Industry and Idleness
Paulson suggests two: the plays "Eastward Hoe" (Revived after Hogarth's publication of these) and "The London Merchant", the latter containing the especially applicable quote that "business [is] the youth's best preservative from ill, as idleness [is] the worst of snares".
Tacked to the post that he is sleeping against is "Moll Flanders"; his "Prentice's Guide" is also lying on the ground, but in a filthy and shredded state.
Francis Goodchild is shown taking good advantage of this, attending St. Martin-in-the-Fields,[6] standing in a pew with his master's daughter, singing out of a hymnal.
How I love thy Law it is mymeditation all dayIn this case, Tom Idle is shown doing the exact opposite: gambling and cheating with some pence on top of a tomb in the churchyard.
He is now no longer working a loom, but rather keeping his master's business: He holds the "Day Book", keys to the house and a pouch of money.
Behind them are a row of women at looms and one at a spinning wheel and to the left, a man wearing the symbol of the Corporation of London and carrying material in labelled "To Mr West".
To the lower right a copy of the "London Almanack" is tacked up, headed by an allegorical figure of the genius of Industry assaulting Father Time.
Ve:21.Well done good and faithfullservant thou hast been faithfull over a few things, I will make theeRuler over many thingsOn the other hand, Tom Idle's useless ways have finally gotten their reward: His master (possibly with the consultation of or incitement by Francis) either throws him out or orders him away to sea.
In either case, Tom clearly feels that his authority over him is at an end and has cast his indenture into the boat's wake in the lower left-hand corner.
Beyond that even, the sign of "WEST and GOODCHILD" under their trademark of a lion rampant shows that his former master has taken him into partnership (not an unreasonable step given that he previously kept the accounts).
To the left, a legless man in a tub, probably invalided from the Army or Navy, holds out a sheet of paper containing "Jeſse or the Happy Pair.
Ver:4.The Virtuous Woman is aCrown to her Husband.For reasons unknown (but probably related to his namesake vice), Tom Idle is back on land again.
If he was callous enough to throw out his indenture leaving land, he certainly does not feel bound by any law on his return as he has gone so far as to turn highwayman (more likely footpad) and take up a (dismal) residence with "a common Prostitute".
The broken flute and bottle, together with the pair of breeches discarded on the bedclothes, suggest they have spent their time in drunken debauchery.
The principal event of the scene is a cat falling down the chimney with a few bricks (which strongly suggests the quality of the house they are lodging in), which causes Tom Idle to start up with all the fear of the law on him.
The extremely dilapidated condition of the building, lack of any obvious source of light or fire, and covering over of the window by a hoop petticoat suggest that Idle is in hiding and sparing no pains to keep his location a secret.
Ve:30.The Sound of a Shaken Leafshall Chace him.Plate 8 shows the opulence that industry has produced (or rather, allowed to be procured): the couple sit at the far end of the table (Just to the left of the man in the foreground with the staff) on chairs, apparently in state.
The chamberlain (the man with the staff of office) examines a paper addressed "To the worſhipl Fras Goodchild Eſq Sher[...] Lond" while a crowd of people mills at the bar.
They are all totally oblivious not only to the men of the Law coming down the stairs with lit lanterns, but Idle's prostitute being paid one coin for her information.
The background shows his most congenial surroundings to be the most lawless and depraved possible: playing cards are strewn in the left foreground, men are murdered with no hue and cry, a rope hangs ominously from one of the beams in the ceiling, a syphilitic woman with no nose serves a mug of something, presumably liquor and/or gin, and a massive drunken brawl occupies half of the room, while the others unconcernedly ignore it.
While he turns away, either struggling with his feelings (as implied by the quote at the bottom of the frame) or disgustedly spurning his entreaties, the clerk next to him writes out the warrant of admission "To the Turnkey of Newgate".
Ver:16.The Wicked is snar'd in thework of his own handsLeviticus CH:XIX Ve:15.Thou shall do no unrighteous--neſs in JudgementIdle now comes, like Tom Nero in The Four Stages of Cruelty, to the reward of his depredations and malice: a felon's death on the gallows.
The procession from left to right shows a detachment of soldiers riding behind the tumbrel, which contains a preacher with a book labelled Wesley, a reference to Methodism.
One releases a pigeon that will fly back to Newgate and give the news that (by the time it has arrived) the malefactor is dead.
To her left, a drunken sot attempts to court the woman with ridiculous airs, notwithstanding his holding a dog up by the tail.
He is here shown riding in the Lord Mayor's carriage, holding the sword of state and wearing an outsized top hat.
