LITERATURE AND ART

GREAT BRITAIN

LONDON : PRINTED BY
SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE
AND PARLIAMENT STREET

AN HISTORICAL VIEW

LITERATURE AND ART

GREAT BRITAIN

FROM THE ACCESSION OF THE HOUSE OF HANOVER
TO THE REIGN OF QUEEN VICTORIA

J. MURRAY GRAHAM, M.A.

LONDON
LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO.
1871

Thfi i^'jr/ii tjf iranslntioti is r^seyveri.

PREFACE.

An historical account of a nation's Literature
and Art appears entitled to consideration as an
important part of its general history. Connected
narratives of public events, their motives, incidents
and results, form the usual material of historical
composition, a department of writing in which it has
been the practice, if not altogether to ignore, at least
to treat in a very summary manner, the literary and
aesthetic development of the national thought and
taste. This defect, if such it be, has to some extent
been supplied, though in a detached and irregular
way, by the separate treatises and biographies which
have been at different times pubHshed. In the
following pages I have endeavoured to remedy the
inconvenience arising from so much want of con
nection in the sources of our knowledge of the
Literature and Art of Britain, as developed in their
finer and more popular forms during the most recent
period of its annals.

VI PREFACE.

The productions of living authors and artists
have as a rule been excluded from this Historical
View ; experience proving that the oscillations of
opinion and taste require a few years to steady
themselves, so as to admit of even an approximately
correct estimate being formed of the productions
either of literature or of art.
For the sake of distinctness, and to give such
precision of treatment as may render the work
useful as well as interesting to the reader, I have
handled the several branches of the subject — Lite
rature, Architecture, Painting, and Sculpture —
separately ; illustrating each by occasional passages
of poetry and prose, while studying also to preserve
a certain unity of treatment by remarking, where it
occurs, their mutual bearing upon one another.
At the risk of sometimes going over ground
already occupied by biographies and other books,
I have referred to literary compositions as well as
to works of art in their several divisions in a chro
nological sequence ; availing myself of the most
accurate information to be had as to facts and dates
in books of authority, whether of old or more recent
date. Without pretending to much originality or
novelty, I venture to hope that some things may
have been put in a new light, and some matters
noticed which have not hitherto received attention.

PREFACE. Vll

To give a beginning and an end to the historical
period fixed upon, the Accession of the House of
Hanover and the Reign of Queen Victoria have
been taken as limits ; but it is not my intention to
make the treatment of the subject in its various
divisions so sharp and arbitrary as to be bounded
either at the beginning or the end by a particular
year. Thus the poetry of Pope commencing in the
reign of Queen Anne, the notice of it begins in that
reign, while the chapter on dramatic literature takes
a retrospective glance over the preceding reigns ;
and the survey of architecture requires, from its
bearings and connection, some reference back to the
time of Jones and Wren. As regards the schools of
painting and sculpture in Great Britain, both take
their rise after the accession of George L
Literature, in the more extended sense of the
term, may be held as corhprehending, in addition to
other literary compositions, works of philosophy,
science, politics, ethics, theology, law and medicine.
It is proposed to exclude such branches of com
position from the present work, and to restrict it to
the following;— History and Biography, Fictitious
Narrative, Poetry, The Drama, Periodical Writing
and Essays on literature and life and manners, with
a short concluding chapter on Epistolary Writing
and books of Voyages and Travels.

Vlll PREFACE.

Art is viewed in its three principal phases of
Painting, Sculpture and Architecture ; Architecture
taking precedence historically of the other two, as
having been earlier cultivated and practised by
native artists.
I have been led by the interest of this part of
the subject to add to the historical notices more
criticism than was at first intended. It has been
justly observed by a modern critic, that ' Art, like
poetry, is addressed to the world at large, not to a
special jury of professional masters ; ' and I may
perhaps indulge the hope that the critical remarks
made in the course of these notices will be found to
be in accordance with what Mr. Addison,^ when
speaking of the laws and rules of art, calls ' the
general sense and taste of mankind,' and at the
same time not altogether out of accordance with the
opinion of professors of art.
Assuming a previous general education, some
special training may be requisite, in art at all events,
if not also in literature, to found an exact knowledge
of the qualities that go to constitute a good building,
picture or statue. But, thanks to the increased
opportunities in recent years of acquiring instruction
by means of public institutions, professional dis-

' Spectator, No. 29.

PREFACE. IX

courses and books, access to galleries and collec
tions, and foreign travel, the 'layman in art' has it
in his power to attain a certain training both of eye
and mind, and also a certain amount of knowledge,
which if not actually technical, is yet such as to
enable him to distinguish the right and true in art
from the false and meretricious. As Dryden is
said to have discovered towards the close of his life,
after the public judgment had been improved by his
many critical dissertations on literature, that his
readers were at last made too skilful to be easily
satisfied, so it may have happened in the present
day that non-professional critics in art have ac
quired and been gradually taught some little know
ledge of the subject.
The standard of taste in matters of art as in
literature would seem to be of complex character,
and to have relation as well to the opinion of those
who read books, employ architects and buy pictures,
as to tlie opinion of the literary men and artists who
produce the works. The professional and the lay
element, the trained taste of the former and the ap
preciative judgment of the latter, act and re-act upon
each other, teaching and being taught alternately.
And a standard of taste is thus imperceptibly
formed by the combined operation of sound and
skilful training on the part of authors and artists.

PREFACE.

and a discerning appreciation in a fair and liberal
spirit on the part of the public. This standard
comes to be of practical application in an Historical
View such as the present, which in its survey of
the productions of literature and art proceeds neces
sarily upon the plan of selection rather than of a
complete or very full enumeration.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
On the condition generally of Literature and literary men, and of
Architecture, Painting and Sculpture in Great Britain upon the
Accession of the House of Hanover . . . page

BOOK I— LITERATURE.
CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
English Plistorical Writing prior to 1754— Hume's History of
England — Dr. Robertson's Historical Compositions — Gibbon's
'Decline and Fall ofthe Roman Empire' — Later Historical
Works — Biographical Literature in the Last and Present
Centuries ..... ..... 27
CHAPTER ir.
FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE.
Commencement of modern English Fiction — Novels of Defoe,
Swift, Richardson, Fielding, and Smollett — 'Tristram Shandy'
of Sterne — Tales of Johnson and Goldsmith — Romance of
' Castle of Otranto,' followed by the Romances of Mrs. Rad
cliffe and Clara Reeve, &c. — Novels of Miss Burney, of Henry
Mackenzie, and others — of Miss Edgeworth — of Sir Walter
Scott — of later writers of Fiction  47
CHAPTER in.
POETRY.
Can Poetry be defined ? — Poetry of Pope, of two kinds — Satirical
Poems of Johnson — Of Churchill — Poetry of Thomson — Of
Ramsay — Of Dr. Edward Young — Lyrics of Collins and Gray
— Poems of Goldsmith — Beattie — Warton and others — Poetry
and original manner of Cowper  73

xu CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.
PC ETRY — continued.
Original Poetry of Burns — of Crabbe — of Bowles, connecting the
Poetry of the i8th century with that of the 19th — Poetry ofthe
Della Cruscans — Gifford's Baviad and Mffiviad — Mathias' Pur
suits of Literature — Poems of Samuel Rogers and others PAGE 98
CHAPTER V.
POETRY — continued.
Poetry, pursuing the new direction in which it had been tending,
bases itself on a Theory — Influence of the study of German
Literature — Poetry of the disciples of the new School — Of
Wordsworth — Its treatment by the Edinburgh Review —
Poetry of Coleridge — Poems of Southey — Of Wilson, and
others  no
CHAPTER VI.
POETRY — continued.
Poems of Thomas Moore— Of Campbell— Of Sir Walter Scott-
Lord Byron's poetry — Its personal character — The more subtle
and abstract poetry of Shelley — The poetry of Keats — Its irre
gular beauty, and treatment by the Quarterly Review . . 143
CHAPTER VII.
THE DRAMA.
Retrospective glance at the state of the Drama between the Re
storation and the reign of Queen Anne — Dryden — Otway —
Congreve — Farquhar — Its immorality exposed by Jeremy
Collier — Subsequent course of the British Drama : I. In Tra
gedy — Addison's ' Cato ' — French influence — Decline of Tra
gedy — Domestic tragedies of Lillo and Moore — Tragedy of
Douglas — The 'Mysterious Mother' of Walpole — German
adaptations — Recurrence to the older English models — Plays
of Joanna Baillie and others — Dramatic Poems of Lord Byron :
¦ — 11. Course ofthe Drama in Comedy — ' Careless Husband '
of Gibber — Genteel Comedy — Pantomime — English Opera —
' Beggars' Opera ' of Gay — Comedy of the ' Provoked Hus
band' — Low Comedy — Personal Comedy of Foote — Senti
mental Comedy — Comedies of Goldsmith — of Sheridan — Other
comedies of mixed character  173

CONTENTS. XIU

CHAPTER VIII.
tERIODICALS AND ESSAYS.
Periodical Literature from the end of the reign of Arme to the
Rambler of Johnson — Idler — World — Mirror and Lounger of
Mackenzie — Edinburgh and Quarterly Reviews make a new
era in periodical writing — Separate Essays on general subjects,
of Warton, Hume, Burke, Mackintosh, Price, and others PAGE 206

CHAPTER IX.
EPISTOLARY "WRITING; VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.
I. Qualities of epistolary style — Letters of Swift — Pope — Lady
Mary Wortley Montagu — Gray — Horace Walpole — Later epis
tolary vifriting — II. Qualities of style for travel writing — Books
of travels  225

BOOK II.— ARCHITECTURE.
CHAPTER I.
ARCHITECTURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Palladian-classical architecture— Architecture and landscape gar
dening — Variations of classical architecture — Greek — Italian —
Street architecture . .  239

CHAPTER IL
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE AND ITS VARIETIES.
Gothic architecture — Its revival and use in ecclesiastical edifices —
Question of its application to secular buildings— Sir C. Barry
and the Houses of Parliament— Tudor Gothic— Varieties . 257

XIV CONTENTS.

BOOK III— PAINTING.
CHAPTER I.
The rise of native British Painting— Art--work of William Hogarth
— Sir Joshua Reynolds — Thomas Gainsborough — George Rom-
ney .  page 275
CHAPTER II.
LANDSCAPE PAINTING, RUSTIC AND ANIMAL PAINTING.
Richard Wilson — Gainsborough — Morland — James Ward ., . 298
CHAPTER III.
PAINTING AND BOOK-ILLUSTRATION.
The Art of Thomas Stothardt— Of William Blake . . .306
CHAPTER IV.
HISTORICAL PAINTING.
The historical art of West — Copley — Great aims and imperfect
performance of historical painters — Barry — Mortimer — The
Runcimans — Fuseli — Northcote — Opie • . . . . .313
CHAPTER V.
LATER BRITISH PORTRAIT-PAINTING.
The Portrait-painting of Sir W. Beechey — Of Hoppner — Owen —
Phillips — Jackson — Sir T. Lawrence — Sir Martin Shee — Sir H.
Raeburn — -Sir J. Watson Gordon — Graham Gilbert . . . 333
CHAPTER VI.
LATER BRITISH HISTORICAL PAINTING.
Haydon — Hilton— Etty — David Scott — Change in the manner
of historical painting — Sir D. Wilkie — Sir C. Eastlake — Sir W.
Allan — Thomas Duncan — High art in historical painting dis
played in the works of Dyce and Maclise . ... 349

CONTENTS. XV

CHAPTER VII.
LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING.
Original painting of Sir David Wilkie — Of Mulready — Painting
of subjects from popular authors — Newton — Leslie — Egg — Life
and manners painting — Miiller — John Philhp . . page 374
CHAPTER VIII.
BRITISH LANDSCAPE-PAINTING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The Art work of Constable and Turner — of Collins — Bonington —
Sir W. Callcott — Productions of Martin and Danby — Of the
Scottish school of landscape — the Nasmyths — Thomson of
Duddingstone — Macculloch — Painting of Roberts and Stanfield 389
CHAPTER IX.— SUPPLEMENTARY.
Water-Colour Drawing — Engraving . . . 414

BOOK IV.— SCULPTURE.
CHAPTER I.
BRITISH SCULPTURAL ART.
Rise of British Sculpture — Flaxman and his immediate prede
cessors — Nollekens, Bacon, Banks— High art of Flaxman—
Sculptural art of Sir R. Westmacott— Sir F. Chantrey — W.
Behnes  ... 421
CHAPTER II.
LATER BRITISH SCULPTURE.
Sculptural works of Baily and Wyatt— Tendency of their ideal
art — High promise of Musgrave L. Watson— Art-work of
Josephs, Fillans, and Park— Grecian art and aspirations of
John Gibson— Sculpture of Spence— Munro— Macdowell . . 443
INDEX  465

HISTORICAL VIEW
OF
BRITISH LITERATURE AND ART
INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.
On the condition generally of L iterature and literary men,
and of A rchitecture. Painting, and Sculpture in Great
Britain upon the Accession of the House of Hanover.
I. LLTERATURE.
The accession of the House of Hanover to the
throne of Great Britain, in the year 1714, however
important in a constitutional point of view, is not
usually considered to have exercised a beneficial
influence upon literature. George I. and George II.,
Germans by birth, education, and habits, showed
very little regard for literature and the arts ; the
upper and educated classes, with few exceptions,
following in this the example of the Court. At
the same time it must be acknowledged, in so far
as regards the encouragement of literature by the what en-
employment under government of literary men, that, mem^^"
in the early years ofthe reign of George I., before ^g^''^f°
the time of Sir Robert Walpole's administration, letters.

2 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
such of them at least as professed Whig principles,
appear to have been fairly considered. Addison
was for a short time secretary of state, while Steele,
Tickell, Congreve, Rowe, and Ambrose Phillips, re
ceived appointments and sinecure offices. Dr. Ed
ward Young, author of ' Night Thoughts,' was one
of the very few literary men, even of the Whig
party, who received a pension from the crown during
the administration of Walpole. In the Pelham ad
ministration Fielding was rewarded for his writings
in support of the government (through the advocacy
of a friend in the Treasury) with the office of a
Middlesex Justice of peace, then paid by fees and
not much re.spected.
It fared worse with the wits of the Tory party.
Dr. Arbuthnot, author of the ' History of John
Bull,' was deprived of his office of court physician.^
Prior, who with the authority and appointments of
ambassador plenipotentiary had conducted the nego
tiations for the treaty of Utrecht, and Gay, who was
secretary to Lord Clarendon in 17 14 when am
bassador at the Court of Hanover, were obligfed to
have recourse to the aid of political friends, in the
form of subscription editions of their poems — an aid
which was very liberally afforded.^
Dedica- During a great portion of the i8th century flat-
tions of   -^
' To Arbuthnot and many of his friends might have been applic
able the lines in Lord Lytton's sarcastic litde comedy of Walpole : — ¦
For the Tories their Jacobite leanings disgrace,
And a Whig is the only safe man for a place.
^ Before the death of Queen Anne, Gay had dedicated his
Shepherds Week to Lord Bolingbroke, which was considered by
Dean Swift as the crime that obstructed all kindness from the
House of Hanover. — Johnson's Life of Gay.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

tering dedications occupied an important position in hterary
literature. Sir Richard Steele in the dedication of
his play of ' Grief a la Mode ' to the Countess of
Albemarle, calls the right of dedication a ' poetical
English liberty — an ancient charter by which the
Muses have always a free access to the habitation of
the Graces.' His dedication of the ' Conscious
Lovers' to George I. was rewarded by a gift of
500/. The patronage of authors by influential persons,
sometimes granted from friendship and benevolence,
more frequently as the price of laudatory dedications,
continued beyond the time of Lord Chesterfield and
Dr. Johnson ; although, in compositions of the early
part of the 1 8th century, symptoms appear of author
and patron becoming mutually tired of the custom.^
Thus Dr. Young, while himself dedicating in every
direction, complains (in the first satire of his ' Love
of Fame '),
Shall Poesy, like Law, turn wrong to right.
And dedications wash an Ethiop white .?
It is to the credit, however, of the literary men
of the day that dedications appear to have been
sometimes made from gratitude for past, as well as
from expectation of future favours. In the dedica
tion, for example, of Fielding's ' Tom Jones' to the
Hon. George Lyttelton, one of the commissioners of
the treasury, the author intimates this as his motive ;
stating that but for the substantial assistance he
had received from him and from the Duke of

Thomson's Castle of Indolence, 2nd canto.
B 2

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.

No pa
tronage of litera
ture by a
reading public.

Bedford, while composing it, the work would never
have been written.
As yet there was no reading public, at least not
to the extent of securing to a popular author a certain
income from the sale of his works.^ There being
no general diffiision of a taste for literature, the
patronage of a wide circle of purchasers of books
had not yet arisen to supply the place of the patron.
In this intermediate state the bookseller became at
once patron and master. To be employed in writing
wearisome compilations of science and history, or in
performing whatever task the booksellers might set
him, was the nearly inevitable fate, not only of the
Ned Purdons of the time, but of every one who
made literature his profession.'"^ Of this memorable
examples are affi)rded in the records of the early
career of Goldsmith, of Smollett and Fielding, and of
Dr. Johnson. The following view of matters in the
reign of George II. is probably not exaggerated : —
Deign on the passing world to turn thine eyes,
And pause a'while from letters to be wise.
There mark what ills the scholar's life assail —
Toil, envy, want, the patron, and the jail.
See nations, slowly wise and meanly just.
To buried merit raise the tardy bust' '

' It may be no test of the number of persons who then read
in their own houses, but in July 1759 only five readers attended
the public reading-room of the British Museum. — Official Account.
^ Edward Purdon, whose memory is preserved in Dr. Gold
smith's epitaph, was an Irishman, educated at Trinity College,
Dublin, who wasted his patrimony and became a foot-soldier. He
afterwards had recourse to literature, and translated Voltaire's
Uenriadc. — Goldsmith's JForhs, edition 1791.
^ Vanity of Human Wishes; 1749.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 5

The ascendancy and known opinions of Sir Sir R.
Robert Walpole were also unfavourable to litera- ^i^^"

es

ture and to men of literary talents. As they had no j^'^'^"'
¦' ¦' dancy
influence at Court or in Parliament, he neglected unfavour-
them ; and as they tried occasionally to influence hterature.
public opinion by argument or wit, he made them
objects of suspicion and ridicule. But in so doing
Walpole, adroit as he was, reckoned without his
host, for the downfall of his administration was cer
tainly hastened by the attacks and sarcasms of the
wits whom he had made his enemies. His mode of
living in the country, where fox-hunting and drink
ing occupied most of the time, evinced a disregard
for literary refinement and culture which his taste in
pictures and his collection at Houghton could not
make up for. In a letter to Horace Walpole, then Sept.
living with his father at Houghton, the poet Gray, ^'^^'^'
his fellow-student at Cambridge, Avrites : —
I sympathise with you in the sufferings which you fore
see are coming upon you. We are both at present, I
imagine, in no very agreeable situation ; for my part I am
under the misfortune of having nothing to do, but it is a
misfortune, which, thank my stars, I can pretty well bear.
You are in a confusion of wine, and roaring, and hunting,
and tobacco, and, heaven be praised, you can pretty well
bear it ; while our evils are no more, I believe we shall not
much repine. I imagine, however, you will rather choose to
converse with the living dead that adorn the walls of your
apartments, than with the dead living that deck the middles
of them, and prefer a picture of still life to the realities of
a noisy one.'
Should literature not have made much advance
in England during the first half of the iSth
' Mason's Life attd Works of Gray.

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.

Brilhant
and ori
ginal
works of this
period.

Influence
of Pope
on litera
ture,
whether
favour able.

century, it cannot be considered to have ebbed so
decidedly, or the age to have been so dull, as some
writers will have it. Several of the most brilliant
productions of authors usually set down as belong
ing to the so-called Augustan age of Anne, but who
survived her reign for a considerable time, appeared
in the thirty years between 1715 and 1745. Such
were ' Gulliver's Travels ' and other original works
of Dean Swift, and the sparkling ' Beggar's Opera'
of Gay. Pope's ' Rape of the Lock,' the ' Dunciad,'
and almost all his essays and epistles, were pub
lished between 1 7 14 and 1742. Defoe's 'Robinson
Crusoe' and his other works of fiction, appeared in
the ten years following 1719. The principal novels
of Fielding and Smollett were written during the
reign of George II. And early in the same reign
two poets of the northern part of the island, Ramsay
and Thomson, disregarding (perhaps in ignorance)
the trammels of the classical school of Pope, pro
duced poetry of an original cast, appealing more
directly to nature and human sympathies.
An age so illustrated can hardly, in a literary
point of view, be called dull or trivial ; and yet, with
all this, it was not, particularly as regards poetry
and critical taste, progressive. This was pardy
owing to the ascendancy of Mr. Pope and his style
of poetry and criticism, which, although not formed
upon, was to some extent influenced by, the manner
of Boileau and other French writers of the age of
Louis XIV. The characteristics of this school were
justness and precision of thought, neatness and point

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 7

of expression, rather than strong imagination or
elevated sentiment.^
The sway of Pope in the realm of letters was as
great as had been that of Dryden in a time gone by.
Of the respect shown for him personally by his fellow-
citizens of London, the following instance may be
given, as recorded in Northcote's ' Life of Sir
Joshua Reynolds :' In the year 1741, about a year
before Mr. Pope's death, Reynolds had been sent by
his master Hudson to make a purchase for him at a
picture sale; —
Reynolds was standing by the auctioneer, when he per
ceived a bustle at the farther end of the room, near the
door. He soon heard the name of ' Mr. Pope, Mr Pope,'
whispered from every mouth, for it was Mr. Pope himself
who then entered the room. Immediately every person
drew back to make a free passage for the distinguished
poet, and all those on each side held out their hands for
him to touch as he passed. Reynolds, although not in the
front row, put out his hand also under the arm of the
person who stood before him, and Pope took hold of his
hand, as he likewise did to all as he passed.
' ' It seems to be a mistake to assume that the classical school
of poetry (deriving its spirit and character chiefly from the ancient
Roman) first arose in England after the Restoration, under the
influence of the imitation of the French, which then became
fashionable. The most that can be said is, that the French taste
¦which became prevalent among us may have encouraged its
revival ; for undoubtedly what has been called the classic school
of poetry had been cultivated by English writers at a much earlier
date ; nor is there any reason to suppose that the example of
the modern poetry of France had any share in originally turning
our own into that channel.' — Craik's English Literature and
Language, ii. 117.

<> VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
The influence of Pope extended beyond his life,
to nearly the end of the iSth century. Not to
mention numerous imitators, whose productions are
now forgotten, his style is to be traced, ' with a dif
ference,' in the nervous verse of Johnson, in the per
sonal satire and vigorous invective of Churchill, in
the melodious measures of Goldsmith, in the ' Plea
sures of Memory' of Mr. Rogers, in the 'Baviad and
Maeviad' of Giffbrd, the 'Pursuits of Literature' of
T. J. Mathias, and in the ' English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers' of Lord Byron. But with all this influ
ence over opinion, the school of Pope, however
beneficially it may have acted upon language and
versification, was too artificial and critical to be of
great benefit to literature as a suggestive and in
spiring style of poetry. With the exception of a
comparatively small portion of his poetry, the ten
dency of his writings and canons of criticism went
rather to cramp imagination and feeling than to lend
wings to either.
The English poets of a subsequent generation no
doubt partially emancipated themselves from the
restraints of this school. Such were Thomson,
Collins, Cowper, and Burns. At the same time it is
worthy of observation how Cowper, while himself
adopting a new style of writing and versification,
never lost his inbred reverence for Pope and his
contemporaries. This feeling evidently discovers
itself in the following lines, although we mark the
independence and boldness of the view Cowper ven
tures to take of the character of Pope's poetry.
Referring to the writers who had the merit of puri-

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

fying, in the reign of Anne, the literary taste of the
nation, he thus characterises the leading authors of
that age : — '^
In front of these came Addison. In him
Humour, in holiday and sightly trim,
Sublimity and Attic taste combined
To polish, furnish, and delight the mind.
Then Pope, as harmony itself exact.
In verse well discipHned, complete, compact,
Gave virtue and morality a grace.
That, quite eclipsing pleasure's painted face,
Levied a tax of wonder and applause
Even on the fools that trampled on their laws.
But he (his musical finesse was such,
So nice his ear, so delicate his touch)
Made poetry a mere mechanic art ;
And every warbler has his tune by heart.
Nature imparting her satiric gift.
Her serious mirth, to Arbuthnot and Swift,
With droll sobriety they raised a smile
At Folly's cost, themselves unmoved the while.
That constellation set, the world in vain
Must hope to look upon their like again.

// ARCHITECTURE.
In the early part of the iSth century the favourite
and usual style of architecture for new buildings
in England was that form of classical architecture
usually called Palladian. The course through which Palladian
this ascendancy of the Palladian or Italian style was \l\,xo- °^
arrived at is sufficiently obvious. The early English g'^'^^j^nd
' Cowpei's Table Talk, book i.

ture.

lO VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
Sketch or Gothic style of building (of a more marked archi-
English tectural character in point of construction and other-
architec- -^jse in ecclesiastical than in secular buildings) had
followed close upon the introduction in the nth and
12th centuries of the Romanesque and Norman.
In ecclesiastical architecture, the pointed Gothic,
however derived, soon became prevalent, the best
examples of English Gothic being in the pointed
style.^ Towards the commencement of the i6th
century it had become debased in manner, and its
pointed arching became lowered and flattened.
During the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth,
what has been called the Tudor style in civil and
domestic architecture took the place of the older
English and more castellated style ; adopting, after
the date of the Reformation, more or less of Italian
detail.^ For about a century and a half subsequent
' In Scottish Gothic buildings the round arch continued in use
much longer than in the southern part of the island, and up to
the time of the Reformation was not unfrequently introduced
along with the pointed arch in the same edifice. — Billings' Baronial
and Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland.
2 In one of Pope's letters to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
(1718), a curious description is given of an old English country
house in which the poet was then living, ' that seemed to have
been built before rules were in fashion ; the whole is so disjointed,
and the parts so detached from each other, and yet so joining
again, one can't tell how, that (in a poetical fit) you'd imagine it
had been a village in Amphion's time, where twenty cottages had
taken a dance together, were all out, and stood still in amazement
ever since.' From the porch to the ' venerable tower, so like that
of the church just by that the jackdaws build in it as if it were
the true steeple,' everything is irregular. The great hall is high
and spacious, lighted by one vast arched window, coloured with
scutcheons of painted glass, but now so uninhabited and dreary

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. II

to the Reformation there does not seem to have
been much ecclesiastical building in England, the
supply of churches handed down from Roman
Catholic times being sufficient for the demand ; so
that it was chiefly in secular architecture that this
transition style manifested itself The main forms
and features of early English building, modified
perhaps but still existing — square or round towers
surmounted by little turrets, lofty gables, roofs fre
quently embattled and of a much higher pitch than
was usual in the south of Europe, were adhered to ;
more or less enriched, some will say beautifully,
others fantastically, with door and window ornament,
balustrades, and other classical details. Longleat,
Wollaton, Hatfield, Caius College, and other build
ings at Cambridge and Oxford, Burleigh, Holland
House, Heriot's Hospital at Edinburgh, Drumlanrig
in Dumfriesshire, are examples of this style, which
extended, with an increasing tendency to Italian de
tail, through the reign of James I. The houses of
the nobility were often built with quadrangles like
the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge, which had
many features in common with the great houses
and halls in the country.
that ' it was but t'other night an owl flew in hither and mistook it
for a barn.' The hall lets you into the parlour, furnished with
historical tapestry, whose marginal fringes confess the moisture of
the air; and next to this come a pigeon-house, brewhouse, green
and gilt parlour, chaplain's study, servants' hall ; ' and by the side
of it, up six steps, the old lady's closet, which has a lattice into
the said hall, that while she said her prayers she might cast an
eye on the men and the maids.' On the ground floor were twenty-
four apartments.

12 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.

Although appearing in a rather questionable
shape, as regards purity and correctness of style,
there is something very picturesque and pleasing
in the fanciful richness and adornments of the
Reigns of buildings of this age. In spite, too, of their Italian
Elizabeth . , 11.^1
and features, they possess a general character much
James I. ^^^^.^ ^^^j^ English than either the Palladian that
came after, or the pure Gothic of the preceding age,
which at the same period was common to France
and Germany as well as to England. In the earlier
of the Tudor buildings foreign architects seem to
have been employed.^ But from the close of the
reig-n of Elizabeth and to the commencement of the
18th century, architecture, in its highest walks, came
to be an art exercised by the heads and hands of
inigo native artists. In the person of Inigo Jones, who
Jones. flourished in the reigns of James I. and Charles I.,
England possessed an architect skilled in his pro
fession, accomplished by foreign travel, and inferior
to no other of his time. The earlier works ascribed
to him were mosdy in the transition manner of
building, massive in their features and picturesque
in their enrichment. In his later works he pursued
the direction to which his art had been tending, and
j^js produced designs more decidedly Italian and classical
classical jj^ their character. Of the desig^ns ascribed to Inisjo
architec- _ ° _ _ .
ture. Jones that were executed, Wilton House, in Wiltshire,
is regarded as one of the best in the classical style.
The house of Amresbury, in the same county, is
interesting as one of the earliest examples of the
' Walpole's Anecdotes, i. 196.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER.

type on which so many country seats were afterwards
erected ; consisting, for the most part, of a rusticated
basement containing the dining and business rooms,
then a principal floor and bed-room storey, with
attics in the roof ^ Upon the basement, and usually
running through the two upper storeys, was the
everlasting portico.
Following with variations these general features,
the English houses in this style, of moderate size,
differed from the Palladian houses of Italy and
Spain in one essential particular, that they had no
central cortile or patio, which, from the first, was
seen to be unsuitable to the climate of Britain.
The fame of Inigo Jones as an architect rests to
a considerable extent on his original designs for the
palace of Whitehall, published in a large volume by 1727-
William Kent. Of these, however, but an imper
fect notion can be formed from the only portion
of the building completed ; for the Banquetting
House, though of intrinsic merit as a piece of
architecture, being only part of a whole, has an
isolated appearance.
Immediately after Jones, appeared another first-
class English architect — Sir Christopher Wren, sir C.
The fire in London of 1 666 rendering necessary the his*^ "
rebuilding of St. Paul's, and of a considerable part '^°'^ks.
of the City and its churches. Wren was employed
in the great work of the cathedral. He also gave
a plan for a new disposition of the lines of streets,
which, had it been adopted, might possibly have

' Fergusson's History of Modern Architecture, p. 264.

1 4 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
anticipated, or perhaps rendered unnecessary, some
of the recent alterations in the City. On this pro
posed plan Sir Joshua Reynolds remarks (in his
13th Discourse) : —
The forms and turnings of the streets of London and
other old towns are produced by accidents, without any
original plan or design ; but they are not always the less
pleasant to the walker or spectator on that account. On
the contrary, if the city had been built on the regular
plan of Sir Christopher Wren, the effect might have been,
as we know it is in some new parts of the town, rather un-
pleasing ; the uniformity might have produced weariness,
and a slight degree of disgust.
Of St. Paul's enough has been said and written.
The building was begun in 1675, ^'^^ finished in
1 710. In its style of architecture it takes rank in
Europe as second only to St. Peter's at Rome. It
is here referred to chiefly as showing the pre
eminence accorded in England at the date of its
building to the classical style ; Wren himself, in his
later life, formally declaring that throughout all his
schemes of this colossal structure he had religiously
endeavoured to follow the principles of the best
Greek and Roman architecture.^
Fifty-one parochial churches in London were
erected simultaneously with St. Paul's Cathedral,
according to the designs, and under the care and
conduct of Wren, in lieu of those burnt and
demolished by the great fire of 1666.^ While
• Answer to the Cathedral Commissioners, 1717 ; Cunningham's
Life of Sir Christopher Wrai, in his Lives of British Painters and
Architects. ^ The reader of the Spectator (No. 383) will recollect Sir Roger
de Coverley's observation during his voyage from the Temple

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 15
acknowledging the excellence, architecturally and
constructively, of St. Paul's and its dome, it may be
questioned whether Sir Christopher has been so Wren's
perfectly successful in his lesser churches and steeples.
If he has not been so successful, this may be in part
owing to the difficulty of reconciling the conditions
of the classical style to the sites of the churches,
dictated as these generally were by views of expe
diency, and to the requirements of Protestant places
of worship in the matter of galleries and pews.
The renaissance steeples of Wren — and indeed of all
architects working in that manner — would seem to
be inconsistent also with the modification of classical
architecture known as Palladian ; and they neces
sarily transgress the first principles of a style of
architecture, of which the horizontal line, as distin
guished from the vertical aspiring line, is a leading
rule. If his mode of raising a steeple by piling
little ordered storeys one above another could be
approved of, the steeple of Bow would certainly
command our admiration as very perfect in its kind.
Among Wren's other works may be noted the
Library of Trinity College, Cambridge ; Greenwich
Hospital, Hampton Court, the London Monument
column. Temple Bar, and the western towers of the
Abbey of Westminster. In the last of these, his
ignorance of, or inattention to, Gothic detail is very
conspicuous.
Stairs to Vauxhall — how thick the City was set with churches, and
that there was scarce a steeple to the west of Temple Bar : ' A most
heathenish sight,' said Sir Roger, ' there is no religion at this end
of the town ; the fifty new churches will very much mend the
prospect, but church work is slow, church work is slow.'

l6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
Sir Christopher Wren survived the accession of
George I. eight years. It is sad to reflect that his
last years were embittered by paltry disputes with
the Cathedral Commissioners, and that in 1 718 his
patent for the office of Surveyor of the Royal Build
ings was harshly superseded ; and this in the eighty-
sixth year of his age, after more than fifty years of
active and laborious exertion on behalf of the Crown
and the public ; ' at which time,' says Sir Chris
topher's son, with almost pathetic simplicity, ' his
merit and labours were not remembered by some.' ^
One Benson, an architect of no great ability, but a
court favourite, was installed in his place. Pope's
apostrophe to his first 'Dunciad' hero, Tibbald
(Theobald), commemorating Wren and Benson and
some of their contemporaries, is not a flattering
picture of the time, in so far as regards the en
couragement of art and literature : —
This, this is he foretold by ancient rhymes.
The Augustus born to bring Saturnian times :
Beneath his reign shall Eusden wear the bays,
Cibber preside Lord Chancellor of plays,
Benson sole judge of architecture sit.
And Ambrose Phillips be preferred for wit ;
See under Ripley rise a new Whitehall,
And Jones' and Boyle's united labours fall ;
While Wren with sorrow to the grave descends,
Gay dies unpensioned with an hundred friends ;
Hibernian politics, O Swift, thy fate,
And Pope's, whole years to comment and translate.^

' Wren's Parcntalia (1750).
2 Dunciad, book iii. (edition of 1728). The lines cited in the
text are varied in the later editions.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. I 7

///. PAINTING.
The rise of Painting as an art, in England, may be
considered to date from the reign of George II. ; the
British school commencing with William Hogarth,
Sir Joshua Reynolds, and Richard Wilson. Each
of these differed from the other in the branch of the
art he followed and the measure of success he
attained ; but all agreed in one important particular,
that they struck out paths for themselves, and drew
their inspiration, each in his own way, from the
great fountain of nature. In art, it has been said,
there are two modes by which men arrive at distinc- Two
tion. In the one, by a careful application to what ^u°su^g^
others have accomplished, the artist imitates their ^^•
works, or selects and combines their various beau
ties ; in the other, he seeks excellence at its primitive
source — nature. In the first, he forms a style from
the study of pictures, and produces imitative, scho
lastic, or eclectic art ; in the second, by an immediate
reference to nature, he discovers innumerable mate
rials for study, hitherto unexplored, and by pour-
traying these he forms a style which is original. -"^
This observation, applicable to painting in all its state of
branches, is apdy illustrated (in its first head) by ?„£„"?
the condition of the art in ETngland in the early part '^"'^ ''^
_ _ _ ¦' '- early por-
of the 1 8th century. H istorical painting was repre- tion of
sented on staircases, halls, and ceilings, by the century.
florid allegories of Verrio, La Guerre, and Sir James
' Introduction to Constable's English Landscape. First
Edition.

1 8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
Thornhill, in a manner derived from Rubens and
the foreign masters : —
At painted ceilings you devoutly stare,
Where sprawl the saints of Verrio and La Guerre,
Or gilded clouds in fair expansion lie.
And bring all paradise before your eye.*
Landscapes by native artists were very little in
demand ; and when painted at all, were for the most
part poorly executed imitations of Poussin and
Claude. The titled and wealthy of the land, while
seeking paintings and works of art in Italy, were
content to believe the assertions of the Abb6 du Bos,
that heaven had set a bar to the exercise of the
aesthetic arts in England, by giving her a dull humid
climate and her people a genius turned solely to
useful arts and trade.^
So Mr. Addison, in his poetical epistle addressed
to Lord Halifax, from Italy, though taking a more
elevated view of the vocation of Britain in Europe,
all but denies her capacity for excelling in architec
ture, painting, or sculpture : —
Others with towering piles may please the sight.
And in their proud aspiring domes delight ;
A nicer touch to the stretched canvas give,
Or teach their animated rocks to live :
'Tis Britain's care to watch o'er Europe's fate.
And hold in balance each contending state ;
To threaten bold presumptuous kings with war.
And answer her afflicted neighbours' prayer.'
' Pope's Epistle to the Earl of Burlington.
^ Abb^ du Bos, Reflexions sur la Peinture, la Pocsie et la Mu-
sique. English translation, 1748. Part ii. ch. 13.
3 The last part of this passage has reference to the foreign

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 1 9

Portrait was the only branch of the art of painting Portrait-
practised in England to any extent, and that in a P^^^'t"^
very mannered and mechanical fashion. ' British reign of
. . . . , . George
portrait painting has this peculiarity in its history, n.
that, from the reign of Henry VIII. to the death of
Sir Godfrey Kneller in 1723, the principal practice
of the art was in the hands of foreigners ; Holbein,
Jansen, Mytens, Rubens, Vandyke, Lely, and
Kneller, being the painters to whom, along with a
very few native artists, we are indebted for a series
of British portraits historically interesting, though of
varying merit as works of art. Of the sovereigns
in whose reigns the foreign artists flourished, and by
whom they were usually invited to transfer their
residence to this country, Charles I., by his muni
ficence and cultivated taste, was the greatest pro
moter of art ; and it was through his encouragement,
and the patronage of the nobility and gentry, that
the portraiture and style of Vandyke obtained its
footing in England. Any native talent that appeared
was almost entirely in the department of water-
colour miniatures — Hill yard, in the reign of Eliza
beth, and in succession to him the two Olivers and
Samuel Cooper, being the most distinguished in
that line. Of native painters of life-sized portraits
in oil, William Dobson, George Jamieson, a Scotch
policy of King William III. The whole passage is imitated from
the lines in the Sixth Book of the yEneid, beginning —
Excudent alii spirantia moUius aera, &c.
' Edwards' Anecdotes of Painters, 1808 ; Pye's Patronage of
British Art.

c 2

20 V/EW OF LITERATURE AND ART.

artist and pupil of Rubens, and William Wissing,
were perhaps the best.
Lely and The portraits of Lely, and still more those of
Md^heir Kneller, however admired and praised by their con-
succes- temporaries, show a decided falling off from the
portraits of Vandyke. In the great proportion of
their pictures, affectation in attitude and a false
style of embellishment — and, in the female portraits
of Lely, a voluptuous air — take the place of natural
dignity and grace. In the portraits of both there is
a want of expression in the faces, and generally of
individuality in the persons, which, coupled with the
great popularity of the painters, must have had a
baneful effect on their followers and imitators.
After the death of Kneller, a style of painting still
more mannered than his own prevailed among his
English successors, Jervas, Jonathan Richardson,
and Hudson.^ These, and the Frenchman Vanloo,
were the portrait painters most in vogue prior to the
middle of the i8th century, when Reynolds first
began to emerge into notice ; the portraits by them
being at the present day valued more on account of
the personal or public interest of the subjects, than
of their merit as pictures.
Among the portrait painters of this time was
Allan Ramsay, who, without possessing the genius
of his father, the pastoral poet, produced what

> That Mr. Pope was a very painstaking, though not equally
successful pupil of Jervas in the art of portrait painting, appears
from an amusing letter to Mr. Gay, August 23, 17 13. In his later
life, Pope's letters show him to have been a friend and patron of
Richardson.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 2 1
Horace Walpole called ' honest similitudes,' not
very interesting, but unaffected and vigorously
painted. Ramsay lived for upwards of twenty
years after the accession of George III., and
(assisted by his pupil, Reinagle) painted many por
traits of his Majesty and Queen Charlotte in
their robes of state, for ambassadors and foreign
courts. His pictures were respectable, but not to be
compared with those of Reynolds, whom we shall
remark in a subsequent chapter as the main founder
of the British school of painting.

IV. SCULPTURE.

If Painting can scarcely be said to have existed in
Britain as an art of native growth till nearly the
middle of the 1 8th century, as regards Sculpture the
case was still more crying. In the old cathedrals
of Wells, Lincoln, and Peterborough, in King Henry
the Seventh's chapel at Westminster, and else
where, good examples existed of early sculpture,
chiefly in connection with architecture ; and through
out the United Kingdom a number of sepulchral
monuments were to be seen, mosdy the work of
renaissance sculptors, Italian, Flemish, French or
British. But prior to the middle of last century
sculpture was not a living art practised in Britain
by native artists ; while of the foreign artists who
practised in England, none, with the exception of
Roubiliac, were of any merit. Of this defective state Defective
of sculpture, even in the reign of Charies I., who <^°"'^^'"°'^

2 2 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
of British encouraged and employed artists of all kinds, the
sculpture, ^gll-authenticated instance may be given, that when
on one occasion the king's bust was required to be
done, this could only be accomplished by Vandyke
being engaged to paint three views of his face, which
were sent to Bernini at Rome, by whom the bust
was executed in marble.^
The foreign sculptors who found their way to
England were Cibber, Scheemaker, Rysbrach, and
Roubiliac.^ They brought with them from the
continent the degenerate taste in sculpture then pre
vailing in Europe, the chief blame of which is attri
butable to the Neapolitan sculptor Bernini, whose
great talent and dexterity in his art extended and
increased the influence of his faulty manner.^ Rou
biliac, who was superior to the other foreigners,
flourished in the reign of George II., and his works
' YXaxmaxi's Address on the Death of Thomas Banks, i2ioe,. Van
dyke's admirable painting of these three portrait- views — a front, a
side, and a three-quarter — on one canvas, is now in her
Majesty's collection. Sculpture appears not to have been in a
more flourishing state in France about the same period, if we may
judge from the fact of the painter Philip de Champagne having
painted in a similar manner three portrait-views of the face of Car
dinal Richelieu for the Roman sculptor Mocchi to make a bust
from, according to the inscription on the back of the picture,
which is now in the British National Gallery. Cardinal Richelieu
died in 1642.
2 There must have been a sad want (according to Dr. Waagen)
of native sculpture in England in the eighteenth century, to
account for the employment of such artists as Scheemaker and
Rysbrach, whose monuments in the Abbey he considers examples
of the most complete dereliction of all the laws of plastic art.  Art
Journal, 1855, p. 205.
^ Flaxman's Address on the Death of T. Banks.

INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER. 23

are well known; two of the most celebrated — Sculpture
the monument of John, Duke of Argyle, and Lady binac."'
Elizabeth Nightingale's monument, in which the
skeleton form of Death is introduced — beine in
Westminster Abbey. The supplicating figure of
Eloquence in the Argyle group has always been re
garded as a great work of art. Among his statues
may be noted that of Sir Isaac Newton at Cam
bridge, and the statue of Shakespeare in the entrance
hall of the British Museum, which belonged to
Garrick, and although rather small in scale, is of
an imaginative character. The statue of Presi
dent Forbes, in the Parliament House, Edinburgh,
is also a good example of Roubiliac's talent as a
sculptor. These statues are remarkable for liveli
ness of expression ; the accessories displaying (as is
usual in his work) great power over the material,
though somewhat too laboured.
' In this state,' says Mr. Flaxman (in his address
on the death of the sculptor Thomas Banks), ' the
art continued until the establishment of the Royal Study of
Academy, in 1769 settled a course of study both at se^on""^^
home and abroad, which developed the powers of [he'iiovai
English genius, till then unknown to the natives and Academy-
denied by foreigners.'
The institution of the Royal Academy was un
doubtedly of great consequence and use to the
nascent sculpture of England ; but whether we are
to attribute so very decidedly the rise and rapid
growth of British sculpture to the cause so assigned
may be questioned, as Nollekens, Banks, and Bacon,
the only English sculptors of merit who preceded

24 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART.
Flaxman, had all acquired reputation by their models
and works before the Academy was established at
all.^ Bacon and Banks, indeed, were among the
most distinguished of the early students of the
Academy's classes, Banks being sent to Italy as
travelling student. But Nollekens had been eight
years studying in Rome when the Academy
opened ; and he had executed for Lord Yarborough
and others, at Rome, several considerable works in
marble. There can be no hesitation, however, in admitting
that the classes and course of study set on foot by
the Royal Academy were suggestive as well as
instructive, and exercised an important influence
on the progress of sculpture in England.
' At the date of the institution of the Royal Academy, Banks
was thirty four years of age, Nollekens thirty-two, and Bacon
twenty-nine.

BOOK I.

LITERATURE.

CHAPTER I.
HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.
English Historical Writing prior to 1754 — Hume s History
of England — Dr. Robertson' s Historical Compositions
— Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire' —
Later Historical Works — Biographical Literature in the
Last and Present Centuries. L HISTORY.
Considering the solid and matter-of-fact qualities
that are supposed to characterise the British mind,
it is singular that before the time of Hume, Robert
son and Gibbon, there should have been so few
native writers of history. Passing over Hollin- Early
shed's Chronicles and the writings of Sir John Hay- hist^ies.
ward in the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., Bacon's
' History of Henry VIL' and the Historical Plays
of Shakespeare are probably the best native histories
of England extant prior to the reign of George II.
Rapin's History, translated in that reign, was con
tinued by Tindal, and is a respectable work.
Of early English histories of foreign countries,
Knolles' ' History of the Turks ' and Raleigh's ' His
tory of the World,' now more remarkable in a literary
than an historical point of view, are the most deserv
ing of mention. Of domestic histories of particular
periods by men of mark, who had themselves borne

28 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
a part in the transactions they relate, but whose
narratives, however characteristic of the times and of
the authors, are frequently coloured by their political
opinions, there are Knox's ' History of the Refor
mation in Scotland,' Lord Clarendon's ' History of
the Civil War,' first published in 1702, and Bishop
Burnet's 'History ofthe Reformation in England'
and ' History of his Own Time.' The last of these
appeared in 172 3, after Burnet's decease — a repertory,
more or less reliable, of historical facts and his own
opinions. It did not escape the satire of Pope, who,
in the ' Memoirs of P. P., Clerk of this Parish,' has
amusingly ridiculed the bishop's loquacious import
ance and undistinguishing industry in the collection
of facts. ^
1736. Lord Bolingbroke's ' Letters on the Study of
Lord History,' including an introductory sketch of the
brokel' State and history of Europe, from the treaty of the
Letters Pyrenees to the year 1688, is one of the few his-
on the ¦' . ^
study of torical books of the early part of the 1 8th century,
and is remarkable for its condensed narrative and
philosophical views. Whatever may be thought of
the principles in politics, and still more in religion,
of Henry St. John, his matter and style, when the
subject is clear of personal and polemical bias, rise
far above the other historical writings of the day.
History has been said to be ' Philosophy teaching
' In a paper on Historical writing in the Rambler, of date
1 75 1, Dr. Johnson, admitting the scarcity of good English his
torians, refers particularly to Raleigh, Knolles, and Clarendon ;
giving the preference in point of style to Knolles' History of the
Turks.

history.

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 29
by examples.' In the following passage from the
fifth of his ' Letters on History,' this thought is ex
panded by Bolingbroke, and in his historical writings
the theory of composition involved in it is attempted
to be reduced to practice : —
By comparing in this study the experience of other
men and other ages with our own, we improve both ; we
analyse, as it were, philosophy. We reduce all the abstract
speculations of ethics, and all the general rules of human
policy, to their first principles.
In 1754, three years after the death of Lord
Bolingbroke, David Hume, then librarian to the
Faculty of Advocates, brought out at Edinburgh a
volume, in quarto, of his History of England, con- Hume's
taining the reigns of James I. and Charles I. Mr. of Eng^
Hume was already known, both in this country and in '^"^¦
France, by his treatises on metaphysical, moral, and
political subjects ; being regarded by the discerning
few as a most subtle thinker upon all subjects, and in
matter of religion as a daring sceptic. The first of
these treatises appeared in 1738, although none of
them, except the ' Political Discourses,' attained
much contemporary popularity. The History was
at first unfavourably received by all parties, and in
a year not above forty-five copies of it were sold.
In 1756 a second volume, containing the period from
the death of Charles I. till the Revolution, came out
in London, and was better received. In the follow
ing years the remaining volumes appeared, and the
sale of the whole in a short time made such advances i7S9-
that (in the author's own words) the copy-money

30 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
given him by the booksellers much exceeded any
thing formerly known in England.^
Hume's At the time of the appearance of Hume's His-
pohtics. j.Qj.y^ .party spirit in England ran high ; and the
political principles of the book excited more atten
tion than its literary merits.^ From a perusal of his
political essays we naturally set down Mr. Hume
as a moderate Whig — a friend to limited monarchy
and the Protestant succession.^ There is, however,
in his speculative writings, a great deal of what may
be called political see-saw, and neither party can
decidedly claim him. In one of his letters he says
of himself : ' My views of things are more con
formable to Whig principles, my representations of
persons to Tory prejudices.' It must be admitted
that, with all his profession of impartiality, when he
comes to deal with men and events instead of ab
stract speculations, there is a certain leaning to the
Tory side. But that such a tendency was the cause
of certain inaccuracies and inconsistent views which
writers since his own day have discovered in his
History of England, it would be hazardous to
' Hume's Autobiography. It is worthy of remark that in this
very year, 1759, when Mr. Hume was thus making way in his
literary career. Dr. Johnson, after twenty-two years of a literary
life — in the course of which he had written the Rambler, the poems
oi London and the Vanity of Human Wishes, smA the Dictionary —
had to borrow money to defray the expense of his mother's funeral,
and wrote Rasselas in a week (receiving for it 125/.), to discharge
this and other debts. — Boswell's Life of Johnson.
^ Life and Corresp07idence of David Hume, by J. H. Burton,
LL.D. 3 See particularly Hume's Essays On Parties in Great Britain,
and On the Protestant Succession-.

CHAP I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 3 1
assert, considering that they may equally, and, from
the character of the man, more probably, have arisen
from occasional carelessness and a,n indolent defect
of research, or from the want of information which
later publications have made accessible. How
ever this may be, the literary merit and general Charac-
excellenceof Mr. Hume's History came very soon to Mstory"^'^
be acknowledged ; and it remains to this day a
standard work. In a comprehensive view of his
subject, in perspicuity of narrative, breadth of de
scription, and tolerant feeling, Hume, as a historian,
stands unrivalled. ' His story,' to use the words of
Lord Brougham, ' is unbroken, clear; all its parts dis
tinct, and all succeeding in natural order ; nor is any
reflection omitted where it should occur, or introduced
where it would encumber or interrupt.'^ The language
is exact, easy and effective, though with some ten
dency both to Scotticisms and gallicisms. The work
of Hume has the additional merit of not confining
itself to wars, successions, and treaties — till then the
staple material of history — but of directing attention
to manners, commerce, and laws, and to the progress
of the people in whatever concerns their civilization.
The ' History of Scotland,' by Dn William Dr.
Robertson, a Presbyterian clergyman, and Principal son's^"^
of the University of Edinburgfh, became a popular ^^'stoncal
¦' ° r r composi-
work immediately on its appearance in 1 759.^ Horace tions.
1 Lives of Men of Letters and Science, Time of George III.
2 For the copyright of this work Dr. Robertson received from
Millar of London 600/. The colleague of Dr. Robertson in the
Greyfriars' Church of Edinburgh, and his opponent in the General
Assembly of the Scottish Kirk, was Dr. John Erskine, whose life

32 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK i.

Their fa- Walpole praised its purity of style and great im-
re°c'Lp-''^^ partiality.^ Mr. Strahan, the bookseller, wrote to
tion. j)j. Robertson that people of the first distinction
wondered how a Scotch parson could write so well ;
the Speaker of the House of Commons in particular
preferring the style to that of Lord Bolingbroke.^
Ten years afterwards Robertson's ' History of the
Reign of the Emperor Charles V., with a view of the
progress of society in Europe from the subversion of
the Roman Empire to the beginning of the i6th
century,' was published in three volumes quarto,
the author receiving for his copyright 4,500/. This
history, from the general interest attaching to the
subject, created for Robertson a European name.
Commencing with the able preliminary dissertation,
and uniting with consummate skill in a central point
the various threads of European history, it is usually
regarded as his masterpiece.^ The ' History of

has been written by the late Sir Henry Moncreiff. Dr. Erskine
was the clergyman whose sermon, the reader of Sir Walter Scott's
novels will recollect, Colonel Mannering and Mr. Pleydell had
the benefit of listening to, when they went on a Sunday morning
to hear the celebrated historian. — Guy Mannering, vol. ii.
' Letter to Sir David Dalrymple, 1759.
'^ Life of Dr. Robertson, by Professor Dugald Stewart.
* The portion of the life of Charles V. after his retirement
from the throne to the monastery of San Geronimo de Yuste, par
ticularly the highly-wrought passage relating the celebration by
the Emperor in his lifetime of his funeral obsequies, is liable to
observation on the score of a somewhat superficial attention to
authorities, more so than in the previous part of the history. The
Cloister Life of the Emperor Charles V. forms the subject of an
interesting volume (1852) by Sir William Stirling Maxwell, Bart,
composed from authentic Spanish sources.

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 33
America,' the materials for which were too exten
sive to be included in the ' History of Charles V.,' as
originally intended, appeared in 1776. In the follow
ing year Dr. Robertson was elected a member of the
Royal Academy of History at Madrid, in testimony
of their approbation of the industry and care with
which he had applied to the study of Spanish
history. The Academy at the same time appointed
one of its members to translate the ' History of
America ' into Spanish — an undertaking which was
stopped by the Spanish government judging it in
expedient that a work should be made public in
which the nature of their trade with America and
system of colonial administration were so fully ex
plained. •¦¦
In all Dr. Robertson's works the composition is Robert-
highly finished, occasionally perhaps too much so, style; not
and the parts of his subject are thoroughly disen
tangled. The narrative is clear and interesting,
though to the careful student material passages of
history may sometimes appear to be given without
sufficient particularity. The diction is beautiful and
vigorous ; at the same time, no doubt owing to the
author's Scottish education and life, not having the
merit (if it is a merit) of being idiomatic. If he
attempted or wished it, Robertson did not in any
of his histories attain the idiomatic English of the
two models of a good narrative style he was in the
habit of recommending — Defoe's 'Robinson Crusoe'
and Swift's ' Gulliver's Travels.'

idioma
tic.

' Stewart's Life of Robertson.
D

34

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

Gibbon'sDecline
and Fall
oftheRoman
Empire.

The peculiar styles of Hume and Robertson are
thus characterised by Mr. Gibbon, in his autobio
graphy :—
The old reproach that no British altars had been raised to
the muse of History was recently disproved by the first per
formances of Robertson and Hume, the historians of Scot
land and of the Stuarts. . . The perfect composition,
the nervous language, the well-turned periods of Dr
Robertson, inflamed me to the ambitious hope that I might
one day tread in his footsteps ; the calm philosophy, the
careless inimitable beauties, of his friend and rival often
forced me to close the volume with a mixed sensation of
delight and despair.
The first volume of the ' History of the Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire' appeared in 1776,
in quarto, which, in the i8th century and the begin
ning of the 19th, was the usual form of publication
for books of any pretension. The idea of writing
on this magnificent subject had originally occurred
to Mr. Gibbon at Rome, many years before, as he
sat ' musing amid the ruins of the capitol, while the
bare-footed friars were singing vespers in the Temple
of Jupiter.'^ He brought to aid him in the task he
had set himself great industry of research, a com
prehensive grasp of his subject, a vivid imagination,
and a vast store of historical reading and curious
learning. A man of fashion as well as a man of
letters, with an education and training of a very
desultory character, he had passed much time on
the continent, and his opinions in religion, his per
sonal habits, and even his language, had in the

Now the Church of the Ara Cceli.

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 35
earlier part of his life been cast in a French mould.
When the ' Decline and Fall ' first saw the light,
Mr. Gibbon, at that time member for Liskeard,
was residing in London ; and very soon (to use
his own language) his book was on every table
and almost on every toilette. The historian was
crowned by the taste and fashion of the day. The
copiousness and interest of the narrative, the ad
mirable grouping of the subject, the perspicuous
and ornate though laboured style, were acknow
ledged by all. But passing from the manner to the
matter, the attention of the more serious class of
readers became very soon directed to the sneering its covert
and covert attack on the Christian revelation con- ^"^P'^ °^
tained in the 15th and i6th chapters. Although as tianity.
much a sceptic as Hume, Gibbon was less cautious
in his attacks on Christianity, and had less outward
regard to established opinions. Setting aside the
hits at churchmen which Mr. Hume cannot refrain
from indulging in, there is hardly anything in his
history that touches the fundamental doctrines of
religion. In the ' Decline and Fall,' on the other
hand, when the rise and rapid growth of the Chris
tian religion comes to be treated of, not only (it was
generally remarked) is undue prominence given to
secondary causes, but the direct evidence in its
favour is either altogether ignored or referred to
with a sneer ; —
Sapping a solemn creed with solemn sneer.
As might have been expected, these chapters
(with which the first volume closed) raised up a host
D 2

36 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK l.

of controversial opponents, for all of whom, with one
or two exceptions, the historian rather arrogantly
expressed his contempt. The second and third
volumes of the history appeared five years after.
Composed with equal care and more caution, they
excited as much attention and less controversy than
the first volume.
On the break up of the Coalition Ministry, under
which Mr. Gibbon held an office, he went to reside
permanently at Lausanne, on the Lake of Geneva ;
being induced to do so from motives of economy as
well as inclination. He there completed the ' His
tory of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.' ^
1788. The three last volumes were brought out in London,
the author superintending their publication while
on a visit to his friend Lord Sheffield.

' It is not to be wondered at that the abodes of Gibbon and
Voltaire awoke a reflection in the Childe Harold of Byron : —
Lausanne and Ferney ! ye have been the abodes
Of names which unto you bequeathed a name,
Mortals who sought and found by dangerous roads
A path to perpetuity of fame :
They were gigantic minds, and their steep aim
Was, Titan-like, on daring doubts to pile
Thoughts which should call down thunder and the flame
Of Heaven again assailed — if Heaven the while
On man and man's research could deign do more than smile.
In the well-known passage of Gibbon's Autobiography, where,
in beautiful but somewhat affected language, the writing in the
summer-house of the garden at Lausanne of the last page of the
History of the Decline and Fall is recorded, a fact is mentioned,
curious in itself when the elaborate style of his composition is
borne in mind — that his first rough manuscript, without any inter
mediate copy, had invariably been sent to press. Another passage
in the Autobiography, referring to his practice of composition, ex
plains this : ' It has always been my practice to cast a long para-

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. t^J
Having previously referred to Mr. Gibbon's opi
nion of the styles of Robertson and Hume, Dr.
Robertson's remarks on the ' Decline and Fall'
may now be cited, from two letters to the author
preserved in the 'Autobiographical Memoirs' of
Gibbon: —
I like the style of these volumes (2nd and 3rd) better May,
than that of the first; there is the same beauty, richness '78i.
and perspicuity of language, and with less of that quaint
ness into which your admiration of Tacitus sometimes
seduced you.
And ofthe last three volumes he writes: —
I ventured to predict the superior excellence of the July,
volumes lately published, and I have not been a false '788.
prophet. ... I know no example in any age or nation of
such a vast body of elegant and valuable information com
municated by one individual. . . Your style appears to
me improved in these new volumes ; by the habit of
writing, you write with greater ease.'
Besides the works of the three historians that Later
have now been mentioned, the latter half of the 1 8th works of
century produced a variety of other historical works ;
but none of such merit, in a literary point of view,
as to raise them to an equal rank with Hume,
Robertson, and Gibbon. Smollett's ' Continuation
of Hume's History' — a trade speculation, hastily

graph in a single mould, to try it by my ear, to deposit it in my
memory ; but I suspend the action of the pen till I have given
tlie last polish to my work.'
' It may be remarked as a symptom of the latitudinarianism, or
perhaps liberality, of the time, how cautiously tolerant, in his pub
lished letters, Dr. Robertson is of his sceptical and sneering friend.

1 8th
century.

38 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 1.
written, and mostly compiled from newspapers — was
unworthy of the book to which it was tacked, and
did not add to the literary reputation of the author
of ' Humphrey Clinker.' George lord Lyttelton's
1767. ' History of King Henry II.' is a lengthy work, of
much research with reference to a fundamental
period of English constitutional history ; his lord
ship having been engaged for thirty years in writing
it. The principal historical work of James Macpher-
son (the compiler, or, as some will have it, author of
Ossian's poems) is the ' History of Great Britain,
from the Restoration to the Accession of the House
of Hanover,' containing information of interest with
reference to proceedings in connection with the
1771- Jacobite party. Henry's 'History of Great Britain,'
coming down to the death of Henry VIII., is written
on the plan of giving simultaneously in each book a
history of events civil and military, and of the state
of religion, laws, learning, arts, commerce, and man
ners. Dr. Adam Ferguson's ' History of the Roman
1783- Republic' is a work of erudite scholarship, according
to the lights of his time, and of original thinking.
The ' Annals of Scotiand, from the accession of Mal
colm III. to the accession of the House of Stewart,'
by Sir David Dalrymple (Lord Hailes), is praised
by Dr. Johnson for ' stability of dates, certainty of
facts, and punctuality of citation.' ' I never before,'
he adds, ' read Scotch history with certainty.'^
Other historical writings of this period may be
named, of greater or less merit; Dr. Goldsmith's His-

' Boswell's Life, iii. 54.

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 39
tories of Greece and Rome, written for the general
reader, but always with Goldsmith's adorning touch;
Tytler's ' Outlines of Universal History ;' Pinkerton's
works on Scottish History ; Leland's ' History of
Ireland;' Gillies' 'History of Greece;' Watson's
' Philip II. and PhiHp III. of Spain,' in continuation of
Robertson's ' History of Charles V. ; ' Orme's ' His
tory of Transactions in Hindostan ; ' and the ' History
of the Rebellion of 1745,' by John Home, the author
of ' Douglas,' the chief interest of which, as com
pared with later works, consists in Home having
been engaged in the contest as a volunteer on the
side of the government.
Coming to the present century, Mr. Fox's frag- Histori-
mentary ' History of the Reign of James 1 1.' with an ^f jg^^"^
introductory chapter by his nephew, Lord Holland, century.
appeared in 1808. Sharon Turner's Histories of the
Ando-Saxons and of England are replete with learn- 1808-
, T.1, rr- fT-1J> 1829.
ing and research. Lingards 'History ot England,
from a Roman Catholic stand-point, contains a fund
of new information and acute suggestion, conveyed
in a perspicuous style, and has deservedly attained a 18 18.
high reputation. Hallam's 'View of the State of
Europe during the Middle Ages,' and his 'Constitu- 1827.
tional History of England from Henry VII. to
George 1 1.' are both of them valuable contributions
to history in their respective departments — books of
great research and impartial investigation, stamped
with the impress of an accomplished and vigorous
mind. Sir John Malcolm's ' History of Persia' is also
a valuable work. Mr. Southey's ' History of Brazil '
is a book containing much information not to be had

4° VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
elsewhere. The 'History ofthe Peninsular War,' by
the same author, is now to a great extent superseded
by the more authoritative and scientific ' History of
the War in the Peninsula and the South of France,
from 1807 to 1 8 14,' by Sir Wilham Napier. The
' History of the Progress and Suppression of the
Reformation in Italy and in Spain,' by Dr. Thomas
McCrie, a Presbyterian clergyman, are noteworthy
and interesting additions to general as well as to
ecclesiastical history. The first, which is the most
careful composition, was translated on the continent;
the Italian version being placed, in 1836, by Pope
Gregory XVI. in the Index of prohibited books.
Adolphus' 'History of the Reign of George III.,'
Brodie's work on English history, Sir Walter Scott's
'History of Scotland,' contained in the three series of
'Tales of a Grandfather,' are also contributions, more
or less valuable, to our stock of historical knowledge.
Alison's The 'History of Europe during the French Revo-
of Europe lution,' by Sir Archibald Alison, the first two volumes
the'"^ of which appeared in 1833, is, upon the whole an
Revolu- ^^'^ ^""^ (^^'^'^ *^^ h^^P °f ^" index) useful book,
tion.' though somewhat verbose, inflated, and careless in
style. In the earlier portion of the work the
chapters frequentiy start with a political or moral
aphorism, as to the truth or at least the application
of which there may be great difference of opinion.
From its complicated subject-matter embracing
several streams of narrative, the grouping and ar
rangement in chapters of the various materials of the
history was a difficult task, and has not been always
successfully accomplished. Alison's ' History of

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 4 1
Europe, from the Peace of 18 15,' is not equal to its
predecessor. The subject of the later work lay too
much in his own time, and its mode of dealing with
recent productions of literature is far from satisfac
tory. Perhaps the most brilliant addition to the
historical literature of the present century has been
Lord Macaulay's ' History of England from the Macau-
Accession of James II.,' the first two volumes of jgn^^"^"
which appeared in 1849. The introductory part,
occupying the first volume, consists of a comprehen
sive and eloquent resumd of English history, em
bracing not merely a general account of events, but
a masterly though sketchy view of the various
changes in the constitution, religion, laws, commerce,
and manners of Great Britain and Ireland. The
more regularly narrative part of the work traces and
delineates in a series of chapters or historical essays
the leading transactions of the reigns of James II.
and of William III., who is Lord Macaulay's hero
of British history. Readers of history will prob
ably desiderate in the work of Macaulay greater
exactness in the statement of facts and a more full
and scrupulous reference to dates. However inter
esting and agreeable to read, his book may be
thought to affect occasionally a greater familiarity
with bygone persons and events than will stand a
strict verification, and also to show too much ten
dency to partial views, and to generalising upon
insufficient data. The fifth and last volume was
published posthumously, in 1861, by the author's
sister. Lady Trevelyan. There is a want of com
pleteness in the concluding portion of the history of

42 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
the reign of King William which is now supplied by
the volume of Earl Stanhope's 'History of England,
from 1 701 to 1 71 3.' This volume comprises the
reign of Queen Anne and forms a connecting link
between the close of Lord Macaulay's History and
the commencement of Lord Stanhope's ' History of
England, from the Treaty of Utrecht to the Peace of
"Versailles in 1783.'

//. BIOGRAPHY.

Akin to History, though of simpler structure, in so
far as regards the putting together of its materials,
is Biography. ' There is a history,' according to
Shakespeare, 'in all men's lives,' although there are
comparatively few lives of which the world cares to
hear the story, or from which inferences generally
applicable can be drawn.
Biogra- In the first portion of the period to which this
writings historical view refers, one of the few biographies
iSt*^ worthy of note is Dr. Conyers Middleton's 'Life of
century. Cicero,' composed mostly from Cicero's Epistles, and
combining with the biographical narrative valuable
passages of Roman history. The ' Life of Savage '
by Dr. Johnson appeared in 1744, and is a story of
melancholy interest. The ' Life of Sir Thomas
Brown ' written by the same author, and prefixed
1756. to an edition of the 'Christian Morals;' the 'Life
of Frederick the Great' in the 'Literary Magazine,'
and the 'Life of Roger Ascham,' prefixed to an
1 761. edition of his works, are examples of shorter bio
graphies in Johnson's vigorous and rounded style.

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 43
The brief autobiography of David Hume, entitled
' My own Life,' is a model of terse and easy writing,
giving to the public as much information about
himself and his works as he wished should be given,
and not a word more. The autobiographical ' Me
moirs of Gibbon,' edited with notes by Lord Shef
field after the author's decease, is a much longer
and more entertaining work. It records, in an easy
though still ornate style, the history of his writings,
various portions of his life, and some of his opinions
on public institutions and points of criticism.
Dr. Johnson's ' Lives of the Poets,' although Lives of
1 - . . . r ¦ r ¦ 1 the Poets.
sometimes defective in point of iniormation, and
not unfrequently coloured by his own prejudices, has
always been regarded as an excellent work, as well
in its style — which is less laboured than that of
his previous writings — as in the interest of the nar
ratives and the learning and vigour of the criticism.
One may not always agree with the judgments pro
nounced, and may think some portion of the writing
thrown away upon very inferior poets ; but the book
will be read, notwithstanding, with pleasure and
instruction. Boswell's ' Life of Johnson ' takes its Boswell's
_, ,. 1 1. Johnson.
place in English literature, not as an ornate compo
sition, but as a truthful record of the life of a re
markable man, and of his amusing and forcible talk.
However the author himself may occasionally
provoke a smile, his faithful and careful mode of
dealing with his subject renders this biography a
work of art of its own kind. The influence exer
cised by Pope, in a former age of literature, is but
a faint type of the dictatorial power displayed

44 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK i.
by Johnson among his literary friends in the pages
of Boswell ; although it may be admitted that the
sentiments and opinions of the sage are occasionally
indebted for their force and effect to the strength
of the language in which they are clothed as much
as to their originality.
Roscoe's The historical lives of Lorenzo de Medici and
de Medici of Leo the Tenth, by Mr. Roscoe, display a com-
^ ^° bination, not often seen, of diligent research, graceful
style, and elegant taste. As biographies, they gave
a new lustre to that department of British literature,
and were received with applause both at home and
1796. abroad. On the appearance of the ' Life of Lorenzo,'
Dr. Parr complimented the author as having ' thrown
the clearest and fullest light upon a period most
interesting to every scholar ' — that of the revival of
learning and the recovery of the classical models in
literature and art ; while Thomas John Mathias, a
ripe Italian scholar, and author of the ' Pursuits of
Literature,' praised him in verse. ^ The ' Life and
Pontificate of Leo the Tenth ' traverses the region
of art as well as of church politics — two subjects on
which there always will be difference of opinion.
It was neither so favourably received, nor is it con
sidered quite equal to the ' Life of Lorenzo.' A
1813. biography of a different stamp, the ' Life of Nelson,'
adm.irable for its clear and succinct narrative, and the
easy flow of its English style, is regarded as one of
the best of Mr. Southey's prose writings. His

' Life of William Roscoe, by Henry Roscoe ; Pursuits of
literature, p. 227.

CHAP. I.] HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 45
' Life of Wesley ' is a book of much information on
the rise and progress of Methodism. Sir Walter
Scott's Lives of Dryden and Swift, prefixed to his
editions of their works, mix personal anecdote with
sensible and well-informed criticism. His ' Life of
Napoleon Bonaparte' is a biography of much in- 1827.
terest, and the story of an eventful time, composed
in an agreeable narrative style, but deficient in his
torical accuracy.
In recent biographical literature, Thomas Moore, change
by his ' Life of Lord Byron,' which is superior both mode of
in matter and style to his Lives of Sheridan and ^^^l^{
of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, and John Gibson Lock- -writing.
hart, by his ' Life of Sir Walter Scott,' occupy a
prominent position. These writers, as well as
Currie in his ' Life of Burns,' and Hayley in his
' Life of Cov/per,' have adopted the method of intro
ducing in their biographies the letters and journals
of the persons whose lives they record ; of which,
perhaps, the earliest example is in Mason's Memoirs,
in 1775, of the ' Life and Writings of Gray.' This
mode of authorship, however calculated to set forth
the life of the subject of the book in a satisfactory
manner, and in its just colours, is inconsistent with
the idea of a continuous original composition, such
as are most of those previously mentioned, and also
the ' Life of Burns,' by Mr. Lockhart, an earlier
production than his Life of Scott. The original
composition of the author of a work like Moore's
Life of Byron, may contain very good narrative,
or criticism, or anecdote ; but his writing is usually
nothing more than the connecting link or links

46 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
between the letters and diaries, and sometimes the
original pieces, of the subjects of the biography.
The author and his own portion of the composition
play a subordinate part. Thus larger and more
copious books are produced, but inferior biographical
compositions. This method has been followed in the present cen
tury by some authors of great name ; while others have
given examples of the shorter and (when economy
of time is an object) more readable biographies.
Lord Brougham's ' Lives of Men of Letters and
Science in the time of George III.', is regarded
as among the best of his prose writings. Lord
Campbell's ' Lives of the Lord Chancellors,' and of
' The Chief Justices of England,' are sufficiently
amusing ; but they are open to criticism in point of
style and tone, and to be received with great caution
as records of facts.

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 47

CHAPTER II.
FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE.
Commencement of modern English Fiction — Novels of
Defoe, Swift, Richardson, Fielding, and Smollett — ' Tris
tram Shandy ' of Stertie — Tales of Johnson and Gold
smith — Romance of 'Castle of Otranto', followed by the
Romances of Mrs. Radcliffe and Clara Reeve, &c. — Novels
of Miss Burney, of Henry Mackenzie, and others — of Miss
Edgeworth — of Sir Walter Scott — of later writers of
Fiction.
That species of English prose composition which
may be described generally as ' fictitious narrative,'
and which is represented by the modern novel and
romance, took its rise, in the reign of George I., with
the fictions of Daniel Defoe. The mediaeval ro- English
mances of chivalry had been succeeded by the heroic of 17th
romances of the 1 7th century ; ponderous works, full '^^'^'"¦'y-
of conventional adventures, interminable intrigues,
and metaphysical gallantry. Such were the ro
mances of ' Cleopatra,' ' Cassandra,' ' Clelia,' the
' Grand Cyrus,' and others, which were still read in
the reign of the first George. Mr. Pope, in a letter
to Martha Blount (about 1 720), talks of his sending
her the ' Grand Cyrus ' by the Reading coach ; and
to these performances Dean Swift no doubt refers,
when, relating the fire that broke out in the palace
of Lilliput, he makes Gulliver remark that ' her im-

48 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.

perial majesty's apartment was on fire by the care
lessness of a maid of honour, who fell asleep while
she was reading a romance.' These folio romances
have long since been consigned to the shelves of
ancient libraries.^
Neither the short Italian ' Novella,' nor the still
shorter and more licentious French ' Nouvelle,' ever
took root in England ; though several of Shakes
peare's plays are founded on Italian novels, and they
occasionally appear in other forms. The names,
however, of Romance and Novel have been adopted
to designate the prose tales of fiction of more recent
times.^
Fictions Defoe's principal fictions, varying as they did in
Defoe."'^ character and subject, took all of them the form of
autobiographies. The first edition of ' Robinson
Robinson Crusoe,' in octavo, 1719, sets it forth on the title-page
as — ' The Life and strange surprising Adventures of
Robinson Crusoe, of York, mariner, who lived eight-
and-twenty years all alone in an uninhabited island on
the coast of America, near the mouth of the great river
Oroonoque, having been cast on shore by shipwreck
v/herein all the men perished but himself : with an
account how he was at last as strangely delivered by
pirates. Written by Himself London : printed by W.
' The list of the ' Lady's Library,' in No. 37 of the Spectator
(April 12, 171 1), includes five of the most noted of the old
romances. ^ In the notices of British works of fiction contained in this
chapter, it is proposed to refer to those works only which have
taken their place as standard productions, and duly represent the
literature of fiction of the day.

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 49
Taylor at the Ship in Paternoster Row.' The
interest of this immortal story centres chiefly in
Crusoe's residence on the desert island ; his ex..
pedients and shifts, and the perils he there en
counters ; his feelings in solitude, and his adventures
with the savages ; all related with a circumstantiality
and resemblance to truth not to be surpassed. His
voyages and travels elsewhere are also very na
turally told, with a constant reference to minute and
apparently unimportant circumstances.
The ' Memoirs of a Cavalier,' the ' Life and Other
novels of
Piracies of Captain Singleton,' the ' Life and Ad- oefoe.
ventures of Colonel Jack,' the ' Fortunes and Mis
fortunes of Moll Flanders,' are told also in the first
person. In the three last the reader is introduced
to roguery in all shapes, to ' sea-sharks and land-
sharks,' such as occur in the picaroon Spanish tales.
In the 'Memoirs of a Cavalier' what relates per
sonally to the supposed Cavalier is fictitious, but
the events recorded, with greater or less historical
accuracy, are incidents of the Thirty years' War in
Germany, and of the English Civil War of Charles I.
This entertaining work may possibly have given
Sir Walter Scott the first hint of an historical novel ;
Scott having thoroughly appreciated the merits of
Defoe as a writer of fiction, and superintended an
edition of his works. The 'Journal of the Plague
Year, 1665, written by a Citizen who continued all
the time in London,' is a fictitious narrative, based
upon representations of thrilling facts, which Defoe
had probably gathered from living persons or con
temporary broad-sheets.

50

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.

Gulliver's
Travels.

Their cir
cumstantiality andserio
comictone.

Novels of
Richard
son.

Defoe's talent of ' lying like truth ' by clothing
his fictions with probable circumstances was pos
sessed in a very full measure by the author of the
' Travels of Captain Lemuel Gulliver.' This unique
production of Dean Swift came before the London
public seven years after ' Robinson Crusoe,' and is
entitled to rank as a fictitious narrative of the first
class, quite exclusive of its character as a political or
general piece of satire. The book appeared without
the author's name, and became immediately the con
versation of the whole town, being universally read
' from the Cabinet Council to the nursery.'^ Gulliver,
like the heroes of Defoe, relates his parentage and
life on shore in a common-sense fashion so ex
quisitely natural that the seaman may be excused
who declared that he knew Captain Gulliver very
well, but he lived at Wapping, not at Rotherhithe.
The voyages to Lilliput, Brobdignag, and Laputa,
and all the wonderful things he encountered in his
travels, are told with so much gravity and regard to
keeping and proportion, that, apart from the under
current of ridicule of Sir Robert Walpole, and of
human nature and societies of men in general, our
love of the marvellous receives intense gratification
from the novelty and ludicrousness of the situa
tions and incidents. One may be allowed to read
' Gulliver's Travels ' as a romance, and take the
satire in it by the way.
In 1 740 appeared Samuel Richardson's ' Pamela ;
or. Virtue Rewarded.' The ' History of Clarissa

' Mr. Gay to Dr. Swift, November, 1726.

CHAP. 11.] ' FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 51
Harlowe,' by the same author, came out eight years
afterwards, and was followed by the ' History of Sir
Charles Grandison.' In these long-breathed novels
fictitious narrative takes the form of private letters,
in which the principal actors relate to their respec
tive correspondents the transactions and conversa
tions forming the material of the story. This mode
of telling his story appears to have arisen from
a friendly bookseller's suggestion that Richardson How
should write ' a little volume of letters, in a common epistolary
style, on such subjects as might be of use to those ^"dopted.
country readers who were unable to indite for them
selves.'^ He may also have been induced to adopt
the epistolary form of narrative from the circum
stance of his having in early life, when a printer's
apprentice in a small town in Derbyshire, been
employed by some young women — to whom, when
at work with their needles, he was in the custom
of reading — to write their love letters ; a species of
literary practice not extinct in more recent times at
Cairo and Seville, and made the subject of pictures
by Wilkie and Phillip. To this early schooling
in the secrets of the female heart may perhaps be
traced that fine pencilling and delicate shading
visible in his characters of women. All his person
ages, but especially those of the fair sex, have not
only their actions, but their looks and thoughts
written down small, at whatever cost of tediousness
to the reader.
The patient circumstantiality with which Defoe

Mrs. Barbauld's Life and Correspondence of Samuel Richardson.

52 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
and Swift invested their incidents, Richardson
applied to individual character. His novels, new
in their kind, were received on their first appear
ance with the plaudits both of the literary and the
fashionable world. The readers of the old romances
looked upon them as of very moderate length, and
readers of another stamp were gratified to discover,
flowing through a large margin of sentiment, a
tolerably full rivulet of sensational incident and
description. ' Clarissa Harlowe' is the best of his
tales, as well in point of delineation of character as
of strong feeling. The character of Lovelace is
partly drawn from the Lothario of Rowe's ' Fair
Penitent ; ' that of Clarissa is more original and
Pamela, imaginative, and full of pathetic interest. In 'Pamela'
there is a dash of selfishness and a degree of artful,
or at least equivocal conduct, mixed up with the
virtue of the heroine, which makes the moral of her
story somewhat doubtful. When a Pamela or a
Lavinia Fenton make a fair use of the weapon of
beauty with which the poet tells us nature has
armed their sex, a marriage to a wealthy squire or a
duke is by right of open conquest ; but when a train
of skilful manoeuvring is brought in aid of the
native power of beauty, however the fair one may
have retained her virtue, the moral of the lesson is
not so clear as the admirers of Richardson's 'Pamela'
would have it to be.^ As regards ' Sir Charles

' Lady Mary ¦\^'ortley Montague, in a letter to her daughter,
the Countess of Bute, from Italy in 1751, relates an odd adven
ture in real life which she believed to have been copied from, or

Andrews.

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 53
Grandison,' the baronet's stilted morality, and the
tiresomely slow evolution of the plot, to some extent
redeemed by the interest attaching to Clementina,
have rendered it almost proverbial. Even the vio
lent measures of Sir Hargrave Pollexfen are a relief
from Sir Charles's tedious perfection. These novels
were all translated, and became very popular in
France ; so much so that when Horace Walpole was
at Paris, in the winter of 1765, he found David
Hume and Richardson the favourite English
authors. -"^
' Pamela' did not escape the wicked wit of Henry
Fielding, whose 'Joseph Andrews' was written with Field-
the view of ridiculing its affectation and prudery. jj,seph
The titie-page set forth ' The Adventures of Joseph
Andrews and his Friend Mr. Abraham Adams' to be
an imitation of the manner of Cervantes. The Rev.
Mr. Adams is one of the most humorous and
amusing personages in English fiction, and the
adventures of the two friends are related with a
serio-comic air so irresistible that the author's inten
tion being to paint the ridiculous, we must admit
him to have succeeded in it, though possibly not
approving all the touches of his pencil. There is a
facility and apparent truthfulness in his delineation
of character worthy of Addison or Cervantes him
self Fielding's discretion may be questioned when
inspired by ' Pamela.' ' I know not,' her Ladyship adds, ' under
what constellation that foolish stuff was wrote, but it has been
translated into more languages than any modern performance I
ever heard of.'— Works of Lady M. W. Montague, edited by Lord
Wharncliffe, vol. ii. p. 4i7-
' -Walpole's Correspondence, 1765.

54 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
he suggests a comparison with the Spanish writer ;
but however he may have proposed to imitate the
' serious air' of the author of ' Don Quixote,' he is,
in a great measure, saved the risk of comparison by
the essential difference in the materials and costume
of the Spanish and the English story.
The genius of Fielding was truly original, and
accordingly we find that in his introductions to the
Tom chapters of ' Tom Jones,' written seven years after-
jones. -wards, he abjures all imitation except that of ' human
nature.' He had seen English life in its higher and
in its lower walks, and the essence of this experience
he produced to the world in his ' History of Tom
1749. Jones,' showing up human nature as modified by the
accidents of situation, breeding, country or town life.
In this novel the ingredients of generosity, kind
liness, and charity alternate, but in too small a pro
portion, with unbridled passion, sensual indulgence,
and degrading vice. With all this the conduct of
the plot is admirably managed, the marvellous
restrained within the bounds of probability, and
every incident and circumstance bears upon the con
clusion. The other novels of Fielding, ' Amelia'
and 'Jonathan Wild,' are inferior to 'Joseph An
drews ' and ' Tom Jones,' though possessing a cer
tain merit of their own. It was in application to
this author that Lord Byron took the distinction
between vulgarity and coarseness ; Fielding, accord
ing to his lordship, being often coarse, but never

vul

g'

ar.

1

' Gibbon, in his Autobiography, alluding to the family of the

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 55
The novels of Smollett are usually named with Smollett's
those of Fielding. They no doubt resemble each their in-
other in some things, but also differ. Fielding and aiit-f and
Smollett both drew their inspiration from nature and humor-
^ ous ex-
from common life ; both were masters, so to speak, aggera-
of low comedy ; but Fielding's comedy and his
characters were more generalised than those of
Smollett. In the satirical sketches of both there
is a large measure of personality, but more in
Smollett than in Fielding. Humorous exaggera
tions of individual character and highly-coloured
description Smollett knew to be his forte, and he
pushed it to an extreme. His best novels are those
in which there is most of his personal experience.
In ' Roderick Random,' where he sketches his
female cousins in Dumbartonshire, and his own ad
ventures as a surgeon's mate ; and in ' Humphrey
Clinker,' where he travels and visits in Scotland
and at Bath, there is much of his personal expe
rience, the incidents and characters heightened and
coloured to the highest humorous pitch. In ' Ro
derick Random' incidents of the war with France
in the years preceding are mixed up with the
fictitious narrative ; and in this and other novels of
Smollett may be marked many features of the
English navy in the middle of the last century.

Fieldings and the Eari of Denbigh having a common ancestor
with the House of Hapsburg, says, in his lofty manner : ' The
successors of Charies V. may disdain their brethren of England ;
but the romance of Tom Jones, that exquisite picture of human
manners, will outHve the palace of the Escurial and the imperial

eagle of the House of Austria.'

56 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
'Peregrine Pickle' and 'Count Fathom' have less
reality, and are of an inferior stamp.
In the management of the plot Smollett has pro
duced nothing to equal ' Tom Jones.' In the pre
face to ' Roderick Random' he professes to take
' Gil Bias ' for his model ; and his style so far re
sembles Le Sage that his novels present a succes
sion of amusing scenes, in which the persons do not
remain the same, rather than an artistically de
veloped story.
In the last year of the reign of George II. an
autobiography of a quite original kind made its
appearance — the ' Life and Opinions of Tristram
Shandy, Gentleman,' produced from the secluded
study of a Yorkshire clergyman. The two first
volumes, printed at York, but published in London,
were run upon with eager curiosity, and in one day
the Rev. Lawrence Sterne became famous.
Without being a Rabelais or a Swift, no small
share of their humour, eccentricity and satirical vein,
Tristram fell to the lot of the author of ' Tristram Shandy.'
The subsequent volumes of his book were not so
successful as the first, and objections were started
by the critics on the score of affectation and in
decency. Allowing these objections their due
weight, ' Tristram Shandy ' and the ' Sentimental
Journey through France and Italy' yet take their
place in English literature as works of genius ; and
many of their incidents as well as personages —
Trim, Lefevre, Uncle Toby, Yorick — are familiar
as household words. With hardly any story or
connection, the rambling pages of Sterne are replete

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 57
with the finest touches of character, and remarkable
also for that singular union of the pathetic and the
humorous, characteristic of writers of the highest
genius.^ In the same year with ' Tristram Shandy,' ap
peared Dr. Johnson's 'Rasselas,' a beautifully written Rasselas.
disquisition on human happiness and the difficulty of
attaining it, couched in the form of an Eastern tale.
The moralist who might 'shake his head at Dr.
Swift,' or at Fielding and Smollett, may place
' Rasselas ' on the most fastidious table. It has
littie incident, but is full of thought and sentiment,
expressed in eloquent language and tinged with
a certain melancholy, which was constitutional in
Johnson, and perhaps increased by the circumstances
in which the book was written ; it being composed in
the afternoons of the week in which his mother died.
The ' Vicar of Wakefield,' by Oliver Goldsmith,
came out in 1766, his poem of 'The Traveller' vicarof
having appeared the year before. It was not ex- fiekf^"
pected to have much success, and the manuscript,
for which Goldsmith received the sum of sixty
guineas, was allowed to remain fifteen months in the
bookseller's hands. With much of the humour and
truth to nature of the writing of Fielding, more
elevated in sentiment and more sober in its colour
ing, the ' Vicar of Wakefield ' slowly but surely made
> The works of Sterne, as of Goldsmith, have fumished subjects
for some well-known pictures by masters of the English school.
Such are ' Uncle Toby and ^Widow -Wadman ' by Leslie, ' Yorick
and the Grisette ' by Newton, and the ' Whistonian Controversy '
by Mulready.

58 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Its deli- its way to public favour. The masterly delineations
ofcha-"^ of Dr. Primrose and his family, of Jenkinson and
racter. BurchiU, have become, as it were, domiciliated in
England ; reminding one of the recorded observa
tion of an old monk on the figures in one of Titian's
masterpieces in the Escurial, that they were the
realities and men the shadows ! ^ Both ' Rasselas '
and the ' Vicar of Wakefield ' were very soon
translated into French and German. In Germany
the Vicar was read with eagerness, and highly ap
preciated.^ The year 1765 witnessed the revival, in a com
paratively diminutive form, of the old romance. The
¦^al- ' Castle of Otranto,' by the Hon. Horace Walpole,
Castfe of ^^^ composed in the congenial atmosphere of
Otranto. Strawberry Hill, and like the Gothic architecture of
that celebrated villa, was rather suggestive than of
great merit in itself With an easy idiomatic style,
and a portraiture of characters and manners not too

' Earl Stanhope's History of England, vi. 498.
^ Among the autobiographical reminiscences in Goethe's Dich-
tung und Wahrheit, is an interesting notice of the Vicar of Wake
field, in which the following passage occurs : ' The representation
of the character of Dr. Primrose in his life-walk through joy and
sorrow, the always-increasing interest of the story by the blending
of the natural with the marvellous, render this tale one of the best
that ever was written; while it has, besides, the great merit of
being perfectly moral ; indeed, in the pure sense of the word.
Christian. ... It left a great impression upon me, and which I
could not well account for ; but I felt myself entirely in accord
with that serio-comic {ironisches) vein of sentiment that rises
above circumstances, above fortune and misfortune, good and bad,
death and life, and so attains to the possession of a truly poetical
world.' — Dichtung und Wahrheit, B. x.

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 59

improbable, there is yet such a want of keeping and
proportion in the supernatural machinery of gigantic
helmets and the like, that the most eager lover of
the marvellous has difficulty in allowing his imagina
tion to be carried along with it. Walpole's forte lay
more in letter- writing than in either fictitious or real
history ; and the following account of the ' Castie of
Otranto,' in a letter from him to the Rev. Mr. Cole,
is perhaps better than anything in the book itself : —
I had time to write but a short note with the ' Castle of
Otranto,' as your messenger called on me at four o'clock, as
I was going to dine abroad. Your partiality to me and
Strawberry Hill have, I hope, inclined you to excuse the
wildness of the story. You will even have found some
traits to put you in mind of this place. When you read of
the picture quitting its panel, did not you recollect the
portrait of Lord Falkland, all in white, in my gallery }
Shall I even confess to you what was the origin of this
romance .' I waked one morning in the beginning of last
June from a dream, of which all I could recover was, that
I had thought myself in an ancient castle (a very natural
dream for a head filled like mine with Gothic story), and
that on the uppermost banister of a great staircase I sa^w
a gigantic hand in armour. In the evening I sat down and
began to write, without knowing in the least what I intended
to say or relate. The work grew on my hands, and I grew
fond of it ; add, that I was very glad to think of anything
rather than politics. In short, I was so engrossed with
my tale, which I completed in less than two months, that
one evening I wrote from the time I had drank my tea,
about six o'clock, till half an hour after one in the morning,
when my hand and fingers were so weary that I could not
hold the pen to finish the sentence, but left Matilda and
Isabella talking in the middle of a paragraph. You will
laugh at my earnestness, but if I have amused you by re
tracing with any fidelity the manners of ancient days, I

6o

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

Romances of
Mrs. Rad
cliffe and
Clara
Reeve.

