A view of England towards the close of the eighteenth century. By Fred. Aug. Wendeborn, LL.D. Translated from the original German, by the author himself. In two volumes. ... 1791: Vol 2
Wendeborn, Gebhard Friedrich August
1 3 n * p ” ' | » T | 4 | 8 1 10 1 =—_ Lg '” i «Nt Y | Eo 1 : * : b - : - . _” N * 14 Pi <Xx T7 7 EEG 9 1 * FY 'T * ö J * . 8 > N n 1 > Fi * » =, = l * i i++ FS _ pd | = =. 4 $ 4 15 wn l l 4 j j =. - ' i __ mn N 25 = + "wy * = +» } - 1 12 7 *. 15 - ** 5 o * 1 - — | 7 200 PAINTING. during the month of the exhibition, three thou. ſand pounds have been collected by fingle ſhil- lings. By means of this money, a fund is eſta- bliſhed for the benefit of the ſociety, to pay the-/profefſors, officers, and menial ſervants be. longing to the academy, and to procure the netefſaty models, books, and prints, for the benefit of the pupils. In fact, therefore, the pockets of the people, as in a hundred other Inſtances, are the ſupport of the Royal Aca. demy, of which foreigners, on account of its denomination, generally think that it is merely - *toyal-munificence- which gave it exiſtende, and which keeps it in being. Out of this ſame fund, ſome young Engliſh painters, as it is ſaid, are ſupported in Italy, to render themſelves there mort perfect in their profeſſion. I will not omit to mention, that paintings, which are pteſented to the public view in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, are generally, if they are thought to be. intereſting, or if they ac - quire ſome __— engraved, and thus mul. rplied. The i conſiſts of forty. members, who are called Royal Academicians. Paint. ers, ſculptors, and architects, are all compre · hended under this denomination. Among theſe members are four royal profeſſors, one THe "6. ; ES NIN. ge for painting; one for anatomy, one for archi. tecture, and one for perſpective. A profeſſor has no more than thirty pounds ſalary; but ir ought to be remembered, that he is to read only ſix lectures for the benefit of the pupils, during the winter. Beſides the royal academi- cians, there are aſſociates and honorary mem- bers. "Theſe latter, now and then, expoſe their works before the public in the annual exhibi- tions. Fheir number is undetermine d. As the Engliſh are very fond of having their pictures drawn, it is no wonder that portraits conſtitute the greater patt in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, and that thoſe painters are the moſt ſucceſsful, and gain moſt money, who have acquired the fame of drawing good and pleaſing likeneſſes. Sir Godfrey Kneller ſoon grew rich, and when he died, he left five hundred portraits unfiniſhed behind, for which he had received, before-hand, half the price. When Vanloo came into England, and acquir- ed ſome fame, as many coaches uſed to wait at his door, as perhaps were ſeen on court. days at St. James's. He likewiſe ſoon acquired a fortune. Formerly the price of a full-length portrait was twenty or thirty guineas ; at pre- ſent, eminent painters are paid an hundred and more, The fate of ſuch portraits is oftentimes nm NA IN T I N G. doleful. They are as tranſitory, and as mortal as the perſons whom they are to repreſent, and to whom they were expected to procure a kind of immortality. The pictures of a couple, which were drawn moſt charmingly, juſt before the wedding-day, and were paid for with fifty, or ſixty guineas, wander frequently, a few, years after the gentleman and lady are dead, into the lumber- toom, up into the garret; if the nephews, or heirs, do not even diſpoſe of them very cheap to a broker, in whoſe ſhop they re- main a good while before he ſells them for a few ſhillings profit. 1 am apprehenſive, that many of thoſe portraits, which have been very dearly. paid for, and which I have ſeen in the exhibitions of the Royal Academy, will have met with the ſame fate, before half the next mired, and came from the hands of axtiſts, who now are called eminent. Pope, when he flattered. his friend; Jarvis with long duration of his portraits, and propheſied him, * Bloom in his colours for a thouſand » years, did! nat expect chat the painter and his portraits would be ſo ſoon forgotten, and their value fo much lowered, Within . for years after his death. # "WW le P ARKIN TI N G 203 Sir James Thornhill was a painter whom the Engliſh juſtly eſteem, though the abbẽ le Blanc ſays , that nature had refuſed him genius, and that à connoifſeur would be puzzled to decide, not in what part the painter excelled, but what it was in which he was leaſt faulty.