THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL BY SIR ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR KNT. CENSOR or GREAT BRITAIN (HENRY FIELDING) EDITED BY GERARD EDWARD JENSEN VOLUME I NEW HAVEN: YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS MDCCCCXV PR 34. C5 ni v. I COPYRIGHT, 1915 BY YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS First printed, December, 1915, 500 copies TO MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER AND IN MEMORY OF E. R. R. PREFACE In this edition of Henry Fielding's contributions to his Covent-Garden Journal I have omitted two book- reviews which are very obviously not his, but have reprinted all of the leading articles irrespective of their authorship. The accentuation and punctuation of the original have been followed throughout; and with the exception of the substitution of the modern s for the older form and of the separate Greek char acters in place of ligatures, no changes have been made in the original text. The presence of rotograph prints of the entire Journal in the Yale Library and the publication of these volumes, now for the first time make a complete text readily available. The most important service which I have rendered to students of the Journal is the discovery of all the folio numbers missing in the British Museum. Another gratifying discovery is the evidence that Fielding was generous with his money at a time when he is supposed to have been in financial distress — witness his support of the Lying-in Hospital on Brownlow Street. In gathering the material which has a direct bearing on the Newspaper- War, I have been able to do another slight service in a relatively unimportant field. Finally, I believe that I have definitely proved that the Z. Z. signature commonly supposed to be Fielding's is not his. My thanks are due to Messrs. Henry W. Thompson, of London, and F. F. Norcross, of Chicago, for obtain ing access to the collection of the late John Henry viii PREFACE Wrenn, of Chicago, in whose library is a complete file of the numbers of this Journal. I am indebted espe cially to Professor W. L. Cross, of New Haven, for his companionship and suggestions during the prepa ration of this work, but I can make no adequate acknowledgment of my debt here. G. E. J. Philadelphia, Pa. CONTENTS Introduction : PAGE Origin of the Journal ...... 1 General Character of the Journal ... 8 The Newspaper- War ...... 29 Fielding's Word-Usage and Signatures . . 99 Fielding's Style as Drawcansir .... 105 Texts and Editions 120 Appendix ....... 125 Text of the Journal: No. 1. Drawcansir 's Introductory Editorial . 133 A Journal of the War .... 137 No. 2. Contemporary Morals .... 139 A Journal of the War .... 145 No. 3. Rules for Critics 147 A Journal of the War .... 151 No. 4. A Modern Glossary .... 153 A Journal of the War .... 157 No. 5. A Review of the Paper- War ... 160 First Sitting of the Censorial Court . . 164 No. 6. The Destruction of Works of Learning . 167 No. 7. Letters to the Author .... 172 The Trial of Amelia .... 178 No. 8. The Robinhoodians in Debate ... 181 The Trial of Amelia, concluded . . 186 No. 9. The Robinhoodians in History . . 187 Proceedings at the Court . . . 192 No. 10. Taste in Books and Reading . . . 193 Trial of Mr. Mossop .... 197 No. 11. Means of Providing for the Poor . . 199 Prints and Print-Sellers on Trial 204 x CONTENTS PAGE No. 12. Posterity's Lying Historians . . . 205 Miss Molly Blandy's Portrait ... 211 No. 13. Letters to the Author .... 213 No. 14. Slander and Murder .... 219 _ No. 15. The Theatrical State . ... 224 Trial of B— T— 229 No. 16. Letters from Axylus and Z. Z. . . 231 No. 17. The Incredible in History ... 238 •^ No. 18. The Perry and Champagne of Literature . 243 No. 19. An Essay on Humour .... 248 No. 20. Axylus' Second Letter .... 253 No. 21. lago's Reply to Axylus . ... 258 No. 22. The Story of Astulpho and Jucundo . 264 No. 23. The Literary Commonwealth . . . 269 No. 24. "Vain Curiosity and Diligence in Trifles" 274 Review of the Female Quixote . . 279 No. 25. A Letter on the Force of Public Executions 282 -No. 26. Hearers at the Play-House ... 287 No. 27. An Essay on 'Betters' . . . . 293 No. 28. An Elegy on the late Prince of Wales . 298 Letters from Eugenio and Z. Z. . 300 Mr. Havard's Benefit .... 304 No. 29. Axylus' Third Letter .... 305 No. 30. A Dialogue at Tunbridge Wells . . 310 No. 31. A Reconstruction of the Text of Hamlet . 315 No. 32. Letters to the Author .... 320 No. 33. An Essay on Profanity . . . . 326 No. 34. The Profession of Acting ... 332 No. 35. Misargurus' Letter on Money . . 336 No. 36. Every-Body's Letter .... 340 No. 37. People of Fashion 344 No. 38. Benevolus' Letter 349 --No. 39. An Essay on Charity .... 354 No. 40. A Treatise on the Pert, and Two Letters 359 No. 41. Letters by No-Body and Benevolus . 364 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE View of Covent Garden (about 1720) . Frontispiece A title-page of the Journal ..... 10 A fourth page of the Journal ..... 12 A Night Scene at Ranelagh 72 Le Malade Imaginaire ...... 74 The Robin Hood 182 Miss Molly Blandy 204 Mrs. Charlotte Lennox 280 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL INTRODUCTION. THE ORIGIN OF THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL. At the time when he was planning to issue his Covent-Garden Journal, in November, 1751, " Henry Fielding, Esq.," who had attained great prominence as a novelist and as a writer on legal subjects, was at the highest point of his career. In the law, after a long apprenticeship, he had procured, in 1748, a position much beneath his powers, but one which paid him a very necessary income — the office of Justice of the Peace for Westminster ; and in 1749 his jurisdiction was extended to the County of Middlesex. In this office he acted as a kind of police-court magis trate, giving to it more time and more arduous labor than he was really fit to give, and had gained therein some distinction and no little notoriety. There he had conducted his duties most efficiently and honestly (unlike his predecessors), and had gone far beyond what was required of him in an attempt to reform the corrupt methods of administering justice and to remedy defects in the laws themselves. He had already published his Increase of Robbers, and had in mind other schemes for ridding London of its large horde of criminals and for providing for its poor.1 As a novelist Fielding had already accomplished his i See London Daily Advertiser, No. 229, Nov. 25, 1751, and Notes on No. 36, I. 341. 27. 2 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL greatest work with the publication, in 1749, of Tom, Jones; and in November, 1751, he was preparing for the press his last novel, Amelia, a book which brought him a substantial reward and gave him renewed prominence in the literary world. But in his own day, Fielding seems never to have gained that just and full measure of appreciation and praise which later gen erations have given him. Yet in the rapid sale of his novels and in the praise of a few worthy critics, Field ing must have found no little satisfaction, even in the face of numerous hostile criticisms; for whatever degree of success he had won was due to his own natural talents and his unceasing labor. Some credit, however, must be given to the encouragement and assistance which had come from his friends — men who continued their support in his new venture: Henry Pelham, the Prime Minister; the Duke of Bedford, whose "princely benefactions » n to Fielding may have included the rental of the Bow-Street house in which Fielding lived with his second wife ; Kalph Allen,2 who continued to assist the Fielding family even after Henry's death; George Lyttleton, to whose influence he owed his appointment to the office of Justice ; and such associates as Garrick and Hogarth.3 One naturally wonders why Fielding, at this point in his career, contemplated writing a paper which he must have realized, from previous experiences,4 would bring a swarm of enemies about him, even though it might well serve his purpose. His main motive seems to have been unselfish— a whole-hearted desire to iDobson's Life (N. Y. 1900), p. 164. 2 The patron of Amelia. No 21 2 °' 3> L 151' M; f°r Hogarth> Notes on * The Champion, Jacobite's Journal, and True Patriot. INTRODUCTION 3 reform the manners and morals of the age, and to remedy the defects in the administering of justice to those whom the pernicious influences of the age had perverted.1 In analyzing other possible motives, we must reject the idea that Fielding intended to make his paper a political sheet for the support of the party then in power, for we find him expressly denying any such intention in his first issue, and faithfully adher ing to his word thereafter. It is also certain that Fielding, in his first plan, had no intention of con ducting a paper-war which was to be waged chiefly with abusive personal attacks ; for at the time he was ignored by most of his enemies, and was on good terms with his arch-enemy, John Hill, the * Inspector/ Indeed, after delaying the publication of his Journal to a time when he might well have found cause to retaliate bitterly for his enemies7 abuse of Amelia, it is evident that he had no intention of doing this, even in printing the account of the mock Paper-War in his early issues. For in this "jocose war," begun in friendly conflict with Hill, there was to be no per sonal abuse, merely gentle ridicule of the Grub-Street publications — as Fielding puts it, "vice and folly, not particular men" were to be ridiculed; but he did not foresee that Hill would use forbidden weapons and that he would have to be fought with personal ridicule. Closely connected with his program of reform, there was in Fielding's mind a very strong desire for giving publicity to his work and plans in his office of Justice of the Peace — his attempts to reconstruct the legal machinery with which he worked. But we must not overlook another very probable motive, one, however, which certainly was not uppermost in Fielding's mind. i See Nos. 4 and 5. 4 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL This was his very earnest desire to add to his insuffi cient income, and to provide for his family's welfare in the days when he knew he would be prostrated by his chronic illness. Since early in the forties, Fielding had been suffering from the gout; and now, after a very serious attack in 1749, was somewhat better, but still going about on crutches.1 He refers to himself in his Journal as an old man,2 though he had not yet begun his forty-sixth year ; and his unkind contempo raries speak of him as in his decline, in a physical and mental dotage;3 but the spirit of the man was by no means old or broken as yet. Indeed, it was two years before he finally gave in to his disease and took, as a last resort, a sea-voyage to Lisbon, where he died of a complication of disorders. In this condition, with a wife and children on his hands and two homes to keep up, one in Bow Street and the other near Baling, Fielding's expenses must have exceeded the slender income received from his regular employment, a sum "little more than £300, a considerable portion of which remained with my clerk . . ."* It is also apparent that the £700 received from his Tom Jones, and the £1000 from his Amelia were insufficient to tide him over any great length of time; for at the beginning of the winter of 1753, his private affairs, to quote his own words, "had but a gloomy aspect. "5 Even with the assistance of his wealthy friends, his total income 1 See Old England, Dec. 2, 1752, on p. 91, below. 2 See No. 8, I. 186. 34. s See extract from Old England, on p. 40, below, and Smollett 's Faith ful Narrative, Henley Edit., XII. 175. In this last Fielding is represented as old and failing. Smollett mentions his having lost all of his teeth, and this seems to be borne out in Hogarth's portrait of Fielding. * Journal of a Voyage, Henley Edit., XVI. 190. 5 Hid., p. 189. INTRODUCTION 5 seems to have been inadequate ;x it is no wonder, there fore, that he undertook his Covent-Garden Journal as a possible new source of income. From the sale of this paper and from the advertisements therein he certainly must have derived some profit; no such venture would have weathered eleven months unless it had paid Fielding some slight return. Then by inserting in his Journal the advertisements of the Universal Register Office, an employment bureau founded by John and Henry Fielding in 1749, Fielding may have increased the business of this concern, and may have realized a better return on his twenty shares in it. Preceding Fielding's Covent-Garden Journal there had been a paper by the same name, one which may have suggested to Fielding the title for his own paper : The Covent-Garden JOURNAL. No. I. To be publish' d Once every Month-, during the present WESTMINSTER ELECTION By PAUL WRONGHEAD, of the Fleet, Esq: TUESDAY, December 5, 1749. Printed for T. Smith, R. Webb, and 8. Johnson . . . This is a single folio,2 printed on one side only, and is an ephemeral political sheet directed at Lord Trentham ; but, beyond the suggestiveness of its name, has no more connection with Fielding's paper than has the Covent-Garden Journal of 1810, or the Covent- Garden Magazine of 1774. 1 See extract from Spring-Garden Journal on p. 95, below. 2 In the British Museum. 6 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL The first announcement of Henry Fielding's venture came in the London Daily Advertiser, Friday, Novem ber 1, 1751, in a paragraph immediately following an advertisement of his Universal Register Office, and reads as follows: At this OFFICE On Saturday the 23d instant will be published (Price Three-Pence) The Covent-Garden JOURNAL A Paper of ENTERTAINMENT By Several EMINENT HANDS To be continued every Tuesday and Saturday in the Morning. All Persons who are pleased to subscribe their Names and Places of Abode at the said Office, will be supplied with this Paper at their Houses. This announcement, however, was premature, for Fielding did not publish his new paper on the date which he had set ; and when that date had passed, gave no notice of postponing publication until December 18th, of that same year, the day on which he published his Amelia. In the second volume of this book, at the end, . there is an advertisement of the Universal Register Office, and, following it, this notice : All Persons, who intend to take in THE COVENT- GARDEN JOURNAL, which will be certainly published on Saturday the 4th of January next, Price 3d. are desired to send their Names, and Places of Abode, to the above Office, opposite Cecil-Street in the Strand. And the said Paper will then be delivered at their Houses. INTRODUCTION 7 On the same day, the London Daily Advertiser con tains the following advertisement: On Saturday January 4 will be Published, Price Three-pence (And to be continued every Tuesday and Saturday) The Covent-Garden JOURNAL By Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knight, CENSOR of Great Britain. Those Gentlemen and Ladies who are willing to take in this Paper . . . [the rest slightly varied from the wording of the previous notice]. Herein we discover the date to which Fielding had postponed his first issue, but no explanation of the delay ; and, secondly, the new heading under which his paper might be expected to appear, and under which it did make its appearance on the date advertised. On the face of things, Fielding had changed his first plan of issuing a paper by Several Eminent Hands, and was now about to act in solitary grandeur as Knight-Censor. The significance of this change is somewhat uncertain,1 but the delay in publication is readily explained here by stating that the labor involved in the publication of Amelia, in addition to the burden of Fielding 's other work, made the earlier publication of his Journal impossible. Subsequent to this date, Fielding advertised his paper in the London Daily Advertiser on the 19th, 23d, and 31st of Decem ber, and in the Whitehall Evening Post on the 24th of December and the 4th of the next month, the day on which his paper first appeared. i See pp. 99 ff ., below, for signatures and tests for Fielding 's contri butions. 8 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL THE GENERAL CHARACTER OF THE JOURNAL. The Covent-Garden Journal was published during eleven months of 1752, and went through seventy-two issues, all uniform in general appearance, each number containing four three-column pages measuring 10% inches by 16*4 inches. Throughout its career this paper was issued regularly from the press of Mrs. Dodd, at the Peacock, Temple-Bar. Beginning on January 4, 1752, as a bi-weekly, the Journal was issued on Tuesdays and Saturdays until July 4th (No. 53) ; and thereafter was issued on Saturdays only, the final number appearing on November 25th. There is an apparent gap of two weeks between the sixty-first number, on August 29th, and the sixty-second, on September 15th, but as a matter of fact only five days elapsed between these two issues; for under the pro visions of the Calendar Act,1 September 2d was reckoned as September 14th, eleven days being dropped in order to bring England's reckoning up to the Gregorian computation then generally adopted on the Continent. During the year the headquarters of this Journal were at Fielding's Universal Register Office, opposite Cecil Street in the Strand; but Mrs. Dodd acted also as his agent in taking in advertise ments and Letters to the Author, and in selling the paper. In its own day the Covent-Garden Journal was some what unique in form and contents, and in the style of its leading articles resembled the earlier types more closely than the contemporary. Indeed, the whole 1 1751. INTRODUCTION 9 sheet smacks less of purely business interests, and has a stronger personal atmosphere than any other of the bona fide newspapers which were then being issued. In format it was slightly smaller than the other news- sheets, and was on better paper and better printed — in appearance a superior sheet and in price unusually high, bringing in threepence an issue.1 Fielding speaks of this superiority in format, and contends,2 in a humorous vein, that the unusual excellence of its contents also warranted his charging an unusual rate for subscriptions. To be sure, his leaders are not extraordinarily excellent essays, but in that period they certainly were quite out of the ordinary, and if not more highly regarded in his own day than those of his contemporaries, are now of especial value to students of Fielding. These leaders and the contributed articles, which sometimes took their place, usually occupied the three columns of the first page and several of the second, but rarely ran over five columns in all. The rest of the columns was given up to a pageful, more or less, of news, — Modern History, Foreign Affairs, stock- quotations, news from Fielding's Covent-Garden Office, and legal notices — which ran over pages two, three, and four; and to paid advertisements, which usually filled the last page, or were divided between pages two and four. In addition to this, there ap peared in the first four numbers a Journal of the Paper-War, and in the following twenty-four issues3 occasional reports of the Proceedings of his Censorial Court. 1 Each number, however, bore a paper-tax stamp of a halfpenny. 2 In No. 1, I. 136. 19. 3 There is one isolated case in No. 72. 10 THE COVERT-GARDEN JOURNAL Every number was headed by the title1 which is herein shown in facsimile facing p. 8, and each of the seventy-two leaders, excepting that in No. 63,2 begins with an appropriate motto. The greater number of these leaders are essays from Fielding's pen and are signed with his pen-initials. But there are also many contributed articles in prose and verse; and in some cases we find bits of verse contributed probably by Fielding himself. All of these leaders, together with most of the reports from the Censorial Court, are herein reprinted entire, with notes, for the first time. The other parts (a facsimile of the last page faces p. 12, below) need a brief description here. The news, both foreign and domestic, was taken bodily from the current newspapers and arranged under the week-days which had elapsed since the last issue. For the first fifty-three numbers due acknowl edgment was made to those papers by suffixing to the items the initials of the papers from which they had been borrowed — L. D. A. indicating the London Daily Advertiser; L. G., the London Gazetteer, etc.; but thereafter the custom was dropped. This was a most convenient and inexpensive system — no reporters were required, merely a pair of scissors and a paste- pot. His Modern History (London and country news) in the first sixteen issues was enlivened Cum Notis Variorum, serious or humorous comments on the home news of the day, in spirit sharply sarcastic, sympathetic, or burlesque. Take for instance this gem:3 1 Unchanged except for dates and the insertion of 3d. beginning with No. 5. 2 See Notes on 63, II. 97. 6. a From No. 1 (p. 2, c. 3). The Covent- Garden Journal. By Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR, Knt. Cenfor of CHEAT BRITAIN. Price 3d.] . SATURDAY, JUNE a/, 1752. NUMB. 51 To be continued every TUESDAY and SATUI Hands. This was formerly an inconfidc- ture of which, is extremely eafy, as well iiti trwit aria "- rablc Bufinefs, and very few got their as extremely lucrative. The Principal Bread by it ; but fome ingenious Per- of thefe, are Blafphemy, Treafon, B.W- Vl*°- fons have of la;t fo greatly extended it. dry and Scandal. For in the making 0 . that there are at prefent almoft as many up of all thefe, the Qmlifieations above- • m»Jt beyturgtldm Rulei. Print-Shops, as there arc Bakers in this mentioned, together with that Modefty. Metropolis. which is infeparab|e from them, would This Improvement hath been owing to be rather an Incumbrance than of any a deep Penetration into human Nature, real ufe. by which it hath been difcovered, that .. No fooner were thefe new fafhioned there are two Sights which the Gcncrali- Warts brought to Market, than the Pa ly of Mankind do hunger after, with lit- per Merchants, commonly culled Book- tic kfs Avidity, than after their daily tellers, found fo immcnfc a Demand for fiderable Improve- Bread. The one is to behold ceitain them, that their Bufinefs was to find ments of late Years, pirts which are (trendy common to one Hands juffirknt to fyflj tbt Watts ef than the Manufacture of Paper. To fuch half of the Species exhibited to View, in tbt PMii. In this however, they had no Perfeaion is this brought at prefent, the moft amiable and inviting Manneri great Difficulty, as the Work was la ex- that it almoft promifes to rival die great the other is to fee certain Faces, which tremely eafy, that no Talents whatever ftaple Commodity of this Kingdom. bclong'to Individuals, t-xpt-fed in a ridi- (except that of being able to write) not ', .The two principal Branches of this culous and contemptible Light. By even the Capacity of Spelling ; w«e rc- - : carried on by Painting feeding both which Appetites the Print- ouilkr. To what a Degree of makers' have very plentifully fed them- The Methods however which have \rtifts are arrived in the fclves. been ufcd by the Paper- Merchant* to former, I need not mention. Our paint- I come now to the fecond Branch of- make thefc new falhioned Wares univer- ed Paper is fc«rce diftinguifhablc from Printing, namely to that which- is per- (ally known, are very ingenious and wof- Ihc fioeft Silk i and there is fcarce a mo- formed at the Letter-prefs, and which thy our \otke. dern Houfc, which hath not one or mote confifts of -Books, Pamphlets. Papers, Tlie firft of thefe Methods was for the Rooms lined with this Furniture. tec. ' The flourifhing State of this Ma- Mrrchim himfelf to mount in the moft But however valuable this Branch nufafture needs no Kind of Pro.f. It public Part of di: Tovn into a wooden may be, it » by no Means equal io that i, indeed certain, th»t more Paper i, now Machine e.-,llcd ;hc Pillory, where ht which is carried on by Printing. Of confumed this Way in » Week, thin flood for the Spaa, of an Hour prorhim- fuch Confequence indeed to the' Public was formerly- the Confumption of a ing his Goods to all tMst paft that Way. may this Part of the Paper Manufacture Year. This was praclifar with much Succefs by be made, that I doubt not but that with To this notable Encreafe, nothing per- the late Mr. Curl, Mr. Mift and others proper Care, it would he capable of find- haps hath more contributed, than the who never Mtd of felling fcvcr.l large mg an ample Provifion for the Poor, new Invention of writing without the Bale, of Goods in this Manner. To which Purpofe il fcems better adapt- Qualifications of any Genius or Learn- Notwithllanding however the Profits • ' i which I ing. The firft- Printers, podlbly miflcd •rifinit from this Method i ' ~ edthan any other, fora Kcafon which I ing. The firft; Printers, poffibly mifled arifingfrora this Method of Publication, ftiall prefemly afllgn. by an1 old Precept in one Horace, fcrm it w.is not without Objraions ; for fevcral Of Printing likewifr, there are two to have imagined, that both thofe in- wanton Perfons among the Mob, were Kinds •, that of the Rolling, and that of gredients were ncceflary in the Writer, ufcd on fuch Occafions to divert thcm- the Letter Prcfs, —or perhaps I (halt be and accordingly we find they employed f.-lvts by pelting the M;ich:,nt while Ip fcttter'underftood by moft of my Readers, themfc-lves on fuch Samples only, as flood expofcd on the PuiLiSMixe- by die Terms Prints and Books. * were produced by Men, in whom Gc- STOOL, with rotten Eggs ami other mif- The Former (though of infinitely the nius and Learning concurred ; but mo- chk»ous Implements, by which Means, Itfs Confcquencc) hath bten of late much dern Times have difcovcred, that (he he often came off much bedawbtd, and improved-, and though it doth not con- Trade is very well to be carried on with Ibmedmn not without bodily Hurt, fume a great Quantity of Paper, doth out either; and this by introducing (eve- Some of the more cunning ther.fore however employ a great Number of ral new Kin 1 of Wares, the Manufcc- among du Merchants began to decline No*, flat Pafer is to it bad at the Univcrfal Regiftcr Office, MCA/ tit Cwntr of Bilhonfg»te.fticet. Coruhill. A TITLE-PAGE OF THE JOURNAL INTRODUCTION 11 "We are assured there will be no Ode performed in the Great Council Chamber at St. James's this Day [Wed. Jan. 1st], as has been usual on New Year's Day. Id. — // this Fact be true, the Town will have this Year escaped both the annual Odes; and the true Lovers of the Muses may hope, that the Laureate will, for the future, make a Sine Cure of his Office." This was, of course, directed against Fielding 's old enemy, Colley Gibber, then Laureate, whose wretched Odes were perpetrated upon the town at regular intervals.1 But after No. 16, Fielding abandoned adding these comments, and gradually increased the quantity of his news ; until, at the last, especially when the paper was issued on Saturdays only, nearly one- half of the entire paper was filled solid with home and foreign news. Newsgathering in those days was particularly diffi cult in all matters which went on outside of London, but of the city news there was an easy and abundant supply. Most of the country and foreign news came by letter, often from special correspondents situated in the larger cities. One reads with great interest of Benjamin Franklin 's electrical experiments in Philadelphia, of troubles in India and other colonial possessions : "By a Letter from Fort St. George, dated the 24th of October last [1751], we have an Account that Trichonopoly is closely besieged, as is also Arcot. The former is defended by Gingeus, the other by Clive. Sindarsack's Army, with the French, are very numer ous, and all Communications are cut off from both Places. L. D. A." — Covent-Garden Journal, March 10th. i See Notes on No. 1, I. 135. 29. 12 TEE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Then in addition to the petty chronicles of London, life, there loomed up large the topics of the smallpox plague, military affairs, murders, robberies, and hang ings. One's life then hung by a very slender thread: "Some Weeks past the Grave-Digger at Chelwood, in Somersetshire, open'd a Grave, wherein a Man who died of the Small-Pox had been interr'd about thirty Years ago — By the Deceased's Desire, he was buried in an Oak Coffin, which was now so firm, that it might have been taken out whole : but the Grave-Digger not chusing that, forc'd his Spade through the Lid, when there came forth such a Stench, that he never smelt the like be fore. — It being a Person of Credit that was to be buried in the Grave, the whole Village attended the Funeral, as well as many People from the neighbouring Villages; and a few Days after, fourteen Persons were seized in one Day with the usual Symptoms of the Small-Pox, and in three Days more every Soul, but two, in the whole Village, who had not had it, were seized in the like Manner. — Their Disorder proved to be that Disease, and was so favourable that no more than two Persons died of the whole Number, which was about Thirty; and one of them was a Woman who came down Stairs when the Pock was at the Height, and died the same Night. — The same Disorder was carried all round the Villages, by the Country People who attended the Funeral, and proved very favourable every where." — Covent-Garden Journal, April 18th. In these columns we read also of the social whirl in London, in Bath, and Tunbridge Wells ; of the Gunning sisters1 who took London society by storm and during the year "set in great Houses "; of nobility, even royalty, in their goings and comings between London i See Notes on No. 12, I. 210. 22. Neck, and wa. obliged to <K l«p they had continued Cone Time in Devoaon, S« aflced Leave to falute Mif, Jeffrie., but fhe ref ed him that Favour, which (he granted to Quarter after Tw«. Swan wi, taker. Hurdle into the Can, where Mrf. Jrfrie, .gam hinted away upon puttwg &e Rop= «bo« her N«k, and wagged _» * f'K^0d0n S± t Die' ref.f. *& (he granted to the cy mutually (orgaveone anothet Mit Jeffrie, had two Handkerchief, tied aboat her Head and Face after her Bo«Kt wt-^enotbotftekeptonherCapachu,. A. ^urteen Minute, after thVee the Cart wu daw. from under them, anj they were hung very low. the two End. Of one long Rope fen-ing them both, »hich in the Middle wa, twilled about the .pper Beam of the Gibbet. The Length «f the Rope occaf.oned them both to twift round, and her Head Ml into Swan'. Bofom, in which Man- 3&3i Ml&£K4!'~S BOARDING-SCHOOL of herP»Tiiia in Acgu» !?$>• To whieh will he added. An Appendix containing feveral ongmil Let- ten, nowln Pofleffion of the Editor. A true a»d faithful Accoun't of her Behaviour wlilft under Sentence of Death, with a Copy of K i. Dac-LAa ATIOH (he intend, to bring with her to the Place of Ejceculxw. Printed for A. Millar in the Strand. •„• All other Narrative, and Account, of what raffed between Mif. Blandy and Mr. Cranftoun will be fpuriou, ; and Mif, Blandy will anthen- _.,.»_.*- , ricate the Pamphlet here mentioned, in the moft ner (he expired. The Executioner behaved very ggg^ M^ ^ dtcUrillf [n« Whole to •Bfcilfully. and a fad to have been hired pu/- ^ ^ ^ , WM,,cn ,„,, lr.!x dlc. pofelr by Mifs Jeffrie., and to be one who h: utoj , j^^afl inp^mcc Of two Clergymen of Reputation, who will atten rhi.. ANDREW MILLAR. i he wa. re- _ i";m d«" Cart to the Eagle at Snarelhrook, n airier to be hung in Chain,. Id. frtftmri /. ("•> " t<T*" vntt itt »'•»/ Sivirit} rftki Lfui. (Price One Shilling) SOME REMARKS Infpcr!tor. General of Great Britain. In a Serfc, of Letter, from a Gentleman inTowt to Ut Friend in the Cowtry, with occa&onal Him. relatrra to a parallel Performance of a certain noble Mr. HOGARTH Propoffi to Publijb by SUBSCRIPTION, A ttort Tra« in Quarto, called THE ANALYS I S of B EAUTY. Prints, fcrioul and comical Two explanatory Prints, fcrioul and comica engraved « Urge Copper-PUte.. 6t to frame for r.w shii of'th'eDrloeiandPrir,n. .ftej the SuMaiptioa S. over. .jsgK^A-*^ Work, bound or oAcrwaji. Mi.hk* •/ A. Millar, « i*r StnmJ. THE Twelve following valuable Work.. 1. Jac. Aurufli THUANI HiAoriz fui Temp*. i.'riw Wnb of tin Hon. ROBERT BOYLE, ,. VHeVorki of Lord BACON, 4 "I. 1 The Work, of JOHN LOCK, TL!a> j vol. I! TheProfeWork.of JOHN MILTON, » vol i. The Oceana, and other Work, of JAMES HARR1NTON. 7. N. BACON, ot «h« Goremni** tad Liw. «f B.^?e"work. of EDMUND LUDLOW. E% . ALGERNON SIDNEY1. Difcourfe. on Ge- rOUTH are ctrcfuily boarded and educated in all Branchei of ufefui ind public Office., orCompting-Houfcj :. \ particu larly aught the Cr«k and Latin Ciaffic. |»ith their Antiquities and moft beautiful Palfegck judi. cioufly explained and applied) the molt ufcful Bt.nche.of d.«M.them.Z,. Geography an.,,* and modem, French, F.nglilh. Writmg. Ari.h. j, metic in all it, Part,, MochaM. Accolpu, tc, at reaibnablc Kate., by ^NBAS BAYNES, A.B. And proper ACfiann. The Temper, a, well a, Genins of Youth are carefully ftuaicd, the ftrifteH Regard had to t!-.eir Moral., and the French Languiw Ln,ve,faUy talked in the Family. The Houfe pU^fant and comrnodiou* The Air temperate , and good Cold. N. B. There are fepantte genteel Ap for fingle Gentlemen or for >nung Noblemen, Gentlemen and, heir Tutor,, With prop.' Conve- nieoces and good ag«cable Ccmpany. MUSEUM CR-fECUM & -rEGYPTIACUM. CONTAINING, Twenty PRINTS or, VIEWS and ANTIQUITIES i N GREECE and EGYPT } Amonglt which are Large View, of Con&utinoDle, the Grotto at Antipww, andtheF>-nu»id,. Seetjons of the two Pyramid, that are open ; their •aMM&NI given, with human Figure! drawn therein, to g.ve an immediate Idea ef their fe- Engraved from. Draw ing. taken on the Spot, bjr .t M>. D.lton-., >t Mr. D.fr,-'. I* 0«"t Ii- Si. JUM.-.J «W .t M». brifia't, ta fto- dy » bedeUTered to (ie SoWcribcn. LONDON: Printed and 8oM by Mr.. Do»p, M the Pttcick.'Itmpk-Bv, wd.t the OFFICE woofue Ceeil-Strta, in the S/rW, where ABT»|TISEMEJ<T. and LETT d.t the UNIVERSAL REGISTER ERS » the AUTHOR are A FOURTH PAGE OF THE JOURNAL INTRODUCTION 13 and the country; of drums, routs, levees, and other entertainments; of the activities of the infant Royal Society; of shipping and trade; and of such soul- stirring spectacles as that of Slack the Butcher's knocking out Falkener in twenty-seven and one-half minutes at Broughton's Amphitheatre. One notices that there were no columns reserved for Births, Mar riages, and Deaths,1 as there are today; such notices were mixed in with incongruous companion items, and obviously comprised only a small portion of the vital statistics of the day. In his advertisements Fielding seems to have been quite fortunate, especially in his earlier issues; for seldom an issue appeared, up to No. 53, without a full page of advertisements. And, curiously enough, Fielding seems to have exercised some care in his acceptance of copy for this section ; indeed, we do not find in his paper any such objectionable advertise ments as those found in other contemporary papers, conspicuous among which were those contributed by the notorious Dr. Richard Rock.2 But Fielding did not draw the line on all specifics and panaceas, for he did take in advertisements of Dr. James' Fever Powders5 and Dr. Greenough's Tinctures. The great bulk of his advertisements, however, came from the booksellers; but in accepting these Fielding seems to have refused advertisements of scurrilous and inde cent Grub-Street publications, even if he did permit a few notices to creep in which advertised such pamphlets as Hill 's Letters to a Lady,4" Some Remarks5 1 These were usually tabulated in the current magazines. 2 See Notes on No. 38, I. 349. 10. 3 See Notes as above. * See p. 37, below. » See p. 70, below. 14 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL by Kennedy, and Pasquin turn'd Drawcansir1 by Macklin. By taking Millar's advertisements, Fielding neces sarily advertised his own novels and pamphlets ; and, similarly, in advertising the Universal Register Office, Fielding puffed his own enterprise. Since 1749, when John and Henry Fielding founded this office, the busi ness had increased rapidly, even in the face of oppo sition from P. Dullwin2 at the Public Register Office, and from another rival which had sprung up in imitation of the Fieldings'. A branch office was opened during the year,3 and the business was ex tended in scope. It no longer served merely as an employment bureau, but undertook to rent and sell land and houses, to manage estates, to dispose of curios (from bullfinches to pocket pistols), and to act as selling agent for such a company as that in Glaston- bury which sold life-giving spring water from the ' blood-spring' near the Abbey, a miraculous spring dating back to the days when Joseph of Arimathea is supposed to have come to this Isle of Avalon, bringing with him in a sacred vessel the blood of Christ.4 Glastonbury- Water. LAST Night came to the Universal Register Office, opposite Cecil-street in the Strand, a fresh Parcel of 1 See p. 71, below. 2 See pp. 32 ff., below. The other rival was the General Eegister Office, s On Bishopsgate Street in London. A Dublin branch was in operation also during the year; see p. 121, below. * Fielding knew Glastonbury from his boyhood days at Sharpham Park, and may have had an interest in the company which sold this water. But it is very doubtful if, in this connection, he wrote the Z. Z. letter which various biographers have taken as his work; see p. 102, below. INTRODUCTION 15 Glastonbury- Waters, to be sold at the usual Price, viz. One shilling a Bottle, and the Bottle to be returned. The Diseases in which these Waters have been, and continue to be, remarkably efficacious, are in Asthmatic and all Kinds of Scrophulous Cases. They give great Spirits and Appetite. Both of the theatres took space in his paper; and a few numbers contain advertisements of other amuse ments — Concerts of MusicJc and Lectures, and other respectable diversions. And then, occasionally, one finds such interesting advertisements as those repro duced in facsimile facing p. 12: Hogarth's Analysis of Beauty, and a very amusing advertisement of a Kensington boarding school. One reads with much delight of the feats which Paul Jullion promised to perform upon his victims : At the Two Heads in Coventry-Street, between Piccadilly and Leicester-Fields, all Persons of what Age, Sex, or Condition soever, who have had the Misfor tune of losing their Teeth, or only Part of them, but more particularly their Front ones, by any accidental Blow or Fall, or thro' Decay of their Teeth or Gums, to the great Disfigurement of their Mouth, and Interruption of their Speech and Pronunciation, may have such Defi ciencies replaced with artificial ones, so admirably adapted as to serve every Use of natural ones, and no way painful or discernable, they being made, fitted, and set after an entire new Method, never before put in Practice by any other than Paul Jullion, Operator for the Teeth, at the above Place, who is the only and sole Inventor of them . . -1 When his paper had reached its thirtieth issue, the advertising began to fall off gradually; and when the i See p. 56, below, and No. 31 (p. 4, c. 2). 16 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Journal became a weekly and refused to accept any advertisements for less than three shillings, the quantity decreased rapidly to a point where some issues had scarcely an advertisement. But this may have been due, also, to the increase in the quantity of news which was concentrated into one issue a week. Beginning with the second number of his Journal, Fielding introduced a feature which runs through nearly the entire series. This was a column or more of news from the Bow-Street Court contributed by Fielding himself and by his clerk, Joshua Brogden1 — 'chronicles of crime/ one might call them. Fielding >s Court-Room, where he acted as Justice of the Peace, was on the site of the present Police Court, and was probably a lower room in the house where he resided.2 At all hours of the day and night, Fielding was on hand to issue warrants, to act as a notary, to make examinations of culprits, to hold them under bail for trial in the higher courts, or to commit minor offenders to prison or to a madhouse. One can picture him, aroused in the dead of night, coming down to examine some thief brought in by the firm hand of Saunders Welch.3 It was a part of Fielding's duty to see to it that a proper force of efficient constables was 1 Dobson's Notes to Henley Edit, of Fielding's WorTcs, XVI. 288. 2 In his Journal Fielding asks that notices of robberies be sent to him "at his House in Bow-Street," and writes of examinations made before him at his house, etc. s ' ' One of the best officers who was ever concerned in the execution of justice." — Fielding, Henley Edit., XIII. 284. Welch was a good friend of his, and, upon his recommendation, was later made a Justice, but not to succeed Fielding. Welch, after Henry Fielding's death, became a partner of John Fielding's in the Universal Eegister Office. — See WorTcs, Henley Edit., XVI. 291; Boswell's Johnson (Oxfd. 1908), II. 165 and 470; Godden's Memoir (Lond. 1910), p. 279; Dobson's Life (N. Y. 1900), p. 271. INTRODUCTION 17 always on hand in his district to preserve law and order by day and night; his burden was therefore doubly irksome. Under Covent-Garden Fielding regularly printed brief reports of his examinations, .-sometimes with comments from his own pen. The record is very interesting reading, sordid as the accounts may be; for in this chronicle we discover much about Fielding's daily life, his efficiency in his office, and his plans for legal reform. In reading over the essays printed in this Journal, one notices that Fielding divides his space between those essays which are purely literary studies and those which we may call essays of purpose. Indeed, one is tempted to suspect that Fielding's desire to reform the age was much stronger than his desire to create real literature ; he denies1 any wish on his part to contribute solely to the amusement of his readers, and in his papers very often makes his literary instinct subservient to the demands of his program of social reform. And believing that examples of what he wished to remedy, or to approve, would serve his end better than any precepts which he might preach, he filled his columns — his leaders, news, advertisements, and Proceedings of the Censorial Court — with concrete examples of what he had in mind. Ridicule was his favorite weapon in criticising that which he wished to exterminate ; and, in many instances, his comments are extremely mordant ; but where no comment seemed advisable he presented his examples either as emi nently worthy of emulation or as most horrible instances of that which men should fear and shun in their own lives. On every side Fielding saw with real consternation i In No. 5, I. 163. 4. 18 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL a growing degeneracy which was permeating all classes of society. Men were abandoning their faiths and fears, and were turning into profligate courses. The amusements of all classes were tending to become degrading; the presses groaned with indecent books and prints; the theatres were catering to a depraved taste; and men were growing more and more intem perate in their drinking, in their gaming, and in their passions. The streets swarmed with beggars and criminals; the brothels and halls were crowded with unruly mobs ; robberies and murders were very openly performed and often went unpunished ; and when cul prits were caught, the mob took a holiday and went off to enjoy a hanging or two. Indeed, London social conditions at that time might be compared with those of Eome or Corinth in its worst days, although, as Fielding ironically remarks,1 London was then some what better off. Fielding's interest in this appalling condition was that of a God-fearing, sober-minded citizen who daily came into close contact with the problem in his official duties as magistrate. Ever since his appointment as Justice, the subject had been vitally interesting to him ; and to arouse a general public interest in reform, he had taken up the problem in two pamphlets dealing with the causes and the remedy. The first of these was his Charge to the Grand Jury, in 1749, wherein he deals briefly with the matter, but in a manner which shows that he had already diagnosed the source of the prevailing corruption and had in mind plans for improving the situation. In the second pamphlet, his Increase of Robbers (1751), he had made an exten sive and brilliant exposition of the entire problem. i See No. 2, I. 139 ff., and No. 16, I. 231 ff. INTRODUCTION 19 Therein he traces the prevailing evils back to their first cause and suggests remedies. Centuries of trade, he states, had revolutionized the social conditions among all classes; for with trade had come a vast increase of wealth in which all classes now had their share ; and with wealth had come luxury, an evil which lay at the roots of all others. The luxury of the rich had inevitably worked its way downward to the poor, so that the mob, in imitation of their betters, spent their slender means in degrading extravagancies and in excesses of all kinds. In the wake of debauchery had come disability, then poverty, and finally, crime. The streets were unsafe to walk in, the jails were overcrowded with vagabonds and criminals, and the hospitals with idiots and lunatics. This problem Fielding was attacking in two different ways : by attempting to remove the causes which underlay this degeneracy, and by endeavoring to reform the current methods of dealing with the victims of this social condition. In this attempt he was admir ably equipped, for on the one hand, he had a practical knowledge of the statutes and the power to enforce them — a splendid law library and a good training back of him, and unhampered jurisdiction over his district — and on the other, the press, in which he was able to give publicity to what he was accomplishing and what he planned to do. In his own Journal, not content merely with recording his work as Justice, Fielding employed a great part of his leaders, and most of the Proceedings of his Court of Censorial Enquiry, in ridiculing the manners and morals of his contempo raries — to turn the dissolute in the direction of virtuous living, and to arouse men of moral stamina and true worth to a full realization of the importance 20 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL of dangers which confronted them and of the imme diate need of combining in an attempt to exterminate them. As a Justice of the Peace he tried to measure pun ishment to all offenders, and to intimidate those who had not yet come under his notice, by making capital punishment a really awful example. By providing some scheme for prison reform he hoped to turn those nurseries of vice and crime into places of confinement where men with vicious tendencies might be made to do regular work, and eventually might be made over into decent, industrious citizens. In a similar manner he planned to present a method of employing the poor and thereby to reduce the horde of beggars and petty criminals which lived in utter dependence on the town. The record of what he desired to accomplish and did accomplish in these eleven months in 1752 is inter esting to review. In most of the issues of his Journal Fielding printed the following notice against robbers, with the hope that the public might be stimulated to cooperate with him in his work: To the PUBLIC All Persons who shall for the Future suffer by Robbers, Burglars, &c. are desired immediately to bring, or send, the best Description they can of such Robbers, &c. with the Time and Place, and Circumstances of the Fact, to Henry Fielding, Esq., at his House in Bow-Street. His Increase of Robbers had stirred the public to a serious consideration of the matter,1 and Parliament to the point where, in March, 1752, an Act was passed i Several pamphlets appeared after Fielding's: A Method to prevent the many Robberies in London (Nov., 1751), A Scheme to prevent Bob beries (Jan., 1752), etc. INTRODUCTION 21 for the licensing of public amusement halls, in an attempt to remove from the criminal class their common meeting-places. Fielding's own efforts were extraordinarily successful, and he was extremely active in rounding up highwaymen and pickpockets. His Covent-Garden news abounds in reports of exami nations and commitments; and we know from Field ing's own word1 that, by the winter of 1753, he had almost completely cleaned out the swarm of criminals which had infested London. In addition to his crusade against gaming,2 gin- drinking,3 duelling,4 much space in his Journal is de voted also to the * Social Evil. ' It was one of his duties to enforce the laws against disorderly houses ; but for a long time he was almost without power to attack this vice, because, as he frequently remarks in his news-comments, adultery was no crime by the laws of England. He regarded this evil as ineradicable,5 but felt that it was the duty of every magistrate to suppress the practice as far as it was possible. The subject is threshed out in several leaders and in one letter;6 and during the year Fielding, supported by a new Act of Parliament, passed early in that year, succeeded in closing up those bagnios which ran in open defiance of the law, and in generally suppressing the worst of the traffic. In spite of the vigilance of the London magistrates and frequent hangings, the crimes of robbery and murder seemed, then, to be on the increase. One 1 Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, Henley Edit., XVI. 188. 