Part 14

"It is not difficult, now I have pointed out the way," was the answer of Columbus; "but easy as it will appear, when you are possessed of my method, I do not believe that, without such instruction, any person present could place one of these eggs upright on the table." The cloth, knives, and forks were thrown aside, and two of the party, placing their eggs as required, kept them steady with their fingers. One of them swore there could be no other way. "We will try," said the navigator; and giving an egg, which he held in his hand, a smart stroke upon the table, it remained upright.[206] The emotions which this excited in the company are expressed in their countenances. In the be-ruffed booby at his left hand, it raises astonishment; he is a DEAR ME! man, of the same family with Sterne's Simple Traveller, and came from _Amiens only yesterday_. The fellow behind him, beating his head, curses his own stupidity; and the whiskered ruffian, with his forefinger on the egg, is in his heart cursing Columbus. As to the two veterans on the other side, they have lived too long to be agitated with trifles: he who wears a cap exclaims, "Is this all!" and the other, with a bald head, "By St. Jago, I did not think of that!" In the face of Columbus there is not that violent and excessive triumph which is exhibited by little characters on little occasions: he is too elevated to be overbearing; and, pointing to the conical solution of his problematical conundrum, displays a calm superiority, and silent internal contempt.

Two eels, twisted round the eggs upon the dish, are introduced as specimens of the line of beauty; which is again displayed on the table-cloth, and hinted at on the knife blade. In all these curves there is peculiar propriety; for the etching was given as a receipt-ticket to the _Analysis_, where this favourite undulating line forms the basis of his system.[207]

In the print of Columbus there is evident reference to the criticisms[208] on what Hogarth called his own discovery; and in truth the connoisseurs' remarks on the painter were dictated by a similar spirit to those of the critics on the navigator: they first asserted there was no such line, and when he had proved that there was, gave the honour of discovery to Lomazzo, Michael Angelo, etc. etc.

THE FIVE ORDERS OF PERIWIGS.

AS THEY WERE WORN AT THE LATE CORONATION, MEASURED ARCHITECTONICALLY.

_Advertisement (inserted under the Print)._

"In about seventeen years[210] will be completed, in six volumes folio, price fifteen guineas, _The Exact Measurements of the Periwigs of the Ancients_; taken from the Statues, Bustos, and Basso Relievos of Athens, Palmyra, Balbec, and Rome; by Modesto, Periwig-meter, from Lagado. _N.B._--None will be sold but to Subscribers.--Published as the Act directs, Oct. 15, 1761, by W. Hogarth."

Previous to this print being published, Mr. Stuart, generally denominated Athenian Stuart, advertised that he intended to publish by subscription a book, entitled _The Antiquities of Athens_, measured and delineated by himself and Nicholas Revitt, painters and architects.[211] The first volume of this excellent work was published in 1762; it received, and we may add it deserved, approbation from every man who had taste enough to relish those stupendous monuments of ancient art, which the barbarians who now possess the country either destroy or suffer to moulder into dust. "To leave a trace behind" was the object of Stuart's book; but Hogarth had so long accustomed himself to laugh at the grand gusto of the Grecian school, that I can readily suppose he at length thought any plan which might damp the public ardour for antiquity would be a correction of national taste.[212] With this view he published the print now under consideration; and if ridicule were a test of truth, it must have effected his purpose. Minute accuracy is the leading feature of Stuart's book; minute accuracy is the leading point in Hogarth's satire.

Under the shadowy umbrage of his remarkable wigs he has introduced several remarkable characters.

Two profiles in the upper row, under the title "Episcopal," or "Parsonic," are said to be intended for Doctor Warburton, late Bishop of Gloucester, and Doctor Samuel Squire, then Bishop of St. David's.

The next row is inscribed "Old Peerian," or "Aldermanic;" the first face, in every sense _full_, is said to be meant for Lord Melcombe; but considering the class he is placed in, may as well represent some sagacious alderman of the day. At the opposite end of the same line is that remarkable winged periwig, worn by Sir Samuel Fludyer, Lord Mayor of London, at the coronation.

