true taste in the reprefentation of Nature, preferved in the beft works of the ancient Sculptors.

Canto 3, fuppofing the young Artist now to have made fome progrefs, warns him againft the danger of too fanguine hopes, or too various an ambition: but points out to him the highest departments of his art as the worthiest objects of his end avours; the neceffity of ftudying the works of the old painters, and difcriminating their various merits. This book therefore comprifes a diftinctive view of the several Schools of painting, and their respective founders.

In Canto 4, the Painter is directed to visit the Schools of Italy, and is warned at the fame time of the dangers which attend him there. In this Canto alfo, a generalcultivation of the mind is ftrenuouily inculcated both by precept and example.

Canto 5, points out the dangers of manner, of affectation, of noftrum-hunting, of a gaudy or theatrical tafte, and of the oppofite extremes of too indifcriminating generality and too laboured minutenefs; inftructing the ftudent to hope for eminence only from the operation of regular ftudy, industry," and good fenfe.

The fixth and laft Canto fhows the difficulty of avoiding extremes, of a juft felf-eftimation, and the aids for obtain ing it with precepts for the regulation of the Painter's ambition; and for directing his choice to the moft moral and patriotic fubjects; particularly recommending to him to watch over his own character, and to respect himself, that the public may be able to refpect him.

From fo flight and compreffed a view of the topics of this poem, we cannot expect that our readers fhould be able at all to estimate its value; that will be better understood by the fpecimens we shall produce: while the importance of the whole work, not only to artifts but to the public at large, will be feen, we truft, in the felections we shall be able to make from the commentary, as well as the poem. We feel, indeed, that so effential a fervice has never been done to the caufe of tafte, and not very often to morality and patriotifmi, as by the publication of this volume; to which the above argument may ferve as a general key, while fome, and only fome, of its particular merits will be feen in our selections.

a

According to the impreffion left upon our minds, after due confideration of the whole work, the Author feems to have had three objects principally in view: 1. To advise the young ftudent: 2. To improve the p blic tafte: and 3. To plead the cause of his art. For all thefe offices he ap. pears to be, both by nature and knowledge, particularly

well'

well qualified. To the ftudent he is an admirable advifer; because he has the good fenfe to direct his ambition to the highest objects of his art, to warn him againft all prejudices and affectations; and even to direct and dignify his moral conduct. To public tafte he is a friend, by propofing rational principles of judgment, and founding his decifions upon argument rather than authority, whether ancient or modern; by characterizing with diftinctnefs fome of the greatest artists whom we have lately loft, particularly Reynolds*, Barry, and Opiet; by expofing the tricks of falfe connoiffeurship, and the prefumptuous though grofsly ignorant puffs and cenfures of newspaper critics. To plead the cause of his art, he is peculiarly qualified, because he is able to do it with dignity and independence; to explain its great bearings upon national eftimation and profperity; and to ftigmatize with juft contempt the fhop-keeping parfimony which denies to decayed genius, whether in arts or literature, the claims even of a difabled clerk in office §. These being the great objects of Mr. Shee's poem and its commentary, as it fhould rather be called than notes, a fpecimen or two from each of thefe divifions will give the best idea of the whole that can be communicated in a critique of any moderate extent. Among his admonitions to the young painter, the following is perhaps the most animating and exalted.

"Say, have thofe founds e'er touch'd your chofen ear,
From heav'n that fall in holy murmurs here?
That voice divine! heart-whispering, that reveals,
To fhun the mob that shout at Mammon's heels;
To quit the common hunt, for nobler game,
And feek in purer paths a fpotlefs fame;
Swells your fired breaft as full in Fancy's glafs,
By Tafte decreed, the Pencil's triumphs pafs
While Genius glows, ambitious to restore
Her ancient honours to the Muse once more,
O! give the gen'rous impulfe wing, nor fear
To prefs ftill forward in the proud career;
To wreft, enraptured, as your powers expand,
The Hero's fame, from Hiftory's feebler hand;
To call the Patriot forth, life-breathing, bold,
The paffions fway, in fcene fublime unfold;
A venal age, with Virtue's traits surprise,
And bid the awful fhades of Glory rife.

* P. 332, et paffim.

+ P. 161.

P. 264.

His note upon Bartolozzi, p. 384, makes us fhudder with the fenfe of national shame and difgrace.

"What!

"What! tho' no wreaths in our dull days attend
On thefe high themes, nor foftering cares befriend;
Though bloated Wealth, Caprice, and Pride confpire,
To quench, in cold contempt, each Mufe's fire;
Forfake the Patron's path, with Glory graced,
To truck and barter in the trade of Tafte;
What! tho' profcribed-unpurpled, we deplore
The moral majefty of Art-no more,

While vulgar toils the Pencil's powers deprave,
And not a garland blooms e'en o'er the grave.
Yet not unmindful of your zeal, the Mufe
Shall still fome comforts in your cup infufe;
Shall drop the balm that foothes th' indignant breast,
When fordid cares th' afpiring mind moleft;
Shall pour the pride, that, in life's humbled ftate,
Bears the wrong'd fpirit buoyant o'er its fate;
Repels the fhafts by adverfe fortune hurl'd,

And braves the blackest aspect of the world." P. 159.

This noble precept is illuftrated in the commentary by a diftinct view of the fate and character of Barry. How ani. mating alfo is the following apoftrophe, by which he enforces the great moral precept that the Painter fhould" make his actions worthy of his art.'