“ The abbe pays in the ſame breath but a very indifferent compliment to the Engliſh, when he ſays of fir Godfrey Kneller, that this German ſhewed his judgment in chooſing England for his place to exerciſe his talents in, it being the only country where he could poſſibly gain ſo much credit and honour ; for. no where elſe would the name of a painter have been beſtowed upon him. However, though the abbe ſpeaks much truth in many parts of his letters, yet his decifions are not greatly to be depended upon, when the live- lineſs of his-temper. gets the better of him, and when his partiality for his own country biaſſes his judgment in [favour of the French. Sir James Thornhill has undoubtedly merit, though it ſeems to be acknowledged, that before the American Mr. Weſt, England had nobody who could be ſtyled an eminent hiſtorical painter. Comparing the price of the labour of portrait- painters, ſuch as Kneller and Vanloo, with that . Letters on the Engliſh and French Nation, wo. L le. which — DL ghus ——C——————— - * = ; \ uu PAINT IN G. which was paid to Thornbill, it did, indeed, reflect no great hanows upon the Engliſh at that tune, that they trewarded ſo indiſſerently the merits of their own countryman. He received duly two pounds fterling for a ſquate ſoot, wher he palnted the dome of St. Paul. Ho- Farth, Wo married his only daughter, dgainſt the conſent of her father, was certainly un original,” and à maſter in his art of drawing eaficarures, which ke himſelf uſed likewiſe to kngrave. Le Blane'acknowledges; that he was * man of genus in die way, bat he will not e him to be a painter. Since Hogarth's Ame, of whom the Engliſh have reaſon; to be proud, the taſte for caricatures in England has increaſed amazingly ; probably becauſe it gra- -fifiest6 # high degree that twin for fatire, which is prevalemt among the-generality of the nation, d Which delights more in that which is over- 5 Wie en 1 wank — en Str JoftusReynolds, eee | Royal Academy, and their preſident, mult be pronounced to be the firſt painter in England At preſent; and at the ſame time the greateſt in bis art, which this iſland ever produced. Mr. Horace Walpole is. of opinion, that Italy has not at preſent any painter, who can pretend to LL 7 GEE rival PKINTEMN GC „ rival an imagination ſo fertile, and that the ar. titudes of his portraits are as various as thoſe of hiſtory.” Indeed, freedom and baldneſs ſeem to be the two principal characteriſtics of fir Joſhua's pures. Horace, when he com. pares poetry and painting, ſays of the latter, that ſome pleaſe more on Way and others on keeping a longer diſtance,” 2/7 EE: Erit, quæ, fi proprius ſtes, Nin eee Te capiet magis z et quædam, &lorgius nes = The latter ought to be ſaid of he As to bis colouring, much has been advanced againſt it, and as it is ſo little durable, a perſon might be inclined to think, that the painter did not care whether his paintings came down to poſterity or not. Howeyer, the engraving af his works, will, in prints, Preſorue he it of them. | Mr. Weſt's colouring Tye pare 2 of che preſident, and he is, undoubtedly; the ableſt hiſtorical painter at preſent in Eng- om birth an American, It ig this branch of painting to which. his genius ſeems 1 wholly to lead him ; and it is much to his credit that he has laid aſide portraitpaint-. ing, to follow the bent of 4s talents, and that ke Nicrifices" to hilfory only, when the 0 for- 26 PAINTING G. ' former, perhaps, would be mon conducive t to " his intereſt. - Mr. Gainborough · is juſtly eſteemed an ex- cellent landſcape painter, and as one whoſe portraits bear the ſtrongeſt Lkeneſſes. I am in- _ , Glined to think, that ſome of his paintings will be much fought after, and, perhaps, in time, fetch, in proportion, a higher, price, when they paſs down to poſterity, than any of his contemporaries. a Mr. Barry, the profeſſor of neinting to ihe Royal Academy, is a painter of decided merit. It was he who executed in ſo maſterly a ſtyle, that ſeries of pictures in the great room of the ſociety of arts which I before mentioned. His refidence in Italy has been of great ad van- tage to him, in regard to his profeſſion, and he has made himſelf known as an ingenious writer, relative to the ſtate of the arts in England”. I could add to theſe few, many more reſpect- able names of painters, now living on this iſland, who are well and deſervedly known in their profeſſion; but it is not my intention to give s r mne, mommy min? 1 1 n Enquiry into the real and. imaginary ObſtruGons | - Acquifin of the Aru in England. London 1775, Mo- PAINT IN S. 207 Monami, Watteau, Arland, Dahl, Zincke, and many others, who excelled in the art of paint- ing in England, were foreigners, ſo it is the ſame at preſent. Zoffani, Loutherbourg, Ri- gaud, Cipriani, Angelica Kauffman?, and many more, .are foreigners, who, therefore, cannot come un der the deſcription. of Engliſh artiſts. Neither do I intend to inſert here a catalogue of the principal works of the preſent -Engliſh painters, Their number is not great; and Mr. Green, in his Letter to Sir Joſhua Reynolds, which I have before quoted, ſays, 5 It is with no pleaſure that I enter into a recapitulation of the labours of the Engliſh ſchool, as they are known to be ſo few; it is the leſs pleaſant, when I am not impowered to hold them all forth as inſtances of national patronage.” He likewiſe complains bitterly, that the Houghton collec- tion of pictures was left to be bought by the empreſs of Ruſſia for forty-two thouſand. pounds; and he aſſerts, . that the omiſſion of ſeizing the opportunity of buying the whole of that capital collection, and depoſiting them in the principal apartments of the new buildings in Somerſet- place, was loſing the only oppor- -, + She has left England ſince. age 46. — tunity 2 PA INT I N G. eunity which