And plac’d it in the open street
Where in much state did Hogarth sit
To draw the townhouse, church and steeple,
Surrounded by a crowd of people.
Tagrag and bobtail stood quite thick there
And cried ‘What a sweet pretty picture!’”
There is certainly nothing very elevated in good Mr. Forrest’s Hudibrastics; yet the jingle of his verse is by no means disagreeable; and from his simple description it is easy to form a definite notion of sturdy little Will Hogarth “sitting in much state” in the great wooden chair borrowed from the “Swans” at Queensborough, and gravely sketching with the tagrag and bobtail staring open-mouthed around him.
BREAKFASTING &c.
- A. The Fisherman Shaving.
- B. Mr Thornhill.
- C. Mr Tothall shaving himself.
- D. Mr Hogarth drawing this Drawing.
- E. Mr Forrest at Breakfast.
- F. Mr Scott finishing a Drawing.