"Genius and Virtue were by Heaven defign'd,
For mutual love, in holy league combined:
Their powers in moral splendour to unite,
And glow together ftill, like heat and light.
O! beauteous union! fpectacle sublime!
Unrivalled in the theatre of Time!
By mortal powers to gazing angels given,
For earth a triumph, and a treat for heaven!
In thy conjunction, brilliant ftars of mind!
What beams of glory burst upon mankind!
Beyond the pomp of planets, or the show

*

Of Nature's wonders in the world below!" P. 391. The direction given in profe for the Painter's literary ftudies is brief, but admirably comprehenfive.

"In literature, every thing is a proper object of his ftudy, that treats concerning nature, fociety, and man; every thing, that can enrich the imagination by images, or infpire the fancy by wit; that can enlighten the mind by fcience, or refine it by tafte; that can ftore the head with the materials of wisdom, or fimulate the heart by the examples of virtue." P. 242.

Thy is ungrammatical. It fhould be your, or perhaps better abis. Rev.

With refpect to the fecond object of the Author's care, the improvement of the public tafte, we fhall content ourfelves with the fingle paffage of the commentary, in which he exposes the unfair and pernicious ftate of public criticifm on the Arts.

"In literature, the public tafte is commonly directed by perfons who have fome pretenfions to be heard upon the fubject: they are almost always, profeffors or proficients, in the art of which they fpeak; and often, in their powers of perform. ance, vindicate their right to judge. The poet, the hiftorian, and the philofopher, are generally tried by their peers; who, although they may be fometimes tainted with the jealousy of competition, muft, at leaft, be acknowledged to. underftand the cafe, and to have a common intereft in the establishment of found principles, and pure, Tafte.

"But in the Arts, every man is a critic except the Artist; and any man may come forward to direct the public judgment, ex. cept him who is the beft qualified for that office.

"In literature, the scholar confiders it as no impeachment of his liberality, to review with vigilance the productions of his rivals; to expofe their faults without ceremony, and their mif takes without commiferation; nor age, nor fex finds mercy at his hands, if, in the plenitude of his critical authority, he thinks, that reproof is neceffary or juft. He even claims credit for his activity, and confiders himfelf, as a meritorious guardian of the public Tafte. But the Artift, it feems, cannot be allowed a fimilar privilege; if he fteps forward to expose the errors of imbecility, or the artifices of impofture; he is envious, illiberal and malevolent; though every vice of the pencil fhould rage around him, he must not interfere to preferve the purity of Art from the contagion, or refcue the public Tafte from impofition and depravation.

"The poet may scrutinize and conteft the claims of his contemporaries: he may open a masked battery upon his brother bard-ftrike him with the fword of farcafm, or difcharge all the arrows of acrimony from the quiver of criticism all is fair not. withstanding, and if he can difplay his wit or his ingenuity, his liberality is never called in queftion. But the painter is expected to be all meeknefs and fubmiffion; to preferve his character for çandour, he must cry bravo! to every blockhead in his profeffion, and behold the quack and the coxcomb puffed into pre-eminence, without a murmur of difapprobation or difcontent.

"

"Yet, why is that cenfurable in Art, which is laudable in Literature? Is the painter lefs fenfible than the poet to the in terefts of Tafte? is it of lefs confequence to him, or to his country, that the public judgment fhould be pure or pervertedthat the court of general opinion, fhould be competent to diftinguish truth from falfehood-the juft claims of Genius from the fraudulent pretenfions of Vanity ?

*It has been faid however, when the painter has ventured to feprove publicly the offenders of his profeffion, that he should difplay by his pencil the true principles of his Art; and oppofe the prevalence of a bad Tafte, by the example of a better. This argument however, applies not more forcibly to the painter than the poet, and to every other candidate for public favour; if it be juft indeed, it ftrikes at the root of all criticifin: unless that Art be left entirely in the hands of thofe who are least qualified to exercife it, and who have fo long ufed it, as a means of repreffing, rather than improving the human faculties.

"In matters of Tafte, the public is a child that must be inftructed by precept as well as example. Tafte is fomething like chefs, we cannot become proficients by looking on: the principles of the game must be explained, or the beft play is loft upon the fpectator. Milton's fublime picture of Paradife Loft, hung, for a long time, unnoticed in the exhibition of the prefs, till Addifon pointed out its beauties. Settle was the rival of Dryden, till that great poet taught the public by his precepts, how to judge of his example.

If the public Tafte is more enlightened in poetry, than in painting: it is because, in the one, poets have performed the duty of critics, and in the other, critics have performed the duty of painters. If the general judgment with ref ect to Art, is lefs refined in this country, than perhaps, in any other highly civilized country of Europe, it is, becaufe the fate of public criticifm is at the lowest ebb of ignorance and venality-because all praise has degenerated to puffing, and all reproof to perfonality-becaufe, of thofe who are moft qualified and interested to diffuse juft notions of excellence and found principles of Tatte, fome are reftrained through diffidence; fome, filent through timidity, and others negligent from difguft.

"In this general defertion from the fervice, the interefts of Art are left to the officious interference of thofe who disregard as much as they degrade them. Every fcribbler, who can get pof. feffion of the critical corner in a newfpaper or a magazine, draws his redoubtable pen upon the painters; lays down the law with ludicrous abfurdity, and delivers his decifions with ridiculous arrogance. Merit neglects and is libelled by him: the quack courts him and is eulogized. All the reptiles of Tafte crawl around thofe felf-appointed difpenfers of reputation, to catch an occafional crumb of panegyric, and share in the puff of the day.

"The public read their effufions without refpect, but also without knowledge: they are therefore impreffed by their confidence, because they do not perceive their prefumption.

"The voice of the few who have taste and integrity, whofe praife would gratify, and whofe cenfure might amend, has but

* This may feem arrogant, but it is true, and we honour the Author for daring to fay it. Rev.