{"1": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3400", "width": "2106", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0001.jp2"}, "2": {"fulltext": "Class.\\nBook\\nCOPYRIGHT DEPOSIT", "height": "3192", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0002.jp2"}, "3": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0003.jp2"}, "4": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3192", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0004.jp2"}, "5": {"fulltext": "iSnglbl) Mtn of Cetters\\nEDITED* BY JOHN MORLEY", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0005.jp2"}, "6": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3192", "width": "2056", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0006.jp2"}, "7": {"fulltext": "FIELDING\\nB 5\\nAUSTIN DOBSON\\nNEW YORK\\nHAKPEIi BROTHEIiS, P U P L I ISH EKS\\nFRANKLIN SQUARE", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0007.jp2"}, "8": {"fulltext": "ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS.\\nEdited by Tohn Morley.\\nJohnson Leslie Stephen.\\nGibbon J. C. Morison.\\nScott R. H. Hutton.\\nShelley J. A. Symonds.\\nHume T. H. Huxley.\\nGoldsmith William Black.\\nDefoe William Minto.\\nBurns J. C. Shairp.\\nSpenser R. W. Church.\\nThackeray Anthony Trollope.\\nBurke John Morley.\\nMilton Mark Pattison.\\nHawthorne Henry James, Jr.\\nSouthey E. Dowden.\\nChaucer A. W. Ward.\\nBunyan J. A. Froude.\\nCowper Goldwin Smith.\\nPope Leslie Stephen.\\nSir Philip Sidney\\nByron John Nichol.\\nLocke Thomas Fowler.\\nWordsworth F. Myers.\\nDryden G. Saintsbury.\\nLandor Sidney Colvin.\\nDe Quincey David Masson.\\nLamb Alfred Ainger.\\nBentley R. C. Jebb.\\nDickens A. W. Ward.\\nGray E. W. Gosse.\\nSwift Leslie Stephen.\\nSterne H. D. Traill.\\nM acaulay J. Cotter Morison.\\nFielding Austin Dobson.\\nSheridan Mrs. Oliphant.\\nAddison W. J. Courthope.\\nBacon R. W. Church.\\nColeridge H. D. Traill.\\nnmo, Cloth, 75 cents per volume.\\n.J. A. Symonds.\\nPublished by HARPER BROTHERS, New York.\\nAny of the above works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part\\nof the United States, on receipt 0/ the price.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0008.jp2"}, "9": {"fulltext": "PREFATORY NOTE.\\nFrom a critical point of view, the works of Fielding have\\nreceived abundant examination at the hands of a long line\\nof distinguished writers. Of these, the latest is by no means\\nthe least; and as Mr. Leslie Stephen s brilliant studies, in\\nthe recent edition de luxe and the Cornhill Magazine, are\\nnow in every one s hands, it is perhaps no more than a wise\\ndiscretion which has prompted me to confine my attention\\nmore strictly to the purely biographical side of the subject.\\nIn the present memoir, therefore, I have made it my duty,\\nprimarily, to verify such scattered anecdotes respecting Field-\\ning as have come down to us to correct (I hope not obtru-\\nsively) a few mis-statements which have crept into previous\\naccounts; and to add such supplementary details as I have\\nbeen able to discover for myself.\\nIn this task I have made use of the following authori-\\nties\\nI. Arthur Murphy s Essay on the Life and Genius of Henry\\nFielding, Esq. This was prefixed to the first collected edi-\\ntion of Fielding s works published by Andrew Millar in\\nJune, 1762 and it continued for a long time to be the rec-\\nognised authority for Fielding s life. It is possible that it\\nfairly reproduces his personality, as presented by contempo-\\nrary tradition; but it is misleading in its facts, and needless-\\nly diffuse. Under pretence of respecting the manes of the\\ndead, the writer seems to have found it pleasanter to fill his\\nspace with vagrant discussions on the Middle Comedy of", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0009.jp2"}, "10": {"fulltext": "vi PREFATORY NOTE.\\nthe Greeks and the machinery of the Rape of the Lock, than\\nto make the requisite biographical inquiries. This is the\\nmore to be deplored, because, in 1762, Fielding s widow,\\nbrother, and sister, as well as his friend Lyttelton, were\\nstill alive, and trustworthy information should have been\\nprocurable.\\nIT. Watson s Life of Henry Fielding, Esq. This is usually\\nto be found prefixed to a selection of Fielding s works issued\\nat Edinburgh. It also appeared as a volume in 1807, al-\\nthough there is no copy of it in this form at the British Mu-\\nseum. It carries Murphy a little farther, and corrects him\\nin some instances. But its author had clearly never even\\nseen the Miscellanies of 1743, with their valuable Preface, for\\nhe speaks of them as one volume, and in apparent ignorance\\nof their contents.\\nIII. Sir Walter Scott s biographical sketch for Ballantyne s\\nNovelist s Library. This was published in 1821; and is now\\nincluded in the writer s Miscellaneous Prose Works. Sir Wal-\\nter made no pretence to original research, and even spoke\\nslightingly of this particular work; but it has all the charm\\nof his practised and genial pen.\\nIV. Roscoe s Memoir, compiled for the one-volume edition\\nof Fielding, published by Washbourne and others in 1840.\\nV. Thackeray s well-known lecture, in the English Hu-\\nmourists of the Eighteenth Century, 1853.\\nVI. The Life of Henry Fielding; with Notices of his Writ-\\nings, his Times, and his Contemporaries. By Frederick Law-\\nrence. 1855. This is an exceedingly painstaking book, and\\nconstitutes the first serious attempt at a biography. Its\\nchief defect as pointed out at the time of its appearance\\nis an ill-judged emulation of Forster s Goldsmith. The au-\\nthor attempted to make Fielding a literary centre, which is\\nimpossible and the attempt has involved him in needless\\ndigressions. He is also not always careful to give chapter\\nand verse for his statements.\\nVII. Thomas Keightley s papers On the Life and Writings\\nof Henry Fielding in Fraser s Magazine for January and Feb-", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0010.jp2"}, "11": {"fulltext": "PREFATORY NOTE. vif\\nruary, 1858. These, prompted by Mr. Lawrence s book, are\\nmost valuable, if only for the author s frank distrust of his\\npredecessors. They are the work of an enthusiast, and a\\nvery conscientious examiner. If, as reported, Mr. Keightley\\nhimself meditated a life of Fielding, it is much to be regret-\\nted that he never carried out his intention.\\nUpon the two last-mentioned works I have chiefly relied\\nin the preparation of this study. I have freely availed my-\\nself of the material that both authors collected, verifying\\nit always, and extending it wherever I could. Of my other\\nsources of information pamphlets, reviews, memoirs, and\\nnewspapers of the day the list would be too long; and suf-\\nficient references to them are generally given in the body of\\nthe text. I will only add that I think there is scarcely a\\nquotation in these pages, however ascertained, which has not\\nbeen compared with the original and, except where other-\\nwise stated, all extracts from Fielding himself are taken\\nfrom the first editions.\\nAt this distance of time, new facts respecting a man of\\nwhom so little has been recorded require to be announced\\nwith considerable caution. Some definite additions to Field-\\ning lore I have, however, been enabled to make. Thanks to\\nthe late Colonel J. L. Chester, who was engaged, only a few\\nweeks before his death, in friendly investigations on my be-\\nhalf, I am able to give, for the first time, the date and place\\nof Fielding s second marriage, and the baptismal dates of all\\nthe children by that marriage, except the eldest. I am also\\nable to fix approximately the true period of his love-affair\\nwith Miss Sarah Andrew. From the original assignment at\\nSouth Kensington I have ascertained the exact sum paid by\\nMillar for Joseph Andrews and in Chapter V. will be found\\na series of extracts from a very interesting correspondence,\\nwhich does not appear to have been hitherto published, be-\\ntween Aaron Hill, his daughters, and Richardson, respecting\\nTom Jones. Although I cannot claim credit for the discov-\\nery, I believe the present is also the first biography of Field-\\ning which entirely discredits the unlikely story of his having", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0011.jp2"}, "12": {"fulltext": "viii PREFATORY NOTE.\\nbeen a stroller at Bartholomew Fair and I may also, I think,\\nclaim to have thrown some additional light on Fielding s\\nrelations with the Cibbers, seeing that the last critical essay\\nupon the author of the Apology, which I have met with, con-\\ntains no reference to Fielding at all. For such minor novel-\\nties as the passage from the Universal Spectator at p. 25, and\\nthe account of the projected translation of Lucian at p. 154,\\netc., the reader is referred to the book itself, where these,\\nand other waifs and strays, are duly indicated. If, in my\\nendeavour to secure what is freshest, I have at the same time\\nneglected a few stereotyped quotations, which have hitherto\\nseemed indispensable in writing of Fielding, I trust I may be\\nforgiven.\\nBrief as it is, the book has not been without its obliga-\\ntions. To Mr. R. F. Sketchley, Keeper of the Dyce and Fors-\\nter Collections at South Kensington, I am indebted for refer-\\nence to the Hill correspondence, and for other kindly offices;\\nto Mr. Frederick Locker for permission to collate Fielding s\\nlast letter with the original in his possession. My thanks\\nare also due to Mr. R. Arthur Kinglake, J.P., of Taunton to\\nthe Rev. Edward Hale, of Eton College the Rev. G. C. Green,\\nof Modbury, Devon the Rev. W. S. Shaw, of Twerton-on-\\nAvon; and Mr. Richard Garnett, of the British Museum.\\nWithout some expression of gratitude to the last mentioned,\\nit would indeed be almost impossible to conclude any mod-\\nern preface of this kind. If I have omitted the names of\\nothers who have been good enough to assist me, I must ask\\nthem to accept my acknowledgments, although they are not\\nspecifically expressed.\\nEaling, March, 1883.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0012.jp2"}, "13": {"fulltext": "CONTENTS\\nCHAPTER I.\\nPAGK\\nEarly Years First Plays 1\\nCHAPTER II.\\nMore Plays\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Marriage\u00e2\u0080\u0094 The Licensing Act .27\\nCHAPTER III.\\nThe Champion Joseph Andrews 57\\nCHAPTER IV.\\nThe Miscellanies Jonathan Wild 84\\nCHAPTER V.\\nTom Jones 111\\nCHAPTER VI.\\nJustice Life Amelia 137\\nCHAPTER VII.\\nJournal op a Voyage to Lisbon 158\\nPOSTSCRIPT 180", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0013.jp2"}, "14": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0014.jp2"}, "15": {"fulltext": "FIELDING.\\nCHAPTER I.\\nEARLY YEARS FIRST PLAYS.\\nLike his contemporary Smollett, Henry Fielding came\\nof an ancient family, and might, in his Horatian moods,\\nhave traced his origin to Inachus. The lineage of the\\nhouse of Denbigh, as given in Burke, fully justifies the\\nsplendid but sufficiently quoted eulogy of Gibbon. From\\nthat first Jeffrey of Hapsburgh, who came to England,\\ntemp. Henry III., and assumed the name of Fieldeng, or\\nFilding, from his father s pretensions to the dominions\\nof Lauffenbourg and Rinfilding, the future novelist could\\nboast a long line of illustrious ancestors. There was a\\nSir William Feilding killed at Tewkesbury, and a Sir\\nEverard who commanded at Stoke. Another Sir William,\\na staunch Royalist, was created Earl of Denbigh, and died\\nin fighting King Charles s battles. Of his two sons, the\\nelder, Basil, who succeeded to the title, was a Parliamen-\\ntarian, and served at Edgehill under Essex. George, his\\nsecond son, was raised to the peerage of Ireland as Vis-\\ncount Callan, with succession to the earldom of Desmond\\nand from this, the younger branch of the Denbigh family,\\nHenry Fielding directly descended. The Earl of Des-\\n1", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0015.jp2"}, "16": {"fulltext": "2 FIELDING. [chap.\\nmond s fifth son, John, entered the Church, becoming\\nCanon of Salisbury and Chaplain to William III. By his\\nwife Bridget, daughter of Scipio Cockain, Esq., of Somer-\\nset, he had three sons and three daughters. Edmund, the\\nthird son, was a soldier, who fought with distinction un-\\nder Marlborough. When about the age of thirty, he mar-\\nried Sarah, daughter of Sir Henry Gould, Knt., of Sharp-\\nham Park, near Glastonbury, in Somerset, and one of the\\nJudges of the King s Bench. These last were the parents\\nof the novelist, who was born at Sharpham Park on the\\n22d of April, 17 07. One of Dr. John Fielding s nieces,\\nit may here be added, married the first Duke of King-\\nston, becoming the mother of Lady Mary Pierrepont,\\nafterwards Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who was thus\\nHenry Fielding s second cousin. She had, however, been\\nborn in 1689, and was consequently some years his senior.\\nAccording to a pedigree given in Nichols (History and\\nAntiquities of the County of Leicester), Edmund Fielding\\nwas only a lieutenant when he married and it is even\\nnot improbable (as Mr. Keightley conjectures from the\\nI nearly secret union of Lieutenant Booth and Amelia in\\nthe later novel) that the match may have been a stolen\\none. At all events, the bride continued to reside at her\\nfather s house and the fact that Sir Henry Gould, by\\nhis will made in March, 1706, left his daughter \u00c2\u00a33000,\\nwhich was to be invested in the purchase either of\\na Church or Colledge lease, or of lands of Inheritance,\\nfor her sole use, her husband having nothing to doe\\nwith it, would seem (as Mr. Keightley suggests) to indi-\\ncate a distrust of his military, and possibly impecunious,\\nson-in-law. This money, it is also important to re-\\nmember, w r as to come to her children at her death. Sir\\nHenry Gould did not long survive the making of his will,", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0016.jp2"}, "17": {"fulltext": "l] EARLY YEARS. 3\\nand died in March, 1710. 1 The Fieldings must then have\\nremoved to a small house at East Stour (now Stovver), in\\nDorsetshire, where Sarah Fielding was born in the follow-\\ning November. It may be that this property was purchased\\nwith Mrs. Fielding s money but information is wanting\\nupon the subject. At East Stour, according to the ex-\\ntracts from the parish register given in Hutchins s His-\\ntory of Dorset, four children were born namely, Sarah,\\nabove mentioned, afterwards the authoress of David Sim-\\nple, Anne, Beatrice, and another son, Edmund. Edmund,\\nsays Arthur Murphy, was an officer in the marine ser-\\nvice, and (adds Mr. Lawrence) died young. Anne died\\nat East Stour in August, 1716. Of Beatrice nothing fur-\\nther is known. These would appear to have been all the\\nchildren of Edmund Fielding by his first wife, although,\\nas Sarah Fielding is styled on her monument at Bath the\\nsecond daughter of General Fielding, it is not impossible\\nthat another daughter may have been bom at Sharpham\\nPark.\\nAt East Stour the Fieldings certainly resided until\\nApril, 1718, when Mrs. Fielding died, leaving her elder\\nson a boy of not quite eleven years of age. How much\\nlonger the family remained there is unrecorded; but it\\nis clear that a great part of Henry Fielding s childhood\\nmust have been spent by the pleasant Banks of sweetly-\\nwinding Stour 1 which passes through it, and to which he\\nsubsequently refers in Tom Jones. His education dur-\\ning this time was confided to a certain Mr. Oliver, whom\\n1 Mr. Keightley, who seems to have seen the will, dates it\\ndoubtless by a slip of the pen May, 1708. Reference to the orig-\\ninal, however, now at Somerset House, shows the correct date to\\nbe March 8, 1706, before which time the marriage of Fielding s\\nparents must therefore be placed.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0017.jp2"}, "18": {"fulltext": "4 FIELDING. [chap,\\nLawrence designates the family chaplain. Keightley\\nsupposes that he was the curate of East Stour; but\\nHutchins, a better authority than either, says that he\\nwas the clergyman of Motcombe, a neighbouring village.\\nOf this gentleman, according to Murphy, Parson Trulliber\\nin Joseph Andrews is a very humorous and striking por-\\ntrait. It is certainly more humorous than complimentary.\\nFrom Mr. Oliver s fostering care and the result shows\\nthat, whatever may have been the pig -dealing propen-\\nsities of Parson Trulliber, it was not entirely profitless\\nFielding was transferred to Eton. When this took place\\nis not known but at that time boys entered the school\\nmuch earlier than they do now, and it was probably not\\nlong after his mother s death. The Eton boys were then,\\nas at present, divided into collegers and oppidans. There\\nare no registers of oppidans before the end of the last\\ncentury but the Provost of Eton has been good enough\\nto search the college lists from 1715 to 1735, and there\\nis no record of any Henry Fielding, nor indeed of any\\nFielding at all. It may, therefore, be concluded that he\\nwas an oppidan. No particulars of his stay at Eton have\\ncome down to us; but it is to be presumed Murphy s\\nstatement that, when he left the place, he was said to\\nbe uncommonly versed in the Greek authors, and an\\nearly master of the Latin classics, is not made without\\nfoundation. 1 We have also his own authority (in Tom\\nJones) for supposing that he occasionally, if not frequently,\\nsacrificed with true Spartan devotion at the birchen\\nAltar, of which a representation is to be found in Mr.\\n1 Fielding s own words in the verses to Walpole some years later\\nscarcely go so far\\nTuscan and French are in my Head;\\nLatin I write, and Greek I read.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0018.jp2"}, "19": {"fulltext": "i.] EARLY YEARS. 5\\nMaxwell Lyte s history of the College. And it may fairly\\nbe inferred that he took part in the different sports and\\npastimes of the day, such as Conquering Lobs, Steal bag-\\ngage, Chuck, Starecaps, and so forth. Nor does it need\\nany strong effort of imagination to conclude that he\\nbathed in Sandy-hole or Cuckow ware, attended the\\ncock-fights in Bedford s Yard and the bull-baiting in Bach-\\nelor s Acre, drank mild punch at the Christopher, and,\\nno doubt, was occasionally brought back by Jack Cutler,\\nPursuivant of Runaways, to make his explanations to\\nDr. Bland the Head-Master, or Francis Goode the Usher.\\nAmongst his school-fellows were some who subsequently\\nattained to high dignities in the State, and still remained\\nhis friends. Foremost of these was George Lyttelton, later\\nthe statesman and orator, who had already commenced\\npoet as an Eton boy with his Soliloquy of a Beauty in\\nthe Country. Another was the future Sir Charles Han-\\nbury Williams, the wit and squib-writer, then known as\\nCharles Hanbury only. A third was Thomas Winnington,\\nfor whom, in after years, Fielding fought hard with brain\\nand pen when Tory scribblers assailed his memory. Of\\nthose who must be regarded as contemporaries merely,\\nwere William Pitt, the Great Commoner, and yet great-\\ner Earl of Chatham Henry Fox, Lord Holland and\\nCharles Pratt, Earl Camden. Gilbert West, the translator\\nof Pindar, may also have been at Eton in Fielding s time,\\nas he was only a year older, and was intimate with Lyttel-\\nton. Thomas Augustine Arne, again, famous in days to\\ncome as Dr. Arne, was doubtless also at this date practis-\\ning sedulously upon that miserable cracked common\\nflute, with which tradition avers he was wont to torment\\nhis school-fellows. Gray and Horace Walpole belong to a\\nlater period.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0019.jp2"}, "20": {"fulltext": "6 FIELDING. [chap.\\nDuring his stay at Eton, Fielding bad been rapidly\\ndeveloping from a boy into a young man. When he left\\nschool it is impossible to say but he was probably seven-\\nteen or eighteen years of age, and it is at this stage of his\\ncareer that must be fixed an occurrence which some of his\\nbiographers place much farther on. This is his earliest\\nrecorded love-affair. At Lyme Regis there resided a\\nyoung lady, who, in addition to great personal charms, had\\nthe advantage of being the only daughter and heiress of\\none Solomon Andrew, deceased, a merchant of considerable\\nlocal reputation. Lawrence says that she was Fielding s\\ncousin. This may be so but the statement is unsupport-\\ned by any authority. It is certain, however, that her fa-\\nther was dead, and that she was living in maiden medi-\\ntation at Lyme with one of her guardians, Mr. Andrew\\nTucker. In his chance visits to that place, young Field-\\ning appears to have become desperately enamoured of her,\\nand to have sadly fluttered the Dorset dovecotes by his\\npertinacious and undesirable attentions. At one time he\\nseems to have actually meditated the abduction of his\\nflame, for an entry in the town archives, discovered by\\nMr. George Roberts, sometime Mayor of Lyme, who tells\\nthe story, declares that Andrew Tucker, Esq., went in fear\\nof his life owing to the behaviour of Henry Fielding and\\nhis attendant, or man. Such a state of things (especially\\nwhen guardians have sons of their own) is clearly not to\\nbe endured; and Miss Andrew was prudently transferred\\nto the care of another guardian, Mr. Rhodes of Modbury,\\nin South Devon, to whose son, a young gentleman of Ox-\\nford, she was promptly married. Burke {Landed Gentry,\\n1858) dates the marriage in 1726, a date which is practi-\\ncally confirmed by the baptism of a child at Modbury in", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0020.jp2"}, "21": {"fulltext": "i.] EARLY YEARS. 7\\nApril of the following year. 1 Burke further describes the\\nhusband as Mr. Ambrose Rhodes of Buckland House,\\nBuckland-Tout-Saints. His son, Mr. Rhodes of Bellair,\\nnear Exeter, was gentleman of the Privy Chamber to\\nGeorge III. and one of his descendants possessed a pict-\\nure which passed for the portrait of Sophia Western. The\\ntradition of the Tucker family pointed to Miss Andrew as\\nthe original of Fielding s heroine but though such a sup-\\nposition is intelligible, it is untenable, since he says dis-\\ntinctly (Book XIII. chap. i. of Tom Jones) that his model\\nwas his first wife, whose likeness he moreover draws very\\nspecifically in another -place, by declaring that she resem-\\nbled Margaret Cecil, Lady Ranelagh, and, more nearly,\\nthe famous Dutchess of Mazarine.\\nWith this early escapade is perhaps to be connected\\nwhat seems to have been one of Fielding s earliest literary\\nefforts. This is a modernisation in burlesque octosyllabic\\nverse of part of Juvenal s sixth satire. In the Preface\\nto the later published Miscellanies, it is said to have been\\noriginally sketched out before he was Twenty, and to\\nhave constituted all the Revenge taken by an injured\\nLover. But it must have been largely revised subsequent\\nto that date, for it contains references to Mrs. Clive, Mrs.\\nWoffington, Gibber the younger, and even to Richardson s\\nPamela. It has no special merit, although some of the\\ncouplets have the true Swiftian turn. If Murphy s state-\\nment be correct, that the author went from Eton to\\nLeydcn, it must have been planned at the latter place,\\nwhere, he tells us in the preface to Don Quixote in Eng-\\nland, he also began that comedy. Notwithstanding these\\nliterary distractions, he is nevertheless reported to have\\n1 This has been ascertained from the Modbury parish registers.\\nB", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0021.jp2"}, "22": {"fulltext": "8 HELDIXG. [chap.\\nstudied the civilians with a remarkable application for\\nabout two years. 1 At the expiration of this time, remit-\\ntances from home failing, he was obliged to forego the\\nlectures of the learned Vitriarius (then Professor of\\nCivil Law at Ley den University), and return to London,\\nwhich he did at the beginning of 1728 or the end of\\n1727.\\nThe fact was that his father, never a rich man, had mar-\\nried again. His second wife was a widow named Eleanor\\nRasa and by this time he was fast acquiring a second\\nfamily. Under the pressure of his growing cares, he\\nfound himself, however willing, as Imable to maintain his\\neldest son in London as he had previously been to dis-\\ncharge his expenses at Lcyden. Nominally, he made him\\nan allowance of two hundred a year; but this, as Fielding\\nhimself explained, any body might pay that would.\\nThe consequence was, that not long after the arrival of\\nthe latter in the Metropolis he had given up all idea of\\npursuing the law, to which his mother s legal connections\\nhad perhaps first attracted him, and had determined to\\nadopt the more seductive occupation of living by his wits.\\nAt this date he was in the prime of youth. From the\\nportrait by Hogarth representing him at a time when he\\nwas broken in health and had lost his teeth, it is difficult\\nto reconstruct his likeness at twenty. But we may fairly\\nassume the high-arched Roman nose with which his\\nenemies reproached him, the dark eyes, the prominent\\nchin, and the humorous expression and it is clear that he\\nmust have been tall and vigorous, for he was over six feet\\nwhen he died, and had been remarkably strong and active.\\nAdd to this that he inherited a splendid constitution, with\\nan unlimited capacity for enjoyment, and we have a fair\\nidea of Henry Fielding at that moment of his career, when", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0022.jp2"}, "23": {"fulltext": "i EARLY YEARS. 9\\nwith passions tremblingly alive all o er as Murphy\\nsays he stood,\\nThis way and that dividing the swift mind,\\nbetween the professions of haekney-writer and hackney-\\ncoachman. His natural bias was towards literature, and\\nhis opportunities, if not his inclinations, directed him to\\ndramatic writing.\\nIt is not necessary to attempt any detailed account of\\nthe state of the stage at this epoch. Nevertheless, if only\\nto avoid confusion in the future, it will be well to enumer-\\nate the several London theatres in 1728, the more especial-\\nly as the list is by no means lengthy. First and foremost\\nthere was the old Opera House in the Hay market, built by\\nYanbrugh, as far back as 1705, upon the site now occupied\\nby Her Majesty s Theatre. This was the home of that\\npopular Italian song which so excited the anger of thor-\\nough-going Britons; and here, at the beginning of 1728,\\nthey were performing Handel s opera of Siroe, and de-\\nlighting the cognoscenti by Dite die fa, the echo-air in the\\nsame composer s Tolomeo. Opposite the Opera House,\\nand, in position, only a few feet distant from the exist-\\ning Hay market Theatre, was the New, or Little Theatre in\\nthe Hay market, which, from the fact that it had been\\nopened eight years before by the French Comedians,\\nwas also sometimes styled the French House. Next comes\\nthe no-longer-existent theatre in Lincoln s Inn Fields,\\nwhich Christopher Rich had rebuilt in 1714, and which\\nhis son John had made notorious for pantomimes. Here\\nthe Beggar s Opera, precursor of a long line of similar\\nproductions, had just been successfully produced. Finally,\\nmost ancient of them all, there was the Theatre-Royal in\\nDrury Lane, otherwise the King s Play House, or Old\\n1*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0023.jp2"}, "24": {"fulltext": "FIELDING. [chap.\\nHouse, The virtual patentees at this time were the act-\\nors Colley Gibber, Robert Wilks, and Barton Booth. The\\ntwo former were just playing the Provok d Husband, in\\nwhich the famous Mrs. Oldfield (Pope s Narcissa had\\ncreated a furore by her assumption of Lady Townley.\\nThese, in February, 1728, were the four principal London\\ntheatres. Goodman s Fields, where Garrick made his\\ndebut, was not opened until the following year, and Cov-\\nent Garden belongs to a still later date.\\nFielding s first dramatic essay or, to speak more pre-\\ncisely, the first of his dramatic essays that was produced\\nupon the stage was a five-act comedy entitled Love in\\nSeveral Masques. It was played at Drury Lane in Feb-\\nruary, 1728, succeeding the ProvoJcd Husband. In his\\nPreface the young author refers to the disadvantage\\nunder which he laboured in following close upon that\\ncomedy, and also in being cotemporary with an Enter-\\ntainment which engrosses the whole Talk and Admiration\\nof the Town, i.e. the Beggar s Opera. He also ac-\\nknowledges the kindness of Wilks and Cibbcr previous\\nto its Representation, and the fact that he had thus ac-\\nquired their suffrages makes it doubtful whether his stay\\nat Leyden was not really briefer than is generally sup-\\nposed, or that he left Eton much earlier. In either case\\nhe must have been in London some months before Love\\nin Several Masques appeared, for a first play by an untried\\nyouth of twenty, however promising, is not easily brought\\nupon the boards in any era; and from his own utterances\\nin Pasquhi, ten years later, it is clear that it was no easier\\nthen than now. The sentiments of the Fustian of that\\npiece in the following protest probably give an accurate\\npicture of the average dramatic experiences of Henry\\nFielding", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0024.jp2"}, "25": {"fulltext": "\u00e2\u0080\u00a2i.] FIRST PLAYS. 11\\nThese little things, Mr. Sneerioell, will sometimes happen. In-\\ndeed a Poet undergoes a great deal before he comes to his Third\\nNight first with the Muses, who are humorous Ladies, and must be\\nattended for if they take it into their Head at any time to go abroad\\nand leave you, you will pump your Brain in vain Then. Sir, with the\\nMaster of a Playhouse to get it acted, whom you generally follow a\\nguarter of a Year before you know whether he will receive it or no;\\nand then perhaps he tells you it won t do, and returns it you again,\\nreserving the Subject, and perhaps the Name, which he brings out in\\nhis next Pantomime but if he should receive the Play, then you\\nmust attend again to get it writ out into Parts, and Rehears d. Well,\\nSir, at last the Rehearsals begin then, Sir, begins another Scene of\\nTrouble with the Actors, some of whom dont like their Parts, and\\nall are continually plaguing you with Alterations: At length, after\\nhaving waded thro all these Difficulties, his [the?] Play appears on\\nthe Stage, where one Man Hisses out of Resentment to the Author\\na Second out of Dislike to the House a Third out of Dislike to the\\nActor a Fourth out of Dislike to the Play a Fifth for the Joke\\nsake a Sixth to keep all the rest in Company. Enemies abuse him,\\nFriends give him up, the Play is damn d, and the Author goes to the\\nDevil, so ends the Farce.\\nTo which Sneerwell replies, with much promptitude\\nThe Tragedy rather, I think, Mr. Fustian But what-\\never may have been its preliminary difficulties, Fielding s\\nfirst play was not exposed to so untoward a fate. It was\\nwell received. As might be expected in a beginner, and\\nas indeed the references in the Preface to Wycherley and\\nCongreve would lead us to expect, it Was an obvious at-\\ntempt in the manner of those then all -popular writers.\\nThe dialogue is ready and witty. But the characters have\\nthat obvious defect which Lord Beaconsfield recognised\\nwhen he spoke in later life of his own earliest efforts.\\nBooks written by boys, he says, which pretend to\\ngive a picture of manners and to deal in knowledge of\\nhuman nature must necessarily be founded on affectation.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0025.jp2"}, "26": {"fulltext": "12 FIELDING. [citap.\\nTo this rule the personages of Love in Several Masques\\nare no exception. They are drawn rather from the stage\\nthan from life, and there is little constructive skill in the\\nplot. A certain booby squire, Sir Positive Trap, seems\\nlike a first indication of some of the later successes in the\\nnovels but the rest of the dramatis persona? are puppets.\\nThe success of the piece was probably owing to the acting\\nof Mrs. Oldfield, who took the part of Lady Matchless, a\\ncharacter closely related to the Lady Townleys and Lady\\nBetty Modishes, in w r hich she won her triumphs. She\\nseems, indeed, to have been unusually interested in this\\ncomedy, for she consented to play in it notwithstanding a\\nslight Indisposition contracted by her violent Fatigue\\nin the Part of Lady Townly, and she assisted the author\\nwith her corrections and advice perhaps with her influ-\\nence as an actress. Fielding s distinguished kinswoman\\nLady Mary Wortley Montagu also read the MS. Looking\\nto certain scenes in it, the protestation in the Prologue\\nNought shall offend the Fair Ones Ears to-day,\\nWhich they might blusli to hear, or blush to say\\nIips an air of insincerity, although, contrasted with some\\nof the writer s later productions, Love in Several Masques\\nis comparatively pure. But he might honestly think that\\nthe work which had received the imprimatur of a stage-\\nqueen and a lady of quality should fairly be regarded as\\nmorally blameless, and it is not necessary to bring any\\nbulk of evidence to prove that the morality of 1728 dif-\\nfered from the morality of to-day.\\nTo the last-mentioned year is ascribed a poem entitled\\nthe Masquerade. Inscribed to C t H d g r. By\\nLemuel Gulliver, Poet Laureate to the King of Lilliput.\\nIn this Fielding made his satirical contribution to the at-", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0026.jp2"}, "27": {"fulltext": "i.] FIRST PLAYS. 13\\ntacks on those impure gatherings organised by the notori-\\nous Heidegger, which Hogarth had not long before stig-\\nmatised pictorially in the plate known to collectors as the\\nlarge Masquerade Ticket. As verse this performance is\\nworthless, and it is not very forcibly on the side of good\\nmanners but the ironic dedication has a certain touch of\\nFielding s later fashion. Two other poetical pieces, after-\\nwards included in the Miscellanies of 1743, also bear the\\ndate of 1728. One is A Description of U n G (alias\\nNew Hog s Norton) in Com. Hants, which Mr. Keightley\\nhas identified with Upton Grey, near Odiham, in Hamp-\\nshire. It is a burlesque description of a tumble -down\\ncountry-house in which the writer was staying, and is ad-\\ndressed to Rosalinda. The other is entitled To Euthalia,\\nfrom which it must be concluded that, in 1728, Sarah An-\\ndrew had found more than one successor. But in spite\\nof some biographers, and of the apparent encouragement\\ngiven to his first comedy, Fielding does not seem to have\\nfollowed up dramatic authorship with equal vigour, or at\\nall events with equal success. His real connection with\\nthe stage does not begin until January, 1730, when the\\nTemple Beau was produced by Giffard the actor at the the-\\natre in Goodman s Fields, which had then just been opened\\nby Thomas Odell and it may be presumed that his in-\\ncentive was rather want of funds than desire of fame.\\nThe Temple Beau certainly shows an advance upon its\\npredecessor; but it is an advance in the same direction,\\nimitation of Congreve and although Geneste ranks it\\namong the best of Fielding s plays, it is doubtful whether\\nmodern criticism would sustain his verdict. It ran for a\\nshort time, and was then withdrawn. The Prologue was\\nthe work of James Ralph, afterwards Fielding s colleague\\nin the Champion, and it thus refers to the prevailing taste.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0027.jp2"}, "28": {"fulltext": "14 FIELDING. [chap.\\nThe Beggar s Opera had killed Italian song, but now a\\nnew danger had arisen\\nHumour and Wit, in each politer Age,\\nTriumphant, reared the Trophies of the Stage\\nBut only Farce, and Shew, will now go down,\\nAnd Harlequin s the Darling of the Town.\\nAs if to confirm his friend s opinion, Fielding s next\\npiece combined the popular ingredients above referred to.\\nIn March following he produced at the Hay market, under\\nthe pseudonym of Scriblerus Secnndus, The Author s Farce,\\nwith a Puppet Show called The Pleasures of the Town.\\nIn the Puppet Show, Henley, the Clare-Market Orator, and\\nSamuel Johnson, the quack author of the popular Hurlo-\\nthrumbo, were smartly satirised, as also was the fashiona-\\nble craze for Opera and Pantomime. But the most en-\\nduring part of this odd medley is the farce which occupies\\nthe two first acts, and under thin disguises no doubt de-\\npicts much which was within the writer s experience. At\\nall events, Luckless, the author in the play, has more than\\none of the characteristics which distinguish the traditional\\nportrait of Fielding himself in his early years. He wears\\na laced coat, is in love, writes plays, and cannot pay his\\nlandlady, who declares, with some show of justice, that\\nshe would no more depend on a Benefit-Night of an un-\\nacted Play, than she wou d on a Benefit-Ticket in an un-\\ndrawn Lottery. Her Floor (she laments) is all spoil d\\nwith Ink her Windows with Verses, and her Door has\\nbeen almost beat down with Duns. But the most hu-\\nmorous scenes in the play scenes really admirable in their\\nironic delineation of the seamy side of authorship in 1730\\nare those in which Mr. Bookweight, the publisher the\\nCurll or Osborne of the period is shown surrounded by", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0028.jp2"}, "29": {"fulltext": "I.] FIRST PLAYS. 15\\nthe obedient hacks, who feed at his table on good Milk-\\nporridge, very often twice a Day, and manufacture the\\nmurders, ghost-stories, political pamphlets, and translations\\nfrom Virgil (out of Dry den) with which he supplies his\\ncustomers. Here is one of them as good as any\\nu Boohw eight. So, Mr. Index, what News with you\\nIndex. I have brought my Bill, Sir.\\nBook. What s here for fitting the Motto of Risum teneatis\\nAmid to a dozen Pamphlets at Sixpence per each, Six Shillings\\nFor Omnia vincit Amor, nos cedamus Arnori, Sixpence For Diffi-\\ncile est Satyram non scribere, Sixpence Hum! hum! hum! Sum\\ntotal, for Thirty-six Latin Motto s, Eighteen Shillings; ditto English,\\nOne Shilling and Ninepence ditto Greek, Four, Four Shillings.\\nThese Greek Motto s are excessively dear.\\nLtd. If you have them cheaper at either of the Universities, I\\nwill give you mine for nothing.\\nBook. You shall have your Money immediately, and pray remem-\\nber that I must have two Latin Seditious Motto s and one Greek\\nMoral Motto for Pamphlets by to-morrow Morning.\\nInd. Sir, I shall provide them. Be pleas d to look on that, Sir,\\nand print me Five hundred Proposals, and as many Receipts.\\nBook. Proposals for printing by Subscription a new Translation\\nof Cicero, Of the Nature, of the Gods and his Tusculan Questions, by\\nJeremy Index, Esq. I am sorry you have undertaken this, for it pre-\\nvents a Design of mine.\\nInd. Indeed, Sir, it does not, for you see all of the Book that I\\never intend to publish. It is only a handsome Way of asking one\\nFriends for a Guinea.\\nBook. Then you have not translated a Word of it, perhaps.\\nu Ind. Not a single Syllable.\\nBook. Well, you shall have your Proposals forthwith but I de-\\nsire you wou d be a little more reasonable in your Bills for the fut-\\nure, or I shall deal with you no longer for I have a certain Fellow\\nof a College, who offers to furnish me with Second-hand Motto s out\\nof the Spectator for Two-pence each.\\nInd. Sir, I only desire to live by my Goods, and I hope you will\\nbe pleas d to allow some difference between a neat fresh Piece,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0029.jp2"}, "30": {"fulltext": "16 FIELDING. [chap.\\npiping hot out of the Classicks, and old thread-bare worn-out Stuff\\nthat has past thro ev ry Pedant s Mouth.\\nThe latter part of this amusing dialogue, referring to\\nMr. Index s translation from Cicero, was added in an\\namended version of the Author s Farce, which appeared\\nsome years later, and in which Fielding depicts the por-\\ntrait of another all-powerful personage in the literary life\\nthe actor-manager. This, however, will be more conven-\\niently treated under its proper date, and it is only neces-\\nsary to say here that the slight sketches of Marplay and\\nSparkish given in the first edition, were presumably in-\\ntended for Cibber and Wilks, with whom, notwithstand-\\ning the civil and kind Behaviour for which he had\\nthanked them in the Preface to Love in Several Masques,\\nthe young dramatist was now, it seems, at war. In the\\nintroduction to the Miscellanies, he refers to a slight\\nPique with Wilks; and it is not impossible that the key\\nto the difference may be found in the following passage\\nSparkish. What dost think of the Play\\nMarplay. It may be a very good one, for ought I know but I\\nknow the Author has no Interest.\\nSpark. Give me Interest, and rat the Play.\\nMar. Rather rat the Play which has no Interest. Interest sways\\nas much in the Theatre as at Court. And you know it is not always\\nthe Companion of Merit in either.\\nThe handsome student from Leyden the potential Con-\\ngreve who wrote Love in Several Masques, and had Lady\\nMary Wortley Montagu for patroness, might fairly be sup-\\nposed to have expectations which warranted the civilities\\nof Messrs. Wilks and Cibber; but the Luckless of two\\nyears later had probably convinced them that his dramatic\\nperformances did not involve their sine qua non of suc-\\ncess. Under these circumstances nothing perhaps could", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0030.jp2"}, "31": {"fulltext": "i.] EARLY PLAYS. 17\\nbe more natural than that they should play their parts in\\nhis little satire.\\nWe have dwelt at some length upon the Author s Farce,\\nbecause it is the first of Fielding s plays in which, leaving\\nthe wit-traps of Wycherley and Congreve, he deals with\\nthe direct censure of contemporary folly, and because,\\napart from translation and adaptation, it is in this field\\nthat his most brilliant theatrical successes were won. For\\nthe next few years he continued to produce comedies and\\nfarces with great rapidity, both under his own name, and\\nunder the pseudonym of Scriblerus Secundus. Most of\\nthese show manifest signs of haste, and some are reckless-\\nly immodest. We shall confine ourselves to one or two\\nof the best, and do little more than enumerate the others.\\nOf these latter, the Coffee-House Politician; or, The Jus-\\ntice caught in his own Trap, 1730, succeeded the Author s\\nFarce. The leading idea, that of a tradesman who neg-\\nlects his shop for foreign affairs, appears to be derived\\nfrom Addison s excellent character-sketch in the Tatler of\\nthe Political Upholsterer. This is the more likely, in\\nthat Arne the musician, whose father is generally sup-,\\nposed to have been Addison s original, was Fielding s con-\\ntemporary at Eton. Justice Squeezum, another character\\ncontained in this play, is a kind of first draft of the later\\nJustice Thrasher in Amelia. The representation of the\\ntrading justice on the stage, however, was by no means\\nnew, since Justice Quorum in Coffey s Beggar s Wedding\\n(with whom, as will appear presently, Fielding s name has\\nbeen erroneously associated) exhibits similar characteris-\\ntics. Omitting for the moment the burlesque of Tom\\nThumb, the Coffee-House Politician was followed by the\\nLetter Writers or, A new Way to Keep a Wife at Home,\\n1*731, a brisk little farce, with one vigorously drawn chap", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0031.jp2"}, "32": {"fulltext": "18 FIELDING. [chap.\\nacter, that of Jack Commons, a young university rake\\nthe Grub- Street Opera, 1731 the farce of the Lottery,\\n1731, in which the famous Mrs. Give, then Miss Raftor,\\nappeared; the Modern Husband, 1732; the Covent Gar-\\nden Tragedy, 1732, a broad and rather riotous burlesque\\nof Ambrose Philips Distrest Mother and the Debau-\\nchees; or, The Jesuit Caught, 1732 which was based\\nupon the then debated story of Father Girard and Cathe-\\nrine Cadiere.\\nNeither of the two last-named pieces is worthy of the\\nauthor, and their strongest condemnation in our day is\\nthat they were condemned in their own for their unbridled\\nlicense, the Grub Street Journal going so far as to say\\nthat they had met with the universal detestation of the\\nTown. The Modern Husband^ which turns on that most\\nloathsome of all commercial pursuits, the traffic of a hus-\\nband in his wife s dishonour, appears, oddly enough, to\\nhave been regarded by its author with especial complacen-\\ncy. Its prologue lays stress upon the moral purpose it\\nwas dedicated to Sir Robert Walpole and from a couple\\nof letters printed in Lady Mary Wortley Montagu s Corre-\\nspondence, it is clear that it had been submitted to her pc\\nrusal. It had, however, no great success upon the stage\\nand the chief thing worth remembering about it is that ii\\nafforded his last character to Wilks, who played the part\\nof Bellamant. That slight Pique, of which mention has\\nbeen made, was no doubt by this time a thing of the past.\\nBut if most of the works in the foregoing list can hard-\\nly be regarded as creditable to Fielding s artistic or moral\\nsense, one of them at least deserves to be excepted, and\\nthat is the burlesque of Tom Thumb. This was first\\nbrought out in 1730 at the little theatre in the Hay market,\\nwhere it met with a favourable reception. In the follow-", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0032.jp2"}, "33": {"fulltext": "I.] EARLY PLAYS. 19\\ning year it was enlarged to three acts (in the first version\\nthere had been but two), and reproduced at the same the-\\natre as the Tragedy of Tragedies or, The Life and Death\\nof Tom Thumb the Great, with the Annotations of H.\\nScriblerus Secundus. It is certainly one of the best bur-\\nlesques ever written. As Baker observes in his Biographia\\nDramatica, it may fairly be ranked as a sequel to Buck-\\ningham s Rehearsal, since it includes the absurdities of\\nnearly all the writers of tragedies from the period when\\nthat piece stops to 1730. Among the authors satirised\\nare Nat. Lee, Thomson (whose famous\\nSophonisba, Sophonisba,\\nis parodied by\\nHuncamunca, Huncamunca,\\nBanks s Earl of Essex, a favourite play at Bartholomew\\nFair, the Busiris of Young, and the Aurengzebe of Dry den,\\netc. The annotations, which abound in transparent refer-\\nences to Dr. B[ew\u00c2\u00a3/e]y, Mr. T[heobal]d, Mr. D[emM*]s, are\\nexcellent imitations of contemporary pedantry. One ex-\\nample, elicited in Act 1 by a reference to giants, must\\nstand for many\\nThat learned Historian Mr. S n in the third Number of his\\nCriticism on our Author, takes great Pains to explode this Passage.\\nIt is, says he, difficult to guess what Giants are here meant, unlesi-\\nthe Giant Despair in the Pilgrini s Progress, or the giant Greatness\\nin the Royal Villain; for I have heard of no other sort of Giants in\\nthe Reign of King Arthur. Petrus Burmanus makes three Tom,\\nThumbs-, one whereof he supposes to have been the same Person\\nwhom the Greeks called Hercules, and that by these Giants are to be\\nunderstood the Centaurs slain by that Heroe. Another Tom Thumb\\nhe contends to have been no other than the Hermes Trismegistus of\\nthe Antients. The third Tom Thumb he places under the Reign of\\nKing Arthur; to which third Tom Thumb, says he, the Actions of", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0033.jp2"}, "34": {"fulltext": "20 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthe other two were attributed. Now, tho I know that this Opinion\\nis supported by an Assertion of Justus Lipsius, Thomam ilium Thum-\\nbum non alium quam Hercidem fuisse satis constat; yet shall I vent-\\nure to oppose one Line of Mr. Midwinter, against them all,\\n1 In Arthurs Court Torn Thumb did live.\\nBut then, says Dr. B y, if we place Tom Thumb in the Court\\nof King Arthur, it will be proper to place that Court out of Britain,\\nwhere no Giants were ever heard of. Spencer, in his Fairy Queen, is\\nof another Opinion, where describing Albion, he says,\\nFar within, a salvage Nation dwelt\\nOf hideous Giants.\\nAnd in the same canto\\nThen Elfar, vnth tvjo Brethren Giants had\\nThe one of which had two Heads,\\nT7ie other three.\\nRisum teneatis, Amici.\\nOf the play itself it is difficult to give an idea by ex-\\ntract, as nearly every line travesties some tragic passage\\nonce familiar to play-goers, and now utterly forgotten.\\nBut the following lines from one of the speeches of Lord\\nGrizzle a part admirably acted by Liston in later years 1\\nare a fair specimen of its ludicrous use (or rather abuse)\\nof simile\\nYet think not long, I will my Rival bear,\\nOr unreveng d the slighted Willow wear;\\nThe gloomy, brooding Tempest now confin d,\\nWithin the hollow Caverns of my Mind,\\nIn dreadful Whirl, shall rowl along the Coasts,\\nShall thin the Land of all the Men it boasts,\\nAnd cram up ev ry Chink of Hell with Ghosts.