The Covent-Garden Journal
Encyclopedia
The Covent-Garden Journal (modernised as The Covent Garden Journal) was an English literary periodical published twice a week for most of 1752. It was edited and almost entirely financed by novelist, playwright, and essayist Henry Fielding
, under the pseudonym "Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knt. Censor of Great Britain". It was Fielding's fourth and final periodical, and one of his last written works.
The Journal incited the "Paper War" of 1752–1753, a conflict between a number of contemporary literary critics and writers, which began after Fielding declared war on the "armies of Grub Street
" in the first issue. His proclamation attracted multiple aggressors and instigated a long-lasting debate argued in the pages of their respective publications. Initially waged for the sake of increasing sales, the Paper War ultimately became much larger than Fielding had expected and generated a huge volume of secondary commentary and literature. Further controversy erupted in June, when Fielding expressed support for a letter decrying the Government's 1752 Disorderly House Act in the Journal. His remarks were viewed by the public as an endorsement of the legality of prostitution
, and it soon became common opinion that the letter, initially attributed to a "Humphrey Meanwell", was in fact written by Fielding. Fielding refuted this assertion in the 1 August issue of the Journal, while labelling prostitutes a source of social evils.
The final issue of the Journal was released on 25 November 1752. In its last months, poor sales had resulted in a transition from biweekly to weekly release. Ill-health and a disinclination to continue led Fielding to end its run after the 72nd number. He died two years later while staying in Lisbon, Portugal.
The first mention of The Covent-Garden Journal dates to 5 December 1749, when a broadsheet pamphlet was printed with the name "The Covent-Garden JOURNAL. No 1. To be published'd Once every Month, during the present WESTMINSTER ELECTION by PAUL WRONGHEAD, of the Fleet, Esq." It was organized as a standard paper, with sections called "Introductory Essay", "Foreign Affairs", "Home Affairs", and "Advertisement". Published with a list of fake printers (T. Smith, R. Webb, and S. Johnson), it claimed that the sellers were "all the People of London and Westminster". It was later revealed that the paper was created as a hoax by the Duke of Bedford
to mock Sir George Vandeput, 2nd Baronet and his supporters.
The printer, Richard Francklin, ran off 13,000 copies on 5–6 December, only one of which still survives. Though the true author of the pamphlet remains uncertain, it was believed at the time to be Fielding's work; later critics, such as Martin and Ruthe Battestin, cite a letter written on behalf of the Duke of Richmond
that was used as evidence of Fielding's involvement. Dated 7 December 1749, the letter states: "The enclosed is a paper generally given to Mr. Fielding, as the author. The humor that is in it is at least akin to his. It may possibly divert you & your company." Fielding's authorship would have been limited to the paper's introduction, which was used to target prominent Tories like Paul Whitehead: a minor poet who had pseudonymously attacked Fielding before and was vocal on political issues.
In late 1751, just before the publication of his Amelia
, Fielding began plotting his next literary work. He expressed a desire to use a periodical to promote the Universal Register Office – a business which connected service providers with consumers – and his other activities and views. Alluding to the earlier publication, he gave it the title The Covent-Garden Journal, and announced in The Daily Advertiser
that the first number would be issued on 23 November 1751. The release was delayed until January because of work related to the publication of Amelia.
At the time of the Journals publication, Covent Garden
, although formally associated with the theatre industry, was more widely known as London's red light district
. Fielding had earlier written The Covent Garden Tragedy
, a mock-tragic play concerning the tale of two prostitutes.
The first number of the periodical was published on 4 January 1752, and sold at a price of three pence
. For most of the Journals run, it was issued twice a week, on Tuesday and Saturday. Each number consisted of an introductory remark or essay (written by Fielding), domestic and foreign news with annotations, advertisements, an obituary, a births and marriages panel, and other sundries. One section, titled "Covent Garden", concerned Fielding's position as a magistrate at Bow Street. The column ran in every issue until 27 June 1752, appearing irregularly thereafter. It dealt with crime and legal matters and provided insight into the cases that Fielding dealt with on a regular basis, but the presentation was less organized and more informal than standard legal records. Most of the information on the cases was provided by Joshua Brogden, one of Fielding's clerks.
