University of Virginia Library

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Life and Works of Henry Fielding

"THE exquisite performances of the statuary and the painter are mouldered into dust but Praxiteles and Zeuxis will always live to fame, for the pencil of literature paints to distant ages, and its colours fade not amidst the revolutions of time." Such is the language of an anonymous critic, who probably caught his inspiration front that delightful chapter of Willmott's[1] entitled "The Long Life of Books," in which the distinguished writer points out the enduring nature of the masterpieces of literature. The sentiment is elegant and correct. Some pictures, drawn by the pen will outlive the choicest specimens upon canvas. The richness of an image, or a thought in Homer or Shakespeare, mellows with the lapse of time, whilst the tints fade from a painting by Raffaelle or Claude. Choice sentences need no restoration - they are safe even from the predatory pen of the critic. Thus a gem of thought, once set in words, retains its lustre inidiminished, and descends as a sacred heir-loom from generation to generation. Such a treasure is the glowing and picturesque language in -which Edward Gibbon enshrined tile fame and the memory of England's first and greatest delineator of life and manners-Henry Fielding' "Our immortal Fielding was of the younger branch of tile Earls of'Denbigh, who drew their origin from the Counts of Hapsburg, the lineal descendants of Eltrico, in the seventh century Duke of Alsace. Far different have been the fortunes of the English and German divisions of the family of Hapsburg : the former, the knights and sheriffs of Leicestershire, have slowly risen to the dignity of a peerage; the latter, the emperors of Germany, and the kings of Spain, have threatened the liberties of the Old, and invaded the treasures of the New World. The successors of Charles V. may disdain their brethren in England; but the romance of 'Tom Jones' that exquisite picture of humour and manners-will outlive the palace of the Escurial and the imperial Eagle of Austria." Even Gibbon could turn aside from graver and more learned labours to pay a tribute to the genius of one whose works bad probably charmed many a weary hour in his own chequered existence. The historian of the "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" was not insensible to the amenities of literature; and his own frequent afflictions taught him to value the better productions of those who wrote for the amusement, as well as for the instruction of mankind.

The founder of the English family settled in this country in the thirteenth century, when he assumed the name of Fielding. His descendants distinguished themselves in the wars of the Roses, whilst in the great struggle between the Cavaliers and the Roundheads, in the reign of Charles I., a father and son of this house held commands upon opposite sides. In 1620, Sir William Fielding was created a Baron and Viscount; and in 1622 he was made Earl of Denbigh. He died fighting bravely for his sovereign in 1643. His second son, George, true to the royal cause, was created Earl of Desmond, and this nobleman's youngest son, John Fielding, Canon of Salisbury, was the novelist's grandfather. This distinguished churchman, at one time chaplain to William III., left a numerous family, of which the youngest boy, Edmund, a soldier, who served under the great Marlborough, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant General, was the father of Henry Fielding, the subject of this short memoir.

The general had two wives: the first, the daughter of Judge Gould, bore him six children, two boys and four girls. Of these, Henry Fielding, the eldest son, was born at Sharpham Park, near Glastonbury, in Somersetshire; on the 22nd of April, 1707. His education commenced at home, under the direction of the Rev. Mr. Oliver, the family chaplain. This individual is said to have furnished the original of Parson Trulliber, in "Joseph Andrews." If the portrait be correct, he must have been a person of rather extraordinary dimensions; for the novelist describes Parson Trulliber as one of the largest specimens of his species, a man that "could have acted the part of Sir John Falstaff without stuffing." From this and other references to his early instructor, we can readily imagine that he afforded a constant fund of amusement to the boy, and, no doubt, in after-life, furnished him with the outline of many of his most humorous sketches.

As soon as he had made sufficient progress in his studies, Henry Fielding was sent to Eton, where he numbered amongst his school companions, Pitt and Fox (afterwards the great ornaments of the English Senate), Lord Lyttleton and Sir Charles Hanbury Williams, who became his constant friends. His application to his studies is said to have been creditable to himself and honourable to the establishment; and as he was destined by his father for the Bar, on quitting Eton he proceeded to the University of Leyden. Here he studied civil law diligently for two years; but pecuniary supplies suddenly ceased, and he was compelled to return to his own country.

