Note 164 — HOGARTH ILLUSTRATED. (continued 3)

Much wretched writing, in both verse and prose, concerning this contest between the pencil and the pen, was inserted in the prints of the day. The following explanation, indifferent as it may be thought, is the best I happen to have seen:—

"The bear with a tattered band represents the former strength and abilities of Mr. Hogarth; the full pot of beer likewise shows that he was in a land of plenty. The stump of a headless tree, with the notches, and on it written 'Lie,' signifies Mr. Hogarth's former art, and the many productions thereof, wherein he has excelled even nature itself, and which of course must be but lies, flattery, and fallacy, the painter's prerogative; and the stump of a tree only being left, shows that there can be no more fruit expected from thence, but that it only stands as a record of his former services. The butcher's dog trampling on Mr. Churchill's Epistle alludes to the present state of Mr. Hogarth, who is now reduced from the strength of a bear to a blind butcher's dog, not able to distinguish, but degrading, his best friends; or perhaps giving the public a hint to read that Epistle, where his case is more fully laid before them. The next matter to be explained is the subscription-box, and under it is a book said to contain A List of Subscribers to the North Briton, as well as one of A New Way to Pay Old Debts. Mr. Hogarth mentioned the North Briton to avoid the censure of the rabble in the street, who he knew would neither pity nor relieve him; and as Mr. Churchill was reputed to be the writer of that paper, it would seem to give a colour in their eyes of its being intended against Mr. Churchill. Mr. Hogarth meant only to show his necessity, and that a book entitled A List of Subscribers to the North Briton contained in fact a list of those who should contribute to the support of Mr. Hogarth in old age. By the book entitled A New Way to Pay Old Debts, he can only mean this, that when a man is become disabled to get his livelihood and much in debt, the only shift he has left is to go a-begging to his creditors.

"There are likewise in this print some of his old tools, without any hand to use them."