2 See Notes on No. 17, I. 239. 32. 3 See Notes on No. 11, I. 201. 16. * See Notes on No. 4, I. 156. 16. s Charge to the Grand Jury (1749), Henley Edit., XIII. 213. e In No. 50, II. 38 ff. 22 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL particularly atrocious case is reported in Fielding's Journal, under the news for Friday, January 17th : ''Wednesday Night, Mr. George Gary, a Higgler, who lived near Epping, on his Return home from Leaden- hall-market, was robbed and murdered by three Footpads near the Windmill, which is within half a Mile of his own House: They likewise shot his Son, who was in the Cart with him, but his Wound is not likely to prove mortal. Mr. Gary was an honest, industrious Man, and has left a Wife and five Children."1 The affair was taken up with unusual expedition, and popular interest was aroused to an extreme. One can follow the events of the case in other numbers2 of Fielding's paper. Parliament arose to the occasion and passed an Act providing for a more speedy trial and execution of those guilty of such a crime.3 In April Fielding published his Examples of the Inter position of Providence in the Detection and Punish ment of Murder; and in one instance,4 at least, dis tributed copies gratis for the purpose of further intimidating the mob. Other pamphlets followed,5 but nothing very much seems to have been accomplished in that year. Fielding himself was somewhat dis couraged over the failure of the new Act, for he believed that murder could not be effectually held in check until the execution of criminals could be made an awe-inspiring and horrible example to the mob, by hanging every offender, and always in private. In his 1 In No. 5, Jan. 18th (p. 3, c. 2). 2 In Nos. 8, 13, 18, etc. s In March. 4 See No. 30 (p. 2, c. 3). s Methods for putting a Stop to Murder (April, 1752), A Warning Piece (June, 1752). INTRODUCTION 23 Covent-Garden Journal of July 18th is found this news -item : "On Monday last [July 13th] eleven Wretches were executed at Tyburn, and the very next Night one of the most impudent Street-Robberies was committed near St. James 's Square ; an Instance of the little Force which such Examples have on the Minds of the Populace . . ." Taking the matter up in other issues, Fielding con tributes a parable on the subject of public hangings in his leader No. 25,1 and in the same number makes further comment:2 \ "The real Fact at present is, that instead of making the Gallows an Object of Terror, our Executions con tribute to make it an Object of Contempt in the Eye of the Malefactor; and we sacrifice the Lives of Men, not for the Reformation, but the Diversion of the Populace." Another topic which takes up much space in Field ing's Journal is that of the poor-laws. Fielding had long been planning a workhouse scheme for providing for the employment and reformation of beggars and unfortunates. In November, 1751, rumor3 had it that he laid before Henry Pelham a plan for solving the problem ; but if this was the first draft of his Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor, it did not get into print until January, 1753. During 1752, however, he kept the subject continually before his readers in his essays4 and news-items. Indiscriminate alms-giving he decried, although he was himself quick 1 March 28th. 2 Under Covent-Garden (p. 2, c. 3). s London Daily Advertiser, Nov. 25, 1751; see Notes on No. 36, I. 341. 31. * See Notes on No. 36, as above. 24 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL to help a needy brother. Indeed, we know that during the year he established a fund for a burned-out baker by the name of Peirce,1 giving one guinea out of his own pocket, and a similar fund for an unfortunate man by the name of Redman.2 Then in connection with his plea for hospital reform,3 we know that he gave his support to the Foundling Hospital, and that he gave both of his money and time to the founding and maintenance of the Lying-in Hospital on Brownlow Street. It was possibly owing to his activity that, in April, Parliament passed a new Act for providing for the poor. Other letters and pam phlets had come out with poor-law schemes;4 but no great success seems to have attended any of the efforts to solve this problem. In order to arrest this flood-tide of crime, Fielding necessarily had to attack it at the source ; but to com pletely eradicate the luxurious habits of those men whose example had been such a powerful force in degrading the lower classes, was impossible. The most he could do was to get at his reading public, men of means and education, and to make them realize the seriousness of their own plight, and that of those men who were below them in the social scale and were imitating their betters in their follies and vices, but not their virtues. On his peers, at least, Fielding might hope to have a wholesome influence. To ridicule the degeneracy of the moral and spirit ual being of these men, Fielding lays much stress on the prevailing lack of religious faith. It was, 1 Recorded in No. 39 (p. 2, c. 3). 2 Recorded in No. 13 (p. 2, c. 3). a See Notes on No. 44, II. 13. 28. * Alcock's Observations on the Defects in the Poor Laws (Jan., 1752), in particular. INTRODUCTION 25 indeed, the fashion in France and England, at this time, to profess a dwindling faith or none at all. Deism and atheism had gained great headway in England; and grievous consequences had followed. Here is a bit of contemporary opinion on the matter: "What shocking robberies, murders, duels, &c., are constantly in the papers ! does not that too plainly show the growth of infidelity?"1 The freethinkers had formerly come under Fielding 's whip; and now, as representatives par excellence of these odious "political philosophers, " the Robin- hoodians2 are held up to ridicule and effectively pilloried. Fielding felt that true religion, like Greek, had "gone to the dogs,"3 and that with it had gone men's moral stamina. Believing in an after life4 and in salvation by good works, Fielding had a natural antipathy for the doctrines of the new schools of thought, and continually ridicules their infallible guides, reason and the 'rule of right,' which led them to no good end here, or hereafter. In many of his contemporaries he saw the gradual decay of true ability and real worth, and the growth of an odious affectation — hypocrisy and vanity. The great man is held up to ridicule as a scoundrel in the disguise of an honest man. Greatness and goodness5 were no longer compatible in any man; and the aver age man of prominence was but a Jonathan Wild at heart and in deed. The commonplace man he pictures iMrs. Delany's letter to Mrs. Dewes, March 27, 1752, in her Auto biography (Lond. 1861), Ser. 1, III. 105. 2 In Nos. 8 and 9. a See Notes on No. 1, I. 139. 3. * See Notes on No. 69, II. 130. 13. 5 See Notes on No. 2, I. 144. 22. 26 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL for us as utterly vain and frivolous, and more often an affected coxcomb like the rideout in No. 33. Throughout his essays he holds up to ridicule those men and women who spent their lives in idle amuse ments, in slavery to fashion — in dress and manners — and who swore, drank, and gambled their lives away. Intellectually and artistically men were degenerate. The education of the day, he tells us, produced, on one hand, dissolute men of fashion, and on the other, second-rate artists and men of letters, incompetent and scurrilous critics, petty scholars employed in the pedantry of etymology and text-editing, and in vain scientific pursuits, and men with knowledge but no wisdom. The schools1 he describes as nurseries of vice where men were trained not in the old classical methods, but in the new metaphysical, and then were turned loose upon the world either to be corrupted further or to spread corruption. He devotes whole leaders2 to the anarchy in the kingdom of letters and in the kingdom of critics, and goes so far as to declare war on Grub-Street and to set up, thereafter, a Court of Censorial Enquiry to help regulate the current publications. The scholarship and the scientific pur suits of the men of that generation also come in for criticism in burlesque samples of text-editing,3 etymological derivations, and historical and scientific treatises. The stage also receives its share of criticism at his hands at different times during the year. He censures the prevailing craze for pantomime,4 and tries to sway 1 See Notes on No. 42, II. 3. 23. 2 See Notes on No. 23, I. 269 ff. 3 See Notes on No. 4, I. 156. 25. * See Notes on No. 3, I. 152. 5. INTRODUCTION 27 popular taste back towards a real liking for Shake spearean drama. Throughout his paper he supports Garrick in his efforts to curb this degenerate taste, and sides with him against Rich and the town, particularly in the Theatre-War which came early in November. And, during the year, he attempts also to reform the manners of the audience, and to suppress the first- night damnations and riots. Interspersed among his essays of purpose, however, one finds a large number of essays on perennial topics in which the note of reform is less pronounced, and, if discernible at all, is to be regarded as quite detached from his main program. There are, for instance, several papers on the l fourth-estate/ or the 'mob,'1 tracing the history of mob-rule, and showing up this order in its virtues and vices. Then there are essays on slander, impudence, self-praise, contempt, and other human foibles and failings. There are two or three essays on the ' theatrical state,'2 and, in this connec tion, one excellent essay on the choice of a profession. And apart from his criticism of the scurrility of the press, there are several essays on wit and humor,3 the 'itch for writing,' pertness, dullness, and disdainful ness in authors, the unities in the drama, and even an essay on printing and booksellers. Here and there we find occasional verse, such as the Elegy on the Prince of Wales' death, a translation of one of Tibullus' elegies, an imitation of Chaucer's ballad verse, and a song to Jenny Weston. Rarely do we find among the many letters to the author, a genuine communication on some topic of the day; for most of these effusions 1 Nos. 27, 47, and 49. 2 Nos. 15, 34, and 71. s Especially Nos. 55 and 56. 28 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL were composed by the author and were introduced by him to lure his readers into perusing what would have been distasteful to them in any other form. And, finally, one finds a few isolated essays, such as the account of the intended publication of Lucian's Works, the prose version of the story of Astulpho and Jucunda, and an essay, quite satirical, on ants. THE NEWSPAPER-WAR. The Paper-War, whose events are recorded in the first few issues of Fielding's Journal, was begun and ended within two short weeks ; but the general warfare between Fielding and his various opponents continued throughout the whole year. In this a battle to the death was inevitable; for so long as Fielding should employ his Journal to reform the age, just so long would the age refuse to be reformed; and finally one or the other would have to give in. Indeed, before hostilities were actually begun, Fielding's enemies were forewarned and ready to do their worst ; and two weeks before the first issue of his Journal, Fielding had paved the way for much hostile criticism by pub lishing Amelia. This book had been turned over to "A. Millar, in the Strand," and even before Fielding had written his preface (dated December 12, 1751) had been very vigorously and cleverly advertised for the 18th of that month. Take, for example, the note appended to an advertisement in the Whitehall Even ing Post of December 5th: *% To satisfy the earnest Demand of the Public, this Work is now printing at four Presses ; but the Proprietor notwithstanding finds it impossible to get them bound in Time, without spoiling the Beauty of the Impression, and therefore will sell them sewed at Half a Guinea a Sett. This reminds one of a similar device of Millar's in publishing Tom Jones.1 The canny Millar, according i See General Advertiser, March 4, 1749. 30 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL to Sir Walter Scott,1 withheld this issue as likely to sell very rapidly, and gave no discount to the trade, whereupon the entire output was bought up at once — in one day, if we may believe Mrs. Piozzi !2 The suc cess of this ruse proved to be a fruitful source of abusive criticism; but even more delightful to the critics' eye was an unfortunate slip which Fielding made early in the history of his Amelia, whereby his heroine was presented to the world as a noseless beauty. For we read in the first edition, I. 95, that by the overturning of a chaise her " lovely Nose was beat all to Pieces, " and on p. 98, following, that she was "without any Nose at all." That Fielding altered these passages in his second edition, restoring to Amelia her injured member, is good evidence that the vituperation of his critics cut him to the quick. Prominent among these critics were Richardson and Smollett, neither of whom was disposed to forgive Fielding his success as a rival novelist. Richardson's part in the Paper-War is, however, negligible, even though he had never forgiven Fielding his Joseph Andrews and had rejected his overtures towards a peacemaking.3 In his letters to his friends Richardson did express his animosity by sneering at Amelia; but beyond this there is nothing else to indicate bad feeling on his side. Fielding was apparently not aware of Richardson 's attitude towards Amelia, for he went out of his way to speak well of his old enemy in the tenth number of his Journal.* Smollett's part in the War, however, is considerable, for he was the aggressor in a one-sided passage at arms between these two men. 1 Lives of the Novelists, Fielding. 2 Anecdotes of Johnson (Lond. 1786), p. 221. 3 Jacobite 's Journal, No. 5. * See I. 193. 29. INTRODUCTION 31 Early in 1751, in the first edition of Peregrine Pickle, Smollett attacked both Lyttleton and Fielding, the former as ' Gosling Scrag' and the latter unnamed. The insertion of a slur on Fielding's character was due to Smollett's envy of the success of his rival, and to the fact that Lyttleton had given Fielding the patronage which Smollett himself had been refused. In this passage, Smollett ridicules Fielding's having taken as his second wife, in 1747, the maid of his first wife, and, also, his having accepted from Lyttleton the office of Justice. His second marriage had been frowned upon by some of his best friends, and so, too, had his acceptance of the office of ' trading magistrate' ; but no one had as yet ventured to indulge in any such criticism as this of Smollett's: ". . . when he is inclined to marry his own cook- wench, his gracious patron may condescend to give the bride away; and finally settle him in his old age, as a trading Westminster justice. ' ' To this abuse Fielding never made any reply; but in a playful humor, he did include Smollett among his enemies in his " jocose war," and thereby stimulated him to renewed activity. Another foe, destined to appear soon after the open ing of this War, was Bonnell Thornton (1724-1768), who is now remembered as a witty member of the Nonsense Club, and as the author of a burlesque Ode on St. Cecilia's Day1 which amused Dr. Johnson to an unusual degree. Thornton was humbly born, the son of an apothecary, but was educated at Westminster School and at Oxford. At the latter he received his B.A. in 1747, his M.A. in 1750, and his M.B. in 1754. i Published in 1763. 32 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL By instinct he was a scribbler, and, as a student, had associated with Christopher Smart in periodical effu sions. In 1752 he burlesqued Fielding's Journal in his own Drury-Lane Journal and Spring-Garden Journal, and thereafter continued to be associated with other periodicals, gaining a wide reputation as a wit. There is no doubt but that he was clever ; but he was also abusive and scurrilous in his writings, especially in his relations with Fielding. It is generally believed that Thornton was the author of these two periodicals directed against Fielding. The British Museum Catalogue and the Bodleian Catalogue ascribe these to him ; Boswell1 names him as a contributor to the Drury-Lane Journal; Alexander Andrews2 assigns this paper to him; but, strangely enough, the Gentleman's Magazine* repeats common rumor, or chance hearsay, attributing the above paper to Mrs. Midnight [Christopher Smart]. That both of these papers are largely directed against Fielding is a fact which cannot be entirely explained; but it is my theory that Thornton was hired to publish the first of these papers by one Dullwin, who had recently started the Public Register Office to rival Fielding's Universal Register Office. We learn from a letter of John Fielding's in the London Daily Advertiser4' that this fellow, who is described as a "Traveling Frenchman," had been registered with this office for employment, had later joined the office force, and after becoming fully familiar with their methods, had suddenly disappeared in September and iBoswelPs Johnson (Lond. 1908), II. 147, note. 2 History of British Journalism (Lond. 1859), I. 160. 3 Jan., 1752, p. 29. * Nov. 4, 1751. INTRODUCTION 33 had erected a rival office. Dull win, or P. D'Halluin as lie signs himself, replied to these charges in the same paper, two days afterward,1 claiming "hard usage " at Mr. Folding's hands, but asserting that one of his two partners (both Englishmen) was really the originator of this type of office. At this new office the Drury-Lane Journal had its headquarters. It is from these facts that I assume that Dullwin influenced Thornton to publish his paper in rivalry with Field ing's Journal, in order that he might ridicule the business methods of the Universal Eegister Office, and divert its patrons to the rival office. Now if we assume that he was merely a hired scribbler, we may also offer the assumption that Thornton probably had no per sonal animosity towards Fielding; for at his worst he shows that he is carried away by his own cleverness in burlesquing his rival, rather than by any bad feeling towards him. There was also in the field at this time ' Jonathan Free/ the author of Old England, a political sheet of uncertain authorship which struck the first blow against Fielding's Journal. According to Lawrence2 this paper had been started in February, 1743, and "had many contributors; of whom William Guthrie . . . was the principal." Its earliest title was Old England; or the Constitutional Journal by Jeffrey Broadbottom of Covent-Garden, Esq., but beginning with the issue of January 3, 1747, it bore a new sub title, The Broadbottom Journal by Argus Centoculi, Inspector-General of Great Britain. Fielding had come to blows with Old England's author during the period in which the Jacobite's Journal had been run- 1 London Daily Advertiser, Nov. 6, 1.751. 2 Life of Fielding (Lond. 1855), p. 226, note. 34 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL ning,1 and now, at the commencement of his Covent- Garden Journal, had to meet the attacks of the new author of this same sheet, which now bore the title, Old England: or the National Gazette by Jonathan Free of the Duchy of Cornwall, Esq.2 This was pub lished once a week on Saturday, and was a four-page affair similar to the general type of newspapers then published. Its author offers himself as a champion of the cause of Liberty and the Constitution, and is plainly of the Opposition faction. Its career under this management came to a close with No. 135, Satur day, January 27, 1753, when its title was changed commencing with February 24, 1753, to Old England's Journal, by J. Freeman and the Antigallican Society. This * Jonathan Free/ who was apparently a hire ling of the Opposition, may possibly have been William Kenrick,3 a hack writer, and, later, an open enemy of Fielding's in the Paper- War. Kenrick (1725M779) was the son of a mechanic and had been brought up as a scale-maker; but in his early life had turned to scribbling. He was a notorious libeler and a drunken and violent follower of the muse. Ascribed to him, among other varied works, are three distinctly anti- 1 In Nov., 1748. See Alex. Andrews, History of British Journalism (Lend. 1859), I. 155, and Lawrence's Life (Lond. 1855), pp. 226 ff. 2 Since April 6, 1751. 3 Kenrick 'a Pasquinade (Lond. 1753) is bound up in a volume of Remarkable Satires (Lond. 1760), most of which bear the pseudonym 'Porcupinus Pelagius,' whom Fielding named, in 1748, as the author of Old England; see Lawrence's Life (Lond. 1855), pp. 226 ff. It is also a great temptation to attribute this later Old England (1751-1753) to Smollett; but in Anderson's Life of Smollett, 4th edit. (Edinb. 1803), p. 116, there is a statement that this paper was " conducted by Mr. Guthrie and Mr. Kalph." Nathan Drake in his Essays (Lond. 1805), I. 91, mentions Wm. Guthrie as the chief contributor, and Chesterfield as an early contributor; Alex. Andrews repeats this statement in his History of British Journalism (Lond. 1859), I. 155. INTRODUCTION 35 Fielding pamphlets: the Old Woman's Dunciad, pub lished in 1751 and hostilely dedicated to Fielding, though mainly directed at Smart; Fun (1752), and the Pasquinade (1753), the former a burlesque skit on the Hill-Fielding controversy, and the latter a general review of all the literary quarrels of 1752. Conspicuous among all the leaders of the Grub- Street Army was John Hill, M.D., who styled himself at this time, Acad. Reg. Sclent. Burd. etc. Soc.,1 and after his receiving the Order of Vasa2 from the King of Sweden, Sir John Hill, etc. He was born at Peter borough in 1716, and was a clergyman's son (whence possibly his Saturday's sermons in his Inspector). He began his career (1716-1775) as an apothecary and studied botany as a side issue. Not satisfied with his trade, he tried acting and made a grievous failure of it. In 1738 he sent Rich a copy of one of his attempts at play writing, Orpheus, and when this was refused, violently assailed him in print. From this time on, to his old age, he produced with great frequency a strange variety of books, pamphlets, and essays, most of which were mere trash, although his botanical studies were considered quite valuable in his day. We are concerned chiefly with his periodical publica tions, so mention here his first attempt — the British Magazine, begun in 1746 and continued to December, 1750. His next attempt was his Inspector, the leading article contributed to the London Daily Advertiser, And Literary Gazette, beginning in March, 1750, and continuing far beyond the period with which we are concerned. This paper was a four-page daily news- 1 See A Short Account of the Life, Writings, and Character of the Late Sir John Hill (Lond. 1779), title-page. 2 In 1775. 36 TEE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL paper containing the usual leader, news, and advertise ments. Its subtitle of Literary Gazette was dropped after November 23, 1751; and during 1752 the paper appeared under this abbreviated title. The daily Inspector, apparently written with great ease and with no small degree of literary skill, has been characterized by Disraeli1 as "a light scandalous chronicle all the week with a seventh day sermon. "2 In these essays, on all imaginable subjects, are recorded the events of his quarrels with Fielding, Brown, Kennedy, Smart, Woodward, etc. ; and extracts from several are herein offered for inspection. From these one gains a con fused idea of the personality of the ' Inspector '; for his rascality and hypocrisy are pretty well concealed beneath his rhetoric. His contemporaries, however, had no such difficulty; take, for instance, this epi grammatic judgment :3 What H — 11 one day says, he the next does deny, And candidly tells you, — 'tis all a damned lie: Dear Doctor, — this candour from you is not wanted, For why shou'd you own it? — 'tis taken for granted. Turning now to other contemporary characteriza tions of the * Inspector/ we find abundant evidence 1 Calamities and Quarrels of Authors, p. 367. — Diet. Nat. Biog. 2 Dr. Kennedy, one of Hill's many opponents, printed the following description of these Inspectors (paraphrased here) : "A Eeceipt for the Writing of Inspectors/' Monday- — self praise. Tuesday — "an old woman's Canterbury story." Wednesday—' < a panygyrical oration on Grub-Street ballads." Thursday — "microscopic observations on any insect." Friday — "on scurrility, scandal and calumny." Saturday — "a welch sermon." [See Whipping Eods (Lond. 1752), p. 32.] sKenrick's Pasquinade (Lond. 1753). INTRODUCTION 37 that Hill was one of the most conspicuous and peculiar figures of the time, being notorious for the oddities of his private life and the squabbles of his literary career. In personal appearance he was a handsome, well-dressed coxcomb, and in his manner of living very luxurious and elegant. His home, we learn from the Spring-Garden Journal? was near Bloomsbury; but his headquarters, towards which he rolled daily in his emblazoned chariot, were at the Bedford Coffee-House, in Covent Garden. This was then kept by Stacie2 and was frequented by Foote, Woodward, Murphy, Field ing, and Hogarth; and there Hill daily rubbed elbows with his friends, and became the central figure of the place. In his private life, as the Monthly Review3 expresses it, the Doctor doubtless had his faults — his untruthfulness, his vanity (his ruling passion, accord ing to the author of Some Remarks* on HilPs life), and his passion for one ' Diamond/ who is celebrated as his mistress in his Letters from the Inspector to a Lady.5 One is not surprised to find that Hill could publish an Inspector on chastity one day, and on the next his Letters to a Lady! In his literary pursuits, although he always was worsted in his controversies, fortune smiled upon him; and his income in 1752 approached the alarming sum of £1500 ! His success was due to his great skill as an advertiser of his wares; and this he contrived to effect by making his name town-talk. His method was as follows: rebuffed as an actor he faced the i No. 1, p. 21. 2Timb's Club Life (Lond. 1866), II. 76. 3 April, 1752, p. 310. * Some Bemarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. J — H — (Lond. March, 1752), p. 22. 5 Lond., Jan., 1752. 38 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL ridicule with The Actor, A Treatise on the Art of Playing;1 refused membership in the Royal Society, he addressed to them a humorous, but indecent pamphlet, Lucina sine Concubitu,2 and then published in 1751 a Review of their works in a very scathing tone of criticism; stirred to action by the success of Smollett's introduction of Lady Vane's Memoirs in Peregrine Pickle, Hill brought out, in imitation, his History of a Woman of Quality, Lady Frail;3 and then, in 1752, various 'racy' works such as the above Letters to a Lady,4 Adventures of a Valet* and Adventures of Mr. Loveill* To bring prominence to his Inspectorial labors, Hill preempted Steele's Lion's Head, a carved wooden head of a lion, designed by Hogarth, which was intended to serve as a receptacle for letters and contributions, and set it up at the Bedford as a letter box for his Inspector. The date of this event seems to have been November 12, 1751, for Hill makes this statement in his Inspector the day following: "The Lion of my honoured Predecessors made his public Entry Yesterday into the Bedford Coffee-house, and has taken his Post in the most conspicuous Part of the Room." Two days later, the Inspector speaks of the Golden Lion (evidently gilded over anew) and announces the " first Roarings" of this creature for the 18th; and on schedule time the Terrible Leo5 began to roar, attracting great attention on all sides. From this time on, throughout the year, Hill was in 1 Lond., 1750. 2 Third edit., Lond., 1750. s Lond., March, 1751. * Lond., Jan., 1752. B Of. the Masquerade, No. 1, p. 21. INTRODUCTION 39 constant warfare with his associates, but previous to the Paper- War seems to have been on good terms with Henry Fielding (and his brother). We know that these men were never intimate friends; but certainly there had been good feeling between them as far back as March 15, 1751, when Hill1 speaks of Fielding's works as " inestimable. " Then on October 31st, Hill writes in unstinted praise1 of Fielding's Register Office; and, finally, on November 25th, he speaks1 in high terms of Fielding's poor-law plan as laid before Henry Pelham, the Prime Minister. Further evidence of good feeling is to be found in Fielding's account of the origin of the Paper-War, in the third issue of his Journal, January 11, 1752, and in Hill's version, in his Inspector of January 9th preceding. Certainly there was no open hostility until some time after the Paper-War had been begun. Before hostilities were actually declared, Old Eng land, on December 21, 1751, takes occasion to gloat over "the almost lifeless Corpse of a poor, wretched, departing Novel [Amelia]," and prepares the public to expect "a true and faithful Account of her de bauched Life, Amours, &c. in the Covent-Garden Journal, ushered into the World by Goody Trotplaid, Justice Quid,2 and several other good Wives and eminent3 Gossips." There follows an unsavory estimate of what the public may expect from <Draw- cansir's' pen: "Here the Debauched, the Diseased, the Rotting and 1 In his Inspector of this date. 2 Fielding 's pseudonym in his Jacobite 's Journal was John Trott- Plaid. He is frequently represented as chewing a quid of tobacco; see p. 46, 1. 24, below. s See p. 6, above, for first advertisement of this Journal as by several ' ' Eminent Hands. ' ' 40 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Rotten, may be instructed and amused, if not cured and reformed: Here will be seen the quaint Device; the old Badger preaching Continence to the young Wolf, — the Type of Impotence correcting Vice I ..." And then some cumbrous burlesque on Fielding's Rating-piece' to Amelia, in which he is represented as writing: "I once thought, and almost still think, Tom Jones (which had all my Wit and Humour) my great Master piece: But the SALE however not answering my Book seller's Expectation, I am now persuaded . . . to say the same of Amelia ..." Following this is an ironically expressed hope that Fielding will attempt not only to continue to benefit learning, but also to settle all the political troubles of the Nation. Evidently 'Jonathan Free' hoped to find in Fielding a champion of the Pelham forces on whom he might vent his wrath as a defeated member of the Opposition ; but his expectation was not fulfilled. In fact, ' Jonathan Free,' failing to drag 'Drawcansir' into political matters, seems to abandon his enemy, except on a few occasions when every small scribbler let loose his puny wrath in imitation of those above him. In his next paper1 he is content with inserting a passing slur on Fielding's pet Wit and Humour, and then remains silent for two weeks. On Saturday, January 4, 1752, in his first issue,2 Fielding enters the field of battle and arrays his forces. He ironically asks room for his new paper, and asserts that he does not purpose to deal in politics or personal abuse, but, rather, intends to correct and reform the 1 Old England, Dec. 28, 1751. 2 The form and contents, etc., are described on pp. 8 ff., above. INTRODUCTION 41 age in an impersonal, good-humored spirit. In order to create a demand for his paper, Fielding evidently had desired to employ some striking device which would immediately appeal to the general public, one which would interest and amuse them not merely for amusement's sake, but rather, for the purpose of making them laugh at the folly of their Grub-Street favorites. In planning this burlesque Paper-War, Fielding had hit upon the very thing which he wanted, and, forewarning Hill of his intention of attacking his ' Lion, ' now began to marshal his troops, expecting that Hill would defend himself in an equally jocose spirit. The Introduction to the Journal of the Paper- War contains no hint of any personal animosity on Fielding's part, even if it does have a serious under current of ridicule directed at what Fielding later1 calls " those base and scandalous Writings, which the Press hath lately poured in such a Torrent upon us," and a hint of his desire to restore "Religion, Virtue, Modesty, and Decency." With this in view, he sets his army on the march toward Covent Garden, and, in his second paper, gives an amusing account of a small skirmish with 'Peeragrin Puckle' and ' Roderick Random,' in which he shows no real resentment against Smollett for his vicious attack early in 1751.3 Equally good-natured is his account of his besieging Hill's 'Lion,' a "strange mixed Monster," at the Bedford, and his insinuation that this creature more closely resembled an ass; certainly no personal abuse is here intended. Hill, himself, in taking up the War in his Inspector, on the 1 Covent-Garden Journal, No. 5; see I. 163. 19. 2 Covent-Garden Journal, No. 5 ; see I. 163. 22. a See p. 31, above. 42 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL 8th of January, the day after Fielding 's second paper had been issued, is quite as good-humored. To be sure, he refers to a certain heroine who " could charm the World without the Help of a Nose ' ' ; but his mood is merry in this and in the following hoax, which he prints under London news : "We hear from the Bedford Coffee-House in Covent- Garden, that an unhappy Gentleman of that Neighbor hood, having Yesterday Morning in Wantonness, thrust his Head into the Mouth of the Lion that resides there, felt the Jaws unexpectedly close upon him: On this, enquiring with a hollow Voice, whether he shook his Tail, and being answered in the Affirmative, he begged the By-Standers to pray for him. A terrible Crash was immediately after heard, and notwithstanding the un common Resistance of the Skull, it is credibly reported, that the Teeth had met through it. He ivas immediately after conveyed Home, but his Surgeons are afraid the Wounds will prove mortal." Everyone knew, of course, that the "unhappy Gentle man " was intended for Fielding; and in the laugh which was occasioned by this notice Fielding must have joined heartily. On January 9th, however, in his next Inspector, Hill becomes seriously abusive, and accuses Fielding of underhanded work and deceptive methods in conduct ing the War. Here are his own words : ''The Author of Amelia, whom I have only once seen, told me at that accidental Meeting, he held the present set of Writers in the utmost Contempt, and that in his Character of Drawcansir he should treat them in a most unmerciful Manner. He assured me, with great Civility, that he had always excepted me from the general Cen sure; and after honouring me with some Encomiums INTRODUCTION 43 which, as I neither desired nor deserved, I shall not repeat, told me he hoped we should always be upon good Terms. He proceeded to mention a Conduct which would be, he said, useful to both: This was the amusing our Readers with a Mock-fight ; giving Blows that would not hurt, and sharing the Advantage in Silence. I hold the Public in too great Respect to trifle with it in so disingenuous a Manner; and hope I shall always retain a better Sense of the Obligations I have to it, than to return them with such an insolent Deceit. I told him, that had he published his Paper ever so long without mentioning mine, it would never have appeared from me that any such thing had an Existence ; but as he has now made so formidable an Attack upon me, it may be under stood as a Concession if I am silent. Whom I slighted as an Associate, I cannot fear as an Adversary: And as the World generally expects my Opinion of any new Attempt of Consequence in this Way, I shall take the Occasion he has forced upon me, to do what perhaps I should have otherwise avoided, and deliver my Sentiments of his. ..." There follows a passage in faint praise of Fielding's humorous animadversions on the paragraphs of news which he reprinted from other papers, and an insinua tion that Fielding is past his usefulness as an essayist, and then: "I am sorry to insult the departed Spirit of a living Author ... I drop a Tear . . . when I see the Author of Joseph Andrews doting in the Covent-Garden Journal ..." He warns him that "a Legion of Puns and Misspell ings " cannot "defend the once impenetrable Fortress of his Head against a second Crash " of Ms Lion's jaws j1 and, with mock seriousness, belittles the alleged i Eef erring to his hoax of the day previous ; see p. 42, above. 44 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL success of Fielding's forces in the War, and refuses to quarrel with him over the " particular Orthography of the Word Blockade/" There follows a repetition of the insinuation that Fielding is anxious to continue the War indefinitely for the money that might be in it ; and, in closing, he says : ' ' An Antagonist may be necessary to him, but it is not to me: Abuse may be his Talent, but however pressed for one Day into the Service, it is not mine." Even though he knew the reputation of his adver sary for vanity and hypocrisy, the tone of this number of the Inspector must have surprised Fielding not a little. His reply to this paper (found in the third part of his Journal of the War)2 is brief and somewhat bitter. Therein he brands Hill as the betrayer of a private treaty, and denies that this treaty was made for the sole purpose of filling his pockets with the receipts from the increased sale of his paper. What his real motives were in this good-humored, mock War, is explained at length in the fifth issue, and has already been commented upon.3 In referring to Hill as both a fool and a liar, and as the "vilest fellow that ever wore a Head," Fielding is merely repaying his enemy equally bitter vituperation. Contemporary opinion of the matter is quite divergent, for in the Memoirs of the Bedford Coffee-House (Lond. 1763) we find a version of this quarrel wrhich completely reverses the situation and represents Hill as endeavoring to buoy up his paper by prolonging the Paper-War, a proposal to 1 Fielding speaks of " Blockheading ' ' the Bedford, in Covent-Garden Journal, No. 2. 2 In No. 3, Jan, llth, I. 151 ff. s See pp. 3 ff. INTRODUCTION 45 which Fielding would not submit. But in Smart's Hilliad1 we find a more correct version : "Upon the commencement of the Covent-Garden Journal, Mr. Fielding declared an humorous war against this writer ... in order to contribute to the entertain ment of the town. It is recent in every bodies memory, how the INSPECTOE behaved upon that occasion. Con scious that there was not an atom of humour in his composition, he had recourse to his usual shifts, and instantly disclosed a private conversation; by which he reduced himself to the alternative mentioned by Mr. POPE; 'and if he lies not, must at least betray.' " Smart sides thus with Fielding partly because he was his friend and partly because he was an ardent enemy of Hill's.2 The fact that he ascribes to Fielding such a motive in taking up the War is interesting because it goes directly against Fielding's own statements. In the London Daily Advertiser of the 9th, there is a flank attack from an unexpected source, in the advertisement of the rival Public Register Office, with which Fielding had had trouble previously. In the first edition of Amelia, I. 170, Fielding bad written, "Many other Materials of a private nature were com municated by one of the Clerks of the Universal Eegister Office ..." Quoting this very sentence, the rival office takes occasion, at this time, to advertise that ' ' Gentlemen and Ladies may rely upon it that this Office can never possibly furnish Hints for Novels, Fictitious Lives, or Romances . . .", and concludes with the assertion that such conduct as that of the "great Author of Bow-Street" is like that of a mad man! On the following day, January 10th, Hill pub- 1 See p. 78, footnote, below. 2 See p. 79, footnote, below. 46 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL lishes, apart from his leader, a particularly indecent and scurrilous burlesque on Fielding as Justice of the Peace, and reprints it in the next issue l i at the earnest desire of the Public." This was labeled: The genuine Trial of Mary, late Cook-Maid to Sir Simon Pride, Knight, before the worshipful Mr. Justice Feeler, for lying a-bed in a Morning, &c. &c. and reports an imaginary examination held before a Justice who is obviously meant to be a caricature of Fielding. Sir Simon makes his complaint against his servant; whereupon the Justice, "assuming a Countenance most terrible to behold, and a Tone of Voice most horrible to hear," says, " Hussy, what Pretence can you make for being so impudent . . . Have you any Bail ready!" Mary produces the desired sum; whereupon the Justice's face loses some of its sternness ; and ' ' softening his Tone a little, ' ' he permits the prisoner to explain herself. This she does in vulgar dialect, asserting that her master damned her and called her foul names without just cause, and adds, "I am sure I ha' read in your Worship's Book, that female Woman won't be called unnatural Names. ' ' — After some small deliberation, his Worship wags his lower Jaw, "not a little incumbred with a huge Quid of Tobacco," scolds the girl severely, and after giving her the wages due her, dismisses them all, congratulating himself on the wisdom and equity of his decision. Here we have heaped up a mass of ridicule on Fielding's personal appearance and habits, on his methods of conducting his office, and indirect ridicule of his Register Office. It is, moreover, no mere coincidence that this particular cook-maid should bear the name of Mary, for this was the Christian INTRODUCTION 47 name of his second wife, his first wife's maid. It is quite possible, therefore, that the use of this name in this Trial is intended as an insult of the worst kind; yet possibly not, for the title 'Mary the Cook-Maid/ apt as it was for this application, had come ready- made to the author from the scribblings of his predecessors.1 At this point Hill withdraws from the War, but Fielding on January llth, in his third issue, reports further progress on the part of his army, and takes occasion to give Hill the lie for his paper of January the 9th. In this same number, also, under Covent- Garden, Fielding makes his first retort to the criticisms on his noseless heroine in Amelia: "It is currently reported that a famous Surgeon, who absolutely cured one Mrs. Amelia Booth, of a violent Hurt in her Nose, insomuch, that she had scarce a scar left on it, intends to bring Actions against several ill meaning and slanderous People, who have reported that the said Lady had no Nose, merely because the Author of her History, in a Hurry, forgot to inform his Readers of that Particular, and which, if those Readers had had any Nose themselves, except that which is mentioned in the Motto of this Paper, they would have smelt out." This is the first hint of his intended defense of his "favourite Child " which is found in Nos. 7 and 8, and is a direct answer to such criticism as that of Hill's in his Inspector of January the 8th. Simultaneous with this third number of Fielding's Journal, Old England comes out with a fresh attack on Harry Foolding, "a bawdy Novelist" in his dotage and metamorphosed "into the proper Form of a i See An Answer to the Cook-maid's Tragedy (Lond. 1690), Brit. Mus. 48 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL superannuated Virago, now called Goody Drawcan- sir." An inordinate desire for Fame, the author alleges, has led Foolding too far, so that now he is infamous in his works and in his influential friends. To represent this "delectable scene " the author presents the fragment of a "Farce not intended for the Press, tho' now acting." In this, Harry Peg 'em1 appears in great disorder and quite distracted over the political troubles of his government. Littlebones2 enters and calms Peg 'em somewhat by assuring him that he has found a way to keep the public in ignorance of the true state of affairs — Peg. O ! — what the old Practice ? But who can you find fit for the purpose. The last Fellow3 will never have the Impudence to appear again, since the People hiss'd down his Jacobite Buffoonery. Lit. Pray don't you judge the Man's Abilities without knowing them. I know them very well, and I know too he has the Impudence to do anything — I had sent for him before I saw you, foreseeing the Necessity of some public Amusement. I've appointed him to be here, and expect him every — 0 here he comes — SCENE IV. Enter Foolding, with a Chaw of Tobacco in his Mouth.4 Foolding. With humble Submission (spitting out the Tobacco which embarrassed his Speech) — You need but tell your Servant your Commands, and they are done. Lit. "Will you resume your old Calling? 