The Works of William Hogarth: In a Series of Engravings | Page 4

to deviate
from the strict line of party neutrality which he had hitherto observed,
and to engage against Mr. Wilkes and his friends, in a print published
in September, 1762, entitled The Times. This publication provoked
some severe strictures from Wilkes's pen, in a North Briton (No. 17.)
Hogarth replied by a caricature of the writer: a rejoinder was put in by
Churchill, in an angry epistle to Hogarth (not the brightest of his
works); and in which the severest strokes fell on a defect the painter
had not caused, and could not amend--his age; which, however, was
neither remarkable nor decrepit; much less had it impaired his talents:

for, only six months before, he had produced one of his most capital
works. In revenge for this epistle, Hogarth caricatured Churchill, under
the form of a canonical bear, with a club and a pot of porter.
During this period of warfare (so virulent and disgraceful to all the
parties), Hogarth's health visibly declined. In 1762, he complained of
an internal pain, the continuance of which produced a general decay of
the system, that proved incurable; and, on the 25th of October, 1764,
(having been previously conveyed in a very weak and languid state
from Chiswick to Leicester Fields,) he died suddenly, of an aneurism in
his chest, in the sixty-seventh or sixty-eighth year of his age. His
remains were interred at Chiswick, beneath a plain but neat mausoleum,
with the following elegant inscription by his friend Garrick:--
"Farewell, great painter of mankind, Who reach'd the noblest point of
art; Whose pictured morals charm the mind, And through the eye
correct the heart. If Genius fire thee, reader, stay; If Nature touch thee,
drop a tear: If neither move thee, turn away, For Hogarth's honour'd
dust lies here."

LIST OF ENGRAVINGS.
VOL. I.
RAKE'S PROGRESS. Page
PLATE 1 Heir taking Possession 11 " 2 Surrounded by Artists 13 " 3
Tavern Scene 15 " 4 Arrested for Debt 17 " 5 Marries an Old Maid 19 "
6 Gaming House 21 " 7 Prison Scene 23 " 8 Mad House 25
The Distressed Poet 27 The Bench 29 The Laughing Audience 31 Gate
of Calais 33 The Politician 35 Taste in High Life 37
HARLOT'S PROGRESS.
PLATE 1 39 " 2 41 " 3 43 " 4 45 " 5 47 " 6 49

The Lecture 51 The Chorus 53 Columbus breaking the Egg 55 Modern
Midnight Conversation 57 Consultation of Physicians 59 Portrait of
Daniel Lock, Esq. 61 The Enraged Musician 63 Masquerades and
Operas 65
TIMES OF THE DAY.
Morning 67 Noon 69 Evening 71 Night 73
Sigismonda 75 Portrait of Martin Fowkes, Esq. 77 The Cockpit 78
Captain Thomas Coram 81 Country Inn Yard 83
INDUSTRY AND IDLENESS.
PLATE 1 85 " 2 87 " 3 89 " 4 91 " 5 93 " 6 95 " 7 97 " 8 99 " 9 101 " 10
103 " 11 105 " 12 107
Southwark Fair. 109 Garrick as Richard III. 111
FRANCE AND ENGLAND.
PLATE 1 France 113 " 2 England 115

HOGARTH'S WORKS.

THE RAKE'S PROGRESS.
Of all the follies in human life, there is none greater than that of
extravagance, or profuseness; it being constant labour, without the least
ease or relaxation. It bears, indeed, the colour of that which is
commendable, and would fain be thought to take its rise from laudable
motives, searching indefatigably after true felicity; now as there can be
no true felicity without content, it is this which every man is in constant
pursuit of; the learned, for instance, in his industrious quest after
knowledge; the merchant, in his dangerous voyages; the ambitious, in
his passionate pursuit of honour; the conqueror, in his earnest desire of

victory; the politician, in his deep-laid designs; the wanton, in his
pleasing charms of beauty; the covetous, in his unwearied heaping-up
of treasure; and the prodigal, in his general and extravagant
indulgence.--Thus far it may be well;--but, so mistaken are we in our
road, as to run on in the very opposite tract, which leads directly to our
ruin. Whatever else we indulge ourselves in, is attended with some
small degree of relish, and has some trifling satisfaction in the
enjoyment, but, in this, the farther we go, the more we are lost; and
when arrived at the mark proposed, we are as far from the object we
pursue, as when we first set out. Here then, are we inexcusable, in not
attending to the secret dictates of reason, and in stopping our ears at the
timely admonitions of friendship. Headstrong and ungovernable, we
pursue our course without intermission; thoughtless and unwary, we
see not the dangers that lie immediately before us; but hurry on, even
without sight of our object, till we bury