Editing William Hogarth (section)

====''The Four Stages of Cruelty''====

[[File:The First Stage of Cruelty (The Four Stages of Cruelty) MET DP835381.jpg|thumb|right|''First Stage of Cruelty'']]

Other prints were his outcry against inhumanity in ''[[The Four Stages of Cruelty]]'' (published 21 February 1751),<ref name="ReferenceA"/> in which Hogarth depicts the cruel treatment of animals which he saw around him and suggests what will happen to people who carry on in this manner. In the first print, there are scenes of boys torturing dogs, cats and other animals. It centers around a poorly dressed boy committing a  violent act of torture upon a dog, while being pleaded with to stop, and offered food, by another well-dressed boy. A boy behind them has graffitied a [[hanged]] stickman figure upon a wall, with the name "Tom Nero" underneath, and is pointing to this dog torturer.

The second shows Tom Nero has grown up to become a [[Hackney coach]] driver. His coach has overturned with a heavy load and his horse is lying on the ground, having broken its leg. He is beating it with the handle of his whip; its eye severely wounded. Other people around him are seen abusing their work animals and livestock, and a child is being run over by the wheel of a [[Brewer's dray|dray]], as the [[drayman]] dozes off on the job.

In the third print, Tom is shown to be a murderer, surrounded by a mob of accusers. The woman he has apparently killed is lying on the ground, brutally slain, with a trunk and sack of stolen goods near by. One of the accusers holds a letter from the woman to Tom, speaking of how wronging her mistress upsets her conscience, but that she is resolved to do as he would have her, closing with: "I remain yours till death."

The fourth, titled ''The Reward of Cruelty'', shows Tom's withering corpse being publicly dissected by scientists after his execution by hanging; a noose still around his neck. The dissection reflects the [[Murder Act 1751]], which allowed for the public dissection of criminals who had been hanged for murder.