1 Henry Pelham, Prime Minister. 2 George Lyttleton, Fielding >s patron. s Henry Fielding, who had supported the Pelham side in his Jacobite '* Journal. * As in the Trial of Mary the Cook-Maid, above. INTRODUCTION 49 Foolding. Which of them? Not Puppet-showing,1 I hope. Lit. No — the Quill — Some Reasons require another Literary Campaign. You shall have double the Ap pointments you had before, as an Encouragement; but you must do double the Duty too, or you will not pro portion it to the Occasion. Fool. You know, Gentlemen, I am all Obedience. — The Purse-keepers are Masters, all over the World. Peg. Well, Mr. Foolding, you know the Business. Verbum sat — Mr. Littlebones and I will leave you to manage the rest, while we employ ourselves in another urgent Business. SCENE V. Foolding solus. Hum! Another Journal twice a Week. — Rare Sport! My B r2 shall take Care of my Shop — It comes very seasonably — my Revenues were but so, so — But let's see what I shall call this new Journal (Takes a little Book out of his Pocket) Let's turn to my Title Hints. Reads — The Bitch in Breechesf an heroic Poem. Turn Cat-in-Pan} a Panegyric. Humour in Mourning, an Epithalamium,3 by Tim Grul, Poo, none of these will do. Let's see — 0 now I have it. Reads again. — The Covent-garden Journal, by Sir Alex. Drawcansir, Censor of Great Britain, Knt. — That will do by— Here the Fragment ends. As an Opposition sheet, Old England naturally per sists in believing, or at least asserting, that Fielding's i Beferring to the puppet-show, The Pleasures of the Town, in Field ing 'B The Author's Farce. 2B[rothe]r: John Fielding who ran his Shop — the Eegister Office. sEefers probably to Fielding's second marriage; see p. 31, above. 50 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL real motive in publishing his Journal was to further the cause of the Pelham forces. This Fielding had denied; but here was a rare chance to represent this "doating" foe of Old England's in a most miserable plight, and with something of the truth to base it on. The public knew of Fielding's dependence on these men, and would readily believe that he was hired to strengthen the Government. This abuse apparently had no effect on Fielding, for he appears in his fourth number with unruffled good humor. In this issue of the 14th of January, he pub lishes several articles of a peace concluded between the two armies, and includes a promise of a new feature in his paper, a ' Court of Censorial Enquiry.' Evidently he had been disgusted with Hill's conduct and was unwilling to fight the enemy any longer with his own weapons of abuse. But as a parting shot, he prints in this issue the following contributions, very obviously directed against " [Hill] and his Brethren ": COVENT GARDEN, Jan. 13. Of several Letters we have received, for which we kindly thank our Correspondents, we hope the Eeader will not impute to Vanity, that we have published the two following. To the Author of the Covent-Garden Journal. Sir, "WALKING lately in Islington, I saw the following Lines written under the Sign of the Moon with a Parcel of Curs barking under it. Ye little silly Dogs, why bark ye so ; When I'm so high, and ye so very low? INTRODUCTION 51 This, Sir, I believe every Reader of Taste in the Kingdom, will agree to be the Case between yourself, and* , and his Brethren. I am, &c. A. B. To the Censor of Great Britain. WHEN once a Genius soars above The Vulgar, as if born t 'improve Mankind, and writes with Flame; Whole Crowds of nibbling Critics rise, All Grub-Street takes th 'alarm, and tries To damp his growing Fame. So, in the hottest Summer Days, When Sol with irresistless Blaze Shines out in all his Pow'r, What Swarms of Insects cloud the Sky, Buzz, nutter for a while, then die, And plague the World no more ! * Here was inserted a Name, with which we scorn to stain our Paper. On the day following, there appeared a vicious insult from Smollett's pen. Resenting Fielding's good-humored reference to his Peregrine Pickle and Roderick Random, and rankling with the same feeling that led him to attack Fielding in his last-published novel, Peregrine Pickle, Smollett had written a bur lesque diagnosis of Fielding's mental and physical state when he undertook his new Journal. The .v«-vS. (y \ London Daily Advertiser, January 15, 1752, adver tises for "This Day at Noon": •y w A FAITHFUL NARRATIVE of the base and in human Arts that were lately practised upon the Brain of Habbakuk Hilding, Justice, Dealer, and Chapman, who now lies at his own House in Covent-Garden, in a 52 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL deplorable State of Lunacy; a dreadful Monument of false Friendship and Delusion. By DRAWCANSIR ALEXANDER Fencing-Master, and Philomath. This pamphlet, which sold for sixpence at the shop of J. Sharp, contains twenty-eight pages of very biting satire. It is generally attributed to Smollett, on inter nal evidence, and on the word of the Gentleman's Magazine? which says that this is "supposed to be written by the author of Peregrine Pickle." Henley reprints this in volume twelve of his edition of the Works, but here is a brief account of it. The author begins with a mock-serious denial of a public rumor to the effect that he had helped to bring about Hilding 's distemper, and professes profound concern at his dreadful condition, asserting that for some time past he had been on friendly terms with Hilding, who had " quitted all the vicious and aban doned courses of his former life, ' ' and was but now a "sober subject and vigilant magistrate,'7 even if he did have occasional fits of disordered imagination. The cause of Hilding's present state of lunacy he attributes to the act of a long and lanky visitor, Gosling Scrag,2 who had recently paid a secret visit to Hilding, and had attempted to persuade Hilding to enter into a paper-war against their separate and common enemies, especially against that "rascal Peregrine Pickle, who hath brought us both to ridicule and shame. " Hilding had protested vigorously, but had been drugged by Scrag into a condition wherein he promised to do everything that was wanted of him. 1 Jan., 1752, p. 29. 2 George Lyttleton, the ' Gosling Scrag ' in Peregrine fickle. INTRODUCTION 53 In this state of frenzy he had assumed the title of Sir Alexander Drawcansir, and had proceeded to Covent Garden, where he was now conducting a paper- war. Several skirmishes are described in which Hild- ing, in company with several of the characters in his novels, runs across some of Smollett's characters; there is much excitement, and Hilding, on meeting Trunnion, apologizes for having wronged his nephew Pickle and Pickle's cousin Random. Smollett makes it very evident that he wishes to accuse Fielding of having stolen several characters from his novels. Miss Matthews, in Amelia, he implies, is a copy of Miss Williams, in Roderick Random; and Partridge, in Tom Jones, his own Strap, in Random. In addition to this, he takes occasion to ridicule the bastard Jones and the noseless Amelia, and to brand Fielding's Register Office as a "Scandal Shop." As in almost every other instance, Fielding remained outwardly unperturbed in the face of this attack. Had he wished to retaliate, however, for each new assault, he would have found his task too great, for on the very same day, January 15th, an attack, in mockery of Millar's ruse in selling Amelia, had come from another source. In the London Daily Advertiser1 of this date, the publisher of the third edition of the Apology for the Life of Mr. Bampfylde Moore Carew, a book hostile to Fielding, advertised this as "very proper to be read at this Juncture," and, in ridicule of Millar's method, added this note: "The great Demand for this Book continuing, it is impossible to get them bound, without spoiling the Beauty i A similar notice is in the General Advertiser of Jan. 1, 1752. See also the Whitehall Evening Post, Nov. 7-9, 1751, for another advertise ment of this book. 54 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL of the Impression, it will therefore continue to be sold for 2s. 8d. sewed." And on the next day another new enemy made his first appearance with the first number of the Drury-Lane Journal? January 16th. This bore the title: HAVE AT YOU ALL OR, THE DRURY-LANE JOURNAL By Madam ROXANA TERMAGANT Address 'd to Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR Author of the Covent-Garden Journal and came out once a week, on Thursday, in the form of an "Octavo Pamphlet, " selling for threepence at the Public Eegister Office, in King Street, Covent Garden. It made no pretense to be a real newspaper, and was quite devoid of genuine news and paid advertisements. Each issue contained a leader and a series of bur lesques, which took up nearly twenty-five pages. There were twelve issues in all, the last bearing the number thirteen and the date, April 9, 1752. The issue of the 2d of April, which would have been No. 12, was omitted, but from number to number there is an unbroken, consecutive pagination. The first issue contains a leader which is a running comment on Fielding's previous issues of his Journal. Thornton refers therein to his having set up his head quarters at the Public Eegister Office, in imitation of Fielding; and gives a dig at Fielding's reference to 1 See p. 33, above, for Thornton 's reasons for bringing out this paper. INTRODUCTION 55 the Universal Eegister Office in Amelia? In addition to ridiculing his style as ' Drawcansir, ' Thornton in a very vulgar and cheap-witted manner burlesques Fielding 's conduct in office. The Journal of the Rout, which follows, is a parody on Fielding's account of the Paper-War, and includes a reprint of the state ments of both Hill and Fielding. In the same spirit of burlesque, Thornton inserts an advertisement of Shamelia:2 This Day is published, (In four Volumes Duodecimo, with the help of Dedication, Introductory Chapters, long Digressions, short Repetitions, polite Expletives of Conversation, genteel Dialogues, a wide margin, and large Letter, Price but 12s.) SHAMELIA, a Novel. Printed for the MAJOR GENERAL. where may be had, The Works of HERCULES VINEGAR, Esq; -^TOHN TROTPLAID, Esq; The TRUE PATRIOT. N. B. These are proper to be bound with the Lucubra tions of Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR. Likewise, Several d-mn'd Farces. A Bundle of Political Pamphlets, by the same hand, pick and chuse for a Penny. The Complete JUSTICE OF PEACE. 1 See p. 45, above. 2 In ridicule of the format and style of Amelia and of Fielding's career. 56 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL There are, also, in this number advertisements in parody on those in Fielding's Journal, conspicuous among which are a burlesque on the advertisement of Paul Jullion,1 the dentist, and a take-off on the adver tisements of the curios on sale at the Universal Reg ister Office. Then, in ridicule of Fielding's variorum notes to his news-items,2 this burlesque item is included : "On Monday last four Malefactors were executed at Tyburn. — As one was a Woman, they weren't all of them Male-factors. ' ' Amidst these varied attacks, Fielding was not with out champions of his cause; take, for instance, a belated bit of verse which appeared in the General Advertiser, Saturday, January 18, 1752. This bears the mystifying title : Epigram ly C. D. F. R. S* To prop the tott'ring Credit of his own, H — I roars out, F g's Spirit's dead and gone. What hear we now, astonish 'd Readers cry, No Spirit in the Scenes of Amely! Where Wit with Sense, Instruction with Delight, Keeps pace ; where Virtue shines in purest white : Where keenest Satire plays the justest Part; Stings deep, and only stings the guilty Heart ; No Spirit there ! Quoth Clencher, by my troth, He's thinking on his own dear Idol Froth. On the same day, however, when Fielding issued his fifth paper reviewing the War at length, Old England burst forth in further criticism of Fielding. The writer belittles the success of the Journal, laughs in scorn at 1 See p. 15, above. 2 See p. 10, above. 30. D. Fellow of the Eoyal Society (?). INTRODUCTION 57 the " irascible Humour " of the Censor, and takes him to task for not speaking out the truth about the foreign policy of the present administration — one more evi dent attempt to drag Fielding into a political discus sion. The paper closes with a statement not unlike Smollett's in his Faithful Narrative, that Fielding is frothing at the mouth in a hopeless state of "Ideotcy." Fielding's self-restraint throughout this War is nowhere better seen than in his leader of January 18th;1 but his moderation seems to have egged on his enemies to fresh efforts. On January 20th, some un known person advertised the following in the General Advertiser: This Day at Noon, will ~be publish' d, Price Three Pence THE COVENT GARDEN JOURNAL EXTRAORDINARY By Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR, Knt, Censor of Great Britain He must needs go whom the Devil drives. Printed for J. Sharp, near Temple Bar Precisely what this was no one seems to know, for the work is probably not extant; but certainly it was not a friendly bit of work, even if it may have been entirely humorous. Another possible attack on Field ing, in the same newspaper, one day later, is recorded in Wright's Caricature History.2 It is in the nature of a hoax, and advertises that the celebrated Doctor 1 No. 5, I. 160 ff. 2 Lond. n. d., p. 232. I have been unable to verify this account. 58 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Benimbe Zammanpoango will perform several mar velous operations at the little Playhouse in the Hay- market, one of which is to be the opening of the head of a Justice of the Peace, taking out his brains, and supplying in succession those of a beau, an ass, a bully, and a sheep. If this victim was meant to represent Fielding, the intention is obvious. Two days later there came out the second number of the Drury-Lane Journal. This includes criticism on Fielding's paper, and burlesques once more the style of Amelia. Mrs. Termagant also takes occasion to gloat over her assumed triumph over the "tongue- doughty giant Sir Alexander ' ' : "I am all transport — stand away — make room — give me time to breath . . . I have triumphed — 0 the rapturous thought !" Harm less sort of stuff this ! And then on the 25th, a mild outburst from Old England, which places Fielding beneath its contempt, and thereafter, with occasional references, neglects him until his final retirement in November of this year. Although Fielding remained almost silent in the face of this accumulated ridicule, he does attempt to defend his Amelia in a Court of Enquiry running in Nos. 7 and 8, January 25th and 28th.1 There is in this defense scarcely a touch of bitterness, but, rather, real pathos. Certainly he must have felt the injustice of it all most keenly. His enemies, however, would give him no peace ; and on the very next day after he had finished his defense of Amelia, there appeared in the London Daily Advertiser, January 29th, the advertisement of a curious pamphlet, which I have never seen, but whose general character is obvious : 1 1. 178 ff., and I. 186 ff. INTRODUCTION 59 Now you have all settled it, Have among you, my Masters ! This Day is Published, Price 6 d. The MARCH Of The LION Or The Conclusion of the War between Dunce and the Dunces "Written with all the Blackguardism of Justice1 BOBBADILL, all the Politeness of the INSPECTOR, all the Wit of the FOOL,2 and all the Smartness of MARY MIDNIGHT.3 And Containing The Progress of the GOLDEN SAVAGE from the Bed ford Coffee-house, in search of new Quarters.4 At length you Ve rous 'd the Lion in his Den ; He stalks abroad, and the wide Forest trembles at his Roar. Printed for M. Cooper, at the Globe, in Pater-noster Row. John Hill had, indeed, withdrawn some time since from the scene of his defeat (a purely imaginary defeat), but Fielding 's other foes were still active. In Drury-Lane Journal, No. 3, January 30th, were printed the following advertisements, in further ridicule of Amelia: ADVERTISEMENTS. Whereas it has been reported by the sharp-nos'd Gentlemen, the Critics, that AMELIA has no nose, because her Biographer has inform 'd us, in the begin- 1 Fielding. 2 The Author of the London Gazetteer. 3 Christopher Smart 's pseudonym. * The inference is that Hill 's ' Lion ' had found the siege too hot for him. 60 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL ning of her History, that her lovely nose was beat all to pieces; This is to certify that the said Report is mali cious, false, and ill grounded; and that the said Author has taken care to obviate it, by telling us, in the said History, when the Cherry Brandy was pour'd over poor Mrs. Atkinson, that AMELIA'S delicate nose soon smelt it out. Whereas the Author of a TASTELESS, aequivocal mungrel, hermaphroditical kind of Play, between a Farce and a Comedy, has thought fit to sneer the NOSELESS AMELIA by his NOSELESS HEAD from Herculaneum of the Venus of Paphos. This is to assure him, that HE IS HIMSELF THE VILEST FELLOW THAT EVER WORE AN NOSE, as witness my HAND, Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR. The first is a parody on Fielding's notice1 in the third number of his Journal, and the second is a perversion of an unintentional slur in Footers Taste, recently published, which makes fun of the taste of those men who won't accept any statue of Venus except that by Praxiteles, which lacks a nose: 1 'Their Venus must be old, and want a nose."2 To give variety to his lucubrations, Thornton, in Drury-Lane Journal, No. 4, February 6, 1752, pub lishes AN INSPECTOR NUMBER 66666, in which he adopts a device used by the ' Inspector,' and com pares the prominent players of the two theatres to instruments in an orchestra. Fielding is let off lightly in this number; but in the next, on February 13th, Thornton gives burlesque samples of l Drawcansir 's ' style; and in comment on Fielding's known political 1 See pp. 47 ff., above. 2 See the Prologue, Works (Lond. 1830), I. 59. INTRODUCTION 61 bias, assures us that Fielding, the biographer of Jonathan Wild ("a lying Novel"), was helplessly "sous'd over head and ears, and hurried down the strong torrent of Politics." There is also in this number an epigram on the Fielding-Hill controversy: An EPIGRAM, Occasioned by a DISPUTE between two MODERN AUTHORS. WHEN H— LL declares the Censor dull, "Who thinks that H — LL deceives him? When F LD— NG calls th' Inspector fool, What mortal but believes him ? Some merit then we must admit, To both our authors due ; For though devoid of Sense or Wit, All own their writings— TRUE. D. To offer one more insult to the "defenseless Amelia," Thornton prints what he calls A NEW CHAPTER IN AMELIA, a very vulgar burlesque on the fireside scenes in Amelia, wherein Booth is represented as coming home drunk to a fond and foolish wife, whose nose is conspicuously "beat to pieces"; a brawl ensues in which Mrs. Atkinson and Booth damage their noses; and peace is restored with a bucket of water. At this juncture the town was promised rare amuse ment for the 13th of February. In the General Adver tiser of February 10th appears this advertisement: By Order of the TOWN, A Grand Composition of FUN and MUSICK, Will be exhibited at the Castle-Tavern, 62 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL In Pater-noster Row, on Thursday next; particularly A Decision of the Match so long depending between Sir Alexander Drawcansir Knt. and their Lownesses of Grub- street, on which large Bets depending, it is thought the Knowing-Ones will be greatly taken in. A Piece of Witchcraft from Macbeth. A Town and a Country Piece between a Blood and a Blockhead. A curious Examination before Mr. Justice Bobadil. A Phaenomenon of High Humbug. A Piece from the Brazen Head. A Solo on a very uncommon Instrument imported from the Antipodes, by Mynheer eht suomaf dna deifiton reddalb dna gnirts saila Len Hoop, An Apparition of a Ghost. A barbarous, cruel, bloody and inhuman — committed by the Man Mountain and Boxy Termagant in a new Taste. To conclude with A Dying Fall, and the Birth, Parentage and Education of FUN. None to be admitted without Tickets, which will be delivered at the Pope 's Head Tavern in Cornhill ; St. Dunstan 's Coffee-house, Fleet-street ; and at the Place of Performance, at 2s. 6d. each. The Roarings of the Lion disturbing some of the Inhabitants of Covent-Garden, his Leonic Majesty has adjudged it necessary to remove from that End of the Town to the Place of Performance. To begin at Seven o 'Clock. This is repeated in the issue of February 12th, in shorter form, followed by a denial from Mary Mid night that she is the Author of this entertainment, as common rumor would have it. But this performance never came off; for, as we learn from the issue of March 7th, it was suppressed by the Lord Mayor. The town had been greatly excited over this promised performance ever since early in February, when the INTRODUCTION 63 first hint was given in an advertisement in the General Advertiser of February 1st; and to atone for their disappointment, the skit was brought out in book form on March 7th of that year. The General Advertiser of that date prints this : This Day is published, Price 1 s. FUN. A Parodi-tragi-comical SATIRE. As it was to have been performed at the Castle-Tavern in Pater-noster-Row, on Thursday, February 13, 1752, but suppress 'd by a special Order from the Lord Mayor and Court of Aldermen. Sold by F. Stamper, in Pope's-Head Alley, Cornhill; and all Booksellers in London and Westminster. Note. The Publication of this Piece would not have been so long delay 'd, but for the Expectation of per forming it, as at first intended, which, however, by the same indefatigable Opposition, was still frustrated . . . A copy of this book is in the Yale Library, and is, to quote the Monthly Revieiv for March, 1752, "a mixture of low humor and scurrility . . . which may entertain such readers as are fond of this kind of satire ..." This is generally attributed to William Kenrick,1 and is a forty-page pamphlet with a Preface, Prologue, and eight Scenes. The greater part of this is devoted to the quarrels between Fielding and his two chief enemies, Hill and Thornton; but several scenes are taken up with other matter which does not concern us here. As a parody on Macbeth and as a burlesque on contemporary events, it is really clever, and, if very vulgar in spots, is extremely funny. iln Drury-Lane Journal, Feb. 27th, Thornton identifies the author of Fun as the author of Kapelion, a work known to be Kenrick 's. 64 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL The first scene discovers three Witches — Hecate enters : 1st Witch. How now Hecate? You seem pleas M. Hec. Have I not Reason? Drawcansir is ours: He yields again to Dulness' magic Powers. To make sure of their victim, the Witches circle about a cauldron "to form a Charm that ever shall remain," and one by one, throw in the Virtue of Pamela, and Clarissa;* the Sense of Pasquin, the Body of Tom Thumb;2 Valet, Loveill, and Creole;3 Pickle,* Mother Midnight's Magazine;5 A Journal Jacobite9 — 1st Witch. To add to these and make a pois'nous Stench, Here take 4 Ounces of a noseless Wench.7 Whereupon Drawcansir enters demanding of the Witches a seat upon the Throne of Wit ; they summon up the departed spirits of Vinegar and Trotplaid, before whom Drawcansir quakes in remembrance of his having inhabited their earthly bodies in his earlier days. A Ghost arises and makes this prophecy: Gh. Be vain, be insolent, and take no Care, Who writes, who rails, or who the Critics are : Drawcansir never shall be vanquished, 'till To fight against him, rise a mighty Hill ; 'Till the fierce Lion leaves the Afric Shores And in a Coffee-house unregarded roars, 'Till Sexes change, and then thy arm oppose. The apparitions vanish; a servant enters and warns 1 Eichardson 'a first two novels. 2 Fielding 's plays. 3 Abbreviated titles of Hill's novels. * Smollett's P. fickle. 5 Smart 's periodical. 6 Fielding 's Jacobite 's Journal. i Amelia, the noseless heroine, is of course here meant. INTRODUCTION 65 Drawcansir that the powers of Grub-Street are all up in arms against him ; whereat he says : Bring me my Pen and Ink, my Sword and Shield, My BACCO BOX,1 and onward to the Field. The second scene introduces the characters of the underplot; then in the third we are presented with a view of Doctor Mountain (John Hill), reading a Paper. Moun. The Covent-garden Journal ! Death and Hell ! This, this will ruin my best labour 'd Scheme. ********* I hate Drawcansir ; for, on single Sheets He wants to do my Office; and beside His Works are read, while mine neglected die. To hold his influence as ' Inspector/ he resolves to defame Amelia: A Maid that parallels Description and wild Fame, One that excels the Quirks of blazoning Pens : Suppose I tell him she's upon the Town, A common Prostitute despis'd by all, She wants a Nose, and that's a smooth Dispose To make her be suspected. Drawcansir enters, muttering : It was a False Alarm — Fast in their Tents Sleep on the Powers of Grub-street — I'll therefore to my Love — Excellent Wench . . . Oh my Amelia I Then Dr. Mountain tells Drawcansir that his Amelia has ruined him; words follow; Drawcansir strikes Mountain ; they fight. Suddenly Drawcansir proposes a truce and suggests to Mountain that they hum the Town with a mock-war; Mountain rejects the sugges tion, and they make their exit fighting. In the fourth scene we have a bit of satire on Orator i See p. 48, footnote 4, above. 66 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Henley,1 Mrs. Midnight,2 and Eoxana Termagant ;3 and in the fifth scene a burlesque on Fielding as a Justice. Mountain appears before Justice Bobadil to make complaint against one File for having robbed him; and Mrs. Brindle against Lord Riot for having rav ished her. The whole scene is based on an actual robbery4 in which Hill was the victim and Fielding the Justice who tried the case, and on another case against the same man, also tried before Fielding. His disposal of these cases is made utterly untrue to the facts and quite ridiculous, especially where he shows evidence of venality. In the sixth scene Eoxana Termagant enters con scious of her triumph over Drawcansir, but saddened by a secret passion for him: Drawcansir trembles at the Name of me, My Ranks in King-Street5 shine — but oh my Heart ! I 'm sick of Love, and for my mortal Foe ; Drawcansir 's Charms have pierc'd my tender Breast. Mountain enters; Eoxana confesses her love for Drawcansir ; and Mountain is jealous, for he had tried to win her for himself: 1 thought that I alone possess 'd her Heart — Have I not told her twice ten thousand Lies? But he promises to assist her, and secretly plans to make her loathe the name of Drawcansir. iSee Lawrence's Fielding (Lond. 1855), pp. 23-26. 2 Christopher Smart; see p. 72, footnote 1, below. 3 Thornton 's pseudonym. 4 See the London Evening Post for Jan. 9-11, 11-14, 1751, which tells of the commitment of one John Smith to Newgate for robbing Dr. John Hill of ' ' one Gold Watch, one Gold Eing, one Picture set with Diamonds, and about Twenty Shillings in Silver. " Smith had been previously held for rape on an old woman who turned out to be his wife. s Thornton 's headquarters. INTRODUCTION 67 In the seventh scene there is some horse-play which doesn't concern the plot proper ; and then in the eighth scene the finale, presenting Drawcansir solus — reading at a Table. He reads aloud a passage from Covent-Garden Journal No. 3: "It being reported that a HILL must be levell'd ... a little paultry Dunghill . . ." He falls asleep; an apothecary (meant for John Hill) enters and empties a phial in his ear, and withdraws. Draw cansir awakes; a Ghost appears and gives him final warning of impending disaster. Then Eoxana and Mountain enter; Roxana addresses Drawcansir as "my dear lov'd Lord"; but Mountain's phial has hardened his heart, and he spurns her love. Eoxana in a rage cries out: "Then shall he die — shout Dulness and fall on!" Dr. Hold — hold — in vain you draw your threatning Sword, I bear a charmed Life, and cannot die Till Sexes change, Hills rise, and Lions roar unfear'd. E. Ter. Despair thy Charm, for know I was a Man.1 Moun. I am a Mountain, and a Lion keep To roar at thee. Dr. Accursed be the Tongues that tell me so; For it hath cow 'd my better Part of Man : Mountain and Drawcansir fight; Drawcansir falls; Mountain and Eoxana Termagant exeunt; then — Dr. How are the Mighty fallen ! — I am down, 0 now farewell — farewell ungrateful Town. Tobacco stops my Throat,2 my Race is run, And now in Death I'm punish 'd with a Pun. Exit dying. 1 Thornton used this feminine pseudonym. 2 See p. 48, footnote 4, above. 68 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Not long after the failure of the performance of Fun, Old England and the Drury-Lane Journal renewed hostilities. On February 15th, the former casts a passing slur on the noseless Amelia; and the latter paper, on February 20th, burlesques Fielding's leader on slander1 and his advertisements of the Universal Eegister Office. A week later, Thornton, in the same vein, has a fling at the Grlastonbury Water2 which Fielding sold at his Register Office, and burlesques his variorum comments on the news-items in his Covent- Garden Journal: "On the 4th instant, the honour of Knighthood was conferred on Alexander Drawcansir of Covent-Garden, Esq; — We may indeed truly say, that his Honour is BENIGHTED/' There is in this number, also, a long article attack ing ' Drawcansir' for puffing the work of Justice Field ing — self-praise. Thornton reprints therein a news- item found in Covent-Garden Journal, No. 15, Feb ruary 25th (an item in dispraise of Justice Fielding, reprinted from the Daily Gazetteer with a word of self- defense), and then makes all manner of fun of Field ing's comment upon this item. In order to fill up his issue of March 5th, Thornton divides his attention between Hill and Fielding. The Inspector is burlesqued at length, and Hill is repre sented as being in a wild state of infatuation for Miss Bellamy3 — in an "extatic tendre" for this actress. Fielding is let off lightly with a running comment on his misspellings and other peculiarities of style — 1 See Notes on No. 14, I. 219 ff. 2 See pp. 14 and 15, above. 3 See Notes on No. 3, I. 151. 27. INTRODUCTION 69 deliberate punning and emvoweling. On the twelfth of this month, however, Thornton harks back to a timeworn subject, ridiculing Millar 's canny method in disposing of Amelia? "Six presses, we were told, were set to work at the same time for Amelia and the Life of Bampfylde Moore Carew" — and then suggests that this method of book-puffing had been carried beyond what the public would stand for. But in this number Thornton does not confine his attention to Fielding alone. Somewhat worked up over the intro duction of Roxana Termagant into the recently pub lished Fun, Thornton takes occasion to ridicule the book, and rejoices that its author had his head broken for intruding in the Paper-War. One feels sure, how ever, that Thornton is never really serious in his ridicule, and that his vindictive spirit is but on the surface. He seems to have delighted in clever bur lesque; but often falls short of his aim and descends, in spite of himself, to mere scurrility. At this time particularly, his interest seems to have abated, for his last three issues are very dull. That of the 19th of March contains a very weak and humorless bur lesque, The Covent-Garden Journal Extraordinary No. HI; and that of the 26th following is very unin teresting. Although the original quarrel between Hill and Fielding continued to be a source of amusement until after the Covent-Garden Journal had ended its career, from this time on, most of the enemies of Fielding became inactive, except for a general sortie at the last ; and thereafter Hill was the centre of attraction for the critics. Indeed, one may say that the tide of events turned in Fielding 's favor, for by the end of i See pp. 29 and 53, above. 70 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL the year he seems to have worsted his adversary. On March 31st of this year some friend of Fielding's, probably Dr. John Kennedy,1 published a caustic pamphlet against Dr. Hill, Some Remarks on the Life and Writings of Dr. J — H — , in which the author praises Amelia as ' ' a most finished Performance ' ' and condemns the low wit of Hill in ridiculing Fielding for his unfortunate slip, and suggests that the mistake will be remedied in a second edition. Fielding himself seems to have had a change of heart since his touch of bitterness early in the War, and now appears in support of the fun-making at the expense of both Hill and himself. Although he doubt less suffered from the unfair criticisms of Amelia, certainly he must have been amused at the outcome iDied 1760. Author of A Dissertation on Oriuna, 1751, and a col lector of coins. The reply to Some Remarks attributes this pamphlet to Kennedy; but in his Whipping Rods, Kennedy asserts tKat he did not write Some Remarlcs. This first pamphlet, modeled on Orrery's Swift, is in the form of a series of letters. It rehearses the events of Hill's life, ridiculing his birth, his early employment, his attempts at acting, his marriages, and his literary pursuits. Particular stress is laid on his association with ' Diamond,' a courtesan; his Lucina sine Concubitu (converted into Concubitus sine Lucina!}} and his infatuation for Miss Bellamy, whom he evidently regarded as a luscious wench. In May following there appeared an answer to this pamphlet, Some Observations on the Writers of the Present Age, which extravagantly praises Hill. This is dedicated to Dr. K — y as the author of the preceding pamphlet, and defends the 'Inspector' against his charges. In this the author ridicules the puffing and padding of Amelia, but does not mention Fielding. Shortly after there appeared a burlesque (which I have not seen), Some Remarlcs on the Bruisers of the Present Age; and in November, Kennedy's Whipping Rods for Trifling, Scurrhill Scribblers, attributed to Dr. Kennedy in Spring-Garden Journal, No. 1. In this Kennedy replies to several attacks made by Hill in his Inspectors, par ticularly one on April 10th in which 'Major England,' Hill's imaginary body-guard, is reported to have punished the author of the first Some Remarks. Kennedy accuses Hill of having written Some Observations, ridicules his 'Lion,' and tears his character to shreds. INTRODUCTION 71 of his Paper- War, for it was not in his nature to sulk and resent being twitted. The comical side of the affair evidently came home to him very quickly, for in his Journals previous to the 8th of April we find him printing advertisements of a burlesque skit on his quarrel with Hill, — Pasquin turn'd Drawcansir. The advertisement in the London Daily Advertiser of March 30th, similar to those in Fielding's Journal, reads as follows : For the Benefit of MR. MACKLIN At the Theatre Royal in COVENT-GARDEN on Wednesday the 8th of April, will be presented a COMEDY call'd The PROVOK'D HUSBAND: After which will be exhibited, A New Dramatic Satire, of Two Acts, call'd COVENT-GARDEN THEATRE : Or, PASQUIN turn'd DRAWCANSIR CENSOR of GREAT BRITAIN Written on the Model of the Comedies of Aristophanes, and the Pasquinades of the Italian Theatre in Paris. With Choruses of the People, after the Manner of the Greek Drama. The Parts of the Pit, the Boxes, the Galleries, the Stage, and the Town To be performed by THEMSELVES, for their Diver sion. The Parts of several dull disorderly Characters, in and about St. James's To be performed by Certain Persons, for Example. 72 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL And the Part of Pasquin Drawcansir to be performed By his CENSORIAL HIGHNESS, for his Interest. The Satire to be introduced by an Oration, and to con clude by a Peroration; Both to be spoken from the Rostrum, in the Manner of certain Orators,1 by Slg. Pasquin. Boxes 5s. Pit. 3s. First Gall. 2s. Upper Gal. Is. To begin exactly at Six o 'Clock. Vivat Rex. Tickets to be had of Mr. Macklin, at his Lodg ings, in Bow-Street, Covent-Garden ; and of Mr. Page, at the Stage-Door, of whom Places for the Boxes may be taken. Macklin is supposed to have written this farce;2 but precisely what took place on the stage is not known. The only review which I have found is very unsatis factory, and is to be read in Drury-Lane Journal, No. 13, April 9th. In this the Town writes in Damna tion of the New Farce, but doesn't include one word of description! All that can be learned from this is that the play was acted on the 8th according to sched ule, and that it was long drawn out. In another month's time John Hill was embroiled in a fresh quarrel occasioned by his public caning at Kanelagh3 — a comical affair which neither Hill nor his critics could soon forget. The ' Inspector, ' in Ms paper of April 30th, had published a fictitious letter from 1 Orator Henley (see p. 66, footnote 1, above) possibly; more probably the performers in Mary Midnight 's Old Woman's Oratory, a burlesque staged under Christopher Smart's direction. See the Inspector, No. 544, Dec. 7, 1752; Gent. Mag., Jan., 1752 (p. 43); and Smart's Midwife, Nov., 1751. Smart's Oratory was intended as a banter on Henley's; see Mod. Lang. Notes, April, 1915. 2 Dibdin, History of the Stage, V. 156. The Inspector in the Shades (see p. 76, below) also attributes this to Macklin. s See Notes on No. 32, I. 325. 25. V NIGHT SCKM:;.I RANKLAGH ..n w.-,jn.-r,i:iv t»*.ofMa INTRODUCTION 73 Clody, in which the writer naively reveals his ridicu lous character — a caricature of a person whom every reader recognized as Mountefort Brown, a young buck about town. In a great state of excitement, Brown had sent a letter to the ' Inspector' asking for an apology or a retraction, and, also, an interview the next morning. An hour had been set, and after miss ing Hill, Brown, finally, had bearded the 'Lion' in his den, and had threatened Hill with publishing some thing against him if he refused to retract. This Hill had flatly refused to do. Then, on the evening of May 6th, Brown had approached him at Eanelagh, pulled off his wig, caned and kicked him. In his Inspector of the next day, Hill gave a garbled account of the assault ; and in his Inspector of the 8th reported that Brown, who had really gone out of town 'on business,' had escaped arrest by hiding in a coal-hole, but that his examination was imminent. On the 9th, the 'Inspector' suddenly discovered that he really had been seriously hurt, and wrote : ''The Stream of Life which I lose in greater and greater Quantities, brings the King of Silence towards me with hastier Step." and two days later Hill reported that his four physicians had diagnosed his case and feared an Empyema1 — a term which his enemies ridiculed at every opportunity. By continuing to issue daily bulletins of his condi tion Hill won — not public sympathy, but derision, and became the laughing stock of the town.2 In the mean- 1 See No. 71, II. 140. 9. 2 The two prints reproduced to face pp. 72 and 74 and described in the Appendix came out during the same month. 74 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL time Brown and his friends had been busy telling their side of the story and giving Hill the lie; and on the 9th Brown surrendered himself to Justice Henry Fielding for examination. In his Journal of Tuesday, May 12th, Fielding reported that Brown had appeared before him on the Saturday, the 9th, and that he had admitted him to bail awaiting the outcome of HilPs injuries. The trial, however, never came off, for upon HilPs recovery, Brown was discharged at Hick's Hall for lack of a prosecution.1 In addition to the cartoons which came out, there appeared, on May 16th, a pamphlet in satire on the whole affair. This bore the title Libitina Sine Con- flictu, named in parody on HilPs Lucina Sine Concu- bitu,2 and is possibly the work of Arthur Murphy.3 In this Dr. Atall (Hill) is represented as having died on the 13th; and an account is given of his struggle to stem the rapidly ebbing "Stream of Life." There follows a mock Will, an appropriate Epitaph, and the account of a post-mortem examination, which revealed AtalPs Empyema to have been merely an inflamma tion of the bowels. Finally, there is an accusation, in the same spirit of burlesque, charging Fielding with having protected HilPs Murderers, and asserting that he had conspired to set up, in place of Hill, an im postor, who was then carrying on the Inspector and deceiving the public! To this Hill made no reply; and, for once in his career, he seems to have been somewhat humbled. In 1 Account in Old England, May 30, 1752. But Hill in his Inspector of the same day threatens that the prosecution will be taken up at the Court of the King's Bench. 2 See p. 38, above. 3 So ascribed in the handwriting of some former owner of the copy which is now in the Yale Library, but without citing any authority. INTRODUCTION 75 his Inspector of the 26th, he even offered to withdraw the prosecution of Brown if an apology was forth coming. Later in the year1 he began to bluster and rant on the subject; and his enemies, in turn, to ridi cule him. In June, there appeared a pamphlet in defense of Brown's conduct, A Narrative of the Affair between Mr. Brown and the Inspector; and in Decem ber of this year, the affair came to an end with a poetical effusion, The Inspector's Rhapsody or Solil oquy on the Loss of his Wig in a Scuffle with some Irish Gentlemen at Ranelagh. Therein one reads some very amusing satire on Hill, who bewails the loss of "That bright addition to my walnut phiz" and after reviewing the events of his life, says : For fame let Fielding scratch his pensive head, Fame I despise, I scribble but for bread; Let him his labours polish and retouch, He may write better, but not near so much ! "Tho call'd a coxcomb, frothy, pert, and dull, Still rolls my chariot, and my belly's full. Nearly a month and a half after this assault took place, some unknown enemy of Fielding's advertised in the General Advertiser of June 27th — A Speech made in the Censorial Court of ALEX. DRAWCANSIR, Monday, 6th June, 1752, concerning a late Act of Parliament. Nearly all trace of this is lost, but it seems certain that this was not by Fielding's pen;2 for in the Monthly 1 See, for instance, Inspectors of Aug. 18th and Nov. 20th. 2 See Miss Godden's Memoir (Lond. 1910), p. 259. 76 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Review, July, 1752, we read that this was "A dirty, loose, idle attempt to ridicule the late act of parlia ment, against bawdy-houses. " Certainly Fielding would not have written in such a vein. When Fielding, on July 4th, turned his paper into a weekly, Hill, after having ignored Fielding since January llth, broke forth into ridicule against him1 for having "declined one half his Office/' insinuating that Fielding's failure in his Journal was imminent. In revenge for this, Fielding, or some of his friends, published on the 13th2 — The INSPECTOR in the SHADES A NEW DIALOGUE in the Manner of LUCIAN Printed for T. Swan . . . E. Cooke . . . The Monthly Review (a magazine favorable to Hill) calls this "An ill-natured satire upon the author of the . . . LSTSPECTOK ; who is here represented as an empty, vain, illiterate scribbler : so ignorant as to con found Ovid, Horace, and Virgil together as one person. " This twenty-two page pamphlet is filled with lively, if somewhat dirty, burlesque on the ' Inspector,' who is represented as having descended to the realm of shadows, and having succeeded in forcing an entrance into the "Regions of Wit and Genius." There he cringes and fawns before Lord Orrery — the only Lord he ever knew — but behaves very pertly on meeting Swift, Pope, Dryden, and others. 1 See Notes on No. 53, II. 50. 19. Hill 's attack is found in his Inspec tor of July 7th. 2 Advertised in the London Daily Advertiser, July 16th. Because this is in imitation of Lucian's style and directed against Hill, it seems probable that the inspiration, at least, may have come from Fielding; see Notes on No. 52, II. 47. 7. INTRODUCTION 77 He tells these gentlemen that their stuff is now re garded as ancient and worthless, and informs them that his own works have supplanted theirs. To Addison he recommends his own Inspectors as samples of really fine essay-writing; to Ben Jonson he recom mends Footers Plays and Macklin's Pasquin turn'd Drawcansir as infinitely better than his Asper. Shakespeare also is button-holed by the l Inspector ' and given sound advice! On seeing Sappho, he mis takes her for Mrs. Pilkington;1 but when set aright, discusses the classics with her. When these shades begin to tire of their amusing guest, and when his dismissal is imminent, Swift proposes that the ' Inspector ' be allowed to remain, on condition that he will submit to a very indecent treatment — and Hill accedes! From under this castigation, however, John Hill bobs up serene and as aggressive as ever. Indeed, it was not long before he perpetrated his greatest stroke of misdirected genius. On August 13th he published,2 anonymously, the following pamphlet, advertising it thus: Yesterday was Published Beautifully printed on a Sheet and a Half of Writing Paper. To be continued every Thursday, Price Twopence, Number I. of THE IMPERTINENT Reposez vouz done mollement sur le doux coussinet de 1'ignorance, ou se plaissent tant de tetes bien faites, iLetitia Pilkington (1700-1750), a literary adventuress. 