Hogarth's Works, with life and anecdotal descriptions of his pictures. Volume 1 (of 3)

by John Ireland; John Nichols

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Two of the prints must be excepted: "Time smoking a Picture," and "The Bathos," are addressed to the connoisseurs.

[2] Mr. Walker, who has so eminently distinguished himself by his lectures on natural philosophy, has described the effect resulting from one of this rude bard's productions:—

"To Mr. Nichols.

"I must leave you to the annals of fame for the rest of the anecdotes of this great genius, and shall endeavour to show you that his family possessed similar talents; but they were destined, like the wild rose,

'To waste their sweetness in the desert air.'

"Happy should I be to rescue from oblivion the name of auld Hogarth, whose songs and quibbles have so often delighted my childhood! These simple strains of this mountain Theocritus were fabricated while he held the plough, or was leading his fuel from the hills. He was as critical an observer of nature as his nephew, for the narrow field he had to view her in: not an incident or an absurdity in the neighbourhood escaped him. If any one was hardy enough to break through any decorum of old and established repute; if any one attempted to overreach his neighbour, or cast a leering eye at his wife, he was sure to hear himself sung over the whole parish, nay, to the very boundaries of the Westmoreland dialect! so that his songs were said to have a greater effect on the manners of his neighbourhood, than even the sermons of the parson himself. But his poetical talents were not confined to the incidents of his village; I myself have had the honour to bear a part in one of his plays (I say one, for there are several of them extant in MS. in the mountains of Westmoreland to this hour). The play was called The Destruction of Troy; it was written in metre, much in the manner of Lopez de Vega, or the ancient French drama. The unities were not too strictly observed, for the siege of ten years was all represented: every hero was in the piece, so that the dramatis personæ consisted of every lad of genius in the whole parish. The wooden horse;—Hector dragged by the heels;—the fury of Diomede;—the flight of Æneas;—and the burning of the city, were all represented. I remember not what fairies had to do in all this; but as I happened to be about three feet high at the time of this still talked of exhibition, I personated one of these tiny beings. The stage was a fabrication of boards, placed about six feet high, on strong posts; the green-room was partitioned off with the same materials; its ceiling was the azure canopy of heaven; and the boxes, pit, and galleries, were laid into one by the great Author of nature, for they were the green slope of a fine hill. Despise not, reader, this humble state of the provincial drama: let me tell you, there were more spectators, for three days together, than your three theatres in London would hold; and let me add, still more to your confusion, that you never saw an audience half so well pleased.

"The exhibition was begun with a grand procession from the village, to a great stone (dropped by the Devil, about a quarter of a mile off, when he tried in vain to erect a bridge across Windermere; so the people, unlike the rest of the world, have remained a good sort of people ever since),—I say, the procession was begun by the minstrels of five parishes, and followed by a yeoman on bull-back. You stare—stop then, till I inform you that this adept had so far civilised his bull, that he would suffer the yeoman to mount his back, and even to play upon the fiddle there. The managers besought him to join the procession; but the bull not being accustomed to much company, and particularly to so much applause,—whether he was intoxicated with praise, thought himself affronted and made game of, or whether a favourite cow came across his imagination, certain it was that he broke out of the procession, erected his tail, and, like another Europa, carried off the affrighted yeoman and his fiddle over hedge and ditch, till he arrived at his own field. This accident rather inflamed than depressed the good humour arising from the procession; and the clown, or Jack Pudding of the piece, availed himself so well of the incident, that the lungs and ribs of the spectators were in manifest danger. This character was the most important personage in the whole play; for his office was to turn the most serious parts of the drama into burlesque and ridicule; he was a compound of Harlequin and the Merry-Andrew, or rather the arch-fool of the ancient kings. His dress was a white jacket covered with bulls, bears, birds, fish, etc., cut in various-coloured cloth; his trousers were decorated in like manner, and hung round with small bells; and his cap was that of folly, decorated with bells, and an otter's brush impending. The lath sword must be of great antiquity in this island, for it hath been the appendage of a Jack Pudding in the mountains of Westmoreland time out of mind.

"The play was opened by this character, with a song, which answered the double purpose of a play-bill and a prologue, for his duty gave the audience a foretaste of the rueful incidents they were about to behold; and it called out the actors one by one to make the spectators acquainted with their names and characters, walking round and round, till the whole dramatis personæ made one great circle on the stage. The audience being thus become acquainted with the actors, the play opened with Paris running away with Helen, and Menelaus scampering after them. Then followed the death of Patroclus, the rage of Achilles, the persuasions of Ulysses, etc. etc., and the whole was interlarded with apt songs, both serious and comic, all the production of auld Hogarth. The bard, however, at this time had been dead some years, and I believe this fête was a jubilee to his memory: but let it not detract from the memory of Mr. Garrick to say, that his at Stratford was but a copy of one forty years ago on the banks of Windermere. Was it any improvement, think you, to introduce several bulls into the procession instead of one?—But I love not comparisons, and so conclude.—Yours, etc.,

"Adam Walker."

[3] It was written for the information of Marshal Belisle, then a prisoner in Windsor Castle.

[4] In Mr. Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting, vol. iv. p. 161, we are told that "his apprenticeship was no sooner expired, than he entered into the academy in St. Martin's Lane, and studied drawing from the life." In this circumstance, which is in itself trifling, I think the Right Honourable author has not displayed his usual accuracy. Hogarth was emancipated from his Cranbourn Alley confinement about the year 1718, at which time, I believe, there was not an academy either in that or any other part of London. The first for the use of students in drawing was opened in 1724, by Sir James Thornhill, at his house in Covent Garden. On his death, which was in May 1734, the casts, models, benches, etc., were sent to Mr. Hogarth (who had four years before married Miss Thornhill); by him they were afterwards lent to an academy established at what had previously been Roubiliac's workshop, in St. Martin's Lane.

[5] This gentleman was also a patron to the late Mr. Major the engraver, who told me that when very young, and on the point of going to Paris for improvement in his profession, he took two plates of small landscapes, which he had just finished, to Mr. Bowles, who expressed himself much pleased with the performance of them, and generously proffered him two pieces of plain copper, of the same size and weight,—by practising on which, he might still further improve himself. When I add, that one of the engravings delivered to this patron was that very pretty little landscape inscribed Evening, it is scarcely necessary to say—the offer was rejected.

[6] On a piece of newspaper, dated 1786, and pasted in one of Dr. Lort's books, was the following remark:—

"The Hogarth mania is as strong as ever. On Thursday the 6th of April,—it should have been the first,—the Roman Military Punishments, a paltry work for which no bookseller seven years ago would have offered more than a few shillings, was sold at Greenwood's for six pounds, on account of some trifling plates in it by Hogarth."

In the sale of Doctor Lort's library at Leigh and Sotheby's, in 1790, a copy of Bever's book produced a still larger sum.

[7] In this improved era we have seen examples of striking portraits which every year assume a new title. A head of Dr. Franklin was lately transferred from the book for which it was engraven to the memoirs of a man executed for forgery, whose name it now bears; another age may see the same print honoured with the name of some eminent pugilist, who at the close of the eighteenth century wore the collar of his order! Such are the transmigrations of the arts,—or, if it better please the reader, the arts of transmigration. Among the Paternoster Row classics, there is no other distinction between a bruiser, a felon, or a philosopher, than arises from the sale of their memoirs.

[8] On the print of Hudibras and the Lawyer is William Hogart delin. et sculp'. This Mr. Nichols considers as a proof that Hogarth had not yet disused the original mode in which he spelt his name.

From his shop-bill, and every preceding print, I am inclined to think he never had more than one mode of spelling his name. The concluding h being in this instance omitted, might arise from carelessness, or a failure of the aquafortis. His father's Latin letter, dated 1697, proves that he inserted the final h, and I can discover no reason why his son should discard it.

[9] For this, and some other assistance, Mr. Tyers presented Hogarth with a gold ticket of admission for himself and friends. On the face, two figures, one nearly naked, the other armed with a helmet and shield, are represented on the point of joining hands:—motto round them, VIRTUS VOLUPTAS; and at the lower part, FELICES UNA. On the reverse, HOGARTH——IN PERPETUAM BENEFICII MEMORIAM.

This ticket is now in the possession of Mrs. Lewis, of Chiswick.

[10] It seems probable that Sir James was very soon reconciled, for we find in the Craftsman of March 10, 1732-3, that when Hogarth painted the portrait of Sarah Malcolm, Sir James Thornhill was present.

[11] The sum and purchasers of each are noticed in the account of the engravings.

[12] Among the papers of a lately deceased Virtuosi, I met with a few MS. sheets, entitled Hints for a History of the Arts in Great Britain, from the Accession of the Third George. The following extract proves that painting pictures, called after the ancient masters, was not confined to Italy: we had in England some industrious and laborious artists who, like the unfortunate Chatterton, gave the honours of their best performances to others. The narrative has no date, but some allusions to a late sovereign determine it was a short time before we discovered that there were in our own poets subjects as worthy of the pencil as any found in the idle tales of antiquity, or the still more idle legends of popery:—

"The late edict of the Emperor, for selling the pictures of which he has despoiled the convents, will be a very fortunate circumstance for many of the artists of this country, whose sole employment is painting old pictures; and this will be a glorious opportunity for introducing modern antiques into the cabinets of the curious.

"A most indefatigable dealer, apprehensive that there might be a difficulty, and enormous expense in procuring from abroad a sufficient quantity to gratify the eagerness of the English connoisseurs, has taken the more economical method of having a number painted here. The bill of one of his workmen, which came into my hands by an accident, I think worth preservation, and have taken a copy for the information of future ages. Every picture is at present most sacredly preserved from the public eye, but in the course of a few months will be smoked into antiquity, and may probably be announced in manner and form following:—

"TO THE LOVERS OF VIRTU.

"Mr. —— has the heartfelt pleasure of congratulating the amateurs of the fine arts upon such an opportunity of enriching their collections, as no period from the days of the divine Apelles to the present irradiated era ever produced; nor is it probable that there ever will be in any future age so splendid, superb, brilliant, and matchless an assemblage of unrivalled pictures as he begs leave to announce to the connoisseurs are now exhibiting at his great room in ——, being the principal part of that magnificent bouquet which have been accumulating for so many ages, been preserved with religious care, and contemplated with pious awe, while they had an holy refuge in the peaceful gloom of the convents of Germany. By the edict of the Emperor they are banished from these consecrated walls, and are now emerged from obscurity with undiminished lustre! with all their native charms, mellowed by the tender, softening pencil of time, and introduced to this emporium of taste! this favourite seat of the arts! this exhibition-room of the universe; and when seen, must produce the most pleasing and delightful sensations.

"When it is added, that they were selected by that most judicious and quick-sighted collector, Monsieur D., it will be unnecessary to say more; for his penetrating eye and unerring judgment, his boundless liberality and unremitting industry, have ensured him the protection of a generous public, ever ready to patronize exertions made solely for their gratification!

"N.B.—Descriptive catalogues, with the names of the immortal artists, may be had as above."

THE BILL.

"Monsieur Varnish to Benjamin Bister, debtor.

	£	s.	d.
To painting the Woman caught in Adultery, upon a green ground, by Hans Holbein	3	3	0
To Solomon's Wise Judgment, on pannel, by Michael Angelo Buonorati	2	12	6
To painting and canvas, for a naked Mary Magdalen, in the undoubted style of Paul Veronese	2	2	0
To brimstone, for smoking ditto	0	2	6
Paid Mrs. W—— for a live model to sit for Diana bathing, by Tintoretto	0	16	8
Paid for the hire of a layman, to copy the robes of a Cardinal, for a Vandyke	0	5	0
Portrait of a Nun doing Penance, by Albrecht Durer	2	2	0
Paid the female figure for sitting thirty minutes in a wet sheet, that I might give the dry manner of that master[13]	0	10	6
The Tribute-money Rendered, with all the exactness of Quintin Metsius, the famed blacksmith of Antwerp	2	12	6
To Ruth at the feet of Boaz, upon an oak board, by Titiano	3	3	0
St. Anthony Preaching to the Fishes, by Salvator Rosa	3	10	0
The Martyrdom of St. Winifred, with a view of Holywell bath, by old Frank	1	11	6
To a large allegorical altar-piece, consisting of men and angels, horses and river gods; 'tis thought most happily hit off for a Rubens	5	5	0
To Susannah Bathing; the two Elders in the background, by Castiglione	2	2	0
To the Devil and St. Dunstan, highly finished, by Teniers	2	2	0
To the Queen of Sheba falling down before Solomon, by Morillio	2	12	6
To a Judith in the Tent of Holofernes, by Le Brun	1	16	0
To a Sisera in the Tent of Jael, its companion, by the same	1	16	0
Paid for admission into the House of Peers, to take a sketch of a great character, for a picture of Moses breaking the Tables of the Law, in the darkest manner of Rembrandt, not yet finished	0	2	6

[13] Some of the ancient masters acquired a dry manner of painting from studying after wet drapery.—Webb on Painting.

[14] The annexed letter, which was published about this time, I have been informed was written by Hogarth; add to this authority, of which I have no doubt, I think it carries internal evidence of his mind. It is printed in the London Magazine for 1737, and thus prefaced:

The following piece, published in the St. James's Evening Post of June 7th, is by the first painter in England, perhaps in the world, in his way:

"Every good-natured man and well-wisher to the Arts in England, must feel a kind of resentment at a very indecent paragraph, in the Daily Post of Thursday last, relating to the death of M. de Morine, first painter to the French king, in which very unjust as well as cruel reflections are cast on the noblest performance (in its way) that England has to boast of,—I mean the work of the late Sir James Thornhill, in Greenwich Hall. It has ever been the business of narrow, little geniuses, who by a tedious application to minute parts have (as they fancy) attained to a great insight into the correct drawing of a figure, and have acquired just knowledge enough in the art to tell accurately when a toe is too short or a finger too thick, to endeavour, by detracting from the merits of great men, to build themselves a kind of reputation. These peddling demi-critics, on the painful discovery of some little inaccuracy (which proceeds mostly from the freedom of the pencil), without any regard to the more noble parts of a performance (which they are totally ignorant of), with great satisfaction condemn the whole as a bad and incorrect piece.

'The meanest artist in the Emelian square,

Can imitate in brass the nails or hair;

Expert at trifles, and a cunning fool,

Able to express the parts, but not the whole.'

"There is another set of gentry, more noxious to the art than these, and those are your picture-jobbers from abroad, who are always ready to raise a great cry in the prints, whenever they think their craft is in danger; and indeed it is their interest to depreciate every English work as hurtful to their trade of continually importing ship-loads of Dead Christs, Holy Families, Madonnas, and other dismal dark subjects, neither entertaining nor ornamental, on which they scrawl the terrible cramp names of some Italian masters, and fix on us poor Englishmen the character of universal dupes. If a man, naturally a judge of painting, not bigoted to those empirics, should cast his eye on one of their sham virtuoso pieces, he would be very apt to say: Mr. Bubbleman, that grand Venus, as you are pleased to call it, has not beauty enough for the character of an English cook-maid. Upon which the quack answers, with a confident air: 'Sir, I find that you are no connoisseur; the picture, I assure you, is in Alesso Baldminetto's second and best manner, boldly painted, and truly sublime: the contour gracious: the air of the head in the high Greek taste; and a most divine idea it is.—Then spitting in an obscure place, and rubbing it with a dirty handkerchief, takes a skip to t'other end of the room, and screams out in raptures, 'There's an amazing touch! A man should have this picture a twelvemonth in his collection before he can discover half its beauties!' The gentleman (though naturally a judge of what is beautiful, yet ashamed to be out of the fashion, by judging for himself) with this cant is struck dumb; gives a vast sum for the picture, very modestly confesses he is indeed quite ignorant of painting, and bestows a frame worth fifty pounds on a frightful thing, which, without the hard name, is not worth so many farthings. Such impudence as is now continually practised in the picture trade must meet with its proper treatment, would gentlemen but venture to see with their own eyes. Let but the comparison of pictures with nature be their only guide, and let them judge as freely of painting as they do of poetry, they would then take it for granted, that when a piece gives pleasure to none but these connoisseurs, or their adherents, if the purchase be a thousand pounds, 'tis nine hundred and ninety-nine too dear; and were all our grand collections stripped of such sort of trumpery, then, and not till then, it would be worth an Englishman's while to try the strength of his genius to supply their place, which now it were next to madness to attempt, since there is nothing that has not travelled a thousand miles, or has not been done a hundred years, but is looked upon as mean and ungenteel furniture. What Mr. Pope in his last work says of poems, may with much more propriety be applied to pictures:

'Authors, like coins, grow dear as they grow old;

It is the rust we value, not the gold.'

"Sir James Thornhill, in a too modest compliance with the connoisseurs of his time, called in the assistance of Mr. Andre, a foreigner, famous for the fulness of his outline, to paint the Royal Family at the upper end of Greenwich Hall, to the beauties or faults of which I have nothing to say; but with regard to the ceiling, which is entirely of his own hand, I am certain all unprejudiced persons, with (or without) much insight into the mechanic parts of painting, are at the first view struck with the most agreeable harmony and play of colours that ever delighted the eye of a spectator. The composition is altogether extremely grand, the groups finely disposed, the light and shade so contrived as to throw the eye with pleasure on the principal figures, which are drawn with great fire and judgment; the colouring of the flesh delicious, the drapery great and well folded; and upon examination, the allegory is found clear, well invented, and full of learning: in short, all that is necessary to constitute a complete ceiling-piece is apparent in that magnificent work. Thus much is in justice to that great English artist.

"Britophil.

"N.B.—If the reputation of this work were destroyed, it would put a stop to the receipt of daily sums of money from spectators, which is applied to the use of sixty charity children."

[15] The book alluded to is, "A Tracte containing the Artes of curious Paintinge, Carvinge, and Buildinge, written first in Italian by Jo. Paul Lomatius, Painter of Milan, and Englished by R. H. (Richard Haydocke), Student in Physick." Published 1598.

From this visionary writer he could not borrow much, great part of his book treating of the different important consequences which had resulted from the study of the proportions of the human body. It is dedicated to the Right Worshipful Thomas Bodley, Esquire, warmly recommended by John Case, doctor of physic; and in the following quaint lines, the translator apologizeth for thus employing himself:—

"TO THE INGENIOUS READER. R. H.

"How hard a matter it is to withstand any natural instinct, and habitual inclination whatsoever, the storie of the Syracusane Archimedes (besides divers others to this purpose) may sufficiently persuade; who was so rapt with the sweetness of his mathematical conclusions, that even then when the enemie had entered the gates of the citie he was found drawing of lines upon the sand, when perchance it had bin fitter for a philosopher to have bin advising in the counsell-house.

"Not much unlike to whome I may peradventure seeme, who at this time especially, when the unappeasable enimies of health, sicknesse, and mortality have so mightily prevailed against us, am here found drawing of lines and lineaments, portraitures, and proportions, when (in regard of my place and profession) it might much better have beseemed mee to have bin found in the colledge of physicians, learning and counselling such remedies as might make for the common health; or if I must needes be doing about lines, to have commented upon this proposition, mors ultima linea rerum.

"Howbeit, as I find not him much taxed in the storie for this his diligent carelessness, because he was busied about matters which were not onlie an ornament of peace, but also of good use in warre, so my hope is (ingenious reader), that my sedulous trifling shall meete with thy friendliest interpretation; insomuch as the arte I now deale in shall be proved not onlie a grace to health, but also a contentment and recreation unto sickeness, and a kind of preservative against death and mortality; by a perpetual preserving of their shades, whose substances physicke could not prolong, no, not for a season," etc. etc.

In his treatise of colours, he makes the following addresse to his faire countrie wommen:—

"Having intreated of so many and divers thinges, I could not but say something of such matters as woemen use ordinarilly in beautifying and imbelishing their faces; a thing well worth the knowledge, insomuch as many women are so possessed with a desire of helping their complexions by some artificial meanes, that they will by no meanes be diswaded from the same." He then enumerates ceruse, plume alume, juice of lemons, oil of tartarie, camphire, and sundry other cosmetics of the day, all which he takes many pages to prove are enemies to health, and hurtful to the complexion, and thus adviseth: "Wherefore if there bee no remedie, but women will be meddling with this arte of pollishing, let them, instead of those mineral stuffes, use the remedies following.

"Of such helpes of Beauty as may safely be used without danger.

"There is nothing in the world which doth more beautifie and adorne a woman than chearfulness, contentment, and good temper. For it is not the red and white which giveth the gracious perfection of beauty, but certaine sparkling notes and touches of amiable chearfulness accompanying the same. The truth whereof may appear in a discontented woman, otherwise exceeding faire, who atte that instant will seem yll favoured and unloovely; as contrariwise, an hard-favoured and browne woman, being merry, pleasaunte, and jocund, will seem sufficient beautiful."

