scream, and following the girl from place to place, strike her with its beak. Mr. Northcote painted a wholelength portrait of the servant; and the likeness may be judged of by the fact, that the macaw, on seeing the picture, never failed to be in a passion, and to attack the figure with the same violence that it did the original. After continuing with Sir Joshua five years, Mr. Northcote respectfully took an opportunity of expressing a wish to set up for himself; at the same time saying, that he would willingly remain longer, if his services were wanted. Sir Joshua took this notice in good part, and kindly observed, that his pupil wanted nothing now to complete him in the art but a visit to Italy, which he earnestly recommended. Pursuant to this advice, Mr. Northcote, in the autumn of 1776, passed through France to Rome, where he remained two or three years, and became a member of the Academy Del Forti. He also visited Florence, where he was admitted into the Imperial Academy, to which, as usual, he presented his own portrait for the gallery. Besides these honours, he was elected an associate of the Ancient Etruscan Academy at Cortona. In 1780 he returned to England by the way of Switzerland and Germany, and down the Rhine, as well on account of the war, as for the sake of viewing the great works of Rubens, and other masters of the Flemish school. Soon after his arrival in his native country, he fixed his residence in London, under the auspicious friendship of Sir Joshua Reynolds, who witnessed his improvement with pleasure, and recommended him both in public and private. As a proof of the liberality of that amiable and accomplished man, Mr. Northcote relates the following anecdote. The latter being employed by a noble family to repair a whole-length portrait of a lady, the picture was sent to his house for the purpose. Just at this time, Sir Joshua called one day in a friendly way, and being nuch struck with the piece, asked the name of the artist by whom it was executed? They tell me," answered Mr. Northcote, that it was painted by yourself." Sir Joshua looked at it again, and then said, "Why, what have you been doing to it?" Nothing, as yet," was the reply; "I shall only 66 66 have to repair those slight defects which you see in the drapery." The president, having once more taken a survey of one of his own handiworks, carelessly observed, I have no remembrance at all of the picture, or for whom it was painted; and yet it is not altogether amiss." "So far from being amiss," rejoined the other, that, for my part, I can never behold it without admiration." 66 In Mr. Northcote now became an associate of the Royal Academy, and, in 1786, he was elected a full member of that institution, to whose annual exhibitions he had been a regular contributor ever since his return from abroad. Though several of his pictures received the approbation of the best judges, it was not till the last mentioned year that he attracted universal notice and applause. that exhibition appeared many capital performances by West and Opie, but even their pieces were all eclipsed by Northcote's picture of the Two Young Princes murdered in the Tower. The forcible expression and action of the assassins, contrasted with the beauty of sleeping innocence, at once tells the dreadful story; the horror of which is heightened by the deep shadows involving the figures. That patriotic and munificent patron of the arts, Alderman John Boydell, became the purchaser of this fine painting, at the price set upon it by the artist; but the most remarkable circumstance in the history of the picture is, the fact of its giving rise to the magnificent Shakspeare gallery, and the splendid graphical edition of the immortal bard. For this great national work Mr. Northcote painted no less than twelve pictures, the best of which is that illustrative of the scene, in the play of king John, where the executioners are about to deprive the unfortunate Prince Arthur of his sight. Boydell used to say that few spectators ever looked at this affecting representation without shuddering involuntarily, and that some persons were so overpowered by it as to burst into tears. But of all the productions of this artist up to the period of which we are speaking, critics in general give a decided preference to the noble picture of the Killing of Wat Tyler in Smithfield by Sir William Walworth, This piece, which appeared in the striking. Neither of them was ever married, the domestic concerns of each being conducted by an affectionate sister. But what is of higher moment, both artists have gained as much respect by the correctness of their moral character, as they have acquired admiration by their performances. Reynolds, though associated with the leading wits of the age, and courted by the great, preserved the dignity of virtue in the discharge of all the per exhibition of 1787, was immediately the scholar and master are many and purchased by the discerning Boydell, who caused an engraving to be taken from it by Anker Smith. Although the expense of bringing out the print was considerable, it proved such a fortunate speculation, that the same publisher was induced to give other commissions to the painter, who accordingly executed for him the historical pictures of "Jael and Sisera;" "Elisha raising the Widow's Son;" and" Daniel in the Den." The latter