2 Advertised as above in the London Daily Advertiser of the 14th. 78 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL vous n'en serez que plus tranquille, plus gras, et plus hereux.1 Printed for J. Bouquet, at the White-Hart, in Pater- Noster Row. In this sheet Hill, not content with criticising Smart and Fielding, comes out in abuse of his own * Inspec torial ' character. His desire for notoriety had led him to this preposterous act; and therefrom he got just what he wanted, for he was now once more the central figure in this warfare. This paper has not come down to us, but extracts printed therefrom have been pre served. The following is taken from Smart's Hilliad:2 EXTRACT FROM A PAPER called the IMPERTINENT. Published Aug. 13, 1752. Written by Dr. HILL. There are men who write because they have wit ; there are those who write because they are hungry; There are some of the modern authors who have a constant fund of both these causes; and there are [some?] who will 1 The editor has not attempted to supply missing accents in this or any other passage from the original texts. 2 The quarrel between Hill and Smart, begun at this time, is pro longed into the next year. Previously (April 14, 1752) Hill had called Smart "a person of real and great genius, " but for some reason turned against him in the Impertinent. Smart resented the insult on his own name and on Fielding's — "a particular friend of mine" (Gentleman's Magazine, 1752, p. 600), and immediately planned to get even with Hill. Before the reply came out, Hill renewed his attacks on Smart in the Inspectors of Dec. 6th and 7th, 1752, in which he tells his readers that he had introduced Smart into the literary circle and was afraid he had made a great mistake in so doing; and had attacked him also in the Monthly Review. Smart's reply came out in Jan., 1753, in the form INTRODUCTION 79 write, although they are not instigated either by the one or by the other. The first are all spirit; the second are all earth; the third disclose more life, or more vapidity, as the one or the other cause prevails; and for the last, having neither the one nor the other, principle for the cause, they shew neither the one nor the other character in the effect: But begin, continue, and end; as if they had neither begun, continued, nor ended at all. Of the first, one sees an instance in Fielding; Smart with equal right stands foremost among the second; of the third, the mingled wreath belongs to Hill; and for the fourth, none who has been curious enough to read the college oration in tyonour of physic, and in defama tion of quacks and quackery, will dare to dispute the pre-eminence with Sir William Brown. Those of the first rank are the most capricious, and the most lazy of all animals: The monkey genius would rarely exert itself, if even idleness innate did not give way to the superior love of mischief. The ass that char acters the second is as laborious, and as dull, and as indefatigable as he is empty: Stranger to the caprice of genius, he knows none of its risings or its fall; but he wears a ridiculous comicalness of aspect, that makes people smile when they see him at a distance : His mouth opens, because he must be fed ; and the world often joins with the philosopher in laughing at the insensibility and obstinacy that make him prick his lips with thistles. of a Hilliad, an Epiclc Poem. In this he addresses Hill as ' ' Pimp ! Poet ! 'Pothecary ! Play 'r ! " and proceeds to tear his character to shreds, and closes : Cervantes, Fielding, Lucian, Swift shall reign ****** So long in flat stupidity's extreme, Shall —11 the AECH DUNCE remain o'er every dunce supreme. Hill's reply, The Smartiad, appeared in Feb., 1753, but is not worth reviewing here. Kenrick's Pasquinade (1753) also takes up this quarrel. 80 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL To carry out the deception, Hill pretended to be very indignant over the Impertinent 's insults, and in his Inspector of the 25th made his protest against the continuance of this sheet. The Impertinent, accord ingly, died with its first issue, but not without having aroused Fielding — the one man whom Hill desired to draw out. In his issue of the 22d, Fielding had in serted some broadly humorous passages in ridicule of Hill's experience at Eanelagh; but in these Hill got more than he bargained for. Indeed, Hill was now fair game for every one; witness this epigram1 from the Gentleman's Magazine, September, 1752, by an unknown hand : On the New Stile, an EPIGRAM to the Inspector. A change in our stile, our wise laws now decree ; A hint, Great Inspector! to you! One line then of Sense, and we all will agree, That your stile is entirely new. Bedford Coff. SIMPLEX. A month later we find Hill embroiled in fresh diffi culties ; for, during the last few months, he had been laying about him rather generally, and had aroused new enemies. Among these we find Arthur Murphy, who comes out in support of his friend Henry Field ing, and in his own defense, on October 21st, in the first number of the Gray's Inn Journal. Hill had aspersed Murphy's name in his Inspector of August 10th; and now, in imitation of Fielding's Journal, Murphy begins a paper in which he revives old ridicule i The Calendar Act went into force on the 2d of September, and on the 15th, after eleven days had been dropped, Hill had an Inspector on "The New Stile," which is herein referred to. INTRODUCTION 81 of Hill. In his fourth number, on November llth, Murphy indicts Hill in a Court of Censorial Enquiry, much as Fielding does in his paper of the 25th : ". . . the Inspector, alias Doctor Bobadil, Acad. Reg. Scien. Burd. &c, Socius, was brought to the Bar upon an Indictment, for that he, not having a due Regard to Decency, hath presumed to rail with all the Vehemence of a Billingsgate Orator, against Mr. Christopher Smart . . .'^ It reports, further, that Counsellor Truewit found Hill guilty on this score, but that Hill pleaded his belly (Empyema!) and was let off. Murphy's paper, which continued to run some time after the Paper- War was over, in the period which concerns us, de votes much space to ridiculing Hill. In addition to the above indictment, there is in the next issue (on the 18th of November) a passage charging Hill with fomenting trouble in the Theatre-War (described below). Then in the issue of December 2d there is a capital burlesque on the assault at Eanelagh, in which Hill and his assailants are represented as dogs. A resplendent dog, Pompey2 by name (Hill), is repre sented as being attacked by five vicious curs (the five hypothetical assailants of Hill's account) and as receiving so severe an injury that he is found to be in danger of an Empyema! Before Murphy had come out with his indictment, another new enemy had arisen against Hill. On November 1st, the author of the Masquerade attacks Hill in the first issue of this 1 See footnote on pp. 78 and 79, above. 2 Keminiscent of Pompey the Little (Lond. 1751), by Francis Cov entry; dedicated, in a friendly spirit, to Fielding. In this "our Eng lish Hillario," possibly meant for John Hill, is represented in a very ridiculous light; see 1st edit., pp. 14 ff. 82 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL paper, printing therein The Last Will and Testament of Terrible Leo, a rather dull satire on Hill's deeds and character, with a passing reference to Fielding. In reply, Hill speaks contemptuously of the Mas querade, in his Inspectors of November 16th and 24th, but seems to have been but little perturbed by reading Leo 's Will. Two new periodicals were now in the field, and on November 16th appeared another, with this title: THE SPRING-GARDEN JOURNAL BY Miss PRISCILLA TERMAGANT (A near Relation of the late Mrs. Roxana) Addressed to the Writers of the Age, but more particu larly to Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR Author of the COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Imagine now you see a splendid Feast, The Question is, At whose Expence 'tis drest? Dry den's Juv. Continued every THURSDAY LONDON Printed: And Sold at Mr. Meyer's Library in May's- Buildings, St. Martin 's-Lane ; where Letters to the Authoress are taken in. This paper, like its predecessor, The Drury-Lane Journal, was an octavo pamphlet which appeared on INTRODUCTION 83 Thursdays, price 3d. It ran for only four issues, however, ending with the issue of December 7th ; and, like its predecessor, had consecutive pagination from number to number. Leveled chiefly at Fielding, this sheet contains comments on his Journal, a burlesque Covent-Garden Journal Extraordinary, and also three numbers of The New Female Spectator. The entire production is generally ascribed to Bonnell Thornton ; and certainly its style is very close to that of the Drury-Lane Journal; witness this selection from Spring-Garden Journal, No. 1 : "My late Predecessor and Sir Alexander Drawcansir have established their small Wares each at a Register Office; but I flatter myself, I am more than upon an Equality with them, for my Standard is fixed at a Publick Library . . . there is some small Reason to imagine, that the Materials for a Work of this Kind may more easily be collected hence than from the Records of Tom Sullen, Footman, &c. . . . And a Work of Genius may more properly be introduced into the World from Mr. Meyer, than from Mr. John Fielding-, but of this quantum sufficit." Take, also, from the same number the following : "It is currently reported, that Sir A. Drawcansir, Knight, was last Week married to a young Lady of great Beauty, but no Fortune; and that he was seen to buy . . . [Hill's Lucina sine Concubitu]1 a few Days afterwards. Verbum Sapienti sat est . . ." This is pretty low humor; but therein Thornton kills two birds with one stone — Hill and Fielding — against both of whom this new Journal is directed. i See p. 38, above. 84 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL In the midst of all this renewed periodical warfare, there had suddenly arisen a topic which quite over shadowed the petty rivalries of the authors of these papers. This was the reopening of hostilities between Garrick's Drury-Lane Theatre and Rich's Covent- Garden Theatre, an open set-to which culminated in a concerted riot at the Drury-Lane. A capital account of the origin and development of this rivalry is found in Fielding's Covent-Garden Journal, No. 71 j1 but here it is well to reprint other contemporary versions, and to speak of the part which Fielding and Hill played in the controversy which followed. The account in the Gentleman's Magazine, November, 1752, is cautiously worded and fair in spirit : "The town has been allured to Covent Garden by a wire dancer,2 and some strange animals, which the manager brought together from Sadler's Wells and the Fair. Mr. Garrick ridiculed this perversion of theatrical entertainment by exhibiting a mock entertainment of the same kind.3 At this the town was offended, and a party went one evening4 determined to damn it; a person of some distinction,5 who was very busy in this laudable attempt, threw an apple at Woodward,6 and hit him. Woodward resented the blow by some words, which by the gentleman's account implied a challenge, but by Woodward's no such thing. Woodward's account is confirmed by the affidavits7 of many; that of the gentle man, only by his own, tho' the box in which he sat was 1 Nov. 18th ; see Notes on II. 136 ff. 2 Maddox from Sadler >s Wells ; see Notes on 71, II. 138. 28. s From Nov. 6th to 14th. 4 Nov. 9th. 5 Eichard Fitzpatrick. e Henry Woodward the Comedian, and Harlequin in Harlequin Eanger. t See p. 86, below. INTRODUCTION 85 full. The Inspector^ espoused the cause of the gentle man ; and the Covent-Garden Journalist2 of the comedian, and in a humorous account, which he gives of the quarrel between the houses in military terms, he says, that Garrick's forces took the enemy's trumpeter prisoner, who having an empyema in his side, and many dangerous bruises in his breech, could not make off ; of this invidious reflection the Inspector has avoided the force by observ ing in a note to his next essay,3 that the hurt which he received from Mr. Brown was not in his breech but his side." Previous to the riot of the 9th, Hill had shown an impartial spirit in reviewing the situation. In his Inspector of that date he comments upon the rivalry, mentioning that the manager of the Drury-Lane, by introducing a scene in mockery of Rich's Ostriches, Wild Beasts, and Wire Dancer, had at a single stroke burlesqued and bantered half the incidents that had given success to the forces of the other house. The 1 Inspector' grants that Garrick's burlesque has merit and humor, but asks :4 "What farther Success can Mr. Garrick expect; what farther Success can he wish, than what he has? He is allowed the first Actor, and the best Manager in the World; is this not sufficient Praise? His House is always full ; is this not sufficient Reward ? ' ' The paper continues in this spirit and mildly censures Garrick for abusing his rival. In defiance of his enemies, especially in defiance of the "Shadow of a formidable Antagonist Fielding," 1 See p. 86, below. 2 Covent-Garden Journal, No. 71. 3 Inspector of Nov. 20th. * Inspector of Nov. 10th. 86 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL the "Virulence of a Thornton,"1 and the "Dulness of a Kennedy,"2 Hill publishes in his Inspector of the 14th an inflammatory article against Woodward, in which he expresses his real respect for Garrick, but in which he condemns his employment of Woodward in a farce that had merited public disapproval and had turned the Town against him. In this he definitely lays all the blame for the riot on Woodward. The Town was, however, divided on the matter, for we read in Gray's Inn Journal of the 10th a commendation of Garrick 's conduct in ridiculing Rich's "Smithfield Muses ' ' and his ' ' Monster-Breeding Beast. ' ' Then, in the Adventurer3 of the 14th, we find a burlesque on the "late Squabble at the Drury-Lane Theatre, on Account of the additional Scene in Harlequin Ranger, designed to expose Mr. Rich's Fair, and the famous Wire- Dancer, at the other Theatre" — a purely humorous take-off on the affair. Woodward had resented Hill's misrepresentation of the matter in the Inspector of the 14th, and had published in the General Advertiser of the 16th a signed statement denying the charge of the l Inspector, ' and asserting that his conduct under trying conditions had been courteous and gentlemanly. It is at this point that Fielding enters the controversy, for the statement was sworn before him on the 15th, and signed H. Fielding. Hill then comes out in violent support of Fitzpatrick, in his Inspector of the 17th, calling Woodward one of the "meanest of Mankind," and giving him the lie in regard to his sworn state- 1 In his Spring -Garden Journal. 2 In his Whipping Bods. s By John Hawkesworth ; No. 1 came out on Nov. 7, 1752. In the Inspector of Nov. 24th Hill endeavors to belittle the success of this paper. INTRODUCTION 87 ment. In this, however, Hill still professes admiration for Garrick, and denies any motive of partiality for Kich.1 This same issue contains a letter from Fitz- patrick in which he denies the facts alleged in Woodward's statement, but in which he offers no sworn statement. Following this action of Fitz- patrick's, Woodward renewed his assertions in the General Advertiser of the 18th; and Fitzpatrick, in the London Daily Advertiser of the same day, con tributes Ms statement sworn before Justice T. Lediard on the 17th. Fielding's interest was now aroused to a publishing point ; and on the 18th he prints a paper in support of the Drury-Lane Theatre. In reply comes Hill's Inspector of the 21st, in which he again gives Woodward the lie, commends Garrick 's having withdrawn his burlesque on the 14th, and ineffectually attempts to turn Fielding's ridicule against the "Drawcansir of the Age" and those who sided with him, consigning Fielding to the regions of contempt and obloquy. Two days later, on November 23d, Thornton joined in the fray, rather vigorously, with a long review of the whole affair, poking fun at Hill and offering a sage bit of advice to the public. But even at this late date the hubbub did not subside, for in December there appeared A Letter from Henry Woodward, Come dian, . . . to Dr. John Hill . . . "This Pamphlet," according to some unknown hand which inscribed this note in ink on the last leaf of the second edition in the Yale Library, "is suppos'd to have been wrote by Mr. Garrick and Mr. Fielding." Very possibly, i Hill and Kich had quarreled some years before and were not on good terms now. In his Inspector of Nov. 9th, Hill allows Eich his merit, but speaks of him as one beneath his notice. 88 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL although the word-usage therein is not Fielding's.1 The pamphlet is given up almost entirely to personal abuse, and contains, also, a burlesque Inspector by Dr. Bobathill. In ridicule of Woodward's Letter, on the llth of December, there appeared A Letter from Sampson Edwards . . . to Mr. Henry Woodward, Comedian; and in January, 1753, the following pam phlets: An Answer to Henry Woodward, Comedian (in vindication of Hill), A Letter to Mr. Henry Wood ward, Comedian . . . ~by Simon Partridge (in abuse of Hill), and A Lick at 'em All (in vindication of Hill) ;2 then the quarrel was dropped. Fielding's last word in the year's Paper-War comes on November 25th, in his last number of his Journal. In this he indicts John Hill for an old offense, in a tone which is plainly abusive and revengeful. There follows a farewell to his readers, in which it is very evident that Fielding's experiment had cost him much labor of body and spirit, and that he regretted his having entered upon a field where he had been sub jected to much unjust treatment. The rest of his paper is given over to a series of notices to the public, advertising that the Public Advertiser* had taken over the Covent-Garden Journal's good will — it would henceforth take care of Fielding's subscribers and advertisers, and would publish his legal notices and other similar features; and that his clerk, Mr. Brog- den, and his Register Office were to act as agents for 1 See pp. 99 ff., below. 2 In December, previous, there had also appeared a satire on Hill, called An Essay on the Rationality of Brutes (Codghill and Mango). s On Dec. 1, 1752, the General Advertiser was enlarged and took the title above. In 1743 H. S. Woodfall had purchased one-tenth of the London Daily Post from Theophilus Gibber, and had named this sheet The London Daily Post and General Advertiser. INTRODUCTION 89 this new paper. This transfer was effected on December 1st, as promised; and in the first issue of the Public Advertiser one finds a notice from Fielding asking that advertisements of things stolen or lost be sent in to Mr. Brogden, together with notices of robberies, for publication in this new sheet. Alexander Andrews1 states that Woodfall, who had formerly run the General Advertiser, had charge of this new paper and that in this venture Garrick was a shareholder. Henry Fielding's connection with this Public Advertiser is uncertain. With the discontinuance of his own Journal, it is very natural that he should have desired another medium for publishing his legal notices. I have found no record to prove that Field ing's interest was actually purchased, so it seems probable that he simply exchanged his shares in the Covent-Garden Journal for shares in the Public Advertiser. This theory is indirectly substantiated in an article in the Monthly Review, February, 1753,2 which advertises the following pamphlet: A scheme for a new PUBLIC ADVERTISER, with a list of the present subscribers. Folio 3d. Printed for Justice Fail-paper, in Arrow-Street, and sold by Benj. Brobdignag, in Pater-noster-row. The Review says of this: "It is intended to ridicule Mr. Fielding, and others ; who are said to be concerned in a daily news-paper, entitled the public-advertiser." It is very unlikely, however, that Fielding was the author of this new paper ; for in his last leader in the Covent-Garden Journal he expressly asserts that he 1 History of British Journalism (Lond. 1859), I. 188. 2 Pp. 144 ff. 90 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL will not indulge in any further " correspondence with the gayer Muses. 'n With the cessation of Fielding's Journal, however, the warfare did not cease on his enemies ' side ; nor did Hill and his other foes come to terms. In his Inspector of November 27th, Hill2 pokes fun at the illiteracy of the author of the Spring-Garden Journal; and Thorn ton, on the 30th, replies in a very sarcastic vein. In Thornton's issue of that date comes, also, the first comment on Fielding's having given up his Journal. In a Covent-Garden Journal Extraordinary, Thornton represents Fielding, now retired, as looking back over his career as ' Drawcansir, ' and as analyzing for the benefit of posterity the causes of his tremendous success as a journalist. The satire is dull and unin teresting, but is not in any degree so unkind as that which followed in other papers. The first of these vicious ' obituaries ' came in Old England, on December 2d, in the form of a letter to the Author: ALEC was born early in the year of our Lord 1752, the very year which is now almost in its wane . . . Alec was young and old too in as few months. The place of his nativity has been variously related. Some have fixed it in the Mint, others at Hockley in the Hole,3 and not a few at Bethlem, commonly called Bedlam ;4 but the far greater part are positive in opinion, he first breathed in that more celebrated place known to us now, and will be to all posterity, by the immortal name of GRUBSTREET : at least, whether he was born 1 No. 72, II. 141. 20. There is evidence that John Fielding was later connected with this paper; see Andrews' History of British Journalism (Lond. 1859), I. 190-193. 2 In a letter signed The Trunk-Maker. 3 A sporting centre. 4 See Notes on No. 35, I. 336. 11. INTRODUCTION 91 here or not, his admirers, through a common frailty, are willing he should be allowed the distinction of such a famous nativity, weakly judging that no little fame would thence redound to their hero. However uncertain the place of his birth may be, there is still more conjecturing about his parents. People who indulge themselves in viewing the satirical side of things, have called him a bastard; said his father was an incor rigible debauchee, and his mother a notorious harlot. But I shall give not greater countenance to this slander, than to another of a more extraordinary kind; to wit, that he had no parents at all. The obscurity of his birth and parentage has already raised some fictions as extrava gant as the birth of Hercules, or as the Bear-nurse of Romulus and Remus. Some tell us, he suckled a wolf, others says it was a fox, and a third sort believe he got his ' ' milk of human kindness ' ' by sucking a vulture. The absurdity and ignorance of such pretended relations sufficiently refute them; for but to read, is to discredit, them. These important points must therefore remain unsettled for me: They may be the search of future biographers, and may afford matter for volumes yet unthought of, or at least unwrit . . . The very week our hero was born, he appeared abroad, not upon his own proper legs indeed ; but upon crutches1 which he used with great dexterity. He had the bulk of a common soldier even at this age, and it was well for those near him he had not the strength too; for he affected a military genius, and was very fond of stiling himself ' ' his excellency the general, ' ' &c. He levied war (as he called it) upon the powers of GRUBSTREET, his countrymen, because he said he loved to fight against father and mother, and that there was something sweeter in that ingratitude which was the most forbidden. He threw dirt about him profusely, but having no great i On account of the gout ; see p. 4, above. 92 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL share of courage he left honour and the field to his vic torious adversaries, who, tho' he did not know it, were many of them total strangers to his Gruboean wilds . . . ALEC became a knight errant at a time when other infants nibble the breasts of their nurses; tho' it is said he SUCKED1 plentifully enough of what he liked. Some say he sucked like a Leech, some, like a Lecher: the truth is hard to come at, and when found very insignificant . . . ALEC had no Rosinante,2 nor yet a Sancho Pancha; but he must have both, for he could never knight-errant it on foot, or rather on crutch, nor could he mount his beast without help. What was to be done in this extremity, that it might not continue so? In the neigh borhood of Grub-street, where Alec lived, there lived a dealer in asses. Alec seeing this man driving some of these creatures, conceived a thought that gave him imme diate relief. — To be brief, he struck a bargain with the man, bought an ass, and immediately with the help only of his crutches mounted, and trotted forth in search of adventures, his crutches being all he had to rely on, either for convenience or defence. I forgot to say he had knighted himself for this mighty purpose, and that he called himself "Censor of Great Britain." The whole time of his birth, life and death are so short, that there is the less necessity of strict dates to the events, as they all happened in a few months . . . Passing this, let us look after our Quixote. Alec, delighted with his new servant, gives the creature its head to go which way it chuses. It carried him towards Coldbath-fields, where it may be supposed it usually grazed. When it came to Lord Cobham's, Alec beheld a strange monster at the door, resembling a LION.3 He 1 In reference to his dependence on Lyttleton, Pelham, etc. 2 In ridicule of his fondness of Quixotic literature, s Hill's 'Lion' at the Bedford. INTRODUCTION 93 stood gazing at it awhile, afraid tho' wishing to attack it. At length however encouraged by the still position of the enemy, and thinking him asleep, he advances closer. At this instant the base of the organ, with the noise of the people, formed such a roar, as startled our poor knight off his ass, and laid him prostrate in the dirt. He was helped up however by the crowd the oddity of his appearance had brought with him, and again re mounted. He hopes1 now to signalize his courage before the people, who fell into his humour and encouraged it, and intrepidly rose up to his horrible antagonist. He lifted up his crutch, and the mob groans.1 Poor Alec is again extended in the mire, and grievously hurt, to the great diversion of the cruel spectators. They set him up again, but no persuasion could induce a third essay, 'till they had convinced him it was only a log of wood cut in the shape of a lion : then he very courageously broke one of his crutches on the wooden monster, for having put him into such bodily fear. This put an end to his knight-errantries, before he had performed any: but a more extravagant whim took him than ever knight-errant conceived. He intended to trans late GRUBSTREET to COVENT-GARDEN ! He was indefatigable in the execution of this wild project. He worked week after week, and shewed the amazing power of industry. He was far advanced in this hopeful business, when his other crutch failed him under the loads of rubbish he would oppress himself with. This broke his gall, disappointed his darling transportation, and overwhelmed him with despair. Instead of taking Christian comfort, his evil genius prompted him to lay violent hands on himself, and what was worse threw a halter in his way. He fairly did the hangman's business; but first wrote these lines to leave behind him: i As in the original. 94 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL "I shall here lay down a DESIGN I have neither ability or inclination to carry on any longer."1 "Many of my graver friends have chid me for not dropping it long ago; indeed for undertaking it at all. They have been pleased to think it was BELOW my character; and some have been kind enough to tell me, that I might have employed myself more to the honor of myself, and to the good of the public." "It is never too late to grow wise; I lay down my design and life together. ' ' Nov. 25. ALEX. DRAWCANSIR. Thus lived and thus died the Censor of Great Britain ! A prodigy in nature, and an example, hung up in gibbets of ridicule, to the suicide and sot. * See the last Covent-garden Journal. VERUS. Hill, however, was not so quick to gloat over the fall of his enemy; but in his Inspector of December 6th, he printed the following notice : "Of Fielding I had spoken nothing; I had only thought that he was contemptible : My Tenderness for a decayed Brother would have preserved the Secret in my own Breast for ever: It was he who compelled me to divulge it : Nor is he to be blamed for it, if his own After- Writings induced the World to be of my Opinion. But he is departed. The Proverb reminds me, de mortuis nil nisi bonum, that concerning dead Persons we are to say nothing, except we speak good. And in this Case there is no obeying the Precept, but by Silence. ' ' We find very little of the old vicious spirit of John Hill as we have known him ! Indeed, this last word of his, although intended to be mock-pathetic, is scarcely i His own words in No. 72. INTRODUCTION 95 characteristic of the person whom Fielding so viciously indicts in his final issue of the Journal. Thornton, however, devoted the expiring issue of his Journal, December 7th, to his customary long- winded satire, as follows : The Death of Sir Alexander Drawcansir has made a great Impression upon me; and as I can pay no other Mark of Gratitude to his Memory, than by all the out ward Signs of Woe and Despair, I will forbear repeat ing the Affliction, and adding one Load of Sorrow to another, by inserting his last Will and Testament, which is an Emblem of his real Wit and Humour when living. Priscilla Termagant. The last Will and Testament, &c. IN the Name of God, Amen. I Sir Alexander Draw cansir Knight, being of sound Mind and Memory, do make this my last Will and Testament, in Manner following, hereby revoking all former Will or Wills whatsoever. I resign, &c. and humbly intreat that my Body may have all decent Interment; but that Frugality and Parsimony be observed throughout.1 My Disposition of all my worldly Concerns, is as follows : Imprimis, I leave to my dear Wife all the Money in my Bureau. I direct that all my Manuscripts (except as hereafter excepted) be burnt, as not being of any other important Use than to make a good warm Christmas Fire. I am willing that all my Covent-Garden Journals be made a present of to the Societies of Lincoln's Inn and i A reference to his impecunious pocket. 96 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL the Temple, to serve the necessary Purposes of every Diamerdis, who may chance to frequent certain Places allotted for the most urgent Occasions; and that my Paper upon Adultery1 be pasted up against the Door of each necessary House, by way of Remonstrance to the mettlesome Blades of the several Inns of Court. My Manuscript of Joseph Andrews I leave to Parson Y ,2 my Chaplain and Quotation-hunter. I direct, and it is my Will, that the Jacobite Journal be committed to the safe Custody of / — ns, for the Emolument of the Independent Electors of Westminster. My Tom Jones I leave to the Foundling Hospital, as a Token of Gratitude and Respect. I leave the Compleat Justice of Peace to my sworn Brother of Westminster, with Notes of Practise, and marginal References. All my Miscellaneous Works, to John F g,s with some additional Hints upon a certain Office;4 and with several Receipts to get Money, and how to spend it. My Book upon the Interposition of Providence,5 &c. to my Chaplain, which, properly husbanded, will supply him with Subjects for a Series of Sermons for one Year. To my Friend M the B r« I would have given a Manuscript intitled,7 A Treatise upon the Art of Quibbling, and the true Formation of Margins; with Directions to all Bibliopolas how to swell an Octavo into a Quarto, and a Quarto into a Folio. Having disposed of my Manual Effects, I come now to my Mental ones. I do order and direct, that all and every Part of my 1 In Covent-Garden Journal, No. 67. 2 Eev. Wra. Young; see No. 52, p. 455. 3 John Fielding. * Universal Eegister Office. 5 Published early in 1752. e Millar the Bookseller. 7 In satire on the format of Amelia. INTRODUCTION 97 Virtue be presented to Dr. J — n H — II,1 as a Man needful of the same. To the Fool,2 a small Parcel of Wit, which will be a tolerable large Estate to him. To all minor Poets, Dablers in Prose, and periodical "Writers, my Stock of Assurance, to be equally divided, in order to counter-balance his Inspectorship. To my Successor in Business, all my Goodwill and Benevolence, which will recommend him to the Love of every Fellow-Citizen. To the young Sparks of the B rd3 the two Cardinal Virtues, Faith and Charity ; as they live chiefly upon Hope, I leave that Virtue to the other Dependents of both Sexes. I direct my Honour to [be] buried, with my Body, in the Dust, for certain private Reasons. I am desirous that my Scurrility be committed to the same Place, tho' as this is Dirt, it will be carrying Coals to Newcastle. To Dr. J — n H — II I leave my Wife — a real Estate! who may perhaps have no Use for his Lucina* unless his Empyema5 has been of any real Injury to him. Item, My impenetrable Coat of Male, which, as he has got so many Holes in his own Coat,5 will be of signal Service. Item, An excellent brown Cloak,6 which will cover many Infirmities, and conceal him from open Insults. Item, My Coat of Arms,7 which will decorate his Chariot much more than the initial Letters of his Name : 1 John Hill. 2 See footnote 2 to p. 59. 3 The Bedford Coffee-House. 4 John Hill's Lucina sine Concubitu; see p. 38, above. 5 See p. 73, above. « Possibly a cloak which Fielding usually wore. i Fielding was of noble descent and had a right to his Coat of Arms ; Hill used a 'cypher.' 98 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL These Articles comprehending all and every Part of my personal Estate. And then as a parting shot, the last in the War, this epitaph : EPITAPH UPON Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR. Bite him good Worm, for he was us'd to Bite, Eat, Drink, devour to gratify his Spight, Lie heavy on him, then, kind Earth, for 0 It is Due; no more than Blow for Blow. FIELDING'S WORD-USAGE AND SIGNATURES IN HIS JOURNAL. It is certain that Henry Fielding was the 'Draw- cansir' of this paper, and that he wrote the greater part of the literary matter which is contained therein. Here is one bit of contemporary evidence1 in support of this statement: "Mr. H y F Id g, after having failed in the Champion, the True Patriot, and the Jacobite Journal, has this month made another attempt to establish a news paper, by prefixing an essay, and interspersing occasional pieces of humour. This paper ... is intitled the COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL. The author has called himself Sir ALEX ANDER DRAWCANSIR, and in this character assumes great dignity and performs several feats, for no other apparent reason than that which is given by the illus trious personage2 whose name he has appropriated 'All this I do because I dare.' } There are, indeed, a great many leaders which bear certain definitely known signatures of Fielding's. When we test these from another direction we find that those leaders which are manifestly his work have, in almost every case, his signatures, and that those 1 Gentleman's Magazine, Jan., 1752, under Literary News. See also the heading of the Dublin issue of the Journal on p. 121, below. 2 Drawcansir in Buckingham's Eehearsal; see IV. 1: I drink, I huff, I strut, look big and stare; And all this I can do, because I dare. 100 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL which are quite as obviously not from his pen, have none of his own signatures, unless it be at the end of a series of contributed articles which he sanctions by his initial. The signature which he most frequently uses is the initial A. This is used in each of the first six numbers, all of which are unquestionably Fielding's work, and is very clearly the initial of his title Alexander. In the third number, indeed, we find both A and his fully written-out name, Alexander Draivcansir. In all, thirty leaders are thus signed ; and in nearly all cases, even where other signatures are present, the leaders have a word-usage and peculiarities of style which are distinctly Fielding's. Of these leaders Murphy re printed, in the first collected edition,1 only seventeen; but Henley, in his edition, reprinted all but four of the thirty, as the work of Fielding. Further evidence for assuming that this signature was used exclusively by Fielding is found in cross-references between papers bearing this signature, such, for instance, as the phrase, "My Sixth Paper," used in No. 8 with a proprietary sense which Fielding alone would have assumed. The next most frequently used signature of Field ing's is one which he used also in the Champion,2 the initial C. This is found in nineteen leaders, of which Murphy, and Henley also, reprinted only seven as by Fielding's pen. In nearly every case, including variorum notes to news-items,3 the text has Fielding's word-usage and other marks of his style; and in No. 47, a leader signed C, we find a cross-reference to "my 1 See pp. 120 ff., below, for editions of this Journal. 2 See Lawrence's Life (Lond. 1855), p. 115. s See Notes on No. 11, I. 201. 16, for an example. INTRODUCTION 101 next Saturday's Paper, " also signed C. In* this phrase we find the same proprietary connotation as we did above, and can assert that Fielding used this signature exclusively as his own. There are, however, a few cases where leaders signed either A or C cannot be definitely assigned to Fielding, especially where one finds a series of letters, all or a part of which are sanctioned by these initial signatures. In such cases each portion is tested separately, and the results are recorded in the Notes. Another signature, which occurs in four numbers only, is one which is appended to several variorum notes to news-items which are unmistakably Field ing's by other tests. This is the initial M; and while it is certainly Fielding's, it seems to have been used chiefly to give sanction to contributed articles which certainly are not his work. The matter is taken up in detail in the Notes1 to those numbers, and my con clusions are best set forth therein. Still another initial signature is P, which occurs in two numbers only. Both of these leaders seem to be Fielding's work.2 Then there is one case3 where 8 is used, and one where J4 is used. The former seems to be Field ing's, and the latter is possibly his. Besides these there are some sixteen leaders, or parts thereof, which are without any of Fielding's initial signatures. Most of these are made up of letters which bear various signatures — fictitious names, and initial signa tures — and have to be tested solely by internal evidence. 1 See Notes on Nos. 7, 13, 28, and 33. 2 See Notes on Nos. 15 and 22. s See Notes on No. 26. * See Notes on No. 30. 102 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Fielding, of course, kept up the pretense1 of having numerous real correspondents, because he wanted to make his paper appear to be a lively sheet, and because there were many things which he wished to write, him self, under the cover of a pseudonym. Such a corre spondent as 'Benevolus,' in Nos. 38 and 41, seems to be a genuine contributor; but such as 'Zara Grande- monde' and i Humphrey Gubbin' are obviously ficti tious persons, and usually are Fielding's creatures. Among these there are one or two signatures which deserve comment. That of Axylus2 is one used several times by Fielding as a pseudonym in his essays on the perilous subject of good nature and kindliness. The signature Misotharsus (in two numbers)3 is also a pen-name of Fielding's assumed to permit a very free-handed satire on the pert scribblers of the day. Finally there is one signature which has generally been taken as Fielding's. This is the Z. Z. signature found in two numbers4 of this Journal and in two places in the London Daily Advertiser5 of the year before this. The style and word-usage of all four of these letters bearing this signature are certainly not Henry Fielding's; but in view of the fact that two of these letters puff the Fieldings' Eegister Office and the Glastonbury Water which they sold there, it seems very likely that John Fielding, who had every reason to do so, wrote all of these Z. Z. letters ; for unlike his brother Henry, John Fielding employed a compara tively modern word-usage such as that found in these four letters. 1 See Notes on Nos. 5, 7, etc. 2 See Notes on No. 16, I. 233. 26. 3 Nos. 40 and 46. 4 See Notes on Nos. 16 and 28. 5 See Notes on No. 16, I. 236. 17. INTRODUCTION 103 Another portion of Fielding's paper has to be tested almost solely from internal evidence; this is the Proceedings of the Censorial Court, in which there are no signatures to help us out. One would assume that the Censor wrote all these Proceedings, but such is not the case; for Fielding turned over two of his book reviews (not reprinted herein) to another hand. All of these have been tested separately, and the results are recorded in the Notes. Similarly, the news from Co vent Garden (omitted in this edition) has to be tested by word-usage, although, in one case at least,1 we find a signature, and in others, evidence that Fielding's clerk2 contributed much of this matter. In looking about for some test for Fielding's style so that his contributions might be definitely identified, it was necessary to examine his word-usage, and to compare this with that of those men who might possibly have been contributors to his Journal. There is one marked peculiarity in Henry Fielding's vocabu lary which Keightley noted in his essay in Eraser's Magazine, February, 1858.3 This is his almost inva riable usage of hath and doth in place of the customary usage of his age. Indeed, Keightley went so far as to assert that this usage occurred in no other writer of the Eighteenth Century; but this is going too far. It is true, however, that most of his contemporaries, especially those who may have been contributors to his Journal, generally used the more modern forms, and that Fielding's usage is consistently distinct from theirs. Therefore, in testing the leaders in this Journal, the presence of the forms hath and doth in 1 See Notes on No. 50, II. 38. 20. 2 See p. 105, below. 3 Page 217. 104 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL place of the usual forms is taken as evidence strongly in favor of Fielding's having written them.1 The editor has examined the earliest editions of Amelia and the Increase of Robbers for Fielding's usage in this period, and has found an almost unvaried usage of hath and doth, whilst and durst, etc. ; and in those leaders in the Covent-Garden Journal which are unmistakably his, has found the same usage prevail ing. Indeed, if we accept the leader in No. 48, signed C, as Fielding's — on grounds other than the word- test — we find in this a convincing proof of his strong tendency to use hath in place of has, for in quoting from memory a passage in Hudibras he alters the original has found in each line to hath.2 Among his contemporaries, especially those closely in touch with him, we find an almost unvaried usage of has and does. Gar rick, in his letters ; Lyttleton, in his Works; James Ealph, in the Dedication to his Miscellaneous Poems and in his Protester; John Fielding, in his Dedication to The Fathers and in advertisements of the Eegister Office which are very probably his; Murphy, in his Essay on Fielding and in his Gray's Inn Journal (excepting one instance) ;3 Smart, in his Midwife and his Hilliad; Thornton, in his periodicals; Hill, in his Inspector; Old England; the Magazine of Magazines, etc., all generally employ has and does. There are, however, exceptions to this, for William Mason uses hath in his Letters in Elfrida; and Smollett, in bur lesque on Fielding in his Faithful Narrative, and in dialogue in his novels, uses hath and other archaic 1 The editor feels that this test is of real value, but will not be prepared to give accurate statistics until he has examined early editions of the works of all of Fielding's contemporaries. 2 See Notes on No. 48, II. 27. 4. s See p. 81, above. INTRODUCTION 105 forms, but, in general, lias and does.'1 Finally, Joshua Brogden, in imitation of Fielding, seems to be fond of these peculiar forms; but it is very difficult to deter mine whether or not Fielding used Brogden 's name as a cloak for his own expression of opinion in commenting on the news from Covent Garden.2 The most probable contributor to this paper, outside of a few unknown persons who sent in letters to the Author, was Arthur Murphy, and after him John Fielding. The editor has, however, no means of definitely pointing out their contributions; for when he finds an essay or letter which does not have Field ing 's usage, he can say merely that either of these men, who employed a different word-usage, may have written the article in question, especially if the subject and general style give evidence of this possibility. One also suspects Ralph and Lyttleton of having contributed, and even Garrick himself; but nothing definite can be asserted for or against this theory. Certain it is, however, that Fielding wrote the greater portion of the Journal. FIELDING'S STYLE AS DRAWCANSIR. The periodicals of the age in which Fielding pub lished his Covent-Garden Journal can be divided into three general types: the newspaper proper, which devoted most of its space to news and advertisements ; the political newspaper, which was given up chiefly to party news and discussions ; and the literary periodi- 1 See Henley Edit., Peregrine Pickle, I. 6, for an instance of his double usage. 