Thus at the age of twenty was Henry Fielding cast, almost without pecuniary resources, into the vortex of London life. His person was tall, handsome, and commanding; his manners and bearing were calculated to make a favourable impression upon those with whom he came in contact, if not to conciliate esteem; and he possessed a keen relish for the pleasures of society. Live he must, by some means or other; and as his father, the general, had married again, and was unable to remit the allowance of two hundred per annum, which he had promised his son for his maintenance the young man turned his attention towards the drama.

Murphy divides this author's genius into what he terms three epochs; in which he traces an exact correspondence. These are represented by "Joseph Andrews," "Tom Jones," and "Amelia." He says, "In the progress of Henry Fielding's talents, there seem to have been three remarkable periods; one, when his genius broke forth at once with an effulgence, superior to all the rays of light it had before emitted, like the sun in his morning glory, without the ardour and the blaze which afterwards attend him; the second, when it was displayed with collected force, and a fulness of perfection, like the sun in meridian majesty, with all his highest warmth and splendour; and the third, when the same genius, grown more cool and temperate, still continued to cheer and enliven, but showed, at the same time, that it was tending to its decline; like the same sun, abating from his ardour, but still gilding the western hemisphere."[2]

With due deference to the views of this author, we cannot regard this division as a happy one, more particularly as it does not include that important period in Fielding's career, when he laboured most strenuously to obtain a position in literature as a dramatic writer, for which he showed an aptitude of no common order.

Taking his manhood and the progress of his genius together, we, like Murphy, would divide his career into three separate portions, but in a manner not adopted by any of his biographers. During the first of these, which lasted from his appearance as a dramatic author in 1728, to his admission as a student of the Middle Temple in 1737, his object seems to have been to obtain a livelihood by devoting himself almost entirely to dramatic composition. In the second, from 1737 till the publication of "Joseph Andrews," in 1742, he sought to achieve the same result by the legal profession, although even during this interval he did not entirely abandon his literary pursuits; and in the third, from 1742 till his death, in 1754, he appears to have discovered the true bent of his genius,-to have become distinguished as a writer of fiction, while he also obtained a certain position in his profession.

When Henry Fielding commenced his career as a dramatic author, the prospects of the English stage were by no means encouraging. It was, indeed, one of the most gloomy periods in its annals; for although the theatres occasionally prospered, a false taste prevailed, to which a new and young author ran imminent risk of sacrificing the real vigour or originality of whatever genius he might possess. Unless such an aspirant had previously formed his style after the standard of the best models of a better age, was firmly resolved to resist every temptation to pander to the degenerate taste of the public, and possessed genius and influence sufficient to command the reception of his productions, he was certain to fall into the snare. The plays of William Shakespeare had been mutilated, for no audience could then be induced to listen to these wonderful productions in their original form; and while the comedies of Wycherley, Congreve, Vanburgh, and Farquhar, kept possession of the stage, and were looked upon as masterpieces, we can scarcely feel surprised that Colley Cibber and other diminutives should have ruled paramount in the domain of Thalia.

Fielding's first comedy, "Love in Several Masques," was brought out in February, 1728, before its author had attained his majority. It is evidently framed, as the author himself admits in his preface, upon the model of Congreve. Fielding never succeeded in shaking off those fetters, which cramped his powers and rendered all his attempts to obtain success as a dramatic author futile. Had he sought to reform the stage, instead of pandering to the false taste of the age, he might have written comedies that would have become stock pieces, for he possessed considerable ability for dramatic composition, and a knowledge of character that must, had it been properly cultivated, have proved a rich and profitable vein. The comedy was favourably received: nor can this be ascribed solely to the admirable acting, and great popularity of Mrs. Oldfield, who played the part of the heroine, for it contains many admirable scenes, and is, with all its defects, infinitely preferable to many of the popular pieces of that day. It was afterwards published and dedicated to the author's relation, Lady Mary Wortley Montague, who seems to have entertained a high opinion of his abilities, and, at a later period, even ranked him with Congreve.