[16] Of this figure he thus writes in his chapter on Compositions with the Serpentine Line:—

"We have had recourse to the works of the ancients, not because the moderns have not produced some as excellent, but because the works of the former are more generally known; nor would we have it thought that either of them has ever yet come up to the utmost beauty of nature. Who but a bigot to the antiques will say, that he has not seen faces and necks, hands and arms, in living women, that even the Grecian Venus doth but coarsely imitate?"

[17] Hogarth might possibly have some oblique allusion to the manner in which Cæsar suffered in the capitol of an English theatre.—They might as well have hanged him; or, the actor deserved hanging for so personating the character,—which the reader likes best.

In an early impression of the print I have seen written (I believe by Hogarth) on the pedestal upon which this figure is placed, tu Brute. That he greatly disliked Quin, is evident from the following epigram, with the injustice or justice of which I have nothing to do, but to the painter it is attributed:—

"Your servant, Sir," says surly Quin.—

"Sir, I am yours," replies Macklin.—

"Why, you're the very Jew you play,

Your face performs the task well."—

"And you are Sir John Brute, they say,

And an accomplished Maskwell."

Says Rich, who heard the sneering elves,

And knew their horrid hearts,

"Acting too much your very selves,

You overdo your parts."

[18] In the Analysis, he asserts that a completely new and harmonious order of architecture might be produced by making choice of variety of lines, and then again, by varying their situations with each other; in a word, that the art of composing well is the art of varying well. In the frontispiece to Brook Taylor's perspective, he has given an example, by a broken sceptre, somewhat resembling the Roman fasces, and girt round with the Prince of Wales' coronet, as an astragal, through which the fasces rise, and swell into a crown adorned with embroidered stars.

[19] Mr. Shee, in his Rhymes on Art, has very happily introduced a similar character, accompanied by congenial connoisseurs:—

"No awkward heir that o'er Campania's plain,

Has scamper'd like a monkey in his chain;

No ambush'd ass, that, hid in learning's maze,

Kicks at desert, and crops wit's budding bays;

No baby grown, that still his coral keeps,

And sucks the thumb of science till he sleeps;

No mawkish son of sentiment who strains

Soft sonnet drops from barley-water brains;

No pointer of a paragraph, no peer,

That hangs a picture-pander at his ear;

No smatterer of the ciceroni crew,

No pauper of the parish of Virtú;

But starts an Aristarchus on the town,

To hunt full cry dejected merit down;

With sapient shrug assumes the critic's part,

And loud deplores the sad decline in art."

[20] "The dancing-room is also ornamented purposely with such statues and pictures as may serve to a further illustration. Henry VIII., Number 72, makes a perfect X with his legs and arms; and the position of Charles I., Number 51, is composed of less varied lines than the statue of Edward VI., Number 73, and the medal over his head is in the like kind of lines; but that over Queen Elizabeth, as well as her figure, is in the contrary; so are also the two other wooden figures at the end. Likewise the comical posture of astonishment (expressed by following the direction of one plain curve) as the dotted line in a French print of Sancho (where Don Quixote demolishes the puppet show); Number 75 is a good contrast to the effect of the serpentine lines, in the fine turn of the Samaritan woman; Number 74, taken from one of the best pictures Annibal Carrache ever painted."—Hogarth's Analysis, p. 137.

[21] A newspaper of 1781 has the following advertisement:—

"MINUET DE LA COUR, DEVONSHIRE, LE ROI, STATUTE, SURPRISE.

"A gentleman of merit, well educated and properly qualified by seven of the best masters that ever trod on English ground, teaches the above minuets to noblemen and real ladies only, for the sum of five guineas, paid down, with all the excelled graces of the head, body, arms, wrists, hands, fingers, toes, sinks, risings, bounds, rebounds, twirls, twists, fourfold mercuries, coupees, borees, flourishes, demi-corpus, curtseys à-la-mode, hat on, off, giving hands and feet, in an advanced octagon adorned style, and divided into one, two, three, or four steps exact to time or bars; introducing at the same moment the à-la-mode form, Chassa's springs, five and nine orders of the graces, and annexed with the rigadoon, Louvre, cotillion, and ancient and modern hornpipe steps and elegant country-dance positions.—The said gentleman is no common dancing-master, has some character to lose; therefore ladies of a common capacity may soon attain to dance equal to the best French or Italian dancer in this kingdom, only for five guineas, on applying to Number 79 in the Haymarket, between ten and eleven in the morning, and four and six in the afternoon, and they will be seen by the aforesaid gentleman himself."

In his Analysis, Mr. Hogarth thus writeth:—

"The minuet is allowed by dancing-masters themselves to be the perfection of all dancing. I once heard an eminent dancing-master say, that the minuet had been the study of his whole life, and that he had been indefatigable in the pursuit of its beauties, yet at last could only say with Socrates, he knew nothing; adding, that I was happy in my profession as a painter, in that some bounds might be set to the study of it."

[22] Mr. Wilkes informs us that this subject was not thought of until after the publication of Marriage à la Mode. In CHRONOLOGY, the Chamberlain is not so accurate as Doctor Trusler!

[23] Mr. Townley, under the signature of a connoisseur, wrote the following lines to Mr. Hogarth on his Analysis of Beauty:—

"How could you dare, advent'rous man,

To execute so bold a plan,

Or such unheard of truths advance?

At once so rashly to oppose

Those fierce, outrageous, hardy foes,

Fraud, Prejudice, and Ignorance!

"To their despotic, cruel sway,

Fair Science long has been a prey,

All modern art they trampled down;

The rising genius they deprest,

The British taste they turned to jest,

And damn'd at once—because our own.

"The slavish principle I caught,

The southern land of merit sought,

And learn'd to think, to see, to say

Eager I ran through every town,

Penn'd every observation down,

And gather'd judgment by the way.

"On foreign tales and terms of art,

On scraps of French, got well by heart,

And learned guides, was my reliance;

With light and shade my head I fill,

The style of schools was all my skill.

The painter's name was all my science.

"Thus deeply tutor'd, I return'd,

And o'er my tasteless country mourn'd;

I pitied first, then laugh'd and sneer'd;

Then curs'd the crude unfinish'd tints,

The statues, busto's, vases, prints,

When lo! th' Analysis appear'd.

"I smil'd and read; grew grave—read on;

Was pleas'd; the truths apparent shone;

Nor could my prejudice resist 'em.

The Line of Beauty I survey'd,

The arguments I fairly weigh'd,

And then acknowledg'd all your system.

"With reverence, and respect, like you,

The ancient works of art I view;

But, like you, see with my own eyes;

Abhor the tricks so grossly play'd,

Lament the science sunk to trade,

And dealers from my soul despise.

"Pursue, unrivall'd yet, that art,

Which bounteous nature did impart

(Ne'er to be so profuse again):

Our sons, in time to come, shall strive

Where the chief honour they shall give,

Or to your pencil or your pen."

Hogarth had previously presented this gentleman with a volume of his prints, in return for which he received the following very flattering testimony to his talents:—

"Trinity Lane, Feb. 28, 1750.

"Dear Sir,—Having been confined to my house by a violent cold, I have had many hours for contemplation, which at such a time generally turns on my friends, among whom you have been so good to let me call you one. Your late kind intention came into my mind, and gave me an uncommon degree of satisfaction; not on my own account only, but with respect to my family. Your works I shall treasure up as a family book, or rather as one of the classics, from which I shall regularly instruct my children, just in the same manner as I should out of Homer or Virgil. You will be read in your course,—and it will be no unusual thing to find me in a morning in my great chair, with my three bigger boys about me, construing the sixth chapter of the Harlot's Progress, or comparing the two characters in the first book of the 'Prentices.

"You are one of the first great men I ever was acquainted with, and the first great man I desire to be acquainted with, because you have neither insolence nor vanity. Your character has been sketched in different pieces, by different authors, and great encomiums bestowed on you here and there in English, French, Latin, and Greek: but I want to see a full portrait of you. I wish I were as intimate with you, and as well qualified for the purpose, as your friend Fielding,—I would undertake it. I have made an humble attempt here towards something, but I am afraid it has more of a death's head than the face of a man.—You won't be dispirited because my character of you is in the form of an epitaph, for you will observe at the bottom that I have given you a great length of days.

"In the corner, near Shakspeare, in Westminster Abbey, on a monument, elegant only by neatness and symmetry, the next generation may see something like the enclosed inscription, the freedom of which you will excuse, and consider it as coming from a man confined to his room, but from one who is ever, dear sir, your constant admirer, and most obliged servant,

"James Townley.

"To Mr. Hogarth in Leicester Fields.

"AD GULIELMUM HOGARTH,
DUM TU QUID PULCHRUM, QUID TURPE, VOLUMINE DICIS,
NATURÆQUE DOCES QUID SJT, ET ARTIS OPUS,
ATQUE ANIMO CAUSAS, OCULO TABULASQUE DEDISTI,
PICTORIS PRIMI NOMEN UTRINQUE PERES."

[24] The work was translated into German, under the author's inspection, by Mr. Mylins; and with two large plates and twenty-two sheets of letterpress, printed in London at five dollars.

A new and correct edition was (July 1st, 1754) proposed for publication at Berlin by Ch. Fr. Vok, with an explanation of Mr. Hogarth's satirical prints, translated from the French; the whole to subscribers for one dollar, but after six weeks to be raised to two dollars.

An Italian translation was published at Leghorn, 1761, octavo, dedicated Al illustrissime Signora Diana Molineux dama Inglese.

That Sterne had read the Analysis, appears by the following reference recommendatory, in the first volume of Tristram Shandy:—

" ... Such were the outlines of Doctor Slop's figure, which, if you have read Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty, and if you have not, I wish you would, you must know may be as certainly caricatured and conveyed to the mind by three strokes as three hundred." Hogarth's engraving of the air-balloon figure is said to be intended for Doctor Burton, the Jacobite physician of York; a microscopic miniature of the plate (so small that it requires the aid of a glass) is in the engraved frontispiece to these volumes.

[25] He bought the picture in for Lady Schaub, and she has since sold it to the present Henry Duke of Newcastle.

[26] The original letter is in the possession of the editor, and with all the circumstances relating to the transaction, copied from Hogarth's handwriting, published in the third volume of this work.

[27] The correspondence between Sir Richard Grosvenor and Mr. Hogarth relative to the picture of Sigismunda is in the 3d volume of this work.

[28] I mean to speak of alterations suggested by his friends: to the public at large, if we can confide in the following note, which I found in a volume of the late Doctor Lort's, he paid little attention:—

"Hogarth's Sigismunda.

"He placed that picture, which in spite of all the critics could say against it, had infinite merits in the view of the public, and at the same time placed a man in an adjoining room to write down all objections that each spectator made to it. Of these there were a thousand at least, but Hogarth told the writer of this[29] that he attended only to one, and that was made by a madman; and perceiving the objection was founded, he altered it. The madman, after looking stedfastly on the picture for some time, suddenly turned away, exclaiming,—Hang it, I hate these white roses. The artist then, and not till then, observed that the foldings of Sigismunda's chemise sleeves were too regular, and had more the appearance of roses than of linen. I know not in whose possession this picture now is, but I will venture to pronounce, that nowhere can distress be more forcibly exprest on canvas: it is a distress, not of the minute, but the day."

[29] The late Philip Thicknesse, Esq.

[30] The attack was commenced in No. 17 of the North Briton, which was published on the 17th of September 1762. On the 16th, Mr. Hogarth being at Salisbury, called upon the colonel of the Buckinghamshire militia (who was then quartered in the neighbourhood), with the good-natured intention of shaking hands: as his old friend was not at home, they neither met then, nor at any future period. In my account of the Times there are a few strictures on this political pasquinade, which was followed by much metrical lampoon from the reverend Mr. Churchill. Let us hear his coadjutor, Robert Lloyd, who in a fable entitled Genius, Envy, and Time, gives Time the following speech:—

"Yet, Genius, mark what I presage,

Who look through every distant age:

Merit shall bless thee with her charms,

Fame lift thy offspring in her arms,

And stamp eternity of grace

On all thy numerous, various race.

Roubiliac, Wilton, names as high

As Phidias of antiquity,

Shall strength, expression, manner give,

And make e'en marble breathe and live,

While Sigismunda's deep distress,

Which looks the soul of wretchedness;

When I, with slow and soft'ning pen,

Have gone o'er all the tints agen,

Shall urge a bold and proper claim

To level half the ancient fame;

While future ages yet unknown,

With critic air shall proudly own,

Thy Hogarth first of every clime,

For humour keen, or strong sublime,

And hail him from his fire and spirit,

The child of Genius and of Merit."

—Lloyd's Works, p. 204.

[31] I learn from Mr. Nichols, that he was a dupe to flattery; that his easiness of disposition should be practised on is natural, but that any of his friends should boast of such an imposition as the following, is extraordinary:—

" ... A word in favour of Sigismunda might have commanded a proof print, or forced an original sketch out of our artist's hand. The furnisher of this remark owes one of his scarcest performances to the success of a compliment which might have stuck even in Sir Godfrey Kneller's throat."—Nichols' Anecdotes, p. 55.

[32] Having given Mr. Walpole's remarks, it is but fair to insert that part of the Analysis which gave rise to them:—

"Notwithstanding the deep-rooted notion, even amongst the majority of painters themselves, that Time is a great improver of good pictures, I will undertake to show that nothing can be more absurd. Having mentioned the whole effect of the oil, let us now see in what manner Time operates on the colours themselves, in order to discover if any changes in them can give a picture more union and harmony than has been in the power of a skilful master with all his rules of art to do. When colours change at all, it must be somewhat in the manner following; for as they are made, some of metal, some of earth, some of stone, and others of more perishable materials, Time cannot operate on them otherwise than as by daily experience we find it doth, which is, that one changes darker, another lighter, one quite to a different colour, whilst another, as ultra-marine, will keep its natural brightness even in the fire. Therefore, how is it possible that such different materials, ever variously changing (visibly, after a certain time), should accidentally coincide with the artist's intention, and bring about the greater harmony of the piece, when it is manifestly contrary to their nature; for do we not see, in most collections, that much time disunites, untunes, blackens, and by degrees destroys, even the best preserved pictures?

"But if, for argument's sake, we suppose that the colours were to fall equally together, let us see what sort of advantage this would give to any sort of composition: we will begin with a flower-piece. When a master hath painted a rose, a lily, an african, a gentinnella, or violet, with his best art and brightest colours, how far short do they fall of the freshness and rich brilliancy of nature! And shall we wish to see them fall still lower, more faint, sullied, and dirtied by the hand of Time, and then admire them as having gained an additional beauty, and call them mended and heightened, rather than fouled, and in a manner destroyed? How absurd! instead of mellowed and softened, therefore, always read yellow and sullied; for this is doing Time, the destroyer, but common justice. Or shall we desire to see complexions, which in life are often literally as brilliant as the flowers above mentioned, served in the like ungrateful manner? In a landscape, will the water be more transparent, or the sky shine with a greater lustre, when embrowned and darkened by decay? Surely no.—These opinions have given rise to another absurdity, viz. that the colours now-a-days do not stand so well as formerly; whereas colours well prepared, in which there are but little art or expense, have, and will always have, the same properties in every age; and without accidents, damps, bad varnish, and the like (being laid separate and pure), will stand and keep together for many years in defiance of Time itself."

[33] "It may be truly observed of Hogarth, that all his powers of delighting were confined to his pencil. Having rarely been admitted into polite circles, none of his sharp comers had been rubbed off, so that he continued to the last a gross, uncultivated man. The slightest contradiction transported him into rage. To be member of a club consisting of mechanics, or those not many removes above them, seems to have been the utmost of his social ambition; but even in these assemblies he was oftener sent to Coventry, for misbehaviour, than any other person who frequented them. He is said to have beheld the rising eminence and popularity of Sir Joshua Reynolds with a degree of envy; and, if I am not misinformed, spoke with asperity both of him and his performances. Justice, however, obliges me to add that our artist was liberal, hospitable, and the most punctual of paymasters; so that, in spite of the emoluments his works had procured to him, he left but an inconsiderable fortune to his widow."—Nichols' Anecdotes, p. 97.

[34] In furniture, decorations, etc., this place has not been altered since his death. There is not one of his own prints, but in the parlour are framed engravings from Sir James Thornhill's paintings in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the Houbraken heads of Shakspeare, Spencer, and Dryden. The garden is laid out in a good style: over the door is a cast of George the Second's mask, in lead, and in one corner a rude and shapeless stone, placed upright against the wall, and inscribed,

ALAS, POOR DICK!
OB. 1760.
AGED ELEVEN.

Beneath the inscriptions are two cross bones of birds, surmounted with a heart and death's head. The sculpture was made with a nail, by the hand of Hogarth, and placed there in memory of a favourite bullfinch, who is deposited beneath.

[35] This is Doctor Johnson's epitaph, and he wrote only four. He has broken his own rule, that the name should always be inserted in the body of the verse.

[36] The verses, as first written by Mr. Garrick, and now in the possession of Mr. James Townley, are as follows:—

"If thou hast genius, reader, stay;

If thou hast feeling, drop the tear;—

If thou hast neither,—hence, away,

For Hogarth's dear remains lie here.

His matchless works, of fame secure,

Shall live our country's pride and boast,

As long as nature shall endure,

And only in her wreck be lost."

[37] In the Daily Advertiser of January 27, 1783, I find the following advertisement:—

"HOGARTH'S ORIGINAL WORKS.

"As an opinion generally prevails, that the genuine impressions of Hogarth's works are very bad, and the plates retouched, Mrs. Hogarth is under the necessity of acquainting the public in general, and the admirers of her deceased husband's works in particular, that it has been owing to a want of proper attention in the conducting this work for some years past that the impressions in general have not done justice to the condition of the plates; and she has requested some gentlemen, most eminent in the art of engraving, to inspect the plates, who have given the following opinion:—

"London, January 21, 1873.

"We, whose names are underwritten, having carefully examined the copperplates published by the late Mr. Hogarth, are fully convinced that they have not been retouched since his death.

"Francis Bartolozzi.
"Wm. Woollet.
"Wm. Wynne Ryland."

[38] Notwithstanding this, Mrs. Lewis told me, that a gentleman who possessed a collection of Hogarth's works, once requested she would lend him the plates for the purpose of having a set faintly taken off, as a contrast to his own. It is scarcely necessary to say this modest request was refused, and she received much consequent abuse.

[39] He frequently drew sketches of heads upon his nail, and when he came home, copied them on paper, from whence they were transferred to his plates.

[40] See two large pictures of the Good Samaritan, and the Pool of Bethesda, which he presented to St. Bartholomew's Hospital.

[41] G. M. Stainforth, Esq., of Berkeley Square, has in his possession a portrait of the late Justice Walsh, which, for a wager, Mr. Hogarth painted in less than an hour, and it is said to be a strong resemblance.

[42] This observation extends no further than to his conversations among his intimates.

"Mr. Walpole once invited Gray the poet and Hogarth to dine with him; but what with the reserve of the one, and a want of colloquial talents in the other, he never passed a duller time than between these two representatives of tragedy and comedy, being obliged to rely entirely on his own efforts to support conversation."—Nichols' Anecdotes, p. 97.

Johnson, though his colloquial powers were gigantic, could not speak in the Society of Arts: he could not, as he himself expressed it, get on.

[43] In this he resembled a man whose simplicity of manners and integrity of life give me a pride in avowing myself one of his descendants.

"He could not bear that any one should in their absence be evil spoken of; and in such cases frequently recommended the person who censured to peruse that verse in Leviticus xix. 14, which says, Thou shalt not curse the deaf"; adding, "Those that are absent are deaf."—Life of Rev. Philip Henry, Orton's edition, p. 252.

[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.

[55] Following the Doctor's name are the letters S.T.P., sanctæ theologiæ professor. A fellow not knowing the import of these dignifying capitals, well enough translated them, SAUCY TROUBLESOME PUPPY.

[56] When Theodore, the unfortunate king of Corsica, was so reduced as to lodge in a garret in Dean Street, Soho, a number of gentlemen made a collection for his relief. The chairman of their committee informed him by letter, that on the following day, at twelve o'clock, two of the society would wait upon his Majesty with the money. To give his Attic apartment an appearance of royalty, the poor monarch placed an arm-chair on his half-testered bed, and seating himself under the scanty canopy, gave what he thought might serve as the representation of a throne. When his two visitors entered the room, he graciously held out his right hand, that they might have the honour of—kissing it!