\\nSo have I seen, in some dark Winter s Day,\\nA sudden Storm rush down the Sky s High-Way,\\n1 Compare Hazlitt On the Comic Writers of the Last Century.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0034.jp2"}, "35": {"fulltext": "i.] EARLY PLAYS. 21\\nSweep thro the Streets with terrible ding-dong,\\nGush thro the Spouts, and wash whole Crowds along.\\nThe crowded Shops, the thronging Vermin skreen,\\nTogether cram the Dirty and the Clean,\\nAnd not one Shoe-Boy in the Street is seen.\\nIn the modern version of Kane O Hara, to which songs\\nwere added, the Tragedy of Tragedies still keeps, or kept\\nthe stage. But its crowning glory is its traditional con-\\nnection with Swift, who told Mrs. Pilkington that he had\\nnot laugh d above twice in his life, once at the tricks of\\na merry-andrew, and again when (in Fielding s burlesque)\\nTom Thumb killed the ghost. This is an incident of the\\nearlier versions, omitted in deference to the critics, for\\nwhich the reader will seek vainly in the play as now print-\\ned and even then he will discover that Mrs. Pilkington s\\nmemory served her imperfectly, since it is not Tom Thumb\\nwho kills the o;host, but the o-host of Tom Thumb which\\nis killed by his jealous rival, Lord Grizzle. A trifling in-\\naccuracy of this sort, however, is rather in favor of the\\ntruth of the story than against it, for a pure fiction would\\nin all probability have been more precise. Another point\\nof interest in connection with this burlesque is the frontia*\\npiece which Hogarth supplied to the edition in 1731. It\\nhas no special value as a design, but it constitutes the ear-\\nliest reference to that friendship with the painter, of whick\\nso many traces are to be found in Fielding s works.\\nHitherto, Fielding had succeeded best in burlesque.\\nBut, in 1732, the same year in which he produced the\\nModern Husband, the Debauchees, and the Covent Garden\\nTragedy, he made an adaptation of Moliere s Medecin\\nmalgre lui, which had already been imitated in English\\nby Mrs. Centlivre and others. This little piece, to which\\nhe gave the title of the Mock-Doctor or, The Dumb Lady", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0035.jp2"}, "36": {"fulltext": "22 FIELDING. [ch*p.\\ncur d, was well received. The French original was ren-\\ndered with tolerable closeness but here and there Field-\\ning has introduced little touches of his own, as, for in-\\nstance, where Gregory (Sganarelle) tells his wife Dorcas\\n(Martine), whom he has just been beating, that as they are\\nbut one, whenever he beats her he beats half of himself.\\nTo this she replies by requesting that for the future he\\nwill beat the other half. An entire scene (the thirteenth)\\nwas also added at the desire of Miss Raftor, who played\\nDorcas, and thought her part too short. This is apparent-\\nly intended as a burlesque of the notorious quack Misau-\\nbin, to whom the Mock-Doctor was ironically dedicated.\\nHe was the proprietor of a famous pill, and was introduced\\nby Hogarth into the Harlot s Progress. Gregory was\\nplayed by Theophilus Cibber, and the preface contains a\\ncomplimentary reference to his acting, and the expected\\nretirement of his father from the stage. Neither Geneste\\nnor Lawrence gives the date when the piece was first pro-\\nduced, but if the April on the dubious author s benefit\\nticket attributed to Hogarth be correct, it must have been\\nin the first months of 1732.\\nThe cordial reception of the Mock-Doctor seems to have\\nencouraged Fielding to make further levies upon Moliere,\\nand he speaks of his hope to do so in the Preface. As\\na matter of fact, he produced a version of L Avare at\\nDrury Lane in the following year, which entirely out-\\nshone the older versions of Shad well and Ozell, and gained\\nfrom Voltaire the praise of having added to the original\\nquelques beautes de dialogue particulieres a sd (Field-\\ning s) nation. Lovegold, its leading role, became a stock\\npart. It was well played by its first actor Griffin, and was\\na favorite exercise with Macklin, Shuter, and (in our own\\ndays) Phelps.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0036.jp2"}, "37": {"fulltext": "i.] EARLY PLAYS. 23\\nIn February, 1733, when the Miser was first acted,\\nFielding was five and twenty. His means at this time\\nwere, in all probability, exceedingly uncertain. The small\\nproportion of money due to him at his mother s death\\nhad doubtless been long since exhausted, and he must\\nhave been almost wholly dependent upon the precarious\\nprofits of his pen. That he was assisted by rich and\\nnoble friends to any material extent appears, in spite of\\nMurphy, to be unlikely. At all events, an occasional dedi-\\ncation to the Duke of Richmond or the Earl of Chester-\\nfield cannot be regarded as proof positive. Lyttelton, who\\ncertainly befriended him in later life, was for a great part\\nof this period absent on the Grand Tour, and Ralph Allen\\nhad not yet come forward. In default of the always de-\\nferred allowance, his father s house at Salisbury was no\\ndoubt open to him and it is plain, from indications in\\nhis minor poems, that he occasionally escaped into the\\ncountry. But in London he lived for the most part, and\\nprobably not very worshipfully. What, even now, would\\nbe the life of a young man of Fielding s age, fond of pleas-\\nure, careless of the future, very liberally equipped with\\nhigh spirits, and straightway exposed to the perilous se-\\nductions of the stage? Fielding had the defects of his\\nqualities, and was no better than the rest of those about\\nhim. He was manly, and frank, and generous but these\\ncharacteristics could scarcely protect him from the terrors\\nof the tip-staff,, and the sequels of t other bottle. In-\\ndeed, he very honestly and unfeignedly confesses to the\\nlapses of his youth in the Journey from this World to the\\nNext, adding that he pretended to very little Virtue\\nmore than general Philanthropy and private Friendship.\\nIt is therefore but reasonable to infer that his daily life\\nmust have been more than usuallv characterised bv the vi-\\nC", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0037.jp2"}, "38": {"fulltext": "24 FIELDING. [chap.\\ncissitudes of the eighteenth-century prodigal, alternations\\nfrom the Rose to a Clare-Market ordinary, from gold-lace\\nto fustian, from champagne to British Burgundy. In\\na rhymed petition to Walpole, dated 1730, he makes pleas-\\nant mirth of what no doubt was sometimes sober truth\\nhis debts, his duns, and his dinnerless condition. He (t!v\\nverses tells us)\\nAgain-\\nand\\nfrom his Garret can look down\\nOn the whole Street of Arlington. x\\nThe Family that dines the latest\\nIs in our Street esteem d the greatest\\nBut latest Hours must surely fall\\nBefore him who ne er dines at all\\nThis too doth in my Favour speak,\\nYour Levee is but twice a Week\\nFrom mine I can exclude but one Day,\\nMy Door is quiet on a Sunday.\\nWhen he can admit so much even jestingly of himself, it\\nis but legitimate to presume that there is no great exag-\\ngeration in the portrait of him in 1735, by the anonymous\\nsatirist of Seasonable Reproof\\nF g, who yesterday appear d so rough,\\nClad in coarse Frize, and plaister d down with Snuff,\\nSee how his Instant gaudy Trappings shine\\nWhat Play-house Bard was ever seen so fine\\nBut this, not from his Humour flows, you ll say,\\nBut mere Necessity for last Night lay\\nIn Pawn, the Velvet which he wears to-Day.\\nHis work bears traces of the inequalities and irregu-\\n1 Where Sir Robert lived.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0038.jp2"}, "39": {"fulltext": "i.] EARLY PLAYS. 25\\nlarities of his mode of living. Although in certain cases\\n(e. g. the revised edition of Tom Thumb) the artist and\\nscholar seems to have spasmodically asserted himself, the\\nmajority of his plays were hasty and ill-considered per-\\nformances, most of which (as Lady Mary said) he would\\nhave thrown into the fire if meat could have been got\\nwithout money, and money without scribbling. When\\nhe had contracted to bring on a play, or a farce, says\\nMurphy, it is well known, by many of his friends now\\nliving, that he would go home rather late from a tavern,\\nand would, the next morning, deliver a scene to the play-\\ners, written upon the papers which had wrapped the to-\\nbacco, in which he so much delighted. It is not easy\\nto conceive, unless Fielding s capacities as a smoker were\\nphenomenal, that any large contribution to dramatic liter-\\nature could have been made upon the wrappings of Vir-\\nginia or Freeman s Best; but that his reputation for care-\\nless production was established amongst his contempora-\\nries is manifest from the following passage in a burlesque\\nAuthor s Will, published in the Universal Spectator of\\nOldys:\\nItem, I give and bequeath to my very negligent Friend Henry\\nDrama, Esq., all my Industry. And whereas the World may think\\nthis an unnecessary Legacy, forasmuch as the said Henry Drama,\\nEsq., brings on the Stage four Pieces every Season yet as such\\nPieces are always wrote with uncommon Rapidity, and during such\\nfatal Intervals only as the Stocks have been on the Fall, this Legacy\\nwill be of use to him to revise and correct his Works. Further-\\nmore, for fear the said Henry Drama should make an ill Use of\\nthe said Industry, and expend it all on a Ballad Farce, it s my Will\\nthe said Legacy should be paid him by equal Portions, and as his\\nNecessities may require.\\nThere can be little doubt that the above quotation,\\n2", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0039.jp2"}, "40": {"fulltext": "26\\nFIELDING. [chap. i.\\nwhich is reprinted in the Gentleman s for July, 1734, and\\nseems to have hitherto escaped inquiry, refers to none\\nother than the very negligent Author of the Modern\\nHusband and the Old Debauchees in other words, to\\nHenry Fielding.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0040.jp2"}, "41": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER II.\\nMORE PLAYS MARRIAGE THE LICENSING ACT.\\nThe very subordinate part in the Miser of Furnish, an\\nUpholsterer, was taken by a third-rate actor, whose\\nsurname has been productive of no little misconception\\namongst Henry Fielding s biographers. This was Timo-\\nthy Fielding, sometime member of the Haymarket and\\nDrury Lane companies, and proprietor, for several succes-\\nsive years, of a booth at Bartholomew, Southwark, and\\nother fairs. In the absence of any Christian name, Mr.\\nLawrence seems to have rather rashly concluded that the\\nFielding mentioned by Geneste as having a booth at\\nBartholomew Fair in 1773 with Hippisley (the original\\nPeachum of the Beggar s Opera), was Fielding the drama-\\ntist; and the mistake thus originated at once began that\\nprosperous course which usually awaits any slip of the\\nkind. It misled one notoriously careful inquirer, who, in\\nhis interesting chronicles of Bartholomew Fair, minutely\\ninvestigated the actor s history, giving precise details of\\nhis doings at Bartlemy from 1728 to 1736; but, al-\\nthough the theory involved obvious inconsistencies, ap-\\nparently without any suspicion that the proprietor of the\\nbooth which stood, season after season, in the yard of the\\nGeorge Inn at Smithfield, was an entirely different person\\nfrom his greater namesake. The late Dr. Rimbault car-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0041.jp2"}, "42": {"fulltext": "28 FIELDING. [chap.\\nried the story farther still, and attempted to show, in Notes\\nand Queries for May, 1859, that Henry Fielding had a\\nbooth at Tottenham Court in 1738, subsequent to his\\nadmission into the Middle Temple; and he also promised\\nto supply additional particulars to the effect that even\\n1738 was not the last year of Fielding s career as a\\nbooth-proprietor. At this stage (probably for good rea-\\nsons) inquiry seems to have slumbered, although, with the\\nfatal vitality of error, the statement continued (and still\\ncontinues) to be repeated in various quarters. In 1875,\\nhowever, Mr. Frederick Latreille published a short article\\nin Notes and Queries, proving conclusively, by extracts\\nfrom contemporary newspapers and other sources, that\\nthe Timothy Fielding above referred to was the real Field-\\ning of the fairs that he became landlord of the Buffalo\\nTavern at the corner of Bloomsbury Square in 1733;\\nand that he died in August, 1738, his Christian name, so\\noften suppressed, being duly recorded in the register of\\nthe neighbouring church of St. George s, where he was\\nburied. The admirers of our great novelist owe Mr. La-\\ntreille a debt of gratitude for this opportune discovery.\\nIt is true that a certain element of Bohemian picturesque-\\nness is lost to Henry Fielding s life, already not very rich\\nin recorded incident and it would certainly have been\\ncurious if he, who ended his days in trying to dignify the\\njudicial office, should have begun life by acting the part\\nof a trading justice, namely, that of Quorum in Coffey s\\nBeggar s Wedding, which Timothy Fielding had played at\\nDrury Lane. But, on the whole, it is satisfactory to know\\nthat his early experiences did not, of necessity, include\\nthose of a strolling player. Some obscure and temporary\\nconnection with Bartholomew Fair be may have had, as\\nSmollett, in the scurrilous pamphlet issued in 1742, makes", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0042.jp2"}, "43": {"fulltext": "il] MORE PLAYS. 29\\nhim say that he blew a trumpet there in quality of herald\\nto a collection of wild beasts but this is probably no\\nmore than an earlier and uglier form of the apparition\\nlaid by Mr. Latreille. The only positive evidence of any\\nconnection between Henry Fielding and the Smithfield\\ncarnival is, that Theophilus Cibber s company played the\\nMiser at their booth in August, 1733.\\nWith the exception of the Miser and an afterpiece,\\nnever printed, entitled Deborah or, A Wife for You All,\\nwhich was acted for Miss Raftor s benefit in April, 1733,\\nnothing important was brought upon the stage by Field-\\ning until January of the following year, when he produced\\nthe Intriguing Chambermaid, and a revised version of the\\nAuthor s Farce. By a succession of changes, which it is\\nimpossible here to describe in detail,, considerable altera-\\ntions had taken place in the management of Drury Lane.\\nIn the first place, Wilks was dead, and his share in the\\nPatent was represented by his widow. Booth also was\\ndead, and Mrs. Booth had sold her share to Giffard of\\nGoodman s Fields, while the elder Gibber had retired. At\\nthe beginning of the season of 1733-34 the leading paten-\\ntee was an amateur called Highmore, who had purchased\\nCibber s share. He had also purchased part of Booth s\\nshare before his death in May, 1733. The only other share-\\nholder of importance was Mrs. Wilks. Shortly after the\\nopening of the theatre in September, the greater part of\\nthe Drury Lane Company, led by the younger Cibber, re-\\nvolted from Highmore and Mrs. Wilks, and set up for\\nthemselves. Matters w 7 ere farther complicated by the fact\\nthat John Rich had not long opened a new theatre in Cov-\\nent Garden, which constituted a fresh attraction and that\\nwhat Fielding called the wanton affected Fondness for\\nforeign Musick, was making the Italian opera a dangerous", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0043.jp2"}, "44": {"fulltext": "SO FIELDING. [chap.\\nrival the more so as it -was patronised by the nobility.\\nWithout actors, the patentees were in serious case. Miss\\nRaftor, who about this time became Mrs. Clive, appears,\\nhowever, to have remained faithful to them, as also did\\nHenry Fielding. The lively little comedy of the Intrigu-\\ning Chambermaid was adapted from Regnard especially for\\nher and in its published form was preceded by an epistle\\nin which the dramatist dwells upon the Factions and Di-\\nvisions among the Players, and compliments her upon her\\ncompassionate adherence to Mr. Highmore and Mrs. Wilks\\nin their time of need. The epistle is also valuable for its\\nwarm and generous testimony to the private character of\\nthis accomplished actress, whose part in real life, says\\nFielding, was that of the best Wife, the best Daughter,\\nthe best Sister, and the best Friend. The words are more\\nthan mere compliment; they appear to have been true.\\nMadcap and humourist as she was, no breath of slander\\nseems ever to have tarnished the reputation of Kitty\\nClive, whom Johnson a fine judge, when his prejudices\\nwere not actively aroused called in addition the best\\nplayer that he ever saw.\\nThe Intriguing Chambermaid was produced on the 15th\\nof January, 1734. Lettice, from whom the piece was\\nnamed, was well personated by Mrs. Clive, and Colonel\\nBluff by Macklin, the only actor of any promise that\\nHighmore had been able to secure. With the new com-\\nedy the Author s Farce was revived. It would be unnec-\\nessary to refer to this again, but for the additions that\\nwere made to it. These consisted chiefly in the substitu-\\ntion of Marplay Junior for Sparkish, the actor-manager of\\nthe first version. The death of Wilks may have been a\\nreason for this alteration but a stronger was no doubt\\nthe desire to throw ridicule upon Theophilus Cibber, whose", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0044.jp2"}, "45": {"fulltext": "ti.] MORE PLAYS. 31\\nbehaviour in deserting Drury Lane immediately after his\\nfather had sold his share to Highmore had not passed\\nwithout censure, nor had his father s action escaped sar-\\ncastic comment. Theophilus Gibber whose best part was\\nBeaumont and Fletcher s Copper Captain, and who carried\\nthe impersonation into private life had played in several\\nof Fielding s pieces but Fielding had linked his fortunes\\nto those of the patentees, and was consequently against\\nthe players in this quarrel. The following scene was ac-\\ncordingly added to the farce for the exclusive benefit of\\nYoung Marplay\\nMarplay junior. Mr. Luckless, I kiss your Hands Sir, I am your\\nmost obedient humble Servant you see, Mr. Luckless, what Power\\nyou have over me. I attend your Commands, tho several Persons\\nof Quality have staid at Court for me above this Hour.\\nLuckless. I am obliged to you I have a Tragedy for your House,\\nMr. Marplay.\\nMar.jun. Ha if you will send it me, I will give you my Opinion\\nof it; and if I can make any Alterations in it that will be for its\\nAdvantage, I will do it freely.\\nWitmore. Alterations, Sir\\nMar.jun. Yes, Sir, Alterations I will maintain it, let a Play be\\nnever so good, without Alteration it will do nothing.\\nWit. Very odd indeed.\\nMar.jun. Did you ever write, Sir?\\nWit. No, Sir, I thank Heav n.\\nMar.jun. Oh your humble Servant your very humble Servant,\\nSir. When you write yourself you will find the Necessity of Altera-\\ntions. Why, Sir, wou d you guess that I had alter d Shakespear\\nWit. Yes, faith, Sir, no one sooner.\\nMar.jun. Alack-a-day Was you to see the Plays when they\\nare brought to us a Parcel of crude, undigested Stuff. We are the\\nPersons, Sir, who lick them into Form, that mould them into Shape\\nThe Poet make the Play indeed The Colour-man might be as\\nwell said to make the Picture, or the Weaver the Coat: My Father\\nand I, Sir, are 2 r ouple of poetical Tailors when a Play is brought", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0045.jp2"}, "46": {"fulltext": "32 FIELDING. [chap.\\nus, we consider it as a Tailor does his Coat, we cut it, Sir, we cut it:\\nAnd let me tell you, we have the exact Measure of the Town, we\\nknow how to fit their Taste. The Poets, between you and me, are a\\nPack of ignorant\\nU WU. Hold, hold, Sir. This is not quite so civil to Mr. Luckless:\\nBesides, as I take it, you have done the Town the Honour of writing\\nyourself.\\nMar. jun. Sir, you are a Man of Sense; and express yourself\\nwell. I did, as you say, once make a small Sally into Parnassus,\\ntook a sort of flying Leap over Helicon But if ever they catch me\\nthere again Sir, the Town have a Prejudice to my Family; for if\\nany Play cou d have made them ashamed to damn it, mine must. It\\nwas all over Plot. It wou d have made half a dozen Novels Nor\\nwas it cram d with a pack of Wit-traps, like Congreve and Wycherly,\\nwhere every one knows when the Joke was coming. I defy the sharp-\\nest Critick of em all to know when any Jokes of mine were coming.\\nThe Dialogue was plain, easy, and natural, and not one single Joke\\nin it from the Beginning to the End Besides, Sir, there was one\\nScene of tender melancholy Conversation, enough to have melted a\\nHeart of Stone; and yet they damn d it: And they damn d them-\\nselves for they shall have no more of mine.\\nWit. Take pity on the Town, Sir.\\nMar. jun. I No, Sir, no. I ll write no more. No more un-\\nless I am fore d to it.\\nLuckless. That s no easy thing, Marplay.\\nMar. jun. Yes, Sir. Odes, Odes, a Man may be oblig d to write\\nthose you know.\\nThese concluding lines plainly refer to the elder Cibber s\\nappointment as Laureate in 1730, and to those annual\\nBirth-day Strains, with which he so long delighted the\\nirreverent; while the alteration of Shakspeare and the\\ncobbling of plays generally, satirised again in a later\\nscene, are strictly in accordance with contemporary ac-\\ncounts of the manners and customs of the two dictators\\nof Drury Lane. The piece indicated by Marplay Junior\\nwas, probably, Theophilus Cibber s Lover, which had", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0046.jp2"}, "47": {"fulltext": "ii.] MORE PLAYS. 33\\nbeen produced in January, 1*731, with very moderate suc-\\ncess.\\nAfter the Intriguing Chambermaid and the revived\\nAuthor s Farce, Fielding seems to have made farther\\nexertions for the distressed Actors in Drury Lane.\\nHe had always been an admirer of Cervantes, frequent\\nreferences to whose master-work are to be found scattered\\nthrough his plays; and he now busied himself with com-\\npleting and expanding the loose scenes of the comedy of\\nDon Quixote in England, which (as before stated) he\\nhad sketched at Leyden for his own diversion. He\\nhad already thought of bringing it upon the stage,\\nbut had been dissuaded from doing so by Cibber and\\nBooth, who regarded it as wanting in novelty. Now,\\nhowever, he strengthened it by the addition of some\\nelection scenes, in which he tells Lord Chesterfield\\nin the dedication he designed to give a lively repre-\\nsentation of the Calamities brought on a Country\\nby general Corruption and it was duly rehearsed.\\nBut unexpected delays took place in its production\\nthe revolted players returned to Drury Lane and,\\nlest the actors benefits should further retard its ap-\\npearance by postponing it until the winter season,\\nFielding transferred it to the Haymarket, where, accord-\\ning to Geneste, it was acted in April, 1734. As a play,\\nDon Quixote in England has few stage qualities and no\\nplot to speak of. But the Don with his whimsies, and\\nSancho with his appetite and string of proverbs, are con-\\nceived in something of the spirit of Cervantes. Squire\\nBadger, too, a rudimentary Squire Western, well repre-\\nsented by Macklin, is vigorously drawn and the song\\nof his huntsman Scut, beginning with the fine line The\\ndusky Night rides down the Sky, has a verse that re-\\n2*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0047.jp2"}, "48": {"fulltext": "34 FIELDING. [chap.\\ncalls a practice of which Addison accuses Sir Roger de\\nCoverley\\nA brushing Fox in yonder Wood,\\nSecure to find xne seek\\nFor why, I carry d sound and good,\\nA Cartload there last Week.\\nAnd a Hunting we will go.\\nThe election scenes, though but slightly attached to\\nthe main story, are keenly satirical, and considering that\\nHogarth s famous series of kindred prints belongs to a\\nmuch later date, must certainly have been novel, as may\\nbe gathered from the following little colloquy between\\nMr. Mayor and Messrs. Guzzle and Retail\\nMayor (to Retail). I like an Opposition, because other-\\nwise a Man may be oblig d to vote against his Party therefore\\nwhen we invite a Gentleman to stand, we invite him to spend his\\nMoney for the Honour of his Party; and when both Parties have\\nspent as much as they are able, every honest Man will vote\\naccording to his Conscience.\\nu Guz. Mr. Mayor talks like a Man of Sense and Honour, and it\\ndoes me good to hear him.\\nMay. Ay, ay, Mr. Guzzle, I never gave a vote contrary to my\\nConscience. I have very earnestly recommended the Country-\\nInterest to all my Brethren But before that, I recommended the\\nTown-Interest, that is, the interest of this Corporation and first\\nof all I recommended to every particular Man to take a partic-\\nular Care of himself. And it is with a certain way of Reasoning,\\nThat he who serves me best, will serve the Town best and he that\\nserves the Town best, will serve the Country best.\\nIn the January and February of 1735 Fielding pro-\\nduced two more pieces at Drury Laue, a farce and a five-\\nact comedy. The farce a lively trifle enough was An\\nOld Man taught Wisdom, a title subsequently changed\\nto the Virgin Unmasked. It was obviously written to", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0048.jp2"}, "49": {"fulltext": "ii.] MORE PLAYS. 35\\ndisplay the talents of Mrs. Clive, who played in it her\\nfavourite character of a hoyden, and, after interview-\\ning a number of suitors chosen by her father, finally\\nran away with Thomas the footman a course in those\\ndays not without its parallel in high life, above stairs as\\nwell as below. It appears to have succeeded, though\\nBookish, one of the characters, was entirely withdrawn\\nin deference to some disapprobation on the part of\\nthe audience; while the part of Wormwood, a lawyer,\\nwhich is found in the latest editions, is said to have been\\nomitted in representation. The comedy, entitled The\\nUniversal Gallant or, The different Husbands, was scarce-\\nly so fortunate. Notwithstanding that Quin, who, after\\nan absence of many years, had returned to Drury Lane,\\nplayed a leading part, and that Theophilus Cibber in the\\nhero, Captain Smart, seems to have been fitted with a\\ncharacter exactly suited to his talents and idiosyncrasy,\\nthe play ran no more than three nights. Till the third act\\nwas almost over, the Audience says the Prompter (as\\nquoted by Sylvanus Urban sat quiet, in hopes it\\nwould mend, till finding it grew worse and worse, they lost\\nall Patience, and not an Expression or Sentiment after-\\nwards pass d without its deserved Censure. Perhaps it is\\nnot to be wondered at that the author the prolifick Mr.\\nFielding as the Prompter calls him, attributed its con-\\ndemnation to causes other than its lack of interest. In his\\nAdvertisement he openly complains of the cruel Usage\\nhis poor Play had met with, and of the barbarity of\\nthe young men about town who made a Jest of damning\\nPlays a pastime which, whether it prevailed in this case\\nor not, no doubt existed, as Sarah Fielding afterwards re-\\nfers to it in David Simple. If an author he goes on to\\nsay be so unfortunate [as] to depend on the success of", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0049.jp2"}, "50": {"fulltext": "36 FIELDING. [chap.\\nhis Labours for his Bread, he must be an inhuman Creat-\\nure indeed, who would out of sport and wantonness pre-\\nvent a Man from getting a Livelihood in an honest and in-\\noffensive Way, and make a jest of starving him and his\\nFamily. The plea is a good one if the play is good but\\nif not, it is worthless. In this respect the public are like\\nthe French Cardinal in the story and when the famished\\nwriter s work fails to entertain them, they are fully justi-\\nfied in doubting his raison d etre. There is no reason for\\nsupposing that the Universal Gallant deserved a better\\nfate than it met with.\\nJudging from the time which elapsed between the pro-\\nduction of this play and that of Pasquin (Fielding s next\\ntheatrical venture), it has been conjectured that the interval\\nwas occupied by his marriage, and brief experience as a\\nDorsetshire country gentleman. The exact date of his mar-\\nriage is not known, though it is generally assumed to have\\ntaken place in the beginning of 1735. But it may well\\nhave been earlier, for it will be observed that in the above\\nquotation from the Preface to the Universal Gallant,\\nwhich is dated from Buckingham Street, Feb. 12, he\\nindirectly speaks of his family. This, it is true, may be\\nno more than the pious fraud of a bachelor but if it be\\ntaken literally, we must conclude that his marriage was\\nalready so far a thing of the past that he was already a\\nfather. This supposition would account for the absence\\nof any record of the birth of a child during his forthcom-\\ning residence at East Stour, by the explanation that it had\\nalready happened in London and it is not impossible that\\nthe entry of the marriage, too, may be hidden away in\\nsome obscure Metropolitan parish register, since those of\\nSalisbury have been fruitlessly searched. At this distance\\nof time, however, speculation is fruitless and, in default", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0050.jp2"}, "51": {"fulltext": "ii.] MARRIAGE. 37\\nof more definite information, the spring of 1735, which\\nKeightley gives, must be accepted as the probable date of\\nthe marriage.\\nConcerning the lady, the particulars are more precise.\\nShe was a Miss Charlotte Cradock, one of three sisters liv-\\ning upon their own means at Salisbury, or as it was then\\nstyled New Sarum. Mr. Keightley s personal inquiries,\\ncirca 1858, elicited the information that the family, now\\nextinct, was highly respectable, but not of New Sarum s\\nbest society. Richardson, in one of his malevolent out-\\nbursts, asserted that the sisters were illegitimate but, says\\nthe writer above referred to, of this circumstance we have\\nno other proof, and I am able to add that the tradition of\\nSalisbury knows nothing of it. They were, however, cele-\\nbrated for their personal attractions and if the picture\\ngiven in chap. ii. book iv. of Tom Jones accurately repre-\\nsents the first Mrs. Fielding, she must have been a most\\ncharming brunette. Something of the stereotyped charac-\\nteristics of a novelist s heroine obviously enter into the\\ndescription but the luxuriant black hair, which, cut to\\ncomply with the modern Fashion, curled so gracefully\\nin her Neck, the lustrous eyes, the dimple in the right\\ncheek, the chin rather full than small, and the complexion\\nhaving more of the Lilly than of the Rose, but flushing\\nwith exercise or modesty, are, doubtless, accurately set\\ndown. In speaking of the nose as exactly regular, Field-\\ning appears to have deviated slightly from the truth for\\nwe learn from Lady Louisa Stuart that, in this respect,\\nMiss Cradock s appearance had suffered a little from an\\naccident mentioned in Book II. of Amelia, the overturn-\\ning of a chaise. Whether she also possessed the mental\\nqualities and accomplishments which fell to the lot of So-\\nphia Western, we have no means of determining; but Lady", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0051.jp2"}, "52": {"fulltext": "38 FIELDING. [chap.\\nStuart is again our authority for saying that she was as\\namiable as she was handsome.\\nFrom the love-poems in the first volume of the Miscel-\\nlanies of 1743 poems which their author declares to have\\nbeen Productions of the Heart rather than of the Head\\nit is clear that Fielding had been attached to his future\\nwife for several years previous to 1735. One of them, Ad-\\nvice to the Nymphs of Neio S m, celebrates the charms\\nof Celia the poetical equivalent for Charlotte as early\\nas 1730 another, containing a reference to the player An-\\nthony Boheme, who died in 1731, was probably written at\\nthe same time while a third, in which, upon the special\\nintervention of Jove himself, the prize of beauty is decreed\\nby Venus to the Salisbury sisters, may be of an earlier\\ndate than any. The year 1730 was the year of his third\\npiece, the Author s Farce, and he must therefore have been\\npaying his addresses to Miss Cradock not very long after\\nhis arrival in London. This is a fact to be borne in mind.\\nSo early an attachment to a good and beautiful girl, living\\nno farther off than Salisbury, where his own father prob-\\nably resided, is scarcely consistent with the reckless dissi-\\npation which has been laid to his charge, although, on his\\nown showing, he was by no means faultless. But it is a\\npart of natures like his to exaggerate their errors in the\\nmoment of repentance and it may be well be that Henry\\nFielding, too, was not so black as he painted himself. Of\\nhis love verses he says this Branch of Writing is what\\nI very little pretend to and it would be misleading to\\nrate them highly, for, unlike his literary descendant, Mr.\\nThackeray, he never attained to any special quality of\\nnote. But some of his octosyllabics, if the} 7 cannot be\\ncalled equal to Prior s, fail little below Swift s. I hate\\ncries he in one of his pieces", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0052.jp2"}, "53": {"fulltext": "n.] _ MARRIAGE. 3\u00c2\u00bb\\nI hate the Town, and all its Ways\\nRidotto s, Opera s, and Plays\\nThe Ball, the Ring, the Mall, the Court\\nWherever the Beau-Monde resort\\nAll Coffee-Houses, and their Praters\\nAll Courts of Justice, and Debaters\\nAll Taverns, and the Sots within em\\nAll Bubbles, and the Rogues that skin em,\\nand so forth, the natural anti-climax being that he loves\\nnothing but his Charmer at Salisbury. In another,\\nwhich is headed To Celia. Occasioned by her apprehend-\\ning her House would be broke open, and having an old Fel-\\nlow to guard it, who sat up all Night, with a Gun with-\\nout any Ammunition, and from which it has been con-\\ncluded that the Miss Cradocks were their own landlords,\\nVenus chides Cupid for neglecting to guard her favour-\\nite\\nCome tell me, Urchin, tell no lies\\nWhere was you hid, in Vhice s eyes\\nDid you fair Bennefs Breast importune\\n(I know you dearly love- a Fortune.)\\nPoor Cupid now began to whine\\nMamma, it was no Fault of mine.\\nI in a Dimple lay perdue,\\nThat little Guard-Room chose by you.\\nA hundred Loves (all arrn d) did grace\\nThe Beauties of her Neck and Face\\nThence, by a Sigh I dispossest,\\nWas blown to Harry Fielding s Breast\\nWhere I was forc d all Night to stay,\\nBecause I could not find my Way.\\nBut did Mamma know there what Work\\nPve made, how acted like a Turk\\nWhat pains, what Torment he endures,\\nWhich no Physician ever cures,\\nShe would forgive. The Goddess smil d,\\nAnd gently chuck d her wicked Child,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0053.jp2"}, "54": {"fulltext": "40 FIELDING. [chap.\\nBid him go back, and take more Care,\\nAnd give her Service to the Fair.\\nSwift, in his Rhapsody on Poetry, 1733, coupled Field-\\ning with Leonard Welsted as an instance of sinking in\\nverse. But the foregoing, which he could not have seen,\\nis scarcely, if at all, inferior to his own Birthday Poems to\\nStella:\\nThe history of Fielding s marriage rests so exclusively\\nupon the statements of Arthur Murphy that it will be well\\nto quote his words in full:\\nMr. Fielding had not been long a writer for the stage, when he\\nmarried Miss Craddock [dc], a beauty from Salisbury. About that\\ntime, his mother dying, a moderate estate, at Stower in Dorsetshire,\\ndevolved to him. To that place he retired with his wife, on whom he\\ndoated, with a resolution to bid adieu to all the follies and intemper-\\nances to which he had addicted himself in the career of a town life.\\nBut unfortunately a kind of family-pride here gained an ascendant\\nover him and he began immediately to vie in splendour with the\\nneighbouring country squires. With an estate not much above two\\nhundred pounds a-year, and his wife s fortune, which did not exceed\\nfifteen hundred pounds, he encumbered himself with a large retinue\\nof servants, all clad in costly yellow liveries. For their master s hon-\\nour, these people could not descend so low as to be careful in their\\napparel, but, in a month or two, were unfit to be seen the squire s\\ndignity required that they should be new-equipped and his chief\\npleasure consisting in society and convivial mirth, hospitality threw\\nopen his doors, and, in less than three years, entertainments, hounds,\\nand horses, entirely devoured a little patrimony, which, had it been\\nmanaged with oeconomy, might have secured to him a state of inde-\\npendence for the rest of his life, etc.\\n1 Swift afterwards substituted the laureate [Cibber] for Field-\\ning, and appears to have changed his mind as to the latter s merits.\\nI can assure Mr. Fielding, 1 says Mrs. Pilkington in the third and\\nlast volume of her Memoirs (1754), the Dean had a high opinion of\\nhis Wit, which must be a Pleasure to him, as no Man was ever better\\nqualified to judge, possessing it so eminently himself.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0054.jp2"}, "55": {"fulltext": "ii.] MARRIAGE. 41\\nThis passage, which has played a conspicuous part in\\nall biographies of Fielding, was very carefully sifted by\\nMr. Keightley, who came to the conclusion that it was\\na mere tissue of error and inconsistency. 1 Without\\ngoing to this length, we must admit that it is manifestly\\nincorrect in many respects. If Fielding married in 1735\\n(though, as already pointed out, he may have married\\nearlier, and retired to the country upon the failure of the\\nUniversal Gallant), he is certainly inaccurately described\\nas not having been long a writer for the stage, since\\nwriting for the stage had been his chief occupation for\\nseven years. Then again his mother had died as far back\\nas April 10, 1718, when he was a boy of eleven; and if\\nhe had inherited anything from her, he had probably\\nbeen in the enjoyment of it ever since he came of age.\\nFurthermore, the statement as to three years is at\\nvariance with the fact that, according to the dedication\\nto the Universal Gallant, he was still in London in\\nFebruary, 1735, and was back again managing the Hay-\\nmarket in the first months of 1736. Murphy, however,\\nmay only mean that the estate at East Stour was in\\nhis possession for three years. Mr. Keightley s other\\npoints namely, that the tolerably respectable farm-\\nhouse, in which he is supposed to have lived, was\\nscarcely adapted to splendid entertainments, or a\\nlarge retinue of servants and that, to be in strict ac-\\ncordance with the family arms, the liveries should have\\nbeen not yellow, but white and blue must be taken\\nfor what they are worth. On the whole, the probability\\nis, that Murphy s words were only the careless repetition\\nof local tittle-tattle, of much of which, as Captain Booth\\n1 Some of Mr. Keightley s criticisms were anticipated by Watson.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0055.jp2"}, "56": {"fulltext": "42 FIELDING. [chap.\\nsays pertinently in Amelia, the only basis is lying.\\nThe squires of the neighbourhood would naturally regard\\nthe dashing young gentleman from London with the same\\ndistrustful hostility that Addison s Tory Foxhunter ex-\\nhibited to those who differed with him in politics. It\\nwould be remembered, besides, that the new-comer was\\nthe son of another and an earlier Fielding of less preten-\\nsions, and no real cordiality could ever have existed be-\\ntween them. Indeed, it may be assumed that this vv hs\\nthe case, for Booth s account of the opposition and ridi-\\ncule which he a poor renter! encountered when he\\nenlarged his farm and set up his coach has a distinct per-\\nsonal accent. That he was lavish, and lived beyond his\\nmeans, is quite in accordance with his character. The\\nman who, as a Bow Street magistrate, kept open house on\\na pittance, was not likely to be less lavish as a country\\ngentleman, with \u00c2\u00a31500 in his pocket, and newly married\\nto a young and handsome wife. He would have wanted\\nmoney, said Lady Mary, M if his hereditary lands had\\nbeen as extensive as his imagination and there can be\\nlittle doubt that the rafters of the old farm by the Stour,\\nwith the great locust tree at the back, which is figured\\nin Huchins s History of Dorset, rang often to hunting\\nchoruses, and that not seldom the dusky Night rod\\ndown the Sky over the prostrate forms of Harry Field-\\ning s guests. 1 But even \u00c2\u00a31500, and (in spite of Murphy)\\n1 An interesting relic of the East Stour residence has recently\\nbeen presented by Mr. Merthyr Guest (through Mr. R. A. Kinglake)\\nto the Somersetshire Archaeological Society. It is an oak table of\\nsolid proportions, and bears on a brass plate the following inscrip-\\ntion, emanating from a former owner This table belonged to\\nHenry Fielding, Esq., novelist. He hunted from East Stour Farm,\\n1718, and in three years dissipated his fortune keeping hounds.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0056.jp2"}, "57": {"fulltext": "it] MORE PLAYS. 43\\nit is by no means clear that he had anything more, could\\nscarcely last for ever. Whether his footmen wore yellow\\nor not, a few brief months found him again in town. That\\nhe was able to rent a theatre may perhaps be accepted as\\nproof that his profuse hospitalities had not completely\\nexhausted his means.\\nThe moment was a favourable one for a fresh theatri-\\ncal experiment. The stage-world was split up into fac-\\ntions, the players were disorganised, and everything seemed\\nin confusion. Whether Fielding himself conceived the\\nidea of making capital out of this state of things, or wheth-\\ner it was suggested to him by some of the company who\\nhad acted Don Quixote in England, it is impossible to\\nsay. In the first months of 1736, however, he took the\\nlittle French Theatre in the Haymarket, and opened it\\nwith a company which he christened the Great Mogul s\\nCompany of Comedians, who were further described as\\nhaving dropped from the Clouds. The Great Mogul\\nwas a name sometimes given by playwrights to the elder\\nCibber; but there is no reason for supposing that any\\nallusion to him was intended on this occasion. The\\ncompany, with the exception of Macklin, who was play-\\ning at Drury Lane, consisted chiefly of the actors in Don\\nQuixote in England; and the first piece was entitled\\nPasquin a Dramatick Satire on the Times being the\\nRehearsal of Two Plays, viz., a, Comedy called the Elec-\\ntion, and a Tragedy calVd the Life and Death of Common-\\nSense. The form of this work, which belongs to the same\\nclass as Sheridan s Critic and Buckingham s Rehearsal,\\nwas probably determined by Fielding s past experience of\\nIn 1718, it may be observed, Fielding was a boy of eleven. Prob-\\nably the whole of the latter sentence is nothing more than a dis-\\ntortion of Murphy.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0057.jp2"}, "58": {"fulltext": "44 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthe public taste. His latest comedy had failed, and its\\npredecessors had not been very successful. But his bur-\\nlesques had met with a better reception, while the election\\nepisodes in Don Quixote had seemed to disclose a fresh\\nfield for the satire of contemporary manners. And in the\\nsatire of contemporary manners he felt his strength lay.\\nThe success of Pasquin proved he had not miscalculated,\\nfor it ran more than forty nights, drawing, if we may be-\\nlieve the unknown author of the life of Theophilus Cib-\\nber, numerous and enthusiastic audiences from Grosve-\\nnor, Cavendish, Hanover, and all the other fashionable\\nSquares, as also from Pall Mall, and the Inns of Court.\\nIn regard to plot; the comedy which Pasquin contains\\nscarcely deserves the name. It consists of a string of\\nloosely-connected scenes, which depict the shameless po-\\nlitical corruption of the Walpole era with a good deal of\\nboldness and humour. The sole difference between the\\nCourt party, represented by two Candidates with the\\nBunyan-like names of Lord Place and Colonel Promise,\\nand the Country party, 1 whose nominees as Sir Harry\\nFox-Chace and Squire Tankard, is that the former bribe\\nopenly, the latter indirectly. The Mayor, whose sympa-\\nthies are with the Country party, is finally induced by\\nhis wife to vote for and return the other side, although\\nthey are in a minority and the play is concluded by the\\nprecipitate marriage of his daughter with Colonel Prom-\\nise. Mr. Fustian, the Tragic Author, who, with Mr. Sneer-\\nwell the Critic, is one of the spectators of the rehearsal,\\ndemurs to the abruptness with which this ingenious catas-\\ntrophe is brought about, and inquires where the prelimi-\\nnary action, of which there is not the slightest evidence\\nin the piece itself, has taken place. Thereupon Trap wit,\\nthe Comic Author, replies as follows, in one of those", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0058.jp2"}, "59": {"fulltext": "ii.] MORE PLAYS. 45\\npassages which show that, whatever Fielding s dramatic\\nlimitations may have been, he was at least a keen critic of\\nstage practice\\nTrapioit. Why, behind the Scenes, Sir. What, would you have\\nevery Thing brought upon the Stage I intend to bring ours to the\\nDignity of the French Stage and I have Horace s Advice of my\\nSide we have many Tilings both said and done in our Comedies,\\nwhich might be better perform d behind the Scenes The French,\\nyou know, banish all Cruelty from their Stage and I don t see why\\nwe should bring on a Lady in ours, practising all manner of Cruelty\\nupon her Lover beside, Sir, we do not only produce it, but encour-\\nage it; for I could name you some Comedies, if I would, where a\\nWoman is brought in for four Acts together, behaving to a worthy\\nMan in a Manner for which she almost deserves to be hang d and\\nin the Fifth, forsooth, she is rewarded with him for a Husband\\nNow, Sir, as I know this hits some Tastes, and am willing to oblige\\nall, I have given every Lady a Latitude of thinking mine has be-\\nhaved in whatever Manner she would have her.\\nThe part of Lord Place in the Election, after the first\\nfew nights, was taken by Gibber s daughter, the notorious\\nMrs. Charlotte Charke, whose extraordinary Memoirs an\\namongst the curiosities of eighteenth- century literature\\nand whose experiences were as varied as those of any char\\nacter in fiction. She does not seem to have acted in tin\\nLife and Death of Common- Sense, the rehearsal of whicli\\nfollowed that of the Election. This is a burlesque of the\\nTom Thumb type, much of which is written in vigorous\\nblank verse. Queen Common-Sense is conspired against\\nby Firebrand, Priest of the Sun, by Law, and by Physic.\\nLaw is incensed because she has endeavoured to make his\\npiebald jargon intelligible; Physic because she has prefer-\\nred Water Gruel to all his drugs and Firebrand because\\nshe would restrain the Power of Priests. Some of the\\nstrokes must have gone home to those receptive hearers", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0059.jp2"}, "60": {"fulltext": "40 FIELDING. [chap.\\nwho, as one contemporary account informs us, were dull\\nenough not only to think they contain d Wit and Humour,\\nbut Truth also\\nQueen Common- Sense. My Lord of Laio, I sent for you this\\nmorning\\nI have a strange Petition given to me\\nTwo Men, it seems, have lately been at Law\\nFor an Estate, which both of them have lost,\\nAnd their Attorneys now divide between them.\\nLaw. Madam, these things will happen in the Law.\\nQ. C. S. Will they, my Lord then better we had none\\nBut I have also heard a sweet Bird sing,\\nThat Men, unable to discharge their Debts\\nAt a short Warning, being sued for them,\\nHave, with both Power and Will their Debts to pay,\\nLain all their Lives in Prison for their Costs.\\nLaw. That may perhaps be some poor Person s Case,\\nToo mean to entertain your Royal Ear.\\nQ. C. S. My Lord, while I am Queen I shall not think\\nOne Man too mean, or poor, to be redress d\\nMoreover, Lord, I am inform d your Laws\\nAre grown so large, and daily yet encrease,\\nThat the great Age of old Methmalem\\nWould scarce suffice to read your Statutes out.\\nThere is also much more than merely transitory satire\\nin the speech of Firebrand to the Queen\\nFirebrand. Ha do you doubt it nay, if you doubt that,\\nI will prove nothing But my zeal inspires me,\\nAnd I will tell you, Madam, you yourself\\nAre a most deadly Enemy to the Sun,\\nAnd all his Priests have greatest Cause to wish\\nYou had been never born.