Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 1 (of 3)Ireland, John
General
Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 1 (of 3)
Ireland, John
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764
[44] A merchant named Purse, whom he never saw, left him a legacy of
one hundred pounds, as a trifling acknowledgment for the pleasure
and information the testator had received from his works. By this
solitary testimony to his talents he was highly gratified.
[45] The attendant represents John Gourlay, the Colonel's favourite
and confidant.
[46] To show how fair an object for satire the painter has selected,
and how properly he has hung up such a miscreant as an example for
posterity to avoid, part of it is inserted:--
Here continueth to rot,
the body of FRANCIS CHARTRES;
who, with an INFLEXIBLE CONSTANCY, and
INIMITABLE UNIFORMITY of life,
PERSISTED,
in spite of AGE and INFIRMITIES,
in the practice of EVERY HUMAN VICE,
excepting PRODIGALITY and HYPOCRISY.
His insatiable AVARICE exempted him from the first;
his matchless IMPUDENCE from the second.
Oh, indignant reader!
think not his life useless to mankind;
Providence connived at his execrable designs,
to give to after ages a conspicuous
proof and example
of how small estimation is EXORBITANT WEALTH
in the sight of GOD, by His bestowing it on
the most UNWORTHY OF ALL MORTALS.
[47] Mother Needham, who stood in the pillory at Park Place on the
5th of May 1734, and was so roughly treated by the populace that she
died a few days afterwards. The crime for which she suffered was,
_keeping a disorderly house_.
[48] The _Grub Street Journal_ for August 6, 1730, giving an account
of several prostitutes who were taken up, informs us that "the fourth
was Kate Hackabout (whose brother was lately hanged at Tyburn), a
woman noted in and about the hundreds of Drury, etc."
[49] Among a great number of copies which the success of these prints
tempted obscure artists to make, there was one set printed on two
large sheets of paper for G. King, Brownlow Street, which, being made
with Hogarth's consent, may possibly contain some additions suggested
and inserted by his directions. In this plate, beneath the sign of
the Bell, is inscribed, PARSONS INTIER BUTT BEAR.
[50] The attendant black boy gave the foundation of an ill-natured
remark by Quin, when Garrick once attempted the part of Othello. "He
pretend to play Othello!" said the surly satirist; "he pretend to
play Othello! He wants nothing but the tea-kettle and lamp to qualify
him for Hogarth's Pompey!"
[51] In the copies printed for G. King, this picture has a label,
Jonah, why art thou angry? and under the lower portrait is written,
Mr. Woolston.
[52] This has been said to be a portrait, but of whom I never could
get any information.
[53] In Rembrandt's "Abraham's Offering," in the Houghton collection
now at Petersburgh, the knife dropping from the hand of the patriarch
appears in a falling state.
[54] This paper is a pastoral letter from Gibson Bishop of London,
and intimates that the writings of grave prelates were sometimes to
be found in chandlers' shops, as they are even unto this day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account