England erer had of forming 4 | ſchool of the art that oauld yield the conſe- quence, and the uſes. fuch an eſtabliſhment evght to poſſeſa, hereby us ſtudents might be ſpectable. indecd, if this was the only op- portunity which oould ever oceur, it is much 10 be lamented, that it eee An r e ? Thelimits which 1 have pacferibed to mpleif zn curnpoſing tbis work, prevent me from be- ing circumſtantial in relaging che ſtate of the va- in good repute, and many pretty pictures nd this kind, eto be ſees in the annual exbibirion of the Raya Academy. Ziocke from: Dreſden; who diſtnguiſhed himſelf fo much in ename painting in England, and who died in 1569, is _ fd uct huberts to bave been encelled. Mr. Hunter, who " certainly very great in this branch of painting, and omdoes Zancke by far in the Me of his -coamcl pictures, came over to ugiand nat many years ago: but, I am ſarry to tay, he did not meet with that encouragement he capeſted, and to which be thought himſelf intitled. As the Engliſh are very fond of painted win- r a dos PAINT IN G 209 dows, ſo they have of late years beſtowed much pains on this kind of painting. I have before mentioned, in ſpeaking of the Engliſh univer- ſities, that ſome colleges have been lately orna- mented with this ſort of painting, executed in a new ſtile, which is by ſome highly admired ; while others have thought the taſte for this kind. of painting rather whimſical, and neither fo beautiful, nor ſo ſtriking, as it is thought to be by its admirers. Drawing and painting in water-colours are very common in England. Many perſons do it for their amuſement, others procure them- ſelves a ſubſiſtence by it. There are numbers of drawing maſters in London, who either give leſſons, or keep ſchools for inſtruction, where young people may be taught, at a very mode- rate expence, Whether a late invention, by which pictures are ſaid to be copied in oil colours, by a che- mical and mechanical proceſs, be really ſuch, and of that importance which is given out, it is impoſſible for me to decide, ſince the method by which the copying is performed, is kept a great myſtery. It ſeems not hitherto to have { met with that fucceſs, and that encouragement, 9 which it would delerve, if the invention were Vor, Il, P really N — p nr JE _- making 3 on = + ht pn Len — — a") ſn _—L — * = — 2 — — bo 2 — n — — — 2 ve _ k 4 * 8 5 8 Ky 210 PAIN TI VN G. really ſuch, as it is ſaid to be by thoſe who are in the ſecret. There have been many team in England, wherein painters, either on account of their real, or pretended merit, have been raiſed to the honour of knighthood, * 91 j % . * 4 9 . Sd V4 43 — Fram ent 26 ryvy [ 211 ] FO RAT TT 1M -- HIS art is ſo nearly related to that or painting, that I cannot help mentioning it here in immediate connexion with it. It is that which multiplies the works of painters, makes them more common, and gives them a kind of immortality. It is to be regretted, that this art, of which the Germans juſtly claim the firſt invention, was not diſcovered till about the middle of the fiſteenth century; or elſe, how many. repreſentations of maſter pieces of anti- quity, by celebrated painters, ſtatuaries, and architects, which were fingle originals, and now long ago deſtroyed by all-deyouripgtime, might have gone down to the lateſt poſteriry ! The Engliſh were formerly very much behind in this | art; but they have in later years greatly raiſed their reputation in it, though it muſt be owned that the princi ipal artiſts are foreigners, or of foreign extraction. To prove this, I need only mention the names of Bartolozzi, Ravenet, Grignion, and others. The Engliſh, however, have many of their own, who do honour to this P 2 art, — — — ͤꝙ—E . — 212 ENGRAVING, art, and to their own names. I could give a ca- talogue of no inconſiderable length, if it were conſiſtent with the limits which I have preſeri- bed ro myſelf in this work, Ryland, who by applying his ingenuity and his art to criminal purpoſes made his exit at Tyburn, was certainly very eminent in his profeſſion. A Strange, a Sherwin, a Collier, a Heath, a Taylor, are un- doubredly engravers of merit, as are ſonie others. The Engliſh have likewife excelled in what is called mezzotinto, united with etchings; but, as it is faid, formerly more ſo than at preſent. ' "French prints have been thonght ſuperior in execution to the Engliſh'; but the period, per- haps, is not far diſtant, when they will be equa], if not even have the preference. The trade which is cartied on with Engliſh prints is very conſiderable, and begins, as I have already mentioned in another place o, to make a branch of cominerce of no fmall importance: That the number of thoſe who earn a ſubfiſtenee by being employed in the art of engraving, conſiſts not of a 125 may eafily be gueſſed from the number of prints and engtavings which appear, either fingly, or added to books and new publi- cations.” Authors, who with to illuſtrate and to porn their” Works with MAE or. - pil * 5 FO Ein & 'W 1 6 Vetci. p. 191 5 book · ENGRAVING 2273 bodkſellers, who want to promote the ſale of their new publications by copper plates; pub- liſners of monthly magazines, together