"London. Printed for the Author; and are to be sold at his house in Well-Court in Queen-Street, near Cheapside, 1726."
48. Farinelli, Cuzzoni, and Heydegger. Cuzzoni and Farinelli are singing a duet. The latter is in the character of a prisoner, being chained by his little finger. Heydegger sits behind, and is supposed to utter the eight following lines, which are engraved under the plate:
Thou tuneful scarecrow, and thou warbling bird,
No shelter for your notes these lands afford.
This town protects no more the singsong strain,
Whilst Balls and Masquerades triumphant reign.
Sooner than midnight revels ere should fail,
And ore Ridottos Harmony prevail;
The cap (a refuge once) my head shall grace,
And save from ruin this harmonious face.[1]
I am told, however, that this plate was designed by the last Countess of Burlington, and etched by Goupy. I may add, that the figures in it, though slightly done on the whole, consist of more than a single stroke, being retouched and heightened by the burin in several places. On the contrary, Hogarth's plate, intituled The Charmers of the Age, only offers an etched outline, which at once afforded the extent of his design, leaving no room for improvement. The former print exhibits traces of perseverance and assiduity; the latter is an effort of genius that completes its purpose without elaboration.
[1] He had once enlisted as a private soldier in the Guards, for a protection. See p. [152].
49. The Discovery. This scarce plate is acknowledged as genuine by Mrs. Hogarth. The subject is a black woman in bed; her eyes archly turned on her gallant just risen, who expresses his astonishment on the entrance of three laughing friends, one of them with a candle in his hand. Underneath the print is this apposite motto:
Qui color albus erat nunc est contrarius albo.
A similar circumstance occurs in Fletcher's Monsieur Thomas, and in Foote's Cozeners.
I know not of any among our artist's works that displays so little character. It must have been one of his early performances.