have these the best that can be had; and if Mr. Steevens, who promised me his assistance, should happen to meet with any of those prints of which I am not possessed—I mean such compositions as do honour to the author, as, for instance, The Satire on the Methodists, The Masquerade, &c.—I should be much obliged to him to purchase them for me. To that gentleman I beg my best compliments. Should he purchase anything, you will be so good as to account with him.
I have no objection to suffering The Lady’s Last Stake to be engraved, but on the contrary, should be happy to do anything which might contribute to add to the reputation of my deceased friend. But then it must be performed in such a manner as to do him honour; for otherwise I should by no means consent. One great difficulty would be to procure a person equal to the making a drawing from it, as the subject is a very difficult one. Hogarth had it for a year, with an intention to engrave it, and even went so far as almost to finish the plate which, as he told me himself, he broke into pieces, upon finding that, after many trials, he could not bring the woman’s head to answer his idea, or to resemble the picture.
Here this subject dropped for a time, but was resumed in July, 1787, when his lordship writes to Malone for the information of the widow:—
I have this moment received a letter from Mrs. Hogarth, requesting that if I should permit any one to make an engraving of “The Lady’s Last Stake,” I would give the preference to a young gentleman who lodged in her house, as by such preference she should be greatly benefited. Of this application I consider it necessary to immediately inform you, as the affection I bore towards her deceased husband, my high regard for his memory, and, indeed, common justice, will most certainly prevent me from preferring any one else whatsoever to her in a matter of this nature. At the same time I must add, that whoever shall make a drawing from my picture must do it in Dublin, as I cannot think of sending it to London.
