der new circumstances, this disease, which formerly lay more hid, is now come out upon the skin: or, like a thief in the house, the villain filched before; but being joined to a band, he says, Will ye go with us and rob ?-Wise men, however, may learn much from this evil: among other things, they may see what sin is when it is ripe :-it may be nipt in its growth by a frost; but in its season, it is rank. It will in the end show, that, however this philosophism may serve for talking, it is nothing for doing-except mischief."

Above all, he lamented that persons, making a serious profession of religion, should be found attempting even to palliate that spirit of insubordination, which had already taken such portentous strides, and still threatens to overturn Europe: or that such persons should not perceive how utterly the genius of Christianity opposes such a restless spirit; and, calling the attention of its children to nobler objects, leaves the potsherds to strive with the potsherds of the earth.

His warm attachment to the cause of real religion led him also to grieve, and sometimes to burn, at the offences and impositions which occasionally arise in connection with the religious world. Infidels insist upon it, that we are a motley group of knaves and fools; and the freaks of some wild or false characters, which are found among us are brought forward in proof of it. They choose to forget, that, of the purest society which ever appeared upon earth, it could be said, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? It must needs be that offences come: and wherever religion spreads, impostors and fanatics of various sorts will take advantage, as mountebanks do from the gathering of a crowd.

66

Mr. B. however, keenly felt such abuses. He wished a religious profession to be kept sober, clean, and transparent. What," said he, speaking of a modern imposition, "What have Christians to do with things suspicious or equivocal?-We have too

much to do with substantials to dabble in every hocus pocus that knaves are ready enough to invent, and of which even good men are sometimes the dupes !— 'Turn aside,' says one, and I will show you a thing!' -No-it is not worth while-I have seen too many punches and puppet-shows already." "There,"

added he, "is that Brothers with his prophecies! Should one have thought that any body could have been found weak enough to attend to the nonsense of such a man?-But the truth is, it is any thing with the world, and any thing with the devil, but faith and repentance."

Thus, while too many were increasing the national troubles by ill-timed charges and complaints, Mr. B. felt grateful, and sometimes expressed admiration, that things were found upon the whole so well; and that, when, on account of abounding wickedness under special privileges, so much heavier a scourge might have been expected, it fell so comparatively light. He accordingly joined liberally in the public subscription for the use of government at the Bank, and armed his sons and workmen. He was, indeed, ever ready by his influence and property, to institute and support whatever tended to secure and to promote the best interests of mankind. Hence, the strenuous and successful effort he made at the institution of the Sunday schools to preserve the Lord's day from secular employments, and which he deemed the most important thing he ever did. Hence, his prompt attention to the various applications made to him for assistance in religious and charitable designs-and hence, his employing his leisure moments in composing popular moral and religious pieces, by which the public mind might be corrected or improved.

I well remember his being deeply interested in promoting a favourite design which he had conceived just before his death: it was the forming of a literary society, whose object it should be to oppose works of

an irreligious and erroneous tendency by a periodical publication.

An extract from a letter which I received from him at that time, will best describe his zeal in this design. "I feel myself incompetent to the scheme my head runs upon, and especially the last with which I have been amusing my friends. I am so completely humbled, that I seem to be ready to teach the horn-book with the old woman's knitting_needle. Mr. *****

who sees much further than I can, seems to have dropt it, I conclude, as impracticable, for I cannot doubt that his spirit is congenial to the design. I see. I have grasped at too much, but I am willing to let go my hold to take up what may be more practicable. I am exceedingly low spirited about it: full of the design, my imagination painted a scene which my dim sight almost took for real architecture; but I soon recollected how vain every contrivance was without the divine sanction and blessing."

As to his literary attainments, it is rather to be admired, considering his early disadvantages and arduous professional occupations, that he arrived at mediocrity in letters, than that he should not attain to excellence. Yet, whoever reads what he wrote under the article SCULPTURE, in Dr. Rees' edition of Chambers' Dictionary, will form no mean opinion of his attainment in this respect.*

*As few possess that large work, I shall add the ingenious disquisition which follows there the History of the Art.

"It is probable that Sculpture is more ancient than Painting: and, if we examine the style of ancient painting, there is reason to conclude, that Sculpture stood first in the public esteem; as the ancient painters have evidently imitated the statuaries, even to their disadvantage; since their works have not that freedom of style, more especially with respect to their composition and drapery, which the pencil might easily acquire to a greater degree than that of the chisel: but, as this is universally the case, it cannot be attributed to any thing else besides the higher estimation of the works on which they formed themselves.