\\nQ. C. S. Ha say st thou, Priest\\nThen know I honour and adore the Sun\\nAnd when I see his Light, and feel his Warmth,\\nI glow with flaming Gratitude toward him", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0060.jp2"}, "61": {"fulltext": "ii] MORE PLAYS. 41\\nBut know, I never will adore a Priest,\\nWho wears Pride s. Face beneath Religion s Mask,\\nAnd makes a Pick-Lock of his Piety,\\nTo steal away the Liberty of Mankind.\\nBut while I live, I ll never give thee Power.\\nFirebrand. Madam, our Power is not deriv d from you,\\nNor any one Twas sent us in a box\\nFrom the great Sun himself, and Carriage paid\\nPhaeton brought it when he overturn d\\nThe Chariot of the Sun into the Sea.\\nQ. C. S. Shew me the Instrument, and let me read it.\\nFireb. Madam, you cannot read it, for being thrown\\nInto the Sea, the Water has no damag d it,\\nThat none but Priests could ever read it since.\\nIn the end, Firebrand stabs Common Sense, bat her\\nGhost frightens Ignorance off the Stage, upon which Sneer-\\nwell says I am glad you make Common-Sense get the\\nbetter at last I was under terrible Apprehensions for your\\nMoral. Faith, Sir, says Fustian, this is almost the\\nonly Play where she has got the better lately. And so\\nthe piece closes. But it would be wrong to quit it with-\\nout some reference to the numberless little touches by\\nwhich, throughout the whole, the humours of dramatic\\nlife behind the scenes are ironically depicted. The Comic\\nPoet is arrested on his way from King s Coffee-House\\nand the claim being for upwards of Four Pound, it is\\nat first supposed that he will hardly get Bail. He is\\nsubsequently inquired after by a Gentlewoman in a Riding-\\nHood, whom he passes off as a Lady of Quality, but who,\\nin reality, is bringing him a clean shirt. There are diffi-\\nculties with one of the Ghosts, who has a Church-yard\\nCough, and is so Lame he can hardly walk the Stage\\nwhile another comes to rehearsal without being properly\\nfloured, because the stage barber has gone to Drury Lane", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0061.jp2"}, "62": {"fulltext": "48 FIELDING. [chap.\\nto shave the Sultan in the New Entertainment. On the\\nother hand, the Ghost of Queen Common-Sense appears\\nbefore she is killed, and is with some difficulty persuaded\\nthat her action is premature. Part of the Mob play\\ntruant to see a show in the park Law, straying without\\nthe play-house passage, is snapped up by a Lord Chief-\\nJustice s Warrant and a Jew carries off one of the Maids\\nof Honour. These little incidents, together with the un-\\nblushing realism of the Pots of Porter that are made to\\ndo duty for wine, and the extra two-pennyworth of Light-\\nning that is ordered against the first night, are all in the\\nspirit of that inimitable picture of the Strolling Actresses\\ndressing in a Barn, which Hogarth gave to the world two\\nyears later, and which, very possibly, may have borrowed\\nsome of its inspiration from Fielding s dramatic satire.\\nThere is every reason to suppose that the profits of Pas-\\nquin were far greater than those of any of its author s pre-\\nvious efforts. In a rare contemporary caricature, preserved\\nin the British Museum, 1 the Queen of Common-Sense\\nis shown presenting Henry Fielding, Esq., with a well-\\nfilled purse, while to Harlequin (John Rich of Covent\\nGarden) she extends a halter; and in some doggerel lines\\nunderneath, reference is made to the show rs of Gold\\nresulting from the piece. This, of course, might be no\\nmore than a poetical fiction; but Fielding himself attests\\nthe pecuniary success of Pasquin in the Dedication to\\nTumble- Down Dick, and Mrs. Charke s statement in her\\nMemoirs that her salary for acting the small part of Lord\\nPlace was four guineas a week, with an Indulgence in\\nPoint of Charges at her Benefit by which she cleared\\nsixty guineas, certainly points to a prosperous exchequer.\\nFielding s own benefit, as appears from the curious ticket\\n1 Political and Personal Satires, No. 2287.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0062.jp2"}, "63": {"fulltext": "ii.] MORE PLAYS. 49\\nattributed to Hogarth and fac-similed by A. M. Ireland,\\ntook place on April 25, but we have no record of the\\namount of his gains. Mrs. Charke farther says that soon\\nafter Pasquin began to droop Fielding produced Lillo s\\nFatal Curiosity, in which she acted Agnes. This tragedy,\\nfounded on a Cornish story, is one of remarkable power\\nand passion but upon its first appearance it made little\\nimpression, although in the succeeding year it was acted\\nto greater advantage in combination with another satirical\\nmedley by Fielding, the Historical Register for the Year\\n1736.\\nLike most sequels, the Historical Register had neither\\nthe vogue nor the wit of its predecessor. It was only\\nhalf as long, and it was even more disconnected in char-\\nacter. Harmonious Cibber, as Swift calls him, whose\\npreposterous Odes had already been ridiculed in Pas-\\nquin and the Author s Farce, was once more brought on\\nthe stage as Ground-Ivy, for his alterations of Shakspeare\\nand under the name of Pistol, Theophilus Cibber is made\\nto refer to the contention between his second wife, Arne s\\nsister, and Mrs. Clive, for the honour of playing Polly\\nin the Beggar s Opera, a play-house feud which at the\\nlatter end of 1736 had engaged the Town almost as\\nseriously as the earlier rivalry of Faustina and Cuzzoni.\\nThis continued raillery of the Cibbers is, as Fielding him-\\nself seems to have felt, a Jest a little overacted but\\nthere is one scene in the piece of undeniable freshness\\nand humour, to wit, that in which Cock, the famous sales-\\nman of the Piazzas the George Robins of his day is\\nbrought on the stage as Mr. Auctioneer Hen (a part taken\\nby Mrs. Charke). His wares, collected by the indefati-\\ngable Pains of that celebrated Virtuoso, Peter Humdrum,\\nEsq., include such desirable items as curious Remnants\\n3", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0063.jp2"}, "64": {"fulltext": "50 FIELDIXCt. [chap.\\nof Political Honesty, 7 delicate Pieces of Patriotism,\\nModesty (which does not obtain a bid), Courage, Wit, and\\na very neat clear Conscience of great capacity, which\\n-has been worn by a Judge, and a Bishop. The Cardi-\\nnal Virtues are then put up, and eighteen-pence is bid\\nfor them. But after they have been knocked down at\\nthis extravagant sum, the buyer complains that he had un-\\nderstood the auctioneer to say a Cardinal s Virtues, and\\nthat the lot he has purchased includes Temperance and\\nChastity, and a Pack of Stuff that he would not give three\\nFarthings for. The whole of this scene is admirable\\nfooling and it was afterwards impudently stolen by\\nTheophilus Cibber for his farce of the Auction. The\\nHistorical Register concludes with a dialogue between\\nQuidam, in whom the audience recognised Sir Robert\\nWalpole, and four patriots, to whom he gives a purse\\nwhich has an instantaneous effect upon their opinions.\\nAll five then go off dancing to Quidam s fiddle and it is\\nexplained that they have holes in their pockets through\\nwhich the money will fall as they dance, enabling the\\ndonor to pick it all up again, and so not lose one Half-\\npenny by his Generosity.\\nThe frank effrontery of satire like the foregoing had by\\nthis time begun to attract the attention of the Ministry,\\nwhose withers had already been sharply wrung by Pas-\\nquin and it has been conjectured that the ballet of Qui-\\ndam and the Patriots played no small part in precipitat-\\ning the famous Licensing Act which was passed a few\\nweeks afterwards. Like the marriage which succeeded\\nthe funeral of Hamlet s father, it certainly followed hard\\nupon. But the reformation of the stage had already\\nbeen contemplated by the Legislature and two years be-\\nfore Sir John Barnard had brought in a bill to restrain", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0064.jp2"}, "65": {"fulltext": "ii.] LICENSING ACT. 51\\nthe number of houses for playing of Interludes, and for\\nthe better regulating of common Players of Interludes.\\nThis, however, had been abandoned, because it was pro-\\nposed to add a clause enlarging the power of the Lord\\nChamberlain in licensing plays, an addition to which the\\nintroducer of the measure made strong objection. He\\nthought the power of the Lord Chamberlain already too\\ngreat, and in support of his argument he instanced its\\nwanton exercise in the case of Gay s Polly, the represen-\\ntation of which had been suddenly prohibited a few years\\nearlier. But Pasquin and the Register brought the ques-\\ntion of dramatic lawlessness again to the front, and a bill\\nwas hurriedly drawn, one effect of which was to revive the\\nvery provision that Sir John Barnard had opposed. The\\nhistory of this affair is exceedingly obscure, and in all\\nprobability it has never been completely revealed. The\\nreceived or authorised version is to be found in Coxe s\\nLife of Walpole. After dwelling on the offence given to\\nthe Government by Pasquin, the writer goes on to say that\\nGiffard, the manager of Goodman s Fields, brought Wal-\\npole a farce called The Golden Rump, which had been\\nproposed for exhibition. Whether he did this to extort\\nmoney, or to ask advice, is not clear. In either case, Wal-\\npole is said to have paid the profits which might have\\naccrued from the performance, and detained the copy.\\nHe then made a compendious selection of the treasonable\\nand profane passages it contained. These he submitted\\nto independent members of both parties, and afterwards\\nread them in the House itself. The result was that by\\nway of amendment to the Vagrant Act of Anne s\\nreign, a bill was prepared limiting the number of theatres,\\nand compelling all dramatic writers to obtain a license\\nfrom the Lord Chamberlain. Such is Coxe s account;", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0065.jp2"}, "66": {"fulltext": "52 FIELDING. [chap.\\nbut notwithstanding its circumstantial character, it has\\nbeen insinuated in the sham memoirs of the younger Cib-\\nber, and it is plainly asserted in the Rambler s Magazine\\nfor 1787, that certain preliminary details have been con-\\nveniently suppressed. It is alleged that Walpole himself\\ncaused the farce in question to be written, and to be of-\\nfered to Giffard, for the purpose of introducing his scheme\\nof reform and the suggestion is not without a certain\\nremote plausibility. As may be guessed, however, The\\nGolden Rumjj cannot be appealed to. It was never print-\\ned, although its title is identical with that of a caricature\\npublished in March, 173 and fully described in the Gen-\\ntleman s Magazine for that month. If the play at all re-\\nsembled the design, it must have been obscene and scur-\\nrilous in the extreme. 1\\nMeanwhile the new bill, to which it had given rise,\\npassed rapidly through both Houses. Report speaks of\\nanimated discussions and warm opposition. But there\\nare no traces of any divisions, or petitions against it, and\\nthe only speech which has survived is the very elaborate\\nand careful oration delivered in the Upper House by Lord\\nChesterfield. The second Cicero as Sylvanus Urban\\nstyles him opposed the bill upon the ground that it\\nwould affect the liberty of the press and that it was prac-\\ntically a tax upon the chief property of men of letters,\\ntheir wit a precarious dependence which (he thanked\\n1 Horace Walpole, in his Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of t/ie\\nReign of George II says (vol. i. p. 12), I have in my possession the\\nimperfect copy of this piece as I found it among my father s papers\\nafter his death. 1 He calls it Fielding s but no importance can\\nbe attached to the statement. There is a copy of the caricature in\\nthe British Museum Print Room (Political and Personal Satires,\\nNo. 2327).", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0066.jp2"}, "67": {"fulltext": "il] LICENSING ACT. 53\\nGod) my Lords were not obliged to rely upon. He dwelt\\nalso upon the value of the stage as a fearless censor of vice\\nand folly and he quoted with excellent effect but doubt-\\nful accuracy the famous answer of the Prince of Conti\\n[Conde] to Moliere [Louis XIV.] when Tartuffe was in-\\nterdicted at the instance of M. de Lamoignon It is true,\\nMoliere, Harlequin ridicules Heaven, and exposes religion\\nbut you have done much worse you have ridiculed the\\nfirst minister of religion. This, although not directly\\nadvanced for the purpose, really indicated the head and\\nfront of Fielding s offending in Pasquin and the Histori-\\ncal Register, and although in Lord Chesterfield s speech\\nthe former is ironically condemned, it may well be that\\nFielding, whose Don Quixote had been dedicated to his\\nLordship, was the wire-puller in this case, and supplied\\nthis very illustration. At all events it is entirely in the\\nspirit of Firebrand s words in Pasquin\\nSpeak boldly by the Powers I serve, I swear\\nYou speak in Safety, even tho you speak\\nAgainst the Gods, provided that you speak\\nNot against Priests.\\nBut the feeling of Parliament in favour of drastic legis-\\nlation was even stronger than the persuasive periods of\\nChesterfield, and on the 21st of June, 1737, the bill re-\\nceived the royal assent.\\nWith its passing Fielding s career as a dramatic author\\npractically closed. In his dedication of the Historical Regis-\\nter to the Publick, he had spoken of his desire to beautify\\nand enlarge his little theatre, and to procure a better com-\\npany of actors and he had added If Nature hath given\\nme any Talents at ridiculing Vice and Imposture, I shall\\nnot be indolent, nor afraid of exerting them, while the", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0067.jp2"}, "68": {"fulltext": "54 FIELDING. [chap.\\nLiberty of the Press and Stage subsists, that is to say,\\nwhile we have any Liberty left amongst us. To all these\\nprojects the Licensing Act effectively put an end and\\nthe only other plays from his pen which were produced\\nsubsequently to this date were the Wedding Day, 1743,.\\nand the posthumous Good-Natured Man, 1779, both of\\nwhich, as is plain from the Preface to the Miscellanies,\\nwere amongst his earliest attempts. In the little farce of\\nMiss Lucy in Town, 1742, he had, he says, but a very\\nsmall Share. Besides these, there are three hasty and\\nflimsy pieces which belong to the early part of 1737. The\\nfirst of these, Tumble-Down Dick or, Phaeton in the Suds,\\nwas a dramatic sketch in ridicule of the unmeaning En-\\ntertainments and Harlequinades of John Rich at Covent\\nGarden. This was ironically dedicated to Rich, under his\\nstage name of John Lun, and from the dedication it\\nappears that Rich had brought out an unsuccessful satire\\non Pasquin called Marforio. The other two were Eury-\\ndice, a profane and pointless farce, afterwards printed by\\nits author (in anticipation of Beaumarchais) as it was\\nd mned at the Theatre-Royal in Drury-Lane and a few\\ndetached scenes in which, under the title of Eurydice\\nHissed or, a Word to the Wise, its untoward fate was\\nattributed to the frail Promise of uncertain Friends.\\nBut even in these careless and half-considered productions\\nthere are happy strokes and one scarcely looks to find\\nsuch nervous and sensible lines in a mere a propos as these\\nfrom Eurydice Hissed\\nYet grant it shou d succeed, grant that by Chance,\\nOr by the Whim and Madness of the Town,\\nA Farce without Contrivance, without Sense\\nShould run to the Astonishment of Mankind\\nThink how you will be read in After-times,", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0068.jp2"}, "69": {"fulltext": "il] LICENSING ACT. 55\\nWhen Friends are not, and the impartial Judge\\nShall with the meanest Scribbler rank your Name\\nWho would not rather wish a Butler s fame,\\nDistress d, and poor in every thing but Merit,\\nThan be the blundering Laureat to a Court\\nSelf-accusatory passages such as this and there are\\nothers like it indicate a higher ideal of dramatic writing\\nthan Fielding is held to have attained, and probably the\\nkey to them is to be found in that reaction of better judg-\\nment which seems invariably to have followed his most\\nreckless efforts. It was a part of his sanguine and impul-\\nsive nature to be as easily persuaded that his work was\\nworthless as that it was excellent. When, says Murphy,\\nhe was not under the immediate urgency of want, they,\\nwho were intimate with him, are ready to aver that he had\\na mind greatly superior to anything mean or little; when\\nhis finances were exhausted, he was not the most elegant\\nin his choice of the means to redress himself, and he would\\ninstantly exhibit a farce or a puppet-shew in the Hay mar-\\nket theatre, which was wholly inconsistent with the pro-\\nfession he had embarked in. The quotation displays all\\nMurphy s loose and negligent way of dealing with his\\nfacts for, with the exception of Miss Lucy in Town, which\\ncan scarcely be ranked amongst his w 7 orks at all, there is\\nabsolutely no trace of Fielding s having exhibited either\\npuppet-shew or farce after seriously adopting the\\nlaw as a profession, nor does there appear to have been\\nmuch acting at the Hayinarket for some time after his\\nmanagement had closed in 1737. Still, his superficial\\ncharacteristics, which do not depend so much upon Mur-\\nphy as upon those who were intimate with him, are\\nprobably accurately described, and they sufficiently account\\nfor many of the obvious discordances of his work and life.\\nE", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0069.jp2"}, "70": {"fulltext": "66 FIELDING. [chap. ii.\\nThat he was fully conscious of something higher than his\\nactual achievement as a dramatist is clear from his own\\nobservation in later life, that he left off writing for the\\nstage, when he ought to have begun an utterance\\nwhich (we shrewdly suspect) has prompted not a little\\nprofitless speculation as to whether, if he had continued to\\nwrite plays, they would have been equal to, or worse than,\\nhis novels. The discussion would be highly interesting, if\\nthere were the slightest chance that it could be attended\\nwith any satisfactory result. But the truth is, that the\\nvery materials are wanting. Fielding left off writing for\\nthe stage when he was under thirty Tom Jones was pub-\\nlished in 1749, when he was more than forty. His plays\\nwere written in haste his novels at leisure, and when, for\\nthe most part, he was relieved from that immediate ur-\\ngency of want, which, according to Murphy, character-\\nised his younger days. If as has been suggested we\\ncould compare a novel written at thirty with a play of the\\nsame date, or a play written at forty with Tom Jones, the\\ncomparison might be instructive, although even then con-\\nsiderable allowances would have to be made for the essen-\\ntial difference between plays and novels. But, as we can-\\nnot make such a comparison, further inquiry is simply\\nwaste of time. All we can safely affirm is, that the plays\\nof Fielding s youth did not equal the fictions of his matu-\\nrity and that, of those plays, the comedies were less suc-\\ncessful than the farces and burlesques. Among other rea-\\nsons for this latter difference one chiefly may be given\\nthat in the comedies he sought to reproduce the artificial\\nworld of Congreve and Wycherley, while in the burlesques\\nand farces he depicted the world in which he lived.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0070.jp2"}, "71": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER III.\\nThe Historical Register and Eurydice Hiss d were pub-\\nlished together in June, 1737. By this time the Licens-\\ning Act was passed, and the Grand Mogul s Company\\ndispersed for ever. Fielding was now in his thirty-first\\nyear, with a wife and probably a daughter depending on\\nhim for support. In the absence of any prospect that\\nhe would be able to secure a maintenance as a dramatic\\nwriter, he seems to have decided, in spite of his compara-\\ntively advanced age, to revert to the profession for which\\nhe had originally been intended, and to qualify himself for\\nthe Bar. Accordingly, at the close of the year, he became\\na student of the Middle Temple, and the books of that so-\\nciety contain the following record of his admission i 1\\n[574 G] 1 Nov\u00e2\u0084\u00a2 1737.\\nHenricus Fielding, de Hast Stour in Com Dorset Ar, filius\\net hceres apparens Brig Gen 11 Edmundi Fielding admis-\\nsus est in Societatem Medii Templi Lond specialiter et ob-\\nligator una cum etc.\\nEt dat pro fine 4- 0. 0.\\nIt may be noted, as Mr. Keightley has already observed,\\nthat Fielding is described in this entry as of East Stour,\\n1 This differs slightly from previous transcripts, having been veri-\\nfied at the Middle Temple.\\n3*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0071.jp2"}, "72": {"fulltext": "58 FIELDING. [chap.\\nwhich would seem to indicate that he still retained his\\nproperty at that place; and further, that his father is\\nspoken of as a brigadier-general, whereas (according to\\nthe Gentleman s Magazine) he had been made a major-\\ngeneral in December, 1735. Of discrepancies like these\\nit is idle to attempt any explanation. But, if Murphy is\\nto be believed, Fielding devoted himself henceforth with\\nremarkable assiduity to the study of law. The old irreg-\\nularity of life, it is alleged, occasionally asserted itself,\\nthough without checking the energy of his application.\\nThis, says his first biographer, prevailed in him to\\nsuch a degree, that he has been frequently known, by his\\nintimates, to retire late at night from a tavern to his cham-\\nbers, and there read, and make extracts from, the most ab-\\nstruse authors, for several hours before he went to bed so\\npowerful were the vigour of his constitution and the ac-\\ntivity of his mind. It is to this passage, no doubt, that\\nwe owe the picturesque wet towel and inked ruffles with\\nwhich Mr. Thackeray has decorated him in Pendennis\\nand, in all probability, a good deal of graphic writing from\\nless able pens respecting his modus Vivendi as a Templar.\\nIn point of fact, nothing is known with certainty respect-\\ning his life at this period; and what it would really con-\\ncern us to learn namely, whether by chambers it is to\\nbe understood that he was living alone, and, if so, where\\nMrs. Fielding was at the time of these protracted vigils\\nMurphy has not told us. Perhaps she was safe all the\\nwhile at East Stour, or with her sisters at Salisbury. Hav-\\ning no precise information, however, it can only be record-\\ned that, in spite of the fitful outbreaks above referred to,\\nFielding applied himself to the study of his profession\\nwith all the vigour of a man who has to make up for lost\\ntime; and that, when on the 20th of June, 1740, the day", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0072.jp2"}, "73": {"fulltext": "in.] THE CHAMPION. 59\\ncame for his being called, he was very fairly equipped\\nwith legal knowledge. That he had also made many\\nfriends amongst his colleagues of Westminster Hall is\\nmanifest from the number of lawyers who figure in the\\nsubscription list of the Miscellanies.\\nTo what extent he was occupied by literary work dur-\\ning his probationary period it is difficult to say. Murphy\\nspeaks vaguely of a large number of fugitive political\\ntracts but unless the Essay on Conversation, advertised\\nby Lawton Gilliver in 1737, be the same as that after-\\nwards reprinted in the Miscellanies, there is no positive\\nrecord of anything until the issue of True Greatness, an\\nepistle to George Dodington, in January, 1741, though he\\nmay, of course, have written much anonymously. Among\\nnewspapers, the one Murphy had in mind was probably\\nthe Champion, the first number of which is dated Novem-\\nber 15, 1739, two years after his admission to the Middle\\nTemple as a student. On the whole, it seems most likely,\\nas Mr. Keightley conjectures, that his chief occupation in\\nthe interval was studying law, and that he must have been\\nliving upon the residue of his wife s fortune or his own\\nmeans, in which case the establishment of the above peri-\\nodical may mark the exhaustion of his resources.\\nThe Champion is a paper on the model of the elder\\nessayists. It was issued, like the Tatler, on Tuesdays,\\nThursdays, and Saturdays. Murphy says that Fielding s\\npart in it cannot now be ascertained but as the Adver-\\ntisement to the edition in two volumes of 1741 states ex-\\npressly that the papers signed C. and L. are the Work\\nof one Hand, and as a number of those signed C. are un-\\nmistakably Fielding s, it is hard to discover where the dif-\\nficulty lay. The papers signed C. and L. are by far the\\nmost numerous, the majority of the remainder being dis-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0073.jp2"}, "74": {"fulltext": "60 FIELDING. [chap.\\ntinguished by two stars, or the signature Lilbourne.\\nThese are understood to have been from the pen of James\\nRalph, whose poem of Night gave rise to a stinging coup-\\nlet in the Dunciad, but who was nevertheless a man of\\nparts, and an industrious writer. As will be remembered,\\nhe had contributed a prologue to the Temple Beau, so\\nthat his association with Fielding must have been of some\\nstanding. Besides Ralph s essays in the Champion, he\\nwas mainly responsible for the Index to the Times which\\naccompanied each number, and consisted of a series of\\nbrief paragraphs on current topics, or the last- new book.\\nIn this way Glover s London, Boyse s Deity, Somervile s\\nHobbinol, Lillo s Elmeric, Dyer s Ruins of Rome, and oth-\\ner of the very minor jioetce minores of the day, were com-\\nmented upon. These notes and notices, however, were\\nonly a subordinate feature of the Champion, which, like\\nits predecessors, consisted chiefly of essays and allegories,\\nsocial, moral, and political, the writers of which were sup-\\nposed to be members of an imaginary Vinegar family,\\ndescribed in the initial paper. Of these the most promi-\\nnent was Captain Hercules Vinegar, who took all questions\\nrelating to the Army, Militia, Trained-Bands, and fight-\\ning Part of the Kingdom. His father, Nehemiah Vine-\\ngar, presided over history and politics; his uncle, Coun-\\nsellor Vinegar, over law and judicature; and Dr. John\\nVinegar, his cousin, over medicine and natural philosophy.\\nTo others of the family including Mrs. Joan Vinegar,\\nwho was charged with domestic affairs were allotted\\nclassic literature, poetry and the Drama, and fashion. This\\nelaborate scheme was not very strictly adhered to, and the\\nchief writer of the group is Captain Hercules.\\nShorn of the contemporary interest which formed the\\nchief element of its success when it was first published, it", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0074.jp2"}, "75": {"fulltext": "hi.] THE CHAMPION. 61\\nmust be admitted that, in the present year of grace, the\\nChampion is hard reading. A kind of lassitude a sense\\nof uncongenial task-work broods heavily over Fielding s\\ncontributions, except the one or two in which he is quick-\\nened into animation by his antagonism to Cibber; and al-\\nthough, with our knowledge of his after achievements, it\\nis possible to trace some indications of his yet unrevealed\\npowers, in the absence of such knowledge it would be dif-\\nficult to distinguish the Champion from the hundred-and-\\none forgotten imitators of the Spectator and Tatler, whose\\nnames have been so patiently chronicled by Dr. Nathan\\nDrake. There is, indeed, a certain obvious humour in the\\naccount of Captain Vinegar s famous club, which he had\\ninherited from Hercules, and which had the enviable prop-\\nerty of falling of itself upon any knave in company, and\\nthere is a dash of the Tom Jones manner in the noisy ac-\\ntivity of that excellent housewife Mrs. Joan. Some of the\\nlighter papers, such as the one upon the Art of Puffing,\\nare amusing enough and of the visions, that which is\\nbased upon Lucian, and represents Charon as stripping his\\nfreight of all their superfluous incumbrances in order to\\nlighten his boat, has a double interest, since it contains ref-\\nerences not only to Cibber, but also (though this appears\\nto have been hitherto overlooked) to Fielding himself.\\nThe tall Man, who at Mercury s request strips off his\\nold Grey Coat with great Readiness, but refuses to part\\nwith half his Chin, which the shepherd of souls regards\\nas false, is clearly intended for the writer of the paper,\\neven without the confirmation afforded by the subsequent\\nallusions to his connection with the stage. His length of\\nchin and nose, sufficiently apparent in his portrait, was\\na favourite theme for contemporary personalities. Of the\\nmoral essays, the most remarkable are a set of four papers,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0075.jp2"}, "76": {"fulltext": "62 FIELDING. [chap.\\nentitled An Apology for the Clergy, which may perhaps\\nbe regarded as a set-off against the sarcasms of Pasquin\\non priestcraft. They depict, with a great deal of knowl-\\nedge and discrimination, the pattern priest as Fielding con-\\nceived him. To these may be linked an earlier picture,\\ntaken from life, of a country parson who, in his simple and\\ndignified surroundings, even more closely resembles the\\nVicar of Wakefield than Mr. Abraham Adams. Some of\\nthe more general articles contain happy passages. In one\\nthere is an admirable parody of the Norman-French jar-\\ngon, which in those days added superfluous obscurity to\\nlegal utterances while another, on Charity, contains a\\nforcible exposition of the inexpediency, as well as inhu-\\nmanity, of imprisonment for debt. References to contem-\\nporaries, the inevitable Cibber excepted, are few, and these\\nseem mostly from the pen of Ralph. The following, from\\nthat of Fielding, is notable as being one of the earliest\\nauthoritative testimonies to the merits of Hogarth I\\nesteem (says he) the ingenious Mr. Hogarth as one of the\\nmost useful Satyrists any Age hath produced. In his ex-\\ncellent Works you see the delusive Scene exposed with all\\nthe Force of Humour, and, on castiug your Eyes on another\\nPicture, you behold the dreadful and fatal Consequence.\\nI almost dare affirm that those two Works of his, which\\nhe calls the Rake s and the Harlot s Progress, are calcu-\\nlated more to serve the Cause of Virtue, and for the Pres-\\nervation of Mankind, than all the Folio s of Morality which\\nhave been ever written and a sober Family should no\\nmore be without them, than without the Whole Duty of\\nMan in their House. He returned to the same theme in\\nthe Preface to Joseph Andrews with a still apter phrase of\\nappreciation It hath been thought a vast Commenda-\\ntion of a Painter, to say his Figures seem to breathe but", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0076.jp2"}, "77": {"fulltext": "in] THE CHAMPION. G3\\nsurely, it is a much greater and nobler Applause, that they\\nappear to think. 1\\nWhen the Champion was rather more than a year old,\\nColley Cibber published his famous Apology. To the\\nattacks made upon him by Fielding at different times he\\nhad hitherto printed no reply perhaps he had no oppor-\\ntunity of doing so. But in his eighth chapter, when\\nspeaking of the causes which led to the Licensing Act, he\\ntakes occasion to refer to his assailant in terms which\\nFielding must have found exceedingly galling. He care-\\nfully abstained from mentioning his name, on the ground\\nthat it could do him no good, and was of no importance;\\nbut he described him as a broken Wit, who had sought\\nnotoriety by raking the Channel (i. e., Kennel), and\\npelting his Superiors. He accused him, with a scandal-\\nised gravity that is as edifying as Chesterfield s irony, of\\nattacking Religion, Laws, Government, Priests, Judges,\\nand Ministers. He called him, either in allusion to his\\nstature, or his pseudonym in the Champion, a Herculean\\nSatyrist, a Drawcansir in Wit who, to make his\\nPoetical Fame immortal, like another Erostratus, set Fire to\\nhis Stage, by writing up to an Act of Parliament to demolish\\nit. I shall not, he continues, give the particular Strokes\\nof his Ingenuity a Chance to be remembered, by reciting\\nthem it may be enough to say, in general Terms, they\\nwere so openly flagrant, that the Wisdom of the Legislat-\\nure thought it high time to take a proper Notice of them.\\n1 Fielding occasionally refers to Hogarth for the pictorial types of\\nhis characters. Bridget Allworthy, he tells us, resembled the starched\\nprude in Morning and Mrs. Partridge and Parson Thwackura have\\ntheir originals in the Harlots Progress. It was Fielding, too, who\\nsaid that the Enraged Musician was enough to make a man deaf to\\nlook at {Voyage to Lisbon, 1*755, p. 50).", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0077.jp2"}, "78": {"fulltext": "U FIELDING. [chap.\\nFielding was not the man to leave such a challenge un-\\nanswered. In the Champion for April 22, 1740, and two\\nsubsequent papers, he replied with a slashing criticism of\\nthe Apology, in which, after demonstrating that it must\\nbe written in English because it was written in no other\\nlanguage, he gravely proceeds to point out examples of\\nthe author s superiority to grammar and learning and in\\ngeneral, subjects its pretentious and slip-shod style to a mi-\\nnute and highly detrimental examination. In a further\\npaper he returns to the charge by a mock trial of one\\nCol. Apol. (i. e.y CoWey- Apology), arraigning him for that,\\nnot having the Fear of Grammar before his Eyes, he\\nhad committed an unpardonable assault upon his mother-\\ntongue. Fielding s knowledge of legal forms and phrase-\\nology enabled him to make a happy parody of court pro-\\ncedure, and Mr. Lawrence says that this particular jeu\\nd? esprit obtained great celebrity. But the happiest stroke\\nin the controversy as it seems to us is one which es-\\ncaped Mr. Lawrence, and occurs in the paper already re-\\nferred to, where Charon and Mercury are shown denuding\\nthe luckless passengers by the Styx of their surplus imped-\\nimenta. Among the rest approaches an elderly Gentle-\\nman with a Piece of wither d Laurel on his head. From\\na little book, which he is discovered (when stripped) to\\nhave bound close to his heart, and which bears the title of\\nLove in a Middle an unsuccessful pastoral produced by\\nGibber at Drury Lane in 1729 it is clear that this per-\\nsonage is intended for none other than the Apologist, who,\\nafter many entreaties, is finally compelled to part with his\\ntreasure. I was surprized, continues Fielding, to see\\nhim pass Examination w 7 ith his Laurel on, and was assured\\nby the Standers by that Mercury would have taken it off,\\nif he had seen it.", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0078.jp2"}, "79": {"fulltext": "in.] THE CHAMPION. 65\\nThese attacks in the Champion do not appear to have\\nreceived any direct response from Gibber. But they were\\nreprinted in a rambling production issued from Curll s\\nchaste press in 1740, and entitled the Tryal of Colley\\nCibber, Comedian, c. At the end of this there is a short\\naddress to the Self-duWd Captain Hercules Vinegar,\\nalias Buffoon, to the effect that the malevolent Flings\\nexhibited by him and his Man Ralph, 1 have been faith-\\nfully reproduced. Then comes the following curious and\\nnot very intelligible Advertisement\\nIf the Ingenious Henry Fielding Esq. (Son of the Hon. Lieut.\\nGeneral Fielding, who upon his Return from his Travels entered\\nhimself of the Temple in order to study the Law, and married one\\nof the pretty Miss Cradocks of Salisbury) will own himself the\\nAuthor of 18 strange Things called Tragical Comedies and Comical\\nTragedies, lately advertised by J. Watts, of Wild -Court, Printer, he\\nshall be mentioned in Capitals in the Third Edition of Mr. Cibber s\\nLife, and likewise be placed among the Poetce minores Dramatici of\\nthe Present Age Then will both his Name and Writings be re-\\nmembered on Record in the immortal Poetical Register written by\\nMr. Giles Jacob.\\nThe poetical register indicated was the book of that\\nname, containing the Lives and, Characteristics of the Eng-\\nlish Dramatic Poets, which Mr. Giles Jacob, an industrious\\nliterary hack, had issued in 1723. Mr. Lawrence is prob\\nably right in his supposition, based upon the foregoing\\nadvertisement, that Fielding had openly expressed re-\\nsentment at being described by Cibber as a broken wit/\\nwithout being mentioned by name. He never seems to\\nhave wholly forgotten his animosity to the actor, to whom\\nthere are frequent references in Joseph Andrews and, as\\nlate as 1749, he is still found harping on the withered\\nlaurel in a letter to Lyttelton. Even in his last work,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0079.jp2"}, "80": {"fulltext": "06 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthe Voyage to Lisbon*, Cibber s name is mentioned. The\\norigin of this protracted fend is obscure but, apart from\\nwant of sympathy, it must probably be sought for in some\\nearly misunderstanding between the two in their capacities\\nof manager and author. As regards Theophilns Cibber,\\nhis desertion of Highmore was sufficient reason for the\\nridicule cast upon him in the Author s Farce and else-\\nwhere. With Mrs. Charke, the Laureate s intractable and\\neccentric daughter, Fielding was naturally on better terms.\\nShe was, as already stated, a member of the Great Mogul s\\nCompany, and it is worth noting that some of the sar-\\ncasms in Pasquin against her father were put into the\\nmouth of Lord Place, whose part was taken by this undu-\\ntiful child. All things considered, both in this contro-\\nversy and the later one with Pope, Cibber did not come\\noff worst. His few hits were personal and unscrupulous,\\nand they were probably far more deadly in their effects\\nthan any of the ironical attacks which his adversaries, on\\ntheir part, directed against his poetical ineptitude or halt-\\ning parts of speech. Despite his superlative coxcomb-\\nry and egotism, he was, moreover, a man of no mean abil-\\nities. His Careless Husband is a far better acting play\\nthan any of Fielding s, and his Apology, which even John-\\nson allowed to be w T ell-done, is valuable in many re-\\nspects, especially for its account of the contemporary\\nstage. In describing an actor or actress he had few equals\\nwitness his skilful portrait of Nokes, and his admirably\\ngraphic vignette of Mrs. Verbruggen as that finish d Im-\\npertinent, Melantha, in Dryden s Marriage a-la-Mode.\\nThe concluding paper in the collected edition of the\\nChampion, published in 1741, is dated June 19, 1740.\\nOn the day following Fielding was called to the Bar by\\nthe benchers of the Middle Temple, and (says Mr. Law-", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0080.jp2"}, "81": {"fulltext": "in.] THE CHAMPION. 67\\nrence) chambers were assigned him in Pump Court.\\nSimultaneously with this, his regular connection with jour-\\nnalism appears to have ceased, although from his state-\\nment in the Preface to the Miscellanies that as long as\\nfrom June, 1741, he had desisted from writing one Syl-\\nlable in the Champion, or any other public Paper it\\nmay perhaps be inferred that up to that date he continued\\nto contribute now and then. This, nevertheless, is by no\\nmeans clear. His last utterance in the published volumes\\nis certainly in a sense valedictory, as it refers to the posi-\\ntion acquired by the Champion, and the difficulty experi-\\nenced in establishing it. Incidentally, it pays a high com-\\npliment to Pope, by speaking of the divine Translation\\nof the Iliad, which he [Fielding] has lately with no Dis-\\nadvantage to the Translator compared with the Original,\\nthe point of the sentence so impressed by its typography\\nbeing apparently directed against those critics who had\\ncondemned Pope s work without the requisite knowledge\\nof Greek. From the tenor of the rest of the essay it may,\\nhowever, be concluded that the writer was taking leave of\\nhis enterprise and, according to a note by Boswell, in his\\nLife of Johnson, it seems that Mr. Reed of Staple Inn pos-\\nsessed documents which showed that Fielding at this junct-\\nure, probably in anticipation of more lucrative legal duties,\\nsurrendered the reins to Ralph. The Champion continued\\nto exist for some time longer; indeed, it must be regarded\\nas long-lived amongst the essayists, since the issue which\\ncontained its well-known criticism on Garrick is No. 455,\\nand appeared late in 1742. But, as far as can be ascer-\\ntained, it never again obtained the honours of a reprint.\\nAlthough, after he was called to the Bar, Fielding prac-\\ntically relinquished periodical literature, he does not seem\\nto have entirely desisted from writing. In Sylvanus Ur-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0081.jp2"}, "82": {"fulltext": "68 FIELDING. [chap.\\nban s Register of Books, published during January, 1741,\\nis advertised the poem Of True Greatness afterwards in-\\ncluded in the Miscellanies; and the same authority an-\\nnounces the Vernoniad, an anonymous burlesque Epic\\nprompted by Admiral Vernon s popular expedition against\\nPorto Bello in 1739, with six Ships only. That Field-\\ning was the author of the latter is sufficiently proved by\\nhis order to Mr. Nourse (printed in Roscoe s edition), to\\ndeliver fifty copies to Mr. Chappel. Another sixpenny\\npamphlet, entitled The Opposition, a Vision, issued in De-\\ncember of the same year, is enumerated by him, in the\\nPreface to the Miscellanies, amongst the few works he\\npublished since the End of June, 1741; and, provided\\nit can be placed before this date, he may be credited with\\na political sermon called the Crisis (1741), which is as-\\ncribed to him upon the authority of a writer in Nichols s\\nAnecdotes. He may also, before the End of June, 1741,\\nhave written other things but it is clear from his Caveat\\nin the above-mentioned Preface, together with his com-\\nplaint that he had been very unjustly censured, as well\\non account of what he had not writ, as for what he had,\\nthat much more has been laid to his charge than he ever\\ndeserved. Amongst ascriptions of this kind may be men-\\ntioned the curious Apology for the Life of Mr. The 1 Gib-\\nber, Comedian, 1740, which is described on its title-page\\nas a proper sequel to the autobiography of the Laureate,\\nin whose style and manner it is said to be written.\\nBut, although this performance is evidently the work of\\nsome one well acquainted with the dramatic annals of the\\nday, it is more than doubtful whether Fielding had any\\nhand or part in it. Indeed, his own statement that he\\nnever was, nor would be the Author of anonymous Scan-\\ndal [the italics are ours] on the private History or Family", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0082.jp2"}, "83": {"fulltext": "m.J JOSEPH ANDREWS. 69\\nof any Person whatever, should be regarded as con-\\nclusive.\\nDuring all this time he seems to have been steadily ap-\\nplying himself to the practice of his profession, if, indeed,\\nthat weary hope deferred which forms the usual probation\\nof legal preferment can properly be so described. As\\nmight be anticipated from his Salisbury connections, he\\ntravelled the Western Circuit and, according to Hutch-\\nins s Dorset, he assiduously attended the Wiltshire sessions.\\nHe had many friends amongst his brethren of the Bar.\\nHis cousin, Henry Gould, who had been called in 1734,\\nand who, like his grandfather, ultimately became a Judge,\\nwas also a member of the Middle Temple; and he was\\nfamiliar with Charles Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden,\\nwhom he may have known at Eton, but whom he certain-\\nly knew in his barrister days. It is probable, too, that he\\nwas acquainted with Lord Northington, then Robert Hen-\\nley, whose name appears as a subscriber to the Miscella-\\nnies, and who was once supposed to contend with Kettleby\\n(another subscriber) for the honour of being the original of\\nthe drunken barrister in Hogarth s Midnight Modern Con-\\nversation, a picture which no doubt accurately represents a\\ngood many of the festivals by which Henry Fielding re-\\nlieved the tedium of composing those MS. folio volumes\\non Crown or Criminal Law, which, after his death, revert-\\ned to his half-brother, Sir John. But towards the close of\\n1741 he was engaged upon another work which has out-\\nweighed all his most laborious forensic efforts, and which\\nwill long remain an English classic. This was The His-\\ntory of the Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and of his\\nFriend Mr. Abraham Adams, published by Andrew Millar\\nin February, 1742.\\nIn the same number, and on the same page of the", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0083.jp2"}, "84": {"fulltext": "70 FIELDING. [chap.\\nGentleman s Magazine which contains the advertisement\\nof the Vernoniad, there is a reference to a famous novel\\nwhich had appeared in November, 1740, two months\\nearlier, and had already attained an extraordinary pop-\\nularity. Several Encomiums (says Mr. Urban) on a\\nSeries of Familiar Letters, publish d but last month, en-\\ntitled Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded, came too late for\\nthis Magazine, and we believe there will be little Occa-\\nsion for inserting them in our next; because a Second\\nEdition will then come out to supply the Demands in\\nthe Country, it being judged in town as great a Sign of\\nWant of Curiosity not to have read Pamela, as not to\\nhave seen the French and Italian Dancers. A second\\nedition was in fact published in the following month\\n(February), to be speedily succeeded by a third in March\\nand a fourth in May. Dr. Sherlock (oddly misprinted\\nby Mrs. Barbauld as Dr. Slocock extolled it from the\\npulpit and the great Mr. Pope was reported to have\\ngone farther and declared that it would do more good\\nthan many volumes of sermons. Other admirers ranked\\nit next to the Bible clergymen dedicated theological\\ntreatises to the author and even at Ranelagh says\\nRichardson s biographer those who remember the pub-\\nlication say, that it was usual for ladies to hold up the\\nvolumes of Pamela to one another, to shew that they\\nhad got the book that every one was talking of. It is\\nperhaps hypercritical to observe that Ranelagh Gardens\\nwere not opened until eighteen months after Mr. Riving-\\nton s duodecimos first made their appearance but it will\\nbe gathered from the tone of some of the foregoing\\ncommendations that its morality was a strong point\\nwith the new candidate for literary fame and its vol-\\numinous title-page did indeed proclaim at large that it", "height": "3212", "width": "2046", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0084.jp2"}, "85": {"fulltext": "hi.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 71\\nwas Published in order to cultivate the Principles of\\nVirtue and Religion in the Minds of the Youth of Both\\nSexes. Its author, Samuel Richardson, was a middle-\\naged London printer, a vegetarian and water-drinker, a\\nworthy, domesticated, fussy, and highly-nervous little man.\\nDelighting in female society, and accustomed to act as\\nconfidant and amanuensis for the young women of his\\nacquaintance, it had been suggested to him by some\\nbookseller friends that he should prepare a little volume\\nof Letters, in a common style, on such subjects as might\\nbe of use to those country readers, who were unable to\\nindite for themselves. As Hogarth s Conversation Pieces\\ngrew into his Progresses, so this project seems to have de-\\nveloped into Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded. The necessity\\nfor some connecting link between the letters suggested a\\nstory, and the story chosen was founded upon the actual\\nexperiences of a young servant girl, who, after victoriously\\nresisting all the attempts made by her master to seduce\\nher, ultimately obliged him to marry her. It is needless\\nto give any account here of the minute and deliberate\\nway in which Richardson filled in his outline. As one\\nof his critics, D Alembert, has unanswerably said La\\nnature est bonne a imiter, mais non pas jusqu a V ennui\\nand the author of Pamela has plainly disregarded this\\nuseful law. On the other hand, the tedium and elabora-\\ntion of his style have tended, in these less leisurely days,\\nto condemn his work to a neglect which it does not de-\\nserve. Few writers it is a truism to say so have ex-\\ncelled him in minute analysis of motive, and knowledge\\nof the human heart. About the final morality of his\\nheroine s long-drawn defence of her chastity it may,\\nhowever, be permitted to doubt; and, in contrasting the\\nbook with Fielding s work, it should not be forgotten", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0085.jp2"}, "86": {"fulltext": "72 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthat, irreproachable though it seemed to the author s ad-\\nmirers, good Dr. Watts complained (and with reason) of\\nthe indelicacy of some of the scenes.