The drama was not, however, the sphere in which Henry Fielding was destined to win renown; and although he produced a great number of pieces for the stage, of various kinds and very different degrees of merit, these are mostly forgotten; while those charming pictures of life and manners, "Tom Jones," and "Amelia," have kept here his fame as a writer of fiction alive to this hour. Soon after the appearance of his first comedy, the metropolis was thrown into an extraordinary state of excitement, by the production of "The Beggar's Opera," written by Gay, said to have been the most popular performance ever known upon the English stage. It was brought out at the theatre in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and its success, for a time, cast everything else, more particularly in the theatrical world, into the shade. Ladies had the favourite airs of the piece printed upon their fans; a performance by children was got up, for the especial gratification of the juvenile portion of the community, and even the actors obtained increased salaries. Miss Fenton, the original Polly Peachum, in that character completely carried the town captive, won the heart of a peer, and became Duchess of Bolton.

Lord Stanhope (Hist. of England, from the Peace of Utrecht to that of Versailles, vol. ii. chap. xviii. p. 230) says, with reference to this remarkable production: "Gay soon afterwards joined the opposition, and declared his quarrel by the production of the "Beggar's Opera;" teeming with satirical strokes against the court and government. The name of 'Bob Booty,' for example, always raised a laugh, being understood as levelled at Sir Robert Walpole. The first idea of the play seems to have sprung from a suggestion of Swift,[3] but the praise of its execution belongs entirely to Gay. Its brilliant success (it was acted for sixty-three nights without intermission) may be ascribed, in some degree, like that of 'Cato,' under Queen Anne, to party zeal; yet the pleasure with which it is still seen upon the stage is a proof of its real merit."

Fielding did not, however, lay aside his pen. In 1730, his second comedy, "The Temple Beau," was brought out at Goodman's Fields. It had but a short run, in consequence of the sudden closing of the theatre. Between his first appearance as a dramatic author and the year 1737, when he became a law student, Fielding wrote no less than twenty-three pieces for the stage, most of them comedies and farces. Only one of these, a burlesque, entitled "The Tragedy of Tragedies; or, the Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great," proved decidedly successful. It was first played in 1730, and was intended to ridicule the bombastic and inflated style of the popular tragedies of the day. Indeed, many of the best hits consisted of lines taken, almost verbatim, from the productions of those authors whom Fielding wished to ridicule. So great was the success of this burlesque, that, although written in one act, it was afterwards enlarged to three; and it still retains a certain measure of its popularity. The other pieces, which met with the best reception, were two translations, the one of Molière's "Le Médecin malgré lui," produced under the title of the "Mock Doctor; or, the Dumb Lady Cured," and the other of "L'Avare," by the same author, which appeared in its English garb under the name of " The Miser."

An interruption, however, occurred in Fielding's career as a dramatist, in which he married and endeavoured to adapt himself to the manners and pursuits of a country life. Very little is known concerning the courtship. The lady's name was Cradock, she was one of the reigning belles of Salisbury, and, in addition to her personal charms, possessed a small fortune. The union was celebrated in 1735, and the married couple took up their abode on a small estate, at East Stour, in Dorsetshire. Here Fielding assumed a new character,-that of a country squire. He kept horses and hounds, gave grand entertainments; but not having means to support this extravagant outlay, when the day of reckoning arrived, the dream faded.

In 1736 Fielding reappeared in London, with an additional stimulus to exertion, having a wife and child dependent upon him, and various schemes in his head for obtaining a livelihood. A theatrical speculation allured him once more from the law, in which profession he was seriously disposed to endeavour to make his way. At that time Sir Robert Walpole's corrupt system was at its height; the powerful politician was attacked on all sides, and Fielding conceived the idea of aiming a blow at the minister, by means of a satirical drama. For this purpose be obtained possession of the Haymarket Theatre, collected a company of actors, which he himself designated the "Great Mogul's Company of Comedians," and produced "Pasquin, a dramatic Satire on the Times." The satire took famously, and in 1737 Fielding repeated the experiment, and brought out another, called "The Historical Register for 1736." This was also successful, indeed too successful, for the popularity of the piece attracted the attention of ministers, who took the alarm, and passed the Licensing Act; thus placing theatrical establishments more directly under their control. The alteration in the law proved a death-blow to Fielding's scheme of establishing a place of public amusement upon entirely novel principles. Once more he directed his attention to the legal profession, and at Michaelmas, 1737, entered as a student of the Middle Temple, and with this event, the first of the three periods into which we have divided his career terminates.

