dated Feb. 17, 1793, what the author himself- a man who, however amiable, was, at least, as sensitive as authors in general are thought of the review :

"I have read the critique of my work in the Analytical Review, and am happy to have fallen into the hands of a critic, rigorous enough indeed, but a scholar and a man of sense; and who does not deliberately intend me mischief. I am better pleased indeed, that he censures some things, than I should have been with unmixed commendation; for his censure (to use the new diplomatic term), will accredit his praise. In his particular remarks he is for the most part right, and I shall be the better for them; but in his general ones, I think he asserts too largely, and more than he could prove."

Of his intimate knowledge of Greek, Mr. Fuseli frequently availed himself for his amusement. He would compose Greek verses extemporaneously, and then pretend that he could not recollect the author. "Whose are those, Porson?" repeating four or five sonorous lines. "I really do not know," answered the learned professor, after a short pause; no doubt surprised to find that any Greek existed in the world with which he was unacquainted. "How the deuce should you," was the chuckling reply, "when I wrote them myself?'

There were few modern languages also of which Mr. Fuseli did not know something; for he had great facility in acquiring languages, and used to say, that the application of six weeks was enough to enable a man to grasp the elements of any language. German was his native tongue. We have already shown what a master he was of English. He wrote French with great ease, and Italian in its purest dialect; and could read Dutch without difficulty. His memory was singularly retentive; he was never at a loss in quoting a classic author; and could always tell the part of the work in which the quotation might be found. Shakespeare, Milton, and Dante were his favourites. With the first especially,

perhaps few men ever lived who were so thoroughly con

versant.

Mr. Fuseli wrote the "Advertisement," as it is called, but which is in fact the preface to Dr. Hunter's translation of "Lavater's Physiognomy." It is a very able and a very characteristic composition. We subjoin the concluding paragraphs, not only to show the kindly feeling of Mr. Fuseli towards his earliest friend, but for the sake of the allusion to himself which they contain.

"It might, perhaps, be expected, that some information should be given relative to the author of this work; a task in our power, and sufficiently pleasing, if we consider the character of the man. But the narrative of a writer's life, however celebrated, cannot furnish details sufficiently important or varied to entertain or instruct the public — unless it be a confession, a task only to be performed by himself. Besides, the writer still lives, and what might be allowable or amusing, if related of him who is no more amongst us, would border on indelicacy, whether it were praise or blame, if exhibited during his life. Let it suffice to say, that Mr. Lavater is in rank the second minister of the churches of Zurich, and that it can only be accounted for from the painful sentiment which his superiority must have excited in his fellow-citizens, that he is not the first. Every period of his life has been marked with luminous zeal in his clerical capacity, with intrepidity in his public, and with primitive innocence in his private conduct. His works on a great variety of topics, though all directed to one end, that of promoting order, instructing ignorance, exciting virtue, diffusing humanity, and regulating taste, are sufficiently numerous to furnish a small library. He was born a poet, an orator, a philosopher, a critic; but a fatality, the very reverse of that which he laments in the character of some one in this work * an unbridled will of composing at all times has, perhaps, stained his productions with greater inequality, than he would wish to have imputed to him who is desirous of unmixed praise. Still the

* Mr. Fuseli bimself.

greater part of his writings, as they are, will bid defiance to the torrent that in all ages sweeps to oblivion the produce of mediocrity; and it may safely be pronounced, without prophetic sagacity, that the work here presented to the public, notwithstanding its celebrity, has not yet reached the summit of fame which it must command hereafter."

When Lavater published his "Aphorisms on Man," it was with a view that they should be translated into English by his friend Fuseli; which they accordingly were. With this intention he dedicated them to Mr. Fuseli, in the following terms:

"Take, dear observer of men, from the hand of your unbiassed friend, this testimony of esteem for your genius, All the world know that this is no flattery; for in an hundred things, I am not of your opinion; but, in what concerns the knowledge of mankind, we are nearer to one another than any two in ten thousand. What I give here is the result of long experience, matured and confirmed by various and daily application. It will be found, I hope, an useful book for every class of men, from the throne to the cottage. All is, cannot be, new; but all ought to be true, useful, important; and much I trust is new and individual. I give you liberty not only to make improvements, but to omit what you think false or unimportant."