\\nBut, for the moment, we are more concerned with the\\neffect which Pamela produced upon Henry Fielding,\\nstruggling with the eternal want of pence, which vexes\\npublic men, and vaguely hoping for some profitable open-\\ning for powers which had not yet been satisfactorily ex-\\nercised. To his robust and masculine genius, never very\\ndelicately sensitive where the relations of the sexes are\\nconcerned, the strange conjunction of purity and precau-\\ntion in Richardson s heroine was a thing unnatural, and\\na theme for inextinguishable Homeric laughter. That\\nPamela, through all her trials, could really have cherish-\\ned any affection for her unscrupulous admirer would seem\\nto him a sentimental absurdity, and the unprecedented\\nsuccess of the book would sharpen his sense of its assaila-\\nble side. Possibly, too, his acquaintance with Richardson,\\nwhom he knew personally, but with whom he could have\\nhad no kind of sympathy, disposed him against his work.\\nIn any case, the idea presently occurred to Fielding of de-\\npicting a young man in circumstances of similar impor-\\ntunity at the hands of a dissolute woman of fashion. He\\ntook for his hero Pamela s brother, and by a malicious\\nstroke of the pen turned the Mr. B. of Pamela into Squire\\nBooby. But the process of invention rapidly carried him\\ninto paths far beyond the mere parody of Richardson, and\\nit is only in the first portion of the book that he really re-\\nmembers his intention. After Chapter X. the story follows\\nits natural course, and there is little or nothing of Lady\\nBooby, or her frustrate amours. Indeed, the author does\\nnot even pretend to preserve congruity as regards his hero,\\nfor, in Chapter V., he makes him tell his mistress that he", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0086.jp2"}, "87": {"fulltext": "in.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 73\\nhas never been in love, while in Chapter XL we are inform-\\ned that he had long been attached to the charming Fanny\\nMoreover, in the intervening letters which Joseph writes to\\nhis sister Pamela, he makes no reference to this long-exist-\\nent attachment, with which, one would think, she must have\\nbeen perfectly familiar. These discrepancies all point, not\\nso much to negligence on the part of the author, as to\\nan unconscious transformation of his plan. He no doubt\\nspeedily found that mere ridicule of Richardson was insuf-\\nficient to sustain the interest of any serious effort, and, be-\\nsides, must have been secretly conscious that the Pamela\\ncharacteristics of his hero were artistically irreconcilable\\nwith the personal bravery and cudgel-playing attributes\\nwith which he had endowed him. Add to this that the im-\\nmortal Mrs. Slipslop and Parson Adams the latter especial-\\nly had begun to acquire an importance with their creator\\nfor which the initial scheme had by no means provided;\\nand he finally seems to have disregarded his design, only\\nreturning to it in his last chapters in order to close his work\\nwith some appearance of consistency. The History of Jo-\\nseph Andrews, it has been said, might well have dispensed\\nwith Lady Booby altogether, and yet, without her, not only\\nthis book, but Tom Jones and Amelia also, would probably\\nhave been lost to us. The accident which prompted three\\nsuch masterpieces cannot be honestly regretted.\\nIt was not without reason that Fielding added promi-\\nnently to his title-page the name of Mr. Abraham Adams.\\nIf he is not the real hero of the book, he is undoubtedly\\nthe character whose fortunes the reader follows with the\\nclosest interest. Whether he is smoking his black and con-\\nsolatory pipe in the gallery of the inn, or losing his way\\nwhilst he dreams over a passage of Greek, or groaning over\\nthe fatuities of the man-of-fashion in Leonora s story, or\\n4", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0087.jp2"}, "88": {"fulltext": "74 FIELDING. [chap.\\nbrandishing his famous crabstick in defence of Fanny, he\\nis always the same delightful mixture of benevolence and\\nsimplicity, of pedantry and credulity and ignorance of the\\nworld. He is compact, to use Shakspeare s word, of\\nthe oddest contradictions, the most diverting eccentrici-\\nties. He has Aristotle s Politics at his ringers ends, but he\\nknows nothing of the daily Gazetteers he is perfectly fa-\\nmiliar with the Pillars of Hercules, but he has never even\\nheard of the Levant. He travels to London to sell a col-\\nlection of sermons which he has forgotten to carry with\\nhim, and in a moment of excitement he tosses into the fire\\nthe copy of ^Eschylus which it has cost him years to tran-\\nscribe. He gives irreproachable advice to Joseph on for-\\ntitude and resignation, but he is overwhelmed with grief\\nwhen his child is reported to be drowned. When he speaks\\nupon faith and works, on marriage, on school discipline, he\\nis weighty and sensible but he falls an easy victim to the\\nplausible professions of every rogue he meets, and is willing\\nto believe in the principles of Mr. Peter Pounce, or the hu-\\nmanity of Parson Trulliber. Not all the discipline of hog s\\nblood and cudgels and cold water to which he is subjected\\ncan deprive him of his native dignity and as he stands\\nbefore us in the short great-coat under which his ragged\\ncassock is continually making its appearance, with his old\\nwig and battered hat, a clergyman whose social position is\\nscarcely above that of a footman, and who supports a wife\\nand six children upon a cure of twenty-three pounds a year,\\nwhich his outspoken honesty is continually jeopardising,\\nhe is a far finer figure than Pamela in her coach-and-six, or\\nBellarmine in his cinnamon velvet. If not, as Mr. Law-\\nrence says, with exaggerated enthusiasm, the grandest de-\\nlineation of the pattern-priest which the world has yet\\nseen, he is assuredly a noble example of primitive good-", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0088.jp2"}, "89": {"fulltext": "in.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 75\\nness and practical Christianity. It is certain as Mr. Fors-\\nter and Mr. Keightley have pointed out that Goldsmith\\nborrowed some of his characteristics for Dr. Primrose, and\\nit has been suggested that Sterne remembered him in more\\nthan one page of Tristram Shandy.\\nNext to Parson Adams, perhaps the best character in\\nJoseph Andrews though of an entirely different type is\\nLady Booby s Waiting-Gentlewoman, the excellent Mrs.\\nSlipslop. Her sensitive dignity, her easy changes from ser-\\nvility to insolence, her sensuality, her inimitably distorted\\nvocabulary, which Sheridan borrowed for Mrs. Malaprop,\\nand Dickens modified for Mrs. Gamp, are all peculiarities\\nwhich make up a personification of the richest humour and\\nthe most life-like reality. Mr. Peter Pounce, too, with his\\nscoundrel maxims, 1 as disclosed in that remarkable dia-\\nlogue which is said to be better worth reading than all\\nthe Works of Colley Gibber and in which charity is de-\\nfined as consisting rather in a disposition to relieve distress\\nthan in an actual act of relief; Parson Trulliber with his\\nhogs, his greediness, and his willingness to prove his Chris-\\ntianity by fisticuffs shrewish Mrs. Tow-wouse with her\\nscold s tongue, and her erring but perfectly subjugated hus-\\nband these again are portraits finished with admirable\\nspirit and fidelity. Andrews himself, and his blushing\\nsweetheart, do not lend themselves so readily to humorous\\nart. Nevertheless the former, when freed from the wiles\\nof Lady Booby, is by no means a despicable hero, and Fan-\\nny is a sufficiently fresh and blooming heroine. The char-\\nacters of Pamela and Mr. Booby are fairly preserved from\\nthe pages of their original inventor. But when Fielding\\nmakes Parson Adams rebuke the pair for laughing in\\nchurch at Joseph s wedding, and puts into the lady s\\nmouth a sententious little speech upon her altered position", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0089.jp2"}, "90": {"fulltext": "56 FIELDING. [chap.\\nin life, lie is adding some ironical touches which Richard-\\nson would certainly have omitted.\\nNo selection of personages, however, even of the most\\ndetailed and particular description, can convey any real\\nimpression of the mingled irony and insight, the wit and\\nsatire, the genial but perfectly remorseless revelation of\\nhuman springs of action, which distinguish scene after\\nscene of the book. Nothing, for example, can be more\\nadmirable than the different manifestations of meanness\\nwhich take place amongst the travellers of the stage-coach,\\nin the oft-quoted chapter where Joseph, having been rob-\\nbed of everything, lies naked and bleeding in the ditch.\\nThere is Miss Grave-airs, who protests against the inde-\\ncency of his entering the vehicle, but, like a certain lady\\nin the Rake s Progress, holds the sticks of her fan before\\nher face while he does so, and who is afterwards found\\nto be carrying Nantes under the guise of Hungary-water;\\nthere is the lawyer, who. advises that the wounded man\\nshall be taken in, not from any humane motive, but be-\\ncause he is afraid of being involved in legal proceedings\\nif they leave him to his fate there is the wit, who seizes\\nthe occasion for a burst of facetious double entendres,\\nchiefly designed for the discomfiture of the prude and,\\nlastly, there is the coachman, whose only concern is the\\nshilling for his fare, and who refuses to lend either of the\\nuseless greatcoats he is sitting upon, lest they should be\\nmade bloody, leaving the shivering suppliant to be clothed\\nby the generosity of the postilion a Lad, says Fielding,\\nwith a fine touch of satire, who hath been since trans-\\nported for robbing a Hen-roost This worthy fellow\\naccordingly strips off his only outer garment, at the\\nsame time swearing a great Oath, for which he is duly\\nvebuked by the passengers, that lie would rather ride in", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0090.jp2"}, "91": {"fulltext": "m.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 11\\nhis Shirt all his Life, than suffer a Fellow-Creature to lie\\nin so miserable a Condition. Then there are the admi-\\nrable scenes which succeed Joseph s admission into the\\ninn the discussion between the bookseller and the two\\nparsons as to the publication of Adams s sermons, which\\nthe Clergy would be certain to cry down, because they\\ninculcate good works against faith the debate before the\\njustice as to the manuscript of JEschylus, which is mis-\\ntaken for one of the Fathers and the pleasant discourse\\nbetween the poet and the player which, beginning by com-\\npliments, bids fair to end in blows. Nor are the stories\\nof Leonora and Mr. Wilson without their interest. They\\ninterrupt the straggling narrative far less than the Man of\\nthe Hill interrupts Tom Jones, and they afford an oppor-\\ntunity for varying the epic of the highway by pictures\\nof polite society which could not otherwise be introduced.\\nThere can be little doubt, too, that some of Mr. Wilson s\\ntown experiences were the reflection of the author s own\\ncareer; while the characteristics of Leonora s lover Ho-\\nratio who was a young Gentleman of a good Family,\\nbred to the Law, and recently called to the Bar, whose\\nFace and Person were such as the Generality allowed\\nhandsome but he had a Dignity in his Air very rarely\\nto be seen, and who had Wit and Humour, with an In-\\nclination to Satire, which he indulged rather too much\\nread almost like a complimentary description of Fielding\\nhimself.\\nLike Hogarth, in that famous drinking scene to which\\nreference has already been made, Fielding was careful to\\ndisclaim arry personal portraiture in Joseph Andrews. In\\nthe opening chapter of Book III. he declares once for all\\nthat he describes not Men, but Manners not an Individ-\\nual, but a Species, although he admits that his characters", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0091.jp2"}, "92": {"fulltext": "78 FIELDING. [chap.\\nare taken from Life. In his Preface he reiterates\\nthis profession, adding that, in copying from nature, he\\nhas used the utmost Care to obscure the Persons by\\nsuch different Circumstances, Degrees, and Colours, that it\\nwill be impossible to guess at them with any degree of\\ncertainty. Nevertheless as in Hogarth s case neither\\nhis protests nor his skill have prevented some of those\\nidentifications which are so seductive to the curious and\\nit is generally believed indeed, it was expressly stated\\nby Richardson and others that the prototype of Parson\\nAdams was a friend of Fielding, the Reverend William\\nYoung. Like Adams, he was a scholar and devoted to\\n^Eschylus he resembled him, too, in his trick of snapping\\nhis fingers, and his habitual absence of mind. Of this\\nlatter peculiarity it is related that on one occasion, when\\na chaplain in Marlborough s wars, he strolled abstractedly\\ninto the enemy s lines with his beloved JEschylus in his\\nhand. His peaceable intentions were so unmistakable that\\nhe was instantly released, and politely directed to his regi-\\nment. Once, too, it is said, on being charged by a gentle-\\nman with sitting for the portrait of Adams, he offered\\nto knock the speaker down, thereby supplying additional\\nproof of the truth of the allegation. He died in August,\\n1757, and is buried in the Chapel of Chelsea Hospital.\\nThe obituary notice in the Gentleman s Magazine de-\\nscribes him as late of Gillingham, Dorsetshire, which\\nwould make him a neighbour of the novelist. 1 Another\\ntradition connects Mr. Peter Pounce with the scrivener\\nand usurer Peter Walter, whom Pope had satirised, and\\nwhom Hogarth is thought to have introduced into Plate I.\\nof Marriage a-la-Mode. His sister lived at Salisbury and\\n1 Lord Thurlow was accustomed to find a later likeness to Field-\\ning s hero in his protege, the poet Crabbe.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0092.jp2"}, "93": {"fulltext": "in.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 79\\nhe himself had an estate at Stalbridge Park, which was\\nclose to East Stour. From references to Walter in the\\nChampion for May 31, 1740, as well as in the Essay on\\nConversation, it is clear that Fielding knew him personal-\\nly, and disliked him. He may, indeed, have been amongst\\nthose county magnates whose criticism was so objectiona-\\nble to Captain Booth during his brief residence in Dorset-\\nshire. Parson Trulliber, also, according to Murphy, was\\nFielding s first tutor Mr. Oliver of Motcombe. But his\\nwidow denied the resemblance and it is hard to believe\\nthat this portrait is not overcharged. In all these cases,\\nhowever, there is no reason for supposing that Fielding\\nmay not have thoroughly believed in the sincerity of his\\nattempts to avoid the exact reproduction of actual per-\\nsons, although, rightly or wrongly, his presentments were\\nspeedily identified. With ordinary people it is by salient\\ncharacteristics that a likeness is established and no varia-\\ntion of detail, however skilful, greatly affects this result.\\nIn our own days we have seen that, in spite of both au-\\nthors, the public declined to believe that the Harold Skim-\\npole of Charles Dickens, and George Eliot s Dinah Morris,\\nwere not perfectly recognisable copies of living originals.\\nUpon its title-page Joseph Andrews is declared to be\\nwritten in Imitation of the Manner of Cervantes, and\\nthere is no doubt that, in addition to being subjected to\\nan unreasonable amount of ill-usage, Parson Adams has\\nmanifest affinities with Don Quixote. Scott, however,\\nseems to have thought that Scarron s Roman Comique was\\nthe real model, so far as mock-heroic was concerned but\\nhe must have forgotten that Fielding was already the au-\\nthor of Tom Thumb, and that Swift had written the Bat-\\ntle of the Books. Resemblances not of much moment\\nhave also been traced to the Paysan Parvenu and the His-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0093.jp2"}, "94": {"fulltext": "80 FIELDING. [chap.\\ntoire de Marianne of Marivaux. With both these books\\nFielding was familiar in fact, he expressly mentions them,\\nas well as the Roman Comique, in the course of his story,\\nand they doubtless exercised more or less influence upon\\nhis plan. But in the Preface, from which we have already\\nquoted, he describes that plan and this, because it is\\nsomething definite, is more interesting than any specula-\\ntion as to his determining models. After marking the\\ndivision of the Epic, like the Drama, into Tragedy and\\nComedy, he points out that it may exist in prose as well\\nas verse, and he proceeds to explain that what he has at-\\ntempted in Joseph Andrews is a comic Epic-Poem in\\nProse, differing from serious romance in its substitution\\nof a light and ridiculous fable for a grave and solemn\\none, of inferior characters for those of superior rank, and\\nof ludicrous for sublime sentiments. Sometimes in the\\ndiction he has admitted burlesque, but never in the senti-\\nments and characters, where, he contends, it would be out\\nof place. He further defines the only source of the ridic-\\nulous to be affectation, of which the chief causes are vanity\\nand hypocrisy. Whether this scheme was an after-thought\\nit is difficult to say but it is certainly necessary to a\\nproper understanding of the author s method a method\\nwhich was to find so many imitators. Another passage in\\nthe Preface is worthy of remark. With reference to the\\npictures of vice which the book contains, he observes:\\nFirst, That it is very difficult to pursue a Series of human\\nActions, and keep clear from them. Secondly, That the\\nVices to be found here [i. e., Joseph Andrews] are rather\\nthe accidental Consequences of some human Frailty, or\\nFoible, than Causes habitually existing in the Mind. Third-\\nly, That they are never set forth as the Objects of Ridi-\\ncule but Detestation. Fourthly, That they are never the", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0094.jp2"}, "95": {"fulltext": "in.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 81\\nprincipal Figure at the Time on the Scene and, lastly,\\nthey never produce the intended Evil. 1 In reading some\\npages of Fielding it is not always easy to see that he has\\nstrictly adhered to these principles but it is well to recall\\nthem occasionally, as constituting at all events the code\\nthat he desired to follow.\\nAlthough the popularity of Fielding s first novel was\\nconsiderable, it did not, to judge by the number of edi-\\ntions, at once equal the popularity of the book by which\\nit was suggested. Pamela, as we have seen, speedily ran\\nthrough four editions; but it was six months before Millar\\npublished the second and revised edition of Joseph An-\\ndrews; and the third did not appear until more than a\\nyear after the date of first publication. With Richardson,\\nas might be expected, it was never popular at all, and to a\\ngreat extent it is possible to sympathize with his annoy-\\nance. The daughter of his brain, whom he had piloted\\nthrough so many troubles, had grown to him more real\\nthan the daughters of his body, and to see her at the\\nheight of her fame made contemptible by what in one of\\nhis letters he terms a lewd and ungenerous engraftment,\\nmust have been a sore trial to his absorbed and self-con-\\nscious nature, and one which not all the consolations of\\nhis consistory of feminine flatterers my ladies, as the\\nlittle man called them could wholly alleviate. But it\\nmust be admitted that his subsequent attitude was neither\\njudicious nor dignified. He pursued Fielding henceforth\\nwith steady depreciation, caught eagerly at any scandal\\nrespecting him, professed himself unable to perceive his\\ngenius, deplored his lowness, and comforted himself by\\nreflecting that, if he pleased at all, it was because he had\\nlearned the art from Pamela. Of Fielding s other contem-\\nporary critics, one only need be mentioned here, more on\\n4*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0095.jp2"}, "96": {"fulltext": "82 FIELDING. [chap.\\naccount of his literary eminence than of the special felicity\\nof his judgment. I have myself, writes Gray to West,\\nupon your recommendation, been reading Joseph An-\\ndrews. The incidents are ill laid and without invention\\nbut the characters have a great deal of nature, which al-\\nways pleases even in her lowest shapes. Parson Adams\\nis perfectly well so is Mrs. Slipslop, and the story of\\nWilson and throughout he [the author] shews himself\\nwell read in Stage Coaches, Country Squires, Inns, and\\nInns of Court. His reflections upon high people and low\\npeople, and misses and masters, are very good. However\\nthe exaltedness of some minds (or rather as I shrewdly\\nsuspect their insipidity and want of feeling or observation)\\nmay make them insensible to these light things, (I mean\\nsuch as characterise and paint nature) yet surely they are\\nas weighty and much more useful than your grave dis-\\ncourses upon the mind, the passions, and what not. And\\nthereupon follows that fantastic utterance concerning the\\nromances of MM. Marivaux and Crebillon Jils, which has\\ndisconcerted so many of Gray s admirers. We suspect\\nthat any reader who should nowadays contrast the sickly\\nand sordid intrigue of the Paysan Parvenu with the\\nhealthy animalism of Joseph Andrews would greatly pre-\\nfer the latter. Yet Gray s verdict, though cold, is not un-\\ndiscriminating, and is perhaps as much as one could ex-\\npect from his cloistered and fastidious taste.\\nVarious anecdotes, all more or less apocryphal, have\\nbeen related respecting the first appearance of Joseph An-\\ndrews, and the sum paid to the author for the copyright.\\nA reference to the original assignment, now in the Forster\\nLibrary at South Kensington, definitely- settles the latter\\npoint. The amount in lawful Money of Great Britain,\\nreceived by Henry Fielding, Esq., from Andrew Millar", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0096.jp2"}, "97": {"fulltext": "in.] JOSEPH ANDREWS. 83\\nof St. Clement s Danes in the Strand, was \u00c2\u00a3183 lis. In\\nthis document, as in the order to Nourse of which a fac-\\nsimile is given by Roscoe, both the author s name and sig-\\nnature are written with the old-fashioned double f, and he\\ncalls himself Fielding and not Feilding, like the rest\\nof the Denbigh family. If we may trust an anecdote given\\nby Kippis, Lord Denbigh once asked his kinsman the rea-\\nson of this difference. I cannot tell, my lord. returned\\nthe novelist, unless it be that my branch of the family\\nwas the first that learned to spell.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0097.jp2"}, "98": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER IV.\\nIn March, 1742, according to an article in the Gentleman s\\nMagazine, attributed to Samuel Johnson, the most popu-\\nlar Topic of Conversation was the Account of the Con-\\nduct of the Dowager Dutchess of Marlborough, from her\\nFirst Coming to Court, to the Year 17 10, which, with the\\nhelp of Hooke of the Roman History, the terrible old\\nSarah had just put forth. Amongst the little cloud of\\nSarah- Ads and Old Wives Tales evoked by this produc-\\ntion, was a Vindication of her Grace by Fielding, specially\\nprompted, as appears from the title-page, by the late\\nscurrilous Pamphlet of a noble Author. If this were\\nnot acknowledged to be from Fielding s pen in the Pref-\\nace to the Miscellanies (in which collection, however, it is\\nnot reprinted), its authorship would be sufficiently proved\\nby its being included with Miss Lucy in Town in the as-\\nsignment to Andrew Millar referred to at the close of the\\npreceding chapter. The price Millar paid for it was \u00c2\u00a35\\n5s., or exactly half that of the farce. But it is only rea-\\nsonable to assume that the Duchess herself (who is said to\\nhave given Hooke \u00c2\u00a35000 for his help) also rewarded her\\nchampion. Whether Fielding s admiration for the glo-\\nrious Woman in whose cause he had drawn his pen was\\ngenuine, or whether to use Johnson s convenient euphem-", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0098.jp2"}, "99": {"fulltext": "chap, iv.] THE MISCELLANIES. 85\\nism concerning Hooke he was acting only ministerial-\\nly, are matters for speculation. His father, however, had\\nserved under the Duke, and there may have been a tradi-\\ntional attachment to the Churchills on the part of his\\nfamily. It has even been ingeniously suggested that Sarah\\nFielding was her Grace s god-child but as her mother s\\nname was also Sarah, no importance can be attached to\\nthe suggestion.\\nMiss Lucy in Town, as its sub-title explains, was a sequel\\nto the Virgin Unmask 1 d, and was produced at Drury Lane\\nin May, 1742. As already stated in Chapter II., Fielding s\\npart in it was small. It is a lively but not very creditable\\ntrifle, which turns upon certain equivocal London experi-\\nences of the Miss Lucy of the earlier piece and it seems\\nto have been chiefly intended to afford an opportunity for\\nsome clever imitation of the reigning Italian singers by\\nMrs. Clive and the famous tenor Beard. Horace Walpole,\\nwho refers to it in a letter to Mann, between an account\\nof the opening of Ranelagh and an anecdote of Mrs.\\nBracegirdle, calls it a little simple farce, and says that\\nMrs. Clive mimics the Muscovita admirably, and Beard\\nAmorevoli tolerably. Mr. Walpole detested the Mus-\\ncovita, and adored Amorevoli, which perhaps accounts for\\nthe nice discrimination shown in his praise. One of the\\nother characters, Mr. Zorobabel, a Jew, was taken by Mack-\\nlin, and from another, Mrs. Haycock (afterwards changed\\nto Mrs. Midnight), Foote is supposed to have borrowed\\nMother Cole in The Minor. A third character, Lord Baw-\\nble, was considered to reflect upon a particular person of\\nquality, and the piece was speedily forbidden by the Lord\\nChamberlain, although it appears to have been acted a few\\n1 Memoirs of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, etc., by Mrs. A. T.\\nThomson, 1839.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0099.jp2"}, "100": {"fulltext": "86 FIELDING. [chap.\\nmonths later without opposition. One of the results of\\nthe prohibition, according to Mr. Lawrence, was a Letter to\\na Noble Lord (the Lord Chamberlain) occasioned by\\na Representation of a Farce called Miss Lucy in\\nTown. This, in spite of the Caveat in the Preface to\\nthe Miscellanies, he ascribes to Fielding, and styles it a\\nsharp expostulation in which he [Fielding] disavowed\\nany idea of a personal attack. But Mr. Lawrence must\\nplainly have been misinformed on the subject, for the\\npamphlet bears little sign of Fielding s hand. As far as\\nit is intelligible, it is rather against Miss Lucy than for\\nher, and it makes no reference to Lord Bawble s original.\\nThe name of this injured patrician seems indeed never to\\nhave transpired; but he could scarcely have been in any\\nsense a phenomenal member of the Georgian aristocracy.\\nIn the same month that Miss Lucy in Town appeared\\nat Drury Lane, Millar published it in book form. In the\\nfollowing June, T. Waller of the Temple-Cloisters issued\\nthe first of a contemplated series of translations from Aris-\\ntophanes by Henry Fielding, Esq., and the Rev. William\\nYoung who sat for Parson Adams. The play chosen was\\nPlutus, the God of Riches, and a notice upon the original\\ncover stated that, according to the reception it met with\\nfrom the public, it would be followed by the others. It\\nmust be presumed that the distressed, and at present,\\ndeclining State of Learning to which the authors referred\\nin their dedication to Lord Talbot, was not a mere form of\\nspeech, for the enterprise does not seem to have met with\\nsufficient encouragement to justify its continuance, and\\nthis special rendering has long since been supplanted by\\nthe more modern versions of Mitchell, Frere, and others.\\nWhether Fielding took any large share in it is not now\\ndiscernible. It is most likely, however, that the bulk of", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0100.jp2"}, "101": {"fulltext": "iv.] THE MISCELLANIES. 87\\nthe work was Young s, and that his colleague did little\\nmore than furnish the Preface, which is partly written in\\nthe first person, and betrays its origin by a sudden and\\nnot very relevant attack upon the pretty, dapper, brisk,\\nsmart, pert Dialogue of Modern Comedy into which the\\ninfinite Wit of Wycherley had degenerated under Cib-\\nber. It also contains a compliment to the numbers of the\\ninimitable Author of the Essay on Man.\\nThis is the second compliment which Fielding had paid\\nto Pope within a brief period, the first having been that\\nin the Champion respecting the translation of the Iliad.\\nWhat his exact relations with the author of the Dunciad\\nwere has never been divulged. At first they seem to have\\n.been rather hostile than friendly. Fielding had ridiculed\\nthe Romish Church in the Old Debauchees, a course which\\nPope could scarcely have approved and he was, more-\\nover, the cousin of Lady Mary, now no longer throned in\\nthe Twickenham Temple. Pope had commented upon a\\npassage in Tom Thumb, and Fielding had indirectly refer-\\nred to Pope in the Covent Garden Tragedy. When it\\nhad been reported that Pope had gone to see Pasquin,\\nthe statement had been at once contradicted. But Field-\\ning was now, like Pope, against Walpole and Joseph An-\\ndrews had been published. It may therefore be that the\\ncompliments in Plutus and the Champion were the result\\nof some rapprochement between the two. It is, neverthe-\\nless, curious that, at this very time, an attempt appears to\\nhave been made to connect the novelist with the contro-\\nversy which presently rose out of Cibber s well-known let-\\nter to Pope. In August, 1742, the month following its\\npublication, among the pamphlets to which it gave rise,\\nwas announced The Cudgel; or, a Crab-tree Lecture. To\\nthe Author of the Dunciad. By Hercules Vinegar,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0101.jp2"}, "102": {"fulltext": "88 FIELDING. [chap.\\nEsq. fhis very mediocre satire in verse is still to be\\nfound at the British Museum; but even if it were not\\nincluded in Fielding s general disclaimer as to unsigned\\nwork, it would be difficult to connect it with him. To\\ngive but one reason, it would make him the ally and ad-\\nherent of Cibber which is absurd. In all probability, like\\nanother Grub Street squib under the same pseudonym, it\\nwas by Ralph, who had already attacked Pope, and con-\\ntinued to maintain the Captain s character in the Cham-\\npion long after Fielding had ceased to write for it. It is\\neven possible that Ralph had some share in originating the\\nVinegar family, for it is noticeable that the paper in which\\nthey are first introduced bears no initials. In this case\\nhe would consider himself free to adopt the name, how-,\\never disadvantageous that course might be to Fielding s\\nreputation. And it is clear that, whatever their relations\\nhad been in the past, they were for the time on opposite\\nsides in politics, since while Fielding had been vindicat-\\ning the Duchess of Marlborough, Ralph had been writing\\nagainst her.\\nThese, however, are minor questions, the discussion of\\nwhich would lead too far from the main narrative of\\nFielding s life. In the same letter in which Walpole had\\nreferred to Miss Lucy in Town, he had spoken of the\\nsuccess of a new player at Goodman s Fields, after whom\\nall the town, in Gray s phrase, was horn-mad but in\\nwhose acting Mr. Walpole, with a critical distrust of nov-\\nelty, saw nothing particularly wonderful. This was David\\nGarrick. He had been admitted a student of Lincoln s\\nInn a year before Fielding entered the Middle Temple, had\\nafterwards turned wine-merchant, and was now delighting\\nLondon by his versatility in comedy, tragedy, and farce.\\nOne of his earliest theatrical exploits, according to Sir", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0102.jp2"}, "103": {"fulltext": "it.] THE MISCELLANIES. 89\\nJohn Hawkins, had been a private representation of Field-\\ning s Mock-Doctor, in a room over the St. John s Gate,\\nClerkenwell, so long familiar to subscribers of the Gentle-\\nman s Magazine his fellow-actors being Cave s journey-\\nmen printers, and his audience Cave, Johnson, and a few\\nfriends. After this he appears to have made the acquaint-\\nance of Fielding; and, late in 1742, applied to him to\\nknow if he had any Play by him, as he was desirous\\nof appearing in a new Part. As a matter of fact Field-\\ning had two plays by him the Good-natured Man (a title\\nsubsequently used by Goldsmith), and a piece called The\\nWedding Day. The former was almost finished the lat-\\nter was an early work, being indeed the third Dramatic\\nPerformance he ever attempted. The necessary arrange-\\nments having been made with Mr. Fleetwood, the mana-\\nger of Drury Lane, Fielding set to work to complete the\\nGood-natured Mem, which he considered the better of the\\ntwo. When he had done so, he came to the conclusion\\nthat it required more attention than he could give it and,\\nmoreover, that the part allotted to Garrick, although it sat-\\nisfied the actor, was scarcely important enough. He ac-\\ncordingly reverted to the Wedding Day, the central char-\\nacter of which had been intended for Wilks. It had many\\nfaults, which none saw more clearly than the author him-\\nself, but he hoped that Garrick s energy and prestige would\\ntriumphantly surmount all obstacles. He hoped, as well,\\nto improve it by revision. The dangerous illness of his\\nwife, however, made it impossible for him to execute his\\ntask and, as he was pressed for money, the Wedding\\nDay was produced on the 17th of February, 1743, appar-\\nently much as it had been first written some dozen years\\nbefore. As might be anticipated, it was not a success.\\nThe character of Millamour is one which it is hard to be-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0103.jp2"}, "104": {"fulltext": "90 FIELDING. [chap.\\nlieve that even Garrick could have made attractive, and\\nthough others of the parts were entrusted to Mrs. Wof-\\nfington, Mrs. Pritchard, and Macklin, it was acted but six\\nnights. The author s gains were under \u00c2\u00a350. In the\\nPreface to the Miscellanies, from which most of the fore-\\ngoing account is taken, Fielding, as usual, refers its failure\\nto other causes than its inherent defects. Rumours, he\\nsays, had been circulated as to its indecency (and in truth\\nsome of the scenes are more than hazardous) but it had\\npassed the licenser, and must be supposed to have been up\\nto the moral standard of the time. Its unfavourable re-\\nception, as Fielding must have known in his heart, was\\ndue to its artistic shortcomings, and also to the fact that a\\nchange was taking place in the public taste. It is in con-\\nnection with the Wedding Day that one of the best-known\\nanecdotes of the author is related. Garrick had begged\\nhim to retrench a certain objectionable passage. This\\nFielding, either from indolence or unwillingness, declined\\nto do, asserting that if it was not good, the audience might\\nfind it out. The passage was promptly hissed, and Gar-\\nrick returned to the green-room, where the author was\\nsolacing himself with a bottle of champagne. What ie\\\\\\nthe matter, Garrick said he to the flustered actor whal\\nare they hissing now V He was informed with some heat\\nthat they had been hissing the very scene he had been\\nasked to withdraw, and, added Garrick, they have so\\nfrightened me, that I shall not be able to collect myself\\nagain the whole night. Oh! answered the author,\\nwith an oath, they have found it out, have they This\\nrejoinder is usually quoted as an instance of Fielding s\\ncontempt for the intelligence of his audience; but nine\\nmen in ten, it may be observed, would have said some-\\nthing of the same sort.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0104.jp2"}, "105": {"fulltext": "iv.] THE MISCELLANIES. 91\\nThe only other thing which need be referred to in con-\\nnection with this comedy the last of his own dramatic\\nworks which Fielding ever witnessed upon the stage is\\nMacklin s doggerel Prologue. Mr. Lawrence attributes this\\nto Fielding but he seems to have overlooked the fact that\\nin the Miscellanies it is headed, Writ and Spoken by\\nMr. Macklin, which gives it more interest as the work of\\nan outsider than if it had been a mere laugh by the author\\nat himself. Garrick is represented as too busy to speak\\nthe prologue and Fielding, who has been drinking to\\nraise his Spirits, has begged Macklin, with his long, dis-\\nmal, Mercy-begging Face, to go on and apologise. Mack-\\nlin then pretends to recognise him among the audience,\\nand pokes fun at his anxieties, telling him that he had\\nbetter have stuck to honest Abram Adams, who, in\\nspight of Critics, can make his Readers laugh. The\\nwords in spite of critics indicate another distinction\\nbetween Fielding s novels and plays, which should have\\nits weight in any comparison of them. The censors of\\nthe pit, in the eighteenth century, seem to have exercised\\nan unusual influence in deciding whether a play should\\nsucceed or not and, from Fielding s frequent references\\nto friends and enemies, it would almost seem as if he be-\\nlieved their suffrages to be more important than a good\\nplot and a witty dialogue. On the other hand, no coterie\\nof Wits and Templars could kill a book like Joseph An-\\ndrews. To say nothing of the opportunities afforded by\\nthe novel for more leisurely character-drawing, and greater\\nby-play of reflection and description, its reader was an\\nisolated and independent judge and in the long run the\\n1 Miller s Coffee-Home, 173*7, for example, was damned by the Tem-\\nplars because it was supposed to reflect on the keepers of Dick s.\\nBiog. Dramatica.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0105.jp2"}, "106": {"fulltext": "92 FIELDING. [chap.\\ndifference told wonderfully in favour of the author. Mack-\\nlin was obviously right in recommending Fielding, even in\\njest, to stick to Parson Adams, and from the familiar pub-\\nlicity of the advice it may also be inferred, not only that\\nthe opinion was one commonly current, but that the novel\\nwas unusually popular.\\nThe Wedding Day was issued separately in February,\\n1743. It must therefore be assumed that the three vol-\\numes of Miscellanies, by Henry Fielding, Esq., in which it\\nwas reprinted, and to which reference has so often been\\nmade in these pages, did not appear until later. 1 They\\nwere published by subscription and the list, in addition\\nto a large number of aristocratic and legal names, contains\\nsome of more permanent interest. Side by side with the\\nChesterfields and Marlboroughs and Burlingtons and Den-\\nbighs, come William Pitt and Henry Fox, Esqs., with Dod-\\nington and Winnington and Hanbury Williams. The\\ntheatrical world is well represented by Garrick and Mrs.\\nWoffington and Mrs. Clive. Literature has no names of\\nany eminence except that of Young; for Savage and\\nWhitehead, Mallet and Benjamin Hoadly, are certainly\\nignes minores. Pope is conspicuous for his absence so\\nalso are Horace Walpole and Gray, while Richardson, of\\ncourse, is wanting. Johnson, as yet only the author of\\nLondon, and journeyman to Cave, could scarcely be ex-\\npected in the roll and, in any case, his friendship for the\\nauthor of Pamela would probably have kept him away.\\nAmong some other well-known eighteenth century names\\nare those of Dodsley and Millar the booksellers, and the\\nfamous Vauxhall impresario Jonathan Tyers.\\nThe first volume of the Miscellanies^ besides a lengthy\\n1 By advertisement in the London Daily Post and General Adver-\\ntiser, they would seem to have been published early in April, 1743.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0106.jp2"}, "107": {"fulltext": "IV.] THE MISCELLANIES. 93\\nPreface, includes the author s poems, essays On Conver-\\nsation, On the Knowledge of the Characters of Men, On\\nNothing, a squib upon the Transactions of the Royal So-\\nciety, a translation from Demosthenes, and one or two\\nminor pieces. Much of the biographical material con-\\ntained in the Preface has already been made use of, as\\nwell as those verses which can be definitely dated, or\\nwhich relate to the author s love-affairs. The hitherto\\nunnoticed portions of the volume consist chiefly of Epis-\\ntles, in the orthodox eighteenth century fashion. One\\nalready referred to is headed Of True Greatness anoth-\\ner, inscribed to the Duke of Richmond, Of Good-nature\\nwhile a third is addressed to a friend, On the Choice of a\\nWife. This last contains some sensible lines, but although\\nRoscoe has managed to extract two quotable passages, it is\\nneedless to imitate him here. These productions show no\\ntrace of the authentic Fielding. The essays are more re-\\nmarkable, although, like Montaigne s, they are scarcely de-\\nscribed by their titles. That on Conversation is really a\\nlittle treatise on good-breeding; that on the Character?\\nof Men, a lay sermon against Fielding s pet antipathy-\\nhypocrisy. Nothing can well be wiser, even now, than*\\nsome of the counsels in the former of these papers on\\nsuch themes as the limits of raillery, the duties of hos-\\npitality, and the choice of subject in general conversa-\\ntion. Nor, however threadbare they may look to-day, can\\nthe final conclusions be reasonably objected to: First,\\nThat every Person who indulges his Ill-nature or Vanity,\\nat the Expense of others and in introducing Uneasiness,\\nVexation, and Confusion into Society, however exalted or\\nhigh-titled he may be, is thoroughly ill-bred and Sec-\\nondly, That whoever, from the Goodness of his Disposi-\\ntion or Understanding, endeavours to his utmost to culti-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0107.jp2"}, "108": {"fulltext": "94 FIELDING. [chap.\\nvate the Good-humour and Happiness of others, and to\\ncontribute to the Ease and Comfort of all his Acquaint-\\nance, however low in Rank Fortune may have placed him,\\nor however clumsy he may be in his Figure or Demeanour,\\nhath, in the truest sense of the Word, a Claim to Good-\\nBreeding. One fancies that this essay must have been a\\nfavourite with the historian of the Book of Snobs and the\\ncreator of Major Dobbin.\\nThe Characters of Men is not equal to the Conversation.\\nThe theme is a wider one and the end proposed that\\nof supplying rules for detecting the real disposition\\nthrough all the social disguises which cloak and envelop\\nit can scarcely be said to be attained. But there are\\nhappy touches even in this; and when the author says,\\nI will venture to affirm, that I have known some of the\\nlest sort of Men in the World (to use the vulgar Phrase,)\\nwho would not have scrupled cutting a Friend s Throat\\nand a Fellow whom no Man should be seen to speak to,\\ncapable of the highest Acts of Friendship and Benevo-\\nlence, one recognises the hand that made the sole good\\nSamaritan in Joseph Andreivs a Lad who hath since been\\ntransported for robbing a Hen-roost. The account of\\nthe Terrestrial Chrysipus or Guinea, a burlesque on a pa-\\nper read before the Royal Society on the Fresh Water\\nPolypus, is chiefly interesting from the fact that it is sup-\\nposed to be written by Petrus Gualterus (Peter Walter),\\nwho had an extraordinary Collection of them. He\\ndied, in fact, worth \u00c2\u00a3300,000. The only other paper in\\nthe volume of any value is a short one, Of the Remedy of\\nAffliction for the Loss of our Friends, to which we shall\\npresently return.\\nThe farce of Fury dice, and the Wedding Day, which,\\nwith A Journey from this World to the Next, etc., make", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0108.jp2"}, "109": {"fulltext": "iv.] THE MISCELLANIES. 95\\nup the contents of the second volume of the Miscellanies,\\nhave been already sufficiently discussed. But the Journey\\ndeserves some further notice. It has been suggested that\\nthis curious Lucianic production may have been prompted\\nby the vision of Mercury and Charon in the Champion,\\nthough the kind of allegory of which it consists is com-\\nmon enough with the elder essayists and it is notable\\nthat another book was published in April, 1743, under\\nthe title of Cardinal Fleurifs Journey to the other World,\\nwhich is manifestly suggested by Quevedo. Fielding s\\nJourney, however, is a fragment which the author feigns\\nto have found in the garret of a stationer in the Strand.\\nSixteen out of five-and-twenty chapters in Book I. are oc-\\ncupied with the transmigrations of Julian the Apostate,\\nwhich are not concluded. Then follows another chapter\\nfrom Book XIX., which contains the history of Anna\\nBoleyn, and the whole breaks off abruptly. Its best por-\\ntion is undoubtedly the first ten chapters, which relate the\\nwriter s progress to Elysium, and afford opportunity for\\nmany strokes of satire. Such are the whimsical terror of\\nthe spiritual traveller in the stage-coach, who hears sudden-\\nly that his neighbour has died of small-pox, a disease he\\nhad been dreading all his life and the punishment of\\nLord Scrape, the miser, who is doomed to dole out money\\nto all comers, and who, after being purified in the Body\\nof a Hog, is ultimately to return to earth again. Nor is\\nthe delight of some of those who profit by his enforced\\nassistance less keenly realised: I remarked a poetical\\nSpirit in particular, who swore he would have a hearty\\nGripe at him For, says he, the Rascal not only refused to\\nsubscribe to my Works but sent back my Letter unan-\\nswered, tho I m a better Gentleman than himself. The\\ndescriptions of the City of Diseases, the Palace of Death,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0109.jp2"}, "110": {"fulltext": "96 FIELDING. [char\\nand the Wheel of Fortune from which men draw their\\nchequered lots, are all unrivalled in their way. But here,\\nas always, it is in his pictures of human nature that Field-\\ning shines, and it is this that makes the chapters in which\\nMinos is shown adjudicating upon the separate claims of\\nthe claimants to enter Elysium the most piquant of all.\\nThe virtuoso and butterfly hunter, who is repulsed with\\ngreat Scorn the dramatic author who is admitted (to\\nhis disgust), not on account of his works, but because he\\nhas once lent the whole Profits of a Benefit Night to a\\nFriend the parson who is turned back, while his poor\\nparishioners are admitted; and the trembling wretch who\\nhas been hanged for a robbery of eighteen-pence, to which\\nhe had been driven by poverty, but whom the judge wel-\\ncomes cordially because he had been a kind father, hus-\\nband, and son all these are conceived in that humane and\\ngenerous spirit which is Fielding s most engaging charac-\\nteristic. The chapter immediately following, which de-\\nscribes the literary and other inhabitants of Elysium, is\\neven better. Here is Leonidas, who appears to be only\\nmoderately gratified with the honour recently done him by\\nMr. Glover the poet here is Homer, toying with Madame\\nDacier, and profoundly indifferent as to his birthplace\\nand the continuity of his poems here, too, is Shakspeare,\\nwho, foreseeing future commentators and the New\\nShakespere Society, declines to enlighten Betterton and\\nBooth as to a disputed passage in his works, adding, I\\nmarvel nothing- so much as that Men will o-ird themselves\\nat discovering obscure Beauties in an Author. Certes the\\ngreatest and most pregnant Beauties are ever the plainest\\nand most evidently striking and when two Meanings of\\na Passage can in the least ballance our Judgements which\\nto prefer, I hold it matter of unquestionable Certainty that", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0110.jp2"}, "111": {"fulltext": "iv.] JONATHAN WILD. 97\\nneither is worth a farthing. Then, again, there are Ad-\\ndison and Steele, who are described with so pleasant a\\nknowledge of their personalities that, although the pas-\\nsage has been often quoted, there seems to be no reason\\nwhy it should not be quoted once more\\nVirgil then came up to me, with Mr. Addison under his Arm.