"Which is the more difficult art, has been a question often agitated. Painting has the greatest number of requisites; but, at the same

He was also the author of several anonymous pieces respecting the Arts- of several well written prose epitaphs, one of which was preferred by the King for Lord Chatham's monument, and on which his Majesty complimented him-and of a poetical tract, calcula

time, her expedients are the most numerous: and, therefore, we may venture to affirm, that, whenever Sculpture pleases equally with a painting, the sculptor is certainly the greatest artist. Sculpture has, indeed, had the honour of giving law to all the schools of design, both ancient and modern, with respect to purity of form. The reason, perhaps, is, that, being divested of those meretricious ornaments by which painting is enabled to seduce its admirers, it is happily forced to seek for its effect in the higher excellencies of the art: hence elevation in the idea, as well as purity and grandeur in the forms, is found in greater perfection in Sculpture than in painting.

"Besides, whatever may be the original principles which direct our feelings in the approbation of intrinsic beauty, they are, without doubt, very much under the influence of association. Custom and

habit will necessarily give a false bias to our judgment: it is therefore natural, and in some measure reasonable, that those arts which are temporaneous, should adapt themselves to the changes of fashion, &c. But Sculpture, by its durability, and consequent application to works of perpetuity, is obliged to acquire and maintain the essential principles of beauty and grandeur, that its effect on the mind may be preserved through the various changes of mental taste.

"It is conceived, that it will scarcely admit of a question, whether the ancients or moderns have most excelled in this art; the palm having been so universally adjudged to the former. To determine in what proportion they are superior, is too difficult an attempt. Wherever there is a real superiority in any art or science, it will in time be discovered; but the world, ever fond of excess, never stops at the point of true judgment, but dresses out its favourite object with the ornaments of fancy, so that even every blemish becomes a beauty. This it has done by ancient Sculpture to such a degree, as not to form its judgment of that by any rules; but to form an opinion of rules by the example. As long as this is the case, modern art can never have a fair comparison with the ancient.

"This partiality to the ancients is so strong as to prevent almost all discrimination; and is the sole reason, why many antiques, that now stand as patterns of beauty in the judgment of most connoisseurs, are not discovered to be copies. This is not more important than it is easy to be perceived by a judicious eye; for wherever there is a grandeur or elegance to an eminent degree in the idea and general composition of a statue, and when the execution of the parts (called by artists the treating of the parts) betrays a want of taste and feeling, there is the greatest reason to conclude that the statue is a copy, though we were ever so certain of its antiquity. And, surely, if 24*

VOL. I.

ted, from the familiarity of its manner, to correct and allay the political ferment that prevailed a few years ago among the common people. To say something popular to this class was the principal ambition he seemed to have in using his pen. He amused himself in putting down hundreds of epitaphs, which he hoped might more usefully meet the public eye in a churchyard, than those trite and often ridiculous ones that are usually observed. With the same view he composed a great number of fables, as the ground of moral and religious sentiments with which he meant to accompany them. They were, however, written in such haste generally put down at the moment the thought occurred, and often conceived as he walked the streets-that they are not fit, in their present state, to appear in print: but as a specimen of each will oblige his friends, they will find it in the note below.

*

evidence of a picture's being a copy proportionably diminishes its value, the same rule of judgment may be no less properly applied to

a statue.

"Modern and ancient art can never, therefore, be fairly compared, till both are made to submit to the determination of reason and nature. It may be observed, that the ancients have chiefly confined themselves to the sublime and beautiful; and whenever a pathetic subject has come before them, they have sacrificed expression to beauty. The famous group of Niobe is one instance of this kind; and, therefore, however great our partiality to the ancients may be, none can hesitate to affirm, that, whenever the moderns shall unite great expression with great beauty, they will wrest the palm out of their hands."

Dr. Rees adds, "The Editor is indebted for the preceding ingenious remarks to Mr. Bacon, an artist of very distinguished eminence in his profession."

* THE MIRROR AND THE PICTURE.

A FABLE.

A mirror, placed in a painter's study, thus vaunted itself against. a DESIGN on the easel: "Can you," says the mirror, "covered with blots and scratches, pretend to vie with ME, who exhibit so precise an image of every thing that comes before me? and where the variety is as great as the resemblance is exact?"-"I grant," replies the canvas, "that all my excellence consists in faithfully returning whatever is committed to my charge; but it might serve as a check to your pride to consider, that, after you have been the companion of the