2 In No. 20 (not here printed) Fielding comments on a note which he says Mr. Brogden wrote, but possibly he is merely commenting on one of his own notes, for the entire passage uses hath instead of has. 106 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL cal, an essay-sheet which often had neither news nor advertisements. Fielding's Journal, like Hill's Inspector, cannot be definitely classed under any one of these heads. Unlike Old England, the Covent- Garden Journal has no political bias, but like the other news-sheets of the day, such as the Daily Advertiser, contains a large proportion of both news and adver tisements. In its leaders, however, the Journal belongs distinctly to the Rambler type, In so far as it contains essays from an Author who is master of a real literary style. The literary form of Fielding's Journal is very similar to that of his previous ' failures ' ; and the type can be traced back to earlier experiments in periodical literature such as the Spectator and its successors. In following this model, most of the mid-century imitators assumed pseudonyms, and setting up as observers of the life of the times, recorded in a polite, conversational tone the impressions which they re ceived, embellishing their lucubrations with witty comments and enlivening them by introducing Letters to the Author. Fielding retained the literary devices which Addison and Steele used ; but he was not always polite in his wit, or restrained in his observations. In a much more vigorous manner than the ' Spectator' and his unworthy successor, the 'Inspector,' the 'Drawcansir' of 1752 assumed, also, the right of censorship over his contemporaries — a right to ridicule and criticise them. In his earlier periodicals he had assumed the same privilege, had vigorously cham pioned several causes, chiefly political, and in dealing with the follies and vices of his contemporaries had worn a mask of seriousness beneath which lay much severity but, also, much merriment of spirit. His last INTRODUCTION 107 journal, however, champions no petty cause, and is begun in a spirit of censorship which is on the surface burlesque, but which is serious underneath. Indeed, when we realize his true aim, we are inclined to criti cise Fielding for displaying, at the outset, an extrava gant sense of humor; but this feeling wears off when we find dignified ridicule supplanting broad humor. When he assumed this censorship over the manners and morals of the age, Fielding did not have to seek far for an appropriate censorial title, since the name, Drawcansir, was then a byword1 for the comic role which he wished to fill. Indeed, Fielding had already been branded by Colley Gibber2 as a "Drawcansir in wit, who spared neither friend nor foe"; and had seemed to take pleasure in using this name as a term in literary criticism.3 In this role of comic, conquering hero, Fielding at once engaged the enemy, after the manner of Swift in his Battle of the Books, but soon became disgusted with the conduct of the enemy, and made his peace. If Hill, however, had played fair, the warfare might have been continued in the same merry vein of wit in which it was begun, and without employ ing abusive methods. A certain amount of horse-play was inevitable in such a burlesque ; yet in this, and in all of his other satires in this periodical, we find only a few instances in which Fielding became somewhat vulgar and even abusive. Immediately after he abandoned his Paper-War, Fielding set up a new feature in which he might con tinue his censorship over the Grub-Street forces, but 1 See p. 99, above. 2 In his Apology (2d edit., Lond. 1740), p. 232; see Notes on No. 15, I. 225. 28. s Prologue to the Author's Farce, and Jonathan Wild, II. & 108 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL without any reference to their periodicals. This was his Court of Censorial Enquiry, a device borrowed from his Jacobite's Journal and his Champion.* In form, this was original with Fielding, and in employ ing this he had the advantage of his professional training as well as his skill in writing. Twelve years before he had used his Court very effectively against Colley Gibber and others, and now he turned it against his new enemies. In his Covent-Garden Journal, however, he employed his Censorial Court with the especial purpose of reviewing books and prints, and watching over the amusements of the day. Among the reviews of new books, his defense of Amelia2 is peculiarly excellent; for, in spite of Field ing's very obvious fondness for his "favourite Child," and his consciousness of having been unfairly treated, this review is fair-minded and is a clever refutation of the current hostile criticism. The undercurrent of pathos cannot be taken for self-pity; it was not in Fielding's nature to whimper. His defense is, indeed, spirited and vigorous; and, for the time being, his critics are made to appear utterly ridiculous. Of the other book reviews the best executed is Fielding's review of the Female Quixote.8 He knew his Cervantes thoroughly and was imbued with the comic spirit of Don Quixote; consequently his review of Mrs. Lennox's very clever imitation of this type is sympathetic, acute, and even brilliant. The rest of the reviews are somewhat dull, and although they bear the stamp of his approval, are obviously not Fielding's work. 1 In the Champion, May 17, 1740, we find the same phraseology as that employed in his Covent-Garden Journal: Proceedings at a Court of Censorial Enquiry, etc. 2 In Nos. 7 and 8. s In No. 24. INTRODUCTION 109 In his other reports of the Proceedings of his Court he examines, indicts, and tries offenders; and recom mends to public notice those persons who deserve favor. His trial of Mossop1 is couched in the usual cumbrous law jargon, but is filled with a spirit of dry humor. Similarly, the trial of B — T — ,2 which is repeatedly postponed, seems to be purposely long drawn out, but is permeated with a spirit of witty satire. Finally, Fielding's indictment of John Hill3 is, by virtue of its incongruous legal phraseology, one of the most enjoyable bits of ridicule in the whole series. The groundwork for Fielding's extensive literary resources had been laid, in his early days, at Eton. There he had begun his remarkable education in the literature of Greece and Rome ; and in the lean years of his apprenticeship at the drama and at the law, he had continued to build on this foundation, reading extensively and deeply in the law, in the literature of antiquity, in history, and in theology. In his C event-Garden Journal the evidence of real learning is found scattered profusely throughout his essays — in his mottoes, quoted often from memory or directly from the familiar pages of the texts which he owned; in his other quotations, citations, and paraphrases, derived also from an intimate knowledge of the books in his own library; and in his air of general culture. We are fortunate in having access to a catalogue4 of those books which were sold from his library after his 1 In Nos. 9 and 10. 2 See No. 15, I. 225. 28, for a similar trial of Gibber, a In No. 72. * In the British Museum. See Dobson's Eighteenth Century Vignettes (N. Y. 1896), Ser. 3, p. 163 and Notes on No. 1, I. 139. 3, and No. 38, I. 243. 25. 110 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL death, for in this we find further substantiation of our impressions concerning his breadth and depth of learning. Indeed, when Fielding began his Champion (in 1739), he was already the master of a large fund of knowledge, and in his essays in this paper seems scarcely less well read in the humanities than he does in his last periodical. In his contributions to the Covent-Garden Journal, Fielding is at his best. Therein are the most witty of his satirical essays and the most spirited of his serious discussions. Even if we do detect a diminishing vivacity of spirit towards the end of the series, we find no marked deterioration in style. Indeed, throughout these lucubrations there is an uniformly high level of literary workmanship. Despite the fact that Fielding wrote his leaders almost solely for his own times and with a purpose which more closely concerned his contemporaries than it does us, there are in this collection many essays which will appeal at once to any reader as exceedingly humorous, and several in a serious vein which will immediately hold his attention. When, moreover, one knows the condi tions under which Fielding wrote, he discovers in these essays a wealth of new material concerning the author and his environment which is particularly valuable. In speaking of the historical value of Fielding's works, Thackeray has written (as if he were one of the Eighteenth Century) i1 "I think that Mr. Hogarth and Mr. Fielding will give our children a much better idea of the manners of the present age [the Eighteenth Century] . . . than the Court Gazette' '; and in this instance, this dictum is espe cially appropriate. i Henry Esmond, Introductory Chapter to Bk. 1. INTRODUCTION 111 One of the most striking traits in Fielding's char acter is his steady optimism — a trait peculiar to the once born, which was formed when he most keenly felt the exuberant joy in living, and was afterwards finely tempered by the cold waters of adversity. Through out his life Fielding had that fine joy of spirit which goes with a "happy constitution " j1 and even when he had become a chronic invalid, could "forget every thing when he was before a venison pasty, or over a flask of champagne "j1 but he had, also, that unselfish love of humanity which leads a man to give up his life for the good of his fellow beings. Fielding saw both the good and the bad in his contemporaries ; and despite his close contact with the dregs of London society, he did not regard human nature as utterly depraved, and courageously went about doing good and attempting a reformation in which success seemed quite possible. The expression of this optimism and courage is found not only in his deeds, but in his written works ; and when we once understand the man, we find him to be consistently admirable and amiable. For convenience' sake, Fielding's essays may be divided into several fairly distinct types — essays in satire, serious discussions, and essays of entertain ment. In the Champion Fielding had employed all of these types, but had laid most of his emphasis on the serious discussion of occasional and perennial topics, even going over, in some instances, into sermonizing, as in his Apology for the Clergy.2 In his Covent- Garden Journal, however, there is a stream of satire which flows on almost without interruption. It is difficult, therefore, to stamp any one essay as purely iMrs. Montagu's Letter to the Countess of Bute, Sept. 22, 1755. 2 In several issues, beginning with that of March 29, 1740. 112 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL humorous or as quite serious. When he employs the satirical method Fielding is always at his best, for he had gained the mastery of his "darling Wit and Humour " long before this time. In such essays one rarely finds an offensive note, and never any deep bitterness of feeling. When he ridicules the follies and vices of the age, rarely does Fielding laugh sardonically at his contemporaries, but, rather, laughs sympathetically with them. The true ridiculous, he believed, springs from affectation, and affectation from vanity and hypocrisy. To root out these cardinal failings, Fielding allied himself closely with Lucian, Cervantes, and Swift; and filled his pages with ' laughing satire/ in ridicule of that which seemed obnoxious in his contemporaries. Ridicule was his favorite weapon because he believed in the force of example, and because he felt that examples of what men should shun were much mo.re effective than examples of what men should follow. One of the best of Fielding's essays in satire is his Glossary.1 This is superb in its irony, but is not un pleasantly sarcastic. One is reminded at once of Fielding's method in Jonathan Wild, but detects in this an undercurrent of good nature which is lacking in Wild. His next best satire is, perhaps, his bur lesque reconstruction of a portion of Hamlet.2 Field ing had long abhorred pedantry, and in this parody on Shakesperean text-editing, ridiculed contemporary scholarship in the same vein of mockery in which he had written his humorous annotations to his own Tom Thumb. Similarly, in his elaborate presentation and discussion of the fragment containing the account of 1 In No. 4. 2 In No. 31. INTRODUCTION 113 the Robinhoodians,1 and in his pedantic examination of the word Fashion,2 Fielding ridiculed the hair splitting scholarship of the age and of the past few generations. His papers on the Eobinhoodians are permeated, also, with his antipathy for the free thinkers, and are enlivened with local color, with dialect, and with the finest of his wit and humor. His paper on Fashion is even better than his burlesque etymological study of Mney3 in the Champion, and is good satire. Then there is his lively account4 of the warfare between Garrick and Eich, which is written after the manner of his burlesque account of the Paper-War, but in a vein of good-humored satire which is far more spirited and witty. Finally, his mock-historical essays5 deserve especial notice, because in them Fielding makes merry over contemporary events, many of which were in themselves ridiculous and humorous. It is only occasionally that Fielding drops his satirical manner and comes out frankly and seriously. In his papers on the poor,6 serious as they are in pur pose, he closely approaches in style the witty sermons of Dr. South. There are three papers on the ' Social Evil'7 which are very frankly written, and have the same shrewd analysis, wealth of illustration, and forcefulness that distinguish all of Fielding's legal writings. There are three excellent papers in which he takes up a serious discussion of his own theory of 1 In Nos. 8 and 9. 2 In No. 37. 3 Issue of March 20, 1739-1740. * In No. 71. 5 In Nos. 12 and 17. « In Nos. 39 and 44. 7 In Nos. 57, 67, and 68. 114 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Wit and Humour.1 Finally, there are several essays in outspoken condemnation of slander, impudence, contempt, and other topics of this nature ; but in these there is often a satirical note. His essays of entertainment are very few, and of these there is scarcely one which is written without a serious purpose. His prose version of the story of Astulpho and Jucundo,2 entertaining as it may have been to his readers, was inserted not that it might amuse, but rather that it might set men thinking. His account of the theatrical state3 is also written with a double purpose ; and his parable of the birds and the clacker4 is, after the manner of parables, both enter taining and instructive. Whether he is satirical or serious, Fielding's style is always natural; never is it affected or intricate. When he employs either the graceful manner of Addison or the forceful style of Swift, he is always direct and simple. Moreover, when he uses devices which are somewhat elaborate, he retains the same ease of expression — well-turned sentences and para graphs in which the thought is developed naturally and effectively. Among these essays there are several in which he pursues the historical method, either seriously or in mockery: his essay in which he com pares his own age with the decadent eras of Greece and Rome;5 his examination into the history of the Robinhoodians ;6 his paper on the rise of the literary 1 In Nos. 10, 55, and 56. 2 In No. 22. 3 In No. 15. 4 In No. 25. s In No. 2. 6 In No. 9. INTRODUCTION 115 republic;1 his two papers on the 'mob';2 and two on the ' Social Evil'3 wherein he takes up this method in a more serious vein. In one instance4 Fielding em ploys very effectually, the vision-device which he used frequently in his Champion5 and with particular felicity in his Journey from this World to the Next. Then, in addition to his Glossary, his mock battles, and his parable, Fielding uses in one case6 an elabo rate parody side by side with the original text which he wishes to ridicule; and in two other cases7 mock receipts which are excellent bits of satire. There is no instance, however, in which Fielding has assumed a style which he cannot use effectively. There are several instances in which Fielding uses dialect and other means of characterization. Both Fielding and Smollett had been successful in repro ducing the peculiarities of speech in their characters, and Fielding had tried his hand at this before he had taken up novel- writing.8 In his Journal he carries it sometimes to the point of exaggeration, as in his characterization of the 'rideout.'9 He is at his best in his account of the Robinhoodian debates,10 for in this there is not only a natural reproduction of the man nerisms in the speech of his debaters, but also certain clever touches, in further characterization, which must at once have enabled his readers to detect the 1 In No. 23. 2 In Nos. 47 and 49. s In Nos. 67 and 68. * In No. 70. B See issues of Dec. 27, 29, 1739, and May 24, 1740. e In No. 45. 7 In Nos. 14 and 60. s In the Champion, Jan. 3, 1739-1740. s In No. 30. 10 In No. 8. 116 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL actual persons whom Fielding had in mind. Simi larly, in most of his essays his men and women are portrayed true to life, even if he sometimes depicts types rather than persons; and his papers on human nature are studies of the virtues and vices of real human beings. In single essays of this sort it is difficult to make complete characterizations, so that, in his Journal, only one or two out of the number of fictitious correspondents and created characters stand out clearly. The character of 'Axylus,' though it is undeveloped in his few letters, is distinct. Indeed, one thinks at once of him as a real person, a second Parson Adams of whom we would like to know more. There are two other literary forms used in this Journal which are generally lacking in his earlier periodicals (in so far as one can judge from reprints only) — dialogue and verse. There are two formal dialogues,1 one of which is certainly Fielding's, and the other very possibly his; both are well executed, especially the dialogue in the manner of Plato, but in these the satire is not quite up to the level of his more natural satirical style. The verses to Jenny Weston1 are obviously written in burlesque of an odious type, and from this point of view are cleverly ridiculous. The Chaucer Balade2 is a very curious satire. It is a noteworthy example of bad linguistic imitation, but is an excellent reproduction of Chaucer's spirit of sharp-witted satire. Written in an age when hardly any good imitations appeared, this stands forth as a noteworthy exception. Finally, there is the trans lation of Tibullus' Elegy? rendered in the stilted, 1 In Nos. 30 and 54. 2 In No. 50. 3 In No. 58. INTRODUCTION 117 Popean couplet. In this it is hard to detect any char acteristic marks of Fielding 's style; for although it is a well-written version, there are in it no strikingly original paraphrases such as one might expect from Fielding's pen. There are only a very few instances in w^hich Field ing speaks of his own style, and there is very little criticism from his contemporaries which is of any great value. In several instances Fielding protests against the fathering of scurrility on his good name, particularly in his farewell1 to his readers ; and in other instances makes it plain that he had definite views about the theory of his art, and that he followed Lucian as his model. From the abundance of criti cism written during this period there can be selected only a very few specimens of real worth which are in direct criticism of his ' Drawcanserian ' style. In the Magazine of Magazines, April, 1751, in a review of current publications, is this interesting passage: ". . . on the whole it would not be unworthy the genius of a Fielding to draw up An Enquiry into the causes of the late encrease of magazines and other pam phlets, occasional and periodical, with some proposals for remedying the growing evils. In this capacity Mr. Fielding may act as an enquirer, as a justice, as a law giver, and as executioner; for whosoever is acquainted with his writings must confess, that there is no body so well acquainted with human nature, so capable of repre senting virtue in its own amiable dress, or vice in its native deformity, that has such a thorough insight into the causes and effects of things, is such a master of char acter, and so able to draw the picture of an author, and a reader of every kind." i In No. 72. 118 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL This is strangely prophetic of what Fielding actually attempted; and written in an age when ful some praise passed for favorable criticism, is un usually restrained. Arthur Murphy (as one would naturally expect) has a few words of mild praise for Fielding in his Essay prefixed to his edition of the Works (1762) : "There are, in that collection, many essays of such good sense and fine humour, that they would have been admired in the lucubrations of the Tatler or the Spec tator; and the reader will find them carefully selected and preserved in this edition. ' ' After Fielding's death his friends and admirers paid their tribute to his genius. Most of these eulogies are now common literary stock — those of Grarrick, Harris, and John Fielding; and Mrs. Montagu's very candid post-mortem — but it seems quite appropriate to close this chapter with one of poor Kit Smart's tributes :* EPITAPH On HENRY FIELDING, Esq. The Master of the GREEK and ROMAN page, The lively scorner of a venal age, Who made the publick laugh, at publick vice, Or drew from sparkling eyes the pearl of price ; Student of nature, reader of mankind, In whom the patron, and the bard were join'd; As free to give the plaudit, as assert, And faithful in the practise of desert. Hence pow'r consign 'd the laws to his command, And put the scales of Justice in his hand ; To stand protector of the Orphan race, And find the female penitent a place. i Poems (Lond. 1763-1764), pp. 13, 14. INTRODUCTION 119 From toils like these, too much for age to bear, From pain, from sickness, and a world of care; From children, and a widow in her bloom, From shores remote, and from a foreign tomb, Called by the WORD of LIFE, thou shalt appear, To please and profit in a higher sphere, Where endless hope, imperishable gain Are what the scriptures teach and entertain. TEXTS AND EDITIONS. The text of these leaders and other features from the original folio issues of Fielding's Covent-Garden Journal are taken from rotograph copies of the nearly1 complete file in the Burney Collection of the British Museum, and from photographs of the supplementary numbers found in the collection formerly owned by Mr. Austin Dobson, but now a part of the estate of the late Mr. John Henry Wrenn of Chicago. Mr. Wrenn 's file is the only complete collection of the original issues which the editor has found; but there are con temporary reprints supplementing numbers missing in the Hope Collection and the Burney Collection, in both the Bodleian and British Museum libraries. The first of these reprints appeared serially during 1752 and 1753, in what was called the Dublin Covent- Garden Journal. This piracy was begun in January, 1752, and was continued regularly thereafter for over a year. The London magazines and other periodicals were content with printing mere excerpts from Field ing's Journal; but in Dublin, where piracy was not illegal,2 the London issues were taken almost bodily and reprinted as though Fielding had sanctioned such an act, or even engaged in this venture as a part of iln the Newspaper Boom, Newspapers, Vol. II., 447, contains a file which wants No. 61 entire, and parts of Nos. 71 and 72. 447 B has many duplicates, but does not supplement 447. No. 61 is found only in Mr. Wrenn 's file, but its leader is to be had in reprint in the Hope Collection at the Bodleian (No. 249-12mo). 2 Richardson suffered from Dublin piracy ; see Dobson 's Richardson, E. M. L., p. 165. INTRODUCTION 121 his plan to increase the business of his Universal Register Office in Dublin. This theory seems plausible, for in the London issue, No. 1, Fielding advertises the opening of a Dublin branch of this employment- bureau; and one would naturally suppose that in this connection Fielding was trying to increase his income by puffing this new office in a paper which might bring in an addition to his subscriptions and to his business profits. But nowhere in this Dublin issue do we find any substantiation of this theory; and in the original London issues we find direct denial1 of his publishing or sanctioning more than one paper by the name, Covent-Garden Journal. On January 23d, there appeared the first number of the pirated Dublin issue: The Covent-Garden Journal By Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR, Knt. Censor of GREAT BRITAIN (Otherwise HENRY FIELDING, Esq;) THURSDAY, JANUARY 23d. 1752. Numb. 1. To be continued Weekly. This was in newspaper form, but measured only 8 inches by 10% inches. The colophon reads : DUBLIN : Printed for JAMES HOEY, at the Sign of the Mercury, in Skinner-Row. Because this James Hoey had previously offended London publishers by republishing periodical matter i In No. 4. 122 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL in his Dublin Packet (1730), we may hold him respon sible for this particularly bold robbery. This reprint, however, seems to have been made at the request of the students in the University at Dublin; for we read in No. 131 that during term-time the paper was to appear on both Mondays and Thursdays, and find in many issues contributions from men in the University and news from the same source. In this we find irregularly arranged reprints of a large proportion of Fielding's leaders, of much of his news (with Notes), of his Covent-Garden news, of his * Court Proceedings/ and, in addition, reprints of portions of the Drury-Lane Journal, the World, the Adven turer, and the Scourge. To adapt the extracts to Dublin conditions and to the irregular chronology of the reprints, many liberties are taken with Fielding's text; and to give an appearance of authority to his work Hoey inserts such notices as this :2 COVENT-GARDEN To oblige the Public, I purpose to insert in this Paper, after My own Essay for the Day, every Number that is either witty or humorous of the three periodical Papers now carrying on, viz. The WORLD, The ADVEN TURER, and The SCOURGE. All this I can do, because I dare. DRAWCANSIR. In reprinting Fielding's issues the Dublin Journal soon fell behind in point of time, and when December 7th had come had republished scarcely two-thirds of the issues of a paper which had ceased running. On 1 April 20, 1752, p. 5. 2 No. 56, Jan. 18, 1753, p. 222. INTRODUCTION 123 that date Hoey published his fiftieth number, and announced volume one to be complete. Volume two followed, and for fifty numbers more the practice of pirating was continued, until nearly a year had elapsed since the last issue of Fielding 's original Journal. Beginning with No. 77 of the Dublin issue the paper abbreviated its title to : The Covent-Garden Journal, Or the Censor. with No. 83 to : The Censor, Or the Covent-Garden Journal. Volume two ends with No. 100, and beginning with No. 101, there is a new title : The Censor and Dublin Public Advertiser. After this point the files in the British Museum are incomplete, except for an isolated issue in 1756 of No. 234 of what is called: The Censor by Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knt. The first reprint of this Journal in book form seems to have been made by Arthur Murphy in his first col lected edition of Fielding's Works in 1762. Murphy owned at the time a nearly complete file of the original folio issues of the Journal, and to furnish copy for the printer, tore out of this file those numbers which he wished1 to reprint as a selection of Fielding's best work in this paper. The remaining folio issues of Murphy's file are found in the Hope Collection of the Bodleian Library with the above information inscribed i Edition of Collected WorTcs, I. 45. 124 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL on the blank outside page, and signed with Mr. Hope's initials J. T. H. This folio in the Hope Collection is partly supplemented by a reprint in 12mo, which bears no date, but which Mr. Hope describes on the fly leaf as a reprint of Fielding's contributions to the Journal " taken out of a volume of Fielding's Works" — presumably Murphy's edition in 1762; hence the second partial reprint to appear in book form. It is probable that Murphy was not fully qualified to pass judgment on the authenticity of the leaders which he reprints; but because he had been close to Fielding in the period and an open imitator of his style in his Gray's Inn Journal, almost all of his suc cessors, in reprinting the works of Fielding, have followed Murphy's text. W. E. Henley1 and George Saintsbury,2 however, in their reprints have had access to the original folios; and in the former's edition more numbers are reprinted than in any other edition of Fielding's works. 1 Works (N. Y. and Lend.), 1902-1903. 2 Temple Classics Edition of Works. APPENDIX. Catalogue of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum. Div. I. Political and Personal Satires. By Frederic George Stephens. Vol. III. Part II. 1751 to C. 1760. 1877. [B. M. P. M. 2034. e] No. 3183. A NIGHT-SCENE at RANELAGH on Wednesday 6th of May 1752. Thus I bore my point: six rogues in buckram let drive at me. Clody Inv*. Telltruth Sculp. [May 6, 1752.] An engraving, showing the entrance to the Rotunda at Ranelagh. Mr. Brown, see below, having pulled off Dr. Hill's wig, seizes him by the ear and cries, "Draw your Sword Swaggerer, if you have the Spirit of a Mouse." Hill, attempting to run away, exclaims, "Whatt Against an Illiterate fellow that can't Spell. I prefer a drubbing Oh ! Mr. C — get me a Constable for here's a Gent" going to murder me." Mr. Cole,1 running towards him, cries out, "Yes Sir Yes. Pray Young Gentleman dont hurt him for he never has any meaning in what he writes." Two constables are approaching, one remarks — "Zounds Dick, the I r2 1 Master of ceremonies at Eanelagh. 2 The 'Inspector.' 126 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL has no Money to pay us withal"-, the other says, "No matter Tom, we'll Swear thro' thick and thin to put him in Cash." No. 3184. LE MALADE IMAGINAIRE, or the CONSULTATION, (No. 1.) Quamquam Nihil Testibus istis propiciam, Extremd — moriens — tamen — alloquar — hora, Bolus M. D. Inv. Clyster-Pipe Sculp. May 29 Publish' d according to the Act, by H. Carpenter. Price 6d [May 29, 1752.] An engraving showing Dr., or "Sir John" Hill's bedchamber; the doctor is in bed; a physician is feel ing his pulse. The former says, "Pity me for I shall have no Money till I have gain'd my Suit." One of a group of physicians answers, "As we have never own'd you for a Brother we must insist on our Fees." Another advises him, "Sell your Sword it is only an Incumb ranee." Three other physicians stand at the foot of the bed, and severally remark, "Give de Ass de Milk" "No Broth," "Raise his Spirits with a Blister." A male head, peeping between the curtains, calls to a constable entering the door of the room, "Dick did you get ye 3 basons of blood we sent you for"1 Dick replies, " Sir we are out of Luck Fay whom you & I swore against went to Ireland 3 weeks before ye affair happen' d." On the head of the bed, back of the chair, and on scraps of paper are various extracts from Hill's speeches or writings, "To the Public. The I r has been ye immediate Object of Indulgence/' "The Physician has confirmed INTRODUCTION 127 my own Opinion, by declaring, the Hurt I have received is not without Danger.", "If the Town shou'd know that I spit blood 3 years ago I shall be ruin'd — for th — wont read my Po— —," "The Stream of Life which I lose in greater & greater Quantities, brings the King of Silence towards me ivth hastier Steps/', "I remember the having been the Occasion of Good to Numbers: I can recollect many worthy Persons whom I have served,", "/ never recommended that Charity to ye World to which myself ivas not a Contributor. I never accepted Gratuity or Reward of any kind for these friendly Offices.", "The Religion of my Country I have served to the utmost of the Abilities, wh — •", "P x on't // / had not contradicted every circumstance of my Ace* I shou'd at least have kept the Mob on my side." On a paper lying on the floor is the following bill : Dr. Cr. D 40 for Smart Money S 20 including Physicians, A 30 Asses Milk, &c. Gained by a Drubing 110 [Sic] 200 200 On a pile of briefs lies a letter to Dr. Hill : "Hicks Hall May 16 This Day M. B Esq. appeared to Anse your Charge against him, when nobody appearing for you his recognizance was discharged. I am, 8 Yours &c." 128 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL For the circumstance in question, see "A Night- Scene at Ranelagh," No. 3183. In the depositions made before Mr. Justice Lediard, Hill implicated Mr. Fay, a gentleman who was in Ireland during the whole affair. 8X0. THE ROBIN HOOD. Published according to Act of Parliament June 1st 1752. Price 6d. Plain, Colour'd 1s. [1753.] This is an engraving showing the interior of a wainscoted room which is lighted by four candles suspended from the ceiling, and by a fifth candle on a table near the middle. It is the place of meeting of a debating society. The president, or chairman, sits at the table with two loaves on his head, thus placed to intimate that he is a baker; he is listening to the speech of a man who stands on his left, with a shoe maker's last under one arm. Two persons sit on a form facing the chairman, one of them lolls back, the other turns his face to look at the shoemaker's antagonist, a little man, who stands up and is in the act of speaking. On our right two other men are arguing with great vivacity; several observers are grouped near. On the table are a large open book, covered pot, watch, pen and ink, and hammer. All the men have ignoble faces and common manners. Below the design the following inscription is en graved: "It is impossible to trace the Origin of the above Society, tho ' we imagine they first took the Name of Eobin Hood from their Shooting with long Bows, INTRODUCTION 129 which Custom they still retain: and to deduce them from any particular Nation is equally impossible, for they are composed of every Nation on Earth ; we must therefore be content with the following short Descrip tion of their present State. — The Number of them is about 300, composed chiefly of Shoemakers, Apothe caries, Lamp-lighters and Parish-School-Masters wth a BAKER at their Head for President, they assemble every Monday Evening, when they debate publickly on the most important Subjects, as Religion, Politicks and the Moral Fitness of Things; and each Member is allowed five Minutes to handle the Subject accord ing to his Art ; and then the Baker neads up the whole of their Arguments, mix's them with the leaven of his Understanding, and proportions them out into Cakes, according to the Merits of each Speaker. — N. B. Should this Account raise any ones Curiosity, they are desired to enquire any Monday Afternoon near Butcher Row, and their Curiosity may be satisfied for a Pot of Porter. " THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL. By Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR, Knt. Censor of GREAT BRITAIN. SATURDAY, JANUARY 4. 1752. Numb. 1. To be continued every Tuesday and Saturday. Cedite Scriptores Anglice, By your leave, Gentlemen. THE World, it is certain, never more abounded with Authors, than at present; nor is there any Species more numerous than of those Writers who deal forth their Lucu brations in small Parcels to the Public, consisting partly of historical, and partly, to use their own Word, of literary Matter. So great, indeed, is their Multitude, that Homer's Simile of the Bees gives us scarce too vast an Idea of them. Some of these visit the Light daily, so that we may apply strictly to them the Some of them again fly abroad only every other Day ; some send forth their Works once a Week; others once a Fort night ; and others more sparingly indulge us only at the End of every Month with their Labours. When I survey all these wondrous Works in my Mind, I am struck with no less Astonishment, than was the Foreigner when he saw Leadenhall Market; nor can I more conceive what becomes of all this Quantity of Paper, than he could find Consumers for so much Meat. The same Solution will, indeed, serve us both; for there are certainly as many B-ms in the World as there are Mouths. 134 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Here, perhaps, I may seem to have advanced an Argument against my own Appearance, and it will possibly be said, since we have so many, (perhaps, too many,) of these Writers already, what Need have we of adding a new one to the Number ? To this I shall first give the same Answer which if often made by those who force themselves into crowded Assemblies, when they are told the Place is too full already, "Pray, Gentlemen, make Room for me; — I am but one. Certainly you may make Room for one more." Secondly, I believe it is usual in all such Crowds to find some few Persons, at least, who have sufficient Decency to quit their Places and give Way to their Betters. I do not, therefore, in the least question, but that some of my cotem- porary Authors will immediately, on my Appearance, have the Modesty to retire, and leave me sufficient Elbow Room in the World. Or, if they should not, the Public will, I make no Doubt, so well understand themselves, as to give me proper Marks of their Distinction, and will make Room for me by turning others out. But, in Fact, had the great Numbers of cotemporary Writers been any Argument against assuming the Pen, the World would never have enjoyed the Works of that excellent Poet Juvenal, who tells us, that they swarmed in a most prodigious Manner in his Time; but, so far from declining the Poetical Function on that Account, he assigns this as the very Reason of taking it upon him. Stulta est dementia, cum tot ubique Vatibus occurras, periturce parcere Chartce. These Reasons, and this Authority, will, I believe, be sufficient Apologies to my Readers; but it may be, perhaps, more difficult to satisfy my Brother Authors themselves, to whom, I would, if possible, avoid giving any Kind of Umbrage. These Gentlemen, I say it with great Concern, are sometimes guilty of adopting Motives unworthy of the Followers of the Muses; and, instead of consulting the true Interest of the NUMBER ONE 135 Republic of Letters in general, are too apt poorly and meanly to consider their own ; and, like mere Mechanics, to be envious and jealous of a Rival in their Trade. To silence, therefore, effectually, all such Jealousies, and Fears, I do here declare, that it is not my Intention to encroach on the Business now carried on by my Cotempo- raries, nor to deal in any of those Wares which they at present vend to the Public. First then I disclaim any Dealing in Politics. By Politics, here, I cannot be understood to mean any Disquisitions into those Matters which respect the true Interest of this Kingdom abroad, or which relate to its domestic (Economy and Government ; with none of which these Writers have ever yet concerned themselves. By Politics, therefore, I mean that great political Cause between WOOD ALL OUT, and TAKE- ALL IN, Esqs; which hath been so learnedly handled in Papers, Pamphlets, and Magazines, for above thirty Years last past; and in which the Nation in general are as greatly interested, as they were in the late Contest between Thamas Kouli Kan, and the Sophy of Persia. Secondly, I renounce all Pretensions to deal in personal Slander and Scurrility, a very extensive article, and of which many of my Brethren have been so long in Possession, that it would be in vain for me to dispute their Title with them. Thirdly, I do promise, as far as in me lies, to avoid with the utmost Care all Kind of Encroachment on that spacious Field, in which my said Cotemporaries have such large and undoubted Possessions; and which, from Time immemorial, hath been called the Land of DULLNESS. A late ingenious Predecessor of mine, in the Wantonness of his Heart, declared, if at any Time he appeared dull, there was a Design in it; on the contrary, I solemnly protest, that if I ever commit a Trespass of this Kind, it will be because I cannot help it. But here I must offer two Precautions. First, that I shall always object to the Evidence of any of the known Proprietors of this Field, as being too much interested in the Cause to be legal Witnesses. And, secondly, if my Pen 136 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL should, now and then, accidentally be found straying in the said Field, it will not thereby become a Trespasser; as we Wits have, by Prescription, a Right of Common there per Cause de Vicinage, as the Law calls it. This Right we have enjoyed from the Days of Homer, who was sometimes found taking a sound Nap therein. Thus, I think, I shall leave these Gentlemen in full Posses sion of all that they at present deal in. But there is another very good Argument to quiet their Apprehensions ; the Price of my Paper being by Half, or at least, a third Part, higher than any other. To affect, therefore, any Fear of losing their Customers by my Means, is as absurd, as it would be in the Owners of Stalls, or Wheel-barrows, to affect any Jealousy in Trade of THE GREAT MR. DEARD. This is a Point, indeed, infinitely below my Consideration; however, at the Desire of my Bookseller, I shall give the Public his Reasons for fixing the Price of Three-pence on this Paper, and which, he hopes, will be abundantly satisfactory. First, he insists pretty much on the extraordinary Beauty of his Paper, and Print, which alone he thinks to be worth the additional Money. Secondly, he urges the Quantity of the Matter which this Paper will contain; being, he says, more than double the Quantity of any other, and almost twenty Times as much as is generally contained in the Daily Advertiser. So that, says he, I. s. d. If Ditto Contents, in Ditto 1 Advertiser, be worth — J Then Ditto Contents, in Dit- 0 2 fi to Journal, is worth — f Balance in Favour of the Journal, 0 2 Lastly, he lays some Weight on the superior Goodness of the Matter. On this, indeed, he lays very little Stress; how ever, he thinks it may be reckoned at something. Modesty NUMBER ONE 137 forces me to suppress much of what he advances on this Head. One Particular, however, I cannot forbear inserting, as there is something new and whimsical in the Thought ; I shall give it in his own Words; 'As you are a Man of Learning, Sir/ says he, ' and well travelled in the Greek and Roman Authors, 'I shall most probably, in this Paper, import many curious 'Treasures of Antiquity both from Greece, and Rome. Now, 'as Gentlemen daily give Hundreds of Pounds for antient 'Busts, and Statues, they will not surely scruple to give ' Three-half-pence for an antient Greek or Roman Sentiment. ' This is the Reasoning of my Bookseller; to imagine, indeed, that it is any Concern of mine, would be an Absurdity so great, that I shall not suspect any of my Readers to be capable of it. In an Age when all Men are so ready to serve their Country for nothing, I hope I shall not be thought an Exception. For my own Part, I cannot be supposed, by an intelligent Person, to have any other View, than to correct and reform the Public; and should have taken some Pains to have prevailed with my Bookseller to distribute these Papers gratis, had he not assured me, that such an Example would be of great Detriment of Trade. A INTRODUCTION To A JOURNAL of the present PAPER WAR between the Forces under Sir ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR, and the Army of GRUBSTREET. BEFORE I had fully resolved to draw my Pen, and to take the Field in the Warfare of Writing, I duly considered not only my own Strength, but the Force of the Enemy. I am therefore well apprized of the Difficulties I have to encounter: I well know the present dreadful Condition of the great Empire of Letters; the State of Anarchy that 138 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL prevails among Writers; and the great Revolution which hath lately happened in the Kingdom of Criticism; that the Constitutions of Aristotle, Horace, Longinus, and Bossu, under which the State of Criticism so long flourished, have been entirely neglected, and the Government usurped by a Set of Fellows, entirely ignorant of all those Laws. The Consequence of which hath been the Dissolution of that antient Friendship and Amity which subsisted between the Author and the Critic, so much to the mutual Advantage of both People, and that the latter hath long declared War against the former. I know how cruelly this War hath been carried on, and the great Devastation which hath been made in the literary World, chiefly by means of a large Body of Irregulars, composed of Beaux, Rakes, Templars, Cits, Lawyers, Mechanics, School-boys, and fine Ladies, who have been admitted to the Jus Civitatis, by the Usurpers in the Realms of Criticism, without knowing one Word of the antient Laws, and original Constitution of that Body of which they have professed themselves to be Members. I am, farther, sensible of the Revolt which hath been of the Authors to the Critics; many of the meanest among the former, having become very considerable and principal leaders among the latter. All these Circumstances put together do most certainly afford a most gloomy Prospect, and are sufficient to dismay a very enterprizing Genius; but I have often reflected with Approbation on the Advice given to Caius Piso, in Tacitus, to appear in open Arms in Defence of a just and glorious Cause, rather than to await the Event of a tame and abject Submission. How much more noble is it in a great Author to fall with his Pen in his Hand, than quietly to sit down, and see the Press in the Possession of an Army of Scriblers, who, at present, seem to threaten the Republic of Letters with no less Devastation than that which their Ancestors the Goths, Huns, Vandals, &c. formerly poured in on the Roman Empire ! When I had taken a firm Resolution of opposing this NUMBER TWO 139 Swarm of Vandals, I concerted my Measures in the best Manner I was able. In the first place I reviewed my VETERANS which were all drawn up in their Ranks before me. The Greeks led by Homer, Aristotle, Thucydides, Demosthenes, Lucian, and Longinus. The Romans under the Command of Virgil, Horace, Cicero, Tacitus, Terence and Quinctilian. A most formidable Body, all in gilt Armour, and on whom I can rely with great Assurance, as I am convinced the Enemy hold not the least Correspondence with them ; a Circumstance which gives me some little suspicion of my French Forces, of which I have a considerable Body, with Moliere and Bossu at their Head; but though some of the Enemy have been taken dabbling with these, I am well assured they are not likely to come to a perfect good Understanding with them. Besides these, I have a large Body of English VETERANS, under Bacon and Locke, sent me in by Major-General A. Millar, who is a faithful Ally of the Republic of Letters, and who hath himself raised this Body, all staunch Friends to the Cause. In the next Place, I have taken sufficient Care to strengthen myself by Alliances with all the Moderns of any considerable Force; but as this hath been carried on by secret Treaties, I cannot, as yet, publish the Names of my Allies. A (To ~be continued in our next.) TUESDAY, JANUARY 7. 