MissBurney's
Evelina
and Cecilia.

am content, and give you leave to think me as idle as you
please. In the path of romance Clara Reeve and Mrs.
Radcliffe followed in the wake of the ' Castle of
Otranto'. The 'Old English Baron' of the for
mer, the ' Mysteries of Udolpho,' ' Romance of the
Forest,' and ' Italian ' of Mrs. Radcliffe, possess a
hazy and mysterious interest for the youthful reader
which a perusal in after years will hardly revive.
In the best of these romances, the ' Mysteries of
Udolpho,' there is an attempt to explain the marvels
of the story, which leaves the reader under the un
satisfactory impression of their being neither true
nor false. Of romances by other writers in the man
ner of Mrs. Radcliffe (the memory of which may
still exist in circulating libraries) the most remark
able was the ' Monk ' of M. G. Lewis, and the
' Montorio ' of the Rev. Mr. Maturin.
Returning from the modern romance to the novel,
the authoress of ' Evelina ' claims our notice. This
first novel of Miss Burney, afterwards Madame
d'Arblay, was received with an amount of admira
tion on the part of the literary society of London —
of Mr. Burke, Dr. Johnson, and Sir Joshua Rey
nolds — which the intrinsic merit of the book can
hardly account for. Miss Burney undoubtedly wrote
with sprightliness and grace, describing scenes with
vivacity, and characterising odd and vulgar people
amusingly ; but in the portraiture of character and
the exhibition of sentiment by fine and minute
touches, and in the conduct of her story, she is much
ipferior to Richardson, whose epistolary method she

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE.

has adopted. ' So far had I written of my letter,'
Mrs. Thrale writes to Dr. Burney, 'when Mr.
Johnson returned home full of the praises of ' Eve
lina,' and protesting there were passages in it which
might do honour to Richardson. We talk of it for
ever, and he feels ardent for the ddnouement' ^ As
to Miss Burney's next novel, ' Cecilia,' Mr. Burke
thus expresses himself : ' There are few, I may
say fairly there are none, that will not find them
selves better informed concerning human nature, and
their stock of observation enriched, by reading
your ' Cecilia.' ^ Miss Burney's subsequent novels of
' Camilla ' and another failed in attracting the same
attention as ' Evelina' and ' Cecilia.'^
The public taste, as regards fictitious narrative,
was now becoming more refined ; and the imitators
of the early novelists, retaining their coarseness and
wanting their talent, soon fell into oblivion. This
was the fate of the ' Zeluco ' of Dr. Moore, one of
the best of these imitations, which had its season of
popularity. In some portions of the works of Henry Mac-

' July 22, 1778. Madame d'Arblay's Diary, i. 58.
^ July 29, 1782. Diary, ii. 148.
3 An ingredient entering largely into the public admiration of
Miss Burney's novel-writing was her youth, Evelina having been
long supposed to be the production of a young lady of seventeen.
But a reviewer in the Quarterly (in an article on Dr. Burney's
Memoirs) for April 1833, actuated by an uncourteous spirit of in
quiry, and having his suspicions aroused by an obvious inattention
to dates in the early portion of Madame d'Arblay's own Diary, has
discovered, by consulting the register of her birth at Lynn, that,
in 1778, when Evelina was published. Miss Burney must have
completed her twenty-fifth year.

62 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Novels kenzie, author of the ' Man of Feeling,' the ' Man of
of Henry . ,
Macken- the World,' and 'Julia de Roubign^,' Sterne has
found an imitator, in some degree, of his sensibility
without his indelicacy, but wanting his rich humour
and strong grasp of character. Mr. Mackenzie's
novels display originality of thought and fancy, and
are graceful and chaste in style ; their excess of
sentiment and prevailing strain of melancholy giving
them a marked character. Among his papers in the
' Lounger ' and ' Mirror ' is the beautiful story of
' La Roche ' (published in the collection of his
writings), where he introduces a sketch of Mr.
Hume in the character of a benevolent sceptic, and
aims to subdue infidelity by the force of sensibility.
New After the commencement of the French Revolu-
strain of . . , , . , . , ,
fiction. tion, at a time when men s minds were stirred by
social and political theories of an extreme kind, it is
not surprising that some of these theories should
have sought for an exponent in fiction. Of this an
example was given in ' Caleb Williams,' ' St. Leon,'
and other novels of Mr. Godwin, author of ' An
Inquiry into Political Justice.' ' Caleb Williams,'
according to its preface, was intended to contain a
general view of ' the modes of domestic and unre
corded despotism by which man becomes the de
stroyer of man.' It is mainly an attack on the
system of the administration of English law, con
veyed in a personal story of painful interest. But
the writing at this period was not all in favour of
the doctrines of the Revolution. Canning (in the
' Antijacobin ') and others assisted in stemming the
current. Works of fiction lent their aid to support

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 63
the existing order of things, — an example of which,
of an entertaining sort, was a novel entitled ' Memoirs
of Modern Philosophers,' by Elizabeth Hamilton,
authoress of the ' Cottagers of Glenburnie.'
At the commencement of the present century Novel
novel writing had greatly increased, but in its quality ^t"the^ ^*
had come to a very low ebb ; ' for certainly (to use com-
¦' ¦' ^ mence-
the words of Lord Jeffrey) a greater mass of trash mentof
11 r the 19th
and rubbish never disgraced the press of any country century.
than the ordinary novels that filled and supported
our circulating libraries down nearly to the time of
Miss Edgeworth's first appearance.'^ The author
ship of Maria Edgeworth began in the first year of
the century. 'Castle Rackrent,' ' an Hibernian tale, Miss
taken from facts and from the manners of the Irish worth's
squires before the year 1782,' is a series of graphic n^o^els^""^
sketches of the lives and proceedings of the drunken
Sir Patrick, the litigious Sir Murtagh, the fighting
Sir Kit, and the slovenly Sir Condy Rackrent, related
by an old Irish steward in his vernacular idiom.
' When Ireland,' says Miss Edgeworth in the pre
face, ' loses her identity by an union with Great
Britain, she will look back with a smile of good-
humoured complacency on the Sir Kits and Sir
Condys of her former existence.' ' Castle Rackrent '
was followed by ' Belinda,' the advertisement to
which demonstrates the feelings of Miss Edgeworth 1801.
as to the novels of the period : —
The following work is offered to the public as a Moral
Tale, the author not wishing to acknowledge a novel,
» Prefatory Notice to Contributions by Lord Jeffrey to the Edin-
burs:h Review.

64 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Were all novels like those of Madame de Crousatz (author
of ' Caroline de Lichtfield ') Mrs. Inchbald, Miss Burney,
or Dr. Moore, she would adopt the name of novel with
delight ; but so much folly, error and vice, are disseminated
in books classed under this denomination, that it is hoped
the wish to assume another title will be attributed to feel
ings that are laudable and not fastidious.
The ' Popular Tales ' of Miss Edgeworth ap
peared in 1 804, the title having been chosen ' not as
a presumptuous and premature claim to popularity,
but from the wish that they may be current beyond
circles which are sometimes exclusively considered
as polite.' In these, and indeed in all the writings of
Miss Edgeworth — ' Moral Tales,' ' Parents' Assistant,'
&c. — it was her constant aim to exemplify and pro
mote the principles of practical education contained
in the more didactic works on education by herself
and her father, Mr. Richard Lovell Edgeworth.
1809. The ' Tales of Fashionable Life ' were intended espe
cially to point out some of the errors, bad habits and
affectations, to which the higher classes of society are
1813. disposed. ' Patronage ' is one of the best of her
larger novels ; after it came out ' Harrington,' ' Or-
mond,' and (latest of all) ' Helen.'
Their in- The earlier tales of Maria PMgeworth at once re-
oiTscott. deemed the mediocrity of the fictitious writing of the
day, and had some influence in leading the way to the
novels of Sir Walter Scott. In a letter from his printer
1814. and publisher, James Ballantyne, to Miss Edgeworth,
the writer says, that from intercom'se with the author
of ' Waverley,' while ' Waverley' was goino- throucrh
the press, he knew that the exquisite truth and power

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 65
of Miss Edgeworth's characters operated on his mind
at once to excite and subdue it^ In the delineation
of character, particularly Irish character, Miss
Edgeworth has not been excelled by Lady Morgan,
Mr. Lever, and other later writers. Her tales com- Didactic
mended themselves to the understanding as well as f,°"^ °^
to the fancy, inculcating moral truth in the guise of novels.
fiction, rebuking folly and prejudice by the force of
ridicule and humour. With much merit in this
respect, Miss Edgeworth's novels have a certain
teaching or lecturing tone not always agreeable in a
novel ; England being made, as it were, the Dame's
School of this accomplished authoress.^ In the
conduct and denouement of the plot it has been ob
served that her stories are generally, if not unnatural,
at least improbable, the events of most consequence,
with hardly an exception, being brought about by
providential coincidences.^ If, however, this be a
fault, it is one which may be objected to nearly every
work of fiction that looks more to the producing of
striking effects than to the doctrine of probabilities.
The novels of Miss Jane Austen, of which the Miss
first, ' Sense and Sensibility,' appeared in 18 11, have no"velT'^
certainly the merit of greater probability of incident.
As her style became more formed. Miss Austen's
' Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, vol. iii. p. 303. The in
fluence exercised by Miss Edgeworth's success in stimulating him
to the writing of Waverley, is referred to by Scott himself in the
General Preface to his novels, many years after.
2 Don Juan's model parent. Donna Inez, is compared by Lord
Byron to Miss Edgeworth's novels stepping from their cover.
2 Quarterly Review for January 182 1.

66 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
subsequent tales, ' Mansfield Park,' ' Pride and Pre
judice,' ' Emma' and ' Persuasion,' displayed qualities
entitling her to a high rank among writers of fiction.
Their perfect naturalness, and truthful rendering of
the life of the upper middle class of English society,
will always please. Without the brilliant talent and
pretension of Miss Edgeworth, Miss Austen's ex
pressive manner gains upon her readers like the
beauty of some women, not remarkable or striking
at first, but improving unaccountably on farther ac
quaintance. Her quick perception of the minor
follies and absurdities of life, and her easy and lively
way of bringing them out, contribute to give a
piquancy to her stories which enhances their moral
tendency without the reader being aware of it.
Waverley The appearance in 1814 at Edinburgh, of 'Waver-
ley, or 'Tis Sixty Years Since ' (the first portion of
it having been written in 1805), and the long train
of novels and romances that followed from the same
quarter, forms an era in the history of fictitious
narrative. Although his incognito was not formally
withdrawn till 1825, the 'man in the mask' was
very soon revealed to many of his countrymen, from
internal evidence, to be no other than Walter Scott,
already known to the public as the editor of the
' Border Minstrelsy ' and the author of ' Marmion.'
His previous literary pursuits, his extensive reading
in history, his antiquarian and traditionary lore, his
powers of memory and imagination, his knowledge
of life, his genial and widely sympathetic nature, all
contributed materials for the composition of the
Waverley novels.

novels.

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 6j
Hardly had people ceased to talk of the thoroughly
well-drawn and amusingly-coloured picture of Scot
tish manners and character, at the period of the
' forty-five,' presented by ' Waverley,' than it was
followed by ' Guy Mannering,' then by the ' Anti
quary,' ' Rob Roy,' the three series of the ' Tales of
My Landlord,' and ' Ivanhoe.' ^ In the article upon 1819.
' Ivanhoe,' in the ' Edinburgh Review ' for January
1820, Mr. Jeffrey pays Scott the high compliment
of comparing him with Shakespeare : —
In the period of little more than five years, he has
founded a new school of invention, and established and
endowed it with nearly thirty volumes of the most animated
and original compositions that have enriched English lite
rature for a century ; volumes that have cast into the shade
all contemporary prose, and even all recent poetry (except
perhaps, that inspired by the genius — or demon — of Byron),
and by their force of colouring, and depth of feeling, by
their variety, vivacity, magical facility and living present
ment of character, have rendered conceivable to this later
age the miracles of the mighty dramatist.
As of Shakespeare, so it may with truth be said
of Scott, that to him nature ' unveiled her face.'
' In a letter dated from Abbotsford in the autumn of 181 7, Sir
David Wilkie remarks — ' The family here are equally in the dark
about whether Mr. Scott is the author of the novels. They are
quite perplexed about it. They hope he is the author, and would
be greatly mortified if it were to turn out that he was not. He
has frequently talked about the different characters to us, and the
young ladies express themselves greatly provoked with the sort of
unconcern he affects towards them.' Cunningham's Life of Wilkie,
i. 482. The formal avowal of the authorship of the novels was
not made till brought out by Lord Meadowbank at a Theatrical
Fund dinner in Edinburgh in 1825.. F 2

68 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book. i.
The extent of his traditional and historical lore was
not more remarkable than his insight into, and
sympathetic acquaintance with, the feelings of men
and their springs and motives of action.
' Ivanhoe' was follow^ed by the ' Monastery' and
' Abbot,' and these by ' Kenilworth,' in which the
genius of Scott may be said to have culminated.
In the variety and richness of the scenery and de
scriptions in this novel, and in the pathos of the
story, it has not been excelled by any of his later
productions. Several good novels, the ' Fortunes
of Nigel,' ' Quentin Durward,' the ' Talisman,' came
out, along with others not of equal merit, in rapid
succession ; but the wand of the enchanter, which
had called so many spirits from the deep of the past,
gradually lost its power, and the series was closed
in 1 83 1 by paralysis and death.
The novels and romances of Scott are nearly
all historical, though in a greater or less degree;
some taking both the persons and events of real
history, as ' Waveriey,' the ' Legend of Montrose,'
' Quentin Durward,' ' Old Mortality, ; ' some dealing
with minor incidents of history, and introducing real
characters, as ' Rob Roy,' the ' Heart of Midlothian,' '
' Kenilworth ; ' others again being confined to the
illustration of national manners and habits at parti
cular periods, as ' Guy Mannering,' the ' Antiquary,'
'St. Ronan's Well'
ciah"to ^"^^^^ Defoe's 'Memoirs of a Cavalier,' and
original- ' Journal of the Plague Year ' (although these have
ity m the . v o
historical no plot or story), or Smollett's ' Roderick Random,'
be considered to have anticipated the historical

novel.

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 69
novel of Scott, Sir Walter may be regarded (to
use the words of a late writer) as having been
' the first to show how much invention might gain
by a union with reality ; what additional probability,
interest and importance, might be given to the for
tunes of imaginary heroes, by interweaving their
destinies with those of historical personages ; nay,
how much of romance in its finest forms lies in
the characters and events of history itself, invisible
to the prosaic or merely philosophic observer, but
obvious at once to the eye of imagination.' In this
respect, the Waverley novels may be regarded as
creations by themselves, differing from previous
works of fiction ; but they resemble the best ex
amples that exist of fictitious narrative, in represent-
inp- character truthfully and developing powerfully His
,-,..,, J know-
the workings of natural feelings in the breasts and ledge of
the actions of men. The scenes and surroundings ^^^^_
of their narratives are, indeed, taken from the past ;
but humanity, however modified externally by na
tional manners and the process of civilisation, is the
same in a remote age as in the present age, the
same in the highlands of Scotiand as it is on the
banks of the Loire.
In the department of fictitious writing the in- influence
^ 111 ofWaver-
fluence of the novels of Scott was very marked ; but ley novels
so far as regards actual benefit to literature, its °Hdngof
operation has perhaps been less direct than indirect, fi'^^''^'^'
The direct imitators of Sir Walter Scott's style and
manner have not been quite successful in their
efforts. The historical and antique setting may be
there, but the genuine stone is wanting. The his-

^0 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
torical romances of Mr. James — the earliest of which,
'Richelieu,' appeared in 1825 — have considerable
merit, and are not without interest ; but they are
too much spun out, and are deficient in the higher
qualities of fictitious narrative. The Scotch novels of
Gait, which possess a copious fund of sly humour,
were brought out rapidly between 18 19 and 1823.
His ' Annals of the Parish ' and ' Entail ' are superior
to his other quasi-historical novels. Cooper, if to be
considered at all an imitator of Scott, takes very
different scenes and subjects for the display of his
novel-writing talent.
It is rather by elevating the tone of fictitious
writing, and by their general suggestiveness, that
the Waverley novels have influenced some of their
1820. successors. The scene of Mr. Lockhart's ' Valerius,'
1S27. and of Mr. Moore's ' Epicurean,' is laid in that
transition period when the Roman empire was veer
ing from paganism towards Christianity, and, having
regard to the difficulties to be encountered, they are
written with power and feeling. Miss Ferrier's novels
of ' Marriage,' ' Inheritance,' and ' Destiny,' show a
certain resemblance to Miss Austen's manner, with
a piquant and amusing flavour of the humour and
delineation of Scottish manners of Sir Walter Scott.
The novels of Charlotte Bronte are also above
average merit. The oriental romances of Mr. Morier,
1832. 'Zohrab,' 'Ayesha,' and others, possess some good
qualities of the Waverley tales, displayed in new
and interesting circumstances.
The novels of domestic life and manners, whether
high life or low life, which have more recently ap-

CHAP. II.] FICTITIOUS NARRATIVE. 71
peared, are as a class superior to those in the begin
ning of the century. Among the most amusing are
those of Theodore Hook and Captain Marryatt.
In several instances novel writing in the present
century has ascended to quarters of high social
position ; and to Mr. Lister, the Marquis of Nor-
manby, Mrs. Gore, Lady Dacre, and others now
deceased, we are indebted for some of the best of
what have been called 'fashionable novels.' As one Fashion-
of the various departments of human life, the habits novels.
and sentiments of high society are no doubt a legi
timate theme for the novelist ; and novels in which
the personages belong to the fashionable world are
occasionally made vehicles for very skilful and enter
taining delineations of manners and character, and
of phases of public opinion, interspersed with his
torical incidents. But fashionable manners, merely
as such, do not as a rule afford the best theme for
the novelist. The story, in the general run of such
novels, is usually of very slender texture, with great
lack of incidents. It is for the most part overlaid
with an accumulation of descriptions of society and
successions of scenes in town and in the country,
the leading interest of which lies not so much in
their bearing upon the main plot, as in gratifying
the curiosity of the general reader to know how
the ' high characters ' drawn in the novel conduct
themselves in London life, or at a ducal country
mansion. When taken up by imitators, who describe
fashionable life at second hand, or by ' fair women
without discretion,' these novels become very trashy
performances.

72 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
In the external bearing and manners of the upper
classes of countries of European civilization there
is so much conventionalism and reserve, and so
much routine in their habits, that very littie scope is
in general afforded for incident and adventure, and
the display of feeling. It is the fact of there being
greater scope for both in the middle and lower
walks of life, especially in the latter, which renders
them more fertile of subject for the writer of fiction.
Fielding and Scott have acknowledged this, both in
theory and in their practice ; and it has been con
firmed by the practice (though that may not be
constant) of Lord Lytton, Mr. Thackeray, and Mr.
Dickens in more recent times.
I have (says Sir Walter Scott in his original preface to
the ' Antiquary,') sought my principal personages in the
class of society who are the last to feel the influence of
that general polish which assimilates to each other the
manners of different nations. Among the same class I
have placed some of the scenes in which I have en
deavoured to illustrate the operations of the higher and
more violent passions ; both because the lower orders are
less restrained by the habit of suppressing their feelings,
and because I agree with Mr. Wordsworth, that they
seldom fail to express them in the strongest and most
powerful language.
The sensational novels of the present day do not
fall to be noticed in this summary. The great
loss which fictitious writing has sustained by the
recent decease of Mr. Thackeray and Mr. Dickens,
it is unnecessary to do more than refer to. Some
years should pass before their popular works can
be duly taken note of or estimated.

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 73

CHAPTER in.
POETRY.
Can Poetry be defined'? — Poetry of Pope, of two kinds —
Satirical Poems of Johnson— Of Churchill — Poetry of
Thomson — Of Ramsay — Of Dr. Edward Young —
Lyrics of Collins and Gray — Poems of Goldsmith —
Beattie — Warton and others — Poetry and original
manner of Cowper.
Towards the conclusion of his ' Life of Pope,' Dr.
Johnson observes :—' After all this it is surely
superfluous to answer the question that has once
been asked, ^ whether Pope was a poet— otherwise
than by asking in return. If Pope be not a poet,
where is poetry to be found? To circumscribe
poetry by a definition will only show the narrowness
of the definer, though a definition which shall ex
clude Pope will not easily be made.' Not disputing
the danger of circumscribing poetry by a definition,
certain qualities may be adverted to which two of
the greatest masters of the art appear to have re
garded as proper to poetry. Milton, in his ' Treatise charac-
of Education' distinguishes Poetry from Logic as oTpoelry.
being ' more simple, sensuous, and passionate : ' that
is, not complex or subtie, but dealing with simple
1 By Dr. Joseph Warton, author of an Essay on the Genius and
Writings of Pope, and who may be regarded as the founder of
the modern school of poetic criticism in England.

74 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
elements ; not abstract, but sensible and real ; not
cold and inanimate, but moved by and expressing
human passions and sympathies. Shakespeare, again,
speaks of the poet as being ' of imagination all com
pact ; ' thus implying imagination, or the exercise of
the power of conceiving and bodying forth images,
to be also an essential attribute of poetry. Upon
so high authority it may be allowable to assume
these qualities, or some of them, to be inherent in
all true poetry ; and the following notices will touch
upon such poetry only as shall seem to possess them
in a more or less ample measure.
Poetry of With the poetry of Pope an historical view of
Pastorals! the later British poetry should commence. His first
pieces in verse of any importance were four Pas
torals or Eclogues, which appeared in ' Tonson's
Miscellany' of 1709. They are prefaced by a short
discourse on pastoral poetry, intimating the author's
theory of this kind of composition to be an imitation
of the manner of Theocritus and Virgil. ' If we
would copy nature,' says he, 'it may be useful to
take this idea along with us, that Pastoral is an
image of what they call the Golden Age.' Pope's
shepherds are therefore conventional in their sen
timents and manners, and his imagery is what may
be called hereditary in classical pastoral.^ Their

' In the years immediately following the publication of Pope's
Pastorals, a literary dispute arose as to the proper theory of this
kind of writing ; a party having been formed in favour of an
actual representation of rustic life in England, instead of the con
ventional or Sicilian rustic life of the ancient models. Upon this
new view the Shepherd's Week of Gay was written early in 1714.

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 75
chief merit is in the correct and musical versification,
and in giving the first example of that harmony in
English verse which was afterwards considered so
indispensable.^ The 'Essay on Criticism' was
brought out anonymously in 1711, in a small quarto
form. If the ' Essay on Criticism ' and a large proportion
of the subsequent poetry of Pope, drew its inspiration
from Horace, a considerable share of the early
offerings of his muse fell to Virgil. The ' Messiah,' Pope's
a prophetic song or hymn in imitation of the fourth imitation
Eclogue of Virgil, appeared in Addison's 'Spectator.' °f"^i''g''-
The invocation of the Roman bard : —
Sicelides Musse, pauUo majora canamus ;
Non omnes arbusta juvant humilesque myricse —
In the preface Mr. Gay proposes ' to describe aright the manners
of our own honest and laborious ploughmen, in no wise sure more
unworthy of a British poet's imitation than those of Sicily or
Arcadia,' and to set before the reader a landscape of his own
country : — ' Thou wilt not find my shepherdesses idly piping on
oaten reeds, but milking the kine, tying up the sheaves, and, if
the hogs go astray, driving them to their styes. My shepherd
gathereth none other nosegays but what are the growth of our own
fields ; he sleepeth not under myrtle shades, but under a hedge,
nor doth he vigilantly defend his flock from wolves, because there
are none.' Accordingly the talk of Gay's Grubbinol and Bum-
kinet, Hobnelia and Blouzelinda, is of country pursuits, pastimes,
superstitions, and rustic love. As to the reception by the public
of the Shepherds Week, Dr. Johnson, in his Life of Gay, says :—
' The effect of reality and truth became conspicuous even when
the intention was to show them grovelling and degraded. These
pastorals became popular, and were read with delight as just repre
sentations of rural manners and occupations by those who had no
interest in the rivalry of the poets nor knowledge of the critical
dispute.' 1 Warton's Essay on the Genius and Writings of Pope (1756).

76 VIE IV OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Is thus paraphrased —
Ye nymphs of Solyma ! begin the song ;
To heavenly themes sublimer strains belong.
The mossy fountains and the sylvan shades,
The dreams of Pindus and the Aonian maids
Delight no more, — O Thou my voice inspire
Who touch'd Isaiah's hallowed lips with fire !
Of the bucolic or Georgic poem of ' Windsor
17 13. Forest,' it has been justly observed that the descrip
tions of scenery and objects, with few exceptions,
want distinctness and individuality. Amongst the
exceptions, however, will come the lines —
See from the brake the whirring pheasant springs,
And mounts exulting on triumphant wings :
Short is his joy, he feels the fiery wound.
Flutters in blood and panting beats the ground.
Ah ! what avail his glossy varying dyes,
His purple crest and scarlet-circled eyes,
The vivid green his shining plumes unfold.
His painted wings, and breast that flames with gold !
'A
The ' Ode for Music on St. Cecilia's Day ' was an
early production of Mr. Pope, and would probably
rank higher than it does as a lyric poem were it not
so open to comparison with the ' Alexander's Feast '
of Dryden, whose manner Pope has imitated. In the
well-known ' Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate
Lady,' the poetry is superior to the merit of the
subject.
17 14. The ' Rape of the Lock, a heroi-comical poem,'
the subject and occasion of it being a questionable
piece of gallantry on the part of Lord Petre, was
welcomed by the applause of readers of every class.
Unexceptionable in its versification, this poem dis-

CHAP. III.] POEIRY. ']']
plays marvellous invention and the finest wit ; being
characterised by Addison as merum sal It com- Rape of
bines the machinery of the sylphs in the happiest ^^mermn
manner with humorous narrative and playful satire. ^''^'
The ' Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard ' (included Eloisa.
among Mr. Pope's collected poems in 171 7) is said,
in the argument of the poem, to have been written
from original letters of the lovers, 'which give so
lively a picture of the struggles of grace and na
ture, virtue and passion.' With great harmony of
numbers, it has more reality, and contains a more
vivid expression of passionate feeling, than occur in
any other of his productions. In a letter to Martha
Blount (about 1716), Mr. Pope says of this poem :
' The " Epistle of Eloisa " grows warm, and begins
to have some breathings of the heart in it, which
may make posterity think that I was in love.'
The translation of ' Homer' — 'a pretty poem, but
not Homer,' according to the judgment of Bentley,
occupied about ten years of the poet's lifetime.
The first three books of the ' Dunciad ' appeared in The
1728, and the fourth some years later. ^ In this re-
' It is ¦with reference to the Dunciad that the follo^wing jeu
d'esprit, by Henry Fielding, was given in the Covent Garden
Journal (1752) : — ' He (Dryden) died in a good old age, possessed
of the kingdom of Wit, and was succeeded by king Alexander,
sumamed Pope. This prince enjoyed the crown many years, and
is thought to have stretched the prerogative much farther than his
predecessor. He is said to have been extremely jealous of the
affections of his subjects, and to have employed various spies, by
whom, if he was informed of the least suggestion against his title,
he never failed of branding the accused person with the word
dunce on his forehead in broad letters ; after which the unhappy
culprit was obliged to lay by his pen for ever, for no bookseller

Dunciad.

1^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
markable work Mr. Pope gives full scope to his
satirical vein, mingling some general with more of
personal, and often coarse, satire ; using all the
weapons of an excursive and brilliant fancy, and all
the power of words, to harass and confound his ad
versaries and the scribblers of the day. The ' Essay
on Man,' in four books, was addressed to Henry St.
John, Lord Bolingbroke, and is not considered one
of his best efforts. Full of metaphysical morality,
what is true in it was not new, and what was ap
parently new is more so in the sound than the sense.
The ' Epistles ' to various persons, and the two
' Dialogues ' were written at different times ; the
more direct imitations of Horace being written late
in life, and chiefly by way of relaxation.
It will be seen from this reference to the writings
Pope's of Pope, that they divide mostly into two classes ;
uvo"^^ °^ one, critical, didactic, and satirical ; the other, poems
kinds. of imagination and passionate sentiment. The first
of these classes, in which are included the ' Essays ' the
would venture to print a word that he wrote. He did indeed put
a total restraint on the liberty of the press, for no person durst
read anything which was writ without his license and approbation ;
and this license he granted only to four during his reign, namely,
to the celebrated Dr. Swift, to the ingenious Dr. Young, and to
Dr. Arbuthnot and to one Mr. Gay, four of his principal courtiers
and favourites. But without diving any deeper into his character, we
must allow that king Alexander had great merit as a writer, and his
title to the kingdom of Wit v/as better founded at least than his
enemies have pretended.' Pope's timely countenance afforded to
Thomson and Aikenside are recorded instances of the reigning
poet's good-nature, which Fielding would perhaps have accounted
for as displayed towards writers not interfering with that province
of poetry which Pope regarded as his own by prerogative.

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 79

' Episties,' and the ' Dunciad,' have for their subject-
matter, criticism, taste, ethics, society and manners ;
and, however varied the illustrations, and harmonious
and pointed the verse, they are really more akin to
very clever prose than to poetry — sermoni propiora.
But, like Horace with his Satires and his Odes, Pope
can take his stand also upon poetical compositions of
quite another kind, as the ' Epistie of Eloisa to
Abelard,' ' Rape of the Lock,' and shorter pieces, in
which he has displayed, powers both of imagination
and sentiment or feeling ; imagination being more
conspicuous in some, sentiment in others.^
In 1738, while Pope was still alive, Samuel John- Johnson';
son, wrote his ' London,' and ten years after, his [lopg "^f
' Vanity of Human Wishes,' the one in imitation of Juvenal.
the third, the other of the tenth satire of Juvenal.
Both are full of well applied parallels and modern
instances. The imagery and illustration contained
in these poems is striking and original ; as poetical
compositions they occupy a middle place between
translation and original writing. The ' Vanity of
Human Wishes ' is considered superior to the other,
not only in the versification, which is pointed and
vigorous, but in the design and the sense ; its excel-
' It must have been no inconsiderable triumph to the admirers
of Pope when Dr. Joseph Warton, who first raised the question as
to his poetry, after a thorough review of the poet's works extend
ing through two volumes, arrived at the conclusion, hardly war
ranted by his premises, that Mr. Pope ought to be placed — not
in the same rank with Spenser, Shakespeare, and Milton, but
' considering the correctness, elegance, and utility, of his works,
the weight of sentiment and the knowledge of man they contain,
that he ought to have a place assigned him next to Milton and
just above Dryden.' — Warton's Essay on Pope, vol. ii., ad fin.

80 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
lence being no doubt partly due to the superiority
of the tenth satire of Juvenal to the third. The
following lines are an example of the application of
Juvenal's satire to the times of Lord Chesterfield
and the Pelhams : —
Unnumbered suppliants crowd Preferment's gate,
Athirst for wealth, and burning to be great ;
Delusive Fortune hears th' incessant call,
They mount, they shine, evaporate, and fall.
On ev'ry stage the foes of peace attend.
Hate dogs their flight, and insult mocks their end.
Love ends with hope ; the sinking statesman's door
Pours in the morning worshippers no more.
For growing names the weekly scribbler lies.
To growing wealth the dedicator flies ;
From every room descends the painted face.
That hung the bright Palladium of the place.
And smoked in kitchen, or in auctions sold,
To better features yields the frame of gold ;
For now no more we trace in every line
Heroic worth, benevolence divine.
Aken- Akenside's ' Pleasures of Imagination,' a didactic
Pleasures poem in blank verse, appeared in 1744, and his
natioiT^' ' 0*^^s ' '^^ '^^ following year. As compared with
the Odes of Collins and Gray, the merit of Akenside's
lyric poetry is not of a high order. The ' Pleasures
of Imagination ' contains some very poetical pas
sages of illustration and description, but it deals too
much in philosophy and theory, and the style is often
obscure. Reasoning and analysis, although ex
pressed in eloquent verse, belong to the domain of
logic rather than of poetry.^
' Two poems of this time. Glover's Leonidas (1737), in the
classical manner, correct and cold, and Armstrong's Art of Pre-

CHAP. III.] POETRY.

In the direction of satirical poetry mention should
be made of the slashing diatribes of the Rev. Charles Satirical
Churchill, of London, which were poured forth upon churchill.
the town with great exuberance in the first three
years of the reign of George III., during the ad
ministration of the Earl of Bute. Among the most
noted of these satires were the ' Rosciad,' in which,
profiting by his playhouse experience, he attacks
unmercifully the London actors of the day, including
Garrick and Quin ; the ' Prophecy of Famine,' in
which Lord Bute's compatriots are bespattered, with
some humour and more invention ; the ' Ghost,' a
desultory performance in four books, in octo-syllabic
measure, touching on all current topics, including
the Cock-lane Ghost, and lashing Dr. Johnson
under the name of Pomposo ; and the ' Epistle to
Hogarth' the painter, hardly to be equalled for
venomous personality. The ' North Briton,' a peri
odical paper in the writing of which Mr. Wilkes was
assisted by Churchill, had waged war upon Hogarth,
who in retaliation published the well-known por
trait of Wilkes, of his own engraving ; this being
the immediate cause of Churchill's ' Epistle.' Ho
garth's rejoinder was the equally well-known por
trait of ' The Bruiser, Charles Churchill (once the
Reverend), in the character of a Russian Bear.'
With some redeeming passages of character-
sketching and illustrative imagery, the satirical poems
of Churchill owe their chief reputation to fearless

serving Health (1744), didactic and good in its kind, may be
classed among the works of the poeta minores.

82 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Strength of invective, clothed in rough though
vigorous verse. They appear to affect the manner
of Dryden in preference to that of Pope ; but their
personality and abusiveness forbid them ranking
high as poetry.^ Cowper in his ' Table Talk,' has
these lines upon Churchill : —
If brighter beams than all he threw not forth,
'Twas negligence in him, not want of worth.
Surly and slovenly and bold and coarse.
Too proud for art, and trusting in mere force ;
Spendthrift alike of money and of wit,
Always at speed and never drawing bit,
He struck the lyre in such a careless mood.
And so disdained the rules he understood ;
The laurel seemed to wait on his command —
He snatched it rudely from the Muses' hand.
Returning to a purer stream of poetry, we discover
one of its spring-heads in the ' Seasons ' of Thorn -
Original SOU. The son of a Scotch country clergyman, with
Thom-° 3- classical education and an early formed taste for
son : the jj^g poetical aspects of nature, Thomson took with
Seasons. '^ ^ '
him to London in 1725 the manuscript of his
' Winter,' which he was encouraged to produce the
following year in print.^ ' Summer,' ' Spring,' and
• Churchill died as Goldsmith's poem of the Traveller was
passing through the press ; the dedication thus characterising
Churchill : — ' Him they dignify with the name of poet ; his tawdry
lampoons are called satires, his turbulence is said to be force, and
his phrenzy fire.' Churchill and his poetr)' have recently under
gone a process of whitewashing by Mr. John Forster, in his
Biographical Essays, reprinted from the Edinburgh Rei'iew.
^ Dr. Joseph Warton, in the second part of his Essay on Pope,
says that the Winter lay a long time neglected, till Mr. Spence
made honourable mention of it in his Essay on the Odyssey, which

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 83
' Autumn ' followed. A collected edition of the
' Seasons ' was then published in quarto by subscrip
tion. Pope subscribing for three copies.-^
Before many years passed, it was generally ac
knowledged that in Thomson an original poet, both
as regarded matter and style, had appeared ; his
blank verse occasionally too swelling and his epi
sodes not always in the best taste, but drawing his
inspiration directly from nature, rising often to the
sublime, and animating his descriptions by touches of
sentiment and fancy. His poem of ' Liberty,' which Liberty.
was written after a tour on the continent with the
son of Lord Chancellor Talbot, travels over ancient
Greece and Rome and their belongings to Britain, and
is more didactic and commonplace than his ' Castle Castle of
of Indolence.' Adopting the Spenserian manner jgnce.
of allegory as well as the stanza of Spenser, the '746-
' Castle of Indolence ' is a highly imaginative pro
duction. The vein of sentiment that pervades it is
refined and original, and the verse harmonious.
becoming a popular book, made the poem known. The poetical
merit of the Seasons was pointed out by Warton himself in 1756,
in the first part of his Essay on Pope. Many years after, Mr.
Wordsworth, in the supplement to his preface to the Lyrical
Ballads {Works, iii. 333), remarked that, ' excepting the Nocturnal
Reverie of Lady Winchelsea, and a passage or two in the Windsor
Forest of Pope, the poetry of the period intervening between the
publication of the Paradise Lost and the Seasons does not con
tain a single new image of external nature, and scarcely presents
a familiar one from which it can be inferred that the eye of the
poet had been steadily fixed upon his object, much less that his
feelings had urged him to work upon it in the spirit of genuine
imagination.' 1 Lives ofthe Poets, iii. 230.

84 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Had Thomson restricted his imitation of Spenser
to the measure and allegory, and not also imitated
occasionally his antiquated forms of words, which the
richness and growth of the English language in his
own day made quite unnecessary, his poem might, in
some portions of it, have gained in point of diction.
On the ' Seasons ' the reputation of Thomson chiefly
rests, as the author of a work original in its kind,
and suggestive of a more sensuous and less artificial
sort of poetry than that of the school of Pope.^
The following stanzas from the second canto of
the ' Castle of Indolence,' referring to the training
and achievements of the ' Knight of Industry,' is a
fair example of Thomson's manner in this poem : —
At other times he pried through Nature's store,
Whate'er she in th' ethereal round contains,
Whate'er she hides beneath her verdant floor,
The vegetable and the mineral reigns :
Or else he scann'd the globe, those small domains,
Where restless mortals such a turmoil keep.
Its seas, its floods, its mountains, and its plains ;
But more he search'd the mind, and roused from sleep
Those moral seeds whence we heroic actions reap.
Nor would he scorn to stoop from high pursuits
Of heavenly truth, and practice what she taught ;
Vain is the tree of knowledge without fruits !
Sometimes in hand the spade or plough he caught.
Forth calling all with which boon Earth is fraught ;
Sometimes he plied the strong mechanic tool.
Or rear'd the fabric from the finest draught ;
And oft he piit himself to Neptune's school.
Fighting with winds and waves on the vex'd ocean pool.
' Thomson's Plays do not fall to be noticed here. In his
masque of Alfred is the national anthem Ruk Britannia.

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 85
To solace then these rougher toils, he tried
To touch the kindling canvas into life ;
With Nature his creating pencil vied.
With Nature joyous at the mimic strife;
Or, to such shapes as graced Pygmalion's wife.
He hew'd the marble ; or, with varied fire.
He roused the trumpet and the martial fife,
Or bade the lute sweet tenderness inspire.
Or verses framed that well might wake Apollo's lyre.
Accomplish'd thus he from the woods issued,
Full of great aims, and bent on bold emprise ;
The work, which long he in his breast had brew'd.
Now to perform he ardent did devise ;
To wit, a barbarous world to civilise.
Earth was till then a boundless forest wild ;
Nought to be seen but savage wood, and skies ;
No cities nourish'd arts, no culture smiled,
No government, no laws, no gentle manners mild.
^ •P ^ '3lE'
It would exceed the purport of my song,
To say how this best sun from orient climes
Came beaming life and beauty all along.
Before him chasing indolence and crimes.
Still as he pass'd, the nations he sublimes.
And calls forth arts and virtues with his ray :
Then Egypt, Greece and Rome their golden times
Successive had ; but now in ruins grey
They lie, to slavish sloth and tyranny a prey.
To crown his toils, Sir Industry then spread
The swelling sail, and made for Britain's coast.
A sylvan life till then the natives led.
In the brown shades and greenwood forest lost.
All careless rambling where it liked them most :
Their wealth the wild-deer bouncing through the glade.
They lodged at large, and lived at Nature's cost,
Save spear and bow, withouten other aid ;
Yet not the Roman steel their naked breast dismay'd.

86 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
Here, by degrees, his master-work arose.
Whatever arts and industry can frame :
Whatever finish'd Agriculture knows.
Fair queen of arts ! from heaven itself who came.
When Eden flourish'd in unspotted fame :
And still with her sweet innocence we find,
And tender peace, and joys without a name,
That, while they ravish, tranquillize the mind ;
Nature and Art at once, delight and use combined.
The towns he quicken'd by mechanic arts,
And bade the fervent city glow with toil ;
Bade social Commerce raise renowned marts.
Join land to land, and marry soil to soil.
Unite the poles, and, without bloody spoil,
Bring home of either Ind the gorgeous stores ;
Or, should despotic rage the world embroil.
Bade tyrants tremble on remotest shores.
While o'er th' encircling deep Britannia's thunder roars.
The drooping Muses then he westward call'd
From the famed city by Propontic sea,
What time the Turk th' enfeebled Grecian thrall'd ;
Thence from their cloister'd walks he set them free,
And brought them to another Castalie,
Where Isis many a famous nursling breeds ;
Or where old Cam soft-paces o'er the lea,
In pensive mood, and tunes his Doric reeds.
The whilst his flocks at large the lonely shepherd feeds.
Ramsay's Although the ' Gentle Shepherd ' of Allan Ram-
Shep-^ say (father of Ramsay the portrait-painter) is en-
herd, titled a ' Pastoral Comedy,' it is rather a poem
than a play. This poetical production is original
in its kind, in ten-syllable rhyming verse, and in
the Scottish dialect. The training and education
of Ramsay (in his later life a bookseller in Edin-

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 87
burgh) were entirely Scotch, out of the sphere of
the influence of Pope. His smaller pieces, mostly
of a local interest, were collected and published by
subscription at Edinburgh by Ruddiman in 1720.
The 'Gentle Shepherd' appeared in 1725, with
a dedication to the Countess of Eglinton. It soon
became popular, not only in Scotland, but in
London and Dublin. Unlike the conventional
style of pastoral poetry derived from Theocritus
and Virgil, and differing also from the ' Shepherd's
Week ' of Gay, the tendency of which is to give an
altogether low and ridiculous view of rustic life, it
describes the simple manners of the better class of
Scottish peasantry after the period of the Resto
ration : but the language must be understood in
order to appreciate the skill with which the poet
heightens his delineation of rustic character by
touches of comic archness, sometimes broad but
without vulgarity, and refines his view of peasant
life by tender sentiment. Some may think that the
passion of love is kept under better regulation than
consists with a high degree of passionate feeling ;
but the dialogue is never tiresome, nor the incidents
far-fetched or incredible. From its thorough vitality
and skilful representation of rural manners and senti
ment, the ' Gentie Shepherd ' lays claim to a fair
position in British poetry.
The poetry of the Rev. Dr. Edward Young is Dr. E.^
varied and copious. His satires on the love of fame poetry.
in the several relations of life, collected under one
tide, 'The Universal Passion,' appeared between
1725 and 1728, prior to Pope's satirical episties.

88 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
They are imitations of the manner, but without the
depth of meaning, of Horace and Juvenal, display
ing considerable felicity of illustration, epigrammatic
and pointed in their drawing of character. More
originality and poetic feeling is shown in his ' Last
Day' and ' Force of Religion,' a poem on Lady
Night Jane Grey. His ' Night Thoughts,' a poem travel-
"^1742-'^' li"g excursively over the verges of life and death,
1746. 2Lnd dealing with the most important points of re
ligious belief and duty, came out at intervals in nine
books or ' Nights,' each book being dedicated to
some person of consequence, from Speaker Onslow
to the Duke of Newcastle. This remarkable poem
was written in a time of domestic affliction, and
displays great though unequally applied powers of
reflection, imagination, and passionate sentiment. It
is tinged, however, by a certain tone of discontent,
arising probably from the delay of that preferment
Young was always supposed to be seeking, which
rather interferes with the effect of the pathos. And
in the continued recurrence to the same melancholy
topics, in the laboured antitheses and dazzling
points, in his use of conventional phraseology, as
Cynthia and Philomel, and (for his deceased step
daughter and her husband) Narcissa and Philander,
too evident symptoms appear of an affectation of
desolation, just as if the author had indited his verses
by the light of the gift sent him by the Duke of
Wharton — a human skull, with a candle set in it.
The poem is in blank verse, which was most cu!table
to its expatiating character.-^
' In one of his prose writings, The Centaur not Fabulous, Dr.
Young, referring to the shifting scene of human life, asks, ' Where

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 89
Much inferior in quantity but superior in quality to
the productions of Dr. Young is the lyric poetry of
William Collins. His literary career, short and me- Lyrics of
lancholy, partially lighted by the dimly-descried rays
of a posthumous fame, is well known through bio
graphy. His oriental or Persian Eclogues, a juvenile 1742.
composition, are very sweet pastorals in the conven
tional manner, with not much either of orientalism
or of individuality in the imagery and sentiments.
His ' Odes on several Descriptive and Allegorical
Subjects,' amongst which were some of his finest
lyrics, appeared in a modest litde volume. It is 1747.
a slur on "the poetical taste of his time that the
odes of Collins were long neglected and unread ;
and Dr. Johnson's so-called criticism on them in his
' Life of Collins ' is a blot in his great work. They
have since taken their place as lyric poetry of the
highest order. In point of beautiful and striking
imagery, of sensibility carried into the region of
allegory, and of varied and harmonious verse, the
Odes to Memory, to Pity, to Fear, to Liberty,
on the Death of Thomson, and on the Supersti
tions of the Highlands of Scotland are sufficiently
remarkable ; but the ' Ode on the Passions' may be Their
regarded as second to nothing in the English Ian- sonatiom"
guage for its vivid personation, lyrical fervour, and
diction at once forcible, appropriate, and polished.^
is that world into which we were born ? ' a thought Lord Byron
has thought worthy of improving upon : —
Where is the world ? cries Young at eighty ; where
The world in which a man was bom ? Alas !
Where is the world of eight years past ? 'Twas there —
I look for it, 'tis gone — a globe of glass !
' The ode of Collins, On the Poetical Character, is too abstract

Odes of
Gray.

90 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
The passions of Fear, Anger, and Despair are
disposed of in the following lines with wondrous
power and brevity : —
First Fear his hand, its skill to try,
Amid the chords bewilder'd laid,
And back recoil'd, he knew not why.
E'en at the sound himself had made.
Next Anger rush'd ; his eyes on fire.
In lightnings own'd his secret stings :
In one rude clash he struck the lyre,
And swept with hurried hand the strings.
With woeful measures, wan Despair,
Low, sullen sounds, his grief beguiled ;
A solemn, strange, and mingled air,
'Twas sad by fits, by starts 'twas wild.
The lyric poetry of Thomas Gray displays genius
of no ordinary kind — not so remarkable perhaps as
the genius of Collins, which only a thin partition
divided from madness — but most carefully cultivated.
A man of refinement and fastidious taste — -2. scholar
living at Cambridge among his books, writing Latin
poetry almost from his cradle — Gray's first English
oblation to the muses was the ' Ode on the Prospect
of Eton College.' The odes on Spring and on Ad
versity followed. The ' Elegy written in a Country
Churchyard ' having first found its way into a maga-
perhaps, for poetry ; but it is fair to remark what is said for it by
Mr. Coleridge : ' An author is obscure when his conceptions are
dim and imperfect, and his language incorrect or inappropriate or
involved. A poem that abounds in allusions, like the Bard ol
Gray, or one that personates high and abstract tmths, like CoUins's
Ode on the Poetical Character, claims not to be popular, but should
be acquitted of obscurity. The deficiency is in the reader.'

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 91
zine, was published in small quarto in 1751, a fourth
edition appearing the same year. In point of beau
tiful imagery and refined delicacy of sentiment, most
readers will prefer the earlier poems, especially the
Elegy, whose elaborate simplicity is in the highest His
degree artistic, to his Pindaric odes, the ' Progress &a^^'
of Poetry' and ' The Bard,' which appeared together, ^^^^^^
in a quarto form. They were first printed at Pindaric
^ Odes.
Horace Walpole's press at Strawberry Hill, with an i7S7-
appropriate motto from Pindar — ^(avdvTo. X'jvsrota-t
(vocal to the initiated) prefixed. Imbued with the
spirit of Pindar and the choral poetry of the Greek
tragedy. Gray has in these odes addressed himself
to the intellect rather than to the feelings, and his
recondite allusions are often beyond ordinary com
prehension. ^
¦^ ' These two odes of Gray (said Dr. Goldsmith) breathe much
of the spirit of Pindar, but they have caught the seeming obscurity,
the sudden transition and hazardous epithet, of his mighty master;
all which, though evidently intended for beauties, -will probably be
regarded as blemishes by the generality of his readers. In short,
they are in some measure a representation of what Pindar now
appears to be, though perhaps not what he appeared to the states
of -Greece, when they rivalled each other in his applause.'^ — Monthly
Review, 1757.
In a letter to Mr. W. Taylor How on the odes of their mutual
friend Gray (December 1762), the Italian critic. Count Algarotti,
makes the following pertinent observation : — ' It appears to me
that, generally speaking, the poetry of the northern nations con
sists more of thoughts than of images, delights itself in reflections
as much as in sentiments, and has not so much individuality and
picturesqueness as our poetry.' — 'La poesia dei popoli settentrionali
pare a me, che, generalmente parlando, consista pih di pensieri che
d' imagini, si compiaccia delle riflessioni egualmente che dei senti-
menti, non sia cosi particolareggiata e pittoresca come e la nostra.'
 Mason's Life and Works of Gray. Appendix.

92 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
• In the 'Shipwreck' of Falconer defect of imagi
nation and poetic illustration is in a great mea
sure supplied by truthfulness of description and
1762. natural pathos.^ About the same time appeared
the ' Ossianic poetry ' of James Macpherson, the
question as to the originality of which gave rise
to a long feud in the world of letters. There is
reason to believe that Macpherson did obtain frag
ments of Celtic poetry, chiefly from oral sources in
the Highlands of Scotland, which he ingeniously
expanded into the full-blown shape they assume in
the ' Poems of Ossian.' The imagery is of a wild
and general character, and wants the individuality of
real imagery. The bombastic sublimity of Ossian's
poems is said to have delighted the first Napoleon,
some of whose proclamations and addresses may be
thought to show a little of their manner.^
' To this poem is due the following from Mr. Coleridge, Ad
dressed to a Lady, with Falconer's ' Shipwreck : ' —
Ah ! not by Cam or Isis, famous streams,
In arched groves, the youthful poet's choice ;
Nor while half-listening, 'mid delicious dreams,
To harp and song from lady's hand and voice,
Nor yet while gazing in sublimer mood.
On cliff, or cataract, in Alpine dell.
Nor in dim cave, with bladdery sea-weed strew'd,
Framing wild fancies to the ocean's swell ;
Our sea-bard sang this song ! which still he sings,
And sings for thee, sweet friend ! Hark, pity, hark !
Now mounts, now totters, on the tempest's wings,
Now groans, and shivers, the replunging bark !
Cling to the shrouds ! In vain ! The breakers roar —
Death shrieks ! With two alone of all his clan
Forlorn the poet paced the Grecian shore,
No classic reamer, but a shipwreck'd man !
^ About the year 1760 James Macpherson was private tutor to

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 93

Dr. Joseph Warton, better known as a critic than
as a poet, brought out a small volume of ' Odes on
several subjects,' of which the ' Ode to Fancy ' may
be regarded as the best. His poetry seems to derive 1746.
its inspiration partly from the lyric poetry of Milton,
and evidences a careful and loving observation of
the beauties of nature. The poetry of his brother,
Thomas Warton, is more varied in its character. Its Poetry
versification and description of rural scenery appears Wartons.
to connect with the poetry of the 19th century more
than with that of the i8th.
The following lines occur in the commencement
of an ode addressed by Thomas to Joseph Warton, 1750.
on the latter quitting his residence of Wynslade
near Basingstoke, to accompany the Duke of Bolton
abroad : — When morn's pale rays but faintly peep
O'er yonder oak-crowned airy steep.
Who now shall climb its brows to view
The length of landscape, ever new.
Where summer flings, in careless pride.
Her varied vesture far and wide !
Who mark, beneath^ each village charm,
Or grange or elm-encircled farm ;

the late Lord Lynedoch, then Thomas Graeme, at Balgowan in
Perthshire. In a volume of letters relating to the family of Bal
gowan, printed by the late Robert Graham, Esq. and John Dun-
das, Esq., of Edinburgh, it is stated in one of the letters, on the
authority of Lady Christian Grseme, Lord Lynedoch's mother,
that ' Mr. Macpherson, during his stay with them, which was
between three and four years, made frequent excursions into the
Highlands, and always returned with fresh ballads which he had
learned, and many tt'ritten fragments.'— p. 70.

94 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
The flinty dovecote's crowded roof,
Watched by the kite that sails aloof ;
The tufted pines whose umbrage tall
Darkens the long-deserted hall ;
The veteran beech that on the plain
Collects at eve the playful train ;
The cot that smokes with early fire.
The low-roofed fane's embosom'd spire !
The Dr- Goldsmith's poem of the ' Traveller, or a
ier^and Prospect of Society,' appeared in 1 764, with a dedi-
Deserted cation to his brother, the Rev. Henry Goldsmith,
Village of Gold- whose amiable character has furnished the original
of some of the poet's happiest sketches. The
1769. ' Deserted Village ' was dedicated to Goldsmith's
well-tried friend. Sir Joshua Reynolds. In these
highly-finished examples of melodious verse, not
differing too remotely from the ideas of poetical
composition then prevailing, the sketches of scenery
and character, the picturesque allusions, reflec
tions and sentiments, mingled in about equal pro
portions, present themselves so agreeably, that the
' Traveller ' and the ' Deserted Village ' became
at once, and have always continued, popular fa
vourites.-^ In the year after that which witnessed the success
of the ' Deserted Village ' came out in London the
1770. first part of the ' Minstrel, or the Progress of
^ It may be an omission not to refer in the text to the per
formances of Thomas Chatterton, the ' marvellous boy,' whose
alleged ' poems of Rowley ' came out in 1 769. The premature fate
of this poet has been a subject of melancholy interest to his
admirers in more recent times, who have thrown over his faults
the cloak of mental alienation.

CHAP. III.]' POETRY. 95
Genius,' by Dr. James Beattie, the second part fol- Beattie's
lowing soon after. In this poem there is a visible
reality in the representations as well of external ob
jects as of emotion and feeling ; it is in fact the
transcript of a mind of great sensibility, trained in
the solitude of a Scotch rural parish, and keenly
alive to the beauties of natural scenery. The poem
is in the Spenserian measure, and, with very little
incident, contains many fine passages breathing pure
and elevated sentiment.^
The first volume of the poetry of William Cowper, Poetry of
containing ' Table Talk,' ' Charity,' and other pieces
of a religious character, with some smaller poems,
appeared in 1782, with a preface by his friend Mr.
Newton, rector of Olney. These and the succeeding
poems of Cowper were written in the period follow
ing recovery from a long mental malady, and partly
with the view of combating by constant employment
his tendency to dejection of spirits.^ The motto
from the ^neid placed on the title-page of this
volume indicates the almost fitful variety of topics
of which its poetry consists : —
Sicut aquEe tremulum labris ubi lumen ahenis
Sole repercussum, aut radiantis imagine lunae.
Omnia pervolitat late loca ; jamque sub auras
Erigitur, summique ferit laquearia tecti —

1 Dr. Beattie thus adverts to this poem in one of his letters ; —
' Not long ago I began a poem in the style and stanza of Spenser,
in which I propose to give full scope to my inclination, and be
either droll or pathetic, descriptive or sentimental, tender or
satirical, as the humour strikes me ; for, if I mistake not, the
measure which I have adopted admits equally of all these kinds
of composition.' ^ Hayley's Life of Cowper, i. 147.

96 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
As water trembling in a polished vase
Reflects the beam that plays upon its face ;
The sportive light, uncertain where it falls,
Now strikes the roof, now flashes on the walls.
Table This volume of poetry appears not to have
^ ¦ made much impression. It was rather serious read
ing, and the versification was not so smooth and
polished as the poetry of the old standard. It was
The not till the publication of the ' Task ' that people
greater were aware of a poet of imagination and sensibility
g^P""^^" and a vigorous thinker — however some might differ
made from his speculative opinions — having come before
them in print. The 'Task' is divided into six books,
entitied the ' Sofa,' the ' Time-piece,' the ' Garden,' ^
&c. The topics range over a wide variety of sub
jects — many of them novel in poetical compositions
— touching on modern manners and their conse
quences, public institutions, arts, English rural
scenery, domestic occupations, and religion. In the
treatment of this complex and rather unconnected
theme Cowper draws on his own observation, and
brings to bear great powers of description as well as
of argument, ridicule and pathos. His descriptions
are all from nature, and his delineations of feeling
are from his own experience, not borrowed from
books.^ The rhythm of the blank verse, expressive

' The first suggestion of this poem was by Cowper's friend
Lady Austen, who had been soliciting him to try his powers in
blank verse ; and when he requested her to furnish a subject,
' Oh,' she replied, 'You can never be in want of a subject, you
can write upon any; write upon this sofa.' — Hayley's Life, i. 135.
^ Southey's Life of Cowper, ii. 186.

CHAP. III.] POETRY. 97
and idiomatic, was better than the rhyming lines,
often harsh and unmusical, of Cowper's previous
productions. Some of his poems of less pretension, as ' The John
Diverting History of John Gilpin,' have long de- how^" '
lighted readers of all ages. In reference to the writ- ^"f^g^
ing of this humorous ballad, we are told by Hayley
that the poet's friend, Lady Austen, observing him on
one occasion sinking into dejection of spirits, told him
the story of John Gilpin (which had been treasured
in her memory from her childhood), to dissipate the
gloom of the passing hour. Its effect on the fancy
of Cowper was like enchantment. He informed
her the next morning that convulsions of laughter,
brought on by his recollection of her story, had kept
him waking during the greater part of the night,
and that he had turned it into a ballad ! ^ ' John
Gilpin ' appeared first in the ' Public Advertiser '
newspaper. 1782.
Cowper's translations of the ' Iliad ' and 'Odyssey,'
in blank verse, with which the later years of his life
were occupied, adhere more closely to the original
than the translations of Pope, but fail equally in
rendering Homer.

Life of Cowper, ii. 128,

H

98 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.

CHAPTER IV.
POETRY — continued.
Original Poetry of Burns, of Crabbe, of Bowles, connecting
the Poetry of the \%th century with that of the igth —
Poetry of the Delia Cruscans — Gifford's Baviad and
McBviad — Mathias' Pursuits of Literature — Poems of
Samuel Rogers and others.
Whilk Cowper's verse was illustrating the life and
manners of England, strains of poetry of another
kind, equally original and of purer melody, sounded
unexpectedly from beyond the Tweed. Robert
Poems of Burns, the rustic bard of Ayrshire, published the
BurnT. first edition of his ' Poems, chiefly in the Scottish
Dialect,' by subscription, at Kilmarnock, in 1 786. In
the preface to this edition Burns says of himself, —
' Unacquainted with the necessary requisites for
commencing poet by rule, he sings the sentiments
and manners he felt and saw in himself and his
rustic compeers around him, in his and their native
language.' He modestiy refers at the same time to
Allan Ramsay (the ' Gentie Shepherd'), and to
Ferguson (author of a volume of poems of consider
able merit), as ' two justiy admired Scottish poets
he has often had in his eye in the following pieces,
but rather with a view to kindle at their flame than
for servile imitation.' The poems were cordially

CHAP. IV.] POETRY. 99
received in the country, and in December of the
same year were greeted with a flattering notice in
the ' Lounger,' an Edinburgh periodical, from the
pen of Henry Mackenzie, author of the ' Man of
Feeling,' equally creditable to that gentleman's
benevolence and his discernment. In the literary
world Mackenzie was the first to hail Burns as ' a
genius of no ordinary rank.' Encouraged by these
signs of favour, the poet brought out a second
edition of his poetry, at Edinburgh, in the following
spring, and a third edition in the same year, in
London. The verse of Burns was almost entirely
drawn from his personal experience of life ; an expe- Mostly
rience coloured by strong feeling, and occasionally founded
amplified by a vigorous fancy beyond the region of sonai ex-
fact. His descriptions of scenery were inspired by
the ' genius of the place,' and his amatory lyrics by
the fair objects of his admiration. ' Neither the
subjects of his poems' (says Mr. Wordsworth, in his
' Letter to a friend of Burns'), ' nor his manner of
handling them, allow us long to forget their author.
On the basis of his human character he has reared
a poetic one, which, with more or less distinctness,
presents itself to view in almost every part of his
earlier verses.'
With some deductions from its merit in respect of
occasional harshness of invective and coarseness of
gallantry, and of a few pardonable outbursts of an
intractable spirit, made more intractable by habits of
intemperance in later life, the poetry of Burns is
recognised as of a high, if not of the highest order.
Even should we not admit the apology sometimes
H 2

lOO VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.

character.

made for the irregularities of genius, in literature as
well as in life —
But yet the light that led astray
Was light from heaven —
the greater proportion of the poems of Burns are of
a stuff that redeems the qualifying matter ; for while
mankind shall take pleasure in poetry possessing the
Their qualities referred to by Milton, of being 'simple,
sensuous, and passionate,' and at the same time
lighted up with the play of fancy, so long will his
poetry retain its hold over the national mind.
Although such pieces as the ' Cotter's Saturday
Night,' 'Halloween,' and ' Tam o'Shanter' (one of
the latest of his considerable poems), are deservedly
popular from their characteristic sketches of manners
and their humour and fancy, there is in the lyrics —
both those of a lofty strain, as the ' Scots wha hae
wi' Wallace bled' and the songs of sentiment — so
much powerful pathos and liveliness of imagery, that
upon these alone the poet's reputation might safely
rest. In addition to what appeared in the earlier edi
tions, some of the finest lyrical pieces of Burns were
published in the ' Scot's Musical Museum,' which
was commenced in 1787 by James Johnson, and in
Thomson's ' Collection of Original Scottish Airs,
with Select and Characteristic Verses,' begun in
1 792. In the songs communicated to the ' Museum,'
to which his name was not usually affixed. Burns
was less careful than in his compositions for the
larger work of Thomson, to which he contributed

GHAP. IV.] POETRY. roi
about sixty original songs.^ The object of both
these publications was to unite the music of Scot
land and its s.ongs (re-written when deemed ad
visable) in one general collection, on a similar plan
to what. was subsequently adopted in the case of the
' Irish Melodies.'
Of an entirely different stamp from the lyrics
of Burns is the poetry, original also in its man
ner, of the Rev. George Crabbe. His first poem, Crabbe's
* Inebriety,' in three parts, was published at Ips
wich in 1775. The 'Library' — 'the soul's best
cure in all her cares ' — next appeared ; and the
author informs us that while composing it he
had the benefit of Mr. Burke's advice and cor
rections.^ This was followed by the ' Village ' 1783.
and the 'Newspaper,' of which the first was re
vised by Dr. Johnson, who pronounced it to be
' original, vigorous, and elegant' After the lapse
of more than twenty years, the ' Parish Register,'
perhaps the most characteristic of the works of
Crabbe, appeared in a collected edition of his
works, with a dedication to Lord Holland. The
reverend author was not yet out of leading strings,
the preface intimating the ' Parish Register ' to have
had the approval, if not revision, of Mr. Fox. This
preface also very complacently acknowledges the
great amount of encouragement now afforded to
literary merit ; and refers to the debt of gratitude
Mr. Crabbe owed to Lord Thurlow and to the Duke

' Currie's Works of Burns, iv. 269 ; Lockhart's Life of Burns.
2 Preface to Crabbe's Poems, 1807.

I02 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
of Rutland, whose chaplain he had been, for his
church-preferment. In this edition were included
two shorter pieces, in eight-syllable verse, ' Sir
Eustace Grey,' a tale of madness, sufficiently striking
and imaginative ; and the ' Hall of Justice,' a Gipsy
story of unnatural vice, but appealing more to the
emotions of pity and hope than is usual with
Crabbe. In the poems of the ' Village,' the ' Parish Re-
1783- gister,' the ' Borough,' and the ' Tales ofthe Hall,' the
1819. . .
idiosyncrasy of Mr. Crabbe as a poet is most clearly
manifested. The ' Village,' of which the scenes and
personages form a perfect contrast to those of
' Auburn,' and the ' Parish Register,' more methodi
cally than poetically divided into three books of
Births, Marriages, and Deaths, contain powerful
Their delineations of rural life, chiefly in its forbidding as-
but pain- pGCts, when clouded by sordid poverty, vice, and
uncontrolled passion. The scenes and characters de
scribed have too strong an impression of painful
reality to require illustration by figurative language.
Their colouring is probably heightened beyond the
average truth of English life, by the circumstance of
Crabbe's parish residences on the east coast of Eng
land being situate in ill neighbourhoods in point of
manners and morals, and from the turn of Crabbe's
own mind inclining him to dwell upon the harsher
features of peasant life and character. His principal
works, regarded as poems, may be considered de
fective in elevated feeling and imagination ; and his
lines are often prosaic in structure and language.
His stern delineations, though not destitute of that

ful deli
neations.

CHAP. IV.] POETRY. 103
pathos arising from pictures of wretchedness, appeal
rather to the intellect than the sensibility, and are
seldom suggestive of topics of consolation and hope.^
The dates, at least, of the poetry of Crabbe con
nect the 1 8th century with the present century.
Perhaps a finer link in the chain that connects the
poetry of the two eras is to be found in the sonnets
of the Rev. W. Lisle Bowles. The first edition of Sonnets
his sonnets appeared in 1791 ; and the author has gg^ies.
been careful to inform us that they were in general
suggested by scenes of travel, visited during various
excursions undertaken to relieve depression of spirits,
caused by a disappointment in early affections.
There is an apparent reality and pathos in the
description and sentiment that may account for the
popularity of the sonnets, although now they derive
their chief interest from having to some extent sug
gested the more powerful song of Coleridge and
Wordsworth.^ The subject of the following is the
river Wainsbeck, in Northumberland : —
While slowly wanders thy sequester'd stream,
Wainsbeck, the mossy-scatter'd rocks among,
^ Mr. Wordsworth, remarking on one of his lyrical ballads,
Lucy Gray, observes — ' The way in which the incident was treated,
and the spiritualising of the character, might furnish hints for
contrasting the imaginative influences which I have endeavoured
to throw over common Hfe with Crabbe's matter-of-fact style of
handling subjects of the same kind. This is not spoken to his
disparagement, far from it ; but to direct the attention of
thoughtful readers to a comparison that may enlarge the circle of
their sensibilities, and tend to produce in them a catholic judg
ment.' — Memoirs of W. Wordsworth, by Dr. Christopher Words
worth, i. 134.
2 Vide post, p. 129, and Wordsworth's Sonnets.

I04 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
In fancy's ear making a plaintive song
To the dark woods above, that waving seem
To bend o'er some enchanted spot, removed
From life's vain coil ; I listen to the wind,
And think I hear meek Sorrow's plaint, reclined
O'er the forsaken tomb of him she loved !
Fair scenes, ye lend a pleasure long unknown
To him who passes weary on his -way ; —
Yet recreated here he may delay
Awhile to thank you ; and when years have flown.
And haunts that charm'd his youth he would renew.
In the world's crowd he will remember you.
For upwards of half a century after the appear
ance of his sonnets, Mr. Bowles continued to write
poetry, and also to dispute upon it with Lord Byron
and others. When he does not attempt too high a
flight, his poems are pleasing, and sustain his juvenile
reputation. His ' St. John in Patmos,' ' Song of the
Cid,' ' Village Verse-book,' and ' Childe Harold's
Last Pilgrimage,' are among the most noteworthy.
A sufficiently amusing episode in the progress of
British poetry towards the close of the i8th century
would be left unnoticed, were no mention made of
the once celebrated Delia Cruscan school. Its tem
porary popularity furnishes an instance how the
public taste in poetry may go astray, when there is
no ruling spirit in literature or criticism to call
The attention to its vagaries. The Delia Cruscan versi-
Crusrans. fyit^g began with a literary coterie who assembled at
the house of a certain Lady Miller of Bath-Easton,
near Bath, and gratified themselves and their friends
by inditing and occasionally publishing poetical effu
sions. To their set belonged Mr. William Merry,

CHAP. IV.] POETRY. 105
alias Delia Crusca, Miss Anna Seward, Mrs. Thrale
(married in 1 781 to the music- teacher Piozzi, whom
she accompanied to Florence), Mr. Anstey, Dr.
Darwin, Cowper's friend Hayley, and Dr. Sedgwick
Whalley.^ ' They hold,' says Horace Walpole, in a
letter of the year 1775, 'a Parnassus-fair every
Thursday, give out rhymes and themes, and all the
flux of quality at Bath contend for the prizes. A
Roman vase, dressed with pink ribbons and myrtles,
receives the poetry, which is drawn out every fes
tival ; six judges of these Olympic games retire and
select the brightest compositions, which the respec
tive successful acknowledge, kneel to Mrs. Calliope
Miller, kiss her fair hand, and are crowned by it
with myrtle.' The following letter from Lady Miller
to Dr. Whalley ^ may be given as characteristic : —
Bath-Easton Villa : Noy. 3, 1780.
A continuance of your elegant poetical favours is earnestly
requested against the 21st of next month; the subject,
'Delays are Dangerous.' I give you the earliest notice
possible, and beg you will not refuse the assistance of your
charming muse on the first day of opening the Vase for the
winter season. . . . Excuse the hurry I write in, for this is
the fifteenth letter I have written this day, and dinner
waits. I am, &c.
Anna Miller.
The Bath-Easton circle gradually extended itself
As regards taste in literature, they were sentimental
1 Anstey's New Bath Guide (1766), a clever satire on Bath
society, is rather above the pitch of the other poetry of the Della
Cruscans ; and the same may be said of Darwin's Botanic Garden
(1789). 2 Journals and Correspondence of Dr. Sedgwick Whalley, p. 315.

Io6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
admirers of Italy and the recent Italian poetry.
The more wealthy occasionally travelled. In 1785
a party of them met at Florence, writing sonnets
and canzonettas, chiefly in praise of one another and
of their Italian friends ; and so fervid was the
impulse then given to their muse, that on returning
to England they formed a school of poetry of their
Their own, with the productions of which the London
press teemed for several years. The chief scribblers
were Mr. Robert Merry, who assumed the appellation
of Delia Crusca, Mr. Bertie Greathead alias Arno,
John Williams alias Tony Pasquin, Mrs. Robinson
alias Julia, and a host of Edwins, Anna Matildas, &c.
The infection spread among all ranks, attacking
both writers and readers; until at last, in 1791,
William Giffbrd, afterwards well known as critic
and reviewer, produced his well-timed satire, the
Gifford's ' Baviad,' and in 1795 the ' Meeviad,' both couched in
and vigorous though not very polished verse, with in-
*^"^ ¦ troductions and notes. These satires professed to be
imitations respectively of the first satire of Persius,
and the tenth satire of the first book of Horace.
Della Crusca and his friends were severely rated
and ridiculed, both in the verse and the notes — a
castigation and exposure from which they never
recovered. ¦¦¦
' As a specimen of the Della Cmscan versification may be
taken the following, by ' Edwin ' (Mr. T. Vaughan), On the cir
cumstance of a mastiff's running furiously towards two young
ladies, and upon coming up to them becotning instantly gentle and
tractable : — When Orpheus took his lyre to hell
To fetch his rib away,

CHAP. IV.] POETRY. 107
In the following passage of the ' Baviad ' Mr.
Merry (Della Crusca) is introduced going to a tea-
party at Mrs. Piozzi's to read his poem — ' The
Wreath of Liberty ' : —
Lo, Della Crusca, in his closet pent !
He toils to give the crude conception vent.
Abortive thoughts that right and wrong confound.
Truth sacrificed to letters, sense to sound ;
F'alse glare, incongruous images combine,
¦ And noise and nonsense clatter through the line.
'Tis done. Her house the generous Piozzi lends.
And thither summons her blue-stocking friends.
The summons her blue-stocking friends obey.
Lured by the love of poetry — and tea.
The bard steps forth in birth-day splendour drest,
His right hand graceful waving o'er his breast ;
His left extending, so that all might see
A roll inscribed ' The Wreath of Liberty : '
So forth he steps, and with complacent air
Bows round the circle and assumes the chair;
On that same thing he pleased so well,
That devils learned to play.
Besides, in books it may be read
That, while he swept the lute,
Grim Cerberus hung his savage head.
And lay astoundly mute.
But here we can with justice say
That nature rivals art,
He sang a mastiff's rage away,
You lootid one through the heart.
Delia Crusca himself strikes a bolder note in a rhapsody ad
dressed To Mrs. Robinson, on her not opening her eyes: —
Conjure up demons from the main,
Storms upon storms indignant heap.
Bid ocean howl and nature weep,
Till the Creator blush to see
How horrible his world can be ;
While I will glory to blaspheme,
And make the joys of hell my theme.

I08 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
With lemonade he gargles first his throat,
Then sweetly preludes to the liquid note.
And now 'tis silence all. ' Genius or Muse ' —
Thus, while the flowery subject he pursues,
A wild delirium round th' assembly flies ;
Unusual lustre shoots from Emma's eyes.
Luxurious Arno drivels as he stands,
And Anna frisks, and Laura claps her hands.
Satire by The ' Pursuits of Literature,' another satire in
tiiias. verse on the poetry and literary productions of the
time (by Thomas James Mathias, but anonymous),
1794-97- appeared in four books or dialogues. Dealing sum
marily and sharply with the ' celebrities ' of the
day, it ran through seven editions before the end of
the century — a measure of success the book hardly
deserved, whether regarded as a poem or as a
critical work. The verse is accompanied by a com
mentary in the form of ' notes,' lashing nearly all
contemporary literature — especially novels and works
favourable to French democracy — with unsparing
hand.-^ Before quitting the i8th century, the poetry of
Poems of Samuel Rogers may be referred to. Mr. Rogers
began to write in 1 786, when his ' Ode to Super- ¦
stition,' perhaps the most poetical of all his produc
tions, appeared along with some smaller pieces. He
is said to have drawn his first inspiration from the
perusal of Beattie's ' Minstrel.' His ' Pleasures of
^ T. J. Mathias, who held a government office, was an accom
plished Italian scholar. He wrote and published a quantity of
Italian poetry, original and translated, and also some odes in
English ; but these writings are now consigned to the same limbo
where rest most of the subjects of his satire.

CHAP, iv] POETRY. 109
Memory' came out in 1792, and is one of the last
regular pieces in the manner of Pope and Boileau.
Mr. Rogers wrote afterwards a good deal of poetry,
' The Voyage of Columbus, ' Jaqueline,' and ' Human
Life,' not now much read. ' Italy,' the best of his
later works, appeared in 1822. Coming after the
fourth canto of ' Childe Harold,' the descriptive
sketches and historical allusions in this work, adorned
as they are with tasteful sentiment and dressed in
elegant verse, fall somewhat tamely on the ear.
The popularity of ' Italy ' and the ' Pleasures of
Memory ' has been much assisted by the beautiful
engraved designs from the pencils of Stothard and
Turner.^ ' Towards the end of the last and beginning of the present
century a variety of poetical pieces issued from the press, as to
which opinions may differ how some of them, particularly the
later, deserve to rank as poetry. Such are the poems of Gray's
friend Mason, the most noted of which were his Heroic Epistle
to Sir W. Chambers, and Odes to Sir Fletcher Norton and Others,
written under the assumed name of Malcolm MacGregor of
Knightsbridge, Esq. ; the Rolliad, Probationary Odes for the
Laureateship, by Dr. French Lawrence, John Townshend, and
George Ellis ; the poems of Peter Pindar (Dr. John Wolcot), the
best of which are the Lyric Odes to the Royal Academicians
(1782-1787), his other effusions being of an exceprionable and
scurrilous character; Sir Martin Shee's Rhymes of Art (1805) and
Elements of Art; the Tales of Wonder of Matthew Lewis (1801) ;
Bloomfield's Farmer^ s Boy, a realistic transcript of country scenery
and occupations, without much poetic feeling; the Sabbath of
James Graham, homely in style, but truthful and vivid in sentiment
and description ; the poetry of Bernard Barton the Quaker, of
Henry Kirke White, of Bishop Heber, and of James Montgomery.
Proceeding (as already observed) on a principle of critical selec
tion, this survey of British poetry may possibly leave unnoticed
some productions of merit belonging to a border or debateable
region of poetry.

[ lO

CHAPTER V.

Decline oftheclassical
and ad
vance of
the ro
mantic school of
poetr)'.

VOY-TSCi— continued.
British Poetry, pursuing the new direction in which it had
been tending, bases itself on a Theory — Influence of the
study of German Literature — Poetry of the disciples of
the new School — Of Wordsworth — Its Treatment by the
Edinburgh Review — Poetry of Coleridge — Poems of
Southey — Of Wilson, and others.
We have seen during the course of the 1 8th century
the influence of the artificial though brilliant poetry
of Pope, and of what is sometimes called (with
too little consideration for English originality) the
French school, gradually subsiding, and poetry of a
less hackneyed kind, applying itself more to the in
terpretation as well of external nature as of human
sympathies, gradually advancing. To use a phrase
ology adopted in modern criticism, the classical style
of poetry had been receding, and the romantic style
advancing. The latter had been making its way
slowly, like the irregular waves of the tide, but it
came now to assume a habitation and a name in the
poetical theories of Wordsworth and Coleridge, and
to display itself without reserve in the British poetry
of the present century. The causes (in addition to
the suggestive poetry of such writers as Thomson,
Cowper, Burns, and Bowles) which have influenced

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 1 1 1
this new direction of poetical taste, it is difficult
exactly to fix upon.
Whatever weight one may be inclined to allow to Causes
causes historical, or connected with civilisation, much ing the
depends, in literature as well as in the arts, upon the action of
accidental or providential appearance on the world's poetical
stage of individuals of genius and talent. Exclu
sive, however, of this consideration, there concurred,
in the present instance, several circumstances in con
nexion with the literary and political history of the
period, which both gave expression to the tendency
of the national feeling and influenced to a consider
able extent the growing change in the character of
British poetry. The ' Jacobite,' and other popular
ballads of Scotland and the north of England,
together with a considerable amount of poetry, rude
perhaps and provincial, but of a stirring and
romantic cast, current among the people in the 1 8th
century, were an expression of the national feeling
in its varieties of humour, indignation, ridicule, and
pathos, essentially distinct from the poetry of the
classical school. The appearance in 1 765 of Percy's
' Reliques of Ancient English Poetry ' ^ (some of
the fine ballads in which were new modelled by
Dr. Percy himself), followed in 1802 by the ' Border
Minstrelsy ' of Scott ^ ; and the re-publication and
' Whatever may be said of the school of criticism prevalent in
the early part of the 18th century, it is to the credit of Addison
that, in the Spectator (17 11, Nos. 70 and 74), he recognises the
ballad of Chevy Chase as ' extremely natural and poetical, and
full of the majestic simplicity which we admire in the greatest of
the ancient poets.'
2 The Scotch literary antiquaries, of most authority, as Mr.

112 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
somewhat indiscriminate lauding of the works of the
early English dramatists, all aided the direction of
the public mind in favour of a more picturesque and
emotional kind of poetry.
The effect must also be noted which was pro
duced by the study of the new German literature
which had sprung into existence, mostly identified
with the writings of Wieland, Schiller, and Goethe.
Burger and other Germans had been zealously study
ing English literature, especially Shakespeare ; and
had been avowedly imitating the ballads in Dr.
Percy's collection. Goethe, in his early life, was
spell-bound by Shakespeare and by Goldsmith's
' Vicar of Wakefield,' and he afterwards very can
didly acknowledged the influence they had exer
cised over him.^ Following upon this in Germany,
there was a reaction of the German literature on
the literature of Britain, manifesting itself not only
in translations but in imitations of the tone and
manner of German works.
There is every reason also to suppose that political
causes aided in giving an additional impulse to the
new direction of English poetry, by encouraging the
appetite for stronger excitement of all kinds, engen
dered by the spirit-stirring events consequent on the
French Revolution.
David Laing, and Mr. R. Chambers, appear to have come to the
conclusion that a considerable portion of these popular Scottish
ballads are of more recent authorship than is usually supposed,
being in all probability not older than the early part of the i8th
century. See also Craik's English Literature and Language,
ii. 291.
^ Goethe's Dichtung und Wahrheit.

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 113
The most famous disciple of the new school of
poetry was William Wordsworth ; although, with
the poets that have been already referred to pre
ceding him, it is impossible to regard his poetical
efforts (as some are inclined to do) in the light of a
regeneration of English poetry. The first poem of Early
Mr. Wordsworth that came before the public, was '^^^1°''
an ' Evening Walk,' addressed ' to a young lady.' worth.
The lady to whom this piece is addressed was Miss
Dorothea Wordsworth, sister of the poet, and of a
disposition congenial with his own. The subject is
the Cumberland Lake country. At a late period
of life Mr. Wordsworth remarks that ' there is not
an image in this poem which he had not observed ;
noting at the same time, that the country was
idealised rather than described in any of its local
aspects.' ^ In the same year appeared ' Descriptive 1793.
Sketches taken during a pedestrian tour among the
Alps,' addressed to a college friend who had accom
panied him. Both these poems are in ten-syllable
rhyming verse ; the couplets in the ' Descriptive
Sketches ' frequently recalling the ' Traveller ' of
Goldsmith. As was the case with many generous spirits of
that time, the opinions and feelings of Mr. Words-
' Memoirs of William Wordsworth, by Dr. Christopher Words
worth (now Bishop of Lincoln). In the remarks referred to in
the text, Mr. Wordsworth quotes the following as an instance of
the truthful imagery of this poem ; —
Waving his hat, the shepherd from the vale
Directs his wandering dog the cliffs to scale ;
The dog, loud barking, 'mid the glittering rocks
Hunts, where his master points, the intercepted flocks.
I

114 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
worth were strongly enlisted in favour of the French
Revolution at its commencement ; and this sympathy
is easily discovered in the ' Sketches,' as well as in
some other early pieces. His later poems touch
ing on political subjects show his opinions to have
decidedly, but with a tempered moderation, changed
in after life. Neither the ' Evening Walk' nor the
' Descriptive Sketches ' attracted much public atten
tion ; though Mr. Coleridge observes of the latter,
with which he became acquainted at Cambridge,
that ' seldom, if ever, was the emergence of an
original poetic genius above the literary horizon
more evidently announced.' ^
Lyrical The ' Lyrical Ballads ' first saw the light in 1 798,
at Bristol, in the form of a small duodecimo. Among
them were included certain poems by Coleridge,
who was now the friend and literary ally of Words
worth. A second edition of the ' Lyrical Ballads '
soon appeared in two volumes, the new volume con
taining additional poems by Mr. Wordsworth. In
the preface to this edition, a systematic defence is
'Theory' put forward of ' the theory upon which these poems
which were written.' '^ The principal object proposed is
' Biographia Literaria.
^ This preface is printed at the end of the second volume of
Wordsworth's Works, edition 1836. The poems of Mr. Words
worth are now so scattered and classified, out of their chrono
logical order, in the various editions of his works, that it is of
some interest to note the contents of the first edition (1798) of
the celebrated Lyrical Ballads. They are as follows : — The
Rime of the Ancient Mariner (by Mr. Coleridge) ; The Foster-
Mother's Tale (by Coleridge) ; Li7ies left upon a Seat in a Yew-tree
near the Lake of Esthwaite ; The Nightingale (by Coleridge) ; The

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 115
alleged to have been ' to choose incidents and situa- they were
tions from common life,' and to relate or describe
them, as far as possible, in language really used by
men in a state of vivid sensation, and at the same
time to throw over them a certain colouring of
imagination, whereby ordinary things should be pre
sented to the mind in an unusual aspect. Humble
and rustic life was preferred for this reason, among
others, that the essential passions of the heart are
there under less restraint, and speak a plainer and
more emphatic language. And the preface con
cludes with the author's declaration that ' it was not
so much his aim to prove that the interest excited
by some other kinds of poetry is less vivid and less
worthy of the nobler powers of the mind, as to offer
reasons for presuming that if his purpose were ful
filled, a species of poetry would be produced which
is genuine poetry, in its nature well adapted to
interest mankind permanently.' ^
Female Vagrant ; Goody Blake and Harry Gill; Lines written
near my House, and sent by my little boy to the person to whom they
were addressed ; Simon Lee, the old Huntsman ; Anecdote for '
Fathers ; We are Seven; Lines written in early Spring ; The
Thorn; The Last of the Flock ; The Dungeon (by Coleridge) ; The
7nad Mother ; The Idiot Boy ; Lines written near Richmond upon
the Thames, at evening; Expostidation and Reply; The Tables
Turned; Old Man Travelling; The Complaint of a forsaken Indian
Woman; The Convict; Lines written a few miles above Tintern
Abbey. ' Mr. Coleridge, in his Biographia Literaria, states the Lyrical
Ballads to have been ' an experiment, whether subjects which
from their nature rejected the usual ornaments and extra-colloquial
style of poems in general, might not be so managed in the lan
guage of ordinary life as to produce the pleasurable interest
which It is the peculiar business of poetry to impart.'

Il6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [ [book I.
Before going farther, a doubt may be expressed
whether this ' theory ' of Mr. Wordsworth, or (what
is of more importance) the practice in accordance
with it, was so entirely original ; considering that a
portion of the poetry referred to in the preceding
Practice pages — the English ballad poetry in Percy's collec-
cordance ^ion, the ' Border Minstrelsy,' the ' Gentle Shepherd '
with It of q£ Ramsa-y, and the poetry of Burns, fulfils very nearly
previous •' ¦¦• •' ¦' ¦'
poets. its conditions. It is quite possible that as Monsieur
Jourdain discovered that he had been speaking prose
all his life without knowing it, those earlier poets
who never wrote upon any theory have been all the
time making ' genuine ' poetry according to the
Wordsworthian creed, without being aware they
were doing so.
However this maybe, Mr. Wordsworth continued
to write and print at intervals, for more than thirty
years after the appearance of his ' Lyrical Ballads,'
a great amount of various poetry ; most of it re
markable for ' the union of deep feeling with pro
found thought.' In some of his earlier poems, he
may have carried too far his view of idealising and
elevating low and trivial characters, incidents and
1798. situations ; as in ' Goody Blake and Harry Gill,'
and the ' Idiot Boy.' But in several of those pieces
which have been most exposed to ^!^e ridicule of
critics, including ' Peter Bell ' and the ' Waggoner '
(which are perhaps too much drawn out and elabo
rated in Cantos and Parts), there are many beauties
of a peculiar kind — a fine observation of natural
objects and phenomena, and appeals to common
feelings and sympathies — which should at least have

CHAP, v.] 'POETRY. 117
blunted, if not averted, the shafts of dogmatical
criticism. It is believed, however, to be now gene
rally acknowledged, that the best of Mr. Words
worth's productions are those in which his theory
of making use, for the most part, of the incidents
and language of low or of common life, has been
practically modified by his own cultivated taste and
elevated tone of feeling.
The general character of Mr. Wordsworth's General
poems is, that they are poetry at first hand, not of Word?.
conventional, or taken from ' others' books.' The ^o°et*'* ¦
scenes in which he lived, the characters and people
he encountered in his walks — it might be a stray
child, a crazy beggar-woman, or an ' old man travel
ling ' — the incidents that occurred in his own life and
that of his friends, .all supplied him with subjects for
his muse. To say that such subjects and topics
received a colouring from his imagination, and a
new life from his own mind (which has sometimes
been objected as a fault to the poetry of Words
worth), is no more than saying that they were
regarded by him and treated with the eye and
genius of a poet. It is no impeachment of Mr.
Wordsworth's originality of observation, that his
sister. Miss Wordsworth, the inmate of his family
circle, occasionally ' saw for him ; ' several of his
poems (as stated by his biographer), ' being little
more than poetical versions of her descriptions of
the objects which she had seen, he treating them as
seen by himself'^ Nor is it any impeachment of
^ Memoirs, by Dr. C. Wordsworth, i. 180, 188. Mr. Words
worth's habits of out- door observation and study influenced so

Il8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
his general originality, that in a few poems — as the
' Complaint of the forsaken Indian Woman,' the
' Russian Fugitive,' ' Laodamia,' and ' Dion ' — of his
later writing, he has adopted the perfectly legitimate
course of taking his theme from travels or history.
At a comparatively early period of his poetical
career Mr. Wordsworth had planned and partly
composed a poem on a large scale, of which the
' Excursion ' was the only portion given to the
public in his lifetime. In a letter to Sir George
1804. Beaumont, he refers to this poetical labour, which
was to be two-fold ; first a poem to be called the
' Recluse ' (called afterwards the ' Excursion,') ' in
which it will be my object to express in verse my
most interesting feelings concerning man, nature,
and society, and next, a poem (in which I am at
present chiefly engaged) on my earlier life, and the
growth of my own mind, taken up on a large scale.'
The Pre- This poem on his early life, the ' Prelude,' not
printed or even named till the year 1850, was pro
ceeded with at intervals, and extended to fourteen
books. The following lines from it, referring to the
poet's marriage in 1802, may be quoted as an
example of its style : —
When every day brought with it some new sense
Of exquisite regard for common things,
much the character of his poetry, that the following anecdote
may be given, in his own words ; — ' One day a stranger, having
walked round the garden and grounds of Rydal Mount, asked of
one of the female servants, who happened to be at the door, per
mission to see her master's study. " This," said she, leading
him forward, " is my master's library, where he keeps his books ;
but his study is out of doors.'" — Memoirs, ii. 76.

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 119
And all the earth was budding with these gifts
Of more refined humanity, thy breath,
Dear sister, was a kind of gentle spring
That went before my steps. Thereafter came
One whom with thee friendship had early paired :
She came no more a phantom to adorn
A moment, but an inmate of the heart,
And yet a spirit there for me enshrined
To penetrate the lofty and the low ;
Even as one essence of pervading light
Shines in the brightest of ten thousand stars
And the meek worm that feeds her lonely lamp
Couch'd in the dewy grass.
In 1807 appeared two additional volumes of
' Poems by William Wordsworth, author of the
" Lyrical Ballads." ' These volumes contained short Shorter
. ,, . I • pieces.
miscellaneous pieces and sonnets, poems written
during a tour in Scotland, as ' Rob Roy's Grave,'
' Stepping Westward,' ' Yarrow Unvisited,' besides
certain short poems entitied ' Moods of my own
Mind.' In the later editions of his works Mr.
Wordsworth has arranged these along with his other
poems under distinct heads as ' Poems of the Affec
tions, of the Imagination, Description, &c.' This
classification is interesting in some respects, but
upon the whole not satisfactory ; too little regard
being paid to the chronological order, and to the
course of the poet's life as explanatory of his writings.
Among the finest of the poems of this time are
the ' Affliction of Margaret ' and the ' Feast of
Brougham Castle ; ' the first of these being marked
by a simple pathos and beauty of language in which
there is no trace even of the affectation of vulgarit}^

I20 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
' Since the year 1 798, when the first volume of
the " Lyrical Ballads " was published, there appears,'
says Mr. Wordsworth's biographer, ' to have been a
steady though not an eager demand for his poetical
works.' His admirers, although ardent, were few in
number. On the other hand, he had many powerful
enemies, whose hostility was provoked by the
vitality of his reputation. Their contemptuous
criticisms of his poetry exercised a decided influence
over a large portion of the public ; and it was prob
ably owing in some measure to those strictures
that during the first quarter of the present century
no wide-spread appreciation existed in England of
Wordsworth's poetry.
His longest and most laboured production is the
The Ex- ' Excursion,' a poem in blank verse, half-narrative,
half-didactic, containing much animated description
of the scenery of the Lake district, its inhabitants
and belongings, and great store of argument, sen
timent and reflection. The principal characters are
an old packman or pedlar, poetically termed ' the
Wanderer,' very pious and philosophical ; a non
descript individual, of sceptical notions in religion
and politics, styled 'the Solitary;' and a sensible
and well-informed Pastor of the Church of England.
The ' Wanderer ' and the ' Solitary ' had both their
archetypes in real life. The various discourse of
those persons on Providence, faith, virtue, and other
lofty themes, interspersed with sketches of places
and natural phenomena, forms the staple of the-
poem. The ' Excursion,' after a long period of
probation, has now taken a place in English litera-

cursion.

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 121
ture corresponding to its high aims as a descriptive
and didactic poem.
Mr. Jeffrey's criticism on the 'Excursion' in the Criticism
. , . . . ofthe
' Edinburgh Review ' (reprinted in his collected Edin-
' Contributions ') was remarkable for its severity ; Review
setting the poem down as bearing the stamp of the "P""^ '^~
author's peculiar system, and as ' longer, weaker, and
tamer than any of his other productions, with less
boldness of originality, and less even of that extreme
simplicity and lowliness of tone which wavered so
prettily in the " Lyrical Ballads " between silliness
and pathos. ' ^ The ' Excursion,' regarded as a
poem, undoubtedly has its faults and weak points ;
but looking back from the stand-point of the present
day to the strictures of the ' Edinburgh Review ' in
the year 1814 and previously, directed against this as
well as the other poetry of Mr. Wordsworth, one
cannot avoid remarking a variation in the verdict of
posterity from Mr. Jeffrey's judgments. The truth
is that Wordsworth's poetry was not amenable to
those pre-conceived opinions and rules of criticism
which Jeffrey applied to it.^ The intellectual natures
of the two men were entirely different ; and the
learned critic, with all his acuteness and analytical
reasoning, could no more enter into or indeed com
prehend the poet's mode of thought, feeling and
expression, than he could have raised himself upon
wings. ' Jeffrey's Coiitributions to Edinburgh Review, p. 585 (edition
1855)- 2 See Hazlitt's remarks, in the Spirit of the Age, as to Mr.
Jeffrey's criticism on the Lyrical Ballads.

