and, at the same time, delicate style of execution, for their depth and variety of local colour, and the sweetness and harmony of their effect. By an admirable union of the point and the graver, he produced a softness and juiciness in his female flesh which has never been equalled; his drawing, however, is incorrect and feeble, and the extremities of his figures are very defective in point of precision of form and firmness of marking. This may suffice as to the progress of engraving.

Sculpture, till towards the middle of last century, can hardly be said to have existed in England. Till the reign of Queen Elizabeth and James I. a single figure, reclining at length on the elbow, in robes, or a serjeant's gown, was completely overwhelmed and surrounded by diminutive pillars and obelisks of various marbles, and, if particularly sumptuous, of alabaster gilt. From the reign of Charles I. altar-tombs or mural tablets, with cherubim and flaming urns, generally satisfied the piety of families; and the excellence of these works depended more on the labours of the mason, than the taste and skill of the artist. During the reign of Charles II. Cibber, (father of the dramatist) a native of Holstein, came to England. He executed the greater part of the statues of the kings, and that of Sir Thomas Gresham, in the Royal Exchange; but his finest work, and which places him in a very high rank as an artist, is the pair of figures that stood over the gate at Bedlam, in Moorfields, representing melancholy and raving madness.

The next sculptors of eminence were Rysbrack and Roubiliac, both foreigners, the latter a native of Lyons; and though their works are destitute of the purity of the antique, and have much of the flutter of the old French school, they are possessed of much spirit and picturesque effect. The other sculptors who flourished till about the time of the instituting the Royal Academy, are hardly entitled to our notice.

With the exception of the ecclesiastical and castellated edifices, it does not appear that architecture in England had any fixed principles, or was referable to any known style, till the time of Inigo Jones, who flourished in the reign of James I. The first designs of this artist partook, in a great degree, of the style which prevailed at the time, consisting of a barbarous combination of gothic and Roman, which has received the appellation of King James's Gothic; but, on a second visit to Italy, he improved his taste, adopted the pure style of the antique, and successfully imitated the simplicity and breadth of manner for which the finest specimens are so eminently distinguished. The banqueting-house at Whitehall, the queen's house at Green

wich, and the church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden, are monuments of his taste and genius.

Sir Christopher Wren was the next artist of eminence that appeared: He began his career in the reign of Charles II. "A·

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variety of knowledge," says Walpole, "proclaims the univer"sality, a multiplicity of works the abundance, and St. Paul's "the greatness, of his genius. The noblest temple (St. Paul's,) "the largest palace (Hampton Court,) the most sumptuous hos"pital (Greenwich,) in such a place as Britain, are all works of "the same hand." Walpole also observes, with justice, that he had great abilities rather than great taste. His best works are, in general, deficient in simplicity, and crowded with small features and numerous breaks; and his gothic structures show he was unacquainted with the principles of that style. In the constructive part of the art, he was the most scientific architect that has yet appeared, as is testified by the vast dome of St. Paul's, which is a masterpiece in its kind.

Sir John Vanburgh, who flourished at the same time, was a man of a bold and original genius; who, in following out his conceptions, disregarded alike the principles of the ancients, and all recognized rules of architectural composition, and formed mighty masses, which claim our admiration for their highly picturesque variety of contour, and the sublimity and grandeur of their effect. In examining, however, the details of his structures, we are forcibly struck by the flagrant improprieties which so frequently present themselves, and the want of simplicity and elegance that reigns throughout. Vanburgh had a host of disciples and imitators, who, wanting his genius and imagination, adopted all his defects, without any of those redeeming qualities which reconcile us to them; and hence the origin of most of those clumsy edifices which arose at that time.

Gibbs, too, an artist who had the advantage of studying in Italy, contributed largely to increase the heavy buildings that every where raised their heads. He was directly opposite to Vanburgh; destitute of imagination and genius, his works are regular in their design; and, without striking faults, they never interest by originality of invention, or gracefulness of outline. His portico of St. Martin's Church, in London, has always been admired as one of the finest works of the kind of which the metropolis can boast.

The Earls of Pembroke and Burlington, who had devoted much of their time to the study of architecture, succeeded greatly, by the correctness of their taste and the munificence of their patronage, in reviving the art, and restoring the antique to its just estimation.

About the time at which we are now arrived, a more auspicious morning dawned on the arts, which began to emerge from the degradation in which they had so long been held; the talents of Reynolds, Gainsborough, Wilson, Cotes, Chambers, Wilton, and others, began to give a lustre to the English school which it had never before displayed; and now the idea of an asBociation of artists first presented itself.

"At the annual exhibitions of the paintings and drawings," says the author before us, "which obtained the premiums of the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, it was then customary with artists to send occasionally their works, to be exhibited with those of the competitors, as a convenient way of making themselves known to the public. But the visitors, hearing from the newspapers only of the pictures which had gained the prizes, concluded that they were the best in the exhibition; and the works of the matured artists were overlooked in the attention paid to the efforts of juvenile emulation. This neglect mortified the artists, and induced them to form themselves into an association for the exhibition of their own productions. The novelty of this plan attracted much attention, and answered the expectations of those with whom it originated. Such was the state of things with the artists when Mr. West came to England; and to the first exhibition after his arrival he sent three pictures. The approbation which these works obtained, induced the association to elect him one of the directors; and he held this situation, till the society, beginning to grow rich by the receipts of the exhibitions, the management of its concerns became an object of ambition. This association was incorporated in 1765, under the designation of the Incorporated Artists."

