"There elbowing in 'mong the crowd with a jog,
Lo! good father Tobit, said I, with his dog!
But the artist is wrong; for the dog should be drawn
At the heels of his master in trot o'er the lawn,—
To your idle remarks I take leave to demur,
'Tis not Tobit, nor yet his canonical cur,
(Quoth a sage in the crowd) for I'd have you to know, Sir,
'Tis Hogarth himself and his honest friend Towser,
Inseparate companions! and therefore you see
Cheek by jowl they are drawn in familiar degree;
Both striking the eye with an equal eclat,
The biped This here, and the quadruped That—
You mean—the great dog and the man, I suppose,
Or the man and the dog—be't just as you chuse.—
You correct yourself rightly—when much to be blam'd,
For the worthiest person you first should have nam'd,
Great dog! why great man I methinks you should say.
Split the difference, my friend, they're both great in their way.
Is't he then so famous for drawing a punk,
A harlot, a rake, and a parson so drunk,
Whom Trotplaid[1] delivers to praise as his friend?
Thus a jacknapes a lion would fain recommend.—
The very self same—how boldly they strike,
And I can't forbear thinking they're somewhat alike.—
Oh fie! to a dog would you Hogarth compare?—
Not so—I say only they're alike as it were,
A respectable pair! all spectators allow,
And that they deserve a description below
In capital letters, Behold we are Two."
[1] The name under which Fielding wrote a news-paper called The Jacobite's Journal, the frontispiece by Hogarth.
4. Portrait of Hogarth, small circle. Mr. Basire (to whom this plate has been ascribed) says it is much in our artist's manner. On enquiry, however, it appears to be no other than a watch-paper "Published according to Act of Parliament by R. Sayer, opposite Fetter-lane, Sept. 29, 1749," and certainly copied from the small portrait of our artist introduced in The Roast Beef of Old England. Another head of him, with a fur cap on, was also edited by the same printseller, at the same time. There is likewise a third head of Hogarth, in an oval, prefixed as a frontispiece to "A Dissertation" on his six prints, &c. Gin Lane, &c. which appeared in 1751.
1750.
1. Thomas Herring, Archbishop of Canterbury. W. Hogarth p. B. Baron sculp. Of this picture (which is preserved in Lambeth-Palace) the Archbishop, in a letter to Mr. Duncombe, says, "None of my friends can bear Hogarth's picture;" and Mr. Duncombe, the son, in a note to this epistle, observes, that "this picture (as appears by the print engraved by Baron in 1750) exhibits rather a caricature than a likeness, the figure being gigantic, the features all aggravated and outrés, and, on the whole, so far from conveying an idea of that os placidum, moresque benigni, as Dr. Jortin expresses it, that engaging sweetness and benevolence, which were characteristic of this prelate, that they seem rather expressive of a Bonner, who could burn a heretic.
"Lovat's hard features Hogarth might command;
A Herring's sweetness asks a Reynolds' hand."
Hogarth however made the following observation while the Archbishop was sitting to him: "Your Grace, perhaps, does not know that some of our chief dignitaries in the church have had the best luck in their portraits. The most excellent heads painted by Vandyck and Kneller, were those of Laud and Tillotson. The crown of my works will be the representation of your Grace."
2. Jacobus Gibbs, Architectus, A. M. and F. R. S. Hogarth delin. Baron sculp. The same face as that in [1747], but in an octagon frame, which admits more of the body to be shewn, as well as some architecture in the back ground. There is also a smaller head of Gibbs, in a circle, &c. but whether engraved by Baron from a picture by Hogarth, or any other hand, is uncertain. Perhaps it was designed as a vignette for some splendid edition of Gibbs's works.