HENRY FIELDING

_A MEMOIR_INCLUDING NEWLY DISCOVERED LETTERSAND RECORDS WITH ILLUSTRATIONSFROM CONTEMPORARY PRINTS

BY

G. M. GODDEN

"I am a man myself, and my heart is interested in whatever can befall therest of mankind. "

JOSEPH ANDREWS. 

PREFACE

New material alone could justify any attempt to supplement the _Fielding_of Mr Austin Dobson. Such material has now come to light, and togetherwith reliable facts collected by previous biographers, forms the subjectmatter of the present volume. As these pages are concerned with Fieldingthe man, and not only with Fielding the most original if not the greatestof English novelists, literary criticism has been avoided; but allincidents, disclosed by hitherto unpublished documents, or found hidden inthe columns of contemporary newspapers, which add to our knowledge ofFielding's personality, have been given. 

The new material includes records of Fielding's childhood; documentsconcerning his estate in Dorsetshire; the date and place, hithertoundiscovered, of that central event in his life, the death of his belovedwife, whose memorial was to be the imperishable figure of "SophiaWestern"; letters, now first published, adding to our knowledge of hisenergies in social and legislative reform, and of the circumstances of hislife; many extracts from the columns of the daily press of the period;notices, hitherto overlooked, from his contemporaries; and details fromthe unexplored archives of the Middlesex Records concerning his strenuouswork as a London magistrate. The few letters by Fielding already known toexist have been doubled in number; and a reason for the extraordinaryrarity of these letters has been found in the unfortunate destruction, many years ago, of much of his correspondence. The charm of the oneintimate letter that we possess from the pen of the 'Father of the EnglishNovel, ' that written to his brother John, during the voyage to Lisbon, enhances regret at the loss of these letters. 

Among the contemporary prints now first reproduced that entitled the_Conjurors_ is of special interest, as being the only sketch of Fielding, drawn during his lifetime, known to exist. Rough as it is, thecharacteristic figure of the man, as described by his contemporaries anddrawn from memory in Hogarth's familiar plate, is perfectly apparent. Thesame characteristics may be distinguished in a small figure of thenovelist introduced into the still earlier political cartoon, entitled the_Funeral of Faction_. 

Such in brief are the reasons for the existence of this volume. It remainsto express my warmest acknowledgment of Mr Austin Dobson's unfailingcounsel and assistance. My thanks are also due to Mr Ernest Fielding forpermission to reproduce the miniature which appears as the frontispiece;to Mr Aubrey Court, of the House of Lords; to Mr E. S. W. Hart, for hishelp throughout the necessary researches among the Middlesex Records; toMrs Deane of Gillingham; and to Mr Frederick Shum of Bath. And I amindebted to Mr Sidney Colvin, Keeper of the Department of Prints andDrawings in the British Museum, in regard to almost every one of thethirty-two rare prints and cartoons now reproduced. 

G. M. GODDEN. 

_October_ 26, 1909. 

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

YOUTH

CHAPTER II

PLAY-HOUSE BARD

CHAPTER III

MARRIAGE

CHAPTER IV

POLITICAL PLAYS

CHAPTER V

HOMESPUN DRAMA

CHAPTER VI

BAR STUDENT--JOURNALIST

CHAPTER VII

COUNSELLOR FIELDING

CHAPTER VIII

_Joseph Andrews_

CHAPTER IX

THE _Miscellanies_ AND _Jonathan Wild_

CHAPTER X

PATRIOTIC JOURNALISM

CHAPTER XI

_Tom Jones_

CHAPTER XII

MR JUSTICE FIELDING

CHAPTER XIII

FIELDING AND LEGISLATION

CHAPTER XIV

_Amelia_

CHAPTER XV

JOURNALIST AND MAGISTRATE

CHAPTER XVI

POOR LAW REFORM

CHAPTER XVII

VOYAGE TO LISBON--DEATH

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS_From photographs by Marie Léon_. 

Henry Fielding_From a miniature now in the possession of Mr Ernest Fielding. _

Sharpham House, showing the room in which Fielding was born_from a print published in 1826_. 

Sir Henry Gould_From a mezzotint by J. Hardy_. 

Eton--1742_From an engraving of a drawing by Cozens_. 

Anne Oldfield_From a mezzotint of a painting by J. Richardson_. 

Leyden--1727_From an engraving of a drawing by C. Pronk_. 

Kitty Clive as Philida_From a mezzotint of a painting by Veter van Bleeck, junr. 1735. _

Frontispiece to Fielding's "Tom Thumb"_By Hogarth_. 

The Close, Salisbury--1798_From an acquatint of a drawing by E. Dayes_. 

Charlcombe Church, near Bath_From an engraving of a drawing made in 1784_. 

Fielding's house, East Stour, Dorsetshire_From a print published in Hutchins' "History of Dorsetshire, " 1813_. 

Sir Robert Walpole--1740_From a contemporary cartoon_. 

"Pasquin"_From a cartoon depicting a scene in "Pasquin" in which Harlequinades, etc. , triumph aver legitimate drama. Pope is leaving a box. The Signature"W. Hogarth" is doubtful_. 

Cartoon celebrating the success of "Pasquin"_From a contemporary cartoon showing Fielding, supported byShakespeare, receiving an ample reward, while to Harlequin and his otheropponents is accorded a halter_. 

The Little Theatre in the Haymarket_From an engraving by Dale, showing the demolition of the LittleTheatre in 1821_. 

The Green Room, Drury Lane_From the painting by Hogarth, in the possession of Sir EdwardTennant_. 

The Temple--1738_From an engraving of a drawing by J. Nicholas_. 

Henry Fielding holding the Banner of the "Champion" newspaper_From a contemporary cartoon showing Sir Robert Walpole laughing at the"Funeral" of an Opposition Motion in Parliament_. 

Cartoon showing Fielding, in Wig and Gown, as a supporter of theOpposition_From a print of 1741_. 

Henry Fielding reading at the Bedford Arms_From the frontispiece to Sir John Fielding's "Jests. "_

Assignment for "Joseph Andrews"_From the autograph now in the South Kensington Museum_. 

Beaufort Buildings, Strand, in 1725_From a watercolour drawing by Paul Sandby, 1725_. 

Prior Park, near Bath, the seat of Ralph Allen, 1750_From an engraving of a contemporary drawing_. 

George, First Baron Lyttelton_From a portrait by an unknown artist_. 

Theatre Ticket for Fielding's "Mock Doctor"_The signature "W. Hogarth" is doubtful_. 

Lady Mary Wortley Montagu--1710_From an engraving by Caroline Watson, from a miniature in thepossession of the Marquis of Bute_. 

The Bow Street Police Court, Sir John Fielding presiding_From the "Newgate Calendar"_, 1795. 

Edward Moore_From a frontispiece in Chalmers' "British Essayists"_ 1817. 

Sir John Fielding_From a mezzotint of a painting by Nathaniel Hone, R. A. _

Ralph Allen_From a chalk drawing by W. Hoare, R. A. _

Henry Fielding_From an engraving of a pen and ink sketch, made by Hogarth afterFielding's death_. 

Henry Fielding, defending Betty Canning from her accusers, the LordMayor, Dr Hill, and the Gipsy_From a contemporary print, now first reproduced, and the only knownsketch of Fielding made during his lifetime_. 

Justice Saunders Welch_From an engraving of a sketch by Hogarth_. 

Ryde--1795_From an engraving of a drawing by Charles Tomkins_. 

Lisbon--1793_From a mezzotint of a drawing by Noel_. 

The design on the cover is a copy, slightly enlarged, of an impression ofFielding's seal, attached to an autograph letter in the British Museum. 

HENRY FIELDING

CHAPTER I

YOUTH

 "I shall always be so great a pedant as to call a man of no learning a man of no education. "--_Amelia_. 

Henry Fielding was born at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury, on the 22ndof April 1707. His birth-room, a room known as the Harlequin Chamber, looked out over the roof of a building which once was the private chapelof the abbots of Glastonbury; for Sharpham Park possessed no meanhistory. Built in the sixteenth century by that distinguished prelate, scholar, and courtier Abbot Richard Beere, the house had boasted itschapel, hall, parlour, chambers, storehouses and offices; its fishpondsand orchards; and a park in which might be kept some four hundred head ofdeer. It was in this fair demesne that the aged, pious, and benevolentAbbot Whiting, Abbot Richard's successor, was seized by the king'scommissioners, and summarily hung, drawn, and quartered on the top of theneighbouring Tor Hill. Sharpham thereupon "devolved" upon the crown; butthe old house remained, standing in peaceful seclusion where the pleasantslope of Polden Hill overlooks the Somersetshire moors, till the birth ofthe 'father of the English Novel' brought a lasting distinction to thedomestic buildings of Abbot Beere. In the accompanying print, publishedin 1826, the little window of the Harlequin Chamber may be seen, abovethe low roofs of the abbots' chapel. 

That Henry Fielding should have been born among buildings raised byBenedictine hands is not incongruous; for no man ever more heartilypreached and practised the virtue of open-handed charity; none was moreready to scourge the vices of arrogance, cruelty and avarice; no Englishnovelist has left us brighter pictures of innocence and goodness. And itwas surely a happy stroke of that capricious Fortune to whom Fielding sooften refers, to allot a Harlequin Chamber for the birth of the author ofnineteen comedies; and yet more appropriate to the robust genius of theComic Epic was the accident that placed on the wall, beneath the windowof his birth-room, a jovial jest in stone. For here somesixteenth-century humorist had displayed the arms of Abbot Beere in theform of a convivial rebus or riddle--to wit, a cross and two beer flagons. 

Soon after the Civil Wars, Sharpham passed into the hands of the'respectable family' of Gould. By the Goulds the house was considerablyenlarged; and, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, was in thepossession of a distinguished member of the family, Sir Henry Gould, Knight, and Judge of the King's Bench. Sir Henry had but two children, ason Davidge Gould, and a daughter Sarah. This only daughter married awell-born young soldier, the Hon. Edmund Fielding; a marriage which, according to family assertions, was without the consent of her parents and"contrary to their good likeing. " [1] And it was in the old home of theSomersetshire Goulds that the eldest son of this marriage, Henry Fielding, was born. 

Thus on the side of his mother, Sarah Gould, Fielding belonged to justthat class of well-established country squires whom later he was toimmortalise in the beautiful and benevolent figure of Squire Allworthy, and in the boisterous, brutal, honest Western. And the description ofSquire Allworthy's "venerable" house, with its air of grandeur "thatstruck you with awe, " its position on the sheltered slope of a hillenjoying "a most charming prospect of the valley beneath, " itssurroundings of a wild and beautiful park, well-watered meadows fed withsheep, the ivy-grown ruins of an old abbey, and far-off hills and sea, preserves, doubtless, the features of the ancient and stately domainowned by the novelist's grandfather. 

If it was to the 'respectable' Goulds that Fielding owed many of hisrural and administrative characteristics, such as that practical zeal andability which made him so excellent a magistrate, it is in the family ofhis father that we find indications of those especial qualities ofvigour, of courage, of the generous and tolerant outlook of the well-bornman of the world, that characterise Henry Fielding. And it is also inthese Fielding ancestors that something of the reputed wildness of theirbrilliant kinsman may be detected. 

For in her wilful choice of Edmund Fielding for a husband, Sir HenryGould's only daughter brought, assuredly, a disturbing element into thequiet Somersetshire home. The young man was of distinguished birth, evenif he was not, as once asserted, of the blood royal of the Hapsburgs. [2] His ancestor, Sir John Fielding, had received a knighthood for braveryin the French wars of the fourteenth century. A Sir Everard Fielding led aLancastrian army during the Wars of the Roses. Sir William, created Earlof Denbigh, fell fighting for the king in the Civil Wars, where, saysClarendon, "he engaged with singular courage in all enterprises ofdanger"; a phrase which recalls the description of Henry Fielding "thatdifficulties only roused him to struggle through them with a peculiarspirit and magnanimity. " Lord Denbigh fell, covered with wounds, whenfighting as a volunteer in Prince Rupert's troop; while his eldest son, Basil, then a mere youth, fought as hotly for the Parliament. LordDenbigh's second son, who like his father was a devoted loyalist, receiveda peerage, being created Earl of Desmond; and two of his sons figure in awild and tragic story preserved by Pepys. "In our street, " says theDiarist, writing in 1667, "at the Three Tuns Tavern I find a great hubbub;and what was it but two brothers had fallen out and one killed the other. And who s'd. They be but the two Fieldings; one whereof, Bazill, was pageto my Lady Sandwich; and he hath killed the other, himself being verydrunk, and so is sent to Newgate. " It was a brother of these unhappyyouths, John Fielding, a royal chaplain and Canon of Salisbury, who by hismarriage with a Somersetshire lady, became father of Edmund Fielding. 

Such was Henry Fielding's ancestry, and it cannot be too much insisted onthat, throughout all the vicissitudes of his life, he was ever a man ofbreeding, no less than a man of wit. "His manners were so gentlemanly, "said his friend Mrs Hussey, "that even with the lower classes with whichhe frequently condescended to chat, such as Sir Roger de Coverley's oldfriends, the Vauxhall watermen, they seldom outstepped the limits ofpropriety. " And a similar recognition comes from the hand of a great, andnot too friendly, critic. To "the very last days of his life, " wroteThackeray, "he retained a grandeur of air, and although worn down bydisease his aspect and presence imposed respect on the people around him. "

This Denbigh ancestry recalls a pleasant example of Fielding's wit, preserved in a story told by his son, and recorded in the pages of thatvoluminous eighteenth-century anecdotist, John Nichols. "Henry Fielding, "says Nichols, "being once in company with the Earl of Denbigh, and theconversation's turning on Fielding's being of the Denbigh family, theEarl asked the reason why they spelt their names differently; the Earl'sfamily doing it with the E first (Feilding), and Mr Henry Fielding withthe I first (Fielding). 'I cannot tell, my Lord, ' answered Harry, 'exceptit be that my branch of the family were the first that knew how tospell. '"

In accordance with the fighting traditions of his race, Edmund Fieldingwent into the army; his name appearing as an ensign in the 1st FootGuards. Also, as became a Fielding, he distinguished himself, we aretold, in the "Wars against France with much Bravery and Reputation"; andit was probably owing to active service abroad that the birth of hiseldest son took place in his wife's old Somersetshire home. The date fitsin well enough with the campaigns of Ramilies, Oudennarde and Malplaquet. Soon after Henry's birth, however, his father had doubtless left the LowCountries, for, about 1709, he appears as purchasing the colonelcy of anIrish Regiment. This regiment was ordered, in 1710, to Spain; but beforethat year the colonel and his wife and son had a separate home providedfor them, by the care of Sir Henry Gould. At what precise date isuncertain, but some time before 1710, Sir Henry had purchased an estateat East Stour in Dorsetshire, consisting of farms and lands of the valueof £4750, intending to settle some or the whole of the same on hisdaughter and her children. And already, according to a statement by thecolonel, the old judge had placed his son-in-law in possession of some orall of this purchase, sending him oxen to plough his ground, andpromising him a "Dairye of Cows. " Sir Henry moreover had, said hisson-in-law, declared his intention "to spend the vacant Remainder of hislife, " sometimes with his daughter, her husband, and children at Stour, and sometimes with his son Davidge, presumably at Sharpham. But in March, 1710, Sir Henry's death frustrated his planned retirement in the Vale ofStour; although three years later, in 1713, his intentions regarding aDorsetshire home for his daughter were carried out by the conveyance toher [3] and her children of the Stour estate, for her sole enjoyment. Thelegal documents are careful to recite that the rents and profits should bepaid to Mrs Fielding or her children, and her receipt given, and that thesaid Edmund "should have nothing to do nor intermeddle therewith. "

In this settlement of the East Stour farms, to the greater part of whichHenry Fielding, then six years old, would be joint heir with his sisters, Colonel Fielding himself seems to have had to pay no less than £1750, receiving therefor "a portion of the said lands. " So by 1713 both EdmundFielding and his wife were settled, as no inconsiderable landowners, among the pleasant meadows of Stour; and there for the next five yearsHenry's early childhood was passed. Indeed, Mrs Fielding must have beenat Stour when her eldest son was but three years old, for the baptism ofa daughter, Sarah, appears in the Stour registers in November 1710. Thisentry is followed by the baptism of Anne in 1713, of Beatrice in 1714, ofEdmund in 1716, and by the death of Anne in the last-named year, Henrybeing then nine years old. 

According to Arthur Murphy, Fielding's earliest and too often inaccuratebiographer, the boy received "the first rudiments of his education athome, under the care of the Revd. Mr Oliver. " Mr Oliver was the curate ofMotcombe, a neighbouring village; and we have the authority of Murphy andof Hutchins, the historian of Dorset, for finding 'a very humorous andstriking portrait' of this pedagogue in the Rev. Mr Trulliber, thepig-breeding parson of _Joseph Andrews_. If this be so, Harry Fielding'sfirst tutor at Stour was of a figure eminently calculated to foster thecomic genius of his pupil. "He" (Trulliber), wrote that pupil, some thirtyyears later, "was indeed one of the largest Men you should see, and couldhave acted the part of Sir _John Falstaff_ without stuffing. Add to this, that the Rotundity of his Belly was considerably increased by theshortness of his Stature, his shadow ascending very near as far in heightwhen he lay on his Back, as when he stood on his Legs. His Voice was loudand hoarse, and his Accents extremely broad; to complete the whole he hada Stateliness in his Gait when he walked, not unlike that of a Goose, onlyhe stalked slower. " It appears that the widow of the Motcombe curatedenied the alleged portrait; but the house where Mr Oliver lived, "seemedto accord with Fielding's description . .. And an old woman who rememberedhim observed that 'he dearly loved a bit of good victuals, and a drop ofdrink. '" Bearing in mind the great novelist's own earnest declaration thathe painted "not men but manners, " we may fairly assume that hisDorsetshire tutor belonged to that class of coarse farmer-parson so justlysatirised in the person of Trulliber. According to another sketch ofFielding's life, his early education was also directed by the rector ofStour Provost, "his Parson Adams. " [4]

While Harry Fielding was thus learning his first rudiments, his father, the colonel, seems to have been engaged in less useful pursuits inLondon. The nature of these pursuits appears from a _Bill of Complaint_, which by a happy chance has been preserved, between "Edmund Fielding ofEast Stour, Dorsetshire, " and one Robert Midford, pretending to be acaptain of the army. In this _Bill_ [5] the said Edmund declares that in1716, being then resident in London, he often frequented PrincesCoffee-house in the Parish of St James. At Princes he found his companysought by the reputed Captain Robert Midford, who "prevailed upon him toplay a game called 'Faro' for a small matter of diversion, but by degreesdrew him on to play for larger sums, and by secret and fraudulent meansobtained very large sums, in particular notes and bonds for £500. "Further, the colonel entered into a bond of £200 to one Mrs BarbaraMidford, "sister or pretended sister of the said Robert"; and so finallywas threatened with outlawry by 'Captain' Midford for, presumably, paymentof these debts. How Colonel Edmund finally escaped from the clutches ofthese rogues does not appear; but it is clear enough that his Dorsetshiremeadows were a safer place than Princes Coffee-house for a gentleman whocould lose £500 at faro to a masquerading army captain. Also Sir HenryGould's wisdom becomes apparent, in bequeathing his daughter aninheritance with which her husband was to have "nothing to doe. "

In 1718, two years after Colonel Fielding's experience at Princes, MrsFielding died, leaving six young children to her husband's care, two sonsand four daughters, Henry, the eldest being but eleven years old. Herdeath is recorded in the East Stour registers as follows:--"Sarah, Wifeof the Hon. Edmund Fielding Esqre. And daughter of Sir Henry Gould Kt. April 18 1718. "

About this time (the dates vary between 1716 and 1719) Edmund Fieldingwas appointed Colonel of the Invalids, an appointment which he appears tohave held until his death. And within two years of the death of his firstwife, Colonel Fielding must have married again, for in 1720 we find himand his then wife, _Anne_, selling some 153 acres with messuages, barns and gardens, in East and West Stour, to one Awnsham Churchill, Esquire. What relation, if any, this land had to the property of thecolonel's late wife and her children does not appear. 

Some time in 1719, the year after his mother's death, or early in 1720, Henry was sent to Eton, as appears from his father's statement, made inFebruary 1721, that his eldest son "who is now upwards of thirteen yearesold is and for more than a yeare last past hath been maintained . .. AtEaton schoole, the yearely expence whereof costs . .. Upwards of £60. " Andthe boy must have been well away from the atmosphere of his home, inthese first years after his mother's death, if the allegations of hisgrandmother, old Lady Gould, may be believed. 

These hitherto unknown records of Henry Fielding's boyhood are to befound in the proceedings of a Chancery suit begun by Lady Gould, onbehalf of her six grandchildren, Henry, Edmund, [6] Katherine, Ursula, Sarah and Beatrice, three years after the death of their mother--namely, on the 10th of February 1721, and instituted in the name of Henry Fieldingas complainant. Lady Gould opens her grandchildren's case with acomprehensive indictment of her son-in-law. After reciting that herdaughter Sarah had married Edmund Fielding "without the consent of herFather or Mother and contrary to their good likeing, " Lady Gould mentionsher husband's bequest to their daughter, Sarah Fielding, of £3000 in trustto be laid out in the purchase of lands for the benefit of her and herchildren "with direction that the said Edmund Fielding should have nothingto do nor intermeddle therewith. " And how Sir Henry did in his lifetimepurchase "Eastover" estate for his daughter, but died before the trust wascompleted; and that in 1713 his trustees, Edmund Fielding consenting, settled the said estate upon trust for Sarah Fielding and her childrenafter her, the rents and profits to be paid for her, and acknowledged byher receipt "without her Husband. " And that if Sarah Fielding diedintestate the estate be divided among her children. The bill then showsthat Sarah Fielding did die intestate; and that then Henry and his sistersand brother "being all Infants of tender years and uncapable of managingtheir own affairs and to take Care thereof, well hoped that . .. TheirTrustees would have taken Care to receive the Rents of the said premises, "and have applied the same for their maintenance and education. One ofthese trustees, we may note, was Henry Fielding's uncle, Davidge Gould. This reasonable hope of the six "Infants" was however, according to theirgrandmother, wholly disappointed. For their uncle Davidge and hisco-trustee, one William Day, allowed Edmund Fielding to receive the rents, nay "entered into a Combination and Confederacy to and with the saidEdmund Fielding, " refusing to intermeddle with the said trust, whereby thechildren were in great danger of losing their means of maintenance andeducation. And this was by no means all. Lady Gould proceeds to point outthat her son-in-law had, since his wife's death, "intermarried withone . .. Rapha . .. Widow an Italian a Person of the Roman CatholickProfession who has severall children of her own and one who kept an eatingHouse in London, and not at all fitt to have the care of [thecomplainants'] Education and has now two daughters in a Monastery beyondSea. " It is not difficult to conceive the attitude of Lady Gould ofSharpham Park to an Italian widow who kept an eating-house; but worse yet, in the view of those 'No Popery' days, was to follow. "Not only so, " saysher ladyship, "the said Edmund Fielding . .. Threatens to take your[complainants] from school into his own custody altho' [their] saidGrandmother has taken a House in the City of New Sarum with an intent tohave [her granddaughters] under her Inspection and where . .. Katherine, Ursula and Sarah are now at school"; and "the said Mr Fielding doth giveout in speeches that he will do with [the complainants] what he thinksfitt, and has openly commended the Manner of Education of young persons inMonasteryes. "

This comprehensive indictment against Colonel Fielding received a promptcounter, the "Severall Answere of Edmund Fielding Esqre . .. To the Billof Complaint of Henry Fielding, Katherine Fielding, Ursula Fielding, Sarah Fielding, and Beatrice Fielding, Infants, by Dame Sarah Gould, their Grandmother and next Friend, " being dated February 23 1721, butthirteen days after Lady Gould had opened her attack. Out of "a dutifulRegard to the said Lady Gould his Mother-in-Law, " Colonel Fieldingdeclares himself unwilling to "Controvert anything with her further thanof necessity. " But he submits that, in the matter of his marriage, he was"afterwards well approved of and received" by Sir Henry Gould and hisfamily; that he was also so happy as to be in favour with Lady Gould"till he marryed with his now wife"; which he believes "has Occasionedsome Jealosye and Displeasure in the Lady Gould, tho' without JustGrounds. " Edmund Fielding then draws a pastoral picture of himself inoccupation of the East Stour estate, placed there by his father-in-law;of his oxen and dairy; and of the judge's intention of spending half theremainder of his days with his son-in-law on this Dorsetshire farm. Headmits his share in the trust settlement after Sir Henry's death; andpoints out that his brother-in-law, Davidge Gould, made him pay heavilyon a portion of the estate. And he believes that, as his wife diedintestate, all his children are "Intituled to the said Estate in Equallproportions. "

Then follows the colonel's main defence. His eldest son Henry not beingyet fourteen years of age, he has, ever since the death of his wife, continued in possession of the premises, taking the rents and profitsthereof, which amount to about £150; and he positively declares that hehas expended more annually on the maintenance and education of the saidcomplainants, ever since the death of their mother, than the clear incomeof the said estate amounts to, and that he shall continue to take "aTender and affectionate care of all his said Children. " Further, heprofesses himself a "protestant of the Communion of the Church ofEngland, " and asserts that he shall and will breed his said childrenProtestants of that communion. He protests that his second wife is not anItalian; nor did she keep an eating-house. He suggests that Lady Gouldtook her house at Salisbury "as well with an Intent to convenienceherselfe by liveing in a Towne" as for the inspection of his children. He"denyeth that he ever Comended the Manner of Education of young personsin monasterys if it be meant in Respect of Religion. " Finally, he saysthat he has spent much money on improving the estate; that the incomefrom the estate is hardly sufficient to maintain his children accordingto their station in the world since he is "nearly related to many NobleFamilys"; and he "veryly believes in his conscience he can better providefor his said Children by reason of his relation to and Interest in thesaid noble Familys than their said Grandmother (who is now in an advancedage, being seventy yeares old or thereabouts). "

Here, it is plain, was a very pretty family quarrel. No man likes hismother-in-law to say that he has married the keeper of an Italianeating-house, especially if the fact is correct; or that he is pervertinghis young children's trust money. Neither was Lady Gould likely to bepacified by her son-in-law's remark that she was now "in an advancedage"; while his suggestion that his "noble" family would be of far moreadvantage to his children than that of the respectable Goulds would havethe added sting of undeniable truth. 

The next extant move in the fray bears date five months later, July 181721, and includes a petition by 'Dame Sarah Gould' that the children benot removed from the places where they then were until the case be heard;and Lady Gould adds that if the children's persons or estates be "underye management or power of ye said Mr Fielding and his now wife ye Estatewould not be managed to ye best advantage and their Education would notbe taken care of and there would be a great hazard that ye children mightbe perverted to ye Romish Religion. " Then follows an order in Chancery, under the same date, "that ye eldest son of ye Defend't. Fielding . .. Becontinued at Eaton School where he now is and that ye rest of ye childrenbe continued where they now are. "

The next document merely records the inclusion of Henry's five-year-oldbrother Edmund among the plaintiffs. And this is followed by a briefChancery order of November 30 1721, that "ye, plaintiff Henry Fieldingwho is not [_sic_] at Eaton Schoole be at liberty to go to ye said DameSarah Gould, his Grandmother and next friend during ye usual time ofrecess from School at Xmas. "

After these Christmas holidays spent by Henry Fielding with Lady Gould, doubtless at her house in Salisbury, the Chancery records pass on to theApril following, 1722, when the boy's uncle and trustee Davidge Gouldmakes a statement "sworn at Sharpham Park, " which concludes that thewitness hears and believes that Edmund Fielding "has already threechildren by his present wife who is reputed to be of the Romish church. "In this same month comes another order from the court that Henry be atliberty to leave Eton for the Whitsun holidays 1722, and to go to LadyGould's house. In May Edmund Fielding appears as "of the Parish of SaintJames, in the County of Middlesex, " and also as his children's "nextFriend and Guardian. " But two days later the long suit is concluded bythe decision of the court, and here Colonel Fielding is, as heretofore, defendant, Lady Gould being the children's "next friend. "

The case came before the Lord Chancellor on the 28th of May 1722, and was"debated in the presence of learned Counsels. " The trust was upheld, andEdmund Fielding was required to deliver possession of the estate, rendering account of the rents and profits thereof since the death of hisfirst wife; but he was to have "any and what" allowance for improvements, and for the children's maintenance and education. And it was furtherordered that the children then at school continue at such schools tillfurther order, and that "upon any breaking up at ye usuall times they dogo and reside with ye Lady Gould their Grandmother that they may not beunder the influence of ye Defendant Fielding's Wife, who appeared to be apapist. " [7]

So Lady Gould, for all her seventy years, won her case at every point. And Colonel Edmund Fielding did not only lose the guardianship of his sixchildren, and the administration of their estate. For there was, welearn, in court, during the hearing, one Mrs Cottington, the plaintiffsaunt, "alleadging that there was a debt of £700 due from ye DefendantFielding to her"; which debt she offered should be applied for thebenefit of her nephews and nieces. Whereupon the court ordered that ifMrs Cottington proved the same, a Master in Chancery should purchasetherewith lands to be settled for the "Infants" in like manner as thetrust estate. 

It may be only a coincidence, but £700 is the sum specifically mentionedin the proceedings brought by Colonel Fielding in October 1722, fivemonths after the loss of his Chancery suit, against the cardsharper, Robert Midford, who was then apparently threatening him with outlawry forthe recovery of the gambling debt begun, as we have seen, at Princes'Coffee-house six years before. Had the colonel borrowed the £700 from MrsCottington, with intent to discharge those debts; and, on being broughtto law by her (on her nephews' and nieces' behalf) for that debt, did itoccur to him to escape from the clutches of the psuedo "Captain" Midfordby pleading, as he now does in this Bill of 1722, that he "was tricked, "and also "that gaming is illegal"? The latter plea has something ofunconscious humour in the mouth of a gentleman who had lately lost £500at faro. With this last echo of the coffee-house of St James's, and ofthe colonel's financial difficulties, that brave soldier, if somewhatreckless gambler, the Hon. Edmund Fielding vanishes from sight, as far asthe life of his eldest son is concerned. 

At the triumphant conclusion of his grandmother's suit Henry Fieldingwould be just fifteen years of age, and it is impossible not to wonderwhat side he took in these spirited family conflicts. No evidence, however, on such points appears in the dry legal documents; and all thatwe have for guide as to the effect in this impressionable time of hisboyhood of the long months of contest, and of his strictly orderedholidays with his grandmother, is the declaration on the one hand that"filial piety . .. His nearest relations agree was a shining part of hischaracter, " and on the other, the undeniably strong Protestant bias thatappears in his writing. Of his aunt, Mrs Cottington, we get one laterglimpse, when in 1723 she is made his trustee, in place of his uncle, Davidge Gould, Mrs Cottington being then resident in Salisbury. At theend of the following year, however, in December 1724, Davidge Gouldresumes his trusteeship, and with the record of that fact the disclosuresyielded by these ancient parchments as to Henry Fielding's stormy boyhoodcome to an end. 

From these records it becomes possible to gain some idea of thesurroundings of the great novelist's early youth. Before his mother'sdeath, indeed, when he was a boy of eleven, we already knew him assuffering the rough jurisdiction of his Trulliberian tutor, Parson Oliverof Motcombe village, and perhaps as under the wise and kindly guidance ofthe good scholar-parson, who was later to win the affection and respectof thousands of readers under the name of "Parson Adams. " But now, forthe first time, we learn of the disastrous second marriage by whichColonel Fielding, within two years of his first wife's death, placed alady of at least disputable social standing at the head of his household, and one, moreover, whose Faith roused the bitter religious animosities ofthat day. What wonder that the old Lady Gould strove fiercely to removeHenry Fielding, and his sisters and young brother, from East Stour, whena Madame Rasa was installed in her daughter's place. And accordingly, aswe have seen, even before the conclusion of the suit, Henry wasprovisionally ordered by the Court of Chancery to spend his holidays withhis grandmother. Fielding would then be fourteen years old; and thejudge's decision six months later that future holidays should be passedwith Lady Gould, away from the influence of the second Mrs Fielding, doubtless severed the lad's connection with his dubious stepmother forthe next six years. His home life, then, during the latter part of hisEton schooling would be under Lady Gould's care; and was probably spentat Salisbury. 

Of his Eton life, from his entrance at the school, when twelve years old, we know practically nothing. From the absence of his name on the collegelists, it may be inferred that he was an Oppidan. It is said that he gave"distinguished proofs of strong and peculiar parts"; and that he left theschool with a good reputation as a classical scholar. And it is notsurprising to learn that here, as he himself tells us, his vigorousenergies made acquaintance with that 'birchen altar' at which most of thebest blood in England has been disciplined. "And thou, " he cries, "OLearning (for without thy Assistance nothing pure, nothing correct, canGenius produce) do thou guide my Pen. Thee, in thy favourite Fields, where the limpid gently rolling _Thames_ washes thy _Etonian_ banks, inearly Youth I have worshipped. To thee at thy birchen Altar, with true_Spartan_ Devotion, I have sacrificed my Blood. " [8] That the sacrificewas not made in vain appears from the reputation with which Fielding leftEton of being "uncommonly versed in the Greek authors and an early masterof the Latin classics"; and also from the yet better evidence of his ownpages. Long after these boyish days we find him, in the words of "The manof the Hill, " thus eloquently acknowledging the debt of humanity, anddoubtless his own, to those inestimable treasures bequeathed to the worldby ancient Greece: "These Authors, though they instructed me in no Scienceby which Men may promise to themselves to acquire the least Riches, orworldly Power, taught me, however, the Art of despising the highestAcquisitions of both. They elevate the Mind, and steel and harden itagainst the capricious Invasions of Fortune. They not only instruct in theKnowledge of Wisdom, but confirm Men in her Habits, and demonstrateplainly, that this must be our Guide, if we propose ever to arrive at thegreatest worldly Happiness; or to defend ourselves, with any tolerableSecurity, against the Misery which everywhere surrounds and invests us. "[9] And that this was no mere figure of speech appears from that touchingpicture which Murphy has left us of the brilliant wit, the 'wild' HarryFielding, when under the pressure of sickness and poverty, quietly readingthe _De Consolations_ of Cicero. His Plato accompanied him on the last sadvoyage to Lisbon; and his library, when catalogued for sale on behalf ofhis widow and children, contained over one hundred and forty volumes ofthe Greek and Latin classics. 

Thus, supreme student and master as he was of "the vast authentic book ofnature, " there is abundant proof that Fielding fulfilled his own axiomthat a "good share of learning" is necessary to the equipment of anovelist. Let the romance writer's natural parts be what they may, learning, he declared, "must fit them for use, must direct them in it, lastly must contribute part at least of the materials. " [10] Looking backon such utterances by the 'father of the English Novel, ' written at thefull height of his power, it is but natural to wonder if the boy's eagerapplication to Greek and Latin drudgery had in it something ofhalf-conscious preparation for the great part he was destined to play inthe history of English literature. 

It is clear that Henry Fielding flung his characteristic energieszealously into the acquirement of the classical learning proffered him atEton; but a fine scholarship, great possession though it be, was not theonly gain of his Eton years. Here, says Murphy in his formaleighteenth-century phrasing, young Fielding had "the advantage of beingearly known to many of the first people in the kingdom, namely LordLyttelton, Mr Fox, Mr Pitt, Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, and the late MrWinnington, etc. "

Of these companions at Eton, George Lyttelton, afterwards known as the"good Lord Lyttelton, " statesman and orator, stands foremost by virtue ofthe generous warmth of a friendship continued throughout the novelist'schequered life. To Lyttelton _Tom Jones_ was dedicated; it was hisgenerosity, as generously acknowledged, that supplied Fielding, for atime, with the very means of subsistence; and to him was due theappointment, subsequently discharged with so much zealous labour, ofMagistrate for Westminster and Middlesex. It is recorded that GeorgeLyttelton's school exercises "were recommended as models to hisschoolfellows. " Another Eton friend, Thomas Winnington, made some figurein the Whig political world of the day; he was accredited by HoraceWalpole with having an inexhaustible good humour, and "infinitely more witthan any man I ever knew. " Of the friendship with Sir Charles HanburyWilliams, of which we first hear at Eton, little is known, save thecurious episode of the recovery, many years after its author's death, ofFielding's lost play _The Good-Natured Man>_, which had apparently beensubmitted to Sir Charles, whose celebrity was great as a brilliantpolitical lampoonist. Of the acquaintance with Henry Fox, first BaronHolland, we hear nothing in later life; but the name of the greatest ofall these Eton contemporaries, that of the elder Pitt, recurs in afteryears as one of the party at Radway Grange, in Warwickshire, to whomFielding, after dinner, read aloud the manuscript of _Tom Jones_. [11] A reference to his fellow-Etonian may be found in one of theintroductory chapters of that masterpiece, where Fielding, while againadvocating the claims of learning, takes occasion to pay this sonoroustribute to Pitt's oratory: "Nor do I believe that all the imagination, fire, and judgment of Pitt, could have produced those orations that havemade the senate of England in these our times a rival in eloquence toGreece and Rome, if he had not been so well read in the writings ofDemosthenes and Cicero, as to have transferred their whole spirit into hisspeeches and, with their spirit, their knowledge too. "

However excellent a knowledge of the classics the youthful scholar tookaway with him from Eton, the rigours of his studies do not appear to havediminished that zest for life with which the very name of Henry Fieldingis invested. For the obscurity of these early years is for a momentlifted to disclose the young genius as having already, before he wasnineteen, fallen desperately in love with a beautiful heiress inDorsetshire; and, moreover, as threatening bodily force to accomplish hissuit. The story, as indicated in the surviving outlines, might be thedraft for a chapter of _Tom Jones_. The scene is Lyme Regis. The chiefactors are Harry Fielding, scarce more than a schoolboy; a beautifulheiress, Miss Sarah Andrew; [12] and her uncle, one Mr Andrew Tucker, atimorous and crafty member of the local corporation. The handsome Etonian, who had been for some time resident in the old town, fell madly in love, it seems, with the lady, who is stated to have been his cousin on hismother's side. The views of her guardian were, however, opposed to theyoung man's suit, Mr Andrew Tucker mercenarily designing to secure theheiress for his own son. Thereupon Harry Fielding is said to have made adesperate attempt to carry the lady off by force, and that, moreover, "ona Sunday, when she was on her way to Church. " Further, the efforts of theimpetuous youth would seem to have extended to threatened assaults on theperson of his fair cousin's guardian, Mr Tucker; for we find thataffrighted worthy flying for protection to the arm of the law, as recordedin the _Register Book_ of Lyme Regis, under date of the 14th November1725:--". .. Andrew Tucker, Gent. , one of the Corporation, caused HenryFielding, Gent. , and his servant or companion, Joseph Lewis--both now forsome time past residing in the borough--to be bound over to keep thepeace, as he was in fear of his life or some bodily hurt to be done or tobe procured to be done to him by H. Fielding and his man. Mr A. Tuckerfeared that the man would beat, maim, or kill him. " No words could moreaptly sum up this delightful story than those of Mr Austin Dobson: "acharming girl, who is also an heiress; a pusillanimous guardian, withulterior views of his own; a handsome and high-spirited young suitor; afaithful attendant ready to 'beat, maim or kill' on his master's behalf; afrustrated elopement and a compulsory visit to the mayor--all these withthe picturesque old town of Lyme for a background, suggest a mostappropriate first act to Harry Fielding's biographical tragi-comedy. "[13] It is possible that Fielding's own pen supplied the conclusion tothis first act. For he tells us, in the preface to the _Miscellanies_, that a version, in burlesque verse, of part of Juvenal's sixth satire wasoriginally sketched out before he was twenty, and that it was "all theRevenge taken by an injured Lover. " The story loses none of its zest, moreover, when we remember that Harry Fielding was at this time still aWard of Chancery. 

[1] Chancery Proceedings 1720 sqq. _Fielding_ v. _Fielding_. From therecords of this Chancery suit, instituted on behalf of Henry Fielding andhis brother and sisters, as minors, by their grandmother Lady Gould, aretaken the hitherto unpublished facts concerning the novelist's boyhood, contained in this chapter. The original documents are preserved in theRecord Office. 

[2] See Appendix A. 

[3] By means of a legacy of £3000 left by her father for his daughter'ssole use, "her husband having nothing to doe with it. "

[4] _History and Antiquities of Leicestershire_. J. Nichols. 1810. Vol. Iv. Part i. P. 292. Nichols does not state his authority for thisstatement, and it is not confirmed by local records. See Hutchins'_History of Dorset_ for the list of Stour Provost rectors. 

[5] Chancery Proceedings, 1722. _Fielding_ v. _Midford_. Record Office. 

[6] Edmund's name was added in October following. 

[7] _Chancery Decrees and Order Books_. Record Office. 

[8] Tom Jones, Book xiii. Introduction. 

[9] Ibid. , Book viii. , ch. Xiii. 

[10] _Tom Jones_, Book ix. Introduction. 

[11] See _infra_, chap. Xi. 

[12] Fifty years ago a portrait of the beautiful heiress, in the characterof Sophia Western, was still preserved at the house of Bellairs, nearExeter, then the property of the Rhodes family. The present ownership ofthe picture has, so far, eluded inquiry. 

[13] _Fielding_, Austin Dobson, p. 202. 

CHAPTER II

PLAYHOUSE BARD

 "I could not help reflecting how often the greatest abilities lie wind-bound, as it were, in life; or if they venture out, and attempt to beat the seas, they struggle in vain against wind and tide. "--_Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon_. 

It was but three years after the Lyme Regis episode that Henry Fielding, then a lad of one and twenty, won attention as a successful writer ofcomedy. Of this his first entry into the gay world there are little butgeneralities to record; but, inaccurate as Murphy is in some matters offact, there seems no reason to doubt the truth of the engaging picturewhich he draws of the young man's _début_ upon the Town. We read of thegaiety and quickness of his fancy; the wild flow of his spirits; thebrilliancy of his wit; the activity of his mind, eager to know the world. To the possession of genius allied to the happiest temper, a temper "forthe most part overflowing into wit, mirth, and good-humour, " youngFielding added a handsome face, a magnificent physique (he stood over sixfeet high), and the fullest vigour of constitution. "No man, " wrote hiscousin, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, "enjoyed life more than he did. " Whatwonder that he was soon "in high request with the men of taste andliterature, " or that report affirms him to have been no less welcome inranks of society not at all distinguished by a literary flavour. 

That a youth so gifted, so "formed and disposed for enjoyment, " shouldfind himself his own master, in London, almost presupposes a too liberalindulgence in the follies that must have so easily beset him. When thegreat and cold Mr Secretary Addison, no less than that "very merrySpirit, " Dick Steele, and the splendid Congreve, drank more than was goodfor them, what chance would there be for a brilliant, ardent lad oftwenty, suddenly plunged into the robust society of that age? IfFielding, like his elders, indisputably loved good wine, let us rememberthat none of the heroes of his three great novels, neither that ruralinnocent Joseph Andrews, nor the exuberant youth Tom Jones, nor erring, repentant Captain Booth are immoderate drinkers. The degradation ofdrinking is, in Fielding's pages, accorded to brutalised if honestcountry squires, and cruel and corrupt magistrates; and there is littleevidence throughout his life to indicate that the great novelist drankmore freely than did the genial heroes of his pen. As regards Murphy'sgeneral assertion that, at this his entrance into life, young Fielding"launched wildly into a career of dissipation" no other reputablecontemporary evidence is discoverable of the "wildness" popularlyattributed to Fielding. That his youth was headlong and undisciplined isa plausible surmise; but justice demands that the charge be recognised asa surmise and nothing more. How keenly, twenty years later, he couldappreciate the handicap that such early indulgences impose on a man'sfuture life may be gathered from a passage in _Joseph Andrews_ which isnot without the ring of personal feeling. The speaker is a generous andestimable country gentleman, living in Arcadian retirement with his wifeand children. Descended of a good family and born a gentleman, he narrateshow his education was acquired at a public school, and extended to amastery of the Latin, and a tolerable knowledge of the Greek, language. Becoming his own master at sixteen he soon left school, for, he tells hislisteners, "being a forward Youth, I was extremely impatient to be in theWorld: For which I thought my Parts, Knowledge, and Manhood thoroughlyqualified me. And to this early Introduction into Life, without a Guide, Iimpute all my future Misfortunes; for besides the obvious Mischiefs whichattend this, there is one which hath not been so generally observed. Thefirst Impression which Mankind receives of you, will be very difficult toeradicate. How unhappy, therefore, must it be to fix your Character inLife, before you can possibly know its Value, or weigh the Consequences ofthose Actions which are to establish your future Reputation?" [1] That thewise and strenuous Fielding of later years, the energetic student at theBar, the active and patriotic journalist, the merciless exponent of thehypocrite, the spendthrift, and the sensualist, the creator of the mostperfect type of womanhood in English fiction (so said Dr Johnson andThackeray) should look back sadly on his own years of hot-blooded youth isentirely natural; but even so this passage and the well-known confessionplaced in the mouth of the supposed writer of the _Journey from this Worldto the Next_, [2] no more constitute direct evidence than do Murphy'sunattested phrases, or the anonymous scurrilities of eighteenth-centurypamphleteers. 

By birth and education Fielding's natural place was in the costly societyof those peers and men of wealth and fashion who courted the brilliantyoung wit; but fortune had decreed otherwise, and at this his firstentrance on the world he found, as he himself said, no choice but to be ahackney writer or a hackney coachman. True, his father allowed him anominal £200 a year; but this, to quote another of his son'sobservations, "anybody might pay that would. " The fact was that ColonelFielding's marriage with Madame Rasa had resulted in a large and rapidlyincreasing family; and this burden, together with "the necessary demandsof his station for a genteel and suitable expence, " made it impossiblefor him to spare much for the maintenance of his eldest son. Launchedthus on the Town, with every capacity for spending an income the receiptof which was denied to him, the young man flattered himself that heshould find resources in his wit and invention; and accordingly hecommenced as writer for the stage. His first play, a comedy entitled_Love in Several Masks_, was performed at Drury Lane in February 1728, just before the youthful dramatist had attained his twenty-first year. Inhis preface to these 'light scenes' he alludes with some pride to thisdistinction--"I believe I may boast that none ever appeared so early onthe stage";--and he proceeds to a generous acknowledgment of the aidreceived from those dramatic stars of the eighteenth-century, ColleyGibber, Mr Wilks and Mrs Oldfield, all of whom appeared in the cast. Ofthe two former he says, "I cannot sufficiently acknowledge their civil andkind behaviour previous to its representation"; from which we mayconclude, as his biographer Laurence points out, that Harry Fielding wasalready familiar with the society of the green-room. To MrsOldfield, --that charming actress

 "In publick Life, by all who saw Approv'd In private Life, by all who knew her Lov'd"--

the young man expresses yet warmer acknowledgments. "Lastly, " hedeclares, "I can never express my grateful sense of the good nature ofMrs Oldfield . .. Nor do I owe less to her excellent judgment, shown insome corrections which I shall for my own sake conceal. " The comedy isdedicated, with the graceful diction and elaborate courtesies of theperiod, to Fielding's cousin, that notable eighteenth-century wit, theLady Mary Wortley Montagu; and from the dedication we learn that to LadyMary's approval, on her first perusal, the play owed its existence. Whatthe approval of a great lady of those times meant for the young writermay be measured by the fact that Fielding concludes his dedication bysolemnly 'informing the world' that the representation of his comedy wastwice honoured with Her Ladyship's presence. 

In view of the frequent accusation of coarseness brought againstFielding, we may quote a few lines of the prologue with which he made hisliterary entry into the world. Here his audience are promised

 "Humour, still free from an indecent Flame, Which, should it raise your Mirth, must raise your Shame: Indecency's the Bane to Ridicule, And only charms the Libertine, or Fool: Nought shall offend the Fair One's Ears to-day, Which they might blush to hear, or blush to say. No private Character these Scenes expose, Our Bard, at Vice, not at the Vicious, throws. "

Thus it was with an honourable declaration of war against indecency andlibel that the young wit and man of fashion, began his career as "hackneywriter. " If to modern taste the first promise lacks something offulfilment, it is but just to remember that to other times belong othermanners. 

In the play, rustic and philosophic virtue is prettily rewarded by thepossession of a beautiful heiress, while certain mercenary fops withdrawin signal discomfiture; and that Fielding, at one and twenty, had alreadypassed judgment on that glittering 'tinsel' tribe, is clear enough fromhis portrait of the "empty gaudy nameless thing, " Lord Formal. LordFormal appears on the stage with a complexion much agitated by a day ofbusiness spent with "three milleners, two perfumers, my bookseller's anda fanshop. " In the course of these fatigues he has "rid down two brace ofchairmen"; and had raised his colour to "that exorbitancy of Vermeille"that it will hardly be reduced "under a fortnight's course of acids. " Itis the true spirit of comedy which introduces into this closely perfumedatmosphere the bluff country figure of Sir Positive Trap, with hisexordiums on the rustic ladies, and on "the good old English art ofclear-starching. " Sir Positive hopes "to see the time when a man maycarry his daughter to market with the same lawful authority as any otherof his cattle"; and causes Lord Formal some moments' perplexity, hislordship being "not perfectly determinate what species of animal toassign him to, unless he be one of those barbarous insects the politecall country squires. " In this production of a youth of twenty we mayfind a foretaste of that keen relish in watching the human comedy, thatvigorous scorn of avarice, that infectious laughter at pretentious folly, which accompanied the novelist throughout his life. 

To this same year is attributed a poem called the _Masquerade_, which needonly be noticed as again emphasising its author's lifelong war against theevils of his time. The _Masquerade_ is a satire on the licentiousgatherings organised by the notorious Count Heidegger, Master of theRevels to the Court of George II. 

Many years later Fielding reprinted [3] two other poetical effusionsbearing the date of this his twenty-first year. Of these the first, entitled "A Description of U----n G----(alias _New Hog's Norton_) in_Com-Hants_" identified by Mr Keightley as Upton Grey in Hampshire, isaddressed to the fair _Rosalinda, _ by her disconsolate _Alexis_. Alexisbewails his exile among

 "Unpolish'd Nymphs and more unpolish'd Swains, "

and describes himself as condemned to live in a dwelling half house, halfshed, with a garden full of docks and nettles, the fruit-trees bearingonly snails--

 "Happy for us had Eve's this Garden been She'd found no Fruit, and therefore known no Sin, "--

the dusty meadows innocent of grass, and the company as innocent of wit. This sketch of rural enjoyments recalls a later utterance in _JonathanWild_, concerning the votaries of a country life who, with their trees, "enjoy the air and the sun in common and both vegetate with very littledifference between them. " With one or two eloquent exceptions there isscarce a page in Fielding's books devoted to any interest other than thatof human nature. 

The second fragment is a graceful little copy of verse addressed to_Euthalia_, in which we may note, by the way, that the fair Rosalinda'scharms are ungallantly made use of as a foil to Euthalia's dazzlingperfections. As Fielding found these verses not unworthy of a page in hislater _Miscellanies_ they are here recalled:

 TO EUTHALIA. 

 WRITTEN IN THE YEAR 1728. 

 "Burning with Love, tormented with Despair, Unable to forget or ease his Care; In vain each practis'd art _Alexis_ tries; In vain to Books, to Wine or Women flies; Each brings _Euthalia's_ Image to his Eyes. In _Lock's_ or _Newton's_ Page her Learning glows; _Dryden_ the Sweetness of her Numbers shews; In all their various Excellence I find The various Beauties of her perfect Mind. How vain in Wine a short Relief I boast! Each sparkling Glass recalls my charming Toast. To Women then successless I repair, Engage the Young, the Witty, and the Fair. When _Sappho's_ Wit each envious Breast alarms, And _Rosalinda_ looks ten thousand Charms; In vain to them my restless Thoughts would run; Like fairest Stars, they show the absent Sun. "

_Love in Several Masks_ was produced, as we have seen, in February, 1728;and it is a little surprising to find the young dramatist suddenlyappearing, four weeks later, as a University student. He was entered atthe University of Leyden, as "Litt. Stud, " on the 16th of March 1728. Thereason of this sudden change from the green-room of Drury Lane to theancient Dutch university must be purely matter of conjecture, as is thenature of Fielding's undergraduate studies, Murphy having lately beenproved to be notably erroneous as to this episode. [4] His name occurs asstaying, on his entry at Leyden, at the "Casteel von Antwerpen"; andagain, a year later, in the _recensiones_ of the University for February1729, as domiciled with one Jan Oson. As all students were annuallyregistered, the omission of any later entry proves that he left Leydenbefore 1730; with which meagre facts and his own incidental remark thatthe comedy of _Don Quixote in England_ was "begun at Leyden in the year1728, " our knowledge of the two years of Fielding's university careerconcludes. In February 1730 he was presumably back in London, that beingthe date of his next play, the _Temple Beau_, produced by Giffard, theactor, at the new theatre in Goodman's Fields. 

