1737.

1. The Lecture. "Datur vacuum." The person reading is well known to be the late Mr. Fisher, of Jesus College, Oxford, and Registrar of that University. This portrait was taken with the free consent of Mr. Fisher; who died March 18, 1761. There are some impressions in which "Datur vacuum" is not printed, that leaf being entirely blank; published January 20, 1736-7; the other March 3, 1736. Hogarth at first marked these words in with a pen and ink.

2. Æneas in a Storm. The following advertisement appeared in The London Daily Post, January 17, 1736-7.

"This day is published, price sixpence, a hieroglyphical print called Æneas in a Storm.

"Tanta hæc mulier potuit suadere malorum.

"Sold by the booksellers and printsellers in town and country. Of whom may be had, a print called Tartuff's Banquet, or Codex's Entertainment. Price one shilling.

"—populus me sibilat, at mihi plaudo
Ipse domi."

The same paper mentions the King's arrival at Loestoff on the 16th of January, and afterwards at St. James's on the 17th.

The author of this print, whoever he was, did not venture to put his name to so ludicrous a representation of the tempest which happened on King George the Second's return from Hanover. His Majesty is supposed to have kicked his hat overboard. This, it seems, was an action customary to him when he was in a passion. To the same circumstance Loveling has alluded in his Sapphic Ode ad Carolum B——.[1]

Concinet majore poeta plectro
Georgium,[2] quandoque calens furore
Gestiet circa thalamum ferire
Calce galerum.

I have been told, that Mr. Garrick, when he first appeared in the character of Bayes, taking the same liberty, received instantly such a message from one of the stage boxes, as prevented him from practising so insolent a stroke of mimickry a second time.

In spite of the confidence with which this plate has been attributed to Hogarth, I by no means believe it was his performance. It more resembles the manner of Vandergucht, who was equally inclined to personal satire, however his talents might be inadequate to his purposes. Witness several scattered designs of his in the very same style of engraving. I may add, that he always exerted his talents in the service of the Tory faction. Besides, there is nothing in the plate before us which might not have been expected from the hand of any common artist. The conceit of the blasts issuing from the posteriors of the Æolian tribe, is borrowed from one of the prints to Scarron's Travesty of Virgil; and the figure of Britannia is altogether insipid and unworthy of Hogarth. Our artist also was too much accustomed to sailing parties, and too accurate an observer of objects on The Thames, not to have known that our Royal Yachts are vessels without three masts, &c.

1738.

1. The Four Parts of the Day.[1] Invented, painted, engraved, and published by W. Hogarth. Mr. Walpole observes that these plates, "except the last, are inferior to few of his works." We have been told that Hogarth's inclination to satire once cost him a legacy. It seems that the figure of the Old Maid, in the print of Morning, was taken either from an acquaintance or relation of his. 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 considerably in his favour. This story we have heard often related by those whom, on other occasions, we could readily believe. In the same print is a portrait of Dr. Rock, who formerly attended Covent-Garden market every morning.

To the propriety of Hogarth's having introduced a scene of riot within King's Coffee-house, the following quotation from The Weekly Miscellany for June 9, 1739, bears sufficient testimony: "Monday Mrs. Mary King of Covent-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 £.200, to suffer three months imprisonment, to find security for her good behaviour for three years, and to remain in prison till the fine be paid." As it was impossible she could carry on her former business, as soon as the time of her imprisonment was ended, she retired with her savings, built three houses on Haverstock hill, near Hampstead, and died in one of them, September 1747. Her own mansion was afterwards the last residence of the celebrated Nancy Dawson;[2] and the three together are still distinguished by the appellation of Moll King's Row. Perhaps the use of the mirror in reversing objects was not yet understood by our engravers, for in Hogarth's painting the late Mr. West's house (now Lowe's Hotel) is properly situated on the left of Covent-garden church. In the print it appears on the contrary side.

The Crying Boy in Noon was sketched by Hogarth from a picture by N. Poussin of the Rape of the Sabines, at Mr. Hoare's at Stourhead. The school boy's kite lodged on the roof of a building, was introduced only to break the disagreeable uniformity of a wall.