1752. Numb. 2. Redeunt Saturnia Regna. Virg. In English, Old Sat-n himself is come to Town. IT hath been, I believe, a common Practice with Men, in all Ages, to complain of the Badness of their own Times, and as readily to commend the Goodness and Virtue of their 140 TEE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Fore-fathers. So that it is easy to fix on several ^Eras in History, which have been the Subject of equal Satire and Panegyric. Succeeding Ages have sung forth the Praises of certain Periods of Time, and have recommended them as Examples to Posterity; which yet, if we believe the Histo rians, as well as Satyrists, who lived in those very Periods, abounded with all Kinds of Vice and Iniquity. The present Age, notwithstanding its Improvement as well in Virtue, as in Art and Science, doth not escape from this censorious Disposition; with all the Reason which we have to set a Value on ourselves, in Preference to so many other Ages and Countries, there are still some few at this very Time, and in this very Nation, who would persuade us, that Virtue, Taste, Learning, indeed, every Thing worthy of Commendation, were never at a lower Ebb than they are at present among us. As 1 am of a different Opinion from these Gentlemen, and as I am naturally inclined to catch at every Opportunity of Panegyric, I shall here endeavour to shew that we are far from deserving any such Character; and that we may be compared with many other Ages and Countries very much to our Advantage. To say the Truth, Men often lament the Badness of their own Times, as they do the Badness of their own Circum stances, by too injudicious a Comparison. As in the latter Case, they are always lifting their Eyes to those who shine forth in the greatest Riches and Splendor; so, in the former, they have always in their Eye, two or three of those Common wealths which have made the greatest Figure in History; whereas, if they would act in the contrary Manner, and endeavour in both Cases to make the most advantageous Comparisons, what comfortable Instances would their own Experience afford them in the one, and History in the other? To pursue therefore this Method on the present Occasion: the first Instance I shall give is that of Sodom and Gomorah. Now though the Sins of these two Cities are not very expresly NUMBER TWO 141 set forth in Scripture, yet, from the Consequence, I think it very reasonable to conclude, that they were, at least, some what worse than we are at present. The Moabites, according to Moses, and the ^Egyptians, if we believe some Historians, may likewise afford an advan tageous Comparison. The Corinthians likewise, must surely be allowed to have been worse than us, if we believe the Account given by Strabo of the rich Temple of Venus, in this City, at which above a Thousand Whores officiated as Priestesses. We read likewise in other Authors, that they worshipped a Daemon, under the Appellation of Cottys, who was the tutelar Deity of all Lewdness and Debauchery. Hence, the most profligate and abandoned in such Vices, were said Kopiv0io£e«/ i.e. to Corin- thize or to be as bad as a Corinthian; which cannot, I think, be applied to us: for it is much better to have no Religion at all, as is at present our Case, than to profess such Religions as these. To avoid Prolixity, I will mention only one more People, and these are the Romans themselves, during the Reign of Nero, of whom take the following short Account which Tacitus gives us as a Summary of the prodigious Licentiousness of those Times. "Nero,' says my Author, 'built a Vessel in Agrippa's Lake; in this Vessel, which was towed by others, he furnished out a Banquet. The Barges were adorned with Gold and Ivory; and the Rowers were all Pathics, placed above each other, according to their Age, or superior Skill in the Science of Debauchery. Nero had ransacked various Countries for every Kind of Flesh and Fowl, and the Ocean itself for Sea Fish : Upon one Bank of the Lake were erected Brothels, which were filled with Ladies of the first Rank; on the other Bank were exposed to View, a Number of Har lots, entirely naked. All Kinds of Lewdness were now acted over; and, as the Night came on, the neighbouring Grove, and all the Buildings near it, were illuminated, and resounded with Music. As for Nero, he defiled himself with every Kind of Lust; nor did he then seem to have left any Manner 142 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL of Debauchery unpractised ; and yet, a few Days afterwards, he contrived to out-do all, by being publickly married, with the utmost Solemnity, to one of his infamous Crew, a Fellow whose Name was Pythagoras. On this Occasion, the Veil in which Women are married was thrown over the Roman Emperor, and all the nuptial Ceremonies, even to the Payment of the Bride 's Portion, were observed. Nor did he stop here ; but all, which in a lawful Union between the Sexes, is com mitted to Darkness, and the Night, was now acted over in the Face of the World." I have drawn this Picture at Length, as it is the most curious which, I think, History affords; and those of my Readers, at least, to whom it is new, will, I doubt not, be pleased with seeing it. Many other Pictures of the same Kind might be drawn from the latter Ages of the Roman Empire : but I chose this from Nero 's Reign, as it was a very few Years removed from the latter Days of Tiberius, in which the glorious Romans seem so entirely to have resembled our noble Selves. From what hath been said may appear the Injustice of these general and outrageous Expressions against the Wicked ness of the present Age, which we often hear from the Mouths of illiterate and inconsiderate People, and with the Repetition of which I do not care to affront my polite Reader. And now surely it must be acknowledged, that we do not live in the worst of Times; but I will not be contented with this Concession. I will now attempt to prove, that we live in the best, in other Words, that this is one of the most virtuous Ages, that hath ever appeared in the World. And first, if Liberty be granted, as it surely must, to be the greatest of all Blessings to any People, nothing can be more manifest, than that we enjoy this in the purest Degree. Doth not every Man in this Kingdom, speak, and write, and even do, whatever best pleaseth him? It is true, indeed, there are some few Exceptions, (enough only to prove a Rule) in which this natural Liberty hath been a little infringed, and I must own there are certain dead Letters, (as they are NUMBER TWO 143 very properly stiled) called Laws, by which this pure State of Liberty is somewhat abridged; but, De non apparentibus, et non existentibus, eadem est Ratio. Again, the greatest Virtue in the World, (according to the Tenets of a Religion some Time ago professed in this Country, and which, if my Memory fails me not, was called Christian) is Charity; the universal Extensiveness of this, I shall prove by a very strong Argument, which is by that immense Number of Beggars who frequent our Streets, and are to be found almost at every Door. This is so great a Proof of our Charity, that it would be an Affront to the Reader to endeavour to explain it. A Beggar waiting at a Man's Door doth, indeed, as effectually prove his Charity, as a Dun, or Bailiff would assure his Neighbours that he was in Debt. But there is still a higher Degree of this Virtue than what expands itself towards such Objects; and this is shewn by encouraging Merit in Arts and Sciences: This includes in it the Honour of Taste likewise ; and as it very highly adorns the present Age, so doth it in a more particular Manner distinguish what we call our great Men. Former Ages have, indeed, singled out one or two of the most eminent in every Art and Science, and have conferred Favours upon them as a Kind of Mark of their extraordinary Merit; but I cannot help observing there is some Cruelty in this, and that it is rather a Favour shewn to the Man than to the Art or Science itself. The nobler Method is, that which we now practise, either indiscriminately to reward all alike, at the Expence of a few Six-pences from our Pockets; or, if we make any Dis tinction at all, it should be, as it is, in Favour of the lowest and meanest Professors, who ought to be preferred to their Betters, as the Charity of the old English Custom preferred the younger Son to the Elder, because, as my Lord Coke observes, these were least able to provide for themselves. Another Instance of the great Virtue of this Age, is, that great Readiness which every Man shews to serve his Country, and to be employed in its most laborious Duties. 144 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL This is a Virtue beyond even the Reach of Plato's Common wealth; as appears from the following Passage which that Philosopher puts into the Mouth of Socrates; "It seems/' says he, "that if there was a City composed of good Men, the Contention among them would be, who should not govern, not as it is now, who should. Whence it is manifest, that he who is, in very Fact, a true Magistrate, is not so constituted that he may consult his own Good, but that he may provide for the Good of the Subject. Every Man therefore, being conscious of this, would rather chuse that others should labour for his Advantage, than that he should enjoy the benefit of his own Pains." In this glorious Nation, on the contrary, there is scarce a Man who scruples to plunge through thick and thin, with a View only of putting himself in the Way of serving the Public. Again, when possest of Power, with how noble and dis interested a Choice do our Great Men confer their Favours on others. That they may avoid the least Suspicion of Partiality, they commonly fill up all Vacancies with such Persons, that it would be in the highest Degree absurd to imagine they were the Objects of any Man's particular Liking or Favour; nay, such is the Generosity of these Great Men, that it is not unusual to bestow very considerable Places on their Footmen: How much more magnificent is this than that bare Manumission which was thought so great a Reward by an old Roman. This is not, I must own, the Invention of these Times, but hath been so long the Practice, that it seems likely to continue as long as we shall be a People. Such are, in short, the Virtues of this Age; that, to use the Words of Cicero, Si vellem omnia percurrere Dies defi- ceret — I shall therefore omit the rest; being well assured, that no Instances, equal to what I have mentioned, can be found in the Annals of any other Country upon the Face of the whole Earth. A NUMBER TWO 145 The JOURNAL of the present WAR. Dated January 6, from the Head Quarters. Nulla venenato est Litera mista Joco. HAVING taken all Precautions, and given all the necessary Orders, on the 4th Instant, at Break of Day, we marched into Covent-Garden, and fixed our Head Quarters at the Universal Register Office opposite unto Cecil-Street in the Strand. A little before our March, however, we sent a large Body of Forces, under the Command of General A. Millar, to take Possession of the most eminent Printing-Houses. The greater Part of these were garrisoned by Detachments from the Regiment of Grub-Street, who all retired at the Approach of our Forces. A small Body, indeed, under the Command of one Peeragrin Puckle, made a slight Show of Resistance; but his Hopes were soon found to be in Vain-, and, at the first Report of the Approach of a younger Brother of General Thomas Jones, his whole Body immediately disappeared, and totally overthrew some of their own Friends, who were marching to their Assistance, under the Command of one Roderick Random. This Roderick, in a former Skirmish with the People called Critics, had owed some slight Success more to the Weakness of the Critics, than to any Merit of his own. At the same Time, the better to secure our Retreat in Case we should meet with any Blow at the Court End of the Town, as Success, even in the best concerted Enterprize, is always doubtful, we thought it adviseable to cause two several Bodies of our Forces to move towards the Garrisons of Tom's in Cornhill, and Dick's at Temple Bar; but, to our great Pleasure, we are assured that both those Garrisons opened their Gates to our Troops at the very first Summons, and the whole Body of Critics in both unanimously declared for us; so that the secret Friends of Grub-Street have not since dared to open their Mouths. All Things being disposed in this Manner, we marched, as 146 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL I have before said, into Covent-Garden, and presently ordered a Part of our Army to file off to the Right, and to set down before the Bedford Coffee House. We doubt not but we have many good Friends in the Garrison, and who are very desirous to admit our Forces, but, as yet, they dare not declare themselves, being kept in Awe by a strange mixed Monster, not much unlike the famous Chimera of old: for while some of our Reconnoiterers tell us that this Monster hath the Appearance of a Lion, others assure us, that his Ears are much longer than those of that generous Beast. Be this as it will, as we are not yet prepared for an Attack, Yesterday, about Six in the Evening, we blockheaded up the said Coffee House. On the 6th Instant, at Night, we received Intelligence at the Head Quarters, that a large and formidable Body of Critics were assembled at a certain Place in St. James's Street, upon which a reconnoitring Party was presently dispatched that Way, upon whose Return we presently perceived the whole to be a false Alarm ; for that the suspected Critics were very innocently engaged at certain unlawful Games, and we were well assured, that not a Man of them had looked in a Book for a Month last past. Nay, one of our Spies declared, that the current Bet of the House was Ten to One on our Side ; nay, that Five hundred to Three was offered, that the Bedford Coffee House would surrender within a Week; and no Person present would take it up. A (To be continued in our next.) NUMBER THREE 147 SATURDAY, JANUARY 11. 1752. Numb. 3. Majores nusquam Rhonchi; Juvenesque, Se- nesque, Et Pueri Nasum Rhinocerotis habent. Martial. In English, No Town can such a Gang of Critics shew, Ev'n Boys turn up that Nose they cannot blow. BY a Record in the Censors Office, and now in my Custody, it appears, that at a censorial Inquisition, taken Tricesimo qto. Eliz. by one of my illustrious Predecessors, no more than 19 Critics were enrolled in the Cities of London and Westminster; whereas at the last Inquisition taken by myself, 25°. Geo. 2di. the Number of Persons claiming a Right to that Order, appears to amount to 276302. This immense Encrease is, I believe, to be no otherwise accounted for, than from the very blameable Negligence of the late Censors, who have, indeed, converted their Office into a mere Sinecure, no Inquisition, as I can find, having been taken since the Censorship of Isaac Bickerstaffe, Esq; in the latter End of the Reign of Queen Anne. To the same Neglect are owing many Encroachments on all the other Orders of the Society. That of Gentlemen in particular, I observe to have greatly increased, and that of Sharpers to have decreased in the same Proportion within these few Years. All these Irregularities it is my firm Purpose to endeavour at reforming, and to restore the high Office with which I am invested to its ancient Use and Dignity. This, however, must be attempted with Prudence and by slow Degrees: For habitual and inveterate Evils are to be cured by slow Alteratives, and not by violent Remedies. Of this the good Emperor Pertinax will be a lasting Example. "This worthy 'Man" (says Dion Cassius) "perished by endeavouring too 148 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL 'hastily to reform all the Evils which infested his Country. 'He knew not, it seems, tho' otherwise a Man of very great 'Knowledge, that it is not safe, nor indeed possible, to effect 'a Eeformation in too many Matters at once. A Rule which, 'if it holds true in private Life, is much more so when it is 'applied to those Evils that affect the Public." I thought it, therefore, not prudent, in the Hurry of my above Inquisition to make any Exceptions, but admitted all who offered to be enrolled. This is a Method which I shall not pursue hereafter, being fully resolved to enquire into the Qualifications of every Pretender. And that all Persons may come prepared to prove their Eight to the Order of Critics, I shall here set down those several Qualifications which' will be insisted on before any will be admitted to that high Honour. In doing this, however, I shall strictly pursue the excellent Rule I have cited, and shall act with most perfect Moderation; for I am willing to throw open the Door as wide as I can, so that as few as possible may be rejected. It is, I think, the Sentiment of Quinctilian, that no Man is capable of becoming a good Critic on a great Poet, but he who is himself a great Poet. This would, indeed, confine the Critics on Poetry, at least, to a very small Number; and would, indeed, strike all the Antients, except only Horace and Longinus off the Roll; of the latter of whom, tho' he was no Poet, Mr. Pope finely says, Thee, great Longinus, all the Nine inspire, And bless their Critic with a Poet's Fire. But with Respect to so great a Name as that of Quinctilian, this Rule appears to me much too rigid. It seems, indeed, to be little less severe than an Injunction that no Man should criticize on Cookery but he who was himself a Cook. To require what is generally called Learning in a Critic, is altogether as absurd as to require Genius. Why should a Man in this Case, any more than in all others, be bound by NUMBER THREE 149 any Opinions but his own? Or why should he read by Rule any more than eat by it? If I delight in a Slice of Bullock's Liver or of Oldmixon, why shall I be confined to Turtle or to Swift? The only Learning, therefore, that I insist upon, is, That my Critic BE ABLE TO BEAD; and this is surely very reasonable : For I do not see how he can otherwise be called a Reader; and if I include every Reader in the Name of Critic, it is surely very just to confine every Critic within the Number of Readers. Nor do I only require the Capacity of Reading, but the actual Exercise of that Capacity; I do here strictly forbid any Persons whatever to pass a definitive Sentence on a Book BEFORE THEY HAVE READ AT LEAST TEN PAGES IN IT, under the Penalty of being for ever rendered inca pable of Admission to the Order of Critics. Thirdly, all Critics who from and after the First Day of February next, shall condemn any Book, shall be ready to give some Reason for their Judgment: Nor shall it be sufficient for such Critic to drivel out, I don't know not I, but all that I know is, I don't like it. Provided, nevertheless, that any Reason how foolish or frivolous soever, shall be allowed a good and full Justification ; except only the Words POOR STUFF, WRETCHED STUFF, BAD STUFF, SAD STUFF, LOW STUFF, PAULTRY STUFF. All which STUFFS I do forever banish from the Mouths of all Critics. Provided also, that the last-mentioned Clause do extend only to such Critics as openly proclaim their Censures ; for it is our Intention, that all Persons shall be at Liberty to dislike privately, whatever Book they please, without understanding, or reading one Word of it, any Thing therein or herein contained to the contrary notwithstanding. But as it is reasonable to extend this Power of judging for themselves, no farther in this Case of Criticism, than it is allowed to Men in some others, I do here declare, that I shall not, for the future, admit any Males to the Office of Criticism till they be of the full Age of 18, that being the Age when 150 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL the Laws allow them to have a Capacity of disposing personal Chatties: for, before that Time, they have only the Power of disposing of themselves in the trifling Article of Marriage. Females, perhaps, I shall admit somewhat earlier, provided they be either witty or handsome, or have a Fortune of 5000 I. and upwards. Together with Childhood, I exclude all other civil Inca pacities; and here I mean not only legal but real Lunatics, and Ideots. In this Number I include all Persons who, from the whole Tenour of their Conduct, appear to be incapable of discerning Good from Bad, Eight from Wrong, or Wisdom from Folly, in any Instance whatever. There are again some Persons whom I shall admit only to a partial Exercise of this Office; as, for Instance, Rakes, Beaux, Sharpers, and fine Ladies, are strictly forbidden, under Penalty of perpetual Exclusion, to presume to criticise on any Works of Religion, or Morality. All Lawyers, Physi cians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries, are strictly forbidden to pass any Judgment on those Authors who attempt any Reformation in Law, or Physic. Officers of State, and wou'd-be Officers of State, (honest Men only excepted,) with all their Attendants, and Dependents, their Placemen, and wou'd-be Placemen, Pimps, Spies, Parasites, Informers, and Agents, are forbidden, under the Penalty aforesaid, to give their Opinions of any Work in which the Good of the King dom, in general, is designed to be advanced; but as for all Pamphlets which anywise concern the great Cause of WOOD- ALL OUT, and TAKE ALL IN, Esqs; full Liberty is left to both Parties, and the one may universally cry up, and commend, and the other may universally censure and condemn, as usual. All Critics offending against this Clause, are to be deemed infamous, and their several Criticisms are hereby declared to be entirely void, and of none Effect. No Author is to admitted into the Order of Critics, until he hath read over, and understood, Aristotle, Horace, and Longinus, in their original Language; nor then without a NUMBER THREE 151 Testimonial that he hath spoken well of some living Author besides himself. Lastly, all Persons are forbid, under the Penalty of our highest Displeasure, to presume to criticise upon any of those Works with which WE OURSELVES shall think proper to . oblige the Public; and any Person who shall presume to offend in this Particular, will not only be expunged from the Roll of Critics, but will be degraded from any other Order to which he shall belong; and his Name will be forthwith entered in the Records of Grub-Street. A ALEXANDER DRAWCANSIR. The JOURNAL of the present PAPER WAR. YESTERDAY Morning arrived at our Head Quarters David Garrick, and James Lacy, Esqs; and, after only an Hour and half's Waiting, in the Anti-chamber, they had both the Honour to be admitted into the General's Presence, and very humbly presented him with the Keys of their Theatre. The General presently returned them again into the Hands of Mr. Garrick, and was pleased to say they had never been deposited in so proper a Manner. The General said many kind Things to Mr. Garrick, whom he declared to be, in his Belief, the best Actor the World could have ever produced. His Excellency then enquired after Mr. Woodward, and spoke very highly in his Commen dation. He was pleased likewise to speak much in Favour of Mrs. Clive, and Mrs. Pritchard; but dwelt principally on the Praises of Miss Bellamy, who was, he said, not only one of the best Actresses, but one of the finest Women of her Age. 4 1 think,' said he, smiling, 'if I had the same Trial of my 'Virtue which Scipio once had, and Miss Bellamy was the ' Object, I should act in the same Manner ; but I fear I should 'do it with more Reluctance.' Mr. Garrick and Mr. Lacy were then dismissed, both 152 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL appearing to be highly satisfied with the obliging Reception which they had found; and they seemed to hug themselves greatly with the Re-possession of their Keys, without so much as the Exaction of any Tribute from them. The General then expressed some Wonder, that Mr. Rich had not yet made his Appearance; but was informed, that he was unluckily shut up in the Bedford Coffee House. Upon this, the General said with a Smile, 'I have known the 'Time when he could have leaped out at any Window of the 'House; sed FUIT Ilium.' His Excellency then said many kind Things of Mr. Rich, and of his surprizing Genius in the Pantomime Art; and declared, that, if he would exert his Genius that Way, he would be ready to take him under his Protection; 'but, added he,'1 'though Mr. Barry and Mrs. 'Gibber have both their Merit, I fear, in Plays, that House 'will never be able to contend with the other.' It being reported to the General that a HILL must be levelled before the Bedford Coffee House could be taken, Orders were given accordingly ; but this was afterwards found to be a Mistake, a second Express assuring us, that this HILL was only a little paultry DUNGHILL, and had long before been levelled with the Dirt. The General was then informed of a Report which had been spread by his Lowness the Prince of Billingsgate, in the Grub-Street Army, that his Excellency had proposed by a secret Treaty with that Prince, to carry on the War only in Appearance, against him, and so to betray the common Cause; upon which his Excellency said with a Smile, // the Betrayer of a private Treaty could ever deserve the least Credit, yet his Lowness here must proclaim himself either a Liar, or a Fool. None can doubt but that he is the former, if he hath feigned this Treaty, and I think few would scruple to call him the latter, if he had rejected it. The General then declared that the Fact stood thus : His Lowness, said he, came to my tent on an Affair of his own. I treated him, though a Commander in the Enemy's Camp, with Civility, and even Kindness. I told him, with the utmost 1 The punctuation of the original text is always followed. NUMBER FOUR 153 good Humour, I should attack his Lion; and that he might, if he pleased, in the same Manner, defend him: from which, said I, no great Loss can happen to either Side. This, the General declared, was all that past, and added, with a little more Bitterness than is usual to him, that his Lowness was not only among the meanest of those who ever drew a Pen, but was absolutely the vilest Fellow that ever wore a Head. A (To be continued.) TUESDAY, JANUARY 14. 1752. Numb. 4. Nanum cujusdam Atlanta vocamus: JEthiopem Cygnum: parvam extortamque puellam Europen. Canibus pigris Scabieque vetusta Lcevibus, et siccce lambentibus Ora lucernes Nomen erit Pardus, Tigris, Leo; si quid ad- huc est Quod fremat in Terris violentius. Juv. Sat. 8. 'ONE may observe,' says Mr. Locke, 'in all Languages, 'certain Words, that, if they be examined, will be found, in 'their first Original, and their appropriated Use, not to stand 'for any clear and distinct Ideas.' Mr. Locke gives us the Instances 'of Wisdom, Glory, Grace. Words which are 'frequent enough (says he) in every Man's Mouth; but if a ' great many of those who use them, should be asked what they ' mean by them, they would be at a Stand, and not know what ' to answer : A plain Proof, that tho ' they have learned those 'Sounds, and have them ready at their Tongue's End; yet 'there are no determin'd Ideas laid up in their Minds, which ' are to be expressed to others by them. ' Besides the several Causes by him assigned of the Abuse of Words, there is one, which, tho' the great Philosopher hath omitted it, seems to have contributed not a little to the Introduction of this enormous Evil. This is That Privilege 154 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL which Divines and moral Writers have assumed to themselves of doing Violence to certain Words, in Favour of their own Hypotheses, and of using them in a Sense often directly contrary to that which Custom (the absolute Lord and Master, according to Horace, of all the Modes of Speech) hath allotted them. Perhaps, indeed, this Fault may be seen in somewhat a milder Light, (and I would always see the Blemishes of such Writers in the mildest.) It may not, perhaps, be so justly owing to any designed Opposition to Custom as a total Ignorance of it. An Ignorance which is almost inseparably annexed to a collegiate Life, and which any Man, indeed, may venture to own without blushing. But whatever may be the Cause of this Abuse of Words, the Consequence is certainly very bad : For whilst the Author and the World receive different Ideas from the same Words, it will be pretty difficult for them to comprehend each other 's Meaning; and hence, perhaps, it is that so many Gentlemen and Ladies have contracted a general Odium to all Works of Religion or Morality; and that many others have been Eeaders in this Way all their Lives without understanding what they read, consequently without drawing from it any practical Use. It would, perhaps, be an Office very worthy the Labour of a good Commentator to explain certain hard Words which frequently occur in the Works of Barrow, Tillotson, Clark, and others of this Kind. Such are Heaven, Hell, Judgment, Righteousness, Sin, Etc. All which, it is reasonable to believe, are at present very little understood. Instead, however, of undertaking this Task myself, at least, at present, I shall apply the Residue of this Paper to the Use of such Writers only. I shall here give a short Glossary of such Terms as are at present greatly in Use, and shall endeavour to fix to each those exact Ideas which are annexed to every1 of them in the World; for while the i The original text and Murphy 's reprint read as above ; Henley supplies one, but incorrectly; see II. 17. 10. NUMBER FOUR 155 Learned in Colleges do, as I apprehend, consider them all in & very different Light, their Labours are not likely to do much Service to the polite Part of Mankind. A MODERN GLOSSARY. ANGEL. The Name of a Woman, commonly of a very bad one. AUTHOR. A laughing Stock. It means likewise a poor Fellow, and in general an Object of Contempt. BEAR. A Country Gentleman ; or, indeed, any Animal upon two Legs that doth not make a handsome Bow. BEAUTY. The Qualification with which Women generally go into Keeping. BEAU. With the Article A before it, means a great Favourite of all Women. BRUTE. A Word implying Plain-dealing and Sincerity, but more especially applied to a Philosopher. CAPTAIN. 1 Any Stick of Wood with a Head to it, and COLONEL. J a Piece of black Ribband upon that Head. CREATURE. A Quality Expression of low Contempt, properly confined only to the Mouths of Ladies who are Right Honourable. CRITIC. Like Homo, a Name common to all1 human Race. COXCOMB. A Word of Reproach, and yet, at the same Time, signifying all that is most commendable. DAMNATION. A Term appropriated to the Theatre; though sometimes more largely applied to all Works of Invention. DEATH. The final End of Man; as well of the thinking Part of the Body, as of all the other Parts. DRESS. The principal Accomplishment of Men and Women. DULNESS, A Word applied by all Writers to the Wit and Humour of others. i The original and Murphy 's reprint omit the article. Henley supplies the before human, but without warrant; see I. 254. 10, and I. 289. 1, for similar usage. 156 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL EATING. A Science. FINE. An Adjective of a very peculiar Kind, destroying, or, at least, lessening the Force of the Substantive to which it is joined: As fine Gentlemen, fine Lady, fine House, fine Cloaths, fine Taste; — in all which fine is to be understood in a Sense somewhat synonymous with useless. FOOL. A complex Idea, compounded of Poverty, Honesty, Piety, and Simplicity. GALLANTRY. Fornication and Adultery. GREAT. Applied to a Thing, signifies Bigness; when to a Man, often Littleness, or Meanness. GOOD. A Word of as many different Senses as the Greek Word "EX<O, or as the Latin Ago : for which Reason it is but little used by the Polite. HAPPINESS. Grandeur. HONOUR. Duelling. HUMOUR. Scandalous Lies, Tumbling and Dancing on the Rope. JUDGE. 1 . , _ JUSTICE. } ^ °ld Woman' KNAVE. The Name of four Cards in every Pack. KNOWLEDGE. In general, means Knowledge of the Town; as this is, indeed, the only Kind of Knowledge ever spoken of in the polite World. LEARNING. Pedantry. LOVE. A Word properly applied to our Delight in particu lar Kinds of Food ; sometimes metaphorically spoken of the favourite Objects of all our Appetites. MARRIAGE. A Kind of Traffic carried on between the two Sexes, in which both are constantly endeavouring to cheat each other, and both are commonly Losers in the End. MISCHIEF. Funn, Sport, or Pastime. MODESTY. Aukwardness, Rusticity. NO BODY. All the People in Great Britain, except about 1200. NONSENSE. Philosophy, especially the Philosophical Writ ings of the Antients, and more especially of Aristotle. NUMBER FOUR 157 OPPORTUNITY. The Season of Cuckoldom. PATRIOT. A Candidate for a Place at Court. POLITICS. The Art of getting such a Place. PROMISE. Nothing. RELIGION. A Word of no Meaning ; but which serves as a Bugbear to frighten Children with. RICHES. The only Thing upon Earth that is really val uable, or desirable. RASrAT I ^ "^an °^ a Different Party from yourself. SERMON. A Sleeping-Dose. SUNDAY. The best Time for playing at Cards. SHOCKING. An Epithet which fine Ladies apply to almost every Thing. It is, indeed, an Interjection (if I may so call it) of Delicacy. TEMPERANCE. Want of Spirit. TASTE. The present Whim of the Town, whatever it be. TEASING. Advice ; chiefly that of a Husband. VIRTUE. 1 , , . , ri. Subjects of Discourse. WIT. Prophaneness, Indecency, Immorality, Scurrility, Mimickry, Buffoonery. Abuse of all good Men, and espe cially of the Clergy. WORTH. Power. Rank. Wealth. WISDOM. The Art of acquiring all Three. WORLD. Your own Acquaintance. A JOURNAL of the WAR concluded. THIS Morning, early, when every Man's Expectations were at the highest, of an immediate Battle between the two Armies, on a sudden we were surprized with the News of a Peace, of which the following Articles were soon after made public. 158 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Art. 1. That there shall henceforth be a firm Peace, Amity, and Concord, between Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knt. Lord of &c. and their Lownesses the Republic of Grub-Street. Art. 2. That all Things shall remain in the Condition they were before the Commencement of the War; and that all Parties thereto shall sit down contented with their own Losses. Art. 3. That Billinsgate1 shall be acknowledged for ever, to be a Fief of the low and unmighty Republic; and that Sir Alexander, and all the High Allies do renounce any Right, Title, or Claim, to that Fief for ever. Art. 4. Contains the Boundaries of Grub-Street, and those of Sir Alexander's Dominions, and is too long to be inserted here. The curious may consult the Treaty at large. Art. 5. That all the Subjects of the contracting Powers shall have free Liberty to reside, and settle, if they please, in the Dominions of any of the said Powers, and shall have free Ingress, Egress, and Regress, without any Molestation, or Examination whatsoever. Art. 6. That it shall be lawful for all the Subjects of the Low and Unmighty Republic to carry on a free and open Trade in the Dominions of Sir Alexander: Provided, how ever, that all Blasphemy, Profaneness, and Indecency, shall be accounted contraband Goods, and as such, be liable at all Times to be seized, and burnt; but that it shall be lawful for the Subjects of the said Republic to import their Dulness as usual; and that all the Booksellers of the said Republic, settled in the Dominions of Sir Alexander, shall have free Liberty, as usual, to vend the said Dulness, as if it was the lawful Property, and in the Name of the Subjects of the said Alexander. Art. 1. That his Lowness the Prince of Billinsgate, and all his Liege People, shall have free Liberty to import every Kind of Scurrility, as heretofore, into the Dominions of Sir Alexander; but that the aforesaid Booksellers shall not vend the said Wares under the Name of Sir Alexander himself, i The spelling of this word varies. NUMBER FOUR 159 or any of his Subjects. And to prevent this most effectually, as well as to secure to the said Low and Unmighty Eepublic the sole Property of all the Productions of its said Fief, it is hereby declared, agreed, and ratified, that all Kinds of Scurrility, personal Abuse, and other the known Wares of Billinsgate, shall henceforth be acknowledged to belong to, and to be the sole and undoubted Property of the Low Republic of Grub-Street aforesaid. Art. 8. That it shall not be lawful for the said Sir Alexander, or any of his Subjects, or Allies, to publish and vend from henceforth, any more than one Paper of Enter tainment and News, to be called and known by the Name of the Covent-Garden Journal. And that all other Papers, commonly called News Papers, shall be, and remain, to the said Low Republic, as the sole and entire Property of the said Low Republic, for ever. Art. 9. That the Theatre Royal in Drury-Lane, shall be, and remain to the said Sir Alexander for so long Time only as David Garrick and James Lacy, Esqs; the well-beloved Subjects of the said Sir Alexander, shall continue to super intend the said Theatre; and at the Expiration of the said Superintendency and Acting of the said David, the Right of the said Theatre shall again revert unto the Low Republic, to whom it had, of many Years belonged, when the said David and James first came to the Superintendency thereof. That as to the Theatre in Covent-Garden, it shall still remain in the same neutral State in which it hath continued from Time immemorial. Art. 10. That the acting Subjects of the Low Republic shall be admitted to subaltern Parts on the Stage in Drury- Lane, and to capital Parts on the other Stage, and that the writing Subjects of the said Low Republic, shall be at all Times at Liberty to puff up, and commend, their acting Brethren. Art. 11. That Sir Alexander Drawcansir may, when he pleases, erect one Court of Criticism, and preside in the same, as he and his Predecessors, Censors of this Realm, have of 160 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Right always done. And that all the Wares of the Low Republic, except the News Papers, may be tried and examined in the said Court ; but that the Persons of all the Subjects of the said Republic, together with their moral, or rather immoral Characters, shall be exempted from the Jurisdiction of the said Court. These are the most material Articles, there are some others of less Moment with which we may possibly acquaint our Readers hereafter. On Saturday next in this Paper will be held a Court of Censorial Enquiry, of which all Persons concerned are required to take Notice. SATURDAY, JANUARY 18. 1752. Numb. 5. Nostrisque ductum seditionibus Bellum resedit HOR. Paraphrased. The War, I thank Fortune, is now at an End, Since I scarce could distinguish my Foe from my Friend. THERE never was a Peace so wholesome and advantageous to any Country, but that some Persons who have found or proposed to themselves certain Emoluments from the Con tinuance of the War, have openly dared to censure and malign it. I do not wonder, therefore, to find that the Peace, which I have lately concluded with the Low Republic, is not received by all my Readers with universal Approbation. One of my Correspondents, in a Rage, asserts that it was base and cowardly; a second declares, that he would have made no Peace while a Single Drop of his Ink had remained; and a third, with a very grave and political Air, assures me, that the Enemy was brought to such a State of Distress, and so torn with intestine Broils, there being scarce two Members NUMBER FIVE 161 of the Republic who do not heartily hate each other, and had the War continued but one Campaign, I might have obtained what Concessions I would have asked, or might have extir pated the whole Race of Grub-Street for ever. But, notwithstanding these Opinions, all which I am well persuaded have many Supporters, I do assert, that this Peace was made by me, from very solid and substantial Reasons; and I doubt not but that after- Ages, when Party and Preju dice shall subside; when the Reason of Things, and not private Views, shall lead Mens1 Judgments, this Peace will be reckoned as wise a Measure as was ever concerted in the Cabinet; indeed a Master-Piece (or as the Enemy* calls it, a Coup de Maitre) in Politics. Nor is the Interest, which many good People proposed to themselves in the Continuance of the War, so great a Secret to me, as some may imagine. Sorry am I to say, that their own Diversion, and not the general good of the allied Cause, is at the Bottom of their Hearts. So powerful is the Love of Laughter in depraved Minds, that they care not what nor whom they sacrifice to its Gratification. The too general Prevalency of this Disposition hath been, in all Times, of infinite Service to Grub-Street. Had Mankind, indeed, restrained this Inclination within proper Rules, and had refused to indulge it at the Expence of common Sense and common Humanity, the Name of Grub- Street, would have long since been obliterated out of the Memory of Man. To such Gentlemen as these I shall offer no Arguments; but to all my sober and sensible Readers, to all, in short, who know how to be merry and wise I am convinced I shall appear to have acted very prudently in putting an End to the late War almost on any Terms. First, it was a War in which nothing but dry Blows could * By the 14th Article of the Treaty of Co vent -Garden, the Importation of French Words and Phrases in English Writings is declared to be the sole Eight of Grub-Street. The original punctuation is followed throughout. 162 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL be obtained on my Side ; whilst the Enemy had much to hope, and as little to fear. In such a Case, notwithstanding any Superiority of Force, the wisest Measures must tend towards a Pacification. Secondly, The unfair Methods made use of by the Enemy, are a second Eeason for concluding a Peace. This may be illustrated by a familiar Instance ; Mr. Sherlock is, I believe, justly allowed to be superior to all Europe in the Skill of the Broad Sword ; but what would this Skill avail him against a number of Blunderbusses? might he not, without any Flemish to his Courage or his Skill, retreat from such an Enemy; when these Blunderbusses were moreover loaded with ragged Bullets; and when like the poisoned Arrows of the wild Indians, they were discharged at him from lurking Holes and Places of Security? Again, who but a Mad-man would engage with an Enemy that is invulnerable ! And this, however strange it appears, was, in Reality, the Case : For several of the Enemy, as we are well assured, did in certain Skirmishes with our Forces, receive such Blows on their Heads with the sharpest Weapons, as must have proved fatal to any common Man; but to our great Surprize we found that they were not in the least hurt by these Blows, that many did not feel them, and some did even declare they were never hit. In real Truth, as Grass escapes the Scythe ~by being low, a Man may escape the sharpest Satire by the same means : For Ridicule may bring any Person into Contempt; but what is already the Object of our Contempt, can never be raised to be the proper Object of Ridicule. And beside these Discouragements, I had some little Reason to suspect whether I should have fair Play in the Contest. It is the Advice of Machiavel, that when two Parties are at Variance in a City, you should side with the weakest, in order to foment and continue the War. This is a Rule in Politics, which Men are naturally enough inclined to follow; when a Superior and Inferior ingage, the World, as well as the Mob, are apt to side with the latter; and, therefore, when the NUMBER FIVE 163 comic Writer says, 'There is nothing so moving as a great Man in Distress ; ' I suppose he means, there is nothing so apt to move Laughter. I might, however, be contented to indulge this risible Inclination in my Readers, at the Expence of having all the abusive Words in the English Language discharged at me, had I no other Objection ; but this would too much interrupt the Design of my Paper; which, if the Public will grant me but a little of their Patience, will, I hope, appear to be much nobler than that of diverting them, by sacrificing two or three poor Writers to their Mirth. However vain or romantic the Attempt may seem, I am sanguine enough to aim at serving the noble * Interests of Religion, Virtue, and good Sense, by these my Lucubrations. To effect so glorious a Purpose, I know no readier a Way than by an Endeavour to restore that true and manly Taste, which hath, within these few Years, degenerated in these Kingdoms. A Degeneracy which hath been greatly owing to those base and scandalous Writings, which the Press hath lately poured in such a Torrent upon us, that the Name of an Author is, in the Ears of all good Men, become almost an infamous Appellation. Religion, Virtue, Modesty, Decency, and the Characters of some of the best of Men, have been all violated by these Writings ; insomuch, that when we consider the Impressions which young Minds are apt to conceive from Books, the very learning to read seems a dangerous Part of a Child's Education. Against Works of this Kind was the jocose War declared, and against such Works, Ridicule was surely no hard nor immoderate Weapon. It was not my Intention to attack the Character of any Person; and if I have been once provoked to so disagreeable ... an Excess, no Provocation shall again hurry me so far. Vice and Folly, and not particular Men, will be the Objects of Satire in this Paper; and if any Man blushes when he reads it, he shall have the Pleasure of imputing it to his own Grace, and not to the Malignity of the Writer. 