122 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Late ap- Jt was a considerable time before the poetry of
precia- tion Wordsworth was what may be termed understood
ofWords- ,1 . - , .
worth. by a large proportion ot his countrymen.
When Southey's read and Wordsworth understood —
was the sentiment of many besides Lord Byron.
Mr. Wordsworth appears to have felt this himself
and to have been somewhat uneasy at the criticism
he had to encounter, if we may judge from the de
precatory tone of an essay written in 1815,^ as a
supplement to the Preface to the ' Lyrical Ballads '
above referred to. 'In the higher poetry,' says this
essay, ' an enlightened critic chiefly looks for a re
flection of the wisdom of the heart and the grandeur
of the imagination. Wherever these appear, sim
plicity accompanies them.' Farther on he adds —
' To be mistaught is worse than to be untaught ; and
no perverseness equals that which is supported by
system, no errors are so difficult to root out as those
which the understanding has pledged its credit to
uphold.' Reviewing then the early history of certain
poetical works of now recognised merit, which had
been at first neglected or unpopular, Mr. Words
worth arrives at the conclusion (previously suggested
by a remark of Mr. Coleridge) ' that every author,
as far as he is great and at the same time original,
has had the task of creating the taste by which he is
to be enjoyed.'^
' Printed at the end of the third volume of his Works, 1836.
^ In a letter to Professor Reed, in 1845, Mr. Wordsworth,
after speaking favourably of Mr. Tennyson, adds : — ' You will be
pleased to hear that he expressed in the strongest terms his grati
tude to my writings. To this I was far from indifferent, though

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 123
The ' White Doe of Ryistone ' was published White
, . ... . , Doe of
soon after the ' Excursion, and like its predecessors Ryistone.
was unmercifully criticised. Whatever ground may
be thought to exist for some portion of that criticism,
it is fair to give the author's own theory of this
poem. After stating the plan of it to have been
entirely different from poems of action, like those
of Sir Walter Scott, which have a resting-point
and termination, he says,^ — 'Everything that is at
tempted by the principal personage in the " White
Doe " fails, so far as its object is external and sub
stantial ; so far as it is moral and spiritual, it succeeds.
The heroine of the poem knows that her duty is
not to interfere with the current of events, either to
forward or delay them ; but — To abide
The shock, and finally secure
O'er pain and grief a triumph pure.
From this period till nearly the close of his life 1850.
Mr. Wordsworth continued to write and publish
poetry at intervals. His sonnets are numerous and of Sonnets.
great variety, — ecclesiastical, on places visited, &c. ;
some of them exquisitely beautiful. Like Cowper,
he thought in verse, and his versified thoughts, if
they did not assume a lengthier shape, usually took
the form of a sonnet Thus in a sonnet he apolo
gises for writing so many sonnets : —
persuaded that he is not much in sympathy with what I should
myself most value in my attempts, viz., the spirituality with which"
I have endeavoured to invest the material universe, and the moral
relations under which I have wished to exhibit its most ordinary
appearances.' 1 Memoirs, by Dr. C. Wordsworth, ii. 56.

J 24 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK. I.
Scorn not the Sonnet ; critic, you have frown'd.
Mindless of its just honours ; with this key
Shakespeare unlock'd his heart ; the melody
Of this small lute gave ease to Petrarch's wound ;
A thousand times this pipe did Tasso sound ;
With it Camoens soothed an exile's grief ;
The Sonnet glitter'd a gay myrtle leaf
Amid the cypress with which Dante crown'd
His visionary brow ; a glow-worm lamp,
It cheer'd mild Spenser, call'd from Faery-land
To struggle through dark ways ; and when a damp
Fell round the path of Milton, in his hand
The thing became a trumpet, w^hence he blew
Soul-animating strains — alas, too few !
As his life advanced Mr. Wordsworth seems to
have had more recourse for the subjects of his
higher poetry to reflection and his stores of reading,
Laicr : ancient and modern, and less to personal experience
and adventure. His Ode, entitled ' Intimations of
Immortality from recollections of early childhood,'
is in all respects a noble production. The ' Lines at
Cora Linn, in sight of Wallace's Tower,' ' The Rus
sian Fugitive,' ' Laodamia ' and ' Dion,' in which
(leaving his personality out of view) the poet treads
on classic ground, ' The Romance of the Water Lily,'
where a vein is re-opened of ancient English fiction,
since pursued by Mr. Tennyson, have, each in its
way, the ring of genuine poetry. The poems of
' Peter Bell ' and the ' Waggoner,' written previously,
and in his early manner, but not published till a
1819. later period, were at their first appearance more in
request than some of his other works, but equally
with them subjected to unsparing criticism.^
^ This reception of Peter Bell gave occasion to a characteristic

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 125
On the death of Mr. Southey, in 1843, the appoint- Poet-
ment of Poet Laureate was at once tendered to Mr. ship.
Wordsworth, and after some hesitation accepted by
him. The following passage in Sir Robert Peel's
official letter on this subject records not only the
feeling of her Majesty and the Prime Minister in his
favour, but is evidence of the general impression
held at the time of his position as a poet : —
The offer was made to you by the Lord Chamberlain April 3,
with my entire concurrence, not for the purpose of imposing '^43-
on you any onerous or disagreeable duties, but in order to
pay you that tribute of respect which is justly due to the
first of living poets. The Queen entirely approves of the
nomination, and there is one unanimous feeling on the part
of all who have heard of the proposal (and it is pretty
generally known) that there could not be a question about
the selection.
Nothing in the way of writing was required of
Wordsworth as Laureate. He had earned this dis
tinction before he received it ; and one fine poem of
the kind of writing formerly expected from a poet
laureate, a ' Thanksgiving Ode on the conclusion
of the war,' had been given to the public in 18 16.
A fitting opportunity, however, occurred upon the in
stallation of H. R. H. Prince Albert as Chancellor of
Cambridge, in 1847, for the spontaneous exercise of
his powers. The following Ode, composed by him
for the occasion, and set to music, does not appear
in any edition of the works of Mr. Wordsworth : ^ —
sonnet by the author in its defence, beginning (in imitation of one
of Milton's sonnets) : —
A hook came forth of late called ' Peter Bell ' ;
Not negUgent the style, the matter good
As aught that song records of Robin Hood, &c.
1 The words of this Ode as gi\'en in the text are taken irom

126 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
For thirst of power that Heaven disowns,
For temples, towers, and thrones,
Too long insulted by the Spoiler's shock.
Indignant Europe cast
Her stormy foe at last
To reap the whirlwind on a Libyan rock.
War is passion's basest game.
Madly play'd to win a name ;
Up starts some tyrant, Earth and Heaven to dare :
The servile million bow ;
But will the lightning glance aside to spare
The despot's laurell'd brow .?
War is mercy, glory, fame.
Waged in Freedom's holy cause ;
Freedom, such as man may claim
Under God's restraining laws.
Such is Albion's fame and glory ;
Let rescued Europe tell the story.
But, lo ! what sudden cloud has darkened all
The land as with a funeral pall .''
The Rose of England suffers blight.
The flower has droop'd, the Isle's delight,
Flower and bud together fall —
A nation's hopes lie crush'd in Claremont's desolate hall.
Time a checker'd mantle wears ;
Earth awakes from wint'ry sleep ;
Again the tree a blossom bears —
Cease, Britannia, cease to weep !
Hark to the peals on this bright May-morn !
They tell that your future Queen is born !
A Guardian Angel flutter'd
Above the babe, unseen ;
the account of the Installation published in July, 1847, the last
stanza of the Ode, which is expressed with more fervour than is
usual in a written composition, being omitted.

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 127
One word he softly utter'd —
It named the future Queen :
And a joyful cry through the island rang,
As clear and bold as the trumpet's clang,
As bland as the reed of peace —
' Victoria be her name ! '
For righteous triumphs are the base
Whereon Britannia rests her peaceful fame.
Time, in his mantle's sunniest fold,
Uplifted on his arms the child ;
And, while the fearless infant smiled,
Her happy destiny foretold ;
' Infancy, by wisdom mild
Train'd to health and artless beauty ;
Youth, by pleasure unbeguiled
From the lore of lofty duty ;
Womanhood in pure renown.
Seated on her lineal throne ;
Leaves of myrtle in her crown,
Fresh with lustre all their own ;
Love, the treasure worth possessing
More than all the world beside, —
This shall be her choicest blessing.
Oft to royal hearts denied.'
That eve the Star of Brunswick shone
With stedfast ray benign
On Gotha's ducal roof, and on
The softly-flowing Leine ;
Nor fail'd to gild the spires of Bonn,
And glitter'd on the Rhine.
Old Camus, too, on that prophetic night
Was conscious of the ray ;
And his willows whisper'd in its light,
Not to the zephyr's sway.
But with a Delphic life, in sight
Of this auspicious day.

T28 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
This day, when Granta hails her chosen lord.
And proud of her award.
Confiding in that star serene.
Welcomes the Consort of a happy Queen.
Prince, in these collegiate bowers.
Where science, leagued with holier truth,
Guards the sacred heart of youth.
Solemn monitors are ours.
These reverend aisles, these hallow'd towers.
Raised by many a hand august.
Are haunted by majestic powers.
The memories of the wise and just ;
Who, faithful to a pious trust.
Here in the founder's spirit sought
To mould and stamp the ore of thought
In that bold form and impress high
That best betoken patriot loyalty.
Not in vain those sages taught :
True disciples, good as great,
Have ponder'd here their country's weal ;
Weigh'd the future by the- past,
Learn'd how social frames may last,
And how a land may rule its fate
By constancy inviolate.
Though worlds to their foundations reel.
The sport of factious hate or godless zeal.
Albert, in thy race we cherish
A nation's strength that will not perish
While England's sceptred line
True to the King of Kings is found ;
Like that wise ancestor of thine
Who threw the Saxon shield o'er Luther's life,
When first, above the yells of bigot strife,
The trumpet of the Living Word
Assumed a voice of deep portentous sound.
From gladden'd Elbe to startled Tiber heard.

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 129
The first poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge were Earfy
published in 1 796 ; a second edition, in which some coi™^ °*^
of the previous poems were omitted and new pieces ""^^e-
added, appearing the following year. Among these
productions are included the sonnets, the first in
order of which acknowledges the inspiration he
owed to the ' soft strains ' of Bowles. The greater
part of them have as their ingredient more of the
politics of the day than of the strains of Mr.
Bowles ; evidencing Coleridge to have been at one
time influenced, like his friend Wordsworth, by
opinions derived from the French Revolution, but
afterwards much modified by the course of events
in France and his own reflection. The sonnet on
the death of Kozciusko is as follows : —
O what a loud and fearful shriek was there.
As though a thousand souls one death-groan pour'd !
Ah me ! they saw beneath a hireling's sword
Their Kozciusko fall ! Through the swart air
(As pauses the tired Cossack's barbarous yell
Of triumph) on the chill and midnight gale
Rises with frantic burst or sadder swell
The dirge of murder'd Hope ! While Freedom pale
Bends in such anguish o'er her destin'd bier.
As if from eldest time some Spirit meek
Had gather'd in a mystic urn each tear
That ever on a patriot's furrow'd cheek
Fit channel found, and she had drain'd the bowl,
In the mere wilfulness and sick despair of soul !
To this period also belong the ' Monody on the
Death of Chatterton,' the Odes, ' To the departing
Year,' and ' France,' poems sublime in character,
fresh and vigorous in their spirit.
K

130 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
In the first volume of Wordsworth's ' Lyrical
Ballads,' Mr. Coleridge's poems of the ' Ancient
Mariner,' ' Foster-Mother's Tale,' the ' Nightingale,'
and lines entitied the ' Dungeon' (part of his
tragedy of ' Remorse'), appeared as anonymous con
tributions. In the plan of that collection it was
agreed that Coleridge's ' endeavours should be di
rected to persons and characters supernatural, or
at least romantic ; yet so as to transfer, from our
inward nature, a human interest and a semblance
of truth sufficient to procure for those shadows of
imagination that willing suspension of disbelief for
the moment which constitutes poetic faith.' ^ The
Rime of ' Rime of the Ancient Mariner,' the most original
Ancient ^'^^ imaginative of Coleridge's poetical pieces, is
Manner, distinguished by a singular mixture of wildness of
conception and antique simplicity of manner. Power
ful imagination is throughout predominant, bodying
forth the ' forms of things unknown ' with a brilliancy
almost blinding to the mental eye. The leading
incident of the poem, the shooting of the friendly
albatross, will appear an insufficient cause to draw
after it such a train of appalling consequences,
unless the reader share that strong sentiment of
kindliness towards the animal creation and belief in
the regardful care had of all his creatures by the
tutelary Spirit of the universe, which is a feature in
the poetry of Coleridge as of Wordsworth.^
^ Coleridge's Biographia Literaria.
2 The following notice of the Ancient Mariner is contained in
a letter of the Rev. Alexander Dyce to the late Mr. H. N. Cole
ridge; and it is fitting that it be given here, as showing the

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 131
Mr. Coleridge's tragedy of ' Remorse' was written
in the last year of the eighteenth century, though
not then produced on the stage ; a soliloquy in
it being included among the Lyrical Ballads under
the title of the ' Dungeon.' The translation of
Schiller's ' Piccolimini ' and ' Death of Wallenstein '
(no translation being attempted of the ' Lager ' or
first part of the dramatic Trilogy), was made in the
following winter, after the poet's return from a visit jg^g
to Germany.
part Mr. Wordsworth had in that remarkable production. Mr.
Dyce writes : — ' When my truly honoured friend Mr. Wordsworth
was last in London, he dined with me in Gray's Inn, and made the
following statement, which I am quite sure I give you correctly : —
" The Ancient Mariner was founded on a strange dream which a
friend of Coleridge had, who fancied he saw a skeleton ship with
figures in it. We had both determined to write some poetry for
a monthly magazine, the profits of which were to defray the ex
penses of a Httle excursion we were to make together. The
Ancient Mariner was intended for this periodical, but was too
long. I had very little share in the composition of it, for I soon
found that the style of Coleridge and my own would not assimilate.
Besides the Hues in the Fourth Part —
And thou art long and lank and brown,
As is the ribb'd sea-sand —
I wrote the stanza in the First Part —
He holds him with his glittering eye—
The wedding-guest stood still,
And hstens like a three years' child ;
The mariner hath his will —
and four or five lines more in different parts of the poem which I
could not now point out. The idea of shooting an albatross was
mine, for I had been reading Shelvocke's Voyages, which probably
Coleridge never saw. I also suggested the re-animation of the
dead bodies, to work the €di^:"—Note in edition of Coleridge's
Poems, (1865) by Derwent and Sara Coleridge. See also Memoirs
of William Wordsworth, by Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, i. 107.

132 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
The wildly-beautiful fragments, ' Christabel ' and
the ' Dark Ladie,' were also composed about this
"^ time, though not published till afterwards. ' Chris
tabel,' like too much of Mr. Coleridge's poetry, is
rather a sketch than a finished poem, mingling the
supernatural and mystical with lively touches of
human feeling.
Coleridge was irregular in his times and seasons
of writing ; composing, often at long intervals, as his
fancy or the occasion prompted. Many of his finest
pieces were written long before they were given to
the world. A collection of his poems entitled
Sibylline ' Sibylline Leaves,' including the greater part of his
best poetry, was published in 1817.^ The little
poem of ' Love,' illustrating that passion by a ro
mantic tale of a poet's successful courtship, was one
of the finest of these ' Sibylline Leaves.' Among
them also was the ' Ode to Georgiana, Duchess
of Devonshire,' the talented friend of Fox, whose
form and features have been transmitted to us by
the pencils of Reynolds and Gainsborough.^ The
Duchess, after visiting Italy, had given an account
in verse of her passage over the St. Gothard, the
twenty-fourth stanza of this poem being as follows : —
And hail the Chapel ! hail the platform wild
Where Tell directed the avenging dart
With well-strung arm, that first preserved his child ;
Then aim'd the arrow at the tyrant's heart.

The first collected and revised edition of Mr. Coleridge's
poems and dramas was that of 1828, in three volumes.
^ The Duchess of Devonshire died in 1806, previous to which
date Coleridge's Ode must have been written.

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 133
On reading this stanza Coleridge addressed to the
noble authoress these spirited lines : —
Splendour's fondly-foster'd child !
And did you hail the platform wild,
Where once the Austrian fell
Beneath the shaft of Tell !
O lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure.
Whence learn'd you that heroic measure .'
Light as a dream your days their circlets ran,
From all that teaches brotherhood to man
Far, far removed ! from want, from hope, from fear !
Enchanting music fill'd your infant ear,
Obeisance, praises soothed your infant heart ;
Emblazonments and old ancestral crests.
With many a bright obtrusive form of art,
Detain'd your eye from nature ; stately vests.
That veiling strove to deck your charms divine,
Rich viands and the pleasurable wine
Were yours, unearn'd by toil ; nor could you see
The unenjoying toiler's misery.
And yet, free Nature's uncorrupted child,
You hail'd the Chapel and the platform wild
Where once the Austrian fell
Beneath the shaft of Tell !
Oh lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure.
Whence learned you that heroic measure }
There crowd your finely-fibred frame
All living faculties of bliss ;
And genius to your cradle came.
His forehead wreath'd with lambent flame,
And bending low with god-like kiss
Breathed in a more celestial life.
But boasts not many a fair compeer
A heart as sensitive to joy and fear }
And some, perchance, might wage an equal strife ;

134 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Some few to noble being wrought,
Co-rivals in the nobler gift of thought.
Yet these delight to celebrate
Laurell'd war and plumy state,
Or in verse and music dress
Tales of rustic happiness, —
Pernicious tales ! insidious strains !
That steel the rich man's breast
And mock the lot unblest,
The sordid vices and the abject pains,
Which evermore must be
The doom of ignorance and penury !
But you, free Nature's uncorrupted child.
You hail'd the Chapel and the platform wild
Where once the Austrian fell
Beneath the shaft of Tell !
Oh lady, nursed in pomp and pleasure.
Whence learn'd you that heroic measure .'

Excel- Coleridge's short poems are perhaps the most
lence and rt- i
careful finished and careful in the thought, measure and
his short diction, of any recent verse in the English language.
poems. Q£ ^j^g ^^^ poems that follow, the first was written
in early life : — TO A PRIMROSE.
Thy smiles I note, sweet early flower,
That, peeping from thy rustic bower.
The festive news to earth dost bring,
A fragrant messenger of Spring !
But, tender blossom ! why so pale .''
Dost hear stern Winter in the gale }
And didst thou tempt the ungentle sky
To catch one* vernal glance and die .'

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 135
Such the wan lustre sickness wears.
When health's first feeble beam appears ;
So languid are the smiles that seek
To settle on the careworn cheek.
When timorous hope the head uprears.
Still drooping and still moist with tears,
If through dispersing grief be seen
Of bliss the heavenly spark serene.
The following verses were written late in the
poet's lifetime, and reflect the evening-light of ex
perience : —
LOVE, HOPE, AND PATIENCE IN EDUCATION.
O'er wayward childhood would'st thou hold firm rule,
And sun thee in the light of happy faces,
Love, Hope, and Patience, these must be thy
graces.
And in thine own heart let them first keep school ;
For as old Atlas on his broad neck places
Heaven's starry globe; and there sustains it — so
Do these upbear the little world below
Of education — Patience, Love, and Hope.
Methinks I see them group'd in seemly show,
The straighten'd arms uprais'd, the palms aslope.
And robes that, touching as adown they flow.
Distinctly blend, like snow emboss'd in snow.
O part them never ! If Hope prostrate lie,
Love too will sink and die.
But Love is subtle, and doth proof derive
From her own life that Hope is yet alive ;
And bending o'er with soul-transfusing eyes.
And the soft murmurs of the mother dove,
Woos back the fleeting spirit and half supplies ;—
Thus Love repays to Hope what Hope first gave to
Love.

136 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Yet haply there will come a weary day.
When overtask'd at length
Both Love and Hope beneath the load give way.
Then with a statue's smile, a statue's strength.
Stands the mute sister Patience, nothing loth.
And both supporting, does the work of both.
Robert Southey is the third of the trio whom it
was at one time the fashion to associate together as
the Lake Poets, but who, in their practice of poetical
composition, show very little resemblance to each
Poems of other. Southey's writing of poetry commenced
Southey. ^^-^^ ^}^g same time as that of Wordsworth and
Coleridge ; his earliest publication being ' Wat
1794. Tyler,' a short dramatic poem of considerable
power, strongly tinged with the democratic senti
ments then current. Two years after appeared
his ' Joan of Arc,' an Epic poem (as it was entitled)
of ten books in blank verse. It celebrates the
exploits (in the French war of resistance to Eng
land) of the ' delegated Maid,' a name employed
in the poem to intimate the celestial mission of
Joan of Arc, and which, had it not been used by
Mr. Coleridge in his ' Destiny of Nations ' with the
same meaning, might be thought too prosaic in
sound. The poem contains some imaginative epi
sodes and descriptions, adhering otherwise pretty
closely to history. In the first year of the present
century came out ' Thalaba the Destroyer,' an
Arabian myth or metrical romance, described by the
author himself in his Introduction to ' Madoc ' as ' the
wild and wondrous song of Thalaba.' This romance
occupies twelve books, and is composed in irregular

CHAP, v.] POE TRY. 13 7
though rhythmical blank verse — the ' Arabesque or
nament of an Arabian tale ' — which was considered
most suitable to the fanciful subject of the poem.
The beauties of ' Madoc ' are of a more sober order.^
This poems tells, at considerable length —
How Madoc from the shores of Britain spread
The adventurous sail, explored the ocean ways.
And quell'd barbarian power and overthrew
The bloody altars of idolatry ;
And planted in its fanes triumphantly
The cross of Christ.
The ' Curse of Kehama ' is one of the most ec- iSio.
centric of Mr. Southey's poems, as well in subj'ect as Kehama
in the irregularity of its rhyming measure. It is ^'J^^n'l
founded on a doctrine of the Hindoo religion (to doomy-
f . ^ thology.
which there is something akin in the superstitions of
other nations as to witchcraft), that prayers and
curses possess an interest and actual value with
the supreme powers, even when emanating from
wicked men or women bent on the worst designs ;
Mr. Coleridge's ' Sexton's Tale ' of the ' Three
Graves ' being based on a superstition of the same
kind. The supernatural machinery and brilliant
imagery of the ' Curse of Kehama,' mostly bor
rowed from the Hindoo mythology, is softened and

' In a letter to Sir George Beaumont, June 3, 1805, Mr. Words
worth says of Madoc, ' The poem fails in the highest gifts of the
poet's mind — imagination, in the true sense of the word, and
knowledge of human nature and the human heart. There is
nothing that shows the hand of the great master ; but the beauties
in description are innumerable.' — Memoirs of W. Wordsworth, by
Dr. Christopher Wordsworth.

13^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
varied by passages of sentiment ; and through all
there displays itself a certain moral grandeur in the
final measure of poetical justice awarded by the
denouement of the story.
Roderick. ' Roderick the last of the Goths,' a tragic poem
^ ^'^' in blank verse, in twenty-five cantos or books, is
regarded as the best example of Mr. Southey's
poetry. The subject is taken from Spanish chro
nicles and traditional history, and it relates the ad
ventures of Don Roderick, the last Gothic king of
Spain (whose unrestrained passion for Count Julian's
daughter opened Gibraltar and Spain to the Moors),
and his heroic efforts to re-establish the Christian
power in the north of the Peninsula. The lan
guage is flowing and idiomatic and the verse har
monious. But though rising occasionally to a
higher strain, it leaves an impression on the reader
of an historical romance told in rhythmical prose
rather than of a great poem. The characters. Moor
and Christian, are well contrasted in manners, re
ligion and sentiment, and it has the rare merit of
clothing with flesh and blood and giving life to
the dry bones of antiquated Spanish chronicles.
The moral key-note of the poem is given in the
following passage of Wordsworth's poetry prefixed
to it : — As the ample Moon
In the deep stillness of a summer even,
Rising behind a thick and lofty grove,
Burns like an unconsuming fire of light
In the green trees ; and kindling on all sides
Their leafy umbrage turns the dusky veil
Into a substance glorious as her own-
Yea with her own incorporated, by power

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 139
Capacious and serene : like power abides
In man's celestial spirit ; virtue thus
Sets forth and magnifies herself ; thus feeds
A calm, a beautiful and silent fire
From the incumbrances of mortal life,
From error, disappointment — nay from guilt ;
And sometimes, so relenting justice wills.
From palpable oppressions of despair.
Perhaps the most singular of Southey's later vision of
poetical efforts is the ' Vision of Judgment,' in ten ^^^^_
short cantos in hexameter verse. ^ The poet sees '^^'•
in a trance the king, George III., recently dead,
coming for judgment to the gate of the celestial city,
on the summit of which stands an angel, who sum
mons before the Ineffable Presence the spirits of
heaven and hell as accusers or absolvers :
On the cerulean floor, by that dread circle surrounded.
Stood the soul of the king alone. In front was the Presence,
Veiled with excess of light ; and behind was the blackness
of darkness.
Then might be seen the strength of holiness, then was its
triumph ;
Calm in his faith he stood, and his own clear conscience
upheld him.
A demon brings forward two souls as accusers
(Wilkes and the author of ' Junius '), but they are
dumb when confronted with the king before the

1 The measure of the Latin hexameter had been in the time of
Queen Elizabeth attempted by Sir Philip Sidney to be applied
to English verse ; as it has been recently by Coleridge and
Longfellow. Goethe, with more success, owing to the greater
prevalence of polysyllabic words in German, has made use of it
in his poem of Hermann und Dorothea.

140 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

judgment-seat. The soul of Washington then ap
pears as an absolver, and the king and the pre
sident compliment each other. The king then
pleads his good intentions and his trust in God ;
and sentence is pronounced of admission within
heaven's gate :
Beautiful then on its hill appeared the Celestial City,
Softened, like evening suns, to a mild and beautiful lustre.
Beautiful was the ether above, and the sapphire beneath us ;
Beautiful was its tone, to the dazzled sight as refreshing
As the fields with their loveliest green at the coming of
summer.
When the mind is at ease, and the eye and the heart are
contented.
The king approaches the gate and drinks of the
well of life, while beatified spirits and the principal
worthies of England (described at some length)
come forth to meet him.
Anima- ^"^ ^^^^ poem Mr. Southey takes in hand a highly
gmative imaginative subject ; but (not to mention the dififi-
produc- ^ ¦' ^
tion, but culty of dealing with such a theme in a theological
adapted point of view) the persons introduced and the events
p°Jgtj.y. referred to were so near his own time and so con
nected with recent political struggles as to forbid
his choice of subject being regarded as judicious or
well adapted for poetry. His treatment of it also
has been exposed to a good deal of criticism.
With all its copiousness, invention, and erudition
(to use a word applied by himself to poetry in the
preface to ' Madoc '), it may be thought that the
labours of Mr. Southey, though a great master of
verse in the poetical field have produced a harvest

CHAP, v.] POETRY. 141

more remarkable for its weight of straw than of
grain. His poems have too much the odour of the
lamp ; and their didactic and political character
is fully as conspicuous as their representation of
nature and genuine feeling.
The poetry of John Wilson (in his early life a Wilson s
Isle of
dweller among the ' Lakes') may be said to have palms.
drawn its inspiration from the same source as that
of Wordsworth, though its range is more limited
and its strain inferior. His ' Isle of Palms' and 1812.
some shorter poems appeared together. There is
not much story in the ' Isle of Palms,' and the inci
dents are improbable. It gives one the impression
of a tale from dream-land. A newly-married pair on
their tour in the Lake country of Cumberland might
very possibly be delighted with the descriptions of
the ocean in its placid mood, of the gallant ship voy
aging in the Pacific and striking upon a rock, and
the accidental saving, out of 500 creatures who are
lost, of the lovers, the hero and heroine. These
two affectionate and faithful beings find a refuge,
and remain (with a child born to them) for some
years in the Isle of Palms, a garden of Eden in
the midst of the ocean, which they at last exchange,
by the aid of a passing ship, for their native vale
in Wales. The ' City of the Plague,' a dramatic
poem of more individuality and vigour, was published
with some other pieces in 18 16.
On his appointment to the Moral Philosophy
chair in the University of Edinburgh, Mr. Wilson
gave up almost entirely the writing of poetry. In
his ' Moral Lectures ' and in the prose of ' Black-

142 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
wood's Magazine ' his writing was frequently dis
tinguished by an eloquence and poetic vis more
glowing and less restrained than when the language
he used was measured verse. ^
' The first quarter of the present century was very fertile in
poetry ; and had some of the writers, whose productions are in
ferior only to those of their more remarkable brethren of the lyre,
lived in another generation, they might have taken a higher posi
tion. Of such is the poetry of Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd,
author of the Queen's Wake ; of John Leyden, the friend of Scott ;
of Allan Cunningham ; of Tennant, author of Afister (Anstruther)
Fair ; of Mrs. Tighe, the authoress of Psyche ; of Procter (Barry
Cornwall) ; of Dr. Milman and of the Hon. and Rev. W. Herbert,
author of Translations from the Norse, and the original poems of
Helga and Attila. The poems of Hartley Coleridge, whose
volatile life, too soon cut short, is considered by Mr. Wordsworth
{Memoirs, by Dr. C. Wordsworth) to be not incorrectly typified in
Mr. S. T. Coleridge's line addressed to his babe in the poem of
Frost at Midnight — -
Thou shalt wander as a breeze —
have been given to the public in a second edition by Derwent
Coleridge, 185 1.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 143

CHAPTER VI.
P O ETRY — continued.
Poems of Thomas Moore — Of Campbell — Of Sir Walter
Scott— Lord Byron s poetry — Its personal character — The
more subtle and abstract poetry of Shelley — The poetry
of Keats — Its irregular beauty, and treatment' by the
' Quarterly Review!
The poetical propensities of Thomas Moore, an Poetry of
alumnus of Dublin University (which had been
opened to Roman Catholics in 1793), were revealed
at an early period of his life through the publication
by subscription in London of his ' Odes of Anacreon,' iSoo.
dedicated to the Prince of Wales. The greater
portion of his subsequent poetry was flavoured
with the To poZoV TO TWV ipCOTtOV
of his first master in song. The ' Poetical Works
of the late Thomas Little, Esq.,' in which Mr.
Moore's juvenile muse wears her zone too loosely
bound, appeared in the following year ; and soon 1806.
after, two volumes of ' Odes and other Poems.'
Moore's principal work in verse, ' Lallah Rookh, Lallah
• o TT 1 1 Rookh.
an Oriental Romance, came out in 181 7. He had

' The Rose, the Rose of the Loves,
Let us mingle with our wine. — Anacreon.

ism.

144 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. ' [book I.
previously studied with great care Oriental literature
of all kinds, and his descriptions and allusions are
Imbued SO imbued with Orientalism as to require constant
Oriental- explanatory notes and quotation of authorities at the
foot of the page. TThere is in fact a degree of
accuracy of costume that rather interferes with the
current of the narrative and the reader's enjoyment
of its meaning and sentiment. ' Lallah Rookh'
embraces four poems artificially set in a prose ro
mantic story, the first of which, the ' Veiled Prophet
of Khorasan,' is too revolting in its leading details
to be permanently interesting. The second tale,
' Paradise and the Peri,' is of a more pleasing cha
racter. It tells of a sylph ' of fair but erring race,'
who is excluded from Eden, but may yet be ad
mitted by bringing ' the gift most dear to heaven '
to the angel guarding the eternal gate. After a
search (giving occasion to some brilliant description)
and various trials, the tear of a repentant sinner is
the gift accepted by the angel, and the Peri enters
with it the gate of Eden. The third story, ' The
Fire-Worshipper,' is considered the best of the series.
It details (with a certain touch of Lord Byron's
manner) the hapless love of the daughter of a
Moslem emir and a Gheber or fire-worshipper, and
the contest and death-struggle, in an island-fastness,
of the Gheber and his adherents with the emir's
army. This tale is full of incident and agitating
emotion. The last of the pieces, ' The Light of the
Haram,' of which the scene is laid in the Vale of
Cashmere, relates to a lovers' quarrel betv/een the
Sultana Nourmahal and the emperor Selim, and its

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 145
reconcilement, and is composed chiefly of sparkling
sketches and songs.
In ' Lallah Rookh,' as in most of Moore's verse,
there is too much glitter and laboured allusion and
too little real feeling to admit of his productions
ranking very high as poetry. His poem of the
' Loves of the Angels ' was much read on its first
appearance, and, it is believed, has been very little
read since. The ' Irish Melodies,' in which the
sweet airs of his country are married to Mr. Moore's
words, may be regarded as among the best of his
performances. In the general beauty of the diction,
in sparkle of thought and sentiment, and in the
perfect adaptation of the words to the music, the
merit of the ' Irish Melodies ' has been acknow- Irish
ledged in all salons of the British empire. Criticism ^nd other
is disarmed on the principal point which was open P°^*''y-
to observation by the poet's own remark in his
prefatory Letter on Music, that as the verses are
intended rather to be sung than read, ' he can answer
for their sound with somewhat more confidence than
for their sense.'
Mr. Moore is also the author of a quantity of
miscellaneous and occasional poetry, in which, parti
cularly in his later life, politics and society take a
joint share with the little winged god in affording
subjects for his muse. ' The Twopenny Post-bag,'
' Fudge Family in Paris,' and other amusing ' Trifles,'
had their day of sunshine. Of the short lyrics and
songs in ' M.P. or the -Blue Stocking,' the two first
may be given as showing in their way the poet's
manner : — L

146 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Young Love lived once in an humble shed.
Where roses breathing
And woodbines wreathing
Around the lattice their tendrils spread,
As wild and sweet as the life he led.
His garden flourish'd,
For young Hope nourish'd
The infant buds with beams and showers ;
But lips, though blooming, must still be fed,
And not even Love can live on flowers.
Alas ! that Poverty's evil eye
Should e'er come hither.
Such sweets to wither !
The flowers laid down their heads to die,
And Hope fell sick as the witch drew nigh.
She came one morning,
Ere Love had warning.
And rais'd the latch, where the young god lay ;
' Oh, oh ! ' said Love, ' is it you .'' good-by ; '
So he ope'd the window and flew away !

To sigh, yet feel no pain,
To weep, yet scarce know why ;
To sport an hour with Beauty's chain,
Then thrown it idly by ;
To kneel at many a shrine,
Yet lay the heart on none ;
To think all other charms divine.
But those we just have won —
This is love, careless love.
Such as kindleth hearts that rove.
To keep one sacred flame,
Through life unchill'd, unmoved.
To love in wintry age the same
As first in youth we loved ;

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 147
To feel that we adore.
To such refined excess.
That, though the heart would break with more.
We could not live with less —
This is love, faithful love.
Such as saints might feel above.
In the last year of the i8th century, when Words
worth and Coleridge were proposing, in their ' Lyrical
Ballads,' to give a new direction to British poetry,
Thomas Campbell's ' Pleasures of Hope ' appeared. Poems of
More declamatory in style, it was yet not different bell.
in kind from the measured and careful poetry of
Goldsmith and other writers of the traditional
classic school. Didactic and rather desultory, this
poem contains brilliant and pathetic passages, which,
like his shorter lyrics, ' The Battle of Hohenlinden,'
' The Mariners of England,' and others, soon caught
the popular ear. His ' Gertrude of Wyoming, a
Pennsylvanian Tale,' in the Spenserian measure,
came out ten years after the ' Pleasures of Hope.'
Its descriptions of scenery want reality, and the
story is broken and somewhat melodramatic ; but its
representation of domestic life in romantic seclu
sion, and its striking and pathetic situations, interest
the reader. After a still longer interval appeared
' Theodric,' a domestic story. This poem contains 1824.^
some good description of Swiss scenery. The inci
dents, without being very probable, are perfectiy
possible, and lead to situations affecting and pathetic,
suggestive of those crosses by which the course of
true love is said to be occasionally stopped. As
with most of Campbell's poetry, the diction is
unaffected and polished.

148

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. (book I.

Scott's
earlytranslations from the
German.

His short poem of ' O'Connor's Child,' a tale of
the love and madness of a daughter of Erin, displays
more passionate feeling expressed in picturesque and
melodious verse than is seen in his more elaborate
productions. Of its sixteen stanzas, the following
is the third : —
And fixed on empty space why burn
Her eyes with momentary wildness }
And wherefore do they then return
To more than woman's mildness .''
Dishevell'd are her raven locks,
On Connocht Moran's name she calls ;
And oft amidst the lonely rocks
She sings sweet madrigals.
Placed 'twixt the foxglove and the moss,
Behold a parted warrior's cross ;
There is the spot where evermore
The lady, at her shieling door,
Enjoys that in communion sweet
The living and the dead can meet ;
For, lo ! to love-lorn fantasy
The hero of her heart is nigh.
The influence of the study of the new literature
of Germany showed itself very decidedly in the
earliest literary attempts of Walter Scott. His
translations or imitations of Burger's ballads of
' Lenore' and the 'Wild Huntsman ' were brought
out ' by request of friends ' in a thin quarto, in 1 796 ;
and they were followed by his version of Goethe's
iron-handed ' Gotz von Berlichingen.' ' The reader,'
says Mr. Lockhart,^ ' who turns to the version of
" Gotz " for the first time will be no less struck than I

' Life of Sir Walter Scott, i. 296.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 149
was, under similar circumstances, with the many
points of resemblance between the tone and spirit of
Goethe's delineation and that afterwards adopted by
the translator in some of the most remarkable of his
original works.' Of this Mr. Lockhart gives an
example from the German play in the description of
a battle by a spectator on a height ; recognising
in Goethe's drama the original of the death-scene in
Marmion, where the vivid account is given of the
batde of Flodden. There can be littie doubt also
that the study of the German ballads, concurring
with his own predilections and the precedent he had
before him in the Percy collection of ballads, attached
Scott more keenly to that kind of poetry ; the result
of this united impulse being the volumes of the
' Border Minstrelsy,' in which are contained the
germs of much of his subsequent original writing.
The ' Lay of the Last Minstrel ' was at first
designed to form part of the third volume of the
'Minstrelsy,' as a 'Romance of border chivalry;'^ The
and although it- outgrew the dimensions requisite for
its admission, this shows very clearly the category
of poetry to which the ' Lay ' was considered by the
author to belong. The first suggestion of a popular
ballad on the story of the goblin page was made to
Scott by the Countess of Dalkeith ; the happy idea
of putting it into the mouth of an aged minstrel, and
of the beautiful lines introductory to the several
cantos, being adopted when the poem was enlarged
for separate publication. The ' Lay ' was brought
' Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, i. 365.

' Lay.'

and other
poems.

150 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
out in the first week of 1805, inscribed to the
Earl of Dalkeith ; the preface stating that as ' de
scription of scenery and manners was more the
object of the author than a combined and regular
narrative,' the plan of a metrical romance had been
adopted as allowing greater latitude in this respect,
and also in the occasional change of the rhythm,
than would be consistent with a regular poem. It
was received on all hands with warm commendation.
Marmion ' Marmion ' followed three years after, and although
at first not so much a favourite as the ' Lay of the
Last Minstrel,' it is now regarded as Scott's chief
poetical work. The advertisement to this poem
stated that any historical narrative, far more an
attempt at epic composition, exceeded the author's
plan of a romantic tale ; yet he hoped from the
popularity of the ' Lay,' ' an attempt to paint the
manners of the feudal times upon a broader scale,
and in the course of a more interesting story, would
not be unacceptable to the public' With the ' Lady
of the Lake,' Scott's poetry attained a popularity
greater than had fallen to the lot of any poet for
upwards of half a century. The effect it had on the
public mind was more decided and marked than
as yet could be said of any influence exercised by
the poetry of Wordsworth, Coleridge, or Southey.
He continued writing in the same style for some
years longer, producing successively ' Rokeby,' the
'Vision of Don Roderick,* and the 'Lord of the
Isles;' but his poetic star at last waned before
the ruddier light of that of Byron, and (wisely per
haps for himself, and happily for the reading world)

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 1 5 1
he exchanged poetry for the prose of the Waverley
novels. Sir Walter Scott's style of poetical writing,
though in some measure the revival of an older
style, had in it much of novelty for his own time,
as well as variety of treatment. While adhering
in general to the octo-syllabic, that measure was
occasionally changed for another. When referring
to his own poetry, Scott speaks of it chiefly as a Charac-
painting of manners and customs, and scenery, sIrW.
combined with a story of greater or less interest ; g*^"!^'*
in this respect rather underrating it Along with a
picturesque resuscitation of the past, and some ad
mirable delineation of scenery, as of Melrose by
moonlight, in the ' Lay of the Last Minstrel,' and of
Loch Corruisk in the ' Lord of the Isles,' there was
much in it to interest the heart as well as the head.
Of this the introductions to the cantos in the two
first poems, and many fine passages scattered
through all the poems, are evidence. The principal
part of his poetry undoubtedly is narrative and de
scription ; but narrative and description of a su
perior kind, expressed in spirited and rhythmical,
though sometimes careless verse, occasionally run
ning into the minuteness of the antiquary and
herald, but as often relieved by touches of elevated
or pathetic feeling. His creatures of the past are
animated by the breath of human life, with its hopes
and fears, lessons and warnings, sorrows and joys-
Scott's may not be of the highest kind of poetry,
imaginative and passionate ; but although the in
terest excited by it now is not so great as when it

152 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
first came out, it is so associated with the scenery
and history of the country as to make it likely to
continue a standard portion of British poetry.
If any of Sir Walter Scott's poetry can be said
to be less known than other passages of it, the
stanzas commencing the 4th canto of the ' Lord of
the Isles ' may perhaps in this respect be quoted as
a sketch of Highland scenery : —
Stranger ! if e'er thine ardent step hath traced
The northern realms of ancient Caledon,
Where the proud Queen of Wilderness hath placed.
By lake and cataract, her lonely throne ;
Sublime but sad delight thy soul hath known.
Gazing on pathless glen and mountain high.
Listing where from the cliffs the torrents thrown
Mingle their echoes with the eagle's cry,
And with the sounding lake, and with the moaning sky.
Yes ! 'twas sublime, but sad. The loneliness
Loaded thy heart, the desert tired thine eye ;
And strange and awful fears began to press
Thy bosom with a stern solemnity.
Then hast thou wish'd some woodman's cottage nigh.
Something that show'd of life, though low and mean ;
Glad sight, its curling wreath of smoke to spy.
Glad sound, its cock's blithe carol would have been.
Or children whooping wild beneath the willows green.
Such are the scenes, where savage grandeur wakes
An awful thrill that softens into sighs ;
Such feelings rouse them by dim Rannoch's lakes.
In dark Glencoe such gloomy raptures rise ;
Or farther, where, beneath the northern skies,
Chides wild Loch-Eribol his caverns hoar, —
But, be the minstrel judge, they yield the prize
Of desert dignity to that dread shore,
That sees grim Coolin rise and hears Coriskin roar.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 153
Lord Byron commenced his poetical career very Lord
,,. rrii )i- Byron's
early, his ' Hours of Idleness having been pub- poetry.
lished at Newark while he was yet a minor. This
juvenile production was severely handled in the
' Edinburgh Review ; ' as a return for which the
young poet rushed into print in 1809, with his
' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,' a satire
somewhat in the manner of, but inferior to, Gifford's
' Baviad.' Lord Byron himself afterwards described
it as ' a record of misplaced anger and indiscriminate
acrimony.' ^
Lord Byron's poetry took much of its character Much of
and tone from the circumstances of his life. These ing the
have been so minutely brought before the public, gj^ncesof
and are so well known, that it will be sufficient for his hfe.
the purposes of this notice merely to refer to them.
His boyhood was passed with his mother in Aber
deenshire. But however meet nurse Caledonia and
the vale of Dee may have been for a poetic child,
Byron's education otherwise appears to have been
irregular and superficial. To judge from his writings
in later life (particularly the piece entitled the
' Island'), nothing at that time seems to have made
so much impression upon him as
The grisly rocks that guard
The infant rills of Highland Dee.
When he went to England, after succeeding to
his title and encumbered estates, his course of study
at Harrow and Cambridge was more marked by

1 Life (by Moore) and Works, i. 245 ; edition of 1833.

154 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
the extensive knowledge he gained of books and
general reading than by scholastic acquirements.
He was very soon initiated in the pleasures and
dissipations of youthful life, occasionally retiring to
Newstead Abbey with a few friends, and waking
the echoes of that ancient pile with nights of jollity.
With all this he cultivated a growing taste for
literature, the first fruit of which was his ' Hours of
Idleness.' On coming of age and taking his seat in the
House of Lords, Lord Byron found himself almost
alone in London, and without friends to introduce
him in society ; having quarrelled with one family
friend whose influence could have aided him, the
Earl of Carlisle, and there being not many of his
Harrow and college chums whose acquaintance he
cared to continue. In his relations with the world
he was rather difficult of access, and of an unbend
ing spirit. In the year following the appearance of
' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,' isolated in
society, conscious of great powers, loving pleasure,
and desirous of knowledge, he set out on a conti
nental tour with Mr. (afterwards Sir John) Cam
Hobhouse. They went by way of Portugal, the
south of Spain and the Mediterranean, to Greece
and Albania, and afterwards to Constantinople and
Asia Minor.
Returning, after two years' absence, to England,
Lord Byron brought in his portmanteau two poems
of very different kind. One was intended to be a
sequel to the ' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,'
a paraphrase of Horace's ' Art of Poetry,' from

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 155
publishing which he was with some difficulty diverted
by the advice of a judicious friend.^
As to the other (Childe Harold) the poet's first Childe
intimation of it to this friend was, that ' he had the poet's
occasionally Written short poems, besides a. great gltimat^e^'
many stanzas in Spenser's measure, relative to the °f"^-
countries he had visited — not worth troubling him
with — 'but he might have them all with him, if he
liked. '^ These 'stanzas in Spenser's measure/ so
lightly esteemed by their author, were the first and
second Cantos of ' Childe Harold's Pilgrimage,* which
were seen in manuscript and approved of by Mr.
Giffbrd, and were published together in the spring
of 1812, The preface states the poem to have been
written for the most part amidst the scenes which
it describes, the fictitious character of the hero being
introduced for the sake of giving some connection to
the piece ; and it justifies the adoption of the Spen
serian measure by the practice of Ariosto, Thomson,
and Beattie. ' Childe Harold ' made an impression
upon the public mind immediate arid positive ; an
effect to be attributed principally to the intrinsic
merit of the poetry, partly also to a certain personal
interest attaching to the author. In the course of
> Mr. Dallas. The paraphrase of the I)e Arte Poetica, which was
named Hints from Horace, was published nine years after Lord
Byron's decease. At the time it was written he prided himself
more upon it than upon Childe Harold, and he retained during
his life a theoretical preference for the classical poetry of Horace
and Pope. — Letter to Mr. John Murray on the Rev. W. L. Bowled
Strictures on the Life and Writings of Pope, London, 182 1 } and
Letter to Mr. Murray, Sept. 15, 181 7 ; Life, iv. 63.
2 Life, ii. 15.

156 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Other the next year the ' Giaour * and the ' Bride of Abydos'
appeared, the one dedicated to Mr. Samuel Rogers,
and the other to Lord Holland. With an occasional
variation of metre they are written in the same octo
syllabic verse which Scott's poetry had made popular.
Mr. Moore (with whom the noble poet had now
formed a close friendship) informs us that these
poems were both rapidly struck off in paroxysms, as
it were, of passion and imagination, caused in a
temperament like his by the life of excitement and
dissipation into which he had too readily been drawn.
According to the same authority there is no ground
for connecting Lord Byron personally with the main
incidents of the ' Giaour ' and other tales that fol
lowed, however he may have occasionally encouraged
such a supposition.^ That Byron was however in a
certain measure ' the great sublime he drew ' in the
hero of the first two cantos of Childe Harold, cannot
well be disputed.
In the winter of 1814 the 'Corsair' made its
appearance, with a dedication to Mr. Moore ; in
Jan. 6, a letter to whom the author thus refers to his
poem : ' I have got a devil of a long story in
the press entitled the " Corsair,'* in the regular
heroic measure. It is a pirate's isle peopled with
my own creatures, and you may easily suppose they
do a world of mischief through the three cantos.'
This was followed in a few months by ' Lara,'
which being a short poem was brought out in the
same cover with Mr. Rogers' ' Jacqueline * — an odd
1 Life, ii. 312.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 157
union soon after severed by ' Lara ' being joined
with Lord Byron's collected poems. The ' Siege
of Corinth ' and ' Parisina,' both founded on histori
cal incidents, were written in 181 5, the first year
of the poet's marriage, and appeared together early
in the next year. In these tales there is less of
that morbid sentiment and gloomy individualising
of the poet's own feelings or assumed feelings which
distinguishes Lord Byron's ' sensational ' poems of
this period.
Before his unhappy separation from Lady Byron
and final departure from England in April 18 16,
which elicited the lines of ' Fare thee well,' the
' Hebrew Melodies ' had been written to the music
of Braham and Nathan. The first fruits of Lord
Byron's return to the continent, when he took the
route of Belgium, the Rhine and Sv^itzerland, was the
third canto of ' Childe Harold,* in which the mask of
a fictitious hero is all but dropped, and the flow of
energetic verse is uninterrupted by an artificial
framework. About the same time appeared, in a
separate cover, the ' Prisoner of Chillon * and other
pieces. His impressions of the places he visited
and their associations are rendered in these poems,
as afterwards in the fourth canto of ' Childe Harold,'
without intermediate delay, like gold coin fresh
from the mint ; evidencing how much his best poetry
was inspired by real scenes and objects, elevated
and coloured by his imagination. The ' Dream,' a
touching but painful sketch of the poet's feelings
with reference to his marriage, was appended to the
' Prisoner of Chillon.' And it may be characterised

158 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
as a poem which no man of delicacy of sentiment
would have given to the world. About this time
were written the verses to ' Augusta,' his sister
Mrs. Leigh, beginning with these lines, —
My sister, my sweet sister ! if a name
Dearer and purer were, it should be thine.
Mountains and seas divide us, but I claim
No tears, but tenderness to answer mine :
Go where I will, to me thou art the same —
A loved regret which I would not resign.
There yet are two thipgs in my destiny,
A world to roam through and a home with thee.
In 1 81 7, while Lord Byron was at Venice, ' Man
fred * came out in London ; a ' dramatic poem * in
blank verse embodying the poet's thick-coming
fancies and bold personifications during his rambles
among the Alps.^ In ' Manfred ' some critics
discovered symptoms of a fiercer misanthropy and
deeper despondency than had yet appeared in Lord
Byrori's poetry.^
Whether this view be taken of the poet's settled
misanthropy and despondency, or whether (as some
think) a good deal of it was assumed, and con
tinued for effect and to sustain a character, ' Man
fred ' may be regarded as one of the most original
and sublime of Lord Byron's productions. The
' Lament of Tasso,' published along with ' Man
fred,' was suggested by a visit to Ferrara, where are
' In this mention of Lord Byron's poetry reference will not be
made to his other dramas, which are shortly noticed in a subse
quent chapter.
^ Edinburgh Review, August 181 7.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 159
relics and remembrances of Tasso. A rapid journey
in Italy, and a visit to Rome from Venice, where he
had taken up his residence in 181 7, was the ground
work and occasion of a fourth and concluding canto
of ' Childe Harold,' showing no diminution of power.
Soon after it came ' Beppo,* a Venetian story, in
which a new chord of light humour is struck, form
ing a comparatively innocent prelude to the poem of
' Don Juan ' that soon followed it. The lively and
spirited ' tale of ' Mazeppa ' was written at Ravenna
in 1818.
' Beppo ' and ' Don Juan ' were probably in part Beppo
suggested by the poet's dissolute life at Venice, in juan,
the course of which new topics and imagery would
be supplied, and associations of former days re
called. ' I have finished,' says he, in a letter to Mr.
Moore from Venice, 'the first canto of a poem in 1818.
the style and manner of " Beppo," encouraged by
the good success of the same. It is called " Don
Juan," and is meant to be a little quietly facetious
upon everything. But I doubt whether it is not too
free for these very modest days.' ' Don Juan,' like
' Childe Harold,' had no plan or preconceived story,
and it displayed from the first a coarseness of
morale 2sA a license in attacking people and opinions,
both literary and political, which materially counter
balanced the merit of its poetry in the eyes of the
British public. There are few things in literature
superior to the description of the storm and ship
wreck in the second canto and some parts of the
siege of Ismail in the seventh and eighth cantos ;
both founded on real narratives which had struck

l6o VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
him in the course of his reading. In several ofthe
passages of fictitious adventure, mixed with much
ribaldry, there is a tenderness and intensity of feeling
which in every well-constituted mind must cause
earnest regret that the merit of this poem, taken as
a whole, should be well-nigh cancelled by its per
vading spirit of mockery and apparent disbelief not
only in the higher truths, but in the existence of
common virtue and fidelity. Neither in this, nor
indeed, in any of his poems (if we except perhaps
an occasional passage in ' Childe Harold *), does
Lord Byron show that he had perception of moral
beauty or a wish to recognise it.
Besides the sixteen cantos of ' Don Juan' and the
dramas, various lesser compositions, reflecting the
whims, passions, reading and recollections, which
then occupied his versatile mind, engaged the last
years of the poet's life. Amongst these were the
1821. ' Prophecy of Dante,* in four short cantos in the terza
of Dante! ""'"^^ °^ Dante ; a poem of great power and serious
tone, in which the Italian poet is supposed, before
his own death, to foretell the future fortunes of Italy.
The subject was suggested by the Countess Guiccioli
at Ravenna (the heroine of Lord Byron's latest
liaisoii)., to whom the poem was addressed in a dedi
catory sonnet. The Prophecy concludes with these
lines : — . . 'Tis done ;
I may not overleap the eternal bar
Built up between us, and will die alone,
Beholding with the dark eye of a seer
The evil day to gifted souls foreshown ;
Foretelling them to those who will not hear.
As in the old time, till the hour be come

CHAP. VI. POETRY. I6l
When Truth shall strike their eyes through many a
tear.
And make them own the prophet in his tomb.
Another of these later pieces was the ' Vision
of Judgment, by Quevedo Redivivus, suggested by
the composition so entitled by the author of Wat
Tyler ' (Mr. Southey). This production is a strange
tissue of mockery, blasphemy, and satire, in clever
but careless verse. The poem of the ' Island, or The
Christian and his Comrades,* written at Genoa, is jg^ '
founded on Bligh*s narrative of the mutiny of the
Bounty in the South Seas, in 1 789, and on Mariners
account of the Tonga Islands. The ' Island ' has
neither the poetic energy nor the careful versification
of his earlier pieces, though it shows the remarkable
phenomenon in Lord Byron's poetry of a pair of
faithful lovers. In one passage of this, well-nigh his
latest composition, the poet touchingly reverts to the
associations of his childhood and youth in connection
with mountain scenery : —
He who first met the Highlands' swelling blue
Will love each peak that shows a kindred hue ;
Hail in each crag a friend's familiar face
And clasp the mountain in his mind's embrace.
Long have I roam'd through lands which are not mine,
Adored the Alps and loved the Apennine,
Revered Parnassus and beheld the steep
Jove's Ida and Olympus crown the deep ;
But 'twas not all long ages' lore nor all
Their nature held me in their thrilling thrall ;
The infant rapture still survived the boy,
And Loch-na-gar with Ida looked o'er Troy,
Mixed Celtic memories with the Phrygian mount.
And Highland linns with Castalie's clear fount.
M

1 62 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
In the spring of 1824 Lord Byron's literary as
well as his mortal career was closed by fever at
Missolonghi, whither he had gone to aid the cause
of the Greeks, prompted by that impulsive philan
thropy and inextinguishable zeal for liberty which
appears in so many passages of his writings.
Poetry of The poetry of Percy Bysse Shelley is sometimes
Shelley, associated with the poetry of Lord Byron, from the
circumstance of their opinions on political and re
ligious subjects in many respects coinciding, and from
their having occasionally resided together abroad.
But the poetry of the two men differed as essentially
as their habits of life, the muse of Byron having
much more of the texture of humanity than that of
Queen his friend.^ Shelley's first considerable poem ' Queen
Mab,' a juvenile production in irregular rhythmical
measure after the manner of Southey's ' Thalaba,'
narrates a conference in cloudland between the fairy
Mab and the spirit or soul of a lady named lanthe,
temporarily separated from her body. It was written,
printed and privately distributed when the author
was a student at Oxford in 18 10. The startling
song of the fairy Mab, denouncing ' kings, priests,
' Mrs. Shelley, in a note to the Revolt of Islam, in her edition
of her husband's poetical works (1839), observes: — 'Perhaps
during this summer (1816) Shelley's genius was checked by asso
ciation with another poet whose nature was utterly dissimilar to
his own, yet who, in the poem he wrote at that time {Manfred)
gave token that he shared for a period the more abstract and
etherealised inspiration of Shelley.' Some of Shelley's poems
were not published till after his death ; and it is according to the
date at which they were written, as given in Mrs. Shelley's edition
of his works, that those noticed in the text are referred to.

Mab,

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 163
and statesmen,* with its Utopian and socialist views,
and accompaniment of fanciful imagery, like a little
volcano springing from a flowery meadow, was too
remarkable not to attract attention ; and the piece
was soon afterwards reprinted and published when
Shelley was on the continent. ' Alastor, or the
Spirit of Solitude,* written in the neighbourhood of
Windsor Great Park, appeared with some smaller
poems in 1 816. It gives vent to the melancholy
broodings of a heart ill at ease, and records the im
pression made on the poet by beautiful and majestic
features of natural scenery.
The ' Revolt of Islam,* in twelve short cantos, in Revolt of
1 , 1 . . Islam.
the Spenserian measure, this author s most ambitious
poem, was written at Marlow-on-the-Thames and
published in 18 18. Before the year expired it
appeared again, with some passages modified, under
the title of ' Laon and Cythna ; or the Revolution
of the Golden City, a vision of the 19th century.'
Of the subject of the poem it may just be said,
' these things are an allegory.' It commences
with a dedication to the poet's wife, containing a
graphic sketch of his own and of her personal his
tory.^ Displaying much energy of language and

' Those feelings of indignation, apparently instincrive in
Shelley, at what he chose to consider the evils of social Hfe in
England, and his daring resistance to the ' chain of custom ' and
authority, may possibly have first taken shape in his school-days
at Eton. The sad experience of those days, giving perhaps to his
over-sensitive mind a permanently morbid tone, is recalled in the
following stanzas of this dedication : —
Thoughts of great deeds were mine, dear Friend, when first
The clouds which wrap this world from youth did pass.

M 2

164 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
novelty of imagery, its mystical song embraces a
great variety of topics, some of which can hardly be
If a considered fit subjects for poetry. Whatever, in
adapted regard of this, may be said of the tyranny of oppres-
poetry ? ^^rs, the ' uprise of liberty,' and the attack on the
Golden City, such abstract themes as the ' Evils of
Custom ' and the ' Rights of Woman ' do not belong
to the domain of poetry, and their introduction in
this poem mars its effect.^ Considering the ' Revolt
of Islam ' as a poem, and to be viewed in that light,
the matter and real meaning, when stripped of its
I do remember well the hour which burst
My spirit's sleep : a fresh May-dawn it was
When I walk'd forth upon the glittering grass
And wept, I knew not why ; until there rose
From the near school-room voices that, alas !
Were but an echo from a world of woes,
The harsh and grating strife of tyrants and of foes.
And then I clasp'd my hands and looked around.
But none was near to mock my streaming eyes,
Which pour'd their warm drops on the sunny ground ;
So without shame I spake : I will be wise
And just, and free and mild, if in me lies
Such power, for I grow weary to behold
The selfish and the strong still tyrannise
Without reproach or check. I then control'd
My tears, my heart grew calm, and I was meek and bold.
And from that hour did I with earnest thought
Draw knowledge from forbidden mines of lore ;
Yet nothing that my tyrants knew or taught
I cared to learn, but from that secret store
Wrought linked armour for my soul, before
It might M'alk forth to war among mankind :
Thus power and hope were strengthened more and more
Within me, till there came upon my mind
A sense of loneliness, a thirst with which I pined. '
' Mrs. Shelley (to whom the poet was married on the death of
his first wife) was the daughter of Mary WoUstonecraft (Mrs.
Godwin), authoress of the Vindication of the Rights of Woman
(1792).

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 165
allegorical mask and fanciful dress, and the senti
ments conveyed and inculcated in almost every page,
would seem much too 'perilous stuff* for poetry to
be made of
Of Shelley*s poems some are so full of mysterious other
thought and hazy expression as to be hardly intelli- shelley°
gible to the ordinary reader ; some strike harshly on
the jarring chord of extreme politics ; others give a
spiritualised version of his impressions of natural
objects. In almost all his poetry (to use the words of
Mrs. Shelley) ' there is a clinging to the subtle inner
spirit rather than the outward form, a curious and me
taphysical anatomy of human passion and perception.*
Shelley's singular tale of ' Rosalind and Helen,'
and the drama of ' Prometheus Unbound,' were the
fruits of his residence in Italy in 18 18. He there
dramatised the Italian story of ' Beatrice Cenci,' Beatrice
which may perhaps be regarded as the best of his Cenci.
larger works, full of thought and feeling of an in
tensity warranted by the deeply tragical nature of
the subject. In the dedication of this piece to Mr.
Leigh Hunt, the author says : —
Those writings which I have hitherto published have
been little else than visions which impersonate my own
apprehensions of the beautiful and the just. I can also
perceive in them the literary defects incidental to youth
and impatience ; they are dreams of what ought to be or
may be. The drama which I now present to you is a sad
reality ; I lay aside the presumptuous attitude of an in
structor, and am content to paint, with such colours as my
own heart furnishes, that which has been.
Excited by the uneasy political condition of Eng
land at that time, he gave vent to his revolutionary

1 66 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
sentiments in the ' Masque of Anarchy ' and other
short pieces of an inflammatory character. In the
following years were composed, in rapid succession,
the ' Witch of Atlas,' described by the poet himself
as a ' visionary rhyme ; ' ' Hellas,' a lyrical drama on
Shorter the war in Greece ; the lyrics entitled ' The Cloud '
and ' To a Sky-lark,' two of his finest poems ; the
impassioned and highly imaginative, though not
very intelligible poem, ' Epipsychidion,' consisting of
verses addressed ' to the noble and unfortunate Lady
Amelia v., imprisoned in a convent; ' and ' Adonais,*
an Elegy or Lament in quaint but pathetic language,
and full of passionate sentiment, on the death of John
Keats, whose poems were in Shelley*s hand when he
was himself unhappily drowned on the north-west
coast of Italy a year after he had penned this tribute
to the memory of his friend.'
Poetry of Although not possessed of so fiery a soul as
that which wrought out its way in the mortal
frame of Shelley, John Keats was not inferior to that
writer in imagination and sensibility. His education
and training was that of a London surgeon*s appren
tice, and of a very commonplace kind ; but the
' To have left unnoticed the poetry and jeux d'esprit of Leigh
Hunt, whose Story of Rimini, from Dante, appeared re-fashioned
in 1 814, and the poetical pieces of Charles Lamb, of Mrs. Hemans,
of Mrs. Maclean (L. E. L.), and of Mr. T. L. Beddoes, may
appear again an omission in the text. All that can be done in
their case, as in that of several others, is to apologise to their
admirers for venturing to consider them as writers of secondary
importance, whose poetry, though possessing merit, seems hardly
deserving of special mention in this view of the chief literary
productions of the period.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 167
poetic genius he displayed in circumstances not
favourable to its development was of the highest
promise. His life was short, and his literary career
closed before the maturity of his powers.
Through the medium of translations from the
classical poets and the ordinary school dictionaries
Keats became imbued in his, youth with a poetical
knowledge of the heroes and gods of Greece. The First in-
IT r 1 • .- spiration
sensuous mythology of the ancients found a sympa- from the
thetic chord in his bosom, and exercised a visible mytho-
influence over his thoughts and feelings, when they ^°^"
came to seek expression in verse. Among English
writers it was Spenser who (according to Lord
Houghton) struck the secret spring of his fancy, and
gave the main impulse to his poetic life. His first
poems, a collection of sonnets and miscellaneous
pieces, which appeared in a small volume in 181 7,
did not attract much notice. But Keats aimed at
greater things. To a query of Mr. Leigh Hunt,
' Why endeavour after a long poem ? * his answer
was, ' Do not the lovers of poetry like to have a
little region to wander in, where they may pick and
choose, and in which the images are so numerous
that many are forgotten and found new in a second
reading — which may be food for a week's stroll in
the summer. Besides, a long poem is a test of
invention, which I take to be the polar star of
poetry, as fancy is the sails and imagination the
rudder.'^ In the course of another year Keats accordingly
' Memoir of John Keats (by Lord Houghton).

mion.

168 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
wrote and gave to the world the poetic romance of
Endy- ' Endymion.' The preface (with more ingenuous
ness than prudence) expresses the author*s own
misgivings that the reader must soon perceive in
the poem ' great inexperience, immaturity and every
error denoting a feverish attempt rather than a deed
accomplished.' It concludes with a hope that the
author had not in too late a day touched the beau
tiful mythology of Greece and dulled its brightness ;
for he wished to try once more, before bidding it
farewell. The classical character of the poetry of Pope and
his life-long admiration of the ancients are facts in
poetical history. In the poetry of Keats, the last
poet falling now to be mentioned, it is not unworthy
of remark how much it owes in point of subject and
imagery to the mythology and fabulous history of
those same ancients : —
The dead but sceptred sovereigns that still rule
Our spirits from their urns.
' Endymion,* with a very slender story, takes for
its subject the mythological loves of the lunar god
dess Cynthia or Diana and the shepherd of Latmos,
introducing Venus and Adonis, Glaucus and Circe,
by the way. The scenery and imagery display the
bright creations of an inventive fancy, but the beings
introduced are too much beyond human ken and too
shadowy to excite much interest, even though ani
mated by the warmth of the poet's own emotions.
The poems that followed, after a short interval, the
production of ' Endymion' — ' Lamia,' ' Isabella,* the

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. 169
' Eve of St. Agnes,* ' Hyperion,* and other pieces —
were by many preferred to it. ' Lamia* indeed
and 'Hyperion* still traced back to antiquity; the
former taken from a Greek tale referred to in
Burton's ' Anatomy of Melancholy,' and reminding
the classical reader of ' Apuleius,' while ' Hyperion'
was a fragment of a projected epic on the expulsion
from heaven of the Titans. ' Isabella, or the Pot of
Basil,' an imitation from Boccacio, and the ' Eve of
St. Agnes,' bearing likewise some resemblance to the
style of an Italian novel, had more of human interest
and came more home to the feelings and sympathies
of modern times. The measure (in stanzas) of these
poems may have had the effect also of restraining the
exuberance and extravagance of thought and diction
which are conspicuous in the poetry of ' Endymion.'
Keats, in his poetical training, had drunk deep of study of
the wells of early English poetry, drawing from Enghsh
Spenser, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and Milton. His po^'^-
frequent use of antique words, particularly in his
first compositions, and his adoption to a certain
extent of the manner of these writers, without how
ever attaining their strong and vigorous sense, is an
homage paid to them at the expense in some degree
of his own originality. Setting out from this starting-
point, the greater part of the poetry of Keats is
marked in its style by a fluent and melodious though
somewhat mannered old English diction; while to
his reading and his fertile imagination he is in
debted for richness of matter and a copious stream
of poetical ideas ; the exuberant flow of which has
been increased by the exigencies of his rhymes»steer-

X'70 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
ing him into courses of new imagery. This is especi
ally observable in ' Endymion.' In his shorter
poems he is more under restraint in the conduct of
his subject, while he displays a great mastery of
rhythm. They have also less affectation of antique
phraseology. Among these lighter compositions are
to be remarked the ' Ode to a Nightingale,' ' Fancy,'
' Autumn,' ' Robin Hood,' and others.^
Treat- ' The poetry of Keats had in it so much irregularity and
ment of novelty, that when it came to be known, it was subjected, as may
jjjg ^ be supposed, to a good deal of criticism. The Edinburgh Review
Quarterly (August 1820) gave Endymion a very quahfied approval. 'It is
Review. \^ truth,' said Mr. Jeffrey at the commencement of one of his
paragraphs, 'at least as full of genius as of absurdity.' To the
other poems he was more favourable. The Quarterly Review
made an unnecessarily severe and contemptuous criticism upon
Endymion, considering the youth and inexperience of the author.
For this the reviewer was rated by the friends of Mr. Keats in
prose and verse. And after his decease the article in the Quarteily
was accused of having produced so violent an effect on the
susceptible mind of Keats as to have caused the rupture of a
blood-vessel in the lungs. There does not appear to be ground
for so grave an accusation. The Review came out in April 18 18.
Keats, whose physical system had been giving way under the
pressure of various influences, went to Italy on account of his
health, accompanied by his friend Mr. Severn the artist, in the
autumn of 1820. He died at Rome of consumption in February
182 1. So that the alleged cause of death was at least remote.
Lord Byron, writing to Mr. Murray (April 26, 182 1), says, 'Is it
true what Shelley writes me, that poor John Keats died at Rome
of the Quarterly Review ? ' His lordship's doggrel verse on the
subject, preserved in his Life by Moore, would rather imply that
he treated the report as a joke : —
Who klll'd John Keats ?
I, said the ' Quarterly,'
So savage and tartarly,
'Twas one of my feats.
In the Q_uarterly Ra<ie7u for April 1833, of Mr. Tennyson's poems.

CHAP. VI.] POETRY. IJl
The following ' Ode on a Grecian Urn* is in
several respects characteristic of Keats : —
Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness !
Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme :
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both.
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady 1
What men or gods are these .'' What maidens loath .''
What mad pursuit } What struggle to escape .'
What pipes and timbrels .'* What wild ecstasy .''
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter ; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on ;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear' d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone :
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare ;
Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal — yet do not grieve ;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair !
Ah, happy, happy boughs ! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu ;
And, happy melodist, unwearied.
For ever piping songs for ever new ;
More happy love ! more happy, happy love !
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
the reviewer takes occasion (in a half-ironical vein), to ' sing a
palinode' on the subject oi Endymion, confessing at the same
time inability to discover in Mr. Keats's poetry that degree of
merit which its more enthusiastic and prophetic admirers did.
The reviewer then, ' warned by his former mishap and wiser by
experience,' proceeds to a very mild criticism on the poems of
Mr. Tennyson,

172 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
For ever panting and for ever young ;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice .''
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Leadst thou that heifer lowing at the skies.
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest }
What little town by river or sea-shore.
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel
Is emptied of its folk, this pious morn 1
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be ; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.
O Attic shape ! Fair attitude ! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed ;
Thou, silent form ! dost tease us out of thought,
As doth eternity : cold Pastoral !
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
' Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' — that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

CHAP. VIL] THE DRAMA. I T.

CHAPTER Vn.
THE DRAMA.
Retrospective glance at the state of the Drama between the
Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne — Dryden —
Otway — Congreve — Farquhar — Its immorality exposed
by Jeremy Collier — Subsequent course of tlie British
Drama: I. In Tragedy — Addison's 'Cato'- — French in
fluence — Decline of Tragedy — Domestic tragedies of
Lillo and Moore- — Tragedy of Douglas — The 'Mys
terious Mother ' of Walpole — German adaptations — Re
currence to the older English models — Plays of Joanna
Baillie and others — Dramatic Poems of Lord Byron : —
II. Course of the Dram.a in Comedy — ' Careless Husband '
of Cibber — Genteel Comedy — Pantomime — English
Opera — •' Beggars' Opera ' of Gay — Comedy of the ' Pro
voked Husband' — Low Comedy — Personal Comedy of
Foote — Sentimental Comedy — Comedies of Goldsmith and
Sheridart — Other comedies of mixed character.
To GIVE a satisfactory account of the state of the
British Drama at the close of the reign of Queen
Anne it would be necessary to go back at all events
to the Restoration, the dramatic compositions of the
period from that date to the accession of the House
of Hanover having an important bearing upon and
connecting with those of the period that followed.
The Drama had in England passed through several
phases prior to the accession of George I. To the
rude plays ofthe first part ofthe reign of Queen Eliza
beth succeeded, almost without an interval, the great

174

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

Change
in the
drama at
the Re
storation.

Nov. 26,
1661.

HeroicPlays.

Diary,
Feb. 1664.

Duke of
Bucking
ham's Re
hearsal. 1672.

era of the early English dramatists. Among these
Shakespeare shone pre-eminent, and after him Ben
Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher, Massinger, Web
ster, Shirley and Ford.
For about twenty years during the time of the
Civil war and the Commonwealth the drama was
in a torpid state, and when it re-appeared after the
Restoration of Charles II. a change had come over
its spirit and style. Evelyn mentions in his ' Diary '
that he had gone to see Hamlet played, ' but now
the old plays begin to disgust this refined age since
his Majesty's being so long abroad.* The decla
matory ' Heroic * plays introduced by Dryden, full
of high-flown sentiment and exaggeration, were
written, like the tragedies of Corneille, in rhyming
couplets, but (in order to suit the taste of an English
audience) with more action and bustle in the con
duct of the piece. The prevailing taste of the day
appears again from the following entry by Evelyn,
— ' I saw the " Indian Queen,*' a tragedy by Dry
den and Howard, well written, and so beautiful
with rich scenes as the like had never been seen
here or haply elsewhere on a mercenary theatre.'
These earlier plays of Dryden, as well as the plays
of his friends Sir Robert Howard and Sir William
D'Avenant, were satirized in the comedy of the
' Rehearsal ' by George Villiers Duke of Bucking
ham ; a well-timed piece of wit that found an echo
in the sentiments of the better-informed portion of
the English public.^
' The following passage may be cited as an example of the
way in which ' heroic plays ' were dealt with in this comedy : —

CHAP, vn.] . THE DRAMA. 175
The later plays of Dryden as well as the dramas
of contemporary writers reverted after this to a
more natural and passionate delineation of the
actions and feelings of men in the department of
tragedy, and in comedy to a more humorous and
life-like representation of the subject of the piece.
There appeared at this time, among other plays of
inferior merit, the ' Orphan ' and ' Venice Preserved '
of Otway, Lee's ' Rival Queens, or the Death of
Alexander the Great,' Dryden's ' Don Sebastian '
and ' Spanish Friar,* the ' Fatal Marriage ' of
Southerne, and the ' Mourning Bride ' of Congreve. 1697.
Many comedies of the same period by Wycherley,
Dryden, Congreve, Farquhar, and Vanbrugh, still
hold their place in literature, as lively and witty
productions, however objectionable they may be in
a point of view that shall be immediately noticed.
The following lines from Dryden's ' Epistle to
Congreve,' on the appearance of his comedy of the
' Double Dealer* in 1694, give that great writer's
view of the course the Drama was taking : —
Strong were our sires, and as they fought they writ,
Conquering with force of arms and dint of wit.
Theirs was the giant race before the flood ;
And thus, when Charles return'd, our empire stood.

Bayes. Now, sir, I'll show you a scene indeed, or rather a scene of scenes.
'Tis an heroic scene.
Smith.. And pray, sir, what's your design in this scene ?
Bayes. Why, sir, my design is — gilded truncheons, forced conceit, smooth
verse, and a rant. . . . Gentlemen, I must desire you to remove
a little, for I must fill the stage.
Smith. Why fill the stage ?
Bayes. Oh, sir, because your heroic verse never sounds well unless the
stage is full.

1 7*5 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Like Janus he the stubborn soil manured,
With rules of husbandry the rankness cured.
Tamed us to manners when the stage was rude.
And boisterous English wit with art endued.
Our age was cultivated thus at length ;
But what we gained in skill we lost in strength.
Our builders were with want of genius curst.
The second temple was not like the first.
Till you, the best Vitruvius, come at length.
Our beauties equal but excel our strength.
Firm Doric pillars found your solid base, "I
The fair Corinthian crowns the higher space ; i-
Thus all below is strength and all above is grace, j
The praise of Congreve with which these lines
conclude may now be considered in excess of his
deserts. His tragedy of the ' Mourning Bride,'
the story of which is laid in the Moresco-Spanish
period, contains some fine passages and sparkling
thoughts, but there is a want of probability in
the incidents and too unlimited recourse had to the
dagger and bowl. His comedies of ' Love for Love '
and the ' Double Dealer ' have more of intrigue and
movement than story and development of character,
and are marked by a brilliancy of dialogue and re
partee straining too much the attention of the reader
and audience.
Drama of But whether Dryden's high estimate of Congreve
II. and be just or not, his plays and those of Dryden himself
III. liable ^'^^ their contemporary dramatists are hable to a
of im^"^^^ charge of immorality and indecency so serious as to
rahty and obscure their frequently splendid beauties. This
cency. feature is less remarkable in the tragedies, although
they are interspersed occasionally with scenes of
gross humour for the purpose of relieving the tragic
action, than in the comedies. In the denouement

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 177
of the tragedies, the laws of retributive justice are
more observed. In the comedies, on the contrary,
not only is the dialogue out of all measure free, but
profligacy and vice usually receive at the close of
the piece whatever rewards the author*s fancy can
bestow. The wits of Charles found easier ways to fame,
Nor wish'd for Jonson's art or Shakespeare's flame.
Themselves they studied ; as they felt they writ ;
Intrigue was plot, obscenity was wit.
Vice always found a sympathetic friend ;
They pleased their age, and did not aim to mend.'
To the Rev. Jeremy Colliers ' Short View of the Collier's
Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage,' of^he"^
which appeared in 1698, is due the credit of first I'j^®"^^ "*
drawing attention to and exposing this feature of
the drama. And although his honest zeal may have
carried him beyond the bounds of controversial
civility and his glosses of particular passages may
be occasionally strained, it is generally acknowledged
that Collier*s fearless exposure of the unblushing
license of the drama, together with the greater re
finement in every kind of writing that came to
prevail in the reign of Anne, had the effect of pro
ducing a very considerable reform in English dra
matic literature.
At the same time it is to be observed that this
reformation in the drama and in acting plays did
not show itself immediately or decidedly. Both
audiences and authors were much inclined to

' Prologue hy Samuel Johnson, spoken by Mr. Garrick at the
openiftg of Drury Lane Theatre, 1747.
N

iy^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
reply to Jeremy Collier in the words of Shake
speare — ' What, because thou art virtuous, shall we
have no more cakes and ale ? Aye, by the Lord,
and ginger shall be hot i' the mouth too.'
Come- The comedies of Sir Richard Steele were the first
^'.'^^ °^ in which appeared an improved style and tone in
Steele. point of morality and decency. His ' Grief a la
1702-3. Mode' and 'Tender Husband' were not indeed
remarkable in this point of view ; but they were
lively and humorous, and successful on the stage.
1704. His next comedy of the ' Lying Lover, or the
Ladies' Friendship,' taken from the ' Menteur * of
Corneille, was avowedly written in the severe man
ner required by Collier, but was ill received. The
author considered himself ' a martyr and confessor
for the church ; for this play (as he afterwards alleged)
was damned for its piety.* '
Con- The ' Conscious Lovers,' unobjectionable in point
scious - ,. , , .
Lovers, oi morality, was brought out seventeen years alter
and met with better success, although a sententious
and rather lengthy play ; a result partly owing to the
' Mr. Steele's Apology for Himself and his Writings, p. 48 ;
1 7 14. The preface to the Lying Lover remarks — 'Though it
ought to be the care of all governments that public representa
tions should have nothing in them but what is agreeable to the
manners, laws, religion and policy of the place or nation in
which they are exhibited, yet it is the general complaint of the
more learned and virtuous amongst us that the English stage has
extremely offended in this kind. I thought, therefore, it would be
an honest ambition to attempt a comedy which might be no im
proper entertainment in a Christian commonwealth.' The Pro
logue concludes thus : —
If, then, you find our author treads the stage
With just regard to a reforming age,
He hopes, he humbly hopes, you'll think there's due
jMercy to him for justice done to you.

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 179
suggestion of Colley Cibber (then joint patentee with
Sir Richard Steele in the management of Drury
Lane theatre) that some comic scenes and characters
should be added to the piece by the author, which
was done.'
The comedies of George Farquhar, a captain in
the army — his ' Constant Couple * and ' Beaux Stra- 1707.
tagem,' avoiding the extreme license of their im- p-^quhar
mediate predecessors, retained that animated style ^^ ^'^'
of dialogue and incident which was congenial to the
taste of an English audience. His ' Recruiting j^qc^
Officer,' with some coarseness of allusion, abounds in
broad humour and characteristic painting of manners.
Without the indiscriminate practice of repartee to be
found in the comedies of Congreve, those of Far
quhar and Sir John Vanbrugh were more natural
and easy in the dialogue and quite as lively. The
early comedies of Vanbrugh were equal in looseness
and freedom of language to those of his contem
poraries. His posthumous play of the ' Provoked
Husband, or a Journey to London ' (as completed
by Cibber), is much more restrained in this respect,
while in the conduct of the plot and in easy and
sprightly dialogue it is superior to the other comedies
of its time. The comic dramas of Mrs. Centlivre, who
wrote in the early part of the 1 8th century, are full
' Life of Steele (in the New British Theatre, vol. 9) .
' There is nothing but heathenism,' says Mr. Abraham Adams,
' to be learned from plays ; I never heard of any plays fit for a
Christian to read but Cato and the Conscious Lovers, and I must
own in the latter there are some things almost solemn enough for
a stxmon.'— Joseph Andrews. N 2

I So

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

Rowe's
trage dies.

1713-

Predomi
nance oftheclassical
style.

Dramatic
unities.

of bustle and intrigue, but inferior in style and
manner to those of the writers just mentioned ; and
they show very little deference on the part of the
authoress to the moral teaching of Mr. Collier.
In tragedy, the 'Fair Penitent' of Rowe, bor
rowed from the ' Fatal Dowry * of Massinger, was
a popular play in the reign of Anne. It is written
in smooth blank verse, but is not marked by great
delicacy of description and language. It appeared
ten years prior to his tragedy of ' Jane Shore,* pro
fessedly written in imitation of the style of Shakes
peare ; of which however it falls very far short.
Having taken this retrospective glance at the
general state of the drama in England prior to the
accession of George I., the way is now more clear
for a view of its subsequent progress, faking note
first of Tragic compositions.
I. The tendency in English literature for more
than half a century after the Restoration to imitate
the French literature of the age of Louis XIV.
seems to have been magnified and insisted on by
some authors to a degree beyond what the results
as appearing in our literature warrant. That there
was however such a tendency in favour of the
classical style is sufficiently clear, and it has shown
itself more perhaps in dramatic than in any other
species of composition. The strict observation
of the unities of action, time and place, was with
French dramatists a fundamental rule, the com
parative neglect of which by Shakespeare and his
contemporaries formed the basis of the objections
of classical critics to their dramatic writings. The
English dramatists prior and subsequent to the

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 1 8 1
Revolution of 1688 were more guarded in this respect
than their predecessors. Without trammelling them
selves unnecessarily with the rules of the unities,
they avoided gross irregularities ; their example
in this particular being followed by later dramatic
writers, who have studied with more or less suc
cess to observe the unity of action, and are not
so scrupulous as to the unities of place and time.
It fell to Mr. Addison to produce in the tragedy Addison's
of ' Cato ' a strictly classical play, measured in strictly
composition, lofty in sentiment, and observant of pi^!f"^^^
all the unities. The success it had when first
produced in the theatre is said to have been 1713-
owing in some degree to the party zeal of the
Whigs ; for, although represented in after times on
the stage when a Booth or a Kemble could be found
to personate Cato, it has always been regarded as a
cold and unimpassioned drama, without much poetical
feeling or real propriety of character and situation,
and has met with more applause abroad in its French
and Italian versions than in Britain. What interest
it possesses centres in Cato himself-^' a brave man
struggling in the storms of fate,' the love scenes
being of a very subordinate character. At the same
time the language of the play is harmonious English
blank verse, without any admixture of French
idiom ; ^ and there is not a line which Jeremy Collier
himself would have wished to blot.

* Cato's address to Juba in the second Act—
Thy nobleness of soul obliges me, &c.
may possibly be an exception to the observation in the text, and
have reference to the French idiomatic expression 'Noblesse
oblige.'

1 82 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
Mr. Pope in his Prologue to ' Cato ' indignantly
refers to the dramatic translations from the French
which had already come into vogue : —
With honest scorn the first famed Cato view'd
Rome learning arts from Greece whom she subdued.
Our scene precariously subsists too long
On French translation and Italian song :
Dare to have sense yourselves ; assert the stage.
Be justly warm'd with your own native rage.
Such plays alone should please a British ear
As Cato's self had not disdained to hear
imita- That this caution of Pope had not much effect
tions of
French on his couutrymeu appears from the number of
^ ^^^' translations or imitations of the plays of Voltaire
produced in the early part of the i8th century ; of
which the 'Zara' and the 'Merope* of Aaron Hill, and
the ' Mahomet ' of Miller, are among the best.
The drama in England had now got upon a
wrong tack, and it cannot excite much surprise that,
with the increasing favour on the part of the play-
going public for opera and pantomime, tragedy
almost entirely lost its hold of the stage.
Then crush'd by rules and weaken'd, as refined.
For years the power of tragedy declined :
From bard to bard the frigid caution crept
Till declamation roar'd whilst passion slept ;
Yet still did virtue deign the stage to tread,
Philosophy remained though nature fled.
But forced at length her ancient reign to quit.
She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of wit ;
Exulting Folly hailed the joyous day.
And pantomime and song confirmed her sway.'
> Prologue by Samuel Johnson, spoken by Mr. Garrick at the
opening of Drury Lane Theatre, 1747. A pantomime cahed

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 1 83
Skilful delineation of character, probability of
story, and the genuine expression of feeling, were
disregarded in the tragic compositions of that time.
The rule of Mr. Bayes that ' you must ever make
a simile when you are surprised ' was much more
carefully attended to than is permitted by the
rhetorical dogma of the incompatibility of wit and
strong emotion. ^ S ententious and declamatory pieces,
professedly correct according to certain conventional
canons, were presented to the British public as the
only legitimate tragedies.
The ' Revenge* of Dr. Edward Young, the ' Siege 1721.
of Damascus ' of Pope's friend Hughes, the ' So- 1720.
phonisba * and other plays of James Thomson, were '^^°'
of this kind. Even the ' Irene ' of Johnson, and i749-
Mason's ' Elfrida ' and ' Caractacus,' were defective
in the leading qualities of tragedy, and failed to
strike a responsive chord in the breast of either
audience or reader. The subjects and characters
of these tragedies were too far removed from the
ken of ordinary mortals, or at least their authors
had not the art of sufficiently investing them with a'
life-like interest.
Lillo's tragedies of ' George Barnwell,* ' Fatal LiUo's
The Necromancer, or Harlequin Dr. Faustus, was produced at
the theatres in 1724, and was for some years very popular. In
a contemporary print of Harlequin Faustus in this piece, the fol
lowing doggrel lines appear at the foot of the print : —
Thank you, Genteels, these stunning claps declare
That wit corporeal is your darling care.
See what it is the crowded audience draws,
While Wilks no more, but Faustus, gains applause.
Wilks was a celebrated actor, who died about the year 1732.
' Hume's essay on Simplicity and Refinement.

184 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND 'ART. [book I.
tragedies Curiosity,' and ' Arden of Feversham,' were an
tfclife^^' experiment how far the material for tragedy could
be supplied from domestic and common life ; and
an experiment which cannot be regarded to have
been unsuccessful. In composing his plays Lillo
had it also' in view to extend and make more useful
the moral teaching of the drama.^
George ' George Barnwell,' founded on the ballad of that
Barnwell, jj^j^g j^ Dr. Percy's ' Reliques of English Poetry,'
was successfully brought on the stage in 1731 ; the
observation upon it by Mr. Pope, who was present
on the first night it was acted, being, that Lillo had
never deviated from propriety except in a few
passages in which he aimed at a greater elevation
of language than was consistent with character and
situation.^ This play was written in prose, ' Fatal
Fatal Curiosity ' in blank verse. The latter, although not
Curiosity, g^ popular on the stage, and in three acts only, will
rank higher than ' Barnwell ' as a literary composi
tion. Founded on a true history, the characters and
incidents skilfully and naturally developed, there is in
it an air of terrible reality which renders the catas
trophe revolting to the feelings of an ordinary audi
ence. Bating some exaggeration of language at the
close, and allowing for the different position of the
characters and the difference of scene, the conduct
of the fable and the action of this piece are not
unworthy of comparison with the productions of the
' Dedication of George Barnwell to Sir John Eyles, Bart., in
Lillo's Dramatic Works, edited by Thomas Davies.
* Davies' Life of George Lillo, prefixed to his Works.

CHAP. VII.] • THE DRAMA. 1 85
Greek drama; to one of which, the ' QEdipus Tyran-
nus,' it bears in its train of incidents some resem
blance.^ ' Arden of Feversham,' also a ' true tragedy ' Arden of
of middle life, was produced at Drury Lane some shamr
years after the author's death, but was acted only
one night. The crime that forms the subject of
this play has, singularly enough, a Greek parallel
likewise in the story of Clytemnestra.
The ' Gamester ' of Edward Moore was another Moore's
tragedy from domestic life, of affecting interest and gjgr.
clothed in well sustained prose diction. It was pro- ^753-
bably suggested by the plays of Lillo. The hold it
maintained upon public favour was much assisted by
the powerful acting of Mrs. Siddons as Mrs. Beverley.
The tragedy of ' Douglas,* written in blank verse The
by John Home, a Scottish clergyman of the Estab- of°Home.
lishment, was represented at Edinburgh in 1756,
and at Covent Garden in the following year. In
the existing dearth of good tragedies it was perhaps
more applauded than otherwise might have been
the case. Without any remarkable individuality of
1 Harris's Philological Enquiries, part 2, chap. vii. The Pro
logue to Fatal Curiosity was written by Fielding, then manager of
the Haymarket Theatre ; —
The Tragic Muse has long forgot to please
With Shakespeare's nature or with Fletcher's ease :
No passion moved, through five long acts you sit,
Charm'd with the poet's language or his wit.
Fine things are said, no matter whence they fall ;
Each single character might speak them all.
But from this modem fashionable way
To-night our author begs your leave to stray.
No fustian hero rages here to-night.
No armies fall to fix a tyrant's right :
From lower life we draw our scene's distress ;
Let not your equals move your pity less !
# * * *

1 86

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

character or powerful language, the emotions excited
by ' Douglas * were familiar, and came home to the
feelings of all. Its plot was suggested by the tale
of Gil Morrice, in Percy's ' Reliques,' and the moving
picture it gives of maternal and filial love, and of
Lord Randolph's causeless jealousy, is heightened by
scenes and situations of marked theatrical effect.
The dramatic unities are almost as strictly observed
' as in the ' Cato ' of Addison, while some inconsist
encies to which their observation gives rise in
Addison's play are avoided. In his anxiety, how
ever, to observe the unities the author of ' Douglas '
has crowded more events into a limited space and
time than probability would seem to admit of ^
Myste- Horace Walpole's tragedy of the ' Mysterious
Motherof Mother,' with an CEdipus-like subject too revolting
Wa po e. jj^ jjg nature, though drawn from incidents in real
life, was another deviation from the prevalent French
taste. It was represented at the Haymarket theatre,
and was first printed at Mr. Walpole's private press
1778. at Strawberry Hill. ' Our genius and cast of think
ing,' it is said in the postscript to the play, ' are

1 None of the subsequent plays of Mr. Home — Agis, the Siege
of Aquileia, and three others, were equal to Douglas. The repre
sentation q{ Douglas at Edinburgh in 1756 gave rise to a bigoted
persecution of Home and his friends on the part ofthe Presbyterian
church-courts and a host of pamphleteers, which ultimately turned
the current of public opinion against its authors. Mr. Home was,
however, so much affected by the feeling excited against him that
he resigned his clerical charge. In the early part of the present cen
tury Presbytery in Scotland had considerably relaxed its severity,
if we may judge from the toleration extended to the Rev. Mr.
Thomson, of Duddingstone, in his career of landscape-painting.

