Biographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His WorksNichols, John
General
Biographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth, With a Catalogue of His Works
Nichols, John
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764
1. _Simon_ Lord _Lovat.[1] Drawn from the life, and etched in
aquafortis by William Hogarth.--Hogarth_ said himself, that Lord
_Lovat's_ portrait was taken (at the _White-Hart_, at _St. Alban's_)
in the attitude of relating on his fingers the numbers of the rebel
forces.--"Such a general had so many men, &c." and remarked, that the
muscles of _Lovat's_ neck appeared of unusual strength, more so than
he had ever seen. When the painter entered the room, his lordship,
being under the barber's hands, received his old friend with a salute,
which left much of the lather on his face.--The second impressions are
marked, _Price One Shilling_. When _Hogarth_ had finished this plate,
a printseller offered its weight in gold for it. The impressions could
not be taken off so fast as they were wanted, though the rolling-press
was at work all night for a week together. For several weeks afterwards
he is said to have received at the rate of 12 _l._ per day.
[1] "This powerful laird, it has been observed, was one of the last
Chieftains that preserved the rude manners and barbarous authority of
the early feudal ages. He resided in a house which would be esteemed
but an indifferent one for a very private, plain country gentleman in
_England_; as it had, properly, only four rooms on a floor, and those
not large. Here, however, he kept a sort of court, and several public
tables; and had a numerous body of retainers always attending. His own
constant residence, and the place where he received company, even at
dinner, was in the very same room where he lodged; and his lady's sole
apartment was her bed-room; and the only provision for the lodging of
the servants, and retainers, was a quantity of straw, which they spread
every night, on the floors of the lower rooms, where the whole inferior
part of the family, consisting of a very great number of persons, took
up their abode." See Mr. _King's_ observations on ancient Castles, in
the _Archæologia_, vol. IV.
Sir _William Young_, one of the managers appointed by the Commons of
_Great Britain_, for conducting the prosecution against this Nobleman
for High Treason, in the year 1745, makes the following observation:
"Your Lordships have already done national justice on some of the
principal traitors, who appeared in open arms against his Majesty, by
the ordinary course of law; but this noble Lord, who, in the whole
course of his life, has boasted of his superior cunning in wickedness,
and his ability to commit frequent treasons with impunity, vainly
imagined that he might possibly be a traitor in private, and rebel
only in his heart, by sending his son and his followers to join the
Pretender, and remaining at home himself, to endeavour to deceive his
Majesty's faithful subjects; hoping _he_ might be rewarded for his
son's services, if successful; or his _son_ alone be the sufferer
for _his_ offences, if the undertaking failed: diabolical cunning!
monstrous impiety!" See _State Trials_, vol. IX. p. 627.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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