The prologue to the _Temple Beau_ was written by that man of many parts, James Ralph, the hack writer, party journalist and historian, who was inafter years to collaborate with Fielding, both as a theatrical manager andas a journalist. Ralph's opening lines are of interest as bearing onFielding's antagonism to the harlequinades and variety shows, thenthreatening the popularity of legitimate drama:

 "Humour and Wit, in each politer Age, Triumphant, rear'd the Trophies of the Stage: But only Farce, and Shew, will now go down, And HARLEQUIN'S the Darling of the Town. "

Ralph bids his audience turn to the 'infant stage' of Goodman's Fieldsfor matter more worthy their attention; and his promise that there

 "The Comick Muse, in Smiles severely gay, Shall scoff at Vice, and laugh its Crimes away"

must surely have been inspired by the young genius from whom twenty yearslater came the formal declaration of his endeavour, in _Tom Jones, _"to laugh mankind out of their favourite follies and vices. "

The special follies of the _Temple Beau_ have, for background, of course, those precincts in which Fielding was later to labour so assiduously as astudent, and as a member of the Middle Temple; but where, as the youngTemplar of the play observes, "dress and the ladies" might also verypleasantly employ a man's time. But except for an oblique hit at duelling, a custom which Fielding was later to attack with curious warmth, thissecond play seems to yield few passages of biographical interest. Of verydifferent value for our purpose is the third play, which within only twomonths appeared from a pen stimulated, presumably, by empty pockets. Thiswas the comedy entitled the _Author's Farce_, being the first portion of amedley which included the '_Puppet Show call'd the Pleasures of the Town_;the whole being acted in the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, long sincedemolished in favour of the present building. 

In the person of Harry Luckless, the hero of the _Author's Farce_, it isimpossible not to surmise the figure of young Fielding himself; a figuregay and spirited as those of his first comedy, but, by now, wellacquainted with the hungers and the straits of a 'hackney writer. ' MrLuckless wears a laced-coat and makes a handsome figure (we remember thatFielding had always the grand air), whereby his landlady, clamouring forher rent, upbraids him for deceiving her: "Cou'd I have guess'd that I hada Poet in my House! Cou'd I have look'd for a Poet under lac'd Clothes!"The poor author offers her the security of his (as yet unacted) play;whereupon Mrs Moneywood (lineal ancestress of Mrs Raddles) pertinentlycries out: "I would no more depend on a Benefit-Night of an unacted Play, than I would on a Benefit-Ticket in an undrawn Lottery. " Luckless nextappeals to what should be his landlady's heart, assuring her that unlessshe be so kind as to invite him "I am afraid I shall scarce prevail on myStomach to dine to-day. " To which the enraged lady answers: "O never fearthat: you will never want a Dinner till you have dined at all theEating-houses round. --No one shuts their Doors against you the first time;and I scarce think you are so kind, seldom to trouble them a second. " Andthat the good landlady had some grounds for her wrath is but too apparentwhen she announces: "Well, I'm resolv'd when you are gone away (which Iheartily hope will be very soon) I'll hang over my Door in great redLetters, _No Lodging for Poets_ . .. My Floor is all spoil'd with Ink, myWindows with Verses, and my Door has been almost beat down with Duns. 'While the landlady is still fuming, enters our author's man, Jack. 

 "_Jack_. An't please your Honour, I have been at my Lord's, and his Lordship thanks you for the Favour you have offer'd of reading your Play to him; but he has such a prodigious deal of Business he begs to be excus'd. I have been with Mr _Keyber_ too: he made no Answer at all. .. . "

 "_Luckless_. Jack. 

 "_Jack_. Sir. 

 "_Luckless_. Fetch my other Hat hither. Carry it to the Pawnbroker's. 

 "_Jack_. To your Honour's own Pawnbroker. 

 "_Luckless_. Ay And in thy way home call at the Cook's Shop. So, one way or other I find, my Head must always provide for my Belly. "

At which moment enters the caustic, generous Witmore, belabouring theprofanity, the scurrility, the immodesty, the stupidity of the age withone hand, the while he pays his friend's rent with the other; and who, incidentally, is requested by that irascible genius to kick a worthypublisher down the stairs, on the latter's refusal to give fiftyshillings "no, nor fifty farthings" for his play. Once mollified by thesettlement of her bill, we have the landlady playing advocate for herhapless lodger in words that sound very like the apologia of Mr HarryFielding himself: "I have always thought, indeed, Mr _Luckless_ had agreat deal of Honesty in his Principles; any Man may be unfortunate: but Iknew when he had Money I should have it. .. . " And the good woman'sreminiscence that while her lodger had money her doors were thundered atevery morning between four and five by coachmen and chairmen; and her wishthat that pleasant humour'd gentleman were "but a little soberer, "finishes, we take it, the portrait of the Fielding of 1730. "Jack call acoach; and d'ye hear, get up behind it and attend me, " cries theimprovident poet, the moment his generous friend has left him; and so weare sure did young Mr Fielding put himself and his laced coat into acoach, and mount his man behind it, whenever the exigencies of duns andhunger were for a moment abated. And with as gallant a humour as that ofhis own Luckless did he walk afoot, when those "nine ragged jades themuses" failed to bring him a competency. 

Such failure on the part of the Muses was due to no want of wooing on hispart. During the six years between Fielding's first appearance as dramaticauthor in 1728, and his marriage in 1734, there stand no fewer thanthirteen plays to his name. Of these none have won any lasting reputation;and to this period of the great novelist's life may doubtless be appliedLady Mary Wortley Montagu's description, when lamenting that her kinsmanshould have been "forced by necessity to publish without correction, andthrow many productions into the world he would have thrown into the fire, if meat could have been got without money, and money without scribbling. "Lady Mary's account moreover is reinforced by Murphy's classical periods:"Mr Fielding's case was generally the same with that of the poet describedby Juvenal; with a great genius, he must have starved if he had not soldhis performance to a favourite actor. _Esurit, intactam Paridi, nisivendit Agaven_. " A complete list of all these ephemera will be found inthe bibliography at the end of this volume; here we need but notice thoseto which a special interest attaches. Thus, that incomparable comicactress, Kitty Clive, was cast for a part in the _Lottery_, a farceproduced in 1731; and three years later Fielding is adapting for her, especially, the _Intriguing Chambermaid_. It was in these two plays, andthat of the _Virgin Unmasked_, that the town discovered the true comicgenius of Kitty Clive "the best player I ever saw, " in Dr Johnson'sopinion. For this discovery Fielding takes credit to himself, in thededication addressed to Mrs Clive, which he prefixed to the _IntriguingChambermaid_; and in which he finds opportunity to pay a noble tribute tothe private life of that inimitable hoyden of the stage. "I cannot helpreflecting" he writes, "that the Town hath one great obligation to me, whomade the first discovery of your great capacity, and brought you earlierforward on the theatre, than the ignorance of some and the envy of otherswould have otherwise permitted. .. . But as great a favorite as you atpresent are with the audience you would be much more so were theyacquainted with your private character . .. Did they see you, who can charmthem on the stage with personating the foolish and vicious characters ofyour sex, acting in real life the part of the best Wife, the bestDaughter, the best Sister, and the best Friend. " That this splendid praisewas as sincere as it was generous need not be doubted. No breath ofslander, even in that slanderous age, seems ever to have dulled thereputation of the queen of comedy, and "better romp than any I ever saw innature"--to quote Dr Johnson again, --Kitty Clive. 

So few of Fielding's letters have been, to our knowledge, preserved, thatthe following note addressed to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and concerningthe _Modern Husband_, a comedy produced in 1731 or 1732, must here begiven, though containing little beyond the fact that the dramatist ofthree years' standing seems still to have placed as high a value on hiscousin's judgment, as when recording her approval of his first effort forthe stage. The play was a piece of admittedly moral purpose, and wasdedicated to Sir Robert Walpole. The first line of the autograph is, apparently, missing. 

"I hope your Ladyship will honour the Scenes, which I presume to laybefore you, with your Perusal. As they are written on a Model I never yetattempted, I am exceedingly anxious least they should find least Mercyfrom you than my lighter Productions. It will be a slight compensation tothe modern Husband, that your Ladyship's censure will defend him from thePossibility of any other Reproof, since your least Approbation willalways give me a Pleasure, infinitely superior to the loudest Applausesof a Theatre. For whatever has past your judgment, may, I think withoutany Imputation of Immodesty, refer Want of Success to Want of Judgment inan Audience. I shall do myself the honour of waiting on your Ladyship atTwickenham next Monday to receive my Sentence, and am, Madam, with themost devoted Respect

"Your Ladyship's"most Obedient most humble Servant"Henry Ffielding. [5]

"London 7'br 4. "

In 1731-32 the burlesque entitled the _Tragedy of Tragedies; or the Lifeand Death of Tom Thumb the Great_, took the Town. The _Tragedy_ parodiesthe absurdities of tragedians; and so far won immortality that in 1855 itwas described as still holding the stage. But its chief modern interestlies in the tradition that Swift once observed that he "had not laughedabove twice" in his life, --once at the tricks of a merry-andrew, and againwhen Fielding's Tom Thumb killed the ghost. The design for thefrontispiece of the edition of 1731, here reproduced, is from the pencilof Hogarth; and is the first trace of a connexion between Fielding and thepainter who was to be honoured so frequently in his pages. An adaptationfrom Molière, produced in 1733, under the title of the _Miser_, won fromVoltaire the praise of having added to the original "quelques beautes dedialogue particulières a sa [Fielding's] nation. " The leading character inthe _Miser_, Lovegold, became a stock part, and survived to our own days, having been a favourite with Phelps. In _Don Quixote in England_, producedin 1733 or 34, [6] Fielding reappears in the character of patriotic censorwith the design, as appears from the dedication to Lord Chesterfield, ofrepresenting "the Calamities brought on a Country by general Corruption. "No less than fifteen songs are interspersed in the play, and it is matterfor curious conjecture why none of them was chosen for a reprint among thecollected verses published ten years later in the _Miscellanies_. Time hasalmost failed to preserve even the hunting-song beginning finely--

 "The dusky Night rides down the Sky, And ushers in the Morn; The Hounds all join in glorious Cry, The Huntsman winds his Horn:"

But a happier fate has befallen the fifth song, now familiar as the firstverse of the _Roast Beef of Old England_. It is eminently appropriate thatthe most distinctly national of English novelists should have written:

 "_When mighty Rost Beef was the_ Englishman's _food, It ennobled our Hearts, and enriched our Blood; Our Soldiers were brave and our Courtiers were good. Oh, the Rost Beef of old England, And old_ England's _Rost Beef!_

 "_Then_, Britons, _from all nice Dainties refrain, Which effeminate_ Italy, France, _and_ Spain; _And mighty Rost Beef shall command on the Main. Oh, the Rost Beef_, etc. "

To this truly prolific period of the young 'hackney writer's' pen belongsan _Epilogue_, hitherto overlooked, written for Charles Johnson's five-actplay _Caelia or the Perjur'd Lover_, and spoken by Kitty Clive. The lines, which are hardly worth reprinting, consist of an ironic attack on thelaxity of town morals, where "Miss may take great liberties upon her, " andeach woman is virtuous till she be found out. 

An average of two plays a year is a record scarcely conducive to literaryexcellence; any more than is the empty cupboard, and the frequent recourseto 'your honour's own pawnbroker, ' so often and so honourably familiar tostruggling genius. "The farces written by Mr Fielding, " says Murphy". .. Were generally the production of two or three mornings, so great was hisfacility in writing"; and we have seen Lady Mary Wortley Montagu'sassertion that much of his work would have been thrown into the fire hadnot his dinner gone with it. Of the struggles of these early years [7](struggles never wholly remitted, for, to quote Lady Mary again, Fieldingwould have wanted money had his hereditary lands been as extensive as hisimagination) we get further suggestions in the _Poetical Epistle_addressed to Sir Robert Walpole when the young poet was but twenty-three. The lines go with a gallant spirit, but it is not difficult to detect asavour of grim hardship behind the jests:

 "While at the Helm of State you ride, Our Nation's Envy and its Pride; While foreign Courts with Wonder gaze, And curse those Councils which they praise; Would you not wonder, Sir, to view Your Bard a greater Man than you? Which that he, is you cannot doubt, When you have heard the Sequel out. . . . . . "The Family that dines the latest, Is in our Street esteem'd the greatest; But latest Hours must surely fall Before him who ne'er dines at all. 

 Your Taste in Architect, you know, Hath been admir'd by Friend and Foe; But can your earthly Domes compare With all my Castles--in the Air?

 "We're often taught it doth behove us To think those greater who're above us; Another Instance of my Glory, Who live above you, twice two Story, And from my Garret can look down On the whole Street of Arlington. " [8]

Not to depend too greatly on Mr Luckless for our picture of Fielding as aplaywright, we will conclude it with the well-known passage from Murphy:"When he had contracted to bring on a play, or a farce, it is well known, by many of his friends now living, that he would go home rather late froma tavern, and would the next morning deliver a scene to the players, written upon the papers which had wrapped the tobacco in which he so muchdelighted. " Would that some of those friends had recorded for our delightthe wit that, alas! has vanished like the smoke through which it wasengendered. What would we not give for the table-talk of Henry Fielding. 

[1] _Joseph Andrews_, Book iii. Chap. Iii. 

[2] _Miscellanies_, ed. 1743, vol. Ii. P. 62. 

[3] In the _Miscellanies_ of 1743. 

[4] _Fielding_, Austin Dobson, 1907. App. Iv. 

[5] What appears to be the original autograph of the above letter is now(1909) in the library of the Boston Athenaeum, having been presented by MrC. P. Greenough. 

[6] _Notitia Dramatica_ (British Museum. MSS. Dept. ) and Genest give 1734as the date of Don Quixote; Murphy, edition of 1766, vol. Iii p. 249, gives 1733. 

[7] For the refutation of Genest's confusion of Timothy Fielding, astrolling player, with Henry Fielding, see Austin Dobson, _Fielding_, pp. 28, 29. 

[8] The _Miscellanies_. Edition 1743. 

CHAPTER III

MARRIAGE

 "What happiness the world affords equal to the possession of such a woman as Sophia I sincerely own I have never yet discovered. " --_Tom Jones_. 

Out of the paint and powder of the green-room, the tobacco clouds of thetavern, the crowded streets where hungry genius went afoot one day, androde in a coach the next--in a word, out of the Town as Harry Fieldingknew it--we step, in the year 1734, into the idyll of his life, hismarriage with Charlotte Cradock. For to Fielding the supreme gift wasaccorded of passionate devotion to a woman of whose charm and virtue hehimself has raised an enduring memorial in the lovely portrait of SophiaWestern. It is this portrait, explicitly admitted [1], that affords almostour only authentic knowledge of Charlotte Cradock, beyond the meagre factsthat her home was in Salisbury, and that there she and her sisters reignedas country belles. For it was not in the gay world of 'Riddoto's, Opera's, and Plays, ' nor among the humbler scenes of the great city in which hedelighted to watch the humours of simple folk (the highest life being inhis opinion 'much the dullest'), that Fielding found his wife. Doubtlesshis six years about town, as hackney author, with his good birth, hisbrilliant wit, and his scanty means, had made him well acquainted withevery phase of society, "from the Minister at his Levee, to the Bailiff athis spunging-house; from the Duchess at her drum, to the Landlady behindher bar"; but it was in the rural seclusion of an old cathedral town thathe wooed and won the beautiful Miss Cradock. Indeed it is impossible toconceive of Sophia as for ever domiciled in streets. The very apostrophewhich heralds her first appearance in _Tom Jones_ is fragrant withflower-enamelled meadows, fresh breezes, and the songs of birds "whosesweetest notes not even Handel can excel"; and it is thus, with hisreader's mind attuned to the appropriate key, that Fielding ushers in hisheroine: ". .. Lo! adorned with all the Charms in which Nature can arrayher; bedecked with Beauty, Youth, Sprightliness, Innocence, Modesty, andTenderness, breathing Sweetness from her rosy Lips, and darting Brightnessfrom her sparkling Eyes, the lovely _Sophia_ comes. " Of middle size, butrather inclining to tall, with dark hair "curled so gracefully on her neckthat few could believe it to be her own, " a forehead rather low, archedeyebrows, and lustrous black eyes, a mouth that "exactly answered Sir JohnSuckling's description in those lines

 'Her lips were red and one was thin, Compar'd to that was next her chin. Some bee had stung it newly, '"

with a dimple in the right cheek, and a complexion rather more of thelily than the rose unless increased by exercise or modesty when novermilion could equal it--such was the appearance of Sophia, who, most ofall "resembled one whose image never can depart from my breast. "

Nor was the beautiful frame, Fielding hastens to add, disgraced by anunworthy inhabitant. He lingers on the sweetness of temper which"diffused a glory over her countenance which no regularity of featurescan give"; on her perfect breeding, "though wanting perhaps a little ofthat ease in her behaviour which is to be acquired only by habit, andliving within what is called the polite circle"; on the "noble, elevatedqualities" which outshone even her beauty. 

The only facts recorded concerning Miss Cradock are that her home was inSalisbury, or New Sarum as the city was then called, and that shepossessed a small fortune. It is said, but on what authority is notstated, that she was one of three beautiful sisters, the belles of thecountry town; and it is in accordance with this tradition that Fieldingshould celebrate in some verses "writ when the Author was very young, "the beauty and intellectual charm of the Miss Cradocks. When printingthese verses many years afterwards, in his _Miscellanies_ he describes thepoem as originally partly filled in with the 'Names of several youngLadies, ' which part he now omits, "the rather, as some Freedoms, tho'gentle ones, were taken with little Foibles in the amiable Sex, whom toaffront in Print, is, we conceive, mean in any Man, and scandalous in aGentleman. " Certainly the Miss Cradocks suffered no affront in the linesretained, wherein the young poet affirms that of all the famed nymphs ofSarum, that favoured city, "Whose Nymphs excel all Beauty's Flowers, As thy high Steeple doth all Towers"

the 'C----cks' were the best and fairest. Nay, has not great Jove himselfapportioned a 'celestial Dower' to these most favoured of maidens, "To form whose lovely Minds and Faces I stript half Heaven of its Graces. "

From this charming sisterhood Harry Fielding won his bride, but not untilfour years of waiting had been accomplished. So much may be assumed fromthe early date of the verses entitled "Advice to the Nymphs of _NewS---m_. Written in the Year 1730. " Here the newly returned student fromLeyden, the successful dramatist from Drury Lane, bids the Salisburybeauties cease their vain endeavours to contend with the matchless charmsof his Celia. And here, in a pretty compliment introduced to the great MrPope, then at the height of his fame, we are reminded that Celia's loveris already a man of letters, for all his mere three and twenty years. WhenCelia meets her equal, then, he declares, farthing candles shall eclipsethe moon, and "sweet _Pope_ be dull. "

It is these youthful love-verses, verses as he himself was the first toadmit, that were 'indeed Productions of the Heart rather than the Head, 'that afford our only record of Fielding's wooing. Thus, he sings hispassion for _Celia_ in the declaration

 "I hate the Town, and all its Ways; Ridotto's, Opera's, and Plays; The Ball, the Ring, the Mall, the Court; Where ever the Beau-Monde resort. .. . All Coffee-houses, and their Praters; All Courts of Justice, and Debaters; All Taverns, and the Sots within 'em; All Bubbles, and the Rogues that skin 'em, "

in short, the whole world 'cram'd all together, ' because all his heart isengrossed for Celia. Again, Cupid is called to account, in that thecareless urchin had left Celia's house unguarded from thieves, save foran old fellow "who sat up all Night, with a Gun without any Ammunition. "Celia, it seems, had apprehended robbery, and her poet's rest is troubled:

 "For how should I Repose enjoy, While any fears your Breast annoy? Forbid it Heav'n, that I should be From any of your Troubles free. "

Cupid explains his desertion by ingeniously declaring that a sigh fromCelia had blown him away

 "_to Harry Fielding's breast_, "

in which lodging the 'wicked Child' wrought unconscionable havoc. Again, Celia wishes to have a "Lilliputian to play with, " so she is promptlytold that her lover would doff five feet of his tall stature, to meet herpleasure, and

 "Then when my Celia walks abroad I'd be her pocket's little Load: Or sit astride, to frighten People, Upon her Hat's new fashion'd Steeple. "

Nay, to be prized by Celia, who would not even take the form of herfaithful dog Quadrille. 

Jove, we may remember, had dowered the lovely Miss Cradocks with minds asfair as their persons; and the excellence of Celia's understanding isagain celebrated in a neatly turned verse upon her 'having blamed Mr Gayfor his Severity on her Sex. ' Had other women known a tenderness likehers, cries the poet, Gay's darts had returned into his own bosom; andlast of all should such blame come from her

 "in whose accomplish'd Mind The strongest Satire on thy Sex we find. "

The love story that first ran to such pleasant rhymes, in the oldcathedral town, was destined to know many a harsh chapter of poverty andsickness; but throughout it all the affection of the lovers remainedtrue; and there is no reason to doubt that, had it been in HarryFielding's power to achieve it, the promise of perhaps the most charmingof his love verses would have been fulfilled:

 "Can there on Earth, my _Celia_, be, A Price I would not pay for thee? Yes, one dear precious Tear of thine Should not be shed to make thee mine. "

To read Swift's _Journal to Stella_ is almost a sacrilege; the littlenotes that Dick Steele would write to his 'dearest Prue' at all hours ofday and night, from tavern and printing office, are scarce less private;no such seals have been broken, no such records preserved, of the lovestory of Harry Fielding. But to neither Swift nor Steele was it given toraise so perfect and imperishable a memorial of the women loved by them, as that reared by the passionate affection and grief of Fielding forCharlotte Cradock. To this day the beautiful young figure of SophiaWestern, all charm and goodness, is alive in his immortal pages. And if, as her friend Lady Bute asserts, Amelia also is Mrs Fielding's portrait, then we know her no less intimately as wife and mother. We watch her bravespirit never failing under the most cruel distresses and conflicts; weplay with her children in their little nursery; we hear her pleasant witwith the good parson; we feel her fresh beauty, undimmed in the poorremnants of a wardrobe that has gone, with her trinkets, to thepawnbroker; we see a hundred examples of her courage and tenderness andgenerosity. There is nothing in Fielding's life that is more to his honourthan the brief words in which so competent an observer as Lady Bute summedup his marriage with Charlotte Cradock, "he loved her passionately and shereturned his affection. "

It was in the little country church of St Mary Charlcombe, a remotevillage some two miles from Bath, that "Henry Fielding, of ye Parish of StJames in Bath, Esq. , and Charlotte Cradock of ye same Parish, spinster"were married, on the 28th of November 1734. [2] Fifty years later thevillage was described as containing only nine houses, the church, wellfitted for the flock, being but eighteen feet wide. The old Somersethistorian, Collinson, tells us how the hamlet stood on rising ground, in adeep retired valley, surrounded by noble hills, and with a little streamwinding through the vale. 

In the January following Fielding and his wife were presumably back intown; for in this month he produced, at Drury Lane, the brisk littlefarce called _An Old Man taught Wisdom_, a title afterwards changed to the_Virgin Unmasked_. It is probable that this farce was especially writtento suit Kitty Clive in her excelling character of hoyden; and to it, as wehave seen, together with two of its predecessors, is assigned the creditof having first given that superb comic actress an opportunity ofrevealing her powers. Mrs Clive here played the part of Miss Lucy, aforward young lady who after skittishly interviewing a number of suitorsproposed by her father, finally runs away with Thomas the footman. Thelittle piece is said to have achieved success; but scarce had it beenstaged when "the prolific Mr Fielding, " as a newspaper of the day styleshim, brought out a five-act comedy, named the _Universal Gallant: or Thedifferent Husbands_, which wholly failed to please the audience, andindeed ran but for three nights. 

The dedication of this play is dated from "Buckingham Street, Feb. 12, "and assuming Buckingham Street, Strand, to be the district meant, it isprobable that the newly married 'poet' and his wife were then living withMrs Fielding's relatives; for although the rate-books for BuckinghamStreet fail to show the name of Fielding, they do show that a Mr ThomasCradock was then a householder in the street. In an _Advertisement_, prefixed to the published copies of this ill-fated comedy, thedisappointed author deprecates the hasty voice of the pit in words thatsuggest the anxiety of a man now responsible for a happiness dearer thanhis own. "I have heard, " he writes, "that there are some young Gentlemenabout this Town who make a Jest of damning Plays--but did they seriouslyconsider the Cruelty they are guilty of by such a Practice, I believe itwould prevent them"; the more, that if the author be "so unfortunate todepend on the success of his Labours for his Bread, he must be an inhumanCreature indeed, who would out of sport and wantonness prevent a Man fromgetting a Livelihood in an honest and inoffensive Way, and make a jest ofstarving him and his Family. " There is other evidence that young men abouttown were wont to amuse themselves by damning plays 'when George wasKing. ' In the _Prologue_ to this same condemned play, spoken by the actorQuin, and said to have been written after the disastrous first night'sperformance, a more elaborate indictment is laid against the audiences ofthe day. The _Critick_, it seems, is grown so captious that if a poetseeks new characters he is denounced for dealing in monsters; if they areknown and common, then he is a plagiarist; if his scenes are serious theyare voted dull; if humorous they are 'low' (a true Fielding touch). Andnot only the critic but also the brainless beau stands, as we have seen, ready to make sport of the poor author. For such as these

 _"'Tis not the Poet's wit affords the Jest, But who can Cat-call, Hiss, or Whistle best. "_

In previous years the brilliant Leyden student might have merely deridedhis enemies; to the Fielding of February 1735, struggling to supporthimself and his beautiful country bride, this 'cruel usage' of his 'poorPlay' assumed a graver aspect:

 _"Can then another's Anguish give you Joy? Or is it such a Triumph to destroy? We, like the fabled Frogs, consider thus, This may be Sport to you, but it is Death to us. "_

This note of personal protest recalls an indisputably reminiscentobservation in _Amelia_, to the effect that although the kindness of afaithful and beloved wife compensates most of the evils of life, it"rather serves to aggravate the misfortune of distressed circumstances, from the consideration of the share which she is to bear in them. " We allknow how bravely Amelia bore that share; how cheerfully she would cook thesupper; how firmly she confronted disaster. To realise how deeply Fieldingfelt the pain of such struggles when falling upon "the best, the worthiestand the noblest of women" we need but turn again to his own pages. If, cries Amelia's husband, when his distresses overwhelm him, "if I was tosuffer alone, I think I could bear them with some philosophy"; and again"this was the first time I had ever felt that distress which arises fromthe want of money; a distress very dreadful indeed in the married statefor what can be more miserable than to see anything necessary to thepreservation of the beloved creature and not be able to supply it?"

To supply for his Celia much less than the necessities of life HarryFielding would undoubtedly have stripped his coat, and his shirt with it, off his back; but, at the end of this same month of February, fortunemade the young couple sudden amends for the anxieties that seem to havesurrounded them. This turn of the wheel is reflected with curiousaccuracy by an anonymous satirist of 1735:

 "F---g, who _Yesterday_ appear'd so rough, Clad in coarse Frize, and plaister'd down with _Snuff_, See how his _Instant_ gaudy _Trappings_ shine; What _Play-house_ Bard was ever seen so fine! But this, not from his _Humour_ glows, you'll say But mere _Necessity_;--for last Night lay In pawn the Velvet which he wears to Day. " [3]

This relief, for a time at least, from the pressing anxieties of a'play-house bard, ' befell by the death of Charlotte Fielding's mother, Mrs Elizabeth Cradock of Salisbury, who died in February, but a week ortwo after the execution of a will wholly in favour of that 'dearlybeloved' daughter. As the details of Mrs Fielding's inheritance have nothitherto been known, some portions of her mother's will may be quoted. ". .. I Elizabeth Cradock of Salisbury in the County of Wilts . .. Do makethis my last will and testament . .. Item I give to my daughter Catherineone shilling and all the rest and residue of my ready money plate jewelsand estate whatsoever and wheresoever after my debts and funeral chargesare fully paid and satisfied I give devize and bequeath the same unto mydearly beloved daughter Charlott Ffeilding wife of Henry Ffeilding ofEast Stour in the County of Dorset Esqre. " Mrs Cradock proceeds to revokeall former wills; and appoints her said daughter "Charlott Ffeilding" asher sole executrix. The will is dated February 8 1734, old style, viz. 1735; and was proved in London on the 25th of the same month, 'CharlottFfeilding, ' as sole executrix, being duly sworn to administer. Theprovision of one shilling for another, and apparently _not_ dearlybeloved, daughter, Catherine, recalls the wicked sister in _Amelia_ who"had some way or other disobliged her mother, a little before the old ladydied, " and who consequently was deprived of that inheritance whichrelieved Amelia and her husband from the direst straits. 

As no plays are credited to Fielding's name for the ensuing months of1735, it is a reasonable inference that the young Salisbury heiress, whoseexperience of London had, doubtless, included a pretty close acquaintancewith the hardships of struggling genius, employed some of her inheritanceto enable her husband to return to the home of his boyhood, on the"pleasant Banks of sweetly-winding Stour. " There is no record of how theStour estate, settled on Henry Fielding and his brother and sisters, wasapportioned; but an engraving published in 1813 shows the old stone"farmhouse, " which Fielding occupied, the kitchen of which then stillremained as it was in the novelist's time, when it served as a parlour. Behind the house stood a famous locust tree; and close by was the villagechurch served at this time, as the parish registers show, by the Rev. William Young, the original of the immortal Parson Adams of _JosephAndrews_. [4] From a subsequent deed of sale we know that the estateconsisted of at least three gardens, three orchards, eighty acres ofmeadow, one hundred and forty acres of pasture, ten acres of wood, twodove-houses, and "common of pasture for all manner of cattle. " To thestone farmhouse, and to these orchards and meadows, commons and pastures, Fielding brought his wife, probably in this year of 1735; and memories oftheir sojourn at Stour surely inspired those references in _Amelia_ to thecountry life of 'love, health, and tranquillity, ' a life resembling a calmsea which "must appear dull in description; for who can describe thepleasures which the morning air gives to one in perfect health; the flowof spirits which springs up from exercise; the delights which parents feelfrom the prattle and innocent follies of their children; the joy withwhich the tender smile of a wife inspires a husband; or lastly thecheerful solid comfort which a fond couple enjoy in each others'conversation. --All these pleasures, and every other of which our situationwas capable we tasted in the highest degree. "

That a man endowed with Fielding's intense joy in living--he was "soformed for happiness, " wrote his cousin Lady Mary, "it is a pity he wasnot immortal"--should eagerly taste all the pleasures of life as a countrygentleman, and that in 'the highest degree, ' is entirely consonant withhis character. At the very end of his life, when dying of a complicationof diseases, his happy social spirit was still unbroken; for we find himeven then writing of his inability to enjoy an agreeable hour "without theassistance of a companion which has always appeared to me necessary tosuch enjoyment. " [5] Nor would the generous temper, which was ever readyto share his most needed guinea with a friend scarce poorer than himself, be infected with niggardliness by the happy enjoyment of that position towhich he was by birth entitled. The well-known account therefore, given byMurphy, of the East Stour episode is exactly what we might have expectedof Harry Fielding in the part of country gentleman: "To that place [_i. E. _his estate of East Stour], " says Murphy, "he retired with his wife, onwhom he doated, with a resolution to bid adieu to all the follies andintemperances to which he had addicted himself in the career of a townlife. But unfortunately a kind of family pride here gained an ascendantover him, and he began immediately to vie in splendour with theneighbouring country 'squires. With an estate not much above two hundredpounds a year, and his wife's fortune, which did not exceed fifteenhundred pounds, he encumbered himself with a large retinue of servants, all clad in costly yellow liveries. For their master's honour, thesepeople could not descend so low as to be careful of their apparel, but ina month or two were unfit to be seen; the 'squire's dignity required thatthey should be new-equipped; and his chief pleasure consisting in societyand convivial mirth, hospitality threw open his doors, and, in less thanthree years, entertainments, hounds, and horses, entirely devoured alittle patrimony. .. . " This account is prefaced by gross inaccuracies offact, inexplicable in a biographer writing but ten years after the deathof his subject; but, as Mr Austin Dobson says, "there can be little doubtthat the rafters of the old farm by the Stour, with the great locust treeat the back, which is figured in Hutchins's _History of Dorset_, rangoften to hunting choruses, and that not seldom the 'dusky Night rode downthe Sky' over the prostrate forms of Harry Fielding's guests. "Petty-minded moralists like Murphy have gravely admonished the greatnovelist's memory for not having safely bestowed his estate in the consolsof the period; they forget that a spirit of small economy is generally thecompensation awarded to the poor average of humanity. The genius ofFielding knew how to enjoy splendidly, and to give lavishly. 

[1] _Tom Jones_. Book xiii. Introduction. 

[2] See the registers of St Mary Charlcombe. As Sarah Fielding, thenovelist's sister, was buried in the entrance to the chancel of thischurch, it would appear that some connection existed between Charlcombeand the Fielding family. 

[3] _Seasonable Reproof--a Satire in the manner of Horace_, 1735. 

[4] The entry in the East Stour Registers is "W'm. Young, Curate1731-1740. "

[5] _Voyage to Lisbon_. 

CHAPTER IV

POLITICAL PLAYS

 "Whoever attempteth to introduce corruption into any community, doth much the same thing, and ought to be treated in much the same manner with him who poisoneth a fountain. " --Dedication of the _Historical Register_. 

A prolonged retirement into Dorsetshire, however pleasant were the banksof Stour with a beautiful young wife, and a sufficient estate, couldscarce be expected of Fielding's restless genius. He was now thirty-five;his splendid physique was as yet unimpaired by the gout that was so soonto attack him; his powers were still hardly revealed; and, as far as wecan discover, he was, at the moment, under no pressure for money. Still, the hunting choruses of the Squire Westerns of Dorsetshire can hardlyhave long sufficed for one whom Lyttelton declared to have had "more witthan any man I ever knew"; and the social and political conditions of thecountry were increasingly calculated to inflame into practical activitythat "enthusiasm for righteousness, " which Mr Gosse has so well detectedin Fielding. [1] The distracted state of the London stage, divided by thefactions of players and managers, afforded moreover an excellentopportunity for a dramatist of some means to essay an independent venture. And accordingly, at the beginning of 1736, we find the Harry Fielding ofthe green-room and the poet's garret, the Henry Fielding Esqre of EastStour, suddenly throwing the full force of his energies into politicallife, as the manager of, and writer for, a theatre with indisputablepolitical aims. For the next eight years of his short life Fielding waslargely occupied in the lively turmoil of eighteenth-century politics; andhere, first by means of the stage, and later as journalist, he played apart which has perhaps been somewhat unduly overshadowed by the surpassingachievements of his genius as father of the English novel. But if we wouldperceive the full figure of the man this time of boisterous politicalwarfare is of no mean account. In the dedication of his first party play, the amazingly successful _Pasquin_, Fielding subscribes himself as "themost devoted Servant of the public"; and no more appropriate keyword couldbe found for the energies which he threw into those envenomed politicalstruggles of 1736-41. 

At the date of his first plunge into these struggles England stood sorelyin need of a pen as biting, as witty and as fearless, as that of HenryFielding. For over ten years the country had been ruled by one of those"peace at any price" Ministers who have at times so successfully inflamedthe baser commercial instincts of Englishmen. Sir Robert Walpole, thereputed organiser of an unrivalled system of bribery and corruption, theMinister of whom a recent apologist frankly declares that to young membersof Parliament who spoke of public virtue and patriotism he would reply"you will soon come off that and grow wiser, " the autocrat enamoured ofpower who could brook no colleague within measurable distance, the man ofcoarse habits and illiterate tastes, above all the man who induced hiscountrymen to place money before honour, and whose administration even anadmirer describes as one of unparalleled stagnation--such a man must haveroused intense antagonism in Fielding's generous and ardent nature. For, from the days of his first boyish satires to the last energetic acts ofhis life as a London magistrate, for Fielding to see an abuse was to setabout reforming it. To his just sense of the true worth of money, thewholesale corruption of English political life accredited to Walpole, thepoisoning, to adopt his own simile, of the body politic, must have seemedthe vilest national crime. There could never have been the least sympathybetween the mercenary and apathetic methods of Walpole and theopen-hearted genius of Fielding. And, added to such fundamental oppositionof character, the influence of Fielding's old school friend, GeorgeLyttelton, would, at this juncture especially, draw him into the activeranks of the Opposition. 

Lyttelton was then rising into celebrity as a ready parliamentary speaker;a celebrity as yet not wholly eclipsed by the youthful oratory of WilliamPitt, the young cornet of the horse, who also had lately taken his seat onthe Opposition benches. It was the burning patriotism, the lofty characterand the towering genius of Pitt, the fluency and personal integrity ofLyttelton, that led the younger members of the Opposition in the House ofCommons; while in the Lords another friend from whom Fielding was toreceive "princely benefactions, " the young Duke of Bedford, a man of"inflexible honesty and goodwill to his country, " attacked Walpole'salleged corrupt practices in the election of Scottish peers. With leaderssuch as William Pitt and Lyttelton on the one hand, and the corrupt figureof Walpole on the other, there is no wonder that Fielding flung all hisgenerous force into the effort to free England from so degrading adomination. Accordingly, in 1736, when the young Pitt's impassionedeloquence was soon to alarm the _Great Man_--"we must muzzle that terribleCornet of the Horse, " Sir Robert said--and when fierce and riotoushostility to the government had broken out in the country over anattempted Excise Bill, Fielding appears as a frankly political manager ofthe "New Theatre" in the Haymarket. This small theatre stood preciselyadjoining the present Palladian structure, as may be seen from a print of1820, showing the demolition of the old building and the adjacent façadeof the modern "Haymarket. " According to Tom Davies, who, as an actor inFielding's company and as an author of some pretensions should bereliable, Fielding was a managing partner of this "New Theatre, " incompany with James Ralph, "about the year 1735. " [2] And apparently earlyin 1736 [3] his political, theatrical, and social satire of _Pasquin_appeared on the little stage, and immediately captured the town. 

In _Pasquin_ a perfectly outspoken attack on Walpole's corrupt methods isunited with a comprehensive onslaught on abuses in the stage, law, divinity, physic, society, and on the odes of Colley Cibber, sufficientone might suppose to satisfy even Fielding's zeal. In an exuberantnewspaper advertisement of the 5th of March Mr Pasquin is announced asintending to "lay about him with great impartiality, " and throughout theplay Fielding's splendid figure may be felt, swinging his satiric clubwith a boisterous enjoyment. The immediate success achieved by the piecewas certainly not due to any great dramatic excellence; and that soloosely knit a medley as _PASQUIN, a Dramatic Satire on the Times: Beingthe Rehearsal of Two Plays, viz. A Comedy call'd THE ELECTION and aTragedy, call'd The Life and Death of COMMON-SENSE_ should have achievedalmost as long a run as the _Beggars Opera_, shows that the publicheartily sympathised with the satirist. _Pasquin_ begins with therehearsal of a comedy, called _The Election_, consisting of a series ofbroadly humorous scenes in which the open and diverse bribery atelections, the equally open immorality of fashionable town life, theconnivance of country dames, and the inanity of the beau monde, aresatirised. The country Mayor, the Ministerial candidates and theOpposition squire drink, bribe and are bribed with complete impartiality. A scene devoted to the political young lady of the day affords opportunityfor a hit at the sickly and effeminate Lord 'Fanny' Hervey, thatpolitician whom Pope described as a "mere white curd of Asse's milk, " andof whom Lady Mary Wortley Montagu observed that "the world consisted ofmen, women, and Herveys. " Pope had stigmatised Hervey as _Lord Fanny_, andFielding obviously plays on the nickname by references to the valueattached by certain young ladies to their fans. "Faith, " says his comicauthor, "this incident of the fan struck me so strongly that I was oncegoing to call this comedy by the name of the Fan. " The comedy ends withthe successful cooking of the election returns by Mr Mayor in favour ofthe Ministerial candidates, for which "return" he is promised a "very goodturn very soon"; and by the precipitate marriage of one of the saidcandidates to the Mayor's daughter "to strengthen his interest with thereturning officer. "

Having settled the business of the corrupt and corrupting Ministry in hiscomedy, Mr Pasquin proceeds to exhibit the rehearsal of his tragedy, _TheLife and Death of Common Sense_. Here the satirist, leaving politics, applies his cudgel mainly to the prevailing taste for pantomime, a form ofentertainment introduced it was said some thirty years previously by oneWeaver, a country dancing master, and already lashed by Sir Richard Steelein his couplet:

 "Weaver, corrupter of the present age, Who first taught silent sins upon the stage. "

That the Covent Garden manager, John Rich, [4] could engage four Frenchdancers, and a German with two dogs, taught to dance the _Louvre_ and the_Minuet_, at ten pounds a night, and clear thereby "above 20 good houses, "while the Othello of Booth and the Wildair of Wilkes were neglected, wassufficient to rouse the indignation alike of moralists, dramatists andplaygoers. Fielding in turn took the matter up with all his naturalwarmth; and in _Pasquin_ he represents the kingdom of the Queen of CommonSense as invaded by a vast army of "singers, fidlers, tumblers, andropedancers, " who moreover fix their standard in Covent Garden, theheadquarters of Rich. 

Not content with assailing this public folly, the 'Tragedy' of _Pasquin_strikes a higher note by ranging among the foes of Common Sense threeunworthy professors of Law, Medicine, and Religion; callings, as Fieldingis careful to point out, "in themselves designed To shower the greatest blessings on Mankind. "

Queen Common Sense seemingly receives her deathblow; but her ghost finallyrises victorious, and so justifies the author's contention that his "isalmost the only play where she has got the better lately. " The vigour withwhich Mr Pasquin here 'laid about him, ' in such matters as the legalabuses relating to imprisonment for debt, may be inferred from thefollowing passage. Queen Common Sense is speaking to the representative of_bad_ Law, and tells him she has heard that men

 "unable to discharge their debts At a short warning, being sued for them, Have, with both power and will their debts to pay, Lain all their lives in prison, for their costs. 

 _Law_. That may perhaps be some poor person's case Too mean to entertain your royal ear. 

 _Q. C. S_. My Lord, while I am Queen I shall not think One man too mean, or poor, to be redress'd. "

So too, the great genius of Fielding, when in long after years harnessedto the drudgery of a London magistrate, held no porter's brawl or beggar'squarrel too mean "to be redress'd. "

The immediate success of _Pasquin_ attests, as we have said, the readinessof London audiences in 1736 to applaud an honest and humorous presentationof wicked Ministers, corrupt clergy, lawyers, and doctors, inaneLaureates, and degrading public entertainments. Mrs Delany, gatheringLondon news for Dean Swift, writes on April 22, "When I went out of Townlast Autumn, the reigning madness was Farinelli; I find it now turned on_Pasquin_, a dramatic satire on the times. It has had almost as long a runas the Beggar's Opera; but in my opinion not with equal merit, though ithas humour. " [5] We are told how the piece drew numerous enthusiasticaudiences "from _Grosvenor_, _Cavendish_, _Hanover_, and all the otherfashionable Squares, as also from _Pall Mall_ and the _Inns of Court_" Andon the 26th of May a benefit performance for the author was announced asthe "60th. Day. " The vogue of the satire even demanded a key, as may beseen in an advertisement in the _London Daily Post_ for May 17: _This Dayis published, Price Four-Pence. A Key to Pasquin, address'd to HenryFielding Esqre. _

Mr Pasquin's own advertisements for his little theatre are not without thezest with which our beef-eating ancestors attacked politics, social abusesand one another. The announcement for March 5, ran as follows:--

 "_By the_ Great Mogul's _Company of_ English _Comedians, Newly Imported_. At the New Theatre in the Haymarket, this Day, March 5, will be presented

 PASQUIN, A Dramatick SATYR on the times. 

 Being a Rehearsal of two PLAYS, viz. A Comedy call'd The ELECTION; and a Tragedy, call'd The Life and Death of COMMON SENSE. .. . 

 N. B. --Mr Pasquin intending to lay about him with great Impartiality, hopes the Town will all attend, and very civilly give their Neighbours what the find belongs to 'em. 

 N. B. --The Cloaths are old, but the Jokes entirely new. .. . "

In the following month the Opposition was busy over the marriage of theirchief supporter, the Prince of Wales; and Mr Pasquin duly chronicles theevent in his advertisements of the 28th of April, observing that hiscompany "by reason of the Royal Wedding expecting no Company butthemselves, are obliged to defer Playing till tomorrow. " A few dayslater, on the 12th of May, Sir Robert Walpole celebrated the royalmarriage by a grand evening entertainment given at his house in St JamesPark; and on the same night 'Pasquin' had the audacity to advertise aspecial performance, in the following terms (the "country party, " itshould be understood, was a usual name for Walpole's opponents):--

"For the Benefit of Miss Burgess, who has so zealously espoused theCountry Interest. .. . Miss Burgess hopes all Patriots and Lovers of theirCountry will appear in her favour and give all encouragement to one whohas so early distinguished herself on the side of Liberty. " In Pasquin's_Election_ scenes, this lady played the part of Miss Stitch, a politicaldamsel, opposed to Walpole's candidate. Next day appeared an ironiccounter-advertisement of a performance for "the Benefit of Miss Jones (theMayor's daughter who hath so furiously espoused the Court [_i. E. _Walpole's] Interest. .. . ) _N. B. _--Miss Jones does not doubt that all trueloyal People will give her all Encouragement in their Power, as she hasengaged in so unpopular a Side and even given away her FAN (which very fewyoung ladies would) for the service of the Country: she hopes theCourtiers will not let her be out of pocket by the Bargain. " Here, again, is doubtless a hit at Lord 'Fanny' Hervey; as well as a plain hint thatthose who espoused Walpole's cause might expect ample payment for theirtrouble. 

Is there any wonder that a wrathful and uneasy Minister, not yetoverthrown, shortly took stringent measures against the 'liberty' of thestage; measures by which a political stage censorship was formallyestablished, and the topical gaiety of our theatre, and the pungency ofour theatrical announcements, henceforth immeasurably dulled. 

A few further points of minor interest remain to be noted concerning thatpopular and scathing personage Mr Pasquin. By May the company styledthemselves "Pasquin's Company of Comedians"; a fresh indication of thecredit attaching to the performance. In the previous month a contributorto _The Grub Street Journal_ tells "Dear Grub" that he has seen Popeapplauding the piece; and, although the statement was promptly denied, arare print by Hogarth lends some colour to a very likely story; for thegreat Mr Pope, the terror of his enemies, the autocrat of literature, waswarmly on the side of the Opposition. Hogarth depicts the stage ofFielding's theatre, and thereon a scene in the fifth act of _Pasquin_, inwhich the foes of Queen Common Sense are for the moment triumphant. Theside boxes are well filled; and in one of them Mr Pope's deformed figure, apparently, turns away, declaring: "There is no whitewashing this stuff. "The curious may find another plate by Hogarth in which Pope _is_ busywhitewashing Lord Burlington; but the drift of the remark for theOpposition drama of _Pasquin_ seems obscure. The gains that accrued toFielding from the success of _Pasquin_ are indicated by another rareprint, that entitled the _Judgement of the Queen o' Common Sense. Addressed to Henry Fielding Esqre. _ Here, again, it is _Pasquin's_ satireon the prevailing furore for pantomime that is chiefly illustrated; asCommon Sense gives to Rich, the harlequin, a halter, while to Fielding sheaccords an overflowing purse. Supporting Fielding are a long leanShakespeare, and two figures, possibly the distinguished players KittyClive and Quin; on the opposite side, behind Harlequin, are figuresrepresenting the bad clergy, lawyers, and doctors satirised in the_Tragedy_; and the whole is balanced by the emergence of the ghost inHamlet, from a trap door in the foreground. Doggerel verses, at the footof the print, celebrate the arrival of a bard, "from ye Great Mogul, "bringing with him _Wit, Humour, and Satyr_, and receiving the Queen's"honest favour, " in "show'rs of gold. "

Under those golden showers, and with the applause of 'all the fashionableSquares' ringing in his ears, we may leave Mr Pasquin. Fielding's firstventure as political dramatist and theatrical manager had provedbrilliantly successful; his little theatre, like his own Tom Thumb, hadassailed a dozen giant abuses, an all-powerful Minister among them, andthe town had applauded the courage and wit of the performance. In thefollowing season, those same boards were to witness the author of_Pasquin_ "laying about him" with an even greater political audacity. 

 * * * * *

Content, doubtless, with the success of _Pasquin_, Fielding does not seemto have launched any further political attacks during the remaining monthsof 1736. A newspaper advertisement of June announces the intention of the'Great Mogul's Company of Comedians' to continue "playing twice a weekduring the summer season, " and _Pasquin_ remained occasionally in thebills as late as the 2nd of July. The public were advised that "This ismuch the coolest House in Town"; and audiences must have been drawn evenin August, for in that month one small and presumably party play wasperformed, the _New Comi-Tragical Interlude call'd the Deposing and Deathof Queen Gin_. This little piece consisted of only two scenes, and wasprobably a skit on a Bill "against spirituous liquors" which Walpole hadsupported earlier in the year. The measure met with violent opposition, including petitions from the Liverpool and Bristol merchants; and in viewof Sir Robert's own notorious excesses with the bottle a temperance Billfrom his hands may well have roused Fielding's ironic laughter. Theauthorship of the satire is unknown; but the moral appears to have beenunexceptionable, as _Queen Gin_, in the final scene, "drinks a greatquantity of liquor and at last dies. "

Fielding clearly began his second year at the 'little theatre' with somesocial or political exhortation, as the following bill appears forJanuary:--"By a Company of Comedians, At the New Theatre in the Haymarket, this Day, January 26, will be presented a Dramatick Satire on the Times(never performed before) call'd The Mirrour. " By February "the OriginalCompany who perform'd _Pasquin_" are notified on the bills; and on the 2ndof March a performance is announced of a _Dramatick Tale of the King andthe Miller of Mansfield_, presumably the same _Miller of Mansfield_ openlydeclared by one of Walpole's "hired scribblers" to be aimed at theoverthrow of the Ministry. [6] All such preliminary skirmishes, however, served but to introduce the grand attack of the _Historical Register forthe Tear 1736_, the first performance of which may be assigned to the endof March 1737. [7]

In the _Register_ we have the most complete display of Fielding's vigouras a fighting politician. Here, to recur to Mr Pasquin's characteristicphrase, he "lays about him" with a gusto and honest frankness quite lostamong our own tepid conventions. But however hard the hitting, howeverboisterous the broad humour, however biting the irony, it is noteworthythat in this his chief political satire, written moreover for a yetunregulated stage, Fielding never stoops to the shameless personalities ofhis day. The fashion of the eighteenth-century permitted even the greatand classical genius of Pope to hurl lines at the persons of his opponentsthat, to modern ears, scarcely bear quotation. Fielding, as we know, constantly asserted his intention of throwing not at the vicious but atvice; and accordingly, even in this party play, flung openly in the faceof the Minister, there is but one reference (and that only a fling at his"lack of any the least taste in polite literature") to the notoriouspersonal failings of Sir Robert. It is against the Minister, and not theman, that the hot-blooded Opposition dramatist directs his humour and hisirony. Fielding's manly and generous nature here permitted no virulentpersonalities to blacken his pages. [8]

The irony of the _Register_ is chiefly reserved for the _Dedication to thePublic_, designed for the reader at leisure; though here Walpole isindicated broadly enough, first in the figure of an ass hung out on asignpost, and again as "Old Nick, " for "who but the devil could act such apart. " Here the attacks of the Ministerial papers are parried by ironicexplanations that "The Register is a ministerial pamphlet calculated toinfuse into the minds of the people a great opinion of their ministry, "explanations full of admirable fencing and excellent hits. And in thesededicatory pages Fielding utters a sonorous warning to his countrymenconcerning the insidious policy that was undermining their veryconstitution: ". .. Here is the danger, here is the rock on which ourconstitution must, if it ever does split. The liberties of a people havebeen subdued by conquests of valour and force, and have been betrayed bythe subtle and dexterous arts of refined policy, but these are rareinstances; for geniuses of this kind are not the growth of every age, whereas if a general corruption be once introduced, and those, who shouldbe the guardians and bulwarks of our liberty, once find or think they findan interest in giving it up, no great capacity will be required to destroyit. On the contrary the meanest, lowest, dirtiest fellow, if such an oneshould ever have the assurance in future ages to mimick power, andbrowbeat his betters, will be as able as Machiavel himself could havebeen, to root out the liberties of the bravest people. " From thesolemnities of the _Dedication_ we come to the "humming deal of satire, "and the boisterous action, of the play itself. As in the case of _Pasquin_the form of the drama is that of a rehearsal, a form which affordsexcellent opportunities for such explanatory asides as that addressed tothe critic who complains of the attempt to review a year's events in asingle play: "Sir, " says the author, "if I comprise the whole actions of ayear in half an hour, will you blame me, or those who have done so littlein that time?" The long years of Walpole's power were admittedly "yearswithout parallel in our history, for political stagnation. " Scene onediscovers five 'blundering blockheads' of politicians, in counsel with onesilent "little gentleman yonder in the chair;" who knows all and saysnothing, and whose politics lie so deep that "nothing but an inspir'dunderstanding can come at 'em. " The blockheads, however, have capacityenough to snatch hastily at the money lying on their council table. Walpole's jealousy of power, it may be remembered, had driven almost everyman of ability out of his ministry. Then comes a vivacious parody on thefashionable auctions of the day. Lots comprising "a most curious remnantof Political Honesty, " a "delicate piece of Patriotism, " and a "very clearConscience which has been worn by a judge and a bishop" and on which nodirt will stick, go for little or nothing, while Lot 8, "a veryconsiderable quantity of Interest at Court, " excites brisk bidding, and isfinally knocked down for one thousand pounds. From the excellent foolingof the auction, the action suddenly changes to combined satire on theMinistry and on the two Cibbers, father and son. The Ministry areingeniously implied to have been damn'd by the public; to give places withno attention to the capacity of the recipient; and to laugh at the dupesby whose money they live. A like weakness for putting blockheads in officeand for giving places to rogues, and a like contempt of the public, isallegorically conveyed in the third act, in which 'Apollo' casts the partsfor a performance among sundry unworthy actors, and declares that thepeople may grumble 'as much as they please, as long as we get theirmoney. ' "There sir, " cries the author to the critic of the rehearsal, "isthe sentiment of a great man. " The _Great Man_ was a phrase, to use Pope'swords, "by common use appropriated to the first minister"--that is, toWalpole. In the next scene the effrontery of the piece culminates in aballet where the Prime Minister appears, leading a chorus of falsepatriots, who, to use Fielding's own words, are set in the 'odious andcontemptible light' of a set of "cunning self-interested fellows who for alittle paltry bribe would give up the liberties and properties of theircountry. " These worthy patriots are of four types, the noisy, thecautious, the self-interested (he whose shop is his country) and theindolent ("who acts as I have seen a prudent man in company, fall asleepat the beginning of a fray and never wake 'till the end o't"). To thementers Quidam, unblushingly announced in the play bill as "Quidam, Anglicea Certain Person, " in other words Walpole himself. Quidam pours gold intothe pockets of the four patriots, drinks with them, and then, when the'bottle is out' (a too frequent occurrence at Sir Robert's table) takes uphis fiddle, strikes up a tune and dances off, the patriots dancing afterhim. But even this is not all. "Sir, " says the author, "every one of thesepatriots have a hole in their pockets as Mr Quidam the fiddler thereknows; so that he intends to make them dance 'till all the money is fall'nthrough, which he will pick up again and so not lose one halfpenny by hisgenerosity. .. . " We may suppose that the final scene lost nothing inbreadth by the acting of Quidam; and it is not surprising that theimmediate result was the subjugation not, alas! of the Ministry, but ofthe liberty of the stage. Walpole's fall was delayed for three years; thedestruction of the political stage was accomplished in three months. 