164 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL ( There is no Precept in the whole Christian Religion which is less a Stumbling-Block in my "Way, than that which forbids us to take Vengeance on our Enemies; and I can, with great Truth, declare, that I do not at this Instant, wish 111 to any Man li[vi]ng.1 Indeed, if a Sentiment which I heard drop from the late Mr. Pope be true, That Nature never produced a more venemous Animal than a BAD AUTHOR, I am sure that I want, at least, one Ingredient in that Character. And as Nothing is less agreeable to my own Disposition than private Abuse, so Nothing is more foreign to the Plan of this Paper. When Hercules undertook to cleanse the Stables of Augeas, (a Work not much unlike my present Undertaking) should any little Clod of Dirt, more filthy perhaps, than all the rest, have chanced to bedawb him, how unworthy his Spirit would it have been, to have polluted his Hands, by seizing the dirty Clod, and crumbling it to Pieces. He should have known that such Accidents are incident to such an Undertaking : which, though both a useful and heroic Office, was yet none of the cleanliest ; since no Man, I believe, ever removed great Quantities of Dirt from any Place, without finding some of it sticking to his Skirts. A **###*#*#* At a Court of Censorial Enquiry now held this 18th of January, 1752. before the truly respectable Sir ALEXANDER DRAW- CANSIR, Knt. Censor of Great-Britain. THE Court was opened by the Censor, with a very learned and elegant Speech; setting forth the great Antiquity, and Usefulness of this Court, and the many Inconveniences which had attended the Society by the long Discontinuance; but as he hath been pleased to give the Public much of the Sub stance of this Speech in his Essay of To-day, we will not here transcribe it at large. i This word is somewhat obscured in the original. Henley Js reading is the same as the above. NUMBER FIVE 165 The Court then caine to several Resolutions. First, It was resolved, That it of Bight belongs to this Court to hear, and determine, all manner of Causes, which in anywise relate to the Republic of Letters. To examine, try, recommend, or condemn, all Books, and Pamphlets, of whatever Size, or on whatever Subject. Secondly, That it is at the Discretion of this Court to pass any of the following Sentences on such Book, or Pamphlet, as shall, after a full and fair Hearing, be judged worthy of Condemnation; that is to say, 1. To be imprisoned on the Shelf, or in the Warehouse of the Bookseller. 2. To be immediately converted into waste Paper. 3. To be burnt by the Hands of the common Hangman, or by those of some common Publisher of Scandal, which are, perhaps, much the more infamous. Thirdly, That, after any such Judgment passed by this Court, it shall not be lawful for any Person whatever, to purchase, or read, the said Book, or Pamphlet, under the Penalty of being considered as in Contempt. Fourthly, For the more easy carrying on our Design of examining all Books which shall, from Time to Time, be made public, it is ordered, that all Booksellers do, previous to their publishing, or vending, any Book, or Pamphlet, present unto our Clerk in Court, for our Use, one fair Copy of all such Books, and Pamphlets; and that (in Case it be a Book) the same be well bound and gilt, and do contain, in gilt Letters on the Back, the Name, or Title, of the said Book. Fifthly, Resolved, That both the Theatres, and all other Places of Diversion and Resort, are under our Protection ; and every thing which passes at any of these, is subject to our Cognizance and Jurisdiction. For which Reason, we do most earnestly and seriously recommend to all our trusty and well beloved People to send us immediate Notice of any Mis conduct or Misbehaviour that shall happen in any of the Managers of these Places of Diversion, or in any of the Performers or Spectators. 166 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Sixthly, Resolved, That all Places of general Rendezvous, tho' at a private House, shall be deemed public Places, and the Masters and Mistresses of all such Houses shall be con sidered in the same Light as the Managers of our public Theatres; and shall be equally subject to the Jurisdiction of this Court. Seventhly, Whereas, by the Statute of Good-Breeding, the wearing a Hat in the Boxes, at the Play-House, before or behind the Ladies, is a very great Offence, that swearing or talking loud, is, likewise, under very severe Penal [ty]1 for bidden by the said Statute; all our Offie[ers] in the Pit are strictly charged to see the said Law carried into vigorous Execution. Eighthly, In the Statute of Gallantry, are these Words, * Provided that for the future, a fierce Cock of the Hat be not 'considered as any Mark of Valour in any Person whatever, 'save only in Attorney's Clerks, Apprentices, Gamblers, and 'Bullies:' Resolved, therefore, that it shall be lawful for any honest and sober Man, at all Times to remove all such Hats from the Blocks on which they are displayed, with absolute Impunity, saving to the said Clerks their antient Right. Ninthly, Resolved, That laughing, grinning, whispering, and staring Modesty out of Countenance, are to be reputed Wit in any Ale-House, and at Sadler's Wells; but at no other Place whatsoever. Tenthly, Resolved, That to give an Affront or Offence at any public Place, to sober and grave Persons, to the Ladies, or to the Clergy, is a very high Crime and Misdemeanor, strictly forbidden by the Laws of Decency; and whoever is convicted thereof, will be struck out of the Order of Gentle men, at the next Inquisition to be taken of that Order. Adjourned. i This word and Officers in the following line are badly blurred in the original. NUMBER SIX 167 TUESDAY, JANUARY 21. 1752. Numb. 6. Quam multi tineas pascunt, blattasque diserti! Et redimunt soli carmina docta cod! Nescio quid plus est quod donat secula chartis, Victurus genium debet habere liber. Mart. lib. 6. How many fear the Moth's and Bookworm's Rage, And Pastry-Cooks, sole Buyers in this Age? What can these Murtherers of Wit controulf To be immortal, Books must have a soul. THERE are no human Productions to which Time seems so bitter and malicious an Enemy, as to the Works of the learned: for though all the Pride and Boast of Art must sooner, or later, yield to this great Destroyer; though all the Labours of the Architect, the Statuary, and the Painter, must share the same Mortality with their Authors; yet, with these, Time acts in a gentler and milder Manner, allows them gen erally a reasonable Period of Existence, and brings them to an End by a gradual and imperceptible Decay: so that they may seem rather cut off by the fatal Laws of Necessity, than to be destroyed by any such Act of Violence, as this cruel Tyrant daily executes on us Writers. It is true, indeed, there are some Exceptions to this Rule; some few Works of Learning have not only equalled, but far exceeded, all other human Labours in their Duration; but alas ! how very few are these, compared to that vast Number which have been swallowed up by this great Destroyer. Many of them cut off in their very Prime; others in their early Youth; and others, again, at their very Birth; so that they can scarce be said ever to have been. And, as to the few that remain to us, is not their long Existence to be attributed to their own unconquerable Spirit, and rather to the Weakness, than to the Mercy of Time? Have not many of their Authors foreseen, and foretold, the Endeavours which would be exerted to destroy them, and 168 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL have boldly asserted their just Claim to Immortality, in Defiance of all the Malice, all the Cunning, and all the Power of Time ? Indeed, when we consider the many various Engines which have been employed for this destructive Purpose, it will be Matter of Wonder, that any of the Writings of Antiquity have been able to make their Escape. This might almost lead us into a Belief, that the Writers were really possessed of that Divinity, to which some of them pretended, especially as those which seem to have had the best Pretensions to this Divinity, have been almost the only ones which have escaped into our Hands. And here, not to mention those great Engines of Destruc tion which Ovid so boldly defies, such as Swords, and Fire, and the devouring Moths of Antiquity, how many cunning Methods hath the Malice of Time invented, of later Days, to extirpate the Works of the Learned, and to convert the Invention of Paper, and even of Printing, to the total Abolition of those very Works which they were so ingeniously calculated to perpetuate. The first of these, Decency will permit me barely to hint to the Reader. It is the Application of it to a Use for which Parchment and Vellum, the antient Repositories of Learning, would have been utterly unfit. To this cunning Invention of Time, therefore, Printing and Paper have chiefly betrayed the Learned; nor can I see, without Indignation, the Book sellers, those great Enemies of Authors, endeavouring by all their sinister Arts to propagate so destructive a Method: for what is commoner than to see Books advertised to be printed on a superfine, delicate, soft Paper, and again, very proper to be had in all Families, a plain Insinuation to what Use they are adapted, according to these Lines. Lintott's for gen'ral Use are fit, For some Folks read, but all Folks . By this abominable Method, the whole Works of several modern Authors have been so obliterated, that the most NUMBER SIX 169 curious Searcher into Antiquity, hereafter, will never be able to wipe off the Injuries of Time. And, yet, so truly do the Booksellers verify that old Observation, dulcis odor lucri ex re qualibet, that they are daily publishing several Works, manifestly calculated for this Use only; nay, I am told, that one of them is, by Means of a proper Translator, preparing the whole Works of Plato for the B . Next to the Booksellers are the Trunk-makers, a Set of Men who have of late Years made the most intolerable Depredations on modern Learning. The ingenious Hogarth hath very finely satyriz'd this, by representing several of the most valuable Productions of these Times on the Way to the Trunk-maker. If these Persons would line a Trunk with a whole Pamphlet, they might possibly do more Good than Harm; for then, perhaps, the Works of last Year might be found in our Trunks, when they were possibly to be found no where else; but so far from this, they seem to take a Delight in dismembring Authors; and in placing their several Limbs together in the most absurd Manner. Thus while the Bottom of a Trunk contains a Piece of Poetry, the Top presents us with a Sheet of Romance, and the Sides and Ends are adorned with mangled Libels of various Kinds. The third Species of these Depredators, are the Pastry Cooks. What Indignation must it raise in a Lover of the Moderns, to see some of their best Performances stain 'd with the Juice of Gooseberries, Currants, and Damascenes ! But what Concern must the Author himself feel on such an Occasion ; when he beholds those Writings, which were calcu lated to support the glorious Cause of Disaffection or Infidelity, humbled to the ignoble Purpose of supporting a Tart or a Custard ! So, according to the Poet, Great Alexander dead, and turn'd to Clay, May stop a Hole to keep the Wind away. But, besides the Injuries done to Learning by this Method, there is another Mischief which these Pastry Cooks may thus 170 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL propagate in the Society : For many of these wondrous Per formances are calculated only for the Use and Inspection of the few, and are by no means proper Food for the Mouths of Babes and Sucklings. For Instance, that the Christian Religion is a mere Cheat and Imposition on the Public, nay, that the very Being of a God is a Matter of great Doubt and Incertainty, are Discoveries of too deep a Nature to perplex the Minds1 Children with; and it is better, perhaps, till they come to a certain Age, that they should believe quite the opposite Doctrines. Again, as Children are taught to obey and honour their Superiors, and to keep their Tongues from Evil- speaking, Lying, and Slandering, to what good Purposes can it tend to shew them that the very contrary is daily practised and suffered and supported in the World ? Is not this to confound their Understandings, and almost sufficient to make them neglect their Learning? Lastly, there are certain Arcana Naturae, in disclosing which the Moderns have made great Progress ; now whatever Merit there may be in such Denuda tions of Nature, if I may so express myself, and however exquisite a Relish they may afford to very adult Persons of both Sexes in their Closets, they are surely too speculative and mysterious for the Contemplation of the Young and Tender, into whose Hands Tarts and Pies are most likely to fall. Now as these three Subjects, namely, Infidelity, Scurrility, and Indecency, have principally exercised the Pens of the Moderns, I hope for the future, Pastry Cooks will be more cautious than they have lately been. In short, if they have no Regard to Learning, they will have some, I hope, to Morality. The same Caution may be given to Grocers and Chandlers ; both of whom are too apt to sell their Figs, Raisins, and Sugar to Children, without enough considering the poisonous Vehicle in which they are conveyed. At the waste Paper Market, the Cheapness of the Commodity is only considered ; and it is easy to see with what Goods that Market is likely to abound ; since i Of is omitted here in the original. NUMBER SIX 171 tho' the Press hath lately swarmed with Libels against our Eeligion and Government, there is not a single Writer of any Reputation in this Kingdom, who hath attempted to draw his Pen against either. But to return to that Subject from which I seem to have a little digressed. How melancholy a Consideration must it be to a modern Author, that the Labours, I might call them the Offspring of his Brain, are liable to so many various Kinds of Destruction, that what Tibullus says of the numerous Avenues to Death may be here applied. Leti mille repente vice. To Death there are a thousand sudden Ways. For my own Part, I never walk into Mrs. Dodd's Shop, and survey all that vast and formidable Host of Papers and Pamphlets arranged on her Shelves, but the noble Lamentation of Xerxes occurs to my Mind; who, when he reviewed his Army, on the Banks of the Hellespont, is said to have grieved, for that not one of all those Hundreds of Thousands would be living an Hundred Years from that Time. In the same Manner, have I said to myself, 'How dreadful a Thought is 'it, that of all these numerous and learned Works, none will ' survive to the next Year ? ' But, within that Time, All will become, Martyrs to Pyes, and Relicts of the B . I was led into these Reflections by an Accident which happened to me the other Day, and which all Lovers of Antiquity will esteem a very fortunate one. Having had the Curiosity to examine a written Paper, in which my Baker inclosed me two hot Rolls, I have rescued from Oblivion one of the most valuable Fragments, that I believe is now to be found in the World. I have ordered it to be fairly tran scribed, and shall very soon present it to my Readers, with my best Endeavours, by a short Comment, to illustrate a Piece which appears to have remained to us from the most distant and obscure Ages. A 172 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL We have received Letters from Tim. Buck, Dorothy Singley Sappho, P. W. and from the Scavenger of Covent-Garden, all which will be inserted in our next. The Court of Censorial Enquiry met according to Adjourn ment; and, after issuing forth Process to bring several Books into Court, among which was a Romance called AMELIA, adjourned to Saturday next. SATURDAY, JANUARY 25. 1752. Numb. 7. Quis non invenit turbd quod amaret in ilia. Ovid de Arte Amand. Who is there so stupid as not to find a fa vourite Letter in the following Collection? To Sir ALEXANDER HUMBUG, Censurer of Grate Britan. YOU, Sir Sawnny. I must not Kritichize, must I — D — n me but I will tho in Spit of you and all your hadearents. Who the Divil are you, Mun, that you ant to be Kritichized upon. But I can til you I have Kritichized upon you, and so have seferal of my Frinds; and we d — ned all your Papers tother Day in a Coffi House, and cursed Stuff they are, there, my boy, theres a Stuff your puzling Pat never thot off. I wish wee had you upon the Stage, my Dear, wed showe you a Trik worth two othat, I warrant you; but Garrak knows better than to acte such Stuff as you can write. You put me into Grubstreet — You kiss — Da — n me I have 2000 1. a Year, that is, I shall have when I com from my Travels two Years hence, and shall bee of Age, but perhaps I shant travl at all but stay at home and d — n such Felows as you. TIM. BUCK. NUMBER SEVEN 173 To the CENSOR. SIR, IN your Remarks on the many Encomiums made on Brides in the public News-Papers, I suppose you intend to ridicule the Vanity of our Sex in publishing their own Qualifications to the World; but you will excuse me, if I have a better Opinion of the Female Part of the Species than to imagine they are ever privy to such pompous Exhibitions of them selves, and am well convinced that all these Compliments are inserted by the Bridegroom only; and they are, sometimes, I fear, the last Compliments, which he pays his Mistress. This Matter, I own, appears to me in a very different Light from that in which it is seen by others. It raises my Indigna tion to read Beauty, Sense, Merit, and all Qualifications necessary to render the married State happy, at the End of every married Woman's Name, while a profound Silence is always preserved with regard to the Merits of the Husband. Good Mr. Censor, are we to understand by this that all Men are possessed of those Qualifications which can render the married State happy, or that there are really no Qualifications necessary on the Part of the Man ; or lastly, that his Happiness alone, and not that of the Woman, is to be considered ? None of these I apprehend to be true; I submit, therefore, to your Judgment, whether it would not be decent for the future, either to pass over the great Endowments of the Woman, or to insert likewise those of the Man. For Instance, Yesterday A B, Esq; a Gentlemen1 of Sense, Honour, and Good-nature, of a comely Person, and a suitable Age, was married to Miss C D, a Lady of great Beauty, Etc. as usual : For every one of these Articles on the Man's Side are absolutely necessary to the Happiness of the Woman. This, Sir, would be fair on both Sides; but as the matter now stands, may we not justly apprehend that many a Lady possessed of every Virtue and good Quality is thrown away either upon a Rake or a Fool, a Sot or a Clown, a Coxcomb i So printed in the original text. 174 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL or a R — seal; or, perhaps, on a Husband who possesses all these amiable Qualities together? To conclude with a plain Truth, I sincerely believe the Qualifications necessary to married Happiness are much more common in Women than in Men, and may, therefore, better be understood, in general, to belong to our Sex than to yours. I am, SIR, Grosvenor- Your humble Servant, Street. DOROTHY SINGLE. Saturday. To the CENSOR. SIR, LOOKING lately into that Volume of the Spectators, in which is inserted the humble Petition of WHO and WHICH, I could not help reflecting on many other discarded Words which might claim an equal Right of being restored to Use, or rather of being suffered, sometimes at least, to enter into the human Mind. The Words, I at present mean are WHY and WHERE FORE; which, if permitted to present themselves before Mankind, how many vain Pursuits would they stop in the very Beginning ; and how many Scenes of Ruin and Destruc tion would a due Attention to them be able to prevent. Give me Leave, therefore, to suppose these two Words, setting forth their unhappy Fate, and begging for better Quarter, in the following Complaint, addressed to you, Sir, as Censor of Great Britain. I am, SIR, Your humble Servant, SOPHIA. NUMBER SEVEN 175 The humble Complaint of WHY and WHEREFORE. Sheweth, That your Petitioners knowing of what great Use and Service we might be to all Societies, as well as to every Individual, and having a benevolent Intention of doing all the Good in our Power, are heartily grieved we so very seldom can find a Hearing. If we present ourselves before a Fox-hunter in his Chace. he swiftly rides over us. If we attempt to engage one Moment's Attention from the Hero marching at the Head of his Army to destroy his Fellow-Creatures, instead of listening to us, he immediately orders his Drums, and Trumpets, to strike up ; in the Noise of which 'tis impossible our Voice should be distinguished. In our Address to the Miser, the Chinking of his Gold sounds as loudly in his Ears, and as effectually prevents our being heard, as the more noisy Instruments of War made use of by the Soldier. When the ambitious Man is sitting alone, and revolving in his Mind all his various Schemes for raising himself to the highest Pinnacle of Greatness, we know that he is too much wrapped up in his own Thoughts to give Attention to any outward Sound. We therefore secretly endeavour to creep into his Breast; and though we, by this Means, gain Admit tance, yet is it generally our Fate to be there smothered in a confused Croud of Images, such as Honours, Titles, Command, Adoration, Fame, &c. &c. &c. But if, by Accident, this great Man falls from all his Glory, and comes into Disgrace, the large Company which before hid, and almost stifled, us, instantly vanish, and he then wonders he had not before seen us, and hearkened to our Voice. The Lover, whenever we apply to him, puffs us away with his Sighs; the Sot drowns our Voice with a merry Catch; nor could we ever obtain a satisfactory Answer from any Author, unless it was from some poor Wretch who was writing for a Dinner. 176 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL If we durst, Great Sir, we should put a Question to your Worship, on your attacking a Set of Wretches so much beneath your Notice as the present Race of Scribblers; but we do not expect you should do us so great an Honour, as ever to answer, Your very good Friends, WHY and WHEREFORE. George's Coffee House, Jan. 14, 1752. SIR, BY a short Conversation which I had the other Day with an ingenious Friend of your's, at his Office in the Strand, he told me he could supply me with every Kind of useful Person, and give me Information in every Sort of Business. — A Proposal which I own, had greatly the Air of Extravagance ; but Experience soon taught me it was true: And though, as Censor, you may be highly serviceable to Society, I think your Friend is no less usefully employed than yourself, being engaged in a Design, which the more I examine, the more I approve. For your Part, Sir Alexander, I look upon your Office, as Censor, as a Universal Register Office too, but of a different Kind; for while your Friend is placing every Man in the Sphere for which his Capacity and Education qualify him, you instruct the Wise, and furnish Entertainment for those of true Taste. In your Office are registered just Sentiments on every Occasion : you regulate the Minds of one Part of the World, whilst he employs the Bodies of the other. You give Information in Points of Knowledge; whilst he deals out Intelligence to Men of Business. To your Register Office, Mr. Censor, I now apply for the Meaning of a Word much used in the present Age, which, I own, conveys no distinct Idea to my Mind, nor do I believe it does to the Minds of those who make use of it. In your last Paper, in which you so ingeniously handled the Abuse of Words, you have, to my NUMBER SEVEN 177 great Disappointment, omitted the Word Town, of which I should be glad to know the Meaning. For being in an eminent Coffee House, some few Days ago, a grave Gentleman, with much Dignity of Wig and Person, who seemed to be the Mouth and Oracle of the Assembly, made frequent Use of the Word Town, in his Harangues, which were not a little oratorical; and, speaking of some theatrical Performances he said, the Town would not bear it; the Town did not like it; the Town was offended; the Town damn'd it; the Town was the best Judge; the Town was out of Humour. In a Word, the Town did every Thing ; the Town knew every Thing ; and, to succeed in any Thing, a Man must please the Town. Now, Sir, what I want to know of you, is, who, or what, is meant by this Word Town-, What Sort of Animal it is. And what one is to understand by it. Your Information, in this Particular, shall be gratefully acknowledged, by Your humble Servant, and Admirer, P. W. P. S. Queer e, Whether the Town does not signify the idle, silly, and illiterate Part of Society ? #####***#* Jan. 17. 12 o 'Clock. Worshipful Sir, SINCE the Publication of your Paper, such an immense Quantity of Filth and Nastiness has been brought from Grub- Street and Billinsgate, and emptied in Covent-Garden, that unless your Worship, out of your great Wisdom, will contrive some Method of raising a new Tax for the Payment of the Scavenger, it will be impossible for me, had I treble the Number of Carts I have, to keep that Place tolerably decent. I am, Sir, Your humble Servant, W. T. Master Scavenger. P. S. Pray let Grub-Street alone, for the more you stir the more it will stink. M. 178 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Proceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. (Amelia was set to the Bar.) COUNSELLOR TOWN. May it please you, Mr. Censor, I am of Council in this Case, on the side of the Prosecution. The Book at the Bar is indicted upon the Statute of Dulness, a very antient Law, and too well known to need much expa tiating upon. But it may be necessary to observe, that that that is Dulness in one Age, is not so in another, and what says that antient Sage, and Lawgiver, Horace; JEtatis cujusque notandi sunt tibi mores. Every Writer is to observe the Manners of the Age. I know the Word cetatis is, in this Place, by some Lawyers, understood in another Sense; but what I contend for, is, that it may very well be understood in that Sense that I have here given to it: and, accordingly, the same Horace lays it down as a Rule, Et prodesse volunt, et delectare, poetce. Poets desire to get Money, and to please their Readers. For so I read the Law, and so I render it. A very good Law it is, and very wholesome to the Writers themselves. Now the Humour, or Manners, of this Age are to laugh at every Thing, and the only Way to please them is to make them laugh; nor hath the Prisoner any Excuse, since it was so very easy to have done this in the present Case; what, indeed, more was necessary, than to have turned the Ridicule the other Way, and, in the Characters of Dr. Harrison, and Amelia herself, to have made a Jest of Religion, and the Clergy, of Virtue, and Innocence? Here the Council was hastily stopt by the Censor, and desired to proceed to his Proofs. TOWN. We shall prove then, to you, Sir, that the Book now at the Bar, is very sad Stuff; that Amelia herself is a low Character, a Fool, and a Milksop; that she is very apt to faint, and apt to drink Water, to prevent it. That she once NUMBER SEVEN 179 taps a Bottle of Wine, and drinks two Glasses. That she shews too much Kindness for her Children, and is too apt to forgive the Faults of her Husband. That she exerts no Manner of Spirit, unless, perhaps, in supporting Afflictions. That her concealing the Knowledge of her Husband's Amour, when she knew he had discontinued it, was low and poor. That her not abusing him, for having lost his Money at Play, when she saw his H^rt was already almost broke by it, was contemptible Meanness. That she dresses her Husband's Supper; dresses her Children; and submits to the Thoughts of every servile Office. That she once mentions THE DEVIL, and as often swears BY HER SOUL. Lastly, That she is a Beauty WITHOUT A NOSE, I say again, WITHOUT A NOSE. All this we shall prove by many Witnesses. We shall likewise prove that Dr. Harrison is a very low, dull, unnatural, Character, and that his arresting Booth, only because he had all imaginable Reason to think he was a Villain, is unpardonable. That Colonel Bath is a foolish Character, very low, and ill-drawn. That the Scene of the Goal1 is low and unmeaning, and brought in by Head and Shoulders, without any Reason, or Design. That the Abbe is supposed to wear a Sword; in short, not to descend to too many Particulars, which you will hear from the Mouths of the Witnesses, that the whole Book is a Heap of sad Stuff, Dulness, and Nonsense; that it contains no Wit, Humour, Knowledge of human Nature, or of the World; indeed, that the Fable, moral Character, Manners, Sentiments, and Diction, are all alike bad and contemptible. All these Matters, Sir, we doubt not to prove to your Satisfaction, and then we doubt not but that you will do exemplary Justice to such intolerable sad Stuff, and, will pass such a Sentence as may be a dreadful Example to all future Books, how they dare stand up in Opposition to the Humour of the Age. i So printed in the original text. 180 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL A great Noise was now heard in the Court, and much female Vociferation; when the Censor was informed, that it was a married Lady, one of the Witnesses against Amelia, who was scolding at her Husband for not making her Way through the Crowd. Mr. TOWN then moved, that, as there were several Persons of great Fashion, who were to be Witnesses in this Cause, Eoom might be made for them by the Officers, which was ordered accordingly. C. TOWN. Call Lady Dilhj Dally.— (She appeared) Mr. Censor, we call this young Lady to the Character of Amelia, and she will give you an Account of all the low Behaviour I have opened. — Lady Dilly, your Ladyship knows the Prisoner at the Bar ? L. DILLY. I cannot say I ever saw the Creature before. (At which there was a great Laugh) C. TOWN. I thought your Ladyship had said that Amelia was sad Stuff from Beginning to End. L. DILLY. I believe I might say so. — Eh ! I don't always remember what I say; but if I did say so, I was told it. — Oh! yes, now I remember very well, I did say so, and Dr. Dosewell, my Physician, told me so. — The Doctor said, in a great deal of Company, that the Book, I forget the Name of it, was a sad stupid Book, and that the Author had not a Bit of Wit, or Learning, or Sense, or any Thing else. COURT. Mr. Town, you know this is only Hearsay, and not Evidence. — C. TOWN. I do not contend for it. We shall call the Doctor himself by and by. — We will give your Ladyship no further Trouble. L. DILLY. — I am heartily glad of it. — Mr. Censor, if you are the Judge, I beg, as you have brought me into this odious Place, you will see me safe out again. Orders were then given to clear away the Crowd, which was very great, and Lady Dilly got safe to her Chair. The Residue of this Trial will be in our next. NUMBER EIGHT 181 TUESDAY, JANUARY 28. 1752. Numb. 8. Ambubaiarum Collegia, Pharmacopolce, Mendici, Mimi, Balatrones; hoc genus omne. HOR. A motley Mixture! in long Wigs, in Bags, In Silks, in Crapes, in Garters and in Rags. Dunciad. THE following is a literal Copy of the Fragment mentioned in my Sixth Paper. In what Language it was originally writ, is impossible to determine. To determine this would be, indeed, to ascertain who these Robinhoodians were; a Point, as we shall shew in our Comment, of the utmost Difficulty. From the apparent Difference in the Style, and Spelling of the Translation, it seems to have been done into English by several Hands, and probably in distant Ages. I have placed my Conjectures concerning some doubtful Words, at the Bottom of the Page, without venturing to disturb the Text. *Importinent Questions cunsarning Relidgin and Gubermint, handyled by the Robinhoodians. March 8. 1 51.1 THIS Evenin the Questin at the Robinhood was, whether Relidgin was of any youse to a Sosyaty; baken** bifor mee To'mmas Whytebred, Baker. JAMES SKOTCHUM, Barber, spak as floweth: Sir, I ham of Upinion, that Relidgin can be of no youse to any mortal Sole: bycause as why, Relidgin is no youse to Trayd, and if Relidgin be of no youse to Trayd, how ist it yousefool * Perhaps impertinent. ** I think this should be read taken, and the Baker's being intent on his Trade, occasioned the Corruption. i As appears in the comment in No. 9, this date is purposely left incomplete. Murphy, and Henley after him, incorrectly supply a 7 in the blank space. 182 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL to Sosyaty. Now no Body can deny but that a Man maye kary on his Trayd very wel without Relidgin ; nay, and beter two, for then he maye wurk won Day in a Wik mor than at present; whereof no Body can saye but that seven is mor than six: Besides, if we haf no Relidgin we shall haf no Pairsuns*, and that will be a grate Savin to the Sosyaty; and it is a Maksum** in Trayd, That a Peny sav'd is a Peny got. Whereof The End of this Speech seems to be wanting, as doth the Beginning of the next. Different Opinion from the learned Gentleman who spoke first to the Question: First I deny that Trade can be carried on without Religion ; for how often is the Sanction of an Oath necessary in Contracts, and how can we have Oaths without Religion ? As to the gaining one Day in seven, which the Gentleman seems to lay much Stress upon, I do admit it to be an Argument of great Force; but I question, as the People have been long used to Idleness on that Day, whether it would be easy to make them work upon it; and, conse quently, if they had no Churches to go to, whether they would not resort to some worse Place? As to the Expence of Parsons, I cannot think it is prejudicial to the Society in general; for the Parsons are Members of this Society; and whether they who do but little, or others who do nothing at all for their Livelihood, possess their Revenues, is a Matter of no manner of Concern to the Public. Indeed what the Gentleman says concerning the Dutch, I shall own is highly to the Honour of those industrious People: And I question not but if Religion was to interfere with any Branch of our Trade, there is still so much good Sense left in this Nation, that we should presently sacrifice the Shadow to the Sub stance. But tho' some Instances should occur, in which Religion may be prejudicial, it cannot be fairly argued from thence, that Religion is therefore of no use to the Society; and 'till that can be proved, I shall not give my Vote for its Abolition. But at present Hammer down. * Bead Parsons. ** Bead Maxim. NUMBER EIGHT 183 Mr. MAC FLOURISH, Student, I shall with grate Reedi- ness undertake that Tosk upon my Seel. — Sir, the Queestion, as I tak it, is, whether Relegion be of any use to Society? And Sir, this is a Queestion of that Degnity, that grete emportance, that when I conseder the Matter of wheech I am to speke, the Degnity of the Odience before whom I am to speke, when I refleect on the Smallness of my own Abeelities, well may I be struck with the greetest Awe and Reveerence : For Sir, neither Demosthenes nor Eschines, nor Cecero, nor Hortensuis, ever handled a more emportant Queestion: And Sir, should any thing mesbecoming drop from me on this grate Occasion, tho' your Candour, your Beneevolence, might encline you to extend an unmeerited Attention, yet, Sir, these Walls, these Stones, these Boards, these very Bracks, withute Ears, withute a Tongue, would tacitly express their Endeegnation. Sir, it is a Queestion, that whoever hath rede History, or deeved at all into the oxceelent Mystery of Politics, must confees, that all the grete Pheelosophers, Poets, Oraters, Historians Hammer down - Mr. OCURRY, Solicitor. Upon my Shoul, I am very sorry now that the Rules of this grate Society forced the last very learned Gentleman to sit down before he told us his Opinion ; but, whatever it be, I am after being of the saame. It is very true upon my Shoul, what he said, that it is a very great Question, and I do not well know fether I understand it as yet, or no: but this I think, that if Religion be a great Hurt to the Nation, I cannot for my Shoul see where the Good of it is. This I know very well, that there is a very good Religion in Ireland, and they do call it the Roman Catholic Religion, and I am of it myself, though I dont1 very well know what it is. There is Something about Beads and Masses, and Patty Nosters, and Ivy Marys, and I will fight for it as long as I am alive, and longer. — And upon my Shoul I will tell you a good Thing, if you are afraid of your own Religion, you may send for ours, for I know it will come; for Father Patrick 1 The original text does not have the sign of contraction. See also a similar case in 184. 6, below. 184 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Ocain did tell me, he would bring it along with him. Nay, he tould me, that he had brought it hither before he did come himself, (at which there was a Laugh. Mr. GILES SHUTTLE, Weaver.— I hope no Gentleman will treat this Thing as a Jest, whereof I thinks it to be a very great Matter of Earnest. Whereof I dont much understand your Speech-making Sort of Work, but this I thinks, that I am as a good Judge of these Sort of Matters, for I am worth a hundred Pounds, and owes no Man a Farthing. Whereof I thinks, I am as good a Man as another : for why should not any other Man have as much Sense as a Gentleman ? I thinks I knows Something of Trade, that to be sure, is the main Article in every trading Nation, whereby Here the first Paper was broke off. The Second is as follows : Question. Whether infinite Power could make the World out of Nothing? The Speakers to this Question were Mr. Thomas Tinderbox. the Chandler; Mr. George White, Boatswain's Mate; Mr. Edward Peacock, Victualler; Mr. Budge, the Shoemaker; Mr. Goose, the Taylor; Mr. Halt, the Maker of Pattins, and one great Scholar, whose Name I do not know. It was urged on the Behalf of infinite Power, That we have no very adequate Idea of it. That there are many Things which we see are, and yet we cannot, with any great Certainty, tell how they came to be. That so far from our Reason being able to comprehend every Thing, some wise Men have doubted, whether we do with Certainty, comprehend any Thing. That whatever we may think we know, we do not know how we think. That either every Thing was made by Something, out of Nothing, or else Nothing made every Thing, either out of Something or Nothing. And, lastly; that infinite Power might more reasonably be supposed to create every Thing out of Nothing, than no Power at all could be supposed to make every Thing out of any Thing. On the contrary, it was well argued, that Nothing can be made out of Nothing, for, ex nihil 0 Nothing is fit. That NUMBER EIGHT 185 every Day's Experience must convince us of this: That, by infinite Power, we only meant a very great Degree of Power ; but that, if the Thing to be done be not the Subject of Power, the smallest Degree will be equal to the greatest. And it was urged with great Force of Wit and Eloquence, by Mr. Goose, that the best Taylor, and the worst, were alike unable to make a Coat without Materials. That, in this Case, a Taylor with infinite Power, would be in the same Condition with a Taylor who had no Power at all. And if so small a Thing as a Coat could not be made out of Nothing, how could so large a Thing as the World be cut out of the same no Materials. The Scholar gave a very good Answer to what had been offered concerning our Ignorance of infinite Power, and said, if we had no adequate Idea of it, it was a good Cause of disbelieving it ; for, as Reason was to be Judge of all Things, what was not the Object of Reason, ought to be rejected by it. He admitted, that there were some Things which did exist, and that we did not as yet know, the Manner in which they came to exist; but it did not follow that such Causes were above the Reach of human Reason, because she had not yet discovered them, for, he made no Doubt, but that this Society, by Means of their free Enquiry after Truth, would, in the End, discover the Whole; and that the Manner in which a Man was made, would be no more a Mystery to Posterity, than it is to the present Age, how they make a Pudding. He concluded with saying, that some very wise and learned Men, who lived near 3000 Years ago, had asserted that the World had existed from all Eternity, which Opinion seemed to solve all Difficulties, and was, as it appeared, highly agreeable to the Sentiments of the whole Society. Question. Whether, in the Opinion of this Society, the Government did Right in Here ends this valuable Fragment, on which I shall give my Comment in my next Paper. A 186 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Proceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. A Great Number of Beaus, Rakes, fine Ladies, and several formal Persons with bushy Wigs, and Canes at their Noses, pushed forward, and offered themselves as Witnesses against poor Amelia, when a grave Man stood up and begged to be heard ; which the Court granted, and he spoke as follows. 'If you, Mr. Censor, are yourself a Parent, you will view 'me with Compassion when I declare I am the Father of this 'poor Girl the Prisoner at the Bar; nay, when I go farther, ' and avow, that of all my Offspring she is my favourite Child. 'I can truly say that I bestowed a more than ordinary Pains 'in her Education ; in which I will venture to affirm, I followed 'the Rules of all those who are acknowledged to have writ 'best on the Subject; and if her Conduct be fairly examined, 'she will be found to deviate very little from the strictest 'Observation of all those Rules; neither Homer nor Virgil 'pursued them with greater Care than myself, and the candid 'and learned Reader will see that the latter was the noble 'model, which I made use of on this Occasion. 'I do not think my Child is entirely free from Faults. I 'know nothing human that is so; but surely she doth not 'deserve the Rancour with which she hath been treated by 'the Public. However, it is not my Intention, at present, to ' make any Defence ; but shall submit to a Compromise, which 'hath been always allowed in this Court in all Prosecutions 'for Dulness. I do, therefore, solemnly declare to you, Mr. 'Censor, that I will trouble the World no more with any 'Children of mine by the same Muse.' This Declaration was received with a loud Huzza, by the greater Part of the Spectators; and being allowed by the Court, was presently entered of Record. Then Amelia was delivered to her Parent, and a Scene of great Tenderness passed between them, which gave much Satisfaction to many present; some of whom, however, blamed the old Gentleman for putting an End to the Cause, and several very grave and NUMBER NINE 187 well looking Men, who knew the whole Merits, asserted, that the Lady ought to have been honourably acquitted. Then the Court adjourned to Saturday, Feb. 1. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 1. 