232 ftbe Garden 



of that pedestal ! Whose choice the busts were 

 I do not know ; but though Queen Elizabeth's 

 head might be intended to mark the era in 

 which the poet flourished, why were Richard 

 II. and Henry V. selected? Are the pieces 

 under the names of those princes two of 

 Shakespeare's most capital works? or what 

 reason can be assigned for giving them the 

 preference ? 



As Kent's genius was not universal, he has 

 succeeded as ill in Gothic. The King's Bench 

 at Westminster and Mr. Pelham's house at 

 Bsher are proofs how little he conceived either 

 the principles or graces of that architecture. 

 Yet he was sometimes sensible of its beauties, 

 and published* a print of Wolsey's noble hall at 

 Hampton Court, now crowded and half-hidden 

 by a theatre. Kent gave the design for the 

 ornaments of the chapel at the Prince of 

 Orange's wedding, of which he also made a 

 print.* 



Such of the drawings as he designed for Gay's 

 ' ' Fables " have some truth and nature ; but who- 

 ever would search for his faults, will find an ample 

 crop in a very favorite work of his, the prints 

 for Spenser's " Fairy Queen." As the drawings 

 were exceedingly cried up by his admirers, and 



* His vignettes to the large edition of Pope's works are 

 in good taste. 