\\nWell, Sir, said he, how many Translations have these few last Years\\nproduced of my jEneid? I told him, I believed several, but I could\\nnot possibly remember for I had never read any but Dr. Trapp s. 1\\nAy, said he, that is a curious Piece indeed I then acquainted him\\nwith the Discovery made by Mr. Warburton of the Eleusinian Mys-\\nteries couched in his 6th Book. What Mysteries said Mr. Addison.\\nThe Eleusinian, answered Virgil, which I have disclosed in my 6th\\nBook. How replied Addison. You never mentioned a word of\\nany such Mysteries to me in all our Acquaintance. I thought it was\\nunnecessary, cried the other, to a Man of your infinite Learning:\\nbesides, you always told me, you perfectly understood my meaning.\\nUpon this I thought the Critic looked a little out of countenance,\\nand turned aside to a very merry Spirit, one Dick Steele, who em-\\nbraced him, and told him, He had been the greatest Man upon Earth\\nthat he readily resigned up all the Merit of his own Works to him.\\nUpon which, Addison gave him a gracious Smile, and clapping him\\non the Back with much Solemnity, cried out, Well said, Dick.\\nAfter encountering these and other notabilities, including\\nTom Thumb and Livy, the latter of whom takes occasion\\nto commend the ingenious performances of Lady Marlbor-\\nough s assistant, Mr. Hooke, the author meets with Julian\\nthe Apostate, and from this point the narrative grows lan-\\nguid. Its unfinished condition may perhaps be accepted as\\na proof that Fielding himself had wearied of his scheme.\\nThe third volume of the Miscellanies is wholly occu-\\npied with the remarkable work entitled the History of the\\nLife of the late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great. As in the\\ncase of the Journey from this World to the Next, it is not\\n1 Dr. Trapp s translation of the ^Eneid was published in 1718.\\n5", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0111.jp2"}, "112": {"fulltext": "98 FIELDING. [chap.\\nunlikely that the first germ of this may be found in the\\npages of the Champion. Reputation says Fielding\\nin one of the essays in that periodical often courts\\nthose most who regard her the least. Actions have some-\\ntimes been attended with Fame, which were undertaken\\nin Defiance of it. Jonathan Wyld himself had for many\\nyears no small Share of it in this Kingdom. The book\\nnow under consideration is the elaboration of the idea\\nthus casually thrown out. Under the name of a notori-\\nous thief-taker hanged at Tyburn in 1725, Fielding has\\ntraced the Progress of a Rogue to the Gallows, showing\\nby innumerable subtle touches that the (so-called) great-\\nness of a villain does not very materially differ from any\\nother kind of greatness, which is equally independent of\\ngoodness. This continually suggested affinity between\\nthe ignoble and the pseudo-noble is the text of the book.\\nAgainst genuine worth (its author is careful to explain)\\nhis satire is in no wise directed. He is far from consid-\\nering Newgate as no other than Human Nature with its\\nMask off; but he thinks we may be excused for sus-\\npecting that the splendid Palaces of the Great are often\\nno other than Newgate with the Mask on. Thus Jona-\\nthan Wild the Great is a prolonged satire upon the spuri-\\nous eminence in which benevolence, honesty, charity, and\\nthe like have no part or, as Fielding prefers to term it,\\nthat false or Bombast greatness which is so often mis-\\ntaken for the true Sublime in Human Nature Great-\\nness and Goodness combined. So thoroughly has he ex-\\nplained his intention in the Prefaces to the Miscellanies,\\nand to tLc book itself, that it is difficult to comprehend\\nhow Scott could fail to see his drift. Possibly, like some\\norders, he found the subject repugnant and painful to his\\nidly nature. Possibly, too, he did not, for this reason,", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0112.jp2"}, "113": {"fulltext": "iv.] JONATHAN WILD. 99\\nstudy the book very carefully, for, with the episode of\\nHeartfree under one s eyes, it h not strictly accurate to\\nsay (as he does) that it presents a picture of complete\\nvice, unrelieved by anything of human feeling, and never\\nby any accident even deviating into virtue. If the au-\\nthor s introduction be borne in mind, and if the book be\\nread steadily in the light there supplied, no one can re-\\nfrain from admiring the extraordinary skill and concen-\\ntration with which the plan is pursued, and the adroitness\\nwith which, at every turn, the villainy of Wild is approxi-\\nmated to that of those securer and more illustrious crimi-\\nnals with whom he is so seldom confused. And Fielding\\nhas never carried one of his chief and characteristic excel-\\nlences to so great perfection the book is a model of sus-\\ntained and sleepless irony. To make any extracts from it\\nstill less to make any extracts which should do justice\\nto it is almost impracticable but the edifying discourse\\nbetween Wild and Count La Ruse in Book I., and the\\npure comedy of that in Book IV. with the Ordinary of\\nNewgate (who objects to wine, but drinks punch because\\nit is no where spoken against in Scripture as well as\\nthe account of the prison faction between Wild and John-\\nson, 1 with its admirable speech of the grave Man against\\n1 Some critics at this point appear to have identified Johnson and\\nWild with Lord Wilmington and Sir Robert Walpole (who resigned\\nin 1742), while Mr. Keightley suspects that Wild throughout typifies\\nWalpole. But, in his advertisement to the edition of 1*754, Fielding\\nexpressly disclaims any such personal Application. The Truth\\nis (he says), as a very corrupt State of Morals is here represented,\\nthe Scene seems very properly to have been laid in Newgate: Nor\\ndo I see any Reason for introducing any allegory at all; unless we\\nwill agree that there are, without those Walls, some other Bodies of\\nMen of worse Morals than those within and who have, consequent-\\nly, a Right to change Places with its present Inhabitants.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0113.jp2"}, "114": {"fulltext": "100 FIELDING. [chap.\\nParty, may all be cited as examples of its style and meth-\\nod. Nor should the character of Wild in the last chap-\\nter, and his famous rules of conduct, be neglected. It\\nmust be admitted, however, that the book is not calculated\\nto suit the nicely-sensitive in letters or, it may be added,\\nthose readers for whom the evolution of a purely intellect-\\nual conception is either unmeaning or uninteresting. Its\\nplace in Fielding s works is immediately after his three\\ngreat novels, and this is more by reason of its subject\\nthan its workmanship, which could hardly be excelled.\\nWhen it was actually composed is doubtful. If it may\\nbe connected with the already -quoted passage in the\\nChampion, it must be placed after March, 1740, which is\\nthe date of the paper; but, from a reference to Peter\\nPounce in Book II., it might also be supposed to have\\nbeen written after Joseph Andrews. The Bath simile in\\nChapter XIV., Book I., makes it likely that some part of\\nit was penned at that place, where, from an epigram in the\\nMiscellanies written Extempore in the Pump Room, it\\nis clear that Fielding was staying in 1742. But, when-\\never it was completed, we are inclined to think that it was\\nplanned and begun before Joseph Andrews was published,\\nas it is in the highest degree improbable that Fielding,\\nalways carefully watching the public taste, would have\\nfollowed up that fortunate adventure in a new direction\\nby a work so entirely different from it as Jonathan Wild.\\nA second edition of the Miscellanies appeared in the\\nsame year as the first, namely, in 1743. From this date\\nuntil the publication of Tom Jones in 1749, Fielding pro-\\nduced no work of signal importance, and his personal his-\\ntory for the next few years is exceedingly obscure. We\\nare inclined to suspect that this must have been the most\\ntrying period of his career. His health was shattered, and", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0114.jp2"}, "115": {"fulltext": "it.] JONATHAN WILD. 101\\nhe had become a martyr to gout, which seriously interfered\\nwith the active practice of his profession. Again, about\\nthis time, says Murphy vaguely, after speaking of the\\nWedding Day, he lost his first wife. That she was alive\\nin the winter of 1*742-3 is clear, for, in the Preface to the\\nMiscellanies, he describes himself as being then laid up,\\nwith a favourite Child dying in one Bed, and my Wife\\nin a Condition very little better, on another, attended with\\nother Circumstances, which served as very proper Decora-\\ntions to such a Scene by which Mr. Keightley no doubt\\nrightly supposes him to refer to writs and bailiffs. It must\\nalso be assumed that Mrs. Fielding was alive when the\\nPreface was written, since, in apologising for an apparent\\ndelay in publishing the book, he says the real Reason\\nwas the dangerous Illness of one from whom I draw [the\\nitalics are ours] all the solid Comfort of my Life. There\\nis another unmistakable reference to her in one of the mi-\\nnor papers in the first volume, viz., that Of the Remedy of\\nAffliction for the Loss of our Friends. I remember the\\nmost excellent of Women, and tenderest of Mothers, when,\\nafter a painful and dangerous Delivery, she was told she\\nhad a Daughter, answering Good God have I produced a\\nCreature who is to undergo ivhat I have suffered! Some\\nYears afterwards, I heard the same Woman, on the Death\\nof that very Child, then one of the loveliest Creatures ever\\nseen, comforting herself with reflecting, that her Child could\\nnever know what it was to feel such a Loss as she then la-\\nmented.^ Were it not for the passages already quoted from\\nthe Preface, it might almost be concluded from the tone\\nof that foregoing quotation and the final words of the pa-\\nper, which refer to our meeting with those we have lost in\\nHeaven, that Mrs. Fielding was already dead. But the use\\nof the word draw in the Preface affords distinct evi-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0115.jp2"}, "116": {"fulltext": "102 FIELDING. [chap.\\ndence to the contrary. It is therefore most probable that\\nshe died in the latter part of 1743, having been long in a\\ndeclining state of health. For a time her husband was in-\\nconsolable. The fortitude of mind, 1 says. Murphy, with\\nwhich he met all the other calamities of life, deserted him\\non this most trying occasion. His grief was so vehement\\nthat his friends began to think him in danger of losing\\nhis reason.\\nThat Fielding had depicted his first wife in Sophia\\nWestern has already been pointed out, and we have the\\nauthority of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Richardson\\nfor saying that she was afterwards reproduced in Amelia.\\nAmelia, says the latter, in a letter to Mrs. Donnellan,\\neven to her noselessness, is again his first wife. Some\\nof her traits, too, are to be detected in the Mrs. Wilson of\\nJoseph Andrews. But, beyond these indications, we hear\\nlittle about her. Almost all that is definitely known is\\ncontained in a passage of the admirable Introductory An-\\necdotes contributed by Lady Louisa Stuart in 1837 to Lord\\nWharncliffe s edition of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu s\\nLetters and Works. This account was based upon the\\nrecollections of Lady Bute, Lady Mary s daughter\\nOnly those persons (says Lady Stuart) are mentioned here of\\nwhom Lady Bute could speak from her own recollection or her moth-\\ner s report. Both had made her well informed of every particular\\nthat concerned her relation Henry Fielding nor was she a stranger\\nto that beloved first wife whose picture he drew in his Amelia, where,\\nas she said, even the glowing language he knew how to employ did\\nnot do more than justice to the amiable qualities of the original, or\\nto her beauty, although this had suffered a little from the accident\\nrelated in the novel a frightful overturn, which destroyed the gristle\\nof her nose. 1 He loved her passionately, and she returned his affec-\\n1 That any one could have remained lovely after such a catastrophe", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0116.jp2"}, "117": {"fulltext": "i y.J JONATHAN WILD. 103\\ntion yet led no happy life, for they were almost always miserably\\npoor, and seldom in a state of quiet and safety. All the world knows\\nwhat was his imprudence if ever he possessed a score of pounds,\\nnothing could keep him from lavishing it idly, or make him think of\\nto-morrow. Sometimes they were living in decent lodgings with tol-\\nerable comfort sometimes in a wretched garret without necessaries\\nnot to- speak of the spunging-houses and hiding-places where he was\\noccasionally to be found. His elastic gaiety of spirit carried him\\nthrough it all but, meanwhile, care and anxiety were preying upon\\nher more delicate mind, and undermining her constitution. She grad-\\nually declined, caught a fever, and died in his arms.\\nAs usual, Mr. Keightley has done his best to test this\\nstatement to the utmost. Part of his examination may be\\nneglected, because it is based upon the misconception that\\nLord Wharncliffe, Lady Mary s greatgrandson, and not\\nLady Stuart, her granddaughter, was the writer of the fore-\\ngoing account. But as a set-off to the extreme destitution\\nalleged, Mr. Keightley very justly observes that Mrs. Field-\\nis difficult to believe. But probably Lady Bute (or Lady Stuart) ex-\\naggerated its effects for to say nothing of the fact that, through-\\nout tfre novel, Amelia s beauty is continually commended in the de-\\nlightfully feminine description which is given of her by Mrs. James\\nin Book XI., Chap. I., pp. 114-15, of the first edition of 1752, although\\nshe is literally pulled to pieces, there is no reference whatever to her\\nnose, which may be taken as proof positive that it was not an assail-\\nable feature. Moreover, in the book, as we now have it, Fielding, ob-\\nviously in deference to contemporary criticism, inserted the following\\nspecific passages She was, indeed, a most charming woman and\\nI know not whether the little scar on her nose did not rather add to,\\nthan diminish her beauty (Book IV., Chap. VII.) and in Mrs. James s\\nportrait Then her nose, as well proportioned as it is, has a visible\\nscar on one side. No previous biographer seems to have thought it\\nnecessary to make any mention of these statements, while Johnson s\\nspeech about That vile broken nose, never cured and Richardson s\\ncoarsely-malignant utterance to Mrs. Donnellan, are everywhere in-\\ndustriously remembered and repeated.\\nH", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0117.jp2"}, "118": {"fulltext": "104 FIELDING. [chap.\\ning must for some time have had a maid, since it was a\\nmaid who had been devotedly attached to her whom Field-\\ning subsequently married. He also argues that living in\\na garret and skulking in out o the way retreats, are in-\\ncompatible with studying law and practising as a barrister.\\nMaking every allowance, however, for the somewhat exag-\\ngerated way in which those of high rank often speak of\\nthe distresses of their less opulent kinsfolk, it is probable\\nthat Fielding s married life was one of continual shifts and\\nprivations. Such a state of things is completely in accord-\\nance with his profuse nature 1 and his precarious means.\\nOf his family by the first Mrs. Fielding no very material\\nparticulars have been preserved. Writing, in November,\\n1745, in the True Patriot,, he speaks of having a son and a\\ndaughter, but no son by his first wife seems to have sur-\\nvived him. The late Colonel Chester found the burial of\\na James Fielding, son of Henry Fielding, recorded un-\\nder date of 19th February, 1736, in the register of St. Giles\\nin the Fields but it is by no means certain that this entry\\nrefers to the novelist. A daughter, Eleanor Harriot, cer-\\ntainly did survive him, for she is mentioned in the Voyage\\nto Lisbon as being of the party who accompanied him.\\nAnother daughter, as already stated, probably died in the\\nwinter of 1742-3; and the Journey from this World to\\nthe Next contains the touching reference to this or another\\nchild, of which Dickens writes so warmly in one of his let-\\nters. I presently, says Fielding, speaking of his entrance\\ninto Elysium, met a little Daughter, whom I had lost sev-\\neral Years before. Good Gods what Words can describe\\nthe Raptures, the melting passionate Tenderness, with\\nwhich we kiss d each other, continuing in our Embrace,\\n1 The passage as to his imprudence is, oddly enough, omitted from\\nMr. Keightley s quotation.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0118.jp2"}, "119": {"fulltext": "iv.] JONATHAN WILD. 105\\nwith the most extatic Joy, a Space, which if Time had been\\nmeasured here as on Earth, could not have been less than\\nhalf a Year.\\nFrom* the death of Mrs. Fielding until the publication of\\nthe True Patriot in 1745 another comparative blank en-\\nsues in Fielding s history and it can only be filled by the\\nassumption that he was still endeavouring to follow his\\nprofession as a barrister. His literary work seems to have\\nbeen confined to a Preface to the second edition of his\\nsister s novel of David Simple, which appeared in 1744.\\nThis, while rendering fraternal justice to that now forgot-\\nten book, is memorable for some personal utterances on\\nFielding s part. In denying the authorship of David Sim-\\nple, which had been attributed to him, he takes occasion\\nto appeal against the injustice of referring anonymous\\nworks to his pen, in the face of his distinct engagement\\nin the Preface to the Miscellanies, that he would thence-\\nforth write nothing except over his own signature and\\nhe complains that such a course has a tendency to injure\\nhim in a profession to which he has applied with so ar-\\nduous and intent a diligence, that he has had no leisure, if\\nhe had inclination, to compose anything of this kind (i. e.,\\nDavid Simple). At the same time, he formally with-\\ndraws his promise, since it has in no wise exempted him\\nfrom the scandal of putting forth anonymous work. From\\nother passages in this Preface, it may be gathered the\\nimmediate cause of irritation was the assignment to his\\npen of that infamous paultry libel the Causidicade, a\\nsatire directed at the law in general, and some of the sub-\\nscribers to the Miscellanies in particular. This, he\\nsays, accused me not only of being a bad writer, and a\\nbad man, but with downright idiotism, in flying in the\\nface of the greatest men of my profession. It may easily\\n5*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0119.jp2"}, "120": {"fulltext": "106 FIELDING. [chap.\\nbe conceived that such a report must be unfavourable to a\\nstruggling barrister, and Fielding s anxiety on this head is\\na strong proof that he was still hoping to succeed at the\\nBar. To a subsequent collection of Familiar Letters be-\\ntween the Principal Characters in David Simple and some\\nothers, he supplied another preface three years later; but\\nbeyond a complimentary reference to Lyttelton s Persian\\nLetters, it has no biographical interest.\\nA life of ups and downs like Fielding s is seldom re-\\nmarkable for its consistency. It is therefore not surpris-\\ning to find that, despite his desire in 1744 to refrain from\\nwriting, he was again writing in 1745. The landing of\\nCharles Edward attracted him once more into the ranks\\nof journalism, on the side of the Government, and gave\\nrise to the True Patriot, a weekly paper, the first number\\nof which appeared in November. This, having come to\\nan end with the Rebellion, was succeeded in December,\\n1747, by the Jacobite s Journal, supposed to emanate from\\nJohn Trott-Plaid, Esq., and intended to push the dis-\\ncomfiture of Jacobite sentiment still further. It is need-\\nless to discuss these mainly political efforts at any length.\\nThey are said to have been highly approved by those in\\npower it is certain that they earned for their author the\\nstigma of pension d scribbler. Both are now very rare\\nand in Murphy the former is represented by twenty-four\\nnumbers, the latter by two only. The True Patriot con-\\ntains a dream of London abandoned to the rebels, which is\\nadmirably graphic and there is also a prophetic chroni-\\ncle of- events for 1746 in which the same idea is treated in\\na lighter and more satirical vein. But perhaps the most\\ninteresting feature is the reappearance of Parson Adams,\\nwho addresses a couple of letters to the same periodical\\none on the rising generally, and the other on the Young", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0120.jp2"}, "121": {"fulltext": "iv.] JONATHAN WILD. 10?\\nEngland of the day, as exemplified in a very offensive\\nspecimen lie had recently encountered at Mr. Wilson s.\\nOther minor points of interest in connection with the Jaco-\\nbites Journal, are the tradition associating Hogarth with\\nthe rude woodcut headpiece (a Scotch man and woman on\\nan ass led by a monk) which surmounted its earlier num-\\nbers, and the genial welcome given in No. 5, perhaps not\\nwithout some touch of contrition, to the two first volumes,\\nthen just published, of Richardson s Clarissa. The pen is\\nthe pen of an imaginary correspondent, but the words\\nare unmistakably Fielding s:\\nWhen I tell you I have lately received this Pleasure [i. e., of\\nreading a new master-piece], you will not want me to inform you\\nthat I owe it to the Author of Clarissa. Such Simplicity, such\\nManners, such deep Penetration into Nature such Power to raise\\nand alarm the Passions, few Writers, either ancient or modern, have\\nbeen possessed of. My Affections are so strongly engaged, and my\\nFears are so raised, by what I have already read, that I cannot ex-\\npress my Eagerness to see the rest. Sure this Mr. Richardson is\\nMaster of all that Art which Hot-ace compares to Witchcraft\\nPectus inaniter angit,\\nIrritat, mulcet, falsis terroribus implet\\nUt Magus.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nBetween the discontinuance of the True Patriot and\\nthe establishment of its successor occurred an event, the\\nprecise date of which has been hitherto Unknown, namely,\\nFielding s second marriage. The account given of this by\\nLady Louisa Stuart is as follows\\nHis [Fielding s] biographers seem to have been shy of disclosing\\nthat after the death of this charming woman [his first wife] he\\nmarried her maid. And yet the act was not so discreditable to his\\ncharacter as it may sound. The maid had few personal charms,\\nbut was an excellent creature, devotedly attached to her mistress,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0121.jp2"}, "122": {"fulltext": "108 FIELDING. [chap.\\nand almost broken-hearted for her loss. In the first agonie3 of his\\nown grief, which approached to frenzy, he found no relief but from\\nweeping along with her nor solace, when a degree calmer, but in\\ntalking to her of the angel they mutually regretted. This made her\\nhis habitual confidential associate, and in process of time he began\\nto think be could not give his children a tenderer mother, or secure\\nfor himself a more faithful housekeeper and nurse. At least, this\\nwas what he told his friends; and it is certain that her conduct as\\nhis wife confirmed it, and fully justified his good opinion.\\nIt has now been ascertained that the marriage took place\\nat St. Benet s, Paul s Wharf, an obscure little church in\\nthe City, at present surrendered to a Welsh congregation,\\nbut at that time, like Mary-le-bone old church, much in re-\\nquest for unions of a private character. The date in the\\nregister is the 27th of November, 1747. The second Mrs.\\nFielding s maiden name, which has been hitherto variously\\nreported as Macdonnell, Macdonald, and Macdaniel, is given\\nas Mary Daniel, 1 and she is further described as of St.\\nClement s Danes, Middlesex, Spinster. Either previously\\nto this occurrence, or immediately after it, Fielding seems\\nto have taken two rooms in a house in Back Lane, Twick-\\nenham, not far, says the Rev. Mr. Cobbett in his Memo-\\nrials, from the site of Copt Hall. In 1872 this house\\nwas still standing\u00e2\u0080\u0094 a quaint old-fashioned wooden struct-\\nure 2 and from hence, on the 25th of February, 1748, was\\nbaptized the first of the novelist s sons concerning whom\\nany definite information exists the William Fielding who,\\nlike his father, became a Westminster magistrate. Beyond\\nsuggesting that it may supply a reason why, during Mrs.\\nFielding s life-time, her husband s earliest biographer made\\nno reference to the marriage, it is needless to dwell upon\\n1 See note to Fielding s letter in Chap. VII.\\n2 Now (1883) it no longer exists, and a row of cottages occupies\\nthe site.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0122.jp2"}, "123": {"fulltext": "iv.] JONATHAN WILD. 109\\nthe proximity between the foregoing dates. In other re-\\nspects the circumstance now first made public is not in-\\nconsistent with Lady Stuart s narrative and there is no\\ndoubt, from the references to her in the Journal of a Voy-\\nage to Lisbon and elsewhere, that Mary Daniel did prove\\nan excellent wife, mother, and nurse. Another thing is\\nmade clear by the date established, and this is that the\\nverses On Felix Marry d to a Cook- Maid, in the Gen-\\ntleman s Magazine for July, 1746, to which Mr. Lawrence\\nrefers, cannot possibly have anything to do with Fielding,\\nalthough they seem to indicate that alliances of the kind\\nwere not unusual. Perhaps Pamela had made them fash-\\nionable. On the other hand, the supposed allusion to Lyt-\\ntelton and Fielding, to be found in the first edition of\\nPeregrine Pickle, but afterwards suppressed, receives a cer-\\ntain confirmation. When, says Smollett, speaking of\\nthe relations of an imaginary Mr. Spondy with Gosling\\nScrag, who is understood to represent Lyttelton, he is\\ninclined to marry his own cook-wench, his gracious patron\\nmay condescend to give the bride away and may finally\\nsettle him in his old age, as a trading Westminster jus-\\ntice. That, looking to the facts, Fielding s second mar-\\nriage should have gained the approval and countenance of\\nLyttelton is no more than the upright and honourable\\ncharacter of the latter would lead us to expect.\\nThe Jacobite s Journal ceased to appear in November,\\n1748. In the early part of the December following, the\\nremainder of Smollett s programme came to pass, and by\\nLyttelton s interest Fielding was appointed a Justice of\\nthe Peace for Westminster. From a letter in the Bedford\\nCorrespondence, dated 13th of December, 1748, respecting\\nthe lease of a house or houses which would qualify him to\\nact for Middlesex, it would seem that the county was af-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0123.jp2"}, "124": {"fulltext": "1 10 FIELDING. [chap. rr.\\nterwards added to his commission. He must have entered\\nupon his, office in the first weeks of December, as upon\\nthe 9th of that month one John Salter was committed to\\nthe Gatehouse by Henry Fielding, Esq., of Bow Street,\\nCovent Garden, formerly Sir Thomas de Veil s. Sir\\nThomas de Veil, who died in 1746, and whose Memoirs\\nhad just been published, could not, however, have been\\nFielding s immediate predecessor.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0124.jp2"}, "125": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER V.\\nWriting from Basingstoke to his brother Tom, on the\\n29th of October, 1746, Joseph Warton thus refers to a\\nvisit he paid to Fielding\\nI wish you had been with me last week, when I spent two even-\\nings with Fielding and his sister, who wrote David Simple, and you\\nmay guess I was very well entertained. The lady, indeed, retir d\\npretty soon, but Russell and I sat up with the Poet [Warton no\\ndoubt uses the word here in the sense of maker or creator\\ntill one or two in the morning, and were inexpressibly diverted. I\\nfind he values, as he justly may, his Joseph Andrews above all his\\nwritings he was extremely civil to me, I fancy, on my Father s ac-\\ncount. J\\nThis mention of Joseph Andrews has misled some of\\nFielding s biographers into thinking that he ranked that\\nnovel above Tom Jones. But, in October, 1746, Tom\\nJones had not been published and, from the absence of\\nany reference to it by Warton, it is only reasonable to\\nconclude that it had not yet assumed a definite form, or\\nFielding, who was by no means uncommunicative, would\\nin all probability have spoken of it as an effort from which\\nhe expected still greater things. It is clear, too, that at\\n1 I. e., the Rev. Thomas Warton, Vicar of Basingstoke, and some-\\ntime Professor of Poetry at Oxford.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0125.jp2"}, "126": {"fulltext": "112 FIELDING, [chap.\\nthis date he was staying in London, presumably in lodg-\\nings with his sister; and it is also most likely that he lived\\nmuch in town when he was conducting the True Patriot\\nand the Jacobite s Journal. At other times he would ap-\\npear to have had no settled place of abode. There are tra-\\nditions that Tom Jones was composed in part at Salisbury,\\nin a house at the foot of Milford Hill and again that it\\nwas written at Twiverton, or Twerton-on-Avon, near Bath,\\nwhere, as the Vicar pointed out in Notes and Queries for\\nMarch 15th, 1879, there still exists a house called Field-\\ning s Lodge, over the door of which is a stone crest of a\\nphoenix rising out of a mural coronet. This latter tradi-\\ntion is supported by the statement of Mr. Richard Graves,\\nauthor of the Spiritual Quixote, and rector, circa 1750, of\\nthe neighbouring parish of Claverton, who says in his Tri-\\nfling Anecdotes of the late Ralph Allen, that Fielding while\\nat Twerton used to dine almost daily with Allen at Prior\\nPark. There are also traces of his residence at Bath itself;\\nand of visits to the seat of Lyttelton s father at Hagley, in\\nWorcestershire. Towards the close of 1747 he had, as be-\\nfore stated, rooms in Back Lane, Twickenham and it\\nmust be to this or to some earlier period that Walpole al-\\nludes in his Parish Register (1759)\\nHere Fielding met his bunter Muse\\nAnd, as they quaff d the fiery juice,\\nDroll Nature starap d each lucky hit\\nWith unimaginable wit\\na quatrain in which the last lines excuse the first. Accord-\\ning to Mr. Cobbett s already-quoted Memorials of Twicken-\\nham, he left that place upon his appointment as a Middle-\\nsex magistrate, when he moved to Bow Street. His house\\nin Bow Street belonged to John, Duke of Bedford and", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0126.jp2"}, "127": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES.\\n113\\nhe continued to live in it until a short time before his\\ndeath. It was subsequently occupied by his half brother\\nand successor, Sir John, 1 who, writing to the Duke in\\nMarch, 1770, to thank him for his munificent gift of an\\nadditional ten years to the lease, recalls that princely in-\\nstance of generosity which his Grace shewed to his late\\nbrother, Henry Fielding.\\nWhat this was is not specified. It may have been the\\ngift of the leases of those tenements which, as explained,\\nwere necessary to qualify Fielding to act as a Justice of\\nthe Peace for the county of Middlesex it may even have\\nbeen the lease of the Bow Street house; or it may have\\nbeen simply a gift of money. But whatever it was, it\\nwas something considerable. In his appeal to the Duke,\\nat the close of the last chapter, Fielding referred to pre-\\nvious obligations, and in his dedication of Tom Jones to\\nLyttelton, he returns again to his Grace s beneficence.\\nAnother person, of whose kindness grateful but indirect\\nmention is made in the same dedication, is Ralph Allen,\\nwho, according to Derrick, the Bath M.C., sent the novel-\\nist a present of \u00c2\u00a3200, before he had even made his ac-\\nquaintance, 2 which, from the reference to Allen in Joseph\\nAndrews, probably began before 1743. Lastly, there is\\nLyttelton himself, concerning whom, in addition to a sen-\\ntence which implies that he actually suggested the writing\\nof Tom Jones, we have the express statements on Field-\\ning s part that without your Assistance this History had\\nnever been completed, and I partly owe to you my\\nExistence during great Part of the Time which I have\\n1 In the riots of 80 as Dickens has not forgotten to note in\\nBamaby Rudge the house was destroyed by the mob, who burned\\nSir John s goods in the street (Boswell s Johnson, chap. Ixx.).\\n2 Derrick s Letter, 1767, ii. 95.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0127.jp2"}, "128": {"fulltext": "114 FIELDING. [chap.\\nemployed in composing it. These words must plainly\\nbe accepted as indicating pecuniary help and, taking all\\nthings together, there can be little doubt that for some\\nyears antecedent to his appointment as a Justice of the\\nPeace, Fielding was in straitened circumstances, and was\\nlargely aided, if not practically supported, by his friends.\\nEven supposing him to have been subsidised by Govern-\\nment as alleged, his profits from the True Patriot and the\\nJacobite s Journal could not have been excessive and his\\ngout, of which he speaks in one of his letters to the Duke\\nof Bedford, must have been a serious obstacle in the way\\nof his legal labours.\\nThe History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, was published\\nby Andrew Millar on the 28th of February, 1749, and its\\nappearance in six volumes, 12mo, was announced in the\\nGeneral Advertizer of that day s date. There had been\\nno author s name on the title-page of Joseph Andrews\\nbut Tom Jones was duly described as by Henry Field-\\ning, Esq., and bore the motto from Horace, seldom so\\njustly applied, of Mores hominum multorum vidit.\\nThe advertisement also ingenuously stated that as it was\\nimpossible to get Sets bound fast enough to answer the\\nDemand for them, such Gentlemen and Ladies as pleased,\\nmight have them sew d in Blue Paper and Boards at the\\nPrice of 16s. a Set. The date of issue sufficiently dis-\\nposes of the statement of Cunningham and others, that the\\nbook was written at Bow Street. Little more than the\\ndedication, which is preface as well, can have been pro-\\nduced by Fielding in his new home. Making fair allow-\\nance for the usual tardy progress of a book through the\\npress, and taking into consideration the fact that the\\nauthor was actively occupied with his yet unfamiliar mag-\\nisterial duties, it is most probable that the last chapter of", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0128.jp2"}, "129": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 115\\nTom Jones had been penned before the end of 1*748, and\\nthat after that time it had been at the printer s. For the\\nexact price paid to the author by the publisher on this\\noccasion we are indebted to Horace Walpole, who, writing\\nto George Montagu in May, 1749, says: Millar the book-\\nseller has done very generously by him [Fielding] finding\\nTom Jones, for which he had given him six hundred pounds,\\nsell so greatly, he has since given him another hundred.\\nIt is time, however, to turn from these particulars to\\nthe book itself. In Joseph Andrews Fielding s work had\\nbeen mainly experimental. He had set out with an inten-\\ntion which had unexpectedly developed into something\\nelse. That something else, he had explained, was the\\ncomic epic in prose. He had discovered its scope and\\npossibilities only when it was too late to re-cast his original\\ndesign and though Joseph Andrews has all the freshness\\nand energy of a first attempt in a new direction, it has also\\nthe manifest disadvantages of a mixed conception and an\\nuncertain plan. No one had perceived these defects more\\nplainly than the author and in Tom Jones he set himself\\ndiligently to perfect his new-found method. He believed\\nthat he foresaw a lf new Province of Writing, of which\\nhe regarded himself with justice as the founder and law-\\ngiver and in the prolegomenous, or introductory Chap-\\nters, to each book those delightful resting-spaces where,\\nas George Eliot says, he seems to bring his arm-chair to\\nthe proscenium and chat with us in all the lusty ease of\\nhis fine English he takes us, as it were, into his con-\\nfidence, and discourses frankly of his aims and his way of\\nwork. He looked upon these little initial Essays, indeed,\\nas an indispensable part of his scheme, They have given\\nhim, says he more than once, the greatest Pains in com-\\nposing of any part of his book, and he hopes that,, like", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0129.jp2"}, "130": {"fulltext": "116 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthe Greek and Latin mottoes in the Spectator, they may\\nserve to secure him against imitation by inferior writers. 1\\nNaturally a great deal they contain is by this time com-\\nmonplace, although it was unhackneyed enough when\\nFielding wrote. The absolute necessity in writing of this\\nkind for genius, learning, and knowledge of the world, the\\nconstant obligation to preserve character and probability\\nto regard variety and the law of contrast these are things\\nwith which the modern tyro (however much he may fail\\nto possess or observe them) is now supposed to be at least\\ntheoretically acquainted. But there are other chapters in\\nwhich Fielding may also be said to reveal his personal\\npoint of view, and these can scarcely be disregarded. His\\nFare, he says, following the language of the table, is\\nHuman Nature, which he shall first present in that\\nmore plain and simple Manner in which it is found in the\\nCountry, and afterwards hash and ragoo it with all the\\nhigh French and Italian seasoning of Affectation and\\nVice which Courts and Cities afford. His inclination,\\nhe admits, is rather to the middle and lower classes than\\nto the highest Life, which he considers to present very\\nlittle Humour or Entertainment. His characters (as be-\\nfore) are based upon actual experience or, as he terms it,\\nConversation. He does not propose to present his\\nreader with Models of Perfection he has never hap-\\npened to meet with those faultless Monsters. He holds\\nthat mankind is constitutionally defective, and that a\\nsingle bad act does not, of necessity, imply a bad nature.\\nHe has also observed, without surprise, that virtue in this\\n1 Notwithstanding this warning, Cumberland (who copied so\\nmuch) copied these in his novel of Henry. On the other hand,\\nFielding s French and Polish translators omitted them as super-\\nfluous.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0130.jp2"}, "131": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 117\\nworld is not always the certain Road to Happiness,\\nnor Vice to Misery. In short, having been admitted\\nbehind the scenes of this Great Theatre of Nature, he\\npaints humanity as he has found it, extenuating nothing,\\nnor setting down aught in malice, but reserving the full\\nforce of his satire and irony for affectation and hypocrisy.\\nHis sincere endeavour, he says moreover in his dedication\\nto Lyttelton, has been to recommend Goodness and In-\\nnocence, and promote the cause of religion and virtue.\\nAnd he has all the consciousness that what he is engaged\\nupon is no ordinary enterprise. He is certain that his\\npages will outlive both their own infirm Author and\\nhis enemies and he appeals to Fame to solace and re-\\nassure him\\nCome, bright Love of Fame says the beautiful Invocation\\nwhich begins the thirteenth Book inspire my glowing Breast\\nNot thee I call, who over swelling Tides of Blood and Tears, dost\\nbear the Heroe on to Glory, while Sighs of Millions waft his spread-\\ning Sails but thee, fair, gentle Maid, whom Mnesis, happy Nymph,\\nfirst on the Banks of Hebrus didst produce. Thee, whom Maeonia\\neducated, whom Mantua charm d, and who, on that fair Hill which\\noverlooks the proud Metropolis of Britain, sat, with thy Milton\\nsweetly tuning the Heroic Lyre; fill my ravished Fancy with tb\u00c2\u00abs\\nHopes of charming Ages yet to come. Foretel me that some tender\\nMaid, whose Grandmother is yet unborn, hereafter, when, under th\u00c2\u00ab\\nfictitious Name of Sophia, she reads the real Worth which one*\\nexisted in my Charlotte, shall, from her sympathetic Breast, sen\u00c2\u00bbi\\nforth the heaving Sigh. Do thou teach me not only to foresee, bu\\nto enjoy, nay, even to feed on future Praise. Comfort me by\\nsolemn Assurance, that when the little Parlour in which I sit at this\\nInstant, shall be reduced to a worse furnished Box, I shall be read,\\nwith Honour, by those who never knew nor saw me, and whom I\\nshall neither know nor see.\\nWith no less earnestness, after a mock apostrophe to\\nWealth, he appeals to Genius:", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0131.jp2"}, "132": {"fulltext": "118 FIELDING. [chap.\\nTeach me [he exclaims], which to thee is no difficult Task, to\\nknow Mankind better than they know themselves. Remove that\\nMist which dims the Intellects of Mortals, and causes them to adore\\nMen for their Art, or to detest them for their Cunning in deceiving\\nothers, when they are, in Reality, the Objects only of Ridicule, for\\ndeceiving themselves. Strip off the thin Disguise of Wisdom from\\nSelf-Conceit, of Pie*- f rom Avarice, and of Glory from Ambition.\\nCome thou, that hast inspired thy Aristophanes, thy Lucian, thy\\nCervantes, thy Rabelais, thy Moliere, thy Shakespear, thy Swift, thy\\nMarivauz, fill my Pages with Humour, till Mankind learn the Good-\\nNature to laugh only at the Follies of others, and the Humility to\\ngrieve at their own.\\nFrom the little group of immortals who are here enu-\\nmerated, it may be gathered with whom Fielding sought\\nto compete, and with whom he hoped hereafter to be as-\\nsociated. His hopes were not in vain. Indeed, in one\\nrespect, he must be held to have even outrivalled that\\nparticular predecessor with whom he has been oftenest\\ncompared. Like Don Quixote, Tom Jones is the precursor\\nof a new order of things the earliest and freshest expres-\\nsion of a new departure in art. But while Tom Jones is,\\nto the full, as amusing as Don Quixote, it has the advan-\\ntage of a greatly superior plan, and an interest more skil-\\nfully sustained. The incidents which, in Cervantes, sim-\\nply succeed each other like the scenes in a panorama, are,\\nin Tom Jones, but parts of an organised and carefully^\\narranged progression towards a foreseen conclusion. As\\nthe hero and heroine cross and recross each other s track,\\nthere is scarcely an episode which does not aid in the\\nmoving forward of the story. Little details rise lightly\\nand naturally to the surface of the narrative, not more\\nnoticeable at first than the most everyday occurrences,\\nand a few pages farther on become of the greatest im-\\nportance. The hero makes a mock proposal of marriage", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0132.jp2"}, "133": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 119\\nto Lady Bellaston. It scarcely detains attention, so nat-\\nural an expedient does it appear, and behold in a chapter\\nor two it has become a terrible weapon in the hands of the\\ninjured Sophia! Again, when the secret of Jones birth 1\\nis finally disclosed, we look back and discover a hundred\\nlittle premonitions which escaped us at first, but which,\\nread by the light of our latest knowledge, assume a fresh\\nsignificance. At the same time, it must be admitted that\\nthe over-quoted and somewhat antiquated dictum of Cole-\\nridge, by which Tom Jones is grouped with the Alchemist\\nand (Edipus Tp-annus, as one of the three most perfect\\nplots in the world, requires revision. It is impossible to\\napply the term perfect to a work which contains such\\nan inexplicable stumbling-block as the Man of the Hill s\\nstory. Then, again, progress and animation alone will not\\nmake a perfect plot, unless probability be superadded.\\nAnd although it cannot be said that Fielding disregards\\nprobability, he certainly strains it considerably. Money\\nis conveniently lost and found the naivest coincidences\\ncontinually occur; people turn up in the nick of time at\\nthe exact spot required, and develop the most needful (but\\nentirely casual) relations with the characters. Sometimes\\nan episode is so inartistically introduced as to be almost\\nclumsy. Towards the end of the book, for instance, it\\nhas to be shown that Jones has still some power of re-\\nsisting temptation, and he accordingly receives from a\\nMrs. Arabella Hunt a written offer of her hand, which he\\ndeclines. Mrs. Hunt s name has never been mentioned\\n1 Much ink has been shed respecting Fielding s reason for mak-\\ning his hero illegitimate. But may not The History of Tom Jones,\\na Foundling have had no subtler origin than the recent establish-\\nment of the Foundling Hospital, of which Fielding had written in\\nthe Champion, and in which his friend Hogarth was interested\\n1", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0133.jp2"}, "134": {"fulltext": "120 FIELDING. [chap.\\nbefore, -nor, after this occurrence, is it mentioned again.\\nBut in the brief fortnight which Jones has been in town,\\nwith his head full of Lady Bellaston, Sophia, and the rest,\\nwe are to assume that he has unwittingly inspired her\\nwith so desperate a passion that she proposes and is re-\\nfused all in a chapter. Imperfections of this kind are\\nmore worthy of consideration than some of the minor\\nnegligences which criticism has amused itself by detecting\\nin this famous book Such, among others, is the discov-\\nery made by a writer in the Gentleman s Magazine, that in\\none place winter and summer come too close together or\\nthe strange specimen of oscitancy which another (it is,\\nin fact, Mr. Keightley) considers it worth while to record\\nrespecting the misplacing of the village of Hambrook. To\\nsuch trifles as these last the precept of non offendar maculis\\nmay safely be applied, although Fielding, wiser than his\\ncritics, seems to have foreseen the necessity for still larger\\nallowances:\\nCruel indeed says he in his proemium to Book XL would\\nit be, if such a Work as this History, which hath employed some\\nThousands of Hours in the composing, should be liable to be condemn-\\ned, because some particular Chapter, or perhaps Chapters, may be\\nobnoxious to very just and sensible Objections. To write within\\nsuch severe Rules as these, is as impossible as to live up to some\\nsplenetic Opinions and if we judge according to the Sentiments\\nof some Critics, and of some Christians, no Author will be saved in\\nthis World, and no Man in the next.\\nNotwithstanding its admitted superiority to Joseph An-\\ndrews as a work of art, there is no male character in Tom\\nJones which can compete with Parson Adams none cer-\\ntainly which we regard with equal admiration. All-\\nworthy, excellent compound of Lyttelton and Allen though\\nhe be, remains always a little stiff and cold in comparison", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0134.jp2"}, "135": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 121\\nwith the veined humanity around him. We feel of\\nhim, as of another impeccable personage, that we cannot\\nbreathe in that fine air, that pure severity of perfect light,\\nand that we want the warmth and colour which we\\nfind in Adams. Allworthy is a type rather than a char-\\nacter a fault which also seems to apply to that Molier-\\nesque hypocrite, the younger Blifil. Fielding seems to\\nhave welded this latter together, rather than to have fused\\nhim entire, and the result is a certain lack of verisimili-\\ntude, which makes us wonder how his pinchbeck profes-\\nsions and vamped-up virtues could deceive so many per-\\nsons. On the other band, his father, Captain John Blifil,\\nhas all the look of life. Nor can there be any doubt about\\nthe vitality of Squire Western. Whether the germ of his\\ncharacter be derived from Addison s Tory Foxhunter or\\nnot, it is certain that Fielding must have had superabun-\\ndant material of his own from which to model this thor-\\noughly representative and, at the same time, completely\\nindividual character. Western has all the rustic tastes,\\nthe narrow prejudices, the imperfect education, the un-\\nreasoning hatred to the court, which distinguished the\\nJacobite country gentleman of the Georgian era but his\\ndivided love for his daughter and his horses, his good-\\nhumour and his shrewdness, his foaming impulses and his\\nquick subsidings, his tears, his oaths, and his barbaric dia-\\nlect, are all essential features in a personal portrait. When\\nJones has rescued Sophia, he will give him all his stable,\\nthe Chevalier and Miss Slouch excepted when he finds\\nhe is in love with her, he is in a frenzy to get at un\\nand spoil his Caterwauling. He will have the surgeon s\\nheart s blood if he takes a drop too much from Sophia s\\nwhite arm when she opposes his wishes as to Blifil, he\\nwill turn her into the street with no more than a smock,\\n6", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0135.jp2"}, "136": {"fulltext": "l?2 FIELDING. [chap.