[57] Sir John Gonson, a justice of peace, very active in the suppression of brothels. In a view of the town in 1735, by T. Gilbert (Fellow of Peterhouse, Cambridge), are the following lines:—

"Though laws severe to punish crimes were made,

What honest man is of these laws afraid?

All felons against judges will exclaim,

As harlots tremble at a Gonson's name."

Pope has noticed him in his Imitation of Dr. Donne, and Loveling in a very elegant Latin Ode. Thus, between the poets and the painter, the name of this harlot-hunting justice is transmitted to posterity. He died on the 9th of January 1765.

[58] Such well-dressed females are rarely met with in our present house of correction; but her splendid appearance is sufficiently warranted by the following paragraph in the Grub Street Journal of September 14, 1730:—

"One Mary Moffat, a woman of great note in the hundreds of Drury, who about a fortnight ago was committed to hard labour in Tothill Fields Bridewell, by nine justices, brought his Majesty's writ of habeas corpus, and was carried before the Right Honourable the Lord Chief-Justice Raymond, expecting to have been either bailed or discharged; but her commitment appearing to be legal, his lordship thought fit to remand her back again to her former place of confinement, where she is now beating hemp in a gown very richly laced with silver."

[59] The notorious breaches of trust and cruelties of which Bainbridge, Cuthbert, and other keepers of prisons were about this time guilty, attracted the attention of the House of Commons, who appointed a committee to inquire into the abuses, which were afterwards in a degree corrected.

[60] There may be some who will object to this word, as too important for the action. I have the example of a very eminent personage, dignified with the pompous addition of B.D., to justify its insertion. This great man, a few years ago, placed against the wall of his house, in the neighbourhood of Hatton Garden, a board, broad as a church-door, on which was inscribed, in letters of two feet long, THE DESTROYER LIVES HERE. On a close inspection of the sign, it appeared to be sprinkled over with a number of little black dots intended to represent bugs.

[61] The meagre figure is a portrait of Dr. Misaubin, a foreigner, at that time in considerable practice.

These disputes, I have been told, sometimes happen at a consultation of regular physicians, and a patient has been so unpolite as to die before they could determine on the name of his disorder.

"About the symptoms, how they disagree,

But how unanimous about the fee!"

[62] The enumeration of its various virtues and never-failing efficacy, at this enlightened and philosophical period, covers one side of a house in Long Acre.

[63] The woman seated next to the divine was intended for Elizabeth Adams, who, on the 10th of September 1737, at the age of thirty, was executed for a robbery which had been attended with circumstances that aggravated the crime.

[64] When the celebrated Nancy Elliot found that she must pass "that bourne from whence no traveller returns," she was very solicitous to see her sister, whose life had not been strictly virtuous, to deliver her last advice and dying admonition. Her father used his best endeavours to effect this pious purpose, but was too late; and reached her house, accompanied by his other daughter, a few moments before she died.

When her death was announced, he grasped his remaining child by the hand, and, pointing to her emaciated sister, pathetically exclaimed, "Look there!"—and sunk down in a swoon, from which he was with difficulty recovered.

[65] Under a pirated set of the "Harlot's Progress," published by Boitard, were inscribed six miserable verses; our painter of domestic story, finding they had some effect, requested his friend Dr. Hoadley to explain the "Rake's Progress" by poetical illustrations. The request was complied with, and the verses to each print are added to this work.

[66] It has been generally said that this is an appraiser and undertaker; let not these venerable dealers in dust any longer suffer the disgrace of so unjust an insinuation. That the artist intended to delineate a lawyer, is clearly intimated by his old, uncurled tie-wig and the baize bag. We cannot mistake these obtrusive ensigns of the craft, or mystery, or profession, of which this hoary villain is a member.

[67] That this gentleman is a Parisian, there can be little doubt. He has all the violent grace and outré air of his country and profession.

[68] One Dubois, a Frenchman, memorable for his high opinion of the science of defence, which he declared superior to all other arts and sciences united. On the 4th of May 1734, he fought a duel with an Irishman of his own name—and was killed!

[69] Figg, the famous prize-fighter, who raised himself to the pinnacle of the temple of fame by conquering a number of hardy Hibernians, before that time deemed invincible. Under a print of his head is the following inscription:

A FIGG FOR THE IRISH.

[70] This has been generally said to be intended for Handel, and bears a strong resemblance to his portrait.

[71] Old Bridgeman, eminent for his taste in the plans of gardens and plantations. As he was a worshipper of the modern style, scorned the square precision of the old school, and attempted to "create landscape, to realize painting, and improve nature," Hogarth might have given him a better design than that which he holds in his hand; it has all the regular formality that distinguishes the aquatic froggery of a Dutch burgomaster:

"Grove nods at grove, each alley has a brother,

And half the platform just reflects the other."

[72] A bravo is more properly an Italian than an English character; but even in England, the aid of an assassin may be useful, when a man dare not resent an affront in propria persona.

This gunpowder hero being introduced, and evidently waiting for orders, seems covertly to intimate that Thomas Rakewell, Esq., in addition to his other excellent qualities, is a coward.

[73] On the silver cup which the jockey is presenting, we see inscribed, "Won at Epsom by Silly Tom." Our sagacious esquire seems to have lent his own name to his favourite horse.

[74] The attitude of Venus is graceful; but the cool indifference and sang froid of the Trojan shepherd, carelessly and coolly seated while the fair competitors for the prize are standing up, is intolerable.

[75] The Reverend Mr. Gilpin.

[76] This is the portrait of one Leathercoat, many years a porter at the Rose Tavern, and remarkable for his universal knowledge of women of the town.

[77] Hogarth seems to have had a great fancy for bringing King David into bad company. He is in the second plate of the "Harlot's Progress" depicted in the bed-room of a prostitute, and here represented as perched on a harp, at a brothel in Drury Lane.

[78] It was further commemorated as the anniversary of Queen Caroline's birthday.

[79] The chief of these, who appears in something that has once been a tye-wig, was painted from a French boy that cleaned shoes at the corner of Hog Lane.

[80] This post, and that close to the feet of the strutting Cambrian, shows that these safeguards to the pedestrian were then thought necessary: on new-paving the streets soon after his present Majesty's accession, they were removed. During the short time of Lord Bute's administration, an English gentleman who reprobated the idea of making a Scotch pavement in the vicinity of St. James's, being asked by a North Briton who was present how he or any other Englishman could reasonably object to even Scotchmen mending their ways in the neighbourhood of a palace? replied, "We do not object to your mending our ways, but you have taken away all our posts."

[81] This is probably a true delineation of the church as it was then. The print was published in 1735, and the year 1741 the church was rebuilt. It seems likely that Marybone, from a neighbouring village, may become the centre of the city: the alteration since the Revolution, 1688, justifies this supposition. In that year the annual amount of the taxes for the whole parish was four-and-twenty pounds; in 1788 the annual amount was four-and-twenty thousand.

[82] From the antiquated bride, and young female adjusting the folds of her gown, is taken a French print of a wrinkled harridan of fashion at her toilet, attended by a blooming Coiffeuse. It was engraved by L. Surugue, in 1745, from a picture in crayons by Coypell, and is entitled, La Folie pare la Decrepitude des Ajustemens de la Jeunesse. From the Frenchman, however, the Devonshire Square dowager of our artist has received so high a polish, that she might be mistaken for a queen-mother of France.

[83] "Trump," Mr. Hogarth's favourite dog, which he has introduced in several of his prints.

[84] This probably gave the hint to a lady's reply, on being told that thieves had the preceding night broken into the church, and stolen the communion plate, and the Ten Commandments. "I can suppose," added the informant, "that they may melt, and sell the plate; but can you divine for what possible purpose they could steal the Commandments?"—"To break them, to be sure," replied she; "to break them."

[85] This is a correct copy of the inscription. Part of these lines, in raised letters, now form a pannel in the wainscot at the end of the right-hand gallery, as the church is entered from the street. No heir of the Forset family appearing, the vault has been claimed and used by his Grace the Duke of Portland, as lord of the manor. The mural monument of the Taylors, composed of lead gilt over, is still preserved: it is seen in Hogarth's print, just under the window. The bishop of the diocese, when the new church was built, gave orders that all the ancient tablets should be placed as nearly as possible in their former situations.

It appears from an examination of the registers, etc., that Thos. Sice and Thos. Horn were really churchwardens in the year 1725, when the repairs were made. This print came out only ten years afterwards; and the present state of the building seems to intimate that Messieurs Sice and Horn had cheated the parish, when they officially superintended the affairs of their church. The coat, shoes, and stockings of the charity-boy convey a similar satire, though that is directed to another quarter.

[86] The Reverend Mr. Gilpin.

[87] The thought is taken from a similar character to be found among the figures of the principal personages in the court of Louis XIV., folio. This work has no engraver's name, but was probably published about the year 1700.

[88] This is said to be old Manners (brother to John Duke of Rutland), to whom the old Duke of Devonshire lost the great estate of Leicester Abbey. Manners was the only person of his time who had amassed a considerable fortune by the profession of a gamester.

[89] It has been thought intended for a portrait of William Duke of Cumberland; but this cannot be, for the Duke was not more than fifteen years of age when these prints were published.

[90] Such an accident as is here represented really happened at White's Chocolate House, St. James's Street, on the 3d of May 1733.

[91] A masquerade is not often considered as the school of morality: it frequently leads to vice, but seldom reclaims from error. That it once had a salutary effect, the following story will evince. Lord C——e, with many amiable virtues, and many brilliant accomplishments, had a most unfortunate propensity to gaming; in one night he lost upwards of thirty thousand pounds to the late General Scott. Mortified at his ill-fortune, he paid the money, and wished to keep the circumstance secret: it was, however, whispered in the polite circles, and his lordship, to divert his chagrin, a few nights after slipped on a domino, and went to a masquerade at Carlisle House. He found all the company running after three Irish ladies of the name of G——e, in the characters of the three weird sisters. These ladies were so well acquainted with everything that was going on in the great world, that they kept the room in a continued roar by the brilliancy of their bon-mots, and the terseness of their applications to some ladies of rank who were present. They knew Lord C——e, and they knew of his loss, though he did not know them. He walked up to them, and in a solemn tone of voice addressed them as follows:—

"Ye black and midnight hags,—what do ye do?

Live ye, or are ye aught that man may question?

Quickly unclasp to me the book of fate,

And tell if good or ill my steps await!"

First Witch. "All hail, C——e! all hail to thee!

All hail! though poor thou soon shalt be!"

Hecate. "C——e, all hail! thy evil star

Sheds baleful influence—oh, beware!

Beware that Thane! beware that Scott!

Or poverty shall be thy lot!

He'll drain thy youth as dry as hay—

Hither, sisters, haste away!"

At the concluding word, whirling a watchman's rattle which she held in her hand, the dome echoed with the sound; the terrified peer shrunk into himself,—retired,—vowed never to lose more than a hundred pounds at a sitting, abode by the determination, and retrieved his fortune.

[92] There has been almost as much debate about Hogarth's orthography as about Shakspeare's learning. One of these knotty points Dr. Farmer's admirable pamphlet has put out of the reach of doubt, the other is not of much consequence. I am afraid there are too many damning proofs that Mr. William Hogarth was ignorant of spelling, for his warmest admirers to contest the point any longer. His fame is fixed upon a firmer basis. It was not necessary for him to study the language of the schools; he searched into the grammar of nature, and was himself the founder of an university, in which his pencil, usurping the office of a pen, describes the passions as they affect the countenance, and narrates the incidents that mark our little life with the minuteness of a chronologist and the fidelity of an historian. It has been truly said, that our divine poet saw nature "without the spectacles of books." Our great artist could never have delineated the workings of the human mind with that precise accuracy which marks all his works, if he had studied the language of the passions from the books of your philosophy.

[93] In his remarks on the seventh print, he speaks of this female being introduced in the prison-scene as an episode. It cannot, however, be called a digression; it naturally arises from the main subject, and with the main subject it is materially connected.

Episodium: Res extra argumentum assumpta.—Ainsworth.

[94] The Reverend Mr. Gilpin. See Essay on Prints, article Hogarth.

[95] It is designed from one of the two figures at the gate of the hospital in Moorfields, which Mr. Pope, with more malignity than truth, calls "Cibber's brainless brothers." The sculptor was Mr. Cibber's father.

[96] This has been said to be an allusion to the "Leda" painted and afterwards cut to pieces by Jacques Antoine Arlaud; but it appears, by Mr. Walpole's Anecdotes, vol. iv. p. 81, that Arlaud did not anatomize his "Leda" until the year 1738.

[97] Elkannah Settle was born in the year 1648. In 1680, he was so violent a Whig, that the ceremony of Pope-burning, on the 17th of November, was entrusted to his management. He wrote much in defence of the party, and with the leaders was in high estimation. Politicians and patriots were formed of much the same materials then as they are now. Settle, being disappointed in some of his views, became as violent a Tory as he had been a Whig, and actually entered himself a trooper in King James's army at Hounslow Heath. The Revolution destroyed all his prospects; and in the latter part of his life he was so reduced as to attend a booth, which was kept by Mrs. Minns and her daughter Mrs. Leigh, in Bartholomew Fair. From these people he received a salary for writing drolls, which were generally approved. In his old age he was obliged to appear in these wretched exhibitions; and in the farce of St. George for England, performed the part of a dragon, being enclosed in a case of green leather of his own invention. To this circumstance Doctor Young refers in his Epistle to Pope:

"Poor Elkannah, all other changes past,

For bread, in Smithfield-dragons hiss'd at last;

Spit streams of fire, to make the butchers gape;

And found his manners suited to his shape."

[98] The Honourable Edward Howard, brother to the Earl of Berkshire and to Sir Henry Howard, was much more illustrious from his birth than distinguished by his talents. Poetry was his passion rather than his power. He mistook inclination for ability, and wrote a number of very dull plays, in which want of genius and invention was atoned for by that turgid, inflated language so acceptable to an audience whose admiration is most excited by that which they least understand.

[99] The fairs at Chester, and some few other places, still keep up the spirit of the original institution.

[100] They were at last carried to such a height of licentiousness, as to demand the interposition of the Legislature; and no reformation being wrought by lenient measures, Southwark Fair, and many others, were suppressed.

[101] A booth was built in Smithfield the year this print was published, for the use of T. Cibber, Bullock, and H. Hallam, at which the tragedy of Tamerlane, with the Fall of Bajazet, intermixed with the comedy of the Miser, was actually represented. The bill of fare with which these gentlemen tempted their customers may properly enough be called an olio; and the royal elephant sheet on which the titles of their plays are printed, throws the comparatively diminutive bills of a theatre-royal into the background.

In some of the provinces distant from the capital, their dramatic exhibitions are still given out in the quaint style which marked the productions of our ancestors. This sometimes excites the laughter of a scholar, but it whets the curiosity of the rustic; and whatever helps to fill a theatre or a barn, must be the best of all possible methods. From the recent modes of announcing new plays at the two Royal Theatres, there seems some reason to expect that the admirers of this kind of writing will soon be gratified by having it introduced in the London play-bills, or at least in the London papers, where hints of "the abundant entertainment which is to be expected sometimes make their appearance in the shape of 'a correspondent's opinion.'" But leaving them to their admirers, let us return to humbler scenes, and give one example out of the many which the provinces annually afford.

A play-bill, printed some years ago at Ludlow, in Shropshire, was nearly as large as their principal painted scene, and dignified with letters that were truly CAPITAL, for each of those which composed the name of a principal character were near a foot long. The play was for the benefit of a very eminent female performer, the bill was said to be written by herself, and thus was the evening's amusement announced:

"For the benefit of Mrs. ——. By particular desire of B—— G——, Esquire, and his most amiable lady: This present evening will be performed a deep tragedy, containing the doleful history of King Lear and his three daughters; with the merry conceits of his Majesty's fool, and the valorous exploits of General Edmund, the Duke of Glo'ster's bastard.—All written by one William Shakspeare, a mighty great poet, who was born in Warwickshire, and held horses for gentlemen at the sign of the Red Bull, in Saint John's Street, near West Smithfield; where was just such another playhouse as that to which we humbly invite you, and hope for the good company of all friends round the Wrekin.

"All you who would wish to cry, or to laugh,

You had better spend your money here than in the alehouse, by half;

And if you likes more about these things for to know,

Come at six o'clock to the barn, in the High Street, Ludlow;

Where, presented by live actors, the whole may be seen:

So vivant Rex, God save the King, not forgetting the Queen."—E.

[102] I have heard a person, who was ambitious of being thought able to detect the plagiarisms of painters, assert that the artist took this hint from Jupiter and Io. The Southwark Fair nymph does not, however, appear to be embracing a cloud.

[103] The Siege of Troy was a celebrated droll, in high estimation at fairs, printed in 1707. The author, Elkannah Settle,

"For his broad shoulders fam'd, and length of ears."

[104] Had Hogarth read The Merchant of Venice? or did the poet and the painter see nature with the same eyes? The woman behind the post proves that they thought alike:

"Some men there are love not a gaping pig,

Some that are mad if they behold a cat;

And others 'if the bagpipe sing i' the nose.' etc."

[105] In Mr. Horace Walpole's Anecdotes of Painting in the Reign of George II., he prefaces the account of William Hogarth in the following manner: "Having despatched the herd of our painters in oil, I reserved to a class by himself that great and original genius," etc. I thought the term very happily applied, and pointedly appropriate to most of the characters it enumerates; but I remember a second-rate artist being marvellously offended at the freedom of the appellation; and observing that the names of Canaletti, George Lambert, Francis Cotes, Frank Hayman, and Samuel Scott, deserved more respect than to be classed in a herd.

[106] Mr. Highmore was originally a man of considerable fortune, but White's gaming-house, and the Drury Lane patent, exhausted his finances. Having exhibited himself as an unsuccessful actor and an unfortunate manager, he in 1743 completed the climax by publishing a poem entitled Dettingen, which proves him a very indifferent writer. In 1744, he a second time appeared in the character of Lothario, for the benefit of Mr. Horton, but seems to have had no requisites for the stage. He was, however, a man of strict integrity and high honour, and frequently suffered heavy losses rather than violate any engagement, though it might be only verbal, which he had once made. Such a person was very unfit for a coadjutor with men who were so busied in qualifying themselves for personating the characters of others, that they had no leisure for any attention to their own.

[107] The general observation at the time was, "What business had a gentleman to make the purchase?"

[108] It seems that Harper was mentally and corporeally qualified for the character; for we are told that Mr. Highmore fixed upon Harper as the person to take up for a vagabond, because he was naturally a very great coward. One of the prints of the day, dated the 12th of November 1734, speaking of this transaction, concludes with the following remark: "Sir Thomas Clarges and other justices have committed Mr. Harper to Bridewell, in order to his being put to hard labour,—an employment which, by his enormous bulk, he seems as little fit for as he is for a vagrant; being a man so marvellously corpulent, that it is not possible for him either to labour or to wander a great deal." He was, however, a man of very fair character, and soon delivered from his confinement by an order from the Court of King's Bench.

[109] Among the dead stock of a lately deceased antiquarian, there was found, carefully wrapped up in paper that had once been white, four moderate-sized panes of glass, cut lozenge fashion. On the paper, in a kind of law hand, was written what follows:—

"Theese curious peeces of antiquitie I did purchase from a glazyer at Windsor, who informed me that he had them from his father, who was in the same business, and lived for to be very old; and told unto him, that while he was yet but a little scrubbed boy, being apprenticed, his master did send him to put some newe paines of glasse in a cazement at the Olde Kinges Armes in that towne; the old glasse being rendered dimme and obscured, by wicked fellowes having at sundrie times scribbled naughty and unseemly words and verses thereon. Upon the enclosed paines were the fairest inscriptions; he therefore had kept them, and recommended unto his sonne to doe the like. For a small peece of gold they became mine, and I do beleeve were truelie written by the handes of those verie menne whose names are put under each verse, and that Falstaff his lines are meaned to convey a sort of sporting resentmente against his old companion, once Prince Henrie, surnamed of Monmouth, but nowe become kinge, for having banyshed him from his royal presence; though perhappes it may onlie meane to allude unto the signe of the taverne where they did holde their merrie meetinges."

The inscriptions were as follow:—

"Kingis Armes taverne atte Winsor, firste daie of Maye, A.D. 1414. Presente,—I John Falstaff, knight,—Mistris Dorothy,—Ned Poins,—and myne Ancient.

"Onne Mistris Dorothy.