It is difficult to imagine that any party, in those days of comparativelyarbitrary power, would venture a public satire so unveiled and so menacingas that of the _Register_, unless supported by some confidence in theimmediate fall of their opponents. Without such confidence the politicaltactics of such an onslaught would be simple foolhardiness. Signs of thesefalse hopes are not wanting in the slight, but equally bold, satire on thesycophants represented as composing Walpole's _levée_, which was shortlyadded to the _Register_. This little sketch, in which a protest concerningthe damning, early in the year, of Fielding's ballad farce _Eurydice_ iscombined with the political satire, was advertised as follows:--

 "EURYDICE HISS'D: or, a Word to the Wise, giving an Account of the Rise, Progress, Greatness, and Downfal of Mr Pillage, . .. With the dreadful Consequence and Catastrophe of the whole. " [9]

We have the authority of Tom Davies, at7 this time a member of Fielding'scompany, for the statement that "Fielding in his _Eurydice Hiss'd_ hadbrought on the Minister [Walpole] in a _levée_ scene" [10]; and as Pillageis the "very great man" who holds the _levée_ in the fragment, the aboveallusion to an expected downfall of Walpole's Ministry seems obvious. Passages of similar import to the advertisement occur in the piece itself. Thus the play is declared to convey a "beautiful image of the instabilityof human greatness"; and the spectacle is promised of the 'author of amighty farce' at the pinnacle of human greatness and adored by a crowd ofdependants, become by a sudden turn of fortune, scorned, "deserted andabandon'd. "

The single scene of the play opens when Pillage is at the zenith of hispower; a stage direction orders that "The Lèvee enters, and rangethemselves to a ridiculous tune"; a partition of places ensues under theallegory of the business arrangements of a theatrical manager; and theauthor explains that by this _levée_ scene he hopes that persons greaterthan author-managers may learn to despise sycophants. Close on the heelsof the _levée_ comes the catastrophe. Not one honest man, Pillage sadlyadmits, is on his side; as his 'shallow plot' opens out the first applausechanges to hisses; his farce is damn'd; and he himself is left consolingthe solitude of his downfall by getting exceedingly drunk on a thirdbottle. 

The figure of a fallen Minister boozing away his own intolerablereflections, was not calculated to pacify that notoriously hard drinker, Sir Robert, already soundly pilloried in the _Register_, and severelyindited by _Pasquin_. By the end of April the _Register_ had reached itsthirty-first performance, a good run at that date; and according to anadvertisement in the _Craftsman_ the satire was still being played on the7th of May. In little more than four weeks, and after the allegedperpetration of a treasonable and profane farce called _The Golden Rump_, a Bill for stifling the liberty of the stage under a censorship wasintroduced, had passed through both Houses, and received the royal assent. Well might Lord Chesterfield exclaim in the brilliant speech which, inSmollet's words, "will ever endear his character to all the friends ofgenius and literature, to all those who are warmed with zeal for theliberties of their country, " that the Bill was not only "of a veryextraordinary nature, but has been brought in at a very extraordinaryseason and pushed with very extraordinary despatch. " Concerning the natureof the measure Chesterfield had no doubt. He saw its tendency towardsrestraining the "liberty of the Press which will be a long stride towardsthe destruction of Liberty itself"; he pointed out that a Minister who hasmerited the esteem of the people will neither fear the wit nor feel thesatire of the theatre; he denounced the subjugation of the stage under "anarbitrary Court license" which would convert it into a canal for conveyingthe vices and follies of "great men and Courtiers" through the wholekingdom; he protested against the Bill as an encroachment not only onliberty but also on property, for "Wit, my Lords, is a sort of property;it is the property of those that have it, and too often the only propertythat they have to depend on. "

As a manager of the intrepid little theatre in the Haymarket, as well asthe author of the most successful of the offending plays, the LicensingAct fell with double weight on Fielding. "When I speak against the Bill, "cried Chesterfield, "I must think I plead the cause of Wit, I plead thecause of Humour, I plead the cause of the British Stage, and of everygentleman of taste in the Kingdom. " Looking back over two centuries, wehonour Chesterfield in that, unknown to himself, he also pleaded the causeof the greatest of English humourists. But appeals on behalf of genius andfreedom were thrown away upon Walpole; the Act received the royal assenton June 21 1737; and, in the honourable company of Wit, Humour, and Taste, Fielding was forced to retire from the theatre, on the boards of which hehad for two years so vigorously assailed Ministerial corruption andautocracy. 

[1] _Works of Henry Fielding_, Edited by Edmund Gosse. Introduction, p. Xxi. 

[2] _Life of Garrick_. T. Davies. 1780, vol. I. P. 223. 

[3] _Notitia Dramatica_, MSS. Dept. British Museum, speaks of _Pasquin_ asperformed for the fortieth time on April 21, 1736: and quotes anadvertisement of the play for March 5. There seems to be no record of theactual first night. 

[4] Rich appears to have been the manager at Covent Garden from 1733 to1761. 

[5] _Autobiography of Mrs Delany. _ 1861. Vol I. P. 554. 

[6] See Fielding's ironic reference to such "iniquitous surmises" in theDedication to the _Historical Register_. 

[7] The earliest newspaper reference, so far available, is that of the_Daily Journal_ for April 6 1737, which speaks of April 11 as the ninthday of the _Register_. 

[8] In the succeeding Epilogue of _Eurydice Hiss'd_ it must be admittedthat Sir Robert's love of the bottle is broadly satirised. 

[9] _Daily Advertiser_, April 29. 1737. 

[10] _Life of Garrick_, T. Davies, vol. Ii. P. 206. 

CHAPTER V

HOMESPUN DRAMA

 "Virtue distrest in humble state support. " Prologue to _Fatal Curiosity_. 

The Licensing Act of June 1737 thus brought Henry Fielding's career aspolitical dramatist to a hasty conclusion; a conclusion quite unforeseenby the luckless author, as appears from his _Dedication_ to the_Historical Register_, published almost at the moment when the Act becamelaw: "The very great indulgence you have shown my performances at thelittle theatre these two last years, " he says, addressing his public, "have encouraged me to the proposal of a subscription for carrying on thattheatre, for beautifying and enlarging it, and procuring a better companyof actors. "

Before finally losing sight of the stage on which _Pasquin_ and the_Register_ had scored such signal success, we may notice some minorincidents of these two years of Fielding's administration. His companydoes not seem to have included either Macklin, Quin, or Kitty Clive; butthat distinguished actress Mrs Pritchard, the central figure of Hogarth'scharming group called "The Green Room, Drury Lane, " is said to have madeher first appearance on his boards, [1] and his players also included thatman of many parts Tom Davies. Davies was a student of EdinburghUniversity; an actor at Drury Lane and elsewhere; a bookseller of whom theelder D'Israeli said 'all his publications were of the best kind'; thewriter of various works including a _Life of Garrick_; and a particularfriend of Dr Johnson. In the first year of Fielding's management in theHaymarket, Davies was cast for a principal part in George Lillo's tragedy_Fatal Curiosity_; and it is to his pen that we owe the only knowncontemporary reference to the active part taken by Fielding himself in theaffairs of his theatre. 

Lillo, a jeweller of Moorfields, had captured the town, a few yearspreviously, by his tragedy of common life, _George Barnwell_; and amongthe dramatists selected by Fielding for representation on his stage themost interesting is undoubtedly this pioneer of the coming revolution inEnglish literature. For, incredible as it may seem, until that firstperformance of _Barnwell_, no writer, to quote Tom Davies' own words "hadventured to descend so low as to introduce the character of a merchant orhis apprentice into a tragedy. " Certain "witty and facetious persons whocall themselves the town, " continues Davies, brought to the first nightcopies of the old ballad on which the jeweller's play was based, meaningto mock the new tragedy with the old song; but so forcible and patheticwere Lillo's scenes that these merry gentlemen were obliged "to throw awaytheir ballads, and take out their handkerchiefs. " More tears, we learn, were shed over this 'homespun drama' than at all the imitations of ancientfables by learned moderns. To Fielding this revolution, from the buskin'dheroics of the Alexanders and Clelias to the living and natural pathos ofthe tragedy of a poor London apprentice, must have appealed withextraordinary force; for it is the especial glory of his own genius that, throwing aside all the traditions of his age, and 'adventuring on one ofthe most original expeditions that ever a writer undertook, ' [2] he was todiscover a new world for English fiction, the world of simple humannature. That expedition must have been already forming in his mind when, night after night, in the hottest part of the year, _George Barnwell_ wasplaying to crowded houses, and convincing the astonished audiences of 1731that even so low a creature as a London apprentice was possessed ofpassions extremely like their own. Some ten years later, when Fieldingrevealed the first true sign of his own surpassing genius in the _Historyof the Adventures of Joseph Andrews_, he chose for his hero a countryfootman. The worthy City jeweller was, in his own limited measure, theforerunner, on the stage, of that new era in English literature created byhonest Andrews and Parson Adams, Partridge and Mrs Slipslop, Fanny andSergeant Atkinson, Tow-wouse and Mrs Miller, to name but a few ofFielding's immortal portraits, drawn from the 'vast authentic book ofNature. '

It is no wonder then, to return to Tom Davies, that a play by Lillo wasannounced on the bills of Fielding's theatre within a few months of theopening of his management. On May 27, 1736, the following advertisementappeared:

 "Guilt its Own Punishment. Never Acted before. By Pasquin's Company of Comedians. Being a True Story in Common Life and the Incidents extremely affecting. " By the Author of George Barnwell. 

Davies' part in the play was a chief one, that of young Wilmot, and thestory of the performance may be given in his own words. "Mr Fielding, whohad a just sense of our author's merit, and who had often in his humourouspieces laughed at those ridiculous and absurd criticks who could notpossibly understand the merit of Barnwell, because the subject was low, treated Lillo with great politeness and friendship. He took upon himselfthe management of the play and the instruction of the actors. It wasduring the rehearsal of the _Fatal Curiosity_ that I had an opportunity tosee and to converse with Mr Lillo. Plain and simple as he was in hisaddress, his manner of conversing was modest affable and engaging. Wheninvited to give his opinion how a particular sentiment should be utteredby the actor he expresst himself in the gentlest and most obliging terms, and conveyed instruction and conviction with good nature and goodmanners. .. . Fielding was not content merely to revise the 'FatalCuriosity, ' and to instruct the actors how to do justice to their parts. He warmly recommended the play to his friends and to the public. Besidesall this he presented the author with a well written prologue. "

This _Prologue_, which has apparently hitherto escaped the collectors ofFielding's _Works_, seems worthy of a reprint here, if only for itscharacteristic sympathy with virtue and distress 'in humble state, ' andfor the opening tribute to 'Shakespeare's nature' and to 'Fletcher'sease. '

PROLOGUE TO THE FATAL CURIOSITY

 "The Tragic Muse has long forgot to please With Shakespeare's nature or with Fletcher's ease: No passion mov'd, thro' five long acts you sit, Charm'd with the poet's language or his wit. Fine things are said, no matter whence they fall; Each single character must speak them all. 

 "But from this modern fashionable way To-night our author begs your leave to stray. No fustian hero rages here to-night, No armies fall to fix a tyrant's right: From lower life we draw our scenes' distress: --Let not your equals move your pity less! Virtue distrest in humble state support; Nor think she never lives without the court. 

 "Tho' to our scenes no royal robes belong And tho' our little stage as yet be young Throw both your scorn and prejudice aside; Let us with favour not contempt be try'd, Thro' the first act a kind attention lend The growing scene shall force you to attend: Shall catch the eyes of every tender fair, And make them charm their lovers with a tear. The lover too by pity shall impart His tender passion to his fair one's heart: The breast which others' anguish cannot move Was ne'er the seat of friendship or of love. "

Notwithstanding all the manager's friendly efforts, the play met at firstwith very little success, a failure in Davies' opinion "owing in allprobability to its being brought on in the latter part of the season, whenthe public had been satiated with a long run of _Pasquin_, " but, he adds, "it is with pleasure I observe that Fielding generously persisted to servethe man whom he had once espoused; he tacked the 'Fatal Curiosity' to hisHistorical Register which was played with great success in the ensuingwinter. " [3] We owe no inconsiderable debt to Tom Davies in that he haspreserved for us this picture of Fielding, actively engaged in thestage-management of his little theatre; a picture, moreover, that doesequal honour to the brilliant wit, the successful political satirist, andto that modest, gentle Nonconformist poet, the man of whom it was saidthat he "had the spirit of an old Roman joined to the innocence of aPrimitive Christian, " George Lillo. 

A few weeks before the production of Lillo's tragedy, and while _Pasquin_was still in the full tide of political success, an event occurred ofcloser import to Fielding's affectionate nature than all the applause ofthe Opposition and the town. This was the birth, in April, 1736, of hisdaughter Charlotte. No English writer has left more charming pictures ofmother and child than those we owe to the tenderness and simplicity ofFielding's pen. When we find Squire Western turning, in his latter days, to Sophia's nursery, and hear him declaring that the prattling of hisgranddaughter is "sweeter Music than the finest Cry of Dogs in _England_"when we see Captain Booth stretched at full length on the floor of hispoor lodgings, with his "little innocents" jumping over him, we are almostinclined to forgive alike the brutalities of the old foxhunter, and theweaknesses of the young soldier. Fielding's affection for his children, his apprehensions for their ultimate provision, his anxiety in theirsickness, his grief at the loss of a little daughter, are manifest in hispages. If anything could exceed the satisfaction which the brilliantsuccess of _Pasquin_ must have given to his buoyant nature, it would bethe birth of this, the first child apparently, of his marriage with thebeautiful Charlotte Cradock. The entry in the registers of St Martin's inthe Fields runs as follows: Baptized May 19th, 1736 Charlotte Fielding, ofHenry and Charlotte, Born April 27th. 

The dates of _Pasquin_, of Lillo's tragedy, and of the _HistoricalRegister_, cover a considerable portion of the years 1736, 1737, and theirproduction in a theatre under Fielding's own management practicallypresupposes his presence in London at that time. This by no means fits inwith Murphy's implication that Fielding retired to Stour on his marriage, and that, remaining there, he ran through his "little patrimony, " in "lessthan three years. " A complete country retirement cannot be assigned tothose busy years in the Haymarket; and in 1736 the journey from London toDorsetshire was no trifling undertaking. But it seems quite possible thatFielding and his wife went down to their small estate in Dorsetshire forpart or all of the summer, autumn and winter of both 1736 and 1737. Thiswould cover the hunting months, and "hounds and horses, " according toMurphy, filled a large part in Fielding's country life at Stour; the timewould be that of the comparatively dull season for the theatre in theHaymarket; and, with the year immediately preceding _Pasquin_, we shouldthus, perhaps, account sufficiently for Murphy's "three years". Certainpassages in the _Miscellanies_, published long after the pleasant meadowsand the modest house at Stour--no less than the turmoil of the green-roomand the crowded political audiences in the Haymarket--were things of thepast, have a personal ring, reminiscent perhaps of such months of "sweetRetirement" in Dorsetshire. Thus one of the characters in the _Journeyfrom this World to the next_ recalls the change, from a life of "restlessAnxieties, " to a "little pleasant Country House, where there was nothinggrand or superfluous, but everything neat and agreeable"; and how, after alittle time, "I began to share the Tranquillity that visibly appeared ineverything round me. I set myself to do Works of Fancy and to raise littleFlower-Gardens, with many such innocent rural Amusements; which altho'they are not capable of affording any great Pleasure, yet they give thatserene Turn of the Mind, which I think much preferable to anything elseHuman Nature is made susceptible of. " To this pleasant picture of "ruralAmusements, " and tranquillity, it is surely not impertinent to add thisfurther passage, as a possible echo of Charlotte Fielding's thought, wellacquainted as she must have been both with the "sweetly winding banks ofStour" and with the clamorous successes of political drama: "in all thesevarious Changes I never enjoyed any real Satisfaction, unless in thelittle time I lived retired in the Country free from all Noise and Hurry. "

In the summer or autumn of 1737 the curtain was finally rung down on allthe 'noise and hurry, ' the achievements and audacities of Fielding's"little stage"; a few months later, and the country retirement at Stourhad also become but a memory of that short life into which he managed tocompress "more variety of Scenes than many People who live to be veryold. "

[1] _Life of Garrick_. T. Davies, vol. Ii. 

[2] _Works of Henry Fielding_, edited by Edmund Gosse. Introduction, p. Xxix. 

[3] _The Works of Mr George Lillo, with some Account of his Life_, T. Davies. 

CHAPTER VI

BAR STUDENT. JOURNALIST

 "the . .. Covetous, the Prodigal, the Ambitious, the Voluptuous, the Bully, the Vain, the Hypocrite, the Flatterer, the Slanderer, call aloud for the _Champion's_ Vengeance. " --The _Champion_, Dec. 22, 1739. 

There is no record of when or how Fielding disposed of his share in themanagement of the New Theatre in the Haymarket. But on June 21 1737, Walpole's Bill for regulating the stage received, as we have seen, theroyal assent; and there can be no doubt that Sir Robert would at onceapply his newly acquired powers to removing the dances of the fiddler, MrQuiddam, and the drunken consolations of Mr Pillage, from the Haymarketboards, if indeed these gentlemen had not anticipated events by alreadyremoving themselves. We may safely assume that Henry Fielding's career aspolitical dramatist came to an abrupt conclusion some time in the summerof 1737. [1]

It remains a matter for speculation why, after seven years spent inproducing a stream of not unsuccessful social comedies and farces, leadingup to a final and brilliant success in the field of political satiricdrama, Fielding should have thrown up the stage as a whole, when suddenlydebarred from those party onslaughts which had occupied but a fraction ofhis dramatic energies. The cause was not any lack of popularity. "Thefarces written by Mr Fielding, " wrote Murphy in 1762, "were almost all ofthem very successful, and many of them are still acted every winter, witha continuance of approbation. " And it is obvious that the fashionablevices and follies of the time afforded ample inducement to a satiricdramatist to continue 'laying about him, ' even when Ministerial offenceshad been rendered inviolate by Act of Parliament. Neither was Fielding'ssanguine temperament likely to be daunted by the single failure of hisfarce _Eurydice_, which had been damned at Drury Lane on February 19 ofthis same year: "disagreeable impressions, " Murphy tells us, "nevercontinued long upon his mind. " The most satisfactory solution of thematter seems to be that now, in the approaching maturity of his powers, the 'Father of the English Novel' was becoming conscious that the truefield for his genius lay in a hitherto unattempted form of imaginativenarration, and not within the five acts of comedy or farce. The entirelyoriginal conceptions of a _Joseph Andrews_ and a _Jonathan Wild_ mayalready have begun to captivate the vigorous energies of his mind. We havehis own word for assigning "some years" to the writing of _Tom Jones_; itis therefore not unreasonable to suppose that the conception of the firstEnglish "Comic Epic Poem in Prose" may date as far back as the summer of1737. 

Leaving surmise for fact, it is certain that this year marks the dividingline in Fielding's life. 

Henceforth he ceases to be the witty, facile, popular dramatist; and heenters slowly on his birthright as the first in time, if not in genius, ofEnglish novelists. To this complete severance from the theatre belongs hisown remark that "he left off writing for the stage when he ought to havebegun. " Arrived at a late maturity, and with accumulated stores ofobservation and insight, --"he saw the latent sources of human action, "says Murphy--his genius happily turned into a channel carved, withsplendid originality, for itself alone. After nine years of servitude tothe limitations of dramatic construction, limitations he was wont torelieve, as his friend James Harris tells us, by "pleasantly thoughperhaps rather freely" _damning the man who invented fifth acts_, Fieldingwas now soon to discover his freedom in the spacious, hithertounadventured, regions of prose fiction. But genius, especially genius withwife and child to support, cannot maintain life on inspiration alone; and, accordingly, the ex-dramatist now flung himself, with characteristicimpetuosity and courage, into a struggle for independence at the Bar, perhaps the most arduous profession, under all the circumstances, that hecould have chosen. For a reputation as the writer of eighteen comedies, and as the reckless political dramatist whose boisterous energies had setthe town ringing with _Pasquin_ and the _Register_, the fame in short ofbeing the successful manager of _The Great Mogul's Company of Comedians_, was surely the last reputation in the world to bring a man briefs fromcautious attorneys. And, with whatever hopes of political patronage, anytemperament less buoyant might well have hesitated to embark on readingfor the Bar at the age of thirty. But "by dificulties, " says his earliestbiographer, "his resolution was never subdued; on the contrary they onlyroused him to struggle through them with a peculiar spirit andmagnanimity. " So, within six months of the closing down of his littletheatre under Walpole's irate hand, Fielding had formally entered himselfas a student at the Middle Temple. 

The entry in the books of that society runs as follows:--

 [574 G] 1 Nov'ris. 1737. 

 _Henricus Fielding, de East Stour in Com Dorset Ar, filius et haeres apparens Brig: Gen'lis: Edmundi Fielding admissus est in Societatem Medii Templi Lond specialiter at obligatur una cum &c. 

 Et dat pro fine_ 4. 0. 0. 

Of the ensuing two and a half years of student life in the Temple we knowpractically nothing, beyond one vivacious picture of Harry Fielding'sattack upon the law. "His application while a student in the Temple, "writes Murphy, "was remarkably intense; and though it happened that theearly taste he had taken of pleasure would occasionally return upon him, and conspire with his spirits and vivacity to carry him into the wildenjoyments of the town, yet it was particular in him that amidst all hisdispositions nothing could suppress the thirst he had for knowledge, andthe delight he felt in reading; and this prevailed in him to such adegree, that he has been frequently known by his intimates, to retire lateat night from a tavern to his chambers, and there read and make extractsfrom the most abstruse authors, for several hours before he went to bed;so powerful were the vigour of his constitution and the activity of hismind. "

One of the few pages of Fielding's autograph that have come down to us ispresumably a relic of these student days. In the catalogue of the_Morrison Manuscripts_ occurs this description of two undated pages in hishand: "List of offences against the King and his state immediately, whichthe Law terms High Treason. Offences against him in a general light astouching the Commonwealth at large, as Trade etc. Offences against him assupreme Magistrate etc. " Were ever genius and wit more straitly or morehonourably shackled than that of Henry Fielding, gallantly accepting suchtoil as this, toil moreover that must have weighed with double weight on aman who had spent nine years in the company of those charming if 'ficklejades' the Muses. 

All efforts have failed to trace where Fielding and his wife and child (orchildren--the date of the birth of his daughter Harriet is not known)lived during these laborious months; but that money was needed in thesummer following his entry at the Middle Temple may be inferred from thesale of the property at Stour. According to the legal note of thistransaction, [2] "Henry ffeilding and Charlotte his wife" conveyed, in theTrinity Term of 1738, to one Thomas Hayter, for the sum of £260, "twomessuages, two dove-houses, three gardens, three orchards, fifty acres ofLand, eighty acres of meadow, one hundred and forty acres of pasture, tenacres of wood and common and pasture for all manner of cattle with theappurtenances in East Stour. " It does not need a very active imaginationto realise the keen regret with which Fielding must have parted with hisgardens and orchards, his pastures, woods and commons. Sixty years ago thebarn and one of the "dove-houses" had been but recently pulled down; andto this day the estate is still known as "Fielding's Farm. " [3]

It has been stated, on what authority does not appear, that, after leavingStour, Fielding went to Salisbury, and there bought a house, his solicitorbeing a Mr John Perm Tinney. Whatever be the fact as to the Salisburyresidence, it is certain that a full year after the sale of theDorsetshire property the Temple student was by no means at the end of hisresources. For in the following letter [4] to Mr Nourse, the bookseller, dated July 1739, we find him requiring a London house at a rent of fortypounds and with a large "eating Parlour. "

"Mr Nourse, Disappointments have hitherto prevented my paying y'r Bill, which, Ishall certainly do on my coming to Town which will be next Month. Idesire the favour of y'u to look for a House for me near the Temple. Imust have one large eating Parlour in it for the rest shall not be verynice. 

Rent not upwards of £40 p. An: and as much cheaper as may be. I will takea Lease for Seven years. Yr Answer to this within a fortnight will muchoblige. 

Y'r Humble Serv't

Henry Ffielding. 

I have got Cro: Eliz. [5]

"July 9th 1739. "

This note, written a year before Fielding's call to the Bar, suggeststhat his early married life was by no means spent in the "wretchedgarrett" of Lady Louisa Stuart's celebrated reminiscence. 

In the September following the sale of his Dorsetshire estate Fielding hadto regret the death of George Lillo, to whose success he had devoted somuch personal care and energy, when staging Lillo's tragedy _FatalCuriosity_ on the boards of the little theatre in the Haymarket. The closerelationship in intellectual sympathy between Lillo's talent and thegenius of Fielding has already been noticed. But apart from thisintellectual sympathy, the personal worth and charm of the good tradesmanis noteworthy, as affording striking proof of the quality of man chosen bythe 'wild Harry Fielding' for regard and friendship. And it should beremembered that in those days to bridge the social gulf between thekinsman of the Earl of Denbigh and a working jeweller, required courage aswell as insight. Some time after Lillo's death a generous memorial noticeof him appeared in Fielding's paper the _Champion_. The writer detects inhis work "an Heart capable of exquisitely Feeling and Painting humanDistresses, but of causing none"; and declares that his title to be calledthe best tragic poet of his age, "was the least of his Praise, he had thegentlest and honestest Manners, and, at the same Time, the most friendlyand obliging. He had a perfect Knowledge of Human Nature, though hisContempt of all base Means of Application, which are the necessary Stepsto great Acquaintance, restrained his Conversation within very narrowBounds: He had the Spirit of an old _Roman_, joined to the Innocence of aprimitive Christian; he was content with his little State of Life, inwhich his excellent Temper of Mind gave him an Happiness, beyond the Powerof Riches, and it was necessary for his Friends to have a sharp Insightinto his Want of their Services, as well as good Inclinations or Abilitiesto serve him. In short he was one of the best of Men, and those who knewhim best will most regret his Loss. " [6] In the excellent company of HenryFielding's friends George Lillo may surely take his stand beside the 'goodLord Lyttelton, ' the munificent and pious Allen, and not far from 'ParsonAdams' himself. 

No record has survived of Fielding's share in the political struggles ofhis party, during his first two years of "intense application" to the law. Walpole's power had been sensibly lessened by the death of the Queen, andhe was losing the support of the country and even of the trading classes. The Prince of Wales, now openly hostile to the "great man, " was thetitular head of an Opposition numbering almost all the men of wit andgenius in the kingdom. Lyttelton, Fielding's warmest friend, had becomesecretary to the Prince, and was recognised as a fluent leader of theOpposition in the House of Commons. Another friend, John Duke of Argyll, had joined the ranks of the Opposition in the Lords. On the whole theauthor of _Pasquin_, may well have hoped for a speedy fall of the"Colossos, " with "its Brains of Lead, its Face of Brass, its Hands ofIron, its Heart of Adamant, " and the accession to power of a party notwithout obligations to the fearless manager of the little theatre in theHaymarket. During these years the Opposition, even though supported byPope and Chesterfield, Thomson and Bolingbroke, could scarcely fail toutilise the trenchant scorn, the whole-hearted vigour, the boisteroushumour, of Fielding's genius; and Murphy, speaking vaguely of Fielding'slegal years, says that a "large number of fugitive political tracts, whichhad their value when the incidents were actually passing on the greatscene of business, came from his pen. " It is not however till November1739, two years and a half after the pillorying of Walpole on theHaymarket boards, that Fielding is again clearly seen, 'laying about' him, in those clamourous eighteenth-century politics. 

His choice of a new weapon of attack is foreshadowed in the nobleconcluding words of the _Introduction_ to the _Historical Register_; wordswritten on the very eve of the Ministerial Bill gagging that and all otherpolitical plays: "If nature hath given me any talents at ridiculing viceand imposture, I shall not be indolent, nor afraid of exerting them, whilethe liberty of the press and stage subsists, that is to say while we haveany liberty left among us. " A few weeks after these words were publishedthe liberty of the stage was triumphantly stifled by Walpole's LicensingBill. But even "old Bob" himself dared not lay his hand on the liberty ofthe British Press; and so we find Mr Pasquin reappearing under the guise, or in the company, of the _Champion and Censor of Great Britain_, otherwise one _Captain Hercules Vinegar_, a truculent avenger of wrong andexponent of virtue, in whose fictitious name a political, literary, anddidactic newspaper entered the field of party politics on November 15, 1739. The paper, under the title of the _Champion_, was issued three timesa week, and consisted of one leading article, an anti-Ministerial summaryof news, and literary notices of new books. The first number announcedthat the author and owner was the said Captain Hercules Vinegar, and thatthe Captain would be aided in various departments by members of hisfamily. Thus the Captain's wife, Mrs Joan Vinegar, a matron of a veryloquacious temper, was to undertake the ladies' column, and his son Jackwas to have "an Eye over the gay Part of the Town. " The criticism was tobe conducted by Mr Nol Vinegar who was reported to have spent one wholeyear in examining the use of a single word in Horace. And the politicswere to be dealt forth by the Captain's father, a gentleman intimatelyversed in kingdoms, potentates and Ministers, and of so close adisposition that he "seldom opens his Mouth, unless it be to take in hisFood, or puff out the Smoke of his Tobacco. "

The paper bore no signed articles; but judging from an attack levelledagainst it in a pamphlet of the following year, [7] Fielding and hisformer not very worshipful partner in the Haymarket management, JamesRalph, were the reputed "authors, " Ralph being in a subordinate position. Thus, it is stated that Ralph, "is now say'd to be the 'Squire of the_British_ CHAMPION"; the writer identifies _Captain Vinegar_ and theauthor of _Pasquin_ as one and the same person; he describes Pasquin andRalph as the "Authors of the Champion"; he asserts that the old Romanstatues of Pasquin and Marfario, "are now dignified and distinguished (byThe CHAMPION and his doughty Squire RALPH), under the Names [_sic_] ofCaptain Hercules Vinegar. "; he prints an address to the "_Self-dubb'dCaptain_ Hercules Vinegar, " and his "Man _Ralph_"; and appends somedoggerel verse entitled "Vinegar and his gang. " But from all this nothingdefinite emerges as to the precise part taken by Fielding in theauthorship of the _Champion_. The pamphleteer accredits a fragment of apaper signed C. To the _Captain_, and attributes two papers, [8] signed C. And L. , to "Mr Pasquin"--_i. E. _ Fielding; and as the reprint of the_Champion_, which appeared in 1741, announces that all papers so signedare the "Work of one Hand, " there is so much external proof that all suchpages in these volumes (numbering some sixty essays) are by Fielding. DrNathan Drake, writing in 1809, more than sixty years after the appearanceof the paper, asserts, without stating his reasons, that the numbersmarked "C. " and "L. " "were the work of Fielding. " This view is furthersupported by the opinion of Mr Austin Dobson, that many of the paperssigned _C. _ "are unmistakably Fielding's. "

On the other hand Murphy, writing only twenty-two years after theappearance of the paper, but often with gross inaccuracy, states that the_Champion_ "owed its chief support to his [Fielding's] abilities, " butthat "his essays in that collection cannot now be so ascertained as toperpetuate them in this edition of his works. " Boswell refers to Fieldingas possessing a "share" in the paper. A manuscript copy of some of theMinutes of meetings of the _Champion_ partners, written out in aneighteenth-century handwriting, and now in the possession of the presentwriter, confirms Boswell's note, in as far as an entry therein recordsthat "Henry Fielding Esq. Did originally possess Two Sixteenth Shares ofthe Champion as a Writer in the said paper. " One of the lists of thepartners of the _Champion_ which occur in the same manuscript, is headedby the name of "Mr Fielding. " Finally, a contemporary satirical printshows Fielding with his "length of nose and chin" and his tall figure, acting as standard-bearer of the _Champion_; the paper being representedin its political capacity of a leading Opposition organ. There is, moreover, the internal evidence of style and sentiment. Thus the matterrests; and although it is exceedingly tempting to use the _Champion_ forinferences as to the manner in which Fielding approached his new craft ofjournalism, and as to his attitude on the many subjects, theological, social, political and personal, handled in these essays, the evidenceseems hardly sufficient to warrant such deductions. It does, however, seemclear, taking as evidence the shilling pamphlet alreadymentioned, [9] that Harry Fielding, the intrepid and audacious Mr Pasquinof 1736-7 reappeared, laying about him with his ever ready cudgel nowraised to the dignity of a miraculous Hercules club, as the _Champion_ of1739-41. To all lovers of good cudgelling, whether laid on the shouldersof the incorrigible old cynic Sir Robert, or on those of the egregiousColley Cibber, or falling on the follies and abuses of the day, the"Pasquinades and Vinegarades" of _Captain Hercules Vinegar_, and his"doughty Squire Ralph, " may be commended. And no fault can be found withthe _Captain's_ declaration, when establishing a Court of Judicature forthe trial and punishment of sundry offenders in his pages, that "whateveris wicked, hateful, absurd, or ridiculous, must be exposed and punished, before this Nation is brought to that Height of Purity and good Manners towhich I wish to see it exalted. " [10]

One personal sketch of Fielding himself deserves quotation, whether drawnby his own hand or that of another. The _Champion_ for May 24, 1740, contains a vision of the Infernal Regions, where Charon, the ghostlyboatman, is busy ferrying souls across the River Styx. The ferryman bidshis attendant Mercury see that all his passengers embark carrying nothingwith them; and the narrator describes how, after various Shades hadqualified for their passage, "A tall Man came next, who stripp'd off anold Grey Coat with great Readiness, but as he was stepping into the Boat, _Mercury_ demanded half his Chin, which he utterly refused to comply with, insisting on it that it was all his own. " Fielding's length of chin andnose was well known; and not less familiar, doubtless, was the 'old GreyCoat, ' among the purlieus of the Temple. 

The beginning of the year 1740, when the lusty _Champion_ and his cudgelwere well established, and _Captain Hercules'_ private legal studies weredrawing to a close, was marked by a fresh outburst of the old feud withColley Cibber. Cibber, already notorious as actor, dramatist, manager, thePoet Laureat of "preposterous Odes, " and the 'poetical Tailor' who wouldeven cut down Shakespeare himself, now appeared in the character ofhistorian and biographer, publishing early in 1740 the famous _Apology forthe Life of Mr Colley Cibber, Comedian, and late Patentee of the TheatreRoyal. With an Historical View of the Stage during his Own Time. _

Cibber, soon to be scornfully chosen by Pope as dunce-hero of the_Dunciad_, had, for the past six years, been pilloried by Fielding; and, not unmindful of these onslaughts, he inserted in his new work a virulentattack on the late manager of the New Theatre in the Haymarket. The tenorof _Pasquin_ was here grossly misrepresented. Fielding was described asbeing, at the time of entering on his management, "a Broken Wit"; he wasaccused of using the basest dramatic means of profit, since "he was inhaste to get money"; and the final insult was added by Cibber's stroke ofreferring to his enemy anonymously, as one whom "I do not chuse to name. "

Looking back across two centuries on to the supreme figures of Pope andFielding, it is matter for some wonder that these giants of the intellectshould have greatly troubled to annihilate a Colley Cibber. A finervillain, it seems to us, might have been chosen by Pope for the sixhundred lines of his _Dunciad_ a worthier target might have drawn thearrows of Fielding's _Champion_. But Cibber possessed at least the art ofarousing notable enmities; and the four slashing papers in which the_Champion_ [11] promptly parried the scurrilities of the _Apology_ stillmake pretty reading for those who are curious in the annals of literarywarfare. It is noteworthy that these _Champion_ retorts are honourablyfree from the personalities of an age incredibly gross in the use ofpersonal invective. Fielding's journal, even under the stingingprovocation of the insults of the _Apology_, was still true to thestandard set in the _Prologue_ of his first boyish play

 'No private character these scenes expose. '

It is Cibber's ignorance of grammar, his murder of the English tongue, his inflated literary conceit, rather than his 'private character' thatare here exposed. 

Some time during the latter half of 1740 the whole feud between Cibber, Pope, Fielding and Ralph was reprinted in the shilling pamphlet, alreadyreferred to, entitled _The Tryal of Colley Cibber_. The collectionconcludes as follows:

 "ADVERTISEMENT

 "If the Ingenious _Henry Fielding_ Esq. ; (Son of the Hon. Lieut. General _Fielding_, who upon his Return from his Travels entered Himself of the _Temple_ in order to study the Law, and married one of the pretty Miss _Cradocks_ of _Salisbury_) will _own_ himself the AUTHOR of 18 strange Things called Tragical _Comedies_ and Comical _Tragedies_, lately advertised by _J. Watts_, of _Wild-Court_, Printer, he shall be _mentioned_ in Capitals in the _Third_ edition of Mr CIBBER'S _Life_, and likewise be placed _among_ the _Poetae minores Dramatici_ of the Present Age; then will both his _Name and Writings be remembered on Record_ in the immortal _Poetical Register_ written by Mr Giles Jacob. "

The whole production affords a lively example of the full-bloodedpamphleteering of 1740; and throws valuable light on Fielding's repute asthe _Champion_. 

As regards Ralph's collaboration with Fielding at this period (acollaboration further affirmed by Dr Nathan Drake's assertion, written in1809, that James Ralph was Fielding's chief coadjutor in that paper) itmay be recalled that ten years previously this not very reputable Americanhad provided a prologue for Fielding's early play, the _Temple Beau_; andthat he appears again as Fielding's partner in the management of theLittle Theatre in the Haymarket. Gradually relinquishing his theatricalambitions, Ralph appears to have turned his talents to politicaljournalism, and according to Tom Davies was becoming formidable as a partywriter for the Opposition in these last years of Walpole's administration. Boswell tells us that Ralph ultimately succeeded Fielding in his share ofthe _Champion_; [12] but we have no definite knowledge of what precisepart was taken by him in the earlier numbers. No continued trace occurs ofhis collaboration with Fielding; and indeed it is difficult to conceiveany permanent alliance between Fielding's manly, independent, and generousnature, and the sordid and selfish character, and mediocre talents ofJames Ralph. 

[1] The fullest newspaper for theatrical notices at this date, preservedin the British Museum, the _London Daily Post_, is unfortunately missingfor this year. 

[2] Now first printed, from documents at the Record Office. 

[3] A table inscribed by a former owner as having belonged to HenryFielding, Esq. , novelist, is now in the possession of the SomersetshireArchaeological Society. The inscription adds that Fielding "hunted fromEast Stour Farm in 1718. " He would then be eleven years old!

[4] From the hitherto unpublished original, in the library of Alfred Huth, Esq. 

[5] "Cro: Eliz. " is the legal abbreviation for Justice Croke's law reportsfor the reign of Elizabeth. 

[6] _Champion_, February 26, 1740. 

[7] _The Tryal of Colley Cibber, Comedian etc. _ 1740. 

[8] Those of April 22, and April 29, 1740. 

[9] And see _Daily Gazeteer_, Oct. 9, 1740. 

[10] _Champion_, December 22, 1739. 

[11] For April 22, April 29, May 6, and May 17. 

[12] Boswell's _Johnson_, edited by Birkbeck Hill. Vol. I. P. 169. N. 2:"Ralph . .. As appears from the minutes of the partners of the _Champion_in the possession of Mr Reed of Staple Inn, succeeded Fielding in hisshare of the paper before the date of that eulogium [1744]. "

CHAPTER VII

"COUNSELLOR FIELDING"

 "Wit is generally observed to love to reside in empty pockets. " _Joseph Andrews_. 

The last retort on Colley Cibber had scarcely been launched from thecolumns of the _Champion_, when that intrepid 'Censor of Great Britain'and indefatigable law student, _Captain Hercules Vinegar_, attained thefull dignities of a barrister of the Middle Temple. On June 20, 1740, Fielding was called to the Bar; and on the same day the Benchers of hisInn assigned to him chambers at No. 4 Pump Court, "up three pair ofstairs. " This assignment, according to the wording of the Temple records, was "for the term of his natural life. " These chambers may still be seen, with their low ceilings and panelled walls, very much to all appearance aswhen tenanted by Harry Fielding. The windows of the sitting-room andbedroom look out on to the beautiful old buildings of Brick Court, andfrom the head of the staircase one looks across to the stately gildedsundial of Pump Court, old even in Fielding's day, with its warning motto:

 "Shadows we are and like shadows depart. "

Here, in these lofty chambers, up their "three pair" of worn and narrowstairs, Fielding donned his barrister's gown, and waited for briefs; and, possessing as he did an imagination "fond of seizing every gay prospect, "and natural spirits that gave him, as his cousin Lady Mary tells us, cheerfulness in a garret, this summer of 1740 must have been full ofsanguine hopes. He was now thirty-three, and his splendid physique had notyet become shattered by gout. He had gained, Murphy observes, noinconsiderable reputation by the _Champion_; his position as a brilliantpolitical playwright had been long ago assured by _Pasquin_; the party towhose patriotic interests he had devoted so much energy and wit was nowrapidly approaching power; and two years of eager application had equippedhim with 'no incompetent share of learning' for a profession in which, weare told, he aspired to eminence. The swift disappointment of these bravehopes, the fast coming years of sickness, distress, and grief endow theold chambers with something of tragedy; but in June, 1740, the shadowswere still but a sententious word on the dial. 

There is practically no surviving record of Fielding's activity as abarrister. From Murphy we learn that his pursuit of the law was hamperedby want of means; and that, moreover, even his indomitable energies weresoon often forced to yield to disabling attacks of illness. So long as hishealth permitted him he "attended with punctual assiduity" on the Westerncircuit, and in term time at Westminster Hall. But gout rapidly "began tomake such assaults upon him as rendered it impossible for him to be asconstant at the bar as the laboriousness of his profession required, " andhe could only follow the law in intervals of health. Under such"severities of pain and want" he yet made efforts for success; and thetribute rendered by his first biographer to the courage of those effortsdeserves quotation in full: "It will serve to give us an idea of the greatforce of his mind, if we consider him pursuing so arduous a study underthe exigencies of family distress, with a wife and children, whom hetenderly loved, looking up to him for subsistence, with a body laceratedby the acutest pains, and with a mind distracted by a thousand avocationsand obliged for immediate supply to produce almost extempore a farce, apamphlet, or a newspaper. " Murphy's careless pen seems here to confuse thestudent years with those of assiduous effort at the Bar; and the extemporefarces are, judging by the dates of Fielding's collected plays, no morethan a rhetorical flourish: but there seems no reason to doubt theessential truth of this picture of the vigorous struggles of the sanguine, witty, and not unlearned barrister, ambitious of distinction, and alwayssensitively anxious as to the maintenance of his wife and children. We maysee him attending the Western circuit in March and again in August, ridingfrom Winchester to Salisbury, thence to Dorchester and Exeter, and on toLaunceston, Taunton, Bodmin, Wells or Bristol as the case might be;constant in his appearance at Westminster; and supplementing his briefs bypolitical pamphlets written in the service of an Opposition supported bythe intellect and integrity of the day. 

It is inexplicable that no records, in the letters or diaries of hisbrother lawyers, should have come down to us of circuits, enlivened by thewit of Harry Fielding; that practically all traces of his professionalwork should be lost; and that concerning the many friendships which he isrecorded to have made at the Bar we should know practically nothing beyondhis own cordial acknowledgment of the lawyers' response, three years afterhis call, to the subscription for the _Miscellanies_. In the preface tothose volumes he writes: "I cannot however forbear mentioning my sense ofthe Friendship shown me by a Profession of which I am a late and unworthyMember, and from whose Assistance I derive more than half the Names whichappear to this subscription. " All that we have to add to this, is theunconscious humour of Murphy's observation that the friendships Fieldingmet with "in the course of his studies, and indeed through the remainderof his life from the gentlemen of the legal profession in general, andparticularly from some who have since risen to be the first ornaments ofthe law, will ever do honour to his memory. " Had the names of these worthy'ornaments' been preserved, posterity could now give them due recognitionas having been honoured by the friendship of Henry Fielding. [1]

Fielding in his habit, as he lived, is for ever eluding us. His tallfigure vanishes behind the prolific playwright, the exuberant politician, the truculent journalist, the indefatigable magistrate, the great creativegenius. But at no point does the wittiest man of his day, and a lawyer ofsome repute--'Mr Fielding is allowed to have acquired a respectable shareof jurisprudence'--escape us so completely as during these years of'punctual assiduity' at the Bar. His very domicile is unknown, after thesurrender of those pleasant chambers in Pump Court, on November 28 1740. 

The political activities of "Counsellor Fielding" stand out far moreclearly than do the legal labours of these years of struggle at the Bar. The year of his call, 1740, was one of constant embarrassment for SirRobert Walpole, whose long enjoyment of single power was now at lastdrawing to a miserable close. The conduct of the Spanish War wasarraigned, and suggestions were made that the Government were in secretalliance with the enemy. When the news came, in March, that Walpole'sparliamentary opponent, the bluff Admiral Vernon, had captured Porto Bellofrom Spain, with six ships only, the public rejoicing and votes ofcongratulation were so many attacks on the peace-at-any-price Minister. Apowerful fleet, designed against Spain, lay inactive in Torbay the greaterpart of the summer, through (alleged) contrary winds. And when Parliamentmet in November 1740, an onslaught by the Duke of Argyll in the Lordspaved the way for the celebrated attack on Sir Robert in the Commons, known as "The Motion" of February 13, 1741. A fine political cartoonpublished in the following month, and here reproduced, in which Walpoleappears as mocking at the death and burial of this same "Motion" ofcensure (which the House had rejected), places Fielding in the forefrontof the Opposition procession. The dead "Motion" is being carried to the"Opposition" family vault, already occupied by Jack Cade and other"reformers"; and the bier is preceded by five standard-bearers, sadlycarrying the insignia of the party's papers. Among these, and second onlyto the famous _Craftsman_, comes Fielding's tall figure, bearing aloft astandard inscribed _The Champion_, and emblazoned with that terrible clubof _Captain Hercules Vinegar_, which, we may recall, was always ready to"fall on any knave in company. " Behind the bier hobbles, clearly, the oldDuchess of Marlborough; and Walpole's fat figure stands in the foreground, laughing uproariously at this "Funeral of Faction. " In the doggerel versesbeneath this cartoon, it is very plainly hinted that "old Sarah, " and theOpposition, were in league with the Stewarts. In this historic debate, forwhich members secured seats at six o'clock in the morning, the vote ofcensure on "the _one person_" arraigned was defeated, Sir Robert onceagain securing a majority, and so "the Motion" as the cartoonist depicts, died "of a Disappointment. " Another cartoon commemorating this ill-fatedeffort is instructive as showing, again in the foreground of the fight, afigure wearing a barrister's wig, gown, and bands, and inscribed with thewords _Pasquin_ and _The Champion_. The Opposition Leader, Pulteney, leadsboth the _Pasquin_ figure, and another representing the paper _CommonSense_, literally by the nose with the one hand, while with the other heneatly catches, on his drawn sword, Walpole's organ the _Gazetteer_. Indoggerel verses attached to the print Fielding is complimented with thefollowing entire verse to himself:--

 "Then the Champion of the Age, Being Witty, wise, and Sage, Comes with Libells on the Stage. "

This _Pasquin_ figure has none of the personal characteristics ofFielding, neither his "length of nose" nor his stately stature, so wellsuggested in the former print; but, lay figure though it be, it symbolisesno less clearly the prominent part he played in these final politicalstruggles of 1741. Also the lawyer's dress with which Fielding is heresignified is noteworthy; and similar acknowledgment of his new dignitiesmay be seen in the reference (in a copy of Walpole's _Gazetteer_ for 1740)to the attacks levelled on Sir Robert by "Captain Vinegar--_i. E. _Counsellor F---d--g. "

These popular indications of Fielding's activity in the fighting ranks ofthe Opposition, during this last year of Walpole's domination, aresupplemented by the evidence of his own pen. As early as January 1741, andwhile the grand Parliamentary attack of the 13th of February was butbrewing, he published an eighteenpenny pamphlet, in verse, satirising SirRobert's lukewarm conduct of the war with Spain. To the title of _TheVernoniad_, there was added a lengthy mock-title in Greek, the whole beingpresented as a lost fragment by Homer, describing, in epic style, themission of one "Mammon" sent by Satan to baffle the fleets of a nationengaged in war with _Iberia_. "Mammon" is a perfectly obvious satiricalsketch of Walpole himself, in the execution of which the hand that haddrawn the corrupt fiddler "Mr Quidam" and the tipsy "Mr Pillage" for theHaymarket stage, has in no wise lost its cunning. "Mammon" (Walpole wasreputed to have amassed much wealth) hides his palace walls by heaps of"ill-got Pictures. " The pictures collected at Houghton, the Minister'spretentious Norfolk seat, were famous; and the notes to the "Text" arecareful to depict, in illustration, "some rich Man without the least Tastehaving purchased a Picture at an immense Price, lifting up his eyes to itwith Wonder and Astonishment, without being able to discover wherein itstrue Merit lies. " "Mammon" declares virtue to be but a name, and hiswonted eloquence is bribery. Sir Robert asserted that every man has hisprice. "Mammon" preserves dulness and ignorance, "while Wit and Learningstarve. " Walpole's illiterate tastes were notorious. At the close of thepoem, "Mammon" accomplishes the behest of his master, Satan, by bribingcontrary winds to drive back the English ships (a satire on Walpole'sconduct of the war); and he finally returns to hell, and "in his Palacekeeps a _three Weeks'_ Feast. " Sir Robert it may be noted usuallyentertained for three weeks, in the spring, at Houghton. The whole is aslashing example of the robust eighteenth-century political warfare, polished by constant classical allusions and quotations; and doubtless itwas read with delight in the coffee houses of the Town in that criticalwinter of 1740-1741. Two characteristic allusions must not be omitted. Even in the heat of party hard hitting Fielding finds time for a thrust atColley Cibber, whose prose it seems was in several places by no means tobe comprehended till "explained by the _Herculean_ Labours of Captain_Vinegar_" And there is a pleasant reference to "my friend Hogarth theexactest Copier of Nature. "

In this first month of 1741, Fielding published yet another poeticalpamphlet for his party, but of a less truculent energy. _True Greatness_is a poem inscribed to a recruit in the Opposition ranks, the celebratedGeorge Bubb Dodington; and when the eulogiums offered by the poet to hispolitical leaders, Argyll, Carteret, Chesterfield, and Lyttelton, to allof whom are ascribed that "True Greatness" which "lives but in the NobleMind, " are completed by a description of Dodington as irradiating a blazeof virtues, this particular pamphlet becomes somewhat rueful reading. ForDodington was, if report speaks true, a pliant politician as well as anineffable coxcomb, although it must be admitted that he won eulogies andcompliments alike from the perfect integrity of Lyttelton, and thehonourable pen of James Thomson. Even Fielding's glowing lines do notoutstrip Thomson's panegyric in _The Seasons_. 