with the maps and printſellers, procure many an engra- ver a livelihood. Though capital engravers re- ceive high prices for their labours; yet, the greater part in the profeſſion are paid but very moderately; and it appears to me ſometimes inex- plicable, how ſome books and magazines, em- belliſned with copper- plates, can be ſold at ſo ſmall a price as they really are: Some prints which are now and then to be met with in them, are, indeed, elegantly executed, and do honour to the artiſts from whoſe hands they came; others are abominable. Among the many countries, which lay out conſiderable ſums in buying Engliſh prints, Ger- many is not the laſt. I know, from very good intelligence, that quantities of them are ſent from hence, and that ſome of our rich dilettanti will pay oftentimes for an Engliſn print, three times the money which it coſts in London, when they are told that it is ſearce, or one of the firſt impreſſions ; though, perhaps, the one is as im- | probable as the other. Caricature prints go like- viſe in great quantities over to Germany, and | from thence to the adjacent countries. This 1 is the more ſingular and ridiculous, as very few of thoſe who pay dearly for them, know P 3 any 214 ENGRAVING. any bit of the characters and tranſac- tions which oceaſioned ſuch caricatures. They laügh at them, and become merry, though they are entirely unacquainted with the perſons, the manners, and the cuſtoms which are ridi- culed. The wit and the ſatire of ſuch prints, vent generally both local, are e loſt upon them. A foreigner will frequently meet in England with collections of ſiue prints, elegantly framed to ornament rooms; and, though this may be reckoned among the luxuries of life, yet I think *za well-wifher to the urts will not be very rigo- tous in judging of ſuch an expence, even when he views it in a moral light“. It is true, this noble art of engraving, is, in many reſpects, much abuſed for very immoral repreſentations; and prints of this kind are in abundance. The art of painting has been always liable to che fame reproaches; but ag prints from copper. plates are eaſily multiplied, and ſpread rapidly, they may of courſe do more miſchief; for, compatatively peaking, Paintings of that ſort come only un. One collection of eaaDyrintinad se ho — is, at preſent, that of alderman Boydel, which is well worth. ſecing. The acceſs to it is not very difficul as the © owner is an obliging 3 and worthy gentleman, Who is pleaſed ken ſitingers and forcighers s come to view it. der ENGRAVING. 216 der the eye of a few, Befides as J have obſer- ved in another place, the police, in London, is ſo neglectful, that it ſuffers prints to be pub- licly expoſed at the windows of printſhops, which may put modeſty to a bluſh, and virtue out of countenance. But it is with engraving, as it is with the liberty of the preſs; The abuſes in both are great, but the advantages far greater: Many excellent paintings are by means of this art preſerved from being loſt or deſtroyed by time, by fire or by any other accident; many portraits of eminent men are tranſmitted down to a late poſterity ; many views of diſtant towns, of proſpects in remote countries, of ſcenes in fe, of memorable events, are brought before the eye of a ſpectator, without his being at the expence and the ttouble of travelling; much knowledge is communicated to the lovers of : ſcience, of arts, of antiquity; of curiofities, of travelling, by means of prints, of maps, of en- graved drawings; by which books are embel- liſhed and made uſeful, Indeed, the ancients would be aſtoniſhed, if they could be made acquainted with our modern improvements in regard to arts and ſciences z they would become envious on æceount of the many advantages which we have over them. TI often cannot help thinking, how an ancient ſage would ſtare, if 3 he r 29 Rr a * * . e 2 ** Fenn. 8 — — — Nee 4 >. 70 S208; 7 216 ENGRAVING. he were introduced into the ſtudy of one in our time, ſeeing him read with ſpectacles, in print- ed books, adorned with copper - plates and maps; things altogether unknown to antiquity. As the art of engraving is ſo valuable, and as it begins to be of conſequence to Engliſh commerce and fame for arts, I wonder that the artiſts who excel i in it, are excluded from being members of the Royal Academy. I cannot diſcover any reaſon for an excluſion, except the painters compare themſelves to original authors, and regard the engravers only as their printers. But I own, that a good engraver, in my opi- nion, is far ſuperior to a middling painter. If engravers of real merit were received as a claſs of artiſts in the Royal Academy, there is no doubt but that it would excite emulation for the benefit of the art. It deſerves mentioning that the Engliſh laws have ſecured, by act of parliament, to the en- graver, the works of his {kill and induſtry, in the ſame manner as they have ſecured to an au- thor the profits of his pen and his labours. For this reaſon the words publ. iſhed as the act direfs, or according to act of parliament, are frequently ſeen under prints. In ſome of our German Journals, which give an account of new publi- cations relativ e to the fine arts, with an air of a great , TY 8 233 — of * TX 4 — I" ped 1 r — * — _F ENGRAVING. 