piece is much in the manner of Ru-sonal and social duties of life; nor forbens; and the animals, which appear alarmed at the devotional attitude of the prophet, are painted with all the correctness and vigour of that great master, and Snyders. Of these productions there are also some spirited engravings. got, amidst the flattering honours and alluring temptations which surrounded him, the sacred principles and obligations of religion. The same may truly be said of the disciple; and to him, as well as his master, the eulogy bestowed upon an elegant poet is strictly applicable, that his works contain "No line which, dying, he would wish to blot." This is praise of no ordinary value; for though talents are precious gifts, it is seldom that they are possessed in a superior degree, and still more seldom that their use is ennobled by being consecrated to virtue. The subsequent works of Mr. Northcote are too numerous and various to We admit of a particular detail. shall therefore only mention two: the first is a picture of " Christ bearing the Cross which, after remaining a considerable time on the hands of the artist, was purchased by earl Grosvenor, for the altar of the chapel on his lordship's estate in Park-street. The second is, "The Entombing of Among so many great geniuses who Christ," which in 1825 was bought by have successfully cultivated the arts the directors of the British Institu- and sciences, too many have disgraced tion, and has been since presented by themselves by a contemptuous disrethem to the new church at Chelsea, gard of decency and good manners. for an altar piece. The figures in these To what cause the evil may be ascribnoble specimens of British art seemed, is neither easy to say, nor agreeby their boldness of relief to project from the canvass ; so artfully, like Caravaggio, has the painter contrived to manage the chiaro-oscuro. About twenty years since, Mr. Northcote displayed his inventive genius in a series of pictures intended to represent, by way of contrast, the progress of Seriousness and Vanity in two young females of the lower class. The thought was happy, but not original; and, as the execution was feeble, the failure of the design was no more than what might have been expected. In portraiture, no artist, with the exception, perhaps, of Raeburn of Edinburgh, has ever trod so closely in the steps of Reynolds as Mr. Northcote; and it deserves remark, that he is the only one of all his pupils, of whom Sir Joshua had any reason to be proud. The points of resemblance between able to inquire. Where facts decide, speculation is useless, and reasoning superfluous; but one truth is obvious, that nothing injurious to manners can be advantageous, or even ornamental, to society. The perfection of the arts doubtless consists in the imitation of nature; and this teaches us to throw a veil over every thing offensive to modesty. There is no nation, however savage and barbarous, that bas not learnt this lesson; and if every celebrated artist had faithfully observed it as a universal law, many productions, which disgust has sacrificed to the general safety, would have still continued to instruct and delight mankind. The more, therefore, a person is endowed with superiority of talents, the more it imports him to venerate morals, and to consecrate his labours to public benefit and private improvement. Placed on an eminence, he cannot be virtuously em which often lessen the value of what are in other respects very fine paintings. But the evidences of the professional learning of Mr. Northcote are not confined to the canvass. He has favoured the world with publications which display an equal degree of taste and judgment. Some of his essays on painting were printed many years ago in a periodical work; but the most interesting of his literary performances is the " Memoir of Sir Joshua Reynolds," which appeared first in quarto, in 1813, and was afterwards reprinted in two octavo volumes. What else may have issued from his pen, we know not; but, some time since, we were favoured with the perusal of a manuscript volume of fables in prose and verse, selected from various authors, and enriched with designs by Mr. Northcote, executed in a very spirited style. A portion of these fables, we understand, will soon appear, and, from the ele ployed without commanding respect, nor viciously so, without doing mischief; and the more brilliant his performances may be, the greater will be his condemnation. SirJoshua Reynolds, in one of his academical discourses, has admirably illustrated this moral principle on philosophical grounds. "It seems to me," says this sagacious instructor, "that the object and intention of all the arts is to supply the natural imperfection of things, and often to gratify the mind, by realizing and embodying what never existed but in the imagination. It is allowed on all hands, that facts and events, however they may bind the historian, have no dominion over the poet or the painter. With us, history is made to bend and conform to this great idea of art. And why? Because these arts, in their highest province, are not addressed to the gross senses, but to the desires of the mind; to that spark of divinity which we have within, impatient of being cir-gance of the ornaments, as well as the cumscribed and pent up by the world which is about us. Just so much as our art