Heraldic Queries.-Fetyplace.-Hogarth's Works.

place it came from. In regard to No 8, there feems fome light to be gathered from a book, intituled, Armilogia, by Sylvanus Morgan, printed at London, 1666, where, p. 159, he writes:

"Richard, fecond fun of King John (in the ninth year of King Henry the Third his brother) being crowned king of the Romans, wrote himself femper Au guftus; had his arms carved on the breaft of the Roman eagle: he bare, Argent, a lion rampant gules, crowned Or, within a border fable bezant. His pofterity of the furname of Cornwall, bearing that coat, as defcended from his natural fon Richard, farther of Sir Geffery Cornwall, knight."

If Morgan may be depended on, Ne 8 is well understood, as it exactly tallies with him.

The four coats abovementioned I have

Gules, 2 che

verons Argent,

on

the dexter

chief point an

annulet Argent.

Fetyplace, empaling,

299

endeavoured thus to blafon.
N° 5. Gules 3 lioncels or leopards,
paffant gardant Or.

No 6. Or 3 cheverons gules.

N° 7. Quarterly Or and Gules, a bend azure, with a label in chief of 5 points Argent.

No 8. Argent a lion rampant, Gules crowned OR, within a bordure fable, charged with 12 bezants Or.

I have alfo fent you another drawing (fig. 9,) from a brafs plate which be longed to fome monument, now destroyed, in a church in Warwickshire; it was of a Fetyplace, as the infoription fhews, and a fifth brother by the annulet, the diftinguishing mark; but who the wife was is what I am defirous of knowing; for which purpose I have defcribed the coat in proper blafonry.

Quarterly.

1. Argent, a feffe Sable, charged with a crefcent Or, between 3 eaglets heads erafed of the fecond. 2. Gules, a fpread eagle Argent, on the breaft a crefcent Azure. 3. Gules, bars Argent, in chief Argent, a lion patiant Azure. 4. Gules, a ffle voided Argent, between 3 annulets of the laft.

The infcription is, Date. p. aiabz. Willi. Fetyplace * Elezabeth Urozis eius.

And underneath,

Mr. URBAN,

April 15. WHETHER the late extraordinary fums, paid for the works of Hogarth at Mr. Gulfton's fale, are to be regarded on the whole as proofs of our artist's merit, or of extravagance in our modern collectors, I fhall not venture to determine; and yet the following statement of the rapid advance of value in the prints, from this celebrated mafter, may furnish notices to affift the judgement of your readers.

In 1780 Mr. Walpole obliged the world with a fourth volume of his "Anecdotes of Painting in England." In this entertaining performance was comprized the firit catalogue of Hogarth's pieces-I fay, the firft, for every pre ceding enumeration of them was defective in the extreme.

This was fucceeded in 1781 by a publication from Mr. Nichols, who confiderably amended and enlarged the lift exhibited by his predeceffor.

In the fame year, Mr. Baillie's collection (which would now be deemed an

OBSERVATOR.

imperfect one) was fold at Chriftie's for

611. 195.

In 1782, it was re-fold, with fome additions, at Barford's, for 105 l.

In 1785, the late Mr. Henderson, of Covent Garden Theatre, difpofed of his collection (by far lefs complete than either of the foregoing ones) for 1261.

In 1786, Mr. Gulfton's collection* was fold piece-meal by Mr. Greenwood+; and, though the condition of all fuch articles in it as real tafte and commonfenfe would style the most valuable, was very indifferent, the whole feries is reported to have brought in upwards of three hundred pounds.

At this auction, the plates now to be particularized, were knocked down at the following rates, though, taken ail together, they were fcarce worth the money paid for the cheapest of them.

* See above, p. 296. EDIT.

+ Dr. Ducarel's collection has fince been fold (April 10) for gol, to Mr. B. White, bookfeller. EDIT.

Two

Enormous Prices paid for fingle Prints of Hogarth.