217 great ſagacity and pretended knowledge, I have ſeen theſe words frequently tranſlated, as if their meaning was, that ſuch prints were publiſhed | by the expreſs order of parliament, and there- fore had an additional value. The engraving of ſeals, and of other works in ſteel and in precious ſtones, has been carried from time to time to a greater degree of perfec- tion. Chriſtian Reiſen, a Norwegian by birth, raiſed the art of engraving ſeals very much in England. As to medals, the Engliſh have pro- duced no great artiſts in this branch of engrav- ing, and whatever of this kind is of note has been done by foreigners. Daſſier was a native of Geneva, and Tanner, together with Natter, were both Germans. They reſided for ſome time in England, but meeting with no encour- agement, they went abroad again, where they died. A — » „ © bo + 4 * OT — ep WEIS” {1 Ly 11 7 | — SCULP- c 01 U. TURE. . FORE Ryſbrack a Fleming, and Rou- billac a Frenchman, raiſed this art in England to ſome dignity, it was but little re- -garded. Le Blanc, who in his Letters fre- quently aſſumes the air of a great connoiſſeur, though it ĩs faid that he in fact was none, ſpeaks f Ryſbrack in a very contemptuous manner. Of Cibber, whom I have already mentioned in another place, he ſays, that he does not deſerve toche ranked among the moſt ordinary ſculp- ors, though the Engliſh took him to be a ſe- cond Praxiteles. Ryſbrack, among many other works, executed Newton's monument in Weſt- minſter - abbey, which, as I have mentioned in another place, was erected neither by the de- ſire, nor at the expence of the publie, but by Mr. Conduit, who married Newton's niece. Before Ryſbrack got into repute, he was em- ployed by Gibbs the architect, who, as Mr. Vol. L let. xxiii. Wal- $CULFETURE an Walpole relates, paid to the Flemiſh artift, only five and thirty guineas for works that he had finiſhed, out of an hundred which he had taken himſel Ryſbrack, however, ſoon got rid of this kind of oppreſſion, and acquired by his works great fame and emolument. Roubillac, who left ſo many fine pieces of ſtatuary behind him, and Scheemacker, who executed Shake- ſpeare's monument in Weſtminſter-abbey, were his contemporaries and his rivals. | This abbey is ſtill the principal theatre of ifculpture in England, and it was Ryſbrack who introduced there a better taſte, than that which had prevailed before. Buſts and bas- liefs became the faſhion, which latter have feceived an addition from ſcenical repreſenta- tions. Theſe, if the monuments are low, ſuf- fer much by the hands of the populace and *children. Thus many a genius on Newton's monument has loſt a limb, or is elſe disfigured; and the monument for major Andre, who was executed as a ſpy by the Americans, had been opened only a fe months to public view, when one of the prineipal figures had already loſt its head, and the work was otherwiſe damaged. In the abbey, room for monuments begins to de Wanting, whiiſt the walls of St. Paul's ca- 6 7 thedral 9 — — — — ͤwG6U ao ON NRT U. R F. thedral remain bare; for, as I have obſerved in another place, many are interred here, and monuments erected to preſerve their memory, who never had any juſt elaim to ſuch an honour. A grave in any church-yard, and a common tomb-ſtone might have been quite ſufficient for them, without crowding. the tombs and the walls of the abbey, ſo as to puzzle the grave- - diggers, in finding room without diſturbing the aſhes of others, and to force the ſculptor to confine his art in a dark corner, or within a ſmalt ſpace of the wall, or. on the fide of a window. | There are ſculptors and ſtatuaries enough in England, and particularly in London; but their merits, in reſpect to their art, are gene- ] rally not very great, though a perſon that per- ambulates London, may, perhaps, meet with a yard in which the ſculptor has diſplayed his works, and where the paſſenger is entertained by a collection of gods, men, and beaſts, to whom the art, ſuch as it is, has given an in- .animate exiſtence. Carlini, by birth an Ita- lian, who worked ſome time for the late king of Pruſſia at Sans Souci, but has re- _fided above twenty years in England, Nollekens, Winona, Bacon, and Moore, are, perhaps, at preſent, 1 Sc reren : a5; preſent, the principal artiſts who do ctedir to the art of ſculpture in England, As I may place under this article the works of that art which goes under the technical name of Plaſtick. In this reſpect, the ſkill of the Eng- liſh, in founding ſtatues and figures from any kind of metal, is ſaid not yet to have arrived at any great perfection ; but their works of or- nament, in what is called papier macht, and thoſe caryed in wood, are in general exceedingly good. The earthen ware, the compoſitions, and the imitations of works of antiquity, of a Wedg- wood and Bentley, exceed every thing in its kind; they are well known abroad, and admir- ed by the curious. A well drawn up catalogue, of cameos, intaglios, medals, and bas-reliefs, with a general account of vaſes and other orna- ments, after the antique, made by Wedgwood and