Our artist, in the scene of Evening, inserted the little girl with the fan, as an after-thought, some friend having asked him what the boy cried for. He therefore introduced the girl going to take the play-thing from her brother. Nothing is more common than to see children cry without reason. The circumstance, however, shews that this great Genius did not always think himself above advice, as some have alledged to have been the case with him. In the early impressions of this plate, the face and neck of the woman are coloured with red, to express heat; and the hand of her husband is tinged with blue, to intimate that he was by trade a Dyer. The purchasers of the plate, intituled Evening, are hereby cautioned against imposition. In a modern copy of it, sold to the late Mr. Ingham Foster, the face of the woman had been washed over with vermilion, that it might pass (as it chanced to do) for a first impression. In the true ones, and none but these, the face and bosom were printed off with red, and the hand with blue ink. Only the traces of the graver, therefore, ought to be filled by either colour, and not the whole surface of the visage, &c. as in the smeary counterfeit. I have been told that a few copies of plate III. were taken off before the fan was inserted, but have not hitherto met with one of them. In Night, the drunken Free-mason has been supposed to be Sir Thomas de Veil; but Sir John Hawkins assures me, it is not the least like him. The Salisbury Flying-Coach implies a satire on the right honourable inventor of that species of carriage. The two first of these pictures were sold to the Duke of Ancaster, for 57 Guineas; the remaining pair to Sir William Heathcote for 64.

2. Strolling Actresses[1] dressing in a Barn. Invented, painted, engraved, and published by W. Hogarth. Mr. Walpole observes that this piece, "for wit and imagination, without any other end," is the best of all our artist's works. Mr. Wood of Littelton has the original, for which he paid only 26 Guineas.

Dr. Trusler, in his explanation of this plate, is of opinion, that some incestuous commerce among the performers is intimated by the names of Oedipus and Jocasta appearing above the heads of two figures among the theatrical lumber at the top of the barn. But surely there is no cause for so gross a supposition. Painted prodigies of this description were necessary to the performance of Lee's Oedipus. See Act II. where the following stage direction occurs; "The cloud draws, that veiled the heads of the figures in the sky, and shews them crowned, with the names of Oedipus and Jocasta written above, in great characters of gold." The magazine of dragons, clouds, scenes, flags, &c. or the woman half naked, was sufficient to attract the notice of the rustick peeping through the thatch he might be employed to repair. Neither is the position of the figures at all favourable to the Doctor's conceit. Incest was also too shocking an idea to have intruded itself among the comic circumstances that form the present representation. When this plate was retouched a second time, a variety of little changes were made in it. In the two earliest impressions the actress who personates Flora, is greasing her hair with a tallow candle, and preparing to powder herself, after her cap, feathers, &c. were put on. This solecism in the regular course of dress is removed in the third copy, the cap and ornaments being there omitted. The coiffure of the female who holds the cat, is also lowered; and whereas at first we could read in the play-bill depending from the truckle-bed, that the part of Jupiter was to be performed by Mr. Bilk-village, an additional shade in the modern copy renders this part of the inscription illegible. Several holes likewise in the thatch of the barn are filled up; and the whole plate has lost somewhat of its clearness. The same censure is due to the reparations of the Harlot's and Rake's Progresses. Had Hogarth lived, he would also have gradually destroyed much of that history of dress, &c. for which his designs have been justly praised by Mr. Walpole. In the first and last scenes of the Rake's Progress, he began to adorn the heads of his females in the fashion prevalent at the time he retraced the plates. In short, the collector, who contents himself with the later impressions of his work, will not consult our artist's reputation. Those who wish to be acquainted with the whole extent of his powers, should assemble the first copies, together with all the varieties of his capital works.

1739.

1. Several children of The Foundling Hospital; the boys with mathematical instruments; the girls with spinning wheels. Over the door of the house they come out of, are the King's-arms. A porter is bringing in a child, followed by Capt. Coram, whose benevolent countenance[1] is directed towards a kneeling woman. On the right hand is a view of a church; near it a woman lifting a child from the ground; at a little distance another infant exposed near a river. In the back of the picture, a prospect of ships sailing. W. Hogarth inv. F. Morellon la Cave sculp. London.