Particularly in the opening comment and the news, Fielding injected a degree of wit or "liveliness" not seen in his previous publications; he stated in the first number that he planned to avoid the "dullness" seen in other contemporary periodicals:
Discussion in the Journal was chiefly concerned with matters of literary criticism and "the social and moral health of the body politic". Most of the opening essays took a decidedly unpolitical tone. Exceptions were those in numbers 42, 50 and 58. Number 42 mocked the Country Tories by imagining how an Ancient Greek or Roman would react to party politics: "...convey [him] to a Hunting-Match, or Horse Race, or any other Meeting of Patriots. Will he not immediately conclude from all the Roaring and Ranting, the Hallowing and the Hazzaing, the Gaming and Drinking, [...] that he is actually present at the Orgia of Bacchus, or the Celebration of some such Festival?" Number 50 blamed the growth of the London mob on poverty laws, and number 58 targeted the "Independent Electors of Westminster".
In his literary reviews, Fielding often wrote with a biased hand. For instance, he gave immoderate praise to Charlotte Lennox
's The Female Quixote
and Charles Macklin
's two-act comic play The Covent Garden Theatre, or Paquin Turn'd Drawcansir; Lennox and Macklin were long-time friends of Fielding, and Macklin's play was based on Fielding's life. Fielding had a noted tendency to be prejudiced toward certain authors too – Rabelais and Aristophanes
were always met harshly, while Jonathan Swift
, Cervantes
, and Lucian
were praised as a "great Triumvirate". Samuel Richardson
's Clarissa
– published in 1748 and one of the longest novels in the English language – is a noted exception: it was received well, even though Fielding considered Richardson a literary rival, and despite Richardson's calling the periodical "The Common Garden Journal". Fielding also lauded the work of friend William Hogarth
and poetry by Edward Young
, and promoted plays involving David Garrick
and James Lacy (among others).
Fielding frequently used the periodical to respond to criticism for his latest novel, Amelia, which was published in December 1751. The 25 and 28 January issues featured a section in which Amelias most outspoken critics were depicted on trial and in which Fielding systematically repudiated their respective complaints. "Councillor Town", the fictional prosecutor, summarised these complaints in saying, "The whole Book is a Heap of sad Stuff, Dulness, and Nonsense; that it contains no Wit, Humour, Knowledge of human Nature, or of the World; indeed, that the Fable, moral Character, Manners, Sentiments, and Diction, are all alike bad and contemptible." In his reply, Fielding posited a paternal relationship with Amelia, though conceded that it was not without flaws:
Fielding's efforts only attracted further criticism, eventually resulting in his promise "to write no more novels".
The first four numbers of the Journal featured Fielding's contributions to the "Paper War", a conflict he instigated with writers of other contemporary periodicals to generate sales. In the first number, along with the promise to avoid the dullness of other periodicals, Fielding confronted "the armies of Grub Street
" and proclaimed his disdain for the literary critics of the day: "As to my brother authors, who, like mere mechanics, are envious and jealous of a rival in their trade, to silence their jealousies and fears, I declare that it is not my intention to encroach on the business now carried on by them, nor to deal in any of those wares which they at present vend to the public." Also given in the inaugural number was "An introduction to a journal of the present paper-war between the forces under Sir Alexander Drawcansir, and the army of Grub Street", written in the tradition of Jonathan Swift
's Battle of the Books.
The main response to Fielding's words came from John Hill
, an English author, botanist, and literary critic who wrote a column called "The Inspector" in the London Daily Advertiser. Hill used this column approximately one week later to attack Fielding and criticise Amelia. Fielding replied in much the same fashion in the second issue of the Journal, while attempting to defend his novel. The two engaged in a sustained dispute, as each used their respective publication to joust with the other.
