the destruction of the government and of the higher classes a safe as well as easy achievement, or they would cease to entertain the design-and therefore it is that a counteracting power must be created and sustained, ready at all times to cope with them, until they are reclaimed from their present deep delusion. Nor let it be said that there is harshness in our proposal, we wish to overawe, and thereby prevent crime, in order that the necessity of all sanguinary punishments may be spared. We claim the merit of that humanity which would repel the deluded crowd from the gulf into which they are about to fall-and willingly leave to others the praise of seducing them to destruction, and then venting their craven reproaches over their ruin."

The

Do we then invoke a system of coercion, which is to chain. down the lower orders in perpetuity to their actual condition! Far from it. The rich and the powerful are, by the happy constitution of these lands, no privileged or enduring class. labourer of our times may be rewarded in his posterity for his humble toil; his children may have the highest stations and the richest rewards of industry to defend against the radical spirit of another generation. He, on the other hand, who is numbered with the great or opulent ones of the present day, may by lawful progression exchange places with some of the malcontents who now mark out his wealth for plunder-if the latter will wait to realize its legitimate transference by industry. It is not then for the security of a privileged class that we demand of the power of government, and of the loyalty of the country, that every vigorous and merciful precaution should be instantly adopted. It is in support of that gracious system which permits the mutual exchange of all conditions, and thereby confers upon society so many splendid advantages,-which enables the industry of the peasant to lift him up to the level of the wealthy and the great-and permits the follies of the latter, to sink them to the rank of the peasant,-that system under the benignant auspices of which this country has pre-eminently prospered, that we resolutely contend. And now that an organized design has been formed to overthrow this system, and to regenerate the country by plunder, anarchy, and blood, it becomes the imperative duty of all honest men to come to the aid of the constitution,-to avert by wisdom or by strength the horrors that are menaced, and to extinguish the hopes of disaffection by the very aspect of their power, that the necessity may be for ever averted of calling it into vindictive and sanguinary operation.

ART. II.

ART. II.-The Life and Studies of Benjamin West, Esq. President of the Royal Academy of London, compiled from materials furnished by himself. By JOHN GALT, Esq. Cadell & Davies. London, 1816 and 1820. 2 vols. 8vo. Pp. 411.

Ix tracing the progress of the fine arts in England, it is quite unnecessary to go farther back into history than the reign of Henry VIII. In his reign painting met with considerable encouragement, and, under the patronage of that monarch and the nobility, many distinguished artists from the Continent visited the country occasionally. But their labours, being in general confined to portrait painting, had no very extensive influence in disseminating a pure taste; and the Reformation, and other great political events that subsequently occurred, left little leisure for the cultivation of the arts, or the development of native talent. A love of splendour, and a taste for the elegant arts, formed a striking characteristic of Henry, and these dispositions were warmly fostered by his minister Wolsey, who was not inferior to his master in this respect.

During this reign, Hans Holbein, a native of Basle or Augsburg, came to England, where, being warmly patronized by the King, and meeting with great encouragement, he remained till his death. Holbein was a man of great genius, and showed himself capable of excelling in the highest departments of the art; but during the long period of his residence in England, he almost exclusively devoted himself to portrait painting. The style of Holbein is marked with much force of character, a fine relief without much shadow, and great richness of colouring; but, as might be expected from the school where he studied, there is in it no small portion of the Gothic dryness of manner of the early German masters. Lucas Cornelii was another artist contemporary with Holbein in England. He painted portraits with some success, and is supposed to have practised miniature painting. He was appointed painter to the King. Henry also endeavoured to induce Raffaelle and Titian to visit his court, but was not successful. The disgrace of Wolsey was a severe blow to the arts, as that minister projected many magnificent undertakings, which, had they been completed, would have formed a great era in the history of national taste.

The next painter who visited England was Sir Antonio More, a native of Utrecht. During the reign of Henry, he had been

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sent by the Emperor Charles V. to paint the portrait of the Princess Mary, previous to her marriage with his son Philip of Spain; and when Mary succeeded to the throne, he again came to England, where he remained till her death. Although the works of More are deficient in the delicacy and clearness of Holbein, they have much of his strength of character and individuality in the details of nature, with greater intelligence of the chiar'oscuro; and his drawing is bold and vigorous. He is known in England chiefly as a portrait painter, but he painted many historical works, the most of which were in the Royal Collection in Spain.

From this period till the reign of Charles the First, no foreign painter of any great talent appeared; but Hilliard and I. Oliver, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, began to practise miniature painting with great success. Hilliard was a native of Exeter, and was originally a goldsmith and jeweller; but having a great inclination for painting, he devoted himself to the study of the works of Holbein. He was appointed goldsmith, carver, and painter to Queen Elizabeth, and painted her portrait several times; he was also greatly esteemed by James I. The miniatures of Hilliard have much of the neatness and fidelity of Holbein, though greatly inferior in point of clearness and vigour of colouring. Isaac Oliver, also a native of England, is said to have been a disciple of Hilliard, and afterwards of Federigo Zucchero, and in the department of art which he professed, he has hardly been excelled by any succeeding artist. His works are distinguished by their fidelity and the delicacy of their effect. He was much employed by the Royal family and nobility, and his pictures are still held in high estimation. His son Peter Oliver, an artist little inferior to his father, devoted himself chiefly to miniature painting; but he also painted historical subjects with considerable repute.