There can be little doubt that Henry Fielding applied himself diligently to his law studies. In June, 1740, he was called to the Bar, took chambers in Pump Court, and at once commenced practice on the Western circuit. Although during this interval he completely renounced dramatic composition, be did not on that account give up his literary labours. In the "Champion," a periodical on the model of the "Spectator," he had a share, and contributed largely to its columns; whilst he also became involved in a paper war with Colley Cibber, and published one or two political and satirical pamphlets. Briefs did not come in so rapidly as the young barrister anticipated; and perhaps, had he been a successful lawyer, he would not have achieved a reputation as a writer of fiction. Fielding still devoted his leisure to literature, and in the mouth of February, 1742, his first novel," The Adventures of Joseph Andrews, and his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams," made its appearance. With this new experiment the second portion of his career terminated, and we must glance at the origin and history of this remarkable production before proceeding further.

The first part of Richardson's "Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded," appeared in 1740; and although tinged with a very questionable morality, and by no means possessed of great merits, the work created a most extraordinary sensation. Fielding saw the mistakes committed by the writer, and at once resolved to turn them to account. Such was the origin of his first novel. Whilst labouring at this new vein of invention, he kept his great model Cervantes in his mind, and the consequence was, that he produced the best work of fiction that had up to that period been written in the English language. Its success was extra ordinary, and even rivalled that of "Pamela," the work which bad called it into existence. This novel is a vivid picture of English life and manners, written in a graceful style, and enriched with excellent portraits and descriptions. The characters are admirably drawn and sustained, and one in particular, the Rev. Abraham Adams, is said to have been sketched from his own friend, the Rev. William Young, who had assisted him in a translation of the comedy of "Plutus," from the Greek of Aristophanes. At any rate, it is one of the finest creations in English literature: it soon became a universal favourite, and no doubt furnished Oliver Goldsmith with a hint for his Dr. Primrose, in the "Vicar of Wakefield."

This brings us to the third and closing portion of Fielding's career. The success of "Joseph Andrews" induced him once more to devote his attention almost exclusively to literature. Two more pieces from his pen were produced upon the stage in 1742, the first being a farce, "Miss Lucy in Town," which was brought out at Drury Lane. Kitty Clive created a sensation in the character of the heroine; but after the eighth night of representation, further performance was prohibited by order of the Lord Chamberlain. The new law was now in force, and Fielding severely punished for the licence in which be bad, at an earlier period, indulged. His last dramatic effort was "The Wedding Day," a comedy written many years before, and now performed in a very rough state, at the request of Garrick, at that time rising into fame. This eminent actor had formed an intimacy with Fielding, and he expressed a generous wish to appear in a new play of his production. Although supported by Garrick, Peg Woffington, Macklin, and other accomplished artists, it proved a failure, and Fielding did nothing more for the drama.

The winter of 1742-43 was a gloomy one for Fielding. His wife fell seriously ill,-his child also sickened,-and the subject of our memoir had an attack of the gout. Still he struggled on, and published three volumes of "Miscellanies," consisting of various pieces in prose and verse. The first volume is composed of a number of articles, and some poems, of no particular merit. "A Journey from this World to the Next," in the second, contains excellent passages, and is a very admirably contrived satire, though in a fragmentary state. The third volume is entirely taken up with the " History of the Life of the late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great," the least successful of Fielding's works of fiction. Perhaps the satirical nature of this production destroyed its charm; for although it contains much forcible writing, abounds in humour as well as satire, and great ability is displayed in the construction of the story, it is by no means a general favourite.

In 1743 Fielding lost an affectionate wife, who had lightened the heavy burden of a chequered existence; and from this blow he never entirely recovered. Her memory seemed ever present to him; and the beautiful portrait he has given the world, in "Amelia," shows how firmly she sat enthroned in his heart. As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to resume his occupations, he resolved upon following his profession more zealously. In 1744 be wrote an introduction for "David Simple," a novel, first published anonymously. It was composed by his sister Sarah; and for the second edition, the novelist penned his preface. During the troubles of 1745-46, he published a journal, called "The True Patriot," which expired with the cause that produced it, in the following year.

