Angelo; so that, ever after, when in England, the names of these celebrated masters were daily upon his lips, and he admonished, in his public lectures and in his private discourses, all who loved what was noble and sublime to study the "great masters," and labour at the "grand style." THE reflecting reader, who peruses the histories of great and distinguished men, in whatever pursuit their greatness and distinction may have arisen, cannot but find cause for marvel, when he finds them guilty of remarkable inconsistencies. By the time Reynolds left the Vatican he had acquired an almost idolatrous But did Sir Joshua's practice and precept coincide? love and respect for the works of Raphael and Michael By no means. Why so? Because the pursuit of the VOL. XVI. 485 noble and sublime led to poverty; whereas the deline- | ture, the tracing of the likeness and the finish of the ation of the beautiful and fair, especially when it had picture belonging to himself. individual reference, led to consideration and opulence. Hence it was that the great masters whom he so fervently admired, did not influence his taste; those rather of the Venetian school, of which he speaks but little, regulated his professional character more than all the others. He admired and recommended one style, therefore, and painted after another. When actually employed in the former style, he is not considered to be remarkably eminent, while in the latter he is allowed to possess unrivalled skill; how this skill, peculiar to himself, was obtained, he has not condescended to leave any explanation. After his return from Rome he again lived as a professional man in St. Martin's Lane, and engaged in many bickerings and altercations with the other artists of the day, on account of the new style of painting to which he had devoted himself,—a style not merely correct in likeness, but more life-looking, natural, and easy. After painting the Duke of Devonshire and Commodore Keppel with great success, the tide of popularity set in in his favour. His rooms began to be frequented by the rich and great, who were able and willing to pay liberally for good portraits of themselves, and thus Reynolds happily gained the honour of perpetuating the features of the most illustrious persons then living, whether in literature or fashionable life. While the correctness and natural animation of his portraits gratified the would-be heroes and philosophers, angels and goddesses, who flocked to him, and while he thus manufactured portraits, and swept in his largely increasing gains, he would dilate, with lofty commendations, upon Raphael and Angelo, "the grand style," and "the old masters." Like the sign-post by the road-side, he pointed the way, but followed it not himself. By the time he was thirty years old, it is remarked of him that in force and elegance of expression, and in the natural splendour of his colouring, no one could rival him. Being a close observer of nature, he seized every happy attitude into which negligence or design threw the human frame. On one occasion he observed that one of his sitters, instead of looking the way desired, kept gazing at a beautiful picture by one of the old masters. Reynolds thereupon made this circumstance subservient to his portrait. "I snatched the moment," says he, "and drew him in profile, with as much of that expression of a pleasing melancholy as my capacity enabled me to hit off. When the picture was finished, he liked it, and particularly for that expression, though, I believe, without reflecting on the occasion of it." Another remarkable trait in the character of Reynolds is his friendship and predilection for Johnson, who was of a nature and behaviour entirely opposed to himself. If, as the old maxim goes, "the like associate with like," or "birds of a feather flock together," this is, for the most part, for their profit's sake; but for their pleasure's sake it will often be found that dissimilar natures are most agreeably consorted. The charge which Reynolds at first made for a head was five guineas, which price increased with his reputation, until it rose at last to fifty guineas. When a visitor attended for a likeness, he submitted to him a portfolio of prints and sketches, in order that the sitter might select his position. He received six sitters daily in their turns, and kept regular lists of those who sat and of those who were waiting, until a finished portrait should make way for their admission. As his commissions accumulated, he engaged several assistants who were skilful in the drapery of a pic In the year 1761, Reynolds, having acquired considerable wealth, bought a house on the west side of Leicester Square, where, in addition to every convenience and luxury, he set up a splendid gallery for the exhibition of his works. The wheels of his carriage were carved and gilt, and on the panels were painted the four seasons of the year. It was, in fact, a gay and expensive curiosity. It frequently happened that while the footman obtained fees for showing the gallery, the coachman also obtained perquisites by exhibiting the carriage. The Royal Academy was instituted in the year 1768, by the union of some of the most distinguished painters of the day, and Reynolds was unanimously elected president. The king soon after favoured the new society, and knighted the president. Sir Joshua continued at the head of the society, for about 22 years, and in addition to the service done to the arts by his pencil, the students in the profession have been benefitted by the efforts of his pen. He composed and delivered discourses for the instruction of the pupils in the principles and practice of their art. In addition to