A row beneath is made up of the "Lexonic," and under it is the "Composite," or half-natural, and the "Queerinthian," or Queue de Renard. Even with them is a barber's block, crowned with a pair of compasses, and marked "Athenian measure." This I believe was intended as a caricature of Mr. Stuart, and considered as such is an overcharged resemblance. Above the block is a table of references, and facing it a scale, divided into nodules, or noddles; nasos, or noses; and minutes. To enter fully into the spirit of this whimsical print, the spectator must be acquainted with the terms of architecture.

At the bottom is a portrait of her Majesty, distinguished by the simplicity of her head-dress, and five right honourable ladies, whose different ranks are pointed out by their coronets, and who all wear the _tryglyph membretta_ drop, or neck-lock. Those who knew their persons will find no difficulty in ascertaining their respective titles. The bed-chamber ladies in 1761 were--Duchess of Ancaster, Duchess of Hamilton, Countess of Effingham, Countess of Northumberland, Viscountess Weymouth, Viscountess Bolingbroke.[213] About the centre of the print is the following inscription:--

"Lest the beauty of these capitals should chiefly depend as usual on the delicacy of the engraving, the author hath etched them with his own hand."

They are etched with spirit, and in spelling--incorrect as can be desired by Mr. Hogarth's greatest enemy. The word Advertisement is, in latter impressions, corrected by an _e_ being inserted on the Countess of Northumberland's left shoulder.

THE BENCH.

"CHARACTER, CARICATURE, AND OUTRE."

"There are hardly any two things more essentially different than character and caricature; nevertheless they are usually confounded and mistaken for each other, on which account this explanation is attempted.

"It has ever been allowed, that when a character is strongly marked in the living face, it may be considered as an index of the mind, to express which with any degree of justness in painting, requires the utmost efforts of a great master. Now, that which has of late years got the name of caricature, is, or ought to be, totally divested of every stroke that hath a tendency to good drawing; it may be said to be a species of lines that are produced rather by the hand of chance than of skill: for the early scrawlings of a child, which do but barely hint an idea of a human face, will always be found to be like some person or other, and will often form such a comical resemblance, as in all probability the most eminent caricatures of these times will not be able to equal with design; because their ideas of objects are so much the more perfect than children's, that they will unavoidably introduce some kind of drawing: for all the humorous effects of the fashionable manner of caricaturing chiefly depend on the surprise we are under at finding ourselves caught with any sort of similitude in objects absolutely remote in their kind. Let it be observed, the more remote in their nature, the greater is the excellence of these pieces. As a proof of this, I remember a famous caricature of a certain Italian singer, that struck at first sight, which consisted only of a straight perpendicular line, with a dot over it. As to the French word _outré_, it is different from the foregoing, and signifies nothing more than the exaggerated outline of a figure, all the parts of which may be in other respects a perfect and true picture of human nature. A giant or a dwarf may be called a common man _outré_; so any part, as a nose, or leg, made bigger or less than it ought to be, is that part _outré_, which is all that is to be understood by this word, injudiciously used to the prejudice of character."--_See_ Excess, _Analysis of Beauty_, chap. 6.

The unfinished group of heads in the upper part of this print was added by the author in October 1764, and was intended as a further illustration of what is here said concerning character, caricature, and _outré_. He worked upon it the day before his death, which happened the 26th of that month.

The system which Mr. Hogarth has laboured to establish in the above inscription, and which I think the genuine system, he has not illustrated with his usual felicity in the print to which it is annexed.

It was published in 1758, and in its first state exhibited a view of the Court of Common Pleas, and portraits of the four sages who then sat on that Bench.[214] Lord Chief-Justice Sir John Willes is the principal figure; on his right hand is Sir Edward Clive, and on his left Mr. Justice Bathurst, and the Honourable William Noel.

