,transcriber's note3 ,text enclosed by underscores is in italics 7italics74 ,the ,augustan ,reprint ,society ,,john ,,robert ,,scott ,,dissertation ,,on ,,the ,,progress ,,of ,,the ,,fine ,,arts ,with an ,introduction by ,roy ,harvey ,pearce ,publication ,number #de ,los ,angeles ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,university of ,california #aied 99 99 99 99 99 ,,general ,,editors ,,richard ,c4 ,,boys1 ,university of ,michigan ,,ralph ,,cohen1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,vinton ,a4 ,,dearing1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,lawrence ,,clark ,,powell1 ,clark ,memorial ,library ,,assistant ,,editor ,w4 ,,earl ,,britton1 ,university of ,michigan ,,advisory ,,editors ,,emmett ,l4 ,,avery1 ,state ,college of ,washington ,,benjamin ,,boyce1 ,duke ,university ,,louis ,,bredvold1 ,university of ,michigan ,,john ,,butt1 ,king's ,college1 ,university of ,durham ,,james ,l4 ,,clifford1 ,columbia ,university ,,arthur ,,friedman1 ,university of ,chicago ,,edward ,,niles ,,hooker1 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,louis ,a4 ,,landa1 ,princeton ,university ,,samuel ,h4 ,,monk1 ,university of ,minnesota ,,ernest ,c4 ,,mossner1 ,university of ,texas ,,james ,,sutherland1 ,university ,college1 ,london ,h4 ,t4 ,,swedenberg1 ,,jr41 ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,corresponding ,,secretary ,,edna ,c4 ,,davis1 ,clark ,memorial ,library 99 99 99 99 99 ,,introduction ,scott's ,dissertation on the ,progress of the ,fine ,arts embodies what we can now see as a final development in his century's deep concern to understand why what it so often admitted was the greatest art had somehow not been forthcoming in what it as often claimed was the greatest century4 ,the ,dissertation is in no way an original work2 rather--and this is its primary value for us--its author takes a belief which his culture has given him and1 like others before him1 tries to clarify one of its implications4 ,the belief is in the idea of a universal progress marred1 if it in the end can be said to be marred1 only by an esthetic primitivism2 the implication is that that esthetic primitivism can be not only comprehended but surmounted4 ,scott accepts the century's commonplace that art of power and significance has been necessarily produced only in societies markedly simpler than his own2 and he accepts too the fact 7for such it was when men believed in it and judged according to the principles generated by it7 that in all forms of culture excepting art1 his own richly complex society has produced something far surpassing anything produced in the simpler society of classical ,greece or of the ,italian ,renaissance4 ,scott's uniqueness is that1 unlike those of his predecessors who had worked with the same belief1 he does not try to establish an historical rationale for this status quo4 ,he goes so far as to envisage--perhaps it would be truer to his state of mind to say posit--an enlightened modern society which will at once remain what it is and yet so change itself as to make possible the production of major art4 ,the main interest for us in the ,dissertation1 then1 lies in ,scott's notions of the kind of society needed to produce major art1 and beyond that1 in what is entailed in holding fast to that notion1 developing it into a doctrine1 and even hoping to make it a reality in his own time4 ,he outlines the doctrine in great detail1 simply by describing what he takes to be the sociocultural situation of the classical ,greek artist 7and incidentally1 that of the artist of the ,italian ,renaissance74 ,he chooses to write almost entirely of the fine arts 7for him in this case1 sculpture71 although he conceives1 as the student of his age would expect him to1 that what holds for the fine arts will also hold for poetry4 ,in the immediacy of appeal of sculpture1 he finds a quality which1 when its working and expression are analysed1 will let him see just how the artist and his work have been ideally related to the society in which they have flourished4 ,scott's description of the artist and his place in ,greek society is one which1 in general1 is familiar to students of eighteenth-century critical theory4 ,equally familiar is his concern to establish the fact that1 as he puts it1 the connate temper of the times made possible the production of great art4 ,he sees ,greek art as being authentically marked by the rich raciness of the native soil4 ,and he sees ,greek society as in all departments making the work of the artist possible4 ,in small1 free1 uncentralized states2 in states where art has a public1 memorial function2 in states where1 because so many games and rituals are performed naked1 the artist is always directly and overwhelmingly aware of the possibility of beauty in the human body--in such states1 owing to such natural causes1 art must necessarily flourish4 ,above all1 art is of the people and their artists as they form a vital community2 it is not borrowed2 it is fresh and original4 ,finally1 such a cultural situation1 and therefore such an art1 is found obviously to be lacking in his own time4 ,now this argument1 carried up to this point1 had been more or less held to by many critics and literary theorists before ,scott4#a ,true enough1 they had mainly concerned themselves with poetry2 yet they found the source of major poetry to be ultimately in a nakedness of language--made possible by what was taken to be the simplicity1 spontaneity1 and cohesion of ,greek life--comparable to ,scott's notion of nakedness of body4 ,they differ from ,scott in this3 that almost uniformly1 so far as my reading goes1 all had been willing to admit that there was absolutely no hope for comparable artistic achievement in their own time2 that such art could be produced only in simpler1 earlier societies than their own2 that1 indeed1 a characteristic of a mature society was that it had grown up beyond the young1 crude1 exuberant stage in which conditions were ideal for the cultivation of the esthetic sensibilities4 ,the ideal time for the production of major art1 they tended to conclude1 was at that point in the history of a society when it was moving from the savage into the civilized4 ,they were thus not absolute esthetic primitivists2 but they were concerned nonetheless to tie art to its primitive origins1 as for the most part they were concerned equally to celebrate their triumph over the limitations of such origins4 ,so1 to take one example1 ,thomas ,blackwell1 meditating ,homer's achievement in his ,enquiry1 had written in #agce that it does not seem to be given to one and the same ,kingdom1 to be thoroughly civilized1 and afford proper ,subjects for ,poetry2 and in the same work he later declared that he hoped ,that we may never be a proper ,subject of an ,heroic ,poem4 ,only by being a ,subject for a heroic poem could the poet write one2 for only then would he have available to him the living language--and thus the techniques--adequately to express that ,subject4 ,this was to be a dominant refrain--matched1 to be sure1 by a counter-refrain1 treatment of which is not immediately relevant here#b--through the century4 ,a significant number of critics and literary theorists would be willing to resign themselves to having a lesser art1 if such resignation would mean that they could adequately celebrate the enlightened achievements of their own century4 ,they worked out a method of historical analysis whereby they might construct conjectural histories of civilization which would allow them to place poetry and the fine arts in the long line of the evolution of culture toward their own time and to demonstrate1 moreover1 that even as the arts had come early1 so philosophy1 proper religion1 the sciences1 and all the highest forms of civilization had come late4 ,thus they could announce triumphantly that if they had lost something1 they had gained much more4 ,but still the greatness of the art which they did not have moved and attracted them4 ,their work is perhaps a measure of their attempts to rationalize out of existence a longing for the art which they felt their time was not giving them4 ,perhaps that is why ,scott1 in the #agij's--his mind1 so it seems to us1 not only informed but made by the critical formulae of his time--tried to face squarely up to the fact that somehow greet art had to be made possible for even his enlightened century4 ,yet his mind was so simple and simplifying that he thought that merely by denying his predecessors carefully worked out conjecture of the necessary connection between an early society and great art1 he could prove that such was possible in his time4 ,for the artist envisaged in the ,dissertation is still1 in spite of his obvious attempts to have it otherwise1 the artist as conceived of by ,blackwell and the rest of ,scott's predecessors4 ,scott glories in the civilized achievements of his own age1 yet somehow hopes that the same liberal public encouragement that obtained in ,greece will come again and make for such labor1 pains1 and study as will create in ,england art as great as ,greece's4 ,such a condition1 he feels1 is not impossible2 yet he says nothing of the kind of social structure and character which he has already shown to be requisite to the development of liberal public encouragement4 ,the argument1 such as it is1 is left hanging4 ,that is to say1 there is no evidence in the essay that ,scott could really think through to the possibility of the major artist's being immediately present in an eighteenth-century society re-made1 so far as its artistic life was concerned1 in a primitivistic pattern4 ,he remains purely a theoretical possibility in ,scott's scheme of things1 as does the society in which he might flourish4 ,likewise1 in the other essays#c which ,scott collected and published along with the ,dissertation1 there is no evidence that he really understood what was involved in taking the stand he did4 ,in the most