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of my friend Mr. Manning and the Duke of Devonshire, the office of Serjeant Painter, which might not have exceeded one hundred a year to me for trouble and attendance; but by two portraits, at more than eighty pounds each, the last occasioned by his present Majesty's accession, and some other things, it has, for these last five years, been one way or other worth two hundred pounds per annum.

CHAPTER V.

Hogarth's inducement to paint the picture of Sigismunda; his correspondence with Lord Grosvenor on the subject, contrasted by two letters from Lord Charlemont, for whom he had previously painted an interesting scene; Origin of the Quarrel with Wilkes and Churchill, which gave rise to the Print of the Bear, &c.

BEING thus driven out of the only profitable branch of my profession, I at first thought of attaching myself to history painting; but in this there was no employment; for in forty years I had only two orders of any consequence for historical pictures. This was rather mortifying; and being, by the profits of my former productions, and the office of Serjeant Painter, tolerably easy in my circumstances, and thoroughly sick of the idle quackery of criticism, I determined to quit the pencil for the graver. In this humble walk I had one advantage: the perpetual fluctuations in the manners of the times enabled me to introduce new characters, which being drawn from the passing day, had a chance of more originality, and less insipidity, than those which are repeated again and again, and again, from old stories. Added to this, the prints which I had previously engraved were now become a voluminous work, and circulated not only through England but over Europe. These being secured to me by an Act which I had previously

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got passed, were a kind of an estate; and as they wore, I could repair and re-touch them; so that in some particulars they became better than when first engraved.*

While I was making arrangements to confine myself entirely to my graver, an amiable nobleman (Lord Charlemont) requested that before I bade a final adieu to the pencil, I would paint him one picture. The subject to be my own choice, and the reward,-whatever I demanded. The story I pitched upon, was a young and virtuous married lady, who, by playing at cards with an officer, loses her money, watch, and jewels; the moment when he offers them back in return for her honour, and she is wavering at his suit, was my point of time.

The picture was highly approved of, and the payment was noble; but the manner in which it was made, by a note inclosed in one of the following letters, was, to me, infinitely more gratifying than treble the sum.

From Lord Charlemont to Mr. Hogarth.

"Dear Sir,

Mount-street, 19 Aug. 1759.

"I have been so excessively busied with ten thousand troublesome affairs, that I have not been able to wait upon you according to my promise, nor even to find time to sit for my picture; as I am obliged to set out for Ireland tomorrow, we must defer that till my return, which will be in

* [Hogarth might conceive that by rendering the habits of his early figures more conformable to the fashion of the times when they were altered, he improved them. Collectors are of a different opinion; though it must be acknowledged, that in Plate IV. of the Rake's Progress, the humour is much heightened by introducing a group of vulgar minor gamblers, in the place of the shoeblack.J. IRELAND.]

the latter end of January, or in the beginning of February at farthest. I am still your debtor, more so indeed than I ever shall be able to pay; and did intend to have sent you before my departure what trifling recompence my abilities permit me to make you. But the truth is, having wrong calculated my expenses, I find myself unable for the present even to attempt paying you-However, if you be in any present need of money, let me know it, and as soon as I get to Ireland I will send you, not the price of your picture, for that is inestimable, but as much as I can afford to give for it. Sir, I am, with the most sincere wishes for your health and happiness,

"Your most obedient humble servant,

"CHARLEMONT."

To Mr. Hogarth.

"Dear Sir, Dublin, 29 January, 1760. "Inclosed I send you a note upon Nesbitt for one hundred pounds; and considering the name of the author, and the surprising merit of your performance, I am really much ashamed to offer such a trifle in recompence for the pains you have taken, and the pleasure your picture has afforded me. I beg you would think that I by no means attempt to pay you according to your merit, but according to my own abilities. Were I to pay your deserts, I fear I should leave myself poor indeed. Imagine that you have made me a present of the picture, for literally as such I take it, and that I have begged your acceptance of the inclosed trifle. As this is really the case, with how much reason do I subscribe my self,

"Your most obliged humble servant,

"CHARLEMONT."

This elevating circumstance had its contrast, and brought on a train of most dissatisfactory circumstances, which by happening at a time when I thought myself, as it were, landed, and secure from tugging any longer at the oar, were rendered doubly distressing.

A gentleman (now a nobleman), seeing this picture, pressed me with much vehemence to paint another for him, upon the same terms. To this I reluctantly assented; and as I had been frequently flattered for my power of giving expression, I thought the figure of Sigismunda weeping over the heart of her lover, would enable me to display it. Impressed with this idea, I fixed upon this very difficult subject. My object was dramatic, and my aim to draw tears from the spectator; an effect I have often witnessed at a tragedy; and it therefore struck me that it was worth trying, if a painter could not produce the same effect, and touch the heart through the eye, as the player does through the ear. Thus far I have been gratified; I have more than once seen the tear of sympathy trickle down the cheek of a female, while she has been contemplating the picture.

As four hundred pounds had a short time before been bid for a picture of Sigismunda, painted by a French master, but falsely ascribed to Corregio, four hundred pounds was the price at which I rated this.

By any other of my pursuits I could have got twice the sum in the time I devoted to it; nor was it more than half what a fashionable face-painter would have gained in the same period. Upon these grounds I put it at this sum; see the letter, and see the answer. It ended in my keeping the picture in my painting-room, and his Lordship keeping his money in his pocket. Had it been Charlemont!

[This transaction having given rise to many ridiculous false

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