As the subsequent history of the arts in Britain is intimately connected with the subject of the memoir before us, we shall make a short digression, in order to give some account of this respectable individual. His public life extended over a period of upwards of half a century, and that by far the most interesting in its history to every Briton, who, duly impressed with the national importance of the arts of design, will be gratified by seeing them brought from the lowest state of degradation and neglect, to a pitch of excellence to which they had never before attained in Britain, and a superiority over all the contemporary schools of Europe.

Benjamin West was descended from an ancient English family, who, having embraced the tenets of the Quakers, emigrated in 1699 to Pennsylvania, in America, where the disciples of Penn had established their singular polity; and in this secluded spot, in the year 1738, Mr. West was born. In a community like this, the pursuits of which seem to have been chiefly agricultural-cut off by its local situation from all the more refined enjoyments of civilized society, and which professed, as one of its fundamental principles, that those occupations of life which had not a direct reference to utility, by ministering to the wants

of mankind, were not only frivolous but sinful-it is almost inconceivable how an artist could arise, who, solely by the force of his own talents, should arrive at considerable excellence; and after having, for a short time, devoted his attention to the study of the great master-pieces of art which his visit to Italy opened to his view, should attain the first rank among the painters of his time. His first efforts were executed at an early age, and before he had seen any work of art. He seems to have devoted all his leisure hours to this study; and by degrees, through the commendations of his friends, who got over their scruples, and the success which he met with in portrait painting, he became a professional

artist.

Passing over all the minute details of his early history, with which the first volume of Mr. Galt's Memoir abounds, we find him at Rome in the year 1760. Mr. West had obtained introductions to several of the most distinguished personages at Rome, to whom the circumstance of an American coming to study painting in their capital was a matter of great novelty. It excited a lively curiosity to see the effect which the works of art in the Belvidere and the Vatican would produce on him; and on the day after his arrival the following circumstance occurred:

"At the hour appointed the company assembled, and a procession, consisting of upwards of thirty of the most magnificent equipages in the capital of Christendom, and filled with some of the most erudite characters in Europe, conducted the young Quaker to view the masterpieces of art. It was agreed that the Apollo should be the first submitted to his view, because it was the most perfect work among all the ornaments of Rome, and, consequently, the best calculated to produce that effect which the company were anxious to witness. The statue then stood in a case, enclosed with doors, which so opened as to disclose it at once to full view. West was placed in the situation where it was to be seen to the most advantage, and the spectators arranged themselves on each side. When the keeper threw open the doors, the artist felt himself surprised with a sudden recollection, altogether different from the gratification he had expected; and, without being aware of the force of what he said, exclaimed, My God, how like it is to a young Mohawk warrior!"

The company, on this exclamation being explained to them, were exceedingly mortified to find that the god of their idolatry was compared to a savage.

66 Being questioned as to the points of resemblance, he described to them the education of the Mohawk Indians; their dexterity with the bow and arrow; the admirable elasticity of their limbs; how much their active life expands the chest, while the quick breathing of their speed in the chace, dilates the nostrils with that apparent consciousness of vigour which is so nobly depicted in the Apollo. I have seen them often," added he, " standing in that very attitude, and pursuing with an intense eye the arrow which they had just discharged from their bow. The Italians were delighted, and allowed that a better criticism had rarely been pronounced on the merits of the statue.'

After a residence of three years at Rome, and other places in Italy which present objects most worthy of the attention of an artist, he determined, before returning to America, to visit England, where he arrived in 1763. With his usual good fortune he obtained introductions to many of the most eminent characters in Britain, and, amongst others, to Mr. Reynolds (afterwards Sir Joshua,) and R. Wilson, the celebrated landscape painter; to Dr. Newton, Bishop of Bristol; Dr. Johnson, Bishop of Worcester; and Dr. Drummond, Archbishop of York. These three prelates severally employed him to paint for them.

"The encouragement he received from them is highly creditable to their taste and liberality, and is an honourable contrast to the negligence with which all that concerned the fine arts were treated by the nobility and opulent gentry. It is, however, necessary to mention one illustrious exception. Lord Rockingham offered Mr. West £700 per annum, to paint historical subjects for his mansion in Yorkshire; but the artist, on consulting his friends, found them unanimously of opinion, that although the prospect of encouragement which had opened to him, ought to make him resolve to remain in England, he should not confine himself to the service of one patron, but trust to the public."

Amongst all the friends of Mr. West, none was so active and zealous as the Archbishop of York; and after numerous attempts which he made to rouse the nobility in favour of Mr. West and the arts in general,

"The prejudices which he found almost universally entertained against the efforts of living genius, chagrined him exceedingly. With this feeling, he declared to the gentlemen who had exerted themselves with the same view, that he saw no way of engrafting a taste for the fine arts on the British public, unless the king would be so far engaged in the attempt, as to make it fashionable to employ living artists, according to the bent of their respective talents.”

He resolved to do his best endeavours to interest his Majesty in the undertaking. "The address with which his Grace mana"ged the business, evinced great knowledge of human nature, "and affords a pleasing view of the ingenuousness of the king's "disposition."

Mr. West had for some time been engaged, at the desire of the archbishop, on a picture of Agrippina landing with the ashes of Germanicus; which being finished, and meeting with the approbation of judges in whom his grace had confidence, he went to court, and contrived to rouse his majesty's curiosity to see the artist and his work; and the result of the interview that followed, in which his majesty received him with great kindness and condescension, was an order for a picture for him, the subject to be "The final departure of Regulus from Rome," from Livy. Thus commenced a connection with his majesty, which was attended with the most beneficial results; both to Mr. West