the "old masters," the "grand style," and the routine of instruction in painting, he wisely impresses upon his auditors the paramount necessity of continuous industry, and undeviating earnestness of mind, in reference to the professional object of their lives. To excel in painting, as in anything else, it must be followed up, not merely as an amusement, but as an occupation of labour and perseverance. During Reynolds's long career of prosperity, parsimony was the general rule of his character. Early necessity had in all probability engrafted in him, as in many others, the habit of thriftiness; and we know that habits, especially of an unfavourable tendency, are not easily removed. He was by nature inclined to benevolence, and he sometimes performed deeds of generosity, which cost him money and gained him no open praise; but these were exceptions in his character. Again, the general order of his domestic arrangements was on a thrifty scale, and his sister, who served as his housekeeper, encouraged thriftiness, or was indifferent to it; but plenty, freedom, and noisy bustle reigned predominant, when, upon occasions, general invitations to dinner were issued to all his admirers among the nobility and gentry, the literary world, and the genteel professions of life. The really talented and meritorious pupils whom Reynolds had under his charge rapidly acquired skill and proficiency. Northcote painted one of the servants so like nature, that a tame macaw mistook the picture for the original, against whom it had a grudge, and flew to attack the canvass with beak and wing. Reynolds compared the circumstances to the ancient painting of the grapes and the birds. "I see," said he, "that birds and beasts are as good judges of pictures as men." In the celebrated painting of the Ugolino by Reynolds, where a child is represented as expiring, a savage, brought over by Captain Cook, on seeing it, ran forward to support the child. In the year 1775, Johnson sat to Sir Joshua for his portrait. The picture shows him holding a manuscript near his face, and reading, he being near-sighted. Johnson complained. "It is not friendly to hand down to posterity the imperfections of any man." A looker-on observed, "You will not be known to posterity for your defects, though Sir Joshua should do his worst." This picture afterwards sold for 500 guineas. There have been many instances of distinguished MATERIALS FOR THE TOILETTE. VIII. applied to the various preparations for refreshing and beautifying the skin. literary characters, not being the best judges of the merits of their own performances. This was the case, we know with Milton; and Sir Joshua falls into THE word Cosmetic is derived from the Greek, and the same predicament, when he points to the Straw-signifies in the original "to adorn :" hence it is berry Girl, as one of the cleverest of his performances. A very serious complaint was made against Sir Joshua in the latter part of his life, in consequence of the colours of many of his pictures turning off and fading. Richness, brilliancy, and freshness, always distinguished his colouring; but he was often led to try modes of colouring, which, from ignorance of chemistry, and the mechanism of colours, frequently failed. He was, in fact, accused of making experiments at the expense of people for whom he had painted portraits. We regret to say that he carried on this practice for many years and ripped up many fine paintings of the Venetian school, to get at the composition of their colours. He soon In 1780, the Royal Academy was removed to Somerset House; and, whatever success may have ultimately attended this society, bickerings, disputes, and animosities, marked its early career, to which the conduct of Sir Joshua in one instance, at least, furnished occasion. He resigned the office of president, and resumed it at the royal wish. after resigned it again, for ever! At his last visit to the Academy, a tragical scene was on the point of occurring. A beam in the floor gave way with a loud crash; but as the floor only sank a little way, it was soon supported, and the business of the day proceeded with complete composure on the part of Sir Joshua, who, all the time, had not moved from his chair. Sir Joshua offered the Academy his collection of pictures by the great masters, at a low price; but they declined the purchase. He then made an exhibition of them for the benefit, we are told, of his faithful servant, Ralph Kirkley. But as Reynolds's love of gain was well known, it was thought to be as much for his own benefit, as his servant's. The following lines were applied to him from Hudibras : A squire he had whose name was Ralph, Who in the adventure went his half. Reynolds had suffered from a paralytic stroke. One day, in July, 1789, while finishing the portrait of the Marchioness of Hertford, he suddenly lost the sight of his left eye, and never used his pencil again. His physical infirmities increased, and he died unmarried, on the 23rd of February, 1792, in the 69th year of his age. He was interred, with a grand funeral, in one of the crypts of St. Paul's cathedral, by the side of Sir Christopher Wren. Our present article is illustrated with a copy of Sir Joshua's Muscipula, or the Mouse-trap Girl, which admirably displays the artist's power of permanently fixing the various expressions of the human countenance as excited by passing occurrences. The mixture of surprise and triumph expressed in the face of Muscipula, on finding the imprisoned mouse, is a happy effort. In a volume by an anonymous writer, published soon after the death of Sir Joshua, it is stated, that "the Comte d'Adhemar, the French Ambassador, is the fortunate possessor of this charming and exquisite little picture." Ir is of the last importance to season the passions of a child with devotion, which seldom dies in a mind that has received an early tincture of it. Though it may seem extinguished for a while by the cares of the world, the heats of youth, or the allurements of vice, it generally breaks out and discovers itself again, as soon as discretion, consideration, age, or misfortunes have brought the man to himself. The fire may be covered and overlaid, but cannot be entirely quenched and smothered.