The little figure in the sinister corner is, it seems, intended for a Mr. Tothall, a woollen-draper, who lived in Tavistock Court, and was Hogarth's intimate friend.
The name of the performer on his right hand,
"Whose growling bass
Would drown the clarion of the braying ass,"
I cannot learn; nor do I think that this group were meant for particular portraits, but a general representation of the violent distortions into which these crotchet-mongers draw their features on such solemn occasions.
Even the head of the bass viol has air and character: by the band under the chin, it gives some idea of a professor,[180] or what is I think called a Mus. D.
The words now singing, "The world shall bow to the Assyrian throne," are extracted from Mr. Huggins' oratorio; the etching is in a most masterly style, and was originally given as a subscription-ticket to "The Modern Midnight Conversation."
I have seen a small political print on Sir Robert Walpole's administration, entitled, Excise, a new Ballad Opera, of which this was unquestionably the basis. Beneath it is the following learned and poetical motto:
"Experto crede Roberto."