"Doll in the Kingis Armes hath ofte times slept,

And Doll if you will give her halfe a crowne,

If from the Kingis Armes she should be kept,—

Will sleepe in yours, or anie armes in towne.—Falstaff.

"On the feathers which Mistriss Dorothy weareth in her hatte:

"Under Doll's feathers, let 'Ich Dien' bee;

'I serve,' we translate this.—

I own righte welle shee serveth mee,

And would serve you I wisse.—E. Poins.

"On Dol Tearsheete her Garters; the mottoe 'Honi soit qui mal y pense' being worked with worsteades thereon:

"Avaunt, ye peasant slaves! and see from whence

The mottoe 'Honi soit qui mal y pense.'

Dare of Dol's garters but to whisper eville,

With rapier's biting blade I'll drive ye to the deville!—Pistol."

—E.

These verses are copied verbatim et literatim from the brittle memorial on which they were found; but should any obstinate sceptic be hardy enough to doubt their antiquity, and, notwithstanding the internal evidence which beams through every line, suppose them the productions of modern days, let him read the numerous volumes of those gentlemen who debated so learnedly and so long about the workis of Maister Rowlie, the Bristowe poet, and the giftis of Maister Cannynge, the Bristowe patron; and if, after he has waded through these clear streams of ancient lore, a doubt remains in his mind—he must be an infidel.

[110] The licentiousness of the present age is a favourite topic with some of our popular writers; yet the drama is considered as the mirror of public manners; and the drama is rather more correct, and less indelicate, than it was in the year 1327, when, in a play of the Olde and Newe Testament, performed at Chester, the actors who played Adam and Eve, trying to represent these two characters to the life, came upon the stage quite naked! What modern manager could have dressed, or rather undressed, his performers with a stricter regard to propriety?

[111] That wild beasts were exhibited, is, however, certain from the following anecdote, which, not being noted by any of Dr. Johnson's biographers, may as well have a place here:—

When the Doctor first became acquainted with David Mallet, they once went with some other gentlemen to laugh away an hour at Southwark Fair. At one of the booths where wild beasts were exhibited to the wondering crowd, was a very large bear, which the showman assured them was "cotched in the undiscovered desarts of the remotest Russia." The bear was muzzled, and might therefore be approached with safety, but to all the company except Johnson was very surly and ill-tempered; of the philosopher he appeared extremely fond, rubbed against him, and displayed every mark of awkward partiality and subdued kindness. "How is it," said one of the company, "that this savage animal is so attached to Mr. Johnson?" "From a very natural cause," replied Mallet; "the bear is a Russian philosopher, and he knows that Linnæus would have placed him in the same class with the English moralist. They are two barbarous animals of one species."

The Doctor disliked Mallet for his tendency to infidelity, and this sarcasm turned that dislike into positive hatred. He never spoke to him afterwards, but has gibbeted him in his octavo Dictionary under the article alias.

[112] I cannot learn in what year the duration of this fair was shortened; but I should suppose from the following circumstance, very soon afterwards. This print was published in 1733, and on the 24th of June 1735 the Court of Aldermen came to a resolution touching Bartholomew Fair, "that the same shall not exceed Bartholomew eve, Bartholomew day, and the day after; and that during that time nothing but stalls and booths shall be erected for the sale of goods, wares, and merchandizes, and no acting be permitted."

[113] A Mr. Banckes, who a few years afterwards published some rhymes on this print, asserts, "that the performance at the booth, on the sign of which is written, The Fall of Bajazet, is the droll of Fair Rosamond." From the dresses, etc., I should imagine this ingenious gentleman is wrong. He also observes, "that young Louis XV., King of France, his queen, children, prime minister, etc., were this year exhibited in Smithfield and the Borough at very reasonable prices, to spectators of all degrees." Our artist, however, had forgot himself in regard to the matter of which these great personages were made, the whole town having been informed by their master of the ceremonies that they were of a composition far exceeding wax. The same writer goes on to inform us:

"There Yeates and Pinchbeck change the scene

To slight of hand, and clock machine;

First numerous eggs are laid, and then,

The pregnant bag brings forth a hen," etc.

From the above lines, I should suppose that the late Mr. Pinchbeck, with his wonderful and surprising piece of mechanism the Panopticon, was at this fair; though he frequently spoke of one of his brothers, "who," he said, "was a showman, and who once gave a very large sum for an elephant, and took a room at Southwark Fair, with an intention of exhibiting it; but the passage to this room," added he, "was so narrow, that though my poor brother 'got the beast into it, a'never could get un out on't; a' stuck in the middle on't and died!' So, sir, you sees my poor brother lost all his money. Ah! he was a most unfortunate dog in everything he took in hand! and so was I, God knows." Cætera desunt.

[114] The late Lord Sandwich, not very eminent for his reverence of the clerical habit, being once in a company where there were a number of clergymen, offered, in a whisper, to lay a considerable wager with the gentleman who sat next him, that among the ten parsons there was not one Prayer-book. The wager was accepted, and a mock dispute gave him occasion to ask for a Prayer-book to decide it. They had not one.—He soon after privately offered to lay another wager with the same gentleman, that among the ten parsons there was half a score corkscrews. This also was accepted; and the butler being previously instructed, coming into the room with a bottle of claret and a broken corkscrew, requested any gentleman to lend him one. Every priest who was present had a corkscrew in his pocket!

[115] Of Henley's absurdities we have heard much; but they had their source in an adoption of that manner which he knew would be agreeable to his auditors, rather than in ignorance. The following circumstance proves he was a man of some humour:—

"I never," says a person who knew little about the doctor, "saw Orator Henley but once, and that was at the Grecian Coffeehouse, where a gentleman he was acquainted with coming in, and seating himself in the same box, the following dialogue passed between them:—

Henley. "Pray what is become of our old friend Dick Smith? I have not seen him for several years."

Gentleman. "I really don't know. The last time I heard of him he was at Ceylon, or some of our settlements in the West Indies."

Henley (with some surprise). "At Ceylon, or some of our settlements in the West Indies! My good sir, in one sentence there are two mistakes. Ceylon is not one of our settlements, it belongs to the Dutch; and it is situated, not in the West, but in the East Indies."

Gentleman (with some heat). "That I deny!"

Henley. "More shame for you! I will engage to bring a boy of eight years of age who will confute you."

Gentleman (in a cooler tone of voice). "Well,—be it where it will, I thank God I know very little about these sort of things."

Henley. "What, you thank God for your ignorance, do you?"

Gentleman (in a violent rage). "I do, sir. What then?"

Henley. "Sir, you have a great deal to be thankful for."

[116] These lines are from Banckes' Poems, p. 87, in which a contracted copy of the print is placed as the headpiece of an epistle to the painter. This good gentleman, with true poetic vanity, pathetically exclaims,

"Alas! that pictures should decay;

That words alone can wit convey:

But words remain—Oh, may this verse

Remain, etc. etc."

Little did this rival of Stephen Duck imagine that the words "which alone can wit convey," would not have preserved his two volumes from the trunkmaker, to whom every verse had been long since consigned, had not this little print, and another copy from the same artist, sometimes induced a collector to purchase the volumes.

The concluding lines of his poem are not, however, so contemptible:

"In vain we ransack Rome and Greece

To match this Conversation piece;

In vain our follies would advance

The names of Italy and France;

Labour and art elsewere we see,

But native humour strong in thee;

In thee—but parallels are vain,

A great original remain.

Go on to lash our reigning crimes,

And live the censor of the times."

[117] I once heard a freemason observe, that this droning disciple of Morpheus, and the heavy politician on the opposite side, were the Jachin and Boaz of the lodge.

[118] On the top of a shop-bill, which contains a list of Doctor ——, I forget his name's, wonderful and surprising cures, performed by elixir of——, I don't know what, this descendant of Sangrado has inserted a wooden print, which displays a reduced copy of his sign. It exhibits a half-length of much such a person as our antiquated beau, with his hand in precisely the same situation. This our quack very emphatically denominates the sign of the headache.

[119] Those gentlemen who wish to enjoy

"The feast of reason and the flow of soul,"

would find some use in adopting the old threadbare adage, "Not more than the Muses, nor fewer than the Graces." Poor Mortimer the painter, whose convivial talents were hardly to be paralleled, had such a dislike to large companies, that he used to say, "If he invited the twelve apostles to supper, he would certainly take two evenings to receive them, six being a sufficient number, be the society ever so good."

[120] The preacher is said to be intended for a portrait of a Doctor Desaguliers.

[121] Our clerk carries every appearance of being the schoolmaster of the hamlet. He has much of that surly, tyrannic dignity which frequently accompanies the character. One of these gentlemen, in a village distant from the capital, having a disagreement with a neighbouring yeoman, the farmer, in his wrath, called him an overbearing Turk, and an insignificant beast. Our haughty Holofernes was irritated beyond description; his rage choked his utterance: he stalked home, and wrote a poetical epistle to the rustic, beginning with the lines which follow:—

"God not a beast did make, but me a man;

And not a Turk, but a true Christian;

And by His grace I am a schoolmaster;

None of the meaner kind, I dare aver."

[122] These moping birds, being the worshippers of darkness consecrated to dulness, closing their eyes against the light, and holding their silent, solitary reign in old buildings which are seldom trodden by human feet, are with great propriety placed in this church.

The cross on an escutcheon in one of the windows is there placed to the memory of the learned and Reverend Ebenezer Muzz; who, his epitaph declareth, after "painfullie labouring in this vineyard for one and fortie years, now sleepeth with his fathers."

[123] An hour-glass is still placed on some of the pulpits in the provinces. Daniel Burgess, of whimsical memory, never preached without one, and he frequently saw it out three times during one sermon. In a discourse which he once delivered at the conventicle in Russel Court, against drunkenness, some of his hearers began to yawn at the end of the second glass. But Daniel was not to be silenced by a yawn; he turned his timekeeper, and altering the tone of his voice, desired they would be patient a while longer, for he had much more to say upon the sin of drunkenness: "therefore," added he, "my friends and brethren, we will have another glass,—and then!"

[124] Doctor Arbuthnot, Mr. Pope, and the Dean, have united their talents to expose the anti-climax, and selected innumerable conceits from the ponderous works of Sir Richard Blackmore and others. They have unkindly neglected their friend Gay; and yet Blackmore's mowing the beard is not much worse than Gay's shaving the grass:

"When the fresh spring in all her state is crown'd,

And high luxuriant grass o'erspreads the ground,

The lab'rer with the bending scythe is seen

Shaving the surface of the waving green;

Of all her native pride disrobes the land,

And meads lays waste before his sweeping hand."

—Gay's Pastorals, p. 5, l. 39, etc.

[125] When I was very young, I once paid a morning visit to a poet. Upon his table was Byshe's Art of Poetry. I naturally observed, "Your manager of a puppet-show is more prudent than you are; he keeps his wires out of sight." So tremblingly alive are these valets to the Muses, that this good-natured hint, which had its source in a wish to serve him, was never forgiven.

[126] This excellent paper is now no more; but our modern poets and poetesses have a still more extended channel in which to pour out their warm effusions. Reams of good white paper are daily metamorphosed, and become magazines, newspapers, and, though last mentioned, not less in regard, auctioneer's catalogues. That the last named is as poetical as are the two former, many examples might be adduced to prove. One shall suffice, and that one is so bespangled with beauteous metaphors, that, though neither in rhyme nor blank verse, yet, from its brilliancy of colouring and splendour of diction, it must be classed amongst the most sublime compositions of our most sublime bards. Thus is a sale announced:—"Particulars and conditions of sale of that elegant freehold villa called Luxborough, which will be sold on the 26th of June 1765, together with the several farms that encompass the premises, containing in the whole near six hundred acres of rich arable meadow, pasture, and woodland, lying and being in an extensive vale, whose surrounding acclivities are nobly clothed, and, rising in magnifique form, exhibit luxuriant prospects of unequalled richness and beauty.

"The pleasure-ground is comprised in a space of eleven acres, encompassed with ha-ha! and grub walls. The elegant disposition of the ground is beautifully improved with vistas, groves, and plantations, through which walks wind in extensive circuit. Store-ponds and elevated basons occupy the areas, regale those fragrant coverts, and afford a constant and inexhaustible supply of water for the house, by means of lead pipes, aqueducts, etc.

"Nature, propitious, hath luxuriantly featured the circumadjacent grounds, and art hath been judiciously introduced to give richness and effect. The lawn swells with gentle rise and easy slopes; clumps of trees are placed in pleasing irregularity; a serpentine stream flows through the vale, heightening the verdure of the divided pasture; and the villages of Chigwell, Woodford, and Woodford Bridge, dawn through that mass of prolific richness which fills the wide expanse."

[127] Had the artist given this speaking countenance to the girl who is exhibited in the first print of the "Rake's Progress," how much more should we have been interested in her situation?

[128] When this was first published, the following quotation from Pope's Dunciad was inscribed under the print:—

"Studious he sate, with all his books around,

Sinking from thought to thought, a vast profound:

Plung'd for his sense, but found no bottom there;

Then wrote and flounder'd on in mere despair."

All his books, amounting to only four, was, I suppose, the artist's reason for erasing the lines.

A reduced copy, with some variations, is placed as the headpiece of an Epistle to Alexander Pope, Esq., by Mr. Banckes. One of the variations is, a cobweb over the grate. If this good gentleman had consulted his own headpiece, he would have recollected that, as even a poet must sometimes eat, and the poor bard had no other room, or grate, it was natural to think he must sometimes have a fire to dress his scanty meal. In almost every other respect he is indeed a much more unaccommodated man than was Stephen Duck when he was a thresher. Duck, having made some rhymes, which for a thresher were deemed extraordinary, was taken out of his barn, furnished with a stock in trade, and set up as a poet. After that time he never wrote a stanza; his Muse forsook him; he was haunted by the foul fiend, and hanged or drowned himself, because Queen Caroline, who had made him a parson, could not make him a bishop.

In one of the journals of the day, dated June 30, 1736, I find written as follows:—"A handsome entertainment was this day given at Charlton, in Wiltshire, to the threshers of that village, by the Lord Viscount Palmerston, who has given money to purchase a piece of land, the produce of which is to be laid out in an annual entertainment, on the 30th of June, for ever, in commemoration of Stephen Duck, who was a thresher at that place." Happy man! patronized by the Queen's Majesty, and

"So lov'd, so honour'd, in the House of Lords!"

[129] This unfortunate creature, in the memory of many persons now living, used to parade the streets of the metropolis with a hautboy, which afforded him a precarious subsistence.

[130] He was brother to Festin who led the band at Ranelagh, and has been dead about thirty years.

[131] "What signifies," says some one to Dr. Johnson, "giving half-pence to common beggars? they only lay them out in gin or tobacco." "And why," replied the Doctor, "should they be denied such sweeteners of their existence? It is surely very savage to shut out from them every possible avenue to those pleasures reckoned too coarse for our own acceptance. Life is a pill which none of us can swallow without gilding; yet for the poor we delight in stripping it still more bare, and are not ashamed to show even visible marks of displeasure, if ever the bitter taste is taken from their mouths."

[132] This is said to be a striking resemblance of that very great man. For many years he attended Covent Garden market every morning.

[133] It has been said that this incomparable figure was designed as the representative of either a particular friend or a relation. Individual satire may be very gratifying to the public, but is frequently fatal to the satirst. Churchill, by the lines,

"Fam'd Vine Street,

Where Heaven, the kindest wish of man to grant,

Gave me an old house, and an older aunt,"

lost a considerable legacy; and it is related that Hogarth, by the introduction of this withered votary of Diana into this print, induced her to alter a will which had been made considerably in his favour: she was at first well enough satisfied with her resemblance, but some designing people taught her to be angry.

[134] Of this there is an enlarged copy, which some of our collectors have ingeniously enough christened, The Half-Starved Boy. It bears the date of 1730, and is inscribed "W. H. pinx. F. Sykes sc." Sykes was the pupil of either Sir James Thornhill or Hogarth, and the 0 might be intended for an 8 or a 9; but the aquafortis failing, it appears to have an earlier date than the print from which it was copied. If the date is right, Sykes undoubtedly copied it from a sketch of his master's, which might then be unappropriated. In any case, it is too ridiculous to imagine for a moment that Hogarth was a plagiary; for supposing, what is not very probable, that his pupil was capable of delineating the figure, he would scarcely have made the sketch without some concomitant circumstances to explain its meaning.

[135] I speak of the large print; in the small copy, which is inserted in this work, they are properly placed.

[136] From what combination is this now made the sign for a colour shop?

[137] This boy is copied from a figure in a picture of The Rape of the Sabines, by N. Poussin, now in the collection of Sir R. Hoare, at Stourhead.

[138] At that period there was a windmill at the bottom of Rathbone Place.

[139] Mr. Nichols, in his Anecdotes.

[140] I have seen more than one modern impression with the hands and face tinged with red and blue. Those only are genuine which are printed in colours.

[141] To the memory of this great and public-spirited citizen I never saw any other memorial. Such a benefactor to the city ought to have had a statue of gold placed in the centre of the Royal Exchange.

He was a native of Denbigh, in North Wales, and a citizen and goldsmith of London. Though there were three Acts of Parliament empowering the freemen of London to cut through lands, and bring a river from any part of Middlesex or Hertfordshire, the project had always been considered as impracticable, till Sir Hugh Middleton undertook it. He made choice of two springs, one in the parish of Amwell, in Hertfordshire, the other near Ware, each of them about twenty miles from town. Having united their streams with immense labour and expense, he conveyed them to London. This most arduous and useful work was begun on the 20th of February 1608, and brought into the reservoir, at Islington, on Michaelmas day, 1613. Like many other projectors, he ruined his private fortune by his public spirit. King James I., however, created him a baronet; and his descendants, in lieu of a very considerable estate, had the honour of being called Sirs. For the benefit of the poor members of the Goldsmiths' Company, he left a share in his New River water; and his portrait is still preserved in their hall.

The seventy-two shares into which this great liquid property was divided, originally sold for one hundred pounds each, and for thirty years afforded scarce any advantage to the proprietors. In the year 1780, shares were sold at nine and ten thousand pounds each; and their price is increasing in proportion to the increase of the dividends, by which their value is regulated.

[142] On the resignation of Mr. Horace Walpole, in February 1738, De Veil was appointed inspector-general of the imports and exports, and was so severe against the retailers of spirituous liquors, that one Allen headed a gang of rioters for the purpose of pulling down his house, and bringing to a summary punishment two informers who were there concealed. Allen was tried for this offence and acquitted upon the jury's verdict declaring him lunatic.

[143] On this spot once stood the cross erected by Edward I. as a memorial of affection for his beloved Queen Eleanor, whose remains were here rested on their way to the place of sepulture. It was formed from a design by Cavalini, and destroyed by the religious fury of the Reformers. In its place, in the year 1678, was erected the animated equestrian statue which now remains. It was cast in brass, in the year 1633, by Le Sœur; I think by order of that munificent encourager of the arts, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel. The Parliament ordered it to be sold, and broken to pieces; but John River, the brazier who purchased it, having more taste than his employers, seeing, with the prophetic eye of good sense, that the powers which were would not remain rulers very long, dug a hole in his garden, in Holborn, and buried it unmutilated. To prove his obedience to their order, he produced to his masters several pieces of brass, which he told them were parts of the statue. M. de Archenholtz adds further, that the brazier, with the true spirit of trade, cast a great number of handles for knives and forks, and offered them for sale, as composed of the brass which had formed the statue. They were eagerly sought for, and purchased,—by the loyalists from affection to their murdered monarch, by the other party as trophies of the triumph of liberty over tyranny.

[144] Doctor Arne, in one instance, seemed to think that they should still continue so. Having composed a very dull opera, and the town disapproving and consigning it to a merited oblivion, the Doctor asked Foote what was his opinion of it; "for," added he, "I really think there is a great deal of good in it." "There is, my dear fellow," replied the wit; "there is a great deal too much good in it; but, setting aside its goodness and piety, there never was anything more justly damned since damning came into fashion."

[145] There may be those who will object to a banner flouting the sky in a barn; let such consider that the roof is not above half thatched, and their objections will vanish. These breaches in the roof will throw a new light upon the line.

[146] Let not this humble situation be considered with contempt. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the loyal inhabitants of Shrewsbury, expecting that her Majesty would pass through their town in one of her northern perambulations, prepared to entertain her with a play, which was to have been performed in a dry marl pit in the quarry; but the Queen's highness did not come.

[147] This gentlewoman has generally been considered as intended for the ghost: from her employment, I rather think she is the representative of tragedy:

"Death in her hand, and murder in her eye."

The sage Melpomene herself could not go through the business with more philosophic indifference.