-ADDISON, The advantages and the comfort of retaining that clear and healthy state of the skin, with which we are usually endowed in early years, are sufficiently evident to us all; and it is not, therefore, surprising to find that at the present day, as well as in the time of the ancients, a considerable degree of attention has been given to the best means of attaining so desirable an object. Doubtless it will ever be found that simplicity of diet, and regular exercise, with a proper attention to cleanliness, will do more towards preserving the fresh and healthy appearance of youth, than all the creams, washes, and lotions in the world, for it is not possible by mere external applications to remedy those evils which arise from an unhealthy system, nor will the aid of cosmetics be resorted to with any chance of success, while intemperance, indolence, late hours, or other causes are gradually undermining the constitution, and marking their progress also on the outward frame. Yet, as various perfumed unguents and other articles have been in use for many ages, and are considered by some to possess the most beneficial effects, it becomes necessary to allow them a place in our notice of Materials for the Toilette, and to explain, as far as may be, what they are, how used, and the nature of the benefits ascribed to them; but first let us consider the estimation in which materials for anointing the body were held by the ancients. In the Thermæ or baths of the Romans, we find that a room called the unctuarium, was appropriated to the anointing of the bathers, and here previously to their entering the baths they made use of a cheap coarse oil for the purpose, but on returning from their ablutions they employed fine odoriferous ointments, which were abundantly supplied, and with which they carefully anointed their bodies. Balsams, oils, and perfumes of various descriptions were ar- wait on him, and a sufficient sum for their maintenance. Another day, several old men, enticed by the good fortune of the veteran, began rubbing their backs against the marble, in the emperor's presence, in the hope of exciting his liberality also on their behalf, but Hadrian perceiving their drift, merely recommended them to rub each other. In the public baths of the Greeks also, the custom of anointing prevailed, and of this we have the following account in ROBINSON's Grecian Antiquities. After bathing they always anointed, either to close the pores of the body, which was especially necessary after the use of hot baths, or lest the skin should become rough after the water was dried off it. It appears that the ancient heroes never used any costly ornaments, and Homer never introduces any of his heroes anointed with any other ointment than oil, except Paris, a soft and effeminate person. In succeeding ages when much of the primitive simplicity was laid aside, many still thought it indecent for men to anoint themselves with precious ointments. Solon prohibited men from selling ointments, and the laws of Sparta forbade any person to sell them. Yet women, and some effeminate men, were so curious in their choice of ointments, that they could tell with great nicety what sort suited best with each part of the body. The feet being most exposed to dust were oftener washed and anointed than other parts of the body. Women were generally employed to anoint the feet both in the heroic and later ages, and it was customary for them to kiss the feet of those to whom they thought a more than common respect was due. Thus the woman in the gospel kissed the feet of our blessed Saviour, whilst she anointed them. It was likewise customary among the Greeks to perfume the grave-stones of their deceased relatives with precious ointments. Why do we precious ointments shower, Odes of Anacreon. CowLEY's translation. Thus we find the use of unguents among the ancients to have been very general, but we must remember that their manner of dress rendered such applications far more necessary in their case than they can be with us. The loose robes of the Greeks and Romans afforded them but little protection from the air, and they would have been exposed to the inconveniences of a rough and chapped state of the skin in cold weather, and of an inflamed or irritated condition in extreme heat, but for the counteracting effect of unctuous applications. But among ourselves, closely protected as we are by the form of our garments from the evils above named, there seems little need of other precautionary measures. Daily ablutions in salt and water, or vinegar and water, succeeded by the friction of a coarse towel, and connected with a due attention to exercise, diet, &c., are nearly certain to keep the skin healthy and free from eruptions, and will be found to produce a far happier effect than the most costly and carefully prepared cosmetics. Since all persons may not, however, be disposed to acquiesce in our opinion, we proceed to name a few of the most approved unguents and washes to be used after a warm bath, or after the daily ablutions just spoken of. The cold cream so much in use amongst us for the cure of chapped