Charles I. had early in life imbibed a taste for the fine arts, and, on his accession to the throne, became their most zealous and munificent patron that England has produced. As yet there were no master-pieces of art to point wherein excellence consisted, and to direct the public taste. In order to remedy this deficiency, he purchased, at a liberal price, the collection of the Duke of Mantua, then reckoned the most valuable in Europe. He also brought to England the cartoons of Raffaelle, now at Hampton Court. He sent an artist into Spain to copy some celebrated works of Titian, which he could not acquire by purchase; and, by the liberality of his patronage, he attracted to his court many distinguished artists, whose example was calculated

to produce the most beneficial effects in disseminating a knowledge of the arts. The most eminent of those who visited England at this time were Rubens, Vandyke, Honthorst, Diepenbeck, Poelemberg, Gentileschi, and Steenwyck, with Petitot the enameller. By such patronage and so many examples of excellence, the arts received an impulse, which, but for the troubles that so soon afterwards followed, would have placed British genius in a high rank in the schools of Europe. At this time appeared Dobson and Jamesone, portrait-painters of great eminence, and Cooper a miniature-painter, whose works are still held in the highest estimation for the beauty of their execution, and their vivacity and force of expression. But the hopes which the early part of the reign of Charles held out, were soon to be blasted; and the civil war, the subsequent misfortunes of Charles, and the gloomy spirit of puritanism which gained the ascendant, were eminently hostile to the advancement of the arts. On the death of Charles, his splendid collection of works of art was sold by the Parliament: and the whole would have been entirely lost to the country, had not Cromwell, though nowise devoted to the arts, perceived the advantage which a great nation might derive from them, and retained the cartoons and some other valuable productions. During the commonwealth, the arts were entirely neglected.

The general licentiousness of morals that prevailed during the reign of Charles the Second, and his own profligate character, were as hurtful to the arts as the fanaticism during the commonwealth. Lely was the only portrait-painter who flourished in England at that time; he was a native of Westphalia, and coming to England on the death of Vandyke, he had been patronized by Charles the First, and, continuing to reside in England, even painted the portrait of the Protector; but his reputation reached its highest point after the Restoration, and he received from Charles II. the honour of knighthood. Although the works of Lely are possessed of great merit, they are destitute of the taste and simplicity of conception, chasteness of design, and purity of colour, which distinguish Vandyke. There is commonly great affectation in his attitudes and the air of his heads, and his draperies are artificial and tasteless. He however excelled Vandyke in the beauty of his female heads.

But the greatest proof of the low state of public taste at this time, was the high reputation and extensive employment which Verrio enjoyed. Verrio had been invited to England by Charles, and engaged at Windsor Castle in painting the ceilings, one side of St. George's Hall, and the Chapel. He was also employed in

the same way by many of the nobility, and subsequently by King William, in the great staircase at Hampton Court. The works of Verrio in England are necessarily of a colossal size, but destitute of every quality estimable in art. His staircase at Hampton Court is so wretched a production, that Walpole, alluding to his attachment to the exiled family, says, that "he seems to have spoiled it from principle."

Lely was succeeded by Sir Godfrey Kneller, a native of Lubec, who maintained the highest reputation in England, as a portrait-painter, till towards the end of the reign of George the First. He was a correct and graceful designer, though a great mannerist, and destitute of imagination in his compositions. Unfortunately for the fame of Kneller, he flourished in an age and country in which the most absolute ignorance of art prevailed. Having more employment than he could properly execute, and no critics whose taste was to be consulted, he had every inducement to indulge the facility of his pencil without the labour of study or reflection; and he sacrificed his reputation with posterity to the acquisition of wealth. During his life he was panegyrized by Pope and other writers of the time, and he had the address, with very slender recommendations, to maintain his high character as an artist till his death.

Contemporary with Kneller was John Riley, an artist of great merit, but whose modest, retiring disposition, joined to the circumstance of his being an Englishman, occasioned his talents to be overlooked. The fame of Riley would have received ample justice from posterity, but his works are generally attributed to Sir Peter Lely.

At this time flourished Sir James Thornhill, the first native artist who devoted himself to historical painting. His principal works are the interior decorations of the cupola of St. Paul's, and the great saloon and refectory at Greenwich Hospital; but although he enjoyed a high reputation, so little was the art esteemed in the country at the time, that he with difficulty obtained the sum of forty shillings the square yard for these two laborious works. The style of Thornhill displays considerable boldness of invention, and a readiness of execution, well adapted for such works as he was usually employed upon: but for want of a regular education in the art, he was deficient in drawing and expression, nor can we consider him in any point of view as above mediocrity.

Till the death of George the Second, the art continued in a state of the greatest neglect. Portrait painting was encouraged, but no inducement being held out to foreigners, it was chiefly