Several others were quick to join Hill in his criticism of Fielding and the Grub Street campaign. Bonnell Thornton
, a poet and essayist, was responsible for Have at you All; or, the Drury Lane Journal, a production that satirised Fielding and his works. Particular attention was paid to Amelia in Have at you All; the fifth number, for example, featured "a new chapter in Amelia, more witty than the rest, if the reader has but sense enough to find out the humour." On 15 January, Tobias Smollett
published a disparaging twenty-eight-page pamphlet entitled A Faithful Narrative of the base and inhuman Arts that were lately practised upon the Brain of Habbakuk Hilding, Justice, Dealer and Chapman, who now lies at his own House in Covent-Garden, in a deplorable State of Lunacy; a dreadful Monument of false Friendship and Delusion. The pamphlet was notorious for its viciousness, and variously accused "Habbakuk Hilding" (Fielding) of literary theft, scandalousness, and smuttiness, while deriding his marriage to Mary Daniels. It also posited that Fielding founded The Covent-Garden Journal to further the ambitions of politician and statesman George Lyttleton
, with whom Fielding had recently formed a friendship; the source of this inference remains unclear, since Lyttleton received no particular mention in the first few numbers.
Fielding withdrew from the conflict after the fourth number, for the "war" had become more personal and hostile than he had originally intended. Although The Covent-Garden Journal would no longer feature a section on the Paper War, a similar but more moderated commentary that Fielding termed the "Court of Criticism" later took its place. The Paper War continued without Fielding, ultimately embroiling a large number of other writers, among them Christopher Smart
, William Kenrick
, and Arthur Murphy
. Having generated a significant amount of secondary literature (including Smart's The Hilliad
and Charles Macklin's aforementioned The Covent Garden Theater, or Pasquin Turn'd Drawcansir), the Paper War ended without victor in 1753.
s. Three years later, a letter written by "Humphry Meanwell" voiced objection to the 1752 Disorderly House Act (25 Geo. II, c. 36), which was intended to remove prostitutes and brothels from Britain. The public soon associated this letter with Fielding; his publication of what was seen as an endorsement of the letter in the 22 June issue strengthened this feeling: "The following Letter which was sent to the Justice by an unknown Hand, hath been transmitted to us; and tho' perhaps some Points are carried a little too far, upon the whole I think it a very sensible Performance, and worthy the Attention of the Public." The text of the letter itself followed this note and was published in the "Covent Garden" section of the journal.
Fielding responded to the claims that he wrote the letter in the 1 August issue of the Journal. While acknowledging that his association with the letter had made him popular with prostitutes, he went on to accuse them of being a source for social evils:
Martin Battestin believes that this passage is indicative of the fact that while Fielding was opposed to prostitution, "when actually confronted with the pitiable wretches accused of such crimes and misdemeanors [...] he acted toward them with the compassion and good-humored tolerance that characterize the treatment of the 'lower orders' in his novels." To critic Lance Bertelsen, the passage "seems to reveal a lurking fascination with the oldest profession – one that, paired with his earlier endorsement of "Meanwell", suggests a writer oscillating between outrage and sympathy, humor and lechery."
Fielding died approximately two years later, his death caused by the gout and asthma that had, in part, compelled him to end the Journals run. In his final year, he travelled to Portugal
in the hope of recovery. He wrote an account of his travels during this time entitled The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, which was published in England in 1755. Fielding died in Lisbon
on 8 October 1754, and was buried in the Os Cyprestes cemetery, a local English burial ground.
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
, under the pseudonym "Sir Alexander Drawcansir, Knt. Censor of Great Britain". It was Fielding's fourth and final periodical, and one of his last written works.
The Journal incited the "Paper War" of 1752–1753, a conflict between a number of contemporary literary critics and writers, which began after Fielding declared war on the "armies of Grub Street
Grub Street
Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street...
" in the first issue. His proclamation attracted multiple aggressors and instigated a long-lasting debate argued in the pages of their respective publications. Initially waged for the sake of increasing sales, the Paper War ultimately became much larger than Fielding had expected and generated a huge volume of secondary commentary and literature. Further controversy erupted in June, when Fielding expressed support for a letter decrying the Government's 1752 Disorderly House Act in the Journal. His remarks were viewed by the public as an endorsement of the legality of prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, and it soon became common opinion that the letter, initially attributed to a "Humphrey Meanwell", was in fact written by Fielding. Fielding refuted this assertion in the 1 August issue of the Journal, while labelling prostitutes a source of social evils.
