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are founded, and of the arguments by which they are supported, appears to be more necessary than any inquiry into the merits of the elementary part of the work: and as the justice of these pretensions is to be determined by the general principles, which regulate the conduct of society at large, to which the appeal is made, the skill or science of a professor is not necessary to the investigation.

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To stir with his pebble the slumbering lake of public feeling on the subject of the arts,' as he strangely expresses it, has been the author's principal motive for the publication of his present work, as well as of his former, 'The Rhymes on Art;' of which, indeed, as he informs the reader, the 'Elements' are to be considered as a continuation; as the upper stories and finishing of his small didactic lodge,' the name of which he has only altered in compliance with the opinion of some polite critics, who thought the work degraded below its just rank by the 'poverty of its titular pretensions.' Without entering, therefore, into a particular examination of the structure or contents of the former part of the work, which has been now for some years before the public, and has passed the ordeal of criticism, it will yet be necessary to advert to such parts as relate immediately to the subject proposed for discussion, that the author, as in justice he ought, may have the advantage of the whole of his argument. It is not, indeed, very easy to follow exactly the track of Mr. Shee's reasoning, so wildly is it overrun with the flowers of rhetoric; but a slight sketch may serve to convey a sufficient idea of it.

Deeply impressed himself with the importance of the cause, which he has undertaken to advocate, he has exerted all the energies of his mind, and exhausted all the powers of his eloquence, in the attempt to engage the sympathy of the public. No patriot, who should seek to point out to his fellow-countrymen the approach of the greatest danger that could threaten an independent people, could sound the alarm with greater zeal, reproach the apathy of the indolent with more severity, or revile the disaffected with more scornful vehemence. Aware of the advantage of entrenching himself in positions allowed by general consent to be tenable, he has in the outset combated from these, but his sallies from them have been most irregular. His deductions are seldom warranted by his premises.

He observes, that "whatever may be the power or pro"sperity of a state, whatever the accumulations of her wealth, " or the splendour of her triumphs, to her intellectual attain"ments must she look for rational estimation." Now this may be very safely admitted to be true, nor is it of importance to object, that a state must necessarily have made very considerable intellectual attainments to come within the description : but it does not so immediately appear that by such intellectual attainments the fine arts alone are to be understood; and yet it seems to be only for the purpose of drawing such an inference, that Mr. Shee has advanced the observation. According to him, the arts are "the vital principle, the breathing soul of " empire :"-" the present and the future are alike within the " grasp of their power; they are the crystals of immortality, " in which all the forms of greatness are imperishably fixed to " gratify the wondering eye of time." Viewing the subject in so extraordinary a light, his notions respecting it are necessarily extraordinary.

He argues that it is the policy of a great nation to be liberal and magnificent; to be free of her rewards, splendid in her establishments, and gorgeous in her public works; that such things are amongst the best and most profitable speculations of a state, since they produce large returns of respect and consideration from her neighbours, and competitors,--and of patriotic exultation amongst her own citizens, making men proud of their country, and from priding in it, prompt in its defence; that, therefore, every person interested for the fine arts, or concerned for the reputation of his country, must perceive with more than regret a growing disregard to the fate of the one, which cannot fail materially to affcct the other: a

circumstance, he observes, the more to be regretted, as it might naturally be expected that in Great-Britain the arts would have been protected with public solicitude, and their advancement have been made a general concern, "since no other state had such treasures of reputation to confide to their charge, such triumphs to transmit, or, such heroes to commemorate." : Admitting these positions to be just, the argument seems little calculated to advance the author's purpose: for, if the rivals of England respect her not for the actual triumphs which it is said she has obtained, it is not likely they should respect her more for the pictured boast of them; nor do the arts appear to be necessary to the creation of heroes for her defence, when it seems that she has produced, without their aid, heroes unrivalled in any other age or country.