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 187
very different from the French ; and yet our theatre,
which should represent manners, depends almost
entirely at present on translations and copies from
our neighbours.' The unities are very carefully
observed in the ' Mysterious Mother ; ' the whole
cast of the tragedy, the characters of the countess and
intriguing priest are decidedly original ; the language
(in blank verse) is not strained or exaggerated, and
the incidents flow as a sequel from the situation.
As a play, however, it is condemned by the im
probability and heinousness of its criminal story,
exceeding even that of the Greek drama.
Considering the ill success, generally speaking, of Revival
1 • • 1 1 • 1 ^ 1 of trage-
the vanous attempts in tragedy during the 1 8th dies of
century in- England, it is not surprising that the- peare^and
atrical managers and actors such as Garrick, John "^^ '^^'^^'^
Kemble and others, should have turned their atten- tists.
tion to reviving in a suitable manner the tragedies
and plays of Shakespeare and the older drama
tists. Garrick's able rendering of the creations of Acting of
Shakespeare's genius in Lear, Othello, and Richard and
the Third, is matter of tradition, almost of history. ^ ^"^ ®'
' According to contemporary accounts Garrick was a more
faithful follower of nature in his acting than Kemble, and his
powers were more versatile. Kemble identified himself rather
with characters of thought than of impulse, as Coriolanus and
Cato, inclining to refine' upon and dignify humanity. In the chief
female parts of tragedy, as Lady Macbeth, Isabella, Belvidera, no
actress appears to have approached Mrs. Siddons. To Garrick
and to Mrs. Siddons (if tradition can be believed), quite as much
as to Kemble, the lines from Campbell's ode on John Kemble are
applicable : — His was the spell o'er hearts
That only acting lends ;

i88

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.

In the highest walk of tragedy he was succeeded but
not surpassed by Kemble, Kean, Young and Mac-
ready ; and there can be no doubt but that public taste
was turned in a right direction by the efforts of these
great actors to recall and place upon the stage the
characters and scenes of the better days of the drama.
No im- Towards the end of the century original tragedy
memin ^^^ ^.t SO low an ebb that neither the revival of the
original j^gg^ plays of Shakespeare, Otway, and Southerne,
nor the spirit infused by such actors as Henderson
and Kemble, Mrs. Siddons and Miss O'Neill, into
their representations, could elicit from the literary
mind of Britain anything worthy of the name of a
tragic drama. Recourse was again had to a foreign
influence ; and as formerly the French taste had made
German itself felt, SO now the impulse given by Germany to
the literature of Britain showed itself likewise in the
direction of the drama. Schiller *s ' Wallenstein ' was
translated by Coleridge, Goethe*s ' Gotz von Berlich
ingen ' by Scott ; but for theatrical representation the
sensational plays of Kotzebue were preferred. The
' Stranger,' translated by Thompson and altered for
representation by Mr. Sheridan, then patentee of
Drury Lane Theatre, was produced in 1798 with

The youngest of the sister arts
Where all their beauty blends.
For Poetry can ill express
Full many a tone of thought sublime ;
And Painting, mute and motionless.
Steals but one partial glance from time.
But by the mighty actor brought,
Illusion's perfect triumphs come ;
Verse ceases to be airy thought.
And Sculpture to be dumb.

CHAP. TH.] THE DRAMA. 1 89
great applause ; and in the following year the still
growing German taste induced Sheridan to manu
facture for the stage his ' tragic drama ' of ' Pizarro,'
taken from another of Kotzebue's plays, the
' Spaniards in Peru.' ^
This unsatisfactory condition of the drama was
inconsistent with the more just views of dramatic
writing which now began to prevail in theory if not
in practice, and which were mainly suggested by the
study of the elder English dramatists that followed
the first burst of the German enthusiasm. In the Recur-
end of the i8th and the commencement of the 19th the'oid"
century there appears an evident striving among English
the better sort of aspirants in the tragic field to
write original plays in the manner of the old English
models. Mr. Coleridge's ' Remorse,' a tragedy com- cole-
posed in 1797 in blank verse, was brought upon the Remorse,
stage some fifteen years later, and acted to crowded
bouses. The subject and plot are taken from the
well-wrought mine of Moresco-Spanish life in the
1 6th century. It contains several passages of thought
' The drama of Pizarro, which is interspersed with clap-trap
sentiments and pageantry such as might have been suggested by
Mr. Puff, the hero of the Critic, did not add to the reputation
of Sheridan as a dramatic writer. An Epilogue to the play,
written by the Hon. WiUiam Lamb, afterwards Lord Melbourne
and Prime Minister, thus concludes : —
O ye who listen to the plaintive strain
With strange enjoyment and with pleasing pain,
Who erst have felt the Stranger's lone despair,
And Haller's settled, sad, remorseless care,
Does RoUa's pure affection less excite
The inexpressible anguish of delight ?
Do Cora's fears, which beat without control,
With less solicitude engross the soul ?

I90 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
and feeling which appear again more expanded in
the author's poems.
Plays of The plays of Joanna Baillie also show in the
Bamia language and many of the passages an inspiration
drawn from, if not an imitation of, the older drama
tists. Of her series of plays intended to delineate
the stronger passions of the mind, each passion being
the subject of a tragedy and a comedy, the tragedies
1758. are the best, and as literary productions are above
mediocrity. The tragedy of ' Count Basil,' which
takes love as its passion, and ' Ethwald,* in which is
delineated a course of barbarian ambition (drawing to
some extent on ' Macbeth * and ' Richard the Third '),
were never acted. ' De Montfort,' of which the
passion of hatred forms the subject, was acted
(with some alterations by Mr. Kemble) at Drury
Lane. Improbable in its story, though of consider
able power, it has not kept possession of the stage.
The ' Family Legend,' a dramatised tale of High
land feud, was acted at Edinburgh, with the aid of a
1810. friendly prologue by Sir Walter Scott. This and
Miss Baillie's other tragic compositions bear the
impress of a cultivated feminine mind, energetic
imagination, and a fair knowledge of the impulses
of the heart and the springs of human action ; though
Tram- her plan of devoting one play to the exhibition and
melled by , , .
their development of one great passion was more in-
^ ^"' genious than expedient, and put trammels unneces
sarily on works of imagination.
The ' Bertram ' of the Rev. R. C. Maturin, an
i8is. Irish clergyman, the ' Fazio ' of the Rev. Henry
Milman, for some time professor of poetry at Oxford,

CHAP. Vii.l THE DRAMA. 1 9 1

Leigh Hunt's serious drama, the ' Legend of Flo
rence,' and the 'Virginius' of Mr. Sheridan Knowles,
are productions of merit by authors taking likewise
their inspiration more or less from the older models.^
Percy Bysse Shelley's drama of ' Prometheus Un- Dramas
bound,' and his tragedy of the ' Cenci,' a great work "nd'^of '""^
in its kind, are compositions for the study rather ^^'^^Byron,
than plays for representation. And the same remark rather for
is applicable to the tragic compositions of Lord thanfor^
Byron, although several of them have been brought sentation.
upon the stage.
In the preface to several of his dramas. Lord
Byron very carefully informs his readers that they
are not intended or adapted for the theatre ; a
perfectly just caution, but which nevertheless has
not prevented stage-managers from occasionally pro
ducing them. This was the case with ' Marino
Faliero,' 'Werner,' and ' Sardanapalus, ' the two last
of which, with the aid of adaptation and scenery,
met with tolerable success.
The genius of Byron was not dramatic. This
is apparent in his poems, and doubly so in his
dramas. He was unable to transfer himself as it
were, into a variety of different characters, and there
1 Mr. T. L. Beddoes' Brides Tragedy (1822) and Death's Jest-
Book were avowedly written for the closet and not for the stage.
The former, founded on a tragic occurrence in real life at
Cambridge, was received on its first appearance as a produc
tion of genuine merit and good promise, displaying strength of
sentiment and energy of language. Mr. Beddoes' later dramatic
compositions and fragments (posthumously pubHshed in 1851),
though showing a certain vigour and passionate thought, have an
increasing tendency to exaggeration and extravagance, and are
hardly amenable to the ordinary rules of criticism.

192 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
is a constant reference in his works to the sentiments
and feelings, real or assumed, of the poet himself^
' Manfred,' a ' dramatic poem ' in three acts, ap
peared in 1817, and Is described by the author as a
poem of a very wild, metaphysical, and inexplicable
kind.^ Its scene is among the Higher Alps, and
the hero of the piece is a species of magician, under
the influence of feelings of remorse not easily under
stood. Many passages occur in it of great beauty
and sublimity. ' Marino Faliero ' and the ' Two
Foscari' are called 'historical tragedies,' and taken
from the Venetian history. They were not received
with much favour either by the reviewers or the
public, and are deficient in variety of incident and in
that interest which calls forth the sympathies of the
' It appears a singular inconsistency on the part of the noble
author that he should disclaim all intention of his dramas being
represented on the stage, and at the same time trammel himself,
as he has done in almost the whole of them, wdth a strict ob
servance of the unities, of which the chief object is to accommodate
a dramatic piece to the rules of theatrical representation. Indeed,
a question may well be raised whether a dramatic poem, or ' poem
in dialogue ' (to use an expression applied by Lord Byron to his
own dramas), which is not ' accommodated to action,' and not
meant to be represented, should be regarded as a drama in
Action the proper sense of the term. The dialogue is undoubtedly an
of the important element in a drama, which without dialogue would be
essence pantomime ; but it is not the principal element. A drama implies
drama. the representation of an action, not by interlocutors but by actors,
who act as well as speak. A ' poem in dialogue,' therefore, seems
hardly to come within the meaning and definition of a drama,
and it is with some hesitation that Lord Byron's productions in
this kind are referred to in the text as a portion of Enghsh
dramatic literature.
^ Letter to Mr. Murray, Feb. 15, 1817, Moore's Life of
Byron.

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 193
reader and audience. The blank verse of these
dramas and also of ' Werner * and some other
dramatic compositions of Byron has but little point
or force, and approaches very nearly to prose, with
out its freedom. ' Sardanapalus,' a tragic drama from
the history of the last Assyrian king, is superior to
the Venetian dramas, both as regards the conception
of the piece and the development of character in its
personages. The ' Deformed Transformed,' a piece of dia
blerie supposed to have been suggested by the per
sonal circumstance of the poet's lameness, is an
imitation of Goethe's ' Faust.' The tragedy of
' Werner,* dedicated ' to the illustrious Goethe,' is
borrowed from ' Kreutzner, or the German's Tale,*
by Harriet Lee (in the ' Canterbury Tales '), the
story and persons, and even the language of the
novel, being closely copied in the tragedy.
Two of the most remarkable of Byron's dramatic
pieces are ' Cain' and ' Heaven and Earth,' entitled,
in conformity with the names given to the old sacred
dramas. Mysteries. ' Cain ' was dedicated to Sir Cain.
Walter Scott, and is founded expressly on the pas
sage in Genesis — ' Now the serpent was more subtile
than any beast of the field which the Lord God had
made.' The persons of the drama are Adam, Cain,
Abel, their wives, and Lucifer ; the piece concluding
with the murder of Abel in the last act, and the
scene changing between the country outside of Eden
and Hades. The dialogue forms the principal por
tion of the drama, consisting mainly of argument
and converse on the most pfofound topics, the inter-
o

194 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
locutors being Lucifer and Cain. The greater part
of the reasoning and sentiment, sufficiently appro
priate to these personages, remains unanswered ;
and it leaves an impression on the reader's mind of
a string of passages of sceptical sophistry, such as in
another form might be found in the pages of Voltaire
and Bayle.
Heaven In the shorter drama or Mystery of ' Heaven and
Karth. Earth,' founding on the verse in Genesis as to the
sons of God taking wives of the daughters of men,
the strain of poetry and feeling is more exalted.
The scene is in the neighbourhood of Mount Ararat,
and the time midnight, immediately preceding the
Deluge. The characters of the two daughters of the
patriarchs, the love of the one tempered by fear, that
of the other impelled by ambition, and the grand
simplicity and brevity of speech of their angel-lovers,
are given with masterly touches. The wonder and
despair of the inhabitants of earth at the elemental
symptoms by which the catastrophe of the Deluge is
heralded are also powerfully delineated, and the
whole forms a striking picture of the preternatural
events to which the Mystery relates.
II. If Tragedy have not greatly flourished during
the later period of our annals, not much more can be
said, with a few brilliant exceptions, of the Comic
1705. Drama.
Gibber's The ' Careless Husband ' of Colley Cibber, al-
^areess ^-j^Q^gj^ inferior in point of humour and wit and
'^^nt^el amusing incident to the plays of Congreve, Van-
comedy, brugh, and Farquhar, deserves commemoration as
being the first of the species of dramas afterwards
"known by the name of 'genteel comedies.' Borrowing

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 1 95
to some extent from the French in manner and
dialogue, this play presents in action the petty
intrigues, affectations and foibles of what the audi
ence are invited to regard as genteel or fashionable
life. In a dedication to the Duke of Argyle the
author remarks that ' the best critics have long and
justly complained that the coarseness of most cha
racters in our late comedies has been unfit entertain
ment for people of quality, especially the ladies.'
This complaint Cibber professes to obviate in the
' Careless Husband,' though modern critics will
hardly allow that he has done so with success. The
piece, taken as a whole, while in so far remarkable
as the first in a new manner, seems undeserving of
the reputation it obtained, considering its slightness
of plot and ' waiting-gentlewoman ' style of writing
and loose morality.
Mr. Cibber was a staunch Whig, and his play of
the 'Non-juror,' altered from the 'Tartufife' of
Moliere, introduced church politics on the stage.
The political merits of the 'Non-juror' greatly
added to the author's court favour, and are said to
have procured for him the place of Poet Laureate. 1730.
The exceptionally good comedy of the ' Provoked Provoked
Husband * was a joint production of Cibber and Sir
John Vanbrugh, who left the scenes relating to the
adventures in London of the country baronet and
his family roughly written at his death. The play
was completed by Cibber, who was author of the
scenes in which Lord and Lady Townley appear.^

1 The joint authorship of the Provoked Husband (1728), is
referred to in the prologue, composed by the veteran Cibber, of
0 2

196 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Low ebb During the long period of Cibber*s management
comic of Drury Lane theatre, pantomime and farce seem
rama. ^^ have been more in repute than either comedy or
tragedy.-' The degeneracy of the stage at this time
has been put on record by the satirical pen of Pope
in the ' Dunciad * and by the no less satirical pencil
of Hogarth, in some of his early prints. One of
these prints, entitled ' A just View of the British
Stage,' represents Cibber and his coadjutors. Booth
and Wilks, contriving a new farce or pantomime,
which is to include ' the two famous entertain
ments of Dr. Faustus and Harlequin Jack Shep
herd.' In the third book of the ' Dunciad,' theatrical
amusements of this kind are frequently referred
to : — But lo ! to dark encounter in mid air
New wizards rise, here Booth and Cibber there :
which a few lines may be quoted as a sample of the versification
of a Poet Laureate in the time of George II. : —
This Play took birth from principles of truth,
To make amends for errors past of youth,
A bard that's now no more in riper days
Conscious reviewed the license of his plays. . .
At length he own'd that plays should let you see
Not only what you are but ought to be. . .
Such was the piece his latest pen design'd,
But left no traces of his plan behind :
Luxuriant scenes unpruned or half contrived,
Yet through the mass his native fire survived ;
Rough as rich ore in mines the treasure lay,
Yet still was rich, and forms at length a play,
In which the bold compiler boasts no merit.
But that his pains have saved you scenes of spirit !
' Cibber was associated as patentee in the management of
Drury Lane theatre with the actors Wilks and Booth, and with
Sir Richard Steele, who died in 1729. The death of Wilks three
years after left Cibber, according to Mr. Pope, ' absolute and
perpetual dictator of the stage.' — Letter to Mr. Gay, Oct. 2, 1732.

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 1 97
Booth in his cloudy tabernacle shrined, —
On grinning dragons Cibber mounts the wind ;
Dire is the conflict, dismal is the din.
Here shouts all Drury, there all Lincoln's Inn.
In this condition of the stage, the legitimate drama
contending in vain with pantomime and the already
fashionable Italian Opera, appeared the ' Beggars' Cay's
Opera ' of Gay. With the exception of Addison's 0pera7
short comic opera of 'Rosamond,* and one or two English
i opera.
attempts in the same way of Sir William D'Avenant,
the ' Beggars* Opera * was the first musical comedy
or English ballad-opera professing to rival the Italian.^
It was received with great applause, and had a run in
its first season of sixty-three nights. The wit and
satire of the piece, not too refined for the audience,
the songs and music, the easy and sprightly dialogue,
the beauty and graceful acting, as Polly Peachum, of
Miss Fenton (afterwards Duchess of Bolton), all con
tributed to its popularity. ' The " Beggars* Opera," '
said Dean Swift in a letter to Gay, ' hath knocked
down Gulliver; I hope to see Pope's "Dunciad**
knock down the " Beggars' Opera," but not till it
hath fully done its job. To expose vice and make
people laugh with innocence, does more public ser
vice than all the ministers of state from Adam to

' Rosamond was acted at Drury Lane in 1707, previous to which
date the Italian opera had fairly taken root in England. Some
verses addressed by Tickell to the author of Rosamond (in Ton-
son's sixth Miscellany) begin thus : —
The Opera first Itahan masters taught,
Enrich'd with songs and innocent of thought,
Britannia's learned theatre disdains
Melodious trifles and enervate strains ;
And blushes on her injured stage to see
Nonsense well-tuned and sweet stupidity.

19^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
Walpole.' Whether Jeremy Collier would have
agreed with the Dean in his view of the moral ten
dency of the ' Beggars' Opera ' is open to question.
The subsequent fortunes of the English musical
drama or opera have not corresponded with its
d^but. The other musical pieces of Gay were
much inferior. Bickerstaff's ' Love in a Village '
1765. and ' Maid of the Mill,* and the ' Duenna ' of Sheri
dan, although not boasting great originality, are
among the few favourable examples of this modifi
cation of the drama. In the 'Duenna' particularly
there is less sacrifice of sense to sound than in the
general run of English operas.
From the genius of Henry Fielding, whose lite
rary career commenced with play-writing, a rich
dramatic harvest might have been expected. But
whether through defect of application or the want of
that peculiar talent which goes to make a dramatist,
nothing came from his pen worthy of the author
of 'Joseph Andrews' and 'Tom Jones.' The
' Miser,* founded on Moliere's ' L*Avare,* was his
only comedy of any consequence. His burlesque
' tragedy of tragedies,* Tom Thumb, is still occasion
ally acted. His pieces in low comedy or farce, as
the ' Intriguing Chambermaid,' the ' Mock Doctor,*
are now almost forgotten.
Comedies ^^1 the department of ludicrous satirical comedy
Samuel Foote for many years carried the fashion
along with him, however his published plays may
now fall short of the popularity they enjoyed as
acting pieces, with himself the principal performer.
They are generally in two or three acts, composed

of Foote.

CHAP. VII.] THF DRAMA. 199
apparently with careless ease ; the dialogue terse,
humorous and lively. Although they have lost
much of their zest in the present day, from the foibles
of society and personal oddities they satirise having
passed away, an amusing picture is still furnished of
London manners and follies in the i8th century.
Thus in ' Taste,' a then prevalent custom (not yet
quite gone out) of attending auctions and buying
spurious pictures of the old masters and patched up
specimens of ancient sculpture at high prices, is held
up to ridicule. The ' Englishman in Paris ' is a
satire on the absurd imitation of French modes ; in
the ' Commissary ' and the ' Nabob ' the ' self-made
man' of the time is cleverly hit off, and in the
'Minor,' more serious delinquents. Political quid
nuncs, patrons, authors, and popular orators, all come
under the lash of this English Aristophanes.
The versatile talent of Garrick, not confined to
acting, displayed itself also in light comic pieces and
alterations of plays. He shared with Colman the OfCol-
, ^, , . ,., . , 111 man and
composition of the ' Clandestine Marriage, and had others.
also attributed to him the amusing piece of ' High
Life below Stairs,' of which the authorship has been
more recentiy assigned to the Rev. James Townley.^
While the walk of low comedy was thus cultivated
by Fielding, Foote, and Garrick, genteel comedy
held on its way in the plays that took their direction
from the ' Careless Husband ' of Cibber. Comedy

1 Biographia Dramatica, vol. iii. p. 302- The production of
High Life below Stairs (1759) on the Edinburgh stage met with
a decided opposition from the footmen, who raised repeated riots
in the playhouse and threatened the hves of the performers.

200

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book r.

Senti
mental comedynot so
popular as come
dy of a
more stirring
kind.

of pure sentiment, the comSdie lar-moyante of the
French, never quite suited the taste of a British
audience, and there was generally introduced in the
plot and conduct of the piece a certain amount of
bustle and surprise, deriving rather from a Spanish
than a French source, and a lively and occasionally
free style of dialogue. The ' Suspicious Husband '
of Dr. Hoadly, Murphy's 'Way to Keep Him' and
' All in the Wrong,' the ' Jealous Wife ' of the elder
Colman, and the ' Clandestine Marriage,* were plays
of this sort.^ Macklin's ' Man of the World' is a
rare example of a perfectly natural observation of all
the dramatic unities. It is carefully composed as to
development of plot and in its dialogue and diction.
It was at first very unnecessarily refused to be licensed
in London, and was brought out in Dublin. The
' Man of the World ' is more remarkable for striking
though exaggerated delineation of character and for
contrast of character, than for plot or story ; its suc
cess on the stage materially depending on the repre
sentation of Sir Pertinax.
However at times modified to suit the popular
taste, genteel sentimental comedy continued to be
regarded by many critics as the legitimate style of
the comic drama when Dr. Goldsmith's plays first
' The comedy of the Jealous Wife, although indebted in several
particulars to the Careless Husband of Cibber, is an improvement
on its model both as a reading and as an acting play. Lord
Trinket's use of French phrases in conversation has a precedent
in Gibber's Lord Foppington, and still earlier in the talk of the
two kings of Brentford in the Rehearsal — ¦
First King. You must begin, ma foi !
Second King. Sweet sir, pardon nez-moi.
Bayes. Mark that ; I make 'em both speak French to show their breeding.

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 20I
appeared. Kelly's sentimental comedy of * False
Delicacy * was brought out with much approval by
Garrick at Drury Lane in the same year that Gold
smith's 'Good-natured Man' was produced at Covent
Garden, although Kelly's play has since fallen into
oblivion. When I undertook, (says Goldsmith in his preface to the
' Good-Natured Man,') to write a comedy, I confess I was
strongly prepossessed in favour of the poets of the last age,
and strove to imitate them. The term ' genteel comedy '
was then unknown amongst us, and little more was desired
by an audience than nature and humour, in whatever walks
of life they were most conspicuous. The author of the fol
lowing scenes never imagined that more would be expected
of him, and therefore to delineate character has been his
principal aim.
This play, not dealing much in fashionable senti- oold-
ment, was also deficient in stirring incident though ^o^_^
strong in development of character, and it made no ?f'"'''^'^ .
great impression on the public. She
The comedy of ' She Stoops to Conquer,' full of Conquer.
broad humour rather than wit, and with a fair allow
ance of bustling incident and surprise, was more suc
cessful than its predecessor. Aided by Foote's ridicule
of sentimental comedy in his amusing performance
of ' Piety in Pattens,* which was brought out in the
same year, it obtained a victory over its sentimental
rivals.^ The humours of Tony Lumpkin and Mrs.
Hardcastle, the comical plot from which the piece
takes its name, and the easy flow of the dialogue, at

> In his dedication to Dr. Johnson, Goldsmith says; — 'The
undertaking a comedy not merely sentimental was very dangerous ;
and Mr. Colman, who saw this piece in its various stages, always
thought it so.'

202 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
once made ' She Stoops to Conquer ' a favourite and
stock play.
Sheri- Since the ' Provoked Husband * nothing had ap-
Rivab peared equal to this comedy of Goldsmith ; but it
Scho 1 ^^^ '^^^ ^° ^^ capped by the two famous comedies
for of Richard Brinsley Sheridan, the ' Rivals ' and the
Scandal. 1775. ' School for Scandal.' While both of these are very
carefully composed as regards style and diction,
the dialogue of the ' Rivals ' is easier and less
artificial than that of the ' School for Scandal,' in
which the play of wit and repartee, occasionally
running into elaborate conceits, is so constant as to
be almost fatiguing. Without the coarseness of
Congreve, the ' School for Scandal ' has all his
brilliancy. The ' Rivals ' nearly failed at first from
the bad acting of the representative of Sir Lucius
O'Trigger, and from the lengthiness of some of the
scenes, which were judiciously pruned. It then rose
to the place in public favour it so well deserves.^
The ' School for Scandal ' had from the first an
uninterrupted success, and the echo ofthe uproarious
laughter that greeted the celebrated screen-scene in
the fourth act still lingers at Drury Lane.
The story and conduct of the plot is not the forte
of Mr. Sheridan's comedies, which are much stronger
in the development of character, and in dialogue
and ludicrous incident. It is no disparagement to
Sheridan that he may have borrowed a few hints from
the congenial writings of Shakespeare, Fielding, or
Moliere. Thus in the ' Rivals ' Mrs. Malaprop
' Moore's Life of Sheridan, vol. i. p. 136.

CHAP, vn.] THE DRAMA. 203
takes liberties with the English language in a similar
though more decided manner than Slipslop in 'Joseph
Andrews,' a novel which has also furnished one or
two hints for the scandal of Lady Sneerwell and
Mrs. Candour ; Sir Lucius O'Trigger and Acres
recall ' with a difference ' Sir Toby Belch and Sir
Andrew Aguecheek, while in the ' School for
Scandal * Charles and Joseph Surface have a family
likeness to Tom Jones and Blifil.
That Mr. Sheridan was of the unsentimental
faction in comedy is clearly shown in both pieces ;
in the ' School for Scandal ' by the treatment of the
Tartuffe ' man of sentiment,' Joseph Surface, and in
the ' Rivals ' by the satirical delineation of the
romantic Lydia Languish and the sensitive Falkland.
Indeed some will be of opinion that in the character
of the rakish and extravagant Charles Surface, when
regarded as the accepted lover of the amiable Maria,
the ' School for Scandal ' goes too far in the opposite
direction.^ The superior merit of the play lies in
its witty and satirical delineation of the scandalous
college of Sir Benjamin Backbite, Lady Sneerwell
and their friends, and in the effective dramatic situ-

' It seems a just criticism on the conduct of the story in the
School for Scandal \k\2X \he t'NO principal lovers, Charles Surface
and Maria, meet for the first time in the play in the last scene of
the fifth act. Their first appearance and conversation in this
scene might have almost suggested the commencement of Puff's
tragedy in the Critic : —
Enter Sir Christopher Nation and Sir Walter Raleigh.
Sir Cliristopher. True, gallant Raleigh !
Dangle. What, had they been talking before ?
Puff. Oh yes, all the way as they came along.

204 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
ations, particularly that to which the hypocritical
conduct of Joseph Surface gives occasion.
The little comedy of the ' Critic,* an imitation
adapted to Sheridan*s own time of the Duke of
Critic. Buckingham's ' Rehearsal,' is a clever satire, abound
ing with humour and sarcasm, on the attempts of his
contemporary rivals in dramatic writing, and taking
note by the way of the tricks of literary quacks and
puffing advertisements.^
Subsequent to the appearance of the ' Rivals ' and
the ' School for Scandal,' no play of surpassing ex
cellence in this line of the drama has been produced.
Later The plays of Richard Cumberland, a writer of ver-
conic-
dies. satile though rather heavy talent, amount in number
to about fifty, of which the ' West Indian ' and the
' Wheel of Fortune * are regarded as the best.^ The
' Belle*s Stratagem ' of Mrs. Cowley (the Anna
Matilda of the Delia Cruscans) is a pleasant and
rather humorous genteel comedy. Morton's ' Cure
for the Heart-ache ' and ' Speed the Plough * are

' Sentimental comedy receives its share of ridicule in the Critic,
as in the first scene : —
Mr. Sneer gives Dangle two manuscripts.
Dangle (reading). 'Bursts into tears and exit.' What, is this a tragedy?
Sneer. No, that's a genteel comedy, not a translation, only taken from the
French. It is written in a style which they have lately tried to
run down ; the true sentimental, and nothing ridiculous in it
from the beginning to the end.
^ Cumberland was said to have been singled out by Sheridan
for satirical delineation in the character of Sir Fretful Plagiarj' in
the Critic. If so, considering the practice of contemporary play-
writers, not excepting the author of Pizarro, he was somewhat
hardly dealt with by his brilliant rival, whose satire, it may be
charitable to suppose, was general rather than personal.

CHAP. VII.] THE DRAMA. 205
entertaining and well- written plays. The ' Heir-at-
Law ' of the younger Colman (tracing in part to the
' Bourgeois Gentilhomme * of Moliere) is a humorous
comedy, bordering on farce. In the ' Honeymoon'
of Tobin there is a meritorious study apparent of
the style of the Beaumont and Fletcher school ; the
study of the early dramatists, begun in the last
years of the i8th century, having had a beneficial.
influence and borne fruit in the field of comedy as
well as of tragedy. Mr. Sheridan Knowles' acting
plays of the 'Hunchback,' the 'Love-Chase' and
others, are written in a sort of composite manner,
recurring in certain particulars to the elder style, and
showing something of its richness and strength. The
comedies and comediettas of Douglas Jerrold are
distinguished by wit and brilliancy of dialogue ; but
their defect in dramatic development of character will
stand in the way of their permanent success on the
stage as stock or acting plays.
It must be admitted that during the first half of Comic
, . , , drama ;
the present century the comic muse has rather no vigo-
drooped than enjoyed a vigorous life. Whether it gxis^tence.
be that the hereditarj- follies and minor vices of
human nature and the broad peculiarities of manners
have been already used up as materials for comedy
by preceding authors, or that men now keep their
foibles more in the background, or from whatever
other cause, the later attempts in the line of the
comic drama have been, with few exceptions, pieces
of no great importance, the chief object of which is
to draw subject for merriment from the current affec
tations of society and the passing follies of the day.

206 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART [book i

CHAPTER VIII.
(PERIODICALS AND ESSAYS.)
Periodical Literature from the end of the reign of Anne to
the Rambler of Johnson — Idler — -World — Mirror and
Lounger of Mackenzie — Edinburgh and Quarterly Re
views make a new era in periodical writing — Separate
Essays on general subjects, of Warton, Hume, Burke,
Mackintosh, Price, and others.
1708- Towards the close of the reign of Queen Anne the
'^''^ political contest between the two great parties of
Whig and Tory was so keenly maintained that lite
rature was drawn into and nearly lost in the vortex
of politics. The pens of the ablest authors of the
day were engaged upon one side or the other, some
times in writing for periodical party papers, some
times in composing pamphlets and essays for
separate publication. Addison's 'Spectator* steered
indeed tolerably clear of party; but in the ' Tatler*
and ' Guardian' views of politics were introduced by
Sir Richard Steele which, although of a mild com
plexion, were such as induced the Tories to start
another paper, the ' Examiner,' in defence of their
principles and tenets. The ' Examiner* was sup
ported by the writing of Swift, Prior, and Lord
Bolingbroke, and in its turn gave origin to the
' Whig Examiner ' and ' Medley,' the chief contribu
tors to which were Addison and Steele. These two

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSAYS. 207
friends appeared also as authors of separate writings
on the Whig side, the most noted of which was the
' Crisis,' by Steele ; a pamphlet so exasperating to
the majority of the House of Commons as to cause
the author's expulsion from the House. On the
opposite side of the question appeared Swift's ' Con
duct of the Allies,' and a variety of well-reasoned
pamphlets by Defoe ; while Dr. Arbuthnotis able
and well-sustained parody, ' Law is a bottomless
pit, or the History of John Bull,' succeeded in
turning the laugh against Marlborough and the
Whigs by its humorous and ludicrous representation
of the French war, the parties to it, and attendant
circumstances.-' After the accession of George I. politics continued
to rule the hour, and the rancour of party infused
itself into literary writing of every kind. Thus the
' Censor ' of Theobald, the ' Plain Dealer ' of Aaron
' The History of John Bull is written in a good English style,
with the use occasionally of a Scotch idiomatic expression. ' The
effect of this satire,' says Sir Walter Scott, ' was wonderful. It
was adapted in point of style to the meanest capacity ; yet the
ingenuity of the allusions and the comic humour of the expressions
delighted the best informed. The structure of the piece was also
admirably calculated to attain the desired end. It was scarce
possible so effectually to dim the lustre of Marlborough's splendid
achievements as by parodying them under the history of a suit
conducted by a wily attorney, who made every advantage gained
over the defendant a reason for protracting law procedure and
enhancing the expense of his client. By this representation of
the war the public mind was swayed from consideration of its
brilliant success, and instructed to regard it as a mere matter of
profit and loss, in which the general and the Dutch were the
gainers, while all expenses fell upon the British.'— Swift's Works^
edited by Walter Scott, vol. vi. p. 236.

I7I9

2o8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
Hill and Bond, and many other periodical papers of
this reign, issued from the press to enjoy for the most
part but a short existence.-' The ' Free Thinker' of
Ambrose Phillips handled miscellaneous subjects
with more reasoning and wit than any of its contem
poraries. The ' Terrse Filius ' of Nicholas Amhurst
1721. contained a series of rather scandalous attacks on
the manners and institutions and Jacobite tendencies
of the University of Oxford. The ' True Briton,'
of which the Duke of Wharton was author and
Richardson the novelist printer, displayed some
ability and great violence of party spirit.
The 'Craftsman,' begun in 1726 and conducted
by Amhurst with Lord Bolingbroke and other
tories as contributors, carried on for some years
an able opposition to the measures of Sir Robert
1729. Walpole. The ' Intelligencer,* a weekly paper
written by Dr. Thomas Sheridan and Dean Swift,
was published in Dublin.^ The first number,
written by Swift, contains the following character
istic account of the object and plan of the ' Intelli-
. gencer : * — ' There is a society lately established,
who, at great expense, have erected an office of
intelligence, from which they are to receive weekly
information of all important events and singularities
' Essays illustrative of the various periodical papers published
between the close of the eighth volume of the ' Spectator ' and the
year 1809 ; by Nathan Drake, M.D., London, 1809.
^ Letter, Dr. Swift to Mr. Pope, June 12, 1731. Such pe
riodical papers or essays as the present writer has thought worthy
of mention in the text are to be considered as having been
published in London unless otherwise specified,

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSA YS. 209
which this famous metropolis can furnish. Strict
injunctions are given to have the truest informa
tion : in order to which certain qualified persons
are employed to attend upon duty in their several
posts ; some at the playhouse, others in churches,
some at balls, assemblies, coffee-houses, and meet
ings for quadrille ; some at the several courts of
justice, both spiritual and temporal ; some at the
college, some upon my Lord Mayor and Aldermen,
in their public affairs ; lastly, some to converse with
favourite chambermaids, and to frequent those ale
houses and brandy-shops where the footmen of great
families meet in a morning ; only the barracks and
Parliament-house are excepted, because we have yet
found no enfans perdus bold enough to venture their
persons at either. Out of these and some other
store-houses we hope to gather materials enough to
inform or divert or correct or vex the town.'
In a periodical paper entitled ' Common Sense,' 1737.
the Earl of Chesterfield wrote a series of essays on
subjects connected with manners and taste. The
' Memoirs of the Society of Grub Street,' a satirical 1731.
paper of some humour, is said to have first suggested
the ' Gentleman's Magazine' to its projector, Edward Gentle-
Cave. This celebrated monthly magazine, the Maga,
longest lived of any British periodical, owed its ""^"
position and standing to Cave and to Samuel John
son. When Johnson first came to London as an
adventurer in literature, he applied to and was en
gaged by Cave as a regular coadjutor in this work, '737-
to which he subsequently contributed a variety
of original essays and biographies. The 'Scots'
p

2IO VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
1739- Magazine ' was commenced soon after at Edinburgh,
and without displaying the talent of its London
contemporary, was conducted for a number of years
with sober good sense ; producing some original
writing, and notices (afterwards valuable) of passing
events and local history.
Henry Fielding was the principal author of the
Cham- ' Champion,' a well-written series of essays published
other thrice a week ; the nom de plume of the editor
caiTof" being Captain Hercules Vinegar, and the various
Fielding, departments of the paper being distributed, after the
manner of the ' Spectator,' amongst the members of
the Vinegar family.^ In one of the papers he
observes, that ' Short occasional essays on the follies,
vices, humours, controversies and amusements of
the age, have been esteemed both so useful and
entertaining that not a library in the three king
doms, and scarce a lady's closet, is without those
great originals, the " Tatler ** and " Spectator.'* And
that no subsequent pieces have obtained the like
success is perhaps as much owing to an opinion
that those volumes had exhausted all the wit and
humour the subject was capable of, as that the
merits of Steele and Addison are above comparison
and imitation. But there is a sort of craft attending
vice and absurdity ; and when hunted out of society
in one shape they seldom want address to re-
insinuate themselves in another. Hence the modes

• The Champion Papers were collected in 174T. One of these
papers (the 'Vision,' May 24, 1740) is the first draught of one of
the best of Fielding's minor productions, the ' Journey from this
world to the next.'

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSA YS. 211
of license vary almost as often as those of dress, and
consequently require continual observation to detect
and expose them anew.' In the ' True Patriot' and
'Jacobite Journal' Fielding wielded his pen for the i74S-
government in well-informed essays and sallies of
humour. Fielding's essays in these various papers, 1752.
and in the ' Covent Garden Journal,* where he gave
himself more to literature and the drama, were pro
bably superior to any other periodical writing, except
the ' Free Thinker * of Phillips, between the time of
the ' Spectator' and the ' Rambler.'
The ' Monthly Review,' on which the ill-requited
labour of Oliver Goldsmith was bestowed, and the
' Critical Review,' conducted for many years by
Smollett, were commenced the one in 1749, the
other in 1756. The 'Female Spectator' and the
' Parrot ' of Eliza Haywood, weekly papers of a de
sultory and gossiping character, were popular in
their day.^ The ' Student,' a monthly miscellany
published at Oxford, kept aloof from party politics,
and successfully devoted itself to general literature
and criticism.
The ablest periodical and the most sustained in
its style of writing that appeared subsequent to the
'Spectator ' was the ' Rambler,' the essays in which Rambler.

' To each number of the Parrot was added a ' Compendium of
the Times' or News- Letter -^ a postscript to the first of which
(Aug. 2, 1746) contains a narrative of the execution for high
treason of James Dawson at Kennington Common, and of the
simultaneous death of the lady to whom he was engaged to be
married, striking from its unaffected simplicity, and afterwards put
into verse by Shenstone. P 2

212 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
were supplied, with few exceptions, from the in
tellectual store of Johnson. It was published in
a small folio form on Tuesday and Saturday of
each week between March 1750 and March 1752,
the price of each number being twopence.^ Its brief
but valuable disquisitions on the great principles of
moral and religious duty are well known. The
papers on manners and character are distinguished
by a discriminating and often satirical observation
of life, somewhat tinged by the too frequently sombre
colouring of the author's temperament. His humour,
when he condescended to be humorous, has a gra
vity peculiar to itself The moral Apologues and
eastern tales in this work, without much individu
ality of character and imagery, are expressed in
elegant language, and, while avoiding the lengthi
ness of Rasselas, are interesting in their story. The
Allegories are hardly equal to the Apologues, and give
an impression of elaborate and excessive ingenuity.
The only literary assistance received by Johnson
for the ' Rambler ' consisted of three papers by ladies
(Mrs. Chapone, Miss Talbot, and Miss Elizabeth
Carter), and one by Richardson the novelist; the
great moralist being probably of opinion that their
productions were most adapted to relieve the uni
formity of his own more didactic and balanced style
of writing.
At their first composition the essays in the
' Rambler ' seem not to have received more polishing

' A duodecimo edition of the Rambler was published at Edin
burgh almost immediately after the appearance of the papers in
London.

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSAYS. 213
than was requisite for printing ; for the second and
third editions they were very carefully corrected and
altered, as if the author had intended thus thoroughly
to model them both as to matter and style.^
Such was the success of the ' Rambler ' that some
months after it closed Dr. Hawkes worth was encou
raged to commence the ' Adventurer,' being him- Adven-
=> . turer.
self the principal contributor. He was aided by
Johnson, who in a letter requesting Dr. Joseph
Warton's co-operation remarks, that the papers
should consist of pieces of imagination, pictures of
life, and disquisitions of literature.^ The literary
disquisitions fell to Dr. Warton. Dr. Hawkes-
worth*s papers in the two other departments follow
{hattd passibus csquis) the style of writing of his
coadjutor. The essays of the ' Adventurer ' and those also of
the ' Idler,' which followed it, have more relation to idler.
common life and manners and a greater popularity
of tone than those of the ' Rambler,' and they were
at the time more generally popular. The papers in
the ' Idler' are short and not much elaborated, the
chief contributor being Dr. Johnson, assisted in
occasional essays by Mr. Thomas Warton and Sir
Joshua Reynolds. One ofthe ' Idlers' (No. 70) is a
defence of ' the use of hard words,' an often-repeated
objection to the author's style : ' Difference of
thought,' says he, ' will produce difference of lan
guage. He that thinks with more extent than
» Preface to the Rambler, by Alexander Chalmers.
2 Preface to the Adventurer, in Berguer's British Essayists, vol.

xxm.

1753-

214 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
another will want words of a larger meaning; he
that thinks with more subtilty will seek for terms
of more nice discrimination ; and where is the
wonder, since words are but the images of things,
that he who never knew the originals should not
know the copies ?' The style of Johnson in the
' Idler' is easier, less balanced and drawn out than
it is in the ' Rambler.' To show perhaps that he
could dispense with big words when it was proper
to do so, two of his papers consist of epistles from
' Betty Broom,' a serving-maid, in which the con
struction and language are particularly simple and
plain, reminding one of Hercules holding the distaff
of Omphale.
The ' World,' a weekly periodical paper which
.^756. .^yas continued for four years, devoted itself chiefly
to the reprehension by ridicule and irony of
the fashionable vices and affectations of the day,
and to the enforcement of the lesser social duties.
The contributor of about half of the papers in the
' World ' was Mr. Edward Moore, the other essays
being contributed by Horace Walpole, Richard
Owen Cambridge, Lord Chesterfield, Soame Jenyns,
and Lord Hailes.^ The twenty-four essays by Lord
Chesterfield are considered superior in satirical
1 A letter from Walpole to Mr. George Montague (July 17,
1753) concludes : 'Adieu. I enclose a World to you, which, by
a story I shall tell you, I find is called mine. I met Mrs. Clive
(the actress) two nights ago, and told her I had been in the
meadows, but would walk no more there, for there was all the
world. " Well," says she, " and don't you like the World ? I
hear it was very clever last Thursday." All I know is, that you
will meet some of your acquaintance there.'

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSA YS. 2 I 5
humour and point to the others ; and as regards
their sentiment and moral tendency they show the
noble author in a more favourable light than his
larger and better-known work. In one of them he
says (in a letter to the nominal editor, Mr. Fitz-
Adam), ' I consider you as supplemental to the law
of the land. I take your authority to begin where
the power of the law ends. The law is intended to
stop the progress of crimes by punishing them ;
your paper seems calculated to check the course of
follies by exposing them. May you be more suc
cessful in the latter than the law is in the former ! ' '
This paper exposes the absurdities and expense a
quiet English family are led into by a visit to
Paris ; another, in a vein of fine irony, conveys a
warning to fair readers of novels who sacrifice their
virtue to what they consider sentiment.^ Three
papers are devoted to the exposure and ridicule of
after-dinner toping and drunkenness, another to the
restraining of anger and passion, and another to
duelling. ' Honour,' says Lord Chesterfield, ' that
sacred name, which ought to mean the spirit, the

' World, No. 18.
2 No. 25. The heroine of this paper, the daughter of a clergy
man, was a student of the old romances, and painted fans, &c.,
from the stories of Ovid's Metamorphoses. ' My heart,' says she,
' was tender, and my sentiments were dehcate ; perhaps too much
so for my rank in life. This disposition led me to study chiefly
those treasures of divine honour, spotless virtue, and refined
sentiment, the voluminous romances of the last century; senti
ments from which I thank heaven I have never deviated. From
a sympathising softness of soul, how often have I wept over those
affecting distresses ! ' . . .

2l6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
supererogation of virtue, is by custom profaned,
reduced, and shrunk to mean only a readiness to
fight a duel upon either a real or an imaginary
affront, and not to cheat at play. No vices nor im
moralities whatsoever blast this fashionable charac
ter, but rather on the contrary dignify and adorn it ;
and what should banish a man from all society re
commends him in general to the best.' ^
1754- The ' Connoisseur,' also a weekly paper, was
^750. written chiefly by George Colman the dramatist
and Bonnel Thornton, with the occasional assistance
of the poet Cowper, orator Henley, and the Earl of
Corke. It disclaimed subjects of fine art, which its
title naturally suggests, and aimed to strike at the
follies of mankind, and to teach the importance of
self-knowledge.
Gold-^ In the ' Bee,' the ' Public Ledger,' and the ' Gen-
essays, tleman's Journal,' first appeared most of those
cleverly-written and humorous essays by Goldsmith,
on subjects of life and manners, which were after-
1765. wards published together in a small volume with
the motto Collecta Revirescunt. From the preface to
this collection it appears that anonymous essays
were at that time very liable to be dug out from
periodical publications and turned to account by the
finders of these hidden treasures.
The commencement of the reign of George III.
was, like that of George I., remarkable for the
keenness of its party warfare. Periodical writing
took the prevailing political tone, subjects of general
literature, life and manners, being scantily touched
' World, No. 114,

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSA YS. 217
upon prior to the appearance in Edinburgh of the Mirror
' Mirror,' and after it of the ' Lounger.* The essays Lounger.
in the ' Mirror * were published on Tuesdays and '''''^"
Saturdays, those in the ' Lounger * on Saturdays
only. Labouring under the disadvantage of a
northern locality and a more limited experience of
life, these papers were nevertheless highly creditable
to the talents, refined taste, and minute delinea
tion of character evinced by their authors. The
chief of these was the ' Man of Feeling,* Henry
Mackenzie. Without the idiomatic style and vivid
touches of Addison and Steele, or the ethical power
of the ' Rambler,' the writings of Mackenzie in the
' Mirror * and ' Lounger * display a delicacy of sen
timent and justness of thought, mixed with a flow of
quiet humour, that place him well among the British
essayists ; while the short tales of pathos introduced
by him, ' La Roche * and ' Louisa Venoni ' in the
' Mirror,' and ' Father Nicholas ' in the ' Lounger,'
are both interesting and suggestive. The other
writers were (as well as Mr. Mackenzie) connected
with the Edinburgh law courts ; leaders of opinion
to some extent in a society of increasing refine
ment though of inferior intellectual strength to that
of the Adam Smiths, Humes and Robertsons, who
immediately preceded them.
The ' Observer * of Cumberland takes somewhat
different ground from its predecessors ; disquisitions
on religion and morals alternating with fictitious
narrative and the history of the Greek drama. The
most valuable portion of the work is probably that
relating to the Greek comedy.

2l8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
The ' Microcosm ' was a clever juvenile collection
of essays on manners and literature by a set of
young Etonians, comprising George Canning, J. and
R. Smith, and John Frere. The ' Essays,' moral
and literary, of Dr. Vicesimus Knox, and his ' Winter
Evenings, or Lucubrations on Life and Letters,'
were popular in their time, and are included in some
editions of the British Essayists.
The subsequent periodical works up to the com
mencement of the ' Edinburgh Review ' in 1 802 it
would be tedious to refer to. The essays in the
' Speculator,* by Dr. Nathan Drake, afterwards ap
peared in his ' Literary Hours.* The 'Watchman*
of Mr. Coleridge stopped at the tenth number.
The ' Antijacobin ' was edited by Mr. Giffbrd, and
supported by Canning and other adherents of the
tory party. The clever and amusing writing of a
political tendency in this weekly paper, especially
its poetical contributions and squibs, which were
collected in a volume, obtained for the ' Antijacobin '
a good standing in a literary point of view.
Edin- In 1802 a new era in periodical writinof was in-
burgh °
Review, augurated by the first appearance of the ' Edinburgh
Review.' Its origin is due to the Rev. Sydney
Smith, Francis Jeffrey, and Henry Brougham, then
resident in Edinburgh ; its first editor (if he might
be so termed) being Sydney Smith. He was suc
ceeded almost immediately by Mr. Jeffrey, who
continued to edit the ' Review' till 1829, when the
editorial department was taken up by Mr. Macvey
Napier, professor of legal conveyancing in the Uni
versity of Edinburgh. In the advertisement to the

CHAP. vin.J PERIODICALS AND ESSAYS. 219
first number the conductors of the Review propose
being more scrupulous than had been the custom
previously in their selection of works to be reviewed,
' confining their notice in a great degree to works
that either have attained or deserve a certain por
tion of celebrity.' The articles were at first much
shorter, and contained less politics than was after
wards the case. The original plan of the work
was considerably modified by the practice of in
troducing disquisitions or essays on matters and
questions of interest, having little more reference to
the book or books at the head of the article than a
certain community of subject. From this source have
proceeded several more or less valuable collections
of contributions, chiefly on literary subjects, by
Lord Jeffrey, Mr. Sydney Smith, Lord Brougham,
Lord Macaulay, and others. Among these collected
contributions to the ' Edinburgh Review,' the Essays
by Lord Macaulay, a species of composition very
suitable to his turn of mind, stand out conspicuously.
The ' Quarterly Review ' was started in London Quarterly
RcvIgw,
upon the same general plan as the ' Edinburgh,' 1809.
under the auspices of Messrs. Canning, George
Ellis, and J. Wilson Croker.^ It was conducted by
Mr. Gifford as editor till 1824, when he was suc
ceeded by John Gibson Lockhart.
Neither the tory politics of the 'Quarterly' nor
the whig politics of the ' Edinburgh Review ' have
materially interfered with the exercise of their criti
cal judgment on literary performances, although this
1 'LoCe^sx^s Life of Scott.

2 20 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
has been occasionally alleged ; while their enforce
ment of certain incontrovertible general rules of
writing and the regard evinced by both reviews to
morality and decency have upon the whole exercised
a beneficial influence on the productions of the
press and put a check upon extravagance of thought
and sentiment and licentiousness of writing. It
may be questioned, on the other hand, whether that
dogmatism engendered by the very position of a
reviewer, or editor of a well-established review, such
as the ' Edinburgh ' or ' Quarterly,' may not have
tended, especially in the province of poetry and
imaginative writing, to lead both of those critical
journals to analyse the defects and beauties of new
and original compositions too much according to
preconceived notions, to measure such compositions
too much by conventional standards, and thus induce
hasty and over-confident judgments. In the case of
Wordsworth's poetry the frequently pronounced
condemnatory decision of Mr. Jeffrey was set aside
by the opinion of the succeeding generation ; and
the severe treatment in the pages of the ' Quarterly '
of the productions of Keats met with the same
fate. The position of a reviewer seems to require
that his decision should be given with a certain
tone of infallibility ; but the experience of both of
the leading reviews in the earlier portion of the
present century has made it sufficiently evident that
their judgments are liable occasionally to be reversed.^
' It is beyond the scope of the present work to enter upon the
history and merits of all the various periodicals, quarterly, mpnthly.

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSAYS. 221
The most valuable portion of the periodical pub
lications noticed in this chapter undoubtedly consists
of the papers or short essays on subjects of litera
ture, morals, and manners. Longer essays or dis- Essays in
quisitions, published originally in a separate form, ^^^^^^^
more sustained and elaborate in statement, argument
and illustration, take a still more noticeable place in
British miscellaneous literature. Thus Dr. Joseph
Warton's ' Essay on the Genius and Writings of
Pope,' the first volume of which appeared in 1756
and the second in 1782, is deservedly regarded as a
work of great learning and critical acumen, although
the conclusion arrived at in the second and last
volume as to the position of Pope among British
poets may be thought by some readers inconsistent
with his premises in the first part of the essay.
Mr. Hume, the historian, became celebrated as an
essayist by his ' Essays, Moral, Political and Literary,'
in 1742, a second series appearing ten years after.'
The shorter essays, which travel over politics, politi
cal economy, philosophy, literature and taste, are re
markable for lucidity of style, refinement of thought,
acuteness and finesse of reasoning. The sceptical
philosophy of Hume chimed in with the fashionable
and weekly, of the 19th century. Publications such as the
Foreign Quarterly and North British Review, Blackwood' s, the
Neiv Monthly, and other periodicals, which have been the medium
of much clever and able, though desultory composition, by authors
of undoubted talent, belong more or less to contemporary literature.
' All the shorter essays are included in the first volume of the
octavo edition of Hume's Essays ; the second volume containing
his Inquiry concerning the Human Understanding, Principles of
Morals, and Natural History of Religion.

2 22 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
doctrines of the day in France and Germany, where
it acquired and has retained a great reputation.^
The essays of Dr. Johnson in the ' Rambler ' and
1770. Dr. Beattie's essay ' On the nature and immutability
of Truth in opposition to Sophistry and Scepticism '
had the merit of defending the cause of revealed
religion and the higher principles of moral duty
against the sceptical reasonings of Hume.
Dr. Gilbert Stuart's ' View of Society in Europe
1778. in its progress from rudeness to refinement ' is an
historical essay of considerable research and interest,
which may possibly have led the way to later in
quiries on the same subject. Mr. Burke's ' Vindi
cation of Natural Society,' a satirical parody on the
philosophical opinions and reasonings of Lord Boling
broke, in which his lordship's style is very happily
imitated, and the ' Inquiry into the origin of our
ideas on the Subhme and Beautiful,' may be seve
rally set down as essays worthy of the versatile
genius and powers of their author. The ' Reflections
1750. on the French Revolution ' is in fact a brilliant
essay on the important transactions of that time, in
the form of a ' Letter intended to have been sent
to a gentleman in Paris.* The ' Vindiciae Gallicse *
of Sir James Mackintosh is a well-written essay in

1 In a letter of the Hon. Horace Walpole from Paris (Oct. 19,
1765) to Mr. T. Brand ofthe Hoo, he says : ' For Lord L  , if
he should come hither and turn free-thinker once more, he would
be reckoned the most agreeable man in France — next to Mr.
Hume, who is the only thing in the world that they believe in
implicitly.'

CHAP. VIII.] PERIODICALS AND ESSAYS. 223
defence of the French Revolution against the accu
sations of Mr. Burke.^
It is difficult to form an adequate estimate
of the amount of exposition, argument and illus
tration, to be found in compositions which may be
classed under the head of Essays. Thus Sir Joshua
Reynolds' Academical ' Discourses,* as well as the
writings and lectures of Academicians and of other
persons, are so many essays, often well-digested and
composed, on Painting and Art generally.
The first year of the 19th century witnessed the
appearance of Miss Edgeworth's amusing and
rambling essay ' On Irish Bulls,' a species of in
voluntary wit not confined to Ireland, if the author's
definition of a bull as consisting in ' a laughable
confusion of ideas ' be correct. Dr. Nathan Drake's 1809.
two series of Essays ' biographical, critical and his
torical,* illustrative of the British Essayists, from
the ' Tatler ' onwards, are models of industrious and
curious research. Following Walpole*s ' Essay on
Modern Gardening ' in the fourth volume of his
' Anecdotes of Painting in England,' we have by
Sir Uvedale Price several ingenious and fanciful
' Essays on the Picturesque as compared with the
Sublime and the Beautiful, and on the use of study-
' In the Preface to the Vindicice Gallicce (1791) Mr. Burke's
Reflections are eloquently referred to as— 'Argument clothed in
the most rich and varied imagery, aided by the most pathetic and
picturesque description, speaking the opulence and powers of
that mind of which age has neither dimmed the discernment nor
enfeebled the fancy, neither repressed the ardour nor narrowed
the range.'

224 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
ing pictures for the purpose of improving real land
scape ; ' and an essay on ' Landscape Gardening ' by
Sir Walter Scott, written for the ' Quarterly Review.'
The ' Round Table ' a collection of essays on ' Men
and Manners,' by W. Hazlitt and Leigh Hunt, and
Hazlitt's lectures and essays on subjects of dramatic
literature and on Art, are undoubtedly acute and
discriminating ; though Mr. Hazlitt's judgments on
men and things, however unhesitatingly pronounced,
are often liable to question. The essays of Charles
Lamb (Elia), unique and inimitable in their kind,
1820- were written in great part for the ' London Maga
zine.' They have been since brought together,
and now form one of the most acceptable of the
modern contributions to literature of the Essayists
of Great Britain.
The ' Encyclopaedia Britannica * and other collec
tions of the same kind contain numerous essays of
merit and interest, both as regards literary style and
matter, some of which have been published sepa
rately, though many are lost and confounded
in the mass of compilation and mixed writing of
which these ponderous works necessarily in great
measure consist.

1825.

CHAP. IX.] EPISTOLARY WRITING. 225

CHAPTER IX.
EPISTOLARY WRITING; VOYAGES AND TRAVELS,
/. Qualities of epistolary style — Letters of Swift — Pope —
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu — Gray — Horace Walpole —
Later epistolary writing — //. Qualities of style for
travel writing — Books of travels.
L EPISTOLARY WRITING.
' The qualities of the epistolary style most fre- Episto-
quently required are ease and simplicity, an even *'^ ^ ^
flow of unlaboured diction, and an artless arrange
ment of obvious sentiments.' ^ These qualities
appear at first sight so easy of attainment that
the form of epistolary writing has been adopted
for many literary purposes other than the com
munication by one friend to another at a dis
tance of his thoughts and sentiments. Thus in the
reign of George I. a series of essays on civil and
religious liberty take the form of ' Letters by Cato ; ' ^
a collection of original literary papers by Melmoth,
the translator of Pliny and Cicero, appear as 1742-
' Letters on several subjects by Sir Thomas Fitz-
osborne ; ' and some thirty years later. Archdeacon

* The Rambler, No. 152.
* These letters (by J. Trenchard and T. Gordon) were com
menced in the London Joumal (1720), and afterwards collected
in four volumes.

2 26 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK I.
Coxe gives to the world his Travels in Switzerland
in a series of letters to William Melmoth. Richard
son and Miss Burney write their novels in the form
of letters, while Lord Chesterfield brings out a work
on education and conduct in the shape of letters to
his son. Goldsmith's ' Citizen of the World ' makes
its appearance in ' Letters from a Chinese philosopher
in London to his friends in the East,' and Junius,
the wonder of his day, for whose mysterious 6ri-
ginal the weight of evidence now points to Sir
Philip Francis, makes a series of letters in a public
journal, full of declamatory argument and epigram
matic point, the vehicle of political invective. In
more recent times the Reverend Sydney Smith puts
forth jocular arguments on the Catholic Question in
'Letters from Peter Plymleytohis brother Abraham;'
and Mr. J. G. Lockhart's sketches of Edinburgh
and its belongings take the shape of ' Letters to his
kinsfolk by Dr. Peter Morris.'
English It is evident that such works as these, whatever
writing, their other merits, cannot be regarded as examples
of epistolary writing, properly so called. Examples
of this are to be sought in the published letters
written to each other by private friends ; of which in
later English literature there is no lack of examples.
The letters of Sir William Temple in the reign of
Charles II. were chiefly on affairs of state, and
derive their principal interest from the information
they convey on points of history and diplomacy.
Of Dean The correspondence of Dean Swift touches upon
"^ ¦ all subjects. Commencing during his residence with
Sir William Temple at Moor Park, in the reign of

CHAP. IX.] EPISTOLARY WRITING. 227

King William III., it extends through the reigns
of Queen Anne and George I. and over ten years
of that of George II. The most important trans
actions as well as the most familiar incidents are
referred to and commented upon in a free idiomatic
style, with an originality of observation and eccentric
humour characteristic of the man.^
Swift says, in a letter to Mr. Pope, towards the
close of his life — ' I believe we neither of us ever
leaned our head upon our left hand to study what
we should write next.' However this may have
• When Mr. Harley was about to be created Earl of Oxford,
and Sir Simon Harcourt (then Lord Keeper) Baron Harcourt,
Swift writes to Secretary St. John (afterwards Lord Boling
broke) : — Chelsea: May 11, 1711.
Sir, — Being convinced by certain ominous prognostics that my
life is too short to permit me the honour of ever dining another
Saturday with Sir Sim^n Harcourt, knight, or Robert Harley, Esq.,
I beg I may take the last farewell of those two gentlemen to-mor
row. I made this request on Saturday last, unfortunately after you
were gone ; and they, like great statesmen, pretended they could
do nothing in it without your consent. . . The Keeper alleged you
could do nothing but when all three were capitularly met, as if you
could never open but like a parish chest, with the three keys to
gether. It grieves me to see the present ministry thus confederated
to pull down my great spirit. Pray, sir, find an expedient. Finding
expedients is the business of secretaries of state. I will yield to
any reasonable conditions not below my dignity. I will not find
fault with the victuals ; I will restore the water-glass that I stole,
and solicit for my lord-keeper's salary. And, sir, to show you I
am not a person to be safely injured, if you dare refuse me justice
in this point, I will appear before you in a pudding-sleeve gown,
I will disparage your snuff, write a lampoon upon Nably Car, dine
with you upon a foreign post-day ; nay, I will read verses in your
presence until you snatch them out of my hands. Therefore,
pray, sir, take pity upon me and yourself.
Q2

228 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book i.
been in the Dean's correspondence with Pope, his
letters to his titled female correspondents, as the
Duchess of Queensberry and the Countess of Orkney,
were apparently more studied. Thus, in a letter to
Lady Orkney, who had presented him with a writing-
table, he says : —
I must tell your ladyship that I am this moment under
a very great concern. I was fully convinced that I should
write with a new spirit by the influence of the materials
you sent me ; but it is just otherwise : I have not a grain
of invention, whether out of the confusion which attends
us when we strive too much to acquit ourselves, or whether
your pens and ink are sullen, and think themselves disgraced
since they have changed their owner. I heartily thank
your ladyship for making me a present that looks like a
sort of establishment. I plainly see by the contrivance
that if you were first minister it would have been a
cathedral. As it is, you have more contributed towards
fixing me than all the ministry together ; for it is difficult
to travel with this equipage, and it will be impossible to
travel or live without it
Of Pope. ^^^ letters of Pope, justiy admired for their
English style, have most of them been the subject
of premeditation and revision. In allusion to them
Dr. Johnson observes : — ' It is one thing to write
because there is something which the mind wishes
to discharge, and another to solicit the imagina
tion because ceremony or vanity requires some
thing to be written.' From the internal evidence
afforded by his correspondence, Mr. Pope seems to
have written with a consciousness that his letters
would come one day before the public eye ; and
later enquiries show that they were in fact very
carefully revised and prepared for publication.

CHAP. IX.] EPISTOLARY WRITING. 229
Without the eccentricity and frequent abruptness
of Swift's manner. Pope's letters are full of meaning
and wit, though often chargeable, like many of the
Dean's letters, with breathing too much the spirit of
their own coterie. In several of his letters there is
an apparent artlessness of manner, probably the
effect of very careful writing ; as in the letter to
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu where he describes 1718.
in exquisite diction the simultaneous death by light
ning of two rustic lovers in a hay-field at Stanton-
Harcourt. Lady Mary Wortiey Montagu's letters have Of Lady
attained a reputation hardly inferior to that of her Montagu.
distinguished correspondent. Her letters to Mr.
Pope are rather more carefully composed than those
to her female friends. Lady Mary's letters from
Turkey during Mr. Wortley's embassy, and the
letters of her middle life in England, are written with
much vivacity and picturesque colouring, with a
marvellous talent for seeing the amusing side of
things, and with a marked absence of reserve.
The letters from Italy of her ladyship's later life,
when satiety and disappointment had subdued her
vivacity of spirit, are in a more sober and (in her
correspondence with her daughter the Countess of
Bute) in a more didactic tone.
The letters of Mr. Gray the poet, which com- of Gray
mence when he was a student at Cambridge with * ^ P°^ •
the Hon. Horace Walpole, and continue to the year
of his death, were incorporated in Mason's Memoirs 1771.
of the life of Gray, prefixed to his Poems. They are
the letters of a ripe scholar and man of cultivated

230 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
and rather fastidious taste, and touch mostly upon
literature, criticism, and architecture. Gray travelled
abroad in the company of Walpole, after their leav
ing college ; and in his later years visited the north
of England, Wales, and the Scotch Highlands ; his
observations and impressions in the course of his
various travels being for the most part set down in
His ap- his letters.^ He may be considered one of the first
tionaf travellers on British ground who appreciated and
scenery, drew attention to the picturesque beauty of its
natural scenery ; as to which it is not unworthy of
remark how certain points of scenery spoken of in
the language of the modern traveller as grand or
fine are characterised by Gray as savage, fearful or
grotesque.^ ' In a letter from Turin (describing the joumey through Savoy
up the valley of the Are), the fate of Horace Walpole's dog is thus
related : — ' Mr. Walpole had a little fat black spaniel that he was
very fond of, which he sometimes used to set down and let it run
by the chaise side. We were at that time in a very rough road,
not two yards broad at most ; on one side was a great wood of
pines, and on the other a vast precipice ; it was noon day, and
the sun shone bright, when all of a sudden from the wood side
(which was as steep upwards as the other side was downwards)
out rushed a great wolf, came close to the head of the horses,
seized the dog by the throat, and rushed up the hill again with
him in his mouth. This was done in less than a quarter of a
minute ; we all saw it, and yet the servants had not time to draw
their pistols or do anything to save the dog.'
^ In a letter from Glamis Castle (1765), Mr. Gray refers to
his ascent of the Pass of Killiecrankie in Perthshire in these
terms : — ' Vestibulum ante ipsum primisque in faucibus Orci stands
the solitary mansion of Mr. Robertson of Fascally; close by it
rises a hill covered with oak, with grotesque masses of rock staring
from among their trunks, like the sullen countenances of Fingal
and his family frowning on the little mortals of modern days :

CHAP. IX.] EPISTOLARY WRITING. 23 1
Superior to all his contemporaries as a ' letter- Letters of
, ITT ITT- 1 1 Horace
writer or correspondent, stands Horace Walpole. Walpole.
His facile conversational style of writing and natural
arrangement of topics are not more remarkable than
his pleasant way of relating news of all kinds, whether
political, artistical or literary, incidents of life and
manners, travelling anecdotes, bon mots or fashion
able scandal.-^ Not unfrequently his sentiments and
views give an impression of affectation and inconsis
tency ; but Walpole's affectation was a second nature,
and is at least entertaining. A vein of light satire
runs through most of his letters, for which perhaps
he might plead the excuse of the Roman satirist,
that it was difficult to avoid writing satire, consider
ing the subjects he wrote upon.
Looking to the published letters of a century
back from the present time, the examples of this
lighter species of composition are numerous, but of
very unequal merit. To refer only to a few of these. And of
the correspondence of Richardson the novelist has persons.
been edited by Mrs. Barbauld, that of David Hume
by Mr. J. H. Burton, and of Mr. Burke by Earl
Fitzwilliam and Sir R. Bourke. The letters of
Cowper have been given in his Life by Hayley, and
from between this hill and the adjacent mountains, pent in a
narrow channel, comes roaring out the river Tummel, and falls
headlong down, involved in white foam, which rises into a mist
all round it. . . . In short, since I saw the Alps I have seen
nothing subhme till now.'
' Mr. Walpole's letters to his various correspondents extend
over a period of sixty years from 1735. They have been recently
arranged chronologically and edited, with notes, in nine volumes,
by Mr. Peter Cunningham.

232 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
more fully in the edition of his works by Mr.
Southey ; those of Burns are included in Currie's
edition of his works. The diary and letters of
Madame D'Arblay (Miss Burney) have been edited
by her niece. A posthumous volume of letters
from the continent, of contemporary interest, by the
first Earl of Dudley to the Bishop of Llandaff, ap
peared in 1840.
Of late years it has been a frequent practice to
incorporate an author's letters, when deemed worthy
of publication, in a memoir of his life, as in Moore's
' Life of Lord Byron,' Lockhart's ' Life of Sir
Walter Scott,' and Earl Russell's ' Memoirs and
Correspondence of Mr. Moore.' Without going the
length of the opinion of Lord Hardwicke,^ ' that no
works have done more service to mankind than those
which have appeared in the shape of letters upon
familiar subjects, and which perhaps were never
intended to be published,' recourse may very well be
had to these and other epistolary works for much
entertaining and more or less instructive reading.

// VOYAGES AND TRAVELS.
Books of Voyages and Travels written by natives
of Britain are of course entitled to some place in
Literary literature, but it is difficult to say exactly what place
of ^books they should take. If veracity be a leading quality of
of travels, guch books, the less invention and imagination they
have the better. If the author's route or journey be
the guiding thread of his discourse, arrangement of
' In the case of Pope v. Curl, June 1741, Atkyn's Reports.

CHAP. IX.] VOYAGES AND TRAVELS^ 233

subject is provided for. His selection of facts and
things observed may indeed show greater or less
judgment ; his propriety of thought and sentiment in
commenting upon what he has seen may be greater
or less ; the style and diction of his narrative may
be more or less perspicuous and pure.
Assuming then a bond fide book of travels to be a
literary work, it would seem that, to give it a good
standing as such, the facts narrated ought to be of
sufficient novelty and importance to justify the
traveller appearing before the public in print ; the
comments on the facts observed should be sug
gestive, the reflections just, and the language of
the narrative unaffected and clear.^ The voyages
and travels that have taken most hold of the national
mind and have kept in after years their position as
'Standard books, possessing an interest of their own,
may probably be found to possess the qualities now
mentioned in a greater or less degree.
Among the most noteworthy books of travel in
the beginning of the i8th century is that of Mr.
Addison, entitled ' Remarks on several Parts of
Italy and Switzerland in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703.'
As the production of a scholar and man of refined
taste these travels possess a certain value, but are
more remarkable for their erudition and quotations
from the Roman poets with reference to classical
' The works to be mentioned in this brief notice are intended
to be Voyages and Travels, properly so called ; that is, registers
or journals of the tour or voyage, and of the traveller's proceed
ings, or adventures, if he have any, and not mere accounts or de
scriptions of the result of his observations.

234 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
localities than for observation of life and manners,
such as might have been looked for from the author
ofthe 'Spectator.'^ The Voyages and Travels in
Summary the following summary possess more of human
books'of" interest as well as much valuable information on a
voyages variety of Subjects. Such are —
travels. (/^ Ettrope) Pennant's ' First and Second Tours
1768-72. in Scotland ; ' Dr. Johnson's 'Journey to the Western
1773. Islands ; ' Bray's ' Tour in Derbyshire and York-
1777. shire ; ' Arthur Young's ' Tour in Ireland,' which,
1776-78. according to Miss Edgeworth, was the first faithful
portrait of the inhabitants of Ireland;^ the same
1787-89. author's ' Tour in France,' the observations in which
are directed principally to the state of agriculture,
but are of interest as to the state of France at the
commencement of the Revolution ; Archdeacon
1778. Coxe's ' Travels in Switzerland and in the Northern
Countries of Europe ; ' Sir Robert Ker Porter's
1805-8. ' Travelling Sketches in Russia and Sweden ; ' Sir
1 8 10. George Stewart Mackenzie's ' Travels in Iceland ; '
1810-23. Dr. Edward Clarke's ' Travels ' in various countries,
combining instruction and amusement in an eminent
1809-10. degree ; Journey of Sir John C. Hobhouse (Lord
Broughton) through Albania and other provinces
1841. of Turkey ; Colonel Mure's ' Journal of a Tour in
Greece and the Ionian Islands ; ' the Hon. Mr.
Curzon's ' Visit to the Monasteries of the Levant.*
' As regards art, Mr. Addison shows himself in this book more
conversant with the statuary of the ancients than with the paint
ing and sculpture of modern Italy ; and in architecture he sees
apparently nothing worthy of remark at Venice, though he ad
mires the palazzos of Florence and the renaissance buildings of
Rome. ^ Castle Rackrent, ad finem.

CHAP. IX.] VOYAGES AND TRAVELS. 235
{In Asia) Captain Daniel Beeckman's ' Voyage 1713-
to the Island of Borneo ; ' John Bell of Antermony's
' Travels from St. Petersburg to divers parts of Asia, 17 15.
including China and Pekin ; ' ' A Voyage Round the
World,' by George Anson, Esq., Commander-in- 1740-44-
chief of a squadron of his Majesty's ships sent
upon an expedition to the South Seas, compiled
from his papers and materials by Richard Walter,
chaplain to the expedition, — a ' tale of the sea ' in
real life, combining in a narrative of much interest
the incidents of a voyage of discovery and of a raid
against the Spanish merchantmen ; Three Voyages
to the Pacific Ocean and Australasia, by Captain 1768-80.
James Cook, the intrepid successor of the Dampiers
and navigators of a previous age ; Captain W.
Francklin's ' Tour from Bengal to Persia ; ' Syme's 1786.
' Embassy to the Kingdom of Ava ; ' Sir George 1795.
Staunton's ' Notes and Proceedings during the 1816.
British Embassy to Pekin ; ' Sir Alexander Burnes'
' Travels into Bokhara, being a journey from India 1834.
to Cabool, Tartary, and Persia;' and the same
author's ' Personal Narrative of a Journey to and 1836-8.
residence in the city of Cabool' The ' Crescent and 1845
the Cross ' of Eliot Warburton and Mr. Kinglake's
' Eothen' are agreeably written travels in the Asiatic
provinces of Turkey.
{In Africa) Windhus's ' Journey to Mequinez,'
the residence of the Emperor of Morocco, on the
occasion of Commodore Stewart's embassy thither 1721.
for the redemption of the British captives; Dr.
Thomas Shaw*s ' Travels in Barbary and the
Levant,' esteemed for accuracy of observation and 1736.

236 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book I.
1768-73. their illustration of scripture and the classic authors ;
Bruce's ' Travels in Abyssinia to discover the source
1792-8. of the Nile ; ' W. G. Brown's ' Travels in Africa,
Egypt and Syria ; ' Mungo Park's ' First and Second
1796- Travels in Africa,' written in a lucid and simple
^^°^' style ; Denham and Clapperton's ' Narratives of
1822-24. Travels and Discoveries in northern and central
jg„ Africa;* Richard and John Landers 'Journal of an
expedition to explore the course and termination of
the Niger ; * and Captain John Hanning Speke*s
1863. ' Journal of the discovery of the source of the Nile
in the Lake Victoria-Nyanza,' — a disco-C^ery which
has solved the problem of many preceding ages. Of
the travels in Africa of Dr. Livingstone and of Sir
Samuel Baker, the hope may be expressed that they
are not yet concluded.
1735. {In America) Ulloa's 'Voyage to South America,'
translated from the Spanish with observations by
John Adams ; Dr. Barnaby's ' Travels in North
1759-60. America * during the period immediately preceding
the American war; Captain Basil HalFs 'Journal
1820-22. written on the coasts of Chili, Peru and Mexico ; '
his ' Voyage to Loo Choo, and other Fragments of
Voyages and Travels,' all sufficiently entertaining.
The narratives of the various expeditions conducted
by Parry, Franklin and other navigators, with the
intent (vain for any practical purpose) of discovering
in the Polar Seas and along their inhospitable shores
a north-west passage between the two continents,
are full of curious and often painful interest.

BOOK IL
ARCHITECTURE.

CHAP. I.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 239

CHAPTER I.
BRITISH ARCHITECTURE IN THE EIGHTEENTH
CENTURY.
Palladian-classical architecture — Architecture and land
scape gardening — Variations of classical architecture —
Greek — Italian — Street architecture.
At the period of the accession of the House of Han
over the adoption of the Italian or Palladian style
for new buildings of an architectural character may
be regarded as having been the general rule in Eng
land. Sir Christopher Wren's designs for churches
in the metropolis and other buildings were gradually
being carried into execution ; some of them, after
his own decease, being executed by his pupil
Nicholas Hawksmoor. This architect built also
from his own designs, but cannot be said to have
improved upon the practice of his master.
Sir John Vanbrugh, who had more originality Sirj.
than Hawksmoor and greater genius, attempted a brugh.
variation in the Palladian style, without much sue- y^\(^_
cess as regards any permanent influence on English
building of the period. His name is usually asso
ciated with bis two principal works, Blenheim and
Castle Howard ; both of them displaying his pecu
liar manner, which looked to grandeur and pic
turesque effect rather than to regularity of style.
While ridiculed by Pope and Horace Walpole for

240 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.
heaviness and want of grace in his designs, Vanbrugh
has been extolled by Sir Joshua Reynolds and Sir
Uvedale Price for a certain pictorial excellence in
his architecture.^ His peculiar merit in this respect
is analysed by Sir Joshua into an understanding of
light and shadow and great skill in composition.
Vanbrugh's cupolas and towers (if towers they are)
not only group well together, but give a rich variety
of outline against the sky, the want of which is fre
quently felt in classical buildings.
The architectural performances of James Gibbs,
Colin Campbell, and William Kent had the ques
tionable merit of materially aiding to imprint on
British architecture of the 1 8th century its Palladian-
J. Gibbs. classical character. Of these architects Gibbs may
,7*5^ be regarded as the best, his reputation resting prin
cipally on the Radcliffe library at Oxford and the
church of St. Martin*s-in-the-Fields, London, with
its fine octostyle portico. Campbell, author of the
' Vitruvius Britannicus ' (containing his own designs),
was professedly a follower of Inigo Jones ; but going
farther than Jones in his admiration of porticoes.^
A porticoed house became the general, though not
universal type, of an English mansion ; several varia
tions being in course of time introduced upon it.
Combinations of arches with columnar ordinances,
broken entablatures, attached columns and pilaster
fronts, came into vogue as justified by Palladian pre
cedents. Better features of the Italian style, when
' Reynolds' 13th Discourse; Price on the Picturesque, vol. ii.
p. 212.
* Fergusson's Modern Styles of Architecture (1862), p. 286.

CHAP. 1.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. '2\'i.
well applied, were the cupola and the unbroken
crowning cornice along the roof
William Kent, designer and architect as well as The Eari
landscape gardener, was regarded in his day as a lington
profound authority in all matters of taste, from ^^ij^^j^,
an arcade or a ceiling to the design of a lady's Kent.
gown. His success in the world appears to have
considerably exceeded his desert ; but whether this
was owing to bold pretensions or to the defective
taste of the day, or to the influence of his patron the
Earl of Burlington, it would be difficult to say. His
connection with Lord Burlington was fortunate for
him, in so far as his lordship's taste in architecture
being better than his own, Mr. Kent occasionally got
the credit of designs in which the peer had the prin
cipal part. The front and colonnade of Burlington
House in Piccadilly and the northern or park-front
of the Treasury buildings at Whitehall and the
Horse Guards are the chief structures associated Died
with the name of Kent.
This architect had in some way incurred the high
displeasure of Hogarth the painter, and is introduced
along with the Earl of Burlington in two of Hogarth's
satirical prints, both of which, although of different
years, have the feature in common of a view of
'Burlington Gate' or front of Burlington House.
Kent is drawn in both prints perched on the summit
of the pediment, while Michael Angelo and Raphael,
placed below on each extremity of the pediment,
regard him with amazement. In one of the prints
Lord Burlington and Mr. Pope are engaged in
whitewashing the front of Burlington House.

242 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ll.
During the latter half of the i8th century Sir
William Chambers, Sir Robert Taylor, Robert and
James Adam, were the architects whose works were
in the highest repute. George Dance, the second of
that name who held the office of city architect, had
the merit (although not a first-class architect) of con-
Newgate, structing Newgate prison — a building of massive
^^'^^' and simple character, with a fagade showing some
thing of the early Florentine manner, and satisfying
the taste from its appearance of perfect appropriate
ness to its object. The Mansion-house of London
was also the work of Dance. Sir William Chambers
Somerset was the architect of Somerset House, which, not-
House. withstanding all the criticism it has undergone, is a
great example of the Italian style and the chief
architectural work of the reign of George 1 11.^ The
Strand front is considered the best, though its effect
is marred by the narrowness of the street. The
southern interior of the quadrangle is too much
' broken into parts, so as to deprive it of that massive
grandeur of effect its size should warrant. The
river-front, though liable to observation on the same
ground, shows a fine extent of ornamental building.
Edifices Among edifices in the Palladian style the works
J. Adam, of Robert and James Adam take a fair position.
Their father William Adam, a Scotchman, built
Hopetoun House in Linlithgowshire. Robert and
James are known in England by the Adelphi Terrace
' Sir Joshua Reynolds, whose excellent portrait of Chambers
is in the possession of the Royal Academy, calls Somerset House
' an illustrious specimen ofthe architect's abilities.' — loth Discourse.
Sir W. Chambers died in 1796.

CHAP. I.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 243
buildings (one of the first approaches to improve
ment in the street architecture of London), and by
the screen of the Admiralty ; also by Keddlestone
Hall, Derbyshire, Caenwood in Middlesex, and other
houses. They also built the Register House in
Edinburgh. The latest work in the preparation of Died
designs for which the Adams were engaged was the
College of Edinburgh. Of their designs the only
part ultimately adopted was the present street front
of Roman Doric (omitting the central cupola pro
posed by them) and the Ionic colonnades in the
corners of the quadrangle. This building, including
a library hall of great architectural beauty, was after
wards completed in the Italian style by William
Playfair, a Scottish architect.^
From the designs of these and other architects Palladian
numerous mansion-houses in the Italian manner ture in
were erected before the close of the 18th century in "^^"
all parts of the United Kingdom. A considerable
proportion of these houses had golumnar porticoes,
while combinations frequently appeared of the arch
and column in fronts.^ In many instances, whether
' Life and Works of W. H Playfair, by J. M. Graham,
in Transactions of Scottish Architectural Institute, i860.
^ The publication in numbers of the Views of Country Seats in
England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, by John Preston Neale,
commenced in 1818. Taking the views in this book of the
mansion-houses in the county of York alone, there were at that
date twenty-three houses in the Palladian or Italian style, of which
thirteen have porticoes ; twelve houses in the style of Elizabeth
and James, having more or less of Italian detail; and three
modern Gothic. This summary may not be quite accurate, as
from the small scale of Neale's views the style of architecture is
in some houses not very distinctly seen.
R 2

244 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ii.
from following too much the same models or from
the edifices being unsuited to the scenery and cli
mate of this country, the result architecturally is
believed to have been the reverse of satisfactory;
and some may think Pope's vaticination, conveyed
in the following lines,-^ has been fulfilled in regard to
much ofthe i8th century building in England : —
You show us Rome was glorious, not profuse.
And pompous buildings once v/ere things of use.
Yet shall, my lord, your just, your noble rules
Fill half the land with imitating fools ;
Who random drawings from your sheets shall take.
And of one beauty many blunders make ;
Load some vain church with old theatric state,
Turn arcs of triumph to a garden gate ; . . .
Shall call the winds through long arcades to roar,
Proud to catch cold at a Venetian door;
Conscious they act a true Palladian part,
And if they starve, they starve by rules of art.
Treat- Simultaneously with the adoption in England of
ground^ the Palladian instead of the old English or Eliza-
adjoming bethan style of architecture for mansions and
the ^
mansion country-houses, a change took place likewise in the
treatment of the immediately adjoining ground.
Along with other foreign features introduced in the
reigns of Elizabeth and James I., a taste for Italian
gardening as an adjunct of the house had been
widely extended. The gardens were enriched with
architectural embellishment, and as art enlarged its
range, ornaments in fountains and basins were suc
cessively added ; grass terraces connected by flights
' Epistle to the Earl of Burlington.

CHAP. I.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 245

of Steps were decorated with balustrades, vases and
statues. Slopes of velvet turf, parterres of flowers
bordered with stone ledges, bowling-greens and
shady alleys of yews and limes, gave variety to the
scene. In the reign of William III. the Dutch taste
in gardening, more minutely formal, was partially
superinduced upon the Italian or the later Italian-
French manner of Charles II. ; and the pleasure-
ground was cut into straight little walks, fraternal
alleys with curious bowers, quincunxes and other
figures intersected by hedges of holly, yew, horn
beam and beech clipped into fantastic shapes.^ Of
these two kinds of garden the Italian, with its archi
tectural features and larger manner, was the more
important in an architectural point of view. Both
were destined to be sacrificed to what was called
a more natural or park-like treatment of the ground.
As if to compensate for the introduction into Land-
'^ scape
England of Palladian mansions, fashion decreed that garden-
the ground about a house should be gardened into i8th
a so-called natural and English landscape. Grass "" ""^^^
lawns and trees were brought up to the very door
and windows. Belts and clumps of planting, arti
ficial water, undulating ground, became the watch
words and substantial signs of the new mode of
' Walpole On Modern Gardening {Anecdotes of Painting in
England, vol. iv.) ; Essays on the Picturesque, by Sir Uvedale
Price. A letter of Mr. Pope to Martha Blount (17 14) contains
a particular description of the old garden and house, as then ex
isting, of Sherborne Castle in Dorsetshire. At the country-seat
of Levcns, near Kendal, a handsome garden in the old taste
still remains, terraced and with trees and hedges clipped into
shapes.

246 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.
' improving,' which was in vogue during a consider
able part of last century, and spread into all corners
of the kingdom. Kent, Lancelot Brown, and Repton
were successively the chief apostles and teachers of
this method of landscape gardening, which had some
good but more ill features.^ It is thus pleasantly
described by Cowper in ' The Task : ' —
Improvement, too, the idol of the age,^
Is fed with many a victim. Lo, he comes !
The omnipotent magician. Brown, appears !
Down falls the venerable pile, the abode
Of our forefathers, a grave whisker'd race.
Yet tasteless. Springs a palace in its stead.
But in a distant spot where, more exposed.
It may enjoy th' advantage of the north
And aguish east, till time shall have transform'd
Those naked acres to a sheltering grove.
He speaks. The lake in front becomes a lawn.
Woods vanish, hills subside and valleys rise,
And streams, as if created for his use.

' The grounds of Stowe were laid out by the first Lord Cob-
ham when regularity was in fashion. It appears, from Bray's
Tour in Derbyshire in 1777, that after they had been 'improved'
according to Ihe landscape-gardening of Kent and Brown, ' the
original boundary was still preserved on account of its magnifi
cence ; for round the whole circuit of between five and six miles
is carried a broad gravel walk, planted with rows of trees, and open
either to the park or the country. ... In the interior scenes
of the garden, few traces of regularity appear ; where it yet
remains in the plantations in any degree, it is at least disguised ;
a basin which was an octagon is converted into an irregular
piece of water falling down a cascade into a lake below.'
* ' Our aunt's bell rings,' says Miss Neville in She Stoops to
Conquer, ' for our afternoon's walk round the improvements.' —
Act I.

CHAP. I. CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 247

Pursue the track of his directing wand.
Sinuous or straight, now rapid and now slow.
Now murmuring soft, now roaring in cascades.
Even as he bids ! The enraptured owner smiles ;
'Tis finish'd. And yet, finish'd as it seems,
Still wants a grace, the loveliest it could show —
A mine to satisfy the enormous cost.
So deeply imbued were the English builders of Recur-
the 1 8th century with the conventional canons and [he'pure
manner of Palladio, Bernini, and the architecture of Greek
archi-
their school, that a long time elapsed before it oc- tecture.
curred to anyone to look beyond it and examine
the original examples of the classical style. The
British public had acquired a knowledge of Roman
architecture through the Palladian version. Of the
pure classical architecture of Greece they were almost
entirely ignorant. Even Sir William Chambers, in his
' Treatise on Civil Architecture ' (for half a century
the only systematic book on the subject), when he
comes to speak of the Greek style, shows how
defective was his acquaintance with it, depreciating
and underrating the Greek in comparison with the
Italian style.^ As regards Roman architecture, the
publications of Dawkins and Wood illustrating
Palmyra and Balbec,^ and Robert Adam*s en- 1764.
graved drawings of the palace of Diocletian
at Spalatro, excited considerable interest, but they
do not seem to have had much effect on the pre
vailing style of building. The Greek architecture

1 P. 116, edition by Gwilt, 1825. The first edition of Cham
bers' Treatise was published in 1759.
2 London, 1753 and 1757.

248 VIEW OF LITERA TURE AND ART. [book ii.
became first practically known in this country through
the publications of James Stuart and Nicholas
Revett.^ The full effect of these publications and of the
enquiry into and study of the subject they occa
sioned did not appear till the commencement of the
present century. About that time, a strong feeling
arose to get quit if possible of the trammels of the
Palladian school, and to have recourse to the models
of classical architecture at its fountain-head. This
however it was easier to propose than to put in
execution. The monuments of Grecian art were
mostly temples ; in other words, buildings adapted
to a southern climate and to the purposes of pagan
worship. To make a direct copy or reproduction of
those ancient structures, although tried in one or
two instances, was well-nigh impossible, and in
advisable if it had been possible. The next thing
to endeavour was to master and get at the principle
and spirit of the Greek style, and apply it to modern
buildings and the requirements of modern life. This
was the very difficulty, with a change of circumstances,
which the Italian builders had to encounter in their
adaptation of the Roman style to modern uses, and
which they might be said to have by degrees in
some measure overcome, however opinions might
differ as to the satisfactory character of the results.
' These two architects and draughtsmen having visited Greece,
and particularly Athens, brought back with them a series of accu
rate drawings and measurements of the ancient monuments of
Athens, which, with the aid of the Dilettanti Society, were en
graved and pubhshed in successive volumes in 1761, 1787, 1794.

CHAP. I.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 249
It will, it is believed, be generally acknowledged, its diffi-
that the adoption of a more strictly classical style of
building, having reference to the models of pure
Grecian art, has been accomplished (in most in
stances) with very doubtful success. When a feeling
is shown for harmony, proportion and general fitness,
and common sense is displayed in the application
of the Greek style, the result may be satisfactory.
But when a disproportioned Doric or Ionic portico is
made to front a misshapen mass of building, when
Choragic monuments or Lanterns are perched on the
top of peripteral Exchange-rooms, and steeples, made
up (very characteristically in the climate of Britain)
of Towers of the Winds, rise from what is called a
Grecian but is really a nondescript temple or church,
such pseudo-classical attempts can be regarded only
with regret.
The Greek style was equally difficult and intract
able in ecclesiastical and in civil edifices. In the
churches where it has been tried, the building cost of
which was limited, the result has usually been a
chaste but meagre plainness, with incongruity exter
nally and inconvenience within. Comparatively few
churches, therefore, have been erected in the pure
classical style. Of the civil edifices in this style the
Bank of England is an example in everyone's view.
The peculiarity of the site and the fall of the ground
presented difficulties which the architect. Sir John
Soane, is not thought to have entirely got over ;
but a great effect is produced by several of its archi
tectural features. The British Museum by Sir
Robert Smirke, Grange House in Hampshire by

250 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.
Wilkins, as well as some other columnar edifices, are
regarded as not altogether successful examples of the
temple architecture of Greece. The wind roars
through long colonnades quite as much as through
long arcades, and a cold may be caught at a Doric
or Ionic door quite as well as at a Venetian door.^
Greek Scotland did not escape the classical furore of the
ture'hi'^" early part of the present century. The merchants
Scotland. Qf Glasgow erected an Exchange-room in the form
of a peripteral Grecian temple, and on the Calton
hill of Edinburgh there sprang up four elegant little
monuments in the Greek style, besides twelve Doric
columns of a portico for the intended Parthenon of
' Modern Athens.* The High School on the south
slope of this hill, designed by Thomas Hamilton, is
well set down, and is one of the best modern speci
mens of the adaptation of the style to a useful
' In the internal arrangements of the British Museum very
extensive accommodation has been provided, not only for the
valuable sculpture and other contents of the museum, but for the
vast collection of books and manuscripts of which the library
consists. In 1855 the Dome reading-room was built within the
quadrangle upon an area of 48,000 superficial feet ; the plan of
it, originally suggested by Mr. Panizzi, librarian of the Museum,
having been carried into execution by Mr. Sidney Smirke. The
room is circular, causing some difficulty (as in all round rooms) in
becoming acquainted with its localities ; having tables and pas
sages exactly similar converging towards the centre space. The
Museum reading-room may be compared in form to the upper
portion of the Pantheon at Rome, the diameter of its dome, 140
feet, being only two feet less than that of the Pantheon. The
building is constructed principally of iron, with brick arches be
tween the main ribs, supported by twenty iron piers, and is hghted
from the roof and by side windows at a considerable height from
the floor ; the glazing, ventilation, and heating being very artisti
cally provided for.