Bentley, and fold at their warehouſe in Lon- don, has been publiſhed many years ago; and I cannot but adviſe a curious and inquiſitive ſtranger, or foreigner, not to neglect going to ſee theſe elegant productions of a manufactory, which, hitherto; in its kind, has not its equal. The collection of cameos and intaglios made and fold by Taſſie, in Leiceſter-fields, deſerves - likewiſe the attention of a lover of the arts. His | 222 SCULPTURE, His. impreſſions, which are ſaid. to amount to nearly fourteen thouſand, are made, from the originals, in ſo neat a ſtile, that the very glaſs compefition i in which they are taken, is ſtain- ed in ſuch a manner, that it de the co- hour of the originals, | o * 4 8 65 a ( 223 2 1 ; ARCHITECTURE, N1GO Jones, and after him fir Chriſtopher Wren, have corrected the taſte of the Eng- liſh in regard to architecture. They endeavour- ed to introduce the chaſte and good taſte of the Greeks of old, from whom it came into Italy and ſome other countries; but they found that this was a difficult undertaking, Sir Chrifto- pher experienced many diſagreeable things, which originated in a propenſity to a bad taſte in architecture, then prevailing | among his countrymen, Of Vanburgh, who after fir Chriſtopher excited moſt attention, ir 1s ſaid, he built without taſte, and that his etections are very heavy, For this reaſon. a wit made that well known monumental infcription for him, in which he calls on the earth to lie heavy on him ?, It ſeems, however, as if juſtice were not done altogether to Vanburgh's talents. James Gibbs was a celebrated architect among the Engliſh ; but it is ſaid of him likewiſe, that moſt of his erections are taſte- leſs, and have nothing either ——— 8225 9 Lie hs on him earth ! for "eg Laid many a heavy load on thee, pleaſ- % ' 1 A . a *. - 8 — a _ — % IL — — i * LS r . bes 13; en meg Teen owt * ve | g 224 ARCHITECTURE. | pleaſing. The Radcliffe-library at Oxford, and St. Martin's church at Welmuoſter, are among his works. The two earls of Pembroke and, Burlington patronized the arts in gencral, and architecture in particular. About thirty or forty; years ago, a Kind of rage for Chineſe: ar- chitecture broke out, which was frequently joined, 10 a Gothic taſte. Luckily, this folly, tagether with that of furniſhing houfes in the Chineſe way, has ſubſided. 7 * There are here and there many *, modern buildings to be met with in London; but they are too often hid between other hauſes, or in a place where they do not preſent. themſelves to the cye to any advantage. The Adelphi ' buildings, in Durham: yard, were erected not many: years; ago, and cried up as the fineſt mo- numents of wer architecture ; but Wos tone oe The principal architects i in 8 at pre- ſent, ate reckoned to be fir William Chambers, Wirst, Stuart, Payne, Sandby, Dawkins, and the two Adams. Weſtminſter-Bridge is one of the fineſt pieces of architecture in its kind; but, 2s I have obſerved, already in another place, it is the work of Labelye, a Swiſs, who died in the year 1762, at Paris. 75 Li 2 2 ao. — ARCHITECTURE 22g Many foreigners, on viſiting this iſland, have found fault with the Engliſh taſte in architee- ture, and, perhaps, not always without rea- ſon; but there are cettainly many public as well as private buildings, which always deſerve the admiration and the eſteem of any one who is unprejudiced, and who knows ſomething of the architectonical art. Though, perhaps, the manſion of the lord-mayor is a building which does no great credit to its architect, yet there are cloſe by, the Royal-Exchange, and ſtill nearer, St. Stephen's church, which cannot but give ſatisfaCtion even to a connoiſſeur. St. Paul's cathedral, notwithſtanding it is ſaid to be an imitation of St. Peter's at Rome, upon a ſmaller ſcale, in which the proportion is neglected, will, nevertheleſs, always be eſteemed a noble piece of architecture. It were to be wiſhed only, that the avenues were con- ſtructed in conformity to the plan propoſed by ſir Chriſtopher Wren, for the n os London, after the great fire. Among the fine country-ſeats of the nobi- lity and the wealthy, which are ſcattered over the whole kingdom, many are to be met with, which ſhew a good taſte, and are very conve- nient and ſplendid. There are, beſides the Vol. II. Q Vitru- —— . — — V+ — As — — — 89 73 3 £46 with neat engravings, on which the principal ARCHITECTURE. Vitruvius Britannieus, many modern books country- ſeats, and other buildings, which are worth ſeeing in England, are repreſented. Such country-feats are generally furniſhed in a ſplen- did and coſtly ſtyle; they are kept not only within, but even in their avenues, extremely neat and clean. Some French authors have preferred, in their writings, the chareaux and villas of their country to thoſe in England; but I confeſs, that I am of a contrary opinion. As to the neatneſs, cleanlineſs, and elegance of ſuch rural feats, no one who has ſeen both thoſe in England and in France, wilt heſitate to give the prefetence to the former. The parks, che gardens, the lawns which adorn them, and which fo carefully, and I may ſay expenſively, are kept in order, give them even at firſt” fight, a ſuperiority and preference to thoſe in France. It is but a few years fince I traverſed; during the ſummer months, France from Calais as far-as Lyons, and from thence into Switzerland. I then had an opportunity of ſeeing many of their chateaux and villas, both within-ſide and without; but, unprejudiced 48 I am, I confeſs that thoſe which I ſaw in France were not comparable to thoſe of the ſame kind ARCHITECTURE. 