Fielding | Page 2

Fielding in Fraser's Magazine for January and February 1858. These,
prompted by Mr. Lawrence's book, are most valuable, if only for the
author's frank distrust of his predecessors. They are the work of an
enthusiast, and a very conscientious examiner. If, as reported, Mr.
Keightley himself meditated a life of Fielding, it is much to be
regretted that he never carried out his intention.
Upon the two last-mentioned works I have chiefly relied in the
preparation of this study. I have freely availed myself of the material
that both authors collected, verifying it always, and extending it
wherever I could. Of my other sources of information--pamphlets,
reviews, memoirs, and newspapers of the day--the list would be too
long; and sufficient references to them are generally given in the body
of the text. I will only add that I think there is scarcely a quotation of
importance in these pages which has not been compared with the
original; and, except where otherwise stated, all extracts from Fielding
himself are taken from the first editions.
At this distance of time, new facts respecting a man of whom so little
has been recorded require to be announced with considerable caution.
Some definite additions to Fielding lore I have, however, been enabled
to make. Thanks to the late Colonel J. L. Chester, who was engaged,
only a few weeks before his death, in friendly investigations on my
behalf, I am able to give, for the first time, the date and place of
Fielding's second marriage, and the baptismal dates of all the children
by that marriage, except the eldest. I am also able to fix approximately
the true period of his love-affair with Miss Sarah Andrew. From the
original assignment at South Kensington I have ascertained the exact
sum paid by Millar for Joseph Andrews; and in chapter v. will be found
a series of extracts from a very interesting correspondence, which does

not appear to have been hitherto published, between Aaron Hill, his
daughters, and Richardson, respecting Tom Jones. Although I cannot
claim credit for the discovery, I believe the present is also the first
biography of Fielding which entirely discredits the unlikely story of his
having been a stroller at Bartholomew Fair; and I may also, I think,
claim to have thrown some additional light on Fielding's relations with
the Cibbers, seeing that the last critical essay upon the author of the
Apology which I have met with, contains no reference to Fielding at all.
For such minor novelties as the passage from the Universal Spectator,
and the account of the projected translation of Lucian, etc., the reader is
referred to the book itself, where these, and other waifs and strays, are
duly indicated. If, in my endeavour to secure what is freshest, I have at
the same time neglected a few stereotyped quotations, which have
hitherto seemed indispensable in writing of Fielding, I trust I may be
forgiven.
Brief as it is, the book has not been without its obligations. To Mr. B. F.
Sketchley, Keeper of the Dyce and Forster Collections at South
Kensington, I am indebted for reference to the Hill correspondence, and
for other kindly offices; to Mr. Frederick Locker for permission to
collate Fielding's last letter with the original in his possession. My
thanks are also due to Mr. R. Arthur Kinglake, J.P., of Taunton; to the
Rev. Edward Hale of Eton College, the Rev. G. C. Green of Modbury,
Devon, the Rev. W. S. Shaw of Twerton-on-Avon, and Mr. Richard
Garnett of the British Museum. Without some expression of gratitude
to the last mentioned, it would indeed be almost impossible to conclude
any modern preface of this kind. If I have omitted the names of others
who have been good enough to assist me, I must ask them to accept my
acknowledgments although they are not specifically expressed.
EALING, March 1883.

I have taken advantage of the present issue to add, in the form of
Appendices, some supplementary particulars which have come to my
knowledge since the book was first published. The most material of
these is the curious confirmation and extension of Fielding's love affair

with Sarah Andrew. Besides these additions, a few necessary
rectifications have been made in the text.
A. D.
EALING, April 1889.

The approaching bi-centenary (April 22, 1907) of Fielding's birth
affords a pretext for bringing together, in a fourth Appendix, some
additional particulars which have been discovered or established since
the issue of the last edition of this Memoir. These particulars relate to
his pedigree, his residence at Leyden as a student, his marriage to his
first wife Charlotte Cradock, his Will, his library, his family and some
other minor matters.
A. D.
EALING. March 1907.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY YEARS--FIRST PLAYS
CHAPTER II.
MORE PLAYS--MARRIAGE--THE LICENSING ACT
CHAPTER