hands, &c., is, perhaps, as efficacious for anointing the skin as any substance we can mention. After the use of it, the skin should be rubbed with a towel till all appearance of greasiness is removed. This cream may be made in the following manner: take three ounces of oil of sweet almonds, and of spermaceti and white wax, each a drachm and a half, melt them together, and beat in while warm eight parts of rose water, and two of orange-flower water, till the oil will absorb no more. | In former times, the meal or flour of beans was a celebrated cosmetic with the ladies, and was thought to possess the power of removing wrinkles. Horseradish scraped and infused in cold milk is likewise considered a safe and excellent wash for the skin. We might mention other washes and unguents, but it is unnecessary. Where cutaneous diseases prevail, recourse should be had to medical aid, and cosmetics should only be used under proper advice; where the skin is healthy, the less such means of improving its appearance are employed, the better. Before we dismiss the subject, it is requisite to mention an article which still obtains a place in some toilettes, and which may be considered more decidedly injurious to those who make use of it than any other cosmetic; we mean, rouge. Rouge is of various kinds. The best is called carmine, and is a powder obtained by the union of a solution of alum, with the colouring matter of a Mexican insect, called the cochineal insect. Spanish and oriental wool are also used. Wool is impregnated with a beautiful red colour, and made into small cakes, in which form we receive them. Rouge dishes are also imported covered with a thin layer of colour, but the common rouge is formed by pounding certain substances which yield the desired hue. These are boiled in brandy or vinegar until three-fourths of the liquid have evaporated, and a red paint remains. By these means an attempt is made to imitate the natural hue of health, and a bright and beautiful colour is obtained, at the expense of lasting injury to the skin. But it is not sufficient that the cheeks are made to suffer; the other parts of the face, as well as the neck and arms, must share the same fate, and means have been found to give them the delicacy of appearance necessary to set off the rouge on the face to the best advantage. A costly article obtained by dissolving real seed pearls in an acid, and then precipitating the powder by an alkali, is used by those who can afford to purchase it, while powders of an inferior description, made from mother-of-pearl, and even from oyster-shell, suffice for the less wealthy aspirants to artificial beauty. There is another powder used to whiten the skin, which very nearly resembles the real pearl powder, but which has the disadvantage of turning black on exposure to the fumes of sulphur. But we will not dwell longer on the subject of these artifices, degrading as they are to the character of our country women. We would willingly hope that a sense of the important situation they hold in a Christian country, and the influence which their example is allowed to exert on all around them, may lead them to seek for other adornings than those of mere costume or complexion, adornings which will render them lovely and beloved when time has stolen away the brightness of their youthful appearance, and has impressed their features with the peculiar mark of his own hand. AMONGST the many acts of gratitude we owe to God, it may be accounted one, to study and contemplate the perfections and beauties of his works of creation. Every the greatness, wisdom, and power of God. He hath so new discovery must necessarily raise in us a fresh sense of ordered things that almost every part of the creation is for our benefit, either to the support of our being, the delight of our senses, or the agreeable exercise of the rational faculty. If there are some few poisonous animals and plants fatal to man, these may serve to heighten the contrary blessings; since we could have no idea of benefits, given us reason, by which we are able to choose the good, were we insensible of their contraries; and seeing God has and avoid the evil, we suffer very little from the malignant parts of the creation.-EDWARDS. PARNELL; AND HIS POEM OF THE HERMIT. THOMAS PARNELL was born in Dublin, in 1679. He was the son of a Commonwealth man, who at the Restoration left Congleton, in Cheshire, where the family had been established for several centuries, and settling in Ireland, purchased an estate, which with his lands in Cheshire descended to the poet. He received his education at a grammar-school, from whence at the age of thirteen he was admitted into the college. In 1700 he was ordained a deacon, and in 1705 the archdeaconry of Clogher was conferred upon him. He was warmly recommended by Swift to Archbishop King, who gave him a prebend in 1713; and afterwards presented him to the vicarage of Finglas, in the diocese of Dublin. He enjoyed his preferment, however, little more than a year, dying in 1717, in Chester, at the early age of thirty-eight. Dr. Johnson observes, that the general character of Parnell is not great extent of comprehension, or fertility of mind; but his praise must be derived from the easy sweetness of his diction. The most celebrated of his poems is The Hermit, the origin of which is supposed by Goldsmith to have been Arabian, and the following is a literal translation from an old volume of Spanish tales in the black letter. The Hermit. HERMIT of old, after having spent many years A in the practice of voluntary acts of piety and severe mortification in the solitude of his hermitage, was sorely tempted by a spirit of