[148] By the halter near them, it may be conjectured that these balls were intended to represent bullets, and designed to hint that some one of this noble company might on a leisure evening, in humble imitation of the heroic Captain Machcath, endeavour to turn his lead to gold; and, like that very great man, be in consequent danger of making an exit with a rope round his neck.

[149] We are told by John Milton, that cannon were invented by the devil. We are told by Alexander Pope, that stage thunder was invented by that great critic John Dennis; and so jealous was Dennis of his bolt being wielded by an improper hand, that being once in the pit at Drury Lane Theatre, when the company were performing Macbeth, he, on hearing the bowls rattling over his head, started from his seat, grasped his oaken stick, and exclaimed, with an emphasis that drowned the voices of the players, "Eternal curses light on these scoundrels! they have stolen my thunder, and don't know how to roll it!"

[150] Our royal theatres have sometimes neglected and violated the costume. We have seen the head of Cato covered with a periwig that emulated Sir Cloudesley Shovel's; a Prince of Denmark decorated with the order of St. George; Othello habited as a captain of the foot guards; and Kent, the tough old Kent, as a Chelsea pensioner.

[151] In the second act of Oedipus is the following stage direction:—"The cloud draws that veiled the heads of the figures in the sky, and shows them crowned with the names of Oedipus and Jocasta written above, in great characters of gold."

[152] That these representatives of royalty sometimes meet with such accidents, appears by the following letter from a late lecturer upon heads, at a time when he belonged to a company of comedians at Yarmouth:—

"Yarmouth Gaol, 27th May 1761.

"Sir,—When I parted from you at Lincoln, I thought long before now to have met with some oddities worth acquainting you with. It is grown a fashion of late to write lives: I now, and for a long time, have had leisure sufficient to undertake mine, but want materials for the latter part of it; for my existence now cannot properly be called living, but what the painters term still life, having ever since March 13th been confined in this town gaol for a London debt. As the hunted deer is always shunned by the happier herd, so am I deserted by the company, my share taken off, and no support left me except what my wife can spare out of hers:

'Deserted, in my utmost need,

By those my former bounties fed.'

"With an economy which till now I was ever a stranger to, I have made a shift hitherto to victual my little garrison; but then it has been by the assistance of some good friends; and, alas! my clothes furnish me this week with my last resort; the next, I must atone for my errors upon bread and water.

"Themistocles had many towns to furnish his tables, and a whole city had the charge of his meals. In some respects I am like him, for I am fed by the labours of a multitude. A wig has kept me two days; the trimmings of a waistcoat as long; a ruffled shirt has paid my washer-woman; a pair of velvet breeches discharged my lodgings; my coat I swallow by degrees, the sleeves I breakfasted upon for three days, the body, skirts, etc. served me as long; and two pair of pumps enabled me to smoke several pipes. You would be surprised to think how my appetite, barometer-like, rises in proportion as my necessities make their terrible advances. I here could say something droll about a good stomach, but it is ill jesting with edged tools, and I am sure that is the sharpest thing about me.

"You may, perhaps, think I am lost to all sense of my condition, that while I am thus wretched I should offer at ridicule; but, Sir, people constitutioned like me, with a disproportionable levity of spirits, are always most merry when most miserable, and quicken like the eyes of the consumptive, which are brightest the nearer the patient approaches his dissolution. But to show you that I am not lost to all reflection, I here think myself poor enough to want a favour, and humble enough to ask it. Then, Sir, I could draw an encomium on your good sense, humanity, etc. etc.; but I will not pay so bad a compliment to your understanding as to endeavour by a parade of phrases to win it over to my interest. If at the concert you could make a gathering for me, it would be a means of obtaining my liberty.

"You well know, Sir, the first people of rank abroad perform the most friendly offices for the sick; be not therefore offended at the request of the unfortunate.

"George Alexander Stevens."

[153] On the spirited style in which the late Miss Catley, of melodious memory, performed this character, the following lines were written; but I do not recollect having seen them printed:—

"Hail, vulgar goddess of the foul-mouth'd race!

(If modest bard may hail without offence),

On whose majestic, blush-disdaining face,

The steady hand of Fate wrote—IMPUDENCE!

Hail to thy dauntless front, and aspect bold!

Thrice hail! magnificent, immortal scold!

"The goddess, from the upper gallery's height,

With heedful look the jealous fishwife eyes;

Though early train'd to urge the mouthing fight,

She hears thy bellowing powers with new surprise;

Returns instructed to the realms that bore her,

Adopts thy tones, and carries all before her.

"From thee the roaring Bacchanalian crew,

In many a tavern round the Garden known,

Learn richer blackguard than they ever knew:

They catch thy look,—they copy every tone;

They ape the brazen honours of thy face,

And push the jorum with a double grace.

"Thee from his box the macaroni eyes;

With levell'd tube he takes his distant stand,

Trembling beholds the horrid storm arise,

And feels for reinhold when you raise your hand;

At distance he enjoys the boisterous scene,

And thanks his God the pit is plac'd between.

"So, 'midst the starry honours of the night,

The sage explores a comet's fiery course;

Fearful he views its wild eccentric flight,

And shudders at its overwhelming force:

At distance safe he marks the glaring ray,

Thankful his world is not within its way.

"Proceed then, Catley, in thy great career,

And nightly let our maidens hear and see,

The sweetest voice disgust the listening ear,

The sweetest form assume deformity:

Thus shalt thou arm them with their best defence,

And teach them modesty by impudence."

[154] The late Lord Orrery was a singularly formal character. Sir Anthony Branville, in The Discovery, was intended for his portrait, and exhibits a strong likeness. It was sometimes the wish of Mr. Garrick to play upon the suavity of this old nobleman, and induce him to contradict himself. This power he exerted very successfully on the following occasion:—Lord Orrery wrote a letter from Ireland to Mr. Garrick, requesting that Mossop might be engaged. The request of a man of rank was, to the manager of Drury Lane, a command, and Mossop was engaged. When, some months afterwards, the peer came to England, he took an early opportunity of breakfasting with Mr. Garrick: the moment he entered the room, he began his favourite subject.

Orrery. "David, I congratulate you: I inquire not about the success of your theatre; with yourself and Mossop, it must be triumphant. The Percy and the Douglas both in arms, have a right to be confident. Separate, you were two bright luminaries; united, you are a constellation—the Gemini of the theatric hemisphere. Excepting yourself, my dear David, no man that ever trod on tragic ground has so forcibly exhibited the various passions that agitate, and I may say agonize, the human mind. He makes that broad stroke at the heart which, being aimed by the hand of nature, reaches the prince or the peasant, the peer or the plebeian. He is not the mere player of fashion; for the player of fashion, David, may be compared to a man tossed in a blanket: the very instant his supporters quit their hold of the coverlet, down drops the hero of the day. However, as general assertions do not carry conviction, I will arrange my opinions under different heads, not doubting your assent to my declarations, which shall be founded on facts, and built upon experience. First of the first,—his voice; his voice is the vox argentea of the ancients, the silver tone, of which so much has been written, but which never struck upon a modern ear till Mossop spoke,—'then mute attention reigned.'"

Garrick. "Why, my Lord, as to his voice, I must acknowledge that it is loud enough; the severest critic cannot accuse him of whispering his part; for, egad, it was so sonorous, that the people had no occasion to come into the theatre: they used to go to the pastrycook's shop in Russel Court, and eat their custards, and hear him as well as if they had been in the orchestra: 'he made the welkin echo to the sound.' No one could doubt the goodness of his lungs, or accuse him of sparing them; but as to—"

Orrery. "What! you have found out that he roars! you have discovered that he bellows!—Upon my soul, David, you are right; he bellows like a bull. We used to call him 'Bull Mossop'—'Mossop the Bull;'—we had no better name for him in the country. But then, David, his eye is an eye of fire; and when he looks, he looks unutterable things: it is scarce necessary that he should speak, for his eye conveys everything that he means, and excepting your own, David, is the brightest, most expressive, most speaking eye, that ever beamed in a—"

Garrick. "Why, my Lord, with the utmost submission to your Lordship, from whose accurate taste and comprehensive judgment I tremble to differ,—does not your Lordship think there is a—a—a dull kind of heaviness,—a blanket, a—"

Orrery. "What! you have discovered that he is blind?—Egad, David, whatever his eye may be, nothing can escape yours. He is as blind as a beetle. There is an opacity, a stare without sight, a sort of filminess, exactly as you describe. But, notwithstanding I allow that he bellows like a bull, and is blind as a beetle, his memory has such peculiar tenacity, that whatever he once receives adheres to it like glue! he does not forget a syllable of his part."

Garrick. "Upon my honour, my Lord, if his memory was what you describe in Ireland, he must have forgot to bring it with him to London; for here, the prompter is obliged to repeat every sentence, and a whole sentence he cannot retain: there is absolutely a necessity for splitting it into parts."

Orrery. "What! you have found that his head runs out. Upon my soul, it never would hold anything: Lady Orrery used to call him 'Cullender Mossop'—Mossop the Cullender:' the fellow could not remember a common distich. But, notwithstanding this, his carriage is so easy, his air so gentleman-like, his deportment has so much fashion, that you perceive at a glance he has kept the best company; and no one who sees him conceives him a player. He looks like one of our house: he has the port of nobility."

Garrick. "As to his port, my Lord, I grant you that the man is tall, and upright enough; but with submission, the utmost submission to your Lordship's better judgment, don't you think there is an awkwardness, a rigid, vulgar, unbending sort of a—a—. We had fencing masters, dancing masters, and drill sergeants, but all would not do; he looked more like a tailor than a gentleman."

Orrery. "What! you think that he is stiff? By the Lord, David, you are right,—nothing escapes you: he is stiff—stiff as a poker: we used to call him 'Poker Mossop;'—we had no better name for him in the country. But however his body might want (as I must acknowledge it did) the graceful, easy bend of the Antinous, his mind was formed of the most yielding and flexible materials: any advice which you gave him, he would take; from you, I am persuaded, a hint was sufficient."

Garrick. "Why, in this, my Lord, I must be bold enough to differ from you in the most pointed and positive terms; for of all the obstinate, headstrong, and unmanageable animals I ever dealt with, he is the most stubborn, the most untractable, the most wrongheaded. I never knew one instance where he followed my instructions in any the smallest degree. If I recommend him to dress a character plain, he comes upon the stage like a gingerbread king; if I advise him to be splendid in his apparel, he endeavours to get a Quaker's habit from the keeper of our wardrobe; and in everything, he—more than I thought belonged to human nature—had that impenetrable, that—that—that—"

Orrery. "So!—you think him obstinate? Upon my soul he is—as obstinate as a pig; he has more of that animal's pertinacity than any man I ever knew in my life. But yet, David, with all these faults, he is—I have not time to enter into particulars.—Be what he will, you have engaged him? I sincerely wish you may agree together, and am, my dear fellow, your most obedient. Say no more.—Farewell.—To Mrs. Garrick present my compliments."

[155] In an ode to the memory of Le-Stue, cook to the late Duke of Newcastle, this was whimsically parodied by a Mr. Shaw, the writer of a monody addressed to Lord Lyttleton:

"When Philip's fam'd, all-conquering son,

Had every blood-stain'd laurel won,

He sigh'd that his creative word,

Like that which rules the skies,

Could not bid other nations rise,

To glut his yet unsated sword.

"But when Le-Stue's unrivall'd spoon,

Like Alexander's sword, with flesh had done,

He heav'd no sigh, he made no moan;

Not limited to human kind,

To fire his wonder-teeming mind,

He rais'd ragouts and olios of his own."

[156] When a gentleman, whose industry and integrity have raised him to the rank of an Alderman of London, was apprentice, he one Sunday afternoon took a walk with several of his friends to Islington. Considering smoking as a manly accomplishment, he put a pipe in his mouth. A respectable citizen who knew his master, meeting him in the fields, with a grave face accosted him as follows: "How now, Tom! smoking tobacco! pray who was your teacher? If you mean to be rich, unlearn it as fast as you can, for I never knew a man worth a guinea who stuck a pipe in his mouth before he was twenty." "The d—l you did not," replied the boy, "then I will never smoke another." He dashed his clay tube to the ground, and adhered to his resolution.

[157] The sign by which this circumstance is intimated was at first inscribed Goodchild and West. Some of Mr. Hogarth's city friends informing him that it was usual for the senior partner's name to precede, it was altered.

[158] Madame Pompadour, in her remarks on the English taste for music, says "they are invariably fond of everything that is full in the mouth."

[159] The inscription must remind every reader of Pope's lines,—

"Where London's column, pointing to the skies,

Like a tall bully rears its head, and lies," etc.

The Duke of Buckingham's epigram on this magnificent pillar is not so generally known:

"Here stand I,

The Lord knows why;

But if I fall—

Have at ye all!"

[160] To mark the midnight hour, each of the watches is a quarter after twelve.

[161] This reverend gentleman is said to be intended for Mr. Platell, once curate of Barnet.

[162] A copy of this figure on a larger scale is engraved by Mr. Bartolozzi.

[163] The following whimsical notice, written by a believer in transmigration, was a few years ago sent to several country gentlemen, accompanied with a request that the contents might, if possible, be communicated to all the fish and fowl, birds and beasts, in their respective manors:—

"A WARNING TO BIRDS, BEASTS, AND FISHES.

"Bustards, pheasants, woodcocks, widgeons,

Wild-ducks, plovers, snipes, and pigeons;

Every fowl of every sort,

To your native haunts resort.

Turbot, salmon, herring, soles,

Plunge into your native holes.

Bucks, and does, and hares, and fawns,

Speed ye to your native lawns.

Each to your closest covers haste!

Beware! beware the man of taste!

All that can escape, away!

You're surely slaughter'd, if you stay,

For Monday next is Lord Mayor's day."

[164] This scene is laid in the cellar of a house near Water Lane, Fleet Street, then known by the name of the "Blood Bowl House;" which curious appellation was given it from the various scenes of riot and murder which were there perpetrated.

[165] This has been supposed to be intended for the same prostitute whom we have before seen exhibited in a garret and a night-cellar: I do not discover the least resemblance.

[166] I have been told that the dealers in perjury at Westminster Hall, as well as the Old Bailey, consider this little circumstance as a complete salvo for false swearing.

[167] A solemn exhortation was formerly given to the prisoners appointed to die at Tyburn, in their way from Newgate. Mr. Robert Dow, merchant tailor, who died in 1612, left £1, 6s. 8d. yearly for ever, that the bellman should deliver to the unhappy criminals, as they went by in the cart, a most pious and awful admonition. An admonition of the same nature was read in the prison of Newgate the night before they suffered.

[168] A man that some persons now living may remember by the name of Tiddy Doll.

[169] Notwithstanding the boasted humanity of our laws, I am told more criminals are annually executed in this little island than in all Europe besides.

[170] I believe it was customary to despatch a second pigeon at the moment the criminal suffered.

[171] Numerous as are the executions, they are not sufficient for the anatomical students. It is not more than four or five years since one of those necessary assistants to the art of chirurgery, called resurrection men, being employed in his vocation of stealing a dead body from a churchyard in the neighbourhood of London, was discovered by a patrole, and shot in the grave. To prevent his employer being disappointed of a subject, and to show her reverence for that art which her husband had lost his life in endeavouring to improve, and save the idle expense of a funeral, his afflicted widow, with the fondness of an Ephesian matron, three days afterwards sold the body of her murdered lord for sixteen shillings, to the very surgeon in whose service he had suffered!

[172] When Oliver Cromwell, attended by Thurlow, once went to dine in the city, the populace rent the air with their gratulations. "Your highness," said the secretary, "may see by this that you have the voice of the people as well as the voice of God."—"As to God," replied the Protector, "I will not talk about Him here; but for the people, they would be more noisy, and more joyful too, if you and I were going to be hanged."

[173] He is somewhat like a porter butt, with a head on it. In the Straits of Thermopylæ he would have been pressed to death; but dead, he might stop a breach better than a better man.

[174] In the second volume of Wood's Body of Conveyancing, p. 180, is a London lease; one of the clauses gives a right to the landlord and his friends to stand in the balcony during the time of "the shows or pastimes upon the day commonly called the Lord Mayor's Day."

[175] In the General Advertiser for March 9, 1748-49, it was thus announced:

"This day is published, price 5s., a Print, designed and engraved by Mr. Hogarth, representing a PRODIGY which lately appeared before the gate of Calais,

'O the Roast Beef of Old England!'

"To be had at the Golden Head in Leicester Square, and at the print-shops."

[176] At this election a man was placed on a bulk, with a figure representing a child in his arms: as he whipped it, he exclaimed, "What, you little child, must you be a member?" This election being disputed, it appeared from the register book of the parish where Lord Castlemain was born, that he was but twenty years of age when he offered himself a candidate.

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SEASON 1874.

A LIST OF BOOKS

PUBLISHED BY

Chatto & Windus

(Successors to John Camden Hotten),

74 & 75, PICCADILLY, LONDON, W.

THE FAMOUS FRASER PORTRAITS.

MACLISE'S GALLERY OF

ILLUSTRIOUS LITERARY CHARACTERS.

With Notes by the late WILLIAM MAGINN, LL.D.

Edited, with copious Notes, by William Bates, B.A., Professor of Classics in Queen's College, Birmingham. The volume contains the whole 83 Splendid and most Characteristic Portraits, now first issued in a complete form. In demy 4to, over 400 pages, cloth gilt and gilt edges, 31s. 6d.; or, in morocco elegant, 70s.

"What a truly charming book of pictures and prose, the quintessence, as it were, of Maclise and Maginn, giving the very form and pressure of their literary time, would this century of illustrious characters make."—Notes and Queries.

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THE PRINCE OF CARICATURISTS.

—————

THE WORKS OF
JAMES GILLRAY,

The Caricaturist,

With the Story of his Life and Times, and full and Anecdotal Descriptions of his Engravings.

Edited by THOS. WRIGHT, Esq., M.A., F.S.A.

Illustrated with 90 full-page Plates, and about 400 Wood Engravings. Demy 4to, 600 pages, cloth extra, 31s. 6d.; or, in morocco elegant, 70s.

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BEAUTIFUL PICTURES

BY BRITISH ARTISTS.

A Gathering of Favourites from our Picture Galleries, 1800-1870. By Wilkie, Constable, J. M. W. Turner, Mulready, Sir Edwin Landseer, Maclise, Leslie, E. M. Ward, Frith, Sir John Gilbert, Ansdell, Marcus Stone, Sir Noel Paton, Eyre Crowe, Faed, Madox Brown. All Engraved in the highest style of Art. With Notices of the Artists by Sydney Armytage, M.A. A New Edition. Imperial 4to, cloth gilt and gilt edges, 21s.; or, in morocco elegant, 65s.

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Uniform with "Beautiful Pictures."

COURT BEAUTIES OF THE

REIGN OF CHARLES II.

From the Originals in the Royal Gallery at Windsor, by Sir Peter Lely. Engraved in the highest style of Art by Thomson, Wright, Scriven, B. Holl, Wagstaff, and T. A. Deane. With Memoirs by Mrs. Jameson, Author of "Legends of the Madonna." New and sumptuous "Presentation Edition." Imp. 4to, cloth gilt and gilt edges, 21s.; or, in morocco elegant, 65s.

"This truly beautiful and splendid production is equally a gem among the Fine Arts and in Literature."—Quarterly Review.

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Companion to the "History of Signboards."

Advertising: its History, in all Ages and Countries, with many very Amusing Anecdotes and Examples of Successful Advertisers. Crown 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, coloured and plain, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

[In preparation.

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Are You Engaged? If so, get

Advice to Parties About to Marry. A Series of Instructions in Jest and Earnest. By the Hon. Hugh Rowley. With Humorous Illustrations. Price 3s. 6d., elegantly bound, and enclosed in tinted wrapper, beautifully scented by Rimmel.

⁂ Before taking the "awful plunge" be sure to consult this little work. If it is not a guarantee against life-long misery, it will at least be found of great assistance in selecting a partner for life.

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American Happy Thoughts. The finest collection of American Humour ever made. Foolscap 8vo, illustrated covers, 1s.

[Preparing.

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Anacreon. Illustrated by the Exquisite Designs of Girodet. Translated by Thomas Moore. Bound in vellum cloth and Etruscan gold, 12s. 6d.

⁂ A beautiful and captivating volume. The well-known Paris house, Firmin Didot, a few years since produced a miniature edition of these exquisite designs by photography, and sold a large number at £2 per copy. The Designs have been universally admired by both artists and poets.