interesting of these pieces1 ,an ,essay on the ,influence of ,taste on ,morals1 he denies the existence of a ,hutchesonian moral sense1 absolutely separates esthetic taste from morals1 holds that art will have an influence toward immorality unless it is kept in check with a moral system properly inculcated by revealed religion4 ,what he is entirely unaware of is the possible radical implications of such a separation of art and morality4 ,as in the ,dissertation1 he accepts a conventional notion and is satisfied to push it as far as he can1 never exploring its possible ambiguities4 ,the ambiguities are those1 of course1 which led to that transformation of critical theory and artistic practice which we associate with the romantic movement4 ,in this light1 it is interesting to note that just fourteen years after the first publication of the ,dissertation ,william ,hazlitt could take a stand almost identical in gross characteristics with that of ,scott and the others--this in his ,why the ,arts are ,not ,progressive4#d ,for ,hazlitt1 because the arts unlike the sciences and the forms of high civilization in general hold immediate communication with nature1 they develop best soon after their birth and thrive in a state of society which is1 in other respects1 comparatively barbarous4 ,he goes so far as to instance ,homer1 ,chaucer1 ,spenser1 ,shakespeare1 ,dante1 ,ariosto1 ,raphael1 ,titian1 ,michaelangelo1 ,correggio1 ,cervantes1 and ,boccaccio4 ,in all its extremity1 in its inclusive view of what constitutes a barbarous society and its peculiar cultural virtues1 this is but the conventional doctrine of ,scott and all those who came before him4 ,but it is1 in ,hazlitt1 transformed into a statement1 not1 as in ,scott's predecessors1 of a rationale for the weakness of art in their time1 nor1 as in ,scott himself1 of a dimly espoused hope of art in his time4 ,it becomes a frank1 sympathetic statement of a fact of life which1 when granted1 will enable men to enjoy and comprehend great art of all ages4 ,the doctrine is focussed on the work of art1 not on the culture which lacks it2 it has been crucially transformed from a historical into a heuristic principle4 ,scott's ,dissertation embodies the doctrine just before its transformation--a neoclassical strain1 we can say1 just before it had became a romantic strain4 ,scott almost takes his stand with ,hazlitt2 but he is not quite there4 ,and not being quite there1 he is a whole world away4 ,roy ,harvey ,pearce ,ohio ,state ,university ,,notes ,footnote #a3 ,among the works that ,i have seen which specifically develop this argument are3 ,thomas ,blackwell1 ,an ,enquiry into the ,life and ,writings of ,homer 7#agce72 ,richard ,hurd1 ,the ,third ,elizabethan ,dialogue 7#agei7 and ,letters on ,chivalry and ,romance 7#agfb72 ,john ,ogilvie1 ,an ,essay on the ,lyric ,poetry of the ,ancients1 in ,poems on ,several ,subjects 7#agfb72 ,john ,brown1 ,a ,dissertation of the ,rise1 ,union1 and ,power1 the ,progressions1 ,separations1 and ,corruptions of ,poetry and ,music 7#agfc7 and a shorter version of the ,dissertation1 ,the ,history of the ,rise and ,progress of ,poetry 7#agfd72 ,hugh ,blair1 ,a ,critical ,dissertation on the ,poems of ,ossian 7#agfc72 ,william ,duff1 ,an ,essay on ,original ,genius 7#agfg72 ,robert ,wood1 ,an ,essay on the ,original ,genius and ,writings of ,homer 7#agfg1 enlarged version #agfi72 ,thomas ,pownall1 ,a ,treatise on the ,study of ,antiquities 7#aghb74 ,such a list1 however1 if it were to indicate the scope and ramifications of the argument would have to be expanded to include more general eighteenth-century studies of the evolution of cultural forms2 for the argument on the nature of art and its relation to primitive societies is part of a larger one centering on the whole idea of progress4 ,treatment of the whole subject has never been fully integrated into a study of the nature 7or natures7 of eighteenth-century criticism and critical theory--although a start has been made on study of it in and of itself4 ,the basic treatment remains ,lois ,whitney's ,primitivism and the ,idea of ,progress 7,baltimore1 #aicd7 and her two essays ,english ,primitivistic ,theories of ,epic ,origins1 ,,mp1 ,,xxi 7#aibd71 #ccg-cgh and ,thomas ,blackwell1 a ,disciple of ,shaftesbury1 ,,pq1 ,v 7#aibf71 #aif-baa4 ,these are to be considerably qualified in their general1 sociological orientation by ,gladys ,bryson's ,man and ,society3 ,the ,scottish ,inquiry of the ,eighteenth ,century 7,princeton1 #aide74 ,they are further to be qualified in their literary-critical orientation by my ,the ,eighteenth-,century ,scottish ,primitivists3 ,some ,reconsiderations1 ,,elh1 ,,xii 7#aide71 #bjc-bbj1 which is in turn somewhat expanded upon and generalized in the appendix to ,ernest ,tuveson's ,millenium and ,utopia3 ,a ,study in the ,background of the ,idea of ,progress 7,berkeley1 #aidi74 ,footnote #b3 ,see1 for example1 ,donald ,foerster1 ,scottish ,primitivism and the ,historical ,approach1 ,,pq1 ,,xxix 7#aiej71 #cjg-cbc4 ,footnote #c3 ,the essay was republished in #ahjd as part of ,scott's ,dissertations1 ,essays1 and ,parallels4 ,these pieces range from college premium compositions of the #aggj's to the ,dissertation of #ahjj4 ,footnote #d3 ,the essay is handily available in ,w4 ,j4 ,bate's anthology1 ,criticism3 ,the ,major ,texts 7,new ,york1 #aieb71 pp4 #bib-bie4 ,,dissertations1 ,essays1 ,,and ,,parallels4 ,,by ,,john ,,robert ,,scott1 ,d4 ,d4 ,,london3 ,printed by ,t4 ,bensley1 ,bolt ,court1 ,,and ,,sold ,,by ,j4 ,,johnson1 #gb1 ,,st4 ,,paul',s ,,church ,,yard2 ,,and ,,mess4 ,c4 ,r4 ,,baldwin1 ,,new ,,bridge ,,street1 ,,blackfriars4 #ahjd4 ,,contents4 ,,page4 ,a ,dissertation on the ,influence of ,religion on ,civil ,society #a ,a ,dissertation on the ,expulsion of the ,moors from ,spain1 and the ,protestants from ,france and the ,low ,countries #cc ,a ,dissertation on the first ,peopling of ,america #ge ,a ,dissertation on the ,progress of the ,fine ,arts #abe ,a ,dissertation on ,national ,population #aha ,an ,essay on ,writing ,history #bai ,an ,essay on the ,question1 ,was ,eloquence beneficial to ,athens8 #bde ,an ,essay on the ,influence of ,taste on ,morals #bfi ,comparison between ,william ,,iii1 of ,england and ,henry ,,iv1 of ,france #cjc ,comparison of ,cardinal ,ximenes and ,cardinal ,richelieu #cbc ,comparison between ,augustus ,csar and ,lewis ,,xiv #cdc ,comparison of ,maximilian de ,bethune1 ,duke of ,sully1 and ,william ,pitt1 ,earl of ,chatham #cfa ,,preface4 ,most of the following compositions were written several years ago1 when the ,author was a student in the distinguished ,university of ,dublin2 whose acknowledged excellence in classical literature1 and in every branch of scientific learning1 needs not the celebration of his feeble praise3 and by it the first and second ,dissertations1 and one of the ,essays1 were honoured with the first literary rewards in the power of that learned body to bestow4 ,written at first with an honest desire of acquiring fair reputation by praise-worthy exertions1 they are now submitted to the public eye from a wish to contribute to the liberal amusement1 and perhaps to the improvement1 of the minds of his fellow-creatures2 with all the natural anxieties of an author addressing a public1 to whom he is little known2 but without any unmanly dread or humiliating deprecation of just and candid criticism4 ,should they drop still-born from the press1 as it may be has been the fate of as meritorious compositions1 the author 7as becomes him7 will submit without murmuring to the general verdict4 ,should they1 on the contrary1 be graced with a favourable reception1 he shall deem himself honoured by such notice2 and will endeavour to render some larger works of his1 shortly to be submitted to the same respectable tribunal1 as worthy as his abilities will permit of its approving judgment4 ,gloucester ,street1 ,queen ,square1 #ahjd4 ,,dissertation ,,on ,,the ,,progress ,,of ,,the ,,fine ,,arts4 7,published in #ahjj47 ,,to ,,benjamin ,,west1 ,,esq4 ,,president ,,of ,,the ,,royal ,,academy1 ,,whose ,,talents ,,dignify1 ,,and ,,whose ,,manners ,,ornament ,,his ,,elevated ,,situation ,,as ,,head ,,of ,,that ,,honourable ,,and ,,useful ,,institution1 ,,the ,,following ,,dissertation ,,on ,,the ,,progress ,,of ,,the ,,fine ,,arts ,,is ,,dedicated1 ,,with ,,sincere ,,respect ,,and ,,all ,,due ,,deference1 ,,by ,,his ,,obliged ,,and ,,faithful ,,humble ,,servant1 ,,john ,,robert ,,scott4 #bh1 ,gloucester ,street1 ,queen ,square1 ,april1 #ahjj4 ,a ,,dissertation1 c4 ,the natural feelings of man1 when he enters into society with his fellow-creatures1 first induce him to improve by the means thence acquired the arts necessary to his existence and well-being3 whose want he every day felt in his separate and detached state1 and for whose melioration he has just reason to hope from the union of combined force1 and from the co-operation of confederated talents4 ,presst incessantly by the demands for the sustenance of animal life1 to supply them plentifully is not only his first care1 but also that of the community with which he has associated1 if it is even one degree removed from the savage state3 and hence1 in this early period of growing civilization1 the tending of flocks and the tilling of fields1 ,pasturage and ,agriculture1 are deemed not only necessary but honourable occupations2 the simplicity of untutored man ever leading him to estimate that to be most laudable which he finds to be most useful4 ,these being advanced to a certain degree of excellence1 which1 though far inferior to what they are obviously capable of attaining1 is yet sufficient not only for the comfortable but for the indulgent enjoyment of life1 new desires arise1 new wants spring up2 and their gratification is pursued with an eagerness correspondent to the novelty of their origin1 and the untried force of their impression4 ,the cravings of our animal nature being amply