A more enduring interest however than the merits or demerits of aDodington, lies in this shilling pamphlet. In it is clearly foreshadowedFielding's great ironic outburst on false greatness, given to the world afew years later in the form of the history of that Napoleon in villany, the "great" Mr Jonathan Wild. In the medium of stiff couplets (verse being"a branch of Writing" which Fielding admits "I very little pretend to")the subject-matter of the magnificent irony of _Jonathan Wild_ is alreadysketched. Here the spurious "greatness" of inhuman conquerors, of droningpedants, of paltry beaus, of hermits proud of their humility, ismercilessly laid bare; and something is disclosed of the "piercingdiscernment" of that genius which, Murphy tell us, "saw the latent sourcesof human actions. "

We have seen indications in Murphy's careless pages that these few yearsof Fielding's assiduous efforts at the Bar were years burdened by"severities of want and pain. " It is difficult not to admit a reference tosome such personal experiences in a passage in this same poem. The linesin question describe the Poet going hungry and thirsty

 "As down Cheapside he meditates the Song". .. . 

a "great tatter'd Bard, " treading cautiously through the streets lest hemeet a bailiff, oppressed with "want and with contempt, " his very libertyto "wholesome Air" taken from him, yet possessing the greatness of mindthat no circumstances can touch, and the power to bestow a fame that shalloutlive the gifts of kings. This latter claim foreshadows the magnificentapostrophe in _Tom Jones_ on that unconquerable force of genius, able toconfer immortality both on the poet, and the poet's theme. Was the 'greattatter'd Bard, ' cautiously treading the streets, little esteemed, and yetthe conscious possessor of true greatness (did not the author of _TomJones_ rely with confidence on receiving honour from generations yetunborn), none other than the tall figure of Fielding himself? At least weknow that soon after this year he writes of having lately sufferedaccidents and waded through distresses, sufficient to move the pity of hisreaders, were he "fond enough of Tragedy" to make himself "the Hero ofone. "

One of the rare fragments of Fielding's autograph, [2] refers both to thispamphlet, and to the _Vernoniad_:

"Mr Nourse, "Please to deliver Mr Chappell 50 of [crossed out: my] [_sic_] TrueGreatness and 50 of the Vernoniad. 

Y'rs

"Hen. Ffielding. 

"_April_ 20 1741. "

In June of this year occurred the death of General Edmund Fielding, briefly noticed in the _London Magazine_ as that of an officer who "hadserved in the late Wars against _France_ with much Bravery andReputation. " The General's own struggles to support his large familyprobably prevented his death affecting the circumstances of his eldestson. In the same month Fielding appears as attending a "Meeting of thePartners in the Champion, " held at the Feathers Tavern, on June 29. Thelist of the partners present at the Feathers is given as follows:--[3]

 Present

 Mr Fielding Mr Nourse Mr Hodges Mr Chappelle

 Mr Cogan Mr Gilliver Mr Chandler

The business recorded was the sale of the "Impressions of the Champion intwo Vollumes, 12'o, No. 1000. " The impression was put up to the Company byauction, and was knocked down to Mr Henry Chappelle for £110, to be paidto the partners. The majority of the partners are declared by the Minutesto have confirmed the bargain; the minority, as appears from the list ofsignatures, being strictly that of one, Henry Fielding. After thisdissension Fielding's name ceases to appear at the _Champion_ meetings;and as he himself states that he left off writing for the paper from thisvery month the evidence certainly points to a withdrawal on his part inJune 1741 from both the literary and the business management of the paper. The edition referred to in the Minutes is doubtless that advertised in the_London Daily Post_ a few days before the meeting of the partners, as apublication of the _Champion_ "in two neat Pocket Volumes. " [4]

Meanwhile the whole force of the Opposition was thrown into the battle ofa General Election; and it is interesting to note that Pitt stood for theseat for Fielding's boyish home, and the home of his wife, that of OldSarum. The elections went largely against Walpole, and by the end of Junedefeat was prophesied for a Minister who would only be supported by amajority of sixteen. 

It is somewhat inexplicable that at this, the very moment of theapproaching victory of his party Fielding appears to have withdrawn fromall journalistic work. "I take this Opportunity to declare in the mostsolemn Manner, " he writes, in after years, "I have long since (as long asfrom _June_ 1741) desisted from writing one Syllable in the _Champion_, orany other public Paper. " And yet more unexpected is the fact that sixmonths later, during the last weeks of Walpole's failing power, a rumourshould be abroad that Fielding was assisting his old enemy. In one of hisrare references to his private life, that in the Preface to the_Miscellanies_, he seeks to clear himself from unjust censures "as well onaccount of what I have not writ, as for what I have"; and, as an instanceof such baseless aspersions, he relates that, in this winter of 1741, "Ireceived a letter from a Friend, desiring me to vindicate myself from twovery opposite Reflections, which two opposite Parties thought fit to caston me, _viz_. The one of writing in the _Champion_ (tho' I had not thenwrit in it for upwards of half a year) the other, of writing in theGazetteer, in which I never had the honour of inserting a single Word. "What can have occurred, in the bewildering turmoil of thateighteenth-century party strife, that the author of _Pasquin_, thepossessor of "Captain Vinegar's" Herculean Club, should have to vindicatehimself from a charge of writing in the columns of Walpole's _Gazetteer_. During these last months of Sir Robert's power his Cabinet was muchdivided, and two of his Ministers were in active revolt; possibly rumourassigned the services of the witty pen of Counsellor Fielding to theseOpposition Ministerialists. But that some change did indeed take place inFielding's political activities, in these last six months of 1741 isobvious from his withdrawal from writing in any "Public" paper; and frompassages in the last political pamphlet known to have come from his pen. This pamphlet, entitled _The Opposition. A Vision_, was published in thewinter of 1741, a winter of severe illness, and of "other circumstances"which, as he tells us, "served as very proper Decorations" to the sickbedsof himself, his wife, and child. It is a lively attack on the dividedcouncils and leaders of the Opposition, thrown into the form of a dream, caused by the author's falling asleep over "a large quarto Book intituled'An apology for the Life of Mr Colley Gibber, Comedian. '" In his dreamFielding meets the Opposition, in the form of a waggon, drawn by veryill-matched asses, the several drivers of which have lost their way. Theluggage includes the Motion for 1741, and a trunk containing the_Champion_ newspaper. One passenger protests that he has been hugelyspattered by the "Dirt" of the "last Motion, " and that he will get out, rather than drive through more dirt. A gentleman of "a meagre aspect" (ishe the lean Lyttelton?) leaves the waggon; and another observes that theasses "appear to me to be the worst fed Asses I ever beheld . .. That longsided Ass they call _Vinegar_, which the Drivers call upon so often to_gee up_, and _pull lustily_, I never saw an Ass with a worse Mane, or amore shagged Coat; and that grave Ass yoked to him, which they name_Ralph_, and who pulls and brays like the Devil, Sir, he does not seem tohave eat since the hard Frost. [5] Surely, considering the wretched Workthey are employed in, they deserve better Meat. "

The longsided ass, Vinegar, with the worst of manes and the most shaggedcoat, short even of provender, recalls the picture, drawn twelve monthspreviously, of the great hungry tatter'd Bard; and the inference seemsfair enough that for Fielding politics were no lucrative trade. A morecreditable inference, in those days of universal corruption, it may beadded, would be hard to find. The honour of a successful party writer whoyet remained poor in the year 1741, must have been kept scrupulouslyclean. The _Vision_ proceeds to show the waggon, with two new sets ofasses from Cornwall and Scotland (the elections had gone heavily againstWalpole in both these districts), suddenly turning aside from the "GreatCountry Road" (the Opposition was known as the Country Party); and theprotesting passengers are told that the end of their journey is "StJames. " Some of the asses, flinching, are "well whipt"; but the waggonleaves the dreamer and many of its followers far behind. Suddenly a FatGentleman's coach stops the way. The drivers threaten to drive over thecoach, when one of the asses protests that the waggon is leaving theservice of the country, and going aside on its own ends, and that "theHonesty of even an Ass would start" at being used for some purposes. Thewaggon is all in revolt and confusion, when the Fat Gentleman, whoappeared to have "one of the pleasantest and best natured Countenances Iever beheld, " at last had the asses unharness'd, and turned into adelicious meadow, where they fell to feeding, as after "long Abstinence. "Finally, the pleasant-faced fat gentleman's coach proceeds on the way fromwhich the waggon had deviated, carrying with it some of the former driversof the same; the mob burn the derelict obstructing vehicle; and theirnoise, and the stink and smoke of the conflagration wake the dreamer. 

In this last word of Fielding's active political career (for his lateranti-Jacobite papers are concerned rather with Constitutional andProtestant, than with party strife), a retirement from politicalcollar-work is certainly signified. His reasons for such a step escape usin the mist of those confused and heated conflicts. His detestation ofWalpole's characteristic methods may very well have roused his ever readyfighting instincts, whereas, once Walpole's fall was practically assuredthe weak forces of the Opposition (William Pitt being yet many years frompower) could have availed but little to enlist his penetrating intellect. And he may by now have found that politics afforded, in those days, butscanty support to an honourable pen. 

But supposition, in lack of further evidence, is fruitless; all that wecan clearly perceive is that this winter of sickness and distress marks afinal severance from party politics. The hungry 'hackney writer' of thelean sides and shagged coat, if not, indeed, turned to graze in the fatmeadow of his dream, was at last freed from an occupation that could butshackle the genius now ready to break forth in the publication of _JosephAndrews_. 

[1] A tantalising reference to one such acquaintance occurs in LordCampbell's _Lives of the Chancellors_. Vol. V. P. 357. In notes made byLord Camden's nephew, George Hardinge, for a proposed Life of the LordChancellor there is this entry: "formed an acquaintance . .. With HenryFielding . .. Called to the Bar. "

[2] Now in the possession of W. K. Bixby, Esq. , of St Louis, U. S. A. 

[3] In a manuscript copy of the Minutes, in the possession of the presentwriter. 

[4] _London Daily Post_, June 18-26, 1741. 

[5] The hard frost would be the terrible preceding winter of 1739-40, awinter long remembered for the severity of the cold, the cost ofprovisions, and the suffering of the poor. 

CHAPTER VIII

JOSEPH ANDREWS

 "This kind of writing I do not remember to have seen hitherto attempted in our language. " Preface to _Joseph Andrews_. 

On the 2nd of February 1742 Sir Robert Walpole, the 'Colossos' of popularbroadsides, under whose feet England had lain for exactly thirty years, received his final defeat; and the intrepid wit, who for the past eightyears had heartily lashed the tyrannies and corruptions of that 'GreatMan, ' enjoyed at last the satisfaction of witnessing the downfall of the_Mr Quiddam_ and _Mr Pillage_ of his plays, of the _Plunderer_ and_Mammon_ of his pamphlets, of the _Brass_ on whom many a stinging blow hadfallen in the columns of his _Champion_. 

With the retirement of Walpole, Fielding's vigorous figure vanishes fromactive political service. No more caustic Greek epics, translated from theoriginal "by Homer, " no more boisterous interludes with three-bottle PrimeMinisters appearing in the part of principal boy, come from his pen. Butscarcely is the ink dry on the page of his last known political pamphlet, when Fielding reappears, in this Spring of 1742, not as the ephemeralpolitician, but as the triumphant discoverer of a new continent forEnglish literature; as the leader of a revolution in imaginative writingwhich has outlived the Ministries and parties, the reforms, the broils, and warfares of two centuries. For, to-day, the fierce old contests ofWhig and Tory, the far-off horrors of eighteenth-century gibbets, jails, and streets, the succession of this and that Minister, the French Wars andPragmatic Sanctions of 1740 are all dead as Queen Anne. But the novelbased on character, on human life, in a word on 'the vast authentic Bookof Nature' is a living power; and it was by the publication, in February1742, of _The Adventures of Mr Joseph Andrews and his Friend Mr AbrahamAdams_, that Fielding reveals himself as the father of the English novel. Henceforth we can almost forget the hard-hitting political _Champion_; wemay quite forget the facile 'hackney writer' of popular farces, and theimpetuous studies of the would-be barrister. With the appearance of thesetwo small volumes Henry Fielding reaches the full stature of his genius asthe first, and perhaps the greatest, of English novelists. 

It is difficult, at the present day, to realise the greatness of hisachievement. Fielding found, posturing as heroines of romance, the_Clelias, Cleopatras, Astraeas_; he left the living women, Fanny Andrews, Sophia Western, Amelia Booth. "Amelia, " writes his great followerThackeray, ". .. The most charming character in English fiction, --Fiction!Why fiction? Why not history? I know Amelia just as well as Lady MaryWortley Montagu. " Again, Fielding found a world of polite letters, turninga stiff back on all "low" naturalness of life. He taught that world (ashis friend Lillo had already essayed to do in his tragedy of a _LondonMerchant_) that the life of a humble footman, of a poor parson in a torncassock, of the poverty-hunted wife of an impoverished army-captain, of acountry lad without known parentage, interest or fortune, may make finerreading than all the Court romances ever written; and, moreover, that "thehighest life is much the dullest, and affords very little humour orentertainment. " And, having rediscovered this world of natural and simplehuman nature, his genius proceeded to the creation of nothing less than anentirely new form of English literary expression, the medium of the novel. 

The preface to _Joseph Andrews_ shows that Fielding was perfectlyconscious of the greatness of his adventure. Such a species of writing, hesays, "I do not remember to have seen hitherto attempted in our language. "We can but wonder at, and admire, the superb energy and confidence whichcould thus embark on the conscious production of this new thing, amidwant, pain, and distress. And wonder and admiration increase tenfold onthe further discovery that this fresh creation in literature, fashioned incircumstances so depressing, is overflowing with an exuberance of healthylife and enjoyment. Having entered on his fair inheritance of this newworld of human nature, Fielding pourtrays it from the standpoint of hisown maxim, that life "everywhere furnishes an accurate observer with theridiculous. " So, into this, his newly-cut channel for imaginativeexpression (to use Mr Gosse's happy phrase) he poured the strength of agenius naturally inclined to that "exquisite mirth and laughter, " which ashe declared in his preface to these volumes, "are probably more wholesomephysic for the mind and conduce better to purge away spleen, melancholy, and ill affections than is generally imagined. " No book ever morethoroughly carried out this wholesome doctrine. The laughter in _JosephAndrews_ is as whole-hearted, if not as noisy, the practical jokes are asbroad, as those of a healthy school-boy; and the pages ring with a spiritand gusto recalling Lady Mary's phrase concerning her cousin "that no manenjoyed life more than he did. " To quote again from Mr Gosse: "A good dealin this book may offend the fine, and not merely the superfine. But thevitality and elastic vigour of the whole carry us over every difficulty. .. And we pause at the close of the novel to reflect on the amazing freshnessof the talent which could thus make a set of West country scenes, in thatdespised thing, a novel, blaze with light like a comedy of Shakespeare. "

So original in creation, so humane, so full of a brave delight in life, was the power that, mastering every gloomy obstacle of circumstance, brokeinto the stilted literary world of 1742; and Murphy's Irish rhetoric isnot too warm when he talks of this sunrise of Fielding's greatness "whenhis genius broke forth at once, with an effulgence superior to all therays of light it had before emitted, like the sun in his morning glory. "

Any detailed comment on the literary qualities of the genius which thusdisclosed itself would exceed the limits of this memoir; and indeed suchcomment is, now, a thrice-told tale. To Sir Walter Scott, Fielding is the"father of the English novel"; to Byron, "the prose Homer of humannature. " The magnificent tribute of Gibbon still remains a toweringmonument, whatever experts may tell us concerning the Hapsburg genealogy. "Our immortal Fielding, " he wrote, "was of the younger branch of the Earlsof Denbigh, who drew their origin from the Counts of Hapsburg. Thesuccessors of Charles V. May disdain their brethren of England; but theromance of _Tom Jones_, that exquisite picture of human manners, willoutlive the palace of the Escurial and the Imperial Eagle of Austria. "Smollett affirmed that his predecessor painted the characters, andridiculed the follies, of life with equal strength, humour and propriety. The supreme autocrat of the eighteenth century, Dr Johnson himself, thoughalways somewhat hostile to Fielding, read _Amelia_ through withoutstopping, and pronounced her to be 'the most pleasing heroine of all theromances. ' "What a poet is here, " cries Thackeray, "watching, meditating, brooding, creating! What multitudes of truths has that man left behindhim: what generations he has taught to laugh wisely and fairly. " Finallywe may turn neither to novelist nor historian, but to the metaphysicalphilosopher, "How charming! How wholesome is Fielding!" says Coleridge, "to take him up after Richardson is like emerging from a sick-room, heatedby stoves, into an open lawn on a breezy day in May. " Such are someestimates of the quality of Fielding's genius, given by men notincompetent to appraise him. To analyse that genius is, as has been said, beyond the scope of these pages. But Fielding's first novel is not only arevelation of genius. It frankly reveals much of the man behind the pen;and in its pages, and in those of the still greater novels yet to come, wemay learn more of the true Fielding than from all the fatuities andsurmises of his early biographers. 

Thus in _Joseph Andrews_ for the first time we come really close to thesplendid and healthy energy, the detachment, the relentless scorn, thewarmth of feeling, that characterised Henry Fielding under allcircumstances and at all times of his life. This book, as we have seen, was written under every outward disadvantage, and yet its pages ring withvigour and laughter. Here is the same militant energy that had nervedFielding to fight the domination of a corrupt (and generally corrupting)Minister for eight lean years; and which in later life flung itself into achivalrous conflict with current social crime and misery. Here is adetachment hardly less than that which fills the pages of the last_Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon_ with a courage, a gaiety, a serenity thatno suffering and hardship, and not even the near approach of death itself, could disturb. Here, again, Fielding consciously avows a moral purpose inhis art; the merciless scorn of his insight in depicting a vicious man orwoman is actuated, he expressly declares, by a motive other than that of'art for art's sake. ' And as this motive is scarce perceptible in thelifelike reality of the figures whom we see breathing in actual flesh andblood in his pages, and yet is of the first importance for understandingthe character of their creator, the great novelist's confession of thisportion of his literary faith may be quoted in full. The passage occurs inthe preface to Book iii. Of _Joseph Andrews_. Fielding is afraid, heexplains, that his figures may be taken for particular portraits, whereasit is the type and not the individual that concerns him. "I declare here, "he solemnly affirms, "once for all, I describe not Men, but Manners; notan Individual, but a Species. " And he proceeds to make example of thelawyer in the stage coach as not indeed confined "to one Profession, oneReligion, or one Country; but when the first mean selfish Creatureappeared on the human Stage, who made Self the Centre of the wholeCreation; would give himself no Pain, incur no Damage, advance no Money toassist, or preserve his Fellow-Creatures; then was our Lawyer born; andwhile such a Person as I have described, exists on Earth, so long shall heremain upon it. " Not therefore "to mimick some little obscure Fellow" doesthis lawyer appear on Fielding's pages, but "for much more general andnoble Purposes; not to expose one pitiful Wretch, to the small andcontemptible Circle of his Acquaintance; but to hold the Glass tothousands in their Closets that they may contemplate their Deformity, andendeavour to reduce it. "

Yet another characteristic of Fielding's personality appears in theconscious control exercised over all the humorous and satiric zest of_Joseph Andrews_. Here is no unseemly riot of ridicule. The ridiculous hedeclares in his philosophic preface is the subject-matter of his pages;but he will suffer no imputation of ridiculing vice or calamity. "Surely, "he cries, "he hath a very ill-framed Mind, who can look on Ugliness, Infirmity, or Poverty, as ridiculous in themselves"; and he formallydeclares that such vices as appear in this work "are never set forth asthe objects of Ridicule but Detestation. " What then were the limits whichFielding imposed on himself in treating this, his declared subject matterof the ridiculous? Hypocrisy and vanity, he says, appearing in the form ofaffectation; "Great Vices are the proper Object of our Detestation, smaller Faults of our Pity: but Affectation appears to me the only trueSource of the Ridiculous. " Such is Fielding's sensitive claim for thedecent limits of ridicule; and such the consciously avowed subject of hiswork. But the force of his genius, the depth of his insight, the warmth ofhis detestations and affections, soon carried him far beyond any merestudy in the ridicule of vain and hypocritical affectation. The immortalfigure of Parson Adams, striding through these pages, tells us infinitelymuch of the character of his creator, but nothing at all of the nature ofaffectation. The "rural innocence of a Joseph Andrews, " to quote MissFielding's happy phrase [1] and of his charming Fanny, are as natural andfresh as Fielding's own Dorsetshire meadows, but instruct us not at all invanity or hypocrisy. 

To turn to the individual figures of _Joseph Andrews_; what do they tellus of the man who called them into being. First and foremost, it is ParsonAdams who unquestionably dominates the book. However much the licentiousgrossness of Lady Booby, the shameless self-seeking of her waiting-woman, Mrs Slipslop, the swinish avarice of Parson Trulliber, the calculatingcruelty of Mrs Tow-wouse, to name but some of the vices here exposed, blazon forth that 'enthusiasm for righteousness' which constantly movedFielding to exhibit the devilish in human nature in all its 'nativeDeformity, ' it is still Adams who remains the central figure of the greatcomic epic. Concerning the good parson, appreciation has stumbled foradequate words, from the tribute of Sir Walter Scott to that of Mr AustinDobson. "The worthy parson's learning, " wrote Sir Walter, "his simplicity, his evangelical purity of heart, and benevolence of disposition, are soadmirably mingled with pedantry, absence of mind, and with the habit ofathletic and gymnastic exercise, . .. That he may be safely termed one ofthe richest productions of the Muse of Fiction. " And to Mr Austin Dobson, this poor curate, compact as he is of the oddest contradictions, the mostdiverting eccentricities, is "assuredly a noble example of primitivegoodness, and practical Christianity. " We love Adams, as Fielding intendedthat we should, for his single-hearted goodness, his impulsiveness, hisboundless generosity, his muscular courage; we are never allowed to forgetthe dignity of his office however ragged be the cassock that displays it;we admire his learning; we delight in his oddities. But above all hereflects honour on his creator by the inflexible integrity of hisgoodness. A hundred tricks are played on him by shallow knaves, and theresult is but to convince us of the folly of knavery. His ill-clad anduncouth figure moves among the vicious and prosperous, and we perceive theugliness of vice, and the poverty of wealth. With his nightcap drawn overhis wig, a short grey coat half covering a torn cassock, the crabstick soformidable to ruffians in his hand, and his beloved AEschylus in hispocket, Adams smoking his pipe by the inn fire, or surrounded by his"children" as he called his parishioners vying "with each other indemonstrations of duty and love, " fully justifies John Forster's commenton Fielding's manly habit of "discerning what was good and beautiful inthe homeliest aspects of humanity. " Before the true dignity of AbrahamAdams, whether he be publicly rebuking the Squire and Pamela for laughingin church, or emerging unstained from adventures with hogs-wash and worse, the accident of his social position as a poor curate, contentedly drinkingale in the squire's kitchen, falls into its true insignificance. 

Rumour assigned to Fielding's friend and neighbour at East Stour, the Rev. William Young, the honour of being the original of Parson Adams; and it isa pleasant coincidence that the legal assignment for _Joseph Andrews_, here reproduced in facsimile, should bear the signature, as witness, ofthe very man whose "innate goodness" is there immortalised. If there beany detractors of Fielding's personal character still to be found, theymay be advised to remember the truism that a man is known by his friends, and to apply themselves to a study of William Young in the figure ofParson Adams. 

Of the charming picture of rustic beauty and innocence presented in theblushing and warmhearted Fanny less need be said; for Fielding's ideal inwomanhood was soon to be more fully revealed in the lovely creations ofSophia and Amelia. And honest Joseph himself, his courage and fidelity, his constancy, his tenderness and chivalrous passion for Fanny, hisaffection for Mr Adams, his voice "too musical to halloo to the dogs, " hisfine figure and handsome face, concerns us here chiefly as demonstratingthat Fielding, when he chose, could display both virtue and manliness asunited in the person of a perfectly robust English country lad. 

These then, are some of the figures that Fielding loved to create, breathing into their simple virtues a vigorous human life, fresh asColeridge said, as the life of a Spring morning. In these joyous creationsof his heart and of his genius, the great novelist assuredly gives us aperfectly unconscious revelation of his own character. And among thechanging scenes of this human comedy one incident must not be forgotten. In the famous episode of the stage coach, all Fielding's characteristicand relentless hatred of respectable hypocrisy, all his love of innate ifragged virtue is betrayed in the compass of a few pages: in those pages inwhich we see the robbed, half-murdered, and wholly naked Joseph lifted infrom the wayside ditch amid the protests and merriment of the respectablepassengers; and his shivering body at last wrapped in the coat of thepostilion, --"a Lad who hath since been transported for robbing aHen-roost, "--who voluntarily stripped off a greatcoat, his only garment, "at the same time swearing a great Oath (for which he was rebuked by thePassengers) 'that he would rather ride in his Shirt all his Life, thansuffer a Fellow-Creature to lie in so miserable a Condition. '"

Much has been written concerning the notorious feud between Fielding andRichardson, a feud ostensibly based upon the fact that _Joseph Andrews_was, to some extent, frankly a parody of Richardson's famous production_Pamela_. In 1740, two years before the appearance of _Joseph Andrews_that middle-aged London printer had published _Pamela, or VirtueRewarded_, achieving thereby an enormous vogue. That amazing mixture ofsententious moralities, of prurience, and of mawkish sentiment, became therage of the Town. Admirers ranked it next to the Bible; the great Mr Popedeclared that it would "do more good than many volumes of Sermons"; and itwas even translated into French and Italian, becoming, according to LadyMary Wortley Montagu, who did not love Richardson, "the joy of thechambermaids of all nations. " That all this should have been highlyagreeable to the good Richardson, a 'vegetarian and water-drinker, aworthy, domesticated, fussy, and highly nervous little man, ' ensconced ina ring of feminine flatterers whom he called 'my ladies, ' is obvious; andproportionate was his wrath with Fielding's _Joseph Andrews_, of which theearly chapters, at least, are a perfectly frank, and to Richardsonaudacious, satire on _Pamela_. The caricature was indeed frank. Joseph isintroduced as Pamela's brother; he writes letters to that virtuousmaid-servant; and the Mr B. Of Richardson becomes the Squire Booby ofFielding. But there can be hardly two opinions as to such ridicule beingan entirely justified and wholesome antidote to the pompous and nauseousoriginal. To Fielding's robust and masculine genius, says Mr AustinDobson, "the strange conjunction of purity and precaution in Richardson'sheroine was a thing unnatural and a theme for inextinguishable Homericlaughter. " To Thackeray's sympathetic imagination the feud was theinevitable outcome of the difference between the two men. Fielding, hesays "couldn't do otherwise than laugh at the puny cockney bookseller, pouring out endless volumes of sentimental twaddle, and hold him up toscorn as a moll-coddle and a milksop. His genius had been nursed on sackposset, and not on dishes of tea. His muse had sung the loudest in tavernchoruses, and had seen the daylight streaming in over thousands of emptybowls, and reeled home to chambers on the shoulders of the watchman. Richardson's goddess was attended by old maids and dowagers, and fed onmuffins and bohea. 'Milksop!' roars Harry Fielding, clattering at thetimid shop-shutters. 'Wretch! Monster! Mohock!' shrieks the sentimentalauthor of _Pamela_; and all the ladies of his court cackle out anaffrighted chorus. "

Looking back on the incident it seems matter for yet more Homeric laughterthat Richardson should have called the resplendent genius of Fielding"low. " But the feud, it may be surmised, led to much of the odium thatseems to have attached to Fielding's name amongst some of hiscontemporaries. Feeling ran high and was vividly expressed in those days;and when cousinly admiration for Fielding was coupled by an excellentcomment on Richardson's book as the delight of the maidservants of allnations, personal retorts in favour of the popular sentimentalist were buttoo likely to ensue. Apart from this aspect of the matter the ancientquarrel does not seem a very essential incident in Fielding's life. 

The lack of means indicated by Fielding himself, in his reminiscence ofthis winter of 1741-2 as darkened by the illness of himself, his wife andof a favourite child, attended "with other Circumstances, which served asvery proper Decorations to such a Scene, " received but little alleviationfrom the publication of _Joseph Andrews_. The price paid for the book byAndrew Millar was but £183, 11s. ; and there is no record that Millarsupplemented the original sum, as he did in the case of _Tom Jones_, whenthe sale was assured. The first edition appears to have consisted of 1, 500copies. A second edition, of 2, 000 copies was issued in the samesummer, [2] and a third edition followed in 1743. 

Fielding's formal declaration that he described "not men but manners"; hissolemn protest, in the preface to this very book, that "I have noIntention to vilify or asperse anyone: for tho' everything is copied fromthe Book of Nature, and scarce a Character or Action produced which I havenot taken from my own Observations and Experience, yet I have used theutmost Care to obscure the Persons by such different Circumstances, Degrees, and Colours, that it will be impossible to guess at them with anydegree of Certainty"--represent rather his intention than the result. Theportraits of "manners" by the "prose Homer of human nature" were toolifelike to escape frequent identification. Thus not only was theprototype of Parson Adams discovered, but that of his antithesis, thepig-breeding Mr Trulliber, was thought to exist in the person of the Rev. Mr Oliver, the Dorsetshire curate under whose tutelage Fielding had beenplaced when a boy. Tradition also connects Mr Peter Pounce with theDorsetshire usurer Peter Walter. [3]

Two echoes have come down to us of the early appreciation of this novel. Atranslation of _Joseph Andrews_, "par une Dame Angloise, " and bound forMarie Antoinette by Derome le Jeune, was placed on the shelves of herlibrary in the Petit Trianon. [4] And, seven years after the appearance of_Joseph Andrews_, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, when sixty years old, writesfrom her Italian exile: "I have at length received the box with the booksenclosed, for which I give you many thanks as they amuse me very much. Igave a very ridiculous proof of it, fitter indeed for my granddaughterthan myself. I returned from a party on horseback; and after having rode20 miles, part of it by moonshine, it was ten at night when I found thebox arrived. I could not deny myself the pleasure of opening it; andfalling upon Fielding's works was fool enough to sit up all night reading. I think Joseph Andrews better than his Foundling. " [5]

[1] _Cleopatra and Octavia_. Sarah Fielding. Introduction. 

[2] See the ledgers of Woodfall, the printer, quoted in _Notes andQueries_, Series vi. P. 186. 

[3] It is interesting to note that Samuel Rogers was heard to speak withgreat admiration of chapter xiii. Of Book iii. , entitled "A curiousDialogue which passed between Mr Abraham Adams and Mr Peter Pounce. " (MS. Note by Dyce, in a copy of _Joseph Andrews_, now in the South KensingtonMuseum. )

[4] This copy, published in Amsterdam in 1775, is now in the possession ofMr Pierpont Morgan. 

[5] Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Vol. Ii. P. 194. 

CHAPTER IX

THE _Miscellanies_ AND _Jonathan Wild_

 "Is there on earth a greater object of contempt than the poor scholar to a splendid beau; unless perhaps the splendid beau to the poor scholar. " _Covent Garden Journal_, No. 61. 

If the 'sunrise' of Fielding's genius did indeed shine forth on thepublication of _Joseph Andrews_, it was a sunrise attended by dark clouds. For, with the appearance of these two little volumes, we enter on the mostobscure period of the great novelist's life, and on that in which heappears to have suffered the severest 'invasions of Fortune. '

As regards the winter immediately preceding the appearance of that joyousepic of the highway, he himself has told us that he was 'laid up in thegout, with a favourite Child dying in one Bed, and my Wife in a Conditionvery little better, on another, attended with other Circumstances, whichserved as very proper Decorations to such a Scene. ' In the followingFebruary, an entry in the registers of St Martin's in the Fields recordsthe burial of a child "Charlott Fielding. " So it is probable that the verymonth of the appearance of his first novel brought a private grief toFielding the poignancy of which may be measured by his frequent betrayalsof an anxious affection for his children. 

To such distresses of sickness and anxiety, there was now, doubtless, added the further misery of scanty means. For a few months later anadvertisement (hitherto overlooked) appears in the _Daily Post_, showingthat Fielding was already eagerly pushing forward the publication of the_Miscellanies_, that incoherent collection which is itself proof enoughthat necessity alone had called it into being. "The publication of theseVolumes, " he says, "hath been hitherto retarded by the Author'sindisposition last Winter, and a train of melancholy Accidents, scarce tobe parallel'd; but he takes this opportunity to assure his Subscribersthat he will most certainly deliver them within the time mentioned in hislast receipts, viz. By the 25th December next. " [1]

We may take it, then, that the first six months of 1742 were attended byno easy circumstances; and, accordingly, during these months Fielding'shard-worked pen produced no less than three very different attempts to winsubsistence from those humoursome jades the nine Muses. To take theseefforts in order of date, first comes, in March, his sole invocation ofthe historic Muse, the _Full Vindication of the Dutchess Dowager ofMarlborough_, published almost before Joseph Andrews was clear of theprinters, and sold at the modest price of one shilling. We learn from thetitle page that the _Vindication_ was called forth by a "late _scurrilous_Pamphlet, " containing "_base_ and _malicious_ Invectives" against HerGrace. Together with Fielding's natural love for fighting, a family tiemay have given him a further incitement to draw his pen on behalf of theaged Duchess. For his first cousin, Mary Gould, the only child of hisuncle James Gould, M. P. For Dorchester, had married General CharlesChurchill, brother to the great Duke. Whether this cousinship by marriageled to any personal acquaintance between 'old Sarah' and Harry Fielding wedo not know; and the muniment room at Blenheim affords no trace of anycorrespondence between the Duchess and her champion. But certainly the_Vindication_ lacks nothing of personal warmth. Fielding tells us that hehas never contemplated the character of that 'Glorious Woman' but withadmiration; and he defends her against the attacks of her opponentsthrough forty strenuous pages, in which the curious may still hear theechoes of the controversies that raged round the Duke and his Duchess, their mistress Queen Anne, and other actors of the Revolution. The_Vindication_ appeared in March; and a second edition was called forduring the year. As far as Millar's payment goes Fielding, as appears fromthe assignment in _Joseph Andrews_, received only £5; and it is to befeared that the Duchess (who is said to have paid the historian Hooke£5000 for his assistance in the production of her own celebrated pamphlet)placed but little substantial acknowledgment in Fielding's lean purse. Herchampion at any rate had, within three years, modified the views expressedin this _Vindication_, concerning the munificence of Her Grace's privategenerosity; for in his journal the _True Patriot_, there occurs thefollowing obituary notice, "A Man supposed to be a Pensioner of the lateDuchess of Marlborough. .. . He is supposed to have been Poor. "

This same month of March marked Fielding's final severance with the_Champion_. The partners of that paper, meeting on March the 1st, ordered"that Whereas Henry Fielding Esq. , did Originally possess Two SixteenthShares of the Champion as a Writer in the said paper and having withdrawnhimself from that Service for above Twelve Months past and refused hisAssistance in that Capacity since which time Mr Ralph has solelyTransacted the said Business. It is hereby Declared that the said WritingShares shall devolve on and be vested in Mr James Ralph. " [2] It iscurious that Fielding did not add to his impoverished exchequer by sellinghis _Champion_ shares. 

Having sought assistance from the Muse of history in March, Fieldingreturns to his old charmer the dramatic Muse in May; assisting in thatmonth to produce a farce, at Drury Lane, entitled _Miss Lucy in Town_. Inthis piece, he tells us, he had a very small share. He also received forit a very small remuneration; £10, 10s. Being recorded as the price paidby Andrew Millar. 

In the following month Fielding's inexhaustible energies were off on a newtack, producing, in startling contrast to _Miss Lucy_, a classical work, executed in collaboration with his friend the Rev. William Young, otherwise Parson Adams. The two friends contemplated a series oftranslations of all the eleven comedies of Aristophanes; adorned by notescontaining "besides a full Explanation of the Author, a compleat Historyof the Manners and Customs of the Ancient Greeks particularly of theAthenians"; and in June they inaugurated their scheme with the work inquestion, a translation of the Plutus. [3] William Young, says Hutchins, "had much learning which was the cement of Mr Fielding's connexion withhim"; and Fielding's own scholarship, irradiated by his wit, wouldassuredly have made him an ideal translator of Greek comedy. But thepublic of 1742 appears to have afforded very little encouragement to thisscheme, preferring that "pretty, dapper, brisk, smart, pert, Dialogue" oftheir own comedies, to which allusion is made in the authors' preface. 

The rest of the year shows nothing from a pen somewhat exhausted perhapswith the production of _Joseph Andrews_ of the historical _Vindication_, and of parts of a Drury Lane farce and of the _Plutus_, all within fivemonths. And the winter following, in which the promised _Miscellanies_should have appeared, brought, in the renewed illness of his wife, ananxiety that paralysed even Fielding's buoyant vigour. This we learn fromhis own touching apology for the further delay of those volumes; a delaydue, their author tells us, to "the dangerous Illness of one from whom Idraw all the solid Comfort of my Life, during the greatest Part of thisWinter. This, as it is most sacredly true, so will it, I doubt not, sufficiently excuse the Delay to all who know me. " [4] Early in thefollowing year, after this second winter of crushing anxiety, and under anurgent pressure for means, Fielding tried again his familiar _rôle_ ofpopular dramatist, giving his public the husks they preferred, in thecomedy of the _Wedding Day_. This comedy was produced at Drury Lane on the17th of February 1743. 

If Fielding had failed to descend to the taste of the Town in offeringthem Aristophanes, he flung them in the _Wedding Day_ something tooimperfect for acceptance, even by the 'critic jury of the pit, ' And thebitter humour in which he was now shackling his genius to the honourabletask of immediate bread-winning, or in his own words to the part of"hackney writer, " comes out clearly enough in the well-known anecdote ofthe first night of this comedy. In Murphy's words, Garrick, then a newplayer, just taking the Town by storm, "told Mr Fielding he wasapprehensive that the audience would make free in a particular passage;adding that a repulse might so flurry his spirits as to disconcert him forthe rest of the night, and therefore begged that it might be omitted. 'No, d--mn 'em, ' replied the bard, 'if the scene is not a good one, let themfind _that_ out. ' Accordingly the play was brought on without alteration, and, just as had been foreseen, the disapprobation of the house wasprovoked at the passage before objected to; and the performer alarmed anduneasy at the hisses he had met with, retired into the green-room, wherethe author was indulging his genius, and solacing himself with a bottle ofchampaign. " Fielding, continues Murphy, had by this time drank prettyplentifully, and "'_What's the matter, Garrick?_' says he, '_what are theyhissing now?_' Why the scene that I begged you to retrench; I knew itwould not do; and they have so frightened me that I shall not be able tocollect myself again the whole night. _Oh! d--mn 'em_, replies the author, _they HAVE found it out, have they!_" That Fielding should be scornfullyindifferent to the judgment of the pit on work forced from him byoverwhelming necessities, and which his own judgment condemned, is aforegone conclusion; but that he suffered keenly in having to produceimperfect work, and was jealously anxious to clear his reputation, as awriter, in the matter of this particular comedy, is no less apparent fromthe very unusual personal explanation he offered for it, soon after thebrief run of the play was over. For no man was more shy ofautobiographical revelations. His biographers are continually reduced togleaning stray hints, here and there, concerning his private life. [5] And therefore we can measure by this emergence from a habitualpersonal reticence the soreness with which he now published work unworthyof his genius. "Mr Garrick, " Fielding tells us, speaking of thisdistressed winter of 1742-3 ". .. Asked me one Evening, if I had any playby me; telling me he was desirous of appearing in a new Part [and] . .. AsI was full as desirous of putting Words into his Mouth, as he could appearto be of speaking them, I mentioned [a] Play the very next morning to Mr_Fleetwood_ who embraced my Proposal so heartily, that an Appointment wasimmediately made to read it to the Actors who were principally to beconcerned in it. " On consideration, however, this play appeared toFielding to need more time for perfecting, and also to afford very littleopportunity to Garrick. So, recollecting that he still had by him a playwhich, although 'the third Dramatic Performance' he ever attempted, contained a character that would keep the audience's "so justly favouriteActor almost eternally before their Eyes, " he decided, with characteristicimpetuosity, to a change at the last moment. "I accordingly, " he writes, "sat down with a Resolution to work Night and Day, owing to the short Timeallowed me, which was about a Week, in altering and correcting thisProduction of my more Juvenile Years; when unfortunately the extremeDanger of Life into which a Person, very dear to me, was reduced, renderedme incapable of executing my Task. To this Accident alone I have thevanity to apprehend, the Play owes most of the glaring Faults with whichit appeared. .. . Perhaps, it may be asked me why then did I suffer a Piecewhich I myself knew was imperfect, to appear? I answer honestly andfreely, that Reputation was not my Inducement; and that I hoped, faulty asit was, it might answer a much more solid, and in my unhappy situation, amuch more urgent Motive. " This hope was, alas, frustrated; not even thebrilliancy of a cast which included Garrick, Mrs Pritchard, Macklin, andPeg Woffington, could carry the _Wedding Day_ over its sixth night; andthe harassed author received 'not £50 from the House for it. ' The comedyis a coarsely moral attack on libertinism, a fact which probably, in nowise added to the popularity of the play in the pit and boxes of 1743. 

A doggerel prologue, both written and spoken by Macklin, gives anexcellent picture of the playhouse humours, and of the wild pit, of thoseexuberant days; and contains moreover the following sound advice, addressed to Fielding

 "Ah! thou foolish follower of the ragged Nine You'd better stuck to honest Abram Adams, by half; He, in spite of critics can make your Readers laugh. "

The next publication of these lean years was the _Miscellanies_, acollection of mingled prose, verse, and drama, of which the onlyconnecting link seems to be the urgent need of money which forced soheterogenous a medley from so great an artist. These long delayed volumesappeared, probably, in April, and were, says Fielding, composed with afrequent "Degree of Heartache. " They include the lover's verses of hisearly youth; philosophical, satiric, and didactic essays; a reprint of thepolitical effusion dedicated to Dodington; a few plays; the fragmententitled _A Journey from this World to the Next_; and the splendid ironicoutburst on villany, _Jonathan Wild_. 

The _Preface_, largely occupied as it is with those private circumstanceswhich forced the hasty production of the _Wedding Day_, has other matterof even greater interest for the biographer. Thus Fielding's sensitivecare of his reputation in essential matters appears in the fiery denialhere given to allegations of publishing anonymous scandals: "I never was, nor will be the Author of anonymous Scandal on the private History orFamily of any Person whatever. Indeed there is no Man who speaks or thinkswith more detestation of the modern custom of Libelling. I look on thepractice of stabbing a Man's Character in the Dark, to be as base and asbarbarous as that of stabbing him with a Poignard in the same manner; norhave I ever been once in my Life guilty of it. " Here too, he marks hisabhorrence of that 'detestable Vice' hypocrisy, which vice he was, beforelong, to expose utterly in the person of Blifil in _Tom Jones_. His happysocial temperament is betrayed in the characteristic definition of goodbreeding as consisting in "contributing with our utmost Power to theSatisfaction and Happiness of all about us. " And in these pages we haveFielding's philosophy of _goodness_ and _greatness_, delivered in wordsthat already display an unrivalled perfection of style. Speaking of histhird volume, that poignant indictment of devilry the _Life of Mr JonathanWild the Great_, it is thus that Fielding exposes the iniquity of villainsin "great" places:--"But without considering _Newgate_ as no other thanHuman Nature with its mask off, which some very shameless Writers havedone, a Thought which no Price should purchase me to entertain, I think wemay be excused for suspecting, that the splendid Palaces of the Great, areoften no other than _Newgate_ with the Mask on. Nor do I know anythingwhich can raise an honest Man's Indignation higher than that the sameMorals should be in one Place attended with all imaginable Misery andInfamy and in the other with the highest Luxory and Honour. Let anyimpartial Man in his Senses be asked, for which of these two Places aComposition of Cruelty, Lust, Avarice, Rapine, Insolence, Hypocrisy, Fraudand Treachery, was best fitted, surely his Answer must be certain andimmediate; and yet I am afraid all these Ingredients glossed over withWealth and a Title, have been treated with the highest Respect andVeneration in the one, while one or two of them have been condemned to theGallows in the other. "

Here is the converse of that insight which could discern goodness under aragged cassock, or in a swearing postilion. And, having discerned the truenature of such Great Men, Fielding proceeds to point out that "However theGlare of Riches and Awe of Title may terrify the Vulgar; nay howeverHypocrisy may deceive the more Discerning, there is still a Judge in everyMan's Breast, which none can cheat or corrupt, tho' perhaps it is the onlyuncorrupt thing about him"; that nothing is so preposterous as that menshould laboriously seek to be villains; and that this Judge, inflexibleand honest "however polluted the Bench on which he sits, " always bestowson the spurious Great the penalty of fear, an evil which "never can in anymanner molest the Happiness" of the "Enjoyments of Innocence and Virtue. "

The subsequent philosophic dissertation on the qualities of goodness andgreatness is interesting for such passages as the definition of a good manas one possessing "Benevolence, Honour, Honesty, and Charity"; and thefine declaration that of the passion of Love "goodness hath alwaysappeared to me the only true and proper Object. " And the very springs ofaction underlying half at least of each of the three great novels, andalmost every page of _Jonathan Wild_, are revealed in the finaldeclaration of the writer's intention to expose in these pages vicestripped of its false colours; to show it "in its native Deformity. " Asthe native and stripped deformity of vice is perhaps not often fullyapprehended and certainly is very seldom exposed in our own age, Fielding, by the very sincerity and fire of his morality, doubtless loses many amodern reader. 

It is in the third volume of the _Miscellanies_, a volume completelyoccupied by _Jonathan Wild_, that Fielding first fully reveals himself aspublic moralist. And in this Rogue's progress to the gallows he displaysso concentrated a zeal, that nothing short of his genius and his humourcould have saved these pages from the dullness of the professionalreformer. For the little volume consists of a relentless exposure of thedeformity and folly of vice. Here the foul souls of Wild and hisassociates, stripped of all the glamour of picturesque crime, standdisplayed in their essential qualities, with the result that even thepestilential air of thieves' slums, of 'night cellars, ' and of Newgatepurlieus, an air which hangs so heavy over every page, falls back intoinsignificance before the loathsomeness of the central figure. A few yearslater, in the preface to _Tom Jones_, Fielding formally asserted hisbelief that the beauty of goodness needed but to be seen 'to attract theadmiration of mankind'; in _Jonathan Wild_ he appears to be already atwork on the converse doctrine, that if the deformity of vice be butstripped naked, abhorrence must ensue. Such a naked criminal is Wild; andin the contemplation of his vices, as in the case of the arch hypocriteBlifil, in _Tom Jones_, and of the shameless sensualist "My Lord, " in_Amelia_, Fielding's characteristic compassion for the faults of hardpressed humanity is, for the time, scorched up in the fierceness of hisanger and scorn at deliberate cruelty, avarice and lust. Under the spellof Fielding's power of painting the devil in his native blackness, we feelthat for such as Wild hanging is too handsome a fate. It is easy for hisNewgate chaplain to assert that "nothing is so sinful as sin"; it takes agreat genius and a great moralist to convince us, as in this picture, thatnothing is so deformed or so contemptible. The dark places of _JonathanWild_ receive some light in the character of the good jeweller, in thetender scenes between that honest ruined tradesman and his wife andchildren, and in the devoted affection of his apprentice. But the trueillumination of the book, and its personal value for the biographer, liein the white heat of anger, the "sustained and sleepless irony" to adoptMr Austin Dobson's happy phrase, with which Fielding, with a forceunwavering from the first page to the last, here assails his subject. Anunderlying attack on the Ministerial iniquity of "Great Men" in highplaces seems to be often suggested; if this be a true inference, it doesbut give us further proof of Fielding's energies as a political, no lessthan as a moral, reformer. Certainly, through all the squalid scenes ofthe book, the contention is insisted on that criminals of Wild'styrannical stamp may as easily be found in courts, and at the head ofarmies, as among the poor leaders of Newgate gangs. To the wise moralistit is the same rogue, whether picking a pocket or swindling his country. 

And not to forget the wit in the moral reformer, we may leave Mr JonathanWild listening to one of the reasons given by the Newgate chaplain for hisReverence's preference for punch over wine: "Let me tell you, Mr Wildthere is nothing so deceitful as the spirits given us by wine. If you mustdrink let us have a bowl of punch; a liquor I the rather prefer as it isnowhere spoken against in Scripture. "

After _Jonathan Wild_ the most interesting fragment of the _Miscellanies_is the _Journey from this World to the Next_. In this essay Fieldingreveals his philosophy, his sternness, his affections, and his humour, asa man might do in intimate conversation. His warm humanity breathes in theconception that "the only Business" of those who had won admission toElysium 'that happy Place, ' was to "contribute to the Happiness of eachother"; and again in the stern declaration of Heaven's doorkeeper, theJudge Minos, that "no Man enters that Gate without Charity. " And indeedthe whole chapter devoted to the judgments administered by Minos on thespirits that come, confident or trembling, before him, and are eitheradmitted to Heaven, sent back to earth, or despatched to the "little BackGate" opening immediately into the bottomless pit, is full of personalrevelation. We feel the glee with which Fielding consigns the "littlesneaking soul" of a miser to diabolically ingenious torments; thesatisfaction with which he watches Minos apply a kick to the retreatingfigure of a duke, possessed of nothing but "a very solemn Air and greatDignity"; and the pleasure it gave him to observe the rejection accordedto "a grave Lady, " the Judge declaring that "there was not a single Prudein Elysium. " Again, nothing could be more true to Fielding's nature thanthe account of the poet who is admitted, not for the moral value hehimself places on his Dramatic Works (which he endeavours to read aloud toMinos), but because "he had once lent the whole profits of a Benefit Nightto a Friend, and by that Means had saved him and his Family fromDestruction"; unless it were the account of the poverty driven wretch, hanged for a robbery of eighteen-pence, who yet could plead that he hadsupported an aged Parent with his labour, that he had been a very tenderHusband, and a Kind Father, and that he had ruined himself for being Bailfor a Friend. "At these words, " adds the historian, "the gate opened, and_Minos_ bid him enter, giving him a slap on the Back as he passed by him. "

When the author's own turn came, he very little expects, he tells us, "topass this fiery Trial. I confess'd I had indulged myself very freely withWine and Women in my Youth, but had never done an Injury to any Manliving, nor avoided an opportunity of doing good; but I pretended to verylittle Virtue more than general Philanthropy and Private Friendship. " HereMinos cut the speaker short, bidding him enter the gate, and not indulgehimself trumpeting forth his virtues. Whether or no we may here read thereflections of Fielding's maturity, looking honestly back over his ownforty years and forward with humble fear into the future, we may certainlysee reflected in both confession and judgment much of the doctrine and thepractice of his life. 

After the failure, early in 1743, of the _Wedding Day_, and the subsequentpublication of the _Miscellanies_, Fielding seems to have thrown hisenergies for twelve months into an exclusive pursuit of the law. Thisappears from his statement, made a year later, in May 1744, that he couldnot possibly be the author of his sister's novel _David Simple_, which hadbeen attributed to him, because he had applied himself to his profession"with so arduous and intent a diligence that I have had no leisure, if Ihad inclination, to compose anything of this kind. " Clearly, in the periodthat covers the publication of _Joseph Andrews_ an historical pamphlet, parts of a farce and of _Plutus_, and of the _Miscellanies_, Fieldingfound both leisure and inclination for writing; so this sudden immersionin law must relate to the twelve months or so intervening between theseworks and the publication of his statement. Murphy corroborates this boutof hard legal effort. After the _Wedding Day_ says that biographer "thelaw from this time had its hot and cold fits with him. " The cold fits werefits of gout; and inconveniences felt by Fielding from these interruptionswere, adds Murphy "the more severe upon him, as voluntary and wilfulneglect could not be charged upon him. The repeated shocks of illnessdisabled him from being as assiduous an attendant at the bar, as his owninclination and patience of the most laborious application, wouldotherwise have made him. "

Mr Counsellor Fielding follows his retrospect of this strenuous attack onthe law with a declaration that, henceforth, he intends to forsake thepursuit of that 'foolscap' literary fame, and the company of the'infamous' nine Muses; a decision based partly on the insubstantial natureof the rewards achieved, and partly it would seem due to the fact that atFielding's innocent door had been laid, he declares, half the anonymousscurrility, indecency, treason, and blasphemy that the few last years hadproduced. [6] In especial he protests against the ascription to his pen ofthat 'infamous paltry libel' on lawyers, the _Causidicade_, an ascriptionwhich, as he truly says, accused him "not only of being a bad writer and abad man, but with downright idiotism in flying in the face of the greatestmen of my profession. " He also declares that no anonymous work had issuedfrom his pen since his promise to that effect; and that these falseaccusations had injured him cruelly in ease, reputation and interest. Thissolemn declaration that the now detested Muses shall no longer beguileFielding's pen affords excellent reading in view of the fact that thisabsorbed barrister must, within a year or two, have been at work on _TomJones_. The whole emphatic outburst was probably partly an effort toassert himself as now wholly devoted to the law, and partly an example ofone of those "occasional fits of peevishness" into which, Murphy tells us, distress and disappointment would betray him. 

The preface to his sister's novel _David Simple_, in which Fielding tookoccasion to announce these protests and assertions, is his only extantpublication for this year of 1744; and apart from its biographical valueis not of any great moment. Ample proof may be found in it of brotherlypride and admiration for the work of a sister "so nearly and dearly alliedto me in the highest friendship as well as relation. " There is thenoteworthy declaration that the "greatest, noblest, and rarest of all thetalents which constitute a genius" is the gift of "a deep and profounddiscernment of all the mazes, windings, and labyrinths which perplex theheart of man. " The utterance concerning style, by so great a master ofEnglish, is memorable--"a good style as well as a good hand in writing ischiefly learned by practice. " And a delightful reference should not beforgotten to the carping ignorant critic, who has indeed, "had a littleLatin inoculated into his tail, " but who would have been much the gainerhad "the same great quantity of birch been employed in scourging away hisill-nature. "

Disabled by gout and harassed by want of money, a yet greater distress wasnow fast closing on Fielding in the prolonged illness of his wife. "To seeher daily languishing and wearing away before his eyes, " says Murphy, "wastoo much for a man of his strong sensations; the fortitude with which hemet all other calamities of life [now] deserted him. " In the autumn of1744 Mrs Fielding was at Bath, doubtless in the hope of benefit from theBath waters. And here, in November, she died. Her body was brought toLondon for burial in the church of St. Martin's in the Fields; receivingon the 14th of November, 1744, honourable interment in the chancel vault, to the tolling of the great tenor bell, and with the fullest ceremonial ofthe time. Indeed it is evident, from the charges still preserved in thesexton's book, that Fielding rendered to his wife such stately honours aswere occasionally accorded to the members of the few great familiesinterred in the old church. 