Prints of Hogarth now firft defcribed.-"Curfe of Scotland." 301

cular toaft, was defigned for this very man. Both Hogarth and Harrison belonged to the Lumber Troop about the year 1730; but the earliest roll of its members being deftroyed, the exact period of their admiffion cannot be afcertained.

This anent and honourable fociety, however difplay the infignia already defcribed, very fplendidly emblazoned, in their club-room. The like alfo are impreffed on their tickets for admiffion, feafts, &c. as well as on their tobaccopapers.

The late Mr. Granger, and Mr. Gulfion, were apprized of the existence of this little print, but fought for it without fuccefs. Mr. Jones, our excellent engraver and mezzotinto fcraper, then very young, was the perfon employed to make the moft diligent enquiries after it.-Only one copy of it has hitherto been discovered.

As we are now on the fubject of tobacco, I feize this opportunity to add, that the figure in the Midnight Modern Converfation, who is fmoking with a night-cap on, and is commonly fuppofed to have been meant for a juftice of peace, was in reality a portrait of old Chandler, a book-binder in Shire-lane. This is advanced on the authority of Mr. Wingrave, the book-binder, whofe report is confirmed by the memory of others who were well acquainted both with Chandler and Harrifon.

The fcenery in Midnight Modern Converfation is alfo faid to have been adopted from a room in John's coffeehoufe, Shire-lane.

60. A Proceffion of Painters to the fhrine of Bacchus-a flight but fpirited etching. The jolly god appears crowned with a jordan. His altar is a hogthead. Among the trophies carried along, is a helmet with a punch-bowl and ladle for its creft, and a standard displaying pipes and bottles. A figure, probably defigned for old Leveridge the finger, in the character of a priest of Bacchus, is feen in the rear of the cavalcade,

The chief perfonages in this plate are copied and introduced, without the flightest propriety, into a wretched print, erroneoufly attributed to Hogarth, and called The Oratory. See p. 429.

As it is not with complete certainty proved that this proceffion was the work of Hogarth, let the collector, who withes to form his judgement of it, compare it with the Feftoon of Laurel, i. e. the fubfcription ticket for Garrick in King Richard the Third.

61. Infide of an Opera-house. This plate (which in manner is very strongly Hogarthian, and might have fuggefted to him the fcenery we meet with in Booth, Wilks, and Cibber, contriving a pantomime) was fold, as a performance of our artist, at Mr. Gulfion's auction, for 21. 4s. It was engraved, however, in Holland, with the following infcription at the bottom of it, which had been craftily effaced by fome print-dealer for the purpofe of deception.-P. Marot fecit, avec privilege des Etats Generaux des Provinces Unis & d'Holland. W. f.

"The Hogartho-mania," fays one of our public prints, "is as violent as ever. On Thursday, April 6 (it should have been the ft of the fame month), the

Roman Military Punishments,' a paltry work, for which no book feller feven years ago would have demanded more than a few fhillings, was fold at Greenwood's for fix pounds, on account of fome trifling plates in it by Hogarth, moft of them very poor impreffions. The fame auction is alfo faid to have exhibited a fraudulent impreffion from a piece of plate, pretended to have been Mr. Pope's, with fomewhat about the Rape of the Lock engraved on it. But the connoiffeurs would not bite."

An account of fome additional shopbills, &c. by Hogarth, will be given in a future Magazine.

Mr. URBAN,

HERE is a common expreffion made

THE

ufe of at cards, which I have never heard any explanation of. I mean the nine of diamonds being commonly called the Curfe of Scotland.

Looking lately over a book of heraldry, I found nine diamonds, or Lozenges, conjoined, or, in the heraldic language, Gules, a cross of lozenges, to be the arms of Packer.

Colonel Packer appears to have been one of the perfons who was on the fcaffold when Charles the Firft was beheaded, and afterwards commanded in Scotland, and is recorded to have acted in his command with confiderable ieverity.