provided for by the ingenuity of the inhabitants1 by the fertility of the soil1 or by the conjoint operation of both1 the imagination begins in the luxuriance of abundance to picture to itself new sources of delight1 and spurning1 not without some contempt1 the mere provision for existence1 to fancy ideal pleasures1 and to search out with anxious care and laboured pains those objects which may gratify them4 ,and man1 finding himself possessed of more than a sufficiency to supply all his wants1 is willingly inclined to impart some share of that redundance to those who will contribute to his convenience and satisfaction2 to those who will render his comforts at all times more comfortable1 who will relieve the languors of his lassitude1 and fill up the vacuities of his leisure with amusement4 ,as there always were some to whom labour had no charms1 other more agreeable means of acquiring support were quickly sought out1 and the inventive powers of the mind were stretched to form those imagined pleasures whose want was felt1 and whose reward was ready4 ,hence ,architecture1 ,painting1 and ,statuary1 7with strict propriety denominated the fine arts7 primarily arose2 hence they derived their most assiduous cultivation1 and hence the utmost perfection to which they have yet attained4 ,unsatisfied with the hut that merely protected from the inclemencies of the elements1 and1 in the moments of repose1 from the unwarned attacks of the savages of the forest1 man soon sought out for more permanent1 more pleasing habitations3 to which experience first joined increased conveniences1 and then his inventive faculties1 sometimes aided by fortunate chance1 sometimes led on by correct fancy1 added those ornaments that have stood the test of ages1 and fixed those proportions that have uniformly approved themselves to all the judicious through the revolving course of various centuries4 ,the ingenuity of love taught the fair nymph to portray the shadow of that favoured youth whose merits had won her heart1 that even in his absence she might feast her mind with beholding some similitude of his form3 and hence the imagination1 impregnated by the nascent thought1 conceived those possibilities of excellence in painting1 and that source of intellectual enjoyment thence arising1 which ,zeuxis and ,parrhasius exhibited to the admiring eyes of ,greece1 and which ,raphael and ,michael ,angelo have displayed to the enraptured contemplation of the modern world4 ,poetry1 it is true1 early indeed enabled mankind1 by the fascinating power of its melodious sounds and its persuasive numbers1 to raise monumentse more durable than brass1 and to consecrate to immortality those illustrious persons who had entitled themselves to lasting fame by their deserts4 ,but1 even long antecedent to that period1 the desire of having some representative form of reverenced or beloved individuals had taught men to make some likenesses of them in rude sculptures of stone or ivory3 though destitute of the advantage of colouring1 yet more impressively striking to the senses than the productions of painting1 had they then existed 7which may be doubted71 and1 from the nature of their materials1 less liable to the injuries of the weather4 ,these1 we acknowledge1 were cold1 inanimate1 and destitute of all appearance of motion2 till ,ddalus contrived to give expression to the countenance and action to the limbs2 on which succeeding artists improving1 each rivalling and then surpassing his predecessor1 at length produced those works to wonder at1 the exquisite1 the unmatched1 the divine dignity of the ,apollo ,belvedere1 the energy1 the athletic force of the ,borghese combatant1 the agonized expression of the ,laocoon1 and the tearful sorrows of the ,niobe4 ,footnote e3 ,exegi monumentum re perennius4 ,horatii ,carmi4 ,lib4 iii4 ,ode #cj4 ,the expectations formed of the enjoyments to be derived from the masterly productions of these ,arts have in no one instance been disappointed2 but1 we may assert without fear of contradiction1 have in every case been greatly exceeded3 for though the emanations of the arts1 with the single exception of the ,apollo ,belvedere1 may have fallen short of that ideal excellence which forms their standard in each duly cultivated mind1 as1 in the department of literature1 the great ,roman orator states to have been the case with his own admirable compositions1 they have yet confessedly arrived at a degree of beauty1 a splendor of effect1 and a power of impression1 hardly to be hoped1 and not easily to be conceived4 ,should it then be demanded1 what causes produced this transcendent beauty1 this unrivalled grace1 this combination of pleasing form and perfect utility8 ,they will be found1 not in any fortuitous concurrence of accidents1 not in any benign aspect of the planets1 not in any genial influence of the atmosphere1 as has been weakly imagined and absurdly asserted by certain self-denominated ,philosophers of the continent2 but to have been the effects of much labour and much pains1 of much study and much industry1 of great national encouragement1 and of the peculiar situation of that fortunate land wherein they were advanced from their salient principle to their matured perfection4 ,to confine ourselves to ,greece1 with which and its history1 by means of its incomparable writers1 we are best acquainted3 the first striking circumstance in their favour was1 that in it they were not borrowed1 nor imported1 nor caused by foreign imitation1 but were the home-bred produce of the country2 and therefore1 however cultivated and improved1 always retained the rich raciness of a native soil4 ,successive generations of artists arose1 each excelling the other in merit1 and each of these had a correspondent race of their countrymen ready to admire1 and prepared to applaud them4 ,no fastidious delicacy1 no affected superiority of discernment or skill1 repressed their talents1 or curbed their genius3 but free scope was given to the boldest of their flights1 and1 when they happened to succeed1 the praise of their own age was their sure and adequate reward4 ,the productions of the earlier periods would not have1 indeed1 pleased in the polished age of ,pericles1 unless as illustrative of the progress of the arts2 for then more captivating models were every day produced1 more enchanting examples were every day exhibited to the view4 ,but in their own age1 and their own time1 being superior to all that had been seen before1 they were thought matchless performances1 and so received with undisputed plaudits the highest estimation4 ,this connate temper of the times 7if ,i may use the expression7 proved a most powerful incentive to the abilities of the artists1 and ensured to them1 if surpassing in merit their predecessors1 honourable regard1 and that famef which above all other considerations was dear to a ,grecian heart4 ,hence labour and pains1 assiduity and exertion1 were unremittingly applied to advance their peculiar art1 to smooth its asperities1 to ornament its nakedness1 to improve whatever of excellent existed in it1 and to aim at still farther capabilities of excellence4 ,certain of the approbation of their contemporaries1 repressed by no ideas of unattainable perfection1 which were the growth of latter times and of the greatest refinement1 they daily added something to the common stock2 and though that something was in itself1 perhaps1 inconsiderable1 it yet raised its possessor to no common degree of celebrity4 ,thus the arts advanced1 proceeding from strength to strength1 constantly receiving accessions of improvement1 which were favoured by many conspiring1 and retarded by no unpropitious circumstances3 and1 being native to the country1 the abilities of the artists in a great measure formed the taste of the age1 as its fostering admiration constituted their most flattering reward4 ,footnote f3 ,prter laudem nullius avaris4 ,horatius ,de ,arte ,poetica4 ,from a situation perfectly dissimilar1 though the ,romans long and sedulously cultivated the arts1 yet their noblest efforts never equalled the best works of the ,grecian school2 of which the sacred remnants still remain unrivalled and unmatched4 ,for amongst them they were not indigenous1 but introduced as it were by violence2 by the power of the conquering sword1 and by the plundering of insatiable rapacity3 each of the ,roman generals1 however ignorant or unpolished himself1 yet pillaging vanquished ,greece of the choicest works of her happier days4 ,thus1 indeed1 exquisite models and patterns of consummate beauty were procured for the rustic ,latians1g on which they wrought with assiduity1 and attempted to emulate3 but their redundancy was rather oppressive than co-operative1 and their very perfection tended to prevent an encouraging esteem of the rising artists4 ,for the judgment1 or what we call the ,taste1 of the public being formed not gradually1 and by progressive steps of improving art1 but all at once1 and 7as it were7 at a bound1 assumed a squeamish delicacy which nothing imperfect would please1 and which delighted more in finding faults than in discovering beauties4 ,and this cause1 whose operation is alike powerful and general1 contributed more to keep down the ,roman arts1 and to prevent them from equalling the ,greek1 than any inferiority of talents1 or than any want of continued application and culture4 ,footnote g3 - - - - - - artes ,intulit agresti ,latio4 ,horatii ,epis4 ,lib4 ii4 ,ep4 #a4 ,the case has been the same in the modern world1 and it will be found universally true1 that where the arts have arisen from natural1 or nearly natural causes1 and have thence proceeded by gradual advances to higher degrees of perfection1 the judgment or taste of the nation similarly meliorating with their improvement1 they have attained1 and will attain1 the utmost excellence which the abilities of the artists can give them3 but when brought forward among a people by extraneous circumstances1 