\\nand give his estate to the sinking Fund. Throughout\\nthe book he is qaalis ab incepto boisterous, brutal, jovial,\\nand inimitable so that when finally, in Chapter the\\nLast, we get that pretty picture of him in Sophy s nurs-\\nery, protesting that the tattling of his little granddaugh-\\nter is sweeter Music than the finest Cry of Dogs in\\nEngland we part with him almost with a feeling of es-\\nteem. Scott seems to have thought it unreasonable that\\nhe should have taken a beating so unresistingly from\\nthe friend of Lord Fellamar, and even hints that the\\npassage is an interpolation, although he wisely refrains\\nfrom suggesting by whom, and should have known that\\nit was in the first edition. With all deference to so emi-\\nnent an authority, it is impossible to share his hesitation.\\nFielding was fully aware that even the bravest have their\\nfits of panic. It must besides be remembered that Lord\\nFellamar s friend was not an effeminate dandy, but a mili-\\ntary man probably a professed sabreur, if not a salaried\\nbully like Captain Stab, i*n the Rake s Progress that he\\nwas armed with a stick, and Western was not and that\\nhe fell upon him in the most unexpected manner, in a\\nplace where he was wholly out of his element. It is in-\\nconceivable that the sturdy squire, with his faculty for dis-\\ntributing Flicks and Dowses who came so valiant-\\nly to the aid of Jones in his battle-royal with Blifil and\\nThwackum was likely, under any but very exceptional\\ncircumstances, to be dismayed by a cane. It was the ex-\\nceptional character of the assault which made a coward of\\nhim and Fielding, who had the keenest eye for inconsist-\\nencies of the kind, knew perfectly well what he was doing.\\nOf the remaining dramatis personce the swarming in-\\ndividualities with which the great comic epic is literally\\nall alive, as Lord Monboddo said it is impossible to", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0136.jp2"}, "137": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 123\\ngive any adequate account. Few of them, if any, are open\\nto the objection already pointed out with respect to All-\\nworthy and the younger Blifil, and most of them bear signs\\nof having been closely copied from living models. Par-\\nson Thwackum, with his Antinomian doctrines, his big-\\notry, and his pedagogic notions of justice Square, the\\nphilosopher, with his faith in human virtue (alas! poor\\nSquare), and his cuckoo-cry about the unalterable Rule\\nof Right and the eternal Fitness of Things Partridge\\nthe unapproachable Partridge with his superstition, his\\nvanity, and his perpetual Infandum regina, but who, not-\\nwithstanding all his cheap Latinity, cannot construe an\\nunexpected phrase of Horace Ensign Northerton, with his\\nvague and disrespectful recollections of Homo young-\\nNightingale and Parson Supple each is a definite char-\\nacter bearing upon his forehead the mark of his absolute\\nfidelity to human nature. Nor are the female actors less\\naccurately conceived. Starched Miss Bridget Allworthy,\\nwith her pinched Hogarthian face; Miss Western, with\\nher disjointed diplomatic jargon that budding Slipslop,\\nMrs. Honour worthy Mrs. Miller, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, Mrs.\\nWaters, Lady Bellaston all are to the full as real. Lady\\nBellaston especially, deserves more than a word. Like\\nLady Booby, in Joseph Andrews, she is not a pleasant char-\\nacter; but the picture of the fashionable demirep, cynical,\\nsensual, and imperious, has never been drawn more vigor-\\nously or more completely-\u00e2\u0080\u0094 even by Balzac. Lastly, there\\nis the adorable Sophia herself, whose pardon should be\\nasked for naming her in such close proximity to her frailer\\nsister. Byron calls her (perhaps with a slight suspicion of\\nexigence of rhyme) too emphatic meaning, apparently,\\nto refer to such passages as her conversation with Mrs.\\nFitzpatrick, etc. But the heroine of Fielding s time a", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0137.jp2"}, "138": {"fulltext": "124 FIELDING. [chap.\\ntime which made merry over a lady s misadventures in\\nhorsemanship, and subjected her to such atrocities as those\\nof Lord Fellamar required to be strongly moulded and\\nSophia Western is pure and womanly, in spite of her un-\\nfavourable surroundings. She is a charming example\\nthe first of her race of an unsentimentalised flesh-and-\\nUood heroine and Time has bated no jot of her frank\\nvitality or her healthy beauty. Her descendants in the\\nmodern novel are far more numerous than the family which\\nshe bore to the fortunate the too fortunate Mr. Jones.\\nAnd this reminds us that in the foregoing enumeration\\nwe have left out Hamlet. In truth, it is by no means easy\\nto speak of this handsome but very unheroic hero. Lady\\nMary, employing, curiously enough, the very phrase which\\nFielding has made one of his characters apply to Jones,\\ngoes so far as to call him a sorry scoundrel and emi-\\nnent critics have dilated upon his fondness for drink and\\nplay. But it is a notable instance of the way in which\\npreconceived attributes are gradually attached to certain\\ncharacters, that there is in reality little or nothing to show\\nthat he was either sot or gamester. With one exception,\\nwhen, in the joy of his heart at his benefactor s recovery,\\nhe takes too much wine (and it may be noted that on the\\nsame occasion the Catonic Thwackum drinks considerably\\nmore), there is no evidence that he was specially given to\\ntippling, even in an age of hard drinkers, while of his gam-\\nbling there is absolutely no trace at all. On the other\\nhand, he is admittedly brave, generous, chivalrous, kind\\nto the poor, and courteous to women. What, then, is his\\ncardinal defect? The answer lies in the fact that Field-\\ning, following the doctrine laid down in his initial chap-\\nters, has depicted him under certain conditions (in which,\\nit is material to note, he is always rather the tempted than", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0138.jp2"}, "139": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 125\\nthe tempter), with an unvarnished truthfulness which to\\nthe pure-minded is repugnant, and to the prurient inde-\\ncent. Remembering that he too had been young, and re-\\nproducing, it may be, his own experiences, he exhibits his\\nyouth as he had found him a piebald miscellany\\nBursts of great heart and slips in sensual mire\\nand, to our modern ideas, when no one dares, as Thackeray\\ncomplained, to depict to his utmost power a Man, the\\nspectacle is discomforting. Yet those who look upon hu-\\nman nature as keenly and unflinchingly as Fielding did,\\nknowing how weak and fallible it is how prone to fall\\naway by accident or passion can scarcely deny the truth\\nof Tom Jones. That such a person cannot properly serve\\nas a hero now is rather a question of our time than of\\nFielding s, and it may safely be set aside. One objection\\nwhich has been made, and made with reason, is that Field-\\ning, while taking care that Nemesis shall follow his hero s\\nlapses, has spoken of them with too much indulgence, or\\nrather without sufficient excuse. Coleridge, who was cer-\\ntainly not squeamish, seems to have felt this when, in a\\nMS. note 1 in the well-known British Museum edition, he\\nsays:\\nEven in this most questionable part of Tom Jones [i e, y the Lady\\nBellaston episode, Chap. IX., Book XV.], I cannot but think, after\\nfrequent reflection on it, that an additional paragraph, more fully\\nforcibly unfolding Tom Jones s sense of self-degradation on the\\ndiscovery of the true character of the relation in which he had stood\\n1 These notes were communicated by Mr. James Gillman to The\\nLiterary Remavis of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, published by H. N.\\nColeridge in 1836. The book in which they were made (it is the\\nfour volume edition of 1*773, and has Gillman s book-plate) is now\\nin the British Museum. The above transcript is from the MR.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0139.jp2"}, "140": {"fulltext": "126 FIELDING. [chap.\\nto Lady Bellaston\u00e2\u0080\u0094 his awakened feeling of the dignity and man-\\nliness of Chastity would have removed in great measure any just\\nobjection, at all events relating to Fielding himself, by taking in the\\nstate of manners in his time.\\nAnother point suggested by these last lines may be\\ntouched en passant. Lady Bellaston, as Fielding has care-\\nfully explained (Chap. I., Book XIV.), was not a typical,\\nbut an exceptional, member of society aud although there\\nwere eighteenth-century precedents for such alliances (e. g.,\\nMiss Edwards and Lord Anne Hamilton, Mrs. Upton and\\nGeneral Braddock), it is a question whether in a picture\\nof average English life it was necessary to deal with ex-\\nceptions of this kind, or, at all events, to exemplify them\\nin the principal personage. But the discussion of this\\nsubject would prove endless. Right or wrong, Fielding\\nhas certainly suffered in popularity for his candour in this\\nrespect, since one of the wisest and wittiest books ever\\nwritten cannot, without hesitation, be now placed in the\\nhands of women or very young people. Moreover, this\\nsame candour has undoubtedly attracted to its pages many,\\nneither young nor women, whom its wit finds unintelli-\\ngent, and its wisdom leaves unconcerned.\\nBut what a brave wit it is, what a wisdom after all, that\\nis contained in this wonderful novel Where shall we\\nfind its like for richness of reflection for inexhaustible\\ngood -humour for large and liberal humanity? Like\\nFontenelle, Fielding might fairly claim that lie had never\\ncast the smallest ridicule upon the most infinitesimal of\\nvirtues; it is against hypocrisy, affectation, insincerity of\\nall kinds, that he wages war. And what a keen and\\nsearching observation what a perpetual faculty of sur-\\nprise what an endless variety of method Take the\\nchapter headed ironically A Recent to regain the lost Affec-", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0140.jp2"}, "141": {"fulltext": "v.] Tom jokes; 127\\ntions of a Wife, in which Captain John Blifil gives so strik-\\ning an example of Mr. Samuel Johnson s just published\\nVanity of Human Wishes, by dying suddenly of apoplexy\\nwhile he is considering what he will do with Mr. Allwor-\\nthy s property (when it reverts to him) or that admirable\\nscene, commended by Macaulay, of Partridge at the Play-\\nhouse, which is none the worse because it has just a slight\\nlook of kinship with that other famous visit which Sir\\nRoger de Coverley paid to Philips s Distrest Mother. Or\\ntake again, as utterly unlike either of these, that burlesque\\nHomeric battle in the churchyard, where the sweetly-\\nwinding Stour stands for reedy Simois, and the bump-\\nkins round for Greeks and Trojans Or take yet once\\nmore, though it is woful work to offer bricks from this\\nedifice which has already (in a sense) outlived the Escorial, 1\\nthe still more diverse passage which depicts the changing\\nconflict in Black George s mind as to whether he shall re-\\nturn to Jones the sixteen pounds that he has found\\nBlack George having received the Purse, set forward towards the\\nAlehouse but in the Way a Thought occurred whether he should\\nnot detain this Money likewise. His Conscience, however, immedi-\\nately started at this Suggestion, and began to upbraid him with In-\\ngratitude to his Benefactor. To this his Avarice answered, That\\nhis conscience should have considered that Matter before, when he\\ndeprived poor Jones of his 500/. That having quietly acquiesced in\\nwhat was of so much greater Importance, it was absurd, if not down-\\nright Hypocrisy, to affect any Qualms at this Trifle. In return to\\nwhich, Conscience, like a good Lawyer, attempted to distinguish be-\\ntween an absolute Breach of Trust, as here where the Goods were\\ndelivered, and a bare Concealment of what was found, as in the\\nformer Case. Avarice presently treated this with Ridicule, called\\nit a Distinction without a Difference, and absolutely insisted, that\\nwhen once all Pretensions of Honour and Virtue were given up in\\n1 The Escorial, it will be remembered, was partially burned in 1872.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0141.jp2"}, "142": {"fulltext": "128 FIELDING. [chap.\\nany one Instance, that there was no Precedent for resorting to them\\nupon a second Occasion. In short, poor Conscience had certainly\\nbeen defeated in the Argument, had not Fear stept in to her As-\\nsistance, and very strenuously urged, that the real Distinction be-\\ntween the two Actions did not lie in the different degrees of Honour,\\nbut of Safety For that the secreting the 5001. was a Matter of very\\nlittle Hazard whei-eas the detaining the sixteen Guineas was liable\\nto the utmost Danger of Discovery.\\nBy this friendly Aid of Fear, Conscience obtained a complete\\nVictory in the Mind of Black George, and after making him a few\\nCompliments on his Honesty, forced him to deliver the Money to\\nJones.\\nWhen one remembers that this is but one of many such\\npassages, and that the book, notwithstanding the indul-\\ngence claimed by the author in the Preface, and despite a\\ncertain hurry at the close, is singularly even in its work-\\nmanship, it certainly increases our respect for the manly\\ngenius of the writer, who, amid all the distractions of ill-\\nhealth and poverty, could find the courage to pursue and\\nperfect such a conception. It is true that both Cervantes\\nand Bunyan wrote their immortal works in the confine-\\nment of a prison. But they must at least have enjoyed\\nthe seclusion so needful to literary labour; while Tom\\nJones was written here and there, at all times and in all\\nplaces, with the dun at the door and the wolf not very far\\nfrom the gate. 1\\nThe little sentence quoted some pages back from Wal-\\npole s letters is sufficient proof, if proof were needed, of\\nits immediate success. Andrew Millar was shrewd enough,\\ndespite his constitutional confusion, and he is not likely to\\n1 Salisbury, in the neighbourhood of which Tom Jones is laid,\\nclaims the originals of sorfie of the characters. Thwackum is said\\nto have been Hele, a schoolmaster Square, one Chubb, a deist\\nand Dowling, the lawyer, a person named Stillingfleet.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0142.jp2"}, "143": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 129\\nhave given an additional \u00c2\u00a3100 to the author of any book\\nwithout good reason. But the indications of that success\\nare not very plainly impressed upon the public prints.\\nThe Gentleman s Magazine for 1749, which, as might be\\nexpected from Johnson s connection with it, contains am-\\nple accounts of his own tragedy of Irene and Richardson s\\nrecently-published Clarissa, has no notice of Tom Jones,\\nnor is there even any advertisement of the second edition\\nissued in the same year. But, in the emblematic frontis-\\npiece, it appears under Clarissa (and sharing with that\\nwork a possibly unintended proximity to a sprig of laurel\\nstuck in a bottle of Nantes), amongst a pile of the books\\nof the year and in the poetical essays for August one\\nThomas Cawthorn breaks into rhymed panegyric. Sick\\nof her fools, sings this enthusiastic but scarcely lucid ad-\\nmirer\\nSick of her fools, great Nature broke the jest,\\nAnd Truth held out each character to test,\\nWhen Genius spoke Let Fielding take the pen J\\nLife dropt her mask, and all mankind were men.\\nThere were others, however, who would scarcely have\\nechoed the laudatory sentiments of Mr. Cawthorn.\\nAmongst these was again the excellent Richardson, who\\nseems to have been wholly unpropitiated by the olive\\nbranch held out to him in the Jacobite s Journal. His\\nvexation at the indignity put upon Pamela by Joseph An-\\ndrews was now complicated by a twittering jealousy of the\\nspurious brat, as he obligingly called Tom Jones, whose\\nsuccess had been so unaccountable. In these circum-\\nstances, some of the letters of his correspondents must\\nhave been gall and* wormwood to him. Lady Bradshaigh,\\nfor instance, under her nom de plume of Belfour, tells\\nhim that she is fatigued with the very name of the book,\\n6*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0143.jp2"}, "144": {"fulltext": "130 F1ELDIXG. [chap.\\nhaving mot several young ladies who were for ever talking\\nof their Tom Jones s, for so they call their favourites,\\nand that the gentlemen, on their side, had their Sophias,\\none having gone so far as to give that all-popular name to\\nhis Dutch mastiff puppy. But perhaps the best and\\nfreshest exhibition (for, as far as can be ascertained, it has\\nnever hitherto been made public) of Richardson s attitude\\nto his rival is to be found in a little group of letters in the\\nForster collection at South Kensington. The writers are\\nAaron Hill and his daughters but the letters do not seem\\nto have been known to Mrs. Barbauld, whose last commu-\\nnication from Hill is dated November 2, 1748. Nor are\\nthey to be found in Hill s ow r n correspondence. The la-\\ndies, it appears, had visited Richardson at Salisbury Court\\nin 1741, and were great admirers of Pamela and the di-\\nvine Clarissa. Some months after Tom Jones was pub-\\nlished, Richardson (not yet having brought himself to read\\nthe book) had asked them to do so, and give him their\\nopinion as to its merits. Thereupon Minerva and Astrsea,\\nwho, despite their names, and their description of them-\\nselves as Girls of an untittering Disposition, must have\\nbeen very bright and lively young persons, began seriously\\nto lay their two wise heads together and hazard this\\nDiscovery of their Emptiness. Having with much ado\\ngot over some Reluctance, that was bred by a familiar\\ncoarseness in the Title they report much (masqu d)\\nmerit in the whole six volumes a double merit,\\nboth of Head, and Heart. Had it been the latter only\\nit would be more worthy of Mr. Richardson s perusal but,\\nsay these considerate pioneers, if he does spare it his atten-\\ntion, he must only do so at his leisure, for the author in-\\ntroduces All his Sections (and too often interweaves the\\nserious Body of his meanings), with long Runs of banter-", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0144.jp2"}, "145": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 131\\ning Levity, which his [Fielding s] Good sense may suffer\\nby Effect of. It is true (they continue), he seems to\\nwear this Lightness, as a grave Head sometime wears a\\nFeather which tho He and Fashion may consider as an\\nornament, Reflection will condemn, as a Disguise, and cov-\\nering. Then follows a brief excursus, intended for their\\ncorrespondent s special consolation, upon the folly of treat-\\ning grave things lightly and wkh delightful sententious-\\nness the letter thus concludes\\nMean while, 4t is an honest pleasure, which we take in adding,\\nthat (exclusive of one wild, detach d, and independent Story of a\\nMan of the Hill, that neither brings on Anything, nor rose from\\nAnything that went before it) All the changefull windings of the\\nAuthor s Fancy carry on a course of regular Design and end in an\\nextremely moving Close, where Lives that seem d to wander and run\\ndifferent ways, meet, All, in an instructive Center.\\nThe whole Piece consists of an inventive Race of Disapointments\\nand Recoveries. It excites Curiosity, and holds it watchful. It has\\njust and pointed Satire but it is a partial Satire, and confin d, too\\nnarrowly It sacrifices to Authority, and Interest. Its Events reward\\nSincerity, and punish and expose Hypocrisy shew Pity and Benevo-\\nlence in amiable Lights, and Avarice and Brutality in very despica-\\nble ones. In every Part It has Humanity for its Intention In too\\nmany, it seems wantoner than It was meant to be It has bold shock-\\ning Pictures and (I fear) not unresembling ones, in high Life, and\\nin low. And (to conclude this too adventurous Guess-work, from a\\nPair of forward Baggages) woud, every where, (we think,) deserve\\nto please, if stript of what the Author thought himself most sure\\nto please by.\\nAnd thus, Sir, we have told you our sincere opinion of Tom\\nJones.\\nYour most profest Admirers and most humble Servants,\\nASTRiEA\\nand Hill.\\nMinerva\\nPlaistow the 21th of July 174 9.\\n1 The pen-holder is the fair Astrsea.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0145.jp2"}, "146": {"fulltext": "132 FIELDING. [chap.\\nRichardson s reply to this ingenuous criticism is dated\\nthe 4th of August. His requesting two young women to\\nstudy and criticise a book which he has heard strongly\\ncondemned as immoral his own obvious familiarity with\\nwhat he has not read but does not scruple to censure his\\ntransparently jealous anticipation of its author s ability\\nall this forms a picture so characteristic alike of the man\\nand the time, that no apology is needed for the following\\ntextual extract\\nI must confess, that I have been prejudiced by .the Opinion of\\nSeveral judicious Friends against the truly coarse-titled Tom Jones;\\nand so have been discouraged from reading it. I was told, that it\\nwas a rambling Collection of Waking Dreams, in which Probability\\nwas not observed And that it had a very bad Tendency. And I\\nhad Reason to think that the Author intended for his Second View\\n(His first, to fill his Pocket, by accommodating it to the reigning\\nTaste) in writing it, to whiten a vicious Character, and to make\\nMorality bend to his Practices. What Reason had he to make his\\nTom illegitimate, in an Age where Keeping is become a Fashion\\nWhy did he make him a common What shall I call it And a\\nKept Fellow, the Lowest of all Fellows, yet in Love with a Young\\nCreature who was traping [trapesing?] after him, a Fugitive from\\nher Father s House? Why did he draw his Heroine so fond, so\\nfoolish, and so insipid Indeed he has one excuse He knows not\\nhow to draw a delicate Woman\u00e2\u0080\u0094 He has not been accustomed to\\nsuch Company, And is too prescribing, too impetuous, too immoral,\\nI will venture to say, to take any other Byass than that a perverse\\nand crooked Nature has given him or Evil Habits, at least, have\\nconfirm 1 d in him. Do Men expect Grapes of Thorns, or Figs of\\nThistles But, perhaps, I think the worse of the Piece because I\\nknow the Writer, and dislike his Principles both Public and Private,\\ntho I wish well to the Man, and Love Four worthy Sisters of his, 1\\nwith whom I am well acquainted. And indeed should admire him,\\ndid he make the Use of his Talents which I wish him to make, For\\n1 From this it would seem that General Fielding had some daugh-\\nters of whom no record has been preserved.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0146.jp2"}, "147": {"fulltext": "v.] TOM JONES. 133\\nthe Vein of Humour, and Ridicule, which he is Master of, might, if\\nproperly turned, do great Service to y e Cause of Virtue.\\nBut no more of this Gentleman s Work, after I have said, That\\nthe favourable Things, you say of the Piece, will tempt me, if I can\\nfind Leisure, to give it a Perusal.\\nNotwithstanding this last sentence, Richardson more\\nthan once reverts to Tom Jones before he finishes his let-\\nter. Its effect upon Minerva and Astrsea is best described\\nin an extract from Aaron Hill s reply, dated seven days\\nlater (August the 11th):\\nUnfortunate Tom Jones how sadly has he mortify d Two sawcy\\nCorrespondents of your making They are with me now and bid\\nme tell you, You have spoil d em Both, for Criticks. Shall I add,\\na Secret which they did not bid me tell you They, Both, fairly\\ncry d, that You shou d think it possible they cou d approve of Any\\nthing, in Any work, that had an Evil Tendency, in any Part or Pur-\\npose of it. They maintain their Point so far, however, as to be\\nconvinc d they say, that you will disapprove this over-rigid Judgment\\nof those Friends, who cou d not find a Thread of Moral Meaning in\\nTom Jones, quite independent of the Levities they justly censure.\\nAnd, as soon as you have Time to read him, for yourself, tis there,\\npert Sluts, they will be bold enough to rest the Matter. Mean while,\\nthey love and honour you and your opinions.\\nTo this the author of Clarissa replied by writing a long-\\nepistle deploring the pain he had given the dear Ladies,\\nand minutely justifying his foregone conclusions from the\\nexpressions they had used. He refers to Fielding again\\nas a very indelicate, a very impetuous, an unyielding-\\nspirited Man and he also trusts to be able to bestow a\\nReading on Tom Jones but by a letter from Lady Brad-\\nshaigh, printed in Barbauld, and dated December, 1749, it\\nseems that even at that date he had not, or pretended he\\nhad not, yet done so. In another of the unpublished\\nSouth Kensington letters, from a Mr. Solomon Lowe, oc-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0147.jp2"}, "148": {"fulltext": "134 FIELDING. [chap.\\ncurs the following I do not doubt says the writer\\nbut all Europe will ring of it [Clarissa]: when a\\nCracker, that was some thous d hours a-composing, 1 will no\\nlonger be heard, or talkt-of. Richardson, with business-\\nlike precision, has gravely docketed this in his own hand-\\nwriting Cracker, T. Jones.\\nIt is unfortunate for Mr. Lowe s reputation as a prophet\\nthat, after more than one hundred and thirty years, this\\nephemeral firework, as he deemed it, should still be spark-\\nling with undiminished brilliancy, and, to judge by recent\\neditions, is selling as vigorously as ever. From the days\\nwhen Lady Mary wrote u Ne ])lus ultra in her own copy,\\nand La Harpe called it le premier roman du monde (a\\nphrase which, by the way, De Musset applies to Clarissa),\\nit has come down to us with an almost universal accom-\\npaniment of praise. Gibbon, Byron, Coleridge, Scott,\\nDickens, Thackeray, have all left their admiration on rec-\\nord to say nothing of professional critics innumerable.\\nAs may be seen from the British Museum Catalogue, it\\nhas been translated into French, German, Polish, Dutch,\\nand Spanish. Russia and Sweden have also their versions.\\nThe first French translation,\u00c2\u00bbor rather abridgment, by M.\\nde La Place was prohibited in France (to Richardson s de-\\nlight) by royal decree, an act which affords another in-\\nstance, in Scott s words, of that French delicacy, which,\\non so many occasions, has strained at a gnat, and swal-\\nlowed a camel (e. g., the novels of M. Crebillon Jils). La\\nPlace s edition (1750) was gracefully illustrated with six-\\nteen plates by Hubert Bourguignon, called Gravelot, one\\nof those eighteenth-century illustrators whose designs at\\npresent are the rage in Paris. In England, Fielding s best-\\nknown pictorial interpreters are Rowlandson and Crnik-\\n1 Vide Tom Jones, feook XL, Chap. L", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0148.jp2"}, "149": {"fulltext": "v.J TOM JONES. 135\\nshank, the latter being by far the more sympathetic.\\nStothard also prepared some designs for Harrison s Novel-\\nist s Magazine; but his refined and effeminate pencil was\\nscarcely strong enough for the task. Hogarth alone could\\nhave been the ideal illustrator of Henry Fielding; that is\\nto say, if, in lieu of the rude designs he made for Tris-\\ntram Shandy, he could have been induced to undertake\\nthe work in the larger fashion of the Rake s Progress or\\nthe Marriage a la Mode.\\nAs might perhaps be anticipated, Tom Jones attracted\\nthe dramatist. 1 In 1765 one J. H. Steffens made a com-\\nedy of it for the German boards; and in 1785 a M. Des-\\nforges based upon it another, called Tom Jones a Lon-\\ndres, which was acted at the Theatre Frafigais. It was\\nalso turned into a comic opera by Joseph Reed in 1769,\\nand played at Covent Garden. But its most piquant\\ntransformation is the Comedie lyrique of Poinsinet, acted\\nat Paris in 1765-6 to the lively music of Philidor. The\\nfamous Caillot took the part of Squire Western, who, sur-\\nrounded by piqueurs, and girt with the conventional cor de\\nchasse of the Gallic sportsman, sings the following ariette,\\ndiversified with true Fontainebleau terms of venery\\nD un Cerf, dix Cors, j ai connaissance\\nOn l attaque au fort, on le Jance\\nTous sont prets\\nPiqueurs Valets\\nSuivent les pas de l ami Jone (sic).\\nJ entends crier Volcelets, Volcelets.\\n1 It may be added that it also attracted the plagiarist. As Pamela\\nhad its sequel in Pamela s Conduct in High Life, 1741, so Tom Jones\\nwas continued in The History of Tom Jones the Foundling, in his\\nMarried State, a second edition of which was issued in 1750. The\\nPreface announces, needlessly enough, that Henry Fielding, Esq., is\\nnot the Author of this Book. It deserves no serious consideration.\\nK", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0149.jp2"}, "150": {"fulltext": "136 FIELDING. [chap. v.\\nAussitot j ordonne\\nQue la Meute donne.\\nTayaut, Tayaut, Tayaut.\\nMes chiens decouples l environnent\\nLes trompes sonnent\\n1 Courage, Amis Tayaut, Tayaut.\\nQuelques chiens, que l ardeur derange,\\nQuittent la voye prennent le change.\\nJones les rassure d un cri\\nOurvari, ourvari.\\nAccoute, accoute, accoute.\\nAu retour nous en revoyons.\\nAccoute, a Mirmiraut, courons\\nTout a Griffaut\\nY apres Tayaut, Tayaut.\\nOn reprend route,\\nVoila le Cerf a l eau.\\nLa trompe sonne,\\nLa Meute donne,\\nL echo resonne,\\nNous pressons les nouveaux relais\\nVolcelets, Volcelets.\\nL animal force succombe,\\nFait un effort, se releve, enfin torabe\\nEt nos chasseurs chantent tous a l envi\\nAmis, goutons les fruits de la victoire\\nAmis, Amis, celebrons notre gloire.\\nHalali, Fanfare, Halali\\nHalali.\\nWith this triumphant flourish of trumpets the present\\nchapter may be fittingly concluded.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0150.jp2"}, "151": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VI.\\nIn one of Horace Walpole s letters to George Montagu,\\nalready quoted, there is a description of Fielding s Bow\\nStreet establishment, which has attracted more attention\\nthan it deserves. The letter is dated May the 18th, 1749,\\nand the passage (in Cunningham s edition) runs as fol-\\nlows:\\nHe [Rigby] and Peter Bathurst 1 t other night carried a servant\\nof the latter s, who had attempted to shoot him, before Fielding\\nwho, to all his other vocations, has, by the grace of Mr. Lyttelton,\\nadded that of Middlesex justice. He sent them word he was at\\nsupper, that they must come next morning. They did not understand\\nthat freedom, and ran up, where they found him banqueting with a\\nblind man, a whore, and three Irishmen, on some cold mutton and a\\nbone of ham, both in one dish, and the dirtiest cloth. He never\\nstirred nor asked them to sit. Rigby, who had seen him so ofter\\ncome to beg a guinea of Sir C. Williams, and Bathurst, at whose\\nfather s he had lived for victuals, understood that dignity as little,\\nand pulled themselves chairs on which he civilised.\\n1 Bathurst was M.P. for New Sarum, and brother of Pope s friend,\\nAllen, Lord Bathurst. Rigby was the Richard Rigby whose despica-\\nble character is familiar in Eighteenth-Century Memoirs. He died\\n(says Cunningham) involved in debt, with his accounts as Paymaster\\nof the Forces hopelessly unsettled.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0151.jp2"}, "152": {"fulltext": "138 FIELDING. [chap.\\nScott calls this a humiliating anecdote and both Mr.\\nLawrence and Mr. Keightley have exhausted rhetoric in the\\neffort to explain it away. As told, it is certainly uncom-\\nplimentary but considerable deductions must be made,\\nboth for the attitude of the narrator and the occasion of\\nthe narrative. Walpole s championship of his friends was\\nnotorious and his absolute injustice, when his partisan\\nspirit was uppermost, is everywhere patent to the readers\\nof his Letters. In the present case he was not of the en-\\ncroaching party and he speaks from hearsay solely. But\\nhis friends had, in his opinion, been outraged by a man\\nwho, according to his ideas of fitness, should have come to\\nthem cap in hand and, as a natural consequence, the story,\\nno doubt exaggerated when it reached him, loses nothing\\nunder his transforming and malicious pen. Stripped of\\nits decorative flippancy, however, there remains but lit-\\ntle that can really be regarded as humiliating. Scott\\nhimself suggests, what is most unquestionably the case,\\nthat the blind man was the novelist s half-brother, after-\\nwards Sir John Fielding and it is extremely unlikely that\\nthe lady so discourteously characterised could have been\\nany other than his wife, who, Lady Stuart tells us, had\\nfew personal charms. There remain the three Irishmen,\\nwho may, or may not, have been perfectly presentable mem-\\nbers of society. At all events, their mere nationality, so\\nrapidly decided upon, cannot be regarded as a stigma.\\nThat the company and entertainment were scarcely calcu-\\nlated to suit the superfine standard of Mr. Bathurst and\\nMr. Rigby may perhaps be conceded. Fielding was by no\\nmeans a rich man, and in his chequered career had possi-\\nbly grown indifferent to minor decencies. Moreover, we are\\ntold by Murphy that, as a Westminster justice, he kept\\nhis table open to those who had been his friends when", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0152.jp2"}, "153": {"fulltext": "vi.] JUSTICE LIFE- 139\\nyoung, and had impaired their own fortunes. Thus, it\\nmust always have been a more or less ragged regiment\\nwho met about that kindly Bow Street board but that\\nthe fact reflects upon either the host or guests cannot be\\nadmitted for a moment. If the anecdote is discreditable\\nto anyone, it is to that facile retailer of ana and incorrigi-\\nble society-gossip, Mr. Horace Walpole.\\nBut while these unflattering tales were told of his private\\nlife, Fielding was fast becoming eminent in his public ca-\\npacity. On the 12th of May, 1749, he was unanimously\\nchosen chairman of Quarter Sessions at Hicks s Hall (as the\\nClerkenwell Sessions House was then called) and on the\\n29th of June following he delivered a charge to the West-\\nminster Grand Jury, which is usually printed with his\\nworks, and which is still regarded by lawyers as a model\\nexposition. It is at first a little unexpected to read his\\nimpressive and earnest denunciations of masquerades and\\ntheatres (in which latter, by the way, one Samuel Foote\\nhad very recently been following the example of the au-\\nthor of Pasquin) but Fielding the magistrate and Field-\\ning the playwright were two different persons; and a long\\ninterval of changeful experience lay between them. In an-\\nother part of his charge, which deals with the offence of\\nlibelling, it is possible that his very vigorous appeal was\\nnot the less forcible by reason of the personal attacks to\\nwhich he had referred in the Preface to David Simple, the\\nJacobite s Journal, and elsewhere. His only other literary\\nefforts during this year appear to have been a little pam-\\nphlet entitled A True State of the Case of Bosavern Pen-\\nlez and a formal congratulatory letter to Lyttelton upon\\nhis second marriage, in which, while speaking gratefully of\\nhis own obligations to his friend, he endeavours to enlist\\nhis sympathies for Moore the fabulist, who was also about", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0153.jp2"}, "154": {"fulltext": "140 FIELDING. [chap.\\nto marry. The pamphlet had reference to an occurrence\\nwhich took place in July. Three sailors of the Grafton\\nman-of-war had been robbed in a house of ill fame in the\\nStrand. Failing to obtain redress, they attacked the house\\nwith their comrades, and wrecked it, causing a dangerous\\nriot, to which Fielding makes incidental reference in one\\nof his letters to the Duke of Bedford, and which was wit-\\nnessed by John Byrom, the poet and stenographer, in\\nwhose Remains it is described. Bosavern Penlez, or Pen\\nLez, who had joined the crowd, and in whose possession\\nsome of the stolen property was found, was tried and\\nhanged in September. His sentence, which was consider-\\ned extremely severe, excited much controversy, and the\\nobject of Fielding s pamphlet was to vindicate the justice\\nand necessity of his conviction.\\nTowards the close of 1749 Fielding fell seriously ill\\nwith fever aggravated by gout. It was indeed at one time\\nreported that mortification had supervened but under the\\ncare of Dr. Thomson, that dubious practitioner whose treat-\\nment of Winnington in 1746 had given rise to so much\\npaper war, he recovered; and during 1750 was actively\\nemployed in his magisterial duties. At this period law-\\nlessness and violence appear to have prevailed to an un-\\nusual extent in the metropolis, and the office of a Bow\\nStreet justice was no sinecure. Reform of some kind was\\nfelt on all sides to be urgently required; and Fielding\\nthrew r his two years experience and his deductions there-\\nfrom into the form of a pamphlet entitled An Enquiry\\ninto the Causes of the late Increase of Robbers, etc., with\\nsome Proposals for remedying this growing Evil. It was\\ndedicated to the then Lord High Chancellor, Philip Yorke,\\nLord Hardwicke, by whom, as well as by more recent legal\\nauthorities, it was highly appreciated. Like the Charge to", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0154.jp2"}, "155": {"fulltext": "vij JUSTICE LIFE. l4i\\nthe Grand Jury, it is a grave argumentative document,\\ndealing seriously with luxury, drunkenness, gaming, and\\nother prevalent vices. Once only, in an ironical passage\\nrespecting beaus and fine ladies, does the author remind\\nus of the author of Tom Jones. As a rule, he is weighty,\\npractical, and learned in the law. Against the curse of\\ngin-drinking, which, owing to the facilities for obtaining\\nthat liquor, had increased to an alarming extent among the\\npoorer classes, he is especially urgent and energetic. He\\npoints out that it is not only making dreadful havoc in\\nthe present, but that it is enfeebling the race of the future,\\nand he concludes\\nSome little Care on this Head is surely necessary For tho the\\nEncrease of Thieves, and the Destruction of Morality though the\\nLoss of our Labourers, our Sailors, and our Soldiers, should not be\\nsufficient Reasons, there is one which seems to be unanswerable, and\\nthat is, the Loss of our Gin-drinkers Since, should the drinking this\\nPoison be continued in its present Height during the next twenty\\nYears, there will, by that Time, be very few of the common People\\nleft to drink it.\\nTo the appeal thus made by Fielding in January, 1751,\\nHogarth added his pictorial protest in the following month\\nby his awful plate of Gin Lane, which, if not actually\\nprompted by his friend s words, was certainly inspired by\\nthe same crying evil. One good result of these efforts was\\nthe Bill for restricting the Sale of Spirituous Liquors,\\nto which the royal assent was given in June, and Fielding s\\nconnection with this enactment is practically acknowledged\\nby Horace Walpole in his Memoirs of the Last Ten Years\\nof the Reign of George II. The law was not wholly\\neffectual, and was difficult to enforce but it was not by\\nany means without its good effects. 1\\n1 The Rev. R. Hurd, afterwards Bishop of Worcester, an upright", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0155.jp2"}, "156": {"fulltext": "142 FIELDING. [chap.\\nBetween the publication of the Enquiry and that of\\nAmelia there is nothing of importance to chronicle except\\nFieldino- s connection with one of the events of 1751, the\\ndiscovery of the Glastonbury waters. According to the\\naccount given in the Gentleman s for July in that year, a\\ncertain Matthew Chancellor had been cured of an asthma\\nand phthisic of thirty years standing by drinking from\\na spring near Chain Gate, Glastonbury, to which he had\\n(so he alleged) been directed in a dream. The spring\\nforthwith became famous; and in May an entry in the\\nHistorical Chronicle for Sunday, the 5th, records that\\nabove 10,000 persons had visited it, deserting Bristol^\\nBath, and other popular resorts. Numerous pamphlets\\nwere published for and against the new waters; and a\\nletter in their favour, which appeared in the London Daily\\nAdvertiser for the 31st of August, signed Z, Z., is sup-\\nposed to be wrote by J e F g. Fielding was, as\\nmay be remembered, a Somersetshire man, Sharpham Park,\\nhis birthplace, being about three miles from Glastonbury;\\nand he testifies to the wonderful Effects of this salubri-\\nous Spring in words which show that he had himself\\nexperienced them. Having seen great Numbers of my\\nand scholarly, but formal and censorious man, whom Johnson called\\na word picker, and franker contemporaries an old maid in\\nbreeches, has left a reference to Fielding at this time which is not\\nflattering I dined with him [Ralph Allen] yesterday, where I met\\nMr. Fielding, a poor emaciated, worn-out rake, whose gout and in-\\nfirmities have got the better even of his buffoonery. (Letter to\\nBalguy, dated Inner Temple, 19th March, 1751. That Fielding\\nhad not long before been dangerously ill, and that he was a martyr\\nto gout, is fact: the rest is probably no more than the echo of a\\nforegone conclusion, based upon report, or dislike to his works.\\nHurd praised Richardson and proscribed Sterne. He must have\\nbeen wholly out of sympathy with the author of Torn Jones.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0156.jp2"}, "157": {"fulltext": "vi.] AMELIA. 143\\nFellow Creatures under two of the most miserable Diseases\\nhuman Nature can labour under, the Asthma and Evil, re-\\nturn from Glastonbury blessed with the Return of Health,\\nand having myself been relieved from a Disorder which\\nbaffled the most skilful Physicians, justice to mankind\\n(he says) obliges him to take notice of the subject. The\\nletter is interesting, more as showing that, at this time,\\nFielding s health was broken, than as proving the efficacy\\nof the cure for, whatever temporary relief the waters af-\\nforded, it is clear (as Mr. Lawrence pertinently remarks)\\nthat he derived no permanent benefit from them. They\\nmust, however, have continued to attract visitors, as a\\npump-room was opened in August, 1753; and, although\\nthey have now fallen into disuse, they were popular for\\nmany years.\\nBut a more important occurrence than the discovery\\nof the Somersetshire spring is a little announcement con-\\ntained in Sylvanus Urban s list of publications for Decern\\nber, 1751, No. 17 of which is Amelia, in 4 books, 12 mo;\\nby Henry Fielding, Esq. The publisher, of course, was\\nAndrew Millar and the actual day of issue, as appears\\nfrom the General Advertiser, was December the 19th\\nalthough the title-page, by anticipation, bore the date of\\n1752. There were two mottoes, one of which was the\\nappropriate\\nFelices ter amplins\\nQuos irrupta tenet Copula;\\nand the dedication, brief and simply expressed, was to\\nRalph Allen. As before, the artful aid of advertise-\\nment was invoked to whet the public appetite:\\nTo satisfy the earnest Demand of the Publiek (says Millar), this\\nWork has been printed at four Presses but the Proprietor notwith-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0157.jp2"}, "158": {"fulltext": "144 FIELDING. [chap.\\nstanding finds it impossible to get them (sic) bound in Time, without\\nspoiling the Beauty of the Impression, and therefore will sell them\\nsew d at Half-a-Guinea.\\nThis was open enough but, according to Scott, Millar\\nadopted a second expedient to assist Am,elia with the\\nbooksellers\\nHe had paid a thousand pounds for the copyright; and when he\\nbegan to suspect that the work would be judged inferior to its pred-\\necessor, he employed the following stratagem to push it upon the\\ntrade. At a sale made to the booksellers, previous to the publica-\\ntion, Millar offered his friends his other publications on the usual\\nterms of discount but when he came to Amelia, he laid it aside, as\\na work expected to be in such demand, that he could not afford to\\ndeliver it to the trade in the usual manner. The nise succeeded\\nthe impression was anxiously bought up, and the bookseller re-\\nlieved from every apprehension of a slow sale.\\nThere were several reasons why superficially speaking\\nAmelia should be judged inferior to its predecessor.\\nThat it succeeded Tom Jones after an interval of little\\nmore than two years and eight months would be an im-\\nportant element in the comparison, if it were known at\\nall definitely what period was occupied in writing Tom\\nJones. All that can be affirmed is that Fielding must have\\nbeen far more at leisure when he composed the earlier\\nwork than he could possibly have been when filling the\\noffice of a Bow Street magistrate. But, in reality J there is\\na much better explanation of the superiority of Tom Jones\\nto Amelia than the merely empirical one of the time it\\ntook. Tom Jones, it has been admirably said by a French\\ncritic, est la condensation et le resume de toute une exist-\\nence. Cest le resultat et la conclusion de plusieurs annees\\nde passions et de pensees, laformule derniere et complete de\\nla philosophie personnelle que Von s est faite sur tout ce que", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0158.jp2"}, "159": {"fulltext": "vr.] AMELIA. 145\\nVon a vu et senti Such an experiment, argues Planche,\\nis not twice repeated in a lifetime the soil which pro-\\nduced so rich a crop can but yield a poorer aftermath.\\nBehind Tom Jones there was the author s ebullient youth\\nand manhood behind Amelia but a section of his graver\\nmiddle-age. There are other reasons for diversity in the\\nmanner of the book itself. The absence of the initial\\nchapters, which gave so much variety to Tom Jones, tends\\nto heighten the sense of impatience which, it must be\\nconfessed, occasionally creeps over the reader of Amelia,\\nespecially in those parts where, like Dickens at a later\\nperiod, Fielding delays the progress of his narrative for\\nthe discussion of social problems and popular grievances.\\nHowever laudable the desire (expressed in the dedication)\\nto expose some of the most glaring Evils, as well public\\nas private, which at present infest this Country, the re-\\nsult in Amelia, from an art point of view, is as unsatisfac-\\ntory as that of certain well-known pages of Bleak House\\nand Little Dorrit. Again, there is a marked change in\\nthe attitude of the author a change not wholly reconcila-\\nble with the brief period which separates the two novels.\\nHowever it may have chanced, whether from failing health\\nor otherwise, the Fielding of Amelia is suddenly a far\\nolder man than the Fielding of Tom Jones. The robust\\nand irrepressible vitality, the full-veined delight of living,\\nthe energy of observation and strength of satire, which\\ncharacterise the one give place in the other to a calmer\\nretrospection, a more compassionate humanity, a gentler\\nand more benignant criticism of life. That, as some have\\ncontended, Amelia shows an intellectual falling-ofE cannot\\nfor a moment be admitted, least of all upon the ground\\nas even so staunch an admirer as Mr. Keightley has allow-\\ned himself to believe that certain of its incidents are ob-\\n7", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0159.jp2"}, "160": {"fulltext": "146 FIELDING. [chap.\\nviously repeated from the Modern Husband and others of\\nthe author s plays. At this rate Tom Jones might be\\njudged inferior to Joseph Andrews, because the Political\\nApothecary in the Man of the Hill s story has his\\nprototype in the Coffee-House Politician, whose original\\nis Addison s Upholsterer. The plain fact is, that Fielding\\nrecognised the failure of his plays as literature he re-\\ngarded them as dead; and freely transplanted what was\\ngood of his forgotten work into the work which he hoped\\nwould live. In this, it may be, there was something of\\nindolence or haste but assuredly there was no proof of\\ndeclining powers.