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Armorial Register of the Order of the Garter, from Edward III, to the Present Time. The several Shields beautifully emblazoned in Gold and Colours from the Original Stall Plates in St. George's Chapel, Windsor. All emblazoned by hand. A sumptuous volume, bound in crimson morocco, gilt, £20.

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ARTEMUS WARD'S WORKS.

Artemus Ward, Complete. The Works of Charles Farrer Browne, better known as "Artemus Ward," now first collected. Crown 8vo, with fine Portrait, facsimile of handwriting, &c., 540 pages, cloth neat, 7s. 6d.

⁂ Comprises all that the humourist has written in England or America. Admirers of Artemus Ward will be glad to possess his writings in a complete form.

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Artemus Ward's Lecture at the Egyptian Hall, with the Panorama. Edited by the late T. W. Robertson, Author of "Caste," &c., and E. P. Hingston. Small 4to, exquisitely printed, bound in green and gold, with numerous Tinted Illustrations, 6s.

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Artemus Ward: his Book. With Notes and Introduction by the Editor of the "Biglow Papers." One of the wittiest books published for many years. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

The Saturday Review says:—"The author combines the powers of Thackeray with those of Albert Smith. The salt is rubbed in by a native hand—one which has the gift of tickling."

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Artemus Ward: his Travels among the Mormons and on the Rampage. Edited by E. P. Hingston, the Agent and Companion of A. Ward whilst "on the Rampage." New Edition, price 1s.

⁂ Some of Artemus's most mirth-provoking papers are to be found in this book. The chapters on the Mormons will unbend the sternest countenance. As bits of fun they are IMMENSE!

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Artemus Ward's Letters to "Punch," Among the Witches, and other Sketches. Cheap Popular Edition. Fcap. 8vo, in illustrated cover, 1s.; or, 16mo, bound in cloth extra, 2s.

⁂ The volume contains, in addition, some quaint and humorous compositions which were found upon the author's table after his decease.

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Artemus Ward among the Fenians: with the Showman's Experiences of Life at Washington, and Military Ardour at Baldinsville. Toned paper, price 6d.

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Army Lists of the Roundheads and Cavaliers in the Civil War, 1642. Second Edition, Considerably Enlarged and Corrected. Edited, with Notes, by Edward Peacock, F.S.A. 4to, half-Roxburghe, 7s. 6d.

⁂ Very interesting to Antiquaries and Genealogists.

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The Art of Amusing. A Collection of Graceful Arts, Games, Tricks, Puzzles, and Charades, intended to amuse everybody, and enable all to amuse everybody else. By Frank Bellew. With nearly 300 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 4s. 6d.

⁂ One of the most entertaining handbooks of amusements ever published.

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Awful Crammers. A New American Joke Book. Edited by Titus A. Brick, Author of "Shaving Them." Fcap. 8vo, with numerous curious Illustrations, 1s.

A Fine Edition is also published, in crown 8vo, printed on toned paper, and bound in cloth gilt, at 3s. 6d.

"Rarer than the phœnix is the virtuous man who will consent to lose a good anecdote because it isn't true."—De Quincy.

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Babies and Ladders: Essays on Things in General. By Emmanuel Kink. A New Work of Irresistible Humour (not American), which has excited considerable attention. Fcap. 8vo, with numerous Vignettes by W. S. Gilbert and others, 1s.

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Bayard Taylor's Diversions of the Echo Club. A Delightful Volume of Refined Literary Humour. In 16mo, paper cover, with Portrait of the Author, 1s. 6d.; cloth extra, 2s.

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Uniform with Mr. Ruskin's Edition of "Grimm."

Bechstein's As Pretty as Seven, and other Popular German Stories. Collected by Ludwig Bechstein. With Additional Tales by the Brothers Grimm, 100 Illustrations by Richter. Small 4to, green and gold, 6s. 6d.; gilt edges, 7s. 6d.

⁂ One of the most delightful books for children ever published. It is, in every way, a Companion to the German Stories of the Brothers Grimm, and the tales are equally pure and healthful. The quaint simplicity of Richter's engravings will charm every lover of legendary lore.

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The Biglow Papers. By James Russell Lowell. The Best Edition, with full Glossary, of these extraordinary Verses. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Uniform with our "Rabelais."

Boccaccio's Decameron. Now fully translated into English, with Introduction by Thomas Wright, F.S.A. Crown 8vo, with the Beautiful Engravings by Stothard which adorned Pickering's fine Edition, published at £2 12s. 6d. This New Edition is only 7s. 6d.

⁂ A faithful translation, in which are restored many passages omitted in former Editions.

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Book of Hall-Marks; or, Manual of Reference for the Goldsmith and Silversmith. By Alfred Lutschaunig, Manager of the Liverpool Assay Office. Crown 8vo, with 46 Plates of the Hall-Marks of the different Assay Towns of the United Kingdom, as now stamped on Plate and Jewellery, 7s. 6d.

⁂ This work gives practical methods for testing the quality of gold and silver. It was compiled by the author for his own use, and as a Supplement to "Chaffers."

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Booksellers, A History of. A Work giving full Accounts of the Great Publishing Houses and their Founders, both in London and the Provinces, the History of their Rise and Progress, and descriptions of the special class of Literature dealt in by each. Crown 8vo, over 500 pages, with frontispiece and numerous Portraits and Illustrations, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

"In these days, ten ordinary Histories of Kings and Courtiers were well exchanged against the tenth part of one good History of Booksellers."—Thomas Carlyle.

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Booth's Epigrams: Ancient and Modern, Humorous, Witty, Satirical, Moral, and Panegyrical. Edited by the Rev. John Booth, B.A. A New Edition. Pott 8vo, cloth gilt, 6s.

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"Is our civilization a failure, or is the Caucasian played out?"

BRET HARTE'S WORKS.

Widely known for their Exquisite Pathos and Delightful Humour.

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Bret Harte's Complete Works, in Prose and Poetry. Now First Collected. With Introductory Essay by J. M. Bellew, Portrait of the Author, and 50 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 650 pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

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Bret Harte's Luck of Roaring Camp, and other Stories. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Bret Harte's That Heathen Chinee, and other Humorous Poems. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s. 6d.

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Bret Harte's Sensation Novels Condensed. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s. 6d.

⁂ A most enjoyable book, only surpassed, in its special class, by Thackeray's Burlesque Novels.

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Bret Harte's Lothaw; or, The Adventures of a Young Gentleman in Search of a Religion. By Mr. Benjamins (Bret Harte). Price 6d. Curiously Illustrated.

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Bret Harte's East and West. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Bret Harte's Stories of the Sierras, and other Sketches. With a Wild Story of Western Life by Joaquin Miller, Author of "Songs of the Sierras." Illustrated cover, 1s.

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NEW EDITIONS OF SIR DAVID BREWSTER'S WORKS.

Brewster's More Worlds than One, the Creed of the Philosopher and the Hope of the Christian. Eleventh Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth, very neat, 4s. 6d.

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Brewster's Martyrs of Science: Galileo, Tycho Brahe, Kepler. Crown 8vo, cloth, very neat, 4s. 6d.

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Brewster's The Kaleidoscope Practically Described. Crown 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, cloth, very neat, 4s. 6d.

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Brewster's The Stereoscope Practically Described. Crown 8vo, numerous Illustrations, cloth neat, 4s. 6d.

⁂ This was the great philosopher's last contribution to practical science.

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Bright's (Rt. Hon. J., M.P.) Speeches on Public Affairs of the last Twenty Years. Collated with the best Public Reports. Royal 16mo, 370 pages, cloth extra, 1s.

⁂ A book of special interest at the present time, and wonderfully cheap.

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COLMAN'S HUMOROUS WORKS.

Broad Grins. My Nightgown and Slippers, and other Humorous Works, Prose and Poetical, of George Colman the Younger. Now first collected, with Life and Anecdotes of the Author, by George B. Buckstone. Crown 8vo, 500 pp., 7s. 6d.

⁂ Admirers of genuine English wit and humour will be delighted with this edition of George Colman's humorous works. As a wit, he has had no equal in our time; and a man with a tithe of his ability could, at the present day, make the fortune of any one of our so-called "comic journals," and bankrupt the rest.

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NEW BOOK FOR BOYS.

The Conquest of the Sea: A History of Divers and Diving, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. By Henry Siere. Profusely Illustrated with fine Wood Engravings. Small crown 8vo, cloth extra, 4s. 6d.

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Uniform with the 2s. Edition of his Works.

Carlyle (T.) on the Choice of Books. With a New Life and Anecdotes of the Author. Brown cloth, 1s. 6d.; paper cover, 1s.

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Chips from a Rough Log. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Christmas Songs and Ballads. Selected and Edited by Joshua Sylvester. A New Edition, beautifully printed and bound in cloth, extra gilt, gilt edges, 3s. 6d.

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Clerical Anecdotes and Pulpit Eccentricities. An entirely New Gathering. Square 16mo, in illustrated paper wrapper, 1s. 4d.; or cloth neat, 1s. 10d.

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The Country of the Dwarfs. By Paul du Chaillu. A Book of Startling Interest. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated with full-page Engravings, in fancy wrapper, 1s.

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Cruikshank's Comic Almanack. First Series, 1835-43. A Gathering of the Best Humour, the Wittiest Sayings, the Drollest Quips, and the Best Things of Thackeray, Hood, Mayhew, Albert Smith, A'Beckett, Robert Brough, &c. With about One Thousand Woodcuts and Steel Engravings by the inimitable Cruikshank, Hine, Landells, &c. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, a very thick volume, price 7s. 6d.

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Cruikshank's Comic Almanack. Second Series, 1844-53, Completing the work. Uniform with the First Series, and written and illustrated by the same humorists. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, a very thick volume, price 7s. 6d.

⁂ The two volumes (each sold separately) form a most extraordinary gathering of the best wit and humour of the past half-century. The work forms a "Comic History of England" for twenty years.

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THE BEST GUIDE TO HERALDRY.

Cussans' Handbook of Heraldry; with Instructions for Tracing Pedigrees and Deciphering Ancient MSS.; also, Rules for the Appointment of Liveries, &c., &c. By John E. Cussans. Illustrated with 360 Plates and Woodcuts. Cr. 8vo, cloth extra, gilt and emblazoned, 7s. 6d.

⁂ This volume, beautifully printed on toned paper, contains not only the ordinary matter to be found in the best books on the science of Armory, but several other subjects hitherto unnoticed. Amongst these may be mentioned:—1. Directions for Tracing Pedigrees. 2. Deciphering Ancient MSS., illustrated by Alphabets and Facsimiles. 3. The Appointment of Liveries. 4. Continental and American Heraldry, &c.

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VERY IMPORTANT COUNTY HISTORY.

Cussans' History of Hertfordshire. A County History, got up in a very superior manner, and ranging with the finest works of its class. Illustrated with full-page Plates on Copper and Stone, and a profusion of small Woodcuts. Parts I. to VI. are now ready, price 21s. each.

⁂ An entirely new History of this important County, great attention being given to all matters pertaining to the Family History of the locality.

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Uniform With the "Charles Dickens Edition."

Dickens: The Story of his Life. By Theodore Taylor, Author of the "Life of Thackeray." Uniform with the "Charles Dickens Edition" of his Works, and forming a Supplementary Volume to that Issue. Cr. 8vo, crimson cloth, 3s. 6d.

"Anecdotes seem to have poured in upon the author from all quarters.... Turn where we will through these 370 pleasant pages, something worth reading is sure to meet the eye."—The Standard.

Also Published:

The "Best Edition" of the above Work, illustrated by Photographic Frontispiece of "Dickens as Captain Bobadil," Portraits, Facsimiles, &c. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

The "Cheap Edition," in 16mo, paper wrapper, with Frontispiece and Vignette, 2s.

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Uniform with the "Charles Dickens Edition."

Dickens' Speeches, Social and Literary, now first collected. Uniform with, and forming a Supplementary Volume to, the "Charles Dickens Edition." Crown 8vo, crimson cloth, 3s. 6d.

"His speeches are as good as any of his printed writings."—The Times.

Also Published:

The "Best Edition," in crown 8vo, with fine Portrait by Count D'Orsay, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

The "Cheap Edition," without Portrait, in 16mo, paper wrapper, 2s.

Dickens' Life and Speeches, in One Volume, 16mo, cloth extra, 2s. 6d.

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BALZAC'S CONTES DROLATIQUES.

Droll Stories, collected from the Abbeys of Touraine. Now first Translated into English, Complete and Unabridged, with the whole 425 Marvellous, Extravagant, and Fantastic Illustrations (the finest he has ever done) by Gustave Doré. Beautifully printed, in 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, gilt top, 12s. 6d.

⁂ The most singular designs ever attempted by any artist. So crammed is the book with pictures, that even the contents are adorned with thirty-three Illustrations.

A few copies of the French Original are still on sale, bound half-Roxburghe, gilt top—a very handsome book—price 12s. 6d.

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The Danbury Newsman. A Brief but Comprehensive Record of the Doings of a Remarkable People, under more Remarkable Circumstances, and Chronicled in a most Remarkable Manner. By James M. Bailey. Uniform with Twain's "Screamers." Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

"A real American humorist."—Figaro.

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The Derby Day. A Sporting Novel of intense interest, by a well-known writer. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Disraeli's (Rt. Hon. B.) Speeches on the Conservative Policy of the last Thirty Years, including the Speech at the Literary Fund Dinner, specially revised by the Author. Royal 16mo, paper cover, with Portrait, 1s. 4d.; in cloth, 1s. 10d.

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D'Urfey's ("Tom") Wit and Mirth; or, Pills to Purge Melancholy: Being a Collection of the best Merry Ballads and Songs, Old and New. Fitted to all Humours, having each their proper Tune for either Voice or Instrument: most of the Songs being new set. London: Printed by W. Pearson, for J. Tonson, at Shakespeare's Head, over-against Catherine Street in the Strand, 1719.

An exact and beautiful reprint of this much-prized work, with the Music to the Songs, just as in the rare original. In 6 vols., large fcap. 8vo, antique boards, edges uncut, beautifully printed on laid paper, made expressly for the work, price £3 3s.; or Large Paper Copies (a limited number only printed), price £5 5s.

⁂ The Pills To Purge Melancholy have now retained their celebrity for a century and a half. The difficulty of obtaining a copy has of late years raised sets to a fabulous Price, and has made even odd volumes costly. Considering the classical reputation which the book has thus obtained, and its very high interest as illustrative of the manners, customs, and amusements of English life during the half century following the Restoration, no apology is needed for placing such a work more within the reach of general readers and students by re-issuing it for the first time since its original appearance, and at about a tithe of the price for which the old edition could now be obtained.

For drinking-songs and love-songs, sprightly ballads, merry stories, and political squibs, there are none to surpass these in the language. In improvising such pieces, and in singing them, D'urfey was perhaps never equalled, except in our own century by Theodore Hook. The sallies of his wit amused and delighted three successive English sovereigns; and while his plays are forgotten, his songs and ballads still retain the light abandon and joyous freshness that recommended them to the wits and beaux of Queen Anne's days. Nor can the warm and affectionate eulogy of Steele and Addison be forgotten, and D'urfey may now take his place on the bookshelves of the curious, side by side with the other worthies of his age.

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The Earthward Pilgrimage, from the Next World to that which now is. By Moncure D. Conway. Crown 8vo, beautifully printed and bound, 7s. 6d.

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Edgar Allan Poe's Prose and Poetical Works; including Additional Tales and the fine Essays by this great Genius, now First Published in this Country. With a Translation of Charles Baudelaire's "Essay on Poe." 750 pages, crown 8vo, with fine Portrait and Illustrations, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

Poe's Cottage at Fordham.

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Mrs. Ellis's Mothers of Great Men. A New Edition of this well-known Work, with numerous very beautiful Portraits. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, over 500 pages, 7s. 6d.

[In preparation.

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The Standard Work on the Subject.

Emanuel on Diamonds and Precious Stones; Their History, Value, and Properties; with Simple Tests for ascertaining their Reality. By Harry Emanuel, F.R.G.S. With numerous Illustrations, Tinted and Plain. A New Edition, with the Prices brought down to the Present Time. Crown 8vo, full gilt, 6s.

"Will be acceptable to many readers."—Times.

"An invaluable work for buyers and sellers."—Spectator.

⁂ The present, which is greatly superior to the first edition, gives the latest market value for Diamonds and Precious Stones of every size.

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The Englishman's House, from a Cottage to a Mansion. A Practical Guide to Members of Building Societies, and all interested in Selecting or Building a House. By C. J. Richardson, Architect, Author of "Old English Mansions," &c. Second Edition, Corrected and Enlarged, with nearly 600 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 550 pages, cloth, 7s. 6d.

⁂ This Work might not inappropriately be termed "A Book of Houses." It gives every variety of house, from a workman's cottage to a nobleman's palace. The book is intended to supply a want long felt, viz., a plain, non-technical account of every style of house, with the cost and manner of building.

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Our English Surnames: Their Sources and Significations. By Charles Wareing Bardsley, M.A. Crown 8vo, about 600 pages, cloth extra, 9s.

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Indispensable to every Household.

Everybody Answered. A Handy Book for All; and a Guide to the Housewife, the Servant, the Cook, the Tradesman, the Workman, the Professional Man, the Clerk, &c., &c., in the Duties belonging to their respective Callings. One thick volume, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 4s. 6d.

[In preparation.

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Family Fairy Tales; or, Glimpses of Elfland at Heatherstone Hall. Edited by Cholmondeley Pennell, Author of "Puck on Pegasus," &c. Adorned with beautiful Pictures of "My Lord Lion," "King Uggermugger," and other Great Folks, by M. Ellen Edwards, and other artists. Handsomely printed on toned paper, in cloth, green and gold, price 4s. 6d. plain, 5s. 6d. coloured.

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Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle. Lectures delivered to a Juvenile Audience. A New Edition of this well-known volume, which has been so long out of print, Edited by W. Crookes, Esq., F.S.A., &c. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, with all the Original Illustrations, price 4s. 6d.

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Faraday's Various Forces of Nature. A New Edition, with all the Original Illustrations, Edited by W. Crookes, Esq., F.S.A., &c. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 4s. 6d.

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FLAGELLATION AND THE FLAGELLANTS.

A History of the Rod in all Countries, from the Earliest Period to the Present Time. The use of the Rod in the Church, Convent, Monastery, Prison, Army, Navy, in public and private; the use of the Birch in the Family, Ladies' Seminaries, Boys' Schools, Colleges, the Boudoir, Ancient and Modern. By the Rev. W. Cooper, B.A. Second Edition, revised and corrected, with numerous Illustrations. Thick crown 8vo, cloth extra gilt, 12s. 6d.

"A remarkable, and certainly a very readable volume."—Daily Telegraph.

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The Fiend's Delight: A "Cold Collation" of Atrocities. By Dod Grile. New Edition, in illustrated wrapper, fcap. 8vo, 1s.; or crown 8vo, cloth extra, 3s. 6d.

"A specimen of 'American Humour' as unlike that of all other American humourists, as the play of young human Merry-Andrews is unlike that of a young and energetic demon whose horns are well budded."—New York Nation.

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The Finish to Life in and out of London; or, The Final Adventures of Tom, Jerry, and Logic. By Pierce Egan. Royal 8vo, cloth extra, with Spirited Coloured Illustrations by Cruikshank, 21s.

⁂ An extraordinary picture of "London by Night" in the Days of George the Fourth. All the strange places of amusement in the neighbourhood of Covent Garden and St. James's are fully described, and very queer places they were too!

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Walk up! Walk up! and see the
Fools' Paradise; with the Many Wonderful Adventures there, as seen in the strange, surprising
PEEP-SHOW OF PROFESSOR WOLLEY COBBLE,
Raree Showman these Five-and-Twenty Years.

Crown 4to, with nearly 200 immensely funny Pictures, all beautifully coloured, bound in extra cloth gilt, price 7s. 6d.

The Professor's Leetle Music Lesson.

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A Second Series is now Ready, called
Further Adventures in Fools' Paradise, with the Many Wonderful Doings, as seen in the
PEEP-SHOW OF PROFESSOR WOLLEY COBBLE.

Crown 4to, with the Pictures beautifully Coloured, uniform with the First Series, in extra cloth gilt, price 7s. 6d.

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A Companion to all French Dictionaries.

French Slang; or, Eccentricities of the French Language.

A DICTIONARY OF

PARISIAN ARGOT, including all recent expressions, whether of the Street, the Theatre, or the Prison. Handsomely bound in half-Roxburghe, illustrated with 30 large Wood Engravings. Price 7s. 6d.

⁂ This book is indispensable to all readers of modern French literature. It is, besides, amusing in itself, and may be taken up to while away an idle half-hour. It does for French what our "Slang Dictionary" does for English.

