FIELDING

fielding, henry (1707-1754), english novelist and playwright, was born at sharpham park, near glastonbury, somerset, on the 22nd of april 1707. his father was lieutenant edmund fielding, third son of john fielding, who was canon of salisbury and fifth son of the earl of desmond. the earl of desmond belonged to the younger branch of the denbigh family, who, until lately, were supposed to be connected with the habsburgs. to this claim, now discredited by the researches of mr j. horace round (_studies in peerage_, 1901, pp. 216-249), is to be attributed the famous passage in gibbon's _autobiography_ which predicts for _tom jones_--"that exquisite picture of human manners"--a diuturnity exceeding that of the house of austria. henry fielding's mother was sarah gould, daughter of sir henry gould, a judge of the king's bench. it is probable that the marriage was not approved by her father, since, though she remained at sharpham park for some time after that event, his will provided that her husband should have nothing to do with a legacy of l3000 left her in 1710. about this date the fieldings moved to east stour in dorset. two girls, catherine and ursula, had apparently been born at sharpham park; and three more, together with a son, edmund, followed at east stour. sarah, the third of the daughters, born november 1710, and afterwards the author of _david simple_ and other works, survived her brother. fielding's education up to his mother's death, which took place in april 1718 at east stour, seems to have been entrusted to a neighbouring clergyman, mr oliver of motcombe, in whom tradition traces the uncouth lineaments of "parson trulliber" in _joseph andrews_. but he must have contrived, nevertheless, to prepare his pupil for eton, to which place fielding went about this date, probably as an oppidan. little is known of his schooldays. there is no record of his name in the college lists; but, if we may believe his first biographer, arthur murphy, by no means an unimpeachable authority, he left "uncommonly versed in the greek authors, and an early master of the latin classics,"--a statement which should perhaps be qualified by his own words to sir robert walpole in 1730:-- "tuscan and french are in my head; latin i write, and greek--i read." but he certainly made friends among his class-fellows--some of whom continued friends for life. winnington and hanbury-williams were among these. the chief, however, and the most faithful, was george, afterwards sir george, and later baron lyttelton of frankley. when fielding left eton is unknown. but in november 1725 we hear of him definitely in what seems like a characteristic escapade. he was staying at lyme (in company with a trusty retainer, ready to "beat, maim or kill" in his young master's behalf), and apparently bent on carrying off, if necessary by force, a local heiress, miss sarah andrew, whose fluttered guardians promptly hurried her away, and married her to some one else (_athenaeum_, 2nd june 1883). her baffled admirer consoled himself by translating part of juvenal's sixth satire into verse as "all the revenge taken by an injured lover." after this he must have lived the usual life of a young man about town, and probably at this date improved the acquaintance of his second cousin, lady mary wortley montagu, to whom he inscribed his first comedy, _love in several masques_, produced at drury lane in february 1728. the moment was not particularly favourable, since it succeeded cibber's _provok'd husband_, and was contemporary with gay's popular _beggar's opera_. almost immediately afterwards (march 16th) fielding entered himself as "stud. lit." at leiden university. he was still there in february 1729. but he had apparently left before the annual registration of february 1730, when his name is absent from the books (_macmillan's magazine_, april 1907); and in january 1730 he brought out a second comedy at the newly-opened theatre in goodman's fields. like its predecessor, the _temple beau_ was an essay in the vein of congreve and wycherley, though, in a measure, an advance on _love in several masques_. with the _temple beau_ fielding's dramatic career definitely begins. his father had married again; and his leiden career had been interrupted for lack of funds. nominally, he was entitled to an allowance of l200 a year; but this (he was accustomed to say) "any body might pay that would." young, handsome, ardent and fond of pleasure, he began that career as a hand-to-mouth playwright around which so much legend has gathered--and gathers. having--in his own words--no choice but to be a hackney coachman or a hackney writer, he chose the pen; and his inclinations, as well as his opportunities, led him to the stage. from 1730 to 1736 he rapidly brought out a large number of pieces, most of which had merit enough to secure their being acted, but not sufficient to earn a lasting reputation for their author. his chief successes, from a critical point of view, the _author's farce_ (1730) and _tom thumb_ (1730, 1731), were burlesques; and he also was fortunate in two translations from moliere, the _mock doctor_ (1732) and the _miser_ (1733). of the rest (with one or two exceptions, to be mentioned presently) the names need only be recorded. they are _the coffee-house politician_, a comedy (1730); _the letter writers_, a farce (1731); _the grub-street opera_, a burlesque (1731); _the lottery_, a farce (1732); _the modern husband_, a comedy (1732); _the covent garden tragedy_, a burlesque (1732); _the old debauchees_, a comedy (1732); _deborah; or, a wife for you all_, an after-piece (1733); _the intriguing chambermaid_ (from regnard), a two-act comedy (1734); and _don quixote in england_, a comedy, which had been partly sketched at leiden. _don quixote_ was produced in 1734, and the list of plays may be here interrupted by an event of which the date has only recently been ascertained, namely, fielding's first marriage. this took place on the 28th of november 1734 at st mary, charlcornbe, near bath (_macmillan's magazine_, april 1907), the lady being a salisbury beauty, miss charlotte cradock, of whom he had been an admirer, if not a suitor, as far back as 1730. this is a fact which should be taken into consideration in estimating the exact bohemianism of his london life, for there is no doubt that he was devotedly attached to her. after a fresh farce entitled _an old man taught wisdom_, and the comparative failure of a new comedy, _the universal gallant_, both produced early in 1735, he seems for a time to have retired with his bride, who came into