227 in England. I could draw, in this reſpect, many compariſons, if the limits Which I have pre- ſcribed to myſelf would admit of it. The modern way of building dwelling-houſes in England for the middling claſs of people, differs very much from that which prevailed fifty years ago. The preſent is by no means very durable; but more neat and convenient than formerly. There is much uniformity in the plans, upon which the generality of houſes at preſent are conſtructed. The materials, which are uſed for building, particularly the bricks, are commonly very indifferent; but the houſes are only erected for a certain number of years, which they commonly laſt, and perhaps, a good while longer, Moſt of the modern country- ſeats and villas are magnificent and fplendid erections, which indicate pomp and luxury but many of them, it is ſaid, do not contain that old Engliſh hoſpitality and ſimplicity of manners, which are reported in former times to have been ſo conſpicuous in England. The old manſion-houſes in the country, if they are not pulled down and new ones erected in their place, are now let out for boarding- ſchools, or for other purpoſes. There is ſomething vener- able in theſe old country-ſeats; and when I have had opportunities of ſeeing, or of being Q 2 in 228 ARCHITECTURE in them, a ſeries of pleaſing reflexions has pre- ſented itſelf to the mind. Indeed, many of them will lead to contemplations ſimilar to thoſe which occurred to Seneca, when he wrote his eighty-ſixth epiſtle to Lucilius, at Liternum, on the ſpot where Scipio Africanus the Elder concluded his days. The reflexions contained in that letter are very applicable to our mo- dern titnes; and though the Sybarites of the age may think the epiſtle rather an inſipid one, yet it contains much ſound reaſoning, and ſhews, that the turns which manners, faſhions, and luxury take, are in all ages, in regard to be- ginning, progreſs, and exit, the ſame. The contraſt between the country manſion of Scipio, and thoſe in Seneca's time, only two hundred and thirty years after, was ſtriking; but of Scipio's humble farm, and of the proud and coſtly villas which, a few centuries after- wards, abounded in Campania and the neigh- bourhood of Liternum, hardly any veſtiges are now to be found. On comparing the old man- fions in England, with the ſplendid country- ſears. Mr. Maſon has written an excellent poem, -in- titled, The Engliſh Garden; and I muſt refer the reader, who wiſhes to be more inſtructed on this ſubje&, to theſe two authors; and, in- deed, there are many others whom he may conſult . | 1% For inſtance, Mr. Whatley, in his Ob/erwations on mo- dern Gardening, illuſtrated by Deſcriptions. London, 17 70. $ro, 7 3 Kent oy 230 GARDENING. Kent wanted to make the garden a repreſen. tation of a landſcape, where, in a ſmall com- paſs, a number of objects ſhould preſent them- ſelves to the eye, without being anxiouſly con- need according to rules of order. It was to be a miniature picture of nature, as it is ſeen on the ſurface of the earth. His garden was to be ſomewhat in the taſte of Fauſtus, the uae ws W of whom the poet lays:. Rure vero barbaroque letatur, The a prin nciples upon which Mr. Kent went to wotk, were petſpective, and light and ſhade, Beſides, he was of opinion, that nature is averſe to a ſtrait line; which, however, is ſubject to many limitations and exceptions. According to this ſuppoſition, therefore, fountains which ſpout water, compreſſed by att, in ſtrait lines, and caſcades that make it fall perpendicularly, were to be baniſhed. from a garden, Little ſtreams or ſmall rivulets, which gently flow in meandering windings, through the unadorned lawn, were adopted, where it could be done, in their place, Over theſe rivulets conſiderable bridges are built; and as the roads in England are not ſtrait, as thoſe in France, but turn ſo often, that a perſon is to walk two miles from one place to another, which in a ſtrait line are only one mile diftang from each other, no ſtrait walks GARDENING 231 walks are to be ſuffered in a garden, which is to be a repreſentation of the ſurface of the country. Notwithſtanding the ſtrict adherence to a true repreſentation of the country, Chi- neſe, Greek, and Roman temples in the neigh- bourhood of a Gothic church; a witch-houſe not far from St. Auguſtine's cave, beſides other foreign curiofities, may be ſeen in Englifn gardens, to repreſent to thoſe who perambulate - them, and will beheve it, that this is a ſcene of an Engliſh landſcape in miniature, But to ſpeak ſeriouſly, the Engliſh gardens, in which even the parks may be claſſed, are very pleaſ- ing, and have many charms. The fine gra- yelled winding walks, which are kept in the beſt order, may ſerve for ſhort promenades in all