hat struck at first sight, which consisted only of a straight
perpendicular stroke, with a dot over. As to the French word _outre_, it
is different from the rest, and signifies nothing more than the
exaggerated outlines of a figure, all the parts of which may be, in
other respects, a perfect and true picture of nature. A giant or a dwarf
may be called a common man, _outre_. So any part, as a nose, or a leg,
made bigger, or less than it ought to be, is that part _outre_, which is
all that is to be understood by this word, injudiciously used to the
prejudice of _character_."--ANALYSIS OF BEAUTY, chap. vi.

To prevent these distinctions being looked upon as dry and
unentertaining, our author has, in this group of faces, ridiculed the
want of capacity among some of our judges, or dispensers of the law,
whose shallow discernment, natural disposition, or wilful inattention,
is here perfectly described in their faces. One is amusing himself in
the course of trial, with other business; another, in all the pride of
self-importance, is examining a former deposition, wholly inattentive to
that before him; the next is busied in thoughts quite foreign to the
subject; and the senses of the last are locked fast in sleep.

The four sages on the Bench, are intended for Lord Chief Justice Sir
John Willes, the principal figure; on his right hand, Sir Edward Clive;
and on his left, Mr. Justice Bathurst, and the Hon. William Noel.

[Illustration: THE BENCH.]

THE LAUGHING AUDIENCE.

"Let him laugh now, who never laugh'd before;
And he who always laugh'd, laugh now the more."

"From the first print that Hogarth engraved, to the last that he
published, I do not think," says Mr. Ireland, "there is one, in which
character is more displayed than in this very spirited little etching.
It is much superior to the more delicate engravings from his designs by
other artists, and I prefer it to those that were still higher finished
by his own burin.

"The prim coxcomb with an enormous bag, whose favours, like those of
Hercules between Virtue and Vice, are contended for by two rival orange
girls, gives an admirable idea of the dress of the day; when, if we may
judge from this print, our grave forefathers, defying Nature, and
despising convenience, had a much higher rank in the temple of Folly
than was then attained by their ladies. It must be acknowledged that,
since that period, the softer sex have asserted their natural rights;