The death of this beloved wife, Murphy tells us, brought on Fielding "sucha vehemence of grief that his friends began to think him in danger oflosing his reason. " When we remember that he himself has explicitly statedthat lovely picture of the 'fair soul in the fair body, ' the Sophia of_Tom Jones_, to have been but a portrait of Charlotte Fielding, we can insome measure realise his overwhelming grief at her death. And that theexquisite memorial raised to his wife by Fielding's affection and geniuswas not more beautiful in mind or face than the original, is acknowledgedby Lady Bute, a kinswoman of the great novelist. Lady Bute was nostranger, "to that beloved first wife whose picture he drew in his Amelia, where, as she said, even the glowing language he knew how to employ didnot do more than justice to the amiable qualities of the original, or toher beauty. He loved her passionately, and she returned his affection; yethad no happy life for they were almost always miserably poor, and seldomin a state of quiet and safety. His elastic gaiety of spirit carried himthrough it all; but meanwhile, care and anxiety were preying upon her moredelicate mind, and undermining her constitution. She gradually declined, caught a fever and died in his arms. " That Fielding's married life wasunhappy, whatever were its outward conditions, is obviously a very shallowmisstatement; but, for the rest, the picture accords well enough with ourknowledge of his nature. The passionate tenderness of which that naturewas capable appears in a passage from those very _Miscellanies_, which, hetells us, were written with so frequent a "Degree of Heartache. " In the_Journey from this World to the Next_, Fielding describes how, on hisentrance into Elysium, that "happy region whose beauty no Painting of theImagination can describe" and where "Spirits know one another byIntuition" he presently met "a little Daughter whom I had lost severalyears before. Good Gods! What Words can describe the Raptures, the meltingpassionate Tenderness, with which we kiss'd each other, continuing in ourEmbrace, with the most extatic Joy, a Space, which if Time had beenmeasured here as on Earth, could not have been less than half a Year. "

The fittest final comment on Henry Fielding's marriage with CharlotteCradock is, perhaps, that saying of a member of his own craft of thedrama, "Now to love anything sincerely is an act of grace, but to love thebest sincerely is a state of grace. "

[1] _Daily Post_, June 5, 1742. 

[2] MS. Copy of the Minutes of the Meetings of the Partners in the_Champion_, in the possession of the present writer. 

[3] See _Daily Post_. May 29, 1742. 

[4] Preface to the _Miscellanies_. 

[5] Such as the inscription on some verses, published in the_Miscellanies_, as "Written _Extempore_ in the Pump-room" at Bath, in1742. 

[6] Preface to _David Simple_. 

CHAPTER X

PATRIOTIC JOURNALISM

 "he only is the _true Patriot_ who always does what is in his Power for his Country's Service without any selfish Views or Regard to private Interests. "--The _True Patriot_. 

Fielding's active pen seems to have been laid aside for twelve monthsafter the death of his wife; and it is perfectly in accord with all thatwe know of his passionate devotion to Charlotte Cradock that her lossshould have shattered his energies for the whole of the ensuing year. Murphy, as we have seen, speaks of the first vehemence of his grief asbeing so acute that fears were entertained for his reason. According toFielding's kinswomen, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu and Lady Bute, the firstagonies of his grief approached to frenzy; but "when the first emotions ofhis sorrow were abated" his fine balance reasserted itself, and to quoteagain from Murphy, "philosophy administered her aid; his resolutionreturned, and he began again to struggle with his fortune. "

As we hear no more of exclusive devotion to the law, it may be assumedthat the attempt of the previous year to live by that arduous callingalone was now abandoned; and to a man of Fielding's strong Protestant andHanoverian convictions the year of the '45, when a Stewart Prince and aninvading Highland army had captured Edinburgh and were actually across theborder, could not fail to bring occupation. Fielding believed ardentlythat Protestant beliefs, civil liberty, and national independence offoreign powers were best safeguarded by a German succession to the Englishthrone; so by the time Prince Charles and 6, 000 men had set foot onEnglish soil, the former 'Champion of Great Britain' was again up in arms, discharging his sturdy blows in a new weekly newspaper entitled the _TruePatriot_. 

The _True Patriot_ is chiefly notable as affording the first sign thatFielding was now leaving party politics for the wider, and much duller, field of Constitutional liberty. A man might die for the BritishConstitution; but to be witty about it would tax the resources of aLucian. And, accordingly, in place of that gay young spark Mr Pasquin, wholaid his cudgel with so hearty a good will on the shoulders of theoffending 'Great Man, ' there now steps out a very philosophic, mature, andsoberly constitutional _Patriot_; a patriot who explicitly asserts in hisfirst number, "I am of no party; a word I hope by these my labours toeradicate out of our constitution: this being indeed the true source ofall those evils which we have reason to complain of. " And again, in No. 14, "I am engaged to no Party, nor in the Support of any, unless of suchas are truly and sincerely attached to the true interest of their Country, and are resolved to hazard all Things in its Preservation. " Here is aconsiderable change from the personal zest that placed Mr Quiddam and MrPillage before delighted audiences in the Little Theatre in the Haymarket. 

The available copies of the _True Patriot_, now in the British Museum, [1] include only thirty-two numbers, starting from No. 1, which appearedon the 5th of November, 1745, and ending on June 3, 1746. The first numbercontains a characteristic tribute to Dean Swift, whose death had occurred'a few days since. ' Doctor Jonathan Swift, says the _Patriot_, was "Agenius who deserves to be rank'd among the first whom the World ever saw. He possessed the Talents of a Lucian a Rabelais and a Cervantes and in hisWorks exceeded them all. He employed his Wit to the noblest Purposes inridiculing as well Superstition in Religion as Infidelity and the severalErrors and Immoralities which sprung up from time to time in his Age; andlastly in defence of his Country. .. . Nor was he only a Genius and aPatriot; he was in Private Life a good and charitable Man and frequentlylent Sums of Money, without interest, to the Poor and Industrious; bywhich means many Families were preserved from Destruction. " In No. 2, the_Patriot_ reiterates his "sincere Intention to calm and heal, not to blowup and inflame, any Party-Divisions"; but even the task of defending theBritish Constitution could not stifle Fielding's wit, and he escapes, forbreathing space as it were, into a column devoted to the news items of theweek, gathered from various papers, and adorned by comments of his own, printed in italics. And in this running commentary on the daily occurencesof the time we get nearer, perhaps, to the table-talk of Henry Fieldingthan by any other means. Thus he faithfully repeats the inflated obituarylists that were then in fashion, but with such a variation as thefollowing, "Thomas Tonkin, . .. Universally lamented by his Acquaintance. Upwards of 40 Cows belonging to one at Tottenham Court, _universallylamented by all their Acquaintance_. " On a notice of an anniversarymeeting of the Society for propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts thereis the pertinent comment "_It is a Pity some Method--was not invented forthe Propagation of the Gospel in Great Britain_. " After the deaths of awealthy banker and factor, comes the obituary of "One Nowns a Labourer, _most probably immensely poor, and yet as rich now as either of the twoPreceeding_"; beside which may be placed the very characteristic assertionin No. 6 that "Spleen and Vapours inhabit Palaces and are attired withPomp and Splendor, while they shun Rags and Prisons. "

There is scarcely a personal allusion in all the thirty-two numbers of the_Patriot_, save the charming picture of that gentleman sitting in hisstudy "meditating for the good and entertainment of the public, with mytwo little children (as is my usual course to suffer them) playing nearme. " And the ending of his horrid nightmare, in which a Jacobiteexecutioner was placing a rope round his neck, "when my little girlentered my bedchamber and put an end to my dream by pulling open my eyes, and telling me that the taylor had brought home my cloaths for hisMajesty's Birthday. " The number for January 28 must not be overlooked, containing as it does, a scathing and humourous exposure of the profligateyoung sparks of the Town, from no less a pen than that of the Rev. Mr. Abraham Adams; and Parson Adams' letter concludes with a paragraph inwhich may be heard the voice of the future zealous magistrate: "No man candoubt but that the education of youth ought to be the principal care ofevery legislation; by the neglect of which great mischief accrues to thecivil polity in every city. " When himself but a lad of twenty, and in theprologue of his first comedy, Fielding had entered his protest againstcertain popular vices of the time, and had made merry over its follies. The desire to make the world he knew too well a better place than he foundit is just as keen in the wit and humourist of thirty-nine; a desire, moreover, undulled by twenty years of vivacious living. Surely not theleast amazing feature of Fielding's genius is this dual capacity forexuberant enjoyment, and incisive judgement. "His wit, " said Thackeray, "is wonderfully wise and detective; it flashes upon a rogue and brightensup a rascal like a policeman's lantern. "

To this time of national ferment belongs a publication of which we knownothing but the title, a _Serious Address_; and also one of our rareglimpses of the novelist's home life. Joseph Warton writes to his brotherTom, on October 29, 1746:--"I wish you had been with me last week when Ispent two evenings with Fielding and his sister, who wrote David Simple, and you may guess I was very well entertained. The lady indeed retir'dpretty soon, but Russell and I sat up with the Poet till one or two in themorning, and were inexpressibly diverted. I find he values, as he justlymay, Joseph Andrews above all his writings: he was extremely civil to me, I fancy, on my Father's account. " Joseph Warton's father was Vicar ofBasingstoke, Professor of Poetry at Oxford, and moreover, something of aJacobite; whereby, we may surmise, that the _True Patriot_ did not allowhis staunch Hanoverian sentiments too great an invasion into his privatesociety. Alas, that it did not occur to Warton to preserve, for theentertainment of later ages, some fuller record of those two _noctesambrosianae_. 

This sister, Sally Fielding as her cousin Lady Mary Wortley Montagu calledher, made some figure in the literary world of the day. Richardsonextolled her "knowledge of the human heart"; Murphy writes of her "livelyand penetrating genius"; and her classical scholarship is attested by atranslation of Xenophon's _Memorabilia_. That she also shared some of theengaging qualities of her brother may be assumed from the lines written tothe memory of the "esteemed and loved . .. Mrs. Sarah Fielding, " by herfriend Dr. John Hoadley. 

 "Her unaffected Manners, candid Mind, Her Heart benevolent, and Soul resign'd; Were more her Praise than all she knew or thought Though Athens Wisdom to her Sex she taught. "

Sarah Fielding's name occurs again as living with her brother in thathouse in Beaufort Buildings with which is associated perhaps the happiestinstance of Fielding's warm-hearted generosity. The story may be given asnearly as possible in the words of the narrator, one G. S. , writing fromHarley Street in 1786. After speaking of the conspicuous good nature of"the late Harry Fielding, " G. S. Says: "His receipts were never large, andhis pocket was an open bank for distress and friendship at all times todraw on. Marked by such a liberality of mind it is not to be wondered atif he was frequently under pecuniary embarrassments. .. . Some parochialtaxes for his house in Beaufort Buildings being unpaid, and for which hehad been demanded again and again [we may remember how Mr. Luckless' doorwas "almost beat down with duns"]. .. He was at last given to understand bythe collector who had an esteem for him, that he could procrastinate thepayment no longer. " To a bookseller, therefore he addressed himself, andmortgaged the coming sheets of some work then in hand. He received thecash, some ten or twelve guineas, and was returning home, full freightedwith this sum, when, in the Strand, within a few yards of his own house, he met an old college chum whom he had not seen for many years. "Harryfelt the enthusiasm of friendship; an hundred interrogatives were put tohim in a moment as where had he been? where was he going? how did he do?&c. &c. His friend told him in reply he had long been buffeting the wavesof adverse fortunes, but never could surmount them. " Fielding took him offto dine at a neighbouring tavern, and as they talked, becoming acquaintedwith the state of his friend's pocket, emptied his own into it; and alittle before dawn, he turned homewards "greater and happier than amonarch. " Arrived at Beaufort Buildings his sister, who had anxiouslyawaited him, reported that the collector had called for the taxes twicethat day. "Friendship, " answered Harry Fielding "has called for the moneyand had it;--let the collector call again. " Well might his cousin LadyMary say of the man of whom such a story could be told, "I am persuaded hehas known more happy moments than any prince upon earth. "

During the summer following Warton's visit to the brother and sister, Fielding published a _Dialogue between an Alderman and a Courtier_. And inthe following November his second marriage took place, at the little Citychurch of St Bene't's, Paul's Wharf. The story of this marriage cannot bebetter told than in the words of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu'sgranddaughter, Lady Louisa Stuart, quoting from the personal knowledge ofher mother and grandmother:

"His biographers seem to have been shy of disclosing that after the deathof this charming woman [his first wife] he married her maid. And yet theact was not so discreditable to his character as it may sound. The maidhad few personal charms, but was an excellent creature, devotedly attachedto her mistress, and almost broken-hearted for her loss. In the firstagonies of his own grief, which approached to frenzy, he found no reliefbut from weeping with her; nor solace, when a degree calmer, but intalking to her of the angel they mutually regretted. This made her hishabitual confidential associate, and in process of time he began to thinkhe could not give his children a tenderer mother, or secure for himself amore faithful housekeeper and nurse. At least this was what he told hisfriends; and it is certain that her conduct as his wife confirmed it, andfully justified his good opinion. " From a supposed allusion by Smollett, in the first edition of _Peregrine Pickle_, (an allusion afterwardssuppressed) it would appear that Fielding's old schoolfellow and lifelongfriend 'the good Lord Lyttelton' so far approved the marriage as himselfto give Mary Daniel away; and, as the dates in the Twickenham Register ofbirths show that the marriage was one of justice as well as expediency, this well accords with Lyttelton's upright and honourable character. OfFielding's affectionate and grateful loyalty to his second wife ampleevidence appears in the pages of his last book, the _Journal of a Voyageto Lisbon_. Throughout this touching record of the journey of a dying man, there are references to her tenderness, ability and devotion. At the sadparting from children and friends, on the morning of their departure forLisbon, he writes of her behaviour as "more like a heroine andphilosopher, though at the same time the tenderest mother in the world. "When, during the voyage down the Thames, an unmannerly custom houseofficer burst into the cabin where Fielding and his wife were sitting, theman was soundly rated for breaking "into the presence of a lady without anapology or even moving his hat"; by which we may see his sensitive carethat due respect was accorded her. He tells us how he persuaded her withdifficulty to take a walk on shore when their vessel was wind bound inTorbay, it being "no easy matter for me to force [her] from my side. " Withanxious forboding he thinks of his "dear wife and child" facing the worldalone after his death, for "in truth I have often thought they are bothtoo good and too gentle to be trusted to the power of any man I know, towhom they could possibly be so trusted. " And in a more formal tribute heacknowledges the abilities that accompanied her worth, when he says that"besides discharging excellently well her own and all tender officesbecoming the female character; . .. Besides being a faithful friend, anamiable companion, and a tender nurse, [she] could likewise supply thewants of a decrepit husband and occasionally perform his part. " ThatFielding suffered socially by the fact of his second marriage is probable. But the fact is proof, if proof were needed, of his courage in reparation, and of the unworldly spirit in which he ultimately followed the dictatesof that incorruptible judge which he himself asserted to be in every man'sbreast. 

It was in December 1747, just a month after his second marriage, thatFielding again flung himself into the arena of contentious journalism, 'brandishing' his pen as truculently as ever on behalf of the Protestantand Hanoverian succession, and in despite of the Jacobite cause. He calledhis new paper "_The Jacobite's Journal_, by John Trott Plaid Esq're. , " andthe ironic title was accompanied by a woodcut traditionally associatedwith Hogarth. The ironic mask, Fielding explains, was assumed "in order ifpossible to laugh Men out of their follies and to make men ashamed ofowning or acting by" Jacobite principles. 

The _Jacobite's Journal_ appeared at a moment when public opinion, andpublic gossip also, seem to have been immersed in the question whether anotorious pamphlet purporting to have been found among the papers of alate Minister, Mr. Thomas Winnington, were genuine or a libel. Into thisfray Fielding promptly plunged, publishing, in December 1747, [2] ashilling pamphlet entitled _A Proper Answer to a Late ScurrilousLibel, . .. By the Author of the Jacobites Journal. _ This little pamphlet, copies of which may be seen in the British Museum, is merely a furthervigorous declamation for civil liberty and the Protestant religion, asunder King George, and contains hardly any reference either to Winningtonor to the author. It was retorted on in two further pamphlets. In one ofthese a Lady Fanny and her friend, enjoying a 'Chit chat, ' discuss thenews that Lady Fanny is she "whom F---g represents in a _Plaid Jocket_ inthe front of his _Jacobite_ Journal. " "The Whirling Coxcomb, " cries LadyFanny enraged, "what had he to do with ridiculing any Party, who hadtravell'd round the whole Circle of Parties and Ministers, ever since hecould brandish a Pen. " [3] Her Ladyship adds some further sneers onwriters pensioned to amuse people with their nonsense. The other counterpamphlet consists of conversations overheard, all over the town, on thesubject of Winnington and his _Apology_. Here a mercer and a booksellerabuse Fielding for boxing the political compass, and for selling his pen. Another bookseller insinuates that Fielding's own attack on the _Apology_is but a half-hearted affair--"Ah Sir, you know not what F---g could do ifhe were willing . .. You would have seen him mince and hash it so as tomake half the Town weep and the other laugh. Don't you think the Pen thatwrit _Pasquin, Joseph Andrews_, and the _Champion_ could have answered theApology if he had had the Will?" "But I can't see why the Author of theJacobite Journal should want that will, " protests a Bencher. "Alas Sir!"cries the bookseller, "You forget the Power of _Necessity_. If a Man thatwants Bread can establish a Paper by the P--t Off--e [Post Office?] takingoff two thousand every week is he not more excusable. .. . " To which theBencher replies that possibly it is Fielding's 'Wavering Principles' thathave "brought him to the Necessity of writing for Bread. " [4] From allwhich we may assume that Fielding's superiority to what he calls the"absurd and irrational Distinction of Parties [which] hath principallycontributed to poison our Constitution" [5] was very little understood bythe heated party factions of 1747. 

To call one's political opponent a 'Whirling Coxcomb, ' or a 'pensionedscribbler, ' was a very mild amenity in eighteenth century party warfare;and the abuse of such small fry as these anonymous pamphleteers might bewholly disregarded did it not show Fielding's prominence, during theseanxious times, as a strenuous Hanoverian, and also the fact that he hadnow not only largely abjured party politics, but that what party tenets hestill held were changed. Indeed as much may surely be deduced from thefollowing philosophic passage in his _True Patriot_. "I have formerlyshown in this Paper, that the bare objecting to a Man a _Change_ in his_Political Notions_, ought by no means to affect any Person's _Character_;because in a Country like this it is simply impossible that a Man of soundSense, and strict Honour, should always adhere to the same _PoliticalCreed_. " [6] It is very little material to our knowledge of Fielding as anhonest man and a great genius to discover, were it possible, preciselywhat changes his political views underwent. When Sir Robert Walpoleessayed to corrupt the nation Fielding fought strenuously in the cause ofpolitical honour; when a Stewart invasion threatened (as he thought) bothcivil liberty and Protestant beliefs he flung himself as zealously intothe defence of the Church of England and of the Hanoverian Government. Itis clear that the latter exertions stirred up much cheap obliquy; and itmust be admitted that such references to his antagonists as "last weeksDunghill of Papers" were likely to entail unsavory retort. 

This abuse seems to have broken out with an excess of virulence not longafter the appearance of the _Jacobite's Journal_; a fate, as Fieldingobserves, little to be expected by the editor of a loyal paper. Hisdignified protest in the matter is worth recalling. In a leading articlehe declares that "before my paper hath reached the 20th. Number a heavierload of Scandal hath been cast upon me than I believe ever fell to theShare of a Single Man. The Author of the Journal was soon guessed at;Either from some Singularity in Style, or from little care which beingfree from any wicked Purpose, I have ever taken to conceal my Name. Ofthis several Writers were no sooner possessed than they attempted toblacken it with every kind of Reproach; pursued me into private Life, _even to my boyish Years_; where they have given me almost every Vice inHuman Nature. Again they have followed me with uncommon Inveteracy into aProfession in which they have very roundly asserted that I have neitherBusiness nor Knowledge: And lastly, as an Author they have affected totreat me with more Contempt than Mr. Pope, who hath great Merit and noless Pride in the Character of a Writer hath thought proper to bestow onthe lowest Scribbler of his Time. All this moreover they have poured forthin a vein of Scurrility which hath disgraced the Press with every abusiveTerm in our Language. " Although, as Fielding adds, those who knew himwould not take their opinion from those who knew him not, it is to befeared that the scurrilous libellers of the day succeeded in creating aprejudice that is hardly yet dispersed. For such petty clamours would betrifling enough round the figure of the creator of the English novel, wereit not that in the abuse of the gutter press of his day we may probablyfind the reason for much of the vague cloud which has so strangelyoverhung Fielding's name. In his own spirited protest he tells us of the'ordure' that was thrown at him; and it is an old saying that if enoughmud be thrown some will stick. 

In the February following the appearance of his new paper Fielding musthave been at Twickenham; for the baptism of his son William appears in theParish Register for that month. A writer of thirty years ago says that thehouse celebrated as that in which Fielding lived was then still standing, a quaint old fashioned wooden dwelling, in Back Lane; and adds theinformation that Fielding had two rooms, the house being then let inlodgings. [7] Lysons, however, in his _Environs of London_, published in1795, says that Fielding "rented a house at this time in the Back-Lane atTwickenham, " adding that he received his information from the Earl ofOrford. The site is now occupied by a row of cottages. In his _ParishRegister for Twickenham_ Horace Walpole commemorates the great novelist'sresidence in that quiet village, so full of eighteenth century memories. Here, he says, ". .. Fielding met his bunter Muse, And, as they quaff'd the fiery juice, Droll Nature stamp'd each lucky hit With unimaginable wit. "

Bunter was a cant word for a woman who picks up rags about the street; andit may seem to later generations that the epithet fitted far more nicelythe _bunter muse_ of that "facile retailer of _ana_ and incorrigiblesociety-gossip, " that rag-picker of anecdotes, Mr. Horace Walpole himself. 

When the _Journal_ had been running some six months, Fielding formallyrelinquished his ironic character of a Jacobite, partly because, as hesays, the evils of Jacobitism were too serious for jesting and requiredmore open denunciation; partly because the age required more highlyseasoned writing, the general taste in reading very much resembling "thatof some particular Man in eating who would never willingly devour whatdoth not stink"; and partly from the ineptitude of the public toappreciate the ironic method. This latter passage is of interest as comingfrom the author of that great masterpiece in irony, _Jonathan Wild_. Fielding has observed, he tells us that "though Irony is capable offurnishing the most exquisite Ridicule; yet as there is no kind of humourso liable to be mistaken it is of all others the most dangerous to theWriter. An infinite Number of Readers have not the least taste or relishfor it, I believe I may say do not understand it; and all are apt to betired when it is carried to any degree of Length. "

The _Jacobite's Journal_ is of course mainly occupied with maintaining theProtestant British Constitution; but here, as in the _True Patriot_, Fielding allows himself a pleasant running commentary on the daily news. He also erects a _Court of Criticism_ in which, by virtue of his "highCensorial Office, " he administers justice in "all matters in the Republicof Literature. " By thus adopting the title of "Censor of Great Britain"the editor of the _Jacobites Journal_ preserves his identity with thatcensorial _Champion_ who nine years before had essayed to keep rogues infear of his Hercules' club. Two judgments delivered by the _Court_ are ofinterest. In one, due castigation is given to that incorrigible mimic andwit Foote, who was once threatened by no less a cudgel than that of Dr. Johnson himself. Foote was evading all law and order by his inimitablemimicries at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket; and for theseperformances at his "scandal-shop" is very properly brought up before Mr. Censor's _Court_. Whereupon Foote begins to mimic the _Court_ "pulling aChew of Tobacco from his Mouth, in Imitation of his Honour who is greatlyfond of that weed. " The culprit suffers conviction for crime against lawand good manners. Having thus seen to the public welfare, Fielding alsohappily settles a little score of his own on one of his anonymouslibellers. "One Porcupine Pillage, " he records, "came into the court andthrew a great shovelful of dirt at his honour, _but luckily none of it hithim_. " His comments on weekly news items are no less characteristic thanthose hidden in the columns of the _Patriot_. Thus, on a trotting match, he observes, "Trotting is a Sport truly adapted to the English Genius. "And on a man found dead in Jewin Street "formerly an eminent Dealer inBuckrams, but [who] being greatly reduced is supposed to have died forWant, " he notes, "_either of Common Sense in himself or Common Humanity inhis Aquaintance_. " His own humanity is shown in the wise appeals, repeatedon more than one page of the _Journal_, for some effective provision forthe distressed widows and children of the poor clergy. And his unbiassedjudgment appears in the _amende honorable_ to Richardson, in the form ofgenerous and unstinted praise of _Clarissa_. 

The first number of the _Jacobite's Journal_ was dated Dec. 5, 1747, and'Mr. Trott Plaid' formally takes leave of his subject exactly elevenmonths later, on November 5, 1748, declaring that Jacobites were, by then, little to be feared. [8] Ten days before this last 'brandish' ofFielding's Constitutional pen, on October 26, 1748, his oaths had beenreceived as a Justice of the Peace for Westminster. 

[1] These are in the Burney Collection, and are inscribed "These papersare by the celebrated Henry Fielding Esqre. "

[2] See the _Gentleman's Magazine_. Dec. 1747. 

[3] _A Free Comment on the Late Mr. W-G-N's Apology . .. By aLady . .. _ 1748. 

[4] _The Patriot Analized_. 1748. 

[5] _True Patriot No. 14_. 

[6] _True Patriot_. No. 29. May 20, 1746. 

[7] R. Cobbett. _Memorials of Twickenham_, 1872. 

[8] The _Journal's_ epitaph was promptly written by a scurrilous opponentin lines showing that the prominences of Fielding's profile werewell-known:

 Beneath this stone Lies _Trott Plaid John_ His length of chin and nose. 

See the _Gentleman's Magazine_, November 1748. 

CHAPTER XI

TOM JONES

 "In God's Name let us speak out honestly and set the good against the bad. " No. 48 of the _Jacobite's Journal_. 

The two years of Fielding's life preceding his appointment as a Bow Streetmagistrate (an appointment comparable only to the choice of Robert Burnsas an exciseman) were marked, as we have seen, by lively passages in thepolitical arena, and a steady output of political journalism. Indeed, bythis time, the public must have associated swingeing denunciations ofJacobites, and glowing eulogies of the British Constitution, with HarryFielding's name; just as seven years previously he had been in their eyesthe 'Champion' journalist of a brilliant Opposition; and, for ten yearsbefore that, the witty writer of a stream of popular farces and comedies. For there is no evidence that his audacious innovation, his splendidadventure in literature, _Joseph Andrews_, really revealed the existenceof a new genius in their midst to the Whigs and Tories of those factiousdays, to the gay frequenters of the play-house, to the barristers atWestminster Hall and on the Western Circuit. In 1748 Fielding must havebeen, to his many audiences, a witty and well-born man of letters who, atforty-one, had as yet achieved no towering success; a facile dramatist;and a master of slashing political invective, growing perplexinglyimpartial, alike in his praise and his condemnation. While, as regardsoutward circumstances, the struggling barrister, baffled in hisprofessional hopes by persistent attacks of gout, was now so far enlisted, to use his own fine image, under the black banner of poverty, that eventhe small post and hard duties of a Bow Street magistrate were worth hisacceptance. [1]

Such was Harry Fielding as the world of 1748 knew him, in the Coffeehouses, the Mall, the Green-room and the Law-courts. What that world didnot know was that all this dramatic, journalistic, and political action, was little more than the surface movement of a vitality far too exuberantto be contained in any one groove of hackney writing, --of an impetuous'enthusiasm for righteousness' far too ardent to pass by any flagrantsocial, moral, or political abuse without inflicting some form ofchastisement; and that beneath this ever active surface movementFielding's genius was slowly maturing in that new continent of literaturethe borders of which he had already crossed seven years before. In thepages of _Joseph Andrews_, he had, as we know, tentatively explored thatcontinent feeling his way along the unknown paths of this long neglectedworld of human nature; bringing back with him one immortal figure, thatliving embodiment of simple piety and scholarship, of charity and honeststrength, Parson Adams; disclosing hints of discoveries, not yetperfected, among the humours and villanies, the virtues and charms, of adozen other inhabitants of his _terra incognita_. But there is no signthat the greatness of his discovery, the splendour of his addition to theempire of English literature, was in the least apprehended during theseven years following the appearance of _Joseph Andrews_. Only Fieldinghimself was conscious that he had created a kind of writing "hithertounattempted in our language. "

And, having crossed the borders of this new continent, he seems, after hisfirst survey, to have deliberately immersed himself in one portion, andthat the blackest, of his re-discovered world. For _Jonathan Wild_, withits disclosure of the active spirit of 'diabolism, ' of naked vice, islittle else than the exploration of those darkest recesses of human naturewhich can be safely entered only by the sanest and healthiest ofintellects. Fielding's strength was equal to his exploit; and from this, his second adventure, he brought back a picture of the deformity and follyof vice, drawn with a just and penetrating scorn unequalled, perhaps, byany English moralist. But neither of these two essays in the new field ofwriting had covered more than isolated or outlying portions, the first insunlight, the second in shadow, of that vast territory. And it was nottill the perfect maturity of his powers and of his experience, not till hehad seen both the 'manners of many men, ' and the workings of many hearts, not in a word till he had made himself master of great tracts of thathuman nature which had so long lain neglected, that Fielding in _TomJones_ disclosed himself as the creator of the English novel. 

Little is known as to when the conception of _Tom Jones_ first shapeditself in his mind, of where he lived during the writing of the greatComic Epic, or of the time occupied in its completion. Appropriately for abook expressly designed "to recommend goodness and innocence" the plan ofthe novel was suggested, many years before its appearance, by the 'goodLord Lyttelton'; and we know, further, that the writing occupied 'somethousands of hours'; but _Tom Jones_ does not emerge into definiteexistence till the summer of 1748. 

Legend it is true, attesting to the greatness of the achievement containedin the six little volumes, endows many localities with the fame of theirorigin. A well-credited contemporary writer, the Rev. Richard Graves, declared that the novelist "while he was writing his novel of Tom Jones"lived at Tiverton (Twerton), one and a half miles from Bath, and dineddaily at Prior Park the seat of his munificent and pious friend RalphAllen. Mr Graves says that Fielding then lived in "the first house on theright hand with a spread eagle over the door. " [2] Salisbury is insistentthat part at least of the great novel was written at Milford House, nearto that city. An anonymous old engraver asserts the same honour forFielding's Farm at East Stour, an assertion certainly not confirmed by thenewly found documents concerning Fielding's sale of property at Stour in1738. Twickenham claims that the book was wholly composed in the house inBack Lane. And to an ancient building at Tintern Parva in the Wye Valley, said to have once been the lodging of the Abbot of Tintern, was alsoassigned the reputation of being the birthplace of the English novel. Ifthe latter tradition were true, the fact that it was in the Harlequinchamber of the Abbots of Glastonbury that Henry Fielding was born, becomesstrangely matched by the birth, some forty years later, of hismasterpiece, in the lodging of the Abbot of Tintern. The one point of realinterest in all these traditions is the fact that the fame of _Tom Jones_has been sufficient to create a widespread popular legend. The truthprobably is that the book was written in the many shifting scenes ofFielding's life during these years; now at Bath whither his gout and thegenerous hospitality of Ralph Allen would take him; now in Salisbury, thehome of his boyhood, and the scene of his courtship with the lovelyoriginal of Sophia Western; possibly in his own county of Somerset; andmost probably both at Twickenham, and in London. 

From these various legends it is pleasant to be able to disentangle oneclear picture of the making of _Tom Jones_. Before the manuscript wasplaced in the printers' hands Fielding submitted it to the opinion both ofthe elder Pitt, and of the estimable and pious Lyttelton; and the accountof this memorable meeting cannot be better given than in the words of adescendant of the hostess on that occasion, the Rev. George Miller, great-grandson of that Sanderson Miller of Radway, Warwickshire, whonumbered many men of note among his acquaintance, and with whom Fieldingwas on terms of intimate friendship. [3] Writing to the present writer, in1907, Mr. Miller says: "Lord Chatham and Lord Lyttleton came to Radway tovisit my ancestor, when Lord Chatham planted three trees to commemoratethe visit, and a stone urn was placed between them. Fielding was also ofthe party and read 'Tom Jones' in manuscript after dinner for the opinionof his hearers before publishing it. My father told me this often and hehad the account from his Grandmother who survived her husband severalyears and who was the hostess on the occasion. " Unhappily no record existsof the comments of one of the greatest of English statesmen when listeningto this reading, in manuscript, of indubitably one of the greatest ofEnglish novels. 

The vagueness which hangs over the places in which _Tom Jones_ waswritten, the certainty that in all of them poverty was constantly present, is in perfect accord with the power of detachment manifested in this bookfrom circumstances that would surely have tinged, if not over-whelmed, aweaker genius. Sickness and poverty are stern sponsors; but neither weresuffered to leave more than two traces on the pages destined to outlive sogreatly the harsh circumstances in which they had birth. There is thefrank acknowledgement of the writer's dependence on Lyttelton's noblegenerosity, without which the book had never, Fielding says, beencompleted, since "I partly owe to you my Existence during great Part ofthe Time which I have employed in composing it. " And a touching betrayaloccurs of his anxiety for the future provision of the "prattling babes, whose innocent play hath often been interrupted by my labours. " Fieldingwas sensitively anxious for his wife and children; but, for himself, living as he did with visions such as that of the _Invocation_ introducingBook xiii of _Tom Jones_, the precise situation of his "little Parlour, "or the poorness of its furniture, cannot have appeared very material. "Come bright Love of Fame, " he cries ". .. Fill my ravished Fancy with theHopes of charming Ages yet to come. .. Do thou teach me not only toforesee, but to enjoy, nay, even to feed on future Praise. Comfort me by asolemn Assurance, that when the little Parlour in which I sit at thisInstant, shall be reduced to a worse furnished Box, I shall be read, withHonour, by those who never knew nor saw me, and whom I shall neither knownor see. "

This capacity of Fielding for relegating circumstance to its true level, the detached idealism that moulded his genius, are, indeed, shown once forall in the fact that the exquisite picture of virtue, the whole-heartedattack on vice, the genial humour, the sunny portraits of humanity, thesplendid cheerfulness of _Tom Jones_, that 'Epic of Youth, ' came from aman in middle age, immersed in disheartening struggles, and fightingrecurrent ill health. Superficial critics have called Fielding a realistbecause his figures are so full-blooded and alive that we feel we have metthem but yesterday in the street; to eyes so shortsighted life itself mustseem merely realistic. As none but an idealist could have conceived ParsonAdams, so the creator of Sophia again announced himself an idealist in theDedication of _Tom Jones_. Here, in language of pure symbolism, hecontends that the ideal virtues such as goodness and innocence, may mosteffectively be presented to men in a figure, for "an Example is a Kind ofPicture, in which Virtue becomes as it were an Object of Sight, andstrikes us with an Idea of that Loveliness, which _Plato_ asserts there isin her naked Charms. " [4] To the man who could write thus, and, who, inlater pages of his great 'Epic, ' could humbly desire of Genius "do thoukindly take me by the Hand, and lead me through all the Mazes, the windingLabyrinth of Nature. Initiate me into all those Mysteries which profaneEyes never beheld, "--to this man the material surroundings of life musthave seemed of little greater import than the fittings of that narrow boxto the occupation of which he looked forward with so calm a foresight. Indeed he himself acknowledges a carelessness of outward comfort on hisown behalf. "Come, " he cries, to the spirit of mercenary success, "Thoujolly Substance, with thy shining Face, . .. Hold forth thy temptingRewards; thy shining chinking Heap; thy quickly-convertible Bank-bill, bigwith unseen Riches; thy often-varying Stock; the warm, the comfortableHouse; . .. Come thou, and if I am too tasteless of thy valuable Treasures, warm my Heart with the transporting Thought of conveying them to others. "His happy constitution, wrote his cousin Lady Mary, "made him forgeteverything when he was before a venison pasty or a flask of champagne";but behind those healthy exhilarations was, assuredly, a serenity based ona clear perception of the values of life. To a man of Fielding's happysocial temperament, and who was yet also initiated into mysteries andoccupied in converting ideal loveliness into 'an object of sight, ' suchmatters as duns and pawnbrokers would seem precisely fit for oblivion invenison and champagne. In the creator of Tom Jones and of Sophia the mostindestructible delight in living, and the keenest discernment of theunsubstantial qualities of that delight, appear to have been admirablyinterwoven. 

By June 11, 1748, the book was far enough advanced for the publisher, Andrew Millar, to pay £600 for it, as appears from a receipt now in thepossession of Mr. Alfred Huth. [5] And it is eminently characteristic ofthe finances of a man who, as Lady Mary said, would have wanted money hadhis estates been as extensive as his imagination, that the receipt forthis £600 is dated more than six months before the publication of thebook. For it was not till February 28, 1749, that the _General Advertiser_announced

 This day is published, in six vols. , 12 mo THE HISTORY OF TOM JONES, A FOUNDLING _Mores hominum multorum vidit_. _By_ HENRY FIELDING, _Esqre_

Henceforth Fielding ceases to be the boisterous politician, the wittydramatist; his poverty and his struggles for subsistence fall back, at hisown bidding, among the accidents of life; and he stands revealed as thesupreme genius, the creator of the English novel, the inheritor of thatlasting fame which he had dared so confidently to invoke. 

The immediate success of the book, in that eighteenth-century world intowhich it was launched, is attested by the notice in the _London Magazine_of the very month of its publication. Under the heading of a "Plan of alate celebrated NOVEL, " the _Magazine_ devotes its five opening pages to asummary of a book "which has given great Amusement and we hope Instructionto the polite Part of the Town. " The summary is preceded by a descriptionof _Tom Jones_ as a novel "calculated to recommend religion and virtue, toshew the bad consequences of indiscretion, and to set several kinds ofvice in their most deformed and shocking light. " The reviewer declaresthat "after one has begun to read it, it is difficult to leave off beforehaving read the whole. " And he concludes, "Thus ends this pretty novel, with a most just distribution of rewards and punishments, according to themerits of all the persons who had any considerable share in it. " [6] Threemonths later Horace Walpole wrote, "Millar the bookseller has done verygenerously by him [Fielding]: finding Tom Jones, for which he had givenhim £600, sell so greatly, he has since given him another hundred. " Anadmirer breaks out into rhyme, in the _Gentleman's Magazine_ for August1749, --

 "let Fielding take the pen! Life dropt her mask, and all mankind were men. "

thereby anticipating Thackeray's famous complaint that in his day no onedared "to depict to his utmost power a Man. " Lady Bradshaigh, writing by ahappy irony of fate to Richardson, says "as to Tom Jones I am fatiguedwith the name, having lately fallen into the company of several youngladies, who had each a 'Tom Jones' in some part of the world, for so theycall their favourites. " The gentlemen also had their Sophias, one indeedhaving bestowed that all-popular name on his 'Dutch mastiff puppy. ' Thateccentric eighteenth century philosopher, and enthusiastic Greek scholar, Lord Monboddo declared that _Tom Jones_ had more of character in it thanany other work, ancient or modern, known to him, adding, "in short, Inever saw anything that was so animated, and as I may say, _all alive_with characters and manners as _the History of Tom Jones_"; a criticismthat recalls Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's remark that no man enjoyed lifemore than did Fielding. Doubtless it was his own magnificent capacity forliving that endowed the very creatures of his pen with so abundant avitality. In her own copy Lady Mary wrote _Ne plus Ultra_. 

To turn from the popular voices of the day to the comments of thosecapable of appraising genius, "What a master of composition Fielding was!"exclaimed Coleridge, "Upon my word I think 'Oedipus Tyrannus, ' the'Alchemist, ' and 'Tom Jones' the three most perfect plots ever planned. "To Sir Walter Scott _Tom Jones_ was "truth and human nature itself. "Gibbon described the book as "the first of ancient or modern romances";and, as we have seen, declared that its pages would outlive the ImperialEagle of those Hapsburgs from whom Fielding was said to be descended. "There can be no gainsaying the sentence of this great judge, " wroteThackeray. "To have your name mentioned by Gibbon is like having itwritten on the dome of St Peter's. Pilgrims from all the world admire andbehold it. " Pilgrims from all the world have likewise admired _Tom Jones_. Translations have appeared in French, German, [7] Spanish, Swedish, Russian, Polish and Dutch; and as for the English editions, they rangefrom the three editions issued within the year of publication to theseveral noble volumes newly edited in our own day, and the sixpenny copieson our railway bookstalls. So fully has time justified the invocation tofuture fame sent forth from the little ill-furnished parlour of thestruggling barrister. 

To analyse the grounds for a chorus of praise ranging from the 'youngladies' of the eighteenth century to the utterances of distinguishedcritics, and popular authors of our own day, would be to confound literarycriticism with biography. But there are some points appertaining toFielding's great novel which cannot be here disregarded, in that theyclosely affect his personal character. Such are the light in which hehimself regarded his masterpiece, the intention with which he wrote it, and the means which he selected to carry that intention into effect. 

All these he himself very plainly sets forth in his _Dedication_ toLyttelton and in other passages of _Tom Jones_. As to his intention. "Ideclare, " he says, in the _Dedication_, "that to recommend Goodness andInnocence hath been my sincere Endeavour in this History. " And the meansselected for this end, and for the companion object of persuading men fromguilt, are as clearly stated. First as we have seen, Fielding plays thepart of pure idealist, purposing to create a picture "in which virtuebecomes as it were an object of sight. " For such pictures we have but tothink of Sophia Western, and of that final page of _Tom Jones_, than whichno more charming representation of mutual affection, esteem, and welldoing can be imagined. But besides this means of reaching his audienceFielding adopted, he tells us, a second method. He argues that noacquisitions of guilt can compensate a man for the loss of inward peace, for the attendant horror, anxiety, and danger, to which he subjectshimself; thus endeavouring to enlist man's self-interest no less than hisadmiration, on the side of virtue. Again, he explains yet another methodby which he essays to foil the progress of evil, viz. To show that virtueand innocence are chiefly betrayed "into the snares that deceit andvillainy spread for them" by indiscretion; a moral which he has "the moreindustriously laboured . .. Since I believe it is much easier to make goodMen, wise than to make bad Men good. " For this purpose, he concludes, namely to show, as in a figure, the beauty of virtue, to persuade men thatin following innocence and virtue they follow their own obvious interests, to arm them from the snares of villainy and deceit, "I have employed allthe Wit and Humour of which I am Master in the following History; whereinI have endeavoured to laugh Mankind out of their favourite Follies andVices. "

And, conscious that wit and humour require a rein quite unneeded by themethods of the professional moralist, Fielding further asserts that inthese pages his laughter is worthy of the aim which he sets before him. Here, he carefully insists, are wit and humour wholly void of offence. Heassures his reader that in the whole course of the work, he will find"nothing prejudicial to the Cause of Religion and Virtue; nothinginconsistent with the strictest Rules of Decency, nor which can offendeven the chastest Eye in the Perusal. " As the almost incredible changefrom the manners of 1749 to those of the following century, and of our ownday, has injuriously affected the reputation of Fielding among readersignorant of past conditions, this protest, in striking accord with theprologue for his first play acted when he was but a lad of twenty, cannotbe too emphatically recorded. And no further justification of Fielding'swords need be entered than that verdict of the eighteenth century scholarand bishop of the English Church, Doctor Warburton, when he declared that"Mr. Fielding [stands] the foremost among those who have given a faithfuland chaste copy of life and manners. "

Such were the noble purposes to which Fielding consciously dedicated hisgenius in _Tom Jones_, and such was the careful restraint with which heexercised his chosen methods of wit and humour. That these purposes, executed by a supreme genius in the language and scenes of his own day, should ever have laid their author open to a charge of immorality isperhaps one of the most amazing pieces of irony in the whole history ofEnglish literature. But as this charge of moral laxity has been seriouslybrought against the pages of _Tom Jones_, and is perhaps not yet quiteexploded, it cannot be wholly disregarded. The imputation amounts, briefly, to a too easy forgiveness for the youthful sins of Jones, and theinvolving that engaging youth in too deep a degradation. The answers tothese charges are, firstly, that Fielding held strongly, and hereexhibits, the humane and wise doctrine that a man should be judged, not bywhat he sometimes does, but by what he _is_. And, secondly, that as SirWalter Scott pointed out, when dealing with this very matter, "the vicesinto which Jones suffers himself to fall are made the direct cause ofplacing him in the distressful situation which he occupies during thegreater part of the narrative; while his generosity, his charity, and hisamiable qualities become the means of saving him from the consequences ofhis folly. " Fielding was not wholly concerned with the acts of a man; tohim the admission of the Penitent Thief into Paradise, at the eleventhhour, could have been no stumbling block. And, further, Tom Jones not onlysuffers for his ill doing, but wins no heaven until he wholly purgeshimself from the sin which did so easily beset him. 

The distinction between doing and being is very fully enunciated byFielding himself, in the _Introduction_ to Book vii. "A single bad Act, "he says, "no more constitutes a Villain in Life, than a single bad Part onthe Stage". And again, "Now we, who are admitted behind the Scenes of thisgreat Theatre of Nature, (and no Author ought to write any Thing besidesDictionaries and Spelling-Books who hath not this Privilege) can censurethe Action, without conceiving any actual Detestation of the Person, whomperhaps Nature may not have designed to act an ill Part in all her Dramas:For in this Instance, Life most exactly represents the Stage, since it isoften the same Person who represents the Villain and the Heroe". Coleridgehas expressed the same truth in words written in a copy of _Tom Jones_, "If I want a servant or mechanic I wish to know what he _does_--but of aFriend I must know what he _is_. And in no writer is this momentousdistinction so finely brought forward as by Fielding. We do not care whatBlifil does . .. But Blifil _is_ a villain and we feel him to be so. " [8]

It is true that, as Scott regrets the depth of degradation into which TomJones is suffered to fall, so Coleridge expresses a wish, "relatively toFielding himself" that the great novelist had emphasised somewhat more therepentance of his hero: but this may be balanced by that other nobletribute to his morality, "I dare believe who consulted his heart andconscience only without adverting to _what the world_ would say could risefrom the perusal of Fielding's _Tom Jones_, _Joseph Andrews_ and _Amelia_without feeling himself the better man--at least without an intenseconviction that he could not be guilty of a base act. " [9] To be forced towatch the temporary degradation of a noble nature, and the miseriesensuing, is surely one of the most effective means of rousing a hatred ofvice. That such an exhibition should ever have been construed into morallaxity on the part of the author, especially when the restoration of thehero's character is drawn as entirely due to his ingrained worship ofinnocence and virtue, is almost incredible. 

In exact accordance with Fielding's character as moralist in intent, although supreme artist in execution, is the fact of the dedication of_Tom Jones_ to his life-long friend Lyttelton. George Lyttelton, statesman, scholar, and orator, was a friend of whom any man might beproud. It was said of him that he "showed the judgment of a minister, theforce and wit of an orator, and the spirit of a gentleman. " As theologianhe wrote a treatise on _The Conversion of St. Paul_ which, a hundred yearslater, was described as being "still regarded as one of the subsidiarybulwarks of Christianity. " As poet he won the praise of Gray for histender and elegiac verse. Thomson sang of his "sense refined, " and adds

 Serene yet warm, humane yet firm his mind As little touch'd as any man's with bad;

And Pope drew his character as

 "Still true to virtue and as warm as true. "

It was to this devout scholar, this refined gentleman, this warm-heartedfollower of virtue, that _Tom Jones_ was dedicated, nay more, to him itowed both origin and completion. "To you, Sir, " Fielding writes in his_Dedication_, "it is owing that this History was ever begun. It was byyour Desire that I first thought of such a Composition. .. . Again, Sir, without your Assistance this History had never been completed. .. . I partlyowe to you my Existence during great Part of the Time in which I haveemployed in composing it. " And that Lyttelton cordially approved the bookwhich owed so much to his own insight and generosity is evident from thereferences, in the _Dedication_, to his favourable judgment. 

With the appearance of _Tom Jones_ Fielding steps into his own place amongthe immortals. But lofty as his genius was, his feet were firmly plantedin the world which he relished so keenly. To no man could be applied morehappily the motto chosen by him for his title page, _mores hominummultorum vidit_--he saw the manners of many men. This characteristicemerges in a personal reminiscence of the novelist, at the very momentwhen the sheets of _Tom Jones_ were passing through the press. Thegreat-nephew of his intimate friend Mrs Hussey relates; "Henry Fieldingwas fond of colouring his pictures of life with the glowing and variegatedtints of Nature, by conversing with persons of every situation andcalling, as I have frequently been informed by one of my great aunts, thelate Mrs Hussey, who knew him intimately. I have heard her say, that MrFielding never suffered his talent for sprightly conversation to mildewfor a moment; and that his manners were so gentlemanly, that even with thelower classes, with which he frequently condescended particularly to chatsuch as Sir Roger de Coverley's old friends, the Vauxhall water-men, theyseldom outstepped the limits of propriety. My aunt . .. [was] a fashionablesacque and mantua-maker, and lived in the Strand, . .. One day Mr Fieldingobserved to Mrs Hussey, that he was then engaged in writing a novel, whichhe thought would be his best production; and that he intended to introduceinto it the characters of all his friends. Mrs Hussey, with a smile, ventured to remark, that he must have many niches, and that surely theymust already be filled. 'I assure you, my dear madam, ' replied he, 'thereshall be a bracket for a bust of you. ' Some time after this, he informedMrs Hussey that the work was in the press; but, immediately recollectingthat he had forgotten his promise to her, went to the printer, and wastime enough to insert, in vol. Iii. P. 17, where he speaks of the shape ofSophia Western--'Such charms are there in affability, and so sure is it toattract the praises of all kinds of people. .. . It may indeed be comparedto the celebrated Mrs Hussey. ' To which observation he has given thefollowing note: 'A celebrated mantua-maker in the Strand, famous forsetting off the shapes of women. '" [10]

Here is yet further proof, that Fielding loved not only to see the mannersof many men, but also to render them whatever service lay within hispower. Never were the warmest heart and the loftiest genius more happilyunited than in the creator of the English novel. 

Lyttelton not only suggested and approved the great Comic Epic, andenabled distressed genius to live while composing it; his own worth andbenevolence, together with those of the generous Allen, afforded Fielding, as he tells us, the materials for the picture here presented of Allworthy. "The World, " he says, speaking of this picture, "will not, I believe, makeme the Compliment of thinking I took it from myself. I care not: This theyshall own, that the two Persons from whom I have taken it, that is to say, two of the best and worthiest Men in the World, are strongly and zealouslymy Friends. " And a point of still closer personal interest is the fact, already noticed, that in the lovely character and person of SophiaWestern, Fielding raised an enduring memorial to that beloved wife whosedeath had occurred a few years before the publication of _Tom Jones_. Theauthenticity of the portrait is explicitly stated in the _Invocation_prefixed to Book xiii. Apostrophizing that 'gentle Maid, ' bright 'Love ofFame, ' Fielding bids her, in the eighteenth century phrase that falls sostrangely on a modern ear, "Foretell me that some tender Maid, whoseGrandmother is yet unborn, hereafter, when under the fictitious Name of_Sophia_ she reads the real worth which once existed in my _Charlotte_, shall, from her sympathetic Breast, send forth the _Heaving Sigh_. " Thenfollows, immediately, his own desire that he too may live in the knowledgeand honour of far distant readers. Fielding lies buried under southernskies, far from his wife's English grave; but in the immortal pages of hismasterpiece they are not divided. 

[1] The Fiat appointing Fielding as Magistrate for the City and Borough ofWestminster, now in the House of Lords, is dated July 30, 1748. 

[2] On the house identified with Mr Graves' description, and now known as"Fielding's Lodge, " a tablet has recently been placed, through the energyof Mr R. G. Naish of Twerton. 

[3] See _Life of the Earl of Hardwicke_. G. Harris. 1847. Vol. II. Pp. 456-7. 

[4] _Tom Jones_. Dedication. 

[5] See Appendix for this, hitherto unpublished, receipt. 

[6] _London Magazine_. Feb. 1749. 

[7] In Germany an edition of 1771 was followed by a second in 1780, and athird in 1786. In 1765 a lyrical comedy founded on the famous novel wasacted in Paris; and the same year it was transformed into a German comedyby J. H. Steffens. 

[8] S. T. Coleridge. Manuscript notes in a copy of _Tom Jones_, now in theBritish Museum. 

[9] Ibid. 

[10] J. T. Smith. _Nollekens and his Times_. Vol. I. Pp. 124-5. 

CHAPTER XII

MR JUSTICE FIELDING

 "The principal Duty which every Man owes is to his Country. " _Enquiry into the . .. Increase of Robbers_. 