ſeaſons. They have with much care ſelected and propa- gated thoſe which agree with the Engliſh eli- mate, and can bear the open air through the l year; 233 GARDENING. year; others they keep in green-houſes. the ſeverer ſeaſon. In planning and cultivating their gardens, they endeavour to aſſiſt nature, and to diſplay its beauties, if there be any, to greater advantage. Thoſe ſpots, where none are to be found, they endeavour to hide, or place them in the ſhade. In ſome I have obſerved, that fine proſpects were aimed at, ſo as to ſurprize the wanderer \ Whoever wiſhes to acquire an idea of the beauties of Engliſh gardens, ought to ſee the Leaſowes, Persfield, Hagley, Painſhill, and Stowe; and, in the neighbourhood of London, Kew, and lord Tilney's ſeat on Epping - Foreſt. On account of fine proſpects, Richmond, and what is called Wooburn- Farm near Chertſey, are worth ſeeing. We have endeavoured in ds parts of Ger- many to-imitate Engliſh- gardens; but they will never come to the perfection of thoſe in England; for we want the Engliſh gravel to render the walks firm and agreeable ; and we want the Engliſh climate, which, on account of its moiſture, keeps the gardens, and the fields, almoſt the whole a My in a con» | apt N MUSIC. OB © 8 tO 1 SHALL certainly not enter into a critical diſquiſition of the taſte of the Engliſh with regard to muſic. Dr, Burney has given a hif- tory of this art, and has treated the ſubject in a very ample and fatisfaftory manner. Thoſe, therefore, who wiſh to be informed of the ſtate of muſic in different ages, in different coun- tries, and particularly in England, muſt be re- ferred to his work. To me it is perfectly indifferent, TRE? the queſtions are decided, Whether the Engliſh have a national taſte in mufic, or not? Whe- ther, if they bave any, they owe it to our coun- tryman Handel? Whether the muſic of the Engliſh be a diale& of the Germans, or of the Italians ? It is ſufficient for me to ſay, that the | Britons love muſic, and the North-Britons more than their Southern neighbours. The Scotch, indeed, are unable to pay for their en- tertainment large ſums of money to German and Italian muſicians, like the Engliſn; but they have a kind of national muſic of their own a - , - — — * C 2 - w_ — — - 5 — — - \ * ; 5 * 1 4 SS W VEE 8 4 = — we  1 2 2 222 1 - * — 2 2 & 4 gs - 4 — 2 8 - l R —— 4 T D N COVE . wk r 8 ** 4 2 ny — * LS > \ y . * 5 n — —— * - — 522 — L - 7 = = — = p  * OE bn © = = int IS [1 * U 5 it 4 3 + YT ik 3 & 4 f 8 '\ 1. 8 F 5 2 4 4 41 . 10 1 17 F * 4 0. 18 ® 1% * 2 TS "= * > PL a? — — —— — — * — N — 4 2 — * Foe — —. - _—_ — —¾ : == = by * and. — —— 3 o. 366 10 own which is not difagreeable, and their airs and ſongs are often lively and melodious. It ſeems at preſent to be a part of female education, to have the girls inſtructed in muſic, if the parents think they can afford it, Few, however, acquire ſufficient {kill to play well; and the little which they have learnt, they ge- nerally forget again, as ſoon as they are pro- vided with buſbands, For too many ſ:em to be of opinion, that marriage is the chief end of education, and that this being obtained they need not trouble themſelves with the acqui- fition of new accompliſhments, or even with retaining thoſe which they might, in ſome de- gree, have acquired. Some exceptions, in- deed, are to be made to this aſſertion; but they are not very numerous. | A lover of muſic may be — in Lon- don with many public and private concerts. Thoſe at Vauxhall and Ranelagh I have already mentioned. Mufical ſocieties are | likewiſe formed, ſuch as the Anacreontic, the Society of Ancient Muſic, the Catch-Club, &c. Some Allet. anti have eſtabliſhed clubs, where they regu- larly meet on fixed evenings, to amuſe them- ſelves with inſtrumental muſic, or with fing- ing, naturally accompanied with. drinking, When feafis, or great dinners are given in ta- 6 | verns, wv & © G6 235 verns, ſome of the company entertain, after dinner, the reſt with ſongs, or even public ſingers are occaſionally invited for ſuch a pur- poſe. Sometimes in private companies, even of the better ſort, after ſupper, a ſong, perhaps, will be ſung by a gentleman or a lady, in a very entertaining manner, though it will hap- pen that voices obtrude themſelves, which produce ſymptoms of car-ach. The ſtreets of London, not altogether for the honour of the police, abound in ballad-fingers of both ſexes, Many ill-looking fellows, and many tattered ſy- rens, fing their filly ſongs, and ſoon gather a croud around them, which contains very dex- terous hands, that ſearch the pockets of thoſe who are enchanted by the charms of the ſong, or of the female fingers. The church-mufic of the Engliſh. 1 i in · different, when compared to that in many parts of the continent. The Diſſenters have not even ſo. much as organs, and they often ſing their pſalms not in very pleaſing melodies. In epiſ- copal churches organs are generally to be found ; though many in the country, nay, even ſome churches in London, are without them, Sometimes a ſet of people, a little inſtructed in finging, make up the want of an organ on Sundays. The chanting in cathedrals, i in ſome college. 