The Bruiser

This print is a critique of the clergyman and journalist Charles Churchill, who wrote a scathing attack of Hogarth. Hogarth depicts Churchill as a drunken performing bear leaning against a club inscribed with “lyes” (lies). Meanwhile, a dog representing Hogarth urinates on a copy of Churchill’s “Epistle to Hogarth.” At the bottom right, Hogarth includes an engraving within an engraving depicting himself whipping Churchill (the bear) as well as the politician John Wilkes (the monkey), who had also criticized him.