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Fun for the Million: A Gathering of Choice Wit and Humour, Good Things, and Sublime Nonsense, by Dickens, Jerrold, Sam Slick, Chas. H. Ross, Hood, Theodore Hook, Mark Twain, Brough, Colman, Titus A. Brick, and a Host of other Humourists. With Pictures by Matt Morgan, Gilbert, Nast, Thompson, Cruikshank, Jun., Brunton, &c. In fcap. 4to, profusely illustrated, with picture wrapper, 1s.

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The Genial Showman; or, Show Life in the New World. Adventures with Artemus Ward, and the Story of his Life. By E. P. Hingston. Third Edition. Crown 8vo, Illustrated by Brunton, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

⁂ This is a most interesting work. It gives Sketches of Show-Life in the Far West, on the Pacific Coast, among the Mines of California, in Salt Lake City, and across the Rocky Mountains; with chapters descriptive of Artemus Ward's visit to England.

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RUSKIN AND CRUIKSHANK.

German Popular Stories. Collected by the Brothers Grimm, and Translated by Edgar Taylor. Edited by John Ruskin. With 22 Illustrations after the inimitable designs of George Cruikshank. Both Series complete. Square crown 8vo, 6s. 6d.; gilt leaves, 7s. 6d.

⁂ These are the designs which Mr. Ruskin has praised so highly, placing them far above all Cruikshank's other works of a similar character. So rare had the original book (published in 1823-1826) become, that £5 to £6 per copy was an ordinary price. By the consent of Mr. Taylor's family a New Edition is now issued, under the care and superintendence of the printers who issued the originals forty years ago. A few copies for sale on Large Paper, price 21s.

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Gesta Romanorum; or, Entertaining Stories, invented by the Monks as a Fireside Recreation, and commonly applied in their Discourses from the Pulpit. A New Edition, with Introduction by Thomas Wright, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. Two vols. large fcap. 8vo, only 250 copies printed, on fine ribbed paper, 18s.; or, Large Paper Edition (only a few copies printed), 30s.

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Gladstone's (Rt. Hon. W. E.) Speeches on Great Questions of the Day during the last Thirty Years. Collated with the best public reports. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s. 4d.; cloth extra, 1s. 10d.

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Golden Treasury of Thought. The Best Encyclopædia of Quotations and Elegant Extracts, from Writers of all Times and all Countries, ever formed. Selected and Edited by Theodore Taylor, Author of "Thackeray, the Humorist and Man of Letters," "Story of Charles Dickens' Life." Crown 8vo, very handsomely bound, cloth gilt, and gilt edges, 7s. 6d.

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Grose's Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. 1785. A genuine unmutilated Reprint of the First Edition. Quarto, bound in half-Roxburghe, gilt top, price 8s.

⁂ Only a small number of copies of this very vulgar, but very curious, book have been printed, for the Collectors of "Street Words" and Colloquialisms.

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Hall's (Mrs. S. C.) Sketches of Irish Character. With numerous Illustrations on Steel and Wood, by Daniel Maclise, R.A., Sir John Gilbert, W. Harvey, and G. Cruikshank. 8vo, pp. 450, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

"The Irish sketches of this lady resemble Miss Mitford's beautiful English Sketches in 'Our Village,' but they are far more vigorous and picturesque and bright."—Blackwood's Magazine.

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Companion to "The Secret Out."

Hanky-Panky. A New and Wonderful Book of Very Easy Tricks, Very Difficult Tricks, White Magic, Sleight of Hand; in fact, all those startling Deceptions which the Great Wizards call "Hanky-Panky." Edited by W. H. Cremer, of Regent Street. With nearly 200 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, price 4s. 6d.

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Hans Breitmann's Ballads. By J. G. Leland. The Complete Work, from the Author's revised Edition. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; in cloth, 1s. 6d.

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Hatton's (Jos.) Kites and Pigeons. A most amusing Novelette. With Illustrations by Linley Sambourne, of "Punch." Fcap. 8vo, illustrated wrapper, 1s.

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Hawthorne's English and American Note Books. Edited, with an Introduction, by Moncure D. Conway. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; in cloth, 1s. 6d.

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Holidays with Hobgoblins, and Talk of Strange Things. By Dudley Costello. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated boards, with Picture by George Cruikshank. 2s.

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OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES' WORKS.

Holmes' Autocrat of the Breakfast Table. An entirely New Edition of this Favourite Work. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; in cloth, neat, 1s. 6d.

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Holmes' Poet at the Breakfast Table. From January to June. Paper cover, 1s.

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Holmes' Professor at the Breakfast Table. A Companion Volume to the "Autocrat of the Breakfast Table." Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; cloth neat, 1s. 6d.

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Holmes' Wit and Humour. Delightful Verses, in the style of the elder Hood. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated wrapper, 1s.

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THE ONLY COMPLETE HOGARTH EVER PUBLISHED.

Hogarth's Works; with Life and Anecdotal Descriptions of the Pictures, by John Ireland and John Nichols. The Work includes 150 Engravings, reduced in exact facsimile of the Original Plates, specimens of which have now become very scarce. The whole in Three Series, 8vo, cloth, gilt, 22s. 6d. Each series is, however, Complete in itself, and is sold separately at 7s. 6d.

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Hogarth's Five Days' Frolic; or, Peregrinations by Land and Water. Illustrated with Tinted Drawings, made by Hogarth and Scott during the Journey. 4to, beautifully printed, cloth, extra gilt, 10s. 6d.

⁂ A graphic and most extraordinary picture of the hearty English times in which these merry artists lived.

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Hood's Whims and Oddities. The Entire Work. Now issued Complete, the Two Parts in One Volume, with all the Humorous Designs. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; cloth neat, 1s. 6d.

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Hunt's (Leigh) Tale for a Chimney Corner, and other charming Essays. With Introduction by Edmund Ollier, and Portrait supplied by the late Thornton Hunt. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s. 4d.; cloth neat, 1s. 10d.

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Hunt's (Robert, F.R.S.) Drolls of Old Cornwall; or, Popular Romances of the West of England. New Edition, Complete in One Volume, with Illustrations by George Cruikshank. Crown 8vo, extra cloth gilt, 7s. 6d.

⁂ "Mr. Hunt's charming book on the Drolls and Stories of the West of England."—Saturday Review.

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Jennings' (Hargrave) One of the Thirty. With curious Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 10s. 6d.

⁂ An extraordinary narrative, tracing down one of the accursed pieces of silver for which Jesus of Nazareth was sold. Through eighteen centuries is this fated coin tracked, now in the possession of the innocent, now in the grasp of the guilty, but everywhere carrying with it the evil that fell upon Judas.

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Jennings' (Hargrave) The Rosicrucians: Their Rites and Mysteries. With chapters on the Ancient Fire and Serpent Worshippers, and Explanations of the Mystic Symbols represented in the Monuments and Talismans of the Primeval Philosophers. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, with about 300 Illustrations, 10s. 6d.

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Joe Miller's Jests; or, The Wit's Vade Mecum. Being a collection of the most brilliant Jests, the politest Repartees, the most elegant Bon-Mots, and most pleasant short Stories in the English Language. London: Printed by T. Read, 1739. A remarkable facsimile of the very rare Original Edition. 8vo, half-Roxburghe, 9s. 6d.

⁂ Only a very few copies of this humorous and racy old book have been reproduced.

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Josh Billings: His Book of Sayings. With Introduction by E. P. Hingston, Companion of Artemus Ward when on his "Travels." Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Kalendars of Gwynedd; or, Chronological Lists of Lords-Lieutenant, Sheriffs and Knights for Anglesey, Caernarvon, and Merioneth. With Lists of the Lords-Presidents of Wales, and the Constables of the Castles of Beaumaris, Caernarvon, Conway, and Harlech. Compiled by Edward Breese, F.S.A. With Notes by William Watkin Edward Wynne, Esq., F.S.A., of Penairth. Only a limited number printed. One volume, demy 4to, cloth extra, 28s.

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Lamb's (Charles) Essays of Elia. The Complete Work. Beautifully printed, and uniform with the "Essays of Leigh Hunt." Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; cloth neat, 1s. 6d.

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Leigh's Carols of Cockayne. Vers de Société, mostly descriptive of London Life. By Henry S. Leigh. With numerous exquisite Designs by Alfred Concanen and the late John Leech. Small 4to, elegant, uniform with "Puniana," 6s.

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Uniform with "Dr. Syntax."

Life in London; or, The Day and Night Scenes of Jerry Hawthorn and Corinthian Tom. With the whole of Cruikshank's very Droll Illustrations, in Colours, after the Originals. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

⁂ One of the most popular books ever issued. It was an immense favourite with George IV., and as a picture of London life fifty years ago was often quoted by Thackeray, who devotes one of his "Roundabout Papers" to a description of it.

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Literary Scraps. A Folio Scrap-Book of 340 columns, with guards, for the reception of Cuttings from Newspapers, Extracts, Miscellanea, &c. A very useful book. In folio, half-roan, cloth sides, 7s. 6d.

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Little Breeches, and other Pieces (Pike County Ballads). By Colonel John Hay. Foolscap 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s. 6d.

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The Little London Directory of 1677. The Oldest Printed List of the Merchants and Bankers of London. Reprinted from the Exceedingly Rare Original, with an Introduction by John Camden Hotten. 16mo, in a beautiful binding, after the original, 6s. 6d.

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The Log of the Water Lily, during Three Cruises on the Rhine, Neckar, Main, Moselle, Danube, Saone, and Rhone. By R. B. Mansfield, B.A. Illustrated by Alfred Thompson, B.A. Fifth Edition, revised and considerably enlarged. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, 5s.

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Longfellow's Prose Works, Complete, including his Stories and Essays, now for the first time collected. Edited, with a Preface, by the Author of "Tennysoniana." With Portrait and Illustrations, drawn by Valentine Bromley, and beautifully engraved, 650 pages, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d.

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Lost Beauties of the English Language. An Appeal to Authors, Poets, Clergymen, and Public Speakers; with an Introductory Essay. By Charles Mackay, LL.D. In crown 8vo, cloth extra, uniform with the "Slang Dictionary," 6s. 6d.

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Uniform with "The Magician's Own Book."

Magic and Mystery. A Splendid Collection of Tricks with Cards, Dice, Balls, &c., with fully descriptive working Directions. Crown 8vo, with numerous Illustrations, cloth extra, 4s. 6d.

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Companion to "The Secret Out."

The Magician's Own Book. Containing ample Instructions for Performances in Legerdemain with Cups and Balls, Eggs, Hats, Handkerchiefs, &c. All from Actual Experience. Edited by W. H. Cremer, Jun., of Regent Street. Cloth extra, with 200 Illustrations, 4s. 6d.

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MARK TWAIN'S WORKS.

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Mark Twain's Choice Works. With extra passages to the "Innocents Abroad," now first reprinted, and a Life of the Author. 50 Illustrations by Mark Twain and other Artists, and Portrait of the Author. 700 pages, cloth gilt, 7s. 6d.

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Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad: The Voyage Out. Crown 8vo, cloth, fine toned paper, 3s. 6d.; or fcap. 8vo, illustrated wrapper, 1s.

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Mark Twain's New Pilgrim's Progress: The Voyage Home. Crown 8vo, cloth, fine toned paper, 3s. 6d.; or fcap. 8vo, illustrated wrapper, 1s.

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Mark Twain's Burlesque Autobiography, First Mediæval Romance, and on Children. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 6d.

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Mark Twain's Eye-Openers. A Volume of immensely Funny Sayings, and Stories that will bring a smile upon the gruffest countenance. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated wrapper, 1s.

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Mark Twain's Jumping Frog, and other Humorous Sketches. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

"An inimitably funny book."—Saturday Review.

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Mark Twain's Pleasure Trip on the Continent of Europe. (The "Innocents Abroad" and "New Pilgrim's Progress" in one volume.) 500 pages, paper boards, 2s.; or in cloth, 2s. 6d.

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Mark Twain's Practical Jokes; or, Mirth with Artemus Ward, and other Papers. By Mark Twain, and other Humorists. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Mark Twain's Screamers. A Gathering of Delicious Bits and Short Stories. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Mayhew's London Characters: Illustrations of the Humour, Pathos, and Peculiarities of London Life. By Henry Mayhew, Author of "London Labour and the London Poor," and other Writers. With nearly 100 graphic Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, about 500 pages, 7s. 6d.

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Magna Charta. An exact Facsimile of the Original Document, preserved in the British Museum, very carefully drawn, and printed on fine plate paper, nearly 3 feet long by 2 feet wide, with the Arms and Seals of the Barons elaborately emblazoned in Gold and Colours, A.D. 1215. Price 5s.; or, handsomely framed and glazed, in carved oak, of an antique pattern, 22s. 6d.

A full Translation, with Notes, has been prepared, price 6d.

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ENTIRELY NEW GAMES.

The Merry Circle, and How the Visitors were entertained during Twelve Pleasant Evenings. A Book of New Intellectual Games and Amusements. Edited by Mrs. Clara Bellew. Crown 8vo, numerous Illustrations, cloth extra, 4s. 6d.

⁂ A capital Book of Household Amusements, which will please both old and young. It is an excellent book to consult before going to an evening party.

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Monumental Inscriptions of the West Indies, from the Earliest Date, with Genealogical and Historical Annotations, &c., from Original, Local, and other Sources. Illustrative of the Histories and Genealogies of the Seventeenth Century, the Calendars of State Papers, Peerages, and Baronetages. With Engravings of the Arms of the principal Families. Chiefly collected on the spot by the Author, Capt. J. H. Lawrence-Archer. One volume, demy 4to, about 300 pages, cloth extra, 21s.

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Mr. Brown on the Goings-on of Mrs. Brown at the Tichborne Trial, &c. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Mr. Sprouts: His Opinions. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Uniform with "Tom D'Urfey's Pills."

Musarum Deliciæ; or, The Muses' Recreation, 1656; Wit Restor'd, 1658; and Wit's Recreations, 1640. The whole compared with the originals; with all the Wood Engravings, Plates, Memoirs, and Notes. A New Edition, in 2 volumes, post 8vo, beautifully printed 011 antique laid paper, and bound in antique boards, 21s. A few Large Paper copies have been prepared, price 35s.

⁂ Of the Poets of the Restoration, there are none whose works are more rare than those of Sir John Mennis and Dr. James Smith. The small volume entitled "Musarum Deliciæ; or, The Muses' Recreation," which contains the productions of these two friends, was not accessible to Mr. Freeman when he compiled his "Kentish Poets," and has since become so rare that it is only found in the cabinets of the curious. A reprint of the "Musarum Deliciæ," together with several other kindred pieces of the period, appeared in 1817, forming two volumes of Facetiæ, edited by Mr. E. Dubois, author of "The Wreath," &c. These volumes having in turn become exceedingly scarce, the Publishers venture to put forth the present new edition, in which, while nothing has been omitted, no pains have been spared to render it more complete and elegant than any that has yet appeared. The type, plates, and woodcuts of the originals have been accurately followed; the notes of the Editor of 1817 are considerably augmented, and indexes have been added, together with a portrait of Sir John Mennis, from a painting by Vandyke in Lord Clarendon's Collection.

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The Mystery of Mr. E. Drood. An Adaptation. By Orpheus C. Kerr. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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The Mystery of the Good Old Cause: Sarcastic Notices of those Members of the Long Parliament that held Places, both Civil and Military, contrary to the Self-denying Ordinance of April 3, 1645; with Sums of Money and Lands they divided among themselves. Small 4to, half-morocco, 7s. 6d.

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Never Caught in Blockade-Running. An exciting book of Adventures during the American Civil War. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Napoleon III., the Man of His Time; from Caricatures. Part I. The Story of the Life of Napoleon III., as told by J. M. Haswell.

Part II. The Same Story, as told by the Popular Caricatures of the past Thirty-five Years. Crown 8vo, with Coloured Frontispiece and over 100 Caricatures, 400 pp., 7s. 6d.

⁂ The object of this Work is to give Both Sides of the Story. The Artist has gone over the entire ground of Continental and English Caricatures for the last third of a century, and a very interesting book is the result.

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Nuggets and Dust, panned out in California by Dod Grile. Edited by J. Milton Sloluck. A new style of Humour and Satire. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

⁂ If Artemus Ward may be considered the Douglas Jerrold, and Mark Twain the Sydney Smith of America, Dod Grile will rank as their Dean Swift.

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The Old Prose Stories whence Tennyson's "Idylls of the King" were taken. By B. M. Ranking. Royal 16mo, paper cover, 1s.; cloth extra, 1s. 6d.

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THE OLD DRAMATISTS.

Ben Jonson's Works. With Notes, Critical and Explanatory, and a Biographical Memoir by William Gifford. Edited by Lieut.-Col. Francis Cunningham. Complete in 3 vols., crown 8vo, Portrait. Cloth, 6s. each; cloth gilt, 6s. 6d. each.

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George Chapman's Plays, Complete, from the Original Quartos. With an Introduction by Algernon Charles Swinburne. Crown 8vo, Portrait. Cloth, 6s.; cloth gilt, 6s. 6d.

[In preparation.

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Christopher Marlowe's Works: Including his Translations. Edited, with Notes and Introduction, by Lieut.-Col. F. Cunningham. Crown 8vo, Portrait. Cloth, 6s.; cloth gilt, 6s. 6d.

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Philip Massinger's Plays. From the Text of Wm. Gifford. With the addition of the Tragedy of "Believe as You List." Edited by Lieut.-Col. Francis Cunningham. Crown 8vo, Portrait. Cloth, 6s.; cloth gilt, 6s. 6d.

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Original Lists of Persons of Quality; Emigrants; Religious Exiles; Political Rebels; Serving Men Sold for a Term of Years; Apprentices; Children Stolen; Maidens Pressed; and others who went from Great Britain to the American Plantations, 1600-1700. With their Ages, the Localities where they formerly Lived in the Mother Country, Names of the Ships in which they embarked, and other interesting particulars. From MSS. preserved in the State Paper Department of Her Majesty's Public Record Office, England. Edited by John Camden Hotten. A very handsome volume, crown 4to, cloth gilt, 700 pages, 31s. 6d. A few Large Paper copies have been printed, price 50s.

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Parochial History of the County of Cornwall. Compiled from the best authorities, and corrected and improved from actual survey. 4 vols. 4to, cloth extra, £3 3s. the set; or, separately, the first three volumes, 16s. each; the fourth volume, 18s.

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Companion to the "Bon Gaultier Ballads."

Puck on Pegasus. By H. Cholmondeley Pennell. In 4to, printed within an India-paper tone, and elegantly bound, gilt, gilt edges, price 10s. 6d.

⁂ This most amusing work has passed through Five Editions, receiving everywhere the highest praise as "a clever and brilliant book." In addition to the designs of George Cruikshank, John Leech, Julian Portch, "Phiz," and other artists, Sir Noel Paton, Millais, John Tenniel, Richard Doyle, and M. Ellen Edwards have now contributed several exquisite pictures, thus making the New Edition—which is Twice the Size of the old one—the best book for the Drawing-room table published.

By the same Author.

Modern Babylon, and other Poems. Small crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, 4s. 6d.

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Companion to "Cussans' Heraldry."

The Pursuivant of Arms; or, Heraldry founded upon Facts. A Popular Guide to the Science of Heraldry. By J. R. Planché, Esq., F.S.A., Somerset Herald. To which are added, Essays on the Badges of the Houses of Lancaster and York. A New Edition, enlarged and revised by the Author, illustrated with Coloured Frontispiece, five full-page Plates, and about 200 Illustrations. Beautifully bound in cloth, with Emblematic Design, extra gilt, 7s. 6d.

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PICCADILLY ANNUAL FOR 1874.

The Knowing Ones at Home. Stories of their Doings at a Local Science Meeting, at the Crystal Palace, at St. Paul's, at a Foresters' Fête, &c., &c. A New and entirely Original Humorous Story, crammed with Fun from the first page to the last. Profusely Illustrated by Brunton, Matt Morgan, and other Artists. 4to, handsome wrapper, 1s.

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Policeman Y: His Opinions on War and the Millingtary. With Illustrations by the Author, John Edward Soden. Cloth, very neat, 2s. 6d.; in paper, 1s.

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For Gold and Silversmiths.

Private Book of Useful Alloys and Memoranda for Goldsmiths and Jewellers. By James E. Collins, C.E., of Birmingham. Royal 16mo, 3s. 6d.

⁂ The secrets of the Gold and Silversmiths' Art are here given, for the benefit of young Apprentices and Practitioners. It is an invaluable book to the Trade.

