the medical professorship of Gresham College. In 1693 he was chosen a Fellow of the Royal Society; in 1695 was created-M.D. by Archbishop Tenison; in the following year was honoured with the same degree by the University of Cambridge; and in 1702, às the climax of his professional distinctions, was received into the College of Physicians.

Woodward was a naturalist and an antiquary, as well as a doctor. In 1695 he published An Essay towards a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies, particularly Minerals; as also of the Sea, Rivers, and Springs; with an Account of the Universal Deluge, and of the Effects which it had upon the Earth.' This was a very crude and defective work, as far as the philosophy of the subject was involved; but it was illustrated by many curious facts and observations collected by the author during some patient journeys he made into different parts of the island, previous to the composition of his book. It was criticised and canvassed with asperity; but obtained, nevertheless, some reputation in letters. Soon after he purchased an antique shield, which was cut in the concave with an engraving supposed to represent Camillus and the Gauls at Rome. This curiosity excited great disquisition amongst the profound in such matters. It was honoured with a Latin dissertation by Dodwell, and handled as a fertile instrument of satire by the wits. But Woodward was not to be deterred from such researches by ridicule or doubts; for he afterwards printed 'Letter to Sir Christopher Wren, containing an Account of some Roman Urns and other Antiquities digged up near Bishopsgate; with brief Reflexions upon the present and antient State of London.' Finding the objections to his History of the Earth still enforced, he next sent forth a Latin volume, in 8vo. entitled Naturalis Historia Telluris, illustrata et aucta: accedit Methodica Fossilium in classes distributio-The Natural History of the Earth, illustrated and enlarged; to which is added, a Methodical Distribution of Fossils into classes. In 1718 he returned to medical subjects, and published The State of Physic and Diseases, with an Enquiry into the cause of the late Increase of them, but more particularly of the Small-pox; with Considerations upon the new Practice of Purging for that Disease. To the whole is premised an idea of the Nature and Mechanism of Man, and the

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Disorders to which it is obnoxious, and of the Method of rectifying them. It was in this work that those censures upon Dr. Freind's practice, with regard to the small-pox, were contained, which led to the controversy noticed in the sketch of the latter gentleman.

Woodward was speculative and opiniative in the extreme, and this last performance may be taken as a criterion of his peculiarities. In it he advanced a notion that the bile and its salts reabsorbed into the blood, were the true causes of animal life, and that their fermentations in the stomach bred all diseases. From this he deduced two universal remedies-emetics to dislodge the morbid bile, and oily medicines to correct it. Another of his notions was, that life is inherent not in the nerves, but in the blood, an hypothesis in favour of which he laboured through many experiments.

Dr. Woodward died of a decline in his apartments at Gresham College, in the 63rd year of his age. Though rather unhappy in his medical opinions, he enjoyed a considerable reputation as a naturalist. His cabinet of fossils was so highly valued, that a catalogue of its contents was published in two volumes, 8vo. after his death. This collection he bequeathed to the University of Cambridge, with all his personal property, for the purpose of establishing a lectureship upon any subject which could be derived from his own works. Whatever degree of generosity there was in this legacy, it was certainly balanced by the vanity of the conditions upon which it was granted.

489

HENRY FUSELI, R. A.

WERE the English people destitute of native talent for the fine arts, they might take no mean credit to themselves for the generous manner in which they have fostered and enriched foreign painters, sculptors, and musicians. Vandyke, Rubens, Scheemakers, Roubilliac, Lutherbourg, and Handel, are names memorable amidst a host of rivals who added to their fame, and principally established their fortunes in England. West drew his first breath and received his earliest impressions in another land, and Henry Fuseli was born at Zurich. The time of his birth - has been variously stated: by some it has been made so distant as the year 1739, and by others so recent as 1742: the former date, however, seems to be generally preferred. His father, John Caspar Fuessli, for such was the family name, prosecuted the profession of a landscape and portrait painter with repute; and young Henry showed early symptoms of partiality for the pursuit in which he subsequently became so distinguished: yet a determination was formed to educate him for the Church. Why it was ever attempted to pervert this predestination for the paternal art, as no one has recounted, it were not now easy to explain. We only know that he was entered at the Humanity College of Zurich with a view to holy orders, and there exhibited a promising earnest of original spirit and decided ability.