It is poffible that his arms might, by a very eafy metonymy, be called the Curfe of Scotland, and the Nine of Diamonds, at cards, being very fimilar, in figure, to them, might have ever fince retained the appellation.

Allufions, in old writers, to family arms are by no means unfrequent.Shakspeare's Plays, particularly his hiltorical

upon the Hiftorians of Dr. Johnfon's life and converfation, with a trite remark, which, however, experience is too per petually preffing upon the hearts of the ingenuous, to fuffer repetition to weaken its force. I mean, the impoffibility of fatisfying the captious multitude.

After the death of one of the greatest geniuses, and certainly the moft extraordinary being that ever exifted, how greedily did that multitude liften for anecdotes of his life, and characteristic traits of his manners! Whence could they be obtained, but from thofe who lived with him in habits of intimacy? In Mr. Boswell's infinitely-entertaining work we are prefented with the moft ftriking portraits of his illuftrious friend. They have been abused for their fidelity in a merciless quantity of dull profe, and in fome very witty verses, particularly in a parody of William and Marga et, intituled "Johnfon's Ghost," which appeared in the General Evening Poft a little time ago.

But the fidelity of Mr. Bofwell's pen is as laudable as that of Sir Joshua Reynolds's pencil. If the world really defires to fee what manner of man the

great Doctor Johnfon was, the flains of malice and irafcibility fhould, by the hand of friendship, no more be concealed in the pictures of his mind, than the un

See it amongst our Poetry. EDIT.

Dr. Johnson characterised.

wieldinefs of his limbs, and the deformities of his countenance, fhould be omitted in those of his perfon.'

After all, Mr. Bofwell pronounces him good as great.-And alfo Mrs. Piozzi,, after narrating a series of the moft weakly-captious conduct, and unprovoked malice, with every glaring oppofition to the meeknefs and forbearing fpirit of the religion he profeffed, tells us, that he was great beyond human comprehenfion, and good beyond the imitation of perishable beings."

Sir Joshua Reynolds, as well as Mr. Bofwell and Mrs. Piozzi, was the perfonal friend of Dr. Johnson. Why is his zeal iefs active than theirs? why do we not fee a differtation from his pen upon the perfect, the unmatched graces of Dr. Johnlon's form and face, referring to his own portraits of the ftupendous being as proofs of fuch imputed beauty?

We must confefs that it had been greatly for the intereft of Dr. Johnfon's fame, as a benevolent man, if he had, in one refpect, fhared the fate of Homer, and,

"Like a diftant god, been darkly fhewn,
"Felt in his works, but in himself unknown,"
HAYLEY on Epic Poetry.
provided he had died before the publica-

tion of the "Lives of the Poets." Till

they appeared, there was no deep flain of malignity upon his glorious writings; but injuftice and malice are too apparent in that work, for the ftri&teft friendship to feel any rational fcruple in performing the duty of a biographer, that of giving a faithful delineation of the manners, vather than prefent that general outline of character, which, being well known, can but little inftruct, and not at all elucidate.

Let thofe, who are angry with Mr. Bofwell for painting the mind of the Coloffus as juftly as Sir Joshua Reynolds has painted his form, perute the whole of the Rambler,' No. 60, in the 2d volume, from which the following paffage is a quotation :

"There are many who think it an aft of piety to hide the faults and failings of their friends, even when they can no longer fuffer by their detection.

We

therefore fee whole ranks of characters adorned with uniform panegyric, and not to be known from one another but

by extrinfic and cafual circumitances."

Let me remember,' fays Hale, • when I find myself inclined to pity a criminal, that there is likewise a pity due to the country.' If there is a regard due to the

memory

Remarks on Dr. Johnson's Character as given by his Biographers. 303

memory of the dead, there is yet more refpect to be paid to knowledge, to virtue, and to truth."

