Hogarth: His Life, Art, and Times

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oad daylight of Finchley; the interrelation of the three lighted groups at right, left, and center; the same unfurled flag rising near the center background; and, above all, the s-shaped movement, forward and back, of the various groups of figures. To draw any valid conclusions about inspiration or influence, one would have to establish whether Hogarth had access to either the original or a copy. 44 But the analogy at least points to the essentially Rembrandtesque solu- tion employed by Hogarth. If such a connection is not fanciful, it would be neither the first nor the last time that Hogarth turned to Rembrandt. The General Advertiser for 23 April added further information on the subscription: it would end on the thirtieth and, as to the painting: "In the Sub- scription-Book are the Particulars of a Proposal whereby each Subscriber of 3s. over and above the said 7s. 6d. for the Print, will, in consideration thereof, be entitled to a Chance of having the original Picture, which shall be deliver'd to the winning Subscriber as soon as the Engraving is finish'd." A few days later Hogarth announced that on Monday, 30 April, at 2 P.M. the box would be opened and the drawing made. The London Evening Post for 28 April to 1 May reported: Yesterday Mr. Hogarth's Subscription was closed, 1843 Chances being subscribed for. The remaining Numbers from 1843 to 2000 were given by Mr. Hogarth to the Hospital for the Maintenance and Education of ex- posed and deserted young Children. At Two o'clock the Box was open'd, in the Presence of a great Number of Persons of Distinction, and the fortunate Chance was drawn, No. 1941, which belongs to the said Hospital; and the same Night Mr. Hogarth deliver'd the Picture to the Governors. His Grace the Duke of Ancaster offer'd them 200 1. for it before it was taken away, but it was refus'd. 45 Judging by this report, Hogarth, though he had originally announced that he would keep the picture till the print was finished, evidently changed his mind- no doubt to take advantage of the publicity while it was still in the public mind and to get the picture up where it could be seen. This gesture could not, of course, stimulate subscribers, but it could advertise his comic history painting and lure people who had not subscribed to buy the plate once it was out. Ho- garth himself explained later that it was "disposd of by lot (the only way a living Painter has any probability of being tolerably paid for his time)"; he remem- bered it as bringing him £300. The whole subscription must have earned him £920 and, counting only the 3s addendum for the lottery, the painting alone brought £276. 46 Vertue's comments on the subscription and disposal of The March to Finch- ley may have been symptomatic. After explaining the terms of the auction, he notes that faced with the choice everyone naturally 93
94 rather subscribed half a guinea than 3 half Crowns; by which means he gatherd about 1800 for Ticketts subscription before hand—thus cunning & skill joynd to gether. changes the proverb, (say well is good, do well is better.)—for here in this case he valud the painting at 200 pounds its said— a great unbounded price, however, by this means, he raised 900 hundred pounds, and still has the Engraved plate to dispose of prints at half guineas more— therefore, it may well be said, do well is good, but say well is better) such fortunate successes are the effect of cunning artfull contrivances, which men of much greater merritt, coud never Get or expect— 47 At the annual Court of Governors of the Foundling Hospital on 9 May, with Hogarth (and, of the artists, Pine and Zincke) present: The Treasurer acquainted the General Court, that M r Hogarth had pre- sented the Hospital with the remainder of the Tickets M r Hogarth had left, for the Chance of the Picture he had painted, of the March to Finchley in the time of the late Rebellion; and that the fortunate Number for the said Picture being among those Tickets, the Hospital had received the said Picture. Resolved That the thanks of this General Court be given to M r Hogarth, for the said Benefaction; which the Vice-President accordingly did. This was the first meeting he had attended since he put through the resolution about engraved copies of the history paintings donated to the Hospital. He did not attend another until October 1754. But it must have been with some satis- faction that he attended this meeting. He had now placed on public display one work "in each of the styles of painting which he had attempted" and which he could claim as his own. 48 That summer or fall Rouquet wrote his account of The March to Finchley as an addendum to his Lettres de M. * *. This seven-page pamphlet, which was bound in with the Lettres, can be dated only roughly: it obviously postdates February 1749 when Tom Jones was published, because it makes reference to that novel, and antedates January 1750/1, because Rouquet apologizes for describing the painting before the print was made, using his correspondent's impatience as his excuse. More probably, he had to leave for France himself. Hogarth had Luke Sullivan, a talented young engraver who may have worked his way up in Hogarth's shop, make a carefully detailed drawing—and I think it likely that he himself drew the heads (as usual, for expression). 49 The painting presumably remained with Hogarth, however, until Sullivan was finished. Finally, in the London Evening Post (which throughout advertises and reports Hogarth's progresses, although it appears itself as a Jacobite periodical in Finchley) of 29 December—1 January 1750/1 the print was announced as ready
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Page 17 and 18: 72 two plates of The Four Times of
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Hogarth: His Life, Art, and Times

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