1752. Numb. 9. Die quibus in terris et eris milii1 magmis Apollo, Virg. Tell in what Clime these People did appear. And you shall be the Laureate of next Year. IT will be a very difficult Matter to fix with any Certainty, at what Place, and amongst what People, the Robin-Hood Society was held, as we have not the least Light to guess from what Language the Fragment which now remains to us, was originally translated. Two Things may be averred, that this Society was held in some Country where the People were extremely free ; and, secondly, that it was in a Country, where that Part of the Community which the French called la Canaille was at the Head of Public Affairs. From the latter of these Circumstances, it appears that these Robinhoodians cannot be placed among the Egyptians; for Diodorus Siculus, speaking of these People, tells us, that, Whereas in all Democracies great Injury is done to the State by the Populace interfering in the public Councils, the Egyptians very severely punished these Artificers who presumed to meddle with Matters of Government* Nor can I ever believe, that the Question, Whether Religion was of any Use to the Society, would ever have been supported amongst a People so highly devoted to Superstition, that Religion was indeed the Foundation of their civil Society. The same Objection will recur against placing this Society in Athens : For tho ' Pericles, in his Speech to the Athenians, * Diod. Sic. Fol. 68. Edit. Ehod. Hannov. n Mo-rot 8'i TCUJ vots ir6\e<ru>t K.T.X. i An obvious misprint for mihi. 188 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL recorded in Thucydides, compliments his Countrymen with being all Politicians, Among us, says he, even the Mechanics are not inferior to the fellow Citizens in Political Knowledge* Yet in a Country where Socrates was put to Death, for attempting an Innovation in religious Matters, it is hard to believe that the Dregs of the People would have been per mitted to have questioned the very first Principles of all Religion with Impunity. And this Objection will, I apprehend, hold likewise against all other States, not only those which we call civilized, but even the Tartars, Goths, Vandals, and Picts, &c. from the Time they are recorded in History. None of these having been found without their Deities, and without a very strong Persuasion of the Truth of some Religion or other. And so far were they all from doubting whether Religion was of any Use, or as the Fragment hath it, youse to the Society, that they carried the Images of their Gods with them to War, and relied upon their Favours and Assistance for Success in all Affairs. To say the Truth, the only People now upon Earth, among whose Ancestors I can suppose such an Assembly to have been held, are the Inhabitants of a certain Tract of Land in Africa, bordering on the Cape of Good Hope, commonly known unto us by the Name of the HOTTENTOTS. I am, however, well aware that there are many Objections to this Opinion. First, that these Hottentots are supposed not to have any Knowledge of Religion at all, nor ever to have heard the Name of the Divinity; whereas it appears manifestly that the Robinhoodians had some kind of Religion even established in their Country, and that the name of G — was at least known among them. It is unnecessary to observe, likewise, that the Members of this Society had more of the Use of Letters, and were better skilled in the Rules of Oratory than the Hottentots can be conceived to have been: For as to the Speech of Mr. Mac * Thucyd. lib. ii. c. 40. Kai ergots irpbs epya rfrpa^voir /c.r.X. NUMBER NINE 189 Flourish, as well for the Matter as for the Eloquence of it, it might be spoken with great Applause in many of our politest Assemblies. Upon the whole, therefore, I must confess myself intirely at a Loss in forming any probable Conjecture as to what Part of the Earth these Robinhoodians inhabited; not being able to trace the least Footsteps of them in any History I have ever seen. As to the Time in which they flourished, the Fragment itself will lend us some little Assistance. It is dated 1 51; which Figures, I make no Doubt, should be all joined together, and then the only Doubt will be from what JEra this Reckoning begun. And here, I think, there can be no Doubt, but that the ^Era intended was that of the general Flood in the Time of Noah, and that the Robinhoodians were some Party of those People, who are said, after the Dispersion at Babel to have been scattered over the Face of the Earth. Those imperfect Notions of Religion which they appear to have entertained, admirably well agree with this Opinion : For it is very reasonable to suppose that such immediate Interpositions of Providence, or to speak more adequately such Denunciations of divine Vengeance, as were exemplified in the Deluge, and the Dispersion at Babel, could scarce be so immediately eradicated as not to leave some little Impres sion, some small Sparks of religious Veneration in the Grand children and Great-Grand-Children of those who had been Spectators of such dreadful Scenes; as, on the other Hand, both sacred and profane History assures us, that these Sparks were very faint, and not sufficient to kindle any true Devotion among them. Again, as the Fragment very plainly appears to have been translated by several Hands, so may we very reasonably infer that it was translated out of as many various Languages. Another Reason to fix the Date of this Assembly soon after the abovementioned Dispersion. Lastly, the Name of Robinhood puts the Matter beyond all 190 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Doubt or Question ; this Word being, as a learned Etymologist observed to me, clearly derived from the Tower of Babel : for first Robin and Bobin are allowed to be the same Word; the first Syllable then is Bob, change o into a, which is only a Metathesis of one Vowel for another, and you have Bab, then supply the Termination el instead of ing (for both are only Terminations) and you have clearly the Word Babel. As for the H in Hood, it is known to be no Letter at all, and therefore an Etymologist may there place what Letter he pleases, and why not a T as well as any other. Then change the final d into an r, and you have Toor, which hath a better Pretence, than the known Word Tor to signify Tower. — Thus, by a few inconsiderable Changes, the Robin-Hood and Babel- Tower, appear to be one and the same Word. Two Objections have been made to the great Antiquity of this Fragment; the first is, that Ireland is mentioned in it, which as Camden and others would make us believe, was not peopled till many Ages after the ^Era I have above men tioned: But these learned Men are certainly in a Mistake; for I am well assured that several Irish Beggars, whose Ancestors were dispossessed in the Wars of the last Century, are after having now in their Possession the Title-Deeds of their said Estates from long before the Times of Noah. The other Objection is, that the Dutch are likewise men tioned in the Fragment, a People, as they are generally supposed, of a much later Rise in the World than the Period of Time which I have endeavoured to assign to this Society. To this I answer, that tho' that Body of People, who threw off the Spanish Yoke in the Time of the Duke of Alva, are extremely modern, yet are the Dutch themselves of very great Antiquity, as hath been well proved by the learned GOROPIUS BE C ANUS from the History of Herodotus. That Historian tells us, that one of the Assyrian Kings being desirous to discover who were the most ancient People, confined two Children, a Boy and a Girl, till they were at the Age of Maturity, without suffering either of them to hear one articulate Sound; having determined, I know not for what NUMBER NINE 191 Reason, that whatever Language could claim their first Word, the People speaking that Language should be deemed the most ancient. The Word which was first pronounced by one of them was BEKER, which in the Phoenician Tongue signifies Bread: the Phoenicians were therefore concluded to have been the first Planters of Mankind. Under this Mistake the World continued many Ages, till at last the learned Goropius discovered that the Word BEKER, which in the Phoenician Tongue signifies Bread, did in the Dutch Language signify A BAKER, and that before Bread was a Baker was. Ergo, Etc. And here I cannot help observing, that this Quotation, as it proves the Antiquity of the Dutch, so it proves the great Antiquity of Bakers, to whose Honour we may likewise read in Diodorus, that Isis the Wife of Osyris was immortalized among the Egyptians, for having taught them the Art of Baking. Succeeding Ages being unwilling to ascribe so great an Honour to a Woman, transferred it from her to her Husband, and called him BACCHUS; or as it is more commonly by modern Authors writ, BAKKUS, and BAKUS, which being literally done into English by the Change of the Latin Termination, is BAKER. Indeed it is very reasonable to imagine that before the Invention of Cookery, the Bakers were held in the highest Honours, as the People derived from their Art the greatest Dainty of which their simple Taste gave them any Idea. And the great Esteem, in which Cookery is held now, may very well account for the Preference given to Bakers in those early Ages, when these were the only Cooks. But if none of these Reasons should be thought satisfactory, to fix, with any absolute Certainty, the exact -Slra of this Assembly, the following Conclusions must be, I think, allowed by every Reader. First, that some Religion had a kind of Establishment amongst these People. 192 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Secondly, That this Religion, whatever it was, could not have the least Sway over their Morals or Practice. Thirdly, That this Society, in which the first Principles of Eeligion and Government were debated, was the chief Assembly, in this Country, and Mr. Whitebread, the Baker, the greatest Man in it. And lastly, I think it can create no Manner of Surprize in any one, that such a Nation as this hath been long since swept away from the Face of the Earth, and the very Name of such a People expunged out of the Memory of Man. A. Proceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. COUNSELLOR TOWN moved for an Information, in the Nature of a Quo Warranto, to be exhibited against Mr. Mossop, the Player, to shew Cause by what Authority he takes upon himself the Stile, Title, and Dignity of Macbeth, Mr. Garrick, the only true and lawful Macbeth being at the same Time in full Life and Health. Ordered, That the said Mossop do shew Cause in this Paper on Tuesday next. The Court was then moved by an Irish Gentleman on Behalf of a vast Number of Practitioners of the Law, who do not at present practise the Law at all, that they might be admitted to plead before the Censor. And it was ordered accordingly. The Trial of B — T — , on the Statute of Dulness, was then brought on, when the said B — T — pleaded to the Juris diction of the Court; and set forth, that, being a lawful Subject of Grub-Street, she is not liable to be tried in this Court for any such Crime as Dulness. To this Plea there was a Demurrer, and a Day was given for the Argument of the same. This is a Cause of great Importance, and the Expectations of all Men are very much raised concerning the Event. (Adjourned.) NUMBER TEN 193 TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 4. 1752. Numb. 10. At nostri Proavi Plautinos et numeros, et Laudavere Sales, nimium patienter utrumque, Ne dicam Stulte, mirati. Hor. Modernized. In former Times this tasteless, silly Town Too fondly prais'd Tom D'Urfey and Tom Brown. THE present Age seems pretty well agreed in an Opinion, that the utmost Scope and End of Reading is Amusement only; and such, indeed, are now the fashionable Books, that a Reader can propose no more than mere Entertainment, and it is sometimes very well for him if he finds even this in his Studies. Letters, however, were surely intended for a much more noble and profitable Purpose than this. Writers are not, I presume, to be considered as mere Jack-Puddings, whose Business it is only to excite Laughter: This, indeed, may sometimes be intermixed, and served up, with graver Matters, in order to titilate the Palate, and to recommend wholesome Food to the Mind; and, for this Purpose, it hath been used by many excellent Authors: for why (as Horace says) should not any one promulgate Truth with a Smile on his Counte nance? Ridicule, indeed, as he again intimates, is commonly a stronger and letter Method of attacking Vice, than the severer kind of Satire. When Wit and Humour are introduced for such good Purposes, when the agreeable is blended with the useful, then is the Writer said to have succeeded in every Point. Pleas antry (as the ingenious Author of Clarissa says of a Story) should be made only the Vehicle of Instruction-, and thus Romances themselves, as well as Epic Poems, may become worthy the Perusal of the greatest of Men: But when no Moral, no Lesson, no Instruction is conveyed to the Reader, where the whole Design of the Composition is no more than 194 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL to make us laugh, the Writer comes very near to the Char acter of a Buffoon ; and his Admirers, if an old Latin proverb be true, deserve no great Compliments to be paid to their Wisdom. After what I have here advanced, I cannot fairly, I think, be represented as an Enemy to Laughter, or to all those Kinds of Writing that are apt to promote it. On the contrary, few Men, I believe, do more admire the Works of those great Masters who have sent their Satire (if I may use the Expression) laughing into the World. Such are that great Triumvirate, Lucian, Cervantes, and Swift. These Authors I shall ever hold in the highest Degree of Esteem ; not indeed for that Wit and Humour alone which they all so eminently possest, but because they all endeavoured, with the utmost I Force of their Wit and Humour, to expose and extirpate those Follies and Vices which chiefly prevailed in their several Countries. I would not be thought to confine Wit and Humour to these Writers. Shakespeare, Moliere, and some other Authors, have been blessed with the same Talents, and have employed them to the same Purposes. There are some, however, who tho' not void of these Talents have made so wretched a Use of them, that had the Consecration of their Labours been committed to the Hands of the Hangman, no good Man would have regretted their Loss : Nor am I afraid to mention Rabelais, and Aristophanes himself in this Number. For if I may speak my Opinion freely of these two last Writers, and of their Works, their Design appears to me very plainly to have been to ridicule all Sobriety, Modesty, Decency, Virtue and Religion, out of the World. Now whoever reads over the five great Writers first mentioned in this Paragraph, must either have a very bad Head, or a very bad Heart, if he doth not become both a wiser and a better Man. In the Exercise of the Mind, as well as in the Exercise of the Body, Diversion is a secondary Consideration, and designed only to make that agreeable, which is at the same Time useful, to such noble Purposes as Health and Wisdom. NUMBER TEN 195 But what should we say to a Man who mounted his Chamber Hobby, or fought with his own Shadow for his Amusement only? How much more absurd and weak would he appear, who swallowed Poison because it was sweet. How differently did Horace think of Study from our modern Readers. Quid verum atque decens euro et rogo, et omnis in hoc sum: Condo et compono, quae mox depromere possim. Truth and Decency are my whole Care and Enquiry. In this Study I am entirely occupied; these I am always laying up, and so disposing, that I can at any Time draw forth my Stores for my immediate Use. The whole Epistle indeed, from which I have paraphrased this Passage, is a Comment upon it, and affords many useful Lessons of Philosophy. When we are employed in reading a great and good Author, we ought to consider ourselves as searching after Treasures, which, if well and regularly laid up in the Mind, will be of use to us on sundry Occasions in our Lives. If a Man, for Instance, should be overloaded with Prosperity, or Adversity, (both of which Cases are liable to happen to us) who is there so very wise, or so very foolish, that, if he was a Master of Seneca and Plutarch, could not find great Matter of Comfort and Utility from their Doctrines? I mention these rather than Plato and Aristotle, as the Works of the latter, are not, I think, yet compleatly made English ; and, consequently, are less within the Reach of most of my Countrymen. But, perhaps, it may be asked, Will Seneca or Plutarch make us laugh ? Perhaps not ; but if you are not a Fool, my worthy Friend, which I can hardly with Civility suspect, they will both, (the latter especially) please you more than if they did. For my own Part, I declare, I have not read even Lucian himself with more Delight than I have Plutarch; but surely it is astonishing, that such Scriblers as Tom Brown, Tom D 'Urf y, and the Wits of our Age should find Readers, whilst the Writing of so excellent, so entertaining, and so voluminous an Author as Plutarch remain in the World, and, as I apprehend, are very little known. 196 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL The Truth I am afraid is, that real Taste is a Quality with which Human Nature is very slenderly gifted. It is indeed so very rare, and so little known, that scarce two Authors have agreed in their Notions of it; and those who have endeavoured to explain it to others, seem to have succeeded only in shewing us that they knew it not themselves. If I might be allowed to give my own Sentiments, I should derive it from a nice Harmony between the Imagination and the Judgment; and hence perhaps it is, that so few have ever possessed this Talent in any eminent Degree. Neither of these will alone bestow it; nothing is indeed more common than to see Men of very bright Imaginations, and of very accurate Learning (which can hardly be acquired without Judgment) who are entirely devoid of Taste; and Longinus, who of all Men seems most exquisitely to have possessed it, will puzzle his Reader very much if he should attempt to decide, whether Imagination or Judgment shine the brighter in that inimitable Critic. /""kilt as for the Bulk of Mankind, they are clearly void of / any Degree of Taste. It is a Quality in which they advance very little beyond a State of Infancy. The first Thing a Child is fond of in a Book, is a Picture ; the second is a Story ; \ and the third a Jest. Here then is the true Pons Asinorum, \which very few Readers ever get over. From what I have said, it may perhaps be thought to appear, that true Taste is the real Gift of Nature only; and if so, some may ask, To what Purpose have I endeavoured to show Men that they are without a Blessing, which it is impossible for them to attain? Now, tho' it is certain that to the highest Consummation of Taste, as well as of every other Excellence, Nature must lend much Assistance; yet great is the Power of Art almost of itself, or at best with only slender Aids from Nature ; and to say the Truth, there are very few who have not in their Minds some small Seeds of Taste. All Men (says Cicero) have a sort of tacit Sense of what is right or wrong in Arts and Sciences, even without the help of Arts. This surely it NUMBER TEN 197 is in the Power of Art very greatly to improve. That most Men therefore proceed no farther than as I have above declared, is owing either to the want of any, or (which is perhaps yet worse) to an improper Education. I shall, probably, therefore, in a future Paper, endeavour to lay down some Rules by which all Men may acquire, at least some Degree of Taste. In the mean while, I shall, (according to the Method observed in Innoculation) recom mend to my Readers, as a Preparative for their receiving my Instructions, a total Abstinence from all bad Books; I do therefore most earnestly intreat all my young Readers, that they would cautiously avoid the Persual of any modern Book till it hath first had the Sanction of some wise and learned Man ; and the same Caution I propose to all Fathers, Mothers, and Guardians. Evil Communications corrupt good Manners, is a Quotation of St. Paul from Menander. EVIL BOOKS CORRUPT AT ONCE BOTH OUR MANNERS AND OUR TASTE. C. Proceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. MR. Mossop appeared, according to Order, and shewed Cause by his Council, That Mr. Mossop is a young Actor of promising Abilities, and very desirous of meriting the Favour of the Public. That, in all his Attempts hitherto, he hath met with very kind Treatment, and much Encouragement from the Audience, which he presumes to derive from the extraor dinary Pains that he hath taken, and from his visible Endeavours to deserve their Applause. That he doth not presume in the Character of Macbeth to emulate the Perfections of Mr. Garrick; but that he humbly hopes he may be allowed equal to any other Actor in that Part ; a Praise which, if he obtains, it will be far from raising his Vanity to any immoderate Pitch. 198 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL That Mr. Garrick hath not given up the Part of Macbeth to Mr. Mossop, nor will the former appear the more seldom in that Character, because the latter is upon the Stage. That Mr. Garrick is not immortal, whatever his Fame may be ; and that, if no regard be had to the Succession of Actors, nor any Care taken to bring those forward into the principal Parts who shall discover the greatest theatrical Talents, the Stage will fall with himself; as was the Case when that famous Triumvirate, Booth, Wilks, and Gibber were in the Management; who, by discountenancing, and keeping back any Actor of apparent Genius, left such a Set of wretched Strolers behind them, at their Departure, that our dramatic Entertainments became contemptible; and had not a Genius of a surprizing Kind emerged all at once, one who was born both in a Sock, and a Buskin, the Theatre Royal was in Danger of sinking to Bartholomew-Fair. For these Reasons the Council concluded, that he hoped the Rule should be discharged. Mr. TOWN, who was on the other Side, said he had never any Intention to press this Matter far against Mr. Mossop; that his Clients considered him as a promising young Man, and very likely to make in Time a great Actor; and that he had already shewn uncommon Powers in the Character of Zanga; and as Mr. Garrick had declared that he did not intend to give up his great Parts, but that he had last Night appeared in that of Richard the Third, he had Instructions to give his Consent to the Discharge of the Rule. And the Rule was discharged accordingly. (Adjourned.) NUMBER ELEVEN 199 SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1752. Numb. 11. Si quid novisti rectius istis Candidus imperti. HOR. Anglice.1 // you know a better Way of providing for the Poor, Be pleased to tell it us. IN a former Paper I offered a Conjecture, that the Robin- hoodians must have been either the Hottentots themselves, or some such Sort of People, for which I there advanced several very plausible Reasons; the most forcible of which seems to be, That their Religion could not have the least Sway over their Morals or Practice. I will here add, in Support of my Opinion, that such a Religion befitted only a People who were not possessed of any Manner of Property. On the contrary, if we look into the D[o]ctrines and Tenets of that Institution which was accounted divine by our Ancestors, and sincerely believed at least, in this Coun[t]ry, we shall find it admirably calculated for the Preservation of Property; and most notably to correspond with the original Design of all Government, as we find this laid down by Thrasymachus in Plato's Dialogues de Republica. "Do you think," says Thrasymachus to Socrates, (just after he had told him that he wanted a Nurse to blow his Nose) "that "those Governors of Cities, who really understand their Art, * ' consider the People in any other Light than as their Cattle ? "Do they labour Night and Day with any other View than "to make their Subjects profitable to themselves?" Now what can more effectually establish this excellent and useful Doctrine, than that positive Assertion in the 6th Chap, of one St. Luke, 20th Verse, Blessed are the Poor, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.* If the Poor, * This is the Beading in Mills, and this is certainly the best. i The presence of this accent here and its omission in I. 133. 4, leave some doubt as to the intended usage. * . 200 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL or the People, (for in this Country the COI HOAAOI, and the €OI IITOXOI, are synonymous) could be once firmly per suaded that they had a Eight to the other World, they might surely be well contented to resign all Pretentious to this. Nay, the Rich might in that Case very fairly withhold every thing in this World from them: For it would be manifestly unjust that the Poor should enjoy both. Thus the two Worlds were equally divided ; and as the Rich could never be accused of making any, the least, Attempt on that which was allotted to the Poor, they had surely a very good Plea to keep their own to themselves, and not to suffer the Poor to make any Encroachments on them. And on this Principle alone that Position in our Law, that even Necessity itself is no Justification of Theft can be vindicated: For in this Instance the Roman or Civil Law, as we find in Grotius and Puffendorf, differs from us. Both these Writers do indeed hold, that the Rich have much the better Title to all the good Things of this World, an Opinion which I suppose they found on the Right of Possession; but they agree, however, that a poor Wretch, absolutely to prevent Starving, may innocently take a Loaf from his opulent Neighbor, which he hath neither the Heart to give, nor the Stomach to eat. But however wise, according to the Opinion before cited from Plato, our Law may here be, I much question whether it will not want the above Sanction of Religion to support it. Could any Thing therefore be so weak in our late Governors, as to have suffered a Sett of poor Fellows, who were just able to read and write, to inform their Brethren, that the Place which the Rich had allotted them was a mere Utopia, and an Estate, according to the usual Sense of the Phrase, in Nubibus only! Could the Poor become once unanimously persuaded of this, what should hinder them from an Attempt in which the Superiority of their Numbers might give them some Hopes of Success ; and when they have nothing real to risque in either World in the Trial? This is a Matter of very serious Consideration, and, as it NUMBER ELEVEN 201 seems of late to have employed most of our Projectors, I hope I shall be at Liberty to propose a Scheme, which I think would very effectually remove the Danger apprehended. I have not here Time to examine all the Plans of others; one however I cannot entirely pass over in Silence, as it somewhat resembles my own, and as I know so many good People who are pleased with it; and this is the Scheme of the late Dean Swift, to force our Poor to eat their own Children, as what would not only afford Provision for our present Poor, but prevent their Encrease. But with Submission, however proper and humane this Proposal might be in Ireland, I must observe it would be extremely cruel and severe here. For there the Children of the Poor being sustained for the most Part with Milk and Potatoes, must be very delicious Food; but here, as the Children of our Poor are little better than a Composition of Gin, to force their Parents to eat them, would in Reality be to force them to poison themselves. The Cruelty of which appears so monstrous at first Sight, that it need not be exaggerated. In Truth Religion here, as in many other Instances, will best do the Business of the Politician. As to the Restoration of the Christian Religion, tho' I must own the Expediency of it, could it be accomplished, I think it is a Matter of too much Difficulty. But perhaps another Religion may be found, which will equally answer the above Great Purpose of Government, and for which the People have not been lately inspired with any Contempt or Abhorrence; and which would have the Pleasure of Novelty to some, and of Antiquity to others to recommend it. Without further Preface then I shall propose the Restora tion of the antient Heathen Religion ; that Form of Worship I mean which was formerly practised among many Nations, nay even in this very Country, and that consisted in the Immolation of human Sacrifices. The great Usefulness of these Sacrifices to the Purpose here contended for may partly be presumed, if we consider their 202 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL true Original, of which the Learned have been hitherto so much puzzled to give an Account. The ingenious Abbe de Boissi imagines that the Heathen World derived this Practice from some incertain traditional Account of the intended Sacrifice of Isaac by his Father; a Conjecture which, while the Christian Religion nourished, might seem to have had some Weight; but at present it is unnecessary to advance any Argument to prove that a Custom could not have been derived from a Fact which is not believed to have had any Existence. In Truth, these Sacrifices were no other than an Invention of Politicians to secure the good Things of this World to themselves, and at the same Time to make a Legal Provision for the Poor. And this will more plainly appear, if we observe who were the Poor in the first Ages of the World. Now in those simple Times when Riches consisted only in Flocks and Herds, and when Kings themselves were little better than Shepherds, as the richest Men abounded only in the Necessaries of Life, so there were few or none who were left entirely destitute of them : For before the Introduction of Money, Men could not, as they do now, lock up thousands of Sheep and Oxen, and the Produce of a vast Number of Acres in a small Coffer ; and consequently, every Country was found sufficient for the Maintenance of its own Inhabitants. The Poor therefore among these People were of two Sorts only; namely adventitious Strangers, and Prisoners of War; and both these, as we learn from Diodorus Siculus, that great Penetrator into the Fogs of Antiquity, were by many Nations sacrificed to their Gods. Thus these Sacrifices were no other than an Invention of Politicians to provide for, or rather to remove those redundant Members in every Society, for which the better (that is the richer) Sort had no Manner of Use, and who were conse quently in the Language of the Law become chargeable. Now that the same laudable Means would produce the same desirable End is too plain to require any Proof. NUMBER ELEVEN 203 I am however aware of one Objection, which may be made to this Scheme by some few Persons, who will not be at the Pains to give it a thorough Examination ; and who, as Madam Dacier said of one of the Critics on Homer, find it more easy to cavil at an Author than to understand him. The Objection I would obviate is this; that my Scheme is rather too barbarous and inhuman. To this it might be sufficient to answer that it is for the Good of the Nation in general] that is to say, for the richer Part. But in Truth it is for the Advantage of the Poor them selves ; we may say indeed to these, as the Roman Soldier said to Nero, in the midst of his Distress, Usque adeone mori miserum estf Is there such a Coward in the World, as to think Death the most miserable of all Evils ? Do we not daily see Instances of Men in distressed Circumstances, that is to say, who cannot keep a Coach and Six, who fly to Death as to a Refuge? What must we think then of Wretches in a State of Hunger and Nakedness; without Bread to eat, without Clothes to cover them, without a Hut or Hovel to receive them? When Serenus was condemned to Death by the Senate of Rome, Gallus Asinius moved to mitigate the Sentence into Banishment; and proposed to send the Convict either to the island of Gyaros or Donusa; but Serenus despised the Alter native, as both Islands were destitute of Water; saying as Tacitus hath it, "Dandos vitas usus cui vita concederetur. " // you grant me my Life, give me also the Necessaries of it. Without these indeed Serenus well knew that the Favour pretended to be granted to him, was a mere Insult, and in Reality an Aggravation instead of a Mitigation of his former Sentence. In this Light, therefore, I shall be understood by my sen sible Reader; and instead of that Censure of Cruelty which hath been bestowed on Dr. Swift by some very ingenious and learned Critics for his abovementioned Proposal; it will be attributed to my Humane Disposition, that I have proposed 204 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL to lessen the Severity of that Death which is suffered by so many Persons, who in the most miserable lingering Manner do daily perish for Want in this Metropolis. A. Proceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. THE Court was moved against the following Advertise ment published on Wednesday last. (Taken from the Life by an ingenious Artist) A Whole Length PRINT of Miss MOLLY BLAND Y. Who, with her own and her Sweetheart's Contrivance, is charged with barbarously and inhumanly poisoning her own Father ; which cruel and horrid Act WAS perpetrated for his Estate. To which are annexed, Lines properly adapted to HER wicked Crime. Published as a Memento to Youth of either Sex. And the Court was of Opinion, that the said Advertisement was base and infamous. That such scandalous Methods tended to prepossess the Minds of Men, and might take away that Indifference with which Jurymen ought to come to the Trial of a Prisoner. That their own Passions are too apt to biass and prejudice Men in the Trial of very flagitious Offences; for the Mind being thoroughly heated with Detestation of an inhuman Crime, is prepared to receive every slight Impres sion against those who are accused of it, and the Weight of the Evidence is commonly enhanced by every Circumstance which enhances the Weight of the Crime: When to this Detestation we add Prejudice against the Accused, and Prepossession of their Guilt, all Hope is removed from a Defendant nothing indeed being more difficult than to acquit those whom we have once convicted in our own Hearts. That by the Law of England all Persons were presumed Miss MOLLY BLANDY NUMBER TWELVE 205 innocent, 'till found guilty by their Country ; but that here a Woman was adjudged guilty of the most enormous of all Crimes before Conviction. That she was here stigmatized, and hung up as an Example of the blackest Iniquity to others, at a Time when her Trial is near approaching. This, the Court said, was to hang first and try afterwards; and whereas the Council had urged, that here was no Malice, but only a Desire of getting a Penny, it was answered no more was there Malice generally in Highwaymen, Burglars, and other Rogues, who were nevertheless deservedly hanged; and that to get Money by picking Pockets was less atrocious, and by robbing on the Highway more honourable than to do it by such bad Methods as these. The Court then passed Sentence of Infamy not only against the ingenious Artist, but against all those who indulge a vain Curiosity, by encouraging such wicked and abominable Practices. The Argument in the Great Cause of the Censor, against B T , is appointed for Saturday next. On Tuesday the Court will sit on the Recommendatory Side, when all Booksellers are at Liberty to enter their Claims, and present their Books. (Adjourned.) TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 1752. Numb. 12. utcunque ferent ea facia Minores. VIRG. Why should we heed what after Times Think of our Follies or our Crimes f ''MOST of those Things (says the ingenious Doctor South) that have the mightiest and most controuling Influence upon the Affairs and Course of the World, are downright Lies. What is common Fame, which sounds from all Quarters of the World, and resounds back to them again, but generally a loud, rattling, impudent, overbearing Lye? 206 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL "What are most of the Histories of the World but Lies? i i Lies immortalized, and consigned over as a perpetual Abuse * ' and Flam upon Posterity ! ' ' There is, I am afraid, too much Justice in the Charge on History in general. Juvenal hath left this Stamp of False hood on the Greek Histories then extant, Quicquid Grcecia mendax Audet in Historia. And the same Character Pliny gives to the historical Writers in his own Language, "Minus profecto mirentur Graeciae "Mendacia, &c. qui cogitent nostros nuper paulo minus "monstrifica quaadam de iisdem tradidisse." We shall be less amazed at the monstrous Lies of the Greeks, (concerning the Gardens of the Hesperides, &c.) when we consider how little less monstrous are the Accounts of those Matters which we find in our own Tongue. Herodian, who sets out with lamenting the little Attention to Truth, which is commonly found in these Eecorders of Time, hath an Observation too pretty to be omitted. "The " Writer,1 says he, is more careful to embellish his work with "Propriety of Phrase, and Harmony of Stile, than with * ' Truth : For he considers that remote Posterity will be more "likely to admire the two former Excellencies, than to detect "his Want of the last." I do not however conclude that the Historian whenever (in the Language of the Hounhmms) he relates the Things which is not, intends himself to impose a Falsehood on his Reader. We frequently meet with Lies in History, when the Writer, I am convinced, did not deserve the opprobious Name of a Liar. Some Writers (I confess) are hardly entitled to this candid Interpretation; such are those Historians who relate False hoods as of their own Knowledge, and are not only the Recorders of a Lie, but the Witnesses of it; and those again whose Works contain scarce any Thing besides Lies, such 1 The customary punctuation is, as in other instances, lacking. NUMBER TWELVE 207 as Master Geoffry of Monmouth, and some others who may be fairly said to immortalize Lies, and to confirm them over as a perpetual Abuse and Flam upon Posterity. But if no Latitude should be given to Historians, I am afraid not only Matthew Paris, the best of our antient Annalists, but the valuable Remains of Livy, Tacitus, Suetonius, Dion Cassius, and, indeed almost every History, must be condemned to the Flames. The last of these whom I have mentioned tells us, I remember, a most notable Fact, (it may indeed be called a Hummer.) It is the Story of an Apparition in the Shape of Alexander the Great; who with four hundred attendant Spirits traversed great Part1 of Thrace to Byzantium, and then crossed the Water to Chalcedon, wh[e]re2 after some Time they all vanished. This Story he relates as a Fact which happened in his own Time, and which was (he says) attested by many thousand3 of Eye- Witnesses. In Reality, there are other Apologies for the Historian, besides the Allowances which we are to make for Superstition and Credulity. Nothing is so short lived as Truth, occasioned I suppose by her extreme Indolence and Sluggishness, which are so remarkable, that she never cares to wag out of her own House, not even to visit her next Door Neighbour. Physicians may on the contrary well account for the long Life of False hood, by the constant Exercise which she uses: for according to Virgil, Fama malum quo*' non aliud velocius ullum Habilitate viget, Viresq; acquirit eundo. Where Fama may very well be translated a Lie. 1 Henley emends this to great parts, but it would seem better to insert a before great. However, I leave the passage as it stands in the original, since it seems to be almost idiomatic; see I. 346. 25. 2 This is an obvious misprint for where. s On the basis of the usage in 210. 2, below, this was probably intended for thousands. 4 This form is incorrectly given for qua. Note the customary abbreviation in viresq; (viresque). 208 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL If we candidly consider therefore the Materials which the Historian is obliged to make use of, and the great Difficulty with which he can come at Truth, as a Lie is always ready to present itself to his Pen, we shall not always conclude that the Writer intended to impose a Falsehood on us, when we reject his Narrative as incredible. For my own Part, though I have not quite so much Faith at present, as I once had in the Casualties related by Sir Richard Baker, in that wonderful Chronicle which was the great Favourite of my Youth ; I do yet nevertheless acquit the Writer of any Design to impose on Posterity. And tho' my Faith is now somewhat staggered in attempting to believe that the Devil carried away half a Church, with many other such Miracles recorded by that great Writer, I am however well persuaded that they were firmly believed by the Writer himself. Without pursuing this Lucubration any farther, I will endeavour to illustrate what I have already said, by pre senting my Reader with the Specimen of a History of the present Age, which may probably be written many hundreds of Years hence, by some future Sir Richard Baker under his favourite Title of Casualties in the Reign of George the Second. Casualties happening in this Reign. Towards the Beginning of this Reign there flourished in some Part of Wales, a very extraordinary Woman who brought forth at one Birth nineteen Couple of Rabbets, one of which having been eaten by the Royal Society, and by them declared to have a most delicious Relish, the Breed was afterwards propagated all over the Kingdom of England, were called Welsh Rabbets, and were a long Time in great Request. About the same Time a Set of infernal Spirits appeared in London, and held a nocturnal Meeting under the Name of THE HELL-FIRE CLUB. One Prank of this Club is confirmed by so many Writers, that it would be ridiculous NUMBER TWELVE 209 Infidelity to deny our assent to it. This was the taking up the Theatre which then stood in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and carrying it on their Shoulders, together with all the Audience, into Covent Garden, where are still some Remains of that Theatre now to be seen. Here we are well assured that many Devils used frequently to appear during the Time of acting, and dance to divert the Company, 'till at last a most immense Dragon descended from above, and carried them all up to Hell. Several other very extraordinary Matters are reported in good Authors of this Club. Some of the Members, it is said, commenced Writers, and openly propagated Atheism, Deism, Immorality, Indecency, and all Kinds of Scurrility against the best and worthiest Men of those Times. It hath been greatly lamented by the Learned, that not the least Remains of these Works have come down to us, as this would have sufficiently silenced those Objections of some Critics; who would persuade us, in Opposition to the whole Current of Historical Evidence, that all which is related of this Club is a mere Fable, and the Invention of a certain Legend Writer in the twenty-third Century. The chief Argument which these Critics rest upon is this, that it is impossible to suppose a Nation arrived at such an enormous Degree of Corruption and Prostitution, to have existed even a few Years upon the Face of the Earth. And this, I confess, would have some W^eight, was it not overthrown by that Account of the thorough Reformation, which, accord ing to the best Chronologists, happened in the Year 1753, brought about by one General DRAWCANDSIR, who at the Head of a vast Army, set up his Standard in the Common Gardens, and with a certain Weapon called a Ridicule, or Ridicle, or as one conjectures a Wry-Sickle, brought the People by main Force to better Manners. But the most extraordinary Miracle of all that happened about this Time, and which indeed we should not have mentioned, had it not been so well attested by a great Number of Spectators, was this which follows. A certain Juggler 210 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL placed a common Quart-Bottle on a Table, on the Stage of a public Theatre, and in the Sight of several Hundreds of People, conveyed himself into the Bottle, where he remained a decent Time; after which he again returned out of his Place of Confinement, in the same Manner as he had gone into it. And what makes this the more remarkable, is that this Juggler was not of the smallest Size of Men, which would indeed have added great Credibility to the Story; but was a well proportioned and middle-sized Man. But strange as this Story may appear, it is extremely well attested; for it hath the Authority of a Fragment of undoubted Antiquity, in which the Author writes That he was himself one of the F — I — s* who were assemb to see the Perf — rm — nee. About this Time likewise we are assured, that a Set of Attorneys Clerks, Apprentices, Players, Fidlers, Taylors, Shoemakers, and other Mechanics, assembled themselves together to examine into the Truth of Religion. They met in a Place called ROBIN'S WOOD, and were, after several Skirmishes, all dispersed by General DRAWCANDSIR. In the Middle of the same Reign ; or somewhat sooner, two blazing Stars appeared, and shone all over London for the Space of a Year or more: They were esteemed the most beautiful Stars that ever enlightened the Sky, were called The Sisters, and were universally admired. They at last set in two great Houses, where they long shone as bright as they had shined in the Sky before: And the Owners of those Houses were envied by all Mankind. Now in all these Instances there appears a Mixture of Truth and Falsehood, such as was probably the Case with those Accounts of the first Ages that appear in profane History, in which none of the Fables were perhaps solely the Invention of the Writer, but were originally founded on some Matter of Fact; which is however so obscured and * The Original will be here imperfect. NUMBER TWELVE 211 metamorphosed in the Tradition, that the real Truth no more appears in the Fable, than the Seed is to be discovered in the Plant that is produced from it. I will conclude this Paper with a Story which was commu nicated to me by a noble Duke lately dead, and which from his Mouth I can attest to be a Fact. A certain Nobleman taking the Air one Day, on the Downs near Salisbury, saw among the Baras* there, one of a larger Size than the rest; This, said a Gentleman present, is I suppose the Dormitory of some Giant. The Nobleman, who was a great Lover of a Jest, took the Hint; and, when they returned home, immediately dispatched a Paragraph to be inserted in a particular News-Paper, which he knew was constantly taken in by a certain Virtuoso in that Country; in which Paragraph it was affirmed, 'That the Bones of a 'certain Giant, supposed to have been, when alive, near ten 'Foot high, were lately found in a Bara near Salisbury, and 'were then in the Possession of a certain Clergyman, who was 'mentioned by Name.' The Joke had its Effect with the Virtuoso, who immediately dispatched a Man and Horse for the Bones to the Clergyman, whose Patron he was; nor did it cease there, but the same silly Story was literally translated into French; and on the Authority of the News-Paper trans mitted to Posterity as a real Fact, in a very voluminous work in Folio soon after published in France. A. Proceedings at the Court of Censorial Enquiry, Etc. THIS Day the Court sate on the Recommendatory Side, and several Booksellers appeared, and very humbly presented their Books ; which were severally ordered to be read over and examined by the Commentator General. Complaint was made to the Court against several Print- * The Graves of those who were slain in the Wars of our Ancestors are so called in Saxon. 212 THE COVENT-GARDEN JOURNAL Sellers, for exposing in the Windows of their Shops, several lewd and indecent Prints, &c. And the following Letter was ordered to be read. To the Censor of Great Britain. 'SIR, 'THE Censure you have very justly passed on the Author 'of the Print of Miss BLANDY, is very much approved of, 'and 'tis hoped may have the Effect intended, to restrain 'such scandalous Liberties, so much of late taken. But it is ' hoped you will extend your Authority yet farther, and bring 'to Shame the Authors and Venders of those infamous 'Prints, exhibited in almost every Print-Shop in London, 'representing Lewdness in every Shape in its proper Colours. 'This Offence, for such I must term it, calls aloud for 'Redress; whether it be cognizable by the Civil Magistrate, 'I know not; but I am sure it properly is by you as Censor- ' General, and therefore have no Doubt but at your next ' Court you will take this Matter into Consideration, and pass ' such Judgment on the Offenders, as shall make them ashamed 'of getting a Livelihood by these scandalous Methods. There 'are two Prints of this Sort lately come out, which exceed 'all the rest, and are to be seen in Fleet-Street, very finely 'coloured. This evidently shews the Necessity there is of 'stopping their Progress, else we may soon expect to see the 'most obscene Practices of Brothels exposed to public View, 'for the Edification of all young Men and Maids. 'Your Well-wisher and 'Humble Servant, 'MODESTY." Ordered, that, as this is an Offence, contra bonos mores, the Suppression of the same be recommended to the Magistrates of London, Middlesex and Westminster. (Adjourned.)