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II. An Epistle to Mr. Ellys the Painter
Though he concludes with a tribute to Walpole that recalls Fielding's
dedication to The Modern Husband, the motives of Cooke's anonymous
friend in addressing these verses to Ellys were chiefly personal, not political.
What, then, besides the fact that Fielding is almost certainly the author of
the preceding essay, is the evidence within the poem itself that points to his
authorship?
To begin with, Fielding and "Jack" Ellys or Ellis (1701-57) were friends
who had much in common: they belonged to a circle of clubbable wits and
amphitheaters, where champions like James Figg practised and taught the
manly arts of boxing and swordplay; and they both, in their different ways,
were actively involved with the Theatre Royal at Drury Lane. Ellys owned
shares in the patent of the theater where Fielding was house playwright; and
in September of this year of 1732, when Robert Wilks, one of the famous
"triumvirate" of patentees died (the others being Colley Cibber and Barton
Booth), Ellys would act as deputy for Wilks's widow in managing the theater.
Twenty years later, in the Covent-Garden Journal (29 August 1752), Fielding's
playful reference to Ellys in his capacity as keeper of the lions at the
Tower suggests that their friendship lasted.
Fielding was a generous man who "loved" his friends (his own word in
a letter to Lyttelton on behalf of Edward Moore). It would be like him to
write a poem celebrating Ellys's talents, especially at a time when Ellys was
being ignored by critics and fellow artists alike. In a verse epistle to Bartholomew
Dandridge in 1731, Joseph Mitchell had ranked that painter near
the top of a list of fifteen contemporary "British Masters" from which Ellys
was conspicuously excluded; and in his notebook for August 1731, George
Vertue, in a similar list of gifted painters, also named Dandridge, but not
Ellys. The poet of the "Epistle to Ellys," aiming to redress such slights, opens
by declaring that lesser painters than his friend owe their inflated reputations
chiefly to the influence of their sponsors: Charles Jervas to the praise of Pope,
his friend and pupil; Bartholomew Dandridge to the puffing of (most likely)
Lord Barrington, for whom he had this year painted a much admired equestrian
portrait of the Prince of Wales. In contrast, these verses to Ellys, inspired
by an "impartial Muse," are meant to "raise / A juster Trophy to thy
Pencil's Praise"—"an honest Tribute . . . / Pay'd by a greater Friend to Truth
than thee."
It would be quite in character, then, for Fielding to pay this tribute to
Ellys; that he indeed wrote the poem may be confidently inferred from evidence
in the text itself. The evidence, however, cannot include the compliments
paid, in order, to Sir Charles Wager (1666-1743), admiral; Anne
Lennox (1703-89), countess of Albemarle; Benjamin Hoadly (1676-1761),
bishop of Salisbury; William Wake (1657-1737), archbishop of Canterbury;
and "th' undaunted Gladiator" James Figg (d. 1734). Fielding, of course,
knew both Hoadly and Figg and elsewhere compliments them in his writings
for their different qualities; but, as the footnote states, all these figures are
in the poem because Ellys painted their portraits. Other compliments in the
poem, however, are all to persons whom Fielding admired and praised: the
Duke of Argyll (or Argyle, as Fielding spelled it); the Duke and Duchess of
Richmond, his patrons; Lady Mary Chambers and the Countess of Shaftesbury;
his brilliant cousin, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu; and, finally, the
prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, Lady Mary's friend and now Fielding's
benefactor. Two other allusions—to the doting "Leander" and "the comic
Phiz of M—" —were likely brought to mind by the recent successful production
of Fielding's play, The Mock Doctor. And "Dorinda," the poet's
"Epistle to Lyttleton." Relevant details for all these will be found in the
notes to the text.
From the evidence presented, there should be little doubt that, considered
separately, the "Epistle to Ellys" and the preceding prose "Observations
on Government, etc." are by Fielding. Moreover, because we are assured
by Cooke, editor of The Comedian, that both pieces are by the same "Friend,"
the force of the evidence is doubled.
An Epistle to Mr. Ellys the Painter.
While Jervass lives in Pope's admiring Song,[58]And Dandridge borrows Fame from B—n's Tongue,[59]
Shall no impartial Muse, my Ellys, raise
A juster Trophy to thy Pencil's Praise?
To others while fictitious Charms they give,
Shall real Worth[60] in thee neglected live?
Tho thou can'st need no Monument of mine,
Tho on thy Canvas best thy Beautys shine,
O! let this Verse an honest Tribute be,
Pay'd by a greater Friend to Truth than thee.
When (the great Work of thine excelling Hand!)
We see the well-known Nymph or Hero stand,
Where thoughtful [61] Wager wakes to guard our Isle,
Where [62] Albemarle enchants us with a Smile,
In [63] Hoadley where, and [64] Wake's just Features, shine
All the great Symptoms of their Souls divine,
While skillful you each Passion's Mark unfold,
We gaze, nor ask whose Pictures we behold:
Nor is your Powr to these great Themes confin'd;
You know to paint each Passion of the Mind:[65]
Behold th' undaunted[66] Gladiator there;
How just his Posture! and how fierce his Air!