has of this, just so much dignity-1 had almost said divinityit exhibits; and those of our artists who possessed this mark of distinction in the highest degree, acquired from hence the glorious appellation of DIVINE." intrinsic merits of the work, there can be no doubt of its success. Such a performance from an octogenarian is a literary curiosity; but the habits of the author have been uniformly so evenly tempered and honourably employed, that it is no wonder his euergetic mind should retain its powers at the setting of the sun, in the full enThe preceding quotation proves, joyment of that felicity so well exthat the literary character of Sir Jo- pressed by our great moral poet, of shua partook of the purity of his pro-"The calm remembrance of a life well spent." fessional talents. A similar tribute of justice is due to the subject of this memoir, who, though he had not the advantages of a liberal education in the early period of his life, did not neglect the opportunities which subsequently fell in his way, of improving his intellectual powers. Naturally possessed of an inquisitive mind, invigorated by resolution, and encouraged by the example and counsel of his preceptor, he applied with the utmost diligence to those studies which were necessary to qualify him for the higher department of the art. His reading has been very extensive, but prudently regulated with regard to utility; whence all the productions of his pencil exhibit the utmost correctness in the costume, as well as the detail of his subjects. Hence we meet with no anachronisms in his pictures, nor any of those preposterous combinations of figures and adjuncts REMARKS ON FIELD DIVERSIONS. MR. EDITOR. Rainton, Oct. 16. SIR,-The inquiry of your correspondent, W. C. into the propriety of field diversions, which appeared in the number for September, col. 834, discovers considerable acuteness. There are, however, as I conceive, one or two points which he has either overlooked, or too slightly noticed, in his paper. He observes, "The objection to this may be," (that is, to censures on the impropriety of fox-hunting,) "that killing foxes is of great benefit to the farmers." True, it is; but the farmers themselves have a much more expeditious way of ridding themselves of these obnoxious animals, and that is, by traps." 66 But, Mr. Editor, the most ignorant farmer would teach the foxhunter a still more expeditious and infallible way of annihilating these animals altogether, than even by traps; and that is, by not breeding them. The truth is, sir, no sportsman would be silly enough to advance such an excuse for this diversion, when it is well known that foxes are first bred, and encouraged with considerable expense, in order to be hunted; and they are hunt ed, not by any means with an eye to the farmer's benefit, but merely for the sake of the amusement. In the township where the writer of this article resides, which is not large, between twenty and thirty acres of land are planted with furze, to afford shelter for these noxious animals. In neighbouring townships, tracts of land are appropriated to the same abominable purpose; and there is no doubt that, throughout England, thousands of acres are thus thrown away. But, besides this waste of land, these foxcovers, as they are called, harbour a great number of rabbits, and other destructive animals, which, together with the trampling of hunters' horses, &c. do incalculable injury to the crops in the adjacent fields. Some years ago, the late Colonel Thornton obtained leave of the Duke of Devonshire to plant a fox-cover in an adjoining township. He accordingly despatched an agent to select a situation for the said plantation of furze; and one of the farmers of the village was obtained, to act as his guide and assistant. Now, one might naturally suppose, that the farmer would use all his policy to keep these unwelcome neighbours from his own estate. It, however, so happened, that he actually fixed upon one of his finest fields in the middle of his farm, and had the mortification, not only to see his ground covered with furze, and overrun with vermin, but, what was more seriously provoking, to pass on through a number of years without having any allowance made for the loss he had sustained. The injury which huntsmen do to the farmer deserves a more marked and severe reprobation than your correspondent has given it. Perhaps all your readers are not aware, that the sight of the frightened, breathless little animal, and the horrific howl of the hounds, have the mysterious power of throwing the huntsman into a sort of madness, or a kind of infuriated joy, which he expresses in loud shouts, | in leaping over, and often breaking, gates and fences, frequently to his imminent peril, and in galloping over corn-fields, soft, and the crops newly springing up. A stranger to these things would doubtless stare if one told him, that some of these men, in ordinary life, are sober and considerate. Such, Mr. Editor, are some of the correlative evils of field diversions, over and above the brutality of making the misery of the inferior creatures, and the wanton and cruel destruction of their lives, a matter of sport. WM. ROBINSON. OLD CLOTHES. AMONGST the various means for relieving the temporal necessities of our fellow-creatures, there is a very efficient one, which, I fear, we are apt either