Dr. Johnfon, in the fame effay, affirms, that "it is the bufinefs of a biographer to pafs lightly over thofe performances and actions which produce vulgar greatnefs; to lead the thoughts into domeftic privacies, and difplay the minute details of daily life, where exterior appearances are laid afide."

Thus is Mr. Bofwell acquitted of all treachery to the fame and memory of his friend, by that friend's cool and deliberate opinion on the nature of fuch difclofures, as tend to reveal the genuine difpofition of those men whofe talents have excited public curiofity.

Mrs. Piozzi's" Memoirs of Doctor Johnfon" are lefs entertaining than Mr. Bofwell's, because they exhibit him in far lefs interefting fcenes. We recognize, however, the fame human hornet, on fullen and founding wing, in her drawing room, as we faw fattening upon the Scorch profeflors, and ftinging them, in return for the honey with which they had fed him.

We are told in thefe Memoirs, that we are not to judge of Dr. Johnfon by his words and manners; but to look at his actions, words, and manners, which muft daily increase the fum of human difcontent, cannot be guiltless. Unneceffary depredations upon the felf-efteem of others are always hoftile to the interefts of morality, as well as to thofe of

content.

Can we help fhuddering at Dr. J's inhumanity, recorded by Mrs. Piozzi, when a certain female, with whom he was acquainted, finned against the majesty of his malevolence, by declaring herself bappy; and when he addreffed to her brother, and it feems to have been in her prefence, the following cruel comment upon that declaration ? “If your filter is happy, her life gives the lie to every refearch of humanity, for he is happy without health, without beauty,, without money, and without understanding."

Was it a Chriftian who refufed to credit the poffibility of happinets without health, beauty, wealth, or diftinguished talents? If a pious refignation to the will of God, meek obedience to his laws, and the awakened hopes of a blessed futurity, cannot extract the bitterness of thefe deprivations, may we not say with the Apoftle, at leaft refpecting this life, that Chrift has died in vain?"

But we are told to look at his actions. In them we fee a great deal of almsgiving, but no CHARITY, in the Scripture fenfe of the word; devotion ineffectual, because it did not enable him to fubdue, or feem to infpire even the refolution of combating the great vice of his nature, MALEVOLENCE. We fee a partial adherence to that veracity, which, if pecuniary confiderations could not tempt him to violate, he eagerly facri ficed to his hatred and prejudices. What is injuftice but the worft kind of falfehood?

We have been fomewhere told, that Dr. Johnson would not, even in his bufieft hours, allow himself to be denied when he was actually at home, but fuffered interruption from every impertinent, rather than countenance a falfhood fo general and fo perfectly harmlefs :yet he affirmed that any man, any woman, any child, might have written Offian's works; and he refufed to allow that the univerfity of Cambridge had any literary equality with that of Oxford from the eminence of her fons, though Sir Ifaac Newton, Milton, Gray, Mafon, and Hayley, with a long &c. of diftinguiflied characters, had been nurtured in her bofom; and though he tacitly acknowledges to Mrs. Piozzi, that the warm praifes he has beftowed on Addifon's effays, both in his writings and converfation, had not been fincere.

When we confider these things, added to the affertions concerning Pope, Garrick, and Mrs. Montague, in Mr. Bofwell's Tour, is it poffible to venerate his prudery relpecting truth, which strained at gnats, and fwallowed CAMELS?

Though morality has no concern with the extraordinary declaration of Doctor Johnfon's, that Anacreon's Dove, of which Mrs. Piozzi gives us his tranflation, was not only the first thing which pleased him in the language in which Homer wrote, but that no Greek poetry has pleafed him fo well fince; yet it is impoffible to pafs it by without expreffing new aftonishment at the ftrange inconfiftency of his tafte and judgement. Indeed, how can we credit, from the netvous mind of Johnson, the reality of fuch a preference? A little ode, as full of quaint prettinefs and elegant concefts as the modern verfes of the French and Italians, and which contains nothing more than prettiness, preferred by the author of the Ramblers to the fublime pages of the Iliad!

"The