Ireland, John: Hogarth illustrated (Band 1): William Hogarth (London, 1793)

NDUSTRY AN'D J

PLATE I.

THE FELLOW 'PRENTICES AT THEIR LOOMS.

Proverbs, Chapter xx\u. Verse 21.

" The drunkard shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall

*' clothe a man with rags."

Proverbs, Chapter x. Verse 4.
. " The hand of the diligent maketh rich."

At the. time these twelve prints were published,
the business of a silk weaver was considered as
much more respectable and important than it has
been since the very general fashion of wearing
linen. The first view we have of the two heroes
of our history, is at the looms of their master, an
inhabitant of Spkalfields. The assiduity of one of
these young artisans is manifested in his counte-
nance, and attention to the business he is engaged
in. Over his head hang those two excellent old
ballads, Turn again Wbittington, Lord Mayor of
London, and The Valiant Apprentice. On the
floor near him is the 'Prentice's Guide, a book
which our citizen probably presented to every
young man he had under his care, for we see the
same title on a mutilated volume at the feet of Mr.
Thomas Idle, who being asleep has dropped his
shuttle, which a cat is playing with. On the wall
hangs the ballad olMoll Flanders] and very near