\\nIf, for the sake of comparison, Tom Jones may be de-\\nscribed as an animated and happily-constructed comedy,\\nwith more than the usual allowance of first-rate charac-\\nters, Amelia must be regarded as a one -part piece, in\\nwhich the rest of the dramatis j^rsonoe are wholly sub-\\nordinate to the central figure. Captain Booth, the two\\nColonels, Atkinson and his wife, Miss Matthews, Dr. Har-\\nrison, Trent, the shadowy and maleficent My Lord, are\\nall less active on their own account than energised and\\nset in motion by Amelia. Round her they revolve from\\nher tl^ey obtain their impulse and their orbit. The best\\nof the men, as studies, are Dr. Harrison and Colonel Bath.\\nThe former, who is as benevolent as All worthy, is far more\\nhuman, and, it may be added, more humorous in well-\\ndoing. He is an individual rather than an abstraction.\\nBath, with his dignity and gun-cotton honour, is also ad-\\nmirable, but not entirely free from the objection made to\\nsome of Dickens s creations, that they are rather charac-\\nteristics than characters. Captain William Booth, beyond\\nhis truth to nature, manifests no qualities that can com-\\npensate for his weakness, and the best that can be said of", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0160.jp2"}, "161": {"fulltext": "vi.] AMELIA. 147\\nhim is that, without it, his wife would have had no oppor-\\ntunity for the display of her magnanimity. There is also\\na certain want of consistency in his presentment; and\\nwhen, in the residence of Mr. Bondum, the bailiff, he sud-\\ndenly develops an unexpected scholarship, it is impossible\\nnot to suspect that Fielding was unwilling to lose the op-\\nportunity of preserving some neglected scenes of the Au-\\nthor s Farce. Miss Matthews is a new and remarkable\\nstudy of the femme entretenue, to parallel which, as in the\\ncase of Lady Bellaston, we must go to Balzac Mrs. James,\\nagain, is an excellent example of that vapid and colourless\\nnonentity, the person of condition. Mrs. Bennet, al-\\nthough apparently more contradictory and less intelligible,\\nis nevertheless true to her past history and present en-\\nvironments while her husband, the sergeant, with his\\nconcealed and reverential love for his beautiful foster-sis-\\nter, has had a long line of descendants in the modern\\nnovel. It is upon Amelia, however, that the author has\\nlavished all his pains, and there is no more touching por-\\ntrait in the whole of fiction than this heroic and immortal\\none of feminine goodness and forbearance. It is needless\\nto repeat that it is painted from Fielding s first wife, or to\\ninsist that, as Lady Mary was fully persuaded, several of\\nthe incidents he mentions are real matters of fact. That\\nfamous scene where Amelia is spreading, for the recreant\\nwho is losing his money at the King s Arms, the historic\\nlittle supper of hashed mutton which she has cooked with\\nher own hands, and denying herself a glass of white wine\\nto save the paltry sum of sixpence, while her Husband\\nwas paying a Debt of several Guineas incurred by the Ace\\nof Trumps being in the Hands of his Adversary a scene\\nwhich it is impossible to read aloud without a certain\\nhuskiness in the throat the visits to the pawnbroker and", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0161.jp2"}, "162": {"fulltext": "148 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthe sponging-house, the robbery by the little servant, the\\nencounter at Vauxhall, and some of the pretty vignettes\\nof the children, are no doubt founded on personal recollec-\\ntions. Whether the pursuit to which the heroine is ex-\\nposed had any foundation in reality it is impossible to\\nsay and there is a passage in Murphy s memoir which\\nalmost reads as if it had been penned with the express\\npurpose of anticipating any too harshly literal identifica-\\ntion of Booth with Fielding, since we are told of the\\nlatter that, though disposed to gallantry by his strong\\nanimal spirits, and the vivacity of his passions, he was re-\\nmarkable for tenderness and constancy to his wife [the\\nitalics are ours], and the strongest affection for his chil-\\ndren. These, however, are questions beside the matter,\\nwhich is the conception of Amelia. That remains, and\\nmust remain forever, in the words of one of Fielding s\\ngreatest modern successors, a figure\\nWrought with love\\nNought modish in it, pure and noble lines\\nOf generous womanhood that fits all time.\\nThere are many women who forgive but Amelia does\\nmore she not only forgives, but she forgets. The pas-\\nsage in which she exhibits to her contrite husband the\\nletter received long before from Miss Matthews is one of\\nthe noblest in literature and if it had been recorded\\nthat Fielding like Thackeray on a memorable occasion\\nhad here slapped his fist upon the table and said, That\\nis a stroke of genius! it would scarcely have been a thing\\nto be marvelled at. One final point in connection with\\nher may be noted, which has not always been borne in\\nmind by those who depict good women much after\\nHogarth s fashion without a head. She is not by any", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0162.jp2"}, "163": {"fulltext": "vi.] AMELIA. .49\\nmeans a simpleton, and it is misleading to describe her as\\na tender, fluttering little creature, who, because she can\\ncook her husband s supper, and caresses him with the\\nobsolete name of Billy, must necessarily be contemptible.\\nOn the contrary, she has plenty of ability and good sense,\\nwith a fund of humour which enables her to slily enjoy\\nand even gently satirise the fine lady airs of Mrs. James.\\nNor is it necessary to contend that her faculties are sub-\\nordinated to her affections; but rather that conjugal\\nfidelity and Christian charity are inseparable alike from\\nher character and her creed.\\nAs illustrating the tradition that Fielding depicted\\nhis first wife in Sophia Western and in Amelia, it has\\nbeen remarked that there is no formal description of her\\npersonal appearance in his last novel, her portrait having\\nalready been drawn at length in Tom Jones. But the\\nfollowing depreciatory sketch by Mrs. James is worth\\nquoting, not only because it indirectly conveys the impres-\\nsion of a very handsome woman, but because it is also an\\nadmirable specimen of Fielding s lighter manner\\nIn the first place, cries Mrs. James, her eyes are too large;\\nand she hath a look with them that I don t know how to describe\\nbut I know I don t like it. Then her eyebrows are too large there-\\nfore, indeed, she doth all in her power to remedy this with her pin-\\ncers; for if it was not for those, her eyebrows would be preposter-\\nous. Then her nose, as well proportioned as it is, has a visible scar\\non one side. 1 Her neck likewise is too protuberant for the genteel\\nsize, especially as she laces herself for no woman, in my opinion,\\ncan be genteel who is not entirely flat before. And lastly, she is\\nboth too short, and too tall. Well, you may laugh, Mr. James, I\\nknow what I mean, though I cannot well express it. I mean, that\\nshe is too tall for a pretty woman, and too short for a fine woman.\\nThere is such a thing as a kind of insipid medium a kind of\\n1 See note on this subject in Chapter IV.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0163.jp2"}, "164": {"fulltext": "1 50 FIELDING. [chap.\\nsomething that is neither one thing or another. I know not how\\nto express it more clearly but when I say such a one is a pretty\\nwoman, a pretty thing, a pretty creature, you know very well I mean\\na little woman and when I say such a one is a very fine woman,\\na very fine person of a woman, to be sure I must mean a tall wom-\\nan. Now a woman that is between both, is certainly neither the\\none nor the other.\\nThe ingenious expedients of Andrew Millar, to which\\nreference has been made, appear to have so far succeeded\\nthat a new edition of Amelia was called for on the day\\nof publication. Johnson, to whom we owe this story, was\\nthoroughly captivated with the book. Notwithstanding\\nthat on another occasion he paradoxically asserted that\\nthe author was a blockhead a barren rascal he\\nread it through without stopping, and pronounced Mrs.\\nBooth to be the most pleasing heroine of all the ro-\\nmances. Richardson, on the other hand, found the\\ncharacters and situations so wretchedly low and dirty that\\nhe could not get farther than the first volume. With the\\nprofessional reviewers, a certain Criticulus in the Gen-\\ntleman! 8 excepted, it seems to have fared but ill and al-\\nthough these adverse verdicts, if they exist, are now more\\nor less inaccessible, Fielding has apparently summarised\\nmost of them in a mock-trial of Amelia before the Court\\nof Censorial Enquiry, the proceedings of which are re-\\ncorded in Nos. 7 and 8 of the Covent- Garden Journal.\\nThe book is indicted upon the Statute of Dulness, and\\nthe heroine is charged with being a low Character,\\na Milksop and a Fool with lack of spirit and faint-\\ning too frequently with dressing her children, cooking,\\nand other servile Offices with being too forgiving to\\nher husband and lastly, as may be expected, with the in-\\nconsistency, already amply referred to, of being a Beauty", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0164.jp2"}, "165": {"fulltext": "vi.] AMELIA. 151\\nzvithout a nosey Dr. Harrison and Colonel Bath are ar-\\nraigned much in the same fashion. After some evidence\\nagainst her has been tendered, and a Great Number of\\nBeans, Rakes, fine Ladies, and several formal Persons with\\nbushy Wigs, and Canes at their Noses, are preparing to\\nsupplement it, a grave man steps forward, and, begging\\nto be heard, delivers what must be regarded as Fielding s\\nfinal apology for his last novel\\nIf you, Mr. Censor, are yourself a Parent, you will view me with\\nCompassion when I declare I am the Father of this poor Girl the\\nPrisoner at the Bar; nay, when I go further and avow, that of all\\nmy Offspring she is my favourite Child. I can truly say that I be-\\nstowed a more than ordinary Pains in her Education in which I\\nventure to affirm, I followed the Rules of all those who are acknowl-\\nedged to have writ best on the Subject; and if her Conduct be fairly\\nexamined, she will be found to deviate very little from the strictest\\nObservation of all those Rules neither Homer nor Virgil pursued\\nthem with greater Care than myself, and the candid and learned\\nReader will see that the latter was the noble model which I made\\nuse of on this Occasion.\\nI do not think my Child is entirely free from Faults. I know\\nnothing human that is so but surely she doth not deserve the Ran-\\ncour with which she hath been treated by the Public. However, it\\nis not my Intention, at present, to make any Defence but shall sub-\\nmit to a Compromise, which hath been always allowed in this Court\\nin all Prosecutions for Dulness. I do, therefore, solemnly declare\\nto you, Mr. Censor, that I will trouble the World no more with any\\nChildren of mine by the same Muse.\\nWhether sincere or not, this last statement appears to\\nhave afforded the greatest gratification to Richardson.\\nWill I leave you to Captain Booth he writes trium-\\nphantly to Mrs. Donnellan, in answer to a question she had\\nput to him. Captain Booth, Madam, has done his own\\nbusiness. Mr. Fielding has over- written himself, or rather\\nunder-written and in his own journal seems ashamed of\\nL", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0165.jp2"}, "166": {"fulltext": "152 FIELDING. [chap.\\nhis last piece and has promised that the same Muse shall\\nwrite no more for him. The piece, in short, is as dead\\nas if it had been published forty years ago, as to sale.\\nThere is much to the same effect in the worthy little\\nprinter s correspondence but enough has been quoted to\\nshow how intolerable to the super-sentimental creator of\\nthe high-souled and heroic Clarissa was his rival s plainer\\nand more practical picture of matronly virtue and modesty.\\nIn cases of this kind, parva seges satis est, and Amelia has\\nlong since outlived both rival malice and contemporary\\ncoldness. It is a proof of her author s genius that she is\\neven more intelligible to our age than she was to her own.\\nAt the end of the second volume of the first edition of\\nher history was a notice announcing the immediate appear-\\nance of the above-mentioned Covent- Garden Journal, a\\nbiweekly paper, in which Fielding, under the style and\\ntitle of Sir Alexander Drawcansir, assumed the office of\\nCensor of Great Britain. The first number of this new\\nventure was issued on January the 4th, 1*752, and the\\nprice was threepence. In plan, and general appearance, it\\nresembled the Jacobitis Journal, consisting mainly of an\\nintroductory Essay, paragraphs of current news, often ac-\\ncompanied by pointed editorial comment, miscellaneous\\narticles, and advertisements. One of the features of the\\nearlier numbers was a burlesque, but not very successful,\\nJournal of the present Paper War, which speedily involved\\nthe author in actual hostilities with the notorious quack\\nand adventurer Dr. John Hill, who for some time had been\\npublishing certain impudent lucubrations in the London\\nDaily Advertiser under the heading of The Inspector;\\nand also with Smollett, whom he (Fielding) had ridiculed\\nin his second number, perhaps on account of that little\\nparagraph in the first edition of Peregrine Pickle, to which", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0166.jp2"}, "167": {"fulltext": "vi. J AMELIA. 153\\nreference was made in an earlier chapter. Smollett, always\\nirritable and combative, retorted by a needlessly coarse\\nand venomous pamphlet, in which, under the name of\\nHabbakkuk Hilding, Justice, Dealer and Chapman,\\nFielding was attacked with indescribable brutality. An-\\nother, and seemingly unprovoked, adversary whom the\\nJournal of the War brought upon him was Bonnel Thorn-\\nton, afterwards joint-author with George Colman of the\\nConnoisseur, who, in a production styled Have at you All\\nor, The Drury Lane Journal, lampooned Sir Alexander\\nwith remarkable rancour and assiduity. Mr. Lawrence has\\ntreated these quarrels of authors at some length and\\nthey also have some record in the curious collections of\\nthe elder Disraeli. As a general rule, Fielding was far\\nless personal and much more scrupulous in his choice of\\nweapons than those who assailed him but the conflict\\nwas an undignified one, and, as Scott has justly said,\\nneither party would obtain honour by an inquiry into\\nthe cause or conduct of its hostilities.\\nIn the enumeration of Fielding s works it is somewhat\\ndifficult (if due proportion be observed) to assign any real\\nimportance to efforts like the Covent- Garden Journal.\\nCompared with his novels, they are insignificant enough.\\nBut even the worst work of such a man is notable in its\\nway and Fielding s contributions to the Journal are by\\nno means to be despised. They are shrewd lay sermons,\\noften exhibiting much out-of-the-way erudition, and nearly\\nalways distinguished by some of his personal qualities.\\nIn No. 33, on Profanity, there is a character-sketch\\nwhich, for vigor and vitality, is worthy of his best days;\\nand there is also a very thoughtful paper on Reading,\\ncontaining a kindly reference to the ingenious Author of\\nClarissa, 1 which should have mollified that implacable", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0167.jp2"}, "168": {"fulltext": "154 FIELDING. [chap.\\nmoralist. In this essay it is curious to notice that, while\\nFielding speaks with due admiration of Shakspeare and\\nMoliere, Lucian, Cervantes, and Swift, he condemns Rabe-\\nlais and Aristophanes, although in the invocation already-\\nquoted from Tom Jones he had included both these au-\\nthors among the models he admired. Another paper in\\nthe Covent-Garden Journal is especially interesting, be-\\ncause it affords a clue to a project of Fielding s which\\nunfortunately remained a project. This was a translation\\nof the works of Lucian, to be undertaken in conjunction\\nwith his old colleague, the Rev. William Young. Propo-\\nsals were advertised, and the enterprise was- duly heralded\\nby a puff preliminary, in which Fielding, while abstain-\\ning from anything directly concerning his own abilities,\\nobserves I will only venture to say that no Man seems so\\nlikely to translate an Author well, as he who hath formed\\nhis Stile upon that very Author a sentence which, taken\\nin connection with the references to Lucian in Tom Thumb,\\nthe Cha mpion, and elsewhere, must be accepted as distinctly\\nautobiographic. The last number of the Covent-Garden\\nJournal (No. 72) was issued in November, 1752. By this\\ntime Sir Alexander seems to have thoroughly wearied of\\nhis task. With more gravity than usual he takes leave of\\nletters, begging the public that they will not henceforth\\nfather on him the dulness and scurrility of his worthy con-\\ntemporaries, since I solemnly declare that, unless in revis-\\ning my former Works, I have at present no Intention to\\nhold any further Correspondence with the gayer Muses.\\nThe labour of conducting the Covent-Garden Journal\\nlUMst have been the more severe in that, during the whole\\nperiod of its existence, the editor was vigorously carrying\\nout his duties as a magistrate. The prison and political\\nscenes in Amelia, which contemporary critics regarded as", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0168.jp2"}, "169": {"fulltext": "vi.] AMELIA. 155\\nredundant, and which even to us are more curious than es-\\nsential, testify at once to his growing interest in reform,\\nand his keen appreciation of the defects which existed\\nboth in the law itself and in the administration of the law\\nwhile the numerous cases heard before him, and periodi-\\ncally reported in his paper by his clerk, afford ample evi-\\ndence of his judicial activity. How completely he regard-\\ned himself (Bathurst and Rigby notwithstanding) as the\\nservant of the public, may be gathered from the following\\nregularly repeated notice:\\nTo the Public.\\nAll Persons who shall for the Future, suffer by Robbers, Burg-\\nlars, c., are desired immediately to bring, or send, the best Descrip-\\ntion they can of such Robbers, c, with the Time and Place, and\\nCircumstances of the Fact, to Henry Fielding, Esq. at his House in\\nBow Street.\\nAnother instance of his energy in his vocation is to be\\nfound in the little collection of cases entitled Examples of\\nthe Interposition of Providence, in the Detection and Pun-\\nishment of Murder, published, with Preface and Introduc-\\ntion, in April, 1752, and prompted, as advertisement an-\\nnounces, by the many horrid Murders committed within\\nthis last Year. It appeared, as a matter of fact, only a\\nfew days after the execution at Oxford, for parricide, of\\nthe notorious Miss Mary Blandy, and might be assumed\\nto have a more or less timely intention but the purity of\\nFielding s purpose is placed beyond a doubt by the fact\\nthat he freely distributed it in court to those whom it\\nseemed calculated to profit.\\nThe only other works of Fielding which precede the\\nposthumously published Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon\\nare the Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for\\nthe Poor, etc., a pamphlet dedicated to the Right Honble.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0169.jp2"}, "170": {"fulltext": "156 FIELDING. [chap.\\nHenry Pelham, published in January, 1753 and the Clear\\nState of the Case of Elizabeth Canning, published in March.\\nThe former, which the hitherto unfriendly Gentleman s pat-\\nronisingly styles an excellent piece, conceived in a man-\\nner which gives a high idea of his [the author s] present\\ntemper, manners, and ability, is an elaborate project for\\nthe erection, inter alia, of a vast building, of which a plan,\\ndrawn by an Eminent Hand, was given, to be called the\\nCounty house, capable of containing 5000 inmates, and\\nincluding work-rooms, prisons, an infirmary, and other\\nfeatures, the details of which are too minute to be repeat-\\ned in these pages, even if they had received any attention\\nfrom the Legislature, which they did not. The latter was\\nFielding s contribution to the extraordinary judicial puz-\\nzle which agitated London in 1753-54. It is needless to\\ndo more than recall its outline. On the 29th of January,\\n1753, one Elizabeth Canning, a domestic servant, aged\\neighteen or thereabouts, and who had hitherto borne an\\nexcellent character, returned to her mother, having been\\nmissing from the house of her master, a carpenter, in Al-\\ndermanbury, since the 1st of the same month. She was\\nhalf starved and half clad, and alleged that she had been\\nabducted, and confined during her absence in a house on\\nthe Hertford road, from which she had just escaped. This\\nhouse she afterwards identified as that of one Mother\\nWells, a person of very indifferent reputation. An ill-\\nfavoured old gipsy woman named Mary Squires was also\\ndeclared by her to have been the main agent in ill-using\\nand detaining her. The gipsy, it is true, averred that at\\nthe time of the occurrence she was a hundred and twenty\\nmiles away but Canning persisted in her statement.\\nAmong other people before whom she came was Fielding,\\nwho examined her, as well as a vouno- woman called Virtue", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0170.jp2"}, "171": {"fulltext": "vi.] AMELIA. 157\\nHall, who appeared subsequently as one of Canning s wit-\\nnesses. Fielding seems to have been strongly impressed\\nby her appearance and her story, and his pamphlet (which\\nwas contradicted in every particular by his adversary, John\\nHill) gives a curious and not very edifying picture of the\\nmagisterial procedure of the time. In February, Wells\\nand Squires were tried Squires was sentenced to death,\\nand Wells to imprisonment and burning in the hand.\\nThen, by the exertions of the Lord Mayor, Sir Crisp Gas-\\ncoyne, who doubted the justice of the verdict, Squires was\\nrespited and pardoned. Forthwith London was split up\\ninto Egyptian and Canningite factions; a hailstorm of\\npamphlets set in portraits and caricatures of the princi-\\npal personages were in all the print shops; and, to use\\nChurchill s words,\\nBetty Canning was at least,\\nWith Gascoyne s help, a six months feast.\\nIn April, 1754, however, Fate so far prevailed against her\\nthat she herself, in turn, was tried for perjury. Thirty-six\\nwitnesses swore that Squires had been in Dorsetshire\\ntwenty-six that she had been seen in Middlesex. After\\nvSome hesitation, quite of a piece with the rest of the pro-\\nceedings, the jury found Canning guilty; and she was\\ntransported for seven years. At the end of her sentence\\nshe returned to England to receive a legacy of \u00c2\u00a3500, which,\\nhad been left her by an enthusiastic old lady of Newing-\\nton-grecn. Her case is full of the most inexplicable\\ncontradictions; and it occupies in the State Trials some\\n420 closely-printed pages of the most curious and pictu-\\nresque eighteenth-century details. But how, from the 1st\\nof January, 1753, to the 29th of the same month, Elizabeth\\nCanning really did manage to spend her time is a secret\\nthat, to this day, remains undivulged.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0171.jp2"}, "172": {"fulltext": "CHAPTER VII.\\nIn March, 1753, when Fielding published his pamphlet on\\nElizabeth Canning, his life was plainly drawing to a close.\\nHis energies indeed were unabated, as may be gathered\\nfrom a brief record in the Gentlemari s for that month,\\ndescribing his judicial raid, at four in the morning, upon\\na gaming-room, where he suspected certain highwaymen to\\nbe assembled. But his body was enfeebled by disease, and\\nhe knew he could not look for length of days. He had\\nlived not long, but much he had seen in little space, as\\nthe motto to Tom Jones announced, the manners of many\\nmen and now that, prematurely, the inevitable hour ap-\\nproached, he called Cicero and Horace to his aid, and pre-\\npared to meet his fate with philosophic fortitude. Be-\\ntween\\nQuern fors dierwn cunque dabit, lucro\\nAppone\\nand\\nGrata sitperveniet, qua* non sperabitur, flora,\\nhe tells us, in his too-little-consulted Proposal for the Poor,\\nhe had schooled himself to regard events with equanimity,\\nstriving above all, in what remained to him of life, to per-\\nform the duties of his office efficiently, and solicitous only\\nfor those he must leave behind him. Henceforward his", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0172.jp2"}, "173": {"fulltext": "chap. vii.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 159\\nliterary efforts should be mainly philanthropic and practi-\\ncal, not without the hope that, if successful, they might\\nbe the means of securing some provision for his family.\\nOf fiction he had taken formal leave in the trial of Amelia,\\nand of lighter writing generally in the last paper of the\\nCovent- Garden Journal. But, if we may trust his Intro-\\nduction, the amount of work he had done for this poor-\\nlaw project must have been enormous, for he had read and\\nconsidered all the laws upon the subject, as well as every-\\nthing that had been written on it since the days of Eliza-\\nbeth, yet he speaks nevertheless as one over whose head\\nthe sword had all the while been impending\\nThe Attempt, indeed, is such, that the Want of Success can\\nscarce be called a Disappointment, tho I shall have lost much Time,\\nand misemployed much Pains and what is above all, shall miss\\nthe Pleasure of thinking that in the Decline of my Health and Life,\\nI have conferred a great and lasting Benefit on my Country.\\nIn words still more resigned and dignified he concludes\\nthe book:\\nHis enemies [he says] will no doubt discover, that instead of in-\\ntending a Provision for the Poor, I have been carving out one for\\nmyself, 1 and have very cunningly projected to build myself a fine\\nHouse at the Expence of the Public. This would be to act in direct\\nOpposition to the Advice of my above Master [i. e., Horace] it would\\nbe indeed\\nStruere domos immemor sepulchrV\\nThose who do not know me, may believe this but those who do,\\nwill hardly be so deceived by that Chearfulness which was always\\nnatural to me and which, I thank God, my Conscience doth not\\nreprove me for, to imagine that I am not sensible of my declining\\nConstitution. Ambition or Avarice can no longer raise a Hope,\\nor dictate any Scheme to me, who have no further Design than to\\n1 Presumably as Governor of the proposed County-house.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0173.jp2"}, "174": {"fulltext": "160 FIELDIXG. [chap.\\npass my short Remainder of Life in some Degree of Ease, and, barely\\nto preserve my Family from being the Objects of any such Laws as\\n1 have here proposed.\\nWith the exception of the above, and kindred passages\\nquoted from the Prefaces to the Miscellanies and the\\nPlays, the preceding pages, as the reader has no doubt ob-\\nserved, contain little of a purely autobiographical charac-\\nter. Moreover, the anecdotes related of Fielding by Mur-\\nphy and others have not always been of such a nature as\\nto inspire implicit confidence in their accuracy, while of\\nthe very few letters that have been referred to, none have\\nany of those intimate and familiar touches which reveal\\nthe individuality of the writer. But from the middle of\\n1753 up to a short time before his death, Fielding has\\nhimself related the story of his life, in one of the most un-\\nfeigned and touching little tracts in our own or any other\\nliterature. The only thing which, at the moment, suggests\\nitself for comparison with the Journal of a Voyage to Lis-\\nbon is the letter and dedication which Fielding s prede-\\ncessor, Cervantes, prefixes to his last romance of Persiles\\nand Sigismunda. In each case the words are animated by\\nthe same uncomplaining kindliness the same gallant and\\nindomitable spirit in each case the writer is a dying man.\\nCervantes survived the date of his letter to the Conde de\\nLemos but three days and the Journal, says Fielding s\\neditor (probably his brother John), was finished almost\\nat the same period with life. It was written, from its\\nauthor s account, in those moments of the voyage when,\\nhis womankind being sea-sick, and the crew wholly ab-\\nsorbed in working the ship, he was thrown upon his own\\nresources, and compelled to employ his pen to while away\\nthe time. The Preface, and perhaps the Introduction,\\nwere added after his arrival at Lisbon, in the brief period", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0174.jp2"}, "175": {"fulltext": "vii.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 161\\nbefore his death. The former is a semi-humorous apology\\nfor voyage-writing the latter gives an account of the cir-\\ncumstances which led to this his last expedition in search\\nof health.\\nAt the beginning of August, 1753, Fielding tells us,\\nhaving taken the Duke of Portland s medicine 1 for near a\\nyear, the effects of which had been the carrying off the\\nsymptoms of a lingering imperfect gout, Mr. Ranby, the\\nKing s Sergeant-Surgeon 2 (to whom complimentary refer-\\nence had been made in the Man of the Hill s story in Tom\\nJones), with other able physicians, advised him to go im-\\nmediately to Bath. He accordingly engaged lodgings,\\nand prepared to leave town forthwith. While he was\\nmaking ready for his departure, and was almost fatigued\\nto death with several long examinations, relating to five\\ndifferent murders, all committed within the space of a\\nweek, by different gangs of street robbers, he received a\\nmessage from the Duke of Newcastle, afterwards Premier,\\nthrough that Mr. Carrington whom Walpole calls the\\ncleverest of all ministerial terriers, requesting his attend-\\nance in Lincoln s-inn Fields (Newcastle House). Being\\nlame, and greatly over-taxed, Fielding excused himself.\\nBut the Duke sent Mr. Carrington again next day, and\\nFielding with great difficulty obeyed the summons. After\\nwaiting some three hours in the antechamber (no unusual\\nfeature, as Lord Chesterfield informs us, of the Newcastle\\naudiences), a gentleman was deputed to consult him as to\\nthe devising of a plan for putting an immediate end to\\n1 A popular eighteenth-centurv gout-powder, but as old as Galen.\\nThe receipt for it is given in the Gentleman s Magazine, vol. xxiii.,\\np. 579.\\n2 Mr. Ranby was also the friend of Hogarth, who etched his house\\nat Chiswick.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0175.jp2"}, "176": {"fulltext": "162 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthe murders and robberies which had become so common.\\nThis, although the visit cost him a severe cold, Fielding\\nat once undertook. A proposal was speedily drawn out\\nand submitted to the Privy Council. Its essential features\\nwere the employment of a known informer, and the pro-\\nvision of funds for that purpose.\\nBy the time this scheme was finally approved Fielding s\\ndisorder had turned to a deep jaundice, in which case\\nthe Bath waters were generally regarded as almost infal-\\nlible. But his eager desire to break up this gang of\\nvillains and cut-throats delayed him in London; and a\\nday or two after he had received a portion of the stipu-\\nlated grant (which portion, it seems, took several weeks\\nin arriving), the whole body were entirely dispersed\\nseven of them were in actual custody, and the rest\\ndriven, some out of town, and others out of the kingdom.\\nIn examining them, however, and in taking depositions,\\nwhich often occupied whole days and sometimes nights,\\nalthough he had the satisfaction of knowing that during\\nthe dark months of November and December the metro-\\npolis enjoyed complete immunity from murder and rob-\\nbery, his own health was reduced to the last extremity.\\nMine [he says] was now no longer what is called a\\nBath case, nor, if it had been, could his strength have\\nsustained the intolerable fatigue of the journey thither.\\nHe accordingly gave up his Bath lodgings, which he had\\nhitherto retained, and went into the country in a very\\nweak and deplorable condition. He was suffering from\\njaundice, dropsy, and asthma, under which combination\\nof diseases his body was so entirely emaciated, that it\\nhad lost all its muscular flesh. He had begun with rea-\\nson to look on his case as desperate, and might fairly\\nhave regarded himself as voluntarily sacrificed to the good", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0176.jp2"}, "177": {"fulltext": "vii.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 163\\nof the public. But he is far too honest to assign his\\naction to philanthropy alone. His chief object (he owns)\\nhad been, if possible, to secure some provision for his fam-\\nily \\\\v the event of his death. Not being a trading jus-\\ntice that is, a justice who took bribes from suitors,\\nlike Justice Thrasher, in Amelia, or Justice Squeez um, in\\nthe Coffee House Politician his post at Bow Street had\\nscarcely been a lucrative one. By composing, instead of\\ninflaming, the quarrels of porters and beggars (which I\\nblush when I say hath not been universally practised) and\\nby refusing to take a shilling from a man who most un-\\ndoubtedly would not have had another left, I had reduced\\nan income of about 500/. a year of the dirtiest money upon\\nearth to little more than 300/., a considerable proportion\\nof which remained with my clerk. Besides the residue\\nof his justice s fees, he had also, he informs us, a yearly\\npension from the Government, out of the public service-\\nmoney, but the amount is not stated. The rest of his\\nmeans, as far as can be ascertained, were derived from his\\nliterary labours. To a man of his lavish disposition, and\\nwith the claims of a family upon him, this could scarcely\\nhave been a competence and if, as appears not very clear-\\nly from a note in the Journal, he now resigned his office\\nto his half-brother, who had long been his assistant, his\\nprivate affairs at the beginning of the winter of 1753-54\\nmust, as he says, have had but a gloomy aspect. In\\nthe event of his death his wife and children could have no\\nhope except from some acknowledgment by the Govern-\\nment of his past services.\\nMeanwhile his diseases were slowly gaining ground.\\nThe terrible winter of 1753-54, which, from the weather\\nrecord in the Gentleman s, seems, with small intermission,\\nto have been prolonged far into April, was especially try^", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0177.jp2"}, "178": {"fulltext": "164 FIELDING. [chap.\\ning to asthmatic patients, and consequently wholly against\\nhim. In February he returned to town, and put himself\\nunder the care of the notorious Dr. Joshua Ward, of Pall\\nMall, by whom he was treated and tapped for dropsy. 1\\nHe was at his worst, he says, on that memorable day\\nwhen the public lost Mr. Pelham (March 6th) but from\\nthis time he began, under Ward s medicines, to acquire\\nsome little degree of strength, although his dropsy in-\\ncreased. With May came the long-delayed spring, and\\nhe moved to Fordhook, 2 a little house belonging to him\\nat Ealing, the air of which place then enjoyed a consid-\\nerable reputation, being reckoned the best in Middlesex,\\nand far superior to that of Kensington Gravel-Pits.\\nHere a reperusal of Bishop Berkeley s Sirts, which had\\nbeen recalled to his memory by Mrs. Charlotte Lennox,\\nthe inimitable author of the Female Quixote, set him\\ndrinking tar- water with apparent good effect, except as far\\nas his chief ailment was concerned. The applications of\\nthe trocar became more frequent: the summer, if summer\\nit could be called, was mouldering away and winter,\\nwith all its danger to an invalid, was drawing on apace.\\nNothing seemed hopeful but removal to a warmer climate.\\nAix, in Provence, was at first thought of, but the idea was\\nabandoned, on account of the difficulties of the journey.\\n1 Ward appears in Hogarth s Consultation of Physicians, 1736,\\nand in Pope Ward try d on Puppies, and the Poor, his drop. He\\nwas a quack, but must have possessed considerable ability. Boling-\\nbroke wished Pope to consult him in 1744 and he attended George\\nII. There is an account of him in Nichols s Genuine Works of\\nHogarth, vol. i., p. 89.\\n2 It lay on the Uxbridge road, a little beyond Acton, and nearly\\nopposite the present Ealing Common Station of the Metropolitan\\nDistrict Railway. The site is now occupied by a larger house bear-\\ning the same name, belonging to Captain Tyrrell.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0178.jp2"}, "179": {"fulltext": "til] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 165\\nLisbon, where Doddridge had died three years before, was\\nthen chosen a passage in a vessel trading to the port was\\nengaged for the sick man, his wife, daughter, and two ser-\\nvants and after some delays they started. At this point\\nthe actual Journal begins with a well-remembered entry\\nWednesday, June 26 /t, 1754.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 On this day, the most melancholy\\nsun I had ever beheld arose, and found me awake at my house at\\nFordhook. By the light of this sun, I was, in my own opinion, last to\\nbehold and take leave of some of those creatures on whom I doated\\nwith a mother-like fondness, guided by nature and passion, and un-\\ncured and unhardened by all the doctrine of that philosophical\\nschool where I had learnt to bear pains and to despise death.\\nIn this situation, as I could not conquer nature, I submitted en-\\ntirely to her, and she made as great a fool of me as she had ever\\ndone of any woman whatsoever under pretence of giving me leave\\nto enjoy, she drew me to suffer the company of my little ones, dur-\\ning eight hours and I doubt not whether, in that time, I did not\\nundergo more than in all my distemper.\\nAt twelve precisely my coach was at the door, which was no\\nsooner told me than I kiss d my children round, and went into it\\nwith some little resolution. My wife, who behaved more like a her-\\noine and philosopher, tho at the same time the tenderest mother\\nin the world, and my eldest daughter, followed me some friends\\nwent with us, and others here took their leave and I heard my be-\\nhaviour applauded, with many murmurs and praises to which I well\\nknew I had no title as all other such philosophers may, if they\\nhave any modesty, confess on the like occasions.\\nTwo hours later the party reached Rotherhithe. Here,\\nwith the kindly assistance of his and Hogarth s friend,\\nMr. Saunders Welch, High Constable of Holborn, the sick\\nman, who, at this time, had no use of his limbs, was\\ncarried to a boat, and hoisted in a chair over the ship s\\nside; This latter journey, far more fatiguing to the suf-\\nferer than the twelve miles ride which he had previously\\nundergone, was not rendered more easy to bear by th", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0179.jp2"}, "180": {"fulltext": "166 FIELDING. [chap.\\njests of the watermen and sailors, to whom his ghastly,\\ndeath-stricken countenance seemed matter for merriment\\nand he was greatly rejoiced to find himself safely seated\\nin the cabin. The voyage, however, already more than\\nonce deferred, was not yet to begin. Wednesday, being\\nKing s Proclamation Day, the vessel could not be cleared\\nat the Custom House and on Thursday the skipper an-\\nnounced that he should not set out until Saturday. As\\nFielding s complaint was again becoming troublesome, and\\nno surgeon was available on board, he sent for his friend,\\nthe famous anatomist, Mr. Hunter, of Covent Garden, 1 by\\nwhom he was tapped, to his own relief, and the admira-\\ntion of the simple sea-captain, who (he writes) was greatly\\nimpressed by the heroic constancy, with which I had\\nborne an operation that is attended with scarce any degree\\nof pain. On Sunday the vessel dropped down to Graves-\\nend, where, on the next day, Mr. Welch, who until then\\nhad attended them, took his leave and Fielding, relieved\\nby the trocar of any immediate apprehensions of discom-\\nfort, might, in spite of his forlorn case, have been fairly\\nat ease. He had a new concern, however, in the state of\\nMrs. Fielding, who was in agony with toothache, which\\nsuccessive operators failed to relieve and there is an un-\\nconsciously touching little picture of the sick man and his\\nskipper, who was deaf, sitting silently over a small bowl\\nof punch in the narrow cabin, for fear of waking the\\npain-worn sleeper in the adjoining state-room. Of his\\nsecond wife, as may be gathered from the opening words\\nof the Journal, Fielding always speaks with the warmest\\naffection and gratitude. Elsewhere, recording a storm off\\nthe Isle of Wight, he says My dear wife and child must\\n1 This must have been William Hunter, for in 1754 his more dis-\\ntinguished brother, John, had not yet become celebrated.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0180.jp2"}, "181": {"fulltext": "vii.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 167\\npardon me, if what I did not conceive to be any great evil\\nto myself, I was not much terrified with the thoughts of\\nhappening to them in truth, I have often thought they\\nare both too good, and too gentle, to be trusted to the\\npower of any man. With what a tenacity of courtesy\\nhe treated the whilom Mary Daniel may be gathered from\\nthe following vignette of insolence in office, which can be\\ntaken as a set-off to the malicious tattle of Walpole\\nSoon after their departure [i. e., Mr. Welch and a companion], our\\ncabin, where my wife and I were sitting together, was visited by two\\nruffians, whose appearance greatly corresponded with that of the\\nsheriff s, or rather the knight-marshal s bailiffs. One of these espe-\\ncially, who seemed to affect a more than ordinary degree of rudeness\\nand insolence, came in without any kind of ceremony, with a broad\\ngold lace upon his hat, which was cocked with much military fierce-\\nness on his head. An inkhorn at his button-hole, and some papers\\nin his hand, sufficiently assured me what he was, and I asked him\\nif he and his companions were not custom-house officers he an-\\nswered with sufficient dignity that they were, as an information\\nwhich he seemed to consider would strike the hearer with awe, and\\nsuppress all further inquiry but on the contrary I proceeded to ask\\nof what rank he was in the Custom house, and receiving an answer\\nfrom his companion, as I remember, that the gentleman was a riding\\nsurveyor I replied, that he might be a riding surveyor, but could be\\nno gentleman, for that none who had any title to that denomination\\nwould break into the presence of a lady, without any apology, or even\\nmoving his hat. He then took his covering from his head, and laid\\nit on the table, saying, he asked pardon, and blamed the mate, who\\nshould, he said, have informed him if any persons of distinction were\\nbelow. I told him he might guess from our appearance (which,\\nperhaps, was rather more than could be said with the strictest ad-\\nherence to truth) that he was before a gentleman and lady, which\\nshould teach him to be very civil in his behaviour, tho we should\\nnot happen to be of the number whom the world calls people of\\nfashion and distinction. However, I said, that as he seemed sensible\\nof his error, and had asked pardon, the lady would permit him to\\nput his hat on again, if he chose it. This he refused with some\\nM", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0181.jp2"}, "182": {"fulltext": "168 FIELDING. [chap.\\ndegree of surliness, and failed not to convince me that, if I should\\ncondescend to become more gentle, he would soon grow more rude.\\nThe date of this occurrence was July the 1st. On the\\nevening of the same day they weighed anchor and man-\\naged to reach the Nore. For more than a week they were\\nwind-bound in the Downs; but on the 11th they anchored\\noff Ryde, from which place, on the next morning, Field-\\ning despatched the following letter to his brother. Be-\\nsides giving the name of the captain and the ship, which\\nare carefully suppressed in the Journal, 1 it is especially in-\\nteresting as being the last letter written by Fielding of\\nwhich we have any knowledge\\nOn board the Queen of Portugal, Rich d Veal at anchor on\\nthe Mother Bank, off Ryde, to the Care of the Post Master\\nof Portsmouth this is my Date and y r Direction.\\nJuly 12 1754.\\nDear Jack, After receiving that agreeable Lre from Mess Field-\\ning and Co., we weighed on monday morning and sailed from Deal\\nto the Westward Four Days long but inconceivably pleasant Passage\\nbrought us yesterday to an Anchor on the Mother Bank, on the\\nBack of the Isle of Wight, where we had last Night in Safety the\\nPleasure of hearing the Winds roar over our Heads in as violent a\\nTempest as I have known, and where my only Consideration were\\nthe Fears which must possess any Friend of ours, (if there is happily\\nany such) who really makes our Wellbeing the Object of his Concern\\nespecially if such Friend should be totally inexperienced in Sea\\nAffairs. I therefore beg that on the Day you receive this M rs\\n1 Probably this was intentional. Notwithstanding the statement\\nin the Dedication to the Public that the text is given as it came\\nfrom the hands of the author, the Journal, in the first issue of 1755,\\nseems to have been considerably edited. Mrs. Francis (the\\nRyde landlady) is there called Mrs. Humphrys, and the portrait of\\nthe military coxcomb, together with some particulars of Fielding s\\nvisit to the Duke of Newcastle and other details, are wholly omitted,", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0182.jp2"}, "183": {"fulltext": "vit] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 169\\nDaniel l may know that we are just risen from Breakfast in Health\\nand Spirits this twelfth Instant at 9 in the morning. Our Voyage\\nhath proved fruitful in Adventures all which being to be written in\\nthe Book, you must postpone y r Curiosity As the Incidents which\\nfall under y r Cognizance will possibly be consigned to Oblivion, do\\ngive them to us as they pass. Tell y r Neighbour I am much obliged\\nto him for recommending me to the Care of a most able and experi-\\nenced Seaman to whom other Captains seem to pay such Deference\\nthat they attend and watch his Motions, and think themselves only\\nsafe when they act under his Direction and Example. Our Ship in\\nTruth seems to give Laws on the Water with as much Authority and\\nSuperiority as you Dispense Laws to the Public and Examples to y r\\nBrethren in Commission. Please to direct y r Answer to me on\\nBoard as in the Date, if gone to be returned, and then send it by\\nthe Post and Pacquet to Lisbon to\\nY r affec* Brother\\nH. Fielding\\nTo John Fielding Esq. at his House in\\nBow Street Cov 1 Garden London.\\nAs the Queen of Portugal did not leave Ryde until the\\n23rd, it is possible that Fielding received a reply. During\\nthe remainder of this desultory voyage he continued to be-\\nguile his solitary hours hours of which we are left to im-\\nagine the physical torture and monotony, for he says but\\nlittle of himself by jottings and notes of the, for the most\\npart, trivial incidents of his progress. That happy cheer-\\nfulness, of which he spoke in the Proposal for the Poor,\\nhad not yet deserted him and there are moments when\\nhe seems rather on a pleasure-trip than a forlorn pilgrim-\\nage in search of health. At Ryde, where, for change of\\n1 It will be remembered that the maiden-name of Fielding s sec-\\nond wife, as given in the Register of St. Bene t s, was Mary Daniel.\\nMrs. Daniel was therefore, in all probability, Fielding s mother-in-\\nlaw; and it may reasonably be assumed that she had remained in\\ncharge of the little family at Fordhook,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0183.jp2"}, "184": {"fulltext": "110 FIELDING. [chap.\\nair, he went ashore, he chronicles, after many discomforts\\nfrom the most disobliging of landladies (let the name of\\nMrs. Francis go down to posterity the best, the pleas-\\nantest, and the merriest meal, [in a barn] with more appe-\\ntite, more real, solid luxury, and more festivity, than was\\never seen in an entertainment at White s. At Torbay he\\nexpatiates upon the merits and flavour of the John Dory,\\na specimen of which gloriously regaled the party, and\\nfurnished him with a pretext for a dissertation on the Lon-\\ndon Fish Supply. Another page he devotes to commenda-\\ntion of the excellent Vinum Pomonce, or Southam cider,\\nsupplied by Mr. Giles Leverance of Cheeshurst, near Dart-\\nmouth, in Devon, of which, for the sum of five pounds ten\\nshillings, he extravagantly purchases three hogsheads, one\\nfor himself, and the others as presents for friends, among\\nwhom no doubt was kindly Mr. Welch. Here and there\\nhe sketches, with but little abatement of his earlier gaiety\\nand vigour, the human nature around him. Of the objec-\\ntionable Ryde landlady and her husband there are portraits\\nnot much inferior to those of the Tow-wouses in Joseph\\nAndrews, while the military fop, who visits his uncle the\\ncaptain off Spithead, is drawn with all the insight which\\ndepicted the vagaries of Ensign North erton, whom indeed\\nthe real hero of the Journal not a little resembles. The\\nbest character sketch, however, in the whole is that of\\nCaptain Richard Veal himself (one almost feels inclined to\\nwonder whether he was in any way related to the worthy\\nlady whose apparition visited Mrs. Bargrave at Canter-\\nbury but it is of necessity somewhat dispersed. It has.\\nalso an additional attraction, because, if we remember right-\\nly, it is Fielding s sole excursion into the domain of Smol-\\nlett. The rough old sea-dog of the Haddock and Vernon\\nperiod, who had been a privateer and who still, as skipper", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0184.jp2"}, "185": {"fulltext": "vil] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 171\\nof a merchant-man, when he visits a friend or gallants the\\nladies, decorates himself with a scarlet coat, cockade, and\\nsword who gives vent to a kind of Irish howl when his\\nfavourite kitten is suffocated under a feather bed and falls\\nabjectly on his knees when threatened with the dreadful\\nname of Law, is a character which, in its surly good hu-\\nmour and sensitive dignity, might easily, under more fa-\\nvourable circumstances, have grown into an individuality,\\nif not equal to that of Squire Western, at leact on a level\\nwith Partridge or Colonel Bath. There are numbers of\\nminute touches as, for example, his mistaking a lion\\nfor Elias when he reads prayers to the ship s company\\nand his quaint asseverations when exercised by the incon-\\nstancy of the wind which show how closely Fielding\\nstudied his deaf companion. But it would occupy too\\nlarge a space to examine the Journal more in detail. It is\\nsufficient to sa}^ that after some further delays from wind\\nand tide, the travellers sailed up the Tagus. Here, having\\nundergone the usual quarantine and custom-house obstruc-\\ntion, they landed, and Fielding s penultimate words record a\\ngood supper at Lisbon, for which we were as well charged,\\nas if the bill had been made on the Bath Road, between\\nNewbury and London. The book ends with a line from\\nthe poet whom, in the Proposal for the Poor, he had called\\nhis master:\\nHie finis chartceque viceque.\\nTwo months afterwards he died at Lisbon, on the 8th of\\nOctober, in the forty-eighth year of his age.\\nHe was buried on the hillside in the centre of the beau-\\ntiful English cemetery, which faces the great Basilica of\\nthe Heart of Jesus, otherwise known as the Church of the\\nEstrella. Here, in a leafy spot where the nightingales fill\\nthe still air with song, and watched by those secular cy-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0185.jp2"}, "186": {"fulltext": "172 FIELDING. [chap.\\npresses from which the place takes its Portuguese name\\nof Os Cypi estes, lies all that was mortal of him whom Scott\\ncalled the Father of the English Novel. His first tomb,\\nwhich AVraxall found, in 1772, nearly concealed by weeds\\nand nettles, was erected by the English factory, in conse-\\nquence mainly as it seems of a proposal made by an en-\\nthusiastic Chevalier de Meyrionnet, to provide one (with\\nan epitaph) at his own expense. That now existing was\\nsubstituted in 1830, by the exertions of the Rev. Christo-\\npher Neville, British Chaplain at Lisbon. It is a heavy\\nsarcophagus, resting upon a large base, and surmounted\\nby just such another urn and flame as that on Hogarth s\\nTomb at Chiswick. On the front is a long Latin inscrip-\\ntion on the back the better-known words\\nLuget Britannia Gremio non dari\\nfovere natcm.\\nIt is to this last memorial that the late George Borrow\\nreferred in his Bible in Spain\\nLet travellers devote one entire morning to inspecting the Arcos\\nand the Mai das agoas, after which they may repair to the English\\nchurch and cemetery, Pere-la-chaise in miniature, where, if they be of\\nEngland, they may well be excused if they kiss the cold tomb, as I\\ndid, of the author of Amelia, the most singular genius which their\\nisland ever produced, whose works it has long been the fashion to\\nabuse in public and to read in secret.\\nBorrow s book was first published in 1843. Of late\\nyears the tomb had been somewhat neglected but from\\na communication in the Athenaeum of May, 1879, it ap-\\npears that it had then been recently cleaned, and the in-\\n1 The fifth word is generally given as datum. But the above\\nversion, which has been verified at Lisbon, may be accepted as\\ncorrect.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0186.jp2"}, "187": {"fulltext": "vil] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 173\\nscriptions restored, by order of the present chaplain, the\\nRev. Godfrey Pope.\\nThere is but one authentic portrait of Henry Fielding.\\nThis is the pen-and-ink sketch drawn from memory by\\nHogarth, long after Fielding s death, to serve as a frontis-\\npiece for Murphy s edition of his works. It was engraved\\nin facsimile by James Basire, with such success that the\\nartist is said to have mistaken an impression of the plate\\n(without its emblematic border) for his own drawing.\\nHogarth s sketch is the sole source of all the portraits,\\nmore or less romanced, which are prefixed to editions\\nof Fielding and also, there is good reason to suspect, of\\nthe dubious little miniature, still in possession of his de-\\nscendants, which figures in Hutchins s History of Dorset\\nand elsewhere. More than one account has been given of\\nthe way in which the drawing was produced. The most\\neffective, and, unfortunately, the most popular, version has,\\nof course, been selected by Murphy. In this he tells us\\nthat Hogarth, being unable to recall his dead friend s feat-\\nures, had recourse to a profile cut in paper by a lady, who\\npossessed the happy talent which Pope ascribes to Lady\\n.Burlington. Her name, which is given in Nichols, was\\nMargaret Collier, and she was possibly the identical Miss\\nCollier who figures in Richardson s Correspondence. Set-\\nting aside the fact that, as Hogarth s eye -memory was\\nphenomenal, this story is highly improbable, it was ex-\\npressly contradicted by George Steevens in 1781, and by\\nJohn Ireland in 1798, both of whom, from their relations\\nwith Hogarth s family, were likely to be credibly informed.\\nSteevens, after referring to Murphy s fable, says in the Bi-\\nographical Anecdotes of William Hogarth I am assured\\nthat our artist began and finished the head in the presence\\nof his wife and another lady. He had no assistance but", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0187.jp2"}, "188": {"fulltext": "174 FIELDING. [chap.\\nfrom his own memory, which, on such occasions, was re-\\nmarkably tenacious. Ireland, in his Hogarth Illustrated,\\ngives us as the simple fact the following Hogarth being\\ntold, after his friend s death, that a portrait was wanted as\\na frontispiece to his works, sketched this from memory.\\nAccording to the inscription on Basire s plate, it repre-\\nsents Fielding at the age of forty-eight, or in the year of\\nhis death. This, however, can only mean that it repre-\\nsents him as Hogarth had last seen him. But long before\\nhe died disease had greatly altered his appearance and\\nhe must have been little more than the shadow of the\\nhandsome Harry Fielding, who wrote farces for Mrs. Clive,\\nand heard the chimes at midnight. As he himself says in\\nthe Voyage to Lisbon, he had lost his teeth, and the con-\\nsequent falling-in of the lips is plainly perceptible in the\\nprofile. The shape of the Roman nose, which Colonel\\nJames in Amelia irreverently styled a proboscis, would,\\nhowever, remain unaltered, and it is still possible to divine\\na curl, half humorous, half ironic, in the short upper lip.\\nThe eye, apparently, was dark and deep-set. Oddly enough,\\nthe chin, to the length of which he had himself referred in\\nthe Champion, does not appear abnormal. 1 Beyond the\\nfact that he was above six feet in height, and, until the\\ngout had broken his constitution, unusually robust, Mur-\\n1 In the bust of Fielding which Miss Margaret Thomas has been\\ncommissioned by Mr. R. A. Kinglake to execute for the Somerset\\nValhalla, the Shire-hall at Taunton, these points have been carefully\\nconsidered and the sculptor has succeeded in producing a work\\nwhich, while it suggests the mingling of humour and dignity that is\\nFielding s chief characteristic, is also generally faithful to Hogarth s\\nindications. From these, indeed, it is impossible to deviate. Not\\nonly is his portrait unique, but (and this is confirmed by Ireland\\nand Steevens) it was admitted to be like Fielding by Fielding s\\nfriends.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0188.jp2"}, "189": {"fulltext": "Tti.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 175\\nphy adds nothing further to our idea of his personal ap-\\npearance.\\nThat other picture of his character, traced and retraced\\n(often with much exaggeration of outline), is so familiar\\nin English literature, that it cannot now be materially al-\\ntered or amended. Yet it is impossible not to wish that\\nit were derived from some less prejudiced or more trust-\\nworthy witnesses than those who have spoken say, for\\nexample, from Lyttelton or Allen. There are always signs\\nthat Walpole s malice, and Smollett s animosity, and the\\nrancour of Richardson, have had too much to do with the\\nrepresentation and even Murphy and Lady Mary are\\nscarcely persons whom one would select as ideal biogra-\\nphers. The latter is probably right in comparing her cous-\\nin to Sir Richard Steele. Both were generous, kindly,\\nbrave, and sensitive; both were improvident; both loved\\nwomen and little children both sinned often, and had\\ntheir moments of sincere repentance to both was given\\nthat irrepressible hopefulness, and full delight of being,\\nwhich forgets to-morrow in to-day. That Henry Fielding\\nwas wild and reckless in his youth it would be idle to con-\\ntest indeed, it is an intelligible, if not a necessary, con-\\nsequence of his physique and his temperament. But it is\\nnot fair to speak of him as if his youth lasted for ever.\\nCritics and biographers, says Mr. Leslie Stephen, have\\ndwelt far too exclusively upon the uglier side of his Bohe-\\nmian life and Fielding himself, in the Jacobite s Jour-\\nnal, complains sadly that his enemies have traced his im-\\npeachment even to his boyish Years. That he who was\\nprodigal as a lad was prodigal as a man may be conceded\\nthat he who was sanguine at twenty would be sanguine at\\nforty (although this is less defensible) may also be allowed.\\nBut, if we press for better assurance than Bardolph,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0189.jp2"}, "190": {"fulltext": "176 FIELDING. [chap.\\nthere is absolutely no good evidence that Fielding s career\\nafter his marriage materially differed from that of other\\nmen struggling for a livelihood, hampered with ill-health,\\nand exposed to all the shifts and humiliations of necessity.\\nIf any portrait of him is to be handed down to posterity,\\nlet it be the last rather than the first not the Fielding of\\nthe green-room and the tavern, of Co vent Garden frolics\\nand modern conversations; but the energetic magis-\\ntrate, the tender husband and father, the kindly host of\\nhis poorer friends, the practical philanthropist, the patient\\nand magnanimous hero of the Voyage to Lisbon. If these\\nthings be remembered, it will seem of minor importance\\nthat to his dying day he never knew the value of money,\\nor that he forgot his troubles over a chicken and cham-\\npagne. And even his improvidence was not without its\\nexcusable side. Once so runs the legend Andrew Mil-\\nlar made him an advance to meet the claims of an import-\\nunate tax-gatherer. Carrying it home, he met a friend, in\\neven worse straits than his own and the money changed\\nhands. When the tax-gatherer arrived there was nothing\\nbut the answer Friendship has called for the money\\nand had it; let the collector call again. Justice, it is\\nneedless to say, was satisfied by a second advance from\\nthe bookseller. But who shall condemn the man of whom\\nsuch a story can be told\\nThe literary work of Fielding is so inextricably inter-\\nwoven with what is known of his life that most of it has\\nbeen examined in the course of the foregoing narrative.\\nWhat remains to be said is chiefly in summary of what\\nhas been said already. As a dramatist he has no emi-\\nnence and though his plays do not deserve the sweeping\\ncondemnation with which Macaulay once spoke of them\\nin the House of Commons, they are not likely to attract", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0190.jp2"}, "191": {"fulltext": "Vii.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 177\\nany critics but those for whom the inferior efforts of a\\ngreat genius possess a morbid fascination. Some of them\\nserve, in a measure, to illustrate his career; others contain\\nhints and situations which he afterwards worked into his\\nnovels but the only ones that possess real stage qualities\\nare those which he borrowed from Regnard and Moliere.\\nDon Quixote in England, Pasquin, the Historical Register,\\ncan claim no present consideration commensurate with\\nthat which they received as contemporary satires, and\\ntheir interest is mainly antiquarian while Tom Thumb\\nand the Covent Garden Tragedy, the former of which\\nwould make the reputation of a smaller man, can scarcely\\nhope to be remembered beside Amelia or Jonathan Wild.\\nNor can it be admitted that, as a periodical writer, Field-\\ning was at his best. In spite of effective passages, his\\nessays remain far below the work of the great Augustans,\\nand are not above the level of many of their less illus-\\ntrious imitators. That instinct of popular selection, which\\nretains a faint hold upon the Rambler, the Adventurer,\\nthe World j and the Connoisseur, or at least consents to\\ngive them honourable interment as British Essayists\\nin a secluded corner of the shelves, has made no pretence\\nto any preservation, or even any winnowing, of the Cham-\\npion and the True Patriot. Fielding s papers are learn-\\ned and ingenious; they are frequently humorous; they\\nare often earnest; but it must be a loiterer in literature\\nwho, in these days, except for antiquarian or biographi-\\ncal purposes, can honestly find it worth while to consult\\nthem. His pamphlets and projects are more valuable, if\\nonly that they prove him to have looked curiously and\\nsagaciously at social and political problems, and to have\\nstriven, as far as in him lay, to set the crooked straight.\\nTheir import, to-day, is chiefly that of links in a chain\\n8*", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0191.jp2"}, "192": {"fulltext": "IIS FIELDING. [chap.\\nof contributions to a progressive literature which has\\ntravelled into regions unforeseen by the author of the\\nProposal for the Poor, and the Inquiry into the Causes\\nof the late Increase of Robbers. As such, they have their\\nplace in that library of political economy of which Mr.\\nM Culloch has catalogued the riches. It is not, however,\\nby his pamphlets, his essays, or his plays that Fielding is\\nreally memorable it is by his triad of novels, and the sur-\\npassing study in irony of Jonathan Wild. In Joseph An-\\ndrews we have the first sprightly runnings of a genius\\nthat, after much uncertainty, had at last found its fitting\\nvein, but was yet doubtful and undisciplined: in Tom\\nJones the perfect plan has come, with the perfected method\\nand the assured expression. There is an inevitable loss of\\nthat fine waywardness which is sometimes the result of\\nuntrained effort, but there is the general gain of order,\\nand the full production which results of art. The highest\\npoint is reached in Tom Jones, which is the earliest defi-\\nnite and authoritative manifestation of the modern novel.\\nIts relation to De Foe is that of the vertebrate to the in-\\nvertebrate to Richardson, that of the real to the ideal\\none might almost add, the impossible. It can be com-\\npared to no contemporary English work of its own kind;\\nand if we seek for its parallel at the time of publication\\nwe must go beyond literature to art to the masterpiece\\nof that great pictorial satirist who was Fielding s friend.\\nIn both Fielding and Hogarth there is the same construc-\\ntive power, the same rigid sequence of cause and effect,\\nthe same significance of detail, the same side-light of al-\\nlusion. Both have the same hatred of affectation and\\nhypocrisy the same unerring insight into character.\\nBoth are equally attracted by striking contrasts and comic\\nsituations in both there is the same declared morality of", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0192.jp2"}, "193": {"fulltext": "vii.] JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE TO LISBON. 179\\npurpose, coupled with the same sturdy virility of expres-\\nsion. One, it is true, leaned more strongly to tragedy, the\\nother to comedy. But if Fielding had painted pictures, it\\nwould have been in the style of the Marriage a la Mode\\nif Hogarth had written novels, they would have been in\\nthe style of Tom Jones. In the gentler and more subdued\\nAmelia, with its tender and womanly central-figure, there\\nis a certain change of plan, due to altered conditions it\\nmay be, to an altered philosophy of art. The narrative\\nis less brisk and animated; the character -painting less\\nbroadly humorous; the philanthropic element more strong-\\nly developed. To trace the influence of these three great\\nworks in succeeding writers would hold us too long. It\\nmay, nevertheless, be safely asserted that there are few\\nEnglish novels of manners, written since Fielding s day,\\nwhich do not descend from him as from their fount and\\nsource and that more than one of our modern masters\\nbetrays unmistakable signs of a form and fashion studied\\nminutely from his frank and manly ancestor.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0193.jp2"}, "194": {"fulltext": "POSTSCEIPT.\\nA few particulars respecting Fielding s family and post-\\nhumous works can scarcely be omitted from the present\\nmemoir. It has been stated that by his first wife he had\\none daughter, the Eleanor Harriot who accompanied him\\nto Lisbon, and survived him, although Mr. Keightley says,\\nbut without giving his authority, she did not survive him\\nlong. Of his family by Mary Daniel, the eldest son, Wil-\\nliam, to whose birth reference has already been made, was\\nbred to the law, became a barrister of the Middle Temple\\neminent as a special pleader, and ultimately a Westmin-\\nster magistrate. He died in October, 1820, at the age of\\nseventy-three. He seems to have shared his father s con-\\nversational qualities, 1 and, like him, to have been a strenu-\\nous advocate of the poor and unfortunate. Southey, writ-\\ning from Keswick in 1830 to Sir Egerton Brydges, speaks\\nof a meeting he had in St. James s Park, about 1817, with\\none of the novelist s sons. He was then, says Southey,\\na fine old man, though visibly shaken by time he re-\\nceived me in a manner which had much of old courtesy\\nabout it, and I looked upon him with great interest for\\nhis father s sake. The date, and the fact that William\\nFielding had had a paralytic stroke, make it almost cer-\\ntain that this was he and a further reference by Southey\\n1 Vide Lockhart s Life of Scott, chap. 1.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0194.jp2"}, "195": {"fulltext": "POSTSCRIPT. 181\\nto his religious opinions is confirmed by the obituary no-\\ntice in the Gentleman s, which speaks of him as a worthy\\nand pious man. The names and baptisms of the remaining\\nchildren, as supplied for these pages by the late Colonel\\nChester, were Mary Amelia, baptized January 6,1749;\\nSophia, January 21, 1750 Louisa, December 3, 1752 and\\nAllen, April 6, 1754, about a month before Fielding re-\\nmoved to Ealing. All these baptisms took place at St.\\nPaul s, Covent Garden, from the registers of which these\\nparticulars were extracted. The eldest daughter, Mary\\nAmelia, does not appear to have long survived, for the\\nsame registers record her burial on the 17th of December,\\n1749. Allen Fielding became a clergyman, and died, ac-\\ncording to Burke, in 1823, being then vicar of St. Ste-\\nphen s, Canterbury. He left a family of four sons and\\nthree daughters. One of the sons, George, became rector\\nof North Ockendon, Essex, and married, in 1825, Mary\\nRebecca, daughter of Ferdinand Hanbury- Williams, and\\ngrandniece of Fielding s friend and school fellow, Sir\\nCharles. This lady, who so curiously linked the pres-\\nent and the past, died not long since at Hereford Square,\\nBrompton, in her eighty -fifth year. Mrs. Fielding her-\\nself (Mary Daniel) appears to have attained a good old\\nage. Her death took place at Canterbury on the 11th of\\nMarch, 1802, perhaps in the house of her son Allen, who\\nis stated by Nichols in his Leicestershire to hatfe been\\nrector in 1803 of St. Cosmus and Damian-in-the-Blean.\\nAfter her husband s death, her children were educated by\\ntheir uncle John and Ralph Allen, the latter of whom\\nsays Murphy made a very liberal annual donation for\\nthat purpose; and (adds Chalmers in a note) when he\\ndied, in 1764, bequeathed to the widow and those of her\\nfamily then living the sum of ,\u00c2\u00a3100 each,", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0195.jp2"}, "196": {"fulltext": "182 FIELDING.\\nAmong Fielding s other connections it is only necessary\\nto speak of his sister Sarah, and his above-mentioned\\nbrother John. Sarah Fielding continued to write and in\\naddition to David Simple, published the Governess, 1749;\\na translation of Xenophon s Memorabilia; a dramatic fa-\\nble called the Cry, and some other forgotten books. Dur-\\ning the latter part of her life she lived at Bath, where she\\nwas highly popular, both for her personal character and\\nher accomplishments. She died in 1768; and her friend,\\nDr. John Hoadly, who wrote the verses to the Rakers Prog-\\nress, erected a monument to her memory in the Abbey\\nChurch.\\nHer unaffected Manners, candid Mind,\\nHer Heart benevolent, and Soul resign d,\\nWere more her Praise than all she knew or thought,\\nThough Athens Wisdom to her Sex she taught,\\nsays he but in mere facts the inscription is, as he mod-\\nestly styles it, a M deficient Memorial/ for she is described\\nas having been born in 1714 instead of 1710, and as being\\nthe second daughter of General Henry instead of General\\nEdmund Fielding. John Fielding, the novelist s half-\\nbrother, as already stated, succeeded him at Bow Street,\\nthough the post is sometimes claimed (on Boswell s au-\\nthority) for Mr. Welch. The mistake no doubt arose\\nfrom the circumstance that they frequently worked in\\nconcert. Previous to his appointment as a magistrate,\\nJohn Fielding, in addition to assisting his brother, seems\\nto have been largely concerned in the promotion of that\\ncurious enterprise, the Universal-Register-Office, so often\\nadvertised in the Covent-Garden Journal. It appears to\\nhave been an estate office, lost property office, servants\\nregistry, curiosity shop, and multifarious general agency.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0196.jp2"}, "197": {"fulltext": "POSTSCRIPT. 188\\nAs a magistrate, in spite of his blindness, John Fielding\\nwas remarkably energetic, and is reported to have known\\nmore than 3000 thieves by their voices alone, and could\\nrecognise them when brought into Court. He wrote a\\ndescription of London and Westminster, as well as some\\nprofessional and other works. He was knighted in 1761,\\nand died at Brompton Place in 1780. Lyttelton, who had\\nbecome Sir George in 1751, was raised to the peerage as\\nBaron Lyttelton of Frankley three years after Fielding s\\ndeath. He diedi n 1773. In 1760-65 he published his\\nDialogues of the Dead, profanely characterised by Mr.\\nWalpole as Dead Dialogues. No. 28 of these is a col-\\nloquy between Plutarch, Charon, and a Modern Book-\\nseller, and it contains the following reference to Fielding\\nWe have [says Mr. Bookseller] another writer of these\\nimaginary histories, one who has not long since descended\\nto these regions. His name is Fielding and his works, as\\nI have heard the best judges say, have a true spirit of com-\\nedy, and an exact representation of nature, with fine moral\\ntouches. He has not indeed given lessons of pure and\\nconsummate virtue, but he has exposed vice and meanness\\nwith all the powers of ridicule. It is perhaps excusable\\nthat Lawrence, like Roscoe and others, should have attrib-\\nuted this to Lyttelton but the preface nevertheless assigns\\nit, with two other dialogues, to a different hand. They\\nwere, in fact, the first essays in authorship of that illustri-\\nous blue-stocking, Mrs. Elizabeth Montagu.\\nFielding s only posthumous works are the Journal of a\\nVoyage to Lisbon and the comedy of The Fathers; or.\\nThe Good-Natur^d Man. The Journal was published in\\nFebruary, 1755, together with a fragment of a Comment\\non Bolingbroke s Essays, which Mallet had issued in\\nMarch of the previous year. This fragment must there-", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0197.jp2"}, "198": {"fulltext": "184 FIELDING.\\nfore have been begun in the last months of Fielding s life\\nand, according to Murphy, he made very careful prepara-\\ntion for the work, as attested by long extracts from the\\nFathers and the leading controversialists; which, after his\\ndeath, were preserved by his brother. Beyond a passage\\nor two in Richardson s Correspondence, and a sneering ref-\\nerence by Walpole to Fielding s account how his dropsy\\nwas treated and teased by an innkeeper s wife in the Isle\\nof Wight, there is nothing to show how the Journal was\\nreceived, still less that it brought any substantial pecuniary\\nrelief to those innocents, to whom reference had been\\nmade in the Dedication. The play was not placed\\nupon the stage until 1778. Its story, which is related in\\nthe Advertisement, is curious. After it had been set aside\\nin 1742, 1 it seems to have been submitted to Sir Charles\\nHanbury Williams. Sir Charles was just starting for\\nRussia, as Envoy Extraordinary. Whether the MS. went\\nwith him or not is unknown; but it was lost until 1775\\nor 1776, when it was recovered in a tattered and forlorn\\ncondition by Mr. Johnes, M.P. for Cardigan, from a person\\nwho entertained a very poor and even contemptuous opin-\\nion of its merits. Mr. Johnes thought otherwise. He sent\\nit to Garrick, who at once recognised it as Harry Field-\\ning s Comedy. Revised and retouched by the actor and\\nSheridan, it was produced at Drury Lane, as The Fathers,\\nwith a prologue and epilogue by Garrick. For a few\\nnights it was received with interest, and even some flick-\\nering enthusiasm. It was then withdrawn, and there is\\nno likelihood that it will ever be revived.\\n1 Vide Chapter. IV., p. 89.\\nTHE END.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0198.jp2"}, "199": {"fulltext": "VALUABLE AND INTERESTING WORKS\\nFOR\\nPUBLIC PRIVATE LIBRARIES,\\nPublished by HARPER BROTHERS, New York.\\ntW For a full List of Books suitable for Libraries published by Habpbb\\nBrothers, see Harper s Catalogue, which may be had gratuitously\\non application to the publishers personally, or by letter enclosing Ten\\nCents in postage stamps.\\nB3T Haepee Brothees will send their publications by mail, postage pre*\\npaid, on receipt of the price.\\nMACAULAY S ENGLAND. The History of England from the\\nAccession of James II. By Thomas Babington Macaulay.\\nNew Edition, from New Electrotype Plates. 5 vols., in a Box,\\n8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops,\\n$10 00 Sheep, $12 50 Half Calf, $21 25. Sold only in\\nSets. Cheap Edition, 5 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $2 50.\\nMACAULAY S MISCELLANEOUS WORKS. The Miscella-\\nneous Works of Lord Macaulay. From New Electrotype Plates.\\n5 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges\\nand Gilt Tops, $10 00; Sheep, $12 50; Half Calf, $21 25.\\nSold only in Sets.\\nHUME S ENGLAND. History of England, from the Invasion\\nof Julius Caesar to the Abdication of James II., 1688. By\\nDavid Hume. New and Elegant Library Edition, from New\\nElectrotype Plates. 6 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper\\nLabels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $12 00; Sheep, $15 00;\\nHalf Calf, $25 50. Sold only in Sets. Popular Edition, 6\\nvols., in a Box, 12mo, Cloth, $3 00.\\nGIBBON S ROME. The History of the Decline and Fall of the\\nRoman Empire. By Edward Gibbon. With Notes by Dean\\nMilman, M. Guizot, and Dr. William Smith. New Edi-\\ntion, from New Electrotype Plates. 6 vols., 8vo, Cloth, with\\nPaper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $12 00; Sheep,\\n$15 00 Half Calf, $25 50. Sold only in Sets. Popular Edi-\\ntion, 6 vols., in a Box, 12mo, Cloth, $3 00 Sheep, $6 00.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0199.jp2"}, "200": {"fulltext": "2 Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries.\\nGOLDSMITH S WORKS. The Works of Oliver Goldsmith.\\nEdited by Peter Cunningham, F.S.A. From New Electro-\\ntype Plates. 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Paper Labels, Uncut Edges\\nand Gilt Tops, $8 00 Sheep, $10 00 Half Calf, $17 00.\\nMOTLEY S DUTCH REPUBLIC. The Rise of the Dutch Re-\\npublic. A History. By John Lothrop Motley, LL.D.,\\nD.C.L. With a Portrait of William of Orange. Cheap Edi-\\ntion, 3 vols., in a Box. 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut\\nEdges and Gilt Tops, $6 00 Sheep, $7 50 Half Calf, $12 75.\\nSold only in Sets. Original Library Edition, 3 vols., 8vo,\\nCloth, $10 50.\\nMOTLEY S UNITED NETHERLANDS. History of the Unit-\\ned Netherlands From the Death of William the Silent to the\\nTwelve Years Truce 1584-1609. With a full View of the\\nEnglish-Dutch Struggle against Spain, and of the Origin and\\nDestruction of the Spanish Armada. By John Lothrop Mot-\\nlet, LL.D., D.C.L. Portraits. Cheap Edition, 4 vols., in a\\nBox, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops,\\n$8 00 Sheep, $10 00 Half Calf, $17 00. Sold only in Sets.\\nOriginal Library Edition, 4 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00.\\nVtOTLEY S JOHN OF BARNEVELD. The Life and Death of\\nJohn of Barneveld, Advocate of Holland. With a View of the\\nPrimary Causes and Movements of the Thirty Years War.\\nBy John Lothrop Motley, LL.D., D.C.L. Illustrated.\\nCheap Edition, 2 vols., in a Box, 8vo, Cloth, with Paper La-\\nbels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $4 00 Sheep, $5 00 Half\\nCalf, $8 50. Sold only in Sets. Original Library Edition, 2\\nvols., 8vo, Cloth, $7 00.\\nHILDRETH S UNITED STATES. History of the United\\nStates. First Series From the Discovery of the Continent\\nto the Organization of the Government under the Federal Con-\\nstitution. Second Series From the Adoption of the Federal\\nConstitution to the End of the Sixteenth Congress. By Rich-\\nard Hildreth. Popular Edition, 6 vols., in a Box, 8vo,\\nCloth, with Paper Labels, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $12 00\\nSheep, $15 00 Half Calf, $25 50. Sold only in Sets.\\nLODGE S ENGLISH COLONIES IN AMERICA. English\\nColonies in America. A Short History of the English Colonies\\nin America. By Henry Cabot Lodge. New and Revised\\nEdition. 8vo, Half Leather, $3 00.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0200.jp2"}, "201": {"fulltext": "Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries. 3\\nSTORMONTH S ENGLISH DICTIONARY. A Dictionary of\\nthe English Language, Pronouncing, Etymological, and Ex-\\nplanatory: embracing Scientific and other Terms, Numerous\\nFamiliar Terms, and a Copious Selection of Old English Words.\\nBy the Rev. James Stormonth. The Pronunciation Revised\\nby the Rev. P. H. Phelp, M.A. Imperial 8vo, Cloth, $6 00;\\nHalf Roan, $7 00; Full Sheep, $7 50. (New Edition.)\\nPARTON S CARICATURE. Caricature and Other Comic Art,\\nin All Times and Many Lands. By James Parton. 203 Illus-\\ntrations. 8vo, Cloth, Uncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $5 00 Half\\nCalf, $7 25.\\nDU CHAILLU S LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN. Sum-\\nmer and Winter Journeys in Sweden, Norway, Lapland, and\\nNorthern Finland. By Paul B. Du Chaillu. Illustrated.\\n2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $7 50 Half Calf, $12 00.\\nLOSSING S CYCLOPAEDIA OF UNITED STATES HISTO-\\nRY. From the Aboriginal Period to 1876. By B. J. Los-\\nsing, LL.D. Illustrated by 2 Steel Portraits and over 1000\\nEngravings. 2 vols., Royal 8vo, Cloth, $10 00 Sheep, $12 00\\nHalf Morocco, $15 00. (Sold by Subscription only.)\\nLOSSING S FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION. Pic-\\ntorial Field Book of the Revolution or, Illustrations by Pen\\nand Pencil of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Tra-\\nditions of the War for Independence. By Benson J. Lossing.\\n2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $14 00; Sheep or Roan, $15 00; Half Calf,\\n$18 00.\\nLOSSING S FIELD-BOOK OF THE WAR OF 1812- Pic-\\ntorial Field-Book of the War of 1812 or, Illustrations by Pen\\nand Pencil of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Tra-\\nditions of the last War for American Independence. By Ben-\\nson J. Lossing. With several hundred Engravings. 1088\\npages, 8vo, Cloth, $7 00 Sheep or Roan, $8 50 Half Calf,\\n$10 00.\\nMULLER S POLITICAL HISTORY OF RECENT TIMES\\n(1816-1875). With Special Reference to Germany. By Will-\\niam Muller. Translated, with an Appendix covering the\\nPeriod from 1876 to 1881, by the Rev. John P. Peters, Ph.D.\\n12mo, Cloth, $3 00.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0201.jp2"}, "202": {"fulltext": "4 Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries.\\nTREVELYAN S LIFE OF MACAULAY. The Life and Let-\\nters of Lord Macaulay. By his Nephew, G. Otto Trevelyan,\\nM.P. With Portrait on Steel. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Uncut\\nEdges and Gilt Tops, $5 00 Sheep, $6 00 Half Calf, $9 50.\\nPopular Edition, 2 vols, in one, 12mo, Cloth, $1 75.\\nTREVELYAN S LIFE OF FOX. The Early History of Charles\\nJames Fox. By George Otto Trevelyan. 8vo, Cloth, Un-\\ncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $2 50 Half Calf, $4 75.\\nWRITINGS AND SPEECHES OF SAMUEL J. TILDEN.\\nEdited by John Bigelow. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Tops and\\nUncut Edges, $6 00 per set.\\nGENERAL DIX S MEMOIRS. Memoirs of John Adams Dix.\\nCompiled by his Son, Morgan Dix. With Five Steel-plate\\nPortraits. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, Gilt Tops and Uncut Edges,\\n$5 00.\\nHUNT S MEMOIR OF MRS. LIVINGSTON. A Memoir of\\nMrs. Edward Livingston. With Letters hitherto Unpublished.\\nBy Louise Livingston Hunt. 12mo, Cloth, $1 25.\\nGEORGE ELIOT S LIFE. George Eliot s Life, Related in her\\nLetters and Journals. Arranged and Edited by her Hus-\\nband, J. W. Cross. Portraits and Illustrations. In Three\\nVolumes. 12mo, Cloth, $3 75. New Edition, with Fresh Mat-\\nter. (Uniform with Harper s Library Edition of George\\nEliot s Works.)\\nPEARS S FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE. The Fall of Con-\\nstantinople. Being the Story of the Fourth Crusade. By\\nEdwin Pears, LL.B. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.\\nRANKE S UNIVERSAL HISTORY. The Oldest Historical\\nGroup of Nations and the Greeks. By Leopold von Ranke.\\nEdited by G. W. Prothero, Fellow and Tutor of King s Col-\\nlege, Cambridge. Vol. I. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50.\\nLIFE AND TIMES OF THE REV. SYDNEY SMITH. A\\nSketch of the Life and Times of the Rev. Sydney Smith.\\nBased on Family Documents and the Recollections of Personal\\nFriends. By Stuart J. Reid. With Steel-plate Portrait and\\nIllustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 00.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0202.jp2"}, "203": {"fulltext": "Valuable Works for Public and Private Libraries. o\\nSTANLEY S THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT. Through\\nthe Dark Continent or, The Sources of the Nile, Around the\\nGreat Lakes of Equatorial Africa, and Down the Livingstone\\nRiver to the Atlantic Ocean. 149 Illustrations and 10 Maps.\\nBy H. M. Stanley. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00 Sheep,\\n$12 00; Half Morocco, $15 00.\\nSTANLEY S CONGO. The Congo and the Founding of its\\nFree State, a Story of Work and Exploration. With over One\\nHundred Full-page and smaller Illustrations, Two Large Maps,\\nand several smaller ones. By H. M. Stanley. 2 vols., 8vo,\\nCloth, $10 00; Sheep, $12 00; Half Morocco, $15 00.\\nGREEN S ENGLISH PEOPLE. History of the English Peo-\\nple. By John Richard Green, M.A. With Maps. 4 vols.,\\n8vo, Cloth, $10 00; Sheep, $12 00; Half Calf, $19 00.\\nGREEN S MAKING OF ENGLAND. The Making of Eng-\\nland. By John Richard Green. With Maps. 8vo, Cloth,\\n$2 50 Sheep, $3 00 Half Calf, $3 75.\\nGREEN S CONQUEST OF ENGLAND. The Conquest of Eng-\\nland. By John Richard Green. With Maps. 8vo, Cloth,\\n$2 50; Sheep, $3 00; Half Calf, $3 75.\\nBAKER S ISMAILIA a Narrative of the Expedition to Central\\nAfrica for the Suppression of the Slave-trade, organized hy Is-\\nmail, Khedive of Egypt. By Sir Samuel W. Baker. With\\nMaps, Portraits, and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00; Half\\nCalf, $7 25.\\nENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS. Edited by John Morley.\\nThe following volumes are now ready. Others will follow:\\nJohnson. By L. Stephen.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Gibbon. By J. C. Morison.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Scott. By R. H.\\nHutton. \u00e2\u0080\u0094Shelley. By J. A. Symonds.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Goldsmith. By W. Black.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Hume.\\nBy Professor Huxley.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Defoe. By W. Minto.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Burns. By Principal Shairp.\\n\u00e2\u0080\u0094Spenser. By R. W. Church.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Thackeray. By A. Trollope.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Burke. By\\nJ. Morley. Milton. By M. Pattison. Southey. By E. Dowden. Chaucer.\\nBy A. W. Ward.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Bunyan. By J. A. Froude.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Cowper. By G. Smith.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nPope. By L. Stephen. Byron. By J. Nichols. Locke. By T. Fowler.\\nWordsworth. By F. W. H. Myers. Hawthorne. By Henry Jamee, Jr.\\nDryden. By G. Saintsbury. Landor. By S. Colvin. De Quincey. By D.\\nMasson.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Lamb. By A. Ainger. Bentley. By R. C. Jebb. Dickens. By\\nA. W.Ward. \u00e2\u0080\u0094Gray. By E.W. Gosse.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Swift. By L. Stephen.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Sterne. By\\nH. D. Traill. Macaulay. By J. C. Morison. Fielding. By A. Dobson.\u00e2\u0080\u0094\\nSheridan. By Mrs. Oliphant.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Addison. By W. J. Courthope. Bacon. By\\nR. W. Church.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Coleridge. By H. D. Traill.\u00e2\u0080\u0094 Sir Philip Sidney. By J. A.\\nSymonds. 12mo, Cloth, 75 cents per volume.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0203.jp2"}, "204": {"fulltext": "6 Valuable Works for Fublic and Private Libraries.\\nCOLERIDGE S WORKS. The Complete Works of Samuel Tay-\\nlor Coleridge. With an Introductory Essay upon his Philosoph-\\nical and Theological Opinions. Edited by Professor W. G. T.\\nShedd. With Ste^el Portrait, and an Index. 7 vols., 12mo,\\nCloth, $2 00 per volume $12 00 per set Half Calf, $24 25.\\nREBER S MEDIEVAL ART. History of Mediaeval Art. By\\nDr. Fkanz von Rebek. Translated and Augmented by Joseph\\nThacher Clarke. With 422 Illustrations, and a Glossary of\\nTechnical Terms. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00.\\nREBER S HISTORY OF ANCIENT ART. History of Ancient\\nArt. By Dr. Franz von Reber. Revised by the Author.\\nTranslated and Augmented by Joseph Thacher Clarke. With\\n310 Illustrations and a Glossary of Technical Terms. 8vo,\\nCloth, $3 50.\\nNEWCOMB S ASTRONOMY. Popular Astronomy. By Si-\\nmon Newcomb, LL.D. With 112 Engravings, and 5 Maps of\\nthe Stars. 8vo, Cloth, $2 50 School Edition, 12mo, Cloth,\\n$1 30.\\nVAN-LENNEP S BIBLE LANDS. Bible Lands their Modern\\nCustoms and Manners Illustrative of Scripture. By Henry J.\\nVan-Lennep, D.D. 350 Engravings and 2 Colored Maps.\\n8vo, Cloth, $5 00 Sheep, $6 00 Half Morocco, $8 00.\\nCESN OLA S CYPRUS. Cyprus its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and\\nTemples. A Narrative of Researches and Excavations during\\nTen Years Residence in that Island. By L. P. di Cesnola.\\nWith Portrait, Maps, and 400 Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Extra,\\nUncut Edges and Gilt Tops, $7 50.\\nTENNYSON S COMPLETE POEMS. The Complete Poetical\\nWorks of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. With an Introductory Sketch\\nby Anne Thackeray Ritchie. With Portraits and Illustrations.\\n8vo, Extra Cloth, Bevelled, Gilt Edges, $2 50.\\nSHORT S NORTH AMERICANS OF ANTIQUITY. The North\\nAmericans of Antiquity. Their Origin, Migrations, and Type\\nof Civilization Considered. By John T. Short. Illustrated.\\n8vo, Cloth, $3 00.\\nFLAMMARION S ATMOSPHERE. Translated from tie French\\nof Camille Flammarion. With 10 Chromo-Lithog\u00c2\u00bbaphs and\\n86 Wood-cuts. 8vo, Cloth, $6 00 Half Calf, $8 25.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0204.jp2"}, "205": {"fulltext": "LATEST PUBLICATIONS\\nFROM THE PRESS OP\\nHARPER BROTHERS.\\nMODERN ITALIAN POETS. Essays and Versions. By W. D. How-\\nells. With Portraits- pp. viii., 370. 12mo, Half Cloth, Gilt Tops\\nand Uncut Edges, $2 00.\\nTHE BOY TRAVELLERS ON THE CONGO. Adventures of Two\\nYouths in a Journey with Henry M. Stanley Through the Dark Con-\\ntinent. By Thomas W. Knox. Profusely Illustrated, pp. 464.\\nSquare 8vo, Ornamental Cloth, $3 00.\\nTHE ROSE OF PARADISE Being a Detailed Account of certain Ad-\\nventures that happened to Captain John Mackra, in Connection with\\nthe famous Pirate, Edward England, in the Year 1720, off the Island\\nof Juanna, in the Mozambique Channel, writ by himself, and now for\\nthe first -time published. By. Howard Pyle. With Illustrations by\\nthe Author, pp. vi., 232. Post 8vo, Cloth, $1 25.\\nTHE SCOTTISH PULPIT PROM THE REFORMATION TO THE PRES-\\nENT DAY. By -William M. Taylor, D.D., LL.D. pp. 288. 12mo,\\nCloth, $1 50.\\nAN UNKNOWN COUNTRY. By the Author of John Halifax, Gen-\\ntleman. Illustrated by Frederick Noel Paton. pp. x., 238. Square\\n8vo, Ornamental Cloth, $2 50,\\nDIALECT BALLADS. By Charles Follen Adams, Author of Leedle\\nYawcob Strauss, and Other Poems. Illustrated by Boz. pp. 136.\\nPost 8vo, Cloth, $1 00.\\nTHE ANCIENT CITIES OF THE NEW WORLD Being Voyages and\\nExplorations in Mexico and Central America, from 185*7 to 1882. By\\nDesire CharnaY. Translated from the French by J. Gonino and\\nHelen S. Conant. Introduction by Allen Thorndike Rice. 209\\nIllustrations and a Map. pp. xlvi., 514. Royal 8vo, Ornamental\\nCloth, Gilt Tops and Uncut Edges, $6 00.\\nPHILOSOPHY OF THEISM. By Borden P. Bowne, Professor of Phi-\\nlosophy in Boston University, Author of Metaphysics, Introduc-\\ntioii to Psychological Theory/ etc. pp. x., 2*70. 8vo, Cloth, $1 75.\\nFRANKLIN SQUARE LIBRARY. {Latest issues.)\\nCT3.\\nPaddy at Home Chez Paddy By Baron E. De Mandat-Grancey.\\nTranslated by A. P. Morton 20\\n]{Iadame s Granddaughter. A Novel. By Frances M. Peard 15\\nDiane de Breteuille. A Love Story. By Hubert E. H. Jerningham 15\\nThe Great World. A Novel. By Joseph Hatton. 20\\nA Book for the Hammock. By W. Clark Russell 20\\nMore True Than Truthful. A Novel. By Mrs. -Charles M. Clarke 20\\nEssays and Leaves from a Note-Book. By George Eliot 20\\nO-.Harpkr, Brothers will sendany q\u00c2\u00a3 the above works by mail, postage pre-\\npaid, to any part qf the United States or Canada, on receipt qf the price.", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0205.jp2"}, "206": {"fulltext": "HARPE R S PERIO DICALS.\\nHARPER S MAGAZINE, One Year $4 00\\nHARPER S WEEKLY, One Year 4 OC\\nHARPER S BAZAR, One Year 4 00\\nHARPER S YOUNG PEOPLE, One Year 200\\nHARPER S FRANKLIN SQUARE LE3RARY,\\nOne Year, 52 Numbers 10 00\\nThe Volumes of the Weekly and Bazar begin with the first Numbers\\nfor January, the Volumes of the Young People with the first Number\\nfor November, and the Volumes of the Magazine with the Numbers for\\nJune and December of each year.\\nSubscriptions will be commenced with the Number of each Periodical\\ncurrent at the time of receipt of order, except in cases where the sub-\\nscriber otherwise directs.\\nBOUND VOLUMES.\\nBound Volumes of the Magazine for three years back, each Volume\\ncontaining the Numbers for Six Months, will be sent by mail, postage\\nprepaid, on receipt of $3 00 per Volume in Cloth, or $5 25 in Half Calf.\\nBound Volumes of the Weekly or Bazar for three years back, each con-\\ntaining the Numbers for a vear, will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, or\\nreceipt of $7 00 per Volume in Cloth, or $10 50 in Half Morocco.\\nHarper s Young People for 1883, 1884, and 1885, handsomely boun\\nin Illuminated Cloth, will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, on receipt c\\n$3 50 per Volume.\\ntW The Bound Volumes of Haepkr s Young Pkopt.k for 1880, 1881, 1SS2, and IS\\nare out of stock, and ivill not be reprinted.\\nADVERTISING-.\\nThe extent and character of the circulation of Harper s Magazin\\nHarper s Weekly, Harper s Bazar, and Harper s Young Peopi\\nrender them advantageous mediums for advertising. A limited numbf\\nof suitable advertisements will be inserted at the following rates In tt\\nMagazine, Fourth Cover Page, $1500 00 Third Cover Page, or Fin\\nPage of advertisement sheet, $500 00 one-half of such page when who 1\\npage is not taken, $300 00; one-quarter of such page when whole page\\nnot taken, $150 00; an Inside Page of advertisement sheet, $250 00; on\\nhalf of such page, $150 00; one -quarter of such page, $75 00; smalb\\ncards on an inside page, per line, $2 00: in the Weekly, Outside Pag.\\n$2 00 a line Inside Pages, $1 50 a line in the Bazar, $1 00 a line in tl\\nYoung People, Cover Pages, 50 cents a line. Average eight words to\\nline, twelve, lines to an inch. Cuts and display charged the same rates ff\\nspace occupied as solid matter. Remittances should be made by Pos\\nOffice Money Order or Draft, to. avoid chance of loss.\\nAddress: HARPER BROTHERS,\\nFranklin Square, New York.", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0206.jp2"}, "207": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0207.jp2"}, "208": {"fulltext": "Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process.\\nNeutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide\\nTreatment Date: March 2009\\nPreservationTechnologies\\nA WORLD LEAOER IN COLLECTIONS PRESERVATION\\n111 Thomson Park Drive\\nCranberry Township, PA 16066\\n(724)779-2111", "height": "3222", "width": "1995", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0208.jp2"}, "209": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3238", "width": "1909", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0209.jp2"}, "210": {"fulltext": "", "height": "3394", "width": "2121", "jp2-path": "fielding00dobs_0210.jp2"}}