such as the force of conquests1 the commanding influence of supreme power1 or the efforts of affected imitation1 though they may bloom and flourish for a season1 that they never will arrive at that richness of maturity they have been seen to possess elsewhere1 nor will enjoy that vigour of growth which native juices infuse2 but1 like hothouse plants1 though fairly seeming1 are yet vapid to the sense1 and when bereft of their borrowed heat1 quickly sink1 rot1 and die4 ,the progress of the arts in the ancient world1 with the astonishing excellence to which they were carried1 was also much aided by the manners and customs there prevailing1 and in constant and daily practice4 ,to games and vigorous exercises the ancients were remarkably addicted1 regarding them both as liberal amusements and as a preparatory discipline for the active occupations of war1 in which each freeman of the state knew himself obliged to engage at a certain period of his life1 and which he could not avoid without being damned to never-ceasing infamy4 ,now all these were performed naked1 as well on account of the warmth of the atmosphere as to preclude all unequal advantages1 and to habituate the mind fearlessly to expose the person to the assaults of incumbent danger4 ,hence the human figure was hourly exhibited to the inspecting view of the attentive beholder1 whether sculptor or painter1 in all its various forms of grace and elegance1 of strength and force1 or of agony and torture3 and these not the assumed appearances of fictitious feeling1 but the vivid effects of actual endurance1 and glowing from the mint of present impression4 ,these were not to be sought in ,schools and ,academies1 they were not the lifeless colourings of mercenary hirelings1 but the energies of men emulous of fame1 and conscious that their characters with their countrymen would be materially influenced by their performances in these favourite contests4 ,contests which as amusements were the delight of all1 which as exercises were the duty of multitudes2 which hoary age beheld with rapture1 as recalling the remembrance of the days of their prime1 and which unfledged youth gazed on with transport1 as picturing those deeds whereby they panted soon to be distinguished4 ,thus nothing but the most careless inattention could avoid noting the distinctive marks of the various passions and affections1 which nature writes in very legible characters3 and as all from repeated observation were equally well acquainted with them1 in their representation by the artist nothing short of the most exact and accurate likeness could hope for tolerance1 much less for approbation4 ,their scientific knowledge of anatomy1 as applicable and subservient to medical purposes1 was perhaps inferior to ours1 for they appear not to have enjoyed the advantage in their principal cities of such men as the ,huntersh and ,cleghorn3i but that inferiority proved not injurious to the artist1 who chiefly engaged in imitating the prominent features of the human frame when thrown into action1 amply compensated for his ignorance of the theory of muscular motion1 of the nervous system1 and of osteology1 by the effects of observation incessantly repeated on the most striking objects1 and1 it may be1 the more impressive from coming unsought and uninculcated4 ,in fact they could scarcely avoid making this observation3 it was presst on them from every quarter2 it was urged on them by every incident4 ,if they attended their morning exercises1 it was excited there2 if they resorted to their evening amusements1 it was roused there also4 ,in the retirement of the country it was not allowed to sleep2 in the bustle of the city it was awakened to all its vivacity4 ,from private enjoyment1 from public security2 from the recreations of peace1 from the toils of war2 from the vacuities of idleness1 and from the labours of industry it alike received nurture1 support1 and aliment4 ,thus reiteratedly enforced1 its effects became1 like those of a second nature1 interwoven with the habitudes of the mind1 and called forth into action1 when the occasion required1 with readiness and facility1 without effort and without premeditation4 ,hence the wonders that we are told of the astonishing power of their paintings1 limited as we know they were in the number of their colours2 of which though we are deprived of the sight by the lapse of time1 yet are they rendered credible1 nay1 fully verified1 to us by the matchless remains of their statues2 whose transcendent merit we have ocular demonstration that neither prejudice had praised nor ignorance had extolled beyond their real deserts4 ,hence the truth of nature in the ,laocoon1 where the expression of suffering is not confined to the agitated visage1 but is as forcibly marked in the agonized foot as in the distorted countenance4 ,hence every muscle moves1 every sinew is stretched1 every atom of the figure conspires to the general effect in the ,borghese combatant3k and hence each particular part of the ,farnesian ,hercules represents1 as forcibly as the entire statue1 that character of superior manly strength and resistless might1 which ancient tales have taught us to connect with the idea of the person of that fabled hero4 ,footnote h3 ,dr4 ,william ,hunter and ,mr4 ,john ,hunter1 the late celebrated anatomists of ,london4 ,footnote i3 ,dr4 ,george ,cleghorn1 the late excellent and deservedly famous ,professor of ,anatomy in the university of ,dublin3 a man of whom it can be truly said that the excellent qualities of his heart were as estimable as his superior professional talents were conspicuous4 ,footnote k3 ,this statue1 which forms one of the most valuable possessions in the superb ,borghese collection1 is commonly called the fighting ,gladiator2 but1 we apprehend1 very erroneously3 as the whole of that admirable figure bespeaks a character greatly superior to that of those degraded and despised beings1 whose mercenary services contributed to the amusements of the ,roman amphitheatre4 ,it cannot be inferred from what has been here said that there is intended any unqualified approbation of the custom of appearing naked2 which so generally prevailed among the ancients1 and more especially among the ,greeks4 ,surely no3 for its indecency is obvious2 it smoothed the path to many immoralities1 and doubtless tended in no slight degree to inflame1 if not kindle1 some notorious vices to which they were eminently addicted4 ,but it has been merely considered with respect to its subserviency to promote the arts of painting and sculpture3 and its powerful and salutary influence on them seems so apparent as to be nearly incontestible4 ,it co-operated with other causes1 yet to be mentioned1 to give them that superlative excellence which1 through a long succession of centuries1 has excited uniform admiration2 and which yet1 superlative as it was1 fell short of the ideas of it entertained and cherished by the artists4 ,the peculiar situation of ,greece1 from the first beginnings of the arts to their most flourishing period1 contributed also materially to their improvement and perfection4 ,in its utmost extent not a country of large dimensions1 it was yet divided and subdivided into a number of independent states2 each eager for distinction1 each emulous of fame1 each jealous of all superiority in their neighbours4 ,never for any length of time subject to the dominion of masters1 till the overwhelming influence of the ,macedonian sunk them all into common slavery1 their constitutions were free1 or what they regarded as free3 in which each citizen felt himself equally interested with any other to extend the reputation1 to exalt the glory1 and to enlarge the consequence of the state4 ,and when the pre-eminence of power had assigned to ,sparta1 and afterwards to ,athens1 that preponderance of authority and weight of consequence necessary to a leading state1 first among its equals2 still1 from national spirit and from deep-rooted habits1 an emulation every where prevailed of rivalling in the first rank of reputation each of their neighbours1 although they had conceded to one of them the dignity of command4 ,with the single exception of ,sparta1 where the stern discipline of ,lycurgus effectually prevented their progress1 as after the arts had began to arise their cultivation was diffused and eagerly pursued throughout all ,greece2 the praise of excellence in them early became and long continued an object of the first importance with all its various states4 ,they regarded them not only as a means of internal ornament1 in which yet they much prided themselves1 but also of external character2 a means which might raise to higher fame than the most celebrated their favoured district1 however inferior to them in political power4 ,hence the possession of an artist of distinguished abilities and superior talents was considered as a national concern3 and the esteem wherein he was held1 the popularity he acquired1 and the dignified stations to which with fair prospects of success he might aspire1 were answerable to the consequence which his genius was thought to confer on his native land4 ,as this sentiment was universal1 animating the minds and guiding the conduct of all the different states1 its influence on the improvement of the arts1 and on the exertions of their professors1 was powerful in the extreme4 ,they were not deemed the lucrative trades of mechanical men1 by which some fame and much money might be procured2 but the ennobling occupations of the best-deserving citizens1 anxiously labouring to exalt the reputation of their country1 and to raise her to a more envied eminence among the surrounding and rival republics4 ,and the citizens thus employed were conscious1 in addition to the common motives of rivalry generally prevalent at all times among men of spirit engaged in the same pursuits1 that not only their individual character1 but the fame of their nation1 was implicated in their labours2 and