This is prefixed to an engraved Power of Attorney, from the trustees of The Foundling Hospital, to those gentlemen who were appointed to receive subscriptions towards the building, &c. The whole together is printed on a half sheet.

1741.

1. The Enraged Musician, Designed, engraved, and published by W. Hogarth. "Mr. John Festin,[1] the first hautboy and German flute of his time, had numerous scholars, to each of whom he devoted an hour every day. At nine in the morning he attended Mr. Spencer, grandfather to the earl of that name. If he happened to be out of town on any day, he devoted that hour to another. One morning at that hour he waited on Mr. V——n, afterwards Lord V——n. He was not up. Mr. Festin went into his chamber, and opening the shutter of a window, sat down in it. The figure with the hautboy was playing under the window. A man, with a barrow full of onions, came up to the player, and sat on the edge of his barrow, and said to the man, 'if you will play the Black Joke, I will give you this onion.' The man played it. When he had so done, the man again desired him to play some other tune, and then he would give him another onion. 'This,' said Festin to me, 'highly angered me; I cried out, Z——ds, sir, stop here. This fellow is ridiculing my profession: he is playing on the hautboy for onions.' Being intimate with Mr. Hogarth, he mentioned the circumstance to him; which, as he said, was the origin of 'The enraged Musician.' The fact may be depended upon. Mr. Festin[2] was himself the Enraged Performer." The story is here told just as he related it to a clergyman, in whose words the reader now receives it.

Of this print[3] it has been quaintly said, that it deafens one to look at it. Mr. Walpole is of opinion that it "tends to farce." Rouquet says of it, "Le Musicien est un Italien que les cris de Londres font enrager." The wretched figure playing on a hautbois, was at that time well known about the streets. For variations, see the horse's head, originally white, but now black.—Sleeve of the child with a rattle, at first smaller, as well as of a lighter hue—the milk-woman's face, cloak, &c. boy's dragg, cutler's hatchet, dog, &c. &c. more darkened than in the first impressions. These, however, can scarcely be termed varieties, as they were occasioned only by retouching the plate, and adding a few shadows.

Hogarth, however, made several alterations and additions in this plate when it appeared to be finished. He changed in some measure all the countenances, and indeed the entire head and limbs of the chimney-sweeper, who had originally a grenadier's cap on. Miss had also a Doll, significantly placed under the trap composed of bricks, near which some sprigs from a tree are set in the ground, the whole contrivance being designed by some boy for the purpose of taking birds; but when occupied by Miss's Play-thing, became emblematic of the art of catching men. What relates, however, to this young lady from a boarding-school, was gross enough without such an amplification. The play-bill, sow-gelder, cats, dragg, &c. were not introduced, nor the pewterer's advertisement, nor the steeple in which the ringers are supposed. It is remarkable that the dustman was without a nose. The proofs of the plate in this condition are scarce. I have seen only one of them.[4] Mr. S. Ireland has the original sketch.

1742.

1. Martin Folks, Esq. half length. W. Hogarth pinxit & sculpsit. An engraving. To some impressions of this print, which are not proofs, the name of Hogarth is wanting.

2. The same, half length mezzotinto. W. Hogarth pinx. 1741; J. Faber fecit. 1742. The original of both is now in the meeting-room of the Royal Society, in Somerset Place.

3. Charmers of the Age.[1] "A sketch. No name." It was intended to ridicule Mons. Desnoyer[2] and Signora Barberini, the two best dancers that ever appeared in London. This plate exhibits the internal prospect of a theatre. The openings between the side scenes are crowded with applauding spectators. The two performers are capering very high. A sun over head (I suppose the emblem of public favour) is darting down its rays upon them. The representatives of Tragedy and Comedy are candle-holders on the occasion. Underneath is the following inscription: "The prick'd lines show the rising height." There are also a few letters of direction, so situated as to convey no very decent innuendo. The whole is but a hasty outline, executed, however, with spirit, and bitten uncommonly deep by the aqua fortis. I ascribe it to Hogarth without hesitation. Of this print there is a copy by Livesay.

