perspicuous, elegant, and nervous language, that it is no exaggerated panegyrick to assert,

and sculpture, (what these are, the discoverer of this pretended secret has not informed us,) has lately been so peremptorily asserted, and so particular an appeal has been made on this occasion to their editor, that I think it my duty to refute this injurious calumny, lest posterity should be deceived and misled by the minuteness of un.. contradicted misrepresentation, delivered to the world with all the confidence of truth. Fortunately I am able to give a more decisive testimony on this subject, than could reasonably be expected from any one man concerning the writings of another.

To the question then, whether I have not found. among my late friend's papers several of his Discourses in the handwriting of Mr. Burke, or of some other unnamed person, I answer, that I never saw any one of his Discourses in the handwriting of that illustrious statesman, or of any other person whatsoever, except Sir Joshua Reynolds; and secondly I say, that I am as firmly persuaded that the whole body of these admirable works was composed by Sir Joshua Reynolds, as I am certain that at this moment I am employing my pen in vindication of his fame. I do not mean to assert, that he did not avail himself of the judgment of his critical friends, to render them as perfect as he could; or that he was above receiving from them. that species of literary assistance which every candid literary man is willing to receive, and which even that transcendent genius, Mr. Burke, in some instances did not disdain to accept. Of the early Discourses therefore I

that it will last as long as the English tongue, and contribute no less than the productions

have no doubt that some were submitted to Dr. Johnson, and some to Mr. Burke for their examination and revision; and probably each of those persons suggested to their author some minute verbal improvements. Four of the latter Discourses, in his own handwriting, and warm from the brain, the author did me the honour to submit to my perusal; and with great freedom I suggested to him some verbal alterations, and some new arrangements, in each of them, which he very readily adopted. Of one I well remember he gave me the general outline in conversation, as we returned together from an excursion to the country, and before it was yet committed to paper. He soon afterwards composed that Discourse conformably to the plan which he had crayoned out, and sent it to me for such remarks on the language of it as should occur to me. When he wrote his last Discourse, I was not in London; and that Discourse, I know, was submitted to the critical examination of another friend; and that friend was not Mr. Burke. Such was the mighty aid that our author received from those whom he honoured with his confidence and esteem!

The reader has before him the testimony of Sir Joshua Reynolds himself, as far as this calumny relates to Dr. Johnson; he has the decisive testimony of Mr. Burke, both in the passage already quoted and in a further extract from one of his letters to the editor, which will be found in a subsequent page; and, if such high authorities can admit of any additional confirmation, he has (what

of his pencil to render his name immortal."

ever it may be worth) the testimony of the editor also. Let this plain tale, therefore, for ever seal up the lips of those who have presumed most injuriously to sully and depreciate the literary reputation of a man, who is acknowledged by the unanimous voice of his contemporaries to have been a signal ornament of the age in which he lived; who was not less profound in the theory, than excellent in the practice, of his art; and whose admirable works, of each kind, will transmit his name with unfading lustre to the latest posterity.

29 Some years after the publication of the first seven of the Discourses, the Author had the honour to receive from the late Empress of Russia, a gold box with a basso relievo of her Imperial Majesty in the lid, set round with diamonds; accompanied with a note within, written. with her own hand, containing these words: "Pour le Chevalier Reynolds,en temoignage du contentement que j'ai ressentie à la lecture de ses excellens Discours sur la peinture." Before he received this mark of her Imperial Majesty's favour, he had been commissioned to paint an Historical Picture for her, on any subject that he thought fit. The subject which he chose was, The Infant Hercules strangling the Serpents. For this picture, which is now at St. Petersburgh, his Executors received from her Imperial Majesty, fifteen hundred guineas.

The first seven of the Discourses have been translated into French, and I believe into Italian; and doubtless a complete translation of all our author's works, in each of those languages, will soon appear.

30

To the fame of the Academy the President from its first institution contributed not a little, by exhibiting every year a considerable number of his admirable performances ;" and he so highly respected Mr. Moser, to whose unwearied endeavours he conceived this excellent Institution in a great degree owed its establishment, that on his death in 1783, he honoured his memory by a publick testimonial, which probably appeared in some newspaper of the day, and so well deserves a more permanent repository, that I shall give it a place below.31

30 Between 1769 and 1790, inclusive, he exhibited at the Royal Academy, two hundred and forty-four pictures; at the Exhibitions previous to the institution of the Academy, between 1760 and 1768, twenty-five. Total 269. In the whole of this period, the year 1767 was the only one in which he exhibited nothing.

31 I know not where this eulogy originally appeared; probably, however, it was published in some of the daily papers. It is now printed from a copy in our author's hand-writing:

Yesterday died at his apartments in Somerset-Place,

What were the methods by which this great painter attained to such consummate

George Michael Moser, Keeper of the Royal Academy; aged seventy-eight years. He was a native of Switzerland, but came to England very young, to follow the profession of a chaser in gold, in which art he has been always considered as holding the first rank. But his skill was not confined to this alone; he possessed a universal knowledge in all the branches of painting and sculpture, which perfectly qualified him for the place that he held in the Academy, the business of which principally consists in superintending and instructing the Students, who draw or model from the antique figures.

"His private character deserves a more ample testimony than this transient memorial. Few have passed a more inoffensive, or perhaps a more happy life; if happiness or the enjoyment of life consists in having the mind. always occupied, always intent upon some useful art, by which fame and distinction may be acquired. Mr. Moser's whole attention was absorbed either in the practice, or something that related to the advancement, of art. He may truly be said in every sense to have been the FATHER of the present race of Artists; for long before the Royal Academy was established, he presided over the little Societies which met first in Salisbury-Court, and afterwards in St. Martin's Lane, where they drew from living models. Perhaps nothing that can be said, will more strongly imply his amiable disposition, than that all the different Societies with which he has been connected have always turned their eyes upon him for their Treasurer and chief Manager; when perhaps they would not have