It was at this period that he formed a first acquaintance with the well-known Lavater, who was a fellow-student, and the following was the first occasion upon which the two friends distinguished themselves. A leading magistrate of Zurich, who had grossly misconducted himself in a judicial case, was rash enough to try and hush the matter up by the influence of great wealth and high connexions. The affair, however, became a matter of much

conversation, and Fuseli and Lavater had the courage to write a pamphlet conjointly, which compelled the superior authorities to take cognisance of a glaring insult upon the purity of justice. The offender fled from investigation, but an enmity was excited against the zealous students, which so greatly annoyed them, that they found it prudent to leave the University with a degree of A. M., and proceed first to Vienna, and then to Berlin, where they studied awhile under Professor Sulzer, and learned to speak English.

At this period Klopstock, Wieland, and others, were enjoying a brilliant sunshine of poetical reputation, which is said to have inspired the vivid Fuseli with a spirit of emulation, the fruits of which, though fondly cultivated to a late period of his life, are but little known, as they were always confined to the numbers of his native tongue. When eighteen, he made a tour through the German states, in company with Lavater, whose discernment was signally exercised upon his school-fellow. When the moment of their separation arrived, he put a slip of paper, beautifully framed and glazed, into Fuseli's hand, and warmly pressing it, exclaimed-" Hang that up in your bedroom, my dear friend, and I know what will be the result." That result was, indeed, a happy one in every respect: Fuseli, in the issue, became a man of fame, and continued the friend of Lavater while life gave them a link by which to hold together. The inscription, however, on this piece of paper must not be forgotten : it was-" Do but the third part of what you can do."

Before he was yet of age, and still undecided in a pursuit, Fuseli was fortunate enough to obtain an introduction to Sir Robert Smith, then British Ambassador at the Court of Berlin, who noticed the talents of the doubtful student, and recommended him to establish himself in London, as a literary agent between Germany and England. Encouraged by the prospects thus opened to him, he came over to this country in 1762, and after acting as tutor to a nobleman's son, secured an intimacy with many of the most distinguished men in arts and literature. Amongst this number was Sir Joshua Reynolds, who soon penetrated the bent of his inherent vigour, and, in all probability, fixed it firmly in the mould for, on one occasion, when, as he used to tell the story himself, Fuseli was still speculating upon the great question of a

livelihood, he took some drawings to Sir Joshua, and candidly asked him whether he thought the hand that sketched them had any chance of success as an artist. The President, it seems, was much struck with the conception and power they displayed, for he emphatically replied, "Young man, were I the author of these drawings, and offered ten thousand a year not to practise as an artist, I would reject the temptation with contempt." It is to be observed that Fuseli had previously attracted notice as an author, by publishing Reflexions on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks,' and a defence of Rousseau against the attack of Voltaire.

Being now resolved to devote his whole time to painting, he offered to the public his first picture, Joseph interpreting the Dreams of the chief Butler and Baker.' The better to accomplish himself for success, he set out on a journey to Italy in 1770, with Dr. Armstrong, the poet, whom he had intimately known for some time previous. Driven ashore by the fury of a tempest at Genoa, the votaries of the twin sisters proceeded directly to Rome, where Fuseli commenced that acquaintance with the great works of Michael Angelo, which at a first review struck so deep an impression upon his mind, and continued ever after to fill him with the enthusiasm of admiration. The contrast between this preference and that of his contemporary West, is peculiarly distinctive of the genius of the two men. West at first was disappointed with Raphael, and, though he soon reverted to a proper estimate of that superior master's excellence, always undervalued his rival. Fuseli's performances soon began to rise into high repute: he protracted his residence at Rome to the length of seven or eight years; had Canova for his associate was chosen a member of the Academy of St. Luke; and amongst other happy efforts, sent his Edipus,' 'Death of Cardinal Beaufort,' and 'a Scene from Macbeth,' over to this country for exhibition.

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In 1778 he returned to England, reputed the first connoisseur in the art amongst us, and with no rival in his own province, historical painting, but West. This was an extraordinary eminence, and he was far from remissive to maintain it by his works. Between 1790 and 1800, when he became a Royal Academician, he suggested to Alderman Boydell, and completed