All the three pieces of our artist that satirize the stage, &c. are peculiarly scarce. We may suppose them, therefore, to have been suppressed by the influence of the managers for the time being, who were not, like our present ones, become callous through the incessant attacks of diurnal criticks in the news-papers.

4. Taste in High Life. A beau, a fashionable old lady, a young lady, a black boy, and a monkey. Painted by Mr. Hogarth. It was sold by Mr. Jarvis, in Bedford-street, Covent-Garden. Published May 24th, [no year]. The original picture is in the possession of Mr. Birch, surgeon, Essex-street, in The Strand.

It displays (as we learn from an inscription on the pedestal under a Venus dressed in a hoop-petticoat) the reigning modes of the year 1742. It was painted for the opulent Miss Edwards, who paid our artist sixty guineas for it. Her reason for choosing such a subject was rather whimsical. By her own singularities having incurred some ridicule, she was desirous, by the assistance of Hogarth, to recriminate on the publick. As he designed after her ideas, he had little kindness for his performance, and never would permit a print to be taken from it. The present one was from a drawing made by connivance of her servants. The original was purchased by the father of its present owner, at her sale at Kensington.

The figure of the beau holding the china-saucer is said to have been that of Lord Portmore, dressed as he first appeared at court after his return from France. The young female was designed for a celebrated courtezan, who was the Kitty Fisher of her time. Her familiarity with the black boy alludes to a similar weakness in a noble duchess, who educated two brats of the same colour. One of them afterwards robbed her, and the other was guilty of some offence equally unpardonable. The pictures with which the room is adorned, contain many strokes of temporary satire. See the Venus with stays, a hoop, and high-heel'd shoes; Cupid burning all these parts of dress, together with a modish wig, &c.; a second Cupid paring down a plump lady to the fashionable standard; and [in a framed picture classed with a number of insects] the figure of Desnoyer the dancing-master in a grand ballet. The ridicule on the folly of collecting old china, &c. &c. are alike circumstances happily introduced, and explanatory of the fashions then in vogue. The colouring is better than that in most of Hogarth's pictures. The plate is now the property of Mr. Sayer.

1743.

1. Benjamin Hoadly, bishop of Winchester. W. Hogarth pinx. B. Baron sculp. The plate belongs to Mrs. Hoadly.

2. Captain Thomas Coram, who obtained the charter[1] for The Foundling Hospital. Mezzotinto; a three-quarters. The first print published by M'Ardell. The original is a whole length. The captain has the seal of the charter in his hand. Before him is a globe; at a distance a prospect of the sea. This is perhaps the best of all Hogarth's portraits, and is thus described in the Scandalizade, a satire published about 1749.

"Lo! old Captain Coram,[2] so round in the face,
And a pair of good chaps plump'd up in good case,
His amiable locks hanging grey on each side
To his double-breast coat o'er his shoulders so wide," &c.

3. The same engraving, for the London Magazine.

4. Characters and Caricaturas, "to show that Leonardo da Vinci exaggerated the latter." The subscription-ticket to Marriage à la Mode.

1745.

1. Marriage à la Mode.[1] Six plates. In 1746 was published, "Marriage à la Mode: an Humourous Tale, in Six Canto's, in Hudibrastic Verse; being an Explanation of the Six Prints lately published by the ingenious Mr. Hogarth. London: printed for Weaver Bickerton, in Temple-Exchange Passage, in Fleet-Street, 1746. Price One Shilling." Of this pamphlet it will be sufficient to extract the Preface and the arguments of the several Canto's; the poem itself (if such it may be called) being extended to the length of 59 pages.

"The prints of Marriage à la Mode, being the latest production of that celebrated Artist who had before obliged the town with several entertaining pieces, have, ever since their publication, been very justly admired; the particular vein of humour, that runs through the whole of his works, is more especially preserved in this.