It is not, indeed, very easy to reconcile the various parts of Mr. Shee's argument. He asserts, that the arts left to the influence of ordinary events, can never arrive at that perfection, which contributes so materially to the permanent glory of a state, since views of profit merely can never stimulate real genius to exertion. He laments, therefore, the general apathy which, as he states, prevails upon this subject, and the consequences which must unavoidably ensue. He complains, that the fine arts have never been viewed by the British public as a national. object, nor have experienced from the state that paternal protection, which less prosperous countries have been forward to bestow: and yet, in his anxiety to vindicate the genius of British artists, and to obviate any illiberal objection which might be urged against their want of talent, as the real cause of the alleged want of patronage, he has declared, that the arts of England "have already taken precedence of their age," and "that from the productions of living genius at this mo"ment in Great-Britain, might be produced examples of ex"cellence in every department of art, that would adorn the " noblest collections, and reflect honour on any age or nation." From this statement it must necessarily be inferred, either that

VOL. II.

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the genius of the British artists is so superior to that of the artists of all other times and countries, that in spite of neglect and discouragement it can effect as much, or more than has been done where the arts have been most honoured and cherished; or else it must follow, that patronage acts rather as a check than a stimulus to talent, and that art takes a loftier and bolder flight, when left to mount by the strength of its own wing, and soar alone and unsupported.

Mr. Shee is partly aware of the objection to which this portion of his remonstrance is liable, and has attempted to qualify his inconsistency, but with little success. He still contends, that without some vigorous effort in their favour, the arts must be' expected to degenerate: he acknowledges, indeed, that by sanctioning the establishment of the Royal Academy, and by placing himself at its head, his Majesty has done much to promote their interests, and displayed a beneficent desire to recommend them to attention and respect; but affirms, that the example of the Monarch has not been seconded by the sensibility of the public, or the patronage of the great : for that while the artists "maintain by the profits of their " united labours, an institution, from which the country de "rives both credit and advantage, they are themselves ne"glected, unsupported, and unemployed." According to him, all the wealth of individuals disposable for the objects of virtù has been diverted into channels, from which our native arts can derive no advantage, and the nation has been overrun with the works of foreign artists; though, in another place, where he is desirous to shew the necessity of studying the great masters of painting, to acquire a just taste, he attributes the want of it among the English to a kind of John Bull

aversion to every thing foreign. If, in reply to this assertion, that artists are neglected and unemployed, it should be hinted that for persons without employment, their style of living and

the mansions which they occupy are rather extraordinary; Mr. Shee will answer, that it was not his intention to discuss

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the question, whether the patronage which is extended to the arts enable the painter to live in ease and luxury;' but whether it is sufficient to make the arts flourish in pride and perfection?' that it was his desire, that an object might be held out to the ambition, not to the avarice of the painter, and that he might be fired to such exertions as should immortalize his name, and shed a glory on his country. But, if it be allowed, that the public does not withhold its wealth from the meritorious artist, the blame seems rather to attach to the painter than the patron, if the wealth be misapplied: if a man, for the convenience of passengers, go to the expence of raising a handsome causeway by the side of a miry road, it appears rather too much to require, that he should attend to point out its superior convenience, and entreat persons to leave the dirty tract and pass cleanly over by the more elevated path. Avarice is a passion, which takes deep and strong root wherever its seeds chance to fall; it thrives best in the most barren soil, and wherever it is found, no good fruit is to be expected: if then, in modern artists, the love of money be stronger than the love of fame, it seems rather unreasonable to call upon the public to undertake the expence of cultivating so unpromising a field. It is, besides, inverting the natural order of things: it is calling forth the whole strength of the community for the purpose of elevating a few individuals; it is sending rewards in search of merit, where no merit may exist, instead of placing them on an eminence where only real genius may be able to reach them: it is destroying all emulation by the facility of attainment. The painter, who aspires, as Mr. Shee calls it, to have his name immortalized, must make more than common efforts, and must not depend on the aid of others for his success: his stride must be gigantic, and his spirit unconquerable: the crown of immortality was never yet won by him who required to be spurred and goaded in the race.

Mr. Shee has an apt turn for satire; but this satirical vein, though very amusing, frequently leads a man astray from his

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