About this time Fielding contracted a second marriage, with Mary Macdaniel; the faithful servant and constant friend of the first Mrs. Fielding. Even in this act, Fielding showed the depth of his affection for the woman he had lost; the veneration of the servant for her late mistress, and her attention to her child, won the widower's heart, and induced him to make her his wife. In 1747 Fielding started another political paper, called "The Jacobite Journal," which was discontinued towards the end of 1748, at which period, through the influence of his old school-fellow at Eton, George Lyttleton, one of the Lords of the Treasury, he was made a Justice of the Peace for Middlesex and Westminster. When the novelist received this appointment, these magistrates were in the habit of taking bribes, and were hence called "trading magistrates." This course Fielding honourably refused to adopt, and be relates in his "Journal to Lisbon," that although he had much to do, the amount of his fees was so small (about £300 per annum), that he could not maintain himself, in a manner becoming his station, without having recourse to other sources of emolument.

Our author had long been employed upon another fiction, and on the 28th of February, 1749, his great work, "The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling," first appeared. Its success was most decided; and has never waned. Amid changes in public taste, and the rise and fall of various popular styles, "Tom Jones" has firmly held its ground. It has been translated into almost every language in Europe; and to this day retains its proud position as the masterpiece of English novels. It cannot be necessary to sketch the plot of a work to which this short notice is prefixed: the reader will sit down at the literary banquet himself, and thus obtain some idea of its merits. We have already quoted Edward Gibbon's glowing eulogium; and few writers that have since won a distinguished place in English literature, have omitted to pay their tribute of praise and admiration to the superior excellence of this delightful fiction. Sir Walter Scott, the great novelist of this century, says, "Even Richardson's novels are but a step from the old romance, approaching, indeed, more nearly to the ordinary course of events, but still dealing in improbable incidents, and in characters swelled out beyond the ordinary merits of humanity. The 'History of a Foundling' is truth, and human nature itself; and there lies the inestimable advantage which it possesses over all previous fictions of this particular kind."

In 1749 Fielding was unanimously elected chairman at the sessions, which entailed upon him the duty of attending at the bench, as well as at Bow Street. Though zealous in the discharge of his public duties, he was frequently kept a, prisoner by his old enemy the gout. In addition to "Tom Jones," he, in 1749, published a charge to the Grand Jury, and an account of the case of one, Penlez, a Jew, which then attracted considerable attention.

"Amelia" was published towards the end of 1751, but did not prove so successful as its predecessor, "Tom Jones," although the publisher, by a clever expedient, managed to get rid of the first impressions very rapidly. For the latter, Fielding received no less than £700, and for "Amelia," the same publisher paid £1,000. It is said to have been the only work published in England, for which a second edition was called in the evening of the day on which the first was issued. Even Dr. Johnson, who had before been insensible to Fielding's merits as a writer of fiction, at once recognized the excellence of this beautiful picture of female devotion. Murphy sums up its merits thus:--"The author's invention in this performance does not appear to have lost its fertility; his judgment, too, seems as strong as ever; but the warmth of imagination is abated; and, in his landscapes or his scenes of life, Mr. Fielding is no longer the colourist he was before. The personages of the piece delight too much in narrative, and their characters have not those touches of singularity, those specific differences, which are so beautifully marked in our author's former works: of course the humour, which consists in happy delineations of the caprices and predominant foibles of the human mind, loses here its high flavour and relish. And yet 'Amelia' holds the same proportion to 'Tom Jones,' that the Odyssey of Homer bears, in the estimation of Longinus, to the Iliad. A fine vein of morality runs through the whole; many of the situations are affecting and tender; the sentiments are delicate: and, upon the whole, it is the Odyssey, the moral and pathetic work of Henry Fielding." It is a book in all respects worthy to take its place by the side of "Tom Jones;" and, as a faithful picture of English life and manners, with the charming portrait of a true and affectionate wife, can never be surpassed.