Behold his Looks impatient for the Fight;
Cowards would fly, Argyle[67] approve, the Sight!
Equal with thine no other Art we view,
Who know'st decaying Nature to renew,
Can'st Death's lamented Triumphs render vain,
And bid departed Beauty live again.
Here the fond Parent[68] of his Child bereft
May view at least the much lov'd Image left.
Leander[69] here, when Melesinda's coy,
Doats on the smiling Object of his Joy:
And far, alas! by cruel Fate remov'd,
Here, in the slightest Sketch, I fondly trace
All the dear Sweetness of Dorinda's [70] Face:[71]
Tho Parents, Fortune, and tho she, conspire
To keep far from me all my Soul's Desire,
Still shall my ravish'd Eyes their Darling see,
If not so beauteous, look more kind thro thee.
O! let thine Art on future Times bestow
Those Beautys which our own to Nature owe:
Be no Lourissa on thy Canvas seen;
Nor draw the comic Phiz[72] of M—[73]
How Nature errs let other Pencils tell;
Shew thine, more noble, how she can excel:
Shew Richmond's happy Pair[74] in Love entwin'd,
Both grac'd alike in Person and in Mind;
Well will such Subjects all thy Powrs engage,
Honours to thee, and Glorys of their Age.
While Hope of Gain the venal Fancy warms,
The Painter often gives, not copys, Charms;
But thou such wretched Compliments refrain;
Who would paint S—l lovely paints in vain.
Let perfect Art, like thine, those Subjects chuse
Where bounteous Nature hath been most profuse:
At Chambers[75] still thine Art incessant try,
At Shaftsb'ry's Mien,[76] and Wortley's radiant Eye;[77]
And, while some future Dryden[78] shall relate
What Walpole[79] was, how wise, humane, and great,
O! may the Patriot's mighty Image shine,
In future Ages, by no Hand but thine.
Which uninstructed Beauty can't bestowe.
What they Should prove, Coquettes and Prudes shall see;
And what She is, Dorinda read, in thee.
(Grundy, p. 240)
"Pope's admiring Song": Pope's verse epistle to the painter Charles Jervas, his friend and teacher in the art of painting, was published in 1716. In his unpublished cantos burlesquing the Dunciad (1729/30) HF, mocking Pope and his verse form, describes the palace of the god of Rhime: "With J[ervas'] Paintings all the Walls were hung" (Grundy, p. 226). Perhaps to please his cousin Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (see below, n. 14), among whose papers the manuscript of the cantos was found, HF in this early period was critical of Pope, who also appears as Codrus, Juvenal's poor poet, both in the cantos and in HF's poem "To John Hayes, Esq." (Misc1, pp. 51-53), published in 1743 but written earlier.
"Dandridge . . . B—n's Tongue": Bartholomew Dandridge (1691-c. 1755), painter, who, like Ellys, studied under Kneller and was Ellys's more successful rival for fame. The poet most likely refers to Dandridge's having this year painted for William Wildman, viscount Barrington (1717-93), an equestrian portrait of Frederick, Prince of Wales, which was highly praised. (See George Vertue, Vertue Note Books, vol. 3, The Walpole Society, 22 [1933-34], p. 57.) If Barrington is meant, the long dash concealing the name prevents spoiling the meter with an eleventh syllable.
"paint each Passion of the Mind": Cf. HF's "To John Hayes, Esq." (Misc1, p. 52), referring to Titian's skill: "So the Great Artist diff'ring Passions joins, / And Love with Hatred, Fear with Rage combines."
"Argyle": John Campbell (1680-1743), second duke of Argyll (or Argyle, as HF invariably spelled the name). As brigadier general he served courageously in Marlborough's campaigns, in which HF's father also took part; and as commander of the forces in north Britain, he was instrumental in suppressing the Jacobite rebellion of 1715. In 1732 and for some time after, he was a member of Walpole's administration, but by 1740 he was in Opposition. He was for HF the very type of the man of courage: see Ch (29 Jan. 1739/40); TG (Misc1, pp. 25, 28), and EC (Misc1, p. 152). Argyll subscribed to HF's Miscellanies (1743), a set on royal paper.
"fond Parent": JA (IV.xvi) "their fond Parents" (p. 344); TJ (VII.vi) "that fond Parent" (p. 346); Am (III.xi) "a fond Parent" (p. 141).
"Leander": The name HF gave to Charlotte's true love in The Mock Doctor, which opened at Drury Lane on 23 June of this year.
"Dorinda's Face": Dorinda, the poet's (unusual) name for a certain "Miss D. W." for whom he sighs in vain, was also at about this time the name HF gave to the woman he loved. In his unpublished verse "Epistle to Lyttleton," written in March or April 1733, he would pay "Dorinda" a pretty compliment. Referring to Lyttelton's poem Advice to a Lady (Feb. 1733), he substitutes her name for that of Lyttelton's heroine, Belinda:
"Phiz": HF often used this colloquial abbreviation for "physiognomy": Ma (p. 9), AF (III, p. 76), US (8 Oct. 1737, New Essays, p. 542), PRS (Misc1, p. 195), JJ (23 Jan. 1748, p. 138).