fired by the warm energy of that recollection1 they wrought with a glowing heat1 with an ardour of enthusiasm that1 in repeated instances1 burst forth in the brightest blaze of excellence4 ,for their exertions in their particular arts were not thought1 either by themselves or by the public1 the mere efforts of competition of sculptors1 painters1 or architects1 with their fellow artists2 but trials of merit between adjacent communities1 each vain of their present character1 each aiming at higher distinction1 each hoping for the pre-eminence3 to which trials the eminent artists stept forwards the champions of a people1 not the combatants in a private contest4 ,hence with unremitting zeal beauty and grace1 strength and spirit1 truth and nature1 were investigated through all their different forms1 were examined with minute attention1 were applied with scrupulous accuracy4 ,it little weighed with the professor what his own countrymen1 however polished1 judged of his work1 what impression it made on them1 or what plaudits of theirs it called forth3 but how it would be received at the ,olympic or ,isthmian games1 at the general assembly of all ,greece2 where each skilful eye and each intelligent mind would be employed in scrutinizing it without favour or affection1 and would compare it as well with the best productions of similar art then known as with the elaborate essays of contemporary artists4 ,thus whatever of genius1 or talents1 or skill1 or judgment1 or industry1 each man possessed1 was called forth into action by motives the most operative on the human mind1 whose power is known and confessed3 and the consequence was the rapid and unequalled improvement of the ,arts4 ,improvement which still astonishes1 and which we are sometimes inclined to imagine the effort of a superior race of beings to those with whom we converse3 but which arose from causes strong and cogent indeed1 but natural1 and without difficulty discoverable4 ,something not unlike this happened at the revival of the arts in ,europe1 and contributed materially to their advancement4 ,for ,italy1 which was their cradle1 was then broken into a number of independent states1 mostly free1 and rivalling each other in every praise of prowess and policy4 ,hence1 when the revival of the arts furnished a new source of fame1 it was pursued with avidity2 and the various schools formed in its different cities vied with each other for superiority1 and by their laudable rivalry promoted the progress of the arts with extraordinary celerity4 ,and though1 perhaps1 these schools1 which soon became distinguished by peculiar merits1 may not finally have contributed to the perfection of the arts1 as leading their respective students rather to pursue the attainment of that one distinct merit than to aim at the acquisition of universal excellence2 yet1 at the close of the fifteenth and in the sixteenth century1 by their praiseworthy emulation and vigorous exertions1 they were singularly useful1 and essentially tended to the rapid improvement of the reviving arts4 ,their fame added much to the splendor and reputation of the cities wherein they were settled1 and that circumstance proved a very perceptible incentive to invigorate their talents and to animate their exertions2 and so produced1 though in an inferior degree1 not a little of that spirited labour1 of that enthusiastic devotion to their profession1 which had aided so considerably the progress of the arts in ,greece4 ,we say in an inferior degree2 because the ,italian cities1 though sensible of their worth1 and persuaded of their public utility1 never bestowed on individual professors such extraordinary marks of attention and reverence as the ,grecian states were in the habit of lavishing on their more illustrious artists2 and1 consequently1 the cause being lessened1 the effect must have been proportionably diminished4 ,in truth this species of rivalry1 in which states or nations1 however small1 feel themselves interested1 has ever proved one of the strongest stimulatives that could be applied to abilities2 as it combines the patriotic affections of the worthy citizen with the natural ambition of the artist1 and alike operates on some of the most powerful public and private springs of action4 ,but the labour and pains1 the study and industry early employed and long continued1 in the cultivation of the arts1 naturally and necessarily advanced their progress in a striking manner3 raising them to such a height of perfection as we weakly think unattainable1 because we will not use the adequate means of endeavouring to attain it4 ,labour is to man1 from his constitution and his frame1 the real price of every truly valuable acquisition2 which1 though indolence spurns and idleness rejects1 always brings its own reward with it1 whether we are ultimately successful or not1 in the consciousness of having acted a manly part1 and in the vigour of mind and health of body which it1 and it alone1 invariably confers4 ,some fortuitous instances may be mentioned of those who have possessed both without its aid2 of those who1 nursed on the lap of indolence1 and folded in the arms of idleness1 have enjoyed that first of human blessings1 a sound mind in a sound body3 but they are instances to astonish1 not examples to incite4 ,this is even more strictly and peculiarly true as it regards the arts1 than it is in several other cases4 ,for the great merit of painting and sculpture consisting in their exact and captivating copies of nature1 and of architecture in its combination of beauty with grandeur1 of convenience with magnificence1 it is obvious that these qualities are never the casual effects of chance and accident1 of lucky hits and fortunate events2 but the steady results of pains and care1 of study and attention4 ,of this truth the professors of the arts in ,greece were quickly and fully convinced2 and applied that conviction to its only proper purpose1 to an unremitting labour on their own appropriate pursuit3 a labour which1 paramount over each other object1 neither pleasure prevented1 nor politics precluded1 nor the calls of animal life hindered4 ,to excel in their art1 to surpass their predecessors1 to outstrip their competitors1 to be the conspicuous subject of ,grecian admiration1 were the objects of their daily thoughts and of their nightly dreams3 objects which scarce for a moment retired from their view1 or1 if for a moment retiring1 it was only that they might recur again with renovated force4 ,thel multa dies et multa litura which the ,roman poet ascribes to the ,grecian writers1 and to which he truly attributes their superior merit1 were still more eminently true of their artists2 who applied to the completion of their various works a severity of study and a perseverance of labour that to us1 habituated to very different manners indeed1 seem surprizing2 but of which the authenticated accounts cannot be disputed4 ,as exalted character1 not the mere making of money1 was the aim to which their thoughts were directed1 it was pursued with that eagerness which honest ambition ever creates3 and though1 incidentally1 fortune frequently followed their fame1 as it came unsought for1 none of its degrading motives swayed their conduct4 ,footnote l3 ,horatius4 ,it was not the idea of them hundred talents which he received1 great as that sum was 7for not one drachma of it would he have received had not his work been approved71 that inspirited the genius of ,phidias when he was sculpturing the ,olympian ,jupiter2 but the reflection that by his skill the rude block was to be transformed into the representative likeness of the father of gods and men1 to be the admiration and adoration of his enraptured countrymen3 and hence profound study1 exquisite pains1 and incessant labour1 were employed to produce that statue1 which thence became afterwards the wonder of the world4 ,under the impulse of such impressions must the ,apollo ,belvedere have come from the hands of its unequalled sculptor3 for though we know not the history of that incomparable statue1 yet its expression of dignity more than human1 its unforced graceful ease which nature can but faintly copy1 its perfect symmetry1 and union of complete beauty with full bodily strength1 tell more than a thousand witnesses the pains1 the study1 and the labour that must have been unremittingly exerted to produce it4 ,footnote m3 #ai1cge l4 ,it would argue a silly prejudice1 not a due sense of the merits of the ancients1 to attempt to insinuate that this labour and study1 to which we are inclined to attribute so much1 was universal4 ,no2 for in ,greece then1 as with ourselves now1 there were among the artists 7what in the modern phrase we call7 fine gentlemen3 persons of too sublime a genius to condescend to study1 and of too delicate a frame to submit to labour4 ,the character of the species has been preserved1 though the names of its individuals have long1 long since been forgotten4 ,but they never promoted the progress1 never advanced the improvement of any art3 but1 like their amiable successors1 followed a trade for support1 and did not cultivate a profession with dignity4 ,but the persons of whom we speak1 as distinguished by these qualities1 were those worthy citizens who addicted themselves to no art without adorning and improving it2 whose names ennobled the age in which they lived2 who then were never mentioned without reverence1 nor yet1 at this far distant period1 are ever thought on without respect4 ,by their studies and their labours1 vigorously and undeviatingly exerted1 was the progress of the arts promoted1 their improvement accelerated1 and their near approximation to perfection effected3 they thus experimentally proving the energetic power of these valuable qualities1 and leaving examples to fire the emulation of the spirited and the active in each future age4 ,in addition to the circumstances already mentioned1 whose power and efficiency on the progress of the arts we