CHAP. I.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 251
building. Mr. Playfair, whom we have seen taking
up the designs of Robert and James Adam, built
for the Trustees of Scottish manufactures, assisted by
the government, two classical structures in Edin
burgh upon a moderate scale and sufficiently well
adapted to their purpose. One of these, the Royal
Institution, is on the general plan of an octo-style
peristylar temple of Grecian Doric, having an ex
hibition gallery in the centre lighted from the roof,
with suites of rooms at the sides. Its effect is much
injured by the nature of the site, from which the
ground rises on two sides. The other is the build
ing appropriated to the Scottish National Gallery
and Royal Scottish Academy, of Greek Ionic; an
oblong building with a square central mass, having
porticoes at each side and at the ends. It contains
two long suites of rooms lighted from the roof
Of British examples of Grecian art St. George*s St.
Hall, Liverpool, designed by Harvey L. Elmes, is HaiL^^^
perhaps the most successful, looking to its design
externally and internally and to the purity of its
ornament and detail. Built in accordance with the
principles of Greek architecture, it displays at the
same time a certain originality in their application.
It is indeed the only British building in the classical
style which can be named along with the church
of the Magdalene at Paris.
In almost all building in the stricter classical
style the defect or at least the inferiority of our
sculptural decoration causes a line of demarcation
between ancient and modern Greek architecture
which has not as yet, and is not likely to be, got

252 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK 11.
over. Without sculptural ornament Greek forms
and details, when applied in modern buildings,
though they may be chaste and correct, are apt to
run into plainness and monotony, of which instances
are to be seen constantly. There is moreover in
the pure Greek style a haughty simplicity (to use
an expression of Mr. Ruskin's) which demands
certain conditions in regard to scale, situation and
other things, to render it pleasing. Being restricted
to the ground floor, or, if a disproportionate dimension
of column is employed, to the ground and first floors,
a Greek building of considerable size also requires
more horizontal space than often can be afforded.
The It is not, therefore, very surprising, taking these
still a various considerations into view, that notwithstand-
useful jj^g. |.j^g lofty pretensions of the Greek to be the
popular *> -' i
style. true classical style, the Italian in its various modifi
cations should yet have kept its position as a useful
popular style. Not disdaining that ornament, more
rich than pure, which it brings from the Palazzos of
Genoa, Rome, and Venice, now part and parcel of
the style, it is more agreeable and striking to the
general eye. And looking to its numerous combi
nations of the arch and column, or its ornamental
fagades without those combinations, and to its power
of rising to a height of several stories and thus
allowing more internal accommodation in a given
space of ground, it is also better suited than the
Greek to modern living and requirements. Of late
years we have seen various new examples of the
Italian style in mansions of the nobility and gentry
and in public buildings and club-houses, showing

CHAP. I.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 253
upon the whole an improvement on the examples of
the same style in the last century, and affording
evidence of more enlarged views and a better study
of architecture. The park front of Bridgewater
house, London, by Sir Charles Barry, is regarded as
one of the best of the recent facades ; the propor
tions good, the windows, including dormers, well set
and grouped, the balustrades, cornices, and chimneys
tastefully managed — and no portico.
The picturesque irregularity of the old streets street
and gable-fronted houses of English towns, with tecture.
their high-pitched and occasionally thatched roofs,
having succumbed to the natural causes of decay
and the progressive enlargement of the towns, the
modern street architecture that succeeded was,
generally speaking, during the i8th century, very
plain and tiresomely monotonous. In illustration of
this, reference need only be made to Baker Street,
Gower Street, and Gloucester Place, in London, and
to the streets or ' divisions ' of the new town of
Edinburgh as originally built. The street architec
ture of the town of Bath was of a more elegant and
pretentious character. There was at Bath ready
access to good freestone quarries in the neighbour
hood, and its commanding situation upon the slope
of a hill aided in giving effect to the new buildings
that arose about the middle of the i8th century in
that fashionable watering place.^
' ' I was impatient,' writes Mr. Matthew Bramble, in Smollett's
Humphrey Clinker (17 71), 'to see the boasted improvements in
architecture for which the upper parts of the town have been so
much celebrated, and t'other day I made a circuit of all the new

254 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK li.
Street architecture is of late years considerably
improved, though still in many respects defective.
When this improvement commenced, the classical
style, as that most in vogue and supposed to be the
most manageable, was usually adopted. By group
ing parcels of houses and sides of squares, and by
a free use of central porticoes, engaged or other
wise, pilasters, lines of balustrades, vases and
sphinxes, architects such as Holland and Nash in
London and Playfair in Edinburgh have en
deavoured to do away and break the monotony of
modern streets and squares. In the principal
squares of Edinburgh, and in the terraces (by
Playfair) on the Calton hill, this more varied and
ornamental treatment is seen to as much advantage
though on a less scale than in London, from the
buildings. The square, though irregular, is on the whole pretty
well laid out, spacious, open and airy, and in my opinion by far
the most wholesome and agreeable situation in Bath, especially
the upper side of it ; but the avenues to it are mean, dirty, dan
gerous, and indirect. . . . The Circus is a pretty bauble, contrived
for show, and looks like Vespasian's amphitheatre turned outside
in. If we consider it in point of magnificence, the great number
of small doors belonging to the separate houses, the inconsider
able height of the different orders, the affected ornaments of
the architrave, which are both childish and misplaced, and the
areas projecting into the street, surrounded with iron rails, destroy
a good part of its effect upon the eye ; and perhaps we shall find
it still more defective if we view it in the light of convenience.
The figure of each separate dwelling-house, being the segment of
a circle, must spoil the symmetry of the rooms by contracting
them towards the street windows and leaving a large sweep in the
space behind. . . The same artist who planned the Circus has
likewise projected a Crescent. When that is finished, we shall
probably have a Star, and those who are living thirty years hence
may perhaps see all the signs of the Zodiac exhibited at Bath.'

CHAP, i.] CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE. 255
excellent quality of the Edinburgh freestone and, in
the case of the terraces just mentioned, their pecu
liarly fine situation. In more recent London archi
tecture, in the building of large hotels, palazzo club
houses, banks, and public offices, the advantage in a
picturesque point of view of giving a varied line by
breaks in the outline, pavilion-towers, and ornamental
chimneys, has been recognised and acted upon with
greater or less success ; classical architects taking a
hint in this particular from the Gothic style and
from Vanbrugh's manner. The National Gallery in
Trafalgar Square (by Wilkins), of common-place
renaissance architecture, with one of the finest sites
in the world, is much injured in point of effect by its
insignificant cupola. The London University build
ing recently erected behind Burlington House from
the design of Sir James Pennethorne is an elegant
and well-proportioned composition in the Italian
style, enriched with statuary ornament.
In the modern and most showy parts of London Superior
the plasterer's skill is too much had recourse to, the workand
use of stucco being apparently rerarded as a neces- *^"^
, ¦' ° cotta, or
sar}^ expedient where, in the absence of hewn stone, stucco
an ornamental exterior is to be provided at a mo- paint?
derate ex^sense.^ That this is a crying evil, not
only architecturally, but from the circumstance of
stucco, plaster and paint requiring constant attention
1 The era of stucco and plaster seems to have commenced in
London in the latter portion of the i8th century. Mr. Puff, in
the Critic (1779), is spoken of as preparing a paragraph adver
tisement for the newspapers, from ' A detester of visible brick
work, in favour of the new invented stucco.'

256 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK n.
in order to preserve them from the effects of hu
midity, will be evident to anyone who remarks the
columnar porches and other parts of houses fronting
the east in many parts of Belgravia and the western
suburbs of London. Such a use or rather abuse of
stucco in the external coating of houses is a great
argument in favour of the growing taste for houses
built of superior brick- work with stone quoins. In
brick houses of this kind, having terra cotta fronts
and mouldings, there is great scope for originality
of treatment in a solid material and at moderate ex
pense. Variety of colour also in the bricks and terra
cotta, not applied to excess, may be used to enhance
the ornamental effect. The chief risk in the use of
terra cotta frontage ornaments arises from the
shrinking of the material, and hence the advantage
of a pure body of good clay over mixed material,
as producing a greater uniformity of shrinking, is
understood to be recognised in practice. For dura
bility and beauty of line good freestone will gene
rally be preferred ; but terra cotta work gives a
fineness of surface and a variety of colouring, where
that is wanted, not easily to be obtained in any
other material.^

' Had engineering architecture, including bridges, aqueducts,
lighthouses, railway-stations, &c., come within the scope of this
historical survey, the works of the Messrs. Rennie, Telford, Rendel,
Brunei, Cubitt. and G. and R. Stephenson would undoubtedly
have claimed attention. Of late years the desire to make this
species of architecture ornamental and tasteful, as well as solid
and useful, has been generally manifested, and in some instances
carried into effect.

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 257

CHAPTER II.
GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE AND ITS VARIETIES.
Gothic Architecture — Its revival and use in ecclesiastical
edifices — Question of its application to secular buildings
— Sir C. Barry and the Houses of Parliament — Tudor
Gothic — Varieties.
Having traced the progress of the classical style of
architecture in its Italian variations and in the
severer Greek style ; having remarked the impetus
given to it originally by the genius of Jones and
Wren, the mannerism and imitation that followed,
and the revolt for a time of public taste in favour of
the more genuine classicism of Greece, it remains now
to advert to another phase in the history of British
architecture. About the same time that the pure
Greek style was asserting its claim to attention in
contra-distinction to the ornate and mannered Italian,
a powerful rival to both these forms of classicism
appeared in what has been called the Gothic
Revival. Notwithstanding the existence in all parts of the Gothic
United Kingdom of many admirable monuments of lecture,
Gothic building, that style had waned (as we have g"^^^";^
seen) before the influence of the Italian renaissance. England.
Men of cultivated taste, of theory and of practice,
the Wrens and Evelyns and Grays of their day,
s

258 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.
united in depreciating it. The cathedrals and
minsters were looked upon as wonderful productions
of a barbarous age, which nobody could understand.
Mr. Evelyn in his ' Account of Architects and
Architecture,' written in the reign of King William
and dedicated to Sir Christopher Wren, speaks of
them as ' congestions of heavy, dark, melancholy,
monkish piles, without any just proportion, use or
beauty, compared with the truly ancient' ^ The poet
Gray, writing some fifty years after Evelyn, thus
apostrophises the Gothic structures of Cambridge —
Hail Horrors, hail ! Ye ever gloomy bowers,
Ye Gothic fanes and antiquated towers, &c.
And he thus sings of an old Gothic mansion — ¦
In Britain's isle, no matter where.
An ancient pile of building stands,
The Huntingdons and Hattons there
Employ'd the power of fairy hands

• In this treatise Evelyn challenges a comparison of Henry
the Seventh's chapel, with its ' sharp angles, jetties, narrow lights,
lame statues, lace and other cut-work and crinkle-crankle,' with
the Banqueting-house at Whitehall, and St. Paul's cathedral, so
far as then built ; and of the Oxford schools and library, with the
theatre at Oxford and with Greenwich Hospital ; and then asks,
with an evident anticipation of the answer, ' which of the two
manners strikes the understanding as well as the eye with the
more majesty and solemn greatness ? ' He admits that there is
something ' solid and oddly artificial ' in the Gothic manner, but
complains of the 'unreasonable thickness of the walls, the
clumsy buttresses, towers, sharp-pointed arches, doors and other
apertures without proportion, nonsense insertions of various
marbles impertinently placed, turrets and pinnacles thick-set with
monkeys and chimeras, and abundance of busy work and other
incongruities.'

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 259

To raise the ceiling's fretted height.
Each panel in achievements clothing —
Rich windows that exclude the light,
And passages that lead to nothing. '
To the honour of Sir William Chambers, himself
an architect in the classical manner, perhaps the
earliest appreciation in more recent times of the
merits of Gothic architecture, particularly in con
struction, appears in his ' Treatise of Architec
ture'^: —
To those usually called Gothic architects (says he) we
are indebted for the first considerable improvements in
construction ; there is a lightness in their works, an art
and boldness of execution to which the ancients never
arrived, and which the moderns comprehend and imitate
with difficulty. . . Would our dilettanti, instead of import
ing the gleanings of Greece, or our antiquaries, instead of
publishing loose incoherent prints, encourage persons duly
qualified to undertake a correct elegant publication of our
own cathedrals and other buildings called Gothic, before
they totally fall to ruin, it would be of great service to the
arts of design, preserve the remembrance of an extra
ordinary style of building now sinking fast into oblivion,
and at the same time publish to the world the riches of
Britain in the splendour of her ancient structures.
1 Gray, when travelling on the continent in 1739, with the
Hon. Horace Walpole, talks slightingly of the cathedral of
Amiens as a 'huge Gothic building, beset on the outside with
thousands of small statues,' &c. ; and of Sienna cathedral as ' a
huge pile of marble, laboured with a Gothic niceness and
dehcacy in the old-fashioned way ; ' while he makes honourable
mention ofthe twin renaissance churches at the Porta del Popolo
at Rome as ' of a handsome architecture.' — Mason's Life and
Works of Gray.
2 Third edition, p. 128. s 2

26o VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book II.
Straw- About the time of the publication of Chambers*
berry Hill. Treatise in 1759, Horace Walpole was amusing
himself with his Gothic plaything of Strawberry
Hill. He could hardly have flattered himself that
this villa was to be the nucleus of a revival of Gothic
architecture ; but there can be no doubt that it was
suggestive, leading to enquiry and to a study of the
Defective Gothic Style. It would have conduced to a better
ledge of appreciation of this style, and probably to an earlier
and better practice, if there had been materials more
accessible than the original Gothic examples, from
which to gain the necessary knowledge of its princi
ples and details. The architects of that time had no
guides to refer to in the way of trustworthy books
containing designs of Gothic architecture. Even Sir
Christopher Wren and the best of his successors,
when required to build in the Gothic manner, mani
festly ignored its rules and detail.^ It is not surpris
ing, therefore, that when a desire for Gothic building,
chiefly in the form of private dwelling-houses, arose
and became fashionable in the latter half of the last
century, the demand was but imperfectly supplied as
regards satisfactory execution.
In such a state of matters it was perhaps fortunate
that comparatively few churches were built. In the
case of country mansions and villas the zeal and im
patience of the admirers of Gothic outran the archi
tectural skill and knowledge of the time. In many
' This is very evident in the church of St. Dunstan's in the East,
one of the exceptional churches in the Gothic style by Wren, which
(with its effective Gothic spire resting upon four light arches of open
work) has been restored and rebuilt in the present century.

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 26 1
parts of the country Gothic castles arose, uncomfort
able as dwelling-houses and unworthy of the name
of fortified places ; country squires erected priories,
and London citizens rusticated in little Strawberry
Hills. The Gothic house-building fervour culmi
nated in Fonthill Abbey, which was nearly completed
in the early part of the present century, from the de
signs of James Wyatt, and was the wonder of its day.
By this time experience and study had gradually
brought about a considerable improvement in Gothic
building. The careful researches and drawings of
John Britton embodied in the ' Architectural Anti
quities of Great Britain ' and in his ' Cathedral Anti- 1807-21.
quities of England,' and the publications of the elder
Pugin, contributed in a sensible manner to diffuse a
knowledge both of the principles and of the appro
priate detail of Gothic. These were followed later
in the present century, and with the same instructive
tendency, by the publications of the younger Pugin,
of Rickman, Billings, the ' Glossary of Architecture,'
and by Mr. Fergusson's ' History of Architecture.'^
With improved means of study and information jj„.
the practice of Gothic building improved. Abbeys, v^f^^^^ ^
priories, castles and Gothic villas, continued to spring- practice
• 1, 1- • r 1 J • r 1 117 ofGothic.
up in all directions from the designs 01 the Wyatts,
Smirke, Atkinson and other architects ; occasionally
without much regard to fitness for their purpose or
' In these works, the wonderful improvement in the accuracy
and beauty of the engraved designs is conspicuous. The dis
covery and practice of photography has also of late years done
much to furnish a more perfect knowledge of the detail and
ornaments as well of Gothic as of other kinds of building.

262 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.
appropriateness of site, but in better taste than
formerly as to correctness of style and detail, and
with more attention to internal comfort.
Ecclesi- This improved executive power in Gothic has
buildings, however been most observable in ecclesiastical build
ings, in churches and schools and colleges ; and
even those critics who have no partial bias towards
the Gothic style allow the force of the considerations
that weigh in its favour as a style more capable of
being adapted to modern church architecture and of
much greater variety than the classical, and also
much less expensive to build in, consistently with
good architecture. In the course of the last fifty
years churches and buildings of ecclesiastical cha
racter have been erected in all parts of the kingdom
in every mode of Gothic, from the Norman to the
Tudor. ^
1 Admitting, with some qualification, the superior advantages of
the Gothic as an ecclesiastical style, the accomplished author of
Moda-n Styles of Architecture (B. iv. ch. 5), charges its advocates
with retrograding or going back to what he calls mediaeval times for
their examples, and imitating too minutely what he calls medieval
forms and ornamental detail ; their writings and practice reiter
ating the demand for ' truth,' while by constantly reproducing
what belongs essentially to a former age, they are aiming at
falsehood and constructing forgeries. But (with deference to Mr.
Fergusson) it is thought that the Gothic architects do not pro
pose any such direct copying or minute imitation of particular
early examples. In Gothic, as in Classical architecture, the forms
and detail belonging to the style, as collected from examination of
the best examples, are to be taken and applied according to the
size, purpose, and position of the building, without slavish copy
ing. Of course, in restorations and additions, the imitation ofthe
manner and ornament of the original building must necessarily be
more exact and direct. The Gothic architecture in England of the

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 263
Assuming the recent use of the Gothic style in Applica-
ecclesiastical building to have been greatly on the G°'tWc
increase, and assuming also that the preference thus g^^^j*"
shown for it rests upon good grounds, what shall be edifices.
said of the application of the Gothic style to civil or
13th and 14th centuries is generally considered the best ; and, how
ever originally derived, it may be regarded in its pointed manner as
an architecture of native growth and perfecting. Taking this to be
so, it is difficult to see why the Gothic in its best period should
be depreciatingly held up as a mediaeval and archsological style
any more than the Doric and temple architecture of the Greeks,
which is known to have reached its most perfect state at an early
period of their history. Several of the arts, both in ancient and
modern times, have attained a high degree of excellence in ad
vance apparently of the civihsation of the community within
which they have arisen. When the civilisation of the Greeks was
at its height, they still hailed not only the Doric architecture, but
the sculptures of the Theseion and the Parthenon as the best in
their kind, and at Paestum they built after the earlier examples.
Painting in Italy arrived at great excellence very soon after
Giotto and his contemporaries had rescued it from the platitude
of the Byzantine manner, and when modern civilisation was just
beginning to take form. As well on the continent as in England,
the old painting on glass, particularly in respect of colour, is
generally considered quite as worthy of imitation as the finest
coloured glass of more recent times. These analogies seem to
strengthen the position of those friends of Gothic architecture
who see no ground for being ashamed of building or endeavour
ing to build in that style of Gothic which is recognised as the
best. Architecmre, like any other art, must look to what has gone
before ; and, if the pointed Gothic of the 14th century is the best
that England can show, there is no reason why (provided a servile
imitation or copying be avoided) we should reject the use of the
precedents of that rime. The present age is suflSciently strong in
scientific and artistic invention, and in the progress made in the
arts of design, to admit of its building according to the best
precedents in the Gothic architecture of an earlier age, without
its originality or common sense being subjected on that score to
challenge.

264 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.
secular architecture ? The best examples of Gothic
(and upon which its style is formed) being ecclesias
tical, the secular building style must recur for its early
examples to the grim keeps of the Norman era, to
the Edwardian castles of the succeeding centuries,
to the decaying though picturesque streets of old
towns, and to the castles and mansions of the age of
the Tudors, when by the fusion of races and the
progress of civilisation the Saxon and Norman ele
ments, in architecture as in other things, had merged
in the English.
Although showing a considerable amount of
thoughtful detail, the Early English secular building
had no very prominent architectural features beyond
towers, pointed gables, high-pitched roofs, and its
adoption or retention of the principle of the arch in
construction in preference to the lintel.^ But a
marked change came over it, as has been already
observed, in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Eliza
beth, by the introduction of Italian detail and orna
ment ; the use of which in the fagades and courts,
superinduced upon the English or Gothic framework
with a greater or less degree of enrichment, has
communicated a peculiar character to the secular
architecture of the latter portion of the reign of Henry
VIII. and of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I.
Such being the phase in which secular architecture
appeared in England at the time when the principal
edifices to which the Gothic architect can refer as
' Where a lintel was used, as in square-headed windows, it is
believed to have been, as now. usually protected by a flat arching
above.

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 265

examples, now or lately existing, were reared, this
kind of architecture, Tudor and Jacobean, cannot
evidently be dealt with in practice according to
strict rules. It is essentially of an irregular character,
though in the hands of an architect of taste and
feeling by no means unsymmetrical ; susceptible of
much variety of adaptation, and depending for its
effect upon its natural and picturesque arrangements
and a varied sky-line. It consequentiy admits of
a great variety of treatment ; as in the particular of
windows, which may be square-headed, arched
and pointed, single or grouped, according to the
height of the wall, the surroundings of the house,
and other circumstances.^
The question of the application of the Gothic,
or, as it is sometimes called, the native style, to
civil or secular architecture was fairly raised in 1835,
on the occasion of the erection of the new Houses
of Parliament. The traditions of the leading poli
tical and London men of that day were in favour of
the Italian style; but historical associations, the
vicinity of Westminster Abbey, and the growing
taste for the English style, at last prevailed ; and
the competition which was opened by Government Tudor
for designs was restricted to the ' Gothic or Eliza-
^ On the constructive question of arch or lintel for windows
and doors, Mr. G. G. Scott, in his Secular and Domestic Architec
ture (1858), allows considerable latitude : — ' I claim,' says he,
' for Gothic architecture the liberty to use the arch or the lintel as
circumstances may dictate, with a preference, cceteris paribus, for
the arch ; and in the same manner I claim for it the free choice of
the different forms of arch, as may be best suited to each par
ticular position, with a general preference for the pointed arch.'

266 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book il.
bethan' style. The design of Mr, (afterwards Sir
Charles) Barry, which was the one approved of,
professed to be ' Tudor ' in style — of an early period
in that style, when the detail and enrichment were
still in most instances Gothic.
SirC. Having touched upon this, Sir Charles Barry's
h^hief chief work, and one of the most remarkable of
works. recent English efforts in architecture, we may be
pardoned for devoting a page to this architect's too
short career, a resume of which will aid in illustrating
the course of the architectural ideas and practice of
his day. Born in 1795, the son of a stationer in
Westminster, Barry received an architectural edu
cation. He was in early life an ardent student of
Greek architecture, and in a three years' tour abroad
became thoroughly acquainted with the best ex
amples of the Classical style. He soon however
perceived that the Italian was more susceptible than
the Greek of adaptation to modern requirements,
though he long retained the opinion that it should be
purified and refined, and treated in some measure
d la grec. The Italian-Gothic he does not seem
at this time to have much affected ; the Campanile at
Florence being one of the few specimens of it he
liked. On returning from abroad a sense of the
importance of Gothic architecture appears to have
grown upon him. In his mental constitution and
his taste he was eclectic, and this concurred with the
professional habits of an architect to prevent his
exclusive devotion to one style. Love of truthful
ness, of unity and regularity, and a careful subor
dination of ornament to the general design, were

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 267
with him guiding rules, to be observed while using
any style, whether Italian or Gothic. His designs
for the Travellers' and Reform Clubs (in the style of
Italian palazzo.s), and the Manchester Athenseum,
first gave him a position in England as a classical ar
chitect. Bridgewater House is a later work, and in its
facade to the park perhaps the best example of his
Italian manner. A greater freedom of treatment is
shown in the town-hall of Halifax, some anomalous
features displaying themselves not quite in accord
ance -with Barry's earlier principles in art. The
Grammar School of Birmingham and various English
mansions afforded him an opportunity, before the 1835.
building of the new Houses of Parliament, of showing
what he could do in the Gothic manner, to which
he had given a careful study, taking the assistance
of the younger Pugin for his detail.'^
Considering the great size of the new palace of New
Westminster (occupying, with the architectural terrace of Pariia..
and enclosed spaces, an area of about eight acres), its ™^"*"
numerous requirements internally in point of accom
modation, light, ventilation, acoustics, and along with
all this the general symmetry of its plan, Sir Charles
Barry's design and execution of the building may be
regarded on the whole as successful an example as
was possible of the adaptation of the Tudor Gothic
to modern uses. Westminster Hall, recently adorned
with national statues by English sculptors, forms a
vestibule to the new edifice, out of proportion per-
* Life and Works of Sir Charles Barry, by the Rev. Alfred
Barry, 1867.

268 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ir.
haps in point of spaciousness, but hallowed by old
associations. In the corridors and central octagon
historical statuary, sculptural ornament, and wall-
painting (here more protected from the humidity of
the climate than in other situations where it has
been tried), lend their aid to architecture with great
effect. In the Princes' Chamber, as in other parts
of the palace of Westminster, the decoration and
Gothic detail is of marked character and carefully
applied. The pyramidal group by Gibson of her
Majesty seated, with statues of Justice and Cle
mency, both admirable sculptures, standing on either
side, is placed in a spacious Gothic recess of this
hall.-^ The central octagon, from which the four
corridors diverge, is said to be the largest known
eight-sided vault without a central pillar. The
House of Lords continues in its design and gor-
geousness of ornament as originally planned ; but
the House of Commons has been altered from its
original form by the ceiling being required to be
lowered, which could only be done by the introduc
tion of an inner ceiling, panneled, with sloping sides,
so cutting the side windows and affecting the pro
portion of the room. In the ornamental and sculp
tural detail of the building, external and internal.
Sir Charles Barry received important aid from Mr,
' The group has been thought by some to be inconsistent with
the scale of the Princes' Chamber and the Gothic decoration ;
but this matter appears to have been carefully considered at the
time the commission to Mr. Gibson was given, and the sculpture
is a great work of art. — Eastlake's Life of Gibson, p. 205.

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 269

Pugin, although there would seem to be no ground
for holding Pugin's assistance to have affected the
originality of the design of Barry.'
Sir Charles Barry's regard for symmetry and his
subordination of ornament to the general design is
evident in the whole external architecture of the
Westminster palace. At the same time the sky
line is well broken by the towers and pinnacles.
The chief departure from a symmetrical arrange
ment of the parts of the edifice is the disposition of
the three principal towers, while each differs from
the others in character and form. They group how
ever well together when seen against the sky from
the Parks. The clock-tower with its heavy corbel
ling at the top, when seen at some distance, has a
feeling of Italian-Gothic. The central tower is con
sidered too small. The river front of the building
may be thought to want variety of light and shade,
of which the northern side, from its indented con
tour, has more. The distribution of the surface
ornament, almost in a diaper fashion, certainly pre
serves a subordination of ornament to general design ;
but looking to the extent and mass of the building,
perhaps a bolder and larger style of ornament, not
interfering too much with the general plan, might
have increased the architectural effect and relieved
the flatness and uniformity of surface.
' Life of Sir Charles Barry, p. 198, and Letter there quoted
from the Builder. Mr. Pugin's influence is supposed by some
architectural critics to have been unfavourably exercised in the
plan of the Victoria Tower, of which the gateway is extremely
lofty ; and also in the Gothic roofs of the building.

270

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book 11.

Shall a
buildingfor do
mestic
purposesbe in the
Classical
or in
some
variety ofthe Gothic
style .''

Whether a building intended for domestic pur
poses and living shall be in the Classical or in one
of the varieties of the Gothic style usually depends
on several considerations.
Consult the genius of the place in all —
was Pope's advice to the Earl of Burlington in the
matter of ornamental building and gardening, and a
very good general rule, so far as it goes. Regard is
however also due to the proposed uses of the build
ing, to the cost, and to the wishes and taste of the
proprietor. In well-sheltered parks in the southern
counties of England or Ireland, a country mansion
in the Classical style, Italian or Greek, is set down
with a better prospect of comfort as well as of
architectural effect than it would be in the colder
northern counties. Nor does there seem to be any
reason why a Gothic castle or priory built on an
appropriate site in any part of the island should not
be made to combine the principal architectural con
ditions with the conveniences and arrang-ements of
modern life.
For country mansions of moderate dimensions
there is much to be said in favour of the Tudor or
Jacobean variety of the Gothic, in which the main
Gothic forms are retained, with a greater or less
amount of Italian detail superinduced ; and likewise
for that variety of Gothic called the ' Scottish Baro
nial,' for which however Gothic detail is understood
to be more appropriate, and preferable to Italian.
The Elizabethan or Jacobean and the Scottish
varieties of style are both of them susceptible of

CHAP. II.] GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 271
great picturesqueness of form, and of a balance of
lines or masses composing agreeably to the eye,
without an exact symmetry of parts. And they are
not only susceptible of great adaptation in respect of
internal arrangement, but they seem to have a
character and appearance externally combining well
with the general character of British scenery. They
are also likely to be more in harmony with local
associations and traditions, and with neighbouring
rural buildings, such as churches, villages and farm
houses. The present condition and civilisation of the A build-
British people has grown and been developed out whatever
of a variety of races and influences, and there ^'Jin*°
appears to be no ground for restricting British l'^"".°"y
architecture to one style, provided always the build- and its
... . , . ,- , . .. surround
ing be in harmony with itseli and its surroundings, ings.
In the existing palazzos and dwelling-houses of
Venice, Rome and Florence, there are various styles
observable. Renaissance, Italian-Gothic and Mixed ;
the block forms in the case of all of them not differ
ing in essentials. In the British Isles, where for
upwards of a century by far the greater amount of
new architectural building was in the Classical style,
while the Gothic, earlier or later, is more native to
the soil, there is an appropriate field of large extent
and sufficient variety of scenery and climate for the
employment of either style, whether in isolated
country edifices or in cities and towns ; the task of
preserving harmony between the styles being in the
case of town buildings more difficult.

BOOK III
PAINTING.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 275

CHAPTER L
The rise of native British Painting — Art-work of
William Hogarth — Sir Joshua Reynolds — Thomas Gains
borough — George Romney.
Confined within the limits set to its length by a
regard to proportion, the following historical account
of the British School of Painting will be little more
than a series of groups represented in outline. In
this series attention is due in the first place to the
works of William Hogarth. Not that Hogarth has Hogarth;
an equal claim with Sir Joshua Reynolds to the merit rence to
of being founder of a school, but that, in an age of "nd real
mannerism and conventionality, he led the way in a ^'^^•
recurrence to the fountain-head of all painting,
nature and human life. Whether intentionally or
not, he went on the track recommended by Pope : —
First follow Nature and your judgment frame
By her just standard which is still the same ;
Unerring Nature, still divinely bright,
One clear, unchanged and universal light,
Life, force and beauty must to all impart,
At once the source and end and test of art'
In the case of genius so original as that of
Hogarth, his talent did not show itself when work
ing on the thoughts of other men ; and his book-
 —  ,;-  , 
• Essay on Criticism.

276 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
illustrations of ' Don Quixote,' of ' Gulliver's Tra
vels,' and even of ' Hudibras,' gave but faint indi
cation of his powers. In addition to designing and
engraving he began early to paint portraits, con
versation pieces, and landscapes with small figures.^
Finding this practice not sufficiently remunerative,
Hogarth betook himself to the painting and en
graving of ' modern moral subjects.' ' I have endea-
Dramatic voured,' says he, ' to treat my subjects as a dramatic
of Ws*^ ^^ writer ; my picture is my stage, my men and women
^'^'^ my players, who by means of certain actions and
gestures are to exhibit a dumb show.'^ Such was
the painter's own theory of the unique productions
of his brush and graver now to be noticed.
His great The six pictures of the ' Harlot's Progress ' ap-
sub^ t peared in 1733; the subject being treated in a
perfectly original style, though the idea of repre
senting the story of a life and its leading incidents
in a series of delineations had been anticipated by
Murillo's six pictures of the history of the Prodigal
Son. Prints from his pictures were engraved by
Hogarth for circulation, and were remarkable for
vigour of touch and expression rather than ela
borate finish. The ' Rake's Progress ' in eight pic
tures followed. The paintings of this series are in

1 A carefully painted 'View in London,' belonging to Lady
Ashburton, and probably one of those early pictures, was in
the Burlington House exhibition of deceased masters in the
spring of 1871. A scene from the Beggars' Opera, in which the
characters are portraits, also an early picture, is in possession of
Mr. Murray, Albemarle Street.
2 Ireland's Hogarth Illustrated, vol. iii.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 277
the Soane Museum, and although the gradations
of character in the successive pictures are admirably
given, they are not equal in execution to the subse
quent series of ' Marriage a la Mode.' The prints
of the ' Rake's Progress ' are said by Mr. Walpole
not to have had so much success as their prede
cessors, from want of novelty ; and yet in the seventh
and eighth pictures the new element of madness is
brought in with striking effect. In 1744 appeared
the series of ' Marriage a la Mode,' the pictures of
which were regarded by Hogarth, and justly so, as
his masterpiece in painting.^
Notwithstanding the popularity of the prints, his His best
, ..^^ , . . . , pictures
best pictures had difficulty in meeting with pur- sold with
chasers. Whether this was attributable to the taste ' ^'
of the time, which had a tendency to underrate
native attempts in art, or to the enmity of the
connoisseurs and picture-dealers, may be doubtful.
Hogarth had exposed and declared war against
the trade in so-called pictures of the ' ancient
masters,' all of whom (from the spurious copies and
examples of continental painting that came under
his notice) he branded as the ' black masters,' and
had given expression to his predominant feeling on
this point in his engraved prints of the ' Battle of the

' The prints of this series were not engraved by the painter,
but entrusted (with the exception of the heads) to French artists ;
Advertisetnent in the London Daily Post, 1743. Hogarth's chief
source of profit in his profession arose from his prints — a state of
things not unknown in the subsequent history of British art.
Being the work of a peintre gravmr they had, and good impres
sions srill have, the merit and character of original works.

278 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
Pictures,' ' Time smoking a picture,' &c. The fact
however is undoubted, that Hogarth's best paint
ings were sold with difficulty and at inadequate prices.
Nothing daunted, he went on his way and pro
duced a number of original works — the ' Four
Hisori- Times of the Day,* amusing and vivid delineations
works. of London life and manners ; the moral subject of
'Industry and Idleness' in twelve pictures; 'Beer
Street and Gin Lane ;' the four pictures on ' Cruelty,'
displaying the artist's power, but with details of a
revolting kind ; the ' Election ' series (in the Soane
Museum), produced after the general election of
1 754, and abounding in humorous satire and comic
incident. No odd concatenation of circumstances or combi
nation of incongruous images could show itself within
Hogarth's ken, but it was instantly seized and fixed.
Thus we have, in single subjects, ' Modern Midnight
Conversation,' a scene of drunken revelry ; the
' Lecture (very appropriately named) on Vacuum ;'
' Strolling actresses dressing in a barn,' inimitable
for its humorous drollery ; the ' Enraged Musician,'
in which discord in sound is made visible to the eye ;
' Credulity, Superstition and Fanaticism,' a severe
ridicule of the Methodists ; the ' Distressed Poet,' of
which the painting, now in the Grosvenor gallery, is
an excellent example of colouring and expression.
Of scenes connected with public occurrences and
recorded by the satirical pencil of Hogarth, may be
noted the ' March to Finchley,' the ' Foot-guards
setting out for Scotland in 1745,' which with pointed
satire was dedicated to the King of Prussia ; and

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 2 79
the two pictures of ' England ' and ' France,' on the
occasion of the breaking out of the war in 1 756.
In the class of subjects already referred to
Hogarth is perfectly unique ;
He followed no master.
Nor by pupil shall e'er be approached, alone in his
greatness.
In historical painting, in its usual acceptation, he Unsuc-
ccssful in,
was not so successful. His ' Paul before Felix' and historical
other pictures of this kind are deficient in the dignity P^"'"''^-
and grace we are accustomed to look for in historical
painting, and which is found in the great examples
of the Italian masters. For such works he wanted
elevated sentiment and poetic imagination. For
subjects of high art and pure form he was probably
otherwise disqualified by his imperfect education in
drawing. The colouring of his pictures, though
dealing largely in brown hues, is usually regarded as
superior to his drawing, and in his best examples, as
the ' Marriage a la Mode,' is remarkable for richness
and purity as well as for the quality (not too common
among English painters) of retaining its original tints.
The portraits of Hogarth, especially those not Portraits.
painted with a view to any striking effect, are charac
teristic and natural. Such are — his picture of Garrick
with Mrs. Garrick standing behind his chair and
taking a pen from his hand ; the portrait of himself
and his dog Trump ; Captain Coram, of the
Foundling Hospital, full of benevolence and sim
plicity. Of his poetical portraits that of ' Mr. Garrick
as Richard III.' has an exaggerated air, and the pic
ture of ' Sigismunda,' though effective in expression

28o VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book HI.
and solidly painted, is wanting in the qualities of
grace and beauty. The portraits of Wilkes and
Churchill are forcible and clever caricatures.-'
Ho- When Hogarth chose for his peculiar walk in art
^ecuhar what he called ' dramatic painting,' he had discovered
walk in where his strength lay. With a quick sense of the
incongruous and ridiculous, he has in point of wit and
humour no superior among painters in such subjects
as the ' Strolling Actresses,' the ' Consultation of Phy
sicians,' and many others. In satirical and serious
subjects he is fully more the Juvenal than the Horace
of his art. Blending in his great serial pictures
comedy with tragedy, grim and ghastly humour with
mqral teaching,, the impression he conveys by them
is an appeal not so much to the taste, or the feel
ing of curiosity or ridicule, as tQ the understanding
and the moral sense of man.
Hogarth died in the fourth year of the reign of
George IIL, by which time the painting style of
Sirj. Reynolds was already formed. When Reynolds,
fducTtion about the year 1740, began to apply himself to
in art. painting, it was scar-cely possible for a student of art
to, obtain the necessary primary education.^ During
the two years he was with his first master Hudson
in London, who set him to copy Guercino's drawings
as an exercise, he could have acquired very little
' It is beyond the scope of this notice to speak of Hogarth as
author of the Analysis of Beauty, which contains (with much that
is untenable) some pertinent observations on art ; as, for instance,
his explanation of the unfavourable effect of time on the colours of
pictures, contrary to the view of those who think that pictures are
mellowed by time, given in a note to the fourteenth chapter.
^ Edwards' Anecdotes, of Painters.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 281
knowledge of his art, and this want of early training
renders the merit of Reynolds in taking advantage
of what appliances were in his power the more
conspicuous. Commencing to paint portraits at Plymouth, he
produced in 1746 a half-length portrait of Captain
Hamilton (now in the Scottish National Gallery), as
to which and others of the same period he is said to
have afterwards expressed surprise to see them so
well done, and to have lamented that in so many
years he had not made greater progress in his art.-'
Accompanying Commodore Keppel in his ship to 1749.
Italy, and commencing there what was to him a new
life in art, Reynolds returned to London in 1752 and
established himself as a portrait-painter. His pic- His early
tures soon attracted general attention, eclipsing
everything that had been done in portrait since the
time of Vandyke. His early works are considered
to be more simply and safely executed, as regards
vehicles, than his later pictures. One of the first
that attracted notice was a turbaned head of the
youth Joseph Marchi, his attendant and afterwards
assistant.^ A portrait of the Duke of Devonshire,
and one of Admiral Keppel repr-esented standing on
a rocky shore, made him known to the fashionable
world of London. The faulty manner and poor ex
ecution and colouring of his rivals of the old school
was soon made manifest, and Reynolds took the
lead as a painter of portraits and poetical subjects of
' Northcote's Life of Reynolds, i. 21.
2 Now in possession of the Royal Academy. A half-length of
Admiral Keppel is in the National Portrait Gallery.

portraits.

282 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
a portrait character for a period of about thirty
years.
His merit What, it may be asked, had Reynolds done for
the art of painting in England to justify the high
position he then took and has since retained ? The
answer is, that he did much : — he did away with
the mannerism of his predecessors and set an ex
ample to others of originality of treatment, ap
proving in this particular the practice of Hogarth ;
he communicated to his pictures individuality, cha
racter and expression ; he displayed a marked excel
lence in his management of light and shade, and in
the beauty and harmony of his colouring; and he
was mainly instrumental in overcoming that pre
judice against native art which pervaded English
society up to a late period of the 1 8th century.
What conduced much to make the pictures of
Reynolds and other artists known, and to enable
amateurs and the public to distinguish good pictures
from bad or mediocre, was the commencement by
the artists themselves of the system of annually ex
hibiting their works for sale. The first general
First ex- exhibition took place in 1 760, in a room belonging
of pic- to the Society of Arts, then located in the Strand.^
tures. "Y\\& artists then split into two parties ; the main
' This well-intentioned Society was instituted in 1754, 'for the
encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.' Its first
move in the direction of the Fine Arts was the proposal of
premiums for boys' drawings. Prior to 1760 the Society had
begun to offer annual premiums for historical and landscape
paintings, sculpture, and designs in architecture. The subsequent
history of art has shown that these awards were often not very
happily made. — Pye's Patronage of British Art, pp. 61, 92.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 283
body exhibiting in a room in Spring Gardens, which
was countenanced by Hogarth and Reynolds.
Among the pictures exhibited by Reynolds at this
time was ' Garrick between Tragedy and Comedy,*
a humorous allegorical composition, and his whole-
length of ' Lady Sarah Bunbury sacrificing to the
Graces,' one of those allegorical portraits (like the
' Graces decorating the statue of Hymen ' in the
National Gallery) which recall something of the
affectation of Lely and Kneller, though much better
executed. In the most admired female portrait-
pictures of Reynolds, as the Ladies Waldegrave and
others, the subjects of the picture are engaged in
more life-like occupations, and are characterised by
their native grace and beauty.
The divisions of the artists resulted in the for- Forma-
mation of the Royal Academy of Arts, of which Royal
Reynolds was unanimously chosen president, while ^^'
he was at the same time knighted by the king.^
' ' The scheme of the Royal Academy ' (to use the words of
Mr. Redgrave, in his Century of Painters) ' includes the main
tenance of schools free to all who have mastered the rudiments
of art and are of good character ; exhibitions free to all whose
works possess sufficient merit ; and to this is added the generous
provision, that any surplus arising from exhibitions, after defraying
the expenses of the schools and providing for future contingen
cies, shall be devoted to the relief of necessitous artists, again
without exclusion, for the benefit of all. The Academy consists
of forty members (though only thirty-six were appointed at the
commencement), painters, sculptors, and architects by profession ;
to whom two engravers have recently been added ; and, avoiding
the error of the Incorporated Society, the management was
placed exclusively in this body, which is self-elective. The only
qualification for admission is fair moral character, high professional

284 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
In his address on opening the Academy in
January 1 769, Sir Joshua observed :—' An institu
tion like this has often been recommended upon
considerations merely mercantile ; but an academy
founded upon such principles can never effect even
its own narrow purposes. If it has an origin no
higher, no taste can be formed in manufactures ;
but if the higher arts of design flourish, these in
ferior ends will be answered of course.' He then
remarked that there were at this time a greater
number of excellent artists than was ever known
before at one period in this nation ; and concluded
with expressing a hope that ' this institution may
answer the expectations of its royal founder, and
that the present age may vie in arts with that of
Leo the Tenth, and that the dignity of the dying art
(to make use of an expression of Pliny) may be
revived under the reign of George III. ' '

reputation, the age of at least twenty-five years, and residence in
Great Britain. The government is in the general assembly, and
in the President and Council of eight members, one half changing
each year, and every member serving in rotation. The officers
comprise a secretary, a keeper, who has charge of the instruction
in the schools, both elected by the members, and a treasurer and
librarian appointed from among the members by the Crown.
Members are also annually selected by the Council to super
intend the teaching ; and professors are appointed to lecture on
architecture, sculpture, painting, and anatomy. The Academy
also comprises twenty-four associated members, four of whom
are engravers. This body has no share in the management, but
enjoys all the other advantages the Academy can offer, and from
it alone the Academicians are elected.'
' TVorks of Sir Joshua Reynolds, with Memoir, by Malone,
1824, 3 vols.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 285
To a voluntary duty undertaken by Sir Joshua Dis-
Reynolds we owe the fifteen Discourses delivered ofRey-
by him in successive years at the annual distribu
tion of the Academy prizes, which (without much
methodical arrangement) contain, in their collected
form, many valuable observations upon painting and
the arts of design.
By express arrangement at the opening of the
Academy Sir Joshua painted for the academicians
whole length portraits of the king and queen, being
the only occasion upon which he ever did so.
George III. had undoubtedly more enlarged views
of art and its encouragement than his two prede
cessors, and from the very commencement of his
reign evinced a desire to extend his patronage to
its professors ; but he was not happy in his selec
tion of those who were to be so favoured. He pre
ferred the respectable but inferior work of Zoffany,
Ramsay and West to the painting of Reynolds, and
the mannered compositions of Zucharelli and Barrett
to the landscapes of Wilson and Gainsborough.
A year or two after the establishment of the
Academy the members located themselves in apart
ments in Somerset House, the use of which had
been granted to them by the king— a change of
locality favourable to the position of the artists as a
profession. The principal exhibitors during the first Early
years of the Academy were Sir Joshua Reynolds, H^l '"
Gainsborough, West, Dance, Barrett and Angelica
Kauffman. The year 1773 was marked by the
appearance of two important pictures by Reynolds,
an allegorical portrait of Dr. Beattie and ' Count

286 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
Ugolino in the Tower of Famine.' In the former
Beattie is represented with his ' Essay on Truth '
under his arm, an angel going before and dispersing
a phantom group of vices and errors, one of which
is a likeness of Voltaire. This picture is well exe
cuted, but has been subjected to considerable criti
cism. The other picture is sufificientlj'^ striking, but
opinions may differ as to its successful treatment by
Rey-^ the artist. Painting from Dante is like painting
pictures from Shakespeare, the representation by the artist
Dante ^^ ^^^ id^s^ already embodied in the poet's language
Shak hardly ever coming up to the original. It is so with
speare. Sir Joshua's picture of ' Macbeth and the Witches,'
painted for Alderman BoydelFs Shakespeare gal
lery, and also with his ' Death of Cardinal Beaufort,'
in which, although the principal figure is ably de
lineated, the painter has apparently blundered in
giving bodily shape to the —
Busy meddling fiend
That lays strong siege unto this wretch's sottl.
The subject of a third Shakespeare picture, ' Puck
sitting on a mushroom,* was of simpler character.
It has always been regarded as one of Sir Joshua's
felicitous efforts, and nearly fulfils one*s preconceived
idea of that mischievous sprite.
Of sa- The pictures of sacred history by Reynolds are
tory. "^" not numerous. The cartoon of the Nativity for the
west window of New College Chapel at Oxford, and
the Holy Family in the National Gallery, are well
known. They recall to some extent the manner of
Correggio or of Barocci.
Sir Joshua's strength lay in portraits. His por-

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 287
traits of ladies are almost uniformly graceful and Female
pleasing ; but it has been remarked by contempo- of Rey-^
raries that the sweetness and beauty he imparted to ^°^^^-
them was often accomplished at the expense of like
ness.^ Some of his female portraits have more than
others an appearance of individuality and character,
such as those of the old Countess of Bute, of the
Duchess of Devonshire, and the group of Lady
Susan Strangways and Lady Sarah Lennox with
Mr. Fox. In the particular of dress he was very
successful in adapting the mode of the day in head
dresses and otherwise to a costume more graceful
and picturesque. He was particularly fastidious on
this point, and would frequently insist upon a
variety of dresses being tried until he was satisfied.^
In his portraits of men Sir Joshua did not trust His ex-
altogether, like some of the greatest continental ^f^harac-
masters, to the delineation of expression in the face terinpor-
^ traits of
for conveying character. He frequently added some men.
little circumstance characteristic of his subject. Thus
he has portrayed the Italian Baretti, who was near
sighted, reading a book close to his eye, and Lord
Heathfield grasping in his hand the key of Gibral-.
tar. His landscape back-grounds, too, are often cha
racteristic. Of his power in portrait it has been
observed by Mr. Burke, that —
He communicated to that description of the art in which
English artists are the most engaged, a variety, a fancy and
a dignity derived from the higher branches, -which even
' Wilkie's Observations on Portrait Painting, in his Life by
Cunningham, vol. iii. p. 172.
2 Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds, by Leslie and Taylor.

288

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [Book in.

Ideal
portraits.

Of
children.

those who professed them in a superior manner did not
always preserve when they delineated individual nature.
His portraits remind the spectator of the invention of his
tory and the amenity of landscape. In painting portraits
he appeared not to be raised upon that platform, but to
descend upon it from a higher sphere.'
Of the poetical portraits of Reynolds one of the
most celebrated is that of Mrs. Siddons as the
Tragic Muse. Here the personality of the great
actress is sunk in that of the Tragic Muse ; and
it is this entire change of personality which can
alone justify the introduction of the two genii of
the dagger and bowl. The painter has signed his
flame on the hem of Mrs. Siddons' garment-— the
only occasion he ever did so, except on the por
trait of Lady Cockbiirn. The pictures of Kitty
Fisher as Cleopatra dissolving a pearl, and of Emily
Coventry as Thais with a torch, are also portraits of
a poetic nature, of less pretension.
Among the most pleasing of the pictures of Rey
nolds are those of which children form the subject.
The naive simplicity and guileless moods of children,
whether of high or humble birth, were never better
represented than in such pictures as the ' Strawberry
Girl,* the portrait of Philip Yorke, the demure little
miss with the mob-cap belonging to Earl Dudley,
and the sylvan portrait of Lady Anne Fitzpatrick in
the possession of Lady Lyveden. Some of his pic
tures of children in ideal subjects, as ' Hercules
strangling the Serpents, 'now at Petersburg, approach
the historic character.'"^

* Northcote's Life of Reynolds, ii. 288.
^ Of the picture of the ' Babes in the Wood,' in the possession
of the Hon. Mr. Cowper Temple, Northcote has the following

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 289
Although in his drawing of the nude (any defect
in this being chiefly observable in historical pictures)
Reynolds was occasionally faulty, his drawing of the
face, where there is little muscular development, is
considered well-nigh unexceptionable ; and his hands
and arms, though often slightly finished, are seldom
otherwise liable to criticism. He objected on prin
ciple to elaborate finishing of the extremities, as
dangerous to the spirit and execution of his picture
and interfering with its effect as a whole}
The most serious objection to the painting of Sir
Joshua Reynolds arises from the too frequently de
fective durability of his colouring. The colour of a Colours
considerable number of his pictures gave way in his Reynolds
lifetime, and of many more since that time, — a fact '°° ?P'
^ to give
too painfully evidenced by examples of faded faces on way.
the walls of English galleries and rooms.^ This was
notice : — ' When the beggar's child, who had been sitting to him
for some other picture, during the sitting fell asleep, Reynolds
was so pleased with the innocence of the object, that he would
not disturb its repose to go on with the picture on which he was
engaged, but took up a fresh canvas and quickly painted the
child's head as it lay, before it moved ; and as the infant altered
its position, still in sleep, he sketched another view of its head on
the same canvas. He afterwards finished a back-ground of woody
scenery, and, by adding the robin redbreast, converted it into the
subject of the 'Children in the Wood.' — Life of Sir Joshua Reynolds.
' Eleventh Discourse, Works, vol. ii.
2 In one of Dr. Wolcot's Odes to the Academicians for the
year 1785, seven years before Sir Joshua's death, his pictures are
thus referred to : —
Muse, sing the wonders of the present year,
Declare what works of sterling worth appear.
Reynolds his heads divine as usual gives,
Where Guido's, Rubens', Titian's genius lives ;
Works, I'm afraid, like beauty of rare quality,
Bom soon to fade, too subject to mortality.
U

290 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
in a great measure caused by the experiments he was
constantly making both in the materials of his colours,
and in the glazes and varnishes he used.
Enthusiastic admirers of Reynolds say that a
faded picture by him, with its delicacy and refine
ment of hue, is better than the best of another
master ; —
The light of science leaves behind a ray
That beams through time and beautifies decay.'
Having regard however to Sir Joshua*s post
humous reputation as a colourist, and also to his
conduct in relation to employers, experimenting so
much as he did in his practice of colouring, it is im
possible not to regret that he persisted in his experi
ments so long and to such an extent, even although
his avowed object in doing so was the improvement
of his art.
At the same time if a comprehensive view be
taken of his whole career, of what he has actually
achieved in painting, of the influence of his art and
of his character, of his discharge of the duties of the
President*s chair in the first and trial years of the
Royal Academy, posterity will not hesitate to recog
nise in Sir Joshua Reynolds the principal founder
of the British school of painting.
Portrait- With the name of Reynolds that of Thomas
of Gainl Gainsborough is usually and deservedly associated as
borough, a painter of portraits. His landscape painting will
be referred to in the next chapter.
Gainsborough's professional career commenced with

' Elements of Art, by Sir Martin Shee (1809), p. 290.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 291

portrait painting, to which he soon added landscape,
and continued all his life to practise both. He never
studied on the continent, and paid small regard to
the conventional learning connected with his art,
being satisfied with what he called the volume of
nature. From 1760 to 1774 he was resident in
Bath, sending pictures to the exhibitions of the
Royal Academy, of which he was an original member.
Admirable in their ease of manner, expressive- its char-
ness and general effect, calm and graceful, the ^'^'^'''
portraits of Gainsborough seem yet to want that
variety and playful imagination so conspicuous in
the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds. In chiar osctiro
his practice was perhaps more in accordance with
the real distribution of light and shade in nature,
although not so telling as that of Reynolds. Well
finished without being highly elaborated, his pictures
display a certain lightness of manner and handling,
as though his painting were all done at one time.
The colouring of Mr. Gainsborough, in general
as effective and harmonious as that of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, has upon the whole withstood better
the influence of time and climate. His pictures
of Mrs. Siddons in the National Gallery, of his
nephew E. R. Gardiner, a pure and delicately exe
cuted painting, of the Hon. Mrs. Graham at Edin
burgh, of Mrs. Beaufoy in the possession of Sir W.
Heathcote, appear as fresh in colour as if just
painted. The Marquis of Westminsters 'Blue Boy'
is also in a state of perfect preservation.^
' In a letter to Mr. Phillips, the portrait-painter, dated from
Venice in 1826, Sir David Wilkie observes : — ' I feel assured that
u 2

292 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK HI.
Gainsborough's whole length portraits are often
enriched by admirable landscape back-grounds. He
painted few portraits of a professedly poetical or
fancy character, Musidora (a painting of this kind)
in the national collection being inferior in true
poetical feeling to several of his portrait pictures of
cottage children. His portraits were during his
lifetime in much greater demand than his landscapes.
1788. In a discourse upon Mr. Gainsborough from the
President's chair. Sir Joshua Reynolds paid a just
compliment to his memory in these words : — ' If ever
this nation should produce genius sufficient to acquire
to us the honourable distinction of an English school,
the name of Gainsborough will be transmitted to
posterity in the history of the art among the very
first of that rising name.*
Romney; Sir Joshua Reynolds' depreciation of 'the man in
tation^as Cavendish Square,' at the time when the public taste
a painter. q£ London was divided between the Reynolds
faction and the Romney faction, indicates in a certain
you could, following your own feeling for colour, rather than any
theory, make blue look well either in the centre or in the light of
a picture. The " Peter Martyr" of Titian, the " Holy Family" of
Correggio, the " Blue Boy " of Gainsborough, have blue forming
both the light and the centre ; and I think there is a certain Blue
Boy in your own room begun on the same principle.' — Cunning
ham's Life of Wilkie, vol. h. p. 309. In Sir Joshua Reynolds'
picture of 'the Earl of Bute,' with his secretary Mr. Jenkinson
(now belonging to the Marquis of Bute), the Earl of Bute, in the
centre and principal light of the picture, is attired in a suit
of embroidered blue velvet, his secretary being in red. The
colour of the dress of the personages in this picture differs from
the colour in the original sketch for the picture, in the possession
of Lord Wharncliffe.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 293
degree the subsequent condition of George Romney's
reputation as an artist- The President*s opinion of
this painter no doubt influenced that of his acade
mical brethren (to whose body Romney never be
longed), and has descended, like other traditions of
the Academy, to the present time.^ And yet both in
Sir Joshua's lifetime and at this day Romney*s pic
tures are highly prized by those who possess them,
and may frequently challenge comparison in point of
natural dignity and simplicity, breadth of effect and
beauty of colouring, with the portraits of Reynolds
and Gainsborough.
Portrait painting, often of a poetical character,
was the line of art Romney chiefly prosecuted, and
in which his reputation was made. He exhibited
in the Spring Gardens room prior to the institution
of the Royal Academy, but never at the Academy*s
exhibitions. Among other pictures painted by him
before he visited Italy, was that of ' an officer 1773.
conversing with a Brahmin,* and of Mrs. Yates as
the Tragic Muse, prior in date and inferior to the
Mrs. Siddons of Reynolds. In Italy the marked Studies
talent Romney had already displayed was confirmed ' ^ ^'
and impro^^ed by the study of the Italian masters,
especially Correggio, of the ancient statues, and of the
living model. His pictures of Mr. Wortley Mon-

' Taking note of Romney's art rather than of his life, his
domestic relations are not here referred to farther than to express
a conjecture that the isolation in which he lived from his family
during his professional life may have increased that morbid feeling
to which he was constitutionally liable, and so exercised a dis
advantageous influence on his power of application to his art.

294 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
tagu in Turkish costume, and of a ' Wood-nymph
contemplating her face in a brook,' were produced
during his stay in Italy.
1 775- On returning to England Mr. Romney re
sumed his portrait painting with general applause ;
while in the intervals of his sittings he indulged a
growing predilection for subjects of a poetic and
sentimental character, too frequently not going
His beyond mere sketches and designs, but finishing
ofte™"°^ (according to his views of finishing) a limited num-
siight. ber of subjects in this kind.^ His theory of good
execution, coinciding in so far with that of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, appears to have been that execution should
not be so finished as to interfere with the expression
and effect conveyed by the first painting. When
followed out in practice, this probably led to his
painting, particularly of fancy subjects, being more
sketchy and slight than it ought to have been.
Portraits Among the numerous portraits by Romney may
by Rom- \^q rnentioned the children of Earl Gower dancing,
ney. . . .
the eldest girl playing a tambourine ; an elegant and
graceful picture of Lady Russell and her daughter ;
a head of the poet Cowper ; Flaxman modelling the
bust of Hayley, in which the bust occupies too much
space, and a portrait at Caenwood of the second
Countess of Mansfield (sister of the Hon. Mrs.
Graham) seated in a landscape.
j^jg Mr. Romney's poetical and sentimental pieces are
poetic art. mostly associated with the celebrated Emma Lyon,
Lady Hamilton, who sat to him for a number of
' Life of George Romney, by the Rev. J. Romney, 1830.

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 295
pictures.^ Her talent in expressing emotion by
countenance and attitude was employed to great
advantage by the painter in his pictures of Bac
chantes, of Cassandra, St. Cecilia, Titania. In more
domestic pictures, such as the ' Spinstress ' and
' Sensibility,' the features and expression of this
modern Syren may also generally be traced. In
such subjects as the ' Infant Shakespeare nursed by
Tragedy and Comedy,' and ' Shakespeare attended by
the Passions,' Romney was perhaps more successful
than in his graver historical subject of ' Milton dic
tating to his daughters.'
Mr. Flaxman's character of Romney's painting,
drawn up at the instance of his biographer Hayley,
is the opinion in detail of a friend and of a sculptor,
and as such to be received with some caution ; for
a friend will be inclined to palliate defects, and a
sculptor to praise the work of a painter for qualities
having reference to sculptural rather than to pictorial
excellence. One passage of this eulogium may piax-
be quoted :- ^^^
. . r 1 ¦ . , °^ Rom-
As Romney was gifted with peculiar powers for historical ney.
and ideal painting, so his heart and soul were engaged in
the pursuit of it whenever he could extricate himself from
the importunate business of portrait-painting. It was his
delight by day and study by night, and for this his food
and rest were often neglected. His compositions, like those
1 The tableaux vivants enacted by this lady were for some
seasons the admiration of London. When she was married to
Sir W. Hamilton at Naples, Horace Walpole speaks of her having
formerly acted all the antique statues in an Indian shawl, and
writes to Miss Berry (179 1) that 'Sir William had married his
gallery of statues!'

296 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
of the ancient pictures and basso-relievos, told their story by
a single group of figures in the front; whilst the back
ground is made the simplest possible, rejecting all unneces
sary episode and trivial ornament either of secondary groups
or architectural subdivision. In his compositions the be
holder was forcibly struck by the sentiment at the first
glance. . . His heads were various; the male were decided
and grand, the female lovely ; his figures resembled the
antique ; the limbs were elegant and finely formed. . . His
drapery was well understood, either forming the figure into
a mass with one or two deep folds only, or by its adhesion
and transparency discovering the form of the figure.
In the portrait-pictures of Romney there may be
a want of that varied treatment and richness and
beauty of colouring by which the pictures of Reynolds
were distinguished ; but in respect of simplicity and
gracefulness of pose, breadth of effect, and the dura
bility of his colours, the works of Romney seem
entitled to a higher position in British painting than
is sometimes accorded to them. In his lifetime he
was over-praised by his own ' faction,' particularly
by his friend Hayley and the literati of the Della
Cruscan school ; but the following sonnet by Cowper
is a worthy tribute to the painter : —
Romney! expert infallibly to trace
On chart or canvas not the form alone
And semblance, but, however faintly shown.
The mind's impression too on every face.
With strokes that time ought never to erase —
Thou hast so pencill'd mine ; and though I own
The subject worthless, I have never known
The artist shining with superior grace.
But this I mark, that symptoms none of woe

CHAP. I.] PAINTING. 297
In thy incomparable work appear :
Well, I am satisfied it should be so.
Since on maturer thought, the cause is clear ;
For in my looks what sorrow could'st thou see
While I was Hayley's guest and sat to thee 1 '
' The subject of British portrait-painting is resumed in the fifth
chapter.

298 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.

CHAPTER IL
LANDSCAPE PAINTING, RUSTIC AND ANIMAL
PAINTING.
Richard Wilson — Gainsborough — Morland — James Ward.
In a community of advanced civilisation such as that
of Great Britain, landscape painting is a department
of art which, if properly cultivated and in a true
spirit, cannot fail to be generally appreciated and
to be an abundant source of refined pleasure.
The congenial pen of Mr. Wordsworth has apostro
phised this branch of art in the following lines : —
Praised be the art whose subtle power could stay
Yon cloud and fix it in that glorious shape.
Nor would permit the thin smoke to escape.
Nor those bright sunbeams to forsake the day ;
Which stopped that band of travellers on their way.
Ere they were lost within the shady wood,
And show'd the bark upon the glassy flood
For ever anchor'd in her sheltering bay.
Soul-soothing art ! which Morning, Noon-tide, Even,
Do serve with all their changeful pageantry,
Thou, with ambition modest yet sublime.
Here for the sight of mortal man hast given
To one brief moment, caught from fleeting time,
The appropriate calm of blest eternity.
Looking to the variety of its scenery, its coasts
and sea, its mountains, valleys, rivers, and ever-
changing skies, Britain abounds more in subjects
for the landscape painter than probably any other

CHAP. II.] LANDSCAPE AND RUSTIC PAINTING. 299
country. But until the time of Wilson and Gains
borough the charms of natural scenery were all but
thrown away upon the artists who practised land
scape. The mannered and indifferently executed English
compositions of Barrett and the Smiths of Chichester sc"pe
were in the middle of the last century regarded as Pointing.
the best examples of English landscape art. A large
composition by George Smith, full of subject and in
the manner of Claude, received in 1 760 the premium
of the Society of Arts, and has been preserved from
oblivion by the engraving of Woollett.
The appearance of the ' Niobe ' of Richard Wilson Richard
in the Spring Gardens exhibition of the same year ^°""
forms a kind of era in this department of painting.
It was purchased by the Duke of Cumberland, the
picture now in the National Gallery being a replica.
A younger son of a Welsh clergyman, Wilson in
early life practised portrait-painting ; but visiting
Italy in 1 749 his genius for landscape was discovered
and encouraged by the painters Vernet and Mengs,
and to landscape he thenceforth devoted himself
He remained some years in Italy, studying though His study
not copying the styles of Caspar Poussin and Claude, practice
and painted a number of characteristic pictures of '" '^^'^y-
Italian scenery, in its beautiful and its desolate as
pects as well, distinguished by truthfulness of tone
and grandeur of expression. His views of scenery
in that country are sometimes adorned with the re
mains of temples, tombs and aqueducts, mythological
persons being introduced ; sometimes they confine
themselves more closely to natural features, as in his
' Lake Avernus ' and others.

300 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
1755. ^"^ returning to England, Mr. Wilson found his
countrymen blind to the merit of his masterly pic-
Wilson tures. A coterie of artists and others who had
not ap- . , , , . , . - ,
predated constituted themselves into a committee 01 taste,
land.^^' passed a formal resolution ' that the manner of Mr.
Wilson was not suited to the English taste, and that,
if he hoped for patronage he must change it for the
lighter style of Zucharelli.' ^ The picture of ' Niobe '
already mentioned, and a fine picture of ' Rome from
1765. the Villa Madama,' purchased by the Marquis of
Tavistock, failed to make any general impression
in his favour.
Struggling with neglect and poverty, Wilson
painted many excellent pictures of scenes in England
and Wales, occasionally making replicas of his prin
cipal Italian subjects. He was one of the original
members of the Royal Academy, and sent pictures
to its exhibitions ; but till the close of his life in
1782 most of his beautiful landscapes, afterwards so
much run upon, remained in the garrets of dealers
and the back-shops of pawnbrokers.
General In the features of Mr. Wilson's landscapes, in his
of Ws^art trees and rocks, there is often apparent a want of
discriminating detail ; but his pictures are, notwith
standing this defect, imbued with a wonderful feeling
of nature, his skies especially charming the eye with
their lively glow and poetic expression. The paint
ings of Wilson represent his own mental impression
of the scene before him ; an impression which by his
excellence in aerial perspective and the harmony of
' Wright's Life of Richard Wilson, p. 72.

CHAP. Ii.] LANDSCAPE AND RUSTIC PAINTING. 301
his colouring he was enabled to render effectively on
canvas. The lights in his landscapes are always fine ;
his shadows may be sometimes thought too dark.
The merit of Wilson as a landscape painter was Tardy
first made known by an exhibition of his works in [fo^j^of'"
the British Gallery in Pall Mall in 1814; since which his merit.
time (fashion running towards the opposite extreme)
his pictures have been more and more sought after. ^
The landscapes of Gainsborough, purely and
simply rural and with less appearance of study, take
quite as high a position in art as the pictures of
Wilson. He found time for landscapes in the inter- Land-
vals of his portrait practice, usually rustic English of^oains-
scenes enlivened by country people and children b°™"gi^-
engaged in their peaceful occupations, and sometimes
coast views. His pictures never borrow a factitious
interest from classical associations, and very seldom
from the domain of architecture, beyond a grange or
cottage porch. They are said to have been painted
for the most part from sketches and memory, and
although conveying to the beholder the impression
' In the preface to the catalogue of that exhibition, it was
remarked that the works of Richard Wilson would be contemplated
with delight, and that few artists excelled him in the tint of air,
perhaps the most difficult of attainment for the landscape painter,
every object in his pictures keeping its place, because each is seen
through its proper medium. The prophecy of Peter Pindar has
thus been fulfilled long before its anticipated term : —
But, honest Wilson, never mind,
Immortal praises thou shalt find,
And for a dinner have no cause to fear :
Thou start'st at my prophetic rhimes —
Don't he impatient for those times,
Wait till thou hast been dead an hundred year ! '
Dr. Wolcot's Odes to the Academicians, 1782.

302 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
of thoroughly natural scenes, they do not, when
looked into, give that transcript of the individual
character of foliage, rocks, and herbage, which the
apparent nearness to the eye of the foreground of
the landscape might warrant. Gainsborough looked
to the general character and main features of the
view he was painting, depicting on his canvas happy
effects of light and shadow, and sometimes taking
the assistance in his technical practice of little arti
ficial models.^ Most of his larger landscapes show
the mellow colouring of autumn, and are occasionally
(in the present day) rather dark in the shadows.
His Gainsborough*s cottage children are deservedly
chiidmi. admired. With less of the arch humour often ob
servable in the youthful subjects of the pencil of Sir
Joshua Reynolds, they have the simplicity without
vulgarity, the quiet and rather bashful air of unso
phisticated country-bred children. His ' Girl with a
pitcher and dog,' and 'Milk-girl with a pottinger on
her head,' are not inferior to any similar subjects
by Reynolds.
Gainsborough occasionally drew landscape views
in water colour, a department of art already begin
ning to take shape, and which, at the conclusion of
the 1 8th century, had made very marked progress.
This historical survey, however, confining itself
mainly to painting in oil-colour, the annals of water-
colour drawing or painting are out of its province.
Art work George Morland took for his branch of art homely
Morland^ sceues of life and rustic landscapes peopled with
' Reynolds' 14th Discourse, Works, vol. ii.

CHAP. II.] LANDSCAPE AND RUSTIC PAINTING. 2P2,
their appropriate denizens. He is sometimes called
an ' animal painter,' and classed with Stubbs and
Gilpin. These were careful and accurate painters of
horses, Spanish pointers and other animals, but their
animal portraiture is very inferior in pictorial charac
ter to what is seen in the rustic pictures of Morland,
who was not only an animal painter but something
more.-'^ Morland derived what technical knowledge he had
chiefly from his father, an inferior artist, who set him
to copy Dutch and Flemish pictures, and to draw
from nature for himself Of a careless and roving
disposition, fond of low company and amusements,
he sketched and painted whatever came in his way
and struck his fancy. He was at home in all the
haunts in the neighbourhood of London frequented
by horse-dealers, dairy-farmers, and pugilists. In
ferior to Stubbs in anatomical knowledge, he pre
ferred painting a cow, or a rough horse in a country
stable with a seller and purchaser striking a bargain. His
to delineating a smooth thoroughbred in a paddock ^f '^u^af
or race-course. A country girl feeding sheep or pigs, subjects.
loosely attired rustics chatting and drinking in com-
' The light in which Sir David Wilkie regarded Morland
appears from a passage in a letter to a friend in 1805 : — ' I have
been seeing a gallery of pictures by Morland which please me
very much indeed. He seems to have copied Nature in every
thing, and in a manner peculiar to himself. When you look at
his pictures you see in them the very same figures that we see
every day in the streets, which, from the variety and looseness in
their dress, form an appearance that is tmly picturesque, and
much superior to our peasantry in Scotland.'- Cunningham's Life
of Wilkie, vol. i. p. 79.

304 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
pany with their shaggy dogs, were favourite subjects
of his ever ready brush.
Occasionally visiting the Isle of Wight, some of
Morland's best pictures, such as fishermen landing
with their boats, repairing their nets, and their wives
going to market with fish, are taken from that coast.
Scenes of innocent rural life, as country cottages
with dancing dogs and squirrels, and children play
ing at soldiers, are also among his subjects.
His dis- As in the madness of some people there is
sipation j^gthod, Morland's normal state of dissipation was

occasion-

=^% often applied to practical uses. His boon com-
turned to ^ '¦ ^ ..,.,.
account, panions and their dogs sat unwittingly for their por
traits, and an alehouse debauch would furnish the
subject for a clever painting. In his best time the
sale of his pictures afforded him short-lived seasons
of affluence, when he could, and often did, make
pictures from his own horses and stable-boys. His
extravagance and recklessness at last brought diffi
culties and debt in addition to failing health, of which
dealers and creditors took advantage to get pictures
from him ; copies of these being sometimes made to
a considerable extent and sold as originals.^ Using
his painting-brush in prison and in spunging-houses
to the close of his life, he died of a delirious fever.
' ' I once saw,' says Mr. Hassell, one of Morland's biographers,
' twelve copies from a small picture of Morland's at one time in a
dealer's shop, with the original in the centre, the proprietor of
which, with great gravity and unblushing assurance, inquired if I
could distinguish the difference ! ' Assuming this anecdote to be
true, it is an improvement on Hogarth's imaginary row of copies
of ' Europa and the Bull ' in his print of the ' Battle of the
Pictures.'

CHAP. II.] LANDSCAPE AND RUSTIC PAINTING. 305
' Whatever were the failings of Morland,' says
Mr. Leslie,^ ' there is no vulgarity in his art. He is
always homely, often slight to a fault; yet such is
the refinement of his colour and his true feeling for
the simplicity of nature, that his best works will
always sustain companionship with those of Gains-
borough,-which can be said of no painter in the least
degree vulgar.' ^
The art of Morland's brother-in-law, James Ward, Animal
R.A., was certainly that of an animal painter. It of jamfs
may be said to be concentrated in his masterpiece of ^"'^•
the ' Alderney Bull,' now in the National Gallery,
painted at the suggestion of Mr. West, in emulation
of Paul Potter's ' Bull ' at the Hague. His small pic
tures of a ' Mare and Foal ' and of a ' Bull and Cow,'
exhibited in the Burlington House exhibition in the
spring of 1871, are also good examples of his art.
Animal painting has in the present reign been
elevated, through the genius principally of Sir
Edwin Landseer in his dog-pictures, into a higher
region of art, by the qualities being added to it of
sentiment and expression ; and also by the more
skilful blending of the painting of animals with por
trait and figure subjects.
' Handbook for Painters, p. 55.
' The subject of British landscape painting is resumed in the
eighth chapter.

X

3o6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.

CHAPTER III.
PAINTING AND BOOK-ILLUSTRATION.
The Art of Thomas Stothard — Of William Blake.
The works of Thomas Stothard, R.A., painter and
designer for book-illustration, deservedly take a high
place in the history of British art. The book-
Book illustrations of Hogarth in the early part of his
tion. career have been already referred to. Hayman,
Kent, and several French engravers, designeid also
for books in the early part of the i8th century, but
1753. in a slight and trivial manner. An edition (now
rare) of the poems of Gray was illustrated with
original designs by an engraver of the name of
R. Bentley, cleverly executed, but designed in what
would now be considered questionable taste. To
Bentley, as the illustrator of his poems, the poet
addressed the following lines : ^ —
In silent gaze the tuneful choir among
Half pleased, half blushing, let the muse admire,
While Bentley leads her sister art along.
And bids the pencil answer to the lyre.
See in their course each transitory thought
Fix'd by his touch a lasting essence take ;
Each dream, in fancy's airy colouring wrought,
To local symmetry and life awake.
' Mason's Life and Works of Gray, p. 227.

CHAP. III.] PAINTING AND BOOK ILLUSTRATION. 307
The tardy rhymes that used to linger on.
To censure cold and negligent of fame,
In swifter measures animated run,
And catch a lustre from his genuine flame.
Stothard's art life commenced with his apprentice
ship to a designer of patterns for brocaded silks.
This suggested to him the designing of illustrations Stot-
for books, an employment more congenial to his designs
taste ; Bell's ' British Poets' and the ' Novelist's Ma- f'''^^°°'^^-
gazine ' of Harrison furnishing subjects for his first
illustrative works. In 1777 he commenced a course
of study at the Royal Academy, and began in the
following year to contribute oil-paintings to its
exhibitions, without relaxing his diligence in design
ing for books.^ Among the most approved of his
book-illustrations, distinguished by their expression
and delicate handling, were those for the ' NoveHst's
Magazine,' ' Robinson Crusoe,' Boccacio's ' Deca
meron,' and the poems of Mr. Samuel Rogers.
His exhibited pictures were generally of small His oil-
or cabinet size, displaying great power of invention ^"^ ^^^^'
and fancy, beautiful composition, and a colouring
sometimes more gorgeous than true, in which rich
browns and reds were conspicuous. Looking to
Raphael for grace, he studied the colouring of
Rubens. His larger easel pictures are frequently
sketchy and defective in vigour of handling. The
picture of 'Jacob's Dream,' belonging to Lord Over-
stone, is a fine exani.ple of his art.
In Stothard's paintings as well as his book-
designs, particularly those of later dates, there is a

' Mrs. Bray's Life of Stothard, p. 26.
X 2

3o8

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.

He sel
dompainted
from models.

His com
positions
for the
staircase
of Bur
leigh.

very evident mannerism, arising no doubt from his
great facility of execution and the quantity of designs
of all kinds he was constantly making ; but his man
nerism was an imitation of himself, not of other men.
After finishing his studies in early life from the
antique, he is said to have very seldom drawn or
painted from a model, but rather from impressions
stored up in his own mind : —
So vivid were the forms within his brain.
His very eyes when shut made pictures of them.
To this may be attributed the want of individuality
apparent in Stothard's otherwise beautiful and poeti
cal compositions. His pictures from Midsummer-
Nights' Dream and Twelfth Night, for BoydelFs
Shakespeare Gallery, were subjects that suited
him. But the most popular of his works was the
' Canterbury Pilgrims,' in which (according to Mr.
Hoppner) the painter has ingeniously contrived to
give a value to a common scene and very ordinary
forms that would hardly be found by unlearned eyes
in the natural objects.^ His landscape backgrounds
in this and other pictures are tasteful and clever.
A department of painting not much heard of
since the time of Sir James Thornhill, consisting of
large compositions on ceilings and in staircases, was
taken up by Stothard in his great work at Burleigh,
the seat of the Marquis of Exeter. The allegorical
composition of ' Intemperance,' executed in the

' Life of Hoppner, Cunningham's Lives of Painters, &c,,
p. 251.

CHAP. III.] PAINTING AND BOOK ILLUSTRATION. 309
grand staircase, the original sketch of which is in
the National Gallery, was one of three designs for
Burleigh, the other two having for their subjects
' War' and the 'Descent of Orpheus into Hell' The
first mentioned, in which Anthony and Cleopatra
are the chief personages, is regarded as Stothard's
most important work in painting.^ Another work of
the same kind on a smaller scale was the painting
in oil within the cupola of the Library hall at
Edinburgh, then belonging to the Faculty of advo
cates, representing allegorical figures or muses and
leading personages in literature. In this composi
tion, in which it has been endeavoured to delineate
persons born in distant ages, each in the costume of
his own time (the Scottish poet Burns, in blue hose
and breeches, being grouped along with Homer and
VirgU in antique drapery), the painter is not con
sidered to have been so successful.
In many of the designs of Stothard, as in his Sculp-
' Canterbury Pilgrims,' his illustrations of Milton and d"sign"of
the ' Pilgrim's Progress,* there is a sculpturesque fhe'web'
feeling manifested, recalling occasionally the draw- ch^Ytf
ing of Flaxman in its gracefulness, without its classi
cal severity. This tendency in his design was no
doubt strengthened by his occasional employment as
a draughtsman for goldsmiths' work ; his master
piece in which, and a work of great merit, was the
Wellington Shield, presented to the Duke of Wei- 1821.
lington by the merchants and bankers of London,

1 Mrs. Bray's Life of Stothard; Wornum's Catalogue of the
National Gallery, British School.

William
Blake,

310 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
the design representing the Duke's principal victo
ries, with some allegorical additions.
1792- Robert Smirke, R.A., was another painter and
designer of humorous and sentimental subjects,
chiefly in the line of book-illustrations. The two
Westalls, Richard and William, had extensive em
ployment in the same way.
Art of The art of William Blake, a designer and colourist
contemporary with Stothard, is of a kind so peculiar
and unique that it is difficult to find terms in which
to speak of it. In so far as regards his paintings on
canvas, with much originality and often greatness of
conception, their execution is inadequate and defec
tive. In his coloured book-illustrations, the colouring
is brilliant and not inharmonious ; forming a species
of illumination applied in a way so bizarre that it
can hardly be described as painting in the artistic
acceptation of the word.
The juvenile aspirations of Blake in the field of
imagination were so decided that he was bound
apprentice to an engraver, as a channel in which his
love of art might obtain cultivation. He acquired a
fair skill in the use of the graver, which he employed
as a means of living ; engraving book-illustrations
from early designs of Stothard, and also from his
own designs.
To Blake, however, this was drudgery when com
pared with those dreams and visions, the embodying
of which he looked upon as the proper business of
his life. To give a local habitation to the forms of
his imagination, he employed jointly poetry and
painting. He scorned to avail himself of the assist-

CHAP. III.] PAINTING AND BOOK ILLUSTRATION. 31 I
ance to be derived from previous art-experience in
carrying into execution the suggestions of a powerful
-though heatedfancy. The ' Sojigs of Innocence and j^gg.
Experience,' with ^heir lustrous illuminations full of His
fanciful pathos -and sentiment, were his first produc- denary
tions. They were printed, or rather engraved, by a [jl^ns'^^'
process he alleged to have been reyea,led to him in
a vision. He wrote his poetry and drew his mar-
gin^-l embellishments in outline upon the copper
plate .with an impervious liquid (which was kept a
secret), and he then cut down with aqua-fortis the
plain parts of the plate, so that the outlines of the
verses and the drawings vyere left as a stereotype.
The plates in this state were printed in any tint that
he wished, to enable him to colour the marginal
figures by hand, in imitation of drawings.^
The ' Songs of Innocence and Experience' were
exceeded in fantastic singularity by the productions
that followed, manufactured according to the same
process — ' Europe, a Prophecy,' ' Jerusalem,' in one
hundred engraved pages, and Young's ' Night
Thoughts.' In these productions and a few others
Blake's most extravagant fancies found shape. His
' Illustrations of the Book of Job' are carefully drawn
and engraved in the usual manner; and although
still displaying in plentiful measure his irrepressible
imagination, they are at the same time imbued with
much feeling and dignity of character and sentiment.

1 Smith's Nollekens and his Times, ii. 461. In the print- room
of the British Museum is a nearly complete collection of the
illustrative works of Blake.

312 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
The Book of Job may be regarded as the master
piece of this eccentric artist' ^
' A very exalted estimate of Blake is given in a paper in the
Art Journal iox August 1869, by Mr. Jackson Jarves, an American
writer. Blake's extreme eccentricity, as shown in his works and
in some of his actions, and his belief in supernatural communion
and inspiration, have not unnaturally brought his sanity in
question. At the same time" the general tenor of his life was
harmless and self-denying, and in his conjugal relation amiable.
' There is something in the madness of this man,' Mr. Words
worth is said to have remarked, ' that interests me more than the
sanity of Lord Byron and Walter Scott' — Life of William Blake,
by Alexander Gilchrist.
In the Burlington House exhibition of deceased masters in
187 1 was an extraordinary picture by Blake upon canvas (29 in.
by 24 in.), very dark in colour and nearly monochrome. It was
described in its title, taken from Blake's original catalogue, as
' The spiritual form of Pitt guiding Behemoth. He is that angel
who, pleased to perform the Almighty's orders, rides in the whirl
wind, directing the storms of war ; he is commanding the reaper
to reap the vine of the earth, and the ploughman to plough up
the cities and towers.'

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 3 1 ;

CHAPTER IV.
HISTORICAL PAINTING.
The historical art of West — Copley — Great aims and
imperfect performance of historical painters — Barry — ¦
Mortimer — The Runcimans — Fuseli — Northcote — Opie.
Having observed, in the very outset of the British
school of painting, the high character and tone im
pressed upon the art by the work of Hogarth,
Reynolds, Wilson, Gainsborough, Romney and Stot
hard, it is necessary now to remark what has been
done in the department of ' historical painting,' in the
usual acceptation of that term.
Benjamin West arrived in London from America Histori-
by way of Italy in 1763. His picture of ' Pylades i^ngfBen-
and Orestes,' now in the National Gallery, was exhi- ^^^
bited some years after, and admired as a praiseworthy
attempt in the historical style. His lofty ideal of
art and the gravity of his demeanour gained for
him the patronage of the archbishop of York,
Dr. Drummond, who introduced him to the king.
His Majesty was pleased with and took an interest
in the young quaker artist, commissioning from
him a picture of the ' Departure of Regulus from
Rome.' The negotiations for the establishment of
the Royal Academy taking place about this time,
the hearty concurrence by George III. in the plan

3^4 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill,
of that institution is attributed in no small degree
to the tact and address of Mr. West.^
West was one of the original members of the Aca-
His demy. His ' Death of General Wolfe,' painted for
Death
of Wolfe the Earl of Grosvenor, caused a beneficial change in
aboufa' ^^^ costume of historical painting in subjects taken
change from modem history. In historical compositions of
torical every kind it had been the custom of painters to
array their figures in Greek or Roman costume ;
but West introduced in this picture the innovation
of dressing his personages in the dress they might
be supposed to have actually worn. There can be
no doubt of the advantage in point of truthfulness
and characteristic expression of this mode of repre
senting a modern subject; a painter of good taste
and resource being able to palliate in various ways
the unavoidable stiffness and frequent ungraceful-
ness of modern dress. Sir Joshua Reynolds is said
to have been at first opposed to it, but after careful
observation of the picture to have retracted his ob
jections, remarking that ' the Death of Wolfe would
not only become popular but would occasion a revo-

' Pye's Patronage of British Art ; Biographies of West. ' At
an era,' says Sir T. Lawrence in his Academical Address in 1823,
' when historical painting was at the lowest ebb (with the few ex
ceptions which the claims of the beautiful and the eminent per
mitted to the pencil of Sir Joshua), Mr. West, sustained by the
beneficent patronage of his late Majesty, produced a series of
compositions from sacred and profane history, profoundly studied,
and executed with the most facile power, which not only were
superior to any former productions of English art, but far sur
passing contemporary merit on the continent, were unequalled
at any period below the schools of the Caracci.'

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 3 1 5
lution in art.' This picture and the Battie of La
Hogue afterwards painted by West (both engraved
by Woollett) are usually regarded as his master
pieces. The chief feature in West's career of employment
is the royal patronage he enjoyed for a period of Royal
more than thirty years ; as long indeed as the king ^ge™"'
retained his health. For a considerable portion of
that time he was engaged in painting for his Majesty
two series of works, one consisting of eight pictures
illustrative of the reign of Edward III., which are
among the best of his large paintings ; the other
being a series of twenty-eight pictures for the royal
chapel at Windsor, illustrating the progress of re
vealed religion. These sets of pictures were
studied with great care, the drawing academically
correct, the execution facile ; and yet, with all this,
they are defective both in conception and execution.
But Mr. West was unconscious of his own de
ficiency. With a marvellous confidence in his Over
powers, he selected subjects far beyond his reach ; by West
and the result has been that from the comparison °each°in'^
his works inevitably provoke with those of the great ^'''•
Italian masters, which he no doubt had in his eye,
he is at the present day perhaps rather underrated.
The two series of pictures at Windsor already re
ferred to, as well as most of his later works (the size His
of which increased with his advancing years), may works.
entitle him to the praise of academical learning ; but
we miss in him that vigour of thought and expres
sion of character, that rich and contrasted and at
the same time harmonious colouring, that power of

3l6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
interesting and detaining the imagination, the pre
sence or want of which makes the difference between
a great and mediocre painter. In some of his por
trait-groups and works of less pretension, as in the
family group of his wife and his relatives, remarkable
for simplicity and breadth of effect,^ and in his pic
ture of an angel receiving two deceased children of
George III. (engraved by Sir R. Strange), the im
pression left on the mind of the spectator is more
satisfactory. On the decease of Sir Joshua Reynolds, Mr. West
was elected president of the Royal Academy, de
clining, however, the honour of knighthood. After
1820. his death it very soon appeared that a generation
had sprung up ' who knew not Joseph,' and re
fused to believe in his large academic pictures, with
their conventional action and colouring, monotonous
character and general lifelessness.
Great Britain is indebted to America for another
historical painter, John Singleton Copley, R.A. His
subjects are chiefly from English history, representing
events either contemporary with the painter or not
1 77 J. remote from his time. On establishing himself in
Copley's London Copley began portrait-painting, and con-
paint^ing. tl^ued to paint portraits as well as historical sub
jects. A well painted picture of ' Christ and the
Tribute money,' is in possession of the Royal Aca-
Death of demy. The first of his pictures that attracted atten-
ham ^^°" ^^^^ ^^ ' Death ofthe Earl of Chatham,' painted
• This quaker-like picture is highly praised by Mr. Leslie in
his Handbook of Painting, p. 292. There is a French engraving
of it by Pariset, dated 1781.

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 3 1 7
soon after the event it commemorates. The pic
ture may or may not be an accurate representation
in its main features of the scene in the House of
Lords, but it has this anomaly, that the peers are
attired in their robes instead of their ordinary dress ;
and there is a certain formality in the grouping and
a theatrical effect in the general expression not co
inciding with what may be supposed to have been
the strong feeling excited by the sudden catastrophe.
The heads of the faces are understood to be por
traits, carefully drawn and turned towards the spec
tator, so as to give the likeness of each face — a
mode of treating an historical picture with numerous
figures not usual in the practice of the great
masters of the art. The picture of the ' Death of
Chatham ' with its ' Explanatory Key ' is now at
South Kensington.
Copley was so much pleased with the reception
this picture met with that he chose for the subject of
his next production another event of the day, the
' Death of Major Pearson at the storming of St. His
Helier in Jersey.' Here upwards of twelve por- pearson.
traits are introduced, including that of the black
servant who is avenging his master's death, the
drawings of the locality being also done from nature.
With more life and truthfulness in its action, it is
an improvement on the Chatham picture. The
colouring of both these paintings, especially the
' Death of Chatham,' may possibly be thought want
ing in richness and variety. The ' Death of Major
Pearson,' the detail of which is of more varied cha-
ractei*, was painted for Alderman Boydell, and was

3l8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
afterwards re-purchased by Mr. Copley, on whose
decease it came into the possession of his son. Lord
Copley's Lyndhurst.^ A subsequent picture of the ' Siege
style of and relief of Gibraltar,' painted for the Guildhall
painting, of London (a small replica of which is in the
National Gallery), was individualised likewise with
portraits and accurate drawings of the locality,
and sustained Copley's reputation in this kind of
painting. In several historical pictures of subjects farther
from his own time, as ' Charles I. demanding the
arrest of the five Members,' Copley allowed him
self to be less hampered with portraiture standing in
the way of his composition and expression. Indivi
duality and character (in the pictorial sense) may
surely be attained without each head in a large his
torical piece being a likeness in reality of the person
represented. Portraiture appears in its proper place
in portrait-pictures of figures, where scope is afforded
for imaginative composition, such as Copley's group
of the daughters of George III. playing in a garden
with dogs and parrots. In the case of a Court
ceremonial or a scene in the House of Lords or
House of Commons, where the faces are to be all
portraits, it requires an artist of genius like the
late Mr. Phillip to make a good picture from such
materials.
Pursuit Xhe professional careers of James Barry, J. H.
' The first Duke of Wellington is said, when dining with
Lord Lyndhurst, to have (on more than one occasion) expressed
his admiration of this picture, considering it the best represen
tation of a fight he had ever seen.

CHAP. III.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 3 tq
Mortimer, John and Alexander Runciman, Henry artists
Fuseli and James Northebte, present memorable cai paint-
exam'ples of the hold which the idea of ' historical '"2-
painting' had takeri of the artistic mind in Britain
during the period immediately following the institu
tion of the Royal Academy. All these artists,
each of them possessing talent above the average,
were more or less imbued with the notion that his
torical painting, as practised by the great masters of
Italy and discoursed upon by Sir Joshua Reynolds,
was the only style of painting to excel in which was
a worthy object of ambition. With exalted views
of art they took, for the most part, a wrong measure
of their own ability to carry those views into effect.
The consequence was, that with a great expenditure
of time and talent they have contributed compara
tively little to the progress of painting in Britain,
while the patrons of art, or those who might have
been so, have been accused of culpable indifference
to high art, and of a selfish predilection for portrait,
when in fact English portrait-painting, elevated into
the region of ideal art by the genius of Reynolds,
Gainsborough and Romney, was the nearest ap
proach to high art the period could show.
Repairing from Dublin to London in 1 764, Barry Career of
was soon after assisted by his countryman, Mr. Bany.
Burke, to visit Italy and Rome, where his already
formed predilection for the ancients and historical
art was converted into an ardent devotion. On his
way through France he had sent to England a copy
of a picture by Le Sueur, the drawing and expres
sion of which were commended by Sir Joshua

320 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
Reynolds, who of course advised the young painter
to study Michael Angelo.-^ The study of the ancient
statues and of the works of Michael Angelo occu
pied the chief portion of the five years passed by
Barry in Italy. In colouring he preferred Titian to
all other painters, without however acquiring the
' Venetian secret ' in his own practice. While in
Italy he painted the picture of ' Adam tempted by
Eve,' which certainly does not impress the spectator
with his power of execution.
Soon after returning to England Barry exhibited,
without much encouragement, ' Venus rising from
the Sea ' as an example of grace and beauty in the
manner of the ancients. A picture of ' Jupiter
and Juno ' followed, but without exciting interest.
With unflinching courage, but gradually losing both
discretion and temper, Barry produced a picture
of the ' Death of Wolfe,' in which he carried out
his passion for classical art by filling his battle-field
with nude figures. Whether this mode of dealing
with the subject was adopted to show his defiance of
West's mode of treating the same subject is not
clear ; but assuredly no more appropriate argument
in favour of representing the personages in a scene
of history in their appropriate costume could have
been brought forward than this example of the con
trary method. The English public had too much

' In the British Museum is an etching by Barry of Michael
Angela's Jonas in the Sistine chapel; and another vigorous etching
from his own design of 'Satan on a rock calling the Demons,'
in both of which appear traces of the terribil via of the great
Florentine.