The final issue of the Journal was released on 25 November 1752. In its last months, poor sales had resulted in a transition from biweekly to weekly release. Ill-health and a disinclination to continue led Fielding to end its run after the 72nd number. He died two years later while staying in Lisbon, Portugal.
Background
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford
John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford KG, PC, FRS was an 18th century British statesman. He was the fourth son of Wriothesley Russell, 2nd Duke of Bedford, by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and heiress of John Howland of Streatham, Surrey...
to mock Sir George Vandeput, 2nd Baronet and his supporters.
The printer, Richard Francklin, ran off 13,000 copies on 5–6 December, only one of which still survives. Though the true author of the pamphlet remains uncertain, it was believed at the time to be Fielding's work; later critics, such as Martin and Ruthe Battestin, cite a letter written on behalf of the Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 2nd Duke of Richmond
The 2nd Duke of Richmond has been described as early cricket's greatest patron. Although he had played cricket as a boy, his real involvement began after he succeeded to the dukedom...
that was used as evidence of Fielding's involvement. Dated 7 December 1749, the letter states: "The enclosed is a paper generally given to Mr. Fielding, as the author. The humor that is in it is at least akin to his. It may possibly divert you & your company." Fielding's authorship would have been limited to the paper's introduction, which was used to target prominent Tories like Paul Whitehead: a minor poet who had pseudonymously attacked Fielding before and was vocal on political issues.
In late 1751, just before the publication of his Amelia
Amelia (novel)
Amelia is a sentimental novel written by Henry Fielding and published in December 1751. It was the fourth and final novel written by Fielding, and it was printed in only one edition while the author was alive, although 5,000 copies were published of the first edition. Amelia follows the life of...
, Fielding began plotting his next literary work. He expressed a desire to use a periodical to promote the Universal Register Office – a business which connected service providers with consumers – and his other activities and views. Alluding to the earlier publication, he gave it the title The Covent-Garden Journal, and announced in The Daily Advertiser
The Daily Advertiser
The Daily Advertiser is the regional newspaper which services Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Australia and much of the surrounding region. It is published Monday to Friday but also appears as a sister publication called The Weekend Advertiser on Saturdays...
that the first number would be issued on 23 November 1751. The release was delayed until January because of work related to the publication of Amelia.
At the time of the Journals publication, Covent Garden
Covent Garden
Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as...
, although formally associated with the theatre industry, was more widely known as London's red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...
. Fielding had earlier written The Covent Garden Tragedy
The Covent Garden Tragedy
The Covent-Garden Tragedy is a play by Henry Fielding that first appeared on 1 June 1732 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane alongside The Old Debauchees. It is about a love triangle in a brothel involving two prostitutes...
, a mock-tragic play concerning the tale of two prostitutes.
Content
Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The penny of the Kingdom of Great Britain and later of the United Kingdom, was in circulation from the early 18th century until February 1971, Decimal Day....
. For most of the Journals run, it was issued twice a week, on Tuesday and Saturday. Each number consisted of an introductory remark or essay (written by Fielding), domestic and foreign news with annotations, advertisements, an obituary, a births and marriages panel, and other sundries. One section, titled "Covent Garden", concerned Fielding's position as a magistrate at Bow Street. The column ran in every issue until 27 June 1752, appearing irregularly thereafter. It dealt with crime and legal matters and provided insight into the cases that Fielding dealt with on a regular basis, but the presentation was less organized and more informal than standard legal records. Most of the information on the cases was provided by Joshua Brogden, one of Fielding's clerks.
Particularly in the opening comment and the news, Fielding injected a degree of wit or "liveliness" not seen in his previous publications; he stated in the first number that he planned to avoid the "dullness" seen in other contemporary periodicals:
Discussion in the Journal was chiefly concerned with matters of literary criticism and "the social and moral health of the body politic". Most of the opening essays took a decidedly unpolitical tone. Exceptions were those in numbers 42, 50 and 58. Number 42 mocked the Country Tories by imagining how an Ancient Greek or Roman would react to party politics: "...convey [him] to a Hunting-Match, or Horse Race, or any other Meeting of Patriots. Will he not immediately conclude from all the Roaring and Ranting, the Hallowing and the Hazzaing, the Gaming and Drinking, [...] that he is actually present at the Orgia of Bacchus, or the Celebration of some such Festival?" Number 50 blamed the growth of the London mob on poverty laws, and number 58 targeted the "Independent Electors of Westminster".