"If the Comic Poet who draws the characters of the age he lives in, by keeping strictly up to their manners in their speeches and expressions; if satirizing vice and encouraging virtue in dialogue, to render it familiar, is always reckoned amongst the liberal arts; and the authors, when dead, dignified with busts and monuments sacred to their memory; sure the master of the pencil, whose traits carry, not only a lively image of the persons and manners, but whose happy genius has found the secret of so disposing the several parts, as to convey a pleasing and instructive moral through the history he represents, may claim a rank in the foremost class, and acquire, if the term is allowable, the appellation of the Dramatic Painter.

"The Modish Husband, incapable of relishing the pleasures of true happiness, is here depicted in his full swing of vice, 'till his mistaken conduct drives his wife to be false to his bed, and brings him to a wretched end; killed in revenging the loss of that virtue which he would never cherish. The Lady is equally represented as a true copy of all the fine ladies of the age, who, by indulging their passions, run into all those extravagances, that at last occasion a shameful exit. If the gentlemen of the long robe, who ought to know the consequences, are guilty of committing such a breach of hospitality as is here described, they are properly reprimanded: the penurious Alderman, and the profligate old Nobleman, are a fine contrast; the Quack Doctor, the Italian Singer, &c. are proofs of the Inventor's judgement and distinction, both in high and low life.

"Though these images are pleasing to the eye, yet many have complained that they wanted a proper explanation, which we hope will plead an excuse for publication of the following Canto's, as the desire to render these pieces more extensive may atone for the many faults contained in this poem, for which the Hudibrastic style was thought most proper."

The ARGUMENTS.

CANTO I.
"The joys and plagues that wedlock brings,
The Limner paints, the Poet sings;
How the old dads weigh either scale,
And set their children up to sale;
How, void of thought, the Viscount weds
The nymph, who such a marriage dreads;
And, whilst himself the Fop admires,
M——y with love her soul inspires."

CANTO II.
"The wedding o'er, the ill-match'd pair
Are left at large, their fate to share;
All public places he frequents,
Whilst she her own delight invents;
And, full of love, bewails her doom,
When drunk i'th' morning he comes home;
The pious stew'rd, in great surprize,
Runs from them with uplifted eyes."

CANTO III.
"My Lord now keeps a common Miss,
Th' effects describ'd of amorous bliss,
Venereal taints infect their veins,
And fill them full of aches and pains;
Which to an old French Doctor drives 'em,
Who with his pill, a grand p—x gives 'em;
A scene of vengeance next ensues,
With which the Muse her tale pursues."

CANTO IV.
"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."

CANTO V.
"The dismal consequence behold,
Of wedding girls of London mould;
The Husband is depriv'd of life,
In striving to detect his Wife;
The Lawyer naked, in surprize,
Out of the Bagnio window flies:
Whilst Madam, leaping from the bed,
Doth on her knee for pardon plead."

CANTO VI.
"The Lawyer meets his just reward,
Nor from the triple tree is spar'd;
The Father takes my Lady home,
Where, when she hears her Lover's doom,
To desperate attempts she flies,
And with a dose of poison dies."

In these plates only a single variation is detected. In the very first impressions of the second of them (perhaps a few only were taken off) a lock of hair on the forehead of the lady is wanting. It was added by our artist, after Baron had finished the plate. In the early copies he inserted it with Indian ink. A passage in the Analysis[2] will perhaps account for this supplemental ornament: "A lock of hair falling cross the temples, and by that means breaking the regularity of the oval, has an effect too alluring to be strictly decent." The room represented in this plate is adorned with a melange of pictures on wanton and devotional subjects.

Mr. Walpole has remarked, that the works of Hogarth have little obscurity. This position is true in general, though Marriage à la Mode may supply an exception to it; no two persons, perhaps, having hitherto agreed in their explanation of Plate the third.[3]

When this set of plates was to be engraved, Ravenet, a young artist, then just coming into employ, was recommended to Mr. Hogarth; and a hard bargain was made. Ravenet went through two of the plates, but the price proved far inadequate to the labour. He remonstrated, but could obtain no augmentation. When the Sigismunda was to be engraved, Mr. Ravenet was in a different sphere of life. The painter, with many compliments, solicited his assistance as an engraver, but Ravenet indignantly declined the connexion.