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 321
good sense to sympathise with these attempts to
introduce what was called ' high art ; ' and we cannot
be surprised nor at this day regret that the offer of
Barry and certain other artists to decorate with
paintings the interior of St. Paul's should have been
declined by the Bishop of London.
The works by which Barry is chiefly known as a Barry's
painter are the pictures on the walls of the Society pjcuires
of Arts* roorii in the Adelphi. That Society, when
Mr. Barry was disappointed of an opportunity to
emulate the great masters of Italy in the interior of
St. Paul's, accepted an offer by him to decorate their
large room gratuitously with a series of historical
paintings in the highest style of art. The subject
he selected was the ' Progress of Human Culture,'
illustrated in six pictures — (i) 'The Story of Orpheus,'
representing man in a savage state ; (2) 'A Harvest- '
home or Thanksgiving to Ceres and Bacchus ; ' (3)
' The Victors at the Olympic games ; ' (4) ' Navi
gation, or the Triumph of the Thames ;' (5) ' The
Distribution of premiums by the Society of Arts;'
(6) ' Elysium, or the State of final retribution.'
Pictoribus atque poetis
Quidlibet audendi semper fuit aequa potestas —
And certainly no painter has exercised more freely
than Barry this privilege of daring anything. In
the Adelphi pictures the aim is high, but looking at
the series as a whole, neither the conception and
plan nor the execution can be said to respond to
the greatness and extent of the theme. The sub
jects of the pictures are not exhaustive of what is
Y

322 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. ¦ [book ill.
proposed to be illustrated, which was hardly to be
expected ; but the series wants also consistency,
proportion and keeping, Avhich it might have had.
That some of the pictures display talent and
thought may be true ; but defective judgment and
taste, and imperfect execution, are apparent in all of
them. The least exceptionable in point of composi
tion, light and shade, and drawing, is the ' Victors of
Olympia ; ' but even here the drawing and propor
tions of the nude figures are of very doubtful accu
racy, and the colouring is dingy and sombre. The
next picture, ' The Triumph of Navigation,' in
which Raleigh and Drake are introduced in the
costume of their time, along with Dr. Burney in a
modern coat and wig sporting with sea nymphs in
the waters of the Thames, is an example of the
bathos in painting. And nearly the same may be
said of the parish subject of the fifth picture, the
' Society of Arts distributing their premiums.' Had
Barry been a self-taught artist, and not conversant
with the works of the great Italian masters, some
excuse might be found for these productions ; but it
is difficult to allege any for a man with so thorough
a knowledge as he unquestionably had both of the
theory and of the best examples of his art.
This laborious performance was concluded in
1 784, the painter having been elected a member of
the Royal Academy some time previously. In the
course of a few years, his temper and conduct be
coming more and more uncontrollable, he was ex
pelled formally by the Academicians from their
body ; a melancholy instance of talents perverted

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 323

and lost through want of temper and want of judg
ment. Of the easel pictures of Mr. Barry the account is
scanty, and such as remain are insufficient to support
his academical reputation as a painter.^
Another historical painter of fair talent, but whose J. H.
early promise never reached fulfilment, was John mer.
Hamilton Mortimer. Bred on the coast of Sussex,
and familiar from his youth with fishermen and
smugglers, picturesque and wild in their appear
ance and habits, he contracted a Salvator Rosa-like
manner of depicting rude scenes and people. Coming
to London about 1760, he studied with the painters
Hudson and Pine, and in the gallery of statues
and models then opened by the Duke of Richmond
for the education of young artists. Applying him
self to historical subjects, as ' Edward the Con
fessor seizing his mother's treasure,' and ' St. Paul
preaching to the Britons,' he obtained two pre
miums from the Society of Arts.^ His pictures,
however, though of some merit in composition
and drawing, were heavy and defective in colour.
He made no improvement in colouring, and falling
into irregular habits neglected his further art edu
cation. Mortimer is now chiefly known by his designs. His
engraved by himself and by Blyth and Sherwin. and^°^
 _ etchings.
' One of these, ' Pandora, or the Heathen Eve,' was exhibited
in the Manchester Exhibition of 1857, and is stated in the
catalogue to have been sold at Barry's sale in 1807 for 230/., and
again at Christie's, in 1846, for 11^ guineas.
^ Edwards' Anecdotes of Painters. y 2

324

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.

His SalvatorRosa
manner.

Scotch
art of
J. and A.
Runci-
man.

His ' Death on the pale horse' and his ' Death of
Sir Philip Sidney ' are able productions ; also his
' Marius among the ruins of Carthage,' a simple and
majestic figure, etched by Blyth. His twelve heads
of characters from Shakespeare etched by himself
and dedicated to Sir Joshua Reynolds, are full of
expression, though exaggerated. His series of de
signs of soldiers and banditti, in his peculiar bravura
manner, are inferior to the heads ; but all these
designs are more or less imbued with a certain
mannerism, increased by his study of Salvator whose
works had strongly impressed his imagination.
Shortly before his death, Mortimer was without
solicitation created an associate of the Royal Aca
demy. Had he been able to correct a tendency to
exaggeration and extravagance, his freedom and
power of design might have rendered him a sensible
addition to the British school.
Among the aspirants in art at this time, John and
Alexander Runciman of Edinburgh deserve mention.
Their reputation indeed was confined to Scotland,
but as their compatriot Ramsay spent most of his
life painting portraits in London, they have the chief
merit of starting the northern branch of the British
school of painting. John Runciman died early at
Naples, having in his short life executed few works,
but of much promise. In the Scottish National
Gallery is a well-coloured portrait by this artist of
himself, and a landscape picture of ' King Lear in
the storm,' the figures small but well set down and
grouped, and the colouring solid and of good quality.
Alexander Runciman, after trying various depart-

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 325

ments of painting, gave way to the enthusiasm for
history, and in 1766 proceeded to study in Rome.
He there met Henry Fuseli, bent on the same
pursuit ; and a certain congeniality of mind and taste
appears to have united them in their studies. In a
letter written from Rome Fuseli says : — ' I send this
by the hands of Runciman, whom I am sure you
will like. He is one of the best of us here.' ^
Runciman was five years in Rome, after which he re
turned to Edinburgh, where he practised his art till
his death in 1785. He painted Scripture subjects Ten-
and other pictures, such as 'Andromeda,' and ' Agrip- a^ Runci
pina landing with the ashes of Germanicus ; ' but J?^" '°
neither in his pictures nor in his etchings, though vagant.
the etchings exhibit much manipulative skill, could
he get over a leaning to the extravagant and fan
tastical in his design and drawing.
Runciman's principal work was the painting of the His
hall and ceilings of Penicuik House in Midlothian painrings.
with twelve pictures from Ossian's poems, a subject
for which his peculiar manner was well adapted.
His colouring in this performance is above the
average of such work by contemporary artists ; the
drawing and design more free and spirited than
accurate. He painted also a few pictures in oil on
the walls of an Episcopal chapel in Edinburgh. Alex
ander Runciman was appointed master of the school
of design at Edinburgh of the Board of Trustees for
Scottish Manufactures, established by act of parlia
ment in 1 727, in pursuance of an Article in the Treaty
' Life of Runciman, in Lives of Painters, by A. Cunningham.

326 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
of Union. His teaching is said to have influenced
favourably the taste for art in Scotland.^
Painting The works of Fuseli, who chose for himself the
° "^^ '¦ poetical department of historical painting, are chiefly
known at the present time through"the traditions of
the Academy and the conservative art of the en
graver. A native of Switzerland and a man of
undoubted genius, the early part of Fuseli's life was
passed in a desultory pursuit of literature and art.
Arriving in London in 1763 he read Shakespeare
and Milton, designed illustrations for booksellers,
travelled with a nobleman, sketched and drew when
he had opportunity, and at the end of five years,
flattered by Sir Joshua Reynolds' admiration of his
drawings, resolved, without adequate education in
the grammar of his art, to betake himself to Italy
and become a historical painter. He disliked on
principle the drudgery of academies and elementary
training, studying and drawing in Italy as his fancy
directed. His original designs at Rome were ad
mired for their vigorous and striking effect.
Boydell's Returning to England, Fuseli painted for several
spe^are" years Subjects of an historical character, and when
Gallery. Alderman Boydell's scheme of the Shakespeare
Gallery was set on foot in 1 786, he engaged in it
with ardour and enthusiasm.
' To advance historical painting towards maturity,
and to establish an English school of historical paint-

1 Catalogue of the Scottish National Gallery, by James Drum
mond, R.S.A. (Principal Curator and Keeper of the Gallery, in
succession to the late Mr. W. B. Johnstone, R.S.A.)

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 327
ing,' was the avowed object of Mr. Boydell's plan.^
The artists of that time, of all degrees of merit, were
invited on liberal terms to aid in the undertaking.
The plays of Shakespeare were ransacked to obtain
picturesque scenes, and from these no less than 1 70
pictures were painted ! '-^ The pictures were engraved
for a subscription edition of Shakespeare, many of
the prints being afterwards published separately.
This enterprise was obviously beyond the power of
the worthy alderman to carry into execution. Very
few of the painters engaged by him showed them
selves capable of embodying the conceptions of
Shakespeare in their designs, or of executing the
subjects selected. The failure of the project from
want of proportion between the aim and the means of
performance might have been anticipated ; and in
fact, a few years after the completion of the pictures
and engravings, Mr. Boydell was constrained, with
the sanction of Parliament, to dispose of the whole
of them and of his other art-property by lottery.^
The best of Fuseli's works for the Shakespeare Fuseli's
Gallery were taken from plays in which the imagi- Ig^'Jj™^
native and preternatural element prevails, the dis- preter-naturah
tinctive tendency of his style being towards the
' John Boydell's Preface to Catalogue of Shakespeare Gallery,
1789. 2 Sale Catalogue of Shakespeare Gallery; Pye's Patronage of
British Art, p. 279.
3 This occurred in 1804. The shutting of the continental
market against the circulation of Boydell's prints, in consequence
of the French war, is said to have conduced materially to the
commercial bad success of his Shakespeare Gallery.

328 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book III.
mystical and extravagant. Thus his pictures of
' Titania and Bottom ' from ' Midsummer Night's
Dream ' and of ' Hamlet and the Ghost ' (particularly
the latter) are favourable specimens of his manner.
Suggested probably by the Boydell paintings from
Shakespeare, Fuseli, assisted by the pecuniary aid of
friends, undertook and painted a series of forty-six
His subjects from Milton. From these pictures en-
from gravings were made, intended for an edition of
1 ton. jviilton to be superintended by the poet Cowper.
When the pictures were finished, Fuseli opened his
Milton Gallery for public exhibition, but notwith
standing all the encouragement the Academy could
give, the public appreciation of it disappointed the
painter's hopes.
In his attempts to embody the creations of Shake
speare and Milton in this wholesale way, Fuseli
was — ¦
Like one that stands upon a promontoiy
And spies a far-off shore where he would tread,
Wishing his foot were equal with his eye.
And chides the sea that sunders him from thence —
Saying he'll lade it dry to have his way.'
Some of the Milton pictures, as the ' Lazar-house*
and ' Sin pursued by Death ' (engraved by Moses
Haughton), displayed a power of imagination almost
equal to rendering the thought of Milton ; but
taking these pictures altogether, it was but too
apparent that the awful grandeur of Milton was as
intractable in the hands of Fuseli as were the bright
' Kitjg Hairy VI. Part 3.

CHAP. I V.J HISTORICAL PAINTING. 3^9
creations of Shakespeare in the hands of the greater
number of Boydell's staff of painters.
The frequent anachronisms in costume in the
pictures of Fuseli and his contemporaries show a
license in this particular such as is seen in the works
of the Venetian and other Italian masters ; but not,
as in their case, redeemed by the execution and
colouring. Fuseli's design wanted delicacy and ac
curacy, though possessing energy and striking effect.
He was no colourist ; the apology being rather a
lame one that has been sometimes made for his
defect in colouring, that in preternatural subjects, to
which class his pictures mostly belonged, some liberty
of treatment was allowable in the tone of colour ap
plicable to the inhabitants of a visionary world.
With these qualifications in art it may seem strange
that Fuseli, when he became professor of painting iSoi.
and afterwards Keeper of the Royal Academy,
should have bred so many good painters in subse
quent years. As a teacher in the Academy he
followed what in his case may have been the best
course, allowing the students when drawing from
models to pursue the bent of their own inclination.^
The paintings of James Northcote, a respectable North-
artist and R.A., inferior in talent to Fuseli, are now practice
chiefly known by engravings.^ After passing some '" ^'^'^
years in the studio of Sir Joshua Reynolds, whom
* LesUe's Autobiographical Recollections, i. 37.
2 In the catalogue of the paintings of the British School in the
National Gallery, which now includes several good private col
lections, no picture by Fuseli or Northcote appears. A head of
William Siddons, the actor, is a solitary example of Opie.

33° VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
he assisted in the accessory parts of his pictures,
Northcote visited Italy, studying there with the
avowed intention of engaging himself with portrait
as well as historical painting. On his return to Lon-
1780. don he varied his practice in portraits, many of which
are of merit, with figure subjects of domestic life.
His ambition to paint history was at last gratified
by an engagement with Alderman Boydell for the
Shakespeare Gallery. For this Northcote did the
' Murder ' — and also the ' Burial of the Princes in
the Tower,' and likewise ' Prince Arthur and Hu
bert,' a not unpleasing composition. In most of his
subjects there is a commonplace and not always
consistent character in the faces and persons as well
as in the conception and treatment, and a verj^
obvious neglect of costume. In colouring also he
was defective. One of his principal performances
was the ' Death of Wat Tyler,' a spirited picture full
of action, painted for the Corporation of London.
As a painter of animals, introduced into his pic
tures and designed for books, Mr. Northcote's merit
has been recognised as above the average. As a
writer, his biographies of Sir Joshua Reynolds and
of Titian are contributions of considerable value to
the literature of art.
J. Opie. The works of Opie are in the same class of art
as those of Northcote, but superior in originality
and effectiveness of treatment. Bred in the mines of
Cornwall and showing an early talent for painting,
he came to London in 1780 and commenced the
painting of portraits. His heads of men were effec
tive in point of light and shade and colour, though

CHAP. IV.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 331
somewhat coarse in execution. With female por
traits he was not so successful.
Overcoming during his first years in London
some of the difficulties of his art, but never recover
ing the defects in execution and technical knowledge
caused by the want of early training, Opie pro
duced several able pictures, rising gradually from
portraits and single figures to historical composi- Histori-
tions. Such were his ' Death of David Rizzio ' in posi'tiOTs.
the Council Chamber of the Guildhall of London,
the ' Murder of James I. of Scotland,' and 'Jephtha's
Vow.' After his election as a Royal Academician
he was employed by Alderman Boydell to paint for
the Shakespeare Gallery.^ Opie was appointed pro- 1807.
fessor of painting in succession to Fuseli and died
in the same year ; an instance of the caprice of
the patrons of art of his day, who in the early
part of his career crowded his studio, then left him
for some years without employment, and before his
decease rewarded his perseverance and industry by
a return of their favour.^ Wanting in imagination. Effective
and in refinement and dignity of expression, his ^antmgin refine-
 ' —  ~~ ment.
1 ' In that quality of colouring called tone,' says Sir M. A.
Shee, 'Opie was at one period of his practice conspicuously
skihed. The ' Death of James I.' and some of his pictures
painted for the Shakespeare Gallery displayed a depth and rich
ness of hue not always to be found in his subsequent works. The
desire of freshness and purity of tint much influenced his pencil in
the latter period of his life, and sometimes occasioned a crude
and chalky manner of colouring which impaired the general
impression of his works.' — Elements of Art, p. 266.
2 Memoir by Mrs. Opie, prefixed to Opie's Lectures on Paint
ing, iSog.

332 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
Style of painting and colouring, though rather dark,
was yet marked by a life and energy and a breadth
of handling, to be sought for in vain in the works
of most of his contemporaries.^
' To pass unnoticed the paintings of some other artists of this
period may seem an omission ; but as any influence for good
exercised upon British art by William and Gavin Hamilton,
Angelica Kauffman, Mr. and Mrs. Cosway, Wright of Derby,
and the Rev. Hugh Peters, is hardly perceptible, it seems un
necessary to notice what is of little importance to be known.
Without concurring in all the contemporary criticisms of Dr.
Wolcott, his Odes to the Academicians may be referred to for a
tolerably just appreciation of the merits of Angelica Kauffman,
the Cosways, and Wright of Derby.

GHAP. v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 333

CHAPTER V.
LATER BRITISH PORTRAIT-PAINTING.
The Portrait-painting of Sir W. Beechey — Of Hoppner — ¦
Owen — Phillips — Jackson — Sir T. Lawrence ¦ — Sir
Martin Shee — Sir H. Raeburn — Sir J. Watson Gordon
— Grahain Gilbert.
Considering the admiration excited both in England
and on the continent by the painting of Sir Joshua
Reynolds, the excellence of his portraits, and the
attractive character of much of his work, it is not
surprising that its influence should have extended
beyond his lifetime. Sir Martin Shee, in his ' Ele- i8og.
ments of Art,' thus refers to the deceased President
of the Academy : —
Though long the sceptre of his Art he held,
And justly swayed where he so much excell'd,
No vain pretender of his time was known
To doubt his title or dispute his throne ;
So bright his merits in their eyes appear'd.
E'en they who best could rival most revered :
The schools he formed their founder's taste sustain,
And triumph in the trophies of his reign.
Even in the lifetime of Reynolds his manner had
been copied by imitators to a considerable extent, if
we may take as evidence of this the lines in one of
Dr. Wolcott's odes for the year 1782 ; —
Sir Joshua's happy pencil hath produced
A host of copyists much of the same feature.
By which the art hath greatiy been abused ;
I own Sir Joshua great, but Nature greater.

334 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
Influence That such copying or very close imitation of Sir
art of Joshua Reynolds would be practised by inferior
Reynolds, artists, and was continued to a considerable extent
after his death, may be true ; but it is a favourable
symptom of British art that none of the artists of
merit who painted portraits in the close of the i8th
and the early part of the 1 9th century, although they
may have imitated his manner in a greater or less
degree, carried their study of it to an extent that
could be called slavish imitation or copying.
The portraits of Sir Nathaniel Dance (whose
painting of portraits ceased about the year 1790,
when he resigned his academical diploma) have a
studied air, and are carefully painted. The portrait-
painting of Opie, which was very effective, and has
been compared to that of Caravaggio, fell short of
Sir Joshua's portraits in execution and refinement of
sentiment.
Sir w. Sir William Beechey's art in portrait was hardly
portrai-^^ above mediocrity, though he enjoyed for many years
^"'''^- the patronage of the royal family, and had many
sitters of rank and fashion. A whole-length by him
of Alderman Boydell is in the council-chamber of
the Guildhall of London. His picture of a ' Cavalry
Review' (now at Hampton Court) in which the King
and Prince of Wales are introduced, was rewarded
1798. with the honour of knighthood, the painter becoming
soon after a Royal Academician.
R.A. The much superior portraits of John Hoppner
'''^^' show a decided study ofthe style of Reynolds. He
was the friend of the critic and reviewer William
Gifford, who inscribed to him his ' Baviad and

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 335
Maeviad.' In this poem a tribute to the artistic
merits of Hoppner (the tone of which is heightened
by the partiality of friendship) concludes thus :—
Go then, since the long struggle now is o'er,
And envy can obstruct thy fame no more ;
With ardent hand thy magic toil pursue,
And pour fresh wonders on our raptured view.
One sun is set, one glorious sun, whose rays
Long gladdened Britain with no common blaze :
Oh may'st thou soon (for clouds begin to rise)
Assert his station in the eastern skies,
Glow with his fires, and give the world to see
Another Reynolds risen, my friend, in thee !
Hoppner was considered to excel more in his Artistic
handling and general treatment than in his drawing, of jjopp-
His landscape backgrounds have been compared "^"^^ .
with those of Gainsborough. He adopted the rich
colouring of the Reynolds school, and being himself
a man of refined taste, he was the more successful
in giving an air of refinement to the subjects of his
pictures. He was especially happy in his female
portraits. For many years he was a contemporary
exhibitor along with Sir Thomas Lawrence, who
regarded him as his most formidable competitor.
Hoppner is said to have remarked in public that the
air of Lawrence's ladies was too free, and some
times trespassed on moral as well as professional
propriety, — a sarcasm which had the effect of con
siderably increasing the popularity of his courtly
rival. -^
Well-painted and lifelike portraits of distinguished
' Life of Hoppner, in Cunningham's Lives of Painters, &c.

33^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
Statesmen and beautiful women, belonging at first
principally to the Whig or Prince of Wales' party,
are the standing memorials of Hoppner's art. His
death in 1810 left Lawrence pre-eminent in the
practice of portrait ; although Owen, Phillips, Jack
son, and (in Scotland) Raeburn well maintained
about the same time the credit of British art in this
department.
Portraits With diligent application William Owen made his
way, by his truthful portraits and occasional poetical
or fancy subjects, to a high standing in his pro
fession. His drawing of heads and the individual
character he impressed on his pictures was much
praised, while with his colouring no great fault
could be found. His extensive employment as a
portrait-painter gained him the honours of the
Academy in 18 10, and a few years after the Prince
Regent granted him the title of his ' principal portrait-
painter,' with the offer of knighthood, which was
declined.
Of T. Thomas Phillips was a faithful painter and good
j^ ^ 'P^' colourist, without much originality or elevation of
1808. manner, but with a salutary dread of anything me
retricious in his colouring or execution. He made
portraits of many literary and remarkable men of his
day; among the best of which are those of Lord
Byron and Sir Francis Burdett.
Of Jack- Conspicuous in this second group of English
portrait-painters was John Jackson, a native of
Yorkshire, who, having shown an early talent for
drawing and copying pictures, was, by the Earl of
Mulgrave and Sir George Beaumont, put in the way

son.

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 337
of an academical training. His drawings in water-
colour (especially those for Cadell's series of en
graved portraits) were approved for their truthful
ness and freedom of hand.
Jackson afterwards devoted himself to painting Excel-
in oil ; his portraits acquiring for him a well-deserved ^^[^^^
reputation. His rich though quiet colouring was poio"^-
truer in general than that of Lawrence, and his por
traits were solidly painted, without pretending to
much elevation of interest or sentiment. Those of
Lady Dover, of Canova, and of Flaxman are among
his best ; the portrait of Flaxman especially having
been compared by the French to the painting of
Gerard, by the English to that of Vandyke.
The precocious accomplishments of Sir Thomas Sir T.
Lawrence made him remarkable in his early youth, rence,
If Pope lisped in numbers, the young Lawrence's ^'^.P'^'^"
crayon drew painters' lines spontaneously. After ^''t-
practising for some years amongst the doctors of
Oxford and the fashionables of Bath, he removed
to London in 1787, and was duly entered at the
classes of the Royal Academy.
Among the first pictures in oil that brought
Lawrence into notice were his portraits of Miss
Farren, afterwards Countess of Derby, and of the
Queen and the Princess Amelia. On the death
of Sir Joshua Reynolds, he was appointed, in his
twenty-third year, painter in ordinary to the King,
and was promoted to the honours of the Academy
before he was of the age fixed by its laws for
receiving them.
The few attempts by Lawrence in historical or
z

33^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
poetical painting, as ' Prospero raising the storm '
and ' Satan calling his legions,' cannot be regarded
as successful, his nearest approach to the higher
Portraits, vv^alk of art being in such pictures as John Kemble
in the character of Hamlet, the Duke of Wellington
on his Waterloo horse, Copenhagen, and his two
admirable pictures at Windsor of Marshals Blucher
and Platoff On his portraits of ladies and children
he bestowed great pains, using all means to make
them attractive, and to smooth over whatever could
render them less so. In the painting of the eye he
especially excelled. ' While the eye,' to use the words
of Sir David Wilkie, ' has a faculty of expression
possessed by no other human feature, it has a lustre
and a beauty peculiarly adapted to painting, which
no other art but painting can represent, and which
no painter represented better than Lawrence.'
Successful for the most part in his representation
of female beauty in heads and busts, this painter
had not the skill of Sir Joshua Reynolds in accom
modating the fashionable dress and modes of the
day to the lasting principles of beauty and grace ;
the high waists of many of his earlier portraits
marring the effect of naturally beautiful forms.
His Seldom failing as a draughtsman, facile and
superior P^re in his painting, Lawrence was not always
colour- equal to himself in colouring and tone ; replicas and
works executed when the pressure upon his time
was greater than usual, being sometimes washy in
appearance and thinly painted. In so far, however,
as this may have proceeded from too hasty execu
tion, rapidity of working was not with him the rule

mg-.

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 339

but the exception ; for in his usual practice he was
slow and painstaking, and required a great many
sittings.^ Sir Thomas Lawrence having in 1815 received Law-
the honour of knighthood, and painted the portraits Windsor
of a number of persons distinguished in politics, P^'^'"'^^^-
fashion and war, was invited by the Prince Regent,
at the conclusion of the peace, to execute portraits
of the principal foreign princes and others who had
borne a part in the war with France. He went
abroad accordingly, and visiting Aix la Chapelle,
Vienna, and Rome, painted the series of portraits
now at Windsor. The effect of these fine pictures
is partially lost by their being hung at so great a
height. His painting was much admired on the continent,
and his agreeable manners made him a favourite with
Emperor and Pope. Alexander of Russia per
sonally assisted in the arrangement of his easel,
and the honours paid by crowned heads to the art
of Titian seemed to be renewed in Lawrence.
On the painter's return to England in the spring
of 1820, after an absence of a year and a half, laden
with the treasures of the art, he was congratulated
by his royal patron, now George IV., and also by
the Academy, on the satisfactory completion of an
undertaking which perhaps no artist but himself
could have carried through so well in so short a
time. The president of the academy, Mr. West,
1 Wilkie's Remarks on Portrait-Painting, in Life by Cunning
ham, vol. iii. p. 172. z 2

1522.

340 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
had died in the interim, and Sir Thomas Lawrence
was unanimously chosen to succeed him as president.
When on the continent, Lawrence's attention had
been directed to the public collections of pictures
which existed in all the capitals and towns of any
note ; displaying in this particular a contrast to
England, and affording some foundation for the
continental theory as to the utilitarian tendencies of
the British people, and their national disregard of
high art.
Origin Upon the death of Mr. John Julius Angerstein
National ^he banker, who had a very select collection of
^'^tS?/" pictures of the foreign schools, with one or two
good English pictures, his gallery being to be dis
posed of, the question arose as to purchasing it on
behalf of the nation, to form the nucleus of a
National Collection. In the discussions on this
subject Sir Thomas Lawrence took a warm interest,
and gave all the assistance which his personal skill
and his position as president of the Royal Academy
could lend, in order to bring about an object of such
importance to the arts. George IV. is said to have
first suggested the purchase for the nation of the
Angerstein pictures. Sir George Beaumont, by
his personal zeal and an offer to bequeath to the
future National Gallery his own well-chosen collec
tion, and the Hon. George Agar Ellis (afterwards
Lord Dover) by his parliamentary influence, mate
rially aided in overcoming the economical scruples
of Lord Liverpool's government.' The Angerstein
' Hansard's Debates, July 1823 and April 1824; Wornum's
Catalogue of the National Gallery.

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 341
pictures, thirty-eight in number, were accordingly
secured to the country, a parliamentary grant for
that purpose of 60,000/. being proposed and carried
in the session of 1824.^
Some of Sir Thomas Lawrence*s best portraits
were painted in the years immediately preceding his
death, which occurred early in 1830.
Martin Archer Shee, a native of Ireland, had his Sir
. . . 111^1.1 Martin
first instruction in art at the school of design then Shee.
in connection with the Dublin Royal Society. He
commenced with drawing life-size crayon portraits, a
practice which he soon exchanged for portraits in
oil. He removed to London in 1788, entering the
classes of the Royal Academy. Without creating
any extraordinary sensation he steadily made his
way in portrait ; occasionally venturing, like other
portrait-painters, on an historical or poetical subject,
and becoming in due time a Royal Academician.
In early life he painted a considerable number of
theatrical portraits, two of which, now in the
1 The British National Collection was first opened to the
public in the house of Mr. Angerstein, Pall Mall East, south side,
in May 1824. On the death of Sir George Beaumont in 1827,
his pictures were added to the collection, and in 1831 those of
the Rev. Hoi well Carr. Since then, works have been gradually
added to it by donation, bequest, and Government purchase ; the
purchases by Government for some years having been directed to
the acquisition of an apparently disproportionate number of
the works of early continental masters. Through the bequests
of Mr. Vernon, Mr. Jacob Bell, and others, the National
Collection has been extended so as to include a representation of
the British school, though still imperfect and unequal ; the pictures
by British artists being hung for the most part at South Kens
ington.

342 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
National collection, along with an infant Bacchus, are
fair examples of this artist's ability. His colouring
has stood better than that of some of his contem
poraries, though his portraits are not of the first
order in point of expression and treatment.
A writer Shee could use the pen of a man of letters as well
painter. ^^ ^he pencil of an artist ; his principal literary
1805. works being ' Rhymes on Art,' and ' Elements of
1809. Art,' a poem with annotations. Of these the first is
more amusing and less didactic than the second.
On the death of Sir Thomas Lawrence in 1830 he
was elected fourth president of the Academy, and
became Sir Martin Shee. In the questions mooted
during his presidency as to the rights of the Aca
demy, when put in possession of a portion of the
National Gallery building in Trafalgar Square, Sir
Martin's ability and zeal are understood to have
earned the approbation of his brethren in art. Among
his later portraits were those of King William and
Queen Adelaide and of her present Majesty.^
Of the limnings of British artists which have
aided in continuing to the present time the memory
Scottish and features of the generation following the period
Sir Henry of Reynolds and Gainsborough, those of Raeburn,
Raeburn. produced in the metropolis of Scotland, are con-

' It is perhaps an omission not to refer to the portrait-painting
of such artists as Sir David Wilkie, the late John Phillip, R.A.,
and others, who, being more known and distinguished in another
department of art, are not usually considered to belong to the
painters of portrait. Their portraits may not be numerous, but
the best works produced by them in this line are recognised as of
high artistical merit.

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 343
spicuous. Sir Henry Raeburn is one of the few
good Scotch painters of recent years who have
eschewed the larger field of London, and have re
mained satisfied with the encouragement and patron
age they received in Scotland. The same may be
said of his worthiest successor in portrait. Sir John
Watson Gordon.
Without the advantage of a proper technical edu- His
cation, Raeburn appears to have attentively studied ^^ J °
the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds, probably in the nolds.
mezzotint engravings and such originals as he might
have access to. By this early study of Reynolds, that
originality of style which was afterwards visible in
the works of Raeburn was not affected, while it
may have assisted in keeping him free from the
mannerism and formal attitudes of the Scotch artist,
David Martin, who had him for a short time in his
studio. What Hudson had been to Reynolds,
Martin was to Raeburn : in the one case as in the
other the young painter of genius experienced no
great difficulty in emancipating himself from the
conventional mediocrity of his master.
About the year 1784 Raeburn visited London and
was noticed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, who gave him
introductions to Rome. After a residence of two
years in Italy he returned to Scotiand ; attributing
much of the advantage he considered himself to
have derived from his studies abroad to an advice
he received from an English countryman— never to
paint an object from memory, but to have the whole Truthfui-
of his subject, principal and accessory, placed before ^^^^^
him. To the observance of this rule Raeburn partiy

344 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
imputed the visible improvement in his later works
and their individuality of character.
Rae- His sitters were mostly natives of Scotland.
^ortrait- Walter Scott, John Clerk (Lord Eldin), Mr. Tait of
painting. Harvieston and his grand-child, the first Lord
Hopetoun with his horse. Dr. Adam of the High
School of Edinburgh, Macdonnell of Glengarry in
highland costume, and many other portraits, remain
to this day examples of his vigorous and charac
teristic style. His heads were carefully painted,
sometimes beautifully relieved against a sky or land
scape background. He did not draw in first with
chalk, in the manner of Lawrence, but, after a very
few lines and markings with chalk, began at once
with the brush.
Without the magical touches and broken tints of
Reynolds and Gainsborough, the portraits of Rae
burn were remarkable for their breadth of light and
shade and rich harmonious colouring. He has been
said to be one of the few painters who could set a
man properly on his legs, as in his portrait of Ad
miral Maitland, now in the Scottish National
Gallery ; ^ so that he probably escaped belonging to
what was called by Haydon the ' tiptoe school.' He
was not so entirely successful in his female portraits;
his picture of Mrs. Gregory, exhibited in the Burling
ton House exhibition of deceased masters in 1871,
being however an exception to this observation, and
a very graceful and well-coloured portrait. Like
' This observation was made by Fuseli to Mr. Colvin Smith,
portrait painter, of Edinburgh, who mentioned it to the author.

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 345
several of his English predecessors, Raeburn was
inclined rather to give a broad and characteristic
impression of his subject than to be very careful in
his finishing.^
In 1812 Raeburn was elected president of the
Society of Artists which had been formed in Edin
burgh for publicly exhibiting the works of living
artists and for establishing a life-academy. He was
soon after elected a Royal Academician and in the
year preceding his death was knighted by George
IV. on the occasion of the royal visit to Scotland.
Wilkie's remark on the similarity of style of the Resem-
portrait-painters of the British school, particularly Veias-
Sir Henry Raeburn, and of Velasquez, is well known. °^^^'
In a letter from Madrid to his friend Mr. Phil- Feb. 14,
lips the portrait-painter, he says : — ' There is much
resemblance between Velasquez and the works of
some of the chiefs of the English school; but, of
all, Raeburn resembles him most, in whose square
touch in heads, hands and accessories, I see the
very counterpart of the Spaniard.' ^
' In the Scottish Gallery at Edinburgh are eight portraits by
Raeburn, of which two are female portraits. In the notice of Sir
Henry Raeburn in the catalogue of this collection, he is re
marked to have adopted Sir Joshua Reynolds' great principle in
the arrangement of a picture, of always making the leading
element breadth ; — ' But he carried out this principle in a manner
and with a feeling in many respects pecuHarly his own. He
seldom attempted by thick impasto and semi-transparent painting
to produce texture and luminous effect, but adopted the opposite
mode of painting in a low tone with a sharp touch, working the
colours with little admixture of any unctuous medium.'
2 Cunningham's Life of Wilkie, ii. 504.

346 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
Scottish portrait-painting, thus fairly established
by Sir Henry Raeburn, has since his decease
continued to maintain a position of its own in
point of colouring and general treatment. The
George portraits of George Watson, who was president of
Gedde"' the Scottish Academy in its unchartered state of
^^ existence, althoueh inferior to those of Sir Henry
Duncan. o J
Raeburn, take respectable rank both as characteristic
likenesses and also in point of colour.^ And the
same may be said of the portraits and fancy portraits
of Andrew Geddes, a Scotch painter of considerable
talent, who in his later years practised and exhibited
1832. in London and was made an associate of the Royal
Academy. The portrait-painting of another northern artist,
Thomas Duncan, A.R.A., although his taste lay
more in the direction of historical genre, was like
wise above an average merit, being distinguished by
its expression of character and delicate appreciation
of feminine grace and beauty.
Mr. G. Watson was in extensive employment
during the latter portion of Sir Henry Raeburn's life-
' The grant of a charter to the Scottish Academy was delayed
till November 1838, when Her Majesty signed the charter incor
porating it as 'The Royal Scottish Academy for Painting, Sculpture,
and Architecture.' — Notes of the early history of the Royal Scottish
Academy, by Sir George Harvey, P. R.S.A.
There are thirty members and twenty associates of the Royal
Scottish Academy. The Academy have a school under their own
direction for the study of the living model, but having no con
nection with the school of the Board of Trustees for Manu
factures. They have also a good art-library, which, within the
last few years, has been made available to students as well as
to members and associates.

CHAP, v.] PORTRAIT-PAINTING. 347
time ; but even before his own decease the portrait- 1S37.
painting of his nephew John Watson (afterwards
Sir John Watson Gordon) had gained the ascen
dency in Scotland so long held by Raeburn. Mr.
Watson Gordon, originally intended for an army Portraits
engineer, had been sent to the Trustees' academy watson
for drawing in Edinburgh, then conducted by John Gordon.
Graham, where his progress was such that, following
the bent of his personal inclination, his profession
was changed for that of an artist. His education in
art was mostly acquired under Graham and from the
access he had to the studios of Raeburn and his
uncle George Watson. He never studied abroad.
Watson Gordon at first attempted half-historical
or fancy subjects, but soon discovering his strength
to lie in portrait, he latterly confined himself to that
department. He was an early member and zealous
friend of the Scottish Academy, and, on the death of
Sir William Allan, was chosen its president and re- 1850.
ceived the honour of knighthood. He contributed
also to the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, and
was elected a member of that body.
Sir J. Watson Gordon's portraits were distin
guished by their truthfulness, ease, and simplicity of
treatment ; his male being better than his female
portraits. He rejected, perhaps to a fault, the aid
of ornament in backgrounds ; and his portraits of Their
' gentlemen in black,' however true the flesh colour, of orna-
have sometimes a flat and sombre look from his ™^"'"
dispensing, when possible, with rich colouring in his
picture. In the portraits of men with strongly-
marked lines and shrewd expression of face he is

348 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK in.
considered to have had few equals ; as in his por
traits of the Provost of Peterhead, and of Professor
Wilson in the National Portrait Gallery. In the
Paris Exhibition of 1855 his works were highly
appreciated and rewarded with a medal.
Graham Th.& portraits of ladies by John Graham Gilbert,
his R.S.A., who died in 1866, were generally thought
portraits. Superior to the female portraits of Watson Gordon.
The son of a West India merchant of Glasgow,
Graham Gilbert, after a thorough art-education at
home and abroad, painted portraits for a series of
years in Glasgow and Edinburgh. Although more
successful in female subjects, many of his male
portraits were also works of great merit, of which an
instance is seen in his whole length of Sir John
Watson Gordon in the Scottish National Gallery.
Usually attracting the eye by their positive and
glowing colours, his portraits of ladies had an air of
elegance and grace, and produced in an exhibition
room a very pleasing effect. Graham Gilbert occa
sionally painted female subjects of a poetical cha
racter, varying the treatment of his pictures by
adopting Greek or Italian or Scottish rustic costume.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 349

CHAPTER VI.
LATER BRITISH HISTORICAL PAINTING.
Haydon — Hilton — Etty— David Scott — Change in the man
ner of historical painting — Sir D. Wilkie - — Sir C.
Eastlake — Sir W. Allan — Thomas Duncan — High art
in historical painting displayed in the works of Dyce and
Maclise.
Undeterred by the ill success of some of their
immediate predecessors, several British artists of un
impeachable talent continued in the early portion of
the present century the pursuit of historical paint
ing. The encouragement they met with was the
reverse of satisfactory to the lovers of what is called
' high art.' Not to say that historical painting
received no encouragement ; but the commissions
for and purchases of historical pictures were com
paratively rare, and proceeded often from other
motives than a predilection for this species of art.
Whether the art itself was always of a quality to
merit greater encouragement than it got is another
question. The best historical works of Benjamin Robert Histo-
Haydon are admitted on all hands to have dis- "f g ^'
played, with a certain degree of coarseness, high Haydon.
qualities of painting. The son of a bookseller at
Plymouth, he entered the schools of the Royal

350

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK in.

1809.

Personal
failings.

Fate of
his
pictures.

Academy in 1804, his first exhibited picture being
a ' Repose in Egypt,' which was bought by Mr.
Hope, author of ' Anastasius.' An enthusiast in his
art he was encouraged by the patronage of the Earl
of Mulgrave, for whom he painted a picture of
' Dentatus,' a bold and vigorous composition.^
With the hanging of this picture in the Academy's
exhibition Haydon found great fault, and it gave
rise to a continuing quarrel on his part with the
Academy. Of an excitable ill-regulated temper, and pos
sessed by a spirit of inordinate self-conceit, this
enthusiastic painter of history failed in turning to
good account his talents and prospects. He quar
relled upon trifles with Sir George Beaumont and
others who were inclined to befriend him, abused
the Royal Academy as good for nothing but a
school, and vilified portrait-painting while having
recourse to it for subsistence ; at the same time
magnifying himself and charging the public with
want of taste and neglect of high art.^
Mr. Haydon's 'Judgment of Solomon,* 'Raising
of Lazarus,' ' Entry of Christ into Jerusalem,*
and several other pictures, were works of decided
merit ; but somehow, even when disposed of to
purchasers, they seldom found fit resting-places.
When in 1827 a subscription was got up to relieve
the painter of his pecuniary difficulties, he gave the
following account of the disposition of his great
' Art Journal, 1856, p. 181.
2 Autobiography of B. R. Haydon, edited by Mr. T. Taylor.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 351
pictures : — 'My "Judgment of Solomon" is rolled up
in a warehouse in the Borough ; my " Entry into
Jerusalem,** once graced by the enthusiasm ofthe rank
and beauty of the three kingdoms, is doubled up in
a back room in Holborn ; my " Lazarus '* is in an
upholsterer's shop in Mount Street, and my " Cruci
fixion** in a hay-loft at Lisson Grove.* ^
In the National collection is a picture by Haydon,
' Punch on May- Day,' not in the historical style,
but one of his later productions. With some coarse
ness and caricaturing it shows great power of in
vention and vigour of colouring.
By the sale and occasional exhibition of his prin
cipal pictures, and by having recourse, when in straits,
to the painting of portraits and of trivial subjects,
such as ' Waiting for the Times ' and the ' Mock
Election,' Haydon realised at intervals considerable
sums of money ; but to whatever cause it may be
attributable, his later life was a continuing scene of
painful distress and was brought at last by suicide 1846.
to a melancholy close. '"^
' Autobiography of B. R. Haydon. The following entry in the
painter's journal occurs on the completion of the picture of
' Lazarus ' : — ' O God, grant that it may reach the National
Gallery in a few years, and be placed in fair competition with the
Sebastian del Piombo. I ask no more to obtain justice from the
world ! '
2 The following is an estimate of Haydon by a professional
writer (Mr. Redgrave) : — ' He was a good anatomist and draughts
man ; his colour was effective ; his treatment of his subject
and conception original and powerful ; but his works have a
hurried and incomplete look ; his finish is coarse, sometimes
woolly, and not free from vulgarity.' — Century of Painters, ii. 197.

352 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book HI.
High art William Hilton, a regular student of the Royal
Hilton Academy, adopted history as his theme and never
departed from it under the most discouraging cir-
1803. cumstances. His first exhibited picture, ' Banditti,'
was followed by subjects from the classics and from
sacred history and poetry. He twice had a pre
mium awarded to him by the British Institution in
Pall Mall, whose directors purchased, at the price
of 550 guineas, his picture of 'Mary anointing the
Feet of Jesus,' presenting it to the church of St.
Michael in the City. In 1808 was exhibited one
of his principal pictures, the ' Rape of Europa,*
painted for the Earl of Egremont. In two years
after Hilton was made an academician ; and he was
subsequently appointed Keeper of the Academy, the
salary of which office may be said to have preserved
him in his later life from want. ' Edith discover
ing the body of Harold,' ' Rebekah at the Well,*
and several smaller studies, were purchased by Mr.
Vernon and now form part of the National collec
tion. At his death in 1839 several of Hilton*s best
works remained unsold, one of which, 'Serena
rescued by the Red- Cross Knight,' was bought of
his executors by an association of subscribers and
presented to the National Gallery.^
The pictures of Mr. Hilton show the true feeling
of historic art, and are distinguished by a certain
grandeur of conception, as well as by skilful com
position and appropriate expression. From an inju
dicious method of mixing and applying his colours.

' Art Journal, 1855, p. 253.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 353
the pictures of this artist are rapidly deterio
rating.^ The painting of William Etty, the best examples Painting
of which are of historical character, has by the ^"^'
superiority of its colour as well as other qualities
won for him a high position in the British school.
A native of York, Etty was entered in 1807 a
student of the Royal Academy, and he afterwards
passed a year in the studio of Sir Thomas Law
rence. About the close of his educational period,
he remarks in his autobiography, that he was then
only beginning to master the great key to art, power
of execution.
In the life-school of the Academy he was a con
stant student, preferring the use of the paint-brush
to the crayon. He gained no medals of any kind,
and the early pictures he sent to the exhibitions
were rejected. Not disheartened, he set himself
earnestly to improve in drawing, in which his early
pictures were defective ; a circumstance in so far
remarkable as the studio of Sir Thomas Lawrence
was more a school of drawing than of painting. At
last his pictures of the 'Coral Finders' and ' Cleo
patra on the Cydnus ' attracted favourable notice. 1821.
At this time, as well as for some years afterwards,
' Wornum's Catalogue of the National Gallery. Hilton's pic
ture of ' Rebekah ' at South Kensington is under glass, and ap
pears in tolerable preservation ; but his pictures, with the excep
tion of ' Rebekah,' and also those of several other artists, are in
a worse condition. It is matter of congratulation that the pictures
at South Kensington are now placed in solidly built and dry rooms,
and will probably be secured in the future against cold draughts
and humidity. A A

354 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
More ap- Etty's powers were more appreciated by his pro-
by artists fessional brethren than by the public. Soon after
the'pub- these pictures were exhibited, he received the
lie- honours of the Academy.
1823. To improve himself in his art, he visited Italy,
finding himself most at home in Venice. Here he
made studies in the morning from Paul Veronese
and Tintoretto, and (to a less extent) from Titian
and Bonifazio, and in the evening had recourse to
His the scuola del nudo. Venice he considered the best
studies m
Venice, school of painting in Italy for colour and chiar' os-
curo ; an opinion also held by Sir Thomas Lawrence.^
Soon after his return to England, not neglecting
cabinet-sized pictures, but strengthened in his art
and his ideas of painting elevated by his Venetian
studies, Etty produced several large works of the
Etty's historical-epic class, examples of brilliant and truth-
historical ful colouring, especially in the nude. The first of
these, the ' Combat, or Woman pleading for the
vanquished,' is not surpassed by any picture of the
British school in originality and vigour of concep
tion, grandeur of design and colouring. When exhi-
1824. bited in London this picture was highly praised, but
it was left to be purchased at the price of 300/. by
a brother artist, John Martin, from whom it was after
wards acquired by the Royal Scottish Academy. The
' Combat' was followed by the ' History of Judith '
in three magnificent gallery pictures, and afterwards
by the painting of ' Benaiah killing two men of

1 Life of William Etty, R.A., by Alexander Gilchrist, vol. i.
p. 167.

GHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 355
Moab,' a composition of three figures, like the
' Combat,' and of nearly equal merit. The three
pictures of ' Judith ' and the ' Benaiah * were like
wise acquired by the Scottish Academy, and are 1828.
now in the Scottish National Gallery.^ It was
equally satisfactory to the painter and creditable to Secured
the discernment of the northern Academy that these tish
masterpieces of modern art should have been thus GaUerT
secured and fitly placed together.^
Mr. Etty painted several other large gallery
' Life of Etty, vol. i. ch. 16.
^ The collection exhibited in the Scottish National Gallery
consists of : r. Pictures collected by the directors of the Royal
Institution ; 2. Pictures, bronzes, &c., bequeathed by Sir James
Erskine of Torrie ; 3. Ancient and modern works, the property
of the Royal Scottish Academy; 4. Pictures belonging to the
Board of Trustees for Manufactures, acquired by purchase or gift
for the National Gallery; 5. Modern works purchased by the
Association for the Promotion of the Fine Arts with funds set
apart for this purpose by their charter ; 6. Pictures lent or de
posited by private parties. — Drummond's Catalogue, Preface.
The foundation-stone of the building in which this collection is
placed, and in which also the Royal Scottish Academy are
accommodated and their annual exhibitions held, was laid by
the late Prince Consort in 1850, upon which occasion his Royal
Highness appropriately called attention to the important influence
exercised by the Fine Arts upon the development of the mind
and feeling of a people ; expressing a hope that the impulse given
to their culture, and the increasing attention bestowed on it by
the people, would not only tend to refine and elevate the national
taste, but would also lead to the production of works which,
if left behind as memorials of the age, would give to after
generations an adequate idea of our advanced state of civili
sation. His Royal Highness referred with satisfaction to the
circumstance that part of the funds rendered available for the
support of the undertaking were derived from the ancient grant
(of 2,000/. per annum) which at the Union was secured to
A A 2

art.

356 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iil.
pictures, the 'Parting of Hero and Leander,'
' Ulysses and the Syrens,' and three compositions
from the history of Joan of Arc. Of his pictures
of a cabinet size, which are mostly of a poetical
character, the examples in the National Gallery may
probably be taken as a fair specimen ; but compared
with his great works in Scotland, they convey a
very inadequate idea of the powers of Etty in the
highest walk of art.
High aim Like Several English painters whose works have
Scott'r been already noticed, David Scott of Edin
burgh, an artist of much power and capability, had
higher aspirations and conceptions of art than he
had ability of execution. The son of an eminent
landscape engraver, Mr. Scott, after engraving a
series of designs from Stothard, commenced painting
subjects of scripture history and poetry. Becoming
a member of the Royal Scottish Academy, he visited
Italy in 1832, carefully studying anatomy and making
sketches from the pictures of the great masters.
Returning to Edinburgh, Scott exhibited in the
rooms of the Scottish Academy his picture of the
' Taking Down from the Cross,' an altar-piece for a
Roman Catholic chapel, which was engraved for
circulation by the newly instituted Association for
Trustees for the encouragement of the fisheries and manufactures
of Scotland ; concluding, that the history of this grant exhibited
the picture of a most healthy national progress, — the ruder arts
connected with the necessaries of life first gaining strength, then
education and science supervening and directing further exertions,
and lastly, the arts that adorn life becoming longed for by a pros
perous and educated people. — Address by the Prince Consort, Aug.
30, 1850.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 357
the promotion of the Fine Arts in Scotland. Year
after year he exhibited works of an historical and His exe-
. 1 , . , . . . . ... cution
poetic character, displaying imagination and origi- unequal.
nality of thought with great though varying power
of handling.
Scott's pictures had more of sublimity than
beauty, and were not always attractive to the
general eye or suggestive of pleasing ideas. His
last and most important work was ' Vasco di Gama
doubling the Cape of Good Hope,' a composition
full of life and incident, solidly painted, and creditable
to the British school. This picture was purchased
by subscription of friends, and placed in the hall
of the Trinity House of Leith. His painting of the
' Duke of Gloucester carried prisoner into Calais '
has been engraved on wood by Linton for the Art
Union of London. Mr. Scott is known also by
his designs of marked originality illustrating Cole
ridge's ' Ancient Mariner,' a subject especially suited
to his pencil.
A painter of genius and of high aims imperfectly
realised, worn out by mental brooding over his art
and the sickness of hope deferred, Scott's thin-spun
life was cut short by premature decline, when the
merit of his efforts was beginning to be acknow
ledged, and his taste was improving by experience.^
Although Haydon, Hilton, and Etty in his larger
works are, in every sense of the word, entitled to
rank as ' historical ' painters, it is impossible to shut
' A memoir of David Scott, of rather painful interest, contain
ing his Journal in Italy and papers on Art, was published at
Edinburgh in 1850 by his brother, Mr. W. B. Scott, engraver.

358

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.

Less am
bitious style of
recent historical
painting.

Sir D.
Wilkie.

1825.

our eyes to the fact that, compared with its lofty
attempts in the practice of West and Barry, British
historical painting has in the present century gradu
ally taken up a less ambitious and more practical
position. The spacious canvases and subjects of
numerous figures have given way, for the most part,
to pictures of a moderate or cabinet size and of
fewer figures, while the subjects, historical or of his
torical character, reflect more of human interest and
life. Sir David Wilkie in his second or later manner.
Sir Charles Eastlake, Sir William Allan, and one or
two other Scotch painters, are examples of this less
aspiring and more manageable kind of history painting.
In the works of Messrs. Dyce and Maclise and their
coadjutors in the decorative paintings for the Houses
of Parliament a high species of art is again called
into play, which will be immediately adverted to.
The later painting of Sir David Wilkie is of his
torical character.^ Even before the state of his
health obliged him to seek relaxation by travelling
abroad, and for a time to give up painting, several
of his pictures, as the ' Chelsea Pensioners,* ap
proached this character. After a year or two's
residence in Italy and Spain, whether it was that
his taste in art underwent a change from the con
templation of the works of the Italian masters and of
the facile effective pictures of Velasquez, or whether
the laboured execution and application required by
his former mode of painting was too much for his

' The eariier painting and art of Wilkie is referred to in Chapter
VIL, ' On Painting of Life and Manners.'

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 359
nervous system, there is no doubt of the fact that
when he began to paint again, his style was altered
both in the subjects selected and in the execution.
His themes were of a more elevated and poetical
kind, with fewer figures in the scene, less detail, and
a lighter and more general treatment. From Italy
he painted the ' Princess Doria washing the Pil
grims* feet ;' ' Napoleon and the Pope at Fontain-
bleau,* a picture of great force and expression ; and
' Benvenuto Cellini and the Pope.' Spain supplied
him with much that was interesting, especially in
connection with the War of Independence, — the
' Guerilla taking leave of his Confessor,' the
'Spanish Council of war,' the ' Defence of Sara-
gossa.' The Spanish ' Confessional ' will probably
be thought superior to ' Columbus at the Convent.'
These paintings are simple in composition and of His later
much expression, carefully studied, but executed ^'I ^ °
with a more free and facile hand, and more brilliant
in style than his early pictures. At the same time
they cannot be said to stand so high in the depart
ment of historical painting as his earlier works do in
the department of genre or painting of life and
manners. In his later pictures of subjects from
Scottish history the superior accuracy of recent
years has discovered some defectiveness in costume.
His celebrated picture of ' Knox Preaching ' may be
liable to criticism also from the strained action of
the figure of the Scottish reformer, who is repre
sented as almost flying out of the pulpit.
If Sir David Wilkie's later art be put in the
category of history painting, the reproach of want

360 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
of patronage to historic art cannot be alleged, all his
Spanish and Italian pictures having been immedi
ately purchased by the King, or by private pur
chasers eager to obtain them. None of his later
works were of greater interest or more run upon
than the masterly pictures and sketches executed
during his visit to the East prior to his death at sea
(commemorated in Turner's picture) in 1841.
Histori- The principal works of George Jones, R.A., were
G fones representations, more or less truthful, of historical
battles, as Vittoria, Waterloo, Borodino, the Alma;
the principal figures, though small, being carefully
studied and picturesquely grouped. His paintings
were very effective in breadth of light and shade
and colouring.
Sir c. Another painter of historical geni^e appeared in Sir
Eastlake. (^j^j^j-j^g ]^ Eastiake. After attending the schools
of the Royal Academy, Eastlake went abroad in
18 1 7 for upwards of twelve years, residing mostly in
Italy, and visiting Sicily and Greece. Several pic
tures were sent by him from the continent for exhi
bition, one of these being ' Isidas the Spartan
repelling the Thebans,' a more vigorous and spi
rited composition than some of the better known
works of time. The picturesque peasantry of
Calabria and the brigand life of Italy and Greece
seem to have taken hold of the young painter's
imagination, and he produced in succession a number
of pictures and sketches, to an extent almost running
into mannerism, of banditti, Italian peasants, and
Greek fugitives. One of his most admired produc
tions was the picture of ' Pilgrims arriving in sight of
Rome,' which has been engraved by G. T. Doo, R.A.

.CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 36 1
Two of Eastlake's pictures, bought by Mr. Vernon
and now in the National Gallery, ' Christ weeping Hispaint-
over Jerusalem ' and the ' Escape of the Carrara '"S"
Family,' are examples of his manner, which was
distinguished by refinement of taste and feeling
rather than by great originality or strength ; while
his colouring, though pure and refined, was gene
rally wanting in richness and effect.
Mr. Eastlake was in 1841 named secretary to the
Royal Commission for decorating the new Houses
of Parliament ; and his labours in this department as
well as in connexion with the National Gallery have
been long before the public. After a re-organiza
tion of the management, he was appointed in 1855 Director
Director of the National Gallery.^ He was elected °}^^(
fifth President of the Royal Academy on the death Gallery.
of Sir Martin Shee, and was knighted. Sir Charles
Eastlake was succeeded in the chair of the Academy
on his decease in 1865 by the existing president Sir
Francis Grant. The Royal Academy have since,
by arrangement with Government, removed from
Trafalgar Square and been put in possession of
Burlington House, Piccadilly, for the purposes of
their exhibitions and schools and custody of their
works of art.
' This appointment was made for a term of five years, and was
renewed at the end of that term. The principal feature in the
new management was, that Parliament should vote an annual sum
for the purchase of pictures for the National Gallery. In Mr.
Wornum's Catalogue of the National Gallery, British School (p. 37),
a list is given of what the Keeper regards as ' the most notable ' of
Sir Charles Eastlake's purchases for the Gallery and their prices.
Sir Charles's contributions in various ways to the literature of art,
and his learning in its processes, gained him much consideration.

362 VIEPV OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
Supra, Subsequent to the paintings from Ossian of Alex-
• ¦ ' ander Runciman, the first noticeable attempt in his
toric painting in Scotland was by John Graham, who
was master of the Trustees' Academy from 1 798 till
his death in 181 7. An historical picture by him,
the ' Disobedient Prophet,' is now in the Scottish
National Gallery. From Graham Sir William Allan,
1838. president of the Royal Scottish Academy, as well
as several other painters afterwards eminent, had
their earliest instruction in art.
Sir w. Allan attended for a short time the classes of the
Allan Royal Academy. Finding little prospect of em
ployment at home, and being of an adventurous
nature, he made his way to Petersburg. After
pursuing his art for some years with diligence
and success, aided by the friendship of the court
physician. Sir Alexander Crighton, he travelled into
the interior of Russia and visited Tartary, Circassia,
and Turkey.
Having stored his sketch-book and travelling
equipage with abundance of picturesque material,
and witnessed various romantic incidents and situa
tions, Allan returned in 18 14 to Edinburgh and
Interest- painted the ' Circassian Captives,' exhibited at
jects of the Royal Academy, ' Polish Exiles conveyed by
t^ures''^" Cossacks to Siberia,' and other subjects of interest.
His pictures were lauded but not purchased ; till at
last the picture of the ' Circassian Captives ' was
disposed of by a raffle, while the ' Polish Exiles '
and another painting were bought by the Archduke
(afterwards Emperor) Nicholas on his visit to this
country in 18 19.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 363
Although Allan's pictures did not meet with that
solid encouragement they may have deserved, his
characteristic and expressive style created an interest
with the public such as induced the painter to con
tinue his career ; varying his themes with subjects
from Scottish history, as the ' Death of the Regent
Murray,' and ' Mary Queen of Scots admonished by
Knox.' A small picture of ' Tartars dividing Spoil'
was bought by Mr. Vernon. His portrait picture
of ' Sir Walter Scott in his Study at Abbotsford '
has been recently purchased for the National Por
trait Gallery. Elected a Royal Academician in 1835,
Mr. Allan succeeded Sir D. Wilkie as Her Majesty's
Limner for Scotland, and being also president of the
Scottish Academy, he received the honour of knight
hood. Sir William Allan held the appointment of master
of the Trustees' School of Design in Edinburgh from
1826 till within a few years of his death; and he
materially contributed to create and cherish a zeal
for art among his countrymen in Scotland and to
sustain the influence and efforts of the northern
Academy. He retained all his life something of his
wandering habits, revisiting Russia and Greece and
other parts of the continent.
Sir W. Allan's principal pictures, the best qualities Seen
in which were firmness of handling, picturesque adran-
character and expression, have been the subject of *^se m^
engravings ; in which his art appears to greater ad- ings.
vantage than in the paintings. He was no colourist,
and in this respect his works are inferior to the
productions of Thomas Duncan, whose decease at

364 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.
1845. a comparatively early age was a perceptible loss to
art in Scotland.
T. Dun- Educated at the Trustees' School under Sir
tures of William Allan, Duncan exhibited historical and
charac>^ poetical subjects along with portraits, and becoming
*^''- a member of the Royal Scottish Academy, he suc
ceeded Allan as professor of colour and drawing.
He occasionally sent pictures to the Academy exhi
bitions in London which attracted attention, and
1843. was elected an associate of that body.
The principal exhibited pictures by Duncan were
the ' Entry of Prince Charles Edward into Edin
burgh after the Battle of Prestonpans,' and the
' Prince taking Shelter in a Cave in the Highlands
attended by Flora Macdonald,' both of which have
been engraved. A cabinet picture of ' Anne Page
and Slender * is in the Scottish Gallery, and a slighter
subject from the ballad of Robin Gray at South
Kensington. His pictures are marked by purity
and brilliancy of colour, good drawing and com
position. In the ' Entry of Prince Charles ' there is a
discriminative appreciation of Scottish character, and
great individuality displayed in the personages.
R. s. Robert Scott Lauder, R.S.A., who succeeded
Duncan as master of the Trustees' School, is
entitled to fair consideration in connexion with
Scottish art. His drawing was accurate, and his
expression and colouring were improved by a so
journ of five years in Italy; although in his paint
ings a greenish-grey tone of colour is too prevalent.
Among the best of his works are his pictures of
' Ruth ' and ' Christ teaching Humility.'

Lauder.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 3^5
This survey of historical painting cannot con
clude better than with a reference to the art of
William Dyce and Daniel Maclise, whose recent
performances have given additional lustre to the
British school.
The works of Mr. Dyce are unlike most other \y.Dyce;
painting of this school, and are distinguished by a ing to
certain severity of style and leaning towards early ^^^ ^ ^^ '
Italian art more perhaps than by original genius.
The son of a physician of Aberdeen and a Master
•of Arts of Marischal College, Dyce sought his ele
mentary instruction in art in the academical schools
of Edinburgh and London ; afterwards passing some
years (with a short interval during which he painted
his first exhibition picture of ' Bacchus nursed by 1827.
the Nymphs of Nyssa') in Italy, and principally at
Rome. There he studied with intense sympathy
the works of Raphael and his predecessors, and
was regarded with what was possibly a fellow-feeling
by Overbeck and the German Pre-Raphaelites who
were then following out with great ardour their pecu
liar views in art.^ He also initiated himself during
' Although not professedly belonging to the band of pre-
Raphaelite painters who some years later associated themselves
together in England, Mr. Dyce's painting predilections were evi
dently with them in several points of view. These painters pro
fessed to look more to the truthful spirit and practice evidenced
in the works of the early Italian masters than to imitate their
manner ; and it will hardly be denied that the uncompromising
representation of nature by the English Pre-Raphaelites has exer
cised upon the whole a beneficial influence on British painting.
But the Pre-Raphaelite phase of art is of so recent appearance,
and the original dogmas of many of its living adherents have
become so considerably modified in practice, that it is not thought
necessary or advisable to refer to it more particularly in the text.

366 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book n I.
his Stay at Rome in the fresco painting and decorative
design of the Italians, in both which departments
he subsequently gained much reputation at home.
1829. Mr. Dyce, having returned from Italy, took up
his residence in Edinburgh, and soon attracted at
tention by the works he contributed to the exhi-
His pic- bitions. These at first showed great versatility of
Edin- talent, consisting of portraits, chiefly of ladies and
burgh. children, landscape compositions and poetical sub
jects. In the Scottish National Gallery are three
of his pictures of this time, an ' Infant Hercules
strangling the Serpents,' a small painting of good
colour, also a full length portrait of Dr. James
Hamilton of Edinburgh, and ' Paolo and Francesca,'
a large composition of much interest and feeling,
purely and delicately painted, — the figures life-size,
but that of Paolo being defective in vigour and
expression. Early in 1837 Dyce was appointed master of the
Trustees* School of Design at Edinburgh. While
holding this situation he published (in conjunction
His views with Mr. C. H. Wilson) a pamphlet on the manage-
schools of ment of schools of design, and with suggestions for
adopt" d ^^'^ improvement of the Edinburgh school.-' This
pamphlet contained the most complete scheme of
art-education hitherto promulgated, and was the
1838. main cause of Mr. Dyce's appointment to be secre
tary and director of the schools just opened in
London at Somerset House ; soon after which he

' The pamphlet was in the form of a Letter to Lord Meadow'
bank, and bore the signatures of both Dyce and Wilson.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 367
was sent to visit and report upon schools of a
similar character in France and Germany. The
result of this continental enquiry was a valuable
Report which led to the re-modelling of the British
schools of design in conformity with Mr. Dyce's
views. Continuing to exhibit in the exhibitions of the Dyce's
Academy, Dyce found his time too much encroached paintings
upon by the schools of design, while his salary as ^^ °'''
director was inadequate, and he resigned in 1 843 the
appointments he held in connexion with the schools.
Among the most noteworthy of his productions in
oil-colours were ' King Joash shooting the Arrow
of Deliverance,' ' Jacob and Rachael ; ' of a later
time 'Titian's first Essay in Colouring' and 'St. John
leading home the Virgin ; ' all of these being true
versions of the learned manner of the early Italian
painting, characterised by correct drawing and well
defined positive colouring, with much power of ex- r.a.
pression and delicacy of handling. ' ^ ¦
The latter years of Mr. Dyce's life were devoted in fresca.
almost entirely to historical painting in fresco, a
branch of art with which the painters of this country
were very little acquainted. He was skilled in the
technical process of fresco and in the kind of sub
jects that suited it. The series of fresco-paintings
decorating the east end of All Saints Church, Mar
garet Street, London, are examples of his work in
this department. He painted also in fresco for her
Majesty and the late Prince Consort (who sym
pathised with his taste for the early style of art)
a subject from ' Comus ' on one of the compart-

368

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK iir.

Decora
tion of
Houses
of Parlia
ment.

ments of the Summer-house at Buckingham Palace,
and a composition at Osborne of ' Neptune giving
the Empire of the Sea to Britannia.' Of the small
frescoes from ' Comus ' in the Summer-house by
eight different artists, that of Dyce appears to be
most in the manner of fresco-painting, and is also in
the best state of preservation.
Dyce's principal works in fresco were in connexion
with the decoration of the new Houses of Par
liament. A royal commission appointed in 184 1 and
consisting of twenty-one members, with the Prince
Albert as president and Sir Charles Eastlake secre
tary, had been directed to enquire and report
whether advantage might not be taken of the re
building of the Palace of Westminster for the
purpose of encouraging and promoting the Fine
Arts in the United Kingdom, and in what manner
an object of so much importance would be most
effectually promoted.
The proceedings of this commission it is un
necessary to detail. The commissioners were favour
able to the method of fresco for wall-painting in
the new palace, and after feeling their way by various
competitive trials and by exhibitions of cartoons and
specimens of fresco-painting, they proposed in their
report of 1847 a scheme for the decoration of the
whole interior building. Certain artists, of whom
the chief were Messrs. Dyce, Maclise, Herbert,
Cope, and Ward, were selected to proceed with the
paintings. The subjects of the pictures were chosen
by a small committee of three members of the com
mission, Lords Stanhope and Macaulay and Mr. H.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. 369
Hallam, whose choice of subjects was afterwards
approved of by the commissioners.
The earliest executed of the frescoes was the Frescoes
' Baptism of Ethelbert the first Christian King of ^ ^'^^'
Britain,* by Mr. Dyce, in the central compartment
over the throne in the House of Lords. With the
style and execution of this fresco the commissioners
expressed themselves entirely satisfied. Dyce then
undertook to paint in fresco seven wall compart
ments in the Royal Robing-room, to be completed in
seven years from July, 1848. In the performance
of this work some difficulties and delays occurred,
and on his death in 1864 five only of the seven
pictures were painted.-' The subjects are from the
Legend of King Arthur (in Sir Thomas Mallory*s
' Mort d*Arthure '), and were meant to exemplify
virtues characteristic of chivalry — Hospitality, Faith,
Courtesy, Generosity, Mercy. These frescoes are
regarded as amongst the best examples of this kind
of painting ; and the partial decay that had com
menced in one or two of the colours has been
arrested by a chemical application, which it is hoped
may be instrumental in preserving them for a long
period. Mr. Dyce always adhered to the Italian
method of fresco-painting, which it will be presently
^ Gullick's Handbook for the Pictures in the Houses of Parlia
ment, London, 1866, p. 13. The causes of delay were explained
by Mr. Dyce in a letter to the Times in 1863. He had received
pre-payment of the contract sum for the seven pictures, and he
offered in this letter to repay into the Exchequer whatever sum he
might be thought not to have duly earned, until the works should
be completed. Government did not avail itself of this offer.
B B

37° VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
seen was modified in the practice of Maclise by the
adoption of the water-glass process.
Another work by Dyce, of great merit and care
fully executed was the coloured cartoon of St. Paul
and St. Barnabas preaching at Antioch, for the
1856. window of St. Paurs church at Alnwick.
Daniel Maclise, R.A., a native of Ireland, ex
hibited an early picture in water-colours in London
1829. from the ' Twelfth Night ' of Shakespeare. He
did not avail himself of the privilege of travelling
Art-work in Italy which the Royal Academy's gold medal,
Maclise. obtained for an historical composition of the ' Choice
of Hercules,* carried with it, but (with the exception
of a visit to Paris) wrought steadily at home, ground
ing his style with portrait-painting. His picture in
oils of ' Mokanna unveiling his Features to Zelica,*
exhibited at the British Institution in 1833, and
'All- Hallow Eve* at the Royal Academy in the
same year, made him favourably known.
Mr. Maclise*s oil-pictures of subsequent years
fully maintained his early prestige, and gained for
him the reputation of a painter of sterling genius
and ability and thorough originality. Amongst his
exhibited pictures were especially remarked the
' Installation of Captain Rock,* the ' Chivalrous Vow
ofthe Ladies and the Peacock,* ' Robin Hood and
RA. King Richard,' ' Merry Christmas in the Baron's
Hall.* These were followed by the ' Banquet-scene
in Macbeth,* the ' Sleeping Beauty,' the ' Play-scene
1842. in Hamlet * (now in the National Gallery), the
' Ordeal by Touch,* and ' Caxton's Printino--office.'
His smaller cabinet-sized pictures of a humorous

CHAP. VI.]- HISTORICAL PAINTING. 371
kind from Shakespeare, the Vicar of Wakefield and
Gil Bias, were particularly attractive.
Maclise*s pictures display an exuberant fertility of His style.
imagination and richness of design, and tell their
story with intelligence and expression. His person
ages have occasionally an air of the stage, which is
more observable in such a subject as ' Salvator Rosa
showing his Picture to a Dealer ' than in proper
subjects ofthe theatre, where it may be looked for.
His drawing is firm and the detail of his design
made out with hard and unerring accuracy. His
colouring, though well defined, has too much of a
sallow or metallic hue, causing regret that he had
not applied himself more in early life to study the
Venetian colourists.
Maclise was one of the first artists engaged to wall-
prepare designs for the fresco-paintings proposed P^^nt'ng
for decorating the new Palace of Westminster ; the Houses
. . of Par-
two subjects allotted to him (in the House of Lords) Uament.
being the Spirit or personification of Chivalry and
the Spirit of Justice. These designs (each of them
a majestic female figure surrounded by characteristic
groups) Mr. Maclise painted in fresco on two of the
spaces within the arches behind the Strangers' Gal
lery, which, being rather dark and recessed, are
less favourable for paintings than the corresponding
spaces over the throne.
The symptoms of decay which in no long time
became more or less visible in these as well as in
the other Westminster frescoes seemed to sanction
the conclusion, that fresco-painting, or at all events
B B 2

372 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK in.
certain colours used (but perhaps not indispensable)
in fresco-painting, would not be suitable for a humid
climate or an atmosphere often charged with gaseous
and impure exhalations. It was subject to another
inconvenience, from the piecemeal mode of working
required in the painting of large frescoes by the
usual Italian method, according to which the plas
tering and painting proceed day by day together.
In consequence of these disadvantages, to which
fresco-painting according to the mode in general use
Method was liable in this country, the method of stereo-
chrome chrome or water-glass painting came to be adopted
adopted. £qj. -virall-painting by Mr. Maclise and the other
Westminster painters, with the exception of Dyce.^
In the practice of this method a ground almost
identical with that for fresco is used, and the pre
paration of the wall may be completed before the
picture is commenced. The colours are applied
with no other medium or vehicle than pure distilled
water, and the result is a water-colour painting,
which is fixed by silicate of potass or soda in a
liquid state (water-glass) being sprinkled on it
through a syringe having minute holes. By this,
' Maclise had already made designs for a portion of his great
picture of Wellington and Blucher in the Royal Gallery of the
Palace of Westminster, when he became so sensible of the dis
advantages of the process, especially for large designs full of detail,
that he proceeded in the autumn of 1859 to Germany, to inform
himself of the nature and merits of the new method of water-
glass painting as adopted by Kaulbach of Beriin and other artists.
He returned with the conviction of its being the preferable mode
of wall-painting in tliis climate ; and he then painted the whole
picture according to the stereochrome method.

CHAP. VI.] HISTORICAL PAINTING. m
when dry and crystallised, the colours are fixed on
the wall with a thin coating, as it were, of glass. '^
The large pictures painted by Mr. Maclise ac- His wall-
cording to this method in the central compartments of Wei-
of the Royal Gallery in the Palace of Westminster and'°"
may be regarded as his masterpieces. In these Blucher,
paintings, the subjects of which are the ' Meet- Death of
ing of Wellington and Blucher after the Battle of
Waterloo' and the 'Death of Nelson,' the most
masterly grouping and expression are displayed, and
striking incidents and situations depicted on a large
scale, and in a truly grand and unaffected style.
The great width of the Wellington picture, the num
ber of life-size figures, the horses, fore-shortening,
and whole detail of the execution, render it altogether
a remarkable work of art. Equally worthy of note
for its pictorial qualities and truthfulness of detail
is the companion picture of the ' Death of Nelson
on the deck of the Victory,* which is painted likewise
according to the stereochrome method.^
' Pamphlet by Dr. J. von Fuchs on Stereochrome Paintittg,
translated in the. Journal of the Society of Arts ; Art Journal, 1861,
p. 328.
2 The cartoon for the Wellington and Blucher picture (which
is 40 feet in width by 12 in height) was begun in 1857, and the
painting on the wall completed in 1861. It may be observed that
on this picture there appears a sort of haze or bloom, arising, it is
believed, from a slight excess in the amount of water-glass applied.
From this partial defect, caused by want of experience in the use
of the stereochrome method, the other picture of the Death of
Nelson is entirely free.

374 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iii.

CHAPTER VII.
LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING.
Original painting of Sir David Wilkie — Of Midready
— Painting of subfects from popular authors — Newton
— Leslie — Egg — Life afid manners painting — Midler —
John Phillip.
Pictures of life and manners, whether original in
subject or taken from novels and poems, have be
come of late years a very popular department of
British art. Hogarth's painting was of this class,
for the most part original in subject and in a style
entirely his own.
Hogarth's mahl-stick came into the possession of
Sir George Beaumont, who resolved to keep it till a
painter should appear worthy to receive it ; and he
kept it till he saw the ' Village Politicians ' of Wilkie.^
Without the powerful imagination and depth of
meaning of Hogarth, Wilkie's early pictures have a
good deal of his dramatic effect and characteristic
representation of nature. But while both studying
closely human nature and character, their sources of
inspiration and the constitution of their minds, and
consequently their productions, materially differed.
David Wilkie, the son of a Scotch clergyman in
the county of Fife, with four years' teaching at the
' Leslie's Handbook for Painters, p. 146.

CHAP. VII.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING. 375
Trustees' Academy in Edinburgh under Graham, Early art
had in 1803 become as much a proficient in his art
as that school could make him. The influence of
David Allan, a Scotch painter and designer of
domestic subjects of rural life, and who had taught
in the Trustees' School in the interval between
Runciman and Graham, was still felt in the scene of
his former practice ; ^ and when Wilkie first began
to look at nature for himself as a painter, his
manner of doing so is traced in a considerable de
gree to the works of Allan as well as to pictures or
prints of the Dutch school that came in his way.
Painting occasionally portraits of friends and neigh
bours, he was always on the out-look for character,
frequenting fairs and market-places where country
people assembled to bargain about and dispose of
their various commodities.^
The materials for Wilkie's first work of art,
' Pitlessie Fair,' were drawn from such sources, aided
by sketches of ' queer faces ' which the young
painter had made in his father's kirk.^ This picture
is full of subject and of humorous groups ; rather
crude in colour, but solidly executed.
• This original though irregular artist studied for some time in
Italy. His designs illustrating the 'Gentle Shepherd' of Ramsay
display his peculiar talent for conveying character and expression.
2 Life of Sir David Wilkie, by Allan Cunningham (3 vols.
1843), i- 37-
^ An engraving from a picture by Teniers, entitled ' Rejouis-
sances Flamandes,' has some features in common with ' Pitlessie
Fair,' which is still in excellent preservation and in possession
of the family of the Fifeshire proprietor (C. Kinnear, Esq.) who
bought it of the painter.

376 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book III.
Unlike some young painters of promise who in
more recent years have tried their wings in Scot
land before having recourse to a wider field, Wilkie
decided very soon to proceed at once to London,
where at that time there was more scope for the
exercise of his talents. The year 1805 saw him a
student at the classes of the Royal Academy along
vrith Jackson and Haydon, and in the following year
his ' Village Politicians ' (painted for the Earl of
Mansfield) was exhibited at the Academy. Tho
roughly national, and chiming in with the feeling of
the time, it came home to all classes of spectators ;
there being nothing of that day to compare with it
in dramatic effect and unity of action and in the
force and expression of the heads. In the following
years appeared the ' Blind Fiddler ' painted for Sir
George Beaumont, the ' Rent-day ' (for Lord Mul
grave), and the 'Village Festival' (for Mr. Anger
stein). The ' Card-players,' ' Alfred in the Neat
herd's Cottage,* and the ' Wardrobe ransacked,' were
of the same time but of inferior merit.
His Wilkie undoubtedly admired the depth and rich-
cfa'ssed^ ness of tone of the Dutch painters ; and his painting
Du^ch^^ of this period appears to have been classed with that
school. of the Dutch school. Sir Martin Shee, in his
' Elements of Art,' talks of ' a Teniers or a Wilkie ;'
adding in a note, that ' it is hardly doing Mr. Wilkie
justice to class him altogether with the Dutch school,
for though he shoots with the same bow his aim is
evidently higher. In character he is their equal, in
expression their superior; he produces as much

It

CHAP. VII.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING. ZJJ
truth with more selection, has more refinement of
thought, more propriety of circumstance, and more
sentiment in situation.'^
Mr. Wilkie was elected a Royal Academician in
18 II. Some years prior to the change that took
place in his style after he went abroad, he had 1825.
been gradually adopting a less laboured manner of
execution ; and his pictures of this middle period Pictures
are thought by many to be his best productions, middle
combining the individual character and expression ^^"°
found in his earlier works with a more free touch and
richer tone of colouring. At the same time it is but
too evident that several of these pictures have been
more or less injured by time and varnish. ' Blind-
man's Buff' and the ' Penny Wedding' (in the Royal
collection), the ' Letter of Introduction,' ' Duncan
Gray,' the ' Chelsea Pensioners,' the ' Parish Beadle,' 1822-3.
and the ' Reading of the Will ' (at Munich), belong
to this period.
Sir David Wilkie was fortunate in having his
earlier pictures so well rendered in engravings by
the skill of Burnet, Raimbach, and James Stewart.
His best works are indeed of a kind of which the
leading qualities can be fairly conveyed by the
graver ; differing in this respect from pictures whose
merit consists chiefly in the execution, and from
1 Elements of Art, p. 27. The superiority here claimed for
Wilkie by Sir Martin Shee over the Dutch painters does not
extend to colour, or to the durability of his colouring. The
vehicles and glazes he came to use were certainly not of that safe
and standing description used by the Dutch artists.

37^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
landscape pictures which depend so much on
colouring.^ Wilkie's later painting of an historical
character is referred to in the previous chapter.
Wilham The works of William Mulready, an Irishman by
ready. birth and a pupil of the Royal Academy, may be set
down as belonging to the same class of art as the
pictures of Wilkie's first manner; but when com
pared together, the works of these painters do not
seem to have much in common, being respectively
distinguished by qualities peculiar to each.
Mulready's first pictures of any note were land
scapes and interiors of limited subject and dimen
sions — old houses in Lambeth, views of Kensington
gravel pits, carpenters' shops. Studying, though
not copying, the subjects and minute finish of the
Dutch painters, he very soon betook himself to those
scenes and incidents of domestic life and manners
that form the staple of his productions. His
pictures of the ' Idle Boys punished," the ' Fight
interrupted,' and one or two others, gained for him
in 1816 the highest academical honours.
A tho- jVIr. Mulready's zeal in the study and practice of
rough _ _ ...
draughts- his art was unrelaxing, and his drawing in the life
school, as his years advanced, was never given up.
His drawings in red and black chalk of 'Women
bathing,' and similar subjects, are careful and ad-

' The prints from Wilkie's early pictures were much sought
after on the continent. Mr. C. R. Leslie, when at Paris in 1817,
found their reputation to stand very high in France. ' I like your
Vilkes, but I do not like your Vest,' was the observation of a
Frenchman at that time to Mr. Leslie. — Autobiographical Recol
lections, i. 42.

man.

CHAP, vii.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING. 379
mirable Academy studies, and deserving the respect
they are held in at South Kensington.^
Among Mulready's oil pictures, the ' Wolf and the His do-
mcstic
Lamb,' ' Lending a Bite,' ' Choosing the Wedding- subjects.
gown,' ' Train up a Child in the way he should go,'
are distinguished by the qualities he excelled in —
accurate drawing, good colour and finish, and a
certain refinement in the representation of common
incidents and of boydife.^
While recognising the merit in these respects of Estimate
Mulready's pictures, it is not so easy to concur in painting.
the very exalted estimate which enthusiastic admirers
make of his works. His colouring, in some pictures
harmonious, rich and delicate, tends in other pictures,
as the ' Whistonian Controversy ' and ' Crossing the
Ford,' to an unpleasant tone of redness. And if the
best art be that which adds mind to form, there
appears in almost all his original works a very
limited degree of invention and imagination. In the
' Convalescent from Waterloo,' for instance, the
subject is tamely represented, and in his pictures of
big boys gobbling cherries and apples, in ' The Last
in,' and so forth, the humour is shallow ; while in
his ' Vicar of Wakefield ' pictures, as the ' Whis
tonian Controversy ' and ' Choosing the Wedding-
gown,' however good the execution, there appears a
want of fancy and of marked character. But after
these deductions from the high estimate sometimes
1 One of his largest finished drawings of this class, and one of
the finest works of its kind, is in the Scottish National Gallery.
2 In Stephens' elegant little book upon Mulready some of his
principal pictures are given in photograph.

38o

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.

Illustra
tive pic
tures
from popular
writers.

G. S.
Newton.

His sub
jects and
colour
ing.

formed of Mulready, enough remains to make him
be remembered as a great master of design and
composition and (when not too warm) of colour.
The larger proportion of the pictures of Wilkie
and Mulready were original subjects. The art of
their principal contemporaries in the department of
life and manners-painting sought subjects for the
most part in the works of popular and standard
authors ; a species of painting which began now to
be more elaborated, and more highly considered and
valued than when it had been practised chiefly with
a view to book-illustration. The works of Cer
vantes, Moliere, Le Sage, Gay, Swift, Goldsmith,
Sterne and Sir Walter Scott, the comedies of
Shakespeare (subjects from his tragic plays being
usually ranked as historical), were laid under contri
bution for this purpose, and have afforded subjects
for many agreeable and pleasing pictures.
Of this sort were nearly all the pictures of Gilbert
Stuart Newton. American by birth, Newton came
to Europe in 1817, and after passing some time in
Italy and France, attended the schools of the Royal
Academy in London. Fond of society, amusing
and of agreeable manners, he very soon devoted
himself to that class of pictures most congenial to
his disposition and talents, and exhibited at Somerset
House a succession of pictures pleasing in subject
and beautiful in colour. His ' Captain Macheath
with Polly and Lucy ' was purchased by the Marquis
of Lansdowne, and ' The Prince of Spain's Visit to
Catalina ' (from Gil Bas) by the Duke of Bedford,
while Mr. Labouchere bought his ' Shylock and

CHAP. VII.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING. 38 1
Jessica * and Mr. Vernon ' Yorick and the Grisette.* ^
One picture at least of a more elevated character,
graceful in composition and design, and fine in
colour, Newton painted from Shakespeare — ' Lear
attended by Cordelia and the Physician,* in the pos
session of Lady Ashburton.
Mr. Newton was in due time elected a Royal 1832.
Academician ; an honour he did not long survive to
enjoy, his death (which was preceded by aberration
of mind) occurring three years after. His pictures,
all cabinet size and not numerous, are distinguished
by gracefulness and good taste as well as by great
power of drawing and execution. They are delicately
and carefully painted, though not highly elaborated,
and in distribution of light and shade, richness and
harmony of colour, they are probably not inferior to
any easel work of the present century.
The memory of Newton is associated with that
of his friends Washington Irving and the painter
Charles Robert Leslie. The works by which Leslie
is most favourably known belong to the same class
as those of Newton, though from his longer applica
tion to painting they are more numerous and better
known. An American of Philadelphia by parentage and Leslie's
education, though actually born in England, Leslie ^^'" '"^'
entered himself at the schools of the Royal Academy, 1813.
where he had the advantage, under Fuseli, of learn
ing rather than being taught his art.^ Casting about
• Biographical Sketch of G. S. Newton, by J. Dafforne, Art
Journal, 1864, p. 13.
^ Leslie's Autobiographical Recollections, edited by Mr. T..
Taylor, i. 37.

382

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.

Mostly
illustira- tive.

1826.

1856.

Their
pleasingcha racter.

what style to adopt, he commenced with portraits,
which he practised to some extent all his life, and
(under the guidance of West and Alston) essayed
history in one or two pieces, such as ' Saul and the
Witch of Endor.' The bent of his disposition, how
ever, inclined him to subjects of an amiable, pla}d"ul,
and humorous kind.
One of the first pictures that made him a repu
tation was ' Sir Roger de Coverley going to Church.*
His next considerable picture was ' May-day in the
time of Queen Elizabeth,' the two central figures in
which appear an exact repetition of Ann Page and
Master Slender, as depicted in a small early picture
by himself of that name.^ ' Sancho Panza and the
Duchess ' was painted for the artist's patron and
friend Lord Egremont ; a replica of which, done for
Mr. Vernon, is now in the National Collection. Mr.
Leslie, after becoming R.A., continued for a number
of years to contribute to the Academy exhibitions a
succession of pictures from the poets and novelists,
which have deservedly placed him high in this
department of painting. The pictures of the last
three or four years preceding his death fell off both
in conception and execution.
Full of dramatic effect, quaint humour, and refined
drollery, showing also a nice discrimination, not only
of character but of the varieties of social position,
Mr. Leslie's pictures soon became popular. The
attention was captivated by their agreeable de-

' Biographical Sketch of Leslie, with illustrations, in the Art
Journal, 1856, p. 105.

in
X
tion.

CHAP. VII.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING. 3^3
lineations of scenes and persons familiar in every
day reading. They are always conceived and
painted with a feeling of what is right and true, not
merely with reference to the particular scene repre
sented, but to human life generally. In scenes of
broad humour Leslie may be thought too much under
restraint, as in his representations of Falstaff As
long as the humour is chiefly in the sentiment, as
in ' Uncle Toby and Widow Wadman,* where the
personages have a perfectly serious air, the effect is
irresistibly comic.'-
Mr. Leslie appears to have been of a refined and More
1 • • 1 r • 1 T • tasteful
impressible rather than original cast of mmd. His in man-
execution and colouring was favourably influenced in great i
the first part of his career by that of his friend New- ^^^"^^
ton,^ and not so favourably for his sort of subjects by
the painting of Mr. Constable the landscape-painter,
with whom he was intimate in his later life. Leslie*s
pictures are not unfrequently defective in richness
and mellowness of tone.^ In point of general

' Washington Irving, writing in 1826, makes the fohowing just
observation on Leslie's and Newton's pictures from Don Quixote
and Gil Bias : ' I regret continually, now that you and Newton
are engaged in painting Spanish subjects, that you could not get
a peep at the country and its people. There is a character about
them that it is not easy to gather from mere description.' — Auto
biographical Recollections, ii. 180.
2 This influence of Newton is fully recognised by the editor of
the Autobiographical Recollections (Introduction, p. 23). In a
letter to Mr. Washington Irving in 1821, Leshe says of a copy he
had made from a Paul Veronese at the British Institution, —
' Newton has improved my sketch of Paul Veronese wonderfully ;
it is now invaluable to me as a study of colouring.'
' In an exhibition of pictures of deceased masters at the

of W.
Miiller.

384 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
character and expression, in composition and taste,
their merit is greater.
Painting The pictures of life and manners, combined with
landscape, of William Miiller will always be re
garded with interest by those who have seen or
possess them. The son of a German who was
curator of the Bristol Museum, his education was
desultory. He passed a considerable portion of his
life in European and Eastern travel, occupying him
self with sketching and painting. With such occu
pation in view, he accompanied the government
expedition to Lycia in 1843, and the result of his
travels was seen in the various admirable pictures
he exhibited at the Royal Academy and British
Institution of groups of figures and scenery.
1845. In the year of his death two of Muller's exhibited
subjects were ' Cingaris playing in a tent to a Xan
thian Family' and ' Turkish Merchants with camels
passing the river in the Vale of Xanthus.' ^ The
' Slave Market,' a picture warm and rich in colour
ing, attributed to this painter, was exhibited at
Burlington House in the spring of 1871.
The merit of M tiller's performances, in respect of
originality and breadth of handling, brilliancy and

rooms in BurHngton House in the spring of 1870, thirty works by
Leslie -were brought together on the -ivalls of two of the rooms ;
pictures amusing and interesting from their subjects, but when
seen along with the pictures by the old masters in the other
rooms wanting in depth and richness of colour.
' Art Journal, 1850, p. 344; Wornum's Catalogue of the
National Gallery, British School. Mr. Miiller's work, entitied
Picturesque Sketches of the Age of Francis /., was published in 1841.

CHAP. VII.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING, 385
beauty of colouring, seems to have been more appre- His col-
ciated by the ' lay element ' than by the Royal and
Academy, who are said to have done him scant ^f h^^^.
justice in the hanging of his pictures, and altogether l'"S-
omitted adding their capital letters to his name.
The later pictures of William Simson, R.S.A.,
who painted both in Edinburgh and London, Died
were mostly subjects of domestic picturesque life.
With a good eye for colour, he treated subjects
of this kind with much spirit and truth to nature,
though landscape was usually considered to be his
forte. The works of Augustus Leopold Egg, who died Works of
at Algiers in 1863, were at first chiefly subjects from Egg.
Le Sage and the novelists, but were afterwards of a
more original character. Educated at the classes of
the Royal Academy, he usually exhibited in Lon- 1838.
don. Among his earlier pictures were ' Gil Bias ex
changing rings with Camilla,' a ' Scene from the
Diable Boiteux,' ' Peter the Great and Catherine,'
and ' Mr. Pepys's Introduction to Nell Gwynn.'^
Mr. Egg after this adopted a very sensational Sensa-
manner of painting, by giving contrasted scenes in sui^ects,
the life of the same individual — a factitious mode of u°^^'^,best art.
exciting emotion very easily imitated. Such were
his pictures of the ' Life and Death of Buckingham '
and a triptych representing in compartments three
incidents supposed to arise from a wife*s infidelity.
These subjects, of painful character, found no pur
chasers, and latterly the painter reverted to more
' Art Journal, 1863, p. 87.
C C

386 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
R. A. commonplace themes, his last exhibited picture being
a scene from ' Catherine and Petruchio.'
Mr. Egg's execution was good and his colouring
pure and harmonious ; and in subjects the choice of
which was dictated by his better judgment, his
appreciation and delineation of character was just
and well marked.
The death of John Phillip in 1867 caused a blank
in his branch of art not easily to be filled up. A
J. Phillip, native of Aberdeen, Phillip was for a time in the
studio of a portrait-painter in that city (Mr. James
1832. Forbes). After a hurried visit to London, where
his imagination was kindled by some of Wilkie's
pictures and by the Royal Academy exhibition, he
painted on his return to Aberdeen some pictures in
the style of Wilkie, and also several portaits which
attracted attention.
With the assistance of William lord Panmure (to
whom, through Major Pryse Gordon, Phillip was
recommended) the young artist was admitted a
student of the Royal Academy, where he acquired
the requisite technical training. He continued for a
time to paint portraits in London. In 1846 he
began to exhibit at the Royal Academy subjects
chiefly of Scottish life and manners ; while for some
years he sketched and designed and also painted
occasionally in Scotland, exhibiting the finished
pictures in London.^ Amongst these were ' Presby
terian Catechising,* ' Drawing for the Militia,* and
the ' Spae-wife.'
' Drummond's Catalogue of the Scottish National Gallery.

