By the Rev. J. E. Jackson. 109 



John Britton F.S.A. 



This name, familiar for lialf a century to tlie architects and artists 

 of Great Britain, at length occupies its place in the Obituary of 

 meritorious men. His life supplies one instance more of persever- 

 ance against difficulty, crowned with success. Not that his inces- 

 sant labour led to much ultimate result as to any accumulation of 

 worldly means: for at that desideratum he failed to arrive. He 

 failed, because he was no selfish saver or worshipper of money for 

 its own sake. It was in his sight a thing to be used : and the use 

 to which he applied it was that of improving, in his own department, 

 the taste of the age in which he lived. In this respect he was 

 eminently successful : for by long-continued liberal efibrts made 

 with that object in view, he has secured for himself a name of 

 authority in the remembrance of his country. 



Of his early life, his struggles with adversity, and his many 

 literary works, an authentic account may be found in his " Auto- 

 biography," the employment of his declining years, almost to the 

 very day of death. Occasionally diffuse, it is upon the whole a 

 curious and instructive memoir, showing (in his own words) "how 

 much may be effected by zeal and industry, with moderate talents 

 and without academic learning." Some things which as an autobio- 

 grapher he could not, without breach of modesty, say of himself, may 

 now be said of him by others. And it is the testimony of those 

 who knew him well, that he had an active and penetrating mind, 

 remarkable power of arrangement, an excellent memory, a kind 

 heart, and a moral character free from reproach. He was simple 

 in his habits, fond of children and a favourite with them ; a great 

 lover of Natural History, and an advocate of mercy to the humblest 

 animal. In stature he was short; in figure slender: a ready and 

 amusing speaker : of great vivacity and cheerfulness even to the 

 last. Devoted to the Antiquities of his country, particularly his 

 native county, ho excelled in architectural illustration addressed to 

 the eye. In this branch of Art, through tact in appreciating skill, 

 he was the means of bringing into notice some of our best modern 

 engravers. 



Jolm Britton's life commenced on the 7th July 1771 ; under 