In his literary reviews, Fielding often wrote with a biased hand. For instance, he gave immoderate praise to Charlotte Lennox
Charlotte Lennox
Charlotte Lennox was an English author and poet. She is most famous now as the author of The Female Quixote and for her association with Samuel Johnson, Joshua Reynolds, and Samuel Richardson, but she had a long career and wrote poetry, prose, and drama.-Life:Charlotte Lennox was born in Gibraltar...
's The Female Quixote
The Female Quixote
The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella was a novel written by Charlotte Lennox imitating and parodying the ideas of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote. Published in 1752, two years after she wrote her first novel, The Life of Harriot Stuart, it was her best known and most celebrated work...
and Charles Macklin
Charles Macklin
Charles Macklin , originally Cathal MacLochlainn , was an actor and dramatist born in Culdaff, a village on the scenic Inishowen Peninsula in County Donegal, part of the Province of Ulster in the north of Ireland. He was one of the most distinguished actors of his day, equally in tragedy and comedy...
's two-act comic play The Covent Garden Theatre, or Paquin Turn'd Drawcansir; Lennox and Macklin were long-time friends of Fielding, and Macklin's play was based on Fielding's life. Fielding had a noted tendency to be prejudiced toward certain authors too – Rabelais and Aristophanes
Aristophanes
Aristophanes , son of Philippus, of the deme Cydathenaus, was a comic playwright of ancient Athens. Eleven of his forty plays survive virtually complete...
were always met harshly, while Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
, Cervantes
Cervantes
-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...
, and Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
were praised as a "great Triumvirate". Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson
Samuel Richardson was an 18th-century English writer and printer. He is best known for his three epistolary novels: Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded , Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady and The History of Sir Charles Grandison...
's Clarissa
Clarissa
Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady is an epistolary novel by Samuel Richardson, published in 1748. It tells the tragic story of a heroine whose quest for virtue is continually thwarted by her family, and is the longest real novelA completed work that has been released by a publisher in...
– published in 1748 and one of the longest novels in the English language – is a noted exception: it was received well, even though Fielding considered Richardson a literary rival, and despite Richardson's calling the periodical "The Common Garden Journal". Fielding also lauded the work of friend William Hogarth
William Hogarth
William Hogarth was an English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic and editorial cartoonist who has been credited with pioneering western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic strip-like series of pictures called "modern moral subjects"...
and poetry by Edward Young
Edward Young
Edward Young was an English poet, best remembered for Night Thoughts.-Early life:He was the son of Edward Young, later Dean of Salisbury, and was born at his father's rectory at Upham, near Winchester, where he was baptized on 3 July 1683. He was educated at Winchester College, and matriculated...
, and promoted plays involving David Garrick
David Garrick
David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson...
and James Lacy (among others).
Fielding frequently used the periodical to respond to criticism for his latest novel, Amelia, which was published in December 1751. The 25 and 28 January issues featured a section in which Amelias most outspoken critics were depicted on trial and in which Fielding systematically repudiated their respective complaints. "Councillor Town", the fictional prosecutor, summarised these complaints in saying, "The whole Book is a Heap of sad Stuff, Dulness, and Nonsense; that it contains no Wit, Humour, Knowledge of human Nature, or of the World; indeed, that the Fable, moral Character, Manners, Sentiments, and Diction, are all alike bad and contemptible." In his reply, Fielding posited a paternal relationship with Amelia, though conceded that it was not without flaws:
...[N]ay, when I go father, and avow, that of all my Offspring she is my favourite Child. I can truly say that I bestowed a more than ordinary Pains in her Education [...] I do not think my Child is entirely free from Faults. I know nothing human that is so; but surely she doth not deserve the Rancour with which she hath been treated by the Public.