CHAP. VII.] LIFE AND MANNERS PAINTING. 387
The subjects and costume of Mr. Phillip's art
rather than its character underwent a change by a
visit of some years to Spain. Without attempting His
history, like Sir David Wilkie in similar circum- pictures.
stances, he studied the individual life and manners
of the peasantry of Spain, by far the most cha
racteristic inhabitants of the Peninsula. He re
mained for some time at Seville, and also travelled
in the interior of the country with a guide, in order
to sketch whatever interested his fancy in that land
of picturesque idlers, coquettes, priests, and gypsies.
The results of his Spanish studies during his first
and subsequent visits appeared in a succession of
pictures of much interest, remarkable for their
originality of treatment, characteristic expression,
and force of colour. Such were ' Life among the 1853.
Gypsies of Seville,' ' A Letter-writer of Seville,'
and the ' Spanish Sisters ' (in Her Majesty's collec
tion), and ' Spanish Contrabandistas.*
Mr. Phillip*s picture of ' The Huff' (or Quarrel) 1859.
was followed by his election into the Royal Academy,
and he was soon after commissioned to paint the
' Marriage of the Princess Royal * and the ' House
of Commons,* two of that difficult class of portrait
pictures in which to succeed even tolerably well was
an achievement.
Phillip's pictures may be regarded as distinguished
by facile and effective handling rather than by elabo
rate finish. No figure painter of the British school
of recent years (except Mr. Millais) has approached
him in vigour of execution and picturesqueness com
bined. The latest of his productions marked him as
c c 2

388 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
Char- Still advancing in imaginative power as well as in

acter

of his precision of touch and brilliancy of colouring. In
painting j^jg , Spanish Wake, or Gloria* the sentiment is of a
strange and almost appalling character ; the corpse
of a dead infant being laid out with flowers and lights
(according to a custom of the country), while a merry
party are engaged in celebrating, with music and
dance, its passage to another state of existence. An
unfinished picture of ' Spanish Boys playing at Bull
fighting,' now in the Scottish National Gallery, is an
admirable example, so far as it goes, of Mr. Phillip's
style, and also of his mode of working.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. 389

CHAPTER VIIL
BRITISH LANDSCAPE-PAINTING IN THE
NINETEENTH CENTURY.
The Art work of Constable and Turner — of Collins —
Bonington — Sir W. Callcott — Productions of Martin and
Danby — of the Scottish school of landscape — the Nas
myths — Thomson of Duddingstone — Macculloch — Paint
ing of Roberts and Stanfield.
Analogies are sometimes discovered between poetry
and painting. Borrowing terms the one from the
other, poetry is said to paint and painting to de
scribe. The descriptions by the painter are certainly
restricted to a moment of time, but all that can be
seen in a moment, which may be much, the painter
fixes on his canvas.
In none of their phases do poetry and painting Analogy
seem to approach each other so nearly as in de- ^^'^^^^'^
scriptive poetry and landscape-painting. Some t'^'^
1 M • 11. . poetry
writers describing scenery and objects in verse give and land-
a literal transcript of what they see in nature, as patming.
woods, houses, water, country occupations ; ' bab
bling,' like Falstaff, 'of green fields.' In the same
way many painters mechanically transfer to board or
canvas what they call natural objects and scenery,
and paint landscapes, perhaps well enough executed
and with a resemblance to what is meant to be
represented, but failing to affect the imagination or
the feelings.

390 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK III.
Other writers again of descriptive poetry, such as
Wordsworth, Burns, Byron and Scott, mingle senti
ment and human interest in their descriptions of
scenery and places, and thus multiply immeasurably
the reader's sources of gratification. And so it is
with those great landscape-painters, few and far
between, who bring the powers of association and
sentiment to bear upon their delineations of nature.
How they do it is more easy to be felt than told or
accounted for. An artist of this class, in painting
his landscapes, will rely less on the introduction of
poetical incident or picturesque buildings for ad
dressing the imagination and conveying sentiment,
than on a suggestive representation of the features
of nature displaying themselves on earth and sea
and in the sky — features possessing a beauty and
sublimity not always perceptible to the vulgar eye,
but which the painters art concentrates and inter
prets. Such a painter was Constable, and such, in
the pictures of his best time, was Turner.
Art of John Constable, the son of a wealthy miller in the
stable. county of Suffolk, entered as a student of the Royal
Academy in the year 1800. He began soon to
exhibit landscape, occasionally painting portraits ;
but years of exhibiting passed before his landscapes
succeeded in attracting purchasers or even in being
regarded with attention. The public taste was not
yet educated for Constable's original and just repre
sentation of natural objects and effects, and pre
ferred landscapes of a more smoothly executed and
mannered description. Deviating from the beaten
track and disregarding (perhaps to excess) the known

CHAP, vm.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. 391
schools of landscape art, he was slow of being ap- Not ap
preciated, few showing themselves qualified to judge ^^^ ^
of productions displaying an original cast of mind, ''fetime.
genuine study, and consequent novelty of execution.-^
The subjects of Mr. Constable*s pictures were
almost entirely taken from the rural scenery of his
native Suffolk, from the neighbourhood of Salisbury
which he occasionally visited, and in his later life
from Hampstead. His well-known picture of ' The
Lock ' was one of the first that attracted notice.
Gradually gaining ground, he exhibited in 1819 a
' View on the River Stour,' which led to his being
made an associate of the Academy, its full honours
not being accorded him till ten years after, not long
prior to his decease.^ His picture of the ' Valley
Farm ' was bought by Mr. Vernon ; the ' Corn-field '
was purchased after his death by subscription for
the National Collection.
Such pictures as these, though now justly appre
ciated, were in Constable's lifetime usually returned
to his studio, while the contemporary paintings of
Callcott ,and Bonington found ready purchasers.
Posterity, as in the case of Wilson, recognised the
merit of Constable when applause and neglect were
equally indifferent to him.
The French critics of the day were more dis
cerning than his countrymen. On the exhibition
in the Louvre of his fine picture of the ' Hay- 1826.
Wain,' now belonging to Mr. H. Vaughan, Con-

• Introduction to Constable's English Landscape, first edition.
''- Art Journal, 1855, p. 9.

392 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
Stable had awarded to him a gold medal from the
King of France; the picture judges remarking 'the
raciness and originality of his style, which being
founded entirely in nature is capable of much beauty,
but dangerous to all imitators.' ^
During the greater portion of his life Constable
seldom quitted Suffolk in search of new scenery or
subjects, unless for an excursion to Salisbury, the
neighbourhood of which he has commemorated in his
rainbow pictures of the cathedral. As Mr. Words
worth and others have done in poetry, he created
poetical landscapes out of the meadows and their
occupants, the canals, the broken fields and wood
lands of Suffolk,
Clothing the palpable and the familiar
With golden exhalations of the dawn.
Its char- In the landscapes of Constable the sky was the-
^'^ '^'^' key-note, ' the standard of scale and chief organ of
sentiment' ^ He gave expression to his pictures by
a truthful and feeling delineation of the ever-varying
skies of England ; marking the influence of light
and shadow upon landscape, not only as giving
emphasis to jaarticular parts, but as suggestive of
times of the day and seasons of the year. The
sparkles reflected in certain lights from smooth
foliage, the morning dew upon the grass and herbs,
atmospheric effects produced by rain and sunshine —
the alternate tears and smiles of a day in June, are
all represented in the landscapes of this great painter.
' Leslie's Life of Constable, p. 165.
^ Letter of Constable to a friend ; Leslie's Life of Constable.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. 393
In the Burlington House exhibition of deceased
artists in 1871 Constable was seen to much ad
vantage in several examples. The bold and at the
same time refined treatment, richness and vigour of
colouring, shown in his pictures of the ' Hay- Wain,'
and the ' Cenotaph at Coleorton in memory of Sir
Joshua Reynolds' (lent by Miss Constable), no one
could avoid remarking.
A large proportion of the works of Joseph Mal
lard William Turner are now, through his own Turner's
bequest, included in the National Collection and ^'" '"^"
possess a public interest. The painting career of
Turner, who was a native of London, commenced
before that of Constable and continued fourteen
years longer. His first attempts in art were topo
graphical views and sketches in water-colour. From
this he passed to landscape views of English and
Welsh scenery, still in water-colour; in executing
which he was often associated with Thomas Girtin,
whose art as well as that of the water-colour painter
Cozens are considered to have influenced the paint
ing of Turner. Admitted a student at the Royal
Academy in 1 789, he acquired in the ensuing years
a fair amount of technical knowledge, though his
subsequent practice showed that he refused to be
bound by rule or system. That he became a good
draughtsman is evident from numerous sketches of
this time, from the skilful architectural drawing of
his later time, from his delineation of clouds and
natural forms. If the human figures in his later
pictures, the forms of boats and other objects, some
times betray a defect in design, this may go to

394 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK III.
prove, not his want, but his neglect of drawing, and
how much he sacrificed to colour and general effect.
Turner's devotion to the river Thames showed
itself in his earliest exhibited water-colour drawings ;
and when he died nearly sixty years after, the
Thames from his cottage at Chelsea was probably
the last object he looked upon. He began to paint
in oils in 1793, and departing then from his practice
of water-colour (which however is supposed to have
influenced his later painting), he produced pictures
in accordance with the approved manner of the
older painters in oil, in which shadow and dark
colour preponderated. The subjects he selected,
usually scenery and picturesque buildings, now took
a wider range, while his eye and his imagination
opened more and more to the expressive power of
the sky and of atmospheric effects.
More ap- In the case of Turner's art, as in that of Etty, his
by^anist's brethren of the Academy showed themselves to be
than jj^ advance of the public taste, for in 1799, at the age
pubhc. of twenty-four, he was elected Associate of the Aca
demy and in three years after, Academician ; while
his pictures then and during many subsequent years
found few purchasers, and were but imperfectly ap
preciated.^ Turner was a great traveller and most industrious
sketcher. Wales, Scotland, France, the coast of
England, Italy, the Rhine, Switzerland, saw him a
frequent pilgrim at the various shrines of Nature,
almost dedicating his life to her worship. Without
' Thornbury's Life of Turner, vol. i. p. 269.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. 395
elevating his mental view so as to see the Creator
in his works. Turner searched everywhere and dis- His
covered for himself the material truth and beauty of af^^
creation ; he studied the geological character of hills, ^ji^^™^
discriminated the clouds of the sky and the herbs of
the field, and faithfully represented the ocean in its
various moods. Storm and sunshine, flood and fire,
mist and exhalation, all aided in giving expression
and character to his paintings.
Mr. Turner's earlier pictures were of a simpler His pic-
and more truthful character than those of his later
manner. His marine subjects in Lord Yarborough's
possession, ' Calais Pier,' the ' Shipwreck,' ' Ships at
Spithead,' ' Crossing the Brook,* the ' Sun rising
through Vapour,' are well-known examples of his
earlier style. Led at first by his admiration of
Claude, he addressed himself afterwards to paint
mythological subjects, and imaginative compositions
such as the Carthage pictures.
' Dido building Carthage,' placed by Turner's own
desire beside Claude's ' Queen of Sheba ' in the
National Gallery, and his ' Ulysses and Polyphemus'
are examples, the one of gorgeous architecture,
the other of poetical incident, introduced in land
scapes distinguished also by a grand representation
of features of scenery and atmospheric effects. It
must be admitted however that the poetical interest
of many of his great mythological and ideal pictures
is of a somewhat artificial and unsatisfactory kind.
Opinions may be allowed to differ as to his versions
of Italian scenery and his rendering of ancient cities.
In Italian subjects of lake and woodland and bays of

396 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
the sea truthfully delineated, there is often a poetry
and beauty which the introduction of splendid orna
ment fails to enhance.
Turner's Influenced, as is supposed, by his practice in
maTnen" water-colour, Mr. Turner's oil-painting gradually
assumed a lighter tone and more brilliancy of colour.
' The light key,' says Mr. Burnet, ' upon which most
of our present landscape-painters work owes its
origin to Turner.'^ This principle or theory of
colouring appears to have so fascinated the painter
that in the pictures of his later time he carried it to
excess. His hobby ran away with him. Such
pictures as ' Phryne going to the Bath as Venus,'
the ' Whalers,' the ' Golden Bough,' and one or two
of the Venetian pictures, are fanciful and dreamy
representations of the play of colour and perspective
rather than bond fide landscapes. Others however
of his later pictures, as the ' Ehrenbreitstein,' the
' Fighting Temeraire,' and several of the Venetian
pictures, are marked by truth and beauty of colour
as well as poetical feeling.
Turner's passion for representing light in all its
varieties of hue may have led him to experiment
more than was expedient upon his materials and
glazes, many of his later pictures and some of an
earlier date showing already manifest signs of decay.
To this Dr. Waagen alludes, in his estimate of the
painter, when (recognising his versatility of talent
and greatness in landscape) he remarks very de-

• Turner and his Works, by John Burnet, p. 6i ; Redgrave's
Century of Painters, ii. 113.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. 397
cidedly the ' deficiency of Turner's painting in one
indispensable element in every work of art, a sound
technical basis.' ^
It is unnecessary here to do more than refer to His en-
the engraved publications which have emanated from
Mr. Turner's exquisite drawings in water-colour
made for the most part with a view to engraving.
The merits of the ' Rivers of England,' ' Rivers of
France,' ' England and Wales,* the ' Southern Coast,*
illustrations of Rogers' ' Italy,' &c., have been amply
discussed and critically noticed in the writings of
Mr. Ruskin, whose eloquent elucidations of Turner's
art are well known. The ' Liber Studiorum,' begun
in 1808 in emulation of the 'Liber Veritatis' of
Claude, embraces the whole range of landscape art.
In this as in his other engraved works, which are
said to have been the chief source of his wealth.
Turner carefully superintended and occasionally as
sisted the process of engraving and altering the
plates.^ ' The National Collection contains altogether 194 pictures by
Turner, and a number of water-colour drawings and sketches, the
greater proportion of which were placed there in accordance
with an order of the Court of Chancery, forming part of the
judgment in the suit as to the painter's will. This order appears
to have gone beyond Mr. Turner's own intention, which was, that
only his ' finished pictures ' should become the property of the
nation. His reputation as a painter would probably have rested
more securely upon a selection of his pictures, entrusted to persons
of skill, than it does upon the medley of pictures (however valu
able) now in the National Gallery.
^ The mode in which Turner dealt with the proofs of engravings
with reference to their mercantile value, after the plates were woHi,
cannot meet with approval (Thornbury's Life of Turner, vol. i.

398 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK in.
Although the works of the landscape-painters
now to be mentioned may not equal those of Wilson,
Gainsborough, Constable and Turner, yet from the
individuality of their several styles they have contri
buted to stamp on the British school of landscape
that variety of character by which it is distinguished.
Land- If many of Turner's pictures are in some sort
Collins." ' historical landscapes,* the subjects of William Collins
(in this respect like those of Morland) are landscape
pictures of English life. The son of a London
picture-dealer and connected in early life with George
Morland, whose painting he had an opportunity of
studying, ColHns was a diligent student at the Royal
Academy. He was a greater proficient in colouring
than in drawing ; and had the merit of not experi
menting on risky methods and vehicles in painting.
The first picture by which Collins became known
was the ' Sale of the Pet Lamb,' a good example of
his manner ; and this was followed by many others,
of which it would be difficult to say whether a
preference should be given to the landscape or to
the rural people, children and fishermen, by which it
is animated. His works had a fair share of the
patronage of the buyers of pictures from the time of
1820. his election as an Academician till his death.
The landscapes of Collins and the groups and
scenes represented are of a harmonious and soothing
character ; the quiet sunlight of his skies seeming to
infuse itself into the rural life in which ' young Eng-
ch. 15). And it is no apology for the conduct in this particular
of the English artist that anecdotes of a similar kind are recorded
of Rembrandt

CHAP, vni.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING. 399
land ' plays a conspicuous part. A late visit to Italy 1837.
gave him an opportunity of clothing his art in Italian
dress ; but his foreign pictures are not considered
equal to his more congenial subjects of English
scenery. The landscapes of R. P. Bonington and W. I.
Miiller (already noticed as a painter of life-subjects
united with landscape) are highly valued, although
neither of these painters had the fortune to be
educated at the classes of the Royal Academy.
Both died at a comparatively early age.
Bonington's instruction in painting was chiefly Boning-
gathered from his studies in the Louvre and attend- *°""
ance at the ' Ecole des beaux Arts ' in Paris. His
favourite subjects were of coast scenery, enlivened
by men and boys drawing their nets, and French fish-
women with their scaly stores and motley company.
His oil paintings and drawings in water-colour were
much run upon by the French, and his style is
supposed to have influenced more than one of their
recent painters of landscape. The French were
inclined to adopt him as of their school, but
Bonington always retained his individuality of style,
which was superior to that of the Vernets and their
followers. In Venice, where he set up his easel after painting
for a time in France, he again resorted to coast
scenery, rendered doubly interesting to the painter
by its association with that city where —
The sea is in the broad, the narrow streets.
Ebbing and flowing, and the salt sea-weed
Clings to the marble of her palaces.

400 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book m.
Amongst the four pictures exhibited by Bonington
at the Royal Academy, one was a ' Coast Scene,'
and another the ' Grand Canal of Venice with the
Church of Santa Maria della Salute.' A small pic
ture of the ' Piazetta and Column of St. Mark ' is now
in the National Gallery.
Both Miiller and Bonington excelled in richness
and harmony of colouring and in the management
of light and shade, drawing with accuracy and
graceful feeling. Neither of these painters experi
mented in colour for the sake of effect, and their
pictures are believed to be in good preservation.^
Sir A. The works of Sir Augustus W. Callcott, another
' sea-shore painter,' were very popular in his lifetime,
but will hardly receive the same liberal meed of ap
probation in the present day. A native of Ken
sington, Callcott was a student at the Royal
Academy classes, and a pupil of Hoppner. After
some trials of portrait-painting he soon settled
1803. down to landscape; to the practice of which he
almost entirely devoted the remainder of his
lifetime. His pictures during the first half of
this period are regarded as superior to those of
' In this survey of landscape-painting the art of several painters
contemporary with those mentioned in the text, as the Cromes of
Norwich, Stark, Cotman, and other later painters, has been left
unmentioned, although undoubtedly respectable delineators of
English scenery. The landscapes especially of ' old Crome ' fre
quently show both truthful painting and artistic feeling. In the
annals of British art the name of Sir George Beaumont deserves,
at the least, a kindly reminiscence, as well on account of his own
performances in landscape as of his friendly patronage of native
painters, at a period when British art and its professors were more
in Avant of encouragement and recognition than they now are.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 401
his later years when he painted less from nature
and more from previous sketches and memory. He
was elected a Royal Academician in 18 10 and was
knighted some years before his death. 1844.
Without much poetical feeling, and rarely imbued
with the higher qualities of landscape, the paintings Qualities
of Sir Augustus Callcott are sufficiently agreeable cott's
compositions. When seen beside the pictures of P^^f^'^s-
Constable and Stanfield they want power and effect.
The colouring of his large pictures especially ap
pears defective in richness and brilliancy, and the
subjects and treatment frequently insipid. Nor is
his art much redeemed by the lack-a-daisical picture
of ' Raphael and the Fornarina.' At the same time
in most of Callcott's works there is evident a certain
tastefulness and delicacy of handling, qualities which
may have been still more attractive when the pic
tures were freshly painted.
The productions of John Martin have, like most J.Martin.
works of original genius, been the subject of great
praise and great censure. His education in art,
first at Newcastle and subsequently in London, was
of an irregular kind. He painted on glass and
china in enamel colours with a glass manufacturer
in the Strand ; while at the same time the study of
architecture and perspective, from the use of which
in his paintings he afterwards produced such won
derful effects, was diligently pursued by him.
In 1811 Martin began to exhibit at the Royal
Academy ; but in the immediately subsequent years
he thought himself aggrieved by the proceedings
of the ' hanging committee,' and quarrelled with the
D D

402 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.
Academicians as a body, though continuing on good
terms with many of them individually. His ' Bel-
His com- shazzar's Feast,' a good example of his style, was
positions, , -r^ . . ¦, -r • • i ¦ i-ii
and mode sent to the British Institution, where it was highly
menr*' appreciated and received an award of 200 guineas.
Of this picture Wilkie observed ; -* —
In treating the subject his great elements seem to be
the geometrical properties of space, magnitude and number,
in the use of which he may be said to be boundless. The
great merit of the picture however is perhaps in the con
trivance and disposition of the architecture, which is full of
imagination. Common observers seem very much struck
with this picture, indeed more than they are in general
with any picture. But artists, so far as I can learn from
the most considerable and important of them, do not admit
its claims to the same extent.
Other remarkable pictures followed, — the ' De
struction of Pompeii and Herculaneum,' the
' Departure of the Israelites from Egypt,' the ' Fall
of Nineveh,' the ' Creation,' the ' Deluge.' These
works are for the most part well known by en
gravings in mezzotinto. The engraved illustrations
by Martin of Milton's ' Paradise Lost ' are also
vigorous and effective ; but the plates of these as
well as of some of his other prints have been
retouched. The compositions of Mr. Martin are certainly
grand and impressive, although his colouring and
violent contrasts of light and shadow will be re
garded as exaggerated, if tried by a natural standard.
From frequent repetition of the same class of sub
jects his eccentric style of painting grew into a sort
' February, 182 1 ; Cunningham's Life of Wilkie, ii. 57.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 4^3
of mannerism ; and a picture or print from his hand
would be known to be so at first sight. If any
landscape pictures in which incidents are repre
sented by the introduction of grouped figures can
be called ' historical ' paintings, those of Martin
may be so entitled ; though it must be admitted that
the figures are often huddled together and imper
fectly drawn, and the expression is to be sought in
the striking features and general effect of the scene
rather than in the countenances of the actors.
Another painter of striking effects was Francis f. Dan-
Danby. A native of the county of Wexford, Danby sinking
received his first art education in Dublin at the ^ffs'^'s.
school of the Society of Arts.^ The success of
some early efforts in landscape encouraged him to
visit England, where settling for a time at Bristol
he painted landscapes in oil for exhibition at the
Royal Academy. From the first he appears to have
devoted himself to those evening and occasionally
morning effects of glowing sunlight, with broad con
trasted shadows, for which he afterwards became so
celebrated. His picture of the ' Upas Tree ' and
some others had already attracted notice, but his
'Sunset at Sea after a Storm' in 1824, and his
' Israelites passing through the Red Sea by the
light of the Pillar of Fire,' marked him as a painter
of no common order. The first of these pictures
was bought by Sir Thomas Lawrence, the other by
the Marquis of Stafford.
' The Royal Hibernian Academy of Art received its charter in
1823, and was appointed to consist of fourteen Academicians and
.ten Associates. Its first exhibition was opened in Dubhn in 1826.

404 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
Mr. Danby having been elected an Associate of
the Academy, continued to exhibit (with an interval
of ten years spent abroad) till his death in 1861.
In his ' Passage of the Red Sea,' and in a sub
sequent picture of the ' Opening of the Sixth Seal,'
there appeared a considerable resemblance to the
.style of Martin in subjects of a similar character,
but with less scenic effect and better drawing and
execution. From his recurring with a constancy
which ran into monotony to the same kind of
glowing effects of light, he acquired, like Martin, a
peculiar manner, but his range of subjects was wider
and embraced more natural scenes of landscape.
Danby*s pictures were usually of an interesting
character (as the ' Evening Gun ' exhibited at the
1857. Manchester Exhibition), conveying the impression
of their emanating from a mind of poetical tem
perament, expressive in their skies, and generally
embodying some poetical sentiment or incident.
Scottish While landscape art was thus holding its way in
scape art. the southern part of the island, the commencement of
jg„ exhibitions in Edinburgh and the institution of the
' Royal Scottish Academy' in 1838 brought out some
good painting in this department in Scotland. The
landscapes of Alexander Nasmyth^ were carefully
' Alexander Nasmyth, vsrho studied in the Trustees' School under
Runciman and Allan Ramsay, survived till 1840. This School of
Design of the Board of Trustees for encouraging manufactures in
Scotland, which was set 8n foot in 1760, and was the first school
of design established in the United Kingdom at the public ex
pense, has been of late years affihated to the central department
of Science and Art in London. See Treasury Minute, February,
1 858, in Sir G. Harvey's Notes on the Royal Scottish Academy, p. 141.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 405
painted, although with a certain minuteness of The
. Nas-
manner and a want of that breadth of handling myths.
visible in the landscapes of his son Patrick ; distin
guished as the latter were also by superior boldness
and delicacy of style. Patrick Nasmyth's painting
had a considerable resemblance to, if it was not
founded on, that of the Dutch school, particularly
Wynants ; and his pictures, delineating chiefly
English rural scenery, were deservedly admired
for their masterly execution and colouring. He
exhibited occasionally at the exhibitions of the 1812-31.
Royal Academy, and two cabinet-size examples of
his landscapes are at South Kensington in the
National Collection.
The manner of the elder Nasmyth was visible, and
perhaps more agreeably visible than in his own
paintings, in the tasteful and generally small-sized
landscapes of his daughters, who exhibited at the
Scottish Academy.
The landscapes of Andrew Wilson, a pupil of Andrew
Alexander Nasmyth and student at the Royal Aca- Wilson.
demy of London, were sent for the most part to
the Edinburgh exhibitions. They were marked
(especially his delineations of Italian scenery) by
refined and delicate treatment and good colouring.
Wilson spent the last twenty years of his life almost 1828-48.
entirely in Italy, where his knowledge of pictures
occasioned his being much employed for collectors
in England.^
> Cunningham's Life of Wilkie ; Drummond's Catalogue of the
Scottish National Gallery. When in Genoa at an early period of
his life, Andrew 'Wilson was elected a member of the Ligurian

4o6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
W. Sim- William Simson, a Scottish Academician, was a
^°^- truthful painter of landscape, a good colourist, and
careful in his execution.
Land- The Rev. John Thomson, minister of Dudding-
^^pesof gtone near Edinburgh, was, like the Rev. Hugh
Thom- Peters, a painter as well as a clergyman. It may
appear singular to those who are aware of the perse
cution which Mr. Home, the author of ' Douglas,*
underwent for writing a tragedy, that Mr. Thomson
should have been allowed without remonstrance for
so many years to act in the double capacity of a
parish minister and an artist painting and selling his
pictures. The anomaly however was overlooked.
Mr. Thomson began to exhibit in 1808, and from
jg.Q that date till his decease he sent to the Edinburgh
exhibitions one hundred and nine landscape-pictures.
He was an honorary member of the Scottish Aca-
-Pheir demy. His style is thought to have been formed in
a considerable degree on that of Poussin, but always
having reference to nature. His subjects were
mostly Scottish inland and coast scenes. His
pictures of woodland scenery have a brownish hue
and the shadows rather dark. His sea-coast pieces
have less of this inclination towards the old
masters, and were thought at one time to resemble

Academy, and in that capacity had on one occasion to attend
the first Napoleon at an inspection of the works of modern
artists. On pausing to examine a picture by Wilson, a Genoese
academician, who bore the artist no good will, observed to the
Emperor that the picture was by an Englishman ; upon which
Napoleon said sternly to his officious informant, ' Le talent n'a
pas de pays.'

stvle.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 407
the earlier painting of Turner, with perhaps greater
breadth of effect.' ^
Mr. Thomson was engaged along with Mr. Turner
to make the drawings for Sir Walter Scott's ' Provin
cial Antiquities of Scotland.' Like his distinguished
coadjutor, he seems to have experimented in his
materials and pigments, his pictures at the present
day showing too frequently unequivocal signs either
of decay or of having been in the hands of the
picture-restorer.^ The landscapes of Horatio Macculloch, R.S.A., Horatio
may be said to have taken that place in Scottish art joch.
which was left vacant by the decease of Thomson
of Duddingstone. The art-education of Macculloch
was of an irregular character, commencing at a
drawing-school in his native city of Glasgow. From
Glasgow he went to reside in Edinburgh, where he
was employed in 1825 in colouring some works of
natural history, while his mornings were devoted to
sketching in the environs. His first commission
was from a citizen of Glasgow (Provost Lumsden),
who engaged him to paint several large pictures for
the hall of his house.
Having acquired reputation by his execution of
this work, Macculloch exhibited landscapes for
several years in the exhibitions commenced in
Glasgow by the Dilettanti Society. After the
' Peter's Letters to his Kinsfolk (18 18), by J. G. Lockhart,
vol. h. p. 290.
^ Several good examples of the Rev. J. Thomson are in the
Scottish National Gallery, and in the collecrion of R. Horn, Esq.,
Edinburgh ; and one in the National Collection at South Kensing on.

4o8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book. iil.
exhibitions of the Royal Scottish Academy com-
1839. menced, he exhibited for the most part in Edin
burgh. He soon became a distinguished member
of that Academy, having his residence in Edin
burgh, and always visiting during the summer
His land- months the picturesque scenery of the Highlands
scape art. ^j^j ^]^g west of Scotland. One of his pictures
that attracted much notice was a ' View of Cadzow
Park ' near Hamilton, but his best landscapes were
those of highland scenery. The serrated mountain
chains and lochs of Skye, the rapid streams and
wooded glens, rocks and heathery moors of Inver
ness, lighted up by passing gleams of sunshine, the
mist-enveloped hills of the West Highlands with
their old castles and thinly scattered habitations,
were faithfully and expressively transferred to his
canvases. Mr. Macculloch's principal works were not merely
sketched, but were mostly painted in the open air,
and his first attack of illness was in part caused
Died, by his persisting in painting for many hours con-
7- tinuously in an exposed locality during very cold
weather.^ His finished pictures were carefully exe
cuted and with much technical skill ; the lights and
shadows well defined and the colouring truthful and
clearly brought out. His style of painting was alto
gether more original than that of Thomson, and
conveyed less the impression of composition and
study. Neither of these landscape-painters, whose
reputation was made in Scotland, and where their
' Drummond's Catalogue of the Scottish National Gallery.

CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 4^9
pictures had a ready sale, were exhibitors to any
extent in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy.
John Wilson, an honorary member of the j. Wil-'
Scottish Academy and one of the founders of the
Suffolk Street Society of British Artists, was a good
painter of marine subjects. He was associated with
Messrs. Roberts and Stanfield (to both of whom he
was senior) in their early life as a scene-painter at
the theatres, and his marine painting is supposed to
have partly influenced the style of Stanfield, if not
also of Roberts. Two pictures by him are in the
Scottish National Gallery.
This review of British landscape-painting would
be imperfect without mention of the art of two dis
tinguished painters not long since deceased — David
Roberts and Clarkson Stanfield.
The works of Roberts, a native of Edinburgh, Painting
were of that class of landscape of which the excel- Roberts.
lence consists as much in the interesting character of
the artificial components of the subject — generally
architectural buildings broadly and picturesquely
treated — as in a representation of the features of
nature. His art-education was quite different from
the training of the schools, and was derived from
early practice as a house-decorator and afterwards
as a scene-painter for the theatres.
Having painted scenes for a year or two at the
theatres of Edinburgh and Glasgow, Roberts was
employed about the year 1822 in the same capacity
in London, where Stanfield was similarly engaged.
This early practice no doubt gave to his art that
effective and facile manner which it always retained.

4IO VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book ill.
Eariy The inborn genius of Roberts led him from scene-
painting to a higher walk, and induced him to study
architectural painting in oil. His first attempts on
1822. small canvases, exhibited at an exhibition of the
works of living artists in Edinburgh were of this
kind — Street architecture of the old town of Edin
burgh, and the Interior of New Abbey, Dumfries
shire. Having in London joined the Society of
British Artists in Suffolk Street, he exhibited with
them views of Melrose and Dryburgh Abbeys.
Finding his way across the Channel to Dieppe
and Rouen he pursued the bent of his taste for
picturesque architecture ; his first exhibited work
1826. at the Royal Academy being a view of Rouen
Cathedral. Then commenced those travels of Mr. Roberts
abroad, annual and for longer periods, the fruits of
which were displayed in his well-known pictures and
drawings. After some years he quitted the Society
in Suffolk Street (upon perfectly good terms with its
members) in order to join the Royal Academy, of
which he was elected a member in 1841. He
visited a considerable part of the continent of
Europe, gathering honey where he could for the
English hive ; he made acquaintance with the
temples and mosques of Egypt and the Nile,
crossed the Arabian desert, and with the pencil and
sketch-book of an artist, if not with the staff and
¦ sandal shone * of a pilgrim, traversed Syria and
the Holy Land. His principal pictures were made
from selected drawings, the originals being in water-
colour. The drawings were carefully and artis-

CHAP, vm.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 41I
tically finished, and they furnished materials for
successive works, mostly in chromo-lithography.
Although the oil-pictures of Mr. Roberts were His p!c-
nearly all of them views of remarkable buildings and ^ode of
places, yet their picturesque treatment and clever '^^l^<^
handling, the rich colouring of the accessories and
the characteristic groups of figures, imparted to them
an interest such as attaches only to paintings of a high
class ; while the uncommon variety of his subjects,
all rendered with characteristic expression, simplicity
and breadth, saved his style from running into
mannerism. His pictures from Egypt and Baal- 1841-5.
bee are good examples of his art ; as well as his
' Jerusalem ' and his large picture of ' Rome,* pre
sented to the Scottish Academy, and now in the
Scotch National Gallery. His pictures were always
in demand. The closing years of Mr. Roberts*s life
were devoted to paintings illustrative of London and
the buildings seen along the banks of the Thames,
including St. PauFs, Somerset House, the bridges
and shipping, and the new Palace of Westminster-
Like the earlier works of the artist, these were
effective and picturesque, but slighter in their exe
cution. Roberts was survived three years by his friend
and contemporary Clarkson Stanfield, a native of c. stan-
Sunderland, whose death in 1867 made a marked ^^'^^'
blank in the department of marine painting. Stan
field, like Roberts, had no regular apprenticeship
in art, but after serving for some time as a boy
in the marine service, he discovered that he had a
vocation for scene-painting. He was employed in

412 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book III.'
Also a this department at Drury Lane theatre, and contri-
patnter!^^ buted, as well as Roberts, to elevate and improve
the pictorial character of stage scenery.
When Stanfield turned his attention to painting:
in oils, the practice of stage-painting would un-
^ doubtedly influence his style, but it does not seem
to have done so to the same extent as with Roberts.
His bent was more towards marine subjects, in
which there is perhaps less scope for stage effect
than in architectural scenery ; though in his Italian.
pictures and drawings Stanfield afterwards displayed.
a fair knowledge of architecture and an appreciation
of its picturesque effects.
Like most painters of landscape he made occa
sional foreign tours, of which the results were seen
in his pictures. One of the first of his exhibited
pictures that drew attention was his ' Mount St.
Michael,' which was followed by two commission
pictures for William IV., the ' Opening of London
Bridge' and ' Portsmouth Harbour.'
Mr. Stanfield was elected a Royal Academician in
1835, and from that period till his death his effective
marine views and (though in less number) his sub
jects of a more exclusively landscape character con
tinued to adorn the exhibitions of the Academy
and to be purchased for the mansions of the nobility
and merchants of England. Two companion pic-
1864. tures ' Peace * and ' War,' of his later time, were
considered equal if not superior to any of his
previous productions.
His A good opportunity for appreciating the art of
pictures. Stanfield was afforded by the exhibition of a number

• CHAP. VIII.] LANDSCAPE-PAINTING, ETC. 413
of his pictures in the spring of 1870 in the Burling
ton House rooms of the Royal Academy. The
ever-recurring grey-green colour of his marine
pieces, in most instances truthful, but (like the ocean
itself when compared with the land) monotonous,
was very manifest. In pictures of a more inland
landscape character his hand would hardly have
been recognised by those not perfectly familiar with
his style or who were more accustomed to his sea-
pieces. His marine pictures gave the impression of
vigorous and well-composed representations of their
subjects, but deficient in that poetry of atmospheric
effects, combined with truthfulness and brilliancy
of hue, for which the skies of Constable and of
Turner in his best time are so remarkable.

4^4 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book in.

CHAPTER IX. — Supplementary,
Water- Colour Drawing — Engraving.
After giving a detailed view of the condition of the
Art of Painting in Britain, in its principal phase of
oil-painting, from the reign of George I. up to nearly
the present time, some may think I ought to have
added to it a notice of the kindred though less
important subjects of Water-colour painting and
Engraving.
Water- Painting in water-colour, which was practised
paintinig. with much success in the form of miniature painting
by Samuel Cooper and Isaac and Peter Oliver in the
17th century, experienced a marvellous revival in
England in the end of the i8th and the commence
ment of the present century. Its practice and appli
cation, limited at first to miniature, to flowers and
fruit and to landscape, has gradually extended itself
to nearly all the subjects of oil-painting.^ The

' The drawing and painting of landscapes in water-colour,
starting from the topographical views and hand-coloured prints of
Paul Sandby and others, has been elevated into an important
branch of art by the talent of Cozens, Chrystal, Girtin, Turner,
and their successors. In Scotland the pictures and sketches in
water-colour of Grecian scenery by H. W. Williams, remarkable
for their freedom of handling and the spirit and feeling of their
execution, were the subject of general admiration some fifty

CHAP. IX.] SUPPLEMENTARY CHAPTER. 4^5
establishment in 1805 of the Society of Painters in
Water-colour and the exhibitions of their works
gave to water-colour painting in England an inde
pendent position and high reputation. By the dis
covery of new technical methods and the extension its range
of the capabilities and practice of the art, as well ^j^gned
as by the formation of new Societies, this reputation
has been maintained and increased ; and painting in
water-colour is now a department of art in which
Great Britain excels all other nations.
How far the practice of this species of painting may
in the present century have influenced oil-painting
with reference to the tone of colour and the propor
tion between light and dark colours in a picture, or
whether water-colour painting may not have bor
rowed or ought still to borrow from oil-painting, if
possible, more depth and richness of tone, are topics
I shall not venture to discuss. When sufficient
materials exist for a satisfactory history or account
of painting in water-colour and its professors, it will
no doubt be attempted by some one capable of doing
justice to the subject.
The art of the engraver is of essential import- Engrav-
ance to that of the painter, in so far as it preserves '"^'
(sometimes beyond the date of the existence of his
picture) the chief characteristics of the painter's
work, and in the form of engraved prints gives to
those works a wide circulation. Good engraving is
years ago, and were instrumental in drawing public attention in
Scotland towards this department of art. — Peter's Letters to his
Kinsfolk (1818), by J. G. Lockhart, vol. ii.

41 6 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
therefore an art to be encouraged by Academies as
well as by the public.
The history of engraving and of its various kinds
is sufficiently known. In the latter portion of the
1 8th century the two great branches of engraving,
line and mezzotint, were brought to a state of per
fection in England which has been hardly main
tained in the present century ; although engraving in
small on steel and wood for book-illustration has of
late years made very marked progress.
With the exception of the works of the elder
Enghsh Faithorne and of White in line engraving, John
engrav- „ . , . . , ,
ing of the Smith in mezzotinto, and one or two others, no
century, tolerable engraving work was seen in England
before the time of Hogarth, who as an engraver
was more remarkable for expression and force than
Sir R. refinement and finish. Robert Strange (a Scot
tish Jacobite, pupil of an engraver of the name of
Cooper, and of Le Bas at Paris) was the first British
artist who produced examples of historical engraving
in line capable of competing with the skilful French
engravers of the i8th century. Strange engraved
from about 1750 to 1787, and had the merit of ele
vating his art to a higher position than it had yet
attained in Britain. Although his drawing of the
nude was not uniformly correct, and his arms and
hands as well as his treatment of skies may be liable
to criticism, his representation of the texture and
porous character of flesh (as in his engravings from
Titian) has not been excelled. The engravings by
Strange are mostly from the Italian masters, and in
too great proportion from the Bolognese school ;

Strange.

CHAP. IX.] SUPPLEMENTARY. 4^7
nearly a solitary exception being his print from
West's picture of two deceased children of George
III. descending with an angel. The drawings for
his engravings from the foreign masters were made
by himself from the original pictures. Sir R.
Strange's plates, in number about sixty, are dis- strange's
tinguished by an admirable union of the work of the P ^'^^'
dry point with the graver, and are harmonious in
tone as well as vigorous in execution.^
William Woollett, who died in 1785, if inferior to Woollett
Strange in historical engraving, excelled all his con- xva& en-
temporaries in landscape. So far as engravings can S""^^^"^^-
represent a coloured landscape picture, the prints of
Woollett give an admirable rendering of the land
scapes of Richard Wilson. Other able engravers in
line were John Hall, John K. Sherwin (who shows
too much cross hatching and too little of the dry
point), William Sharpe, the two Pyes, Raimbach,
John Burnet, Stewart, and Fox.
In mezzotinto the English engravers of the last Mezzo
century have produced some admirable work in por
trait ; Earlom and one or two others taking a wider
range. Many of the portraits of Sir Joshua Rey
nolds have been beautifully rendered in the mezzo
tints of Houston, M'Ardell, James Ward, Fisher, &c.

' Sir Robert Strange was a member of several foreign Acade
mies, and in the museums of Italy and France his engravings are
still held in great respect. At the time of his death in London in
1792 most of his copperplates were in good condition; and for
twenty-five years subsequent to that date impressions were taken
from them by his family, after which the plates were destroyed. —
Dennistoun's Memoirs of Sir Robert Strange, vol. ii. p. 270.
E E

tmto en
graving.

4l8 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK ill.
The method of mezzotint has shown itself better
calculated than line engraving to express a painter
like feeling, and to indicate fine effects of light
and shade ; but the plates becoming sooner worn,
the impressions more readily deteriorate. A neces
sary evil attendant upon engraving of all kinds is
the wearing out of the metal plates and the conse
quent retouching and cutting of worn plates for
commercial purposes.

BOOK IV.
SCULPTURE.

E E 2

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 42 1

CHAPTER I.
BRITISH SCULPTURAL ART.
Rise of British Sculpture — Flaxman and his immediate
predecessors — Nollekens, Bacon, Banks- — High art of Flax
man — Sadptural art of Sir R. Westmacott — Sir F.
Chantrey — W. Behnes.
With Roubiliac, a Frenchman by birth, who died in
1762, may be said to have closed that school of
sculpture in England influenced by the manner of
the Italian sculptor Bernini ; a manner displaying
much power of execution and expression, but look
ing more to picturesque effect and meretricious
ornament than to simplicity and dignity of style.
The chief credit of introducing a better and purer
style is due to Flaxman ; but he was preceded by
several English artists of ability, who had begun
to form their taste upon nature and the Grecian
antique, and were precursors of a sounder condition
of sculptural art.
The works of Joseph Nollekens, born in London Nolle-
of Flemish parentage and a pupil of Scheemakers,
were principally busts ; though he executed also a
variety of poetical statues, monumental groups, and
mythological subjects. Several of his early model
lings having received the premiums of the Society
of Arts, he proceeded to Italy to pursue his studies
in sculpture. He displayed indefatigable diligence
in improving himself in his art, doing a little busi-

42 2 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
ness at the same time in the trade (then very com
mon) of purchasing and restoring ancient pieces of
sculpture, some specimens of which form part of the
Townley collection now in the British Museum.^
When in Rome Nollekens modelled his busts of
Garrick and Sterne, the conspicuous merit of which
obtained for him an introduction to practice on his
1770. return to England. He was soon after elected a
1772. Royal Academician, and had constant employment
for a long series of years. A finely executed bas-
relief in marble by Nollekens of ' Two Children
embracing* (dated 1773) is in possession of the
Royal Academy.
Hisbusts. Mr. Nollekens' forte was in his busts, which were
unaffected and truthful. His statue of Mr. Pitt at
Cambridge (the head of which was wrought from
a mask taken after death and from Hoppner's pic
ture) is generally regarded as his master-piece.
His heathen gods and goddesses were of the con
ventional type ; a Venus pouring ambrosia on her
hair being considered by himself as his best work of
this kind. His knowledge of anatomy being de
fective, he preferred rounded forms, as of Venus
and Bacchus, to subjects requiring more display of
muscle and bone.
And Nollekens usually modelled from nature, with the
ling. exception of the feet of his female figures, which he
preferred taking from the feet of the Venus di
' Nollekens and his Times, 2 vols. 1828, by J. T. Smith, — a work
in which the author has taken a somewhat unfair advantage of the
intimate knowledge which circumstances afforded him of Mr.
Nollekens and his affairs.

of Bacon.

CHAP. 1.] SCULPTURE. 423
Medici, alleging that no Englishwoman had good
toes.^ His work is not considered to produce that
lively representation of flesh in marble some sculp
tors attain to ; which may depend partly on the
execution of the assistant who works the marble
from the model, though in a greater degree on that
of the artist himself who retouches it. Busts by
Nollekens of Mr. Pitt in marble and of Mr. Fox in
terra cotta are now in the National Portrait Gallery.
The art-work of John Bacon, a native of South- Art-work
ampton and a sculptor much employed in his day,
commenced with modelling for an artificial stone
manufactory in Lambeth. Having gained in suc
cessive years the premiums of the Society of Arts
for models in clay (rewards whose value was not
enhanced by the difficulty of obtaining them), he
entered the classes of the Royal Academy on its
first institution in 1769, and he received from the
hands of the president, Sir Joshua Reynolds, for a
bas-relief of './Eneas escaping from Troy,' the first
gold medal for sculpture awarded by the Academy.
Mr. Bacon then began to produce in marble, and
was the inventor of an instrument, afterwards very
generally adopted, for transferring the form of the
model to the marble by a more accurate and better
method than that hitherto in use.
One of the earliest exhibited works in the sculp
ture department of the Royal Academy was a model
of Mars by Bacon, produced afterwards in marble
for Lord Yarborough ; and which led to Dr. Mark-
ham commissioning from him a bust of the king for
^ Nollekens and his Times, by J. T. Smith.

424 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
the hall of Christ Church, Oxford. With this bust
George III. was so satisfied, as the work of an
English-bred artist, that he had it re-produced for
presentation to several public institutions.
R.A. Bacon was much engaged in the practice of
portrait and monumental sculpture. His busts of
the Marquis Wellesley in the National Gallery and
the statues of Dr. Johnson and John Howard in
St. Paul's are favourable examples of his art, which
showed itself to most advantage in subjects of a
kind where a faithful representation of real life was
itself sufficient for effect. His sculpture was not
impressed with much feeling of ideal beauty, though
several of his subjects, particularly the accessory
figures, are modelled with great refinement and with
just sentiment. His elaborate monumental group
to the memory of Lord Chatham is very promi
nent in Westminster Abbey, but it may be doubted
whether Cowper's eulogium on it will be confirmed
by the verdict of posterity.^
Sculpture The Sculpture of Thomas Banks was of a more
Banks. poetical character that that of his contemporaries
Nollekens and Bacon. After an early education of
an irregular character, and having had awarded to
him various premiums of the Society of Arts, Banks
became a student of the Royal Academy classes at
their commencement. For a bas-relief of the ' Rape
of Proserpine ' he received the gold medal entitling
^  ' Bacon there

Gives more than female beauty to a stone.
And Chatham's eloquence to marble lips.'
The Task, book i.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 425
him to travel in Italy at the expense of the Academy,
and study for three years. He remained seven years
in Italy.
Rome was at that time, even more than it is now
since the acquisition to this country of the Elgin
marbles, a school of art which no British sculptor
aiming high in his profession could omit to study in.
A painter might, with as much or more profit, have
recourse to Venice, but a great sculptor could
hardly be formed without studying in Rome. Banks
had already been studying from nature, and during
his residence in Rome ' the ancient groups and
statues, the basso-relievos, and the works of Michael
Angelo in the Sistine Chapel, roused every faculty of
his soul, and urged him to labour night and day in a
noble emulation of those miracles of art and wonders
of the world.* ^
Mr. Banks executed at Rome a bas-relief in marble Of a
of ' Caractacus before Claudius,* composed on the character.
principle of the relievos on the ancient sarcophagi,
¦which was bought by the Duke of Buckingham and
placed at Stowe ; also an alto-relievo in plaster of
' Thetis and the Nymphs with Achilles,' an entirely
original composition of the epic class, afterwards
produced in marble, and now in the National Gallery.
His statue of ' Cupid catching a Butterfly on his
Wing * was modelled and partly executed at Rome,
and was finished on his return to England in 1779.^
1 Address on the Death of Tliomas Banks, R.A., 1805, by John
Flaxman. 2 From the following passage in a letter of Banks to Nathaniel
Smith, of London, i7''j it appears that he had been learning at

426 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
Seeing little prospect of employment at home in
the department of ideal sculpture. Banks repaired
to Petersburgh, taking with him his statue of
Cupid, which was purchased by the Empress Ca
therine. Not being inclined to accept a commission
offered him in Russia to represent in sculpture the
' Armed Neutrality,' he returned in the following
year to England, and applied himself with laudable
perseverance to the whole art of sculpture.^ A bust
in bronze by Banks of Warren Hastings of this
time is now in the National Portrait Gallery ; but
his most notable productions were models of the
' Mourning Achilles ' and of the ' Falling Titan,' the
latter a presentation work to the Royal Academy
upon his election into that body.
In monumental sculpture one of his chief per
formances was a bas-relief in memory of Mrs. Petrie,
placed in Lewisham church, Kent, representing the
lady dying, supported by Faith and attended by
Hope and Charity.^ This work and the two bas-
reliefs of Caractacus and Thetis were characterised
by Flaxman as standard in sentiment and execution,
Rome the use and working of the chisel, probably about the very
date of the first introduction in England of Bacon's invention for
copying the model in marble ; — Your good friend Capezoldi has
been truly kind to me ; he has improved me much by the in
structions he has given me in cutting the marble, in which the
Italians beat us hollow.' — Smith's Nollekens and his Times, ii.
194. ^ Address on the Death of T. Banks, by Mr. Flaxman.
2 Another monumental work by Banks was a memorial to the
only daughter of Sir B. Boothby in Ashbourne church, Derby
shire, representing a young girl asleep on a couch. An etching
exists of a drawing by Rembrandt of a similar subject.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 427
and unequalled at that date by any modern produc
tions of a similar kind in France or Italy. '^
The admiration expressed by Flaxman for the J. Flax-
works of Banks both indicates the tendency of his
own art-aspirations and is an instance pleasant to
record of the recognition by a master in sculpture of
the deservings of a professional competitor and pre
decessor. The productions of Flaxman himself, a
native of York but brought up in London, fall now
to be adverted to.
The father of young Flaxman was a figure-moulder
in London, and the early education of the delicate
and thoughtful boy consisted chiefly in modelling little
figures and drawing, aided, in the department of
classics and literature, by the good-natured instruction
of some of the frequenters of his father's shop. He
thus obtained a competent, though probably not
critical, knowledge of Greek, which was afterwards
turned to the best account.
On the strength of the clever execution of a com
mission for six classical designs in black chalk,
Flaxman, at the age of fifteen, was admitted a stu
dent in the first year of the Royal Academy's
classes ; his first exhibited work being a figure of
Neptune in wax. In one of the early years of the
Academy he competed unsuccessfully with Engle-
hurst, a student of inferior ability, for the sculpture
gold medal.
' It may be thought an omission not to mention the sculptural
work of Joseph Wilton, one of the founders of the Royal
Academy, who was in fair employment till his death in 1803. His
monumental sculpture is not considered to have added to the
reputation of British art.

428 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book IV.
His work Undeterred by this repulse, Flaxman continued
^¦^edg- his studies and labours, exhibiting models in plaster
wood. ^(. jj^g Royal Academy exhibitions. Wedgwood
1768. and Bentley had now commenced the ornamental
department of their works in earthenware ; and
bringing the art of the sculptor to bear upon that of
the manufacturer of pottery and porcelain, they
sought out the best modellers that could be had.
Bacon, Webber and others, being already employed
by them, Flaxman was also engaged to sketch and
model for the modern Etruria. His drawings and
modellings, for their basso-relievo ornaments, vases,
cameo portraits, and sometimes cups and saucers,
were chiefly taken from ancient history and poetry.^
One of his masterpieces in this line of art was a bas-
relief of ' Apollo and the Muses ' encircling a blue
and white vase now in the Marjoribanks collection.
He continued to model for Wedgwood and Bentley,
to a greater or less extent, up to the date of his
visiting Italy in 1787.
Early During these years (in the course of which he was
works."*^^ married to Miss Denman, contrary to the anti-
matrimonial theory of the president of the Academy)
Flaxman executed for Chichester cathedral a monu
ment to the poet Collins, who is represented reading
the Bible, while his lyre and odes lie neglected ; a
bas-relief for Gloucester cathedral to the memory of
Mrs. Morley, in which that lady and her child (who
both died at sea) are represented rising from the

• Flaxman's first bill rendered to Mr. Wedgwood (March, 1775),
is given in Miss Meteyard's Life of Wedgwood, vol. ii. p. 322.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 429
waves and received by angels descending ; a monu
ment to the memory of Miss Cromwell, in which a
buoyant group of angels bear up to heaven a beau
tiful female figure ; and a group of Venus and Cupid
for Mr. Payne Knight.^
Flaxman spent seven years in Italy. At Rome
he drew from the antique and made studies from the
life in the city and its environs. The ancient vases Flax-
1 1 • 1 r 11-1 man's
and sarcophagi may have first suggested to him the series of
celebrated series of designs from Homer, ^schylus fr^o^^"^
and Dante, which were executed in Rome, and con- Homer,
tributed more perhaps than anything to develope his
genius. They were severally commissioned by Mrs.
Hare Naylor, the Dowager Countess Spencer and
Mr. Thomas Hope, and were engraved by Piroli in i793-S-
separate volumes in oblong folio. Though in the
style of the antique, the designs have all the merit
of originality ; Flaxman's imitation of classical art
bearing always a reference to nature and being
under the influence of his own imaginative and dis
criminative powers.^ In these truly classical pro-
' The sculptor's relative. Miss Denman, in a letter in the
Builder, 1863, states that Flaxman's favourite works of this time
were his monument to Collins and that to Miss Cromwell.
2 ' Allston the painter told me,' says Mr. Leslie, in his Auto
biographical Recollections (vol i. p. 72), 'that, having complimented
Flaxman on his designs from Homer, Dante, &c., the latter said,
I will now show you the sources of many of them; and he laid
before him a great number of sketches from nature of accidental
groups and attitudes which he had seen in the streets and in
rooms. I have myself seen Flaxman stop in the street to make a
sketch of some attitude that strack him.' The late Mr. Gibson,
R.A., in an autobiographical sketch of his student hfe, observes :
'The works of Flaxman in outlines now began to delight me. I

430 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book IV.
ductions our admiration is equally excited by the
freedom and beauty of the design, the simplicity,
grandeur and variety of the compositions, and the
powerful expression conveyed with so much facility.
And upon them, quite as much as on his executed
works, the high reputation of Flaxman rests.
When at Rome Flaxman executed in marble a
group of the ' Fury of Athamas ' from Ovid's
Metamorphoses, and a smaller group of ' Cephalus
and Aurora' for Mr. T. Hope. The genius of
Canova had already created and made fashionable
in Italy a style of sculpture allied to the pure style,
of ancient art and running counter to the devia
tions from it introduced by Bernini and his followers.
Resident at this time in Rome he became aware of
the solid merit of Flaxman. When commissions
were offered to himself by the British travellers who
crowded his studio he was in the habit of recom
mending Flaxman to his countrymen, who were more
led by fashion and report than by their own judg
ments ; Canova remarking with caustic humour, ' You
English see with your ears.'
His The commission for the monument to the Earl of
works. Mansfield, now in Westminster Abbey, was re
ceived by Flaxman at Rome. It was the first of
his works executed on his return to London, and
was at once acknowledged to be a masterpiece.
The venerable judge is seated between Wisdom and
admired the beauty and purity of his female figures, and the lofty
character of his heroes. Although he formed his style upon the
Greek vases, his designs are full of original conceptions.' — Lady
Eastlake's Life of Gibson, p. 39.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 43 1
Justice, with an exquisite figure of the Genius of
Death as a youth with inverted torch in the back
ground. The grouping and expression of the
figures was not less remarkable than the strict ad
herence to that tranquil dignity combined with
beauty which is characteristic of first-class sculp
ture.^ As Sir Joshua Reynolds by his painting, Flaxman
had now by his designs and sculptural works ac
quired a European reputation ; and his election in
1800 to be a Royal Academician reflected at least
equal lustre on the Academy as upon himself When
a professorship of sculpture was instituted some
years after, he was the first professor appointed.
In the case of monuments executed by him of
historical or public interest, Mr. Flaxman was often
hampered by conditions, and if some of those pro
duced by him do not come up to expectation the
whole blame should not be imputed to the artist.
Works of a poetical or religious character showing
forth the virtues and graces of domestic life, and in
which the free exercise of his own fancy and senti-
^ Allan Cunningham, in his Life of Flaxman, alleges it to have
been ' the practice of this eminent artist to work his marbles from
half-size models, a system injurious to true proportion.' Whether
Mr. Cunningham's theory on this point be sound or not, the fact
is denied by Flaxman's niece. Miss Denman, who (in the letter
above referred to) asserts that when Flaxman wrought from half-
size models, it was from necessity and not by choice ; that all his
early works were modelled full size, as well as many of his later
ones, and that the whole of Lord Mansfield's monument and
others of the same period were modelled full size ; those only
that required greater height than his studio admitted of being
modelled half-size.

432 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
ment was allowed him, were more congenial to his
taste. With one or two exceptions of less success-
Relievos, ful treatment, his basso- and alto-relievos are most
graceful compositions, full of expression and feeling.
The workmanship of the marble in these as in most
of his productions is occasionally negligent, and
made secondary to the higher qualities of the com
position, perhaps in too great a degree. In the use
of the chisel it is well known that Flaxman never
excelled. Among the most remarkable of his relievos is
the family memorial of Sir Francis Baring in
Michaeldever church, Hampshire.^ It is in three
compartments, the subjects being taken from por
tions of the Lord's Prayer. In the centre, inscribed
' Thy will be done,' is a seated female figure of
Resignation, expressing pious tranquillity ; on each
side an alto-relievo, the subject of the one being
' Thy kingdom come ' and of the other ' Deliver
us from evil.' Of these two, the first shows an
ascending female figure supported by angels ; the
other, a very striking group, represents a desperate
struggle in the air between good and evil spirits for
the possession of a man. In Michael Angelo's
Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel a similar
struggle is pourtrayed, with a variation in the
grouping. This basso-relievo is one example,
among many, of what Flaxman has done for sculp-

' Models of this and other works of Flaxman are now, through
the gift of Miss Denman, accessible to visitors of the rooms in
London University devoted to their custody.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 433
tural art in connexion with the ornament of church
interiors ; all in perfect consistency with the princi
ples of the Reformation, his subjects being taken from
sacred writ or chosen in accordance with its spirit, and
not from Romish traditions or the lives of saints
canonised in the dark ages by the Church of Rome.
It has been well said of Flaxman by Sir Thomas Flax-
Lawrence that the elements of his style were founded ^yi"_
on the noblest Grecian art, ' on its deeper intellectual
power, and not on the mere surface of its skill ;
though master of its purest lines, he was still more
the sculptor of sentiment than of form.* In poetical
historic subjects his sense of beauty and grace,
as well as of the sublime tranquillity and grandeur
characteristic of high class sculpture, had ample
scope for its manifestation. His Cupid and Psyche
(done for Mr. Rogers) and his Pastoral Apollo are
fine examples, but his masterpiece in this department
is justly considered to be the group of the ' Arch
angel Michael vanquishing Satan,' produced on
commission for the Earl of Egremont, to whose
knowledge and patronage British art has been so
much indebted.
It is of some interest to compare this piece of Com-
sculpture with Raphael's picture of the same sub- ^^th
ject in the Louvre. The winged Archangel of R^pi^^-e'-
Raphael, with flowing hair and scarf agitated by
the motion of his flight, alighting upon his pros
trate enemy, changes in the group of Flaxman into
a godlike figure without wings, unencumbered by
defensive armour, standing over and about to
transfix the contorted form of Satan. The spear
F F

434 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book IV.
of the archangel is similarly held in the picture
and the sculpture, but the pose of the figures is
different. Although painting and sculpture have
each but an instant of time to represent action,
there is more appearance of continuing movement
and flutter in the conquering angel of Raphael and
his various accompaniments than there is in the
group of Flaxman, in which force, heavenly and
supreme, is exerted seemingly without effort. In
the painting the treatment is picturesque and flam
boyant, while the statuary group is marked by the
severe simplicity of sculpture.
In the latter years of his life Flaxman was less
appreciated, so far as the test of commissions and
employment goes, then his merit and well-earned
reputation deserved. Fashion went with West
macott in monumental sculpture and with Chantrey
in portrait.^
jjjg Among the comparatively few portrait statues
portrait y^^ Flaxman are those of Sir loshua Reynolds in
statues. -' -' -'
St. Paul's and of Sir John Moore on a high
pedestal in Glasgow. The statue of the poet Burns
in the Scottish National Gallery, which was left
unfinished at his death, is not so favourable an ex
ample. Subjects more congenial to his taste and
probably on that account better executed were the
two small statues of Michael Angelo and Raphael
(commissioned by Sir Thomas Lawrence) and the
statue of John Kemble as Cato in Westminster
Abbey.
' Palgrave's Essays on Art, pp. 206, 248.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 435
One of the most remarkable of Flaxman's per- His
formances was his relievo of the Shield of Achilles, Achilles.
designed and modelled on commission for Messrs.
Rundell and Bridge, and produced by them in silver
gilt and also in bronze. In this astonishing work
the various images and scenes of life represented on
Homer's shield of Achilles, as described in the
Iliad — from the sun-chariot in the centre to the
ocean-border, with about a hundred human figures —
are learnedly and beautifully modelled in relief on a
round disc of three feet in diameter. The produc
tion of the work in metal was accomplished by
Messrs. Rundell and Bridge in a style worthy of
the subject.
That Flaxman was a man of surpassing genius,
and that he all but created a school of native English
sculpture, is a great fact ; but admitting this fact, it
is not quite so clear that the comparative inferiority
of his contemporaries and successors is a proof of
the decline of sculpture in Britain. In this art, as in
other fields in which men exercise their faculties, the
gift of genius is bestowed at rare intervals, and to
expect a succession of sculptors such as Flaxman is
as reasonable as it would be to expect a succession
of Reynoldses or Wordsworths. Ideal and poetic
sculpture has never been much in demand in Eng
land, portraiture being in sculpture, as in painting,
the most profitable department of practice. With a
precarious and uncertain demand, models and marble
productions of poetic figures and groups often lying
for years in his studio, the artist cannot but be
discouraged from undertaking, to any considerable

436 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
extent, laborious and expensive works. Monumental
and historical sculpture also, of whatever kind, is
frequently affected and unfavourably influenced by
employers and committees, while portrait-sculpture
is apt to degenerate into a mechanical trade.
These considerations will in some degree account
for the not quite satisfactory condition of British
sculpture which a review of the chief productions of
its professors, from the time of Flaxman till that of
Gibson, may probably suggest.
Sir R. Sir Richard Westmacott, the son of a respectable
cotT""^' sculptor in London, seems to have received his
art-education principally in the studio of Canova
at Rome. He was five years in Italy, and had dis
tinctions conferred upon him by the Academies of
St. Luke and Florence. With fair talent and a
knowledge of ancient art, his taste in sculpture
formed under Canova, Westmacott soon came into
extensive practice, especially in that monumental
sculpture which was the result of parliamentary
votes for memorials to soldiers, sailors, and states
men. He became a Royal Academician in i8i i, his
diploma work being an alto-relievo of Ganymede.
His prin- The elaborate statuary monuments to Mr. Pitt
^l^^^^ and Mr. Fox in the west end of the nave, the bas-
relief memorial of Mr. Perceval, and the statue of
Addison, all in Westminster Abbey, are by Westma
cott. His monument in the north transept to Mrs.
Warren, a very charitable lady, has been much
admired. It represents a way-worn female with an
infant in her arms ; the treatment rather too pic
turesque for sculpture, but the execution good, and the

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 437
flesh of the figures well contrasted with the texture
of the drapery.^ In St. Paul's the statuary memorial
to Sir Ralph Abercromby is the work of Westmacott ;
also a considerable number of portrait statues in
London and elsewhere. The bronze figure in Hyde
Park, misnamed Achilles, was modelled by him from
the well-known statue on the Monte Cavallo at
Rome. This memorial-subject might with more
propriety have been entrusted to Flaxman.
Better productions of Westmacott in poetic sculp
ture were his statue of ' Cupid resting on a bow,' and
his Psyche at Woburn, In his Euphrosyne, exe
cuted for the Duke of Newcastle, the beholder is
inclined to wish for more nature and rather less
grace or affectation of grace — un poco della grazia
di Parmegianino.
Among Westmacott's works in relievo may be
noted his ' Blue-bell * — a pretty piece of decorative
sculpture in the EUesmere collection, the frieze on the
north side of the marble arch in Hyde Park, and the
sculptured pediment of the British Museum. Soon
after the accession of Queen Victoria he became Sir
Richard Westmacott. He was professor of sculp
ture at the Royal Academy in succession to Mr.
Flaxman, up to the period of his own death in 1856 ;
beinp- succeeded in this chair by his son Mr. Richard
Westmacott, R.A.
' When first exhibited at the Royal Academy, this monumental
group was seen and liked by the Marquis of Lansdowne, to whom
it was made over ; so that the group now in Westminster Abbey
is a rephca. A reproducdon of it was made for the late Mrs.
Fergusson of ^dXih..— Art Journal, 1849, p. 377.

43^' VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
Portait- The works of Sir Francis Chantrey, one of the best
of"sfr F.^ employed and most fashionable portrait-sculptors of
Chantrey. j-j^g British school, are to be seen wherever people
' most do congregate * throughout the British empire.
Apprenticed in early life to a carver and gilder at
Sheffield, he may be said to have educated himself
in the arts of design, modelling and painting alter
nately. Proceeding to study sculpture in London,
he dallied with the sister arts, hesitating which to
devote himself to ; his biographer, Mr. Jones, inform
ing us that ' Chantrey always professed that every good
statue should produce a chiar ' oscuro that would be
perfect in painting, and that the one art might be
considered a good rule for the other in this respect' ^
He exhibited a bust or two at the Royal Aca-
i8oS. demy and a model of a head of Satan ; but after
modelling for five years he had met with no sub
stantial encouragement till he received a commission
from an architect (Mr. Alexander) for four colossal
heads for Greenwich Hospital of Lords St. Vincent,
Duncan, Nelson and Howe. This led to other com
missions for busts, and his heads of Home Tooke,
Lord Anglesea and Sir Joseph Banks, brought him
additional and ever-increasing employment.
Chantrey made occasional short visits to the Con
tinent and Italy, where he was elected a member of
the Academies of Rome and Florence ; but in his
own practice and in the advice he gave to young
sculptors he seems to have attached little importance

¦^ Recollections of Chantrey, by George Jones R.A. ¦ Art
Journal, 1850, p. 45.

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 439
to a course of study in Rome.'^ Becoming in 1818 a
Royal Academician, he was some years afterwards
knighted. The works in poetic sculpture by Chantrey in
clude two bas reliefs from Homer, a group of ' Sleep
ing Children ' for a monument in Litchfield Cathedral,
and a statue of a girl pressing a dove to her bosom,
said to be a portrait of Lady Louisa Russell. The
two last-mentioned works are understood to have
been executed from the designs of Stothard.^ His
chief practice was in busts and . monumental and
portrait statues.
Like a skilful portrait-painter with his pictures,
Chantrey was accustomed to abate harshness of fea
ture and expression, so far as he could do so without
losing a characteristic likeness. What is perhaps less
excusable, he occasionally gave additional promi
nence to a feature he wished to bring out ; as in the
head of Sir Walter Scott, whose forehead, naturally
elevated, was made rather more so in the bust than
it was in reality. A good bust by him of Mr. Can
ning is in the National Portrait Gallery.
Sir Francis Chantrey having so extensive employ
ment in portrait-sculpture, it need not excite surprise
that much of his work, especially in his later years,
should be of a somewhat mannered and superficial
character. There are upwards of twelve portrait
statues by him in London and Westminster, and
others in various parts of the United Kingdom and

* Lady Eastlake's Life of Gibson, p. 42.
^ Palgrave's Essays on Art, p. 36.

440 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
in India. In the bronze statue of Mr. Pitt in
Hanover Square, London, and at Edinburgh, while
the attitude is dignified and expressive, the sculptor
endeavours to blend the modern dress of the mini
ster with a_piece of drapery neither an English cloak
nor a Roman toga. The colossal sitting statue of
James Watt in Westminster Abbey and the bronze
equestrian statue of the Duke of Wellington at the
Royal Exchange are more favourable examples of
his style.-^
v/. The portrait busts of William Behnes, who died
in Middlesex Hospital in 1864, stand high in British
sculpture. The son of a pianoforte maker, he
began early to use his pencil in portraiture with
what little education in drawing he could muster.
Happening to reside in the same house in London
with an old French sculptor, his attention was drawn
to modelling. Swaying for some time between
painting and sculpture, he at last adopted sculpture
as his profession, studying at the Royal Academy,
and continuing for a season the drawing of por
traits.
His busts The power of Behnes over the plastic material
and style. ^,^^ j^jg apprehension of form is said to have been
remarkable from the first ; his modelling being rapid,
certain and accurate, and displaying a peculiar soft
ness of line and surface.^ Without much introduction
^ For many years prior to the death of Sir Francis Chantrey in
1 841 he had as his principal assistant Mr. Allan Cunningham,
originally a practical mason, whose literary pursuits, as well as his
ability to carry them on, v;tre much aided by the permanent situ
ation he held in Chantrey's studio.
2 Memoir of William Behnes, in Art Journal, 1864, p. 83. In

CHAP. I.] SCULPTURE. 441
in life, he was fortunate enough to commence at
once a career of successful employment which would
no doubt have continued, had his success not been
interfered with by the irregularities of his life.
One of Mr. Behnes* first sculptural works was a 1820,
bust of the Bishop of Durham (Dr. Barrington),
modelled and also cut in marble by himself, which
was considered an admirable example of delicate
chiselling. His busts of the actors Young and
Macready, of Mr. Clarkson, Lord Lyndhurst, Dr. E.
Stanley (Bishop of Norwich), Dr. Tait (Archbishop of
Canterbury), Count D*Orsay, Mr. D*Israeli, and the
Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, are regarded as emi
nently truthful, and at the same time distinguished,
like most of the heads by Behnes when he had a
favourable subject, by characteristic and elevated
expression. His statues are not considered of equal
merit with his busts, unless an exception be made in
favour of the statues of Dr. Babington in St. Paul's
and of Sir William Follett in Westminster Abbey.
The statue of General Havelock in Trafalgar
Square is not worthy of the sculptor.
Though Behnes did little in what is termed Por-
poetical sculpture, he had a decided esthetic feeling child-
for gracefulness and beauty, coupled with a masterly °° '
power of representing it by form and expression.
For this he had an apt field in the portraiture of
childhood and youth, as in his marble statue of
Cupid uniting two doves, exhibited in the Interna
tional Exhibition of 1862; in his highly finished
the National Portrait Gallery are busts in marble by Behnes of
Dr. Arnold, Lord Stowell, and Mr. Tierney, M.P.

442 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
Statue of young Lambton as the infant Jupiter with
an eagle ; and in his busts of the Princess (after
wards Queen) Victoria in her fourth or fifth year,
and of Prince George (afterwards Duke) of Cam
bridge. Sculpture in relief Behnes does not seem to have
practised to any great extent. The memorial to
Dr. Bell in Westminster Abbey gracefully presents
a party of boys standing beside their master. He
also modelled a work in mezzo relievo, with half-size
figures, illustrating Shakespeare's Seven Ages of
Man, said to be of great ingenuity and beauty, but
never produced in marble.^
' Palgrave's Essays on Art, p. 221.

CHAP. 11.] LATER SCULPTURE. 443

CHAPTER II.
LATER BRITISH SCULPTURE.
Sculptural works of Baily and Wyatt — Tendency of their
ideal art — High promise of Musgrave L. Watson— Art
work of Josephs, Fillans, and Park — Grecian art and
aspirations of John Gibson — Scttlpture of Spence — Munro
— Macdowell.
In the works of Edward Baily and Richard Wyatt,
especially in those of Wyatt, the ideal or poetical
element again displays itself, but in a manner that
appeals rather more to the senses than to the mind.
Baily, a native of Bristol, showed an early taste for g Baily.
modelling. Being allowed to follow his bent, he
wrought a series of plaster casts from the Homeric
compositions of Flaxman, who was so satisfied with
the talent they displayed that he received the young
sculptor into his studio. Here Baily continued
about two years, attending at the same time the
classes of the Royal Academy. His first exhibited
work that drew much attention was a model of
'Apollo discharging an arrow against the Greeks.'
His ' Eve at the Fountain,' when produced in 1822.
marble, was so much admired for its ideal beauty
that Baily's style of sculpture may be said to
have taken from this statue its chief subsequent
direction. It was purchased by subscription, and is
now in the city of Bristol.
Mr. Baily became a Royal Academician in 1821.

444 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book IV.
His style The Severe style of Flaxman, by which his earlier
ture!**^^' efforts may have been influenced, was now aban
doned for a more sensuous style that delighted in
the softly undulating lines of the female form. The
Venuses of Nollekens and one or two other
statues being exceptions, there had been hitherto
very little sculpture of this kind original in England ;
but after the favourable reception of ' Eve,' a suc
cession of works by Baily followed, in which the
purer art of his master melts into a style devoting
itself by preference to the representation of womanly
beauty and grace. Such were the statues of ' Psyche,'
' Helen unveiling herself to Paris,' ' Girl preparing
for the Bath,' ' Eve listening to the Voice ' — a com
panion work but not equal to the ' Eve at the
Fountain,' and a pyramidal group of the ' Graces
seated.' A more delicate and improved execution
added to the effect of these luxurious marbles.
This effeminacy of style was somewhat redeemed
by the historical portrait statuary of Mr. Baily's
later life, as seen in the statues of Lord Mansfield
and Mr. Fox in the entrance hall of the Houses of
Parliament, his seated statue of Mr. Telford the
engineer being also a good example of his art. A
bust in marble, by Baily, of Sir Thomas Lawrence,
is in the National Portrait Gallery.
Sculpture Richard J. Wyatt, a native of London, was first
Wyatt. apprenticed to the sculptor Rossi, ^ pursuing his
^ The performances of John Charles Rossi, an Englishman by
birth though of Italian parentage, do not seem to have raised or
influenced the position of British sculpture. Mrs. Anna Dawson
Damer was an amateur sculptor of this time, of great enthusiasm,

CHAP. II.] LATER SCULPTURE. 445
Studies at the same time in the Royal Academy
classes. One or two of his models having come
under the observation of Canova when on a visit to
this country, Wyatt was taken by that master to 1821.
be his scholar at Rome. A sympathy of taste in
sculpture had brought them together, and this sym
pathy continued ever after to influence the style of
Wyatt On Canova's death in 1822 he applied
himself to study under Thorwaldsen, only once re
visiting England.
The representation of the female form and the
expression of loveliness and grace was what chiefly
characterised the sculpture of Wyatt ; and in this
he took even higher honours than Baily. In the
opinion of Mr. Gibson the sculptor, his contem
porary and fellow-resident in Rome, ' Wyatt had Refine-
acquired the purest style, and his statues were his style.
highly finished ; female figures were his forte, and
he was clever in composition and in the harmony of
lines ; drapery was also a great study with him. . . .
No sculptor in England has produced female statues
to be compared to those by Wyatt* ^
His statue of ' Musidora ' at Chatsworth is an
exquisite and quite original work, breathing from
head to foot the most refined feeling of ancient art
The ' Girl at the Bath,' though also beautiful, is
more commonplace in character. This statue, as well
as his ' Glycera,' ' Nymph and Cupid ' and ' Ino and
Bacchus,* were in the International Exhibition of
and considerable power of execution. A bust by her of George
III. is in the Register House of Edinburgh.
' Eastlake's Life of Gibson, p. 130.

446 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
1 85 1 ; on which occasion one of the four first-class
gold medals was awarded to his sculpture ; the
comparatively short life of the artist having ended at
Rome in the previous year.
When on a visit to England in 1841 Mr. Wyatt
received from the Queen a commission for a statue
of Penelope, which was executed at Rome. This
statue is draped, the dog and bow of Ulysses being
introduced as accessories, and is more remarkable
than perhaps any of his works for its simple dignity
of air and refined taste.
There is undoubtedly a sentiment attaching to
' Penelope ' as in connection with the delineation of
conjugal faith in the ' Odyssey ;' but it must be said
of the greater number of the statues of Wyatt, how
ever beautiful in form and of delicate finish and
execution, and also of the female statues of Baily,
that their peculiar merit consists rather in presenting
a pleasing and lovely object of excitement to the
eye and in gratifying the feeling, esthetic or other
wise, for what is simply beautiful, than in suggesting
elevated sentiments and appealing to the nobler
faculties of the soul. The observation made by
Mr. Westmacott,^ in his lectures on sculpture, upon
the style of Praxiteles as compared with the higher
art of Phidias, may with dittle modification be
applied to the sculpture of Wyatt and Baily : —
' Praxiteles is spoken of by all the ancient writers as one
of the greatest masters who has professed this art. . . .
It cannot, however, be doubted that his peculiar merit
' Schools of Sculpture, Edinburgh, 1864, p. 176.

CHAP. II.] LATER SCULPTURE. 447
consisted, not in the imagination or the high purpose or
aim of his works, so much as in the exquisite perfection of
his execution. His selection of subjects appears to have
corresponded with the soft character and style of art to
which he was attached ; for, although in the long list of
works attributed to him there are numerous statues of
nobler subjects, by far the greatest number are of Venus,
Cupids, nymphs, and others of the class which afforded
opportunity for the exercise of his peculiar excellence — the
representation of richly-developed form and the delicate
treatment of marble.'

The premature decease of Musgrave L. Watson Promis-
in 1847 may possibly be regarded as a check in o"f\ius-
the advance of British sculpture. Watson studied f^^^go^'
at London under Flaxman, and afterwards for
two years at Rome. Of poetical imagination and
eccentric character, his rising merit as an artist was
not aided by his manners and address, and for lack
of employment he assisted in the studio of Sir F.
Chantrey and wrought afterwards with Behnes.
The work in poetic sculpture by which Watson
is best known is the bas-relief from Homer of
' Death with Sleep bearing off" the dead body of
Sarpedon,' in which some discover a revival of the
severe beauty and grand lines of the Phidian art
of Greece.
His monumental bas-relief to the memory of
Allan Cunningham at Kensal Green is a represen
tation of Literature or Poetry, as a seated female
figure half-draped, pensively clasping a lyre ; quiet
and elegant in conception and design. The prin- ^ ,
cipal achievement of Mr. Watson in portrait statuary Eldon
is the colossal group of Lords Eldon and Stowell Stowell.

448 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
in the library of University College, Oxford ; the
characteristically unostentatious seated statue of
Flaxman at London University having been also
modelled by him.
^- y™' Henry Timbrell, an Irish artist who died early in
1846. life at Rome, was for some time an assistant in
the studio of Mr. Baily, and a sculptor of great
promise.' For a statue now at Osborne, modelled
by him and executed in marble for the Queen, he
has taken a subject from Moore's ' Lallah Rookh '
of a Hindoo girl pouring oil into a lamp on the
bank of the Ganges, in which the poetry of art is
applied with chaste and refined feeling to a subject
original and lifelike.
Scottish Xhe busts and a few portrait statues by Samuel
sculptu- _ -^ ¦'
raiart. Joseph, an English sculptor working mostly in
Joseph. Edinburgh, were much above mediocrity, and
superior to any examples of sculptural art that had
been produced in Scotland previous to his practice.
Joseph's bust of the Rev. Sir Henry Moncreiff is
a very effective portrait, and the statue by him of
1844. Sir David Wilkie, presented to the National Gallery,
is a work of acknowledged merit
J. Fillans. James Fillans, who died in 1852, was one of the
first native Scotch artists who distinguished himself
as a sculptor, practising in poetic as well as in
portrait-sculpture. His bust of Professor Wilson,
produced in marble for a public hall in Paisley, is a
very characteristic likeness of Christopher North,
and one of the best examples of Scottish art in

' Art Journal, 1849, p. 198; and 1855, p. 260.

CHAP. II.] LATER SCULPTURE. 449
portrait-sculpture. His statue of Sir James Shaw
in Kilmarnock is also a work of rherit In the
department of poetic sculpture a group in marble
by him of a mother and child, in the possession of
Mr. Napier of Shandon, is an expressive and
tasteful composition.
Patrick Park was another sculptor, also a native Patrick
of Scotland, of marked power of conception and
execution, but with a considerable tendency to the
picturesque and extravagant in manner. His model
ling displayed a strong perception of character and
skill in bringing it out, as seen in the busts of Sir
Charles Napier (of Scinde), Napoleon III., and
Admiral Lord Dundonald, which are favourable
examples of his art. Park's appreciation of beauty
in subjects of a more ideal kind was not equal to Died
his appreciation of character in portrait.^
The art of John Gibson, R.A., was, like that of Sculptu-
Flaxman, eminently based upon a loving and faithful of Gib-
study of ancient sculpture. Along with this, in the ^°^'
case of Gibson as well as of Flaxman, although the
results produced by each differed in character, there
went a constant but discriminating reference to
nature, whose highest types and most perfect forms
Gibson considered to be embodied in the sculptural
art of the Greeks. A Welshman by birth, he
wrought for some years with the Messrs. Francis,
marble-cutters in Liverpool. His latent talent was
discovered by Mr. William Roscoe, who gave him
' For information afforded as to the productions of this and
other Scottish sculptors, the author is indebted to the kindness
of Mr. W. Brodie, R.S.A., sculptor, of Edinburgh.
G G

45° VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK IV.
one or two commissions for bas-reliefs in terra cotta,
taking otherwise an interest in his progress. What
with working for the marble-cutters and the oppor
tunities of instruction he enjoyed through his friends
in Liverpool, Gibson rapidly improved in the prac
tice of his art-'
The young sculptor's first exhibited work at the
Royal Academy was a bas-relief in plaster of
' Psyche borne by two Zephyrs,' which was noticed
by Mr. Flaxman. In 1817 he left Liverpool for
London, where he received several commissions
from Mr. Watson Taylor. He was encouraged by
Flaxman (contrary to other advice) to proceed to
Rome, the direction in which his own wishes very
decidedly tended.
Gibson had the advantage at Rome of the advice
and aid of Canova, to whom he had letters of intro
duction. Up to this time he had not studied in any
academy or under any regular master.^ He was set
by Canova to model in the life-school, and brought
in contact with Thorwaldsen and the art-world of
Rome. He now learned the practice and the laws
which govern sculpture, and its comparatively limited
range. ^
His early Acting upon the counsel Canova often gave, not
to copy his works, but to study nature and the
1819. Greeks, Gibson modelled at Rome his group of Mars
1 Life of John Gibson, R.A., edited by Lady Eastlake, 1870.
Several early works by Gibson are now in the Liverpool Institu
tion. ^ Autobiographical Memoir in Eastlake's Life of Gibson, p. 48.
' Art Journal, 1849, P- r4°'

CHAP. IL] LATER SCULPTURE. 45 1
and Cupid, produced in marble for the Duke of
Devonshire ; for whom also a bas-relief of the meet
ing of Hero and Leander was executed two years
after. A group in marble of Psyche and the Zephyrs
was a commission from Sir George Beaumont The
statue of ' Paris ' (now at Kinfauns Castle, Perth
shire), a graceful and beautiful work of careful
and fine execution, was produced in marble for 1824.
Mr. Watson Taylor. The group of Hylas and
the Nymphs, now in the National Gallery, was
executed for Mr. Vernon. From the rather dispro
portionate size of the Nymphs and being placed
very near the spectator, this work does not perhaps
convey so favourable an impression as might be
wished of the sculptor's style. -^
It is very obvious in these earlier works of Gibson
that he eschewed novelty of subject, however he
may have displayed originality in the treatment He
drew his inspiration from the ancient mythology and
the ' gods of Greece,' passionately lingering, as Keats
did in poetry, within their domain of serene beauty.
His intense delight in the beautiful was gratified by
his study of those to him always charming subjects.
After the death of Canova, and having, as it were. More-
fairly measured his own strength, Gibson allowed J'^hL^
himself more scope in the choice of subjects. His subjects.
' Sleeping Shepherd ' and ' Cupid disguised as a
' In the foho volume of works composed and executed by Mr.
Gibson, published at London in 1861 by Colnaghi & Co., from
drawings by Guglielmi, his statues, groups, and bassi-relievi
are rendered in outhne as effectively as such works can be ren
dered by engraving. G G 2

ment.

452 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.
Shepherd,' from the Aminta of Tasso, were favourites
both in England and America, and were several
times repeated. The group of the ' Hunter and
Dog,' which was in the International Exhibition of
185 1, the statue of the ' Wounded Amazon ' at Eaton
Hall, the bas-relief (in plaster) of ' Eteocles and
Polynices with Jocasta intervening,' were works of
more originality, the attitudes and expressions taken
from incidents and persons observed by himself in
the streets of Rome.
Their It must be admitted that in point of elevated
refined . 1 i 1 , 1 .- , ^ ^
senti- sentiment and thought the sculpture of Mr. Gibson
is inferior to that of Flaxman ; yet in some of his
works very refined sentiment is discoverable. In
his ' Cupid caressing a Butterfly while preparing
to pierce it with an Arrow,' he embodied the sen
timent of Love tormenting the soul ; ' Eros and
Anteros contending for the Soul ' typified the con
test between earthly and celestial love ; a bas-relief
in memory of four children of Mr. Bonomi, who
all died in one week, shows an angel plucking
flowers, while another angel holds the flowers in his
hand. His bas-reliefs of a monumental character
generally convey some sentiment of Christian faith
or practice simply and beautifully suggested. A
model of a wounded warrior with a female figure
tending his wound was left unfinished at the sculptor's
death. Of his bas-reliefs of poetical subjects produced in
marble the two belonging to Earl Fitzwilliam of the
' Hours leading the Horses ofthe Sun,' and ' Phaeton
driving the Chariot of the Sun,' are among- the

'&

CHAP. II.] LATER SCULPTURE. 453
finest.-^ Much of his ideal sculpture is, like this, my
thological — a kind of sculpture devoid of interest to
some people, but not so to Gibson, who entered con
amore into the inner life and soul of the mythical
beings he impersonated. Such subjects as ' Pro
serpine gathering Flowers on the Plains of Enna,*
' Aurora alighting on the Earth to bathe it with Dew,'
the Goddess of Love in mortal form, full of sweetness
and grace, he dreamed of by night and pondered
over by day.
It may be doubted whether the celebrated Venus Gibson's
(first executed for Mr. Neeld) is one of Gibson*s
best works. The attitude was suggested by his
having ' often remarked that ladies when holding a
fan or any light object generally place their hands
in repose in front of the person,' ^ — a somewhat arti
ficial theory for a statue of Aphrodite. Of this
work he made several repetitions, that for Mrs.
Preston of Liverpool being the most elaborate, and
remarkable as the first marble statue to the flesh
of which the sculptor applied colour ; having pre
viously applied it in a slight degree to the drapery
and accessories of his statue of her Majesty.^

' Were it justifiable to bring the mocking muse of Byron to
illustrate what is meant to be a representation of earnest and pure
sentiment, Gibson's beautiful group in rehevo of 'Cupid and
Psyche on a Couch ' (the centre and only portion executed of a
design for the nuptial Feast of Cupid and Psyche) might be
described by the distich—
And thus they form a group that's quite antique —
Half-naked, loving, natural and Greek.
2 Eastlake's Life of Gibson, p. 209.
3 Canova is beheved to have introduced colour in some of his

454 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK iv.
' When this replica was finished,' says Mr. Gibson,
' I took the liberty to decorate it in a fashion un-
Colonr- precedented in modern times.' The flesh was tinted
statues, like warm ivory, the eyes blue, the hair blond ; the
ornaments being of gold and the borders of the
drapery tinted. The sculptor was so charmed with
his workmanship that he would hardly allow the
statue, after retaining it several years in his studio,
to be sent to the owner.-'
works, applied to the cheeks and lips. — Westmacott's Schools of
Sculpture, p. 326.
' Autobiographical Journal, in Lady Eastlake's Life of Gibson.
' When all my labour was complete,' the sculptor writes, ' I
often sat down quietly and alone before my work, meditating upon
it and consulting my own feelings. I endeavoured to keep myself
free from self-delusion as to the effect of the colouring. I said to
myself, Here is a little nearer approach to life, it is therefore more
impressive ; yes, yes indeed she seems an ethereal being, with her
blue eyes fixed upon me ! At moments I forgot that I was gazing
on my own production. There I sat before her long and often.
How was I ever to part with her?' This singular passage in
Mr. Gibson's diary will recall to the classical reader the story of
Pygmalion and his ivory statue (Ovid, Metam. x. 8) : —
Miratur et haurit
Pectore Pygmalion simulati corporis ignes ;
Sfepe manus operi tentantes admovet, an sit
Corpus an illud ebur : nee ebur tamen esse fatetur.
The life-like form Pygmalion still admires, — ¦
Within his breast arise unwonted fires.
Full oft his hands the polished ivory press ;
If flesh it is or no he strives to guess ;
That nought but ivory 'tis he will not yet confess. .
It may be remarked that in this fable the poet makes no allu
sion to colour having been applied to the ' snow-white' ivory figure,
which evidently is supposed to be a completed work. The con
cluding lines of the fable, where the ivory virgin is made to blush
at the sight and the kisses of her lover, points to a natural colouring
upon the statue being endued with life by the Paphian goddess,
and is inconsistent with the notion of the statue having been the
subject of artificial colouring.

CHAP. IL] LATER SCULPTURE. 455
Gibson's passion for colouring grew upon him as
he advanced in life. He defended it by the alleged
practice of the Greeks — a practice which in the case
of marble portrait statues is not considered to have
been satisfactorily proved. In England the colour
ing of statues has not been received with favour
either by sculptors or by the public generally. It
seems to be inconsistent with the severity and sim
plicity of sculpture, and to be a return in another
shape to a picturesque and meretricious style of art^
In the department of portrait-sculpture Mr. Gib- classical
son's classical taste in the practice of his art was mentof
pushed to an extreme. He had no toleration porfr^^t
'^ statues.
for modern coats and neck-ties, and his portrait
or ' Iconic ' statues were all treated classically and
arrayed in what he regarded as proper sculptural
costume. His statue of Mr. Huskisson, executed
in bronze, now in front of the Custom-house at
Liverpool, was draped in a toga or mantle, and had
the arms and right shoulder and bust uncovered ;
an excess of classicism which caused considerable
discussion, and did not meet with general approval.
The marble statue of Mr. Huskisson, placed at the
entrance of Lloyds', Royal Exchange, and one of
Sir Robert Peel in Westminster Abbey, are similarly
treated, except that in both the right arm and shoulder
only are undraped, as great a concession probably
in point of costume as the sculptor was inclined to

' In the International Exhibirion of 1862 there were three
coloured statues by Gibson — the Venus mentioned in the text.
Pandora, and Cupid. The two last were the property of Lady
Marian Alford and of Mr. Holford.

45^ VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK IV.
make. These statues are in their attitude tranquil
and dignified. Another of his principal Iconic
sculptures is the marble statue of Stephenson, the
engineer, in St. George's Plall, Liverpool, also clas
sically treated ; what he proposed to himself as
to the expression of this statue being to give his
subject a look capable of action and energy, but con
templative and quiet, as most suitable for marble.
Gibson applied the same principles to the few
portrait busts he executed as to his statues. His
bust of the Duchess of Wellington had a more serious
air than some of her grace's friends approved of,
the sculptor holding an expression of commonplace
cheerfulness and gaiety to be beneath the dignity of
his art
Statue The commission for the statue of the Oueen (now
ofthe . ^ ^
Queen. at Buckingham Palace) was received during Mr.
Gibson's visit to England in 1844. To his great
relief her Majesty had no objection to Greek
drapery, which is indeed more susceptible of adap
tation to female costume. This statue is distin
guished by its natural grace and dignity, the
expression of royalty being conveyed in the look
and action, without the usual symbols of sovereignty.
It was executed at Rome, the diadem, sandals, and
borders of the drapery being tinted with blue, red,
and yellow.
Group in The chief later work of Gibson was the group
Princes'Chamber, in the Princes' Chamber at Westminster, of the
Queen seated between the standing figures of Justice
and Mercy, with relievos on the pedestal. This
masterly group has an air of placid grandeur. Justice

CHAP. II.] LATER SCULPTURE. 457
being marked by an expression of determination,
Mercy by one of sympathy and sadness.
Mr. Gibson was a member of several foreign
Academies, and although domiciled in Rome was
elected a member of the Royal Academy of 1833.
London. He was on the best terms with all his
brethren of the Academy, to whom, on his death at
Rome in 1866, he bequeathed the bulk of his
fortune and the entire contents of his studio.
Mr. E. B. Spence, who practised mostly at Rome, Spence.
was a pupil of Gibson. After Wyatt's decease he Died
. . . . 1866.
occupied the studio of that sculptor in Rome, finish
ing a considerable number of his incomplete works.
The son of a sculptor at Liverpool, Spence proceeded
early in life to Italy, and receiving commissions
from Lancashire and other places, executed them in
Rome. His style of ideal art was more picturesque His pic-
turesQue
and less refined than that of either Gibson or Wyatt art.
Among his most notable productions are ' Highland
Mary,' 'Lavinia,' and two statues of ecclesiastics
in their gowns in St George's Hall, Liverpool.
His group of four figures, the ' Finding of the
Infant Moses,' is a work evincing talent and power
of expression and execution, though pictorial in
treatment and deficient in sculptural simplicity of
manner. The beginning of the year 1871 witnessed the
death at Cannes of Alexander Munro, a native of Alex-
Scotland, whose productions were very favourably Munro.
known when his health unhappily gave way. In
troduced early in life to Sir Charles Barry by the
late Duchess of Sutherland, he was engaged for a

458

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK IV.

