Such in brief are the reasons for the existence of this volume. It remains to express my warmest acknowledgment of Mr Austin Dobson's unfailing counsel and assistance. My thanks are also due to Mr Ernest Fielding for permission to reproduce the miniature which appears as the frontispiece; to Mr Aubrey Court, of the House of Lords; to Mr E. S. W. Hart, for his help throughout the necessary researches among the Middlesex Records; to Mrs Deane of Gillingham; and to Mr Frederick Shum of Bath. And I am indebted to Mr Sidney Colvin, Keeper of the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, in regard to almost every one of the thirty-two rare prints and cartoons now reproduced. G. M. GODDEN. _October_ 26, 1909. CONTENTS CHAPTER I YOUTH CHAPTER II PLAY-HOUSE BARD CHAPTER III MARRIAGE CHAPTER IV POLITICAL PLAYS CHAPTER V HOMESPUN DRAMA CHAPTER VI BAR STUDENT--JOURNALIST CHAPTER VII COUNSELLOR FIELDING CHAPTER VIII _Joseph Andrews_ CHAPTER IX THE _Miscellanies_ AND _Jonathan Wild_ CHAPTER X PATRIOTIC JOURNALISM CHAPTER XI _Tom Jones_ CHAPTER XII MR JUSTICE FIELDING CHAPTER XIII FIELDING AND LEGISLATION CHAPTER XIV _Amelia_ CHAPTER XV JOURNALIST AND MAGISTRATE CHAPTER XVI POOR LAW REFORM CHAPTER XVII VOYAGE TO LISBON--DEATH LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS _From photographs by Marie Léon_. Henry Fielding _From a miniature now in the possession of Mr Ernest Fielding._ Sharpham House, showing the room in which Fielding was born _from a print published in 1826_. Sir Henry Gould _From a mezzotint by J. Hardy_. Eton--1742 _From an engraving of a drawing by Cozens_. Anne Oldfield _From a mezzotint of a painting by J. Richardson_. Leyden--1727 _From an engraving of a drawing by C. Pronk_. Kitty Clive as Philida _From a mezzotint of a painting by Veter van Bleeck, junr. 1735._ Frontispiece to Fielding's "Tom Thumb" _By Hogarth_. The Close, Salisbury--1798 _From an acquatint of a drawing by E. Dayes_. Charlcombe Church, near Bath _From an engraving of a drawing made in 1784_. Fielding's house, East Stour, Dorsetshire _From a print published in Hutchins' "History of Dorsetshire," 1813_. Sir Robert Walpole--1740 _From a contemporary cartoon_. "Pasquin" _From a cartoon depicting a scene in "Pasquin" in which Harlequinades, etc., triumph aver legitimate drama. Pope is leaving a box. The Signature "W. Hogarth" is doubtful_. Cartoon celebrating the success of "Pasquin" _From a contemporary cartoon showing Fielding, supported by Shakespeare, receiving an ample reward, while to Harlequin and his other opponents is accorded a halter_. The Little Theatre in the Haymarket _From an engraving by Dale, showing the demolition of the Little Theatre in 1821_. The Green Room, Drury Lane _From the painting by Hogarth, in the possession of Sir Edward Tennant_. The Temple--1738 _From an engraving of a drawing by J. Nicholas_.