A warm and sincere friendship subsisted between Mr. Fuseli and Sir Thomas Lawrence; commencing at a very early period in the life of the latter, and continuing, not only with undiminished, but with increasing ardour, until the close of the life of the former. So great, indeed, was the congeniality of mind and feeling between those two distinguished artists, that it is said, that when the Milton Gallery was projected, it was intended that the execution of it should be their joint work. Although the splendid result would render it extremely ungracious, to regret that that Gallery was eventually the entire production of Mr. Fuseli's powerful pencil; yet, whoever has seen the magnificent picture by Sir Thomas, of "Satan calling up his Legions," which was so long the

attractive ornament of Norfolk house, must feel, that had his powers been devoted to the illustration of our great epic poet, England would have acquired some of the proudest proofs of native genius. We are indebted to a friend who knows the fact, for an anecdote which shows the generous and delicate feeling of both these highly-gifted men. Mr. Fuseli, happening to express his high admiration of two original and very valuable drawings, by Raphael, in Sir Thomas Lawrence's collection, the latter sent them to him the next day, with a request that he would accept them as a small testimony of regard and respect. Mr. Fuseli, divided between his delight at this instance of Sir Thomas's kindness, and his unwillingness to deprive his friend of two such choice works, declared that he would consent only to hold them in trust; and that, at his death, they should revert to the liberal donor, After a few years, however, when he found that Sir Thomas's cabinet of drawings by Michael Angelo, Raphael, Corregio, and all the great masters, had attained to an extent far beyond that of any private or even royal collection in Europe, he insisted upon restoring the two drawings in question, remarking that it was a pity to separate them from the society of their compeers. It may here be mentioned that, after Mr. Fuseli's death, Sir Thomas Lawrence became the purchaser, at a handsome price, of the extensive collection of historical and poetical drawings by Mr. Fuseli's hand; and it may, with justice, be added, that Mr. Fuseli's drawings are among the most admirable of his productions.

So impressed were the students of the Royal Academy, with the kindness with which Mr. Fuseli conducted himself towards them in his office of keeper, one of the principal duties of which situation is, to superintend what is called "The Antique Academy," that some years ago they presented him with a handsome silver vase, executed by Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, from a design by Mr. Flaxman; a tribute of grateful respect which affected him sensibly.

In 1817, he was honoured with the diploma of the first class of the academy of St. Luke, at Rome,

Some of his principal productions are in the following hands:-"The Lazar-House," and "The Bridging of Chaos," have been bought since his death by the Countess of Guildford. The Duke of Buckingham has two of his finest pictures from "The Midsummer Night's Dream." "Noah Blessing his Family," Mr. Fuseli presented to the church at Luton, in Bedfordshire. Mr. Roscoe has his "Lycidas," "Robin Goodfellow," and several others. "Sin and Death," and "The Night-Hag," are in the possession of John Knowles, Esq. The late Mr. Angerstein had three of his pictures: "Satan starting from Ithuriel's spear;" "The Deluge," and "The Meeting of Adam and Eve.”

Mr. Fuseli continued to paint to the last week of his life. The picture which was on his easil at the time of his death, and which is in a state that may fairly be called finished, was "Constance," from King John. He was painting it for James Carrick Moore, Esq. He left, however, above sixty pictures, most of them finished (the greater part, indeed, having been exhibited,) and the rest in different stages of advancement; for it was frequently his practice, when he had completed his composition, and imparted to it some expression and a little effect, to set it aside, and take up something else. Perhaps, it may not be uninteresting to mention, that he painted with his left hand.

During his long life, Mr. Fuseli generally enjoyed excellent health. His only complaint was an occasional tendency to water in the chest, which he always removed by the use of digitalis. "I have been a very happy man," he was accustomed to say, "for I have been always well, and always employed in doing what I liked.”

At the time of his death he was on a visit to the Countess of Guildford, at Putney Hill. On the Sunday preceding the fatal event, he was engaged to dine with his early, admired, and admiring friend Mr. Rogers, the poet, to meet Sir Thomas Lawrence, and his attached friend and halfpupil Mr. W. Young Ottley; but, having taken a short walk in the garden at Putney Hill, and feeling himself