In the fourth of these plates[4] are the following portraits: Mrs. Lane (afterwards Lady Bingley) adoring Carestini; her husband Fox Lane asleep. Rouquet only calls him "Un gentilhomme campagnard, fatigué d'une course après quelque renard ou quelque cerf, s'endort." This idea seems to be countenanced by the whip in his hand. The same explainer adds, speaking of the two next figures, "Ici on voit en papillotes un de ces personages qui passent toute leur vie à tâcher de plaire sans y reüssir; la, un eventail au poing, on reconnoît un de ces hérétiques en amour, un sectateur d'Anacreon." The former of these has been supposed to represent Monsieur Michel, the Prussian ambassador. Weideman is playing on the German flute.—The pictures in the room are properly suited to the bed-chamber of a profligate pair—Jupiter and Io, Lot with his Daughters, Ganymede and the Eagle, and the Young Lawyer who debauches the Countess. The child's coral, hanging from the back of the chair she sits in, serves to shew she was already a mother; a circumstance that renders her conduct still more unpardonable. Some of her new-made purchases, exposed on the floor, bear witness to the warmth of her inclinations. These will soon be gratified at the fatal masquerade, for which her paramour is offering her a ticket.

The pompous picture on the right hand of the window in the nobleman's apartment, Plate I. also deserves attention. It appears to be designed as a ridicule on the unmeaning flutter of French portraits, some of which (particularly those of Louis XIV.) are painted in a style of extravagance equal at least to the present parody by Hogarth. This ancestor of our peer is invested with several foreign orders. At the top of one corner of the canvas, are two winds blowing across each other, while the hero's drapery is flying quite contrary directions. A comet is likewise streaming over his head. In his hand he grasps the lightning of Jove, and reposes on a cannon going off, whose ball is absurdly rendered an object of sight. A smile, compounded of self-complacency and pertness, is the characteristic of his face.

On the cieling of this magnificent saloon is a representation of Pharaoh and his Host drowned in the Red Sea. The pictures underneath are not on the most captivating subjects—David killing Goliath—Prometheus and the Vulture—the Murder of the Innocents—Judith and Holofernes—St. Sebastian shot full of Arrows—Cain destroying Abel—and St. Laurence on the Gridiron.

Among such little circumstances in this plate as might escape the notice of a careless spectator, is the Thief in the Candle, emblematic of the mortgage on his Lordship's estate.

When engravings on a contracted scale are made from large pictures, a few parts of them will unavoidably become so small, as almost to want distinctness. It has fared thus with a number of figures that appear before the unfinished edifice,[5] seen through a window in the first plate of this work. Hogarth designed them for the lazy vermin of his Lordship's hall, who, having nothing to do, are sitting on the blocks of stone, or staring at the building;[6] for thus Rouquet has described them, "Une troupe de lacquais oisifs, qui sont dans le cour de ce batiment, acheve de caracteriser le faste ruineux qui environne le comte." The same illustrator properly calls the Citizen Echevin (i. e. sheriff) of London, on account of the chain he wears.

Plate II. From the late Dr. Ducarel I received the following anecdote; but there must be some mistake in it, as Herring was not archbishop till several years after the designs for Marriage à la Mode were made.

"Edward Swallow, butler to Archbishop Herring, had an annuity of ten pounds given to him in his Grace's will. For the honesty and simplicity of his physiognomy, this old faithful servant was so remarkable, that Hogarth, wanting such a figure in Marriage à la Mode, accompanied the late dean of Sarum, Dr. Thomas Greene, on a public day, to Lambeth, on purpose to catch the likeness. As they were coming away, he whispered, 'I have him!' And he may now be seen to the life preserved in the old steward, in Plate II. with his hands held up, &c."

In Plate V. the back ground, which is laboured with uncommon delicacy (a circumstance that will be remarked by few except artists), was the work of Mr. Ravenet's wife. Solomon's wise judgement is represented on the tapestry. When Ravenet's two plates were finished, Hogarth wanted much to retouch the faces,[7] and many disputes happened between him and the engraver on this subject. The first impressions, however, escaped without correction. Those who possess both copies, may discover evident marks of Hogarth's hand in the second. See particularly the countenance of the dying nobleman, which is fairly ploughed up by his heavier burin.

