CURSORY OBSERVATIONS. 231 



chisel, although, combined with an early and intimate access to fine 

 collections, an accomplished scholar possesses important advantages in 

 justly discriminating the beauties and defects of pictures and statues. 



Boswell, the enthusiastic admirer and friendly biographer of Dr. 

 Johnson, has admitted that the distinguished subject of his eulogiura 

 " had no taste for painting." (vol. iv., p. 310). In the usual accep- 

 tation of words, the declaration here quoted amounts, in effect, to 

 this, that " the great literary Colossus" had no liking for pictures, 

 having no acute perception of their beauties, and, from this circum- 

 stance, was indifferent to painting, and under-rated its powers. 

 This trait of character having been published by a man of letters, 

 of unimpeached veracity, who, in his own phrase, " had the honour 

 and happiness of his (Dr. J.'s) friendship for upwards of twenty 

 years," it has been received with all the weight of an undisputed 

 truth, corroborated by relative evidence. The opinion of Dr. John- 

 son, on almost every subject, was, and is, justly held to be of the 

 highest authority, and his known distaste for painting was not cal- 

 culated to raise that art in the public esteem, or to abate the anti- 

 con temporarian and anti-British prejudices against modern art, 

 which were nearly at their height in his time: 



In the years 1824 and 1825, when obtaining materials from the 

 rich fund of Northcote's recollections, for my " State of the Arts in 

 the United Kitigdom," I wrote regular notes of his communications, 

 of which I made large use in my " Varies ; important Evidences in 

 favour of British Historical Painting" an octavo of 112 pages, 

 which I published in the latter year. In those conversations, we 

 often spoke of Dr. Johnson, as the friend of Reynolds ; and North- 

 cote, with marked emphasis, said, ''He (Dr. J.) knew nothing of 

 the arts." I enquired what he meant by " knew nothing ?" and he 

 replied, " He (the Doctor) did not like to speak on the subject : he 

 never introduced it in my hearing ; and whenever it was introduced 

 by others, he remained silent, or, if he spoke of any particular 

 picture, or painting in general, he was wrong in his judgment." 

 This is much to the same effect as Boswell's declaration, that his 

 illustrious friend '' had no taste for painting.'* But it appeared to 

 me, that Northcote's self-love and professional pride had taken 

 oflfence at what he considered an undue estimate of his art, by one 