have endeavoured to point out1 there must be called to mind the great national encouragement which they received in ,greece1 and the extraordinary influence which it must have had on the warm imaginations of its gay and high-spirited inhabitants4 ,the desire of distinction and honour is a principle interwoven in the constitution of our nature2 and though1 like most others we possess1 it is liable to perversion1 is in itself not only blameless but laudable2 inciting the best exertions of talents where they are1 and often supplying their place where it finds them not4 ,there are no countries1 however adverse the regent of the day may have yoked his horses from them1 where its operation is not more or less felt3 and in exact proportion to the civilization and mental improvement of each country1 its ascendency has ever been found to be high1 its dominion to be great4 ,this is strictly true even with regard to the estimation of private individuals3 but the applause of a whole people has invariably been deemed the most just meed of the most exceeding merit1 ever since nations have assumed a fixed and stable form4 ,now this applause formed an important part of the great national rewards by which ,greece fostered the arts2 and it was a part that peculiarly came home both to the business and bosoms of each worthy citizen1 and caused every pulse of a ,grecian heart to vibrate to its impression4 ,their characteristic fondness of fame is known and acknowledged2 but this applause1 though by them in itself extravagantly valued1 was not a mere empty1 flattering sound3 for1 from the constitutions prevailing in nearly every state of ,greece1 it was the sure conductor to domestic dignity1 to political power1 and to commanding sway in the public deliberations4 ,the first offices of the state1 and the prime trusts of the government1 were open to that distinguished artist whose admired performances had secured the universal suffrage4 ,they were often without seeking offered by popular gratitude to his acceptance2 nay1 sometimes with honest violence forced on his unwilling reception4 ,thus the principles of interest1 ambition1 popularity1 confessedly some of the most powerful that guide the conduct of mankind1 were called forth in aid of that natural bent or disposition which had induced the man to cultivate any particular art3 and the consequence was such as might be expected from the efficiency of such operative motives1 surpassing merit and supreme excellence4 ,another species of national encouragement1 nearly connected with this1 was the certainty which the eminent artist enjoyed that1 whenever the occasion offered1 his talents would be employed to erect1 or to decorate with the labours of his pencil or his chissel1 the temples1 the theatres1 the porticoes1 the places of public assembling of the cities of ,greece2 where his works1 contributing amply to his fortune from their munificent reward1 would contribute more to his fame when exposed to the scrutinizing view of that intelligent people4 ,he had no cause to fear that his abilities would be overlooked or buried in obscurity by prepossession1 partiality1 or prejudice3 he had no apprehensions to dread from the effects of interested relationship1 of commanding influence1 of narrow local attachment1 or of proud and presuming ignorance4 ,if his merit was acknowledged his employment was sure2 and he was even courted by the general voice to exert his talents for the public credit1 not depressed in their exertion by mean and base affections4 ,he was not obliged to solicit for employment with humiliating applications1 and1 when employed1 to labour under the multiplied disadvantages of deficient or stinted means1 of complying with vitiated judgments1 of submitting to the senseless whims of folly and caprice4 ,full scope was given to the fertility of his imagination1 to the extent of his genius1 to the vigour of his fancy3 whilst all the powers of his mind and all the vigour of his body1 all the ingenuity of his head and all the dexterity of his hands1 were impelled to their best performances by the consciousness that all deficiencies would be imputable solely to himself1 the public being free from the slightest suspicion of having either curbed or confined his abilities4 ,as no elevation of genius made him giddy1 hence grace and beauty1 strength and vigour1 expression and passion1 respectively marked his performances2 and his fame became connected with the edifices1 the statues1 the paintings1 that ornamented the country1 which struck every eye1 and which none beheld without recollecting with respect the able artist whose workmanship had produced them4 ,the effect of this kind of encouragement on the arts was great1 is manifest1 and need be but slightly mentioned3 yet1 perhaps1 may appear the more striking from contrasting it with some practices of more modern times4 ,in them the first city in the world has disgraced itself with all who have eyesight1 by employing to erect its most expensive buildingn an architect because the man was a citizen3 and1 in more countries of ,europe than one1 statues and paintings are exhibited as commemorative of illustrious public deeds1 where contorsion and extravagance1 where flutter and glare1 form the predominant characters2 but they dishonour those countries1 on account of the artists engaged to execute them being employed because they were the favourites of despots1 the flatterers of titled harlots1 or the relations of directors2 whilst men of the first talents and merit in their profession were pining in indigence and obscurity1 unnoticed and unfriended4 ,the consequences of this latter conduct none will say that we have reason to boast of from the superlative excellence of modern art2 but what has been felt from it may readily induce us to believe how essentially its direct opposite must have promoted the progress of the arts in ,greece4 ,footnote n3 ,the ,mansion ,house of ,london4 ,the vast sums expended by the ,grecian states on their public monuments and their public works 7vast1 indeed1 when the comparative value of money then and now is considered71 tended much to assist the progress of the arts1 and to aid their high improvement4 ,for1 though we have unquestionable reason to believe that the sordid motive of private profit was not the first principle in the minds of those great artists who have immortalized their names by their works1 yet without a certain liberality of expence their ideas could not have been realized1 their works could not have been executed2 and that liberality they found limited commonly by nothing but the public means1 and often not even by them4 ,we know from the gravest and clearest authorities with what lavish expenditure scenic representations were exhibited at ,athens1 with what unbounded magnificence her temples1 her tribunals1 her porticoes were decorated3 we equally well know the splendor of ,corinth1 a near neighbouring city2 the incalculable price of its paintings1 the inestimable value of its statues1 and that from the coalesced mass of its molten metals there arose1 at its destruction1 a compound more highly prized by the ,romans than gold4 ,the other principal cities were alike studious of embellishment1 alike emulous of ornament1 and in various proportions enjoyed them according to the circumstances of time and situation3 but ,delphi and ,olympia1 the grand seats of the national religion and the national games1 concentered in themselves each choicest production of genius1 each happiest effort of art1 each transcendent display of excellence2 amassed with a judgment that delighted1 with a profusion that surprized1 and with an expence that astonished4 ,this generous spirit in carrying on and completing public works which1 though it may sometimes be pushed to an excess 7as1 perhaps1 was the case in ,greece71 is so truly honourable to any people1 had1 and obviously must have had1 the most decided influence in advancing and improving the arts1 and in giving them that degree of perfection which has never yet been exceeded1 nor even equalled4 ,it excited exertion1 by the security that its efforts would not be suffered to remain undisplayed1 but would be invited to add loveliness to the beautiful1 and splendor to the magnificent2 it roused the full force of emulation1 by the certainty that superior merit would receive superior rewards1 and neither be permitted to languish in privacy nor to pine in poverty2 and it invigorated the boldest flights of genius1 by the firm assurance that there was a prevalent spirit ready to countenance1 prepared to adopt1 and anxious to encourage them4 ,it would be no small absurdity to affirm that fortune1 as well as fame1 had not attractions for a ,grecian artist2 for it must ever be absurd to affirm generally the absence of the operation of general principles3 and therefore the great pecuniary recompences which their talents procured had1 doubtless1 a proportionate influence on all their labours to improve their art2 though1 it may be1 less in that region than in many other countries4 ,and from the combined efficacy of these several kinds of national encouragement1 which1 like different branches of the same tree1 spring all from the same root1 the progress of the arts was furthered so essentially1 was advanced so highly1 as we have heard of with wonder1 and have seen with amazement4 ,so complex having been the causes1 so slow and progressively gradual the progress of the ,fine ,arts1 highly grateful must it be to every truly ,british breast to consider the rapid advances they have made in this favoured ,isle within the last fifty years3 advances certainly unmatched in their former history1 as in that period they have arisen from the utmost imbecility of infantine weakness 7indeed almost from non-entity7 to a vigorous maturity that leaves far behind them the emasculate efforts and puny productions of all other contemporary ,european nations4 ,the causes of this unequalled