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"An Awfully Jolly Book for Parties."

Puniana: Thoughts Wise and Otherwise. By the Hon. Hugh Rowley. Best Book of Riddles and Puns ever formed. With nearly 100 exquisitely Fanciful Drawings. Contains nearly 3000 of the best Riddles, and 10,000 most outrageous Puns, and is one of the most Popular Books ever issued. New Edition, small quarto, uniform with the "Bab Ballads." Price 6s.

"Enormous burlesque—unapproachable and pre-eminent. We venture to think that this very queer volume will be a favourite. It deserves to be so; and we should suggest that, to a dull person desirous to get credit with the young holiday people, it would be good policy to invest in the book, and dole it out by instalments."—Saturday Review.

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By the same Author.

A Second Series of Puniana: Containing nearly 100 beautifully executed Drawings, and a splendid Collection of Riddles and Puns, fully equal to those in the First Volume. Small quarto, uniform with the First Series, cloth gilt, gilt edges, 6s.

[Nearly ready.

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GUSTAVE DORÉ'S DESIGNS.

The Works of Rabelais. Faithfully translated from the French, with variorum Notes, and numerous characteristic Illustrations by Gustave Doré. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 700 pages. Price 7s. 6d.

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Uniform with "Wonderful Characters."

Remarkable Trials and Notorious Characters. From "Half-Hanged Smith," 1700, to Oxford, who shot at the Queen, 1840. By Captain L. Benson. With spirited full-page Engravings by Phiz. 8vo, 550 pages, 7s. 6d.

⁂ A Complete Library of Sensation Literature! There are plots enough here to produce a hundred "exciting" Novels, and at least five hundred "powerful" Magazine Stories. The book will be appreciated by all readers whose taste lies in this direction.

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Rochefoucauld's Reflections and Moral Maxims. With Introductory Essay by Sainte-Beuve, and Explanatory Notes. Royal 16mo, elegantly printed, 1s.; cloth neat, 1s. 6d.

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Rogues and Vagabonds of the Racecourse. Full Explanations how they Cheat at Roulette, Three Cards, Thimble-rig; with some Account of the Welsher and Money-Lender. By Alfred Toulmin, late 65th Regt. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Roll of Battle Abbey; or, A List of the Principal Warriors who came over from Normandy with William the Conqueror, and Settled in this Country, A.D. 1066-7. Carefully drawn, and printed on fine plate paper, nearly three feet by two feet, with the Arms of the principal Barons elaborately emblazoned in Gold and Colours. Price 5s.; or, handsomely framed in carved oak of an antique pattern, 22s. 6d.

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Roll of Caerlaverock: the Oldest Heraldic Roll; including the Original Anglo-Norman Poem, and an English Translation of the MS. in the British Museum. By Thomas Wright, M.A. The Arms emblazoned in gold and colours. In 4to, very handsomely printed, extra gold cloth, 12s.

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Roman Catholics in the County of York in 1604. Transcribed from the Original MS. in the Bodleian Library, and Edited, with Genealogical Notes, by Edward Peacock, F.S.A., Editor of "Army Lists of the Roundheads and Cavaliers, 1642." Small 4to, handsomely printed and bound, 15s.

⁂ Genealogists and Antiquaries "will find much new and curious matter in this work. An elaborate Index refers to every name in the volume, among which will be found many of the highest local interest."

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Ross's (Chas. H.) Unlikely Tales and Wrong-Headed Essays. Fcap. 8vo, with numerous quaint and amusing Illustrations, 1s.

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Ross's (Chas. H.) Story of a Honeymoon. A New Edition of this charmingly humorous book, with numerous Illustrations by the Author. Fcap. 8vo, picture boards, 2s.

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School Life at Winchester College; or, The Reminiscences of a Winchester Junior. By the Author of "The Log of the Water Lily;" and "The Water Lily on the Danube." Second Edition, Revised. Coloured Plates, 1s. 6d.

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The Secret Out; or, One Thousand Tricks with Cards, and other Recreations; with Entertaining Experiments in Drawing Room or "White Magic." By the Author of the "Magician's Own Book." Edited by W. H. Cremer, Jun., of Regent Street. With 300 Engravings. Crown 8vo, cloth, 4s. 6d.

⁂ Under the title of "Le Magicien des Salons," this book has long been a Standard Magic Book with all French and German Professors of the Art. The tricks are described so carefully, with engravings to illustrate them, that not the slightest difficulty can be experienced in performing them.

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Shaving Them; or, The Adventures of Three Yankees. By Titus A. Brick. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Shelley's Early Life. From Original Sources. With Curious Incidents, Letters, and Writings, now First Published or Collected. By Denis Florence Mac-Carthy. Cheaper Edition, crown 8vo, with Illustrations, 440 pages, 7s. 6d.

⁂ A most interesting volume of new biographical facts. The work possesses special interest to Irish readers, as the poet's political pamphlets, advocating Home Rule and other rights, are here for the first time given in a collected form. These pamphlets Shelley and his wife threw front the balcony of a window in Sackville Street, as the best means of publishing the poet's political principles.

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THE POCKET SHELLEY.

Shelley, from the Godwin Sketch.

Shelley's Poetical Works. Now First Reprinted from the Author's Original Editions. In Two Series, the First containing "Queen Mab" and the Early Poems; the Second, "Laon and Cythna," "The Cenci," and Later Poems. In royal 16mo, thick volumes. Price of the First Series, 1s. 8d. illustrated cover, 2s. 2d. cloth extra; Second Series, 1s. 8d. illustrated cover, 2s. 2d. cloth extra.

The Third Series, completing the Work, will shortly be ready.

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Sheridan's (Richard Brinsley) Complete Works, with Life and Anecdotes. Including his Dramatic Writings, printed from the Original Editions, his works in Prose and Poetry, Translations, Speeches, Jokes, Puns, &c.; with a Collection of Sheridaniana. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, with Portrait and Illustrations, 7s. 6d.

[Preparing.

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Shirley Brooks' Amusing Poetry. A Collection of Humorous Poems. Selected by Shirley Brooks, Editor of Punch. Fcap. 8vo, paper boards, 2s.

[Preparing.

⁂ This work has for many years been out of print, and very scarce.

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Signboards: Their History. With Anecdotes of Famous Taverns and Remarkable Characters. By Jacob Larwood and John Camden Hotten. Seventh Edition. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 580 pp., 7s. 6d.

Bull and Mouth.

"It is not fair on the part of a reviewer to pick out the plums of an author's book, thus filching away his cream, and leaving little but skim-milk remaining; but, even if we were ever so maliciously inclined, we could not in the present instance pick out all Messrs. Larwood and Hotten's plums, because the good things are so numerous as to defy the most wholesale depredation."—The Times.

⁂ Nearly 100 most curious illustrations on wood are given, showing the various old signs which were formerly hung from taverns and other houses.

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CHARLES DICKENS' EARLY SKETCHES.

Sketches of Young Couples, Young Ladies and Young Gentlemen. By "Quiz" (Charles Dickens). With 18 Steel-plate Illustrations by "Phiz" (H. K. Browne). A New Edition, crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 4s. 6d.

[Preparing.

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The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical, and Anecdotal. An Entirely New Edition, revised throughout, and considerably Enlarged, containing upwards of a thousand more words than the last edition. Crown 8vo, with Curious Illustrations, cloth extra, 6s. 6d.

"Valuable as a work of reference."—Saturday Review.

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A KEEPSAKE FOR SMOKERS.

The Smoker's Text-Book. By J. Hamer, F.R.S.L. Exquisitely printed from "silver-faced" type, cloth, very neat, gilt edges, 2s. 6d., post free.

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WEST-END LIFE AND DOINGS.

The Story of the London Parks. By Jacob Larwood. With numerous Illustrations, Coloured and Plain. In One thick Volume, crown 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, 7s. 6d.

⁂ A most interesting work, giving a complete History of these favourite out-of-door resorts, from the earliest period to the present time.

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CHARMING NEW TRAVEL-BOOK.

"It may be we shall touch the happy isles."

Summer Cruising in the South Seas. By Charles Warren Stoddard. With nearly Thirty Engravings on Wood, drawn by Wallis Mackay. Crown 8vo, cloth, extra gilt, 7s. 6d.

⁂ Chapters descriptive of life and adventure in the South Sea Islands, in the style made so popular by "The Earl and the Doctor."

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ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE'S WORKS.

Swinburne's William Blake: A Critical Essay. With facsimile Paintings, Coloured by Hand, after the Drawings by Blake and his Wife. Thick 8vo, cloth extra, price 16s.

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Swinburne's Atalanta in Calydon. New Edition. Foolscap 8vo, price 6s.

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Swinburne's Bothwell. A New Poem.

[In preparation.

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Swinburne's Chastelard. A Tragedy. New Edition. Price 7s.

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Swinburne's Poems and Ballads. New Edition. Price 9s.

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Swinburne's Notes on his Poems, and on the Reviews which have appeared upon them. Price 1s.

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Swinburne's Queen Mother and Rosamond. New Edition. Foolscap 8vo, price 5s.

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Swinburne's Song of Italy. Foolscap 8vo, toned paper, cloth, price 3s. 6d.

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WILLIAM COMBE'S BEST WORK.

Dr. Syntax's Three Tours. With the whole of Rowlandson's very droll full-page Illustrations, in Colours, after the Original Drawings. Comprising the well-known Tours—

1. In Search of the Picturesque.
2. In Search of Consolation.
3. In Search of a Wife.

The Three-Series Complete and Unabridged, with a Life of the Author by John Camden Hotten. 8vo, cloth extra, gilt, in one handsome volume, price 7s. 6d.

⁂ One of the most amusing and laughable books ever published.

A Smaller Edition, with Eight Coloured Plates, the text complete, price 3s. 6d.

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Theodore Hook's House, near Putney.

Theodore Hook's Ramsbottom Papers. The whole 29 Letters, complete and unabridged, precisely as they left the pen of their genial and witty Author. Fcap. 8vo, illustrated cover, 1s.

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Taylor's History of Playing Cards. With Sixty curious Illustrations, 550 pp., price 7s. 6d.

⁂ Ancient and Modern Games, Conjuring, Fortune-Telling, and Card Sharping, Gambling and Calculation, Cartomancy, Old Gaming-Houses, Card Revels and Blind Hookey, Picquet and Vingt-et-un, Whist and Cribbage, Tricks, &c.

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Thackerayana. Notes and Anecdotes illustrative of Scenes and Characters in the Works of William Makepeace Thackeray. With nearly Four Hundred Illustrations, coloured and plain. In 8vo, uniform with the Library Edition of his works, 7s. 6d.

[Preparing.

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Theodore Hook's Choice Humorous Works, with his Ludicrous Adventures, Bons-mots, Puns, and Hoaxes. With a new Life of the Author. Portraits, Facsimiles, and Illustrations. Cr. 8vo, 600 pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

⁂ "As a wit and humorist of the highest order his name will be preserved. His political songs and jeux d'esprit, when the hour comes for collecting them, will form a volume of sterling and lasting attraction!"—J. G. Lockhart.

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The Subscription Room at Brookes's.

Timbs' Clubs and Club Life in London. With Anecdotes of its Famous Coffee Houses, Hostelries, and Taverns. By John Timbs, F.S.A. New Edition, with Numerous Illustrations, drawn expressly. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 600 pages, 7s. 6d.

⁂ A Companion to "The History of Sign-Boards." It abounds in quaint stories of old London Clubs—the Blue Stocking, Kit Kat, Beef Steak, Robin Hood, Mohocks, Scriblerus, One o'Clock, the Civil, and hundreds of others; together with Tom's, Dick's, Button's, Ned's, Will's, and the famous Coffee Houses of the last century. A full account of the great modern clubs of Pall Mall and St. James's is also given. The book is a mine of anecdote.

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Timbs' English Eccentrics and Eccentricities. Stories of Wealth and Fashion, Delusions, Impostures and Fanatic Missions, Strange Sights and Sporting Scenes, Eccentric Artists, Theatrical Folks, Men of Letters, &c. By John Timbs, F.S.A. An entirely New Edition, with numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 600 pages, 7s. 6d.

[Preparing.

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Uniform with "The Turf, Chase, and Road."

"Tom Smith." Reminiscences of the late Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq.; or, The Pursuits of an English Country Gentleman. By Sir J. E. Eardley Wilmot, Bart. A New and Revised Edition, with steel-plate Portrait, and plain and coloured Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 7s. 6d.

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Vers de Société. An entirely New Selection, fuller and better than any hitherto made; introducing all the Old Favourites, and many new ones. Edited by H. Cholmondeley Pennell, Author of "Puck on Pegasus." Beautifully printed, and bound in cloth, extra gilt, 6s.

[Preparing.

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Victor Hugo's Les Misérables: Fantine. Now first published in an English Translation, complete and unabridged. Post 8vo, illustrated boards, 2s.

[Nearly ready.

The other Stories (each complete in itself) will follow.

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Vyner's Notitia Venatica: A Treatise on Fox-Hunting, the General Management of Hounds, and the Diseases of Dogs; Distemper and Rabies; Kennel Lameness, &c. Sixth Edition, Enlarged. By Robert C. Vyner, Esq., of Eathorpe Hall, Warwickshire. With spirited Illustrations in Colours, by Alken, of Memorable Fox-Hunting Scenes. Royal 8vo, cloth extra, 21s.

⁂ An entirely new edition of the best work on Fox-Hunting.

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Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. The Complete Work, precisely as issued by the Author in Washington. A thick volume, 8vo, green cloth, price 9s.

"Whitman is a poet who bears and needs to be read as a whole, and then the volume and torrent of his power carry the disfigurements along with it and away. He is really a fine fellow."—Chambers's Journal.

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Warrant to Execute Charles I. An exact Facsimile of this important Document, with the Fifty-nine Signatures of the Regicides, and corresponding Seals, admirably executed on paper made to imitate the original document, 22 in. by 14 in. Price 2s.; or, handsomely framed and glazed in carved oak of antique pattern, 14s. 6d.

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Warrant to Execute Mary Queen of Scots. The Exact Facsimile of this important Document, including the Signature of Queen Elizabeth and Facsimile of the Great Seal, on tinted paper, made to imitate the Original MS. Price 2s.; or, handsomely framed and glazed in carved oak of antique pattern, 14s. 6d.

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Wonderful Characters: Memoirs and Anecdotes of Remarkable and Eccentric Persons of Every Age and Nation. From the text of Henry Wilson and James Caulfield. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, with Sixty-one full-page Engravings of Extraordinary Persons, 7s. 6d.

⁂ There are so many curious matters discussed in this volume, that any person who takes it up will not readily lay it down until he has read it through. The Introduction is almost entirely devoted to a consideration of Pig-Faced Ladies, and the various stories concerning them.

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Wright's (Andrew) Court-Hand Restored; or, Student's Assistant in Reading Old Deeds, Charters, Records, &c. Half Morocco, a New Edition, 10s. 6d.

⁂ The best guide to the reading of old Records, &c.

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Wright's History of Caricature and the Grotesque in Art, in Literature, Sculpture, and Painting, from the Earliest Times to the Present Day. By Thomas Wright, Esq., F.S.A. Profusely illustrated by Fairholt. Small 4to, cloth extra gilt, red edges, 21s.

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Wright's Caricature History of the Georges (House of Hanover). A very Entertaining Book of 640 pages, with 400 Pictures, Caricatures, Squibs, Broadsides, Window Pictures, &c. By Thomas Wright, Esq., F.S.A. Crown 8vo, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. A few copies of a Large Paper Edition are still on sale, with extra Portraits, bound in half-morocco, 30s.

"A set of caricatures such as we have in Mr. Wright's volume brings the surface of the age before us with a vividness that no prose writer, even of the highest power, could emulate. Macaulay's most brilliant sentence is weak by the side of the little woodcut from Gillray, which gives us Burke and Fox."—Saturday Review.

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ALL THE BEST AMERICAN HUMOUR.

Yankee Drolleries. Edited by George Augustus Sala. Containing Artemus Ward, His Book; Biglow Papers; Orpheus C. Kerr; Major Jack Downing; and Nasby Papers. 700 pages, cloth, 3s. 6d.

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More Yankee Drolleries. A Second Series of the best American Humourists. Containing Artemus Ward's Travels; Hans Breitmann; The Professor at the Breakfast Table; Biglow Papers, Part II.; and Josh Billings; with an Introduction by George Augustus Sala. 700 pages, cloth, 3s. 6d.

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A Third Supply of Yankee Drolleries. Containing Artemus Ward's Fenians; The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table; Bret Harte's Stories; The Innocents Abroad; and New Pilgrim's Progress; with an Introduction by George Augustus Sala. 700 pages, cloth, 3s. 6d.

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Popular Shilling Books, mostly Humorous,

In Illustrated Covers.

(See also under alphabetical arrangement.)

American Happy Thoughts.
Artemus Ward: Among the Mormons.
———— His Book.
———— Letters to Punch.
Awful Crammers. By Titus A. Brick.
Babies and Ladders. By Emmanuel Kink.
Biglow Papers.
Bret Harte's East and West.
———— Luck of Roaring Camp.
———— Stories of the Sierras.
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Brown (Mr.) on the Goings on of Mrs. Brown.
Byron in Love. By Howard Paul.
Carlyle (Thomas) on the Choice of Books.
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Danbury Newsman. By J. M. Bailey.
Derby Day: a Sporting Novel.
Dod Grile's Fiend's Delight.
———— Nuggets and Dust.
Du Chaillu's Country of the Dwarfs.
Fun for the Million. By the best Humourists of the Day.
Hans Breitmann's Ballads.
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—— Professor at the Breakfast Table.
—— Wit and Humour.
Hood's Whims and Oddities. Both Series, complete.
Josh Billings: his Book of Sayings.
Lamb's Essays of Elia. Both Series, complete.
Mr. Sprouts: His Opinions.
Mark Twain's Innocents Abroad.
———— Jumping Frog.
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———— Practical Jokes.
———— Screamers.
Mystery of Mr. E. Drood. By O. C. Kerr.
Never Caught. The Blockade-runner's Story.
Orpheus C. Kerr Papers.
Piccadilly Annual for 1874: Knowing Ones at Home.
Policeman Y: Ballads. Illustrated.
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Rogues and Vagabonds of the Racecourse.
Ross's Unlikely Tales and Wrong-headed Essays.
Shaving Them. By Titus A. Brick.
Theodore Hook's Ramsbottom Papers.

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The Golden Library of the Best Authors.

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⁂ A charming collection of Favourite Works, elegantly printed in Handy Volumes, uniform with the Tauchnitz Series.

(See also under alphabetical arrangement.)

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Bayard Taylor.—Diversions of the Echo Club. 1s. 6d.; cloth, 2s.

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.

Footnotes have been moved to the end of the book text, and before the publisher's Book Catalog. Some Footnotes are very long.

The 3-star asterism symbol in the Catalog is denoted by ⁂. On some handheld devices it may display as a space.

To avoid duplication, the page numbering in the publisher's Book Catalog at the back of the book has a suffix C added, so that for example page [23] in the Catalog is denoted as [23C].

Footnotes [13] and [29] are referenced from the prior Footnotes [12] and [28], not from the text itself.

For consistency and to follow the intent of the publisher, the PLATE illustrations have been moved to the beginning of the section describing them. In most cases this was only one or two paragraphs earlier than the original book layout.

Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text, and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained. For example, enniched; biasses; dismission; disquisitions; threadbare, thread-bare; shoeblack, shoe-black.

[Pg 17], 'Leonarda da Vinci' replaced by 'Leonardo da Vinci'.
[Pg 18], 'reply the monarch' replaced by 'replied the monarch'.
[Pg 18], 'Leonarda da Vinci' replaced by 'Leonardo da Vinci'.
[Pg 46], Footnote [12], 'Albert Durer' replaced by 'Albrecht Durer'.
[Pg 57], 'Gobelines' replaced by 'Gobelins'.
[Pg 60], Illustration caption: 'BEAUTY, PLATE II.' replaced by 'BEAUTY, PLATE I.'.
[Pg 74], 'Corregio's Sigismunda' replaced by 'Correggio's Sigismunda'.
[Pg 76], 'even by Corregio' replaced by 'even by Correggio'.
[Pg 140], 'similiar compliment' replaced by 'similar compliment'.
[Pg 217], 'artifical light' replaced by 'artificial light'.
Catalog of Books:
[Pg 15C], 'very beau-ful' replaced by 'very beautiful'.
[Pg 38C], 'wholesale de redation' replaced by 'wholesale depredation'.
[Pg 43C], 'booh is a mine' replaced by 'book is a mine'.