"M—": Most likely a reference to Dr. John Misaubin, a French physician practising medicine in London, who trumpeted the virtues of his pills as a cure for venereal disease. In April 1732 Hogarth, a close friend of Fielding and Ellys, captured his "comic Phiz" in Plate 5 of A Harlot's Progress, where he is the thin quack who quarrels with his portly colleague Dr. Rock about which of their nostrums is the more efficacious. The book of HF's Mock Doctor (published 11 July 1732) is dedicated to Misaubin, and in the play itself Gregory (played by Theophilus Cibber) impersonates him when he poses as a French physician. Later, Misaubin's incompetence and vanity are mocked in TJ (V.vii, pp. 240-241 and XIII.ii, p. 688).
"Richmond's happy Pair": Charles Lennox (1701-50), second duke of Richmond, and his wife Sarah (1706-51). HF dedicated to him both his comedy The Miser (staged at Drury Lane in Feb. 1733, published 13 Mar.) and his poem Of Good Nature (Misc1, p. 30), and paid him another compliment in Letter XLI of Sarah Fielding's Familiar Letters (1747). In Of Good Nature, HF also admires the beauty of the duchess, whom he links, as in this poem, with the Countess of Shaftesbury, praising "Shaftsb'ry's Air" and admiring "the Snow that whitens Richmond's Breast" (Misc1, p. 35); in "The Queen of Beauty" she is the most beautiful woman at Court (Misc1, p. 79). In the "Epistle to Lyttleton" (written Mar.Apr. 1733) the Duchess of Richmond and Countess of Shaftesbury again appear together and are joined, as here, by Lady Mary Chambers: "Thine [Lyttelton] be the pleasing Task to Form the Fair, / To join a Chamber's Soul with Shaftsb'ry's Air," while "Richmond leads in Triumph all Mankind" (p. 240). The duchess was a subscriber to HF's Miscellanies.
"Chambers": Lady Mary (d. 1735), daughter of the second earl of Berkeley and wife of Thomas Chambers. In the "Epistle to Lyttleton" (Grundy, p. 240), as here, she is complimented together with the Countess of Shaftesbury and the Duchess of Richmond.
"Shaftsb'ry's Mien": Susanna Cooper, neé Noel (d. 1758), wife of the fourth earl of Shaftesbury, who, as first cousin to James Harris of Salisbury, was on friendly terms with HF. In his poem Of Good Nature, "Shaftsb'ry's Air" complements the Duchess of Richmond's snow white breast (see above, note 11). In HF's "Epistle to Lyttleton" (1733), all four of the "Ellys" poet's beauties are complimented: Shaftesbury, Richmond, Lady Mary Chambers, and HF's cousin Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (Grundy, pp. 240-241); for the last see note 14 below. The countess returned HF's compliments by subscribing to two sets of the Miscellanies (1743) on royal paper.
"Wortley's . . . Eye": Lady Mary Wortley Montagu (1689-1762), HF's second cousin, among whose papers Isobel Grundy discovered the unpublished manuscripts of his burlesque of Pope's Dunciad (1729/30) and the "Epistle to Lyttleton" (Mar.-Apr. 1733), where will be found HF's compliments to Lady Mary's "Eyes" as well as to the other three beauties mentioned by the "Ellys" poet (see above, notes 11-13). Indeed, HF's purpose in writing the "Epistle to Lyttleton" was to defend his cousin from Pope's slanders on her character in his First Satire of the Second Book of Horace Imitated (published 15 Feb. 1733). HF had dedicated to her his first play, Love in Several Masques (1728), and at his request she would later criticize an early draft of The Modern Husband (1732).
"Dryden": John Dryden (1631-1700). HF appreciated Dryden's greatness as a poet (see TG, in Misc1, p. 24), and, in a metaphorical history of the progress of wit in England, HF crowns him "King" of the period of the Restoration (CGJ [21 Mar. 1752], p. 153).
"Walpole": Sir Robert Walpole (1676-1745), prime minister. For a brief summary of HF's relations with Walpole from the beginning of his literary career to this year of 1732, see the introduction to this essay. The first clear sign of his gratitude for Walpole's patronage was HF's fulsome dedication of The Modern Husband to him (Feb. 1732). More expansively and in prose, the Dedication anticipates the language of these concluding lines of the "Epistle to Ellys," where the poet lauds the prime minister for being "wise, humane, and great" and calls him "the Patriot." The lines are an abridgment in verse of the close of the Dedication, where "The Muses" (perhaps through "some future Dryden," as the "Ellys" poet foresees) "shall remember . . . the wise Statesman[,] the generous Patron, the stedfast Friend, and the true Patriot; but above all that Humanity and Greatness of Temper, which shine thro' all your Actions."
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