improvement have notoriously been the countenance and fostering protection of his present ,majesty1 an admirer and intelligent judge of their merit1 and the ardent spirit of emulation excited among the artists themselves by such exalted and distinguishing notice4 ,these co-operating have produced an exertion of talents1 a display of abilities1 and emanations of genius that always wore in existence1 but which required concurring circumstances to bring them into full action1 and to cause them to expand their latent energies4 ,and had the general patronage been correspondent to these fortunate incidents1 had not the fashionable jargon of presumptuous1 self-created1 arbiters of taste1 affecting to despise ,national art1 vitiated the public mind1 or rather strengthened an ancient prejudice there floating1 it is not easy to conceive how much greater still would have been their progress4 ,it is at least certain that our ingenious young artists would have been amply encouraged to exert themselves1 and not suffered1 after the most promising exhibitions of dawning talents1 to pine in indigence and wretchedness1 to sink into obscurity and oblivion1 or 7like the illfated1 but most meritorious ,proctoro7 to hasten1 in the very opening of life1 the termination of mortal existence from the excruciating pressure of continued penury and misery4 ,footnote o3 ,the fate of this ingenious youth deserves to be distinctly recorded4 ,born of humble parentage in one of the more distant counties1 he had early manifested an admiration of the ,arts1 and1 being admitted a student of the ,royal ,academy1 eminently distinguished himself there by his abilities and his industry4 ,applying peculiarly to ,sculpture1 soon after the termination of his studies in the ,academy he exhibited1 at its annual ,exhibition in ,somerset-place1 two models of unrivalled excellence1 which might1 without fear of deterioration1 have been placed in competition with the happiest productions of the best days of ,grecian art1 and which at the time met with their well-earned applause4 ,but1 alas6 applause was his only reward3 no wealthy patron took him by the hand1 no affluent lover of the ,arts enquired into1 or assisted1 his circumstances2 and his means being very confined1 misery was his portion4 ,he had however the soul of an ,artist1 and for a length of time bore up with manly fortitude against his distresses4 ,the present worthy ,president of the ,royal ,academy1 suspecting his situation1 with the aid of the ,council obtained for him from the ,academy an annuity of #ajjl4 a year1 to enable him to go to ,italy1 and improve himself there3 but the unhappy youth had unavoidably contracted some trifling debts1 which he was utterly unable to discharge1 and his mind was too delicately alive to every finer feeling to bear the thought of leaving this country without paying them4 ,this circumstance1 preying on his agitated spirits1 and on a frame emaciated by the severest distress1 caused his speedy dissolution1 to the irreparable injury of the ,arts4 ,after his death it was discovered that1 for the last two years of his life1 he had resided in a miserable cock-loft in the worst house in ,clare market1 which he had rented for a shilling a week2 and that his daily sustenance for that time had been only two dry biscuits with a draft of water from the market pump4 ,thus having attempted to investigate the progress of the arts1 and to what was owing that supreme excellence which they formerly attained1 we seem to have reasonable grounds to conclude that it flowed from such natural and moral causes as1 at all times and in all cases1 are known powerfully to affect the feelings and to actuate the conduct of man4 ,no whimsical refinements1 no marvellous mysteries1 no imaginary and fantastic theories have been had recourse to3 but lighted on our way by the irradiating torch of authentic history1 and unseduced by the false glare of lying legends1 we have not dared so much to affirm what1 in certain situations1 our fellow-creatures ,,must do1 as to detail with some care what in fact they ,,did do4 ,if what we have here advanced has not the attraction of novelty to allure1 it is hoped that it is not deficient in the recommendation of truth to convince4 ,it has not been thought necessary formally to refute the sentiments of those profound ,philosophers1 who have sagaciously discovered the causes of the inferiority of the arts in some countries and of their superiority in others1 and consequently the perfection to which they arrived in ,greece1 in the power of the solar beams in certain latitudes1 in the influences of the atmosphere1 and in those of terrestrial and celestial vapours3 for if the causes here assigned appear fully adequate to the end produced1 as we conceive they do1 it must be idle to shew the inutility of others1 gratuitously brought forth from the inexhaustible storehouse of fancy1 and supported by any thing rather than solid reasoning4 ,it must be allowed that they very roundly assert1 but as fallaciously argue1 whenever they deign to argue on this subject3 for mere assertions1 positive1 pompous1 presuming1 but assertions still1 are the commonest weapons of their warfare4 ,and1 possibly1 it would neither be reputable to contest the specious subtilty of the sophisms of even such sages1 nor honourable to conquer the powerless imbecility of their assertions4 ,it is but fair to avow that this enquiry into the progress of the arts has not been entered on for the sole purpose of ascertaining1 as far as we were able1 the causes of the surpassing excellence to which they were carried in ,greece1 without at the same time intimating1 with due deference to superior judgments and to superior authority1 the efficacy of the same causes1 at all times and in all countries1 in improving and exalting them4 ,as human nature is the same at all periods1 though diversified in its exterior shew by the various customs1 modes1 and manners1 that variously prevail1 it cannot be seriously doubted but that those principles1 which have been found by experience in one country to powerfully sway its conduct1 and to incite its efforts in the ,arts to their noblest productions1 would be equally efficient and equally successful elsewhere1 were they fairly applied1 and as vigorously exerted4 ,we have no satisfactory reason for believing that either the mental or corporeal powers of man have degenerated in the succession of ages3 and we well know that1 by the benefits of experience and invention1 considerable aids have been added to both1 to methodize their motions and to facilitate their operations4 ,our profounder and better-studied knowledge of ,metaphysics1 our improved skill in ,natural ,philosophy and ,mechanics1 and our more accurate acquaintance with the principles of colours1 with their combinations and their shades1 all confessedly tend to these points4 ,should then the same liberal public encouragement be displayed1 by those possessed of the power of displaying it1 as dignified the best days of ,greece2 should the same labour1 the same pains1 the same study1 the same industry1 be used by modern artists as distinguished their truly illustrious predecessors2 we might not vainly hope to see the arts carried to still greater perfection than they have ever yet attained2 we might expect to behold their deficiencies supplied1 their utilities increased1 their energies enlarged1 and their beauties augmented4 ,on national encouragement it becomes not the mediocrity of our talents and station to presume to decide2 yet1 possibly1 it will not be judged too vauntingly confident to say that it should in all cases be spirited1 generous1 impartial1 and should not be subjected to the caprices of power1 to the varying humours of the transient depositaries of the public confidence1 nor to the inconstant and ever-mutable gusts of popular phrenzy4 ,what effect such encouragement would have on the artists themselves can1 indeed1 be only conjectured2 for such encouragement has never yet been exhibited in the modern world3 but that conjecture is neither vague nor random1 as it is guided by permanent principles1 and directed by the known influence of steady affections on the human heart4 ,it may be affirmed then1 with some assurance1 that it would inspirit their labours1 that it would multiply their pains1 that it would invigorate their studies1 that it would augment their industry3 for such were heretofore its experienced consequences in similar cases1 and therefore they are reasonably to be expected again4 ,they would not waste their youth in the riot of lawless pleasure1 and so treasure up sickness and sorrow for the days of their prime3 they would not spend their hours in the ceaseless pursuit of the intoxicating amusements of some great capital3 they would not lay out their whole attention on the low and subordinate1 but gainful1 branches of their trade1 in contempt of the superior features of their ,,art1 and of its possible improvement3 but concentring all their powers1 all their abilities1 all their faculties1 in the advancement of their peculiar pursuit1 would rapidly raise themselves from the drudgery of mechanical workmanship to the proud elevation of professional exertion4 ,thus the arts1 advanced by so conspicuous a change of manners in their cultivators1 and by an encouragement differing so widely from the paltry private patronage pretending to that name1 would attain that state of perfection to which their admirers fondly wish to see them carried2 but which they must wish in vain till something like the changes here etched out shall have taken place4 ,and that what depends on the artists has not been too sanguinely supposed1 nor too strongly pictured1 will surely not be asserted3 for it has only been supposed that they are men of common sense and natural feelings2 that they are not insensible to the allurements of each dignified distinction in life2 that they have hearts that can be warmed and minds