To have created the English novel were, it might seem, achievement enoughto tire for a while the most vigorous of intellects; but to the author of_Tom Jones_ the apathy of repose was unknown. At no period of Fielding'sshort life can he be discerned as doing nothing; and, indeed, to aninsight so penetrating, to an ardour so irrepressible, the England ofGeorge the Second can have afforded but very little inducement toinaction. 

Thus, in the one month of October 1748, the pages of _Tom Jones_ must havebeen nearing completion, if indeed the sheets were not already passingthrough the press. The Hanoverian philippics of "Mr Trott-Plaid" werestill resounding in the _Jacobite's Journal_. While, on the 26th. Of themonth, Fielding's oaths were received for an entirely new rôle, that of aJustice of the Peace for Westminster. [1] Ten days later the _Jacobite'sJournal_ had ceased to exist; and that a rumour was abroad connecting thisdemise of the _Journal_ with the bestowal of a new and arduous post on itseditor appears from a paragraph in the _London Evening Post_. On Nov. 8, that organ prepares its readers for the fact that the now defunct "MrTrott-Plaid" may possibly "rise awful in the Form of a Justice. " Withinfour weeks of this announcement 'Justice Fielding's' name appears for thefirst time in the Police-news of the day, in a committal dated December10th [2]. And two days later he is sending three thieves to the Gatehouse, and admitting a suspected thief to bail, "after an Examination whichlasted several hours. " And it is interesting to notice that throughoutthis first month of his magisterial work the now 'awful form' of JusticeHenry Fielding was kept constantly tempered in the public mind by the factof his still undiminished popularity as a dramatist. In this December hiscomedies, with the inimitable 'romp' Kitty Clive as _Miss Lucy_, or the_Intrigueing Chambermaid_ or _Chloe_, as the case might be, were played nofewer than nine times on the Drury Lane boards. 

Scarcely had Fielding bent his genius to these new responsibilities ofexamining Westminster suspects and sending the rogues of that city toprison, than he appears preparing for an extension of those duties overthe county of Middlesex. To be a county magistrate in 1750, however, necessitated the holding of landed estate worth £100 per annum; andFielding's estate, for many years, seems to have been his pen. In thisdifficulty he turned to the Duke of Bedford, whose public virtues, andprivate generosity, were so soon to be acknowledged in the Dedication of_Tom Jones_. It was but three weeks after his appointment that theWestminster magistrate wrote as follows to the giver of those "princelyBenefactions":

"Bow Street. Decr. 13. 1748. 

"My Lord, "Such is my Dependence on the Goodness of your Grace, that before my Goutwill permit me to pay my Duty to you personally, and to acknowledge yourlast kind Favour to me, I have the Presumption to solicite your Graceagain. The Business of a Justice of Peace for Westminster is veryinconsiderable without the Addition of that for the County of Middlesex. And without this Addition I cannot completely serve the Government in thatoffice. But this unfortunately requires a Qualification which I want. Nowthere is a House belonging to your Grace, which stands in Bedford St. , of70l. A year value. This hath been long untenanted, and will I am informed, require about 300l. To put in Repair. If your Grace would have theGoodness to let me have a Lease of this House, with some other Tenementworth 30l. A year, for 21 years, it would be a complete Qualification. Iwill give the full Worth for this lease, according to the valuation whichany Person your Grace shall be pleased to appoint sets upon it. The onlyfavour I beg of your Grace is, that I be permitted to pay the Money in twoyears, at four equal half-yearly Payments. As I shall repair the House assoon as possible, it will be in Reality an Improvement of that small Partof your Grace's estate, and will be certain to make my Fortune. 

"Mr Butcher will acquaint your Grace more fully than perhaps I have beenable to do; and if Your Grace thinks proper to refer it to him, I and minewill be eternally bound to pray for your Grace tho I sincerely hope youwill not lose a Farthing by doing so vast a service to, "My Lord your Grace's"Most obliged most obed' humble servant"H. Ffielding. " [3]

It seems probable that the Duke found better means of helping wit andgenius, than by the leasing of the dilapidated tenement in Bedford Street. At any rate a month later, on January 11, we find Fielding duly swearingto an estate as consisting of "several Leasehold Messuages or TenementsLying or being in the several parishes of St Paul Covent Garden, St Martinin the ffields, St Giles in the ffields, and St Georges Bloomsbury . .. Nowin the possession or occupation of [my] Tennants or Undertennants, for andduring the Term of Twenty one years of the clear yearly value of £100. .. . "This statement, which is preserved in the Middlesex Records, is followedby Fielding's signature, appended to an oath that his qualification toserve as a Justice of the Peace for the county is as above described. [4]

On the day following this sworn statement, January 12, 1749, his oathswere received as a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex. [5] But even thisdid not satisfy all the requirements of those days of doctrinalinquisitions and Jacobite risings. The certificate may still be seen amongthe Middlesex Records, duly certified by Charles Tough, Minister of theParish and Church of St Pauls, Covent Garden, and 'Sworn in Court, ' that"Henry Fielding Esq. On Sunday the 26th day of March, 1749, did receivethe Sacrament of the Lord's Supper in ye Parish Church aforesaid, immediately after Divine Service and Sermon, according to the usage of theChurch of England. " [6] And among the same archives the dusty _Oath Roll_is preserved, bearing, under date of April 5, 1749, the signature of_Henry ffielding_ to a declaration of disbelief in the doctrine ofTransubstantiation; a comprehensive oath of faithful service to KingGeorge and abjuration of King James; an oath directed against the power ofthe Holy See; and an oath of true allegiance to King George. All whichoaths and declarations, it appears from the endorsement of the _Roll_, were taken immediately after the administration of Holy Communion, asattested by two credible witnesses. [7]

It is with this second Commission in the Peace that we enter on the lastfive years of Fielding's crowded life, years full of that valiant strugglewith eighteenth century crime to which the health of the great novelistwas ultimately sacrificed. For no magistrate ever fulfilled morefaithfully, or at greater personal cost, the first obligation of his Oath, "Ye shall swear that as Justice of Peace . .. Ye shall do equall right tothe Poor and to the Rich, after your Cunning Witt and Power and after theLaws and Customes of the Realm. .. . " And Fielding brought to his new postsomething more than a zealous discharge of the daily and nightly duties ofan eighteenth century police magistrate. His genius and his patriotismfound opportunity in the squalid Bow Street Court-room for advocatingreforms as yet untouched by the slow hand of the professionalphilanthropist. The names of those reformers, of the men and women whoswept away the pestilential horrors of eighteenth century prisons, of thestatesmen who abolished laws that hung a man for stealing a handkerchief, and destroyed the public gallows that gave the mob their _Tyburn holiday_, of the creators of our temperance legislation, of our poor-law system, ofour model dwellings, --all these are held high in honour. Because HenryFielding was above all things a great creative genius his wise andstrenuous efforts to raise social conditions, and to eradicate socialsores, have been unduly forgotten. 

"Whatever he desired, he desired ardently, " says Murphy. We soon haveevidence of Justice Henry Fielding's ardent desire to cleanse London fromsome of the crying evils of his time. Of these evils none pressed morecruelly on the honest citizens than the prevalence and brutality of streetrobberies. To the well-protected Englishman of to-day the London of 1750would seem a nightmare of lawlessness. Thieves, as Fielding tells us, attacked their victims with loaded pistols, beat them with bludgeons andhacked them with cutlasses; and as to the murderers of the period, he hasrecorded how he himself was engaged on _five_ different murders, allcommitted by different gangs of street robbers within the space of oneweek. The exploit of one such gang may be quoted, from a newspaperparagraph of the first month of Fielding's administration at Bow Street. "On Friday evening, " says the _General Advertiser_ for January 23, 1749, "about twenty fellows arm'd with Pistols, Cutlasses, Hangers, &c. Went tothe Gatehouse and one of them knocking at the Door, it was no sooneropen'd than they all rush'd in, and struck and desperately wounded theTurnkey, and all that oppos'd them, and in Triumph carried off the Fellowwho pick'd General Sinclaire's pocket of his watch as he was going intoLeicester House. " Surely, cries the indignant newspaper, "this instance ofDaring Impudence must rouse every Person of Property to assemble andconsult means for their own Security at least; for if Goals can be forc'din this manner, private Houses can make but little resistance against suchGangs of Villains as at present infest this Great Metropolis. " It wasadmitted that the numbers and arms of street robbers rendered itordinarily impossible to arrest them in the act; and Fielding tells us how"Officers of Justice have owned to me that they have passed by [men] withWarrants in their Pockets against them without daring to apprehend them;and indeed they could not be blamed for not exposing themselves to sureDestruction: For it is a melancholy Truth, that at this very Day a Rogueno sooner gives the Alarm within certain Purlieus, than twenty or thirtyarmed Villains are found ready to come to his Assistance. " And the newJustice found no effectual means at his disposal for coping with what hevery aptly calls the enslaved condition of Londoners, assaulted, pillaged, and plundered; unable to sleep in their own houses, or to walk thestreets, or to travel in safety. There were the Watch, who, we learn from_Amelia_ were "chosen out of those poor old decrepid People, who are fromtheir Want of bodily Strength rendered incapable of getting a Livelihoodby Work. These Men, armed only with a Pole, which some of them are scarceable to lift, are to secure the Persons and Houses of his Majesty'sSubjects from the Attacks of Gangs of young, bold, stout, desperate andwell-armed Villains. .. . If the poor old Fellows should run away from suchEnemies, no one I think can wonder, unless he should wonder that they areable even to make their Escape. " [8] These lineal descendants of Dogberrywere supplemented by constables who it appears had to apply to themilitary when called upon to cope with the mere suppression of agaming-house; and by "Thief-catchers, " individuals so popularly odiousthat "the Thief-catcher is in Danger of worse Treatment from the Populacethan the Thief. " While the law was thus handicapped, the thief, on hisside, had the advantage of the irregular buildings and the immense numberof lanes, alleys, courts, and bye-places of London and Westminster, which, says Fielding, "had they been intended for the very purpose ofconcealment, they could scarce have been better contrived. Upon such aview the whole appears as a vast Wood or Forest, in which a Thief mayharbour with as great Security as Wild Beasts do in the Desarts of Africaor Arabia. " Also the thief's organisation was excellent: "there are atthis Time, " Fielding observes, "a great Gang of Rogues whose Number fallslittle short of a Hundred, who are incorporated in one Body, have Officersand a Treasury; and have reduced Theft and Robbery into a regular System. "Further, he could generally bribe or deter the prosecutor. And in a lastresource "rotten Members of the Law" forged his defence, and abundantfalse witnesses supported it. An illuminating example of the methodsemployed by our Georgian ancestors towards "deterring" prosecution occursin a smuggling case of 1748, perpetrated shortly before Fielding firsttook office. A party of smugglers caught a custom-house officer and ashoemaker on their way to give evidence. The officer had 'every joint ofhim' broken; and after other torture, the description of which is moresuitable for eighteenth century pages than our own, was dispatched. Theless fortunate shoemaker was hung by the middle over a dry well, and leftthere. Several days afterwards the smugglers, returning and hearing himgroan, cut the rope, let him drop to the bottom, and threw in logs andstones to cover him. And it was not only from the common thief that theLondoner of 1750 suffered. That fine flower of eighteenth centurylawlessness, the gentleman of the road, carried his audacities into theheart of the Town itself. "I was sitting in my own dining-room on Sundaynight, " writes Horace Walpole, to a friend, "the clock had not struckeleven, when I heard a loud cry of 'stop thief!' A highwayman had attackeda postchaise in Piccadilly: the fellow was pursued, rode over thewatchman, almost killed him, and escaped. "

It was into a conflict with this epidemic of crime that Fielding, atforty-three, and with already broken health, flung his energies, to suchpurpose that in these last five years of his life it is but too easy toforget the creator of _Joseph Andrews_, of _Tom Jones_, and of _Amelia_, in his last 'ardent desire, ' as ardently pursued, to purify the sorelydiseased body politic. His method of attack was twofold. He dealtvigorously with the individual criminal; and he sought to remove some ofthe causes by which those criminals were engendered. The individual attackis, for the most part, but sordid reading. Thus from a fragment of theWestminster _Committment Books_, preserved with the Middlesex Records, wemay see how in January and February of this year 1749 'Henry FieldingEsq. ' committed to the New Prison such cases as:

Thomas Thrupp for riotThomas Trinder for burglaryT. Chamberlain and TerenceFitz Patrick for assaultC. O'Neal for assaulting two WatchmenMary Hughes and CaterineEdmonds for assault and beatingJohn Smithson for exercising the art of pattenmaker without having been brought up thereto for seven yearsCornelius York for filing guineasChristo Kelsey for ill fameBryan Park for assault

This sorry list, interspersed with cases of murder, of robbery withviolence, and of smuggling, may doubtless be extended over the entire fiveyears of Fielding's work on the Bench; and to reiterate the details ofsuch work would be as tedious now as the monotonous discharge of theseduties must once have been to the author of _Tom Jones_. [9] Of much moreenduring interest is the great novelist's second line of attack on theproblem confronting him. 

For Henry Fielding's insight was far too profound for him to fail tostrike at the root of individual crime, in those conditions which bred thecriminal as surely as, to use his own favourite simile, uncleansurroundings breed disease. And he had not been six months on the Benchbefore finding his first opportunity in a _Charge_ delivered, as theirChairman, to the Westminster Grand Jury, on June 29, 1749. [10] This "veryloyal, learned, ingenious, excellent and useful" Charge was published "ByOrder of the Court, and at the unanimous Request of the Gentlemen of theGrand Jury"; and it is, Mr Austin Dobson tells us, "still regarded bylawyers as a model exposition. " It is also a stirring appeal to the worthyjurors to discharge their duties as befitted men called upon to exerciseone of the most ancient and honourable of English liberties: "GrandJuries, Gentlemen, " declared their new Chairman, "are in Reality the onlyCensors of this Nation. As such, the Manners of the People are in yourHands, and in yours only. You, therefore, are the only Correctors ofthem. .. . To execute this Duty with Vigilance, you are obliged by the Dutyyou owe both to God and to your Country. " Here is the same zeal, nowdirected to stimulating the conscience of the Westminster Jurors, whichmoved _Captain Vinegar_ to lay about him so lustily on all the abuseswithin reach of his newspaper, and which inspired the 'father of theEnglish Novel' with the admitted motive, --"I declare, that to recommendGoodness and Innocence hath been my sincere Endeavour in this History"--ifnot with the consummate art of his pages. 

Fielding specially directs the energies of his jurors to the repression ofopen profligacy, the more as, through the 'egregious folly' of theirparents, the _Town_ had then become the 'seminaries of education' foryouths of birth and station. And he bids them attend to those 'temples ofiniquity' the masquerade rooms of the time, with a side glance at Foote'sscandalous performances; to the gaming houses; to the prevalent vice ofprofane swearing, that "detestable Crime, so injurious to the Honour ofGod, so directly repugnant to His positive Commands, so highly offensiveto the Ears of all good Men, and so very scandalous to the Nation in theEars of Foreigners"; and to the libeller, a species of 'Vermin' whom "menought to crush wherever they find him, without staying till he bite them. "It is noteworthy also, that to the genius of Fielding, 'watching, brooding, creating, ' the characteristic feature of his age seemed to be a"fury after licentious and luxurious pleasures. " "Gentlemen, " he cries, "our News-Papers, from the Top of the Page to the Bottom, the Corners ofour Streets up to the very Eves of our Houses, present us with nothing buta View of Masquerades, Balls, and Assemblies of various Kinds, Fairs, Wells, Gardens, &c. Tending to promote Idleness, Extravagance andImmorality, among all Sorts of People. " Many of the public, he declares, make diversion "no longer the Recreation or Amusement, but the wholeBusiness of their Lives"; and not content with three theatres they musthave a fourth. What would he have said to a London in which not four but ahundred and twenty theatres draw nightly, and sometimes twice a day, theircrowded audiences. 

Two days after the delivery of this _Charge_ (which the _GeneralAdvertiser_ praises as "excellent and learned") a three days street riotbroke out, which it fell to Fielding to subdue. On Saturday July 1 a mobhad gathered in the Strand, about a disorderly house where a sailor wassaid to have been robbed. Beadle Nathaniel Munns, arriving on the scene, found the mob crying out "Pull down the house, pull down the house!"; andsent for the constables. Meanwhile the mob broke open the house anddemolished and stripped the same; and throwing the goods out of thewindows, set fire to them, causing such danger of a general conflagrationthat 'the parish engines' were sent for. A constable, _not being able tofind any magistrate in Town_, went to Somerset House to procure assistancefrom the military, and on his returning with a corporal and twelve men, aforce that later that night was increased to an officer and forty men, themob was at last dispersed. On the next day, however, Sunday, theyreassembled, and proceeded to demolish a second house, and to burn thegoods thereof with an even larger fire than that of the preceding night. Mr Saunders Welch, High Constable for Holborn and, Fielding tells us, "oneof the best Officers who was ever concerned in the Execution of Justice, and to whose Care, Integrity and Bravery the Public hath, to my Knowledge, the highest Obligations, " passing through Fleet Street at the time, sawthis second fire, and was told by the owner of another house that the mobthreatened to come to him next. Upon which Mr Welch "well knowing theImpossibility of procuring any Magistrate at that Time who would act, "went to the Tilt Yard and procured an officer and some forty men; andreturning, found the third house in great part wrecked, the danger of firehere being aggravated by the extreme narrowness of the street on bothsides and the fact that the premises of a bank were adjacent. This sameSunday night, also, the mob broke open the night-prison under BeadleMunns' house, rescuing two prisoners; and forced the Watch-house of theLiberty with stones and brick bats, to the imminent danger of the Beadle'slife, as "sworn before me, Henry Fielding. " Till three in the morning MrWelch and the soldiers remained on duty, by which time the rioters hadagain dispersed. All this time Fielding, Mr Welch records, was out oftown; but, by noon on Monday, the Justice was back in Bow Street: and, onbeing acquainted with the riot, immediately dispatched an order for aparty of the Guards to bring the prisoners to his house, the streets beingthen full of a riotous crowd threatening danger of rescue. Fieldingproceeded to examine the prisoners, a "vast mob" meanwhile being assembledin Bow Steet, and the streets adjacent. On information of the threateningaspect of the people he applied to the Secretary at War for areinforcement of the Guards; and from his window, spoke to the mob, informing them of their danger, and exhorting them to disperse, but invain. Rumours, moreover, came that four thousand sailors were assemblingto march to the Strand that Monday night. In view of these rumours and ofthe riotous state of the streets, Fielding, the officer of the guard, andMr Welch "sat up the whole night, while a large party of soldiers werekept ready under arms who with the peace officers patrolled the streets. "And thanks to this vigorous action on the part of their new magistrate thecitizens found peace restored within twelve hours of his return to town. 

The same day as that on which Fielding was addressing the riotous mob fromhis Bow Street windows, and sitting up all night with the officer of amilitary guard, he found time to write to the Duke of Bedford on his ownbehalf and on that of his family, concerning the provision for which hebetrays so constant an anxiety. 

"Bow Street. July 3. 1749. 

"My Lord, "The Protection which I have been honoured with receiving at the Hands ofyour Grace, and the goodness which you were pleased to express some timetoward me, embolden me to mention to your Grace that the Place ofSolicitor to the Excise is now vacant by the Death of Mr Selwyn. I hopeno Person is better qualified for it, and I assure you, my Lord, noneshall execute it with more Fidelity. I am at this Moment busied inendeavouring to suppress a dangerous Riot, or I w'd have personallywaited on your Grace to solicite a Favour which will make me and myFamily completely happy. 

"I am, &c. , "H. Ffielding. " [11]

The vacant post was secured, alas, by another candidate. 

A few weeks after the riotous scenes which had enabled Fielding to showhimself a man of prompt action in times of popular ferment, thepublication is advertised of his _Charge_, published "by order of theCourt and at the request of the Gentleman of the Grand Jury. " And on thesame day he submits to the Lord Chancellor a copy both of this pamphlet, and of a draft of a _Bill for the better preventing Street Robberies &c_, the design of which it appears Lord Hardwick had already encouraged. 

"Bow Street, July 21. 1749. 

"My Lord, "I beg your Lordship's acceptance of a Charge given by me to the GrandJury of Westminster though I am but too sensible how unworthy it is ofyour notice. 

"I have likewise presumed to send my Draught of a Bill for the betterpreventing street Robberies &c. Which your Lordship was so very kind tosay you would peruse; I hope the general Plan at least may be happy inyour Approbation. 

"Your Lordship will have the goodness to pardon my repeating a desirethat the name of Joshua Brogden, may be inserted in the next commissionof the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster for whose [integrity] andAbility in the Execution of his office. I will engage my credit with yourLordship, an Engagement which appears to me of the most sacred Nature. 

"I am, "My Lord, with the utmost Respect and Devotion, "Your Lordship's most Obed't"Most humble Servant"H. Ffielding. [12]

"To the Right Hon'ble. "The Lord High Chancellor of G. Britain. "

All trace of the text of this draft Bill seems to have been lost; but thefact of the Lord Chancellor's consent to consider its provisions showsclearly enough how rapidly Fielding was adding to his now achieved fame asthe author of _Tom Jones_ the very different reputation of an authority oncriminal legislation. 

The application on behalf of Joshua Brogden, later if not at this time theJustice's Clerk, recalls the further pleasant tribute paid to thesoundness of Mr Brogden's morals in the _Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon_. If all Fielding's modest magisterial income of £300 a year had gone, as hedeclares it should have done, to his clerk, that functionary would, hetells us, have been "but ill paid for sitting almost sixteen hours in thetwenty four, in the most unwholesome, as well as nauseous air in theuniverse, and which hath in his case corrupted a good constitution withoutcontaminating his morals. " It was Joshua Brogden who had witnessed, a fewmonths earlier, the agreement with Andrew Millar for _Tom Jones_. Couldthe good clerk but have played the part of a Boswell to his illustriousmaster we should have something more than our present scanty materials forthe personal life of Henry Fielding. 

Yet another of Fielding's rare letters belongs to this year; a letterconveying his formal congratulations to Lyttelton, on that modelstatesman's second marriage, and in which his warm heart again makesapplication, not on behalf of his own scanty means, but for a friend. 

"Bow Street, Aug't 29, 1749. 

"Sir, "Permit me to bring up the Rear of your Friends in paying my Complimentsof Congratulation on your late Nuptials. There may perhaps be seasons whenthe Rear may be as honourable a Post in Friendship as in War, and if sosuch certainly must be every time of Joy and Felicity. Your presentsituation must be full of these; and so will be, I am confident, yourfuture Life from the same Fountain. Nothing can equal the excellentcharacter your Lady bears among those of her own Sex, and I never yet knewthem speak well of a woman who did not deserve their good words. Howadmirable is your Fortune in the Matrimonial Lottery! I will venture tosay there is no man alive who exults more in this, or in any otherHappiness that can attend you than myself; and you ought to believe mefrom the same Reason that fully persuades me of the satisfaction youreceive from any Happiness of mine; this Reason is that you must besensible how much of it I owe to your goodness; and there is a greatPleasure in Gratitude though it is second I believe to that ofBenevolence; for of all the Delights upon Earth none can equal theRaptures which a good mind feels on conferring Happiness on those whom wethink worthy of it. This is the sweetest ingredient in Power, and Isolemnly protest I never wished for Power, more than a few days ago forthe sake of a Man whom I love, and that more perhaps from the esteem Iknow he bears towards you than from any other Reason. This Man is in Lovewith a young Creature of the most apparent worth, who returns hisaffection. Nothing is wanting to make two very miserable People extremelyBlessed but a moderate portion of the greatest of human Evils. SoPhilosophers call it, and so it is called by Divines, whose word is therather to be taken, as they are, many of them, more conversant with thisEvil than ever Philosophers were. The Name of this man is Moore to whomyou kindly destined that Laurel, which, though it hath long been withered, may not probably soon drop from the Brow of its present Possessor; butthere is another Place of much the same Value now vacant: it is that ofDeputy Licensor to the Stage. Be not offended at this Hint; for though Iwill own it impudent enough in one who hath so many Obligations of his ownto you, to venture to recommend another man to your Favour, yet Impudenceitself may possibly be a Virtue when exerted on the behalf of a Friend; atleast I am the less ashamed of it, as I have known men remarkable for theopposite Modesty possess it without the mixture of any other good Quality. In this Fault then you must indulge me; for should I ever see you as highin Power as I wish, and as it is perhaps more my Interest than your ownthat you should be, I shall be guilty of the like as often as I find a Manin whom I can, after much intimacy discover no want, but that of the Evilabove mentioned. I beg you will do me the Honour of making my Complimentsto your unknown Lady, and believe me to be with the highest Esteem, Respect, Love, and Gratitude

"Sir, "Y'r most obliged"Most obed't"humble Servant

"Henry Fielding. 

"To the Hon'ble"George Lyttelton, Esqr. " [13]

This Edward Moore was a poet held worthy, it would seem, to possess theLaureat's 'withered' laurel (even in 1749 Fielding cannot refrain from athrust at Colley Cibber); a journalist; a writer of whom Dibden declaredthat the tendency of all his productions was to "cultivate truth andmorality"; a tradesman in the linen business; and the son of a dissentingminister: a combination of circumstances closely recalling Fielding'sfriendship for the good dissenter, jeweller, and poet, George Lillo. Andit is to an undated letter by Edward Moore, hitherto overlooked, that weowe one of the rare references to Henry Fielding from a contemporary pen. Moore is writing to a dissenting minister at Taunton, one Mr John Ward, ofwhom it was said that venerable as he himself was for learning, worth, andpiety he deemed it "_an honour to have his name connected with that ofMoore_, "--a further proof of the quality of man whom Fielding choose forfriend. Moore had been prevented, by Fielding's illness, from appointingan evening on which he might invite the Taunton minister to his lodgingsto meet there some of the first wits of the day. "It is not, " he writes, "owing to forgetfulness that you have not heard from me before. Fieldingcontinues to be visited for his sins so as to be wheeled about from roomto room; when he mends I am sure to see him at my lodgings; and you maydepend upon timely notice. What fine things are Wit and Beauty, if a Mancould be temperate with one, or a Woman chaste with the other! But he thatwill confine his acquaintance to the sober and the modest will generallyfind himself among the dull and the ugly. If this remark of mine should bethought to shoulder itself in without an introduction you will be pleasedto note that Fielding is a Wit; that his disorder is the Gout, andintemperance the cause. " It is of course idle to contend that Fieldingalways carried a cool head. Murphy tells us that to him might justly beapplied a parody on a saying concerning Scipio, --"always over a socialbottle or a book, he enured his body to the dangers of intemperance, andexercised his mind with Studies. " But we must in justice remember that theAugustan age of English literature concerned itself but very little withour modern virtue of sobriety. That Fielding, with the other great men ofhis day, very often drank more than was good for him, amounts to littlemore than saying that he wore a laced coat when he had one, and carried asword at his side. 

The execution of one of the Strand rioters, Bosavern Penlez by name, inSeptember, had roused much controversy; and as the evidence in the casewas in Justice Fielding's possession, and the attacks were levelled at theGovernment, we find him plunged once more into political pamphleteering inthe publication, under the date of 1749, of the learned little treatiseentitled "_A True State of the Case of Bosavern Penlez' who suffered onaccount of the late riot in the Strand. In which the Law regarding theseOffences and the Statute of George I. Commonly called the Riot Act arefully considered_. " The pamphlet opens with a warm protest against theabuse to which Fielding had been subjected by his political opponents. "Itmay easily be imagined, " he writes, "that a Man whose Character hath beenso barbarously, even without the least Regard to Truth or Decency, aspersed, on account of his Endeavours to defend the present Government, might wish to decline any future Appearance as a political Writer"; butmore weighty considerations move him to lay the defence of the Riot Act ingeneral, and of this application of it in particular, before a publicwhich had been imposed upon "in the grossest and wickedest manner. " Wehave already quoted the vivid depositions concerning this Strand riot, which were sworn before Fielding, and which he here reproduces; and hishistorical defence of the public need of suppressing riots, from the daysof Wat Tyler onwards, may be left to the curious reader. Needless to say, Fielding makes out an excellent case against the toleration of mob law:--"When by our excellent Constitution the greatest Subject, no not even theKing himself, can, without a lawful Trial and Conviction divest themeanest Man of his Property, deprive him of his Liberty, or attack him inhis Person; shall we suffer a licentious Rabble to be Accuser, Judge, Jury, and Executioner; to inflict corporal Punishment, break open Men'sDoors, plunder their Houses, and burn their Goods?" And, at the close, this pamphlet reveals the warm-hearted magistrate no less than the eruditelawyer. For of the two condemned prisoners, Wilson and Penlez, the case ofthe former seemed to Fielding "to be the Object of true Compassion. "Accordingly he laid the evidence in his possession before "some very noblePersons, " and, he adds, "I flatter myself that it might be a little owingto my Representation, that the Distinction between an Object of Mercy, andan Object of Justice at last prevailed". So the felon gained his respite, and a lasting niche for his name, in that he owed his life partly if notwholly to the generous compassion of Henry Fielding. The pamphlet seems tohave made its mark, for a second edition was advertised within a month ofpublication. 

This eventful year, the year which had seen the publication of _TomJones_, the shackling of Fielding's genius within the duties of a Londonmagistrate, the issue of two pamphlets occupied with criminal reform andadministration, the drafting of a proposed Criminal Bill, and thesuppression of a riot, closed sadly with the death of Fielding's littledaughter, Mary Amelia, when barely twelve months old. She was buried at StPaul's, Covent Garden, on the seventeenth of December, 1749. And some timein the autumn or early winter Fielding himself appears to have beendangerously ill. This we learn from the following paragraph in the_General Advertizer_ for December 28: "Justice Fielding has noMortification in his Foot as has been reported: that Gentleman has indeedbeen very dangerously ill with a Fever, and a Fit of the Gout, in which hewas attended by Dr Thompson, an eminent Physician, and is now so wellrecovered as to be able to execute his Office as usual. "

[1] His Commission in the Peace for Westminster bears date October 25. 1748. 

[2] An application is reported for the 2nd of December before "JusticeFielding" of Meards Court, St. Anne's, but for reasons given below this_may_ refer to John Fielding. 

[3] From the autograph now at Woburn Abbey, and printed in the_Correspondence of John Fourth Duke of Bedford_. Vol. I. P. 589. 

[4] Middlesex Records. Volume of _Qualification Oaths for Justices of thePeace_. 1749. From an entry dated July 13, 1749, in the same volume, Fielding appears to have then owned leases in the three first namedparishes only. 

[5] See the King's Writ, now preserved in the Record Office. 

[6] Middlesex Records. _Sacramental Certificates_. 

[7] Middlesex Records. _Oath Rolls_. 

[8] _Amelia_. Book i. Chapter ii. 

[9] The Westminster _Session Rolls_, preserved among the MiddlesexRecords, contain many recognizances all signed by Fielding. 

[10] "On Friday last, " announces the General Advertiser for May 17, "Counsellor Fielding, one of his Majesty's Justices of the Peace waschosen Chairman of the Sessions at Hicks Hall for the County ofMiddlesex"; a statement not very compatible with the incontestableevidence preserved in the _General Orders Books_ of the Middlesex Records, by which it appears that John Lane Esq're was elected Chairman of theMiddlesex General Sessions and General Quarter Session from Ladyday 1749to September 1752. The personal paragraphist of 1749 was perhaps no lessinaccurate than his descendant of to-day. But a few weeks later thishonour of chairmanship was certainly accorded to Fielding by his brethrenof the Bench for Westminster. An entry in the _Sessions Book_ ofWestminster, 1749 runs as follows: "May. 1749, Mr Fielding electedchairman of this present Session and to continue untill the 2nd day of thenext. " _MSS Sessions Books for Westminster. Vol. 1749_. Middlesex Records. 

[11] From the autograph now at Woburn Abbey, and printed in the_Correspondence of John, Fourth Duke of Bedford_, vol. Ii. P. 35. 

[12] From the hitherto unpublished autograph now in the British Museum. 

[13] This letter is now in the Dreer Collection of the Historical Societyof Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, U. S. A. 

CHAPTER XIII

FIELDING AND LEGISLATION

 "The Subject, as well as the Child, should be left without excuse before he is punished: for, in that case alone, the Rod becomes the Hand either of the Parent or the Magistrate. " _Inquiry Into the Causes of the late Increase of Robbers_. 

There is no Bill for the suppression of street robberies on the StatuteBook for 1749 or 1750; so the draft which Fielding, with characteristicenergy, despatched to the Lord Chancellor but a few months after hisappointment to the Bench, was, presumably, pigeon-holed. Meanwhile, thecriminal conditions of the metropolis seem to have become, if anything, more scandalous. In February 1750, the _Penny Post_ reports the gaols inand about London to be "now so full of Felons and desperate Rogues thatthe Keepers have not fetters enow to put upon them; so that in somePrisons two or three are chained together to prevent their escape. " And onthe fifth of the same month the _General Advertiser_ hears that "near 40Highwaymen, street Robbers, Burglars, Rogues, Vagabonds, and Cheats havebeen committed within a week last past by Justice Fielding. " But howeverfull of business the Bow Street court-room might be, that dreary routine[1] would make, as we have said, but equally dreary reading. And the factthat both John and Henry Fielding appear to have been known as 'JusticeFielding' during the lifetime of the latter, lessens whatever biographicalvalue might be extracted from the constant newspaper paragraphs recordingthe Fielding cases. It is clear that the house in Bow Street was thecentre of an active campaign against the thieves, murderers, professionalgamblers, and highwaymen, who were then so rife. Military guards conductedthither prisoners, brought for examination from Newgate, for fear ofrescue from gangs lurking in the neighbouring streets. All "Persons whohave been robbed" and their servants, were desired, by publicadvertisement, to attend Justice Fielding "at his House in Bow Street, " toidentify certain prisoners under examination. And thither came the"porters and beggars, " the composing of whose quarrels Henry Fieldinghimself has told us, occupied his days. The generous spirit in which hetreated such poor clients, and his tenderness for those driven by wantinto crime, are eminently characteristic of the man. By adjusting, insteadof inflaming, these squalid quarrels, and by "refusing to take a shillingfrom a man who must undoubtedly would not have had another left, " hereduced a supposed income of £500 a year to £300. And if the picture ofthe poor wretch, driven to highway robbery by the sight of his starvingfamily, whom Tom Jones relieved from his own scanty purse, be not proofenough of the compassion that tempered Justice Fielding's sternness, wehave his own express pleading for these unhappy victims of circumstance:"what can be more shocking, " he cries, "than to see an industrious poorCreature, who is able and willing to labour forced by mere want intoDishonesty, and that in a Nation of such Trade and Opulence. " So justlycould Fielding apportion the contributary negligence of society towardsthe criminals bred by its apathy. 

And it was not only the impoverished porter who found help at Bow Street. "When, " says Murphy, "in the latter end of [Mr Fielding's] days he had anincome of four or five hundred a-year, he knew no use of money but to keephis table open to those who had been his friends when young, and hadimpaired their own fortunes. " As Mr Austin Dobson says, in commenting onone of Horace Walpole's scurrilous letters, [2] "it must always have beena more or less ragged regiment which met about that kindly Bow Streetboard. " The man who parted with his own hardly won arrears of rent torelieve the yet greater need of a College friend, was little likely to beless generous when the tardy 'jade Fortune' at last put some securedincome into his hands. 

No special event marks the spring and summer of 1750. On the 11th ofJanuary the Westminster General Quarter Sessions opened, and on thefollowing day Fielding was again elected as chairman "for the two nextQuarter Sessions"; which election was repeated, "for the two nextSessions, [3]" in July. The Registers of St Paul's Covent Garden recordthe baptism of a daughter, Sophia, on the 21st of January. And anindication that the zealous magistrate was plunged, personally, into someof the tumults of the time occurs in the following trifling note to theDuke of Bedford. 

"My Lord, "In obedience to the Commands I have the Honour to receive from yourGrace, I shall attend tomorrow morning and do the utmost in my Power topreserve the Peace on that occasion. 

"I am, with gratitude and Respect, "My Lord, "Your Grace's most obliged"most obedient humble servant. 

"Henry Ffielding. [4]

"Bow Street, "May 14, 1750. "

By the autumn, however, a rumour was abroad that the now famous author of_Tom Jones_ was engaged on pages of a very different nature. The _GeneralAdvertiser_, for October 9, announces:--

"We hear that an eminent Magistrate is now employed in preparing aPamphlet for the Press in which the several causes that have conspired torender Robberies so frequent of late will be laid open; the Defects of ourLaws enquired into, and Methods proposed which may discourage and in agreat measure prevent this growing Evil for the future. "

This pamphlet, in which many a later reform was urged by Fielding'sfar-sighted zeal, seems to have been still in preparation for the next twomonths. And in November the reform of the law had to give place to a moreimmediate urgency in protecting the Lord Chancellor. The keepers of threegaming houses, closed by his lordship's orders, were reported to beplotting against that exalted dignitary; and the case, as appears from thefollowing letter to a lawyer, Mr Perkins, was in Fielding's hands. [5]

"Sir

"I have made full enquiry after the three Persons and have a perfectaccount of them all. Their characters are such that perhaps three morelikely Men could not be found in the Kingdom for the Hellish Purposementioned in the Letter. As the Particulars are many and the Affair ofsuch Importance I beg to see you punctually at six this evening when Iwill be alone to receive you--and am, Sir, "Yr. Most obed;"humble servant

"He Ffielding. 

"Bow Street. Nov. 25. 1750. "

When the keepers of gambling houses dared to fly at such high game as theperson of the Lord Chancellor, there is no wonder that the safety of hisMajesty's ordinary lieges was of small account. "Robbery, " writes HoraceWalpole, a few weeks before the date of the above letter, "is the onlything which goes on with any vivacity. " And at the close of the year aRoyal Proclamation was actually published, promising £100 over and aboveother rewards, and a free pardon, to any accomplice who should apprehendoffenders committing murder, or robbery by violence, in London streets orwithin five miles of London, providing such an accomplice had not himselfdealt a mortal wound. So startling a confession of impotence on the partof the Government served very fitly to introduce the pamphlet, then on theeve of publication. And if further proof be needed of the conditions ofpublic safety at the beginning of the year 1751, it may be seen in thepassage of the King's Speech delivered at the opening of Parliament on the17th of January, in which his Majesty exhorted the Commons to suppressoutrages and violences on life and property; words representing, ofcourse, the policy of the Ministry. 

The title of Fielding's little book, dedicated to Lord Hardwick, andpublished about January 22, is _An Enquiry into the Causes of the lateIncrease of Robbers &c. With some Proposals for remedying this growingEvil. In which the Present Reigning Vices are impartially exposed; and theLaws that relate to the Provision for the Poor and to the Punishment ofFelons are largely and freely examined_. The _Enquiry_ opens with apowerful denunciation of the licence then allowed to the three greatcauses, in Fielding's opinion, of the increasing demoralisation of the'most useful Part' of the people. These were, first, the immense number ofplaces of amusement, all seducing the working classes to squander boththeir money and their time; this being "indeed a certain Method to fillthe Streets with Beggars and the Goals with Debtors and Thieves. " Here, inFielding's view, new legislation was demanded. The second cause of thelate excessive increase of crime, according to the _Enquiry_, was anepidemic of gin drinking, "a new Kind of Drunkenness unknown to ourAncestors [which] is lately sprung up amongst us. " Gin, says Fielding, appeared to be the principal sustenance of more than an hundred thousandLondoners, "the dreadful Effects of which I have the Misfortune every Dayto see, and to smell too. " The crime resulting from such drunkenness wasobvious; but Fielding, looking far beyond the narrow confines of hiscourt-room, beheld a future gin-sodden race, and he appeals to thelegislature to put a stop to a practice, the consequences of which mustalarm "the most sluggish Degree of Public Spirit. " It is surely somethingmore than a coincidence that a few weeks after these warnings werepublished, Hogarth issued his awful plate of _Gin Lane_. A third source ofcrime, in Fielding's eyes, was the gambling among the 'lower Classes ofLife, '--a school "in which most Highwaymen of great eminence have beenbred, " and a habit plainly tending to the "Ruin of Tradesmen, theDestruction of Youth, and to the Multiplication of every Kind of Fraud andViolence. " In this case the 'Eminent Magistrate' finds new legislationless needed than a vigorous enforcement of existing laws; such, he adds, "as hath lately been executed with great Vigour within the Liberty ofWestminster. " Before long the pages of _Amelia_ were to bring home yetmore forcibly to Fielding's readers the cruel results of the pleasures (orspeculations) of the needy gambler, --the 'Destruction of Familys, ' therebyincurred, no less than the breeding of highwaymen. Who does not remember"that famous scene when Amelia is spreading, for the recreant who islosing his money at the Kings Arms, the historic little supper of hashedmutton, which she has cooked with her own hands, and denying herself aglass of white wine to save the paltry sum of sixpence, 'while her Husbandwas paying a Debt of several Guineas incurred by the Ace of Trumps beingin the hands of his Adversary'--a scene which it is impossible to readaloud without a certain huskiness in the throat. " [6] The last great causeof crime which the _Enquiry_ considers, and with much learning and detail, is the condition of the poor. Here Fielding's views on our modern problemof the unemployed may be read. And here occurs a splendid denunciation ofthe 'House of Correction' or Bridewell of the period, a prison for idleand disorderly persons where "they are neither to be corrected noremployed: and where with the conversation of many as bad and sometimesworse than themselves they are sure to be improved in the Knowledge andconfirmed in the Practice of Iniquity. " The most impudent of the wretchesbrought before him, Fielding tells us, were always "such as have beenbefore acquainted with the Discipline of Bridewell. " These prisons, fromwhich the disorderly and idle came out, "much more idle and disorderlythan they went in, " were, says Fielding, no other than "Schools of Vice, Seminaries of Idleness, and Common-sewers of Nastiness and Disease. " Afixed (and lower) rate of wages, it is curious to note, is one remedyadvocated in the _Enquiry_, for raising the condition of the poor. 

Such were the 'temptations' to robbery that Fielding would have removed, nobly conceiving the highest office of the legislature to be that ofprevention rather than cure. The _Enquiry_ concludes with offering somemore immediate palliatives for the diseased state of the body politic, inthe removing of actual 'Encouragement to Robbery. ' First among suchencouragements Fielding places the fact that "the Thief disposes of hisgoods with almost as much safety as the honestest Tradesman"; and he urgedthe need of legislation to prohibit the amazing advertisements by whichour ancestors promised to give rewards for the recovery of stolen goods"_and no questions asked_. " Such advertisements he declares to be "inthemselves so very scandalous and of such pernicious Consequence, that ifMen are not ashamed to own they prefer an old Watch or a Diamond Ring tothe Good of [the] Society it is a pity some effectual Law was notcontrived to prevent their giving this public Countenance to Robbery forthe future. " And, under this head, he advocates legislation either for theregulating of pawnbrokers, or for the entire extirpation of a "Set ofMiscreants which, like other Vermin, harbour only about the Poor and growfat sucking their Blood. " The subsequent legislation by which prosecutorswere recompensed for loss of time and money, when prosecuting the 'wolvesin society, ' may be added to the measures forseen if not actually promotedby Fielding's enlightened zeal. And in nothing was he more in advance ofhis age than in his denunciation of that scandal of the eighteenthcentury, the conduct and frequency of public executions. It has taken ourlegislators a hundred years to provide the swift, solemn and privateexecutions urged by Henry Fielding, in place of the brutal 'Tyburnholiday' enacted every six weeks for the benefit of the Georgian mob. Another matter demanding legislation was the great probability of escapeafforded to thieves by the narrow streets and the common-lodging houses ofthe day. Of the latter, crowded with miserable beds from the cellar to thegarret, let out, at twopence a night the single beds, and threepence thedouble ones, Fielding draws a picture as terrible as any of his friendHogarth's plates. And he concludes "Nay I can add what I myself once sawin the Parish of Shoreditch where two little Houses were emptied of nearseventy Men and Women, " and where the money found on all the occupants(with the exception of a pretty girl who was a thief) "did not amount toone shilling. " In all these houses gin, moreover, was sold at a penny thequartern. Housed thus, in conditions destructive of "all Morality, Decencyand Modesty, " with the street for bed if they fall sick ("and it is almosta Miracle that Stench, Vermin, and Want should ever suffer them to bewell"), oppressed with poverty, and sunk in every species of debauchery, "the Wonder in Fact is, " cries Fielding, ". .. That we have not a thousandmore Robbers than we have; indeed that all these wretches are not thievesmust give us either a very high Idea of their Honesty or a very mean oneof their Capacity and Courage. " And, leaving for a moment legislativereform, Fielding delivers a vigorous attack on the national sluggishnessof public spirit which helped to render robbery a fairly safe profession. With such sluggishness his ardent nature had very little sympathy. "Withregard to Private Persons, " he protests, "there is no Country I believe inthe World where that vulgar Maxim so generally prevails that what is theBusiness of every Man is the business of no Man; and for this plainReason, that there is no Country in which less Honour is gained by servingthe Public. He therefore who commits no crime against the Public, is verywell satisfied with his own Virtue; far from thinking himself obliged toundergo any Labour, expend any Money, or encounter any Danger on suchAccount. " And in no part of the _Enquiry_ does the writer more truly showhis wisdom than in the pages on 'false Compassion' that plausible weaknesswhich refuses to prosecute the oppressors of the helpless and innocent, and which at that time, in the person of his Majesty, King George II. Was, it appears, very active in pardoning offenders when convicted. Fielding'sarguments are incontestable; but his apologue may have found even morefavour in the age of wit. He hopes such good nature may not carry those inpower so far, "as it once did a Clergyman in _Scotland_ who in the fervourof his Benevolence prayed to God that He would be graciously pleased topardon the poor Devil. "

To the devil, whether in man or in society, Fielding was ever a 'spiritedenemy'; and his first biographer tells us that "to the unworthy he wasrather harsh. " But the last page of this little book breathes that spiritof tenderness for hard pressed humanity which in Fielding was socharacteristically mingled with a wholesome severity. If the legislaturewould take proper care to raise the condition of the poor, then hedeclares the root of the evil would be struck: "nor in plain Truth willthe utmost severity to Offenders be justifiable unless we take everypossible Method of preventing the offence . .. The Subject as well as thechild should be left without Excuse before he is punished: for in thatCase alone the Rod becomes the Hand either of the Parent or theMagistrate. " And his last word is one of compassion for the "manyCart-loads of our Fellow-creatures [who] once in six weeks are carried toSlaughter"; of whom much the greater part might, with 'proper care andRegulations' have been made "not only happy in themselves but very usefulMembers of the Society which they now so greatly dishonour in the Sight ofall Christendom. "

Henry Fielding is himself his own best illustration when he declares thatthe "good Poet and the good Politician do not differ so much as some whoknow nothing of either art affirm; nor would _Homer_ or _Milton_ have madethe worst Legislators of their Times. "

To the reader of to-day the _Enquiry_ betrays no party flavour, but itssedate pages clearly stirred up the hot feeling of the times. Early inFebruary the Advertiser announced "_This Day is published A Letter toHenry Fielding Esqre. Occasioned by his Enquiry into the causes of thelate increase of Robbers &c_. " And about the end of the month thereappeared _Considerations_, in two numbers of the _True Briton_, "onJustice Fielding's 'Enquiry, ' shewing his Mistakes about the Constitutionand our Laws and that what he seems to propose is dangerous to ourProperties, Liberties and Constitution. " On March 7 was announced_Observations on Mr Fielding's Enquiry_, by one B. Sedgley. Someopposition squib, too, must have been launched, to judge by the followingitem from an advertisement column of the same date: "a Vindication of theRights and Privileges of the Commonality of England, in Opposition to whathas been advanced by the Author of the Enquiry, or to what may bepromulgated by any Ministerial Artifices against the public Cause of Truthand Liberty. _By_ Timothy Beck_ the Happy Cobler of Portugal-street_. "[7] Perhaps some collector of eighteenth century pamphlets may be able toreveal these comments of the '_Happy Gobler of Portugal-street_' upon the'artifices' of Henry Fielding. [8]

In the February following the publication of the _Enquiry_ a ParlimentaryCommittee was appointed "to revise and consider the Laws in being, whichrelate to Felonies and other Offences against the Peace. " [9] TheCommittee included Lyttelton and Pitt, and there is of course everyprobability that Fielding's evidence would be taken; but it seemsimpossible now to discover what share he may have had in this move by theGovernment towards fresh criminal legislation. There is, however, theevidence of his own hand that in the matter of prison administration hisefforts were not limited to academic pamphlets, or to the indictment, sosoon to be published, contained in the terrible prison scenes of _Amelia_. The following letter to the Duke of Newcastle [10] shows an anxiousendeavour to secure such good government as was possible for at least oneof the gaols. 

"My Lord

"It being of the utmost consequence to the Public to have a proper PrisonKeeper of the new Prison at the Time, I beg leave to recommend Mr WilliamPentlow a Constable of St George Bloomsbury to your Grace's Protection inthe present Vacancy. He is a Man of whose Courage and Integrity I haveseen the highest Proofs, and is indeed every way qualified for thecharge. I am with the most Perfect Respect, "My Lord, "Your Grace's most obedient"and most humble servant, "Henry Ffielding"Bow Street Jan. 15. 1750 [1751]. "

A second edition of the _Enquiry_ appeared early in the spring; andaccording to the _Journals of the House of Commons_ it was resolved, inApril, that a Bill be brought in on the resolution of the Committeeappointed two months previously to consider criminal legislation. Again itcan only be surmised that Fielding's assistance would be invoked in thedrafting of this Bill. That his vigorous denunciations of the nationaldanger of the gin curse were in complete accord with the feeling of theGovernment is apparent from the fact that two months later, in June 1751, the _Tippling Act_ [11] received the royal assent, by which Act verystringent restrictions were imposed on the sale of spirits. 

In June Fielding again appears as Chairman of the Westminster Sessions. [12] And in September cases occur as brought before John Fielding andothers "at Henry Fielding's house in Bow Street, " [13] from which itappears that Fielding's blind half-brother was already acting as hisassistant. In the following month John Fielding appears among the Justicesof the Westminster Quarter Sessions. [14]

The year that had seen the publication of the _Enquiry_, affords proofenough of Fielding's active labours in criminal and social reform; but thelast month of this year is marked by an occurrence of much greater importfor English literature, the publication of the third great novel, _Amelia_. 

[1] Doubtless faithfully rendered in the old print, here reproduced, ofFielding's blind half-brother, assistant, and successor, Sir JohnFielding, hearing a Bow Street case. 

[2] See Appendix. 

[3] Middlesex Records. _MSS. Sessions Books_. 1750. 

[4] From the hitherto unpublished autograph, now at Woburn Abbey. 

[5] This hitherto unpublished letter is now in the British Museum. It isaddressed to "--Perkins, Esq. At his Chambers No. 7, in Lincolns InnSquare, " and is sealed with Fielding's seal, a facsimile of which appearson the cover of the present volume. 

[6] _Fielding_. Austin Dobson. P. 156. 

[7] _The General Advertiser_. March 7, 1751. 

[8] The _London Magazine_ for February devoted five columns to an"Abstract of Mr Fielding's Enquiry"; and in the following month the_Magazine_ again noticed the book, by printing a long anonymous letter inwhich Fielding is attacked as a 'trading author' and a 'trading justice, 'and in which the writer shows his intellectual grasp by advocating in allseriousness a law prohibiting the sovereign from gambling!

[9] See _Journals of the House of Commons_. Vol. Xxii. P. 27, and the_London Magazine_. Vol. Xx. P. 82. The _Catalogue of Printed Papers. Houseof Commons_, 1750-51, includes "A Bill for the more effectual preventingRobberies Burglaries and other Outrages within the City and Liberty ofWestminster--" &c. 

[10] This hitherto unpublished letter is now in the British Museum. It isendorsed "Jan. 15, 1750(1). "

[11] 24 George II. C. 40. June 1751. 

[12] Middlesex Records. _Sessions Book_. 1751. 

[13] _General Advertiser_. Sept. 9. 1751. 

[14] Middlesex Records. _Sessions Book_. October, 1751. 

CHAPTER XIV

AMELIA

 "of all my Offspring she is my favourite Child. " The _Covent Garden Journal_. No. 8. 

On the 2nd of December 1751 the _General Advertiser_ announces that

 _On Wednesday the 18th of this Month will be published_

 IN FOUR VOLUMES DUODECIMO

 AMELIA

 By HENRY FIELDING, Esq; _Beati ter et amplius Quos irrupta tenet Copula_. HOR. 

And the puff preliminary of the period may be read in the same columns, declaring that the "earnest Demand of the Publick" had necessitated theuse of four printing presses; and that it being impossible to complete thebinding in time, copies would be available "sew'd at Half-a-Guinea aSett. " Sir Walter Scott tells us that, at a sale to booksellers beforepublication, Andrew Millar, the publisher, refused to part with _Amelia_on the usual discount terms; and that the booksellers, being thuspersuaded of a great future for the book, eagerly bought up theimpression. Launched thus, and heralded by the popularity with which _TomJones_ had now endowed Fielding's name, the entire edition was sold out onthe day of publication; an event which evoked the observation from DrJohnson that _Amelia_ was perhaps the only book which being printed offbetimes one morning, a new edition was called for before night. The Doctorgave not only unstinted praise, but also an involuntary tribute to_Amelia_. He read the book through, without pausing, from beginning toend. And he pronounced Amelia herself to be "the most pleasing heroine ofall the romances. " [1]

But to the majority of readers Amelia is, assuredly, something more thanthe most charming of heroines. She is the delightful companion; the wiseand tender friend; a woman whose least perfection was that dazzling beautywhich shone with equal lustre in the 'poor rags' lent her by her oldnurse, or in her own clothing, just as the happy purity of her nature onlyglows more brightly for the dark scenes through which she moves. In thewhole range of English literature there is surely no figure more warmlyhuman, and yet less touched with human imperfection; none more simply andnaturally alive, and yet truer in every crisis (and there were few of thesorrowful things of life unknown to her) to the best qualities of generouswomanhood. And if it is largely for her glowing vitality that we loveAmelia, we love her none the less in that she is no fool. It was hardlynecessary to tell us, as Fielding is careful to do, that her sense ofhumour was keen, and that her insight into the ridiculous was temperedonly by the deeper insight of her heart. Her understanding of her husbandis as perfect as her love for him; and that love is far too profound toallow a moment's suggestion of mere placid amiability. Amelia, whetherquizzing the absurdities of the affected fine ladies of her own rank, orcooking her husband's supper in the poor lodgings of their poverty;whether so radiant with happiness after seeing her little childrenhandsomely entertained that with flushed cheeks and bright eyes, "she wasall a blaze of beauty, " or, pale with distress, bravely carrying her ownclothes and the children's trinkets to the pawnbroker; whether betrayingher own noble qualities of silence and forgiveness, or losing her temperwith Mrs Bennett, --commands equal affection and admiration. "They say, "wrote Thackeray, "that it was in his own home that Fielding knew her andloved her: and from his own wife that he drew the most charming characterin English fiction--Fiction? Why fiction! Why not history? I know Ameliajust as well as Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. "

Lady Mary, and her daughter Lady Bute, have left very definite statementsconcerning this portrait which their cousin was alleged to have hiddenunder the fair image of Amelia. Lady Bute we are told was no stranger "tothat beloved first wife whose picture he drew in his Amelia, where, as shesaid, even the glowing language he knew how to employ did not do more thanjustice to the amiable qualities of the original. .. . " [2] And Lady Maryherself writes, "H. Fielding has given a true picture of himself and hisfirst wife, in the characters of Mr and Mrs Booth [Amelia and herhusband], some compliments to his own figure excepted; and I am persuadedseveral of the incidents he mentions are real matters of fact. " [3]Against these persuations we must place the fact that this book containsno such explicit statement as that which in _Tom Jones_ assures us of theoriginal of the beautiful Sophia. But we shall not love Amelia the less ifwe see her, with her courage and her beauty, her happy gaiety of spirit, her tenderness and strength, solacing the distresses and calming thestorms of Fielding's restless genius, rather than devoting those qualitiesto assuaging the misfortunes of Captain William Booth. For indeed CaptainBooth has but one substantial title to our regard, and that is hisadoration for his wife. True, he is a pretty figure of a man; he has ahandsome face; he fights bravely, and would kick a rogue through theworld; he believes in and loves his friends; and he plays charmingly withhis children. But, deprive him of the good genius of his life, and CaptainBooth would very speedily have sunk into the ruin and despair of any otherprofligate young gamester about the Town; and for this his adoration theculprit wins our forgiveness, even as Amelia not only forgave but forgot, when by virtue of her own unconscious goodness the Captain retrievedhimself, at last, from the folly of his ways. Undoubtedly the man whomAmelia loved, and who had the grace to return that passion, was noscoundrel at heart. 

It is impossible, now, to discover with any certainty the incidents whichLady Mary was persuaded were matters of fact. The experiences of CaptainBooth, when essaying to turn gentleman farmer, have been quoted as copiesof Fielding's own ambitions at East Stour; but surely on very slenderevidence. Much more personal seem many of the later scenes in the poorLondon lodgings, scenes of cruel distress and perfect happiness, of bitterdisappointments and sanguine hope. Here, very probably, we have echoes ofthe struggles of Harry and Charlotte Fielding, in the days of hackneywriting and of baffled efforts at the Bar; just as the dry statement byArthur Murphy, that Fielding was "remarkable for . .. The strongestaffection for his children, " comes to life in the many touching picturesof Amelia and Booth with their little son and daughter. The pursuit ofsuch identity of incident may the more cheerfully be left to theanecdotist, in that the biographical value of _Amelia_, is far more thanincidental. For the book is, as has been said, a one-part piece. Round thesingle figure of Amelia all the other characters revolve; and it was ofAmelia that Fielding himself has told us, in words that are a master keyto his own character "of all my offspring she is my favourite Child. " Assurely as a man may be known by his choice in a friend, so is the natureof the artist betrayed when he avows his partiality for one alone amongall the creations of his genius. 

As to the remaining figures in this "model of human life, " to quoteFielding's own descriptive phrase of his book, those which tell us most oftheir author are that worthy, authoritative, humourous clergyman, DrHarrison; the good Sergeant Atkinson; and that fiery pedant Colonel Bath, with his kind heart hidden under a ferocious passion for calling out everyman whom he conceived to have slighted his honour. Dr Harrison does notwin quite the same place in our hearts as the man whom Thackeray calls'dear Parson Adams'; his cassock rustles a little too loudly; the saint isa trifle obscured in the Doctor. But yet we love him for his warm andprotecting affection for his 'children' as he calls Amelia and Booth; forhis dry humour; and for that generosity which was for ever draining hisample purse. And perhaps we like him none the less for his scholar'sraillery of that early blue-stocking Mrs Bennet; while his dignity nevershows to greater advantage than when he throws himself bodily on thevillain Murphy, achieving the arrest of that felon by the strength of hisown arm, and the nimbleness of his own legs. And to this good Doctor isgiven a saying eminently characteristic of Justice Fielding himself. Weare told that "it was a maxim of his that no man could descend belowhimself in doing any act which may contribute to protect an innocentperson, or to bring a rogue to the gallows. " Another trait of the Doctorrecalls Fielding's oft reiterated aversion to what he calls grave formalpersons: "You must know then, child, " said he, to poor Booth, sunk in themelancholy problem of supporting a wife and three children on somethingless than £40 a year, "that I have been thinking on this subject as wellas you; for I can think, I promise you, with a pleasant countenance. " OfAmelia's foster-brother Sergeant Atkinson (from whom Major William Dobbinis directly descended) it is enough to say that the noble qualitiesconcealed beneath the common cloth of his sergeant's coat perfectlyconfirm a sentence written many years before by the hand of his author. "Iwill venture to affirm, " Fielding declares, in his early essay on the_Characters of Men_, "that I have known . .. _a Fellow whom no man shouldbe seen to speak to_, capable of the highest acts of Friendship andBenevolence. "

Fielding's energies in this his last novel, a novel be it rememberedwritten in the midst of daily contact with the squalid vices exhibited inan eighteenth century court-room, seem to have been almost wholly absorbedin creating the most perfect escape from those surroundings in the personof Amelia. Beside the figure of his 'favourite child, ' the viciouscriminals of his stage, the malefic My Lord, the loathsome Trent, thedebased Justice, the terrible human wrecks in Newgate, are but darkfigures in a shadowy back-ground. Still, the great moralist shows no lackof vigour in his delineations of such offspring of vice. The genius thatknew how to rouse every reader of _Tom Jones_ to 'lend a foot to kickBlifil downstairs, ' awards in the last pages of _Amelia_, a yet moresatisfying justice to that nameless connoisseur in profligacy, My Lord. 

In his Dedication to Ralph Allen, Fielding states that his book "issincerely designed to promote the Cause of Virtue, and to expose some ofthe most glaring Evils, as well public as private, which at present infestthis Country". The statement seems somewhat needless when prefacing pageswhich enshrine Amelia; and where also are displayed Blear Eyed Moll in theprison yard of Newgate, as Newgate was twenty years before the prisonreforms of Howard were heard of; Justice Thrasher and his iniquities; the'diabolisms' of My Lord and of his tool Trent; the ruinous miseries ofexcessive gambling; and the abuses of duelling. Indeed the avowedlydidactic purpose of the moralist seems at times to cloud a little the fineperception of the artist. There are passages, in this book which, much asthey redound to the honour of their writer, are indisputably heavyreading. But what shall not be forgiven to the creator of Amelia. "To haveinvented that character, " cries Thackeray, also becoming didactic, "is notonly a triumph of art, but it is a good action. " And he tells us how withall his heart he loves and admires the 'kindest and sweetest lady in theworld'; and how he thinks of her as faithfully as though he hadbreakfasted with her that morning in her drawing-room, or should meet herthat afternoon in the Park. 

It is recorded that Fielding received from Andrew Millar £1000 for thecopyright of _Amelia_. But the reception of the new novel, after the firstrush for copies, seems to have done little credit either to the brains orto the heart of the public. And in the month following _Amelia's_appearance, Fielding satirises the comments of the Town, in two numbers ofhis _Covent Garden Journal_; protesting that though he does not think hischild to be entirely free from faults--"I know nothing human that isso, "--still "surely she does not deserve the Rancour with which she hathbeen treated by the Public. " As ironic specimens of the faults complainedof in his heroine, he quotes the accusations that her not abusing herhusband "for having lost Money at Play, when she saw his Heart was alreadyalmost broke by it, was _contemptible Meanness_"; that she condescends todress her husband's supper, and to dress her children, to whom moreovershe shows too much kindness; that she once mentions the DEVIL; that she isa _low_ character; and that the beauty of her face is hopelessly flawed bya carriage accident. Such are some of the charges brought against thelovely Amelia by the "Beaus, Rakes, fine Ladies, and several formalPersons with bushy wigs and canes at their Noses, " who, in Fielding'ssatire, crowd the Court where his book is placed on trial for the crime ofdullness. Then Fielding himself steps forward, and after pleading for thishis 'favourite Child, ' on whom he has bestowed "a more than ordinary Painsin her Education, " he declares, with the same hasty petulance thatcharacterised that previous outburst in the preface to _David Simple_, that indeed he "will trouble the World no more with any children of mineby the same Muse. " Two months later the _Gentleman's Magazine_ prints aspirited appeal against this resolution. "His fair heroine's nose has inmy opinion been too severely handled by some modern critics, " [4] writesCriticulus, after a passage of warm praise for the characterisation, themorality, and the 'noble reflections of the book'; and he proceeds topoint out that the writings of such critics "will never make a sufficientrecompense to the world, if _Mr Fielding_ adheres to what I hope he onlysaid in his warmth and indignation of this injurious treatment, that hewill never trouble the public with any more writings of this kind. " Thewords of the enlightened _Criticulus_ echo sadly when we remember that inlittle more than two years the great genius and the great heart of HenryFielding were to be silenced. 

The _London Magazine_ for 1751 devotes the first nine columns of itsDecember number to a resume of the novel, and continues this compliment inanother nine columns of appendix. With a fine patronage the reviewerconcludes that "upon the whole, the story is amusing, the characters keptup, and many reflections which [sic] are useful, if the reader will buttake notice of them, which in this unthinking age it is to be feared veryfew will. " Some imperfections he kindly excuses on the score of "theauthor's hurry of business in administering impartial justice to hismajesty's good people"; but he cannot excuse what he declares to be theridicule of _Liberty_ in Book viii. ; and he solemnly exhorts the authorthat as "he has in this piece very justly exposed some of the privatevices and follies of the present age" so he should in his next direct hissatire against political corruption, otherwise 'he and his patrons' willbe accused of compounding the same. [5] It seems incredible that anysuggestion should ever have attached to the author of _Pasquin_ and the_Register_, as to one who could condone public corruption. And as for theaccusation of tampering with "Liberty" the like charge was brought, we mayremember, by the "Happy Cobler of Portugal Street" against Fielding's_Inquiry into the Encrease of Robbers_. The literary cobblers who pursued_Amelia_ with the abuse of their poor pens may very well be consigned tothe oblivion of their political brother. The comment of one hostile pencannot however be dismissed as coming from a literary cobbler, and that isthe 'sickening' abuse, to use Thackeray's epithet, which Richardsondishonoured himself in flinging at his great contemporary. That abuse thesentimentalist poured out very freely on _Amelia_; but, as Mr AustinDobson says, "in cases of this kind _parva seges satis est_, and Ameliahas long since outlived both rival malice and contemporary coldness. It isa proof of her author's genius that she is even more intelligible to ourage than she was to her own. " [6]

In Fielding's satiric description of the Court before which his Ameliastood her trial, he describes himself as an 'old gentleman. ' The adjectiveseems hardly applicable to a man of forty five; but, to quote again fromMr Austin Dobson, "however it may have chanced, whether from failinghealth or otherwise, the Fielding of _Amelia_ is suddenly a far older manthan the Fielding of _Tom Jones_. The robust and irrepressible vitality, the full veined delight of living, the energy of observation and strengthof satire, which characterise the one, give place in the other to a calmerretrospection, a more compassionate humanity, a more benignant criticismof life. " Murphy's Irish tongue declares a similar feeling in hiscomparison of the pages of this, the last of the three great novels, tothe calm of the setting sun; a sun that had first broken forth in the'morning glory' of _Joseph Andrews_, and had attained its 'highest warmthand splendour' in the inimitable pages of _Tom Jones_. There is indeed amature wisdom and patience in Amelia such as none but a pedant coulddemand of her enchanting younger sister Sophia. In these later pagesSophia has grown up into a gracious womanhood, while losing none of hergirlhood's gaiety and charm. That Amelia, his older and wiser thoughscarce sadder child, was the nearest, as he himself tells us, toFielding's own heart, is one more indication that here is the perfectedimage of that beloved wife, from whose youthful grace and beauty hisgenius had already modelled one exquisite memorial. 

[1] _Anecdotes_. Mrs Piozzi. P. 221. 

[2] Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. IntroductoryAnecdotes, p. Cxxiii. 

[3] Ibid. Vol. Ii. P. 289. 

[4] It is curious that to this unlucky incident, based according to LadyLouisa Stuart, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu's grand-daughter, on a realaccident to Mrs Fielding, Dr Johnson attributed the failure of the bookwith the public: "that vile broken nose ruined the sale, " he declared. Early in January Fielding himself protests in his _Covent Garden Journal_that every reader of any intelligence would have discovered that theeffects of Amelia's terrible carriage accident had been wholly remedied by"a famous Surgeon"; and that "the Author of her History, in a hurry, forgot to inform his Readers of that Particular. " The particular has bynow fallen into its due insignificance, and, save for Johnson'sexplanation therein of the poor sale of the book, is scarce worthrecalling. 

[5] _London Magazine_. December 1751. P. 531 and Appendix. 

[6] _Fielding_. Austin Dobson. P. 161. 

CHAPTER XV

JOURNALIST AND MAGISTRATE

 "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. " The _Covent Garden Journal_. No. 5. 

Nothing could be more characteristic of Fielding's active spirit than werethe early months of 1752. For, no sooner had he deposited the four volumesof _Amelia_ in the hands of the public, essaying to win his readers overto a love of virtue and a hatred of vice, by placing before their eyesthat true "model of human life, " than we find him launching a directattack on the follies and evils of the age, by means of his old weapon, the press. 

The first number of the _Covent Garden Journal_ appeared on the 4th ofJanuary, and its pages, produced under Fielding's own management andapparently largely written by his own pen, provided satires on folly, invectives against vice, and incitements to goodness and sense, deliveredin the name of one _Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knt. Censor of GreatBritain_. [1] The new paper ran but for seventy-two numbers; perhaps forall the wit and learning, the fire and zest of its columns, the publicwere reluctant to buy their own lashings. But it may be doubted whether, except in the pages of his three great novels, Henry Fielding everrevealed himself more completely than in these his last informal'lucubrations. ' Here, the active Justice, the accomplished scholar, thelawyer, and man of the world, the first wit of his day, talks to us of ahundred topics, chosen indeed on the spur of the moment, but discussed inhis own incomparable words, and with the now mature authority of one, whohad "dived into the inmost Recesses of Human Nature. " No subject is tooabstruse, none too trifling, for _Mr Censor_ to illumine. Freed from thepolitical bands of the earlier newspapers, this last _Journal_, producedbe it remembered by a man in shattered health, and distracted by thesqualid business of a Bow Street Court-room, ranges over an amazingcompass of life and manners. 

Thus, one January morning, _Sir Alexander's_ readers would open theirpaper to find him deploring the decline of "a Religion sometime agoprofessed in this Country, and which, if my Memory fails me not was calledChristian. " The following Saturday they are presented with a learned andpleasant argument to prove that every male critic should be eighteen yearsof age, and "BE ABLE TO READ. " A few days later the pages of writerspurveying the prevalent "Infidelity, Scurrility, and Indecency" areingeniously allotted to various uses. In February the _Journal_ accords anoble tribute "to that great Triumvirate Lucian, Cervantes, and Swift";not indeed "for that Wit and Humour alone, which they all so eminentlypossesst, but because they all endeavoured with the utmost Force of theirWit and Humour, to expose and extirpate those Follies and Vices whichchiefly prevailed in their several Countries. " The design of Aristophanesand Rabelais on the other hand, appears to _Mr Censor_, if he may speakhis opinion freely, "very plainly to have been to ridicule all Sobriety, Modesty, Decency, Virtue, and Religion out of the world. " From suchconsiderations it is an easy passage to a definition of 'real Taste' asderived from a "nice Harmony between the Imagination and the Judgment";and to these final censorial warnings:--"_Evil Communications corrupt goodManners_ is a quotation of St Paul from Menander. EVIL BOOKS CORRUPT ATONCE BOTH OUR MANNERS AND OUR TASTE. " Four days after this learned'lucubration' the voice of the warm-hearted magistrate speaks in areminder of the prevailing abject misery of the London poor who "in themost miserable lingering Manner do daily perish for Want in thisMetropolis. " And in almost the next number his Honour gives his readersletters from the fair _Cordelia_, from _Sarah Scandal_, and from othercorrespondents, of a wit pleasant enough to drive London's poverty farfrom their minds. Two days after attending to these ladies, the _Censor_takes up his keenest weapons in an attack on that "detestable vice ofslander" by which is taken away the "_immediate Jewel of a Man's Soul_, "his good name; a crime comparable to that of murder. Here we have _SirAlexander_ speaking with the same voice as did the playwright andjournalist of ten years previously, when he declared, in his_Miscellanies_, that to stab a man's character 'in the dark' is no less anoffence than to stab his flesh in the same treacherous manner. Indeed, throughout these last columns of weekly satire, wit, and learning, Fielding remains true to the constant tenor of his genius. He exposes themiser, the seducer of innocence, the self-seeker, the place-hunter, thedegraded vendor of moral poison, the 'charitable' hypocrite, with the samefierce moral energy as that with which, when but a lad of one and twenty, he first assailed the vices of the society in which his own lot was cast. His unconquerable energy, an energy that neither sickness nor distresscould abate, still assaults that "cursed Maxim . .. That Everybody'sbusiness is Nobody's. " And his wit has lost none of its point whenthrusting at the lesser follies of the day; at the fair Clara's devotionto her pet monkey; at the insolence of the Town Beau at the playhouse; atthe arrogance of carters in the streets; at the vagaries of fashionaccording to which Belinda graces the theatre with yards of ruff one day, and on the next discards that covering so entirely that the snowy scene inthe boxes "becomes extremely delightful to the eyes of every Beholder. "

It is quite impossible to convey, within the limits of a few pages, allthat _Sir Alexander_ tells us of what he sees and hears, as thetragi-comedy of life passes before his Bow Street windows. For Fieldingpossessed in the highest degree the art of hearing, to use his ownanalysis, not with the ear only (an organ shared by man with "otherAnimals") but also with the head, and with the heart; just as his eyecould penetrate beneath the velvet coat of the prosperous scoundrel, thereputation of the illiterate author, or the sorry rags of some honest heroof the gutter. And his _Covent Garden Journal_ is, in truth, his journalof eleven months of a life into the forty odd years of which werecompressed both the insight of genius, and the activities of twentyaverage men. Such a record cannot be sifted into a summary. Theacknowledged motive of this last of Fielding's newspapers is, however, concise enough; and does equal honour to his patriotism and his humanity. The age, as it seemed to him, was an age of public degradation. Religionwas vanishing from the life of the people; politics were a petty questionof party jealousy; literary taste was falling to the level of alehouse witand backstairs scandal; the youth of the nation were completing theireducation, when fifteen or sixteen years old, by a course of the Town, andthen qualifying for a graduate's degree in like knowledge, by a foreigntour; the 'mob' was gaining a dangerous excess of power; the leaders ofsociety were past masters and mistresses of vice and folly; the poor inthe streets were sunk in misery, or brutalised into reckless crime. Thiswas the England that _Mr Censor_ saw from his house in Bow Street; thiswas the England which he set out to purify; and the means which he chosewere his own familiar weapons of satire and ridicule. Of these, ridicule, he declares, when his _Journal_ was but four weeks old, "is commonly astronger and better method of attacking Vice than the severer kind ofSatire. " In accordance with which view, _General Sir Alexander_ isrepresented, in a mock historic forecast, as having, in the space oftwelve months, entirely cleansed his country from the evils afflicting it, by means of a "certain Weapon called a Ridicule. " These evils moreoverFielding held to be most readily combated by assailing "those base andscandalous Writings which the Press hath lately poured in such a torrentupon us that the Name of an Author is in the ears of all good Men becomealmost an infamous appelation"; and, accordingly, the first number of hisnew paper discloses _Sir Alexander_ in full crusade against theseGrub-Street writers. But that he soon perceived the quixotic impolicy ofsuch a campaign, appears very clearly, as early as the fifth number of the_Journal_:--"when Hercules undertook to cleanse the Stables of Augeas (aWork not much unlike my present Undertaking) should any little clod ofDirt more filthy perhaps than all the rest have chanced to bedawb him, howunworthy his Spirit would it have been to have polluted his Hands, byseizing the dirty clod, and crumbling it to Pieces. He should have knownthat such Accidents were incident to such an Undertaking: which thoughboth a useful and heroic office, was yet none of the cleanliest; since noMan, I believe, ever removed great quantities of Dirt from any Placewithout finding some of it sticking to his skirts. " Such dirty clods wereundoubtedly thrown by nameless antagonists, as unworthy of Fielding'ssteel as was one whose name has come down to us, the despicable Dr JohnHill, who once suffered a public caning at Ranelagh; and one clod, "morefilthy perhaps than all the rest, " soiled the hands of Smollett. [2] Butthe dirt which was very freely flung on to our eighteenth-century Herculeshas, by now, fallen back, with great justice, on to the heads of hisabusers. Fielding has placed on record, in the _Journal_, his convictionthat the man who reads the works of the five heroic satirists, Lucian, Cervantes, Swift, Moliere and Shakespeare, "must either have a very badHead, or a very bad Heart, if he doth not become both a Wiser and a betterMan. " To-day, 'party and prejudice' having subsided, we are ready to saythe same of the readers of the _Covent Garden Journal_; perceiving that, if _Mr Censor_, like his five great forerunners, chose to send his satire"laughing into the World, " it was that he might better effect the'glorious Purpose' announced in the fifth number of his paper: "Howevervain or romantic the Attempt may seem, I am sanguine enough to aim atserving the noble Interests of Religion, Virtue, and good Sense, by thesemy Lucubrations. "

To most men the production, twice a week, of a newspaper so wide in scopeas the _Covent Garden Journal_ (for its columns included the news of theday, as well as the manifold 'censorial' energies of _Sir Alexander_)would have been occupation enough; especially with a "constitution nowgreatly impaired and enfeebled, " and when "labouring under attacks of thegout, which were, of course, severer than ever. "

But there is no hint of either editorial or valetudinarian seclusion inthe fragmentary glimpses obtainable of Mr Justice Fielding during theseeleven months of 1752. Thus, by an advertisement recurring throughout the_Journal_, he expressly invites to his house in Bow Street, "All Persons, who shall for the Future suffer by Robbers Burglars &c. , " that they maybring him "the best Description they can of such Robbers, &c. , with theTime, and Place, and Circumstances of the Fact"; and that this invitationwas likely to bring half London within his doors appears from Fielding'sown description of the condition of the capital at the time. "There is nota street, " he declares, speaking of Westminster, "which doth not swarm allday with beggars, and all night with thieves. Stop your coach at what shopyou will, however expeditious the tradesman is to attend you, a beggar iscommonly beforehand with him; and if you should directly face his door thetradesman must often turn his head while you are talking to him, or thesame beggar, or some other thief at hand will pay a visit to his shop!"And nothing could prove more conclusively the arduousness of Fielding'swork as a magistrate than the record of the last ten days of January, 1752. On the night of the 17th a peculiarly brutal murder had beenperpetrated on a poor higgler in Essex; and the _Journal_ for January 28, tells us how Fielding "spent near eight hours, " examining, separately, suspected persons, "at the desire of several gentlemen of Fortune in theCounty of Essex"; having on the previous Friday and Saturday, been engaged"above Twenty hours in taking Depositions concerning this Fact. " Then, onthe day after the arrival of the murder suspects, we find two of theShoreditch constables bringing no fewer than ten "idle lewd anddisorderly" men and women before the Justice; a woman was charged by adiamond seller on suspicion of feloniously receiving "three BrilliantDiamonds"; Mr Welch, the notable High Constable of Holborn, broughtseventeen "idle and lewd Persons" whom he had apprehended the nightbefore; and, to complete this single day's work, an Italian was broughtin, "all over covered with [the] Blood" of a brother Italian, whose headhe had almost cut off. Twenty-nine cases on one day, and these in themidst of eight hour examinations concerning a murder, were surely workenough to satisfy even Fielding's energies. And, as another entry in his_Journal_ mentions the examination of a suspected thief "very late atNight, " there seems to have been no hour out of the twenty-four in whichthe great novelist did not hold himself at the service of the public. 

Meanwhile, the criminal licence of the streets was now receivingMinisterial attention. The King's Speech, delivered at the opening ofParliament in the previous November, had contained a passage which mighthave been inspired by Fielding himself: "I cannot conclude, " said HisMajesty, "without recommending to you in the most earnest manner, toconsider seriously of some effectual provisions to suppress thoseaudacious crimes of Robbery and Violence which are now become sofrequent. .. And which have proceeded in great Measure from that profligateSpirit of Irreligion, Idleness, Gaming, and Extravagance, which has oflate extended itself in an uncommon degree, to the Dishonour of theNation, and to the great Offence and Prejudice of the sober andindustrious Part of the People. " Six weeks later the first number of the_Journal_, makes comment on the need of fresh legislation to suppressdrunkenness; and on the twenty first of the month _Sir Alexander_announces, with something of special information in his tone, that theimmediate suppression of crimes of violence "we can with Pleasure assurethe Public is at present the chief attention of Parliament. "

It must have been with something of the pleasure which he so earnestlydesires in one of the last utterances of his pen--"the pleasure ofthinking that, in the decline of my health and life, I have conferred agreat and lasting Benefit on my Country, "--that Fielding saw the royalassent given, in the following March, to an Act for the "_betterpreventing Thefts and Robberies and for regulating Places of PublicEntertainment, and punishing Persons keeping disorderly Houses_. "[3] For this Act is directed to the suppression of four of the abuses sostrongly denounced, twelve months previously, in his own _Enquiry_; andwhen we recall the fact that he had already submitted, to the LordChancellor, draft legislation for the suppression of robberies, it is atleast a plausible surmise that here we have a memorial of Henry Fielding'spatriotic energy, preserved on the pages of the Statute Book itself. [4] The four points so specially urged in the _Enquiry_, and here madelaw, are the suppression of the "multitude of places of Entertainment" forthe working classes; the better suppression of Gaming Houses; thepunishment of the scandalous advertisements offering rewards 'and noquestions asked' for stolen goods; and the payment of certain prosecutorsfor their expenses in time and trouble, when a conviction had beenobtained. 

In this same month of March another Act, which closely concernedFielding's official work, received the royal assent. This was an Act "forbetter preventing the horrid Crime of Murder. " [5] The pressing need ofsuch a measure had been already urged in the _Covent Garden journal_. InFebruary the _Journal_ declares that _"More shocking Murders have beencommitted within the last Year, than for many Years before. To what canthis be so justly imputed as to the manifest decline of Religion among thelower People. A matter, which even, in a Civil Sense, demands theattention of the Government. "_ And Mr Censor returns to the subject onMarch 3: _"More Murders and horrid Barbarities have been committed withinthe last twelvemonth, than during many preceding years. This as we havebefore observed, is principally to be attributed to the Declension ofReligion among the Common People. "_ By the end of the month theabove-named Act had received the royal assent; and the first clausethereof again yielded Fielding the satisfaction of seeing a measure whichhe had warmly recommended in his Enquiry now placed on the Statute Book, namely the clause that the execution of the criminal be made immediate onhis conviction. This Act, moreover, provides for the abatement of anotherscandal exposed by Fielding many years previously, in the pages ofJonathan Wild, that of the excessive supply of drink allowed to condemnedprisoners. 

In the following month Fielding carried out a scheme, conceived he tellsus "some time since, " for combating this prevalence of murder. This washis shilling pamphlet, published about April 14, entitled "Examples of theInterposition of Providence in the _Detection_ and _Punishment_ of MURDER. Containing above thirty cases, in which this dreadful crime hath beenbrought to light in the most extraordinary and miraculous manner. " Theadvertisement describes the _Examples_ as _"very proper to be given to allthe inferior Kind of People; and particularly to the Youth of both sexes, whose natural Love of Stories will lead them to read with Attention whatcannot fail of Infusing in to their tender Minds an early Dread andAbhorrence of staining their Hands with the Blood of theirFellow-creatures"_ Low as was the price, a "large allowance" was made byAndrew Millar to those who bought any quantity; and Fielding distributedthe little volume freely in Court. 

The thirty-three _Examples_ are introduced and concluded by Fielding's owndenunciation of this, "the blackest sin, which can contaminate the hands, or pollute the soul of man. " And from these pages we may learn his ownsolemnly declared belief in a peculiarly "immediate interposition of theDivine providence" in the detection of this crime; and also his faith in"the fearful and tremendous sentence of eternal punishment" as thatdivinely allotted to the murderer. He warns the murderer, moreover, thatby hurrying a fellow-creature to a sudden and unprepared death he may beguilty of destroying not only his victim's body, but also his soul. And itmay be questioned whether Fielding ever put his unrivalled mastery ofstyle to a nobler intention than in the closing words of this pamphlet, words designed to be read by the lowest of the people: "Great courage may, perhaps, bear up a bad mind (for it is sometimes the property of such)against the most severe sentence which can be pronounced by the mouth of ahuman judge; but where is the fortitude which can look an offendedAlmighty in the face? Who can bear the dreadful thought of beingconfronted with the spirit of one whom we have murdered, in the presenceof all the Host of Heaven, and to have justice demanded against our guiltysoul, before that most awful judgement-seat, where there is infinitejustice as well as infinite power?"

The dedication of this pamphlet, dated Bow Street, April 8, 1752, isaddressed to Dr Madox, Bishop of Worcester, and in it Fielding recalls aconversation he had some time previously had with that prelate, in whichhe had mentioned the plan of such a book, and received immediateencouragement from his lordship. A further appreciation of the _Examples_appears in a paragraph in the _Journal_ for May 5: "Last week a certainColonel of the Army bought a large number of the book called _Examples ofthe Interposition of Providence in the Detection and Punishment ofMurder_, in Order to distribute them amongst the private soldiers of hisRegiment. An Example well worthy of Imitation!"

Fielding never allows us to forget for any length of time one or anotherof his contrasting activities, however absorbed he may seem to be in someone field of action. Now, when he is plunged in a hand-to-hand strugglewith the criminal conditions of London, when he is admonishing the gayerend of the Town with his weekly censorial satire and ridicule, and whilehe is watching the enactment of new legislation for which he had sostrenously pleaded, --he suddenly reappears in his earlier rôle ofclassical scholar. On June 17, the columns of the _Journal_ advertiseproposals for "A New Translation into English of the Works of LUCIAN. Fromthe original Greek. With Notes, Historical, Critical and Explanatory. ByHenry Fielding Esquire; and the Rev. Mr William Young. " To which noticethere is added, a few days later, the assurance that "Everything whichhath the least Tendency to the Indecent will be omitted in thisTranslation. " The most delightful, perhaps, of all the leading articles inthe _Covent Garden Journal_ is that in which the merits of this "Father ofTrue Humour" are delineated. The facetious wit, the "attic Elegance ofDiction, " the poignant satire, the virtues and abilities of Lucian arehere so persuasively presented that scarce a reader but surely wouldhasten, as he laid his paper down, to Mr Fielding's or Mr Young's house, or to Millar in the Strand or Dodsley in Pall Mall, where orders (with aguinea to be paid on booking the same) were received. And this essay isalso memorable for the express declaration therein contained that Fieldinghad "formed his stile" upon that of Lucian; and, again, as betraying anote of disappointment, an acknowledgment that worldly fortune had indeedtreated him somewhat harshly, such as Fielding's sanguine courage veryseldom permits him to utter. The concluding words, written on his ownbehalf and on that of Mr Young, are words of gentle protest to the publicfor their lack of support to "two gentlemen who have hitherto in theirseveral capacities endeavoured to be serviceable to them without derivingany great Emolument to themselves from their Labours. " And when he tellsus how that 'glory of human Nature, Marcus Aurelius' employed Lucian "in avery considerable Post in the Government, " since that great emperor "didnot, it seems, think, that a Man of Humour was below his Notice or unfitfor Business of the gravest Kind, " we cannot but remember that thebusiness on which the Government of George II. Thought fit to employ theinimitable genius of Henry Fielding was that of a Bow Street magistrate. 

The onerous drudgery of that business, or else lack of response from apublic deaf to its own interests, seems to have brought to nothing theproject of this translation; and so English literature is the poorer forthe loss of the works of the 'Father of Humour' translated by theincomparable pen of the 'Father of the English Novel. '[6]

Four months after the publication of the proposals for _Lucian_, Fieldingtook formal leave of the readers of his _Covent Garden Journal_, tellingthem that he no longer had "Inclination or Leisure, " to carry on thepaper. His brief farewell words contain an assurance very like thatsolemnly made, we may remember, five years before the publication of _TomJones_. At present, he declares, he has "No intention to hold any furthercorrespondence with the gayer Muses"; just as eight years before he hadannounced that henceforth the 'infamous' Nine should have none of hiscompany. To this declaration is added a protest against the injustice ofattributing abuse to a writer who "never yet was, nor ever shall be theauthor of any, unless to Persons who are or ought to be infamous. " Fromthe tenor of this parting speech it is clear that Fielding was, at thetime, feeling keenly the imputation, flung by some of his contemporaries, of producing 'scandalous Writings'; unmindful for the moment of his owncalmer and wiser utterance, when he declared that men who engage in anheroic attempt to cleanse their age will undoubtedly find some of the dirtthereof sticking to their coats. "As he disdained all littleness ofspirit, where ever he met with it in his dealings with the world, hisindignation was apt to rise, " says his contemporary Murphy; and we knowfrom earlier protests how cruelly Fielding suffered from the attributionto his pen of writings utterly alien to his character. ". .. Really, " hecries, in the last words of the _Journal_, "it is hard to hear thatscandalous Writings have been charged on me for that very Reason whichought to have proved the Contrary namely because they have beenScandalous. "

The year 1752 closes with the birth of another daughter, born presumablyin the house in Bow Street, as her baptism under the name of Louisa isentered in the registers of St Paul's, Covent Garden. 

The curtain that, in Fielding's case, hangs so closely over all thepleasant intimate details of life, lifts once or twice during this year ofincessant activity, and discloses just those warmhearted acts of kindnessthat help us to think of Harry Fielding with an affection almost as warmand personal as that we keep for Dick Steele or Oliver Goldsmith. Fielding, we know, had "no other use for money" than to help those evenless fortunate than himself; and several incidents of this year show howhe turned his opportunities, both as journalist and magistrate, to likegenerous uses. Thus there is the story of how, one day in March, "A poorgirl who had come from Wapping to see the new entertainment at CoventGarden Theatre had her pocket cut off in the crowd before the doors wereopened. Tho' she knew not the Pickpocket she came immediately to lay hercomplaint before the Justice and with many tears lamented not the loss ofher Money, but of her Entertainment. At last, having obtained a sufficientPassport to the Gallery she departed with great satisfaction, andcontented with the loss of fourteen shillings, though she declared she hadnot much more in the world. " [7] Another day, or night rather, it is apoor troup of amateur players who had good reason to be grateful to thekindly Justice:--"last Monday night an Information was given to HenryFielding Esquire: that a set of Barber's apprentices, JourneymenStaymakers, Maidservants &c. Had taken a large room at the Black House inthe Strand, to act the Tragedy of the Orphan; the Price of Admittance Oneshilling. About eight o'clock the said Justice issued his Warrant, directed to Mr Welch, High Constable, who apprehended the said Actors andbrought them before the said Justice, who out of compassion to their Youthonly bound them over to their good behaviour. They were all conductedthrough the streets in their Tragedy Dresses, to the no small diversion ofthe Populace. " [8] And in May both the ample energies and scanty purse ofJustice Fielding were occupied in collecting a subscription for a youngbaker and his wife and child, who, by a disastrous fire, were suddenlyplunged into destitution. For these poor people Fielding obtained no lessa sum than £57, within a fortnight of his announcement of their distressin the columns of the _Journal_. The list of subscribers, published on May16, shows a guinea against his own name, and a like sum, it may be noted, from the wealthy Lyttelton. 

The splendour of Fielding's genius has shone, as Gibbon foretold, throughout the world. His indefatigable labours in cleansing England fromsome of the evils that then oppressed her deserve to be remembered, if notby all the world, at least by the citizens of that country which, in thedecline of 'health and life, ' he yet strove so eagerly to benefit. 

[1] A dramatic satire, advertised in March at Covent Garden Theatre andwritten (as stated by Dibdin, _History of the Stage_. Vol. V. P. 156), bythe actor Macklin, bore for sub-title _Pasquin turned Drawcansir, Censorof Great Britain_. The name, and the further details of the advertisement, recall Fielding's early success with his political _Pasquin_: but allfurther trace of this 'Satire' seems lost. See Appendix C. 

[2] _A faithful Narrative. .. _. By Drawcansir. .. . Alexander. 1752. 

[3] 25. G II. Cap 36. 

[4] All trace seems now lost of the actual part Fielding may have taken inthe drafting of this Act. 

[5] 25. G. II. C. 37. 

[6] It would seem, from the following advertisement, that Fielding'sinexhaustible pen published, about this time, a sixpenny pamphlet on 'alate Act of Parliament'; but all trace of it has been lost:--"A speechmade in the Censorial Court of Alexander Drawcansir, Monday, 6th June, 1752, concerning a late Act of Parliament. Printed for the Author. Price6d. " _The General Advertiser_, June 27, 1752. 

[7] The _General Advertiser_ March 4. 1752. 

[8] The _General Advertiser_, April 15, 1752. 

CHAPTER XVI

POOR LAW REFORM

 ". .. Surely there is some Praise due to the bare Design of doing a Service to the Public. "--Dedication of the _Enquiry_. 

It is evident that the beginning of the year 1753 found Fielding fullyconscious that now he could only anticipate a 'short remainder of life. 'But neither that consciousness, nor the increasing burden of ill-health, availed to dull the energies of these last years. Scarcely had thatindomitable knight, General Sir Alexander Drawcansir retired from theactive public service of conducting the _Covent Garden Journal_ when hiscreator reappeared with an astonishingly comprehensive and detailed planof poor-law reform; a plan adapted to the whole kingdom, and whichaccording to a legal comment involved "nothing less than the repeal of theAct of Elizabeth and an entire reconstruction of the Poor Laws. " [1]Poor-law reform was at this time occupying the attention of thenation, and apparently also of the legislature. And we know, from the_Enquiry into the Increase of Robberies_, that the question of lesseningboth the sufferings and the criminality of the poor had for years occupiedFielding's warm heart and active intellect. But the extent to which hedevoted these last months of his life to the cause of the poorest and mostdegraded deserves more than a passing recognition. He tells us, in the_Introduction_ to the pamphlet embodying his great scheme, that he hasapplied himself long and constantly to this subject; that he has "readover and considered all the Laws, in anywise relating to the Poor, withthe utmost Care and Attention, " in the execution of which, moreover, hehas been for "many Years very particularly concerned"; and that inaddition to this exhaustive study of the laws themselves, he has added "acareful Perusal of everything which I could find that hath been written onthis Subject, from the Original Institution in the 43d. Of _Elizabeth_ tothis Day. " Such was the laborious preparation, extending presumably overmany months, which the author of _Tom Jones_, and the first wit of hisday, devoted to solving this vast problem of social reform. 

Fielding was far too well skilled in the art of effective construction topresent the public with undigested note-books from his voluminous reading. His scheme, based on all the laws, and upon all the comments on all thelaws, regarding the poor, enacted and made for two hundred years, is amarvel of conciseness and practical detail; and, together with an_Introduction_ and an _Epilogue_, does but occupy the ninety pages of atwo-shilling pamphlet. 

The pamphlet was published at the end of January 1753, with the title _AProposal for making an effectual Provision for the Poor, for amendingtheir Morals, and for rendering them useful Members of the Society. Towhich is added a Plan of the Buildings proposed, with properElevations . .. By Henry Fielding, Esq. ; Barrister-at-Law, and one of HisMajesty's Justices of the Peace for the County of Middlesex_. Thededication, dated January 19, is to Henry Pelham, then Chancellor of theExchequer, and from it we learn that Fielding had personally mentioned hisscheme to this Minister. The Introduction presents an eloquent appeal forsome effectual remedy for the intolerably diseased state of the bodypolitic as regarded the distresses and vices of the poor, their unseensufferings no less than their frequent misdeeds. Fielding protests againstthe popular ignorance of these sufferings in words that might have beenspoken by some pleader for the East End 'Settlements' of to-day. "If wewere, " he declares, "to make a Progress through the Outskirts of thisTown, and look into the Habitations of the Poor, we should there beholdsuch Pictures of human Misery as must move the Compassion of every Heartthat deserves the Name of human. What indeed must be his Composition whocould see whole Families in Want of every Necessary of Life, oppressedwith Hunger, Cold, Nakedness, and Filth, and with Diseases, the certainConsequence of all these; what, I say, must be his Composition, who couldlook into such a Scene as this, and be affected only in his Nostrils?" Asan instance of Fielding's personal knowledge of the London slums of hisday, a reference made by Mr Saunders Welch to their joint work is ofinterest. Writing in the same year, 1753, he mentions assisting "Mr HenryFielding in taking from under one roof upwards of seventy lodgers of bothsexes. " [2]

To this little known misery of the poor, who "starve and freeze and rotamong themselves, " was added the problem of streets swarming with beggarsduring the day, and with thieves at night. And the nation groaned underyet a third burden, that of the heavy taxes levied for the poor, by whichsays Fielding "as woeful experience hath taught us, neither the poorthemselves nor the public are relieved. " To attack such a three-headedmonster as this was an adventure better fitted, it might seem, for thatclub which "Captain Hercules Vinegar" had wielded thirteen years before, when in the full tide of his strength, than for the pen of a man inshattered health, and already serving the public in the daily labours of aprincipal magistrate. But nothing could restrain the ardour of Fielding'sspirit, how frail so ever had become its containing 'crust of clay, ' whengreat abuses and great misery made their call on his powers; orcountervail against the hope, with which the _Introduction_ to his planconcludes. If that plan fails, he shall indeed, he declares have "lostmuch Time, and misemployed much Pains; and what is above all, shall missthe Pleasure of thinking that in the Decline of my Health and Life, I haveconferred a great and lasting Benefit on my Country. "

The _Plan_ is that of the erection of a vast combined county workhouse, prison, and infirmary; where the unemployed should find, not only work but_skilled instruction_, the poor relief, and the sick a hospital; wherediscipline and good order should be stringently enforced; and where twochaplains should labour at that 'correction and amendment' of the mindwhich "in real truth religion is alone capable of effectually executing. "The entire scheme is worked out with extraordinary detail, in fifty-nineclauses; and is preceded by an elaborate architectural plan of theproposed institution (which was to house no less than five thousand sixhundred persons) with its workshops, its men's quarters rigorously dividedfrom those for the women, its recreation ground, its provision shops, itscells for the refractory and for prisoners, and its whipping post. And thepamphlet concludes by lengthy arguments in favour of the various clauses;and by a personal protest concerning the disinterestedness of proposalswhich "some few enemies" might assert to show signs of a design forprivate profit. Fielding touchingly disavows any thought of occupying, officially, the great house raised by his imagination. To a man in hisstate of health such a project would, he says, be to fly in the face ofthe advice of his 'Master, ' Horace; "it would be indeed _struere dotnosimmemor sepulchri_. " And, he adds, those who know him will hardly be sodeceived "by that Chearfulness which was always natural to me; and which, I thank God, my Conscience doth not reprove me for, to imagine that I amnot sensible of my declining Constitution. " The concluding words of this, Fielding's last legislative effort, betray a like calm assurance that hisday's work was drawing to its close. He has now, he tells us, "no fartherDesign than to pass my short Remainder of Life in some Degree of Ease, andbarely to preserve my Family from being the Objects of any such Laws as Ihave here proposed. "

It is wholly in keeping with the genius of Henry Fielding that almost thelast endeavour of his intellect should have been devoted to relieving thewretchedness and lessening the vices of the poorest and most miserable ofhis countrymen. The _Proposal for . .. The Poor_ is written by the hand ofthe accomplished lawyer and indefatigable magistrate; but the energy thataccomplished so great a labour, in spite of broken health and among athousand interruptions, sprang from the heart which had alreadyimmortalised the ragged postilion of _Joseph Andrews_ and the starvinghighwayman of _Tom Jones_. 

This last January but one of Fielding's life was not only occupied by thepublication of proposals for an 'entire reconstruction of the Poor Laws. 'In 1753 a London magistrate, or at least Mr Justice Fielding, was at theservice of the public on Sunday no less than during the week; and on thefirst Sunday of the New Year the Bow Street room echoed to threats thatread strangely enough when we think of the unknown petty thief, threatening sudden death to 'our immortal Fielding. ' "Yesterday, " says the_General Advertiser_ for Monday, January 8, "John Simpson and James Ellyswere commited to Newgate by Henry Fielding Esq. , for shop-lifting. " Thecharge was one of stealing five silk handkerchiefs, and when the two men"were brought before the Justice they behaved in a very impudent saucymanner, and one of them said hewished he had a Pistol about him, he wouldblow the Justice's Brains out; upon which a Party of the Guards was sentfor who conducted them safe to Newgate. " The Bow Street house, moreover, must have been full not only of prisoners and witnesses brought before theJustice, but also of victims of all manner of theft. For two comprehensivenotices appear in the _Advertiser_ for this month, repeating the previousinvitation accorded to such sufferers in the _Covent Garden Journal_. OnJanuary 1, all persons cognizant of any burglary robbery or theft aredesired to communicate immediately with Mr Brogden, clerk to JusticeFielding, "at his office at the said Justice's in Bow Street. " And again, towards the end of the month, "All Persons that have been robbed on theHighway in the County of Middlesex within this three months last past, aredesired to apply to Mr Brogden, at Mr Justice Fielding's in Bow Street, Covent Garden. " And here, too, came the solicitors that sought counsel'sopinion on their client's behalf, with their fees; the magistrate of thisperiod being under no disability in regard to his private practice. 

It was to his reputation as an advising barrister, and perhaps a little tothe kindness of heart that must have been familiar to all who knew him, that Fielding owed his connection with that extraordinary popularexcitement of 1753, the mysterious case of the servant girl ElizabethCanning. On the 29th of January 'Betty Canning' presented herself, after amonth's disappearance, at the door of her mother's house in London, in adeplorable state of weakness and distress, and declared that she had beenkidnapped by two men on New Year's night, taken to a house on the Hertfordroad, and there confined by an old gipsy woman for twenty-eight days, in ahay loft, with a pitcher of water and a few pieces of bread for solesustenance. On the twenty ninth day, according to her own account, sheescaped through a window and made her way back to her home. Herneighbours, fired with pity for her sufferings, subscribed means for aprosecution; and, says Fielding, in the pamphlet which he published twomonths after these events, "Mr. _Salt_, the Attorney who hath beenemployed in this Cause, . .. Upon this Occasion, as he hath done upon manyothers, . .. Fixed upon me as the Council to be advised with. " Then we havethe following little domestic sketch, the only picture left to us of HenryFielding as a practising barrister: "Accordingly, upon the _6th ofFebruary_, as I was sitting in my Room, Counsellor _Maden_ being thenwith me, my Clerk delivered me a Case, which was thus, as I remember, indorsed at the Top, The Case of Elizabeth Canning _for_ Mr Fielding's_opinion_, and at the Bottom, _Salt_, Solr. Upon the Receipt of this Case, with my Fee, I bid my Clerk give my Service to Mr. _Salt_ and tell him, that I would take the Case with me into the Country, whither I intended togo the next Day, and desired he would call for it the _Friday_ Morningafterwards; after which, without looking into it, I delivered it to myWife, who was then drinking Tea with us, and who laid it by. "

Mr Brogden however presently returned upstairs, bringing the solicitorwith him, who earnestly desired his counsel not only to read the case atonce but also to undertake in his capacity of magistrate an examination ofthe injured girl, and of a supposed confederate of the gipsy. This taskFielding at first declined, principally on the ground that he had been"almost fatigued to death with several tedious examinations" at that time, and had intended to refresh himself with a day or two's interval in thecountry, where he had not been "unless on a Sunday, for a long time. " Thepersuasions of the solicitor, curiosity as to the extrordinary nature ofthe case, and "a great compassion for the dreadful condition of the girl, "however induced him to yield; and the next day the eighteen year oldheroine of a story that was soon to set all London quarrelling, wasbrought in a chair to Bow Street, and then led upstairs, supported by twofriends, into the presence of the Justice. An issue of warrants followedupon her examination, and a further examination of a suspected confederateof the gipsy; the gipsy herself and her chief abettor having already beenarrested by another magistrate. Some days later, Fielding being then outof town, "several noble Lords" sent to his house, desiring to be presentwhile he examined the gipsy woman; and the matter being arranged, "LordMontfort, " says Fielding, "together with several gentlemen of fashion cameat the appointed time. " The company being in the Justice's room, theprisoners and witnesses were brought up; and apparently some charge wasafterwards brought against Fielding as to the manner of his examination, for he here takes occasion to declare, what all who knew him must haveknown to be the truth, "I can truly say, that my Memory doth not charge mewith having ever insulted the lowest Wretch that hath been brought beforeme. " Public opinion became hotly divided as to whether Betty Canning hadindeed suffered all she declared at the hands of the gipsy, Mary Squires, or had maliciously endeavoured to perjure away the old woman's life. TheLord Mayor, Sir Crisp Gascoyne, and Fielding's old antagonist thedespicable Dr Hill ardently supported the gipsy; Fielding, in the pamphletalready quoted, and which was published in March, as warmly espoused thecause of the maid servant whom he calls "a poor, honest, innocent, simpleGirl, and the most unhappy and most injured of all human Beings. " Theexcitement of the Town over this melodramatic mystery is reflected in thefact that a second edition of Fielding's pamphlet (entitled _A clear stateof the Case of Elizabeth Canning_) was advertised within a few days of itsfirst publication. [3] And, also, in the appearance of the sixpenny print, here for the first time reproduced, in which occurs the onlyrepresentation of Henry Fielding known to have been drawn during his lifetime. This print, which bears the inscription "drawn from the life by theRight Honourable the Lady Fa--y K--w, " shows Fielding's tall figure, hislegs bandaged for gout, the sword of Justice in his hand and her scaleshanging out of his pocket, speaking on behalf of his trembling clientElizabeth Canning; while opposed to him are my Lord Mayor, the notoriousDr Hill, and the old gipsy. The background is adorned with pictures of thenewly built Mansion House, and of the College of Surgeons. [4]

But for the glimpses it affords us of Fielding as a barrister, and for hischaracteristic championship of what he was convinced was the cause ofinnocence oppressed, this once famous case might have been leftundisturbed in the dust of the _State Trials_, had it not incidentallybeen the means of preserving two of the extremely rare letters of thenovelist. These letters, [5] hitherto unpublished, are addressed byFielding to the Duke of Newcastle, and were both written in the monthfollowing the publication of his pamphlet. The fact that both letters aredated from Ealing shows that his connection with what was then a pleasantcountry village was earlier than has been supposed; and the acutesuggestions in the second letter seem to indicate a suspicion of some ofBetty Canning's supporters, if his conviction in the girl's own innocencestill remained unshaken. 

"My Lord Duke

"I received an order from my Lord Chancellor immediately after thebreaking up of the Council to lay before your Grace all the Affidavits Ihad taken since the Gipsey's Trial which related to that Affair. I thentold the Messenger that I had taken none, as indeed the fact is theAffidavits of which I gave my Lord Chancellor an Abstract having been allsworn before Justices of the Peace in the Neighbourhood of Endfield, andremain I believe in the Possession of an Attorney in the City. 

