller near _Temple-Bar_, their present proprietor. How they fell into the hands of the _Birmingham_ manufacturer (who took off a few impressions from them), is unknown.

Query. Does the plate engraved on both sides contain the two modern designs?

In a Catalogue of Books sold by _W. Bathoe_, was included "Part of the Collection of the late ingenious _W. Hogarth_, Esq. Serjeant Painter to his Majesty;" in which was _Beaver's_ "_Roman_ Military Punishments," with _twelve plates_ by _Hogarth_.

The plate to Chap. XVII. viz. "Pay stopt wholly, or in part, by way of punishment"--"Barley given to offenders instead of wheat, &c." differs in many instances from that sold with the set. At the bottom of the former, in the book, we read, "_W. Hogarth, Invent. sculpt."_ The latter has "_W. Hogarth, invent. & fec._" The former has a range of tents behind the pay-table. These are omitted in the latter; which likewise exhibits an additional soldier attendant on the measuring out of the corn, &c.

I do not mean to say that the plate sold with the set is spurious. Had it been a copy, it would naturally have been a servile one. Some reason, now undiscoverable, must have prevailed on our artist to re-engrave it with variations.

N. B. The two "scenes of modern war," mentioned also in p. 134, were designed for a continuation of the same work, which was never printed, as I guess from the conclusion of the Author's preface. "This regularly divided my book into two parts; one treating of the _Roman_, the other of the _Modern Military Punishments_. The first I now send into the world, as a man going into the water dips his foot to feel what reception he is like to meet with; by that rule resolving, either to publish the second part, or sit down contented with the private satisfaction of having, by my studies, rendered myself more able worthily to discharge the duties of my office."

I have since been assured, that our Author's heir was a pastry-cook, who used all the copies of this book for waste-paper.

3. A burlesque on _Kent's_ altar piece at _St. Clement's_, with notes. "_It represents angels very ill drawn, playing on various instruments._" Speaking of this print, Mr. _Walpole_ in one place calls it a _parody_; and in another, a _burlesque_ on _Kent's_ Altar-piece. But, if we may believe _Hogarth_ himself, it is neither, but a very fair and honest representation of a despicable performance. The following is our artist's inscription to it, transcribed _verbatim & literatim_.

"This Print is exactly Engraiv'd after ye celebrated Altar-Piece in St. _Clements_ Church which has been taken down by Order of ye Lord Bishop of _London_ (as tis thought) to prevent Disputs and Laying of wagers among the Parrshioners about ye Artists meaning in it. for publick Satisfaction here is a particular Explanation of it humbly Offerd to be writ under the Original, that it may be put up again by which means ye Parish'es 60 pounds which thay nifely gave for it, may not be Entirely lost.

"1st. Tis not the Pretenders Wife and Children as our weak brethren imagin.

"2dly. Nor St. _Cecilia_ as the Connoisseurs think but a choir of Angells playing in Consort.

This picture produced a tract, intituled, "A Letter from a Parishioner of _St. Clement Danes_ to _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, 1725." 8vo. See Appendix II. The proofs of this plate are commonly on blue paper, though I have met with more than one on white. The original, after it was removed from the church, was for some years one of the ornaments of the music-room at _The Crown and Anchor_ in the _Strand_. As this house has frequently changed its tenants, &c. I am unable to trace the picture in question any further. There is a good copy of this print by _Livesay_.

4. A scene in _Handel's_ opera of _Ptolomeo_, performed in 1728, with _Farinelli, Cuzzoni,_ and _Senesino_, in the characters of _Ptolemy, Cleopatra,_ and _Julius Cæsar_. Those who are inclined to doubt the authenticity of this performance, will do well to consult the representation on a painted canvas in the small print on masquerades and operas, where the same figures occur in almost the same attitudes. I do not, however, vouch for the genuineness of this plate. In _Southwark Fair_, our artist has borrowed the subject of his show-cloth from _Laguerre_; and might, in the present instance, have adopted it from another hand.

The appearance _Farinelli_ makes on this occasion may be justified by the following quotation from a Pamphlet, intituled, _Reflections upon Theatrical Expression in Tragedy, &c._ printed for _W. Johnston_, &c. 1755. "I shall therefore, in my further remarks upon this article, go back to the _Old Italian Theatre_, when _Farinelli_ drew every body to the _Haymarket_. What a pipe! what modulation! what extasy to the ear! But, heavens! what clumsiness! what stupidity! what offence to the eye! Reader, if of the city, thou mayest probably have seen in the fields of _Islington_ or _Mile-end_, or if thou art in the environs of _St. James's_, thou must have observed in the park, with what ease and agility a Cow, heavy with Calf, has rose up at the command of the Milk-woman's foot. Thus from the mossy bank sprung up the _Divine Farinelli_. Then with long strides advancing a few paces, his left hand settled upon his hip, in a beautiful bend like that of the handle of an old-fashioned caudle-cup, his right remained immoveable across his manly breast, till numbness called its partner to supply its place; when it relieved itself in the position of the other handle to the caudle-cup." p. 63, &c.

Under a copy of the print abovementioned, which must have been made soon after its publication, appear the following inscription, and wretched ungrammatical lines:

The three most Celebrated Singers at the Opera.

_Scire tuum nihil est, nisi te scire hoc sciat alter._

_Sigra_ the great, harmoniously inclin'd, Who charms the ear and captivates the mind.

_Cuzzoni._

Thou little slave an emblem is of those Whose hearts are wholly att ye worlds dispose.

Great _Barrenstadt_[1] encomiums great and true is very short of whats your right and due.

The characters in the print under consideration, might have been new-christen'd by the copier of it.

Either the dignity of _Senesino_ must have been wonderful, or the following passage in Dr. _Warburton's_ "Enquiry into the Cause of Prodigies and Miracles," (printed in 1727) affords a most notorious example of the Bathos. "Observe," says he, p. 60. "Sir _Walter Raleigh's_ great manner of ending the _first part of the History of the World_. 'By this which we have already set down is seen the beginning and end of the Three first Monarchies of the World; whereof the founders and erectors thought that they could never have ended: that of _Rome_, which made the fourth, was also at this time almost at the highest. We have left it flourishing in the middle of the field; have rooted up, or cut down, all that kept it from the eyes and admiration of the world; but after some continuance, it shall begin to lose the beauty it had; the storms of ambition shall beat her great boughs and branches one against another; her leaves shall fall off; her limbs wither, and a rabble of barbarous nations enter the field and cut her down.' What strength of colouring! What grace, what nobleness of expression! With what a majesty does he close his immortal labour! It puts one in mind of the so much admired exit of the late famed ITALIAN SINGER."

[1] _Berenstadt_; a castrato engaged by _Handel_ in the operas.