Fielding's efforts only attracted further criticism, eventually resulting in his promise "to write no more novels".
Paper War
Grub Street
Until the early 19th century, Grub Street was a street close to London's impoverished Moorfields district that ran from Fore Street east of St Giles-without-Cripplegate north to Chiswell Street...
" and proclaimed his disdain for the literary critics of the day: "As to my brother authors, who, like mere mechanics, are envious and jealous of a rival in their trade, to silence their jealousies and fears, I declare that it is not my intention to encroach on the business now carried on by them, nor to deal in any of those wares which they at present vend to the public." Also given in the inaugural number was "An introduction to a journal of the present paper-war between the forces under Sir Alexander Drawcansir, and the army of Grub Street", written in the tradition of Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
's Battle of the Books.
The main response to Fielding's words came from John Hill
John Hill (author)
John Hill , called because of his Swedish honours, "Sir" John Hill, was an English author and botanist. He contributed to contemporary periodicals and was awarded the title of Sir in recognition of his illustrated botanical compendium The Vegetable System.He was the son of the Rev. Theophilus Hill...
, an English author, botanist, and literary critic who wrote a column called "The Inspector" in the London Daily Advertiser. Hill used this column approximately one week later to attack Fielding and criticise Amelia. Fielding replied in much the same fashion in the second issue of the Journal, while attempting to defend his novel. The two engaged in a sustained dispute, as each used their respective publication to joust with the other.
Bonnell Thornton
Bonnell Thornton was an English poet, essayist, and critic. He was educated at Westminster School, and at Oxford University.In 1752 he founded the Drury Lane Journal, a satirical periodical which, among other things, lampooned other journals such as Johnson's Rambler, The Gentleman's Magazine and...
, a poet and essayist, was responsible for Have at you All; or, the Drury Lane Journal, a production that satirised Fielding and his works. Particular attention was paid to Amelia in Have at you All; the fifth number, for example, featured "a new chapter in Amelia, more witty than the rest, if the reader has but sense enough to find out the humour." On 15 January, Tobias Smollett
Tobias Smollett
Tobias George Smollett was a Scottish poet and author. He was best known for his picaresque novels, such as The Adventures of Roderick Random and The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle , which influenced later novelists such as Charles Dickens.-Life:Smollett was born at Dalquhurn, now part of Renton,...
published a disparaging twenty-eight-page pamphlet entitled A Faithful Narrative of the base and inhuman Arts that were lately practised upon the Brain of Habbakuk Hilding, Justice, Dealer and Chapman, who now lies at his own House in Covent-Garden, in a deplorable State of Lunacy; a dreadful Monument of false Friendship and Delusion. The pamphlet was notorious for its viciousness, and variously accused "Habbakuk Hilding" (Fielding) of literary theft, scandalousness, and smuttiness, while deriding his marriage to Mary Daniels. It also posited that Fielding founded The Covent-Garden Journal to further the ambitions of politician and statesman George Lyttleton
George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton
George Lyttelton, 1st Baron Lyttelton PC , known as Sir George Lyttelton, Bt between 1751 and 1756, was a British politician and statesman and a patron of the arts.-Background and education:...
, with whom Fielding had recently formed a friendship; the source of this inference remains unclear, since Lyttleton received no particular mention in the first few numbers.
Fielding withdrew from the conflict after the fourth number, for the "war" had become more personal and hostile than he had originally intended. Although The Covent-Garden Journal would no longer feature a section on the Paper War, a similar but more moderated commentary that Fielding termed the "Court of Criticism" later took its place. The Paper War continued without Fielding, ultimately embroiling a large number of other writers, among them Christopher Smart
Christopher Smart
Christopher Smart , also known as "Kit Smart", "Kitty Smart", and "Jack Smart", was an English poet. He was a major contributor to two popular magazines and a friend to influential cultural icons like Samuel Johnson and Henry Fielding. Smart, a high church Anglican, was widely known throughout...
, William Kenrick
William Kenrick (writer)
William Kenrick was an English novelist, playwright, translator and satirist, who spent much of his career libelling and lampooning his fellow writers.- Life and career :Kenrick was born at Watford, Hertfordshire, son of a stay-maker...