blasphemy, representing to him as unjust those judgments of God which were hidden from his understanding. So tormented was he by these doubts, so worn with care and beset by temptation, that no rest was left for him either day or night; for he continually struggled against those foolish thoughts that rose up in his mind contrary to his will. But God never forgets the afflictions of his servants, and though none are exempt in this life from the temptations of the enemy, yet He does not suffer him to injure us to the extent of his evil designs. One day as the hermit sat in his cell more sad than usual, being more strongly assailed by temptation, usual, being more strongly assailed by temptation, there appeared to him an angel in the likeness of a young man of agreeable aspect, who said to him, "Follow me, if thou wouldst consider and understand the hidden judgments of God, which thou art so desirous to know." Happy in the extreme, the contemplative hermit accepted the offer, with the earnest wish of having his doubts cleared up and his mind set at ease. They travelled far that day, and as night came on they reached the dwelling of a good and rather for complaint than thankfulness. On the departure of the travellers in the morning, the angel their former host. presented this man with a cup he hd stolen from the This renewed the sorrow of the hermit, who could not endure to see this treasure taken from the poor and kind-hearted, and given to the rich man, who possessed neither benevolence or courtesy. Both evil and strange did the deeds of the angel and bewailings of the hermit; and on they journeyed, appear, but he took little heed of the expostulations and courteous, and who cordially welcomed them. till they reached a habitation whose owner was kind passing a bridge, on which was standing a favourite When morning came they bade him adieu; and on servant of their host, the angel precipitated him over it into the river, and he was instantly drowned, Astonished at such cruelty, the hermit reproached his companion with his perfidy, but neither his surprise nor indignation had any effect on the angel, who travelled on till they arrived, on the fourth night, at the dwelling of an honourable and kind man, who received child, whose cries were heard by the angel; he arose them with great civility. This person had a young in the night, and strangled the infant in its cradle. The hermit, horror-struck at such extraordinary and atrocious actions, resolved no longer to continue in companionship with the angel. Quitting the house of the good man, who was bewailing the death of a child in whom he had placed his fondest hopes, the anchorite embraced his cross, and conjured the angel, no longer bear him company. But the angel answered whom he now considered as a demon, to depart, and him, "I am no evil spirit as thou imaginest, but the angel of the Lord, who has sent me to show thee thou so much desirest to understand. Know therethe hidden judgments of an eternal Providence, that fore, that I took away the silver cup from its cha gave ritable owner, because such was the satisfaction with which he surveyed it, that he became careless in the prayers he was in the habit offering up before he possessed it. I therefore deprived him of a treasure, the pride and care of which occupied too much of his thoughts, in order that his devotion might become as frequent and earnest as formerly. This same cup I receive in this life the reward of any good work his to the rich and uncharitable man, that he might natural inclination may have led him to perform, for God is immovably just, and leaves no evil deed without its punishment, or good without its recompense. I precipitated the servant of our third host who reformed the resolution of murdering his master the ceived us so hospitably, into the river, because he had following night; so that by drowning that perfidious servant, God freed from a violent death one who, for his sake, had treated us with so much benevolence. I strangled in the cradle the infant son of our last charitable, but poor man; he gave them a civil welcome with such provision as he had, placing on the supper table a silver cup of curious workmanship, that he greatly prized, and in the contemplation of which he took the greatest delight. The angel, how-kind host, because, once extremely liberal to the poor, ever, contrived unperceived to steal away the cup that night, and carry it off with him. Taking leave next morning of their host, the angel showed the stolen cup to the hermit, who was greatly scandalized and surprised at the baseness of stealing from that poor man, who had received them into his house with so much liberality, the possession that he most prized. The angel, however, paid little attention to the upbraidings and lamentations of his companion, and, pursuing their way, they lodged the following night at the dwelling of one who was rich in goods, but of so churlish and morose a disposition, and of such uncourteous manners, that his reception of them was very ungracious, and withal so grudging, that it called since the birth of this child he had each day diminished the alms he had been in the habit of be stowing, in order to amass wealth for his son. I therefore took away the life of the babe in its age of innocence, in order that the father might no longer be diverted from the performance of those works of charity which he had begun to neglect. These are the most wise and equitable judgments of God, which appear to those who understand them not, strange and unjust." delivered from his tormenting temptations, and comWith this the angel disappeared, leaving the hermit forted under all his afflictions. T. F. |