1763.
1. John Wilkes, Esq. Drawn from the life, and etched in aquafortis by Wm. Hogarth. Price 1s. It was published with the following oblique note. This is "a direct contrast to a print of Simon Lord Lovat."[1]
Mr. Wilkes, with his usual good humour, has been heard to observe, that he is every day growing more and more like his portrait by Hogarth.
In the second impressions of this plate there are a few slight variations, sufficient at least to shew that the face of the person represented had been retouched. I have been told, by a copper-plate printer, that near 4000 copies of this caricature were worked off on its first publication. Being kept up for two or three following nights on the occasion, he has reason to remember it.
[1] The original drawing, which was thrown by Hogarth into the fire, was snatched out of it by Mrs. Lewis, and is now in the possession of Mr. S. Ireland.
2. The Bruiser C. Churchill,[1] in the character of a Russian Hercules, &c. The Russian Hercules was thus explained, in August, 1763, by an admirer of Hogarth: "The principal figure is a Russian Bear (i. e. Mr. Churchill) with a club in his left paw, which he hugs to his side, and which is intended to denote his friendship to Mr. Wilkes: on the notches of the club are wrote, Lye 1, Lye 2, &c. signifying the falsities in The North Briton: in his other paw is a gallon pot of porter, of which (being very hot) he seems going to drink: round his neck is a clergyman's band, which is torn, and seems intended to denote the bruiser. The other figure is a Pug-dog, which is supposed to mean Mr. Hogarth himself, pissing with the greatest contempt on the epistle wrote to him by C. Churchill. In the centre is a prison begging-box, standing on a folio, the title of which is, Great George-Street. A list of the Subscribers to the North Briton: underneath is another book, the title of which is, A New Way to pay Old Debts, a Comedy, by Massinger. All of which allude to Mr. Wilkes's debts, to be defrayed by the subscriptions to The North Briton."
The same design is thus illustrated by a person who thought somewhat differently of our artist: "The Bear, with the shattered band, represents the former strength and abilities of Mr. Hogarth: the full pot of beer likewise shews that he was in a land of plenty. The stump of a headless tree with the notches, and on them wrote Lye, Signifies Mr. Hogarth's former art, and the many productions thereof, wherein he has excelled even Nature itself, and which of course must be but lies, flattery, and fallacy, the Painter's Prerogative; and the stump of the tree only being left, shews that there can be no more fruit expected from thence, but that it only stands as a record of his former services. The Butcher's Dog pissing upon Mr. Churchill's epistle, alludes to the present state of Mr. Hogarth; that he is arrived at such an age to be reduced so low, as, from the strength of a Bear, to a blind Butcher's Dog, not able to distinguish, but pissing upon his best friend; or, perhaps, giving the public a hint to read that Epistle, where his case is more fully laid before them. The next matter to be explained is the subscription-box, and under it is a book said to contain a list of the Subscribers to the North Briton, as well as one of a New Way to pay Old Debts. Mr. Hogarth mentioned The North Briton, to avoid the censure of the rabble in the street, who, he knew, would neither pity nor relieve him; and as Mr. Churchill was reputed to be the writer of that paper, it would seem to give a colour in their eyes of its being intended against Mr. Churchill. Mr. Hogarth meant only to shew his necessity, and that a book, entitled A List of the Subscribers to the North Briton, contained, in fact, a list of those who should contribute to the support of Mr. Hogarth in old age. By the book entitled A New Way to pay Old Debts, he can only mean this, that when a man is become disabled to get his livelihood, and much in debt, the only shift he has left is, to go a-begging to his creditors.
"There are likewise some of his old tools in this print, without any hand to use them."
On the same occasion were published the following verses, "on Mr. Hogarth's last delicate performance:"
"What Merit could from native Genius boast,
To civilize the age, and please us most,
In lasting images each scene to grace,
And all the soul to gather in the face,
In one small sheet a volume to conceal,
Yet all the story finely to reveal,
Was once the glory of our Hogarth's name;
But see, the short-liv'd eminence of fame
Now dwindles like the exit of a flame,
From which when once the unctuous juice is fled,
A stinking vapour rises in its stead:
So drops our Painter in his later day,
His former virtue worn, alas! away,
What busy dæmon, for thy cursed design'd,
Could thus induce the rancour of thy mind
To strike so boldly, with an impious hand,
Against the blessings of thy native land?
Open and unabash'd thy fury flies,
And all regard for liberty denies.
"When Catiline, with more than human hate,
Resolv'd the ruin of the Roman state,
In secret he pursu'd the hellish plan,
Nor did his wickedness survive the man.
His cruel arts are all by others shown,
And thou the brave assertor of thy own:
Nay, thy grim sheets thy principles will show,
When Charon wafts thee to the realms below,
Where all like thee shall unlamented go."