, and Arthur Murphy
Arthur Murphy
Arthur Murphy , also known by the pseudonym Charles Ranger, was an Irish writer.-Biography:He was born at Cloonyquin, County Roscommon, Ireland, the son of Richard Murphy and Jane French....
. Having generated a significant amount of secondary literature (including Smart's The Hilliad
The Hilliad
The Hilliad was Christopher Smart's mock epic poem written as a literary attack upon John Hill on 1 February 1753. The title is a play on Alexander Pope's The Dunciad with a substitution of Hill's name, which represents Smart's debt to Pope for the form and style of The Hilliad...
and Charles Macklin's aforementioned The Covent Garden Theater, or Pasquin Turn'd Drawcansir), the Paper War ended without victor in 1753.
Meanwell affair
In 1749, a court decision made by Fielding – in his role as magistrate – provoked rumours that he was being paid to defend brothelBrothel
Brothels are business establishments where patrons can engage in sexual activities with prostitutes. Brothels are known under a variety of names, including bordello, cathouse, knocking shop, whorehouse, strumpet house, sporting house, house of ill repute, house of prostitution, and bawdy house...
s. Three years later, a letter written by "Humphry Meanwell" voiced objection to the 1752 Disorderly House Act (25 Geo. II, c. 36), which was intended to remove prostitutes and brothels from Britain. The public soon associated this letter with Fielding; his publication of what was seen as an endorsement of the letter in the 22 June issue strengthened this feeling: "The following Letter which was sent to the Justice by an unknown Hand, hath been transmitted to us; and tho' perhaps some Points are carried a little too far, upon the whole I think it a very sensible Performance, and worthy the Attention of the Public." The text of the letter itself followed this note and was published in the "Covent Garden" section of the journal.
Fielding responded to the claims that he wrote the letter in the 1 August issue of the Journal. While acknowledging that his association with the letter had made him popular with prostitutes, he went on to accuse them of being a source for social evils:
Prostitutes are the lowest and meanest, so are they the basest, vilest, and wickedest of all Creatures. It is a trite Observation, that when a Woman quits her Modesty, she discards with it every other Virtue. To extend this to every frail Individual of the Sex, is to carry it too far; but if it be confined to those who are become infamous by public Prostitution, no Maxim, I believe, hath a greater Foundation in Truth, or will be more strongly verified by Experience.
Martin Battestin believes that this passage is indicative of the fact that while Fielding was opposed to prostitution, "when actually confronted with the pitiable wretches accused of such crimes and misdemeanors [...] he acted toward them with the compassion and good-humored tolerance that characterize the treatment of the 'lower orders' in his novels." To critic Lance Bertelsen, the passage "seems to reveal a lurking fascination with the oldest profession – one that, paired with his earlier endorsement of "Meanwell", suggests a writer oscillating between outrage and sympathy, humor and lechery."
End of publication
By the summer of 1752, the Journals circulation was dropping steadily and it was losing popularity. After making the transition to weekly publication on 4 July, it was advertised less, and, in the final months of 1752, its discussion of anything other than court decisions and political actions was minimal. In addition, Fielding's health was deteriorating and his inclination to continue the periodical had declined. The 72nd and final number of The Covent-Garden Journal was published on 25 November 1752; Fielding there confirmed his lack of interest: "I shall here lay down a paper which I have neither inclination nor leisure to carry on any longer." He also directed readers to turn their attention to The Public Advertiser, a new periodical to be released on 1 December and to replace The Daily Advertiser. His final statement in the Journal was, "I solemnly declare that unless in revising my former Works, I have at present no Intention to hold any further Correspondence with the gayer Muses."Fielding died approximately two years later, his death caused by the gout and asthma that had, in part, compelled him to end the Journals run. In his final year, he travelled to Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
in the hope of recovery. He wrote an account of his travels during this time entitled The Journal of a Voyage to Lisbon, which was published in England in 1755. Fielding died in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
on 8 October 1754, and was buried in the Os Cyprestes cemetery, a local English burial ground.
External links
- The Covent-Garden Journal at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions)