Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 3 (of 3)Ireland, John
General
Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 3 (of 3)
Ireland, John
Hogarth, William, 1697-1764
The elegant but ill-natured stanzas which allude to the Duke of
Chandos, beginning, "At Timon's villa let us pass a day," everybody
knows. The delicately turned compliments to Lord Burlington display
the poet's art; his precepts on ornamental gardening prove his taste
and judgment. I cannot resist the temptation of recalling six or
eight lines to the reader's recollection, were it only to subjoin Dr.
Warburton's curious note, which admirably illustrates the remark that
"A perfect judge will read each work of wit
With the same spirit that its author writ:"--
"Consult the Genius of the place in all;[108]
That tells the waters or to rise or fall;
Or helps the ambitious hill the heavens to scale,
Or scoops in circling theatre the vale;
Calls in the country, catches opening glades,
Joins willing woods, and varies shades from shades.
Now breaks or now directs th' intending lines,
Paints as you plant, and as you work designs."
[108] THE NOTE!
"First, the Genius of the place 'tells the waters,' or only simply
gives directions: then he 'helps the ambitious hill,' or is a
fellow-labourer: then again, he 'scoops the circling theatre,' or
works alone, or in chief. Afterwards, rising fast in our idea of
dignity, he 'calls in the country,' alluding to the orders of princes
in their progress, when accustomed to display all their state and
magnificence. His character then grows sacred, 'he joins willing
woods,' a metaphor taken from one of the offices of the priesthood,
till at length he becomes a divinity, and creates, and presides over
the whole."--Warburton's edit. of _Pope_, 1752, vol. iii. p. 285.
Would the reader wish a better specimen of the Bishop's taste!
[109] An artist in the year 1762 stole Hogarth's thunder, and aimed
the bolt at the head of him who had forged it. In a print entitled
"The Butifyer, or a Touch upon the Times," he is represented in
the character of a shoeblack, blackening a great jack-boot, and
bespattering the surrounding crowd.
Beneath is inscribed, "With what judgment ye judge, shall ye be
judged."--Matt. chap. vii. ver. 2; and,
"In justice to Mr. Hogarth, the engraver of this plate declares
to the public he took the hint of 'The Butifyer' from a print of
Mr. Pope whitewashing Lord Burlington's gate, and at the same time
bespattering the rest of the nobility."
[110] Fielding and Hogarth had in some respects similar powers and
similar want of success in things for which they seemed peculiarly
gifted. Admirable as was the dialogue of the comic characters in
Fielding's novels, he was unable to give them stage effect; and
though Hogarth saw nature in all her varieties, and gave to every
face the index of their mind, he rarely succeeded in historical
pictures.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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