Hearne, Thomas (1744 – 1817) – The Vicar of Wakefield: Dr Primrose and his Family at Breakfast.

This watercolour depicts a scene from Vol II, Chapter 5 of Oliver Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield. The family are breakfasting together in the garden when they see Squire Thornhill, the villain of the story, arriving in the distance. Thornhill has seduced Olivia, one of Dr Primrose's daughters who stands centrally behind the table, under false pretences. An argument with Thornhill ensues and ends with him threating the arrest of Primrose for unpaid debts. The print made of this picture was published with the lines from the song Olivia sings at the start of the scene ... 'When Lovely woman stoops to folly, / And finds too late that men betray, / What Charm can soother her melancholy, / What art can wash her guilt away? / The only art her guilt can cover, / To hide her shame from every eye, / To give repentance to her lover, / And wring his bosom - is to die.'