I have been told that our artist took the portrait of the female, who is so placed, that the legs of a figure in the tapestry supply the want of her own, from a coarse picture of a woman called Moll Flanders.

Plate the sixth of this set, affords Rouquet an opportunity of illustrating the following remark, which he had made at the outset of his undertaking: "Ce qu'un Anglois lit, pour ainsi dire, en jettant les yeux sur ces estampes, va exiger de vous la lecture de plusieurs pages." Speaking of our citizen's parsimony, says he—"Voyez-vous ces pipes conservées dans le coin d'un armoire? Vous ne devineriez pas, vous qui n'êtes pas jamais venu en Angleterre, qu'elles sont aussi une marque d'economie; mais il faut vous dire que les pipes sont si communes ici, qu'on ne fume jamais deux fois dans la même. La païsan, l'artizan le plus vil prend une pipe gratis dans le premier cabaret où il arrête: il continue son chemin en achevant de la fumer, et la jette à ses pieds."

As Rouquet observes, "Ce qui sert à garnir cet apartement ne contribue pas à l'orner. Tout y indique une économie basse." The scarcity of the real dinner—the picture exhibiting plenty of provision—the starved dog—the departing physician—the infected and ricketty condition of the child who is brought to take a last kiss of its dying mother—are circumstances too striking to be overlooked.

The Daily Advertiser of 1750 affords the following illustration of our artist's history: "Mr. Hogarth proposes to publish by subscription two large prints, one representing Moses brought to Pharaoh's daughter; the other Paul before Felix; engraved after the pictures of his painting which are now hung up in The Foundling Hospital and Lincoln's-Inn Hall. Five Shillings to be paid at the time of subscribing, and Five Shillings more on the delivery of the print. On the first payment a receipt will be given, which receipt will contain a new print (in the true Dutch taste) of Paul before Felix. Note, The above two prints will be Seven Shillings and Six Pence each after the subscription is over; and the receipt-print will not be sold at a less price than One Guinea each. Subscriptions are taken in till the 6th of June next, and no longer, at The Golden-Head in Leicester-Fields, where the drawings may be seen; as likewise the author's six pictures of Marriage-à-la-Mode, which are to be disposed of in the following manner: That every bidder sign a note with the sum he intends to give. That such note be deposited in the drawer of a cabinet, which cabinet shall be constantly kept locked by the said William Hogarth; and in the cabinet, through a glass door, the sums bid will be seen on the face of the drawer, but the names of the bidders may be concealed till the time of bidding shall be expired. That each bidder may, by a fresh note, advance a further sum if he is outbid, of which notice shall be sent him. That the sum so advanced shall not be less than Three Guineas. That the time of bidding shall continue till twelve o'clock the 6th of June next, and no longer. That no dealer in pictures will be admitted a bidder.

"As (according to the standard of judgement, so righteously and laudably established by picture-dealers, picture-cleaners, picture-frame-makers, and other connoisseurs) the works of a painter are to be esteemed more or less valuable as they are more or less scarce, and as the living painter is most of all affected by the inferences resulting from this and other considerations equally uncandid and edifying; Mr. Hogarth, by way of precaution, not puff, begs leave to urge, that, probably, this will be the last suit or series of pictures he may ever exhibit, because of the difficulty of vending such a number at once to any tolerable advantage, and that the whole number he has already exhibited of the historical or humourous kind does not exceed fifty, of which the three sets called The Harlot's Progress, The Rake's Progress, and that now to be sold, make twenty; so that whoever has a taste of his own to rely on, not too squeamish for the production of a Modern, and courage enough to own it, by daring to give them a place in his collection (till Time, the supposed finisher, but real designer of paintings, has rendered them fit for those more sacred repositories where Schools, Names, Heads, Masters, &c. attain their last stage of preferment), may from hence be convinced that multiplicity at least of his (Mr. Hogarth's) pieces will be no diminution of their value."

Mr. Lane, of Hillingdon near Uxbridge, bought the six original pictures for 120 guineas, at Hogarth's auction.[8]