His art
and
works.

1758-69.

P. Mac
dowell.

1837-

short time in carving some of the works in the
Houses of Parliament, to which he contributed a
statue of Queen Mary (Tudor). He exhibited at
the Royal Academy busts of Sir R. Peel and
others. As a sculptor of children and also of female por
traits, whether in the round or in relievo, Munro
especially excelled ; that refinement of sentiment and
aesthetic feeling for grace and beauty which was
native to him showing itself thoroughly in his work.
For the Museum at Oxford he executed statues of
Hippocrates, Galileo, Davy, and James Watt; also
colossal statues of Watt at Birmingham, and of
Mr. H. Ingram at Boston. Mr. Munro's exhibited
works in the International Exhibitions of 1851 and
1862, although they did not escape criticism, were
upon the whole well received, and were remarked
for their refinement of character and careful treat
ment One of the earliest modelled of these, Paolo
and Francesca, was put in marble for Mr. Gladstone.
Later exhibited works of Munro were the ' Lovers'
Walk' and 'Undine;' the 'Young Hunter' and
' Joan of Arc ; ' a ' Sleeping Boy,' and an alto-relievo
of the Duchess of Vallambrosa. The Fountain-
nymph in Berkeley Square, London, is also a work
of Munro.
Patrick Macdowell, a native of Ireland, held. a
good position as a sculptor of portraits as well as
of ideal subjects. His model of a ' Girl Reading,'
exhibited at the Royal Academy, gained him favour
able notice from Sir James Tennant, and an intro
duction to Mr. T. W. Beaumont M.P., for whom

CHAP. IL] LATER SCULPTURE. 459
he produced this statue in marble. Busts of Sir
James and Lady Tennant were followed by. por- portrait
trait busts of Lord Dufiferin, Alderman Cubitt, and sjafues."
Mr. Whiteside. Among his most noted Iconic
statues were two statues in bronze of the Earl of
Belfast and of Lord Fitzgibbon, erected the one at
Belfast and the other at Limerick, and two marble
statues of Lord Chatham and Mr. Pitt for the En
trance Hall of the Houses of Parliament^
Without any very elevated sentiment or feeling,
Macdoweirs works in poetic sculpture were mostly jjis ideal
of the kind already referred to when noticing the sculpture.
productions of Baily and Wyatt, as devoting itself
chiefly to the representation of the female form.
They were not equal in style to the masterpieces of
those sculptors, but sufficiently attractive to the
popular eye. Such were his ' Girl going to the
Bath,* ' Eve,' and the ' Triumph of Love,' executed
for Mr. Beaumont His statue of ' Early Sorrow,'
a girl weeping for a dead bird, is a subject of no
great originality either in conception or treatment
One of this sculptor's best productions in ideal art
is the group of Virginius and his Daughter, in which
the forms are well contrasted.

' The statues in the Entrance or St. Stephen's Hall, of the
Palace of Westminster, executed by Brirish artists, are as follows :
Selden and Hampden, by J. H. Foley, R.A. ; Lord Falkland, Sir
Robert Walpole, by John Bell ; Lord Clarendon, Lord Somers, by
W. C. Marshall, R.A. ; Lord Chatham, Mr. Pitt, by P. Mac
dowell, R.A. ; Lord Mansfield, Mr. Fox, by E. H. Baily, R.A,.;
Mr. Burke, by W. Theed; Mr. Grattan, by L. Carew.

460 VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [BOOK iv.

CONCLUDING REMARKS.
The Historical View of British literature and art
which has been given in the preceding pages deal
ing mainly with the past, it would be going beyond
its scope to speculate on the probable future of
Literature, or of Architecture, Painting and Sculp
ture. In the case of literature, architecture and
painting, such speculation is less called for, inasmuch
as they are plants now thoroughly rooted in the soil
of Britain, and, although subject always to influences
of a prosperous or adverse kind, running no risk
in the meantime of their vitality being seriously
checked. They will now pursue respectively their
course under as favourable auspices and with as
favourable results as circumstances, time and chance
may permit Sculpture is in a somewhat different
position. Its existence as an art of native English
growth, dating from the time of Flaxman and his
contemporaries, hardly extends to a hundred years,
and its progress during the latter portion of the time
has not in all respects been so satisfactory as to put
the permanent well-being of the art, in its right and
true form, beyond question.
Difficub British sculpture has difficulties to encounter
ties sculp- ,. • ^r • • ^ r-
ture has peculiar to Itself arising partly from conditions
counter, inherent in the practice of the art, partiy from the

CHAP. II.] CONCLUDING REMARKS. 4^1
defective encouragement and patronage awarded to
its professors, and the state of the public taste. Com
pared with the wide range of painting in point of
variety of subject and of treatment, the range of
sculpture is extremely limited. Beauty and dignity
of outward form, with what addition of sentiment
and expression the nature of the subject admits and
the genius of the artist can supply, is the foundation
and nearly the sum and substance of all sculptural
art ; while the qualities of style most requisite for its
treatment are simplicity, gracefulness, and severity.
To derive pleasure from and heartily appreciate
results of art-work produced under these conditions
requires a certain training both of mind and eye,
which the great majority of the purchasers of objects
of taste have not as yet deemed it necessary to
acquire. Fully appreciating the variety and fasci- painting
nating qualities of the sister art of painting, they atfr^^v^e
give it a decided preference, and purchase pictures ^'^'•
to an immeasurably greater extent than they do
sculpture. Painting is the more brilliant and gene
rally attractive art ; and it not unfrequently happens
that this popular delight in and acceptance of paint
ing, acting (perhaps unconsciously) upon a sculptor
desirous ofselling his works, is the cause of sculpture
being produced of which the character and treatment
is picturesque rather than sculpturesque.
But such a state of things is adverse to the subject
healthy progress of the art For the production of '"^^^^^^
sculpture of a true and elevated and enduring kind,^ the range

' KTrj/ia ££ alei.

462

VIEW OF LITERATURE AND ART. [book iv.

of sculp
tural art,
and
appro
priately treated.

Skill and
capital
requiredin sculp
ture.

State
patronage of
sculptu
ral art.

what is essentially required is a choice of subject
within the limits of sculptural art, and a simple and
severe (though it may be less popular) treatment,
suitable to the subject, and consistent with the
principles and laws of the best Greek examples and
of nature.
In all sculpture, whether portrait or ideal, not
only the modelling but the production in marble or
bronze of what has been modelled involves an
expenditure of skilled labour and capital calling
perhaps for more consideration on the part of the
patrons of art than is sometimes accorded. And
this applies to portrait-sculpture, to life-size busts
and statues, as well as to Iconic and ideal statues,
groups and large relievos. Portrait-sculpture, like
portrait-painting, may be apt in some hands to run
into a mechanical or conventional manner ; but,
when faithfully executed, a portrait bust or statue
has in it so much genuine application of truthful
work and study of expression, that its production
first in the clay and afterwards in marble under the
sculptor's superintendence and with his finishing
touches, is a real and a valuable work of art Ideal
statues and small reliefs and medallions have likewise
their own value as productions of art
Sculptural work of a more important kind, as
large Iconic statues, groups and relievos, implies the
exercise of a liberal patronage often beyond the
means of private individuals. And here the State
(when not influenced by views of economy carried
to excess) may lend its aid with considerable effect
on the occurrence of a fitting occasion, such as the

CHAP. II.] CONCLUDING REMARKS. 4^3
building and recent decoration of the Houses of
Parliament. Looking to what has been done in
that direction, it cannot be denied that the statues
especially in the Entrance or St Stephen*s Hall,
and the group of her Majesty supported by Justice
and Clemency in the Princes* Chamber, are worthy
results of State patronage of art In the case
of sculptural works of a monumental character,
the exercise of patronage, whether by Parliamentary
committees or by committees of private subscribers,
is always liable to be attended with difficulties, to
overcome which there will be required on the part
of employers a spirit of fairness and impartiality
directing their proceedings, and on the part of
artists moderation and discretion.

INDEX.

AD AM,|Robert and James, architects
ofthe Adelphi Terrace buildings,
242. The screen of the Admiralty ;
Caenwood in Middlesex, &c. 243
Adam, William, built Hopetoun House,
Linlithgowshire, 242
Adams', John, translation of Ulloa's
'Voyage to South America,' 236
Addison, made secretary of state, 2.
Poetical epistle addressed to Lord
Halifax from Italy, 18. ' Cato," 181.
' Rosamond,' 197. ' Spectator,' 206.
' Whig Examiner ; ' ' Medley ; ' 'Re
marks on several Parts of Italy and
Switzerland in the Years 1701, 1702,
1703,' 233
Adolphus, ' History of the Reign of
George III.,' 40
Akenside encouraged by Pope, 78.
' Pleasures of Imagination ; ' ' Odes, '
80
Alison, Sir Archibald, ' History of
Europe during the French Revolu
tion,' 40. ' History of Europe from
the Peace, 1815,' 41
Allan, David, Scotch painter, 375
Allan, SirW., painter, travels in Russia,
&c. ; works, 362, 363. Elected an
R.A. ; president of Scottish Aca
demy, 363
Amhurst, Nicholas, ' TerrK Filius ; '
'Craftsman,' 208
Angerstein, John Julius, his pictures
purchased to form the nucleus of a
. National Collection, 340, 341
Anne, Queen, Augustan age of, 6.
Reform in dramatic literature, 177
Anson, George, ' A Voyage round the
World,' 235
Arbuthnot, Dr., deprived of office of
¦ court physician, 2. ' Law is a
Bottomless Pit, or the History of
John Bull ; ' remarks of Sir W. Scott
on his ' John Bull,' 207

BAC
Architects, foreign, employed in early
Tudor buildings, 12
Architecture, Palladian or Italian style,
9, 239 etsegit Early English or Gothic
style ; Romanesque style ; Norman
style ; Pointed Gothic, 10. Gothic
common to France and Germany as
vfell as to England, 12. Pure Greek
style ; Roman, 247. The Greek be
came practically known in England,
248. Difficulties in its adoption, 249.
Buildings erected in the Greek style,
250, 251. Want of sculptural deco
ration, 251, Street architecture in
London, Edinburgh, Bath, 253.
Gothic revival ; Gothic style depre
ciated by men of taste, 257, 258.
Ignorance in architects of its rules
and details, 260. Improved study
and style in Gothic, 261, 262. Eccle
siastical buildings, 262. Defence of
Gothic builders having recourse to
early examples, 262 (note). Early
English secular buildings ; Italian
ornamentation in reigns of Henry
VIII, and Elizabeth, 264. Secular
Gothic architecture, 264-5. Newr
Housesof Parliament — Tudor Gothic,
265, 267. Country mansions, 270
Argyle, John, Duke of, monument in
Westminster Abbey by Roubiliac, 23
Armstrong, ' Art of Preserving Health,'
81
Art, two modes of pursuing it, 1 7
Ascham, Roger, Life by Dr. Johnson,
42
Austen, Miss Jane, 'Sense and Sen-'
sibility,' 65. ' Mansfield Park ; '
' Pride and Prejudice ; ' ' Emma ; ' .
' Persuasion,' 66

BACON, John, sculptor, 23. Re
ceived first gold medal awarded

H H

466

INDEX.

BAC
for sculpture by Royal Academy, 423.
Monumental group to memory of Lord
Chatham, and other works, 424
Bacon, Lord, ' History of Henry VII.'
27
Baillie, Joanna, plays, 190
Baily, Edward, R.A., 443. His 'Eve
at the Fountain,' 443. Female statu
ary ; historical portrait statuary, 444.
Style, 444-6
Baker, Sir Samuel, travels in Africa,
236
Bank of England, an example of Greek
architecture, 249
Banks, Thomas, R. A. , early reputation,
24. Goes to Italy as travelling
student, 424. His sculpture of a
poetical character ; works, 425, 426.
Highly regarded by Flaxman, 426
Bamaby, Dr., 'Travels in North
America,' 236
Barret, early exhibitor at Royal Aca
demy, 285, 299
Barry, James, historical painter, his
career, 319. ' Death of Wolfe ; '
Adelphi pictures, 321, 322
Barry, Sir Charles, architect, 266. Park
front of Bridgewater House, London,
253. His taste, and subordination of
ornament to the general design ; his
chief works, 267. New Houses of
Parliament, 267, 268
Bath, architecture of, 253
Beattie, Dr. James, ' Minstrel,' 95.
' Essay on Truth, '222
Beaumont, Sir George, offers to be
queath to future National Gallery his
own collection, 340. Patron of
native artists, 400
Beaumont, dramas, 174
Beddoes, Mr. T. L., 'Maid's Tragedy ;'
' Death's Jest-Book,' and poems, 19 1
'Bee,' the, 216
Beechey, Sir W. , R. A. , portrait painter,
patronised by royalty, 334. His
works mediocre, 334
Beeckman, Captain jlaniel, 'Voyage
to the Island of Borneo,' 235
Behnes, W., portrait-sculpture and style
of, 440. Hig chief works ; portraiture
of childhood, 441, 442
Bell, John, of Antermony; 'Travels
from St. Petersburg to divers parts of
Asia,' &c. 235
Benson, installed in Wren's office of
surveyor of the Royal Buildings ;
commemorated in the Dunciad, 16
Bentley, opinion of Pope's Homer, 77

BUR
Bernini, bust in marble of Charles I.;
his faulty manner, 22
Bickerstaif, ' Love in a Village,' 1 98
'Blackwood's Magazine,' 221
Blake, William, designer, colourist, and
engraver, 310. ' Songs of Innocence
and Experience ; ' ' Illustrations of
Book of Job ; ' collection of his works
in British Museum, 311. His eccen
tricity, 312
Bloomfield, ' Farmer's Boy,' 109
Boileau, influence of, on Pope and his
school of poetry, 6
Bolingbroke, Lord, ' Letters on the
.Study of Histoiy,' 28. ' Examiner,'
206. 'Craftsman,' 208
Bond, ' Plain Dealer,' 207
Bonington, R. P., landscapes and coast
scenery ; influence of his style upon
French painters of landscape; stay
at Venice, 399. Works, 400
Book -illustration, 306
Booksellers, patrons and masters of
literary men, 4
Bos, Abbe du, assertions as to aesthetic
art in England, 18
Boswell, 'Life of Johnson,' 43
Bowles, Rev. W. Lisle, sonnets, chiefly
interesting for having given rise in
part to the more powerful verse of
Coleridge and Wordsworth, 103.
' St. John in Patmos,' ' Cid,' &c. 104
Boydell, Alderman, his Shakespeare
Gallery, 326, 327
Bray, tour in Derbyshire and York
shire, 234, 246
British Museum, only five readers in
July. 1759, 4- The building a speci
men of Greek temple architecture,
249. Dome reading-room, 250
Britton, John, 'Architectural Antiqui
ties of Great Britain;' 'Cathedral
Antiquities of England,' 261
¦ Brodie, work on English history, 40
Bronte, Charlotte, novels, 70
Brougham, Lord, praise of Hume, 31.
' Edinburgh Review,' 218
Brown, W. G., 'Travels in Africa,
Egypt, and Syria,' 236
Brown, Sir Thomas, life by Dr. John
son, 43
Brown, Lancelot, landscape gardening,
246. Introduced in Cowper's 'Task,'
246
Bruce, ' Travels in Abyssinia,' 236
Buckingham, Duke of, 'Rehearsal,'
174. Picture of, by Egg, 385
Burke, Edmund, ' Vindication of Na-

INDEX.

467

BUR
tural Society ; ' ' On the Sublime and
Beautiful ; ' ' Reflections on the
French Revolution,' 222. Letters,
231. His character of Reynolds, 287
Burleigh House, 1 1
Burlington, Earl of, taste in architec
ture ; patron of Kent, architect ;
ridiculed in two satirical prints by
Hogarth, 241
Burnes, Sir Alexander, ' Travels into
Bokhara, ' etc. ; ' Personal Narrative
of a Journey to, and Residence in, the
City of Cabool,' 235
Burnet, ' History of Reformation in
England ; ' ' History of his Own
Time,' 28
Burney, Miss, ' Evelina,' admired by
Burke, Johnson, and Sir J. Reynolds,
60. ' Cecilia,' praised by Burke ;
'Camilla,' 61
Bums, freedom from school of Pope, 8.
Life by Currie, 45. Life by Lock
hart, 45. Poems published by sub
scription, 1 786, 98. Flattering notice
of him in the ' Lounger,' by Mack
enzie ; characterised by Wordsworth,
99. ' Cotter's Saturday Night ; '
'Halloween;' 'Tam o' Shanter;'
beauty of his lyrics ; ' Scot's Musical
Museum ; ' Thomson's collection of
'Original Scottish Airs,' 100
Byron, Lord, 'English Bards and Scotch
Reviewers,' 153. Personal nature of
his poetry, 153. Foreign tour with
Hobhouse, 154. 'Childe Harold,'
reflecting poet's life, 155. First and
second cantos of 'Childe Harold;'
' Giaour ; ' ' Bride of Abydos ; '
'Corsair;' 'Lara,' 155-6. Other
poems; lines to 'Augusta,' his sister,
158. ' Don Juan,' 159. Prophecy
of Dante ; subject suggested by
Countess Guiccioli, 160. The 'Is
land,' 161. Death in 1824, 162.
His dramas not intended for repre
sentation, 191. 'Manfred,' 'Werner,'
&c. ; ' Mysteries of Cain,' ' Heaven
and Earth,' 193. Correspondence,
332

CAIUS COLLEGE, 11
Callcott, Sir A, W., R.A., coast
scenery ; occasional portraits ; land
scapes ; character of his painting, 401
Cambridge, R. C, contributions to the
. 'World,' 214
Campbell, Lord, 'Lives of the Lord

CLA
Chancellors' and of 'The Chief Jus
tices of England,' 46
Campbell, Thomas, ' Pleasures of
Hope ;' ' Battle of Hohenlinden ;'
' Gertrude of Wyoming,' and other
poems, 147, 148. Ode on John
Kemble, 187
Campbell, architect, author of ' Vitru
vius Britannicus,' 240
Canning, writings in 'Antijacobin,' 62,
218. 'Microcosm,' 218. 'Quar
terly Review,' 219
Cave, Edward, ' Gentleman's Maga
zine,' 209
Centlivre, Mrs., comic dramas, 179
Chambers, Sir William, architect of
Somerset House, 242. ' Treatise on
Civil Architecture,' 247. His ap
preciation of Gothic buildings, 259
Chambers, R., authority on Scottish
ballads, 112
Champagne, Philip de, portrait-views
for bust of Cardinal Richelieu, 22
Chantrey, Sir Francis, R.A., portrait-
sculpture ; colossal heads for Green
wich Hospital ; visits to the Con
tinent and Italy, 438. His extensive
practice ; busts of Scott and Canning,
439. Other works, 439-40
Charles I., great promoter of art, 19
Chatterton, Thomas, ' Poems of Row
ley.' 94
Chesterfield, Earl of, ' Common Sense,'
209. Contributions to the ' World,'
214. Letters to his son, 226
' Chevy Chase,' praised by Addison in
' Spectator,' in
Churchill, Rev.- Charles, satirical poems
— ' Rosciad,' in which he attacks
actors of the day ; ' Prophecy of
Famine ;' ' The Ghost,' attacking
Dr. -Johnson under name of Pom-
, poso; 'Epistle to Hogarth,' 81.
Denounced as a poet by Goldsmith ;
alluded to by Cowper in ' Table
Talk,' 82
Cibber, Colley: the' 'Careless Hus
band,' 194. The 'Non-Juror;' cre
ated Poet Laureate ; ' Provoked
Husband,' 195. Gibber's manage
ment of Drury Lane satirised by Pope
and Hogarth, 196
Cibber, foreign sculpturing work in
England, 22
Cicero, life by Middleton, 42
Clapperton, ' Narratives of Travels and
Discoveries in Northern and Central
Africa,' 236

468

INDEX.

CLA
Clarendon, Lord, ' History of Civil
War,' 28
Clarke, Dr. Edward, 'Travels,' 234
Claude, imitations of, by native artists,
18
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, early poems
(1796) and odes, 129. 'Ancient Ma
riner,' &c. , published in Words-
worths's ' Lyrical Ballads ;' notice of
'Ancient Mariner' in letter of Rev.
Alexander Dyce to late Mr. H. N.
Coleridge, 130. 'Remorse;' trans
lation of Schiller's ' Piccolomini ' and
'Death of Wallenstein,' 131. 'Chris
tabel;' ' Sibyline Leaves,' 132. Ex
amples of his shorter poems, 133-6
Coleridge, Hartley, poems, 142
Collier, ' Short View ofthe Immorality
and Profaneness of the English
Stage ; ' its effect on the drama, 177
Collins, William, R. A., landscape pic
tures of English life; ' The Pet Lamb, '
&c. , 398. Visit to Italy, 399
Collins, the poet, his emancipation
from school of Pope, 8. ' Oriental
or Persian Eclogues;' 'Odes,' 89.
remark of Coleridge on ' Ode on
the Poetical Character,' 90
Colman the Elder, ' Clandestine Mar
riage,' 199. 'Jealous Wife,' 200.
Contributions to 'Connoisseur,' 216
Colman the Younger, ' Heir-at-Law,'
205
Congreve, his 'Mourning Bride,' 175.
' Love for Love ;' ' Double Dealer ;'
his style, 176
'Connoisseur,' the, 216
Constable, John, original character of
his painting, 390, 392. Not appre
ciated in his lifetime; works, 391.
Receives gold medal from King of
France, 392. His expressive style, 392
Cook, Captain, voyages, 235
Cooper, Samuel, 19, 414
Copley, John Singleton, R. A., por
traits ; historical paintings of a por
trait character, 317-18. ' Death of
Chatham,' 316. "Death of Major
Pearson ; ' Admiration of First Duke
of Wellington for fight represented in
¦ picture, 318
Cooper, Samuel, water-colour minia-
¦ tures, 19
Cooper, American novelist, 70
Corke, the Earl of, contributions to
'Connoisseur,' 216
Coverley, Sir Roger de, observation
on the city churches, 14

DAW
Cowley, Mrs., the 'Belle's Stratagem,'
204
Cowper, emancipation from school of
Pope ; inbred reverence for him, 8.
Character of writers of Queen Anne's
reign in 'Table Talk,' 9. Life by
Hayley, 45. 'Table Talk,' &c., 95.
'The Task,' first suggestion of, by
Lady Austen, 96. 'John Gilpin,'
97. Translations of 'Iliad' and
'Odyssey,' 97. Contributions to
'Connoisseur,' 216. Letters, 231
Coxe, Archdeacon, letters to William
Melmoth, 226. ' Travels in Switzer
land and Northern Countries of Eu
rope,' 234
Crabbe, Rev. George, poems — ' Ine
briety;' the 'Library;' 'Village,'
revised and lauded by Dr. Johnson ;
the 'Newspaper;' 'Parish Register,'
loi. 'Borough,' &c.; influence of
residence and surroundings on
Crabbe's poetry, 102. Its character,
102
Craik, ' English Literature and Lan
guage,' 7
'Critical Review,' the, 211.
Croker, J. Wilson, ' Quarterly Re
view,' 219
Cumberland, Richard, plays — 'West
Indian;' 'Wheel of Fortune,' 204.
The 'Observer,' 217
Cunningham, Allan, poems, I42. Lives
of painters, 325
Currie, ' Life of Bums,' 45
Curzon, Hon. Mr., 'Visit to the Mon
asteries of the Levant, ' 234

DACRE, Lady, fashionable novels,
71
Dalrymple, Sir David (Lord Hailes),
annals of Scotland, &c. 38. Con
tributions to the ' World,' 214
Danby, F. , painter of striking effects ;
' Upas Tree,' and other works, 403-4.
His peculiar manner, 404
Dance, George, city architect, built
Newgate Prison ; Mansion House,
242
Dance, Sir Nathaniel, portrait painter,
334
D'Arblay, Madame (Miss Bumey);
diary and letters, 232
D'Avenant, Sir William, satirised by
Buckingham in 'Rehearsal,' 174 ^
Dawkins, illustrations of Palmyra and
Baalbec, 247

INDEX.

469

DAW
Dawson, James, execution of, 21 1
Dedications, practice of, laudatory, 3
Defoe, 'Robinson Crusoe,' &c. 1719-
1729, 6. Principal fictions in form
of autobiographies, 48. Their cir
cumstantiality, 49, 50. ' Memoirs
of a Cavalier ; ' ' Life and Piracies of
Captain Singleton ; ' ' Life and Ad
ventures of Colonel Jack ; ' ' For
tunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flan
ders ; ' ' Journal of the Plague Year,
1665,' 49. Pamphlets, 207
Delia Cruscan School, origin ; names
of members, 104. Description by
Horace Walpole ; Letter of Lady
Miller to Dr. Whalley, 105. Speci
men of their poetry ; ridiculed by
Gifford in 'Baviad' (1791), 106
Denham, ' Narratives of Travels and
Discoveries in Northern and Central
Africa,' 236
Dickens, subject of writings generally
middle or lower walks of life, 72
Dobson, WiUiam, painter of life-sized
portraits in oil, 19
Drake, Dr. Nathan, ' Literary Hours,'
218. Essays, 223
Drama, retrospective glance at, 173.
Time of Charles II. and William III.,
1 76. Collier's exposure of its license;
partial reform of, in reign of Queen
Anne, 177. Comedies of Steele, 178.
Of Farquhar, Vanbrugh, and Cibber,
, 179. Predominance of classical style,
180. Imitations of French plays,
182. Lillo's domestic tragedies, 184.
'Douglas' and other tragedies, 185-94.
Revival of tragedies of Shakespeare
and the older dramatists, 187. Ger
man influence, 188. Recurrence to
old English models, 189. Genteel
comedy, 194. Low ebb of comic
drama, 196. Pantomime and Italian
Opera in vogue, 197. Low comedy,
199. Comedie larmoyante ; co
medies of Goldsmith, Sheridan, and
others, 200
Drumlaflrig, n
Dryden, Life, by Sir Walter Scott, 45.
Rhyming heroic plays ; satirised
by Buckingham in 'Rehearsal,' 174.
His later plays more natural ; lines
, from epistle to Congreve, 175
Dudley, first Earl of ; letters to the Bishop
of Llandaff, 232
Duncan, T., A.R.A. , his portrait-
painting, 346. Painter of historical
and poetical subjects, 364

FAS
Dyce, W., R.A., studies in Italy ;
works, 365. Pamphlets on manage
ment of schools of design ; appoint
ment as secretary and director of
schools in London at Somerset House,
366. Oil paintings, 367. Fresco-
painting in the Houses of Parliament,
¦&<=-. 367-369

EASTLAKE, SirC, pupil of Royal
Academy ; residence in Italy and
Greece ; works, 360, 361. Director
of National Gallery ; president of
Royal Academy, 361
Edgeworth, Maria, ' Castle Rackrent ; '
' Belinda ; ' opinion of Miss Edge-
worth in respect to novels of the
period, 63. ' Popular Tales ; ' ' Moral
Tales ; ' ' Tales of Fashionable Life; '
' Patronage,' &c. ; influence on Scott,
64. Her novel-writing, 65. Essay
on ' Irish Bulls,' 223
' Edinburgh Review,' 218
Egg, A. L. , R.A., works : sensational
subjects, 385. Execution and colour
ing good, 386
Ellis, George, Rolliad, Probationary
Odes for the Laureateship, 109.
' Quarterly Review,' 219
Elmes, Harvey L., architect of St.
George's Hall, Liverpool, in Grecian
style, 251
'Encyclopaedia Britannica,' 224
Engraving, 415, 416
Epistolary style, 225
Erskine, Dr. John, coUe^^e and op
ponent of Dr. Robertson, 31
Etty, William, R.A., student of Royal
Academy, 353. More appreciated by
artists than by the public ; his studies
in Venice ; large historical works,
acquired by Scottish Acadejny, 354-5.
Other works, 356
Evelyn, entries in diary as to ' Hamlet '
and ' Indian Queen,' 174. ' Account
of Architects and Architecture,' 258
' Examiner,' supported by writings of
Swift, Prior, Lord Bolingbroke, 206

FALCONER, ' Shipwreck,' 92.
Lines addressed by Coleridge to
a lady with ' Shipwreck,' 92
Farquhar, George, 'Constant Couple ;'
' Beaux Stratagem ; ' ' Recruiting
Officer,' 179
Fashionable nojels, description of, 7_i

470

INDEX.

FEM
' Female Spectator,' 211
Fenton, Miss, in 'Beggar's Opera,' 197
Ferguson, Dr. Adam, ' History of the
Roman Republic,' 38
Fergusson, 'History of Architecture,' 261
Ferrier, Miss, ' Marriage ; ' ' Inherit
ance ; ' ' Destiny,' 70
Fielding, made a Justice of peace, 2.
Dedication of ' Tom Jones ' to Hon.
G. Lyttelton, 3. His principal novels
written during the reign of George II.,
6. 'Joseph Andrews,' written in
ridicule of ' Pamela,' 53. Imitation
of Cervantes, 53. 'Tom Jones;'
'Amelia;' 'Jonathan Wild,' 54.
Allusion of Gibbon in his autobio
graphy to Fielding and Tom Jones,
54. Comparison of Fielding and
Smollett, 55. Jeu d'esprit in r^ifce.-aze.
to ' Dunciad ' in Covent Garden
Journal, 77. The 'Miser;' 'Tom
Thumb ;' 'Mock Doctor,' &c., 198.
Periodical writing in ' the Champion;'
praises ' Tatler ' and ' Spectator,'
210. 'Trae Patriot;' 'Jacobite
Journal,' 211
Fillans, jfames, poetic and portrait
sculpture, 448
Fitzgerald, Lord Edward, Life by
Moore, 45
Flaxman, J., a student at Royal
Academy, 427. Models for Wedg
wood ; early sculptural works, 428.
Visits Italy ; series of designs from
Homer, &c., 429. Principal works,
430. European reputation, 431.
Relievos, 432. His style ; compari
son of his ' Michael vanquishing
Satan ' with Raphael, 433. Portrait
statues, 434. Shield of Achilles, 435
Foote, Samuel, comedies, 199
Forbes, President, statue of, in Parlia
ment House, Edinburgh, by Rou
biliac, 23
Fox, C. J. , ' History of the Reign of
James II.,' 39
Francis, Sir Philip, 'Letters of Junius,'
226
Francklin, Captain W., 'Tour from
Bengal to Persia,' 235
Franklin, Sir J., narratives of expedi
tions conducted by, 236
Frederick the Great, Life by Dr. John
son, 42
French Revolution, 62, 112
Frere, John, ' Microcosm,' 218
Fuseli, historical painter, 326. Leaning
to the. mystical and extravagant ;

GIB
Shakespeare pictures, 327. ' Titania
and Bottom ; ' ' Hamlet and the
Ghost ; ' Milton pictures, 328

GAINSBOROUGH, early exhibitor
at Royal Academy, 285. Por
trait-painting, 290. Landscapes,
292, 301, 302. Colouring; picture
of Mrs. Siddons, the ' Blue Boy,' &c.
291. Cottage Children, 302. Looked
to general effect, 302
Gait, ' Annals of the Parish ; ' ' Entail,'
70
Gardening, landscape, 244. Italian
and Dutch taste, 245. Modem Eng
lish, 245-6
Garrick, in 'Lear,' 'Othello,' 'Richard
III.' 187. Comic pieces, &c., 199
Gay, secretary to Lord Clarendon :
poems published by subscription, 2.
' Shepherd's Week ; ' theory of pas
toral poetry, 74, 75. ' Beggars'
Opera,' 197
Geddes, Andrew, A.R.A., Scotch
painter of portraits and fancy sub
jects, 346
' Gentleman's Journal,' 216
' Gentleman's Magazine,' 209
George I. and George II. had little
regard for literature and the arts, I
George III., patron of art ; preferred
Zoffany, Ramsay and West to Rey
nolds, and Zucharelli and Barrett to
Wilson and Gainsborough, 285
George IV., first suggestor of the pur
chase of the Angerstein pictures for
a national collection, 340. Patronised
Lawrence, 339. And Wilkie, 360
Gemian literature, influence on English
poetry, 112
Gibbon's remarks on Hume and Robert
son ; ' History ofthe Decline and Fall
of the Roman Empire,' 34. Covert
attack on Christianity, 35. His mode
of composition, 36. Letters from Dr.
Robertson to Gibbon on the ' Decline
and Fall,' 37. Autobiography, 43
Gibbs, James, architect of Radcliffe
Library, Oxford; St. Martin's-in-the-
Fields, London, 240
Gibson John, R.A., sculptural art of,
449. Studied with Canova and Thor
waldsen, 450. Early works, 451.
Variety in his subjects, 451. Their
refined sendment, 452. Relievos ;
tinted Venus, 453. His admiration
of it, 454. Colouring of statues, 454.

INDEX.

471

GIF
Portrait sculpture, 455. Statue of
the Queen, and Group in Princes'
Chamber, 456.
Gifford, ' Baviad and Maeviad, ' 106.
' Antijacobin,' 2l8. Editor of ' Quar
terly Review,' 219
Gilbert, John Graham, R.S.A., por
trait painter ; superiority of his fe
male portraits, 348
Gillies, ' History of Greece,' 39
Glover, ' Leonidas,' 80
Godvrin, ' Caleb Williams,' ' St. Leon,'
62
Goldsmith, 4, 8. Histories of Greece
and Rome, 39. ' Vicar of Wake
field,' 57. Mention of it by Goethe,
58. Domiciliated in England, 58.
'Traveller,' 58. ' Deserted Village, '
94. 'Good-natured Man;' 'She
Stoops to Conquer,' 20t. 'Monthly
Review, '211. ' Bee ; ' ' Public Led
ger;' 'Gentleman's Magazine,' 216.
' Citizen of the World,' 226
Gordon, Sir J. Watson, president of
Scottish Academy ; his characteristic
portraits of men ; rejection of orna
ment, 347. Receives medal at Paris
Exhibition of 1855, 348
Gore, Mrs., fashionable novels, 71
Graham, James, 'The Sabbath,' 109
Graham, John, master of Trustees' Aca
demy, 347. 'Disobedient Prophet,'
362
Gray, his letter to Horace Walpole in
1737,5. Life by Mason, 45. Odes,
90. ' Elegy in a Country Church
yard' superior to his Pindaric Odes —
the ' Progress of Poetry ' and ' The
Bard,' 91. Letters, 229. Letters
from Turin, from Glamis Castle,
230. Appreciation of scenery, 230.
Depreciates Gothic stractures at Cam
bridge and elsewhere, 258, 259
' Grub Street, Memoirs of the Society
of,' 209
' Guardian,' 206

HALL, Captain Basil, 'Journal
written on the Coasts of Chili,
Pern, and Mexico;' 'Voyage to Loo
Choo,' &c., 236
Hallam, ' View of the State of Europe
during the Middle Ages ; ' ' Consti
tutional History of England,' &c., 39
Hamilton, Lady, model for many of
Romney's pictures ; mention of her

HOG
acting the ancient statues by Horace
Walpole, 295
Hamilton, Elizabeth, ' Memoirs of
Modem Philosophers ; ' ' Cottagers of
Glenburnie,' 63
Hamilton, Thomas, architect ; designed
the High School, Edinburgh, in the
Greek style, 250
Hanover, House of, accession, I
Hardwicke's, Lord, observation on
works in form of letters, 232
Hatfield House, II
Hawkes worth, Dr., the ' Adventurer,'
213
Hawksmoor, Nicholas, pupil of Sir
Christopher Wren, 239
Haydon, B. R. , historical painter, 349.
Personal failings ; ' Judgment of
Solomon ; ' ' Raising of Lazarus,'
350. His account of the disposition
of his pictures ; suicide, 351
Hayley, ' Life of Cowper,' 45
Hayward, Sir John, 27
Haywood, Eliza, ' Female Spectator ; '
the 'Parrot,' 211. News-letters, 211
Hazlitt, W., essays, &c., 224
Heber, Bishop, poems, 109
Henry, ' History of Great Britain,' 38
Herbert, Hon. and Rev. W. , ' Trans
lations from the Norse,' &c., 142
Heriot's Hospital, ii
Hibernian Academy, 403
Hill, Aaron, 'Zara;' ' Merope,' 182.
Hillyard, painter of water-colour minia
tures in reign of Elizabeth, 19
Hilton, William, historical painter, pur
chase by British Institution of picture
of ' Mary anointing the Feet of Jesus;'
' Rape of Europa,' and other pic
tures ; high character of his art ; bad
condition of his pictures, 352
History, few native writers of, before
Hume, Robertson, and Gibbon, 27
Hoadly, Dr., the ' Suspicious Hus
band,' 200
Hobhouse, Sir John C. (Lord Broughton),
' Joumey through Albania and other
Provinces of Turkey,' 234
Hogarth, attacked in ' North Briton,'
publislies portrait of Wilkes; and
portrait of 'the Braiser, Charles
ChurchiU,' &c., 81, 280. ; Illustra
tions of ' Don Quixote ; ' 'Gulliver's
Travels ; ' ' Hudibras ; ' ' Harlot's
Progress ; ' ' Rake's Progress,' 276.
' Marriage i la Mode ; ' best pictures
sold with difficulty ; ' Batfle of the
Pictures,' 277. ' Industry and Idle-

472

INDEX.

HOG
ness ; ' ' Beer Street and Gin Lane ; '
the ' Election ' series ; ' Modem Mid
night Conversation ; ' 'Strolling Ac
tresses Dressing in a Barn,' &c., 278.
Character of his art, 276, 280. Un
successful in historical painting ; por
traits of Mr. and Mrs. Garrick, &c.,
279. Hogarth's engraving, 277, 416
Hogg, 'Queen's Wake,' 142
Holbein, historical British portraits, 19
Holland, architect, 254
Holland House, 11
Hollinshed, Chronicles, 27
Home, John, ' History of the Rebellion
of 1745,' 39. ' Douglas,' 185. Plot
suggested from Percy's Reliques, 186.
Persecuted by the qhurch^courts (note),
186
Hook, Theodore, domestic novels, 7 1
Hoppner, John, portrait painter, friend
of Gifford, 334. Formidable com
petitor to Sir T. Lawrence ; his
works, 336
Horace, Satires and Odes, 79
Howard, Sir Robert, satirised by Buck
ingham in 'Rehearsal,' 174
Hudson, mannerism in painting, 20
Hughes, 'Siege of Damascus,' 183
Hume, David, 'History of England,'
29. Its character, 31. His politics,
30. Autobiography, 43. Essay on
' Simplicity and Refinement,' 183.
'Essays,' 221. Letters, 231
Hunt, Leigh, ' Legend of Florence,'
191. Essays, 224

IDLER,' the, 213
' Intelligencer,' weekly paper, by
Dr. Thonnas Sheridan and Swift,
plan of, 208

JACKSON, John, portrait painter,
excellent colourist, 336. Portraits
of Canova, Flaxman, &c. 337
Jacobite Ballads, in
James I., increased tendency to Italian
style in reign of, 1 1
James, G. P. R., histo^ic^I rgm^ncgs,
7Q
Jamieson, Scotch artist and pupil of
Rubens, 19
Jansen, historical British portraits, 19
Jeffrey, Lord, opinion pf novels of
commencement of 19th ceritui;'y, 63.
' Edinburgh Re vie>Y,' ? 18

KIN
Jenyns, Soame, contributions to the
'World,' 214
Jervas, mannerism in painting, 20
Johnson, Dr., scholai's life, 4. Influ
ence of Pope on his poetry, 8.
Praises 'Knolles' History of the
Turks,' 28. Lives of Savage, Sir
Thomas Bro^vn, Frederick the Great,
Roger Ascham ; ' Lives ofthe Poets,'
42. Life by Boswell, 43. Rasselas,
57. Translated into German, 58.
On Poetry of Pope, 73. ' London ;'
' Vanity of Human Wishes ;' imita
tions of Juvenal, 79. Prologue
spokenbyGarrick, 177, 182. 'Irene,'
183. ' Gentleman's Magazine,' 209.
'Rambler,' 2H, 222. 'Idler,' &c.,
213. 'Journey to the Western Is
lands,' 234
Johnson, James, ' Scot's Musical Mu
seum,' 100
Jones, George, R.A., painter of battle-
pieces, 360
Jones, Inigo, flourished in reigns of
James I. and Charles I.; Wilton
House, in Wiltshire, one of his best
designs, I2. Designs for palace of
Whitehall, 13
Jonson, Ben, plays, 174
Joseph, Samuel, busts and portrait sta
tues, 448
Junius, letters of, 226

KAUFFMAN, Angelica, 285, 332
Kean, actor, 188
Keats, his early training, 166. Inspira
tion from ancient mythology ; son
nets ; miscellaneous pieces ; reply to
a query of Leigh Hunt ; ' Why en
deavour after a long poem?' 167.
' Endymion ; ' ' Lamia ; ' ' Isabella,'
168. 'Eve of St. Agnes,' and other
pieces ; study of early English poets,
169. Treatment by ' Quarterly Re
view, ' 1 70. ' Ode on a Grecian Um, '.
171
Kelly, comedy of ' False Delicacy,'
201
Kemble, Johq, acting of, 187
Kent, William, architect, 241. Patro
nised by Earl of Burlington ; front
and cojo^made of Burlington House,
Piccadilly ; park front of Treasury
buildings at Whitehall, &c., of his
design; ridiculed by Hogarth, 241.
Landscape gardening, 246
I^inglake, ' Eothen,' 235

INDEX.

473

KNE
Kneller, historical British portraits, 19;
a falling off from the portraits of
Vandyke, 20
Knolles' ' History of the Turks,' 27
Knowles, Sheridan, 'Virginius,' 191.
'Hunchback,' 'Love-Chase,' &c.,
205
Knox, Dr. Vicesimus, 'Essays,' 'Win
ter Evenings,' &c., 218
Knox, ' History of the Reformation in
Scotland,' 28
Kotzebue, plays of, 188

LA GUERRE, ilorid allegories
painted on ceilings, &c., 17
Laing, David, authorship of Scottish
Ballads, in
Lamb, Charles, essays, 224
Lamb, Hon. William, 'Epilogue to
Pizarro,' 189
Lander, Richard and John, ' Journal of
an expedition to explore the course
and termination of the Niger, 236
Landscape painting, 298, 389
Landseer, Sir Edwin, his genius has
raised animal painting into a higher
region of art, 305
Lauder, Robert Scott, R.S.A., Scotch
painter ; works, 364
Lawrence, Sir T. , precocious talent ;
early portraits ; painter in ordinary
to the king, 337. Portraits of John
Kemble, Windsor portraits, &c. ,338-
9. His drawing superior to his
colouring, 338. His painting ad
mired on the Continent ; elected Pre
sident of Royal Academy ; assists in
formation of National Gallery, 340
Lawrence, Dr. French, ' Rolliad, Pro
bationary Odes for the Laureateship,'
109
Lee, ' Rival Queens, or the Death of
Alexander the Great,' 175
Leland 'History of Ireland,' 39
Lely, historical British portraits, 19.
Affectation in attitude; voluptuous
air in female portraits, 20
Leo the Tenth, Life by Roscoe, 44
Leyden, John, poetry, 142
Leslie, R.A., pupil of Royal Academy,
381. Works, their character, 382,
383
Lewis, M. G., 'Monk,' in manner of
Mrs. Radchffe, 60. 'Tales of Won
der,' 109
Lillo, strack out new path in tragedy,
183-4. ' George Bamwell,' 184.

MAC
' Fatal Curiosity ; ' ' Arden of Fever
sham,' 184-5
Lingard, ' History of England,' 39
Lister, fashionable novels, 71
Livingstone, Dr., Travels in Africa,
236
Lockhart, ' Life of Sir Walter Scott ; '
'Life of Burns,' 45. 'Valerius,'
70. Editor of ' Quarterly Review,'
219. ' Letters to his Kinsfolk by
Dr. Peter Morris,' 226
' London Magazine,' 224
' Lounger,' The, 217
Lovelace in ' Clarissa Harlowe,' drawn
from Lothario of Rowe's ' Fair Peni
tent,' 52
Lyttelton, Hon. George, Fielding's
' Tom Jones ' dedicated to, 3. 'His
tory of King Henry II. , ' 38
Lytton, Lord, Comedy of Walpole, 2.
Subjects of his novels, 72

MACAULAY, Lord, ' History of
England from the Accession of
James II.,' 41. Essays contributed
to 'Edinburgh Review,' 219
Macculloch, R.S.A., distinguished land
scape painter, 407, 408
Macdowell, Patrick, 458. Portrait busts
and statues ; his ideal sculpture,
459
Mackenzie, ' Man of Feeling ; ' ' Man'
of the World ; ' ' Julia de Roubigne ; '
beautiful story of La Roche, intro
ducing sketch of Hume, &c., 62.
Contributions to ' Mirror ' and
'Lounger,' 217
Mackenzie, Sir George Stewart, travels
in Iceland, 234
Mackintosh, Sir James, the ' Vindiciaa
GaUic£e,' 222
Macklin, ' Man ofthe World,' 200
Maclise, Daniel, R.A., works, 370.
Style ; fresco painting in Palace of
Westminster,37l. Method of stereo
chrome adopted, 372. ' Meeting of
Wellington and Blucher ;' ' Death of
Nelson,' 373
Macpherson, James, ' History of Great
Britain from the Restoration, 38.
' Ossianic poetry ; ' delighted the
first Napoleon, 92. His poetry
whether genuine ; testimony of Lady
Christian Grteme, 93
Macready, efforts to revive the better
days of the drama, 188

474

INDEX.

MAL
Malcolm, Sir John, ' History of Persia,'
39
Marlborough, ridiculed in Dr. Arbuth
not's parody, ' Law is a Bottomless
Pit, &c.,' 207
Marryatt, Captain, novels, 71
Martin, J., original genius, 401. 'Bel-
shazzar's Feast ; ' Sir David Wilkie's
remarks on ' Belshazzar ; ' works ;
compositions grand but exaggerated,
402
Mason, ' Life and Writings of Gray, '
45, 91. Poems ; Heroic Epistle to
Sir W. Chambers ; Odes to Sir
Fletcher Norton and others, 109.
' Elfrida ; ' ' Caractacus,' 183
Massinger, plays, 174. ' Fatal Dowry,'
180
Mathias, ' Pursuits of Literature ; ' 8,
108. Compliments Roscoe, 44
Maturin, Rev. R. C, 'Bertram,' igo
Maxwell, Sir W. Stirling, ' Cloister Life
ofthe Emperor Charles V.,' 32
McCrie, Dr. Thomas, ' Histories of the
Progress and Suppression of the Re
formation in Italy, and in Spain, ' 40
Medici, Lorenzo de, Life by Roscoe, 44
'Medley,' Addison and Steele chief
contributors to, 206
Melmoth, ' Letters on several Subjects
by Sir Thomas Fitzosbome,' 225
Mezzotinto engraving, 417, 418
' Microcosm,' the, 218
Middleton, Dr. Conyers, ' Life of
Cicero,' 42
Miller, his play of 'Mahomet,' 182
Milman, Rev. H., poems, 142. 'Fazio,'
190
Milton, in ' Treatise of Education ' cha
racterises poetry as distinguished from
logic, 73
' Mirror,' the, 217
Montagu, Lady M. W., letters, 229
Montgomery, james, poems, 109
Moore, Thomas, ' Life of Lord Byron ;'
Lives of Sheridan and Lord Edward
Fitzgerald, 45. 'Lallah Rookh,' 143.
Imbued with Orientalism ; its glitter
ing style, 143-4. 'Loves of the
Angels ; ' ' Irish Melodies ; ' other
poems, 145. Specimen of poet's
manner, 146. The ' Epicurean, ' 70.
Correspondence, 232
Moore, Edward, 'Zeluco,' 61. 'The
Gamester,' 185. Principal contri
butor to the ' World,' 214
Morier, ' Zohrab,' ' Ayesha,' and other
novels, 70

NOL
Morland, George, painter of homely
scenes and mstic landscapes, 302.
His animal-painting, 303. Opinion
of Sir David Wilkie on visiting pic
tures by Morland, 303. Pictures of
an ale house debauch, &c. ; paints in
prison ; death by fever ; Hassell's
anecdote of copies from his pictures,
304
Mortimer, J. H, , historical painter ;
Salvator Rosa-like manner, 323.
' Death on the Pale Horse ; ' ' Marius
among the Ruins of Carthage ; '
etchings, 324
Morton, ' Cure for the Heart-ache ; '
' Speed the Plough,' 204
Miiller, William, travels in Europe and
the East ; excellent pictures of groups
of figures and scenery ; works, 384
Mulready, William, R. A., a thorough
draughtsman ; his Academy studies,
378. Domestic subjects; estimate
of his painting, 379
Munro, Alexander, Scotch sculptor ;
his art and works, 457-8
Mure, Colonel, 'Journal of a Tour in
Greece and the Ionian Islands,' 234
Murphy, A., 'Way to keep Him;' 'All
in the Wrong,' 200
Mytens, historical British portraits, 19

NAPIER, Sir WiUiam, 'History
of the War in the Peninsula,'
40
Napier, Macvey, editor of ' Edinburgh
Review,' 218
Nash, architect, 254
Nasmyth, Alexander and Patrick,
paintings of mral scenery, &c., 404,
405
National Gallery, origin of, 340, 341
Neale, John Preston, ' Views of Coun
try Seats in England, Wales, Scot
land, and Ireland,' 243
'Necromancer,' the, 183
Nelson, Lord, Life by Southey, 44
' New Monthly Magazine,' 221
Nevrton, Gilbert Stuart, R.A., excel
lent colourist ; works, 380. Style,
&c., 381
Newton, Sir Isaac, statue by Roubiliac
at Cambridge, 23
Nightingale, Lady Elizabeth, monu
ment in Westminster Abbey by Rou
biliac, 23
NoUekins, Joseph, R.A., busts; po
etical statues, 421, 422. Studies in

INDEX.

475

NOR
Italy, 421. Modelling from nature,
422
Norman architecture, 10
Normanby, Marquis of, fashionable
novels, 71
'North British Review,' 221
Northcote, R.A., 330. Anecdote of
Pope and Reynolds,' 7. Painter of
historical subjects and portraits ;
' Murder ' and ' Burial of the Princes
in the Tower ; ' ' Death of Wat
Tyler,' 330
Novel writing, 47 et seq.
OLIVERS, the two, water-colour
miniatures, 19, 414
O'NeiU, Miss, 188
Opie, J., R.A., 330. His effective
style ; portraits ; historical composi
tions, 331
Orme, ' History of Transactions in
Hindostan,' 39
Otway, 'Orphan;' 'Venice Preserved,'
175
Owen, William, portrait painting, 336
Oxford University, attacked by Nicholas
Amhurst, 208
PAINTING in oils, British school
of, commenced with WiUiam
Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, and
Richard Wilson, 17, 275. Painting in
water-colours, 302, 393, 414
Palladian style of architecture in Eng
land, 9, 239, 240, 243, 252
Palladio, his school of architecture, 247
Panizzi, Mr., reading-room of British
Museum, 250
Park, Mungo, ' First and Second Travels
in Africa,' 236
Park, Patrick, Scotch sculptor, his
works, 449
Parr, Dr., compliments Roscoe, 44
•Parrot,' the, 211
Parry, narratives of expeditions con
ducted by, 236
Pennant, ' First and Second Tours in
Scotland,' 234
Pennethorne, Sir James, architect of
London University building in Bur
lington Gardens, 255
Percy, 'Reliques of Ancient English
Poetry,' ill
Phillip, John, R.A., student at Royal
Academy ; Scottish pictures, 386.
Residence in Spain ; Spanish pic
tures, 387-8. ' Marriage of the

PRI
Princess Royal ; ' character of his
paintings, 387
PhUlips, Ambrose, patronised by Go
vernment, 2. ' The Free Thinker,'
208
Phillips, T., R.A., careful portrait
painter and colourist; portraits of Lord
Byron and Sir Francis Burdett, 336
Pindar, Peter (Dr. John Wolcot), poems;
' Lyric Odes to the Royal Academi
cians,' 109, 289, 301, 333
Pinkerton, works on Scottish history, 39
Playfair, William, architect, 243. De
signed Royal Institution and Scottish
National Gallery, Edinburgh, in the
Grecian style, 251. Street architec
ture, 254
Poetry, characteristics of, 73- Decline
of classical, advance of romantic
school, 110. Causes influencing new
direction of poetical taste, in. In
fluence of study of German literature,
112
Pope, his school of poetry partly in
fluenced by Boileau, &c., 6. Sway in
the realm of letters, &c. , 7, 8. Curious
description of old country house in
letter to Lady M. W. Montague
(1718), 10. Epistle to Earl of Burling
ton, 244. Pupil of Jervas in portrait
painting ; friend and patron of Rich \
ardson, portrait painter, 20. ' Me
moirs of P. P., Clerk of this Parish,'
28. ' Pastorals or Eclogues,' 74.
' Essay on Criticism ; ' ' Messiah ; '
' Early imitation of Virgil,' 75.
' Windsor Forest ; ' ' Ode for music
on St. CeciUa's Day ; ' ' Elegy to the
Memory of an Unfortunate Lady ; '
' Rape of the Lock ; ' characterised
by Addison as merum sal, 76.
' Epistle of Eloisa to Abelard ; ' re
mark on himself and epistle ; trans
lation of Homer ; ' The Dunciad,'
allusion to, in Fielding's jeu d'esprit,
in Covent Garden Journal, 77. 'Essay
on Man ; ' ' Epistles ' to various per
sons ; two ' Dialogues ; ' his poetry
of two kinds, 1%. Warton's conclu
sion as to his poetry, 79- Prologue
to 'Cato,' 180. Letters, 228. Their
manner, 229
Porter, Sir Robert Ker, ' Travelling
Sketches in Russia and Sweden,' 234
Poussin, imitations of, by native artists,
18
Price, Sir Uvedale, ' Essays on the Pic
turesque;' 223, 245

476

INDEX.

PRI
Prior, Matthew, conducted negotiations
for treaty of Utrecht ; poems pub
lished by subscription, 2. 'Examiner,'
206
Procter (Barry Cornwall), poems, 142
' Public Ledger,' the, 216
Pugin, the elder, architect, 261
Pugin, the younger, architect, 261.
Assists Sir Charles Barry in decora
tion, external and internal, of Houses
of Parliament, 267, 268
Purdon, Edward, 4. Translated the
' Henriade,' 4
•/QUARTERLY REVIEW,' 219
RADCLIFFE, Mrs., 'Mysteries of
Udolpho ;' ' Romance of the
Forest ;' ' Italian, ' 60
Raeburn, Sir Henry, R.A., study of
Reynolds, 343. Portraits, their style,
344. Resemblance to Velasquez ;
knighted by George IV., 345
Raleigh, ' History ofthe World,' 27
' Rambler, '211
Ramsay, Allan, poems, 6. ' Gentle
Shepherd,' 86. Its popularity in
Scotland, London and Dublin ; how
it differed from the conventional style
of Pastoral and from ' Shepherd's
Week' cf Gay, 87
Ramsay, son of poet, portrait painter ;
portraits of George III. and Queen
Charlotte, &c., 21
Rapin, history continued by Tindal, 27
Reeve, Clara, 'Old English Baron,' 60
Repton, landscape gardening, 246
Revett, Nicholas, architect, visits
Greece ; drawings and measurements
of ancient monuments of Athens ; in
fluence on architectural studies, 248
Reynolds, Sir J., Life of, by North
cote, 7. Remark on Wren's plan
for rearranging the streets of London,
14. Contributed to the ' Idler,' 213.
Academical ' Discourses,' 223, 285.
Defective education in art, 280. Early
portraits, 281. His deservings in art;
first exhibition of pictures, 282. His
various portraits ; formation and
scheme of Royal Academy, 283.
Opening address, January 1 769, 284.
Whole length portraits of King and
Queen ; Somerset House ; early ex
hibitors, 285. Pictures from Dante
and Shakespeare ; of sacred history,
286. Female portraits ; portraits of

RUS
men ; observation on his art by Mr.
Burke ; ideal portraits ; portraits of
children, 288. Origin of picture of
' Babes in the Wood;' non-durability
of his colouring, 289. Principal
founder of British school of painting,
290. Influence on art, 333
Richardson, Samuel, ' Pamela, or Vir
tue Rewarded ;' ' History of Clarissa
Harlowe ;' ' Sir Charles Grandison,'
50, 53. How their epistolary form
originated, 51. Popularity in France ;
' Pamela ' ridiculed by Fielding in
' Joseph Andrews, 53- Correspond
ence, 231
Richardson, painter, mannerism, 20
Roberts, D. , R. A, painting of scenes for
stage, 409. Works, 410, 411. Travels
in Spain, Egypt, Syria, 410. Pictur
esque treatment of architectural views,
411
Robertson, Dr. William, ' History of
Scotland,' 31. 'History of Charles
V.,' 32. ' History of America,' 33
Rogers, ' Pleasures of Memory,' 8, 109.
Ode to superstition, 108. Italy, &c.
109
Romances, English, of 1 7th century, 47,
215
Romanesque architecture, 10
Romney, George, reputation as a
painter; his portraits, 293, 294.
Studies in Italy, 293. Execution
often slight ; Lady Hamilton, 294.
Pictures of Bacchantes, St. Cecilia,
&c. ; Flaxman's estimate of Romney,
295. Sonnet by Cowper in praise
of, 296
Roscoe, ' Life of Lorenzo de Medici ;'
' Life of Leo X. , ' 44
Roubiliac, best sculptor in England,
reign of George II. ; his works, 23
Rowe, N., patronised by Government,
2. ' Fair Penitent ' borrowed from
' Fatal Dowry ' of Massinger, 32.
'Jane Shore,' 180
Royal Academy established in 1769,
23, 283. Influence on progress of
sculpture in England, 24. Early ex
hibitors, 285. Located in Somerset
House, 285. In Trafalgar Square,
342. In Burlington House, 361
Runciman, John and Alexander, their
reputation in Scotland ; ' King Lear
in the Storm,' by John ; Alexander's
Ossian paintings ; master of school
of design at Edinburgh, 325
Ruskin, Mr., 252, 397

INDEX.

A77

RUS

Russell, Earl, Memoirs arid Corre
spondence of Moore, 232
Rysbrach, foreign sculptor in England,

SAINT PAUL'S, in the classic style,
second only to St. Peter's at
Rome, 14
Savage, Life by Dr. Johnson, 42
Scheemaker, sculptor in England, 22
Scottish Academy, 346
Scottish Gothc buildings, 10
Scottish National Gallery, 355
'Scots' Magazine,' the, 210
Scott, Sir Waher, ' History of Scot
land, ' in ' Tales of a Grandfather, '
40. Lives of Drj'den and Swift ;
' Life of Napoleon,' 45. Life by
Lockhart, 45. His novels and in
cognito, 66. ' Waverley,' ' Guy
Mannering ; ' ' Antiquary ; ' ' Rob
Roy ; ' ' Tales of my Landlord ; '
' Ivanhoe ; ' Jeffrey compares him
with Shakespeare ; Letter from Ab
botsford by Sir David Wilkie on
Scott family, 67. ' Monastery ; '
' Abbot ; ' ' Kenilworth ; ' ' Fortunes
of Nigel,' &c. ; character of his ro
mances and novels ; claim to origi
nality in historical novel, 68, 69.
His knowledge of human nature as
well as of history and tradition ;
influence of Waverley novels on the
writing of fiction, 69. Original pre
face to ' Antiquary,' 72. Translations
from the German, 148. Resem
blance between delineations in Gotz
von Berlichingen and Scott ; in
fluence of German ballads and Percy
coUection of baUads ; ' Border Min
strelsy ; ' ' Lay of the Last Minstrel,'
149. ' Marmion ; ' great popularity
of 'Lady of the Lake,' 150. Cha
racter of his poetry, 151. Essay on
'Landscape Gardening,' 224. Cor
respondence, 232
Scott, David, of Edinburgh, historical
painter of great but unequal merit ;
member of Royal Scottish Academy,
356. Vasco de Gama and other
works, 357
Sculpture, deficiency of native, in
England, tiU middle of i8th cen
tury ; good examples of early sculp
ture in cathedrals of WeUs, Lincoln,
&c. ; sepulchral monuments in United
' Kingdom by Italian, Flemish, French,

SOU
or English sculptors, 21. Rise and
progress of British sculpture, 23, 42 1 ,
Difficulties it has to encounter, 460.
Painting more attractive, 461. Skill
and capital required in sculpture ;
state patronage of sculptural art,
462
Shakespeare, statue by Roubiliac in
British Museum, 23. Historical
plays, 27. Painting from Shake
speare, 286, 327, 380. Revival of
dramas on stage, 187
Shaw, Dr. Thomas, ' Travels in Bar
bary and the Levant,' 235
Shee, Sir Martin, P.R.A., 341. Por
traits in crayon ; in oil, 341. Thea
trical portraits ; literary works, 342.
Estimate of Reynolds, 333. Of
Wilkie, 376
Shelley, Percy Bysshe, poetry, 162.
' Queen Mab ; ' 'Alastor, or the Spirit
of Solitude ; ' ' Revolt of Islam,' 163.
Mrs. Shelley's note to the ' Revolt,'
162. 'Beatrice Cenci;' 'Adonais;'
'Elegy on Death of Keats;* other
poems, 166
Sheridan, life by Moore, 45. ' Pizarro,'
189. The 'Duenna,' 198. The
'Rivals,' ' School for Scandal,' 202.-
Remarks on it, 203. 'Critic,' 204
Sheridan, Dr. Thomas, ' Intelligencer,'
208
Siddons, Mrs., as Mrs. Beverley in
' Gamester,' 185. As Lady Macbeth,
Isabella, Belvidera, 187
Simson, William, R.S.A., domestic
subjects and landscapes, 385, 406
Smirke, Robert, R.A., 310
Smirke, Sir Robert, architect of Bri
tish Museum, 250
Smith, Sydney, ' Edinburgh Review,'
218. ' Letters from Peter Plymley,'
226
Smith, George, landscapes in manner
of Claude, 299
Smith, J. and R., 'Microcosm,' 218
Smollett, Tobias, 4. ' Continuation of
Hume's History,' 37. His novels
and their character, 55, 56. The
' Critical Review,' 211
Soane, Sir John, architect of Bank of
England,' 249
Southerne, ' Fatal Marriage,' 175
Southey, ' History of Brazil,' 38.
' History of the Peninsular War,' 39.
' Life of Nelson,' 44. 'Life of Wes
ley,' 45. Poems ; ' Thalaba,' 136.
' Curse of Kehama,' 137. 'Roderick

478

INDEX.

SPE
last of the Goths,' 138. 'Vision of
Judgment,' 139
'Spectator,' 206, 210
Speke, Captain j. H., 'Journal of dis
covery of the source of the Nile in
the Lake Victoria-Nyanza,' 236
Spence, E. B., sculptor and pupil of
Gibson ; practised chiefly in Rome ;
his picturesque art, 457
Spencerian measure, 84, 95
Stanfield, C, R. A., scene painter for
theatres, 41 1. Sea pieces ; land
scapes ; works ; ' Peace and War,'
412. Character of his art, 413
Stanhope, Earl, ' History of England
from 1 701-1 7 13 ;' History of Eng
land from the Treaty of Utrecht, 42
Staunton, Sir George, ' Notes and Pro
ceedings during the British Embassy
to Pekin,' 235
Steele, patronised by Government, 2.
Dedication of ' Grief \ la Mode ' to
Countess of Albemarle ; of ' Con
scious Lovers' to George I., 3.
' Tender Husband ; ' 'Lying Lover,'
178. Improved moral tone of his
plays, 178-9. 'Tatler;' 'Guardian,'
206. ' Crisis,' 207
Steme, ' Tristram Shandy ; ' ' Senti
mental Joumey,' 56. Subjects from
them of pictures by masters of English
school, 57
Stothard, Thomas, R.A., painter and
designer for books, 306. Illustrations
for 'Novelist's Magazine;' 'Robinson
Crasoe,' &c. ; oil pictures, 307. Sel
dom painted from models ; ' Canter
bury Pilgrims; ' Staircase of Burleigh,
&c., 308. Wellington Shield, 309.
His style graceful but mannered, 308
Strange, Sir R., eminent engraver in
line ; engravings from the Italian
masters, 416. Plates, 417
Stuart, Dr. Gilbert, ' View of Society
in Europe,' 222
Stuart, James, architect ; visits Greece ;
drawings and measurements of an
cient monuments of Athens, 248
Stucco, use or rather abuse of stucco
in external decoration of houses, 255,
256
Swift, Dean, ' GuUiver's Travels ' and
other works, 6. Life by Sir W.
Scott, 45. Popularity of ' Gulliver's
Travels,' 50. Letter to Gay on
'Beggars' Opera,' 197. 'Examiner,'
206. ' Conduct of the Allies ; ' 'In
telligencer,' 208. Correspondence

TUR
during reigns of William III., Queen
Anne, &c. , 226. Letter to Secretary
St. John, 227. To Countess of
Orkney, 228
Syme, ' Embassy to the Kingdom of
Ava,' 23s
TATLER, the, 206, 210
Taylor, Sir Robert, architect,
242
Temple, Sir William, letters, 226
Tennant, ' Anster Fair,' 142
Tennyson, 122, 124, 170
Thackeray, subject of writings generally
middle or lower walks of life, 72
Theobald, ' Censor,' 207
Thomson, James, freedom from school
of Pope, 8. Patronised by Pope, 78.
' Seasons ; ' merit acknowledged by
Warton and Wordsworth, 82.
'Liberty;' ' Castle of Indolence,' 83.
Example of it, 84. In masque of
' Alfred ' is national anthem ' Rule
Britannia,' 84. ' Sophonisba,' 183
Thomson, ' CoUection of Original Scot
tish Airs ; ' plan subsequently adopted
with ' Irish Melodies,' 101
Thomson, Rev. J., of Duddingstone,
his landscape pictures, 406 ; their de
fect in durabiUty, 407. Engaged
with Turner to make drawings for
Sir W. Scott's 'Provincial Antiqui
ties of Scotland,' 407
Thomhill, Sir James, florid allegories
painted on ceilings, &c. , 1 7
Thomton, Bonnel, contributions to
' Connoisseur,' 216
Tickell, patronised by Govemment, 2
Tighe, Mrs., 'Psyche,' 142
Timbrell, Henry, Irish sculptor of
promise ; statue at Osborne executed
for the Queen, subject from ' Lallah
Rookh,' 448
Tobin, ' The Honeymoon,' 205
Townley, Rev. James, ' High Life
below Stairs ; ' opposition in Edin
burgh of footmen to the performance
of, 199
Townshend, John, Rolliad, &c. log
Tudor style of architecture, 10
Turner, Joseph M. W., R.A., early
attempts in water-colour, 393. Oil
paintings ; home and foreign travels,
394. More appreciated by Aca
demy than by the public ; his study
of nature, 394-5. Works, 395.
Change of manner ; engravings;
pictures in National Collection, 396-7

INDEX.

479

TUR
Turner, Sharon, histories of the Anglo-
Saxons and of England, 39
Tytler, ' Outlines of Universal History,'
39

VANBRUGH, Sir John, comedies,
'Provoked Husband,' 179, 195.
Built Blenheim and Castle Howard,
239. His peculiar merit, 240
Vandyke, historical British portraits, 19
Vanloo, portrait painter, 20
Verrio, florid allegories painted on
ceilings, &c., 17
Voyages and travels, 232-6

WAAGEN, Dr., opinion of sculp
ture in England in i8th cen
tury, 22
Walpole, Sir Robert, administration
unfavourable to literature, 5 5 down
fall of administration hastened by
attacks of wits, his enemies, 5
Walpole, Horace, ' Castle of Otranto,'
58. Letter to Rev. Mr. Cole, on origin
of 'Castle of Otranto,' 59. 'Myste
rious Mother,' 186. Contributions to
the 'World,' 214. 'Anecdotes of
Painting in England,' 223. Ex
celled in letter-writing; his letters,
231. Essay on modem gardening,
245. Strawberry HiU, 260
Warburton, Eliot, 'The Crescent and
the Cross,' 235
Ward, James, R.A., animal painter;
' Aldemey BuU,' 305
Warton, Dr. Joseph, critic and poet,
93. ' Essay on the Genius and
Writingsof Pope,' 73, 221. Classes
him above Dryden, 79. Odes, 93.
Literary disquisitions in 'Adven
turer,' 213
Warton, Thomas, poetry ; ode addressed
to his brother Joseph, 93. Contri
butions to the ' Idler,' 213
Water-colour Drawing, 414, 415. Es
tablishment in 1805 of Society of
Painters in, 415
Watson, ' Histories of Philip II. and
PhiUp III. of Spain,' 39
Watson, George, President of Scottish
Academy ; portrait painter, 346
Watson, Musgrave L., studies under
Flaxman and at Rome ; his works,
447
Webster, dramas, 174
Wesley, Ufe by Southey, 45

WOO
West, Benjamin, P. R. A., 313. His
' Death of Wolfe ' effects change in
historical costume, 314. Patronage of
George III., 315. Works, 315.
Their character, 316
Westmacott, Sir Richard, R.A., art
studies under Canova ; monumental
sculpture; principal works, 436.
Poetic sculpture ; relievos, 437
Wharton, Duke of, the 'Trae Briton,'
208 ; gift to Dr. Young, 88
' Whig Examiner,' chief contributors
Addison and Steele, 206
White, Henry Kirke, poems, 109
Wilkes, assisted by Churchill, writes in
'North Briton,' which wages war
against Hogarth, 81
Wilkie, Sir David, R.A., letter to
Mr. Phillips, portrait painter, on
' Blue Boy,' 291. His earlier works,
375-7; change in style, 377, 358;
residence in Italy and Spain, 358.
Works, 359, 377. Style of art,
359. 374. 375- Paintings classed
with the Dutch school, 376
Wilkins, architect, 249, 255
Wilks, actor, 183
WiUiams, H. W. , water-colour pictures
of Grecian scenery, 414
Wilson, Andrew, landscapes ; Italian
scenery, 405. Attends the First
Napoleon at an inspection of works
of modem artists at Genoa, 405
WUson, John, marine painter, one of
the founders of Suffolk Street Society
of British Artists. Associated with
Roberts and Stanfield in scene
painting at theatres, 409
WUson, John, ' Isle of Palms ;' ' City
of the Plague ;' ' Moral Lectures ;'
' Blackwood's Magazine,' 141
Wilson, Richard, picture of ' Niobe ;'
study and practice in Italy ; ' Lake
Avemus,' 299. Not appreciated in
England; 'Rome from the Villa
Madama ;' member of the Academy ;
character of his art, 300. Tardy
recognition of his merit, 301
Windhus, 'Joumey to Mequinez' for
redemption of British captives, 235
Wissing, painter of life-sized portraits,
20
Wolcott (Peter Pindar), 109
Wollaton, II
Wood, illustrations of Palmyra and
Balbec, 247
Woollett, line engraver of landscapes,
417

48o

INDEX.

WOR
Wordsworth, new school of poetry,
no, 113. 'Evening Walk;' 'Des
criptive Sketches;' ' Lyrical Ballads;'
theory upon which they were written,
1 14. General character of his poetry,
117. The 'Excursion,' 118. Criti
cism of ' Edinburgh Review ' upon
it, 121. ' Prelude ' and shorter
pieces, 118, 119, 124. Letter to
Professor Reed, alluding to the re
marks of Tennyson upon him
(Wordsworth), 122. Sonnets, 123.
Appointment to the Laureateship —
official letter from Sir R. Peel ; ode
upon the installation of H. R. H.
Prince Albert as Chancellor of Cam
bridge, 125
Wordsworth, Dr. Christopher, memoirs
of William Wordsworth, 113
'World,' the, 214
Wren, Sir Christopher, rebuilding of
St. Paul's, 13. Fifty-one churches
erected under his care, 14. Doubt
ful success of his steeples and some
of his lesser churches ; library of
Trinity College, Cambridge ; Green
wich Hospital, &c., 15. Death in
reign of George I.; Disputes with
Cathedral Commissioners ; super-

YOU
seded in his patent for office of
Surveyor of Royal Buildings; remark
of his son in the ' Parentalia;' Wren
commemorated by Pope in the
'Dunciad,' 16. His inattention to
rules and detail of Gothic art, 15, 260
Wyatt, James, architect, designed
Fonthill Abbey, 261
Wyatt, R. J. , sculptor, 444. Studies hi
Canova's studio at Rome ; under
Thorwaldsen ; refinement of manner;
female figures his forte ; opinion of
Gibson on his works, 445. Com
mission from the Queen for ' Pene
lope ; ' his style of art, 446
Wycherley, comedies, 175

YOUNG, actor, 188
Young, Arthur, 'Tour in Ire
land; ' ' Tour in France,' 234
YOUNG, Rev. Dr. Edward, pension
under Walpole, 2. Dedications, 3.
His poetry ; ' Universal Passion,' 87;
'Last Day;' 'Force of Religion;'
' Night Thoughts ;' present from
Duke of Wharton — human skull
with light set in it, 88. His tragedy
of 'Revenge,' 183

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Fine Arts and Illustrated Editions 1 1
HiSTOET, Politics, and Historical
Memoirs  1

Index  21—24
Miscellaneous Woeks and Populae
Metaphtsios  6
Natueax History & Populae ScrENOE 8
Pjeeiodioal Publications  20
Pobtey and The Drama  18
Religious and Moral WoEKs  14.
EuEAL Spoets, &c  19
Teavels, Voyages, &e  10
Works of Fiction  17
Works of Utelitt and Geneeal
Infoemation  20

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INDEX.

Acton's Modern Cookery  20
Aloock's Residence iu Japan  16
Allies on Formation of Christendom  14
Allen's Discourses of Chrysostom  14
Alpine Guide (The)  16
 Journal  2C
Althaus on Medical Electricity  10
Arnold's Manual of English Literature . , 6
Aenott's Elements of Physics  S
Arundines Cami  18
Autumn Holidays of a Country Parson — 6
Ayee'b Treasury of Bible Knowledge  14
Bacion's Essays by Whately  6
 Life and Letters, by Spedding , . 4
 "Works  5
Bain's Mental and Moral Science  7
 on the Emotions and "Will  7
 on the Senses and Intellect  7
 on the Study ot Character  7
Ball's Guide to the Central Alps  16
 Guide to the Western Alps  16
.  Guide to the Eastern Alps  16
Baring's Staff College Essays  6
Bayldon's Rents and Tillages  13
Beaten Tracks  16
Beckie'b Charicles aud Gallus  ? 17
Benpey's Sanskrit-English Dictionary .... 6
Beenaed on British Neutrality  1
Berwick's Forces of the Universe  8
Black's Treatise on Brewing  20
Blackley's Word-Gossip  7
 German-English Dictionary , , 6
BiACKiE and GossE's Poems  18
Blaine's Eural Sports  19
 Veterinary Art  19
Bouene on Screw Propeller  13
 's Catechism of the Steam Engine . , 13
 Examples of Modern Engines 13
 Handbook of Steam Engine  13
 Treatise on the Steam Engine  13
 Improvements in the same  13
BowDLEE's Family Shakspeare  18
Beamley-Mooee's Six Sisters ofthe "S'alley 17
Beande's Dictionary of Science, Literature,
andArt  ¦  '»
Beay's (0,) Education of the Feelings . . , , ;
,  . — Philosophy of Necessity  7
 On Force  7
Browne's Exposition of the 39 Articles , , , , 13
Beunel's Life of Beunel  3
Buckle's History of Civilisation  2
Bull's Hints to Mothers  20
 Maternal Management of Children . . 20
BuNSEN's God in History  3
 Memoirs  4

Bunsen (E, Do) on Apocrypha  15
 's Keys of St, Peter  15
BuEKE's Vicissitudes of Families  4
Burton's Christian church  3
 Vikrara aud the Vampire  .17
Cabinet Lawyer  20
Caxveet's Wife's Manual  16
Caee's Sir E, Whittington  18
Gates's Biographical Dictionary  4
Cats and Faelie's Moral Emblems  12
Changed Aspects of Unchanged Truths  6
Chesney's Euphrates Expedition  17
 Indian Polity  2
 . Waterloo Campaign  2
Chesney's and Reeve's Military Essays , , 2
Child's Physiological Essays  11
Chorale Book for England  11
Clough's Lives from Plutarch  2
CoLENSO (Bishop) on Pentateuch and Book
of Joshua  11
Commonplace Philosopher in Town and
Country  6
Conington's Translation of Virgil's .aSneid 18
Contanseau's Two French Dictionaries , , 6
CoNYBEAEEaiidHowsoN'sLife and Epistles
of St, Paul  13
Cooper's Surgical Dictionary  10
Copland's Dictionary of Practical Medicine 11
Cotton's (Bishop) Life  3
Coulthart's Decimal Interest Tables , , , . 20
Counsel and Comfort from a Cily Pulpit ,, 6
Cox's (G, "W,) Aryan Mythology  3
 Tale of the Great Persian "War 2
 Tales of Ancient Greece — 17
Cox's (T.) Poems  18
Ceesy's Eneyclopsedia of Civil Engineering 13
Critical Essays of a Country Parson  6
Ceookes on Beet-Root Sugar  13
Culley's Handbook of Telegraphy  12
CuSACK's Student's History of Ireland . , , , 2
D'AUBIGN^'S History of the Reformation in
the time of Calvin  2
Davidson's Introduction to New Testament 14
Dead Shot (The), by Marksman  19
De la Rive's Treatise on Electricity  8
Denison's Vice-Regal Life  1
De TocftUEViLLE's Democracy in America , 2
Diseaeli's Lothair  17
 Novels and Tales  17
Dobson on the Ox  19
Dove's Law ot Storms  8
Doyle's Fairyland  11
Dyee's City of Rome  2

•22

NEW WORKS published by LONGMANS and CO.

Eastlake's Hints on Household Taste , , , . 12
 History of Oil Painting ,,..,, 11
 ^ Life of Gibson  11
Edinburgh Review  20
Edmunds's Names of Places  7
Elements ot Botany  9
Ellicott's Commentary on Ephesians , , , . 14
.  Lectures on Life of Christ .... 14
 Commentary on Galatians , , , . 14
 Pastoral Epist. 14
 Phihppians,&c. 14
.  Thessalonians 14
BWAID's History of Israel  14

Fatebaien's Apphcation of Cast and
"Wrought Iron to Building  .'  12
 Information for Engineers , , , , 12
 .  Treatise on MiUs and Millwork 12
 Iron Shipbuilding  13
Faraday's Life and Letters  4
Eaeeae's Chapters on Language  5
 Families ot Speech  7
Felkin on Hosiery & Lace Manufactures, , 13
Fennel's Book of the Roach  19
Feoulkes's Christendom's Divisions  15
FiTZWYGEAM on Horses and Stables  19
Forres's Earls of Granard  4
Fowler's CoUieries and CoUiers  20
Francis's Fishing Book  19
Feasee's Magazine  20
Feesepield's Travels in the Caucasus , , , , 16
Feoude's History of England  1
 Short Studies  7
Ganot'b Elementary Physics  8
Giant (The)  17
Gilbeet's Cadore  16
.  and Churchill's Dolomites  16
Gietin's House I Live In  11
Gledstone's Life of Whitepield  3
Goddard's Wonderful Stories  17
Goldsmith's Poems, Illustrated  18
Gould's Silver Store  7
Geaham's Book About Words  B
Grant's Ethics of Aristotle  B
 Home Politics  2
Graver Thoughts of a Country Parson  6
Gray's Anatomy  11
Greenhow on Bronchitis , ,  10
Grove on Correlation of Physical Forces , , 9
Gueney's Chapters of French History , , . , 2
Gwilt's Encyclopaidia of Architecture , , , , 12

Hampden's (Bishop) Memorials  3
Hare on Election of Representatives  B
Haetwig's Harmonies of Nature  9
 Polar World  9
 Sea and its Living Wonders , , , , 9
 Tropical World  9
Haughton's Manual of Geology  9
Heeschel'b Outlines of Astronomy  8
Hewitt on the Diseases of Women  10
Hodgson's Time and Space  7
.  Theory of Practice  7
Holmes's Surgical Treatment of Children,, 10

Holmes's System of Surgery  10
Hooker and Waxkee-Aenott's British
Flora  9
HoRNE's Introduction to the Scriptures , . 14
 Compendium of the Scriptures , , 14
How we Spent the Summer  16
Howitt's Australian Discovery  16
 Northern Heights of London , , , . 16
 Eural Life of England  16
 Visits to Remarkable Places , , , , 17
HiJBNEE's Pope Sixtus  3
Hughes's Manual of Geography  8
Hume's Essays  7
 Treatise on Human Nature  7
ISNE's History of Rome  2
INGELOW'S Poems  18
'  Story of Doom  18
 Mopsa  18

Jameson's Legends of Saints and Martyi's , . 12
 Legends of the Madonna  12
 Legends of the Monastic Orders 12
 Legends of the Saviour  12
Johnston's Geographical Dictionary  8
JuKEB on Second Death  15
 on Types of Genesis  15
Ka.lisch'3 Commentary on the Bible  5
 Hebrew Grammar  5
Keith on Destiny of the World  14
 Fulfilment of Prophecy  14
Keel's Metallurgy, by Ceookes and
EOHEIG  13
KiKBY and Spence's Entomology  9
Latham's English Dictionary  5
 Elver Plate  8
Lawloe's Pilgrimages in the Pyrenees , , , , 16
Becky's History of European Morals  3
 Eationalism  3
Leisure Hours iu Town  6
Lessons of Middle Age  6
Le'WBS's Biographical History of Philosophy 3
Lewis's Letters  4
Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon 6
 Abridged ditto  6
Life of Man Symbolised  12
— ' — Margaret M, Hallahan  14
Lindley and Moore's Treasury of Botany 9
Lindsay's Evidence for the Papacy  14
Longman's Edward the Tliird  2
 Lectures on History of England 2
 Chess Openiugs  20
Lord's Prayer Illustrated  11
Loudon's Encyclopaedia of Agriculture , , , , IS
 Gardening  13
 —  Plants  9
Lowndes's Engineer's Handbook  12
Lubbock's Origin^f Civilisation  9
Lyra Eucharistica  15
 Germanica  11, 15
 Messianiea  15

NEW WORKS PUBLISHED by LONGMANS and CO.

23

Lyra Mystica  15
Macaulay's (Lord) Essays  , 3
 History of England , . 1
 Lays of Ancient Eome 18
-^  *^ — Miscellaneous Writings 7
 '-  Speeches  5
 "Works  1
Macpaeren's Lectures on Harmony  11
MACLEOD'S Elements of Political Economy 6
 Dictionary of Political Economy 6
 Elements of Banking  19
 Theory and Practice of Banking 19
McOullooh's Dictionary of Commerce , , , , 19
 Geographical Dictionary , , , , 8
Maguire's Life of Father Mathew  4
 Pius IX  14
Maxet's Overthrow of Germanic Confede
ration  ,  2
Manning's England and Christendom ,,,, IB
Maecet on the Larynx  11
Maebhall'b Physiology  11
Makshman's History of India  2
 Life of Havelock  4
Majrtineau's Endeavours after the Chris
tian Life  IS
Masbingeeed's History ot the Eeformation 3
Matheson's England to Delhi  16
Maundee's Biographical Treasury  4
 Geographical Treasury  8
 Historical Treasury  3
 Scientific and Literary Treasury 1 0
 Treasury of Knowledge ,'j  20
 5^^ Treasury of |fatural History^,, 9
May's Constitutional History of England, , 1
Melville's Dig% Grand  17
—  General Bounce  17
 Gladiators  17
 Good«r Nothing  17
 HolmbyHouse  17
 Interpreter  17
 Kate Coventry  '  17
 Queen's Maries  17
Mendelssohn's Letters  4
Meeiv ALE'S Fall of the Eoman Republic , . 2
 Eomans under the Empire 2
Mereipield and Evers's Navigation , . , . 8
Miles on Horse's Foot and Horse Shoeing , 19
 on Horses' Teeth and Stables  19
Mill (J.) on the Mind  5
Mill (J. S,) on Liberty  4
 Subjection of Women  4
 on Eepresentative Government 4
 on Utilitarianism  4
 's Dissertations and Discussions  4
 Political Economy  *
Mill's System of Logic  °
 Hamilton's Philosophy  *
 Inaugural Address at St, Andrew's , 4
Miller's Elements of Chemistry  10
 Hymn Writers  15
Mitchell's manual of Architecture  12
 Manual of Assaying  W
MoNSELL's Beatitudes  JS
 His Presence not his Memory, . IB
 'Spiritual Songs'  15
Moore's Irish Melodies  1°
 LaUaRookh  1°
 Journal and Correspondence , . , , i
 1- Poetical Works  1^
 (Dr, G,) Power of the Soul over
theBody  ^^

Morell's Elements of Psj-chology  7
Moeell's Mental Philosophy  7
MijLiiEE'B (Max) Chips from a German
Workshop  7
 ijfe- Lectures on the Science of Lan
guage  5
 (K. O.) Literature of Ancient
Greece  2
MUECHISON on Liver Complaints  11
Muee's Language and Literature of Greece 2
New Testament Illustrated with Wood En
gravings from the Old Masters  12
Newman's History of his Religious Opinions 4
Nightingale's Notes on Hospitals  20
Nilsson's Scandinavia  9
Noethoote's Sanctuary of the Madonna , , 14
Noethcott on Lathes and Turning  12
Noeton's City of London  16
Notes on Books  20
Odling's Animal Chemistry  10
 Course of Practical Chemistry , , 10
 Manual of Chemistry  10
 Lectures on Carbon  10
 Outlines of Chemistry  10
O'Flanagan's Irish Chancellors  4
Our Children's Story  17
Owen's Comparative Anatomy and Physio
logy of Vertebrate Animals  9
 Lectures on the Invertebrata  9
Packe's Guide to the Pyrenees  16
Paget's Lectures on SurgicarPathology , , 10
Peeeiea's Manual of Materia Medica  11
Perkins's Italian and Tuscan Sculptors , , 12
Pewtnee's Comprehensive Specifier  20
Pictures in Tyrol  16
Piesse's Art of Perfumery  13
 Chemical, Natural, and Physical Magic 13
Ponton's Beginning  9
Peatt's Law of Building Societies  20
Peendeegasi's Mastery of Languages — 6
Peescoit's Scripture Difficulties  14
Present-Day Thoughts, by A, K, H, B  6
Proctoe'b Handbook of the Stars  8
 Saturn  8
 Other Worlds than Ours  8
 Sun  8
Rae's Westward by Rail  16
Recreations of a Country Parson  6
Eeiohel's See of Rome  14
Eeilly's Map of Mont Blanc  16
Eeimann on Aniline Dyes  13
Eeynoldb's Glaphyra  18
Eiley's Memorials of London  16
Ei"VEEs'S Eose Amateur's Guide  9
Robbins's Cavalry Catechism  19
EoGEEb'b Correspondence of Greyson  7
 Eclipse of Faith  1
 Defence of Faith  7
Roget'B Thesaurus of English Words and
Phrases  6
Eoma Sotterranea  16

NEW WORKS puslished by LONGMANS and CO.

RoNALDS's PJy-Fisher's Entomology  19
Rose's Loyola  14
Rothschild's Israelites  _,  14
Eowton's Debater  .^¦•.. 6
Rule's Karaite Jews  14
Russell on Government and Constitution 1
.  's (Earl) Speeches and Despatches 1

Sandars's Justinian's Institutes  • 5
Scott's Lectures on the Fine Arts —  * 11
 Albert DUrer  II
Seebohm'b Oxford Eefovmers of 1498  2
Sewell's After Life  17
 Glimpse of the World  17
 History of the Early Church  3
 Journal of a Home Life  17
 Passing Thoughts on Eeligion , . 15
 Poems of Bygone Tears  18
 Preparation for Communion  IB
 Principles of Education  IB
 Headings for Confirmation  15
 Readings for Lent  15
 . Examination for Confirmation . , 15
 Stories and Tales  17
 Thoughts for the Age  15
 Thoughts for the Holy Week  IB
Shakspeare's Midsummer Night's Dream,
illustrated with Silhouettes  12
Shipley's Four Cardinal Virtues  14
 Invocation of Saints  15
Short's Church History  • 3
Smart's Walker's English Dictionaries ,", 5
Smith's ( Southwood) Philosorfiy of Health , 20
 (J.) Paul's Voyage anci Sliipwreck 14
 (Sydney) Lire and Letters  3
 m Miscellaheous Works , , 7
 Wit and Wisdom  7
Southey's Doctor  5
 Poetical Works  - 18
Stanley's History of British Birds  9
Stebbing's Analysis of Mill's Logic  B
Stephen's Ecclesiastical Biography  4
 Playground of Europe  16
Stirling's Secret of Hegel  7
 ¦  Sir William Hamilton... — 7
Stonehenge on the Dog  19
 on the Greyhound  19
Strickland's Tudor Princesses  4
 Queens of England  4
Strong and Free  7
Sunday Afternoons at the Parish Church of
a Scottibh University City  C
Taylor's History of India  2
 (Jeremy) Works, edited by Eden 15
Thielw all's History of Greece  2
Thomson's Conspectus  II
 Laws of Thought  B
Three Weddings  17

Todd (A.) on Parliamentary Government . , 1
 and Bowman's .inatomy and Pliy-
siology of Man  11
Trench's lerne  17
 Realities of Irish Life  2
Trollope's Barchester Towers  '.  17
 Warden  17
Twiss's Law of Nations  19
Tyndall's Diamagnetism  8
 Faraday as a Discoverer  4
 Lectures on Electricity  9
 Lectures on Light  8
 Lectures on Sound  8
 Heat a Mode of Motion;  8
.  . — Essays on the Imagination in
Science  9
Uncle Peter's Fairy Tale  18
Ure's Dictionary ot Arts, Manufactures, and
Mines  12
Van Dee Hoeven's Handbook of Zoology, , 9
Visit to my Discontented Cousin  17
Wareurton's TT anting Songs  18
Watson's Principles and Practice of Physio 10
Watts's Dictionary of Chemistry  10
Webb's Objects for Common Telescopes , , , . 8
Webster & Wilkinson's Greek Testament 14
Wellington's Life, by Gleig  4
West on Children's Diseases  10
 ^n Nursing Children  «i " • ' ¦ ^^
WhatEly'b English Synonymes  5
 Logic  .'  5
 Rhetoric  j-.  5
White and Eiddle's LatitlDictionarios , , 0
WiLCOCKS's Sea Fishermai*v  • * • * 19
Williams's Aristotle's Ethics  **,, S
 History of Wales  1
Williams ®ii Climate of Soutli of France, , 10
 Consumption  11
Willich's Popular Tables  20
Willis's Principles of Mechanism  12
Winslow on Light  8
Wood's (J. G.) Bible Animals  9
 Homes witliout Hands  9
 (T.) Chemical Notes  10
Woodward and Catee's Encyclopedia , , 3
Yaedley's Poetical Works  1&
Tonge'b History of Englaud  1
 E nglish-Greek Lexicons  6
 Two Editions of Horace  IS
Youatt on the Dog  19
 on the Horse  19
Zellee's Socrates  3
 Stoics, Epicureans, and Sceptics . , 3
Zigzagging amongst Dolomites  16

erOTTISWOODE AND CO., PRlNXERS, KEW-STREET SQUABE, L0XDO5.

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