In this state the print gave character only; for though the robes of my Lord Chief-Justice may have a shade of the _outré_, they in no degree approach to that caricature which the unfinished group added to the plate in 1764 was intended to display. Had the artist lived to finish them, they might have given weight to his assertions, but in their present state do not much illuminate his doctrine.

The picture, from which each of the prints considerably vary, was originally the property of Sir George Hay, and is now in the possession of Mr. Edwards.

THE BEGGARS' OPERA.

"The charge is prepar'd; the lawyers are met; The judges all rang'd (a terrible show!) I go undismayed,--for death is a debt, A debt on demand,--so take what I owe. Then farewell, my love,--dear charmers, adieu; Contented I die,--'tis the better for you. Here ends all dispute the rest of our lives, For this way at once I please all my wives."

From the third act of this very instructive and popular opera, Mr. Hogarth has selected the subject of this print. The scene is laid in Newgate, and the point of time seems to be about the fifty-third air, which is sung by the elegant and accomplished

CAPTAIN MACHEATH.

"Which way shall I turn me? how shall I decide? Wives, the day of our death, are as fond as a bride. One wife is too much for most husbands to hear; But two at a time, there's no mortal can bear. This way, and that way, and which way I will, What would comfort the one, t'other wife would take ill.

POLLY.

"But if his own misfortunes have made him insensible to mine,--a father, sure, will be more compassionate. Dear, dear sir, sink the material evidence, and bring him off at his trial,--Polly upon her knees begs it of you.

"When my hero in court appears, And stands arraign'd for his life, Then think of poor Polly's tears, For ah! poor Polly's his wife. Like the sailor he holds up his hand, Distress'd on the dashing wave; To die a dry death at land Is as bad as a wat'ry grave. And alas, poor Polly! Alack, and well-a-day! Before I was in love, Oh! every month was May.

LUCY.

"If Peachum's heart is hardened, sure you, sir, will have more compassion on a daughter: I know the evidence is in your power. How then can you be a tyrant to me?

"When he holds up his hand, arraign'd for his life, O think of your daughter, and think I'm his wife! What are cannons, or bombs, or clashing of swords? For death is more certain by witnesses' words. Then nail up their lips: that dread thunder allay; And each month of my life will hereafter be May."

For more of Mr. Gay's moral dialogue I have not room.

In the year 1727, it was performed sixty-three nights successively, and in the year 1791 retains its primitive attractions, and is become what the Drury Lane diary styles a stock play.

That it is countenanced by the public is an apology for the managers:

"For they who live to please, must please to live;"

but that it should have the sanction of the Chamberlain is astonishing.[215]

We are told in Mr. Boswell's _Johnson_, that when Gay showed this opera to his patron, the late worthy Duke of Queensberry, his Grace's observation was, "This is a very odd thing, Gay; it is either a very good thing, or a very bad thing." It proved the former, beyond the warmest expectations of the author or his friends; though Quin, whose knowledge of the public taste cannot be questioned, was so doubtful of its success, that he refused to play the part of Macheath, which was therefore given to Walker. In the same volumes I learn that Dr. Johnson did not apprehend that the performance of this opera had the pernicious influence which is ascribed to it.[216] For the Doctor's talents and virtues I have a reverence bordering upon idolatry: in questions of morality he can seldom be contradicted, and without the strongest conviction that in this point he is wrong, I should tremble to dissent from his opinion; but my deductions are drawn from examples that to me are conclusive. 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 threatened an ignominious termination to their lives. After much search they were found engaged in midnight depredations, and in each of their pockets was the _Beggars' Opera_.