that can be roused4 ,that much higher ideas might justly be formed of some artists we can positively affirm from personal knowledge2 as we know some who have really the souls of ,artists2 who1 even in present circumstances1 instead of grovelling all their lives in mean and sordid occupations1 adventurously dare to soar into the immense void of possible excellence2 and whose characters it would be highly grateful to portray1 were not the desire restrained by the consciousness of inability to do justice to their merits4 ,such men1 indeed1 by the vigour of their genius1 counteract the disadvantages to which they may be exposed1 and1 bursting the barriers of opposing obstacles with spirit all their own1 impart to the arts whatever of addition or improvement they receive2 elucidating their obscurities1 polishing their asperities1 and lopping their luxuriancies3 and their number might be increased to any given amount4 ,but until that halcyon period shall arrive1 if it ever shall arrive1 when the arts shall be considered as real national objects1 and receive real national encouragement 7without which1 it must be confessed1 all extraordinary progress in them is not generally to be expected71 their beauty1 their grace1 their grandeur1 depend on these men alone4 ,and conscious of the high ground whereon they stand1 as the champions of truth and nature against fashion and futility1 and caprice and extravagance1 and of the possible benefits resulting from their labours in giving passion to the mute canvas1 expression to the inanimate block1 and magnificence to utility in each public edifice2 they will not suffer themselves to be discouraged by temporary neglect1 nor to be disheartened by temporary preferences of the incapable and undeserving4 ,they will strengthen their minds to encounter the provoking criticisms of pert and petulant presumption2 they will scorn the contempts of self-conceited and ignorant folly1 however highly seated2 and they will meet with firm dignity the misjudging decisions of purse-proud affluence4 ,and conscious worth shall crown them with a wreath of honour1 greener than ever bloomed on the brow of an ,olympic conqueror2 their own hearts shall applaud them2 their works shall form a lasting monument to the immortality of their names2 and their fame shall float down the current of future ages with daily increasing strength1 with daily augmented splendor4 ,the final result then of our enquiry on this amusing and interesting subject is1 that we have the best grounds for concluding the progress of the arts originally1 and the great perfection to which they were carried in ,greece1 to have arisen from natural and moral causes of confessed efficacy1 and not from any casual circumstances1 extraneous to and independent of man3 and we deem it reasonable to think that the same causes1 operating as uncontroledly any where else within the extent of the temperate climates1 would most probably again produce the same effects4 ,far from indulging any licence of imagination1 or from giving wing to its flights1 it has been endeavoured rather carefully to detail facts than wantonly to invent systems4 ,of the evidence1 which to us has appeared convincing1 the public will judge3 of the rectitude of our intention in producing it we are sure1 for it is only to incite public reward1 to encourage study1 and labour1 and industry4 ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library3 ,university of ,california ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,general ,editors ,r4 ,c4 ,,boys ,university of ,michigan ,,vinton ,a4 ,,dearing ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,ralph ,,cohen ,university of ,california1 ,los ,angeles ,,lawrence ,,clark ,,powell ,wm4 ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,corresponding ,secretary3 ,mrs4 ,,edna ,c4 ,,davis1 ,wm4 ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library ,the ,society exists to make available inexpensive reprints 7usually facsimile reproductions7 of rare seventeenth and eighteenth century works4 ,the editorial policy of the ,society remains unchanged4 ,as in the past1 the editors welcome suggestions concerning publications4 ,all income of the ,society is devoted to defraying cost of publication and mailing4 ,all correspondence concerning subscriptions in the ,united ,states and ,canada should be addressed to the ,william ,andrews ,clark ,memorial ,library1 #bbje ,west ,adams ,boulevard1 ,los ,angeles #ah1 ,california4 ,correspondence concerning editorial matters may be addressed to any of the general editors4 ,the membership fee is #c4jj a year for subscribers in the ,united ,states and ,canada and #ae_/- for subscribers in ,great ,britain and ,europe4 ,british and ,european subscribers should address ,b4 ,h4 ,blackwell1 ,broad ,street1 ,oxford1 ,england4 99 99 99 99 99 ,publications for the eighth year #aiec-aied 7,at least six items1 most of them from the following list1 will be reprinted47 ,,john ,,baillie3 ,an ,essay on the ,sublime 7#agdg74 ,introduction by ,samuel ,h4 ,monk4 ,contemporaries of the ,tatler and ,spectator4 ,introduction by ,richmond ,p4 ,bond4 ,john ,dart and ,george ,ogle on ,chaucer4 ,introduction by ,william ,l4 ,alderson4 ,,john ,t4 ,,desaguliers3 ,the ,newtonian ,system of the ,world the ,best ,model of ,government 7#agbh74 ,introduction by ,marjorie ,h4 ,nicolson4 ,sale ,catalogue of ,mrs4 ,piozzi's ,effects 7#ahaf74 ,introduction by ,john ,butt4 ,m4 ,c4 ,,sarbiewski3 ,the ,odes of ,casimire 7#afdf74 ,introduction by ,maren-,sofie ,roestvig4 ,selections from ,seventeenth-,century ,songs4 ,introduction by ,jennifer ,w4 ,angel4 ,a ,sermon ,preached at the ,cathedral ,church of ,st4 ,paul 7#agde74 ,probably by ,samuel ,johnson4 ,introduction by ,james ,l4 ,clifford4 ,publications for the first seven years 7with the exception of ,nos4 #a-f1 which are out of print7 are available at the rate of #c4jj a year4 ,prices for individual numbers may be obtained by writing to the ,society4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,,william ,,andrews ,,clark ,,memorial ,,library #bbje ,,west ,,adams ,,boulevard1 ,,los ,,angeles #ah1 ,,california ,make check or money order payable to ,,the ,,regents ,,of ,,the ,,university ,,of ,,california4 ,,publications ,,of ,,the ,,augustan ,,reprint ,,society ,,first ,,year 7#aidf-aidg7 ,numbers #a-f out of print4 ,,second ,,year 7#aidg-aidh7 #g4 ,john ,gay's ,the ,present ,state of ,wit 7#agaa72 and a section on ,wit from ,the ,english ,theophrastus 7#agjb74 #h4 ,rapin's ,de ,carmine ,pastorali1 translated by ,creech 7#afhd74 #i4 ,t4 ,hanmer's 787 ,some ,remarks on the ,tragedy of ,hamlet 7#agcf74 #aj4 ,corbyn ,morris' ,essay towards ,fixing the ,true ,standards of ,wit1 etc4 7#agdd74 #aa4 ,thomas ,purney's ,discourse on the ,pastoral 7#agag74 #ab4 ,essays on the ,stage1 selected1 with an ,introduction by ,joseph ,wood ,krutch4 ,,third ,,year 7#aidh-aidi7 #ac4 ,sir ,john ,falstaff 7pseud471 ,the ,theatre 7#agbj74 #ad4 ,edward ,moore's ,the ,gamester 7#agec74 #ae4 ,john ,oldmixon's ,reflections on ,dr4 ,swift's ,letter to ,harley 7#agab72 and ,arthur ,mainwaring's ,the ,british ,academy 7#agab74 #af4 ,nevil ,payne's ,fatal ,jealousy 7#afgc74 #ag4 ,nicholas ,rowe's ,some ,account of the ,life of ,mr4 ,william ,shakespeare 7#agji74 #ah4 ,of ,genius1 in ,the ,occasional ,paper1 ,vol4 ,,iii1 ,no4 #aj 7#agai72 and ,aaron ,hill's ,preface to ,the ,creation 7#agbj74 ,,fourth ,,year 7#aidi-aiej7 #ai4 ,susanna ,centlivre's ,the ,busie ,body 7#agji74 #bj4 ,lewis ,theobold's ,preface to ,the ,works of ,shakespeare 7#agcd74 #ba4 ,critical ,remarks on ,sir ,charles ,grandison1 ,clarissa1 and ,pamela 7#aged74 #bb4 ,samuel ,johnson's ,the ,vanity of ,human ,wishes 7#agdi7 and ,two ,rambler papers 7#agej74 #bc4 ,john ,dryden's ,his ,majesties ,declaration ,defended 7#afha74 #bd4 ,pierre ,nicole's ,an ,essay on ,true and ,apparent ,beauty in ,which from ,settled ,principles is ,rendered the ,grounds for ,choosing and ,rejecting ,epigrams1 translated by ,j4 ,v4 ,cunningham4 ,,fifth ,,year 7#aiej-aiea7 #be4 ,thomas ,baker's ,the ,fine ,lady's ,airs 7#agji74 #bf4 ,charles ,macklin's ,the ,man of the ,world 7#agib74 #bg4 ,frances ,reynolds' ,an ,enquiry ,concerning the ,principles of ,taste1 and of the ,origin of ,our ,ideas of ,beauty1 etc4 7#aghe74 #bh4 ,john ,evelyn's ,an ,apologie for the ,royal ,party 7#afei72 and ,a ,panegyric to ,charles the ,second 7#affa74 #bi4 ,daniel ,defoe's ,a ,vindication of the ,press 7#agah74 #cj4 ,essays on ,taste from ,john ,gilbert ,cooper's ,letters ,concerning ,taste1 #crd edition 7#ageg71 ,john ,armstrong's ,miscellanies 7#aggj74 ,,sixth ,,year 7#aiea-aieb7 #ca4 ,thomas ,gray's ,an ,elegy ,wrote in a ,country ,church ,yard 7#agea72 and ,the ,eton ,college ,manuscript4 #cb4 ,prefaces to ,fiction2 ,georges de ,scudry's ,preface to ,ibrahim 7#afgd71 etc4 #cc4 ,henry ,gally's ,a ,critical ,essay on ,characteristic-,writings 7#agbe74 #cd4 ,thomas ,tyers' ,a ,biographical ,sketch of ,dr4 ,samuel ,johnson 7#aghe74 #ce4 ,james ,boswell1 ,andrew ,erskine1 and ,george ,dempster4 ,critical ,strictures on the ,new ,tragedy of ,elvira1 ,written by ,mr4 ,david ,malloch 7#agfc74 #cf4 ,joseph ,harris's ,the ,city ,bride 7#afif74 ,,seventh ,,year 7#aieb-aiec7 #cg4 ,thomas ,morrison's ,a ,pindarick ,ode on ,painting 7#agfg74 #ch4 ,john ,phillips' ,a ,satyr ,against ,hypocrites 7#afee74 #ci4 ,thomas ,warton's ,a ,history of ,english ,poetry4 #dj4 ,edward ,bysshe's ,the ,art of ,english ,poetry 7#agjh74 #da4 ,bernard ,mandeville's ,a ,letter to ,dion 7#agcb74 #db4 ,prefaces to ,four ,seventeenth-,century ,romances4 99 99 99 99 99 ,transcriber's note3 ,variations in spelling1 punctuation and hyphenation have been retained except in obvious cases of typographical error3 444 joined increased 7conveniencies-7 conveniences 444 which nothing imperfect 7eould-7 would please1 ,footnotes interrupting paragraphs have been moved to the end of the respective paragraphs4