to under-rate or overlook, and which would be attended with little expense and inconvenience;-it is that of preserving our cast-off clothes until this period of the year, and bestowing them upon those deserving poor who are unable to provide for themselves. There are many gentlemen who have from four to six suits per annum ; indeed, my tailor informs me, he has made fourteen or fifteen coats for one of his customers within the last twelve months. In general, most of the castoff clothes of families are either sold or exchanged for a trifling consideration, and ultimately exported to the Continent. But it too frequently happens, that they lie by in some closet until the moth or mould has destroyed them. In cases not a few, they are purloined by servants, under an impression that they are become (by neglect) their lawful perquisites; and thereby a foundation is laid for higher acts of pilfering. Now, the object of this address, Mr. Editor, is, to call the attention of your philanthropic subscribers and readers to the immense good that might be communicated through this channel of benevolence. Great as the delight is, which feeding the hungry yields to a benevolent mind,-clothing the naked affords a much higher satisfaction; the former being attended with an apprehension, that the returning day may find the object as necessitous as before. But when you have picked up a poor shivering fellow-creature, whose tattered garments expose him to all the pierc- | ing sensations and fatal diseases attendant on inclement weather, and who perhaps is thereby prevented from obtaining a situation or employment, -when you have clothed such an individual, you feel you have communicated a good more durable and lasting. It was one of Job's consoling reflections in his adversity, that he had never suffered the naked to go away without a covering, and that the poor had been warmed with the fleece of his sheep and, at the great day of final audit, our Saviour informs us he shall take special cognizance how this duty has been discharged; and whilst a blessed acknowledgment will be made to those who have discharged it aright, a fearful curse will be pronounced upon those whose moth-eaten garments witness against them. A common excuse with many is, "My old clothes are not worth accepting." With some few this may be the case; but with a far greater number, it is to be feared, that it arises either from pride, covetousness, or a want of acquaintance with misery in nakedness, or its worst attire. 66 Others plead, that "they know not where to send such articles as they might be able to spare." The Stranger's Friend Society" is ever ready to furnish them with this accommodation, and the names of individuals may always be known by consulting their reports. Should this be disapproved, a few neighbours might form a little collection of men's, women's, and children's old apparel, among themselves, or each person might be come his own almoner. The season of the year makes a powerful appeal to humanity, and the blessings arising from a little spirited effort in behalf of indigent sufferers, baffle all calculations. defective in the proof of its divine origination. It was necessary for a new dispensation, when first ushered into the world, to be accompanied with a direct appeal to the senses, with the visible signature of the divine hand; and it is the glory of our holy religion to have possessed them in a variety and splendour that astonished mankind, and laid a foundation for the faith and obedience of all succeeding ages. At its entrance, such an economy was requisite, to prepare the way. But when these miraculous occurrences, after enduring the severest scrutiny, under circumstances the most favourable to investigation, were committed to writing, and formed a compact body of external evidences; when the supernatural origin of the Christian faith had taken its place amongst the most indubitable of recorded facts,—it was no longer necessary to be continually repeating the same proofs; nor consistent with the majesty of Heaven, to be ever laying the foundation afresh. It was time to assume the truth of religion as a thing proved. 205. Whatever excellence may be ascribed to our national establishment by its warmest admirers, still it is a human institution,-an institution to which the first ages of the church were strangers,-to which Christianity was in no degree indebted for its original success, and the merit of which must be brought to the test of utility. It is in the order of means. As an expedient devised by the wisdom of our ancestors for promoting true religion, it is entitled to support, just as far as it accomplishes its end. This end, however, is found in some instances to be accomplished by means which are of a different description. 206. The system of polytheism was as remote from modern infidelity, as from true religion. Amidst that rubbish of superstition, the product of fear, ignorance, and vice, which had been accumulating for ages, some faint embers of sacred truth remained unextinguished: the interposition of unseen powers in the affairs of men was believed and revered; the sanctity of oaths was maintained; the idea of revelation and of tradition, as a source of knowledge, was familiar; a useful persuasion of the existence of a future world was kept alive; and the greater gods were looked up to as |