A boy of seventeen, some years since tried at the Old Bailey 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.[217]

The accumulation of similiar facts is not necessary. Those who think that lively dialogue, and natural though vulgar repartee, can atone for what gives new attractions to vice, will, I suppose, continue to sanction this performance by attending the representation. If anything could balance the baneful influence it is calculated to disseminate, Gay must be allowed the praise of having attempted to stem Italia's liquid stream, which at that time meandered through every alley, street, and square in the metropolis; the honour of having almost silenced the effeminate song of that absurd exotic, Italian opera, which a little previous to this time was the grand pursuit of the fashionable world. For to the dishonour of true taste, to the disgrace of common sense, the discords and jarrings of Cuzzoni, Faustina, and Senesino, excited as much attention, and were entered into with as much party zeal, as were the political contests between Lord Chatham and Sir Robert Walpole, or those still more recent, between Mr. Charles Fox and Mr. William Pitt.[218]

The method Gay took to rout this army of unnatural auxiliaries does great honour to his generalship. A new disorder had been imported from the Continent, and like the plague which was wont to be imported from Turkey, infected our capital. To lay an embargo upon sound was impossible; to make an echo perform quarantine, ridiculous!--he took a better mode, drew up song against sing-song, and to the soft sonnetteering stanza of Italy, opposed the nervous old ballad of Britain. He brought into the field the whole force of three kingdoms, and took his tunes from the most popular songs of the ancient bards of England, Scotland, and Wales. _Britons strike home_ was the word; _Chevy Chase_ led the van, was followed by a _Soldier and a Sailor_ singing _All Joy to great Cæsar_, and chorussed by _Shenkin of a Noble Race_; when _An old Woman clothed in Gray_, with a _Bonny Broom_ in her hand, swept the whole swarm of buzzing caterpillars _Over the Hills and far away_. Goldoni's opera, I VIAGGIATORI RIDICOLI TORNATI IN ITALIA,[219] was in a degree realized.[220]

For Italian music, William Hogarth had about as much respect as John Gay, and was therefore so well pleased with a subject which threw it into ridicule, that he not only painted it three times, but has in several of his miscellaneous prints made these senseless sounds one great object of his satire.

The picture from which this is copied was painted in the year 1729, for Mr. Rich of Covent Garden Theatre; at the sale of his effects in 1762, it was purchased by the late Duke of Leeds,[221] and is at this time (1806) in the collection of the noble peer who now bears that title. When the late Duke permitted Messrs. Boydell to copy it, the print was engraved by Mr. Blake. To these volumes is annexed an outline descriptive of the characters, which it is therefore unnecessary to enumerate in this page.[222] They afford a good example of the dresses, and what was then called the dignified manner, of the old school. That any woman should admire such a figure as Mr. Walker in Macheath, must excite a degree of astonishment; but to believe for a moment that so attractive a female as Miss Fenton would choose such an Adonis,[223] must, even in the year 1727, require a very large portion of dramatic faith. Her charms have fascinated the Duke of Bolton: his eye is fixed on her face, and his mind wholly engrossed by the contemplation of that beauty which he afterwards made his own. Mr. Rich, and Mr. Cock the auctioneer, are properly enough represented as totally inattentive to the scene. The poet immediately behind them, saturated by public approbation, pays no greater regard to the performance than is displayed by the manager. It had made _Gay rich_, and _Rich gay_, and that was sufficient.

As Hogarth was invariably faithful in delineating what he saw, I dare believe the characters are represented as they were. Considered in that point, without regard to other merit, it has quite as much value as many groups of portraits which are published in this our day, and denominated "Historical Pictures."

In the beginning of the year 1729, Hogarth painted for a Sir Archibald Grant two original pictures, "The Committee,"[224] and the "Beggars' Opera;" but though Sir Archibald paid half-price for them at the time he gave the order, I cannot positively assert that they were ever in his possession, for they afterwards got into the hands of Mr. Huggins, at the sale of whose effects the latter was purchased by Doctor Monkhouse, of Queen's College, Oxford. It has a frame with a carved bust of Gay at the top. The late Horace Lord Orford had a sketch of a scene in the same play.

THE INDIAN EMPEROR; OR, THE CONQUEST OF MEXICO:

_As performed at Mr. Conduit's, Master of the Mint, before the Duke of Cumberland, etc._

DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.