This was indeed a fitting memorial for Fielding to hang as the crowning chaplet on the column of his literary fame. It was his last production in fiction. "The Covent Garden Journal" was published in 1752, and provoked the ire of Tobias Smollett, then just rising into notice. This was followed by one or two pamphlets relating to Law Reports, and "A Proposal for Making an Effectual Provision for the Poor," which appeared in 1753.

Zealous in the public service, Henry Fielding was at length compelled to succumb. Unwilling to leave his post whilst his energies remained, and anxious to disperse a gang of villains and cut-throats who then infested the metropolis, he struggled on for some time, but in vain. The symptoms of dropsy, jaundice, and asthma revealed themselves in his shattered frame; and in the severe winter of 1753-54 he was compelled to retire from the active performance of his duties and repair to Bath. The trip did not restore him; and early in 1754 he underwent the operation of tapping, which afforded him some relief. In May he removed to a small cottage at Ealing, hoping to derive benefit from the change of air, A warmer climate was, however, recommended, and on the 26th of June, he embarked with his wife and eldest daughter, on board a small trading vessel bound for Lisbon. Of that voyage he has left an account, published in 1755, under the title of "The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon." The vessel was detained some time in the Channel by contrary winds, and the travellers were compelled to disembark at Ryde, where they remained nearly, a fortnight, having been victimized by a grasping landlady, whilst the declining strength of the dying man was sorely taxed by these delays. They had scarcely set sail from Ryde, when the gale increased, and they again sought refuge, but this time at Torbay. Here Fielding made a purchase of three hogsheads of cider, two of which were sent as a present to some friends in England, and the other was taken to Lisbon ; and he tasted, for the first time in his life, a John Dorée, with which delicacy he was quite enraptured; all of which matters are duly recorded in his "Journal."

Having been tossed about in the Bay of Biscay, the travellers reached Lisbon in safety towards the middle of August. In this delightful country his life ebbed gently away, and on the 8th of October, 1754, he expired without a groan, not having lived to complete his forty eighth year. His remains were interred in the burial-ground of the English Factory; and a monument was erected over his grave by the English residents at Lisbon. This having fallen into decay, was in 1830 restored; and the following inscription -placed upon it--"HENRICUS FIELDING LUGET BRITANNIA GREMI0 NON DATUM FOVERE." His widow and four children were provided for by the joint exertions of his half-brother, afterwards Sir John Fielding, and of that ornament to humanity, Ralph Allen, whom Pope immortalized in the oft-repeated lines

Twenty-four years afterwards, namely in 1778, Garrick obtained possession of the long-lost comedy, "The Fathers ; or, the Good-natured Man," written by Fielding during his career as a dramatic author, but never before performed. It was produced for the benefit of his family, and attracted a large audience. It was, however, only repeated nine times.

Such was the life, and such were the principal works of Henry Fielding. His thoughtlessness and want of prudence, in the earlier portion of his career, involved him in many difficulties, and clouded his prospects for a great part of his existence. Yet it must not be forgotten, that he applied himself diligently to his studies, both at Eton and the University of Leyden; and only relinquished them when the supplies from home ceased. This unfortunate circumstance entirely altered all his plans of life, and proved an obstacle in the way of his success. He possessed a noble heart and a nice sense of honour, which was not blunted even amid the scenes of temptation and vice in which the earlier portions of his career were passed. Few men emerged from such an ordeal in a more creditable manner.

As a painter of character and manners, Fielding remains to this day unrivalled. His fictions are genuine pictures of English life; there is not a shade nor a tint upon his canvas not truly natural. Byron styled him "the prose Homer of human nature;" Arthur Murphy calls him "the English Cervantes;" whilst another author declares that he drew with the descriptive fidelity of his friend and contemporary, Hogarth. Theman is seen in his works; and those who have read "Joseph Andrews," "Tom Jones," and "Amelia," will obtain a better idea of Henry Fielding, than any biographer could give them. This charming writer made his books the mirrors of his own soul; like it, they partake of the natural defects that pertain to things human but they are, for all that, healthy, noble, and elevating.

G. H. T. January 30, 1857.

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