However in Consequence of the Commands with which your Grace was pleasedto honour me yesterday, I sent my Clerk immediately to the Attorney toacquaint him with these Commands, which I doubt not he will instantlyobey. This I did from my great Duty to your Grace for I have long had noConcern in this Affair, nor have I seen any of the Parties lately unlessonce when I was desired to send for the Girl (Canning) to my House that agreat Number of Noblemen and Gentleman might see her and ask her whatQuestions they pleased. I am, with the highest Duty, "My Lord, "Your Graces most obedient"and most humble servant"Henry Ffielding. "Ealing. April 14, 1753"His Grace the"Duke of Newcastle. "

"My Lord Duke, "I am extremely concerned to see by a Letter which I have just receivedfrom Mr Jones by Command of your Grace that the Persons concerned for theProsecution have not yet attended your Grace with the Affidavits inCanning's Affair. I do assure you upon my Honour that I sent to them theMoment I first received your Grace's Commands and having after threeMessages prevailed with them to come to me I desired them to fetch theAffidavits that I might send them to your Grace being not able to waitupon you in Person. This they said they could not do, but would go to MrHume Campbell their Council, and prevail with him to attend your Gracewith all their Affidavits many of which, I found were sworn after the Daymentioned in the order of Council. I told them I apprehended the lattercould not be admitted, but insisted in the strongest terms on theirlaying the others immediately before your Grace, and they at lastpromised me they would, nor have I ever seen them since. I have now againordered my Clerk to go to them to inform them of the last Commands I havereceived, but as I have no Compulsory Power over them I can not answerfor their Behaviour, which indeed I have long disliked, and havetherefore long ago declined giving them any Advice, nor would I unless inObedience to your Grace have anything to say to a set of the mostobstinate Fools I ever saw; and who seem to me rather to act from aSpleen against my Lord Mayor, than from any Motive of protectingInnocence, tho' that was certainly their Motive at first. In Truth, if Iam not deceived, I Suspect they desire that the Gipsey should bepardoned, and then to convince the World that she was guilty in order tocast the greater Reflection on him who was principally instrumental inobtaining such Pardon. I conclude with assuring your Grace that I haveacted in this Affair, as I shall on all Occasions with the most dutifulRegard to your Commands, and that if my Life had been at Stake, as manyknow, I could have done no more. 

"I am, with the highest Respect, "My Lord Duke"Y Grace's most obedient, "and most humble servant, "Henry Ffielding. "Ealing"April 27. 1753. "His Grace the Duke of Newcastle. "

The dates of these letters show Fielding to have been at Ealing in theearly spring of this year; and thus afford some confirmation of Lysons'remark in his _Environs of London_, published forty years later that"Henry Fielding had a country house at Ealing where he resided the yearbefore his death. " [6] In May a connection with Hammersmith is indicated, in the burial there of his little daughter Louisa. The entry in theHammersmith Registers is as follows: "May 10th. Louisa, d. Of HenryFielding Esqr. "

The nearer Fielding's life draws to its premature close, the greater hisphysical suffering, so much the more eager seems his desire to leavebehind him some practical achievement. We have already seen and wonderedat his gigantic scheme for poor-law reform, published in the beginning ofthis year of fast declining 'health and life. ' Six months later came thecommission in the execution of which the remains of that health and lifewere literally sacrificed in the effort to win some provision for hisfamily, in the event of his own death. Early in August the distinguishedCourt surgeon John Ranby had persuaded him to go immediately to Bath. Andhe tells us, in that _Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon_, [7] from which wehave, from his own lips, the details of these last months, "I accordinglywrit that very night to Mrs Bowden, who, by the next post, informed me shehad taken me a lodging for a month certain. " At this moment, whenpreparing for his journey, and while "almost fatigued to death withseveral long examinations, relating to five different murders, allcommitted within the space of a week, by different gangs of streetrobbers, " Fielding received what might indeed be called a fatal summons towait on the Duke of Newcastle, at his house in Lincoln's Inn Fields, toconsult on a means for "putting an immediate end to those murders androbberies which were every day committed in the streets. " This visit costhim a severe cold; but, notwithstanding, he produced, in about four days, a scheme for the destruction of the "then reigning gangs" of robbers andcut-throats, and for the future protection of the public, which waspromptly accepted, and the execution of which was confided into Fielding'shands. "I had delayed my Bath-journey for some time, " he proceeds, "contrary to the repeated advice of my physical acquaintance, and to theardent desire of my warmest friends, tho' my distemper was now turned to adeep jaundice; in which case the Bath-waters are generally reputed to bealmost infallible. But I had the most eager desire of demolishing thisgang of villains and cut-throats. " After some weeks the requisite fundswere placed at Fielding's disposal; and so successful were his methods, that within a few days, the whole gang was dispersed, some in custody, others in flight. His health was by this time "reduced to the lastextremity"; but still, he tells us, he continued to act "with the utmostvigour against these villains. " And, amid all his 'fatigues anddistresses, ' the satisfaction he so ardently desired came to him. Duringthe "remaining part of the month of November and in all December, " thosedarkest of months, not only was there no such thing as a murder, but notone street robbery was committed. When we recall the amazing condition ofLondon at this time, when street robberies and murders were of almostdaily occurrence, we realise the magnitude of this achievement on the partof a dying man. "Having thus fully accomplished my undertaking, " Fieldingcontinues, "I went into the country in a very weak and deplorablecondition, with no fewer or less diseases than a jaundice, a dropsy, andan asthma, altogether uniting their forces in the destruction of a body soentirely emaciated, that it had lost all its muscular flesh. " It was nowtoo late to apply the Bath treatment; and even had it been desirable itwas no longer possible, for the sick man's strength was so reduced that aride of six miles fatigued him intolerably. The Bath lodgings, whichFielding, surely with his old invincible hopefulness, had hitherto keptwere accordingly relinquished; and even his sanguine nature realised thedesperate condition of his case. At this point in his narration he breaksoff with a characteristically frank disclosure of the chief motive whichhad inspired him to the heroic exertions of these later months of 1753. Atthe beginning of the winter his private affairs it seems, "had but agloomy aspect. " The aspect of his own tenure of life we know. And hence todistress of body was added that keenest of all distresses of the mind, thedespair of putting his family beyond the reach of necessity. It was gladlytherefore that Fielding offered up the 'poor sacrifice' of his shatteredhealth, in the hope of securing a pension for his family, in case his owndeath were hastened by these last labours for the public. 

If sickness was not allowed to hinder Fielding's energies for the benefitof the public, and for the future provision of his family, neither did hepermit it to dull the activities of friendship. Early in December, whenhis illness must have been acute, he wrote the following hithertounpublished letter to the Lord Chancellor, on behalf of his friend MrSaunders Welch: [8]

"My Lord, "As I hear that a new Commission of the Peace is soon to pass the GreatSeal for Westm'r. Give me Leave to recommend the name of Saunders Welch, as well as to the next Commission for Middx. Your Lordship will, I hope, do me the Honour of believing, I should not thus presume, unless I waswell satisfied that the Merit of the Man would justifie my Presumption. For this besides a universal Good Character and the many eminent serviceshe hath done the Public, I appeal in particular to Master Lane; and shallonly add, as I am positive the Truth is, that his Place can be filledwith no other more acceptable to all the Gentlemen in the Commission, andindeed to the Public in general. I am with the highest Duty and Respect, "My Lord, "Your Lordship's most obedient"and most humble servant, "Henry Ffielding. ""Decr 6. 1753"To the Lord High Chancellor"

[1] _Life of Henry Fielding_. Frederick Lawrence, p. 138. 

[2] Saunders Welch. _A Letter on the subject of Robberies, wrote in theyear 1753_. 

[3] See the _Public Advertiser_ 1753 March 17, 20, 24 &c. 

[4] This unique contemporary print of Fielding may be seen in the BritishMuseum, Print Room, _Social Satires_, No. 3213. 

[5] Record Office. _State Papers. Domestic_ G. II. , 127, no. 24. 

[6] Lysons. _Environs of London_. 1795. Vol. Ii. P. 229. 

[7] The quotations from the _Voyage to Lisbon_ are from the editionrecently prepared by Mr Austin Dobson, for the 'World's Classics. '

[8] This letter is now in the British Museum. The endorsement on the backis: "Dec. 6, 1753 from Mr Fielding recommending Mr. Saunders Welch to bein the Com. Of ye Peace for Westmr and Middx. "

CHAPTER XVII

VOYAGE TO LISBON--DEATH

 "satisfied in having finished my life, as I have probably lost it in the service of my country. " _Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon_. 

To a man dying of a complication of disorders the terrible winter of1753-4 brought added danger; a winter which, says Fielding, "put a luckyend, if they had known their own interests, to such numbers of aged andinfirm valetudinarians. " But this, too, his splendid constitutionstruggled through; and in February 1754, he was back in town, in acondition less despaired of, he tells us, by himself than by any of hisfriends. 

And if he did not allow himself to despair, neither did he, even now, relinquish all his magistrate's work. On the 26th of February cases areactually recorded as brought before him. [1] But within a few days, apparently, of this date treatment employed on the advice of Dr JoshuaWard, so weakened a body already 'enervate' and emaciated, that at firstthe patient "was thought to be falling into the agonies of death. " OnMarch 6, he was, he tells us, at his worst--that "memorable day when thepublic lost Mr Pelham. From that day I began slowly, as it were, to drawmy feet out of the grave; till in two months time I had again acquiredsome little degree of strength. "

Before the expiration of these two months that 'little degree of strength'was again being expended in the drudgery of the Bow Street court-room. "Yesterday, " states the _Public Advertiser_ of April 17, "Elizabeth Smithwas committed to Newgate by Henry Fielding Esqre; being charged withstealing a great quantity of Linnen. " [2] And five days later, on April22, a committal is recorded in the Middlesex _Sessions Book_. [3]

Although Fielding could now leave his sickroom, when called thence tocommit a thief to Newgate, a newspaper paragraph, dated a little earlierin this same month of April, shows that the public were apprehensive thatthe protection afforded them by their indefatigable magistrate was now ofa very precarious duration. The writer refers to the complete success ofMr Fielding's _Plan_ for the subjugation of criminals, executed theprevious winter, pointing out that "the Public who had such Reason tosuspect the contrary have suffered fewer Outrages than have happened anyWinter this Twenty years. " And without making any direct statement as tothe fast failing strength of the author and executor of that _Plan_, hecontinues in words that plainly indicate the abdication of those zealousenergies: "The whole Plan we are assured is communicated to Justice JohnFielding and Mr Welch who are determined to bring it to that perfection ofwhich it is capable. " This 'assurance' of the _Advertiser_ is confirmed byFielding's own words in the _Voyage to Lisbon_. "I therefore" he says, speaking clearly of the winter or spring of 1753-4, "resigned the office[of principal Justice of the Peace in Westminster] and the fartherexecution of my plan to my brother, who had long been my assistant. "

This blind brother, who in his turn became famous as a London magistrate, was now a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex [4] as well as forWestminster; and was at this time living in the Strand, as the ResidentProprietor [5] of that enterprising _Universal Register Office_ which haswon incidental immortality in his brother's pages, and which combined suchheterogeneous activities as those of an Estate Office, Registry forservants of good character, Lost Property Office, Curiosity Shop andGeneral Agency. 

Another announcement in the columns of the _Advertiser_ links this lastSpring of Fielding's life with that earlier Spring of 1743, when as apopular play-wright and a struggling barrister, absorbed in anxiety forthe health of a beloved wife and with his own health already attacked, hepublished that masterpiece of irony _Jonathan Wild_. Now, while he wasstill slowly drawing his 'feet out of the grave, ' after those criticalfirst days of March, a new edition of the _History_ of that "Great Man, "with "considerable Corrections and Additions, " was advertised; the actualdate of publication being, apparently, about March 19. The new editionappeared with a prefatory note, "from the Publisher to the Reader, " whichalthough it bears no signature conveys, undoubtedly, Fielding's intention, if not his actual words. There is the familiar protest against the"scurrility of others, " the odium of which had fallen on the innocentshoulders of "the author of our little book"; and there is a solemndeclaration that the said little book shows no reason for supposing any'personal application' to be meant in its pages "unless we will agree thatthere are without those Walls [i. E. Of Newgate], some other bodies of menof worse morals than those within; and who have consequently, a right tochange places with its present inhabitants. " Then follows an explicitreference to a chapter in the _History_ of the arch-villain Wild, which isobviously designed to satirise the condition of English politics, if notthe person of any one politician. The disclaimer, seems on the whole, topartake very properly of the ironic nature of the ensuing pages; althoughit recalls that youthful declaration of the young dramatist, prefixed tohis first comedy acted nearly thirty years before, that no privatecharacter was the target of his pen. 

At the end of these two months of March and April, spent as we have seenin acquiring some little degree of strength, and in at least attempting toexpend the same on the consignment of petty thieves to Newgate, Fieldingagain submitted his dropsy to the surgeon, the consequences of which henow bore much better. This improvement, he tells us, he attributed greatlyto "a dose of laudanum prescribed by my surgeon. It first gave me the mostdelicious flow of spirits, and afterwards as comfortable a nap. " Lady MaryWortley Montagu has recorded how her cousin's 'happy constitution, ' evenwhen half-demolished, could enjoy, with undiminished zest "a venisonpasty, or a flask of champagne. " Surely none other than Henry Fieldingcould have recorded with like zest this 'delicious flow of spirits' and'comfortable nap' derived from a dose of laudanum. 

The month of May, with its promise of relief from the still lingeringwinter, had now begun. Fielding therefore resolved, he says, to visit alittle country house of his "which stands at Ealing, in the county ofMiddlesex, in the best air, I believe, in the whole kingdom. " [6] Towardsthe end of the month, he had resort to a long forgotten eighteenth centurypanacea, the tar-water discovered by Bishop Berkeley; and very soonexperienced effects far beyond his "most sanguine hopes. " Success beyondFielding's most sanguine hopes must have been great indeed; andaccordingly we hear how this tar-water, from the very first, lessened hisillness, increased his appetite, and very slowly added to his bodilystrength. By the end of the month a third application by his surgeonrevealed distinctly favourable symptoms; but still both the dropsy and theasthma were becoming more serious; and the summer, which the doctorsseemed to think the sick man's 'only chance of life' seemed scarce likelyto visit England at all in that sunless year. "In the whole month of Maythe sun scarce appeared three times" we learn, from the _Voyage_. Fearingtherefore the renewed assaults of winter, before he had recruited hisforces so as "to be in anywise able to withstand them, " Fielding resolved, with the approval of a very eminent physician, to put an already formedproject into immediate execution. This was to seek further recovery insome warmer climate. At first Aix was thought of, but here thedifficulties of travel in the reign of George II. For invalids of slendermeans, proved insuperable. The journey by land, "beside the expense ofit, " Fielding found to be "infinitely too long and fatiguing"; and no shipwas announced as sailing within 'any reasonable time' for that part of theMediterranean. Lisbon accordingly was decided upon; and John Fielding soondiscovered a ship with excellent passenger accommodation, and which wasdue to sail in three days. "I eagerly embraced the offer, " writesFielding, as though he were starting on a pleasure cruise, instead offacing all the miseries of travel, when unable to make the least use ofhis limbs, and when his very appearance "presented a spectacle of thehighest horror"; and he adds "I began to prepare my family for the voyagewith the utmost expedition. " Twice, however, the captain put off hissailing, and at length his passenger invited him to dinner at Ealing, afull week after the declared date of departure. Meanwhile Fielding'scondition seems at least to have become no worse, for the _PublicAdvertiser_ of June 22 has "the pleasure to assure the Publick that theReport of the Death of Henry Fielding Esquire; inserted in an Eveningpaper of Thursday is not true, that Gentleman's Health being better thanit has been for some Month's past. "

It was not till the 26th of June that, in the memorable opening words ofthe _Voyage_, "the most melancholy sun I had ever beheld arose, and foundme awake at my house at Fordhook. By the light of this sun, I was, in myown opinion, last to behold and take leave of some of those creatures onwhom I doated with a mother-like fondness, guided by nature and passion, and uncured and unhardened by all the doctrine of that philosophicalschool where I had learnt to bear pains and to despise death. " The morningwas spent with his children, the eldest of whom was then a boy of six; and"I doubt not, " he writes, "whether, in that time, I did not undergo morethan in all my distemper. " At noon his coach was at the door, and this"was no sooner told me than I kiss'd my children round, and went into itwith some little resolution. " His wife, behaving "more like a heroine andphilosopher, tho' at the same time the tenderest mother in the world, " andhis eldest daughter, followed him; and the invalid was swiftly driven thetwelve miles to Rotherhithe. Here the task of embarking a man quite bereftof the use of his limbs had to be accomplished. This difficulty wasovercome with the aid of Saunders Welch, the friend of whom Fielding says"I never think or speak of but with love and esteem" [7]; and, at last, the traveller was "seated in a great chair in the cabin, " after fatigues, the most cruel of which he declares to have been the inhuman jests madeupon his wasted and helpless condition by the rows of sailors and watermenthrough whom he had been compelled to pass. 

From this moment we may read of the pleasures and thoughts, theexperiences and meditations, but scarcely ever of the sufferings of thedying novelist, in the pages of what has been well called "one of the mostunfeigned and touching little tracts in our own or any other literature"[8] Confined for six weeks in the narrow prison of an eighteenth centurytrading vessel; unable to move save when lifted by unskilled hands; withfood often intolerable to the healthiest appetite; with no relaxation savethe company of the rough old sea-dog who commanded the _Queen ofPortugal_; and fully conscious that his was a mortal illness, --theinexhaustible courage, the delight in man and in nature, the genius ofHenry Fielding still triumphed over every external circumstance. Throughout the voyage, fortune, moreover, seemed determined to heap on theunhappy traveller all manner of additional discomforts; and yet when welay down this little volume "begun in pain, and finished almost at thesame period with life, " [9] the pictures left on the mind glow almost asbrightly as those which fill the pages written in the full vigour ofFielding's manhood, and which, as Coleridge said, breathe the air of aspring morning. 

First came a delay of three days off the squalid shores of Wapping andRotherhithe, whereby opportunity was afforded of "tasting a deliciousmixture of the air of both these sweet places, " and of enjoying such aconcord of the voices of seamen, watermen, fishwomen, oyster women andtheir like as Hogarth indicated "in that print of his which is enough tomake a man deaf to look at. " This delay, moreover, threatened to bringFielding within need of a surgeon when none should be procurable. Hisfriend Mr William Hunter of Covent Garden, brother of the more famous JohnHunter, relieved this apprehension; but now fresh trouble occurred in thetorments of toothache which befell Mrs Fielding. A servant was despatchedin haste to Wapping, but the desired 'toothdrawer, ' arrived after the shiphad at last, on Sunday morning, the 30th of June, left her unsavourymoorings. That Sunday morning "was fair and bright, " and the diaristrecords how, dropping down to Gravesend, "we had a passage thither I thinkas pleasant as can be conceiv'd. " The yards of Deptford and Woolwich were'noble sights'; the Thames with its splendid shipping excelled all therivers of the world; and the men of war, the unrivalled Indiamen, theother traders, and even the colliers and small craft, all combined to form"a most pleasing object to the eye, as well as highly warming to the heartof an Englishman, who has any degree of love for his country, or canrecognise any effect of the patriot in his constitution. " And hereFielding gives us a notable example of his own healthy taste inrecreation; a taste agreeing very ill with the scurrilous popular mythsconcerning him, but entirely consonant with the manifest atmosphere of hisgenius. He deplores the general neglect of "what seems to me the highestdegree of amusement: that is, the sailing ourselves in little vessels ofour own"; an amusement which need not "exceed the reach of a moderatefortune, and would fall very short of the prices which are daily paid forpleasures of a far inferior rate. "

Fortune, as we have said, seemed to grudge every little pleasure thatcould have alleviated the condition of the helpless invalid on board the_Queen of Portugal_. The relief obtained from Mr Hunter, he tells us, "thegaiety of the morning, the pleasant sailing with wind and tide, and themany agreeable objects with which I was constantly entertained during thewhole way, were all suppressed and overcome by the single consideration ofmy wife's pain, which continued incessantly to torment her. " The seconddespatch of a messenger, in great haste to bring the best reputed operatorin Gravesend recalls Murphy's words: "Of sickness and poverty he wassingularly patient and under pressure of those evils he could quietly read_Cicero de Consolatione_; but if either of them threatened his wife he wasimpetuous for her relief. " The remedies both of the Gravesend 'surgeon ofsome eminence, ' and of yet another practitioner, who was sent for fromDeal, were ineffectual; but about eight in the evening of the followingday, when the ship under contrary winds, was at anchor in the Downs, MrsFielding fell asleep; and to that accident we owe one of the mostcharacteristic passages in the _Voyage_. His wife's relief from painwould, Fielding tells us, "have given me some happiness, could I haveknown how to employ those spirits which were raised by it: butunfortunately for me, I was left in a disposition of enjoying an agreeablehour, without the assistance of a companion, which has always appeared tome necessary to such enjoyment; my daughter and her companion were bothretired sea-sick to bed; the other passengers were a rude school boy offourteen years old, and an illiterate Portuguese friar, who understood nolanguage but his own, in which I had not the least smattering. The captainwas the only person left, in whose conversation I might indulge myself;but unluckily for me, besides his knowledge being chiefly confined to hisprofession, he had the misfortune of being so deaf, that to make him hearmy words, I must run the risque of conveying them to the ears of my wife, who, tho' in another room (called, I think, the state-room; being indeed amost stately apartment capable of containing one human body in length, ifnot very tall, and three bodies in breadth) lay asleep within a yard ofme. In this situation necessity and choice were one and the same thing;the captain and I sat down together to a small bowl of punch, over whichwe both soon fell fast asleep, and so concluded the evening. " In therecord of the previous day, while sketching the humours of Jacks inoffice, Fielding incidentally shows himself as no less careful of therespect due to his wife than he was solicitous for her comfort. Aruffianly custom-house officer had appeared in their cabin, wearing a hatadorned with broad gold lace, and 'cocked with much military fierceness. 'On eliciting the information that 'the gentleman' was a riding surveyor, "I replied, " says Fielding, "that he might be a riding surveyor, but couldbe no gentleman, for that none who had any title to that denomination, would break into the presence of a lady, without any apology or evenmoving his hat. He then took his covering from his head, and laid it onthe table, saying he asked pardon. " To this 'riding surveyor' we owe alsoan indication that Fielding found room in the narrow confines of a cabinfor his Plato; for the rude insolence of that functionary recalls to hismind the Platonic theory of the divine original of rulers, and he proceedsto quote a long passage from the _Laws_, which even his ready scholarshipcould scarce have had by heart. 

Contrary winds continued to baffle all Captain Veal's seamanship, andafforded his passenger opportunities for a spirited protest concerning theneed of some regulation both of the charges of long-shore boatmen, and ofthe manners of captains in the Royal Navy. On the evening of July 8 the_Voyage_ records that "we beat the sea off Sussex, in sight of Dungeness, with much more pleasure than progress; for the weather was almost aperfect calm, and the moon, which was almost at the full, scarce suffereda single cloud to veil her from our sight"; and on the 18th of the monththe _Queen of Portugal_ put in to Ryde, at which place she remainedwind-bound for no less than eleven days. 

These eleven days Fielding spent, by his wife's persuasions, on shore, atthe poor village inn which, together with a little church and some thirtyhouses, then constituted the village of Ryde. Of the hardships and humoursof that sojourn the _Voyage_ affords an account worthy of a place amongthe pages of either of the three great novels. The landlady, an incrediblymean and heartless shrew, inflicted daily annoyances and extortions on herwind-bound victims. The squalid building, partly constructed ofwreck-wood, could scarce house the party. The food supplies, other thanthose the visitors brought with them, were chiefly 'rusty bacon, and worsecheese, ' with very bad ale to drink. And on the first afternoon, the housewas found to be so damp from recent scrubbing that Mrs Fielding, who"besides discharging excellently well her own, and all the tender officesbecoming the female character; who besides being a faithful friend, anamiable companion, and a tender nurse, could likewise supply the wants ofa decrepit husband, and occasionally perform his part, " hastily snatchedthe invalid from "worse perils by water than the common dangers of thesea, " and ordered dinner to be laid in a dry and commodious barn. Soseated, "in one of the most pleasant spots, I believe, in the kingdom, "and regaled on bacon, beans, and fish, "we completed, " says Fielding, "thebest, the pleasantest, and the merriest meal, with more appetite, morereal, solid luxury, and more festivity, than was ever seen in anentertainment at White's. "

On Sunday the three ladies went to church, "attended by the captain in amost military attire, with his cockade in his hat, and his sword by hisside" (Captain Veal had commanded a privateer); and Fielding, while leftalone, pursued those researches into human nature of which he neverwearied by conversation with the landlord, a fine example of henpeckedhumanity. On the following day the ladies, again attended by Captain Veal, enjoyed a four mile walk, professing themselves greatly charmed with thescenery, and with the courtesy of a lady who owned a great house on thispart of the coast, and who "had slipt out of the way, that my wife and hercompany might refresh themselves with the flowers and fruits with whichher garden abounded. " Within twenty four hours this generous householderhad sent a message to the inn, placing all that her garden or houseafforded at the disposal of the travellers. Fielding's man-servant wasdespatched with proper acknowledgements, and returned "in company with thegardener, both richly laden with almost every particular which a garden atthis most fruitful season of the year produces. "

That evening, on a change of wind, Captain Veal came to demand hispassengers' instant return. This would have been "a terrible circumstanceto me, in my decayed condition, " admits Fielding, "especially as veryheavy showers of rain, attended with a high wind, continued to fallincessantly; the being carried thro' which two miles in the dark, in a wetand open boat, seemed little less than certain death. " Happily the windagain veered till the following morning, when Fielding and the threeladies, together with their manservant and maid, were safely re-embarked, not however without much agitation over the temporary loss of theirtea-chest. This calamity was first compensated by the prompt aid of thehospitable lady aforementioned, and then averted by the diligent search ofWilliam the footman who at last discovered the hiding place of the missing'sovereign cordial, ' and thus, concludes his master, "ended this scene, which begun with such appearance of distress, and ended with becoming thesubject of mirth and laughter. " Once more on board, Ryde and its beautifulprospect, its verdant elms, its green meadows, and shady lanes allcombining in Fielding's opinion to make a most delightful habitation, faded from view. And, by seven o'clock, "we sat down" he says, "to regaleourselves with some roasted venison, which was much better drest than weimagined it would be, and an excellent cold pasty which my wife had madeat Ryde, and which we had reserved uncut to eat on board our ship, whitherwe all cheerfully exulted in being returned from the presence of MrsHumphreys, [the landlady] who by the exact resemblance she bore to a fury, seemed to have been with no great propriety settled in Paradise. "

It is while commenting on the charm of the view from Ryde, --"I confessmyself so entirely fond of a sea prospect, that I think nothing on theland can equal it, "--that Fielding incidentally utters that extraordinaryreference to Sir Robert Walpole as "one of the best of men and ofministers. " The only explanation of these words at all consonant with whatwe know of Fielding's life seems to be that here he adopts once more hisfamiliar use of irony. 

The cheerfulness of spirit with which the invalid encountered every freshdistress, and 'exulted' in every pleasant sight and trifling pleasure, during those days at Ryde, is very fully reflected in the followingletter, happily preserved from the untoward fate which has apparentlybefallen every other intimate word from his pen. It was written to hisbrother John, on the first day of anchorage off Ryde. 

"On board the Queen of Portugal, Richd. Veal at anchor on the Mother Bank, off Ryde, to the care of the Post Master of Portsmouth--this is my Dateand y'r Direction. 

"July 12 1754

"Dear Jack, After receiving that agreeable Lre from Mess'rs. Fielding &Co. , we weighed on monday morning and sailed from Deal to the WestwardFour Days long but inconceivably pleasant passage brought us yesterday toan Anchor on the Mother Bank, on the Back of the Isle of Wight, where wehad last Night in Safety the Pleasure of hearing the Winds roar over ourHeads in as violent a Tempest as I have known, and where my onlyConsideration were the Fears which must possess any Friend of ours (ifthere is happily any such), who really makes our Well being the Object ofhis Concern especially if such Friend should be totally inexperienced inSea Affairs. I therefore beg that on the Day you receive this Mrs Danielmay know that we are just risen from Breakfast in Health and Spirits thistwelfth Instant at 9 in the morning. Our Voyage hath proved fruitful inAdventures all which being to be written in the Book you must postponeyr. Curiosity. As the Incidents which fall under yr Cognizance willpossibly be consigned to Oblivion, do give them to us as they pass. Tellyr Neighbour I am much obliged to him for recommending me to the care ofa most able and experienced Seaman to whom other Captains seem to paysuch Deference that they attend and watch his Motions, and thinkthemselves only safe when they act under his Direction and Example. OurShip in Truth seems to give Laws on the Water with as much Authority andSuperiority as you Dispense Laws to the Public and Examples to yrBrethern in Commission, Please to direct yr Answer to me on Board as inthe Date, if gone to be returned, and then send it by the Post andPacquet to Lisbon to

"Y'r affec't. Brother"H. Fielding [10]

"To John Fielding Esq. At his House in Bow Street Cov. Garden London. "

It is probable, as Mr Austin Dobson has pointed out, that the Mrs Daniel, whose anxieties Fielding here shows himself anxious to relieve, was hissecond wife's mother. And by this time his brother was doubtless occupyingthat house in Bow Street so frequently advertised to the public, when anywork was on foot for their protection, as the residence of 'HenryFielding, Esqre. '

The almost diabolic figure of the Ryde landlady had scarcely left hispages, when Fielding found a new subject for his portraiture, in thepretentious ill-bred follies of a young officer, a nephew of the captain, who arrived on board to visit his uncle, and who serves as an excellentfoil for the simple-hearted merits of the elder man. A rising wind, however, cut short the Lieutenant's stories, and two nights later blew ahurricane which Fielding declares, "would have given no small alarm to aman, who had either not learnt what it is to die, or known what it is tobe miserable"; continuing, in words that need no comment, "my dear wifeand child must pardon me, if what I did not conceive to be any great evilto myself, I was not much terrified with the thoughts of happening tothem: in truth, I have often thought they are both too good, and toogentle, to be trusted to the power of any man. " The sea he loved so wellwas not to be Fielding's grave. Early the next morning the _Queen ofPortugal_ was at anchor in Torbay; and the whole party sat down "to a verychearful breakfast. "

For a whole week the travellers were kept wind-bound off the Devon coast, now at anchor, now making vain efforts to proceed. We hear of the 'fineclouted cream, ' and the delicious cyder of the county (two hogsheads ofwhich latter Fielding purchased as presents for his friends); of theexcellence of the local fish named 'john dóree, ' of the scandalous need oflegislation for the protection of sea-men when ashore from land-sharks, adigression which includes a pleasant interpretation of the myth of Ulyssesand Circe as none other than the dilemma of a Homeric merchant skipperwhose crew Circe "some good ale-wife, " had made drunk "with the spirituousliquors of those days"; of the difficulty with which Fielding couldpersuade his wife "whom it was no easy matter for me to force from myside" to take a walk on shore; and of the captain's grievous lamentations, which "seemed to have some mixture of the Irish howl in them, " [11] whenhis cat was accidentally suffocated. Also, to these last wind-bound daysbelongs that famous incident which does perhaps no less honour to the hottempered tyrannical old skipper than to his illustrious passenger. 

Fielding, having just finished dinner, was enjoying some good claret inthe cabin, with his wife and her friend--a cheerful moment, whenconversation 'is most agreeable, ' when Tom, the captain's generalfactotum, burst in on them and began, without saying a 'by your leave', tobottle half a hogshead of small beer. After requests and protests, equallyunavailing, this functionary found himself, says Fielding, threatened"with having one bottle to pack more than his number, which then happenedto stand empty within my reach. " Thereupon Tom reported his version of thematter to the captain, who came thundering down to the cabin in a ragethat knew no bounds of language or civility. This behaviour from a man whohad received not only liberal payment from his passenger foraccommodation, but also such frequent stores of fresh provisions thatFielding's private purse had indeed gone some way in maintaining theship's crew, that passenger justly resented, and to a hasty resolve ofquitting the ship by a hoy that should carry him to Dartmouth, he addedthreats of legal action. The 'most distant sound of law, ' however, hetells us, "frightened a man, who had often, I am convinced, heard numbersof cannon roar round him with intrepidity. Nor did he sooner see the hoyapproaching the vessel, than he ran down again into the cabin, and hisrage being perfectly subsided, he tumbled on his knees, and a little tooabjectly implored for mercy. I did not suffer a brave man and an old man, to remain a moment in this posture; but I immediately forgave him. " It isthis incident that Thackeray chooses to complete his picture of the greatnovelist; adding that memorable comparison between the "noble spirit andunconquerable generosity" of Fielding, and the lives of many unknownheroes of the sea: "Such a brave and gentle heart, such an intrepid andcourageous spirit I love to recognise in the manly the English HarryFielding. "

Within a week of this reconciliation the ship had made such progresssouthward that the captain 'in the redundancy of his good humour, declaredhe would go to church at Lisbon on Sunday next' (not the least pleasant ofthe pictures which Fielding gives us of the privateer is that of hissummoning all hands on deck on a Sunday morning and then reading prayers'with an audible voice'); but again the wind played him false, becalminghim near Cape Finisterre. This last calm, however, brought with itsufficient compensation: "tho' our voyage was retarded, we wereentertained with a scene which as no one can behold without going to sea, so no one can form an idea of anything equal to it on shore. We wereseated on the deck, women and all, in the serenest evening that can beimagined. Not a single cloud presented itself to our view, and the sunhimself was the only object which engrossed our whole attention. He didindeed set with a majesty which is incapable of description, with which, while the horizon was yet blazing with glory, our eyes were called off tothe opposite part to survey the moon, which was then at full, and which inrising presented us with the second object that this world hath offered toour vision. Compared to these the pageantry of theatres, or splendor ofcourts, are sights almost below the regard of children. "

Four days later, at midnight, the anchor was cast off Lisbon, after a calmand moonlit passage up the Tagus, a passage, Fielding writes, "incrediblypleasant to the women, who remained three hours enjoying it, while I wasleft to the cooler transports of enjoying their pleasures at second-hand;and yet, cooler as they may be, whoever is totally ignorant of suchsensation, is, at the same time, void of all ideas of friendship. "

On the day following, the 24th of June, he landed, and that eveningenjoyed the long unknown luxury of a good supper, in a kind ofcoffee-house "very pleasantly situated on the brow of a hill, about a milefrom the city, [which] hath a very fine prospect of the River Tajo fromLisbon to the sea. " With that pleasant prospect the Voyage closes. Begunas it was to while away the enforced solitude of his cabin, a condition, which no man, he tells us, disliked more than himself and which mortalsickness rendered especially irksome, these pages, some of which "werepossibly the production of the most disagreeable hours which ever hauntedthe author, " reveal Fielding to us if not as Mr Lowell has said "withartless inadvertence" at least with perfect fullness. The undimmed gaietyof spirit, the tender affection, the constant desire to remove those evilswhich he found oppressing his country-men by sea not less than on land, the 'enthusiasm for righteousnes, ' the humour of the first of Englishnovelists, burn here as brightly as though the writer were but midway inhis life's voyage. The hand that exposed evil in its native loathsomenessin a Blifil and a Wild has not lost its cunning in depicting MrsHumphreys; the eye that delighted in the green fields of England saw inthe southern sunset that which made human creations 'almost below theregard of children. ' And to the last the patriotic energies of the authorof _Pasquin_ and of the _Champion_, of the whole hearted social reformer, of the tireless magistrate, knew no relaxation. Page after page of the_Voyage_ justify the passage in which he tells us how "I would indeed havethis work, which, if I live to finish it (a matter of no great certainty, if indeed of any great hope to me), will be probably the last I shall everundertake, to produce some better end than the mere diversion of thereader"; and manifest his desire, here explicitly stated, to finish life"as I have probably lost it, in the service of my country. "

We have no knowledge concerning the four months following the last entryin the pages of the _Voyage to Lisbon_. On October 8, 1754, the end socalmly expected came; and in the beautiful English cemetery, facing thegreat Basilica of the Heart of Jesus, was laid to rest all that an aliensoil could claim of 'our immortal Fielding. '

[1] The _Public Advertiser_, 1754, February 26. 

[2] The _Public Advertiser_ 1754, April 17. 

[3] Middlesex Records. _Sessions Book_. 1754. 

[4] See the Middlesex Records. 

[5] See the _Public Advertiser_. February, 1754. 

[6] This little house was apparently replaced by a larger house; and it isprobably this second building of which a sketch is inserted in a copy ofLysons' _Environs_ to be seen in the Guildhall Library. It is now pulleddown. 

[7] Dr Johnson spoke of Saunders Welch as "one of my best and dearestfriends. "

[8] Austin Dobson. _Fielding_, p. 170. 

[9] "Dedication" of the _Voyage_, written possibly by John Fielding. 

[10] Austin Dobson. _Fielding_, p. 179. From the autograph in thepossession of Mr Frederick Locker. 

[11] This and the following passage occur in the second version of the_Voyage to Lisbon_. 

APPENDIX A

_The Hapsburg genealogy_

It appears that the Hapsburg descent, formerly claimed by the Denbighfamily, must now be abandoned. The arguments against this descent, published by Mr Horace Round, have been accepted by Burke. Further, Dr G. F. Warner permits me to publish his statement that "I have myself seenthe documents upon which it [the claim] rests, and found them to beunmistakeable forgeries. "

As regards Henry Fielding's family it is interesting to find that hisgrandfather the Rev. And Hon. John Fielding was not only Canon ofSalisbury, and a Doctor of Divinity, but also Archdeacon of Dorsetshire. Canon John Fielding was buried at Salisbury. His son George (HenryFielding's uncle) was Lt. Colonel of the "Royal Regiment of the Blues, "and Groom of the Bed-chamber to Queen Anne and to George II. He is buriedin St George's Chapel, Windsor. (J. Nichols. _History and Antiquitiesof Leicestershire_. 1810. Vol. Iv. Pt. I. P. 394. )

APPENDIX B

_Receipt and Assignment of "Tom Jones"_

The following documents are in the possession of Alfred Huth Esq. , andare now first published

June 11 1748. 

Rec'd. Of Mr. Andrew Millar Six hundred Pounds being in full for the soleCopy Right of a Book called the History of a Foundling in Eighteen Books. And in Consideration of the said Six Hundred Pounds I promise to asignover the said Book to the said Andrew Millar his Executors and assignsfor ever when I shall be thereto demanded. 

£ s d£600, 00, 00. Hen. Ffielding

The said Work to contain Six Volumes in Duodecimo. 

Know all Men by these Presents that I Henry Fielding of St. Paul's CoventGarden in the County of Middlesex Esq'r. For & in consideration of theSum of Six hundred Pounds of lawful Money of Great Britain to me in handpaid by Andrew Millar of St. Mary le Strand in the County afores'd. Bookseller the Receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged and of which I doAcquit the s'd. Andrew Millar his Executors & Assigns, have bargainedsold delivered assigned & set over all that my Title Right and Propertyin & to a certain Book printed in Six Volumes, known & called by the Name& Title of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, inv'd. Written by methe s'd. Henry Fielding, with all Improvements, Additions or Alterationswhatsoever which now are or hereafter shall at any time be made by me thes'd. Henry Fielding, or any one else by my authority to the s'd. Book ToHave and to Hold the s'd. Bargained Premises unto the s'd. Andrew Millar, his Ex'ors Adm'ors or Assigns for ever And I do hereby covenant to & withthe s'd. Andrew Millar his Ex'ors Adm'ors & Assigns that I the s'd. HenryFielding the Author of the s'd. Bargained Premises have not at any timeheretofore done committed or suffered any Act or thing whatsoever bymeans whereof the s'd bargained Premises or any part thereof is or shallbe impeached or encumbered in any wise And I the s'd Henry Fielding formyself my Ex'ors Adm'ors & Assigns shall warrant & defend the s'dbargained Premises for ever against all Persons whatsoever claiming underme my Ex'ors Adm'ors or Assigns. 

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & seal this twenty fifthday of March One thousand seven hundred & forty nine. 

H F fielding [Illustration: Seal. ]

Signed sealed & deliveredby the within named HenryFielding the day and year withinmentioned, in the presence ofJos. Brogden

APPENDIX C

 "_Pasquin turned Drawcansir_"

The _General Advertiser_ for March 13, 1752, Page 3, advertises, asfor Macklin's Benefit, at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, "A New Dramatic Satire of Two Acts, call'dCovent Garden Theatre; or Pasquin turned DrawcansirCensor of Great Britain

Written on the Model of the Comedies of Aristophanes and the Pasquinadesof the Italian Theatre in Paris; With Chorusses of the People after themanner of the Greek Drama. The Parts of the Pit, and Boxes, the Stage, and the Town to be performed by themselves for their Diversion; the Partof several dull disorderly Characters in and about St. James, to beperformed by certain Persons for Example; and the Part ofPasquin-Drawcansir to be performed by his Censorial Highness, for hisInterest. 

The Satire to be introduced by an Oration, and to conclude by aPeroration: Both to be spoken from the Rostrum, in the Manner of certainOrators by Signer Pasquin. "

This advertisement is also in the _Covent Garden Journal_, with theaddition of "galleries" after the word _Boxes_. According to Dibdin, _History of the Stage_, Vol. V. (preface dated 1800) p. 156, this satirewas _by_ Macklin. 

APPENDIX D

_The Walpole 'anecdote'_

The following reference to Fielding occurs in a letter by Horace Walpole, to George Montagu, dated May 18, 1749. It may be prefaced by thestatement that Fielding's strenuous opposition to Sir Robert Walpole wasnot likely to be overlooked by Sir Robert's son; and by Mr AustinDobson's comment "his [Horace Walpole's] absolute injustice, when hispartisan spirit was uppermost, is everywhere patent to readers of hisLetters . .. The story no doubt exaggerated when it reached him, losesnothing under his transforming and malicious pen. " Walpole writes: "He[Rigby] and Peter Bathurst t'other night carried a servant of thelatter's, who had attempted to shoot him, before Fielding; who, to allhis other vocations, has, by the grace of Mr Lyttelton, added that ofMiddlesex justice. He sent them word he was at supper, that they mustcome next morning. They did not understand that freedom, and ran up, where they found him banqueting with a blind man, a whore, and threeIrishmen, on some cold mutton and a bone of ham, both in one dish, andthe dirtiest cloth. He never stirred nor asked them to sit. Rigby, whohad seen him so often come to beg a guinea of Sir C. Williams, andBathurst, at whose father's he had lived for victuals, understood thatdignity as little, and pulled themselves chairs; on which he civilised. "

The 'blind man' was doubtless the half brother later to be knighted forhis distinguished public services, Sir John Fielding; and, adds Mr AustinDobson, "it is extremely unlikely the lady so discourteouslycharacterised could have been any other than his wife, who Lady Stuarttells us 'had few personal charms. ' There remain the 'three Irishmen' whomay, or may not, have been perfectly presentable members of society. Atall events, their mere nationality, so rapidly decided upon, cannot beregarded as a stigma. " Bearing in mind, on the one hand, our knowledge ofFielding as he reveals himself in his own pages, and in his friendships, and on the other the character earned by Horace Walpole's pen, it seemsmatter for doubt whether this 'anecdote' deserves even a place in anappendix. 

APPENDIX E

_Fielding's Will_

Fielding's will was discovered in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, byMr G. A. Aitken. It is undated:--

IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN--I HENRY FIELDING of the parish of Ealing in theCounty of Middlesex do hereby give and bequeath unto Ralph Allen of PriorPark in the County of Somerset Esqr and to his heirs executorsadministrators and assigns for ever to the use of the said Ralph hisheirs &c all my Estate real and personal wheresoever and whatsoever anddo appoint him sole EXECUTOR of this my last Will--Beseeching him thatthe whole (except my shares in the Register Office) may be sold andforthwith converted into Money and Annuities purchased thereout for thelives of my dear Wife Mary and my daughters Harriet and Sophia and whatproportions my said Executor shall please to reserve to my sons Williamand Allen shall be paid them severally as they shall attain the age oftwenty and three And as for my Shares in the Register or UniversalRegister Office I give ten thereof to my aforesaid Wife seven to myDaughter Harriet and three to my daughter Sophia my Wife to be put inimmediate possession of her shares and my Daughters of theirs as theyshall severally arrive at the Age of 21 the immediate Profits to be thenlikewise paid to my two Daughters by my Executor who is desired to retainthe same in his Hands until that time--Witness my Hand--HENRYFIELDING--Signed and acknowledged as his last Will and Testament by thewithin named Testator in the presence of--MARGARET COLLIER--RICHDBOOR--ISABELLA ASH--

Proved 14th November 1754. 

Extracted from the Principal Registry of the Probate Divorce andAdmiralty Division of the High Court of Justice

In the Prerogative Court of Canterbury

November 1754

HENRY FIELDING Esquire--On the fourteenth day Administration (with theWill annexed) of the Goods Chattels and Credits of Henry Fielding late ofEaling in the County of Middlesex but at Lisbon in the Kingdom ofPortugal Esquire deceased was granted to John Fielding Esquire the Uncleand Curator or Guardian lawfully assigned to Harriet Fielding Spinster aMinor and Sophia Fielding an Infant the natural and lawfull Daughters ofthe said Deceased and two of the Residuary Legatees named in the saidWill for the use and benefit of the said Minor and Infant and until oneof them shall attain the age of twenty one years for that Ralph AllenEsquire the sole Executor and Residuary Legatee in Trust named in thesaid Will hath renounced as well the Execution thereof as Letters ofAdministration (with the said Will annexed) of the Goods Chattels andCredits of the said deceased and Mary Fielding Widow the Relict of thesaid deceased and the other Residuary Legatee named in the said Will hathalso renounced Letters of Administration (with the said Will annexed) ofthe Goods Chattels and Credits of the said deceased--the said JohnFielding having been first sworn duly to administer. 

In addition to the property mentioned here, Fielding possessed a library, as Mr Austin Dobson discovered, [1] which when sold six months after hisdeath, "for the Benefit of his Wife and Family, " realised £364, 7s. 1d. Or"about £l00 more than the public gave in 1785 for the books of Johnson. "[2] Also according to the _Recollections of the Late John Adolphus_, byHenderson, Fielding purchased a 90 years' lease of a house nearCanterbury, for one of his daughters. 

Of the children mentioned in this will, William became, a contemporarywriter tells us, "an eminent barrister at law and inherits the integrityof his father and a large share of his brilliant talents. " [3] Mr AustinDobson refers to William Fielding as being like his father "a strenuousadvocate of the poor and unfortunate, " and adds that the obituary noticein the _Gentleman's Magazine_ records his worth and piety. [4] HarrietFielding is said to have been of "a sweet temper and great understanding. "[5] Allen Fielding became Vicar of S6. Stephens Canterbury, and was"greatly beloved by all, especially the little children, " writes adescendant. Allen Fielding's four sons all took Orders, and of the second, Charles, it was written on his death, that "he had not only a heart thatcould feel for others, but a heart that lived in giving. " [6] The noblequalities of Henry Fielding found their echo in his descendants. 

[1] Austin Dobson. _Fielding_. Appendix IV. P. 212-13; _and EighteenthCentury Vignettes_, 1896, pp. 164-178. 

[2] Austin Dobson. _Fielding_. Appendix IV. P. 212-13; _and EighteenthCentury Vignettes_, 1896, pp. 164-178. 

[3] J. Nichols. _History and Antiquities of Leicestershire_. 1810. Vol. Iv. Pt. I. P. 594. 

[4] Austin Dobson. _Fielding_, p. 192. 

[5] T. Whitehead. _Original Anecdotes of the late Duke of Kingston_, 1795. P. 95. 

[6] _Some Hapsburghs, Fieldings, Denbighs and Desmonds_, by J. E. M. F. 

APPENDIX F

_Fielding's Tomb and Epitaph_

Fielding's present tomb, in the beautiful English cemetery at Lisbon, waserected in 1830. On one side is inscribed:

 LUGET BRITANNIA GREMIO NON DARI FOVERE NATUM

On the other side are the following lines:

 Henrici Fielding A Somersetensibus apud Glastoniam oriundi Viri summo ingenio en quae restant: Stylo quo non alius unquam Intima qui potuit cordis reserare mores hominum excolendos suscepit Virtuti decorum, vitio foeditatem asseruit, suum cuique tribuens; Non quin ipse subinde irritaretur evitandis Ardensin amicitia, in miseria sublevanda effusus Hilaris urbanus et conjux et pater adamantus. Aliis non sibi vixit Vixit sed mortem victricem vincit dum natura durat dum saecula currunt Naturae prolem scriptis prae se ferens Suam et sua genlis extendet famam. [1]

[1] _Somerset and Dorset Notes and Queries_. Vol. Viii. P. 353. 

APPENDIX G

_Fielding's posthumous play "The Fathers"_

Fielding's play _The Fathers_ or _The Good-natured Man_ seems to have beenlost (apparently after being submitted to Sir Charles Hanbury Williams)till twenty years after Fielding's death. It was discovered by M'r Johnes, M. P. For Cardigan, in 1775, or 1776, who sent it to Garrick. Garrickrecognised it as "Harry Fielding's Comedy"; and, after revision, it wasproduced at Drury Lane on November 30, 1778. Garrick not only appeared inthe cast, but also wrote both prologue and epilogue. A note, in theMorrison Manuscripts, from Garrick to D'r John Hoadley, dated January 3, 1776, concludes thus "We have found the lost sheep, Henry Fielding's GoodNatured Man which was mislaid near twenty years. " [1] In the followingpleasant letter Sir John Fielding commends Mrs Fielding's Benefit night toDr Hunter. 

"Sir John Fielding presents his compliments to Dr. Hunter, and acquaintshim that the Comedy of 'The Good-natured Man' written by the late Mr. Henry Fielding will be performed at Drury Lane next Monday being theAuthor's Widow's night. 

"He was your old and sincere friend. There are no other of his Works leftunpublished. This is the last opportunity you will have of shewing anyrespect to his Memory as a Genius, so that I hope you will send all yourPupils, all your Patients, all your Friends, & everybody else to the Playthat Night, by which Means you will indulge your benevolent feelings andyour Sentiments of Friendship. [2]

"Bow Street, Dec'r 4, 1778. "

[1] Morrison Manuscripts. Catalogue. 

[2] _The Athenaeum_. February 1. 1890. 

APPENDIX H

_Undated Accounts of Fielding at Salisbury and at Barnes_

Research has so far failed to identify the period of Fielding'straditional residence in Salisbury. According to the following passage in_Old and New Sarum or Salisbury_, by R. Benson and H. Hatcher, 1843, heoccupied three houses in or near Salisbury. "It is well known thatFielding the Novelist married a lady of Salisbury named Craddock [sic] andwas for a time resident in our City. From tradition we learn that he firstoccupied the house in the Close at the south side of St Anne's Gate. Heafterwards removed to that in St Anne's Street next to the Friary; andfinally established himself in the Mansion at the foot of Milford Hill, where he wrote a considerable portion of his _Tom Jones_. " [1]

Fielding's residence in Barnes is no less illusive. The following passageoccurs in the edition of 1795 of _Lyson's Environs of London_: "HenryFielding, the celebrated Novelist, resided at Barnes, in the house whichis now the property of Mr Partington. " [2] In the edition of 1811 thehouse is described as "now the property of Mrs Stanton, widow of the lateAdmiral Stanton. " [3] In Manning and Bray's _Surrey_ the name of the houseis given: "On Barnes Green is a very old house called Milbourne House. .. . It was once the residence of Henry Fielding the celebrated novel writer. The widow of Admiral Stanton is the present owner of this house. " [4] TheBarnes Rate-books appear to throw no light on the date of Fielding'sresidence at Milbourne House. It is noteworthy that both the Barnes andSalisbury statements indicate a man of some means, living as befitted aFielding. 

[1] _History of Wiltshire_. Sir R. C. Hoare; volume entitled "Old and NewSarum or Salisbury, " by R. Benson and H. Hatcher, 1843. P 602. 

[2] Lysons. _Environs of London_, edition of 1795. Vol. I. Part iii. P. 544. 

[3] _Ibid_. Edition 1811. Vol. I. P. 10. 

[4] Manning and Bray. _History of Surrey_, 1814, vol. Iii. P. 316. 

APPENDIX I

_An undated letter of Fieldings to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu_

The following undated letter is printed in _The Letters and Works ofLady Mary Wortley Montagu_ edited by Lord Wharncliffe and W. M. Thomas. Lord Wharncliffe includes it with the letters from originalsamong the Wortley papers. [1]

Wednesday evening

Madam, --I have presumed to send your ladyship a copy of the play whichyou did me the honour of reading three acts of last spring, and hope itmay meet as light a censure from your ladyship's judgment as then; forwhile your goodness permits me (what I esteem the greatest, and indeedonly happiness of my life) to offer my unworthy performances to yourperusal, it will be entirely from your sentence that they will beregarded, or disesteemed by me. I shall do myself the honour of callingat your ladyship's door to-morrow at eleven, which, if it be an improperhour, I beg to know from your servant what other time will be moreconvenient. I am with the greatest respect and gratitude, madam, Your ladyship's most obedient, most devoted humble servant. 

[1] Letters and Works of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, edited by LordWharncliffe and W. M. Thomas. Vol. Ii. P. 3, note I, and p. 22. 

APPENDIX J

FIELDING'S _Tom Thumb_

This play appears to have carried some political significance inFielding's day; if it was not, indeed, written with a political intention. This may be gathered from an article in the _Daily Post_ of March 29, 1742, apropos of a performance of the _Tragedy of Tragedies_, that night, at Drury Lane. The article attributes, in detail, political intentions tothe _Tragedy_--"a Piece at first calculated to ridicule some particularPersons and Affairs in Europe (at the Time it was writ) but moreespecially in this Island. "