CORTEZ. CYDARIA. ALMERIA. ALIBECK.

ACT. IV.--SCENE 4th.--_A Prison._

CYDARIA.

"More cruel than the tiger o'er his spoil, And falser than the weeping crocodile; Can you add vanity to guilt, and take A pride to hear the conquests which you make? Go; publish your renown, let it be said You have a woman, and that lov'd betray'd."

CORTEZ.

"With what injustice is my faith accused! Life! freedom! empire! I at once refus'd; And would again ten thousand times for you."

ALMERIA.

"She'll have too great content to find him true; And therefore since his love is not for me, I'll help to make my rival's misery. Spaniard, I never thought you false before; Can you at once two mistresses adore? Keep the poor soul no longer in suspense, Your change is such, it does not need defence."

The scene of Hogarth's last drama was Newgate; and in this it is a Mexican prison, where his pigmy personages are playing their little parts in one of Dryden's heroic tragedies.

That these minor performers should prefer rhyme to prose, I can readily conceive--the jingling of verse is a great help to your short memory; but that Dryden, "the great high priest of all the Nine," should so far deviate from nature and outrage common sense as thus to fetter his dramatic dialogue, is to be accounted for on no other principle than the vile taste of Charles the Second's vile Court. The play is dedicated to the most excellent and most illustrious Princess Anne, Duchess of Monmouth and Buccleuch, wife to the most illustrious and high-born James Duke of Monmouth; and by that dedication[225] appears to have been warmly patronized by the most eminent persons of wit and honour.

It is a sequel to the _Indian Queen_, written by Dryden and Sir Robert Howard, which was published two years before. Of this connection between the two tragedies, notice was given to the audience by printed bills distributed at the door,[226]--an expedient which the Duke of Buckingham very happily ridicules in _The Rehearsal_, when Bayes boasts of the number of bills he has printed, to instil into the audience some conception of his plot. By the age of the warlike William of Cumberland, I conjecture that these embryotic heroes and heroines strutted away their little hour about the year 1731; and though the play which they are enacting is beneath the blazing genius of John Dryden, it is well worthy the puny powers of these puny performers.[227] Lady Sophia Fermor, who plays the part of Almeria, in 1744 married Lord Granville, and died in 1750. The prompter was a Mr. T. Hill; and though this reverend gentleman is in rather too conspicuous a situation, he is not quite so obtrusive an object as the prompter at the Opera House. The governess playing with one of the children was Lady Deloraine. Miss Conduit, who appears as Alibeck, was daughter to Catherine, the niece of Sir Isaac Newton, and in 1740 married Lord Lymington, eldest son to John first Earl of Portsmouth.

The names and additions of three of the auditors are inserted under the small print. One of the figures has a resemblance to the courtly Lord Chesterfield. Upon the chimney-piece is the bust of Sir Isaac Newton, and it is fair to conjecture that the two framed portraits represent Mr. and Mrs. Conduit.

The figure leaning on the back of a chair is said to be intended for the Duke of Montagu; and the two in the background, for the Duke and Duchess of Richmond.

Hogarth's original painting is the property of Lord Holland.

THE END.

The writer of this catalogue is now come to his last chapter, and has before him the last plate that Hogarth engraved, which is properly denominated the _Finis_ to that great painter's works.

Of the various opinions which the numerous readers of these his volumes will form at this his conclusion, he can have no certain judgment; but fears that some of them may be thus anticipated.

The votary of comedy, who considers Hogarth as a mere burlesque painter, with whom he only wishes to laugh, will deem this book too grave; while the saturnine spirit, that looks at him as a mere sermonic moralist, will say it is not grave enough. The man who supposes that every character was individual, and expects the scandalous chronicle of those who were satirized by the artist, will probably complain that there is too little anecdote; while he that considers this as a frivolous, gossiping, and anecdotish age, will say there is too much.