Note 8 — William Hogarth: PAINTER, ENGRAVER, AND PHILOSOPHER. Essays on the Man, the Work, and the Time.
Reading edition
Did the poet Thomson, the kind-hearted, tender, pure-minded man, belong to the “mobbish confederation?” Hear him in the Seasons, in compliment to the commissioners for inquiring into the state of the gaols:—
“Where sickness pines, where thirst and hunger burn, Ye sons of mercy, yet resume the search; Drag forth the legal monsters into light! Wrench from their hands oppression’s iron rod, And make the cruel feel the pains they give.”
It is slightly consolatory to be told by antiquary Oldys, that Bambridge cut his throat in 1749; but the ruffian should properly have swung as high as Haman.