“Copy of a Letter from Mr. Hog-garth to Lord Mucklemon, wth his Lordship’s Answer.
“My Lord,—The enclosed is a design I intend to publish; you are sensible it will not redound to your honour, as it will expose you to all the world in your proper colours. You likewise know what induced me to do this; but it is in yr power to prevent it from appearing in publick, which I would have you do immediately.
“Willm Hog-garth.
“Maisr Hog-garth,—By my saul, mon, I am sare troobled for what I have done; I did na ken yr muckle merit till noow; say na mair aboot it; I’ll mak au things easy to you, & gie you bock your Pension.
“Sawney Mucklemon.”
In an etching without a title, published at this time, and copied in our cut No. 212, the Hogarthian dog is represented barking from a cautious distance at the canonical bear, who appears to be meditating further mischief. Pugg stands upon his master’s palette and the line of beauty, while Bruin rests upon the “Epistle to Wm. Hogarth,” with the pen and ink by its side. On the left, behind the dog, is a large frame, with the words “Pannel Painting” inscribed upon it.
No. 212. Beauty and the Bear.
The article by Wilkes in the North Briton, and Churchill’s metrical epistle, irritated Hogarth more than all the hostile caricatures, and were generally believed to have broken his heart. He died on the 26th of October